Characters from the Goosebumps books Say Cheese and Die! and Say Cheese and Die — Again!. The evil camera recurs in the Goosebumps HorrorLand spinoff.
Greg Banks
Portrayed By: Patrick Thomas and Ryan Gosling (TV)
The main protagonist of Say Cheese and Die! and its sequel. Greg has the unfortunate luck of finding a camera that causes bad things to happen whenever it takes a picture of someone, such as two of his friends being injured, his father almost dying in a car accident, and one friend disappearing completely.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: In the TV series, Greg is much more likable. For example, while in the book he tried to take a picture of Mr. Saur (not that he didn't deserve it), in the TV series, he outright refuses to take a picture with the camera when Mr. Saur wants proof It's still very satisfying when Mr. Saur accidentally takes a picture of himself and goes bald.
- Aesop Amnesia: He seems to forget all the horrible things the camera caused in the first book and decides to retrieve it to show to Mr. Saur just to get a good grade in English.
- Body Horror: Besides the camera making him obese, it also causes him to develop a horrible skin rash that makes him look like a lizard.
- Butt-Monkey: More so in Say Cheese And Die - Again! due to Mr. Saur and his classmates' treatment of him and what the camera does to him.
- Cassandra Truth: His friends don't think there's anything evil about the camera despite mounting evidence that it is taking pictures of things that haven't happened yet. Greg only keeps using it in the first book because they keep pressuring him to do it. In the second book, his report on what happened with the camera is given an "F" and because that jeopardizes Greg's plans on visiting his cousins for the summer, he thought finding the camera was the only way to have his grade fixed.
- Didn't Think This Through: Seriously, Greg! What were you thinking writing a book report about your misadventures of the evil camera for your class assignment?!! Especially a class taught by Sourball Saur?!!!
- Lethally Stupid: Upon discovering the camera is potentially dangerous to anything in takes a picture of, you'd think Greg would test it by taking a picture of some expendable object he doesn't care about in case it gets destroyed by the camera. Instead he takes a picture of his brother Terry. No, Terry isn't a Big Brother Bully, nor does Greg even dislike him. He's just that dumb.
- Nice Guy: Although he can be a bit stubborn at times, Greg is, for the most part, one of the nicer Goosebumps protagonists (especially in the TV series).
- Only Sane Man: Greg is considered the sensible one in his group of friends, and he doesn't like it because they tease him for it. This is averted in the sequel, where he is shown to have become so illogical to the point when his normally insane friends call him out on this.
- Revenge Before Reason: He becomes insistent on snapping a picture of Mr. Saur to get back at him for his bad grade and for the way he's treated him. And then the book ends with Mr. Saur taking a picture of the whole class, but it's left ambiguous as to what happened.
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: Downplayed but Greg is noticeably much more down-to-earth than his friend, Shari, who likes to have fun and have a good laugh with her friends. Averted in the sequel where Greg takes a level in dumbass.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: The ending of the TV adaption of Say Cheese And Die - Again! has Mr. Saur lose all his hair after his picture is taken, which can be considered Laser-Guided Karma for his treatment of Greg.
- Too Dumb to Live: If writing a report about his encounter with the camera for English class wasn't dumb enough, he even decides to retrieve it just to prove its existence to his teacher and attempts to bring it to class even after all the trouble it caused to snap a picture of Mr. Saur to get revenge on him for his cruelty. Predictably, this doesn't end well.
- Took a Level in Dumbass: By Say Cheese And Die - Again! Greg has become much less sensible. He made the mistake of writing an essay about what happened with the evil camera, and when he got a bad grade for it, decided the only course of action was to find the camera again as proof. In the first book, he had to be pressured by his friends to continue using the camera while being reluctant to do so, while in the sequel his friends pressure him not to use the camera when he knows full well how dangerous it is.
- Weight Woe: In Say Cheese and Die - Again! the camera causes Greg to rapidly gain weight. At first, he's mercilessly teased by the other kids for being fat, but when he shows up for school the next day twice as big as before, his classmates no longer think it's funny and feel bad for him. Mr. Saur, on the other hand, does nothing but mock him.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: He doesn't return for Say Cheese and Die Screaming! Mostly because the evil camera somehow ended up in the possession of another family before it ends up with Julie. But we're never told what happened to Greg or how the camera wound up with someone else. The implications behind this are not helped by the Ambiguous Ending to Say Cheese And Die - Again!
Shari Walker
Portrayed By: Renessa Blitz and Jennie Lévesque (TV)
The closest of Greg's best friends.
- One of the Boys: She is the only girl in a group including three boys, and she doesn't seem to have a problem with it.
- Precocious Crush: Greg notices that Shari is sort of into his older brother, Terry, given that she acts a little akward while she's around him.
- Slapstick: This is especially prevalent in Say Cheese and Die - Again!, due to effects from the camera. Not only does she start losing weight, but her skirt also falls down in front of Greg and she collapses at one point, all as a reesult of her photo being taken.
- Stalker without a Crush: After refusing Greg's offer of helping him go back to the Coffman house to get back the camera, she secretly follows Greg behind his back to see if he would actually go through with his plan. And when approaching him the morning after he does this, she's in disbelief that he succeeded.
- You Called Me "X"; It Must Be Serious: Like the rest of her friends, she usually calls Bird by his proper nickname. But when she gets upset with him, she calls him Doug, which is his real name. Greg notices how prevalent this is whenever this happens.
Fritz "Spidey" Fredericks
Portrayed By: Richard McMillan (TV)
A creepy hermit who lives in the Coffman house and the partner of the inventor of the Evil Camera.
- Adaptational Heroism: In Goosebumps HorrorTown, he is portrayed as a straight forward good guy.
- And I Must Scream: In the TV episode, he is imprisoned in the camera when he gets his picture taken... until the two bullies unwittingly release him.
- Anti-Villain: He's not really evil, since he created the camera by accident, but he does try to imprison Greg and Shari when they return the camera.
- Composite Character: In Goosebumps HorrorTown, he takes the place of Dr. Deep from Deep Trouble. There's even a Mythology Gag where he claims that his Dr. Deep was one of his nicknames.
- Gratuitous German: He spouts a lot of it in Horrortown.
- Greater-Scope Villain: He stole the camera from his partner, causing the latter to put a curse on it to cause bad things to happen, while originally it just predicted the future.
- He Knows Too Much: His reason for refusing to let Greg and Shari leave after telling them the backstory of the camera.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: In the book, he dies of a heart attack caused by the camera. In the TV episode, he is merely imprisoned in it.
- Misunderstood Loner with a Heart of Gold: Played with - he's an antisocial outcast whom most of the locals are creeped out by, but he's just paranoid and mentally ill. On the other hand, he's not exactly a saint, either.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Instead of dying from the fright of the evil camera in the novel, Spidey is trapped inside the camera in the television series and immediately freed by the bullies who find the camera, ready to do lord knows what to the two delinquents.
- Tragic Villain: He had his life ruined by the camera, losing his job and family.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: He co-designed the camera with another scientist, who placed a Bad Future curse on it after Spidey took all the credit for the invention.
- Would Hurt a Child: Tries to imprison Greg and Shari at the end because they found out too much about the camera, though he does apologize before doing so.
The Evil Camera
A camera capable of changing the future whenever it takes a picture, but the future it creates is always horrible. The main driving force behind the Say Cheese and Die! books, the camera ends up in the ownership of Greg Banks and later Julie Martin.
- Body Horror: Some of the worst in the series. Besides the Weight Woe inflicted on Greg and Shari, which makes Greg so fat he can barely move and Shari so skinny she's practically just a skeleton, it made Julie's best friend Reena blind by doing something to her eyes akin to having chlorine or bleach thrown in your face, gave Becka and Greta horrific skin rashes, and mutated Julie's brother into growing fuzz and antennae on his head like a bee.
- Fate Worse than Death: It makes Greg morbidly obese and Shari emaciated in Say Cheese and Die Again! in what is implied to be revenge for trying to destroy it.
- Happy Fun Ball: It simply looks like an ordinary camera, but it's pure evil. At least in the book. In the TV episodes, it looks more like Darth Vader's toaster than a camera.
- It Can Think: It's implied the camera specifically chooses what horrible thing will happen to its victims, which explains why Greg and Shari's transformations in Say Cheese and Die Again! were so drawn out and horrible.
- Magical Camera: It was originally a high-tech camera that was meant to be the latest in photo technology (though exactly what was so special about it is not stated). Spidey stole it from his partner so he could pass himself off as the sole inventor and not have to share the fame and fortune with the second inventor. To prevent this, the partner used his knowledge of black magic to place a curse on the camera so it would alter the future to cause bad things to happen. The curse also made the camera indestructible and gave it unlimited film so Spidey would be forced to guard it for the rest of his life.
- Retcon: The camera was originally created by two evil scientists who planned to use it to make themselves rich but they backstabbed each other which is what led to the camera only taking evil photos. Then in Say Cheese and Die Screaming! the camera's backstory was altered so it was now a camera created for a horror film that never got finished because of unexplained accidents on the set. The film shared the title of the book, Say Cheese and Die Screaming!
- Spooky Photographs: The camera will cause bad things to happen to those who are photographed by it, ranging from simple accidents to car crashes.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Despite being more of a prop than a character, the camera somehow managed to become an even worse villain in its next two appearances by getting more creative with the Bad Future photos. Body Horror and mutilation are a big factor in this.
Mr. Saur
Portrayed By: Louis Del Grande (TV)
Greg Banks' complete asshole of a teacher in Say Cheese And Die - Again! He gives Greg an "F" on his report about the Evil Camera, which is understandable, but doesn't justify his cruel and malicious treatment of Greg afterwards.
- Adaptational Karma: In the TV show, which tones down Greg's less appealing personality traits, Saur has his picture taken by the camera and loses his hair. Specifically, it immediately begins falling out while the students laugh at him as he screams "IT'S NOT FUNNY!"
- Adaptational Nice Guy: While still aloof in the TV show, he was nowhere near as much of a bully in it as he was in the book, coming off as a hard-edged and no-nonsense but otherwise normal teacher instead of a just plain mean Sadist Teacher. That said, he was still depicted as taking perverse pride in the fact that none of his students have ever gotten an A.
- Bald of Evil: Downplayed on both the bald and evil parts. The book describes him as "nearly bald", and he's a bully who mocks Greg over his massive weight gain. The episode adaptation gives him a lot more hair and considerably tones down his negative traits, though he later loses all of his hair.
- Embarrassing Nickname: "Sourball". In the episode adaptation it's changed to "Sourpuss".
- Hate Sink: His attitude towards Greg and belittling nature after Greg is cursed with obesity is utterly cringe worthy enough to wish Greg would take his picture.
- Jerkass: He's much worse to Greg when he starts mocking his weight.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Greg should've known better than to write a report about the Evil Camera and automatically expect his teacher to believe it, but that still doesn't excuse Saur's abusive attitude.
- Lean and Mean: The book describes him as tall and skinny with bony fingers, and he's a jerk who bullies one of his students over his sudden and massive weight gain. The [[latest (522×627) (nocookie.net) French cover]] portrays him as downright emaciated. The episode adaptation in contrast portrays him as a portly man who is mostly just a stern and no-nonsense teacher, far from the bully his original counterpart was.
- Meaningful Name: As sour as his last name sounds.
- Pet the Dog: In the book, he mentions that he really likes cats and has six of them as pets. Greg finds this disgusting, making Saur an In-Universe male example of a Crazy Cat Lady.
- Sadist Teacher: When Greg comes to class morbidly obese, Saur is the only person in the room who continues to mock Greg for his weight, when even the class bullies realize something is really wrong with the kid. When your students are more mature than you, that's saying something.
- You Don't Look Like You: His episode adaptation portrayal looks very different from how he's described in the book. In the book, he's very skinny, nearly bald, and wears a yellow alligator shirt. The episode depicts him as a portly man with a head full of hair and no yellow alligator shirt. He starts to resemble his book counterpart more at the end when he loses his hair.
Julie Martin
The newest owner of the Evil Camera in Say Cheese and Die - Screaming! She bought at a garage sale, but quickly tried to get rid of it after realizing how dangerous it is. Unfortunately, the camera keeps finding its way into Julie's life.
- The Atoner: Does everything she can to try and circumvent the camera's power out of guilt for harming Reena and Karla.
- Camera Fiend: She was interested in photography even before finding the evil camera.
- Convicted by Public Opinion: Even after dumping the camera, people associate it with her because they saw it in her possession first. After Becka and Greta are given horrible rashes by the camera, they blame Julie, threatening to sue her family and calling her a witch.
- Gaslighting: The Evil Camera resurfacing in her home was actually David trying to mess with her head so he could win the photography contest.
- Karmic Jackpot: Her earlier realization of how dangerous the camera is mixed with her determination to get rid of the thing and to break its power as well as her trying to save David Blank from falling to his death manages to undo the magic of the camera and gets her labelled a hero by the kids and teachers in her school.
- Kid Hero: Her rival David almost falls to his death while taking their class yearbook photo, and Julie rushes to rescue him. In the process, she almost falls herself and fulfills the camera's prediction, but David saves her as well. This not only creates a possible new friendship between them, but restores Julie's good name to her classmates after thinking she maimed Reena and the others.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Is immediately wracked with guilt when the camera blinded Reena and injured Karla, especially when Reena cuts all ties with her. This is because, as Reena points out, the woman who originally owned the camera didn't want Julie to have it, but the woman's daughter gave it to her. Reena saying Julie acts like she knows everything makes Julie feel incredibly guilty.
- Only Sane Woman: She immediately comes across as saner than Greg Banks when she doesn't take as long to get the camera out of her life. Though it helps that, unlike Greg, Julie gets called out on using the camera when she loses her best friend.
- Redeeming Replacement: To Greg Banks as the protagonist of the Say Cheese and Die! books.
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: With David Blank. Both are talented photographers and are constantly trying to show the other up. Julie lets David take the class photo for the yearbook even though she rightfully won the opportunity. David, who had previously been a giant asshole to Julie, sincerely asks if she's really okay with this. This is because the Evil Camera photographed Julie falling to her death while taking the yearbook photo, and Julie believes it's safer for David to do it. Unfortunately, the camera's smarter than that.
