Movies: Recurring Characters (Sidney Prescott | Gale Weathers | Dewey Riley | Sam Carpenter) | Ghostface (Scream 4 Mastermind) | Scream (1996) | Scream 2 | Scream 3 | Scream 4 | Scream (2022) | Scream VI
TV Series: MTV Series | Resurrection
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Characters exclusive to Scream (2022)
Friends
Amber Freeman
Amber Freeman
"I just don't want to see Tara hurt again."
Played By: Mikey Madison
A resident of Woodsboro, Tara's best friend.
- Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: She can be aloof and brutally honest, though generally a good person.
- Deadpan Snarker: Amber is quick to make barbed remarks at Richie's expense after catching him watching Stab at Tara's bedside. She also makes snarky comments at Wes' expense, specifically at his Crazy-Prepared antics.
- Expy: Amber is similar to Tatum in the sense that both of them are Deadpan Snarker best friends of major characters who are supportive of their friends during their personal crises. The film even has Amber recreate a shot of Tatum going into a dark basement alone — the very same basement, as it turns out.
- A Friend in Need: Amber is extremely protective of Tara—especially after her attack—and feels that Sam, who had left Tara and their family years before, is flaky and distrusts her as a result.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: Amber and Tara are arguably the closest of the group to the point where they have some Homoerotic Subtext (which was left over from an original draft of the script where the two were explicitly girlfriends).
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Amber is aloof at times, although she ultimately proves herself to be a good friend to Tara. She doesn't like Sam because of her criminal history and her previous abandonment of Tara, which is why she is very protective of Tara.
- Light Feminine Dark Feminine: Amber is the Dark to Tara's Light. Amber wears darker colors (i.e. black), while Tara wears brighter colors (i.e. pink).
- Ms. Exposition: Amber exposits about Tara and Sam's backstory to the group, explaining how their father abandoned the family a decade ago with Sam getting in trouble with the law and eventually leaving town at age 18–abandoning Tara and their mother Cristina in the process.
- Tuckerization: She was named after the wife of screenwriter James Vanderbilt.
Wes Hicks
Wes Hicks
"You make yourself harder to find. Delete social media, tape over your phone camera, disable GPS."
Played By: Dylan Minnette
A resident of Woodsboro, Wes is the son of Sheriff Judy Hicks and part of Tara's friend group.
- All Love Is Unrequited: It is implied that Wes might have an unrequited crush on Tara. In the original script, Wes was Tara's ex-boyfriend.
- Ambiguously Absent Parent: Only his mother appears to be in his life, with no mention of what happened to his father.
- Brutal Honesty: Wes suggests that Dewey could be a candidate for the killer, to which Dewey asks why. Wes responds with "you got stabbed a billion times, you crawled into a bottle, and your famous wife left you. Safe to say you're on the suspect list." Dewey indirectly admits he has a point but the bluntness of his remarks still hurt.
- The Cassandra: Wes warns Liv and Chad not to use an app that gives away the user's location and tries to get the others to arm themselves with self-defense tools, only for the others to laugh off his warnings.
- Contrasting Sequel Main Character: To Stu from the first film. Both previously dated the victim of the opening attack and Wes is even stated to have been bothering Tara after their break-up. While Stu was later revealed as one of the killers and targeted Casey for leaving him, Wes is one of the new Ghostface's victims.
- Crazy-Prepared: Wes is given a can of mace and a taser in order to potentially defend himself from Ghostface. Not that it does him any good when he actually encounters them.
- The Everyman: Unlike his snarkier and more colourful friends, Wes is more of a regular down-to-earth guy with a keen sense of awareness and safety.
- Failed a Spot Check: Wes fails to realize something is wrong when he finds that the front door to his house is opened, only a couple of feet from his mother's lifeless body. He dies moments after locking the door, inadvertently trapping himself with Ghostface.
- Impromptu Tracheotomy: The killer stabs their knife through Wes' throat, which sticks out of his neck.
- Meaningful Name: Named after Wes Craven as a tribute.
- Momma's Boy: He and his mother are especially close. His decision to carry pepper spray and a taser at all times stems from his mother's instructions. It also makes Ghostface's later Psycho reference a little more fitting.
- Mr. Fanservice: The filmmakers flip the script in a genre typically known for focusing on female skin and instead give him the gratuitous shower scene.
- Profane Last Words: While struggling to hold back Ghostface's knife, he screams "Fuck... you!" before the knife eventually goes into his neck.
- Properly Paranoid: Wes tells his friends to watch their electronics, including their phones, which is played off as a joke by the group, though it is made clear that the killers are tech-savvy as well.
- Red Herring: He's stated early on to have been involved with Tara and not taken their breakup all that well, implying a repeat of Stu murdering Casey for leaving him and establishing him as a suspect. He isn't and ends up a victim.
- Remember the New Guy?: Wes is Judy's son, though his existence isn't even hinted at in the previous film. Granted, the fourth film only ever shows Judy when she's on duty investigating the Ghostface killings.
- Slashed Throat: Ghostface stabs him straight through the neck, complete with the knife sticking out the other end.
- The World's Expert (on Getting Killed): Despite being more prepared for Ghostface attacks than his friends, he ironically ends up being the first of them to die.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: After being reassured by Mindy that he will survive because "no one cares about the sequels," Wes and his mother (previously introduced in the fourth film) become the next victims.
Richie Kirsch
Richie Kirsch
"I gotta make sure we don't get sliced up by some lunatic who saw Friday the 13th and thought, 'You know what? That Jason guy, he's got some pretty solid ideas."'
Played By: Jack Quaid
A resident of Modesto, California and Sam's boyfriend.
- Audience Surrogate: Richie acts as one early on when he admits to not knowing anything about Stab, which allows Sam to reveal the events that happened in Woodsboro that led to the film franchise’s creation.
- Deadpan Snarker: Has a rather dry sense of humor.
- Expy: Richie appears to be an expy of Derek from the second film. Both are unassuming, kindhearted Understanding Boyfriends of the main protagonists who support their girlfriends through the killing sprees, even at the potential risk to their own lives.
- Genre Blindness: Apparently, Richie is the one person in the main cast who hasn't seen any of the Stab films (and thus is unaware of the events that transpired in Woodsboro), though this changes as the film progresses.
- Innocently Insensitive: Richie watching Stab at Tara's hospital bedside has Sam raising an eyebrow, leading to Richie defending himself by stating that he needs to be "prepared".
- Nice Guy: A supportive boyfriend to Sam, who is nice towards everyone.
- Tempting Fate: He accidentally walks into saying "I'll be right back", but catches himself.
- Understanding Boyfriend: Richie goes with Sam to Woodsboro to see Tara after her attack and is constantly by their side throughout the events of the film.
Liv McKenzie
Liv McKenzie
"Are you afraid of me, Mindy? You think I did something to your brother? You think I'm gonna cut you up?"
Played By: Sonia Ben Ammar
A resident of Woodsboro, Chad's girlfriend.
- All There in the Script: She is a McKenzie, a family mentioned in the 1996 original opening scene. Her surname is never mentioned or seen on-screen, and she makes no inferences about the history of her neighbors.
- Audience Surrogate: Liv acts as one for people who have either never seen the original film or any of the sequels. She asks questions about Tara's sister Sam, thus allowing Amber to provide Backstory for her. Additionally, Liv asks who Stu Macher is, presumably echoing those who only know that Billy Loomis was the main killer of the first film.
- Boom, Headshot!: The killer reveals themselves by shooting Liv in the head.
- Contrasting Sequel Main Character: To Casey Becker. In the first movie, the Beckers and the McKenzies were next door neighbors although the McKenzies never appear onscreen. In a fitting parallel, the Beckers are absent in the fifth movie with only Ghostface obliquely mentioning Casey when quizzing Tara. Like Casey, Liv has to deal with a Psycho Ex-Boyfriend from the Macher clan. However, Liv's taste in movies is ridiculed by the others whereas Casey's was more mainstream. In a twist, Casey dies in Act 1 of her movie whereas Liv dies in Act 3 of hers.
- Death by Genre Savviness: While Liv is generally Genre Blind (at least in comparison to everyone else), she does lampshade this trope to Mindy by saying that the "expert" always dies in the end.
- Distaff Counterpart: To Derek Feldman, Sidney's boyfriend from the second film. Both are generally nice individuals who are so unassuming that their friends and their respective love interests think there is a possibility that they are the killer, and their sudden deaths at the hands of the actual killer reveals their innocence.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Downplayed. Liv is not outright held in contempt by the group, but it appears that her more "mainstream" personality seems to be at odds with most of the gang. Mindy thinks she's "boring", and everyone faults her for liking Stab 8. It appears as though the group only tolerates her for being Chad's girlfriend.
- Generic Girl: Mindy thinks she is, calling Liv too "boring" to be a killer and detesting Liv’s taste in films. Liv is resentful of being called this as a result, and uses it against Mindy by stating that her alleged blandness might be concealing a killer.
- Genre Blind: In comparison to her more Genre Savvy friends, Liv appears this way as she goes off by herself after she rejects Chad, despite there being a killer around. However, unlike many other of the franchise's characters who have done this, Liv survives until she comes back to the house after finding the injured Chad, and is promptly killed by Ghostface. More to the point, despite living in Woodsboro, Liv has no idea who Stu Macher is.
- The Lost Lenore: Mostly defied with Chad's late girlfriend—her—who's murdered by Amber at the end of the fifth film. Despite one of their last interactions being Chad admitting he thinks there's a small chance she might be Ghostface—only for Chad to nearly be killed shortly after that and then Liv almost getting blamed right before she's killed, he never brings her up in the sixth film—or any guilt toward that. The focus instead is on the Shared Suffering romance developing between him and Tara. To be totally fair though, Chad vaguely implies her death still hurts even without saying her name.Chad: Okay we've all been through some fucked up stuff and we're coping with it differently…
- Naïve Newcomer: Liv is implied to be new to the friend group since everyone knows Sam because she used to babysit them while Liv has to ask questions about her. As a result, Liv learns new things about Tara and Sam’s background that everyone else is already privy to.
- Noodle Incident: She apparently had a summer fling with Vince when they were working together and it ended badly, though the specifics are never described since Vince dies early on.
- Nonconformist Dyed Hair: Inverted. Liv has prominent neon red streaks in her hair. She is also widely agreed upon in-universe by her own friend group to be so bland and forgettable that she actually becomes a Red Herring because of it.
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Sonia Ben Ammar's natural French accent can be heard leaking through on a few occasions.
- Ridiculously Average Girl: The reason why she's a Red Herring within the film is that she appears to be too ordinary and mainstream to really become a serial murderer like Ghostface, but the film and Liv herself hint that this "averageness" might be a front to mask her true identity. It gets to the point where her own boyfriend isn't completely sure of her innocence. Liv is innocent, and only implied this possibility to peeve off Mindy.
- Same Surname Means Related: Possible example. She conspicuously has the same surname as Casey Becker's neighbors, but this connection is never elaborated on or mentioned.
- Second-Act Breakup: Liv has an argument with Chad when it comes out that Chad isn't 100% sure that Liv isn't Ghostface, and the couple split. Sadly, they never get the chance to make up, as Chad is lured outside by Ghostface pretending to be her, stabbed, and left to bleed out, while Liv is unceremoniously shot in the head later.
- Surprisingly Sudden Death: In the middle of an argument over who could be the killer, Ghostface reveals themself to the characters and the audience by suddenly pulling out a gun and shooting Liv through the head.
- Unseen No More: The McKenzie family were first mentioned in the first movie but never made a proper appearance until Liv's introduction.
Law Enforcement
Deputy Farney
Deputy Farney
Played By: Reggie Conquest
One of Judy's deputies.
- Bearer of Bad News: He tells Sam about the fatal attack on Judy and Wes.
- Clueless Deputy: Downplayed, but he's a slacker when it comes to paperwork.
Deputy Vinson
Deputy Vinson
Played By: Chester Tam
A Woodsboro deputy.- Mauve Shirt: He is assigned to guard Tara and has a couple of scenes. Surprisingly, he survives, but only because he leaves his post after Judy's death.
Others
Vince Schneider
Vince Schneider
"I'll see you soon, sweetheart."
Played By: Kyle Gallner
A resident of Woodsboro, Vince is a loutish, slightly older man who dated Liv over the summer and is still obsessed with her.
- Abhorrent Admirer: He stalks Liv at both school and at a bar with her friends, where he nearly gets into a heated confrontation with Chad.
- Advertised Extra: You would think a character played by Kyle Gallner would be a Red Herring (especially since it is casually revealed that he worked with Tara), but he's killed off with little to no fanfare, serving as the Plot-Triggering Death.
- Asshole Victim: A scummy creep who stalks his teenaged ex and mocks her boyfriend. It's no surprise that soon after, he's killed rather slowly by Ghostface, who stabs him once in the throat and lets him choke to death on his own blood.
- Cool Car: He drives a purple and black third generation Dodge Charger.
- Ephebophile: A thirtysomethingnote man who dated a teenage girl over the summer and is still stalking her.
- Hate Sink: Vince is a Jerkass creep and the nephew of Stu Macher who proves that entitled stalker behavior with women runs in the family. An older guy who prior to the movie took advantage of Chad's girlfriend Liv — having driven up outside their school too, Vince then tries to get Liv to warm up to him again and threatens Chad with a knife when he stands up for her. Later peeing outside on the bar itself, Vince is caught in a trap by Ghostface and killed quickly with a stab to the neck — not missed in the slightest and becoming the first official victim in the movie as a result.
- Lower-Class Lout: He's a hard-drinking tough guy who drives a classic muscle car and acts like a bully.
- Slashed Throat: Stabbed throat, actually, but the end result is the same with him choking to death on his own blood.
- Unknown Relative: It's revealed after his death that he was the nephew of Stu Macher.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Ghostface's first victim, dispatched quickly and mercilessly after appearing in only three scenes.
"Chromeface"
Ghostface (Stab 8)
"That shit is lit!"
Played By: Matthew Lillard
Despite having brief appearances in the trailers, this killer turns out to only exist in the in-universe Stab 8. The Ghostface killer in that film was meant to be a more scary and intense take on the villain, only for fans to hate the changes done to the character along with everything else in the movie.
- The Cameo: For Matthew Lillard, who played Stu in the original film.
- Cool Mask: Ghostface wears a chrome/silver-plated variant of the classic mask, possibly as protection for when he uses his flamethrower.
- Evil Is Cool: It appears that the makers of Stab 8 were trying to invoke this trope, but only ended up alienating most of the fanbase with their changes to the classic Ghostface character.
- Fire-Breathing Weapon: Ghostface uses a chromed-out flamethrower in one of the movie scenes, seemingly as a way to show how over the top and corny the in-universe franchise has become.
- Joke Character: He isn't one of the actual killers in the movie, only serving as an over-the-top parody of Ghostface in the Stab movies.
- Laughably Evil: He's voiced by Matthew Lillard at his funniest, but is a one-man Goldfish Poop Gang in comparison to the real-life threat Ghostface poses.
- Machete Mayhem: He dual-wields machetes in one scene of his movie.
- Pungeon Master: The sole line(s) he speaks are puns. For example, "That shit is lit!" while using a flamethrower.
- Practically Joker: More so then the actual Ghostfaces, being more akin to a comic book Supervillain then a traditional slasher villain, especially being voiced by Matthew Lillard.
- Rule of Cool: The shiny mask, the updated costume, and the upgraded arsenal were meant to make Ghostface look more scary, but did the opposite for most of the Stab fanbase.
- The Scrappy: In-Universe, the hardcore fans of the Stab franchise considered this take on Ghostface the worst thing that could have happened.
- Sleeves Are for Wimps: This Ghostface wears a sleeveless hoodie and dark pants instead of a baggy, gothic-style hooded robe.
- Stylistic Suck: To show how badly the 'Stab' movies have jumped the shark, Stab 8!Ghostface is redesigned to look like a cheesy, over-the-top parody of himself.
- They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: In-universe. The new costume and the crazy weapons pissed off those who loved the classic, knife-wielding, hooded Ghostface instead of this joker.
- Trailers Always Lie: Two brief scenes of him in the trailers implied that he was one of the killers of this movie, but in the actual film, he's just a fictional version of Ghostface in the latest Stab movie.
- WTH, Costuming Department?: In-universe. Fans of the franchise hated the costume redesign.
