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The Creeper
The Creeper
Played By: Jonathan Breck
The antagonist of the movies, an ancient winged monster that once every 23 years for 23 days awakens to hunt and feed on humans to restore itself.
- Achilles' Heel:
- Thus far, the only reliable weakness he has is that he can't heal if he's prevented from eating. As a result, continuing to damage it without letting it heal will cause the damage to mount and weaken it. The second film shows this during the climax: it's repeatedly damaged over and over again without a chance to find food, allowing the humans to come the closest to killing it thus far seen in the franchise.
- He has to go back into hibernation when its 23 day time limit ends. Even if it's currently surrounded by enemies and in danger, it will go into hibernation when the limit runs out.
- Ancient Evil: As revealed in 3. After looking into the Creeper's mind through its severed hand, Tashtego discovers that the Creeper has been around feeding on humans and hibernating for millennia. The comics also reveal it demanded Human Sacrifice from the Aztecs and wiped out the Roanoke colony.
- Appendage Assimilation: The Creeper kidnaps people, takes whatever body parts of theirs he wants, and then leaves them to die.
- Arc Number: Twenty-three. The Creeper only comes out every twenty-three years for twenty-three days to feast on flesh.
- Ax-Crazy: Aside for literally carrying an axe, the Creeper is by all means a vile and murderous monster who butchers people more for fun than for food.
- Berserk Button:
- Don't ever piss on his truck, because if you do, he will find you and kill you.
- Apparently the one thing that can genuinely enrage the thing is discovering what it really is.
- Bizarre Alien Biology: While it uses its nose to smell certain victims, it does so through a vertical slit in the bridge of the nose, rather than its nostrils.
- Cannibalism Superpower: How the Creeper regenerates himself, eating the body part it is missing from one of its victims to regenerate its own version of it. In the second film, the face of a regenerated head is visibly that of the original owner before the Creeper reasserts his own appearance in a matter of seconds.
- Carnivorous Healing Factor: The Creeper eats the body parts it needs to replace its injured ones.
- Captain Ersatz: The Creeper sometimes looks a bit like Freddy Krueger (mostly because of the deformed body and hat). They also share a tendency to self-mutilation, Freddy to demonstrate his invulnerability and the Creeper, to remove damaged parts making way for new ones to grow.
- For the Evulz: At first The Creeper seems like he kills to feed himself, thus attempting to survive. However seeing all the tortures he likes to inflict to his victims it's clear he does it for pure sadistic fun at the same time. Its House of Pain is definitely not the result of a predator that just needs to survive.
- Leitmotif: "Jeepers, creepers, where'd you get those peepers?..."
- Mad Artist: The Creeper does some very, um, creative things with his victims' remains. Not only does he sew the corpses together into a twisted kind of tapestry, he also makes some of his weapons from human remains, such as his throwing stars. note He also has a talent for carving, as evidenced by his little self-portrait carved into his work table, and the intricately-carved designs on the hilt of one of his knives.
- Monstrous Humanoid: Whether it's a demon, an alien, a reaper, a gargoyle—we never find out what the Creeper is (though the survivors of 3 do), but it's a humanoid monster who feeds on people.
- Nigh-Invulnerability: The Creeper practically defines this trope. No matter how much abuse he takes, he always gets back up again to kick some serious ass. Of course, he does get weaker the more damage he takes, but he is still highly dangerous even with a limb missing or part of his head destroyed. Heck, in Jeepers Creepers 2, even after having part of his head utterly destroyed, he's still not dead.Jezelle: "I think it's eaten too many hearts... for its own to ever stop."
- Not Even Human: He goes through a lot of effort to pose as human (at least until he gets up close with his victims) and makes use of human tools and technology. In the first film, Trish and Darry do not discover the Creeper's non-human nature until halfway through the film.
- Once is Not Enough: Subverted. While once is not enough (being hit with a car, being stabbed with a harpoon, etc), really, neither is any other amount of times. It will never stay down. Though damaging it enough will slow him down at least.
- Regularly Scheduled Evil: The Creeper awakens from hibernation every 23rd spring, to feast for 23 days, before going back into hibernation.
- Sadist: The Creeper isn't just a predator; he genuinely enjoys terrifying and murdering people, relishing in their misery. He regularly toys with and terrifies his victims, and often cuts them open, takes the organs he wants, and leaves them to die slowly.
- The Sociopath: He's a literal monster, but he's sapient like a human. Unfortunately, he has all the traits of a cruel and merciless Serial Killer who loves not only eating his victims, but also enjoying their pain and he doesn't seem to have problem with innocent casualities either.
- Super-Strength: The Creeper is way stronger than something of its build should be. In the second film, it's able to drag (and then flip) a pickup truck while in-flight, having been speared by a (presumably quite heavy) harpoon launcher bolted to the back.
- Might be a case of Shown Their Work, as the chest and shoulder muscles required for powered flight in most animals are waay denser than ours.
- To Serve Man: The Creeper feasts on human beings every 23 years, for 23 days. However, he only eats parts of them that smell good to him (he possesses an incredible sense of smell), or parts of them that will regenerate something of his that he has lost.
- The Unreveal: While confirmed as an Ancient Evil in the third movie, it's never revealed what exactly the Creeper is. All that's made clear is that it's a secret the Creeper closely guards, to the point it's extremely pissed that someone knows it.
- Villains Out Shopping: When awake, the Creeper makes time for some casual hobbies, making grotesque artwork from the bodies of his victims, as well as idly whistling the tune of "Jeepers Creepers." The last scene of the first movie even features him just lounging around his hideout listening to a record of the song... while examining what's left of Darry's corpse.
- Villainous Breakdown: Normally averted, but played straight in the third movie. When it finds a sign telling it 'We know what you are', it gets actively enraged and to some degree seems afraid, to the point of doing something it never does: give up on its current target.
- The Voiceless: The Creeper (the only noises he makes are primal cries and grunts), although a deleted scene does reveal that he is capable of human speech, and confirms Darry's fear that the Creeper does indeed know his name. The Creeper naming the abandoned church where he set up his lair the "House of Pain" and understanding the pun on the number-plate in the first movie and how he was able to read the sign in the third movie showed the Creeper knows languages. There was also, apparently, a scene planned for the sequel in which the Creeper was to be heard speaking, although that scene was never filmed.
- He does have a liking for the song he's named after, though, and can be heard whistling it casually from time to time.
- Winged Humanoid: Sports an absolutely massive pair of bat-like wings, that he usually only breaks out if his truck is out of commission.
- Would Hurt a Child: If the missing posters in the first movie are any indication, the Creeper is definitely willing to kill and torture children. He also kidnapped and murdered Billy in the second movie.
The Jenners
Trish
Patricia "Trish" Jenner
Played By: Gina Philips
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Happens a few times despite their constant arguing, most notably a very sad case at the end.
- Big Sister Instinct: To Darry.
- Goodis Not Nice: She wasn't nice towards Jezelle despite Jezelle trying to help and this lead to Darry's death.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Attempted, but rejected.
- Take Me Instead: She begs the Creeper to take her instead of Darry, but it decides to stick with Darry.
- Volleying Insults: With Darry, in a typical sibling way.
Darry
Darius "Darry" Jenner
Played By: Justin Long
- Cruel and Unusual Death: The Creeper tears off the back of his head and removes his brain so he can get his eyes. And judging by the screams, he was still alive for it.
- Deadpan Snarker: He has his moments in the film.
The Taggart Family
Jack
Jack Taggart
Played By: Ray Wise
- Heroic BSoD: After his son Billy is taken by the Creeper, Jack is tormented by grief.
- It's Personal: With the Creeper, who he desires revenge on for the death of his young son.
- Macgyvering: His Creeper-killer weapon is created from a harpoon, winch, post-driver and the Creeper's own knife.
Jack Jr
Jack Taggart Jr.
Played By: Luke Edwards
Billy
Billy Taggart
Played By: Shaun Flemming
Students
Minxie
Minxie Hayes
Played By: Nicki Aycox
- Cassandra Truth: Minxie has these powers. It's never explained how long she's had them, or how she suddenly gains them.
- The Stoner: Implied to be this by Scotty. This is why he doesn't believe her at first.
- Unhappy Medium: She becomes this after gaining her powers out of the blue. The first person who makes contact with her is the ghost of Darry.
Scotty
Scott Braddock
Played By: Eric Nenninger
- 0% Approval Rating: Self-elects himself as leader of the group after the coaches were snatched away despite the displeasure of the majority of them.
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: The Creeper pins his hand to a tree with a knife and is heading for him. Rhonda and Izzy try to free him, but it is no good. Scotty begs D, who is watching nearby, to help him, even screaming and crying that he's sorry. At the last minute, D pulls out the knife, but it's too late for Scotty.
- Asshole Victim: He's a Jerk Jock and is implied to be racist and homophobic and he tried to toss three of the Creeper's intended victims off the bus, not counting himself as one of them. It's no surprise he ends up being the third student to wind up dead.
- Decoy Protagonist: He intially seems to be set up as a main lead character for the students' story arc due to his unique screen time focus, despite being an unlikable Jerk Jock and eventual Asshole Victim.
- Dirty Coward: When he mentions the "two classes of people", he doesn't include himself among those who are doomed to get eaten by the Creeper. It's clear at this point that, racist and homophobic or not, he only cares about his own survival and is willing to sacrifice his three of his friends and teammates to live. Needless to say, he's the third student that ends up getting killed.
- Fake Ultimate Hero: He thinks he's the main protagonist of the sequel, while he's nothing but an implied racist and homophobic Jerk Jock and an Asshole Victim.
- Hate Sink: If he wasn't a Decoy Protagonist, he would be this in his screen time.
- It's All About Me: His first speaking moment in the film is him having a subdued Hissy Fit about only being on the court for the basketball finals for 12 minutes, and arrogantly proclaiming that he was the only reason they got to the finals in the first place, then starts going on about how he was left out for a so long because he was "the wrong color" despite the team being multi-ethnic. It becomes clear throughout the movie that he only cares about himself, when he is clearly chosen by the Creeper, but tries to throw out the others, to the anger of the rest of the bus.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Despite being a Jerk Jock and a Leader Wannabe with a 0% Approval Rating, he has a point about the other kids being in danger of being in the Creeper's way as long as D, Bucky and Jake are with them. The thing is, he pretends that he wasn't picked too, which angers everyone. It's also worth noting that his original suggestion of running to a nearby farm does pan out, though it takes the Creeper putting a massive hole in the bus' roof in order for that prospect to seem sound.
- Jerk Jock: There are other jocks on the bus but Scotty is perhaps the biggest jerk jock if his implied homophobic and racist traits are anything to go by. And then he tries to convince everyone to throw three of the Creeper's intended victims off the bus, but as one of the kids, D points out, the Creeper picked him too. It's pretty clear that he only cares about his own survival. His girlfriend Rhonda and D both call him out on this.
- Leader Wannabe: Self-elects himself as de facto leader of the students despite a 0% Approval Rating amongst his peers and is shunned once the others had enough of his selfish incompetence in leadership.
- Mean Character, Nice Actor: Contrary to his obnoxious character, it's stated on the commentary track that he & Double D's actor are actually good friends in real life. And contrary to the implied racism of his character, he is married to a black woman.
- Nominal Hero: Subverted, due to way he is being showcased in this film, Scott is a Decoy Protagonist example before ending up as an Asshole Victim.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Well, he's more of a Jerk Jock than a villain, but he has very unlikable traits. He thinks the coach and the "token white boy" assistant coach have it out for him due to only giving him twelve minutes of play time, makes a comment on how he's the wrong skin color for being on the basketball team (despite there being black and white kids on the team), makes a rude "swinging" comment at Izzy, and when he gets into an argument with D over whether they should stay or get off the bus, he calls D "bro". D knows that's not what he really wanted to say.
- Tyrant Takes the Helm: Self-elects himself as the de facto leader of the bus group after the coaches were abducted.
Other Characters
Jezelle
Jezelle Gay Hartman
Played By: Patricia Belcher
- Failure Hero: She tried to help, but failed.
- Unhappy Medium: She's psychic, but it's massively unhelpful and causes her no end of grief.
