Main characters (Archie Andrews • Cheryl Blossom) | Riverdale High | Riverdale Townspeople | Outside Riverdale
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Riverdale Outsiders
New York City
Nick St. Clair
Nicholas "Nick" St. Clair
At least I'm not a desperate tart from a truck-stop town, hon. Let's not distort reality to cover your morning-after shame. You were high, half-naked and begging for it.
Played by: Graham Phillips
A scion from a wealthy family and an old classmate of Veronica's from New York.
- Adaptational Villainy: Nick’s comic counterpart, whilst still a jerk, is just a stereotypical bad boy. Nick initially seems the same but turns out to be a date rapist.
- Asshole Victim: Considering that he tried to rape both Veronica and Cheryl, nobody will shed a tear about the multiple instances of bodily harm that are inflicted upon him.
- Ax-Crazy: A wildly creepy date rapist.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Veronica considered him a close friend, until he tried to assault her and Cheryl sexually.
- Boisterous Weakling: Nick is hopelessly overconfident, regularly insulting and threatening people past any point of reason. But when it comes to blows, it is clear he is an utter weakling, with every fight he gets into turning into an easy No-Holds-Barred Beatdown.
- Bullying the Dragon:
- He attempts to force himself on Ronnie, despite knowing her father is a ruthless mob boss.
- His continuing to push and threaten the already enraged Archie whilst the two of them are entirely alone with no witnesses would already qualify, as Archie is noticeably the bigger of the two of them, but doing so whilst he’s lying in bed with two broken legs almost pushes him into Too Dumb to Live territory.
- Butt-Monkey: He gets his comeuppance for his crimes multiple times over. To wit: he gets his ass kicked by Veronica and the Pussycats, then Hiram Lodge arranges for him to have a car accident that breaks both his legs and then Archie pays him a visit at his boarding school, beats him to a pulp and breaks his nose.
- Evil Cripple: After surviving the car accident Hiram Lodge set up for him, Nick is left with a slight limp. It complements his unpleasant personality.
- Faux Affably Evil: After being exposed as a date rapist, Nick still carries his oily charisma, even paying for Cheryl’s meal when they meet again. However, it only underlines what a disgusting person he is.
- Hate Sink: He is incredibly creepy and arrogant. He sexually assaulted Cheryl, attempted to do the same to Veronica, and is generally a massive jerk to everyone he meets.
- The Hedonist: Really, all Nick cares about is self-pleasure, being only interested in hard-partying, substance abuse and sleeping around. His self-indulgence and a strong sense of privilege are the reasons behind his date raping, to the point that his only concern when the consequences of his actions start to catch up with him is that he could lose his lifestyle.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Following him kidnapping Archie and trying to make Ronnie sleep with him, Ronnie turns his tricks against him, drugging his champagne. She then proceeds to kidnap him, extorting a million dollars from his father, and ensuring that Nick’s done, no longer having his family’s money to enable his vicious lifestyle.
- Never My Fault: He never admits to being at fault for the terrible things he does to women.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: Whist Nick was never outright harmless (being a date rapist), it was made abundantly clear from the start that his ego dramatically outweighs his actual abilities, with Archie and Ronnie being both more intelligent and more robust than him, leaving him looking like a particularly nasty self-centred jerk. However, “The Prisoner” makes it clear there are no depths he won’t sink to, and his wealth allows him to hire two goons, with whom he successfully kidnaps Archie, beating him senseless and attempting to extort Veronica whilst admitting that he plans to kill Archie regardless.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Nick is not just a smug date rapist, but also both misogynistic and classist. He openly mocks Archie for coming from a working family and dismisses Riverdale as a “truck stop town”.
- Rich Bastard: He is an absolute asshole who thinks his family fortune entitles him to special treatment.
- Scarpia Ultimatum: Following Ronnie's inability to come up with the entire million Nick demands as a ransom for Archie, he instead forces her to agree to sleep with him to win a final victory. To twist the knife further, Ronnie has to pretend she wants to. He privately has a camera system set up, so Archie is Forced to Watch, and admits he plans to kill him regardless.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: He and his parents pay Penelope Blossom a lot of money to make Cheryl stay quiet about the fact that Nick tried to rape her.
- Slimeball: Hopelessly arrogant, falsely charming, and only caring about himself, Nick practically oozes slime in every scene in which he appears.
- Smug Snake: Arrogant and outright slimy, Nick believes his family’s money means he can get away with anything, including rape.
- Spoiled Brat: It’s clear a large amount of Nick’s unpleasantness stems from him being raised with an overstimulated sense of privilege and a complete disregard for the rights of others. He is openly elitist, looking down upon anyone with less money than his family and only cares about indulging his whims.
- Stupid Evil: Nick is not only unpleasant, but he also wholly lacks foresight, regularly going out his way to do unpleasant things regardless of how much they hurt his long term goals.
- He attempts to force himself on Ronnie, completely ruining years spent making her believe he was her friend and despite knowing her father is a powerful mob boss.
- He attempts to date rape Cheryl, totally missing the signs of her showing clear interest in him, without even bothering to see if she would agree to sleep with him first, thus exposing his maliciousness and leading to him getting beaten senseless.
- He can’t resist continuing to insult and threaten Archie, despite it being glaringly obvious Archie’s seconds away from breaking and Nick’s stuck in bed with a broken leg.
- Ignoring the fact that he needs a clear victory (as his father is threatening to disown him), on the verge of success, Nick can’t resist trying to force Ronnie to sleep with him, to gain one final victory.
- Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: Whilst coming across as somewhat oily, Nick is nevertheless charismatic and something of a flatterer. He’s likewise one of Veronica’s oldest friends. He’s also a date rapist, and an all-around disgusting human being.
Greendale
Farmer McGinty
Farmer McGinty
Two boys on a country road, a crate full of God-knows-what. You're sinners, both of you. Careful, or you'll taste the Reaper's blade next.
Played by: Tony Todd
A sinister individual whom Archie and Jughead meet on the road to Greendale.
- All There in the Script: His name is never mentioned during the episode proper.
- Ambiguously Evil: We have no direct evidence that he's a bad guy, but he's still overtly creepy as played by Tony Todd, who could play a pizza delivery man and still seem terrifying and sinister.
- Scary Black Man: In addition to being played by one of the most quintessential examples in Hollywood, Farmer McGinty drips menace every second he is on screen.
- Small Role, Big Impact: His run-in with Archie and Jughead was pretty inconsequential, but he was the one who informed the kids about the existence of the Riverdale Ripper and suggested to them a connection to the Black Hood, information that proved key to unravel that mystery.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: McGinty's reaction when Jughead finds a dead deer under the tarp on his truck:Don't worry, I got my permits. I'm no thrill-seeking sicko, as the Black Hood.
Heather
Heather
Played by: Caroline Day
Cheryl’s old friend from Junior High who is a witch with connections to the Greendale Coven- Brainy Brunette: Heather is dark haired, with great knowledge of the occult and spell casting.
- Hot Witch: Heather is an attractive woman and a powerful witch.
- The Mentor: After she reconnects with Cheryl, Heather starts to suspect that her old classmate might be a witch as well and starts to teach her the ways of witchcraft.
- Hot Librarian: She's is a librarian in Greendale and a very fetching woman.
Centerville
Chic
"Chic"
I know who you are. The Sisters gave me your address when I turned eighteen. When they kicked me out. I even went by your house once. Must be a nice place to grow up.
Played by: Hart Denton
The firstborn son of Alice Cooper, who she gave up for adoption in high school. He later reveals himself to be an impostor posing as Betty's half-brother after some interrogation, and he admits that the real Charles Smith is dead because of him.
- Big Bad Ensemble: Of Season 3 with Hal Cooper/the Black Hood and Penelope Blossom, when he's unmasks himself to the gang as the Gargoyle King, the actual individual responsible for brainwashing and gaslighting the resident players of G&G to the point of swearing their servitude to "the King" and committing suicide.
- Con Man: This is truthfully a fraud; he was the honest Charles Smith’s roommate, who he claims overdosed on Jingle Jangle due to him. He pretended to be him to exploit the Coopers.
- Depraved Bisexual: He lusts after his "sister" Betty and is later revealed to have a sexual relationship with a man the real Charles Smith.
- Dirty Coward: Whenever anything dangerous happens, Chic whimpers in terror until he can reach a better position. He pleaded for his life
- Exact Words: When his con of posing as Alice's son is exposed, this is his answer.Chic: "I never said I was Charles Smith. I said I was Chic."
- Easily Forgiven: Subverted. It was kind of Alice and Betty to take him in, but that doesn't mean Chic isn't going to have years upon years of resentment, emotional baggage, and other potentially disruptive traits due to being given up for adoption and not having a real family for all these years that could cause severe problems for the Cooper family, like when Hal decided to move out again due to Chic's presence and a drug dealer ended up dying in the Cooper household, partly due to his connections with Chic in the first place.
- Green-Eyed Monster: His entire motivation. Having felt neglected throughout his life, Chic desires to exploit as much care and love as he can get out of Alice to make up for it, to the point he scares away Polly by threatening her infants, simply because their presence is distracting Alice from focusing upon him.
- Long-Lost Relative: He is Betty and Polly's elder brother that they never knew existed. In "Prisoners", it's revealed that he's an imposter and may or may not have killed their real brother.
- Mask of Sanity: Whilst creepy, Chic often gives the vibe of simply being a damaged but overall harmless individual. Truthfully, he’s dangerous and possibly insane, being responsible for killing a drug dealer and almost stabbing Jughead with a kitchen knife when exposed.
- The Oldest Profession: Is heavily implied to be making a living as a male prostitute, as he claims to be in the "Fantasy Fulfillment" business and sees clients in the seedy hotel where he lives.
- While living with the Coopers, he also works as a webcam model.
- Playing the Victim Card: Whenever he's being confronted with an accusation, he pretends to cry.
- Predatory Prostitute: Chic is a sex worker and, while living with the Coopers, he's a webcam model and he's a drug dealer and con artist who stabs Jughead.
- Psychopathic Manchild: In a nutshell, Chic comes across as far more immature as a man in his mid-twenties should be. He’s whiny, petty, goes through numerous mood swings, and his entire goal can be described as ensuring he receives as much love as he possibly can from Alice. His attempts to alienate the rest of the Cooper family to have her all to himself come across like a bratty child refusing to share his mother’s love, whilst his bickering with Betty makes him sound like the younger sibling desperately trying to get her in trouble.
- The Resenter: He deeply resents the fact that he was given up for adoption while his mother went on to have a seemingly perfect life and family.
- Straight Gay: Whilst it’s implied that Chic services clients of both genders and works as a webcam model, he’s only displayed interest in other men. He likewise lacks any particularly camp traits.
- Uncertain Doom: He is last seen in Season 2 ep 19, chased by the Black Hood, running for his life. It’s unknown if he manages to escape or if the Black Hood ( Hal Cooper) catches and kills him, as his body is never recovered. It's revealed in the Season 3 finale Hal does catch him, causing Chic to beg for his life. Hal sees him as a kindred spirit, and takes Chic under serial killer wing, pushing him into assuming the identity of the Gargoyle King.
- Would Hurt a Child: Unsubtly threatens to murder Polly’s infants when he gets sick of them taking away too much of Alice’s attention.
- With being unmasked as the ''actual'' Gargoyle King, Chic is content to perpetuate the perverse game G&G being spread throughout the town like a plague, resulting in several teenage children committing suicide at Penelope Blossom's behest.
Others
Agent Charles Smith
Agent Charles Smith
Played by: Wyatt Nash
An F.B.I. agent investigating The Farm.- Canon Character All Along: He is Betty's older brother from the comics.
- Corrupt Cop: Starts as a mild case, abusing his authority to help Betty and Jughead with their problems. Played all the way straight when he winds up killing the Stonewall Prep students.
- Freudian Excuse: His murders of the Stonewall Prep students is solely motivated by taking revenge for his siblings, who were harassed and nearly victims of the Stonewall students themselves.
- A Mistake Is Born: He's conceived when Alice Cooper (nee Smith) and FP Jones were teenage lovers back in high school. He came as a surprise to both of them, and as neither was prepared to raise him, he was given up for adoption.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: Jughead fingers him as a criminal, but he primarily thought that Charles was the Auteur. While Charles was indeed responsible for the murders, the murders are unconnected from the Auteurs' activities.
- Straight Gay: He's later revealed to have a secret romance with Chic Cooper.
Bret Weston Wallis
Bret Weston Wallis
Played by: Sean Depner
A student at Stonewall Prep and a massive Jerkass.- Faux Affably Evil: He sometimes treats Jughead as a friend, but it's blatantly clear that it's an act.
- Killed Off for Real: Killed offscreen by Charles.
- Shout-Out: He is named after Bret Easton Ellis, a bestselling contemporary fiction writer (most notoriously, American Psycho) known for his massive Jerkass public persona.
Donna Sweett
Donna Sweett
Played by: Sarah Desjardins
A Stonewall Prep student, she is not what she seems to be.- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She is not as sweet as her last name implies.
- Cassandra Truth: Calls Betty in season 5 to inform her that she's being hunted down by a killer. Betty refuses to believe her and sure enough, she turns up dead the next day.
- Shout-Out: She is named after Donna Tartt, the author of The Secret History.
- Sole Survivor: Is the only one out of the named Stonewall students to get away with the murders done for the Bookhouse Boys license.
