Scream is a Crapsack World, where every few years, some petty, psychotic, selfish people put on a Ghostface mask and go on a murder spree to copy the original, creating new victims who either die a Cruel and Unusual Death, or have to deal with the trauma of surviving in the wake of so much death.
The poor innocent victims of Ghostface
- With few exceptions (those being Rebecca Walters, Vince Schneider and John Milton), most victims of Ghostface fall under this category. They are usually friends with the killer, who decides to kill them despite the fact that they genuinely care about them. Those that live in Woodsboro are doomed to see these killings repeat themselves over and over because of a parade of deranged copycat killers.
- Let's start with the biggest of them all, Sidney Prescott. The girl's mother was murdered, and virtually everyone she knows either dies or turns out to be a full-fledged psychopath wanting to kill her for selfish reasons, including her boyfriend, her half-brother and her cousin. She's the Butt-Monkey of the Scream Verse, and it's surprising she herself hasn't gone completely insane and/or gone on a murderous rampage. Also veers into Iron Woobie, considering she's able to stand her ground throughout the films, especially when the third one kicks in. Thankfully, by the fifth movie, she's found some level of contentment by getting married and having kids.
- Poor Dewey Riley loses his sister in the first killing spree. His run-ins with Ghostface over the years also cause permanent nerve damage, impairing his ability to walk. He tried to move on from Woodsboro with Gale, which he couldn’t do, costing him their marriage. This results in him becoming an alcoholic and being forced to retire as sheriff. By 2021, he lives alone in a trailer, until he's dragged back into the insanity by another killing spree. This time he’s stabbed to death.
- Tatum Riley was a good and loyal friend to Sidney. For this, she’s targeted in the first killing spree by her own boyfriend at the whim of Billy Loomis, who chases her down in a garage and gives her arguably the most Cruel and Unusual Death of the whole franchise, having her head crushed while stuck in a garage door.
- Casey Becker spends her entire screen time terrified, is forced to watch her boyfriend be killed, and is then murdered by a guy she dumped.
- Casey’s parents come home to find their house on fire and their daughter gutted and strung up in a tree in their backyard.
- The first three victims in Scream 2 who were killed because they had the same names as the first three victims of the Woodsboro killings all to misdirect any investigation.
- Special mention goes to Maureen Evans who was stabbed in front of hundreds of people who cheered it on because they thought it was a publicity stunt.
- Derek is unlucky enough to be Sidney’s next boyfriend after Billy Loomis. People constantly suspect him of being the killer, and Mickey even takes advantage of this just to mess with Sidney. Guess what? He wasn't a killer, just a Nice Guy who truly cared for his girlfriend. For his troubles, he is tied up by his fraternity brothers in a hazing prank, and then shot to death by Mickey while Sidney has a breakdown over whether or not to trust him.
- Kirby Reed is a loyal friend to Jill, and wants nothing more than to keep her and Charlie safe. She goes out of her way to do so, only to be stabbed by Charlie, who’s been behind these killings the whole time, along with Jill. Luckily, she survives, and is able to move on with her life.
- Robbie Mercer gets murdered by his best friend, who videotapes it and brags about how awesome it was.
- Kate Roberts was murdered by her own daughter, who was trying to become a reboot version of Sidney.
- Judy Hicks dedicated her life to protecting Woodsboro, and is a loving mother to her son. She’s rewarded by being stabbed to death by Ghostface as she tries to come and rescue him. And even that is in vain, as Ghostface kills him shortly after.
- Sam Carpenter. She's the Heroic Bastard daughter of a Serial Killer, and has to deal with ostracization and self-loathing as a result. She accidentally ruined her parents' marriage as a teenager by confronting her mother about lying to her legal father about her parentage without making sure her father was out of earshot. She's had problems with drugs since running away from home, and has to deal with an unspecified mental illness for which she has to take anti-psychotic meds. Her beloved little sister is attacked and nearly killed by someone imitating Sam's biological father's killing spree. To add to this, it turns out that her boyfriend is one of the killers. Then, in the sixth film, she is demonized by many people who think she’s a killer and is forced to deal with a strained relationship with Tara on top of her own personal issues and another Ghostface.
- Tara Carpenter herself, since she's on the receiving end of a brutal attack that impairs her ability to walk or even use a wheelchair because she went out to help her friend Amber, who she thought was in danger. Amber isn’t in danger; she was the Ghostface, and used Tara’s friendship to lure her out. Tara’s disabled the whole movie, and is hunted mostly as bait for Sam. In the following film, it’s clear that Tara hasn’t processed her trauma from the previous year’s events and now has to deal with another, more vicious Ghostface.
- Liv McKenzie has just gotten out of a relationship with an older guy that reeks of grooming and is still being stalked by him. She's also accused of being the killer by multiple characters, including her new boyfriend, whose lack of trust clearly hurts her, and then is (incorrectly) left thinking that he's been killed as well. And then, without a chance to reunite with her boyfriend, she's unceremoniously shot in the head as this movie's Ghostface reveals themself.
- Maureen Prescott (née Roberts) is the Woobie that started it all. She goes to LA to become an actress in the 70s, and is pulled into Horrible Hollywood and everything that it entails. She’s gang-raped by Milton and his buddies, resulting in Roman Bridger. Leaving it all behind, she starts a family, but is tracked down by her Child by Rape, who she spurns due to her trauma. She’s then murdered by Billy Loomis and Stu for her promiscuity through the machinations of Roman.
- Laura Crane, who appears to be an understanding film professor in her brief screentime, is targeted and killed by her own students simply because she gave them a bad grade on an essay.
- Anika Kayoko is shown to be a kindred spirit to her girlfriend Mindy, and is absolutely terrorized when Ghostface breaks into the Carpenter apartment. She ends up dying badly wounded, scared, and not wanting to get killed, all in front of Mindy.
- Mindy Meeks-Martin, who witnesses the death of her girlfriend Anika in front of her and is left alone to get attacked and wounded on a subway car without anyone the wiser in a very short period of time.
Jerkass Woobie
- Gale was a glory hound who exploited the murders by writing about them, but she didn’t know it would result in a legacy of copycats. By the time of the fifth film, she has everything she’s always wanted, but it's a hollow victory, as she doesn’t feel it was worth all the death, and deeply regrets everything, especially when her ex-husband Dewey’s luck runs out.
- Most of the people involved in Stab (with the exception of Dewey and Tyson) are obnoxious, pretentious, stereotypes of Hollywood actors, but none of them deserved to be murdered by their own director in a fit of jealous rage that had nothing to do with them.
- Special mention goes to Jennifer Jolie, who despite being a self-centered jerk, actually tried to help Dewey and Gale while also experiencing several Freak Outs and having her home destroyed.
- Cotton Weary, though he became a fame-obsessed diva himself, was trying to make the most out of coming off of death row for a murder he didn’t commit. Then he’s murdered anyway by Roman while trying to save his girlfriend Christine, who gets killed regardless.
- Trevor is an unrelentingly obnoxious dick who cheated on his girlfriend, but damn, he really did not deserve to be framed for murder, shot in the groin, and then murdered himself.
