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* CartwrightCurse: [[spoiler:Both men she’s involved with die; Billy because he was one of the killers and she had to put him down herself, and Derek because he was a suspect and she didn’t act fast enough before Mickey killed him.]]
to:
* CartwrightCurse: [[spoiler:Both men she’s involved with [[spoiler:The first two boyfriends she had die; Billy because he was one of the killers and she had to put him down herself, and Derek because he was a suspect and she didn’t act fast enough before Mickey killed him.him. ''Finally'' subverted in the fifth film, where it is offhandedly mentioned that she has settled down with Mark Kincaid, a survivor of the Ghostface murders and her LoveInterest from ''Scream 3''.]]
* SeenItAll: Twenty five years coping with nine different Ghostfaces have deadened Sidney's reactions to whoever new copycat that pops up. Exemplified in the fifth film's obligatory climax against the killers, where Sidney flat out ''refuses'' to entertain the new Ghostface in their game, hanging up their threatening call and preemptively shooting every door she sees as she knows well that they tend to ambush her from there. Compare her reaction with Sam's when [[spoiler:Richie and Amber]] reveal themselves to be the killers and start [[MotiveRant ranting about their motives]]; while Sam is horrified, Sid's reaction basically amounts to "yeah, heard it all, seen it all, move along".
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* VillainKiller: Of the protagonists, she has the highest villain kill count, taking out [[spoiler:Stu Macher, Billy Loomis, Mickey Altieri (with Gale's help), and Jill Roberts]]. It's enough that she's lampshading this tendency in the thrid and fourth films.
to:
* VillainKiller: Of the protagonists, she has the highest villain kill count, taking out [[spoiler:Stu Macher, Billy Loomis, Mickey Altieri (with Gale's help), and Jill Roberts]]. It's enough that she's lampshading this tendency in the thrid third and fourth films.
* AmicableExes: With Dewey in the fifth film. They have not talked for years ever since he decided to move back to Woodsboro, leaving Gale to pursue her career in New York, but the two still share a warm reunion upon meeting again.
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* BreakUpMakeUpScenario: She and Dewey share a kiss at the end of the first film, but are not together in the second, thanks to Dewey's disgust at Gale using the killings as an excuse to advance her career. After they reconcile, they start dating, but are broken up again by ''Scream 3'' because Gale has not changed her ways. When she promises to do so, Dewey proposes to her. In ''Scream 4'', they have been married for a decade, but their relationship is strained because of Gale's frustrations of being forced to become a {{Housewife}} in Woodsboro. However, their experiences with the fourth Ghostface terror are implied to reconcile them.
to:
* BreakUpMakeUpScenario: She and Dewey share a kiss at the end of the first film, but are not together in the second, thanks to Dewey's disgust at Gale using the killings as an excuse to advance her career. After they reconcile, they start dating, but are broken up again by ''Scream 3'' because Gale has not changed her ways. When she promises to do so, Dewey proposes to her. In ''Scream 4'', they have been married for a decade, but their relationship is strained because of Gale's frustrations of being forced to become a {{Housewife}} in Woodsboro. However, While their experiences with the fourth Ghostface terror are implied to reconcile them.them, the fifth film reveals that they divorced a couple of years after the events of ''Scream 4''.
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* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: [[spoiler:In the fifth film, after Dewey is killed, Gale is understandably determined to kill the new Ghostface, as ItsPersonal now for her. When they manage to corner Amber, Sidney gives Gale the chance to finish her off by burning her alive]].
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'''[[center: [- [[Characters/{{Scream}} Main Character Index]] -]]]'''
to:
[-'''Movies:''' '''Recurring Characters''' ([[Characters/ScreamGhostface Ghostface]]) | Characters/Scream1996 | Characters/Scream2 | Characters/Scream3 | Characters/Scream4 | Characters/Scream2022\\
'''TV Series:''' [[Characters/ScreamTVSeries MTV Series]] | [[Series/ScreamResurrection Ressurrection]]-]]]]]-]
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Alphabetization.
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* MeanBoss: Is quite mean towards Kenny and Joel, who don’t appreciate her attitude towards them.
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* MeanBoss: Is quite mean towards Kenny and Joel, who don’t don't appreciate her attitude towards them.
* BerserkButton: [[spoiler:He hates any mentions of his younger sister's death.]]
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* BerserkButton: [[spoiler:He hates any mentions of his younger sister's death.]]
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* [[spoiler:the fifth film sees her actively giving Gale "the honor" of killing Amber, as she openly gloated about her murder of Dewey.]]
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* [[spoiler:the fifth film sees her actively giving Gale "the honor" of killing Amber, as she openly gloated about her murder of Dewey.]]
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* RelationshipRevolvingDoor: With Dewey. She shares a flirtation and a kiss with him in the first film. They date in between the second and third movies, though have broken up by the start of ''Scream 3''. Dewey proposes to Gale at the end of that movie and the two are married at the start of the fourth (though clearly on shaky ground). By the fifth, they have divorced [[spoiler: and sadly cannot reconcile their relationship]].
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** The fifth film has a more literal and hilarious version of this trope: Sidney getting a taunting call from Ghostface while she’s hunting him down, only for him to tell him that “she’s bored.”
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** The fifth film has a more literal and hilarious version of this trope: Sidney getting a taunting call from Ghostface while she’s hunting him down, only for him Sid to tell him that “she’s bored.”
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** The fifth film has a more literal and hilarious version of this trope: Sidney getting a taunting call from Ghostface while she’s hunting him down, only for him to tell him that “she’s bored.”
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* EarnYourHappyEnding: By the fifth movie, she has moved on from Woodsboro, settled down with Mark Kincaid, and had children with him.
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* MeaningfulName: 'Deputy Judy' sounds very close to 'Dputy Dewey'.
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* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: She has a distrustful and sometimes intrusive personality, but still cares about those around her and is always dedicated to stopping Ghostface no matter whether the stakes are personal or not.
* MeaningfulName: 'Deputy Judy' sounds very close to'Dputy Dewey'.'Deputy Dewey'. In Film/Scream2022 the Ghostface on the phone even calls her "Jud-ee", taking it closer to sounding like "Dewey"
* MeaningfulName: 'Deputy Judy' sounds very close to
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!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/{{Scream|1996}}'' (1996)| ''Film/{{Scream|2022}}'' (2022)
One of the original Ghostface killers. Not BackFromTheDead, but existing as a fragment of his illegitimate daughter's psyche.
One of the original Ghostface killers. Not BackFromTheDead, but existing as a fragment of his illegitimate daughter's psyche.
to:
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/{{Scream|1996}}'' (1996)| (1996) | ''Film/{{Scream|2022}}'' (2022)
One of the original Ghostface killers.Not He's not BackFromTheDead, but existing he exists only as a fragment of his illegitimate daughter's psyche.
One of the original Ghostface killers.
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[[folder:Spoiler Character From ''Scream'' (2022)]]
!!Billy Loomis
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/image_010.jpg]]
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/SkeetUlrich
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/{{Scream|1996}}'' (1996)| ''Film/{{Scream|2022}}'' (2022)
One of the original Ghostface killers. Not BackFromTheDead, but existing as a fragment of his illegitimate daughter's psyche.
->See the folders for [[Characters/ScreamGhostface the Ghostface killers]] for the first and fifth films.
[[/folder]]
!!Billy Loomis
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/image_010.jpg]]
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/SkeetUlrich
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/{{Scream|1996}}'' (1996)| ''Film/{{Scream|2022}}'' (2022)
One of the original Ghostface killers. Not BackFromTheDead, but existing as a fragment of his illegitimate daughter's psyche.
->See the folders for [[Characters/ScreamGhostface the Ghostface killers]] for the first and fifth films.
[[/folder]]
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* DramaClub: She's a theater student in the second film, playing Cassandra in a stage play, and the fourth film reveals that she played Tiger Lily in a high school production of ''Theatre/{{Peter Pan|1954}}''.
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* DramaClub: She's a theater student in the second film, playing Cassandra [[TheCassandra Cassandra]] in a stage play, and the fourth film reveals that she played Tiger Lily in a high school production of ''Theatre/{{Peter Pan|1954}}''.
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* DramaClub: She's a theater student in the second film, playing Cassandra in a stage play, and the fourth film reveals that she played Tiger Lily in a high school production of ''Theatre/{{Peter Pan|1954}}''.
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!!!'''Played By:''' Heather Matarazzo
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!!!'''Played By:''' Heather MatarazzoCreator/HeatherMatarazzo
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* TheBusCameBack: Makes her an appearance in ''5'' after skipping ''4''.
* CoolShades: She has a nice pair of coke bottle sunglasses.
* IntergenerationalFriendship: Martha is good friends with Dewey, who's almost twice her age.
* MacGuffinGuardian: Downplayed, but Randy entrusted Martha with a video about the rules and logic behind surviving film trilogies.
* CoolShades: She has a nice pair of coke bottle sunglasses.
* IntergenerationalFriendship: Martha is good friends with Dewey, who's almost twice her age.
* MacGuffinGuardian: Downplayed, but Randy entrusted Martha with a video about the rules and logic behind surviving film trilogies.
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* TheBusCameBack: Makes her an appearance in ''5'' after skipping ''4''.
* CoolShades: She has a nice pair ofcoke bottle coke-bottle sunglasses.
* IntergenerationalFriendship:Martha is She's good friends with Dewey, who's almost twice her age.
* MacGuffinGuardian: Downplayed, but Randy entrustedMartha her with a video about the rules and logic behind surviving film trilogies.
* CoolShades: She has a nice pair of
* IntergenerationalFriendship:
* MacGuffinGuardian: Downplayed, but Randy entrusted
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/scream_3_martha.png]]
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* SupportingProtagonist: Dewey and Gale are more active than her in the third film but she's still the main character.
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* SupportingProtagonist: Dewey and Gale are more active than her in the third film but she's still the main character. Additionally, Sidney takes this role in the fifth film, which focuses on Sam Carpenter.
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!!!'''Played By:''' Heather Matazarro
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!!!'''Played By:''' Heather MatazarroMatarazzo
* TheBusCameBack: Makes her an appearance in ''5'' after skipping ''4''.
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A dedicated police officer and loyal right-hand woman to Dewey, whom she idolizes and seems to have a crush on (and likes to bake lemon squares to). There is some sort of rivalry between herself and Gale, and the latter doesn't even bother hiding her antipathy towards the deputy (and her lemon squares). Judy knew Sidney from high school, but didn't make a big enough impression for Sidney to remember her.
to:
A dedicated police officer and loyal right-hand woman to Dewey, whom she idolizes and seems to have a crush on (and likes to bake lemon squares to). There is some sort of rivalry between herself and Gale, and the latter doesn't even bother hiding her antipathy towards the deputy (and her lemon squares). Judy knew Sidney from high school, but didn't make a big enough impression for Sidney to remember her. [[spoiler:She eventually replaces Dewey as TheSheriff of Woodsboro]].
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* ActionGirl: When she saves Gale from [[spoiler:being shot by Jill.]]
* DistaffCounterpart: To Dewey, complete with having his rank in the original trilogy and having similarly sounding names, [[spoiler: She even gets incapacitated by the killer like Dewey in every movie.]]
%%* FairCop
* DistaffCounterpart: To Dewey, complete with having his rank in the original trilogy and having similarly sounding names, [[spoiler: She even gets incapacitated by the killer like Dewey in every movie.]]
%%* FairCop
to:
* ActionGirl: When she saves Gale from [[spoiler:being shot by Jill.]]
Jill]] in ''4''.
* BackForTheDead: [[spoiler:She only has a few scenes before she's killed by Ghostface in ''5'']].
* DistaffCounterpart: To Dewey, complete with having his rank in the original trilogy and having similarly sounding names, [[spoiler: She even gets incapacitated by the killer like Dewey in everymovie.]]
%%* FairCopmovie, and eventually replaces him as the sheriff of Woodsboro]].
* BackForTheDead: [[spoiler:She only has a few scenes before she's killed by Ghostface in ''5'']].
* DistaffCounterpart: To Dewey, complete with having his rank in the original trilogy and having similarly sounding names, [[spoiler: She even gets incapacitated by the killer like Dewey in every
%%* FairCop
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* MeaningfulName: 'Deputy Judy' sounds very close to 'Deputy Dewey'.
* NumberTwo: To Dewey, now a Sheriff.
* PoliceAreUseless: [[spoiler:Subverted. She ends up saving Gale's life.]]
* RedHerring: [[spoiler:More subtle than the obvious Trevor, but still.]]
* NumberTwo: To Dewey, now a Sheriff.
* PoliceAreUseless: [[spoiler:Subverted. She ends up saving Gale's life.]]
* RedHerring: [[spoiler:More subtle than the obvious Trevor, but still.]]
to:
* GlamorousSingleMother: Subverted in ''5''. She manages to be a good mom to Wes while also being the sheriff of Woodsboro who apparently makes enough without a partner to have a nice suburban home... until a new Ghostface shows up and throws everything into chaos.
* MeaningfulName: 'Deputy Judy' sounds very close to'Deputy 'Dputy Dewey'.
*NumberTwo: NumberTwo / TheSheriff: To Dewey, now a Sheriff.
Dewey in ''4'', [[spoiler:eventually replacing him as sheriff by ''5'']].
* PoliceAreUseless:[[spoiler:Subverted. She [[spoiler:Subverted in ''4'' when she ends up saving Gale's life.]]
life, but played straight in ''5'' when she becomes one of Ghostface's first victims and allows for them to shut down the hospital, which leads to Dewey's death]].
* RedHerring: [[spoiler:More subtle than the obviousTrevor, Trevor in ''4'', but still.]]she still has some potential motive to be Ghostface until it's revealed she isn't]].
* MeaningfulName: 'Deputy Judy' sounds very close to
*
* PoliceAreUseless:
* RedHerring: [[spoiler:More subtle than the obvious
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* SoleSurvivor: [[spoiler: Is the only new character in the film to unambiguously survive, with her bulletproof vest saving her at the end.]]
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* SoleSurvivor: [[spoiler: Is She is the only new character in the film ''4'' to unambiguously survive, with her bulletproof vest saving her at the end.]]end, though this is later subverted when it's revealed in ''5'' that Kirby also survived]].
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* ActionGirl: In the fourth film, ready to take on the killer at the drop of a head.
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* ActionGirl: In By the fourth film, she's ready to take on the killer at the drop of a head.head. In the fifth, her response to Dewey as to whether or not she's prepared for the new attacks solidifies her status as this.
--> '''Sidney''': I'm Sidney fucking Prescott. [[ProperlyParanoid Of course I have a gun.]]
--> '''Sidney''': I'm Sidney fucking Prescott. [[ProperlyParanoid Of course I have a gun.]]
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* ProperlyParanoid: Being a five-time FinalGirl means that, by the fifth film, Sidney now owns a gun, as she tells Dewey when he calls, seemingly surprised he'd even need to ask.
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* GuttedLikeAFish: [[spoiler:Suffers from this fate in the fifth film after the new Ghostface gets the drop on him. Interestingly enough, the film shies away from showing heavier {{Gorn}}, though it’s clearly what’s happening onscreen.]]
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[[folder:Martha Meeks]]
!!Martha Meeks
!!!'''Played By:''' Heather Matazarro
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/{{Scream 3}}'' | ''Film/{{Scream|2022}}'' (2022)
Randy Meeks' younger sister, and a friend of Sidney and Dewey. Later becomes the mother of Chad and Mindy Meeks-Martin.
----
* AlliterativeName: '''M'''artha '''M'''eeks.
* CoolShades: She has a nice pair of coke bottle sunglasses.
* IntergenerationalFriendship: Martha is good friends with Dewey, who's almost twice her age.
* MacGuffinGuardian: Downplayed, but Randy entrusted Martha with a video about the rules and logic behind surviving film trilogies.
* RememberTheNewGuy: The fact that Randy has a sister was never hinted at before ''Scream 3''.
[[/folder]]
!!Martha Meeks
!!!'''Played By:''' Heather Matazarro
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/{{Scream 3}}'' | ''Film/{{Scream|2022}}'' (2022)
Randy Meeks' younger sister, and a friend of Sidney and Dewey. Later becomes the mother of Chad and Mindy Meeks-Martin.
----
* AlliterativeName: '''M'''artha '''M'''eeks.
* CoolShades: She has a nice pair of coke bottle sunglasses.
* IntergenerationalFriendship: Martha is good friends with Dewey, who's almost twice her age.
* MacGuffinGuardian: Downplayed, but Randy entrusted Martha with a video about the rules and logic behind surviving film trilogies.
* RememberTheNewGuy: The fact that Randy has a sister was never hinted at before ''Scream 3''.
[[/folder]]
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* PunnyName: Though it's quite subtle
to:
* PunnyName: Though it's quite subtlesubtle.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: In the fifth film, had she not [[spoiler:called Dewey at what turned out to be the worst possible time, Dewey would've ended Ghostface's killing spree right then and there. Instead, Dewey was distracted just long enough for Ghostface to lunge and end ''him'' right then and there.]]
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* ActionSurvivor: Dewey might be the poster child for this trope. He is uncannily lucky, enduring horrible stabbings and beatdowns over the course of four movies. He lives to fight another day.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: He frequently dishes taunts from his co-policemen, family and friends, but when they are threatened, he is the first to help.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: He frequently dishes taunts from his co-policemen, family and friends, but when they are threatened, he is the first to help.
to:
* ActionSurvivor: Dewey might be the poster child for this trope. He is uncannily lucky, enduring horrible stabbings and beatdowns over the course of four five movies. He lives to fight another day.
day [[spoiler:until finally biting it in the fifth]].
* BewareTheNiceOnes: He frequently dishes taunts from his co-policemen,family family, and friends, but when they are threatened, he is the first to help.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: He frequently dishes taunts from his co-policemen,
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* BreakUpMakeUpScenario: He and Gale share a kiss at the end of the first film, but are not together in the second, thanks to Dewey's disgust at Gale using the killings as an excuse to advance her career. After they reconcile, they start dating, but are broken up again by ''Scream 3'' because Gale has not changed her ways. When she promises to do so, Dewey proposes to her. In ''Scream 4'', they have been married for a decade, but their relationship is strained because of Gale's frustrations of being forced to become a {{Housewife}} in Woodsboro. However, their experiences with the fourth Ghostface terror are implied to reconcile them.
to:
* BreakUpMakeUpScenario: He and Gale share a kiss at the end of the first film, but are not together in the second, thanks to Dewey's disgust at Gale using the killings as an excuse to advance her career. After they reconcile, they start dating, but are broken up again by ''Scream 3'' because Gale has not changed her ways. When she promises to do so, Dewey proposes to her. In ''Scream 4'', they have been married for a decade, but their relationship is strained because of Gale's frustrations of being forced to become a {{Housewife}} {{housewife}} in Woodsboro. However, their Their experiences with the fourth Ghostface terror are implied to reconcile them.them, but it's revealed in the fifth film that it didn't last.
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* ButtMonkey: He gets the shit beaten out of him by Ghostface in each movie, [[spoiler:although he survives them all]]. Also counts as IronButtMonkey.
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* ButtMonkey: He gets the shit beaten out of him by Ghostface in each movie, [[spoiler:although he survives them all]]. four of them]]. Also counts as IronButtMonkey.IronButtMonkey.
* DeathByGenreSavviness: [[spoiler:How he dies in the fifth movie. He knew that Ghostface was probably wearing body armor and still alive despite getting shot, so while the other characters fled, he stayed behind to finish Ghostface off with a [[BoomHeadshot headshot]]. Ghostface takes this opportunity to [[PlayingPossum play possum]] and exploit a momentary distraction to kill him before he can get the shot off.]]
* DeathByGenreSavviness: [[spoiler:How he dies in the fifth movie. He knew that Ghostface was probably wearing body armor and still alive despite getting shot, so while the other characters fled, he stayed behind to finish Ghostface off with a [[BoomHeadshot headshot]]. Ghostface takes this opportunity to [[PlayingPossum play possum]] and exploit a momentary distraction to kill him before he can get the shot off.]]
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* MadeOfIron: Stabbed in the back in the first film, stabbed multiple times in the second one, beaten almost to death with a bedpan in the fourth one...and still alive.
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* MadeOfIron: Stabbed in the back in the first film, stabbed multiple times in the second one, beaten almost to death with a bedpan in the fourth one... and still alive.alive. [[spoiler:His luck finally runs out, however, in the fifth film, where getting stabbed with two knives at once seems to do the trick.]]
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The man who was sentenced to death for the murder of Maureen Prescott, Sidney's mother, whom he was having an affair with. In the first film, Gale Weathers is trying to get his name cleared for the murder, feeling that he is innocent. [[spoiler:She's right.]] In the second film, he travels to Windsor College to convince Sidney to do an interview with him. By the third film, his exploits have made him a celebrity, getting him his own talk show.
to:
The man who was sentenced to death for the murder of Maureen Prescott, Sidney's mother, whom he was having an affair with. In the first film, Gale Weathers is trying to get his name cleared for the murder, feeling that he is innocent. [[spoiler:She's right.]] She's right. In the second film, he travels to Windsor College to convince Sidney to do an interview with him. By the third film, his exploits have made him a celebrity, getting him his own talk show.
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!Characters appearing in all the films
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!Characters appearing in all the filmsmultiple films
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!Characters appearing in multiple films
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!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/{{Scream|1996}}'' (1996) | ''Film/{{Scream 2}}'' | ''Film/{{Scream 3}}'' | ''Film/{{Scream 4}}'' | ''Film/{{Scream|2022}}'' (2022)
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!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/{{Scream|1996}}'' (1996) | ''Film/{{Scream 2}}'' | ''Film/{{Scream 3}}'' | ''Film/{{Scream 4}}'' | ''Film/{{Scream|2022}}'' (2022)
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!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/{{Scream|1996}}'' (1996) | ''Film/{{Scream 2}}'' | ''Film/{{Scream 3}}'' | ''Film/{{Scream 4}}'' | ''Film/{{Scream|2022}}'' (2022)
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!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/{{Scream|1996}}'' (1996) | ''Film/{{Scream 2}}'' | ''Film/{{Scream 3}}''
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!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/{{Scream|1996}}'' (1996) | ''Film/{{Scream 2}}'' | ''Film/{{Scream 3}}''
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!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/{{Scream|1996}}'' (1996) | ''Film/{{Scream 3}}''
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!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/{{Scream|1996}}'' (1996) | ''Film/{{Scream 2}}'' | ''Film/{{Scream 3}}''
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!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/{{Scream 4}}'' | ''Film/{{Scream|2022}}'' (2022)
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* FinalGirl: Played with. Gale is not only an unexpected additional final girl, but her bossy and ruthless attitude, as well as her shameless in seducing Dewey to get information, makes her an antithesis to everything that a traditional final girl stands for.
to:
* FinalGirl: Played with. Gale is not only an unexpected additional final girl, but her bossy and ruthless attitude, as well as her shameless shamelessness in seducing Dewey to get information, makes make her an antithesis to everything that a traditional final girl stands for.
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* CartwrightCurse: [[spoiler:Both men she’s involved with die; Billy because he was one of the killers and she had to put him down herself, and Derek because he was a suspect and she didn’t act fast enough before Mickey killed him]].
to:
* CainAndAbel: The Abel to [[spoiler:Roman's Cain in ''Scream 3''. Roman is a half-brother she never knew about, who has a vendetta against her because Maureen picked her over him]].
* TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive: ''Scream 3'' opens with her living in an isolated cabin, where she works remotely as a therapist. Then Ghostface tracks her down and begins messing with her mind, forcing her to reunite with Dewey and Gale, noting that the cabin is no longer safe and she may as well be with people when things go south.
* CartwrightCurse: [[spoiler:Both men she’s involved with die; Billy because he was one of the killers and she had to put him down herself, and Derek because he was a suspect and she didn’t act fast enough before Mickey killedhim]].him.]]
* TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive: ''Scream 3'' opens with her living in an isolated cabin, where she works remotely as a therapist. Then Ghostface tracks her down and begins messing with her mind, forcing her to reunite with Dewey and Gale, noting that the cabin is no longer safe and she may as well be with people when things go south.
* CartwrightCurse: [[spoiler:Both men she’s involved with die; Billy because he was one of the killers and she had to put him down herself, and Derek because he was a suspect and she didn’t act fast enough before Mickey killed
* ClashingCousins: [[spoiler:With Jill Roberts in ''Scream 4''.]]
* ItsAllMyFault: Because so many of her loved ones have been killed, she begins having survivor's guilt and believes that they died because of her. That said, while she feels guilt over their deaths, she spares no guilt for the Ghostfaces when they try to blame their problems on her, saying that they have no one to blame but their own screwed up existences.
* MostWritersAreWriters: In ''Scream 4'', she publishes a memoir, which becomes a bestseller.
* NeverAcceptedInHisHometown: In ''Scream 4'', she is visibly jeered at by people at Woodsboro when people start dying the moment she arrives. This might have been the reason why she lived out of town in the interim years.
* NeverAcceptedInHisHometown: In ''Scream 4'', she is visibly jeered at by people at Woodsboro when people start dying the moment she arrives. This might have been the reason why she lived out of town in the interim years.
* RebuiltPedestal: She is understandably upset upon learning that her mother was not the person she thought she was, but comes to terms with her actions and believes that, in spite of them all, she did her best raising her.
* RedBaron: By ''Scream 4'', she has gained the moniker "Angel of Death", because [[DoomMagnet she tends to invite death and destruction everywhere she goes]].
* RedBaron: By ''Scream 4'', she has gained the moniker "Angel of Death", because [[DoomMagnet she tends to invite death and destruction everywhere she goes]].
Changed line(s) 43,45 (click to see context) from:
* SheWhoFightsMonsters: While Sidney has managed to survive four occasions of attacks, there were some scenes that make you wonder whether or not she might end up as a killer, or no different from one. In the third film, this was a part of Ghostface's plan as Ghostface wanted to pin the murders on her. She herself even [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] this in said film.
-->'''[[spoiler: Roman]]''': I shot you.
-->'''Sidney''': ''[reveals bullet proof vest]'' I guess we think alike.
-->'''[[spoiler: Roman]]''': I shot you.
-->'''Sidney''': ''[reveals bullet proof vest]'' I guess we think alike.
to:
* SheWhoFightsMonsters: While Sidney has managed to survive four occasions of attacks, there were some scenes that make you wonder whether or not she might end up as a killer, or no different from one.
** In the first film, she temporarily dons the Ghostface costume and uses the voice changer to trick Billy and Stu, leading them to their deaths.
** In the third film, this was a part of Ghostface's plan as Ghostface wanted to pin the murders on her. She herself even [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] this in said film.
-->'''[[spoiler: --->'''[[spoiler: Roman]]''': I shot you.
-->'''Sidney''': --->'''Sidney''': ''[reveals bullet proof vest]'' I guess we think alike.
** In the first film, she temporarily dons the Ghostface costume and uses the voice changer to trick Billy and Stu, leading them to their deaths.
** In the third film, this was a part of Ghostface's plan as Ghostface wanted to pin the murders on her. She herself even [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] this in said film.
* YankTheDogsChain: Every time she seems to have settled into a peaceful life, she will inevitably get dragged into another Ghostface terror all over again. Even hiding herself in a cottage doesn't work, as [[spoiler:Roman]] somehow manages to find her.
* BreakUpMakeUpScenario: She and Dewey share a kiss at the end of the first film, but are not together in the second, thanks to Dewey's disgust at Gale using the killings as an excuse to advance her career. After they reconcile, they start dating, but are broken up again by ''Scream 3'' because Gale has not changed her ways. When she promises to do so, Dewey proposes to her. In ''Scream 4'', they have been married for a decade, but their relationship is strained because of Gale's frustrations of being forced to become a {{Housewife}} in Woodsboro. However, their experiences with the fourth Ghostface terror are implied to reconcile them.
* FinalGirl: Played with. Gale is not only an unexpected additional final girl, but her bossy and ruthless attitude, as well as her shameless in seducing Dewey to get information, makes her an antithesis to everything that a traditional final girl stands for.
* {{Housewife}}: In ''Scream 4'', it is revealed that after Gale married Dewey, she quit journalism to move in with him to Woodsboro. She could not settle in as a writer with no news to report, however, and became stuck as a housewife as a result.
Changed line(s) 86 (click to see context) from:
* IntrepidReporter: In the first movie she goes to great lengths to get a good story.
to:
* IntrepidReporter: In the first movie she goes to great lengths to get a good story. In fact, she has been called a "Characters/LoisLane", who is something of a TropeCodifier.
* JumpedAtTheCall: She loves mysteries, and is ecstatic to solve the identities of whoever new Ghostfaces that crop up, unlike Dewey and Sidney.
Changed line(s) 99 (click to see context) from:
* RunningGag: Her getting punched in the face by people (usually Sidney) that she pisses off. In the third film, this is turned on its head when she punches Jennifer, the actress playing her in ''Stab 3''. She threatens to do it again in the fourth film.
to:
* RunningGag: Her getting punched in the face by people (usually Sidney) that she pisses off. In the third film, this is turned on its head when she punches Jennifer, the actress playing her in ''Stab 3''. She In the fourth film, she threatens to do it again punch Rebecca when he nags on her.
* SelfDeprecation: Gale herself has recognized how cutthroat she is a few times. In a particularly memorable moment inthe fourth film.''Scream 2'', she stops a reporter from pestering Dewey, saying that he is a good man unlike "some of us".
* SelfDeprecation: Gale herself has recognized how cutthroat she is a few times. In a particularly memorable moment in
* WritersBlock: In ''Scream 4'', years of living as a housewife have sapped away her creativity, as she finds herself unable to write a good material. Her decision to go undercover to investigate Ghostface's identity is partly so she can regain her journalistic spirits back.
* BreakUpMakeUpScenario: He and Gale share a kiss at the end of the first film, but are not together in the second, thanks to Dewey's disgust at Gale using the killings as an excuse to advance her career. After they reconcile, they start dating, but are broken up again by ''Scream 3'' because Gale has not changed her ways. When she promises to do so, Dewey proposes to her. In ''Scream 4'', they have been married for a decade, but their relationship is strained because of Gale's frustrations of being forced to become a {{Housewife}} in Woodsboro. However, their experiences with the fourth Ghostface terror are implied to reconcile them.
* BrokenPedestal: In ''Scream 2'', he is livid at Gale for using her experiences as a survivor to advance her career, throwing her friends under the bus along the way.
* BrokenPedestal: In ''Scream 2'', he is livid at Gale for using her experiences as a survivor to advance her career, throwing her friends under the bus along the way.
Changed line(s) 225 (click to see context) from:
!!Maureen Prescott, nee Roberts
to:
!!Maureen Prescott, nee née Roberts
Changed line(s) 235 (click to see context) from:
* DarkAndTroubledPast: [[spoiler: She was an aspiring actress who got pregnant after a gang rape by Hollywood honchos in the 1970s, set the baby up for adoption and turned him away out of fear of breaking her current family apart, she cheats on her husband with Cotton Weary and gets murdered by her daughter's boyfriend]].
to:
* CastingCouch: When she was an actress, she categorically refused to do this. [[spoiler:John Milton would have none of it and subjected her to a gang rape, leading to the birth of Roman.]]
* DarkAndTroubledPast: [[spoiler: She was an aspiring actress who got pregnant after a gang rape by Hollywood honchos in the 1970s, set the baby up for adoption and turned him away out of fear of breaking her current family apart, she cheats on her husband with Cotton Weary and Mr. Loomis, and gets murdered by her daughter's boyfriend]].
* DarkAndTroubledPast: [[spoiler: She was an aspiring actress who got pregnant after a gang rape by Hollywood honchos in the 1970s, set the baby up for adoption and turned him away out of fear of breaking her current family apart, she cheats on her husband with Cotton Weary and Mr. Loomis, and gets murdered by her daughter's boyfriend]].
* IHaveNoSon: It is implied that [[spoiler:Maureen effectively disowned Roman when he tried to reconnect with her, judging by how bitter he is.]]
* MissingMom: To Sidney, who still has trouble coming to terms with her brutal death a year later.
* MissingMom: To Sidney, who still has trouble coming to terms with her brutal death a year later.
* SinsOfTheFather: It takes Sidney four years until she manages to free herself from her mother's sins, as the Ghostfaces are in some way or another motivated to murder because of Maureen's actions.
Changed line(s) 242 (click to see context) from:
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: A lot of trouble could have been averted if she had accepted [[spoiler:Roman Bridger]] as her son...
to:
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom:
** A lot of trouble could have been averted if she had accepted [[spoiler:Roman Bridger]] as herson...son...
** Her sleeping with [[spoiler: Mr. Loomis broke his family apart, and gave reasons for Billy and Mrs. Loomis to hate her and her daughter]].
** A lot of trouble could have been averted if she had accepted [[spoiler:Roman Bridger]] as her
** Her sleeping with [[spoiler: Mr. Loomis broke his family apart, and gave reasons for Billy and Mrs. Loomis to hate her and her daughter]].
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None
Changed line(s) 197 (click to see context) from:
* GoodAllAlong: Sidney was uneasy around him, Gale believed for a second he was the killer and Mrs Loomis believed he was a psychopath like her. However,[[spoiler:it turns out he never intended to hurt Sidney or anybody beside Mrs Loomis for that matter.]]
to:
* GoodAllAlong: Sidney was uneasy around him, Gale believed for a second he was the killer and Mrs Loomis believed he was a psychopath like her. However,[[spoiler:it However, [[spoiler:it turns out he never intended to hurt Sidney or anybody beside Mrs Loomis for that matter.]]
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None
Changed line(s) 52 (click to see context) from:
* SympatheticMurderer: She deliberately kills most of the killers, even though in the case of [[spoiler:Billy and Mickey]] they were already defenseless and it was unnecessary. However considering the paranoia they made her endures can you blame her ?
to:
* SympatheticMurderer: She deliberately kills most of the killers, even though in the case of [[spoiler:Billy and Mickey]] they were already defenseless and it was unnecessary. However considering the paranoia they made her endures endure, can you blame her ? her?
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Dewicked trope
Deleted line(s) 121 (click to see context) :
* BadassMustache: Dewey's trademark moustache.
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'''[[center: [- [[Characters/{{Scream}} Main Character Index]] -]]]'''
[[foldercontrol]]
!Characters appearing in all the films
[[folder:Sidney Prescott]]
!!Sidney Prescott
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/9e1714701bc35ed7d501fa93341411d8.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"I'm a fighter."'']]
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/NeveCampbell
->''"Psychos can't kill what they can't find."''
The [[FinalGirl professional]] [[ActionSurvivor survivor]], Sidney's life has been defined by a series of killing sprees all directed at her. First her mother Maureen was killed out of a jealous rage, then her friends in high school and college were hacked to bits, and ''then'' they started making [[ShowWithinAShow hit slasher movies]] based on her tragedy. While this has brought her fame, fortune and a bestselling autobiography, it also means that she has had to spend large parts of her adult life constantly looking over her shoulder for the next wannabe Ghostface.
----
* ActionGirl: In the fourth film, ready to take on the killer at the drop of a head.
* AloofDarkHairedGirl: By the time of the third film, she became distant to other people due to being a BrokenBird.
* BadassAdorable: A very pretty, naturally sweet-natured young woman who only becomes more badass with each passing installment. In her first on-screen fight against Ghostface, she successfully holds her own and knocks him down, and can generally be counted on to put up a fight.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Transforms into this as her character evolves over the course of the series.
* BigGood: Sidney becomes one throughout each of the movies. The second and fourth movie especially, where ItsPersonal and willing to take a proactive approach.
* BrainyBrunette: She's smart enough to live through all the movies.
* BrokenBird: She is what constantly being the FinalGirl [[DeconstructedCharacterArchetype in real life is like]].
* BullyHunter: When she actively fights back against Ghostface, who beneath the mask would simply be TheBully in another work if not a SerialKiller in a horror film.
* ButtMonkey: When you consider that she's destined to spend the rest of her life being periodically attacked by masked psychopaths attempting to copy one another's murder sprees. Oh, and Tori Spelling played her in the ''Stab'' movie. Why, Sidney, did you have to [[TemptingFate mention that?]]
* CartwrightCurse: [[spoiler:Both men she’s involved with die; Billy because he was one of the killers and she had to put him down herself, and Derek because he was a suspect and she didn’t act fast enough before Mickey killed him]].
* CharacterDevelopment: At the beginning of the first film, she's just a [[PluckyGirl perky high school kid]] who, over time, develops into a guilt-ridden survivor in the second film, to a seclusive hermit by the third. The fourth, however, shows how, many years later, [[spoiler:[[LetsGetDangerous she's fully willing to take the fight to the killer]], having her first encounter with him directly after Olivia's death. And winning.]]
* CombatPragmatist: Sidney uses anything at her disposal when Ghostface comes for her; [[ParasolOfPain umbrellas]], guns, defibrilators, [[BreadEggsMilkSquick sticking her fingers into open wounds]], you name it.
* DamselOutOfDistress: While she's the target for each Ghostface, she survives each encounter by taking them out instead.
* DeathBySex: Subverted in the first film; she's the only named character in the franchise to have sex and live to tell about it.
* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: Being the FinalGirl in real life is not good for one's mental health.
* DoomMagnet: She's destined to spend the rest of her life being periodically attacked and having all her friends killed by nutjobs trying to imitate the previous killers. In the second movie her drama teacher outright compares her to [[TheCassandra Cassandra, a woman from Greek myth who was cursed.]]
* FamedInStory: Becomes a celebrity after the events of the first movie.
* FinalGirl: Initially played straight (except for the film's subversion of DeathBySex), although she slowly evolves into a {{deconstruct|edCharacterArchetype}}ion as the series goes on, with her life defined by her "perpetual victimhood" and the bloody consequences that this has for those around her.
* FriendlyEnemy: With Cotton, in the second film.
* GenreSavvy: "Horror movies are all the same. Some stupid killer stalking some big-breasted girl who can't act who's always running up the stairs when she should be going out the front door. It's insulting."
* ImprobableWeaponUser: Wields an array of [[ImprovisedWeapon Improvised Weapons]] throughout the series, to the point that it's practically a RunningGag. Greatest hits include an ornate ice pick, [[ParasolOfPain an umbrella]], a defibrillator, a framed picture on the wall, and a ''necklace''. Basically, if you're trying to kill her, she can and will use anything she can get her hands on to defend herself, and use it well.
* KirkSummation: In the third film, she can't help but be annoyed and disgusted with [[spoiler:Roman for blaming Sidney's existence for his life, thus his eventual murdering spree]]. Eventually, she gets fed up, having heard this speech before, and shouts furiously that [[spoiler:he's]] really just looking for an excuse and every last one of the scapegoating Ghostfaces should [[RevengeMyopia learn to take some responsibility for once in their twisted lives]].
* MadeOfIron: Similar to the Ghostface killer, she's pretty durable considering she survives getting stabbed a few times, a couple car crashes, and falling out an upper-story window onto a boat.
* NiceGirl: She's introduced as innocent, supportive and caring and it doesn't completely go away after her various traumas.
* PlotArmor: She's been critically injured every movie, but it's never been fatal.
* PluckyGirl: Considering everything she went through.
* SanitySlippage: [[spoiler:Through her half-brother's movie tricks]], she apparently undergoes this in the third film, having visions of her dead mother coming for her. It doesn't work though.
* SheWhoFightsMonsters: While Sidney has managed to survive four occasions of attacks, there were some scenes that make you wonder whether or not she might end up as a killer, or no different from one. In the third film, this was a part of Ghostface's plan as Ghostface wanted to pin the murders on her. She herself even [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] this in said film.
-->'''[[spoiler: Roman]]''': I shot you.
-->'''Sidney''': ''[reveals bullet proof vest]'' I guess we think alike.
* ShutUpHannibal: In the third movie, when confronted with Ghostface [[spoiler:revealed himself to be Roman, Sidney's half-brother]], she cuts him off in the middle of his MotiveRant, declaring that she's tired of all the bullshit that the killers she has encountered have told her, and says that all of the reasons she has heard are just pathetic excuses that the killers use to hide the fact that they kill people simply because they enjoy doing it. This leads to a rather large VillainousBreakdown.
-->'''Sidney''': God, why don't you stop your whining and get on with it? I've heard this shit before! Do you know why you kill people, [[spoiler:Roman]]? Do you? [[ForTheEvulz BECAUSE YOU]] ''[[ForTheEvulz CHOOSE]]'' [[ForTheEvulz TO!]] There ''is'' no one else to blame! Why don't you take some ''fucking'' responsibility?!
-->[[spoiler:'''Roman:''']] ''*livid*'' FUCK YOU!!!
-->'''Sidney:''' FUCK ''[[NoYou YOU]]''!!!
* TheScapegoat: Every Ghostface with a motive for their killings finds some way to [[NeverMyFault blame her for how fucked up and psychopathic they are]], naturally seeing murder for revenge as the ideal solution. By the third time this happens, Sidney has completely had it and lividly calls them out on their bullshit.
* SupportingProtagonist: Dewey and Gale are more active than her in the third film but she's still the main character.
* SympatheticMurderer: She deliberately kills most of the killers, even though in the case of [[spoiler:Billy and Mickey]] they were already defenseless and it was unnecessary. However considering the paranoia they made her endures can you blame her ?
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: The Tomboy to Tatum's Girly Girl in the first movie and Hallie's Girly Girl in the second one.
* TomboyishName: A name befitting of any respectable FinalGirl. While "Sidney" did [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/sidney/top become popular]] as a girl's name in the early '90s (especially in the alternate spelling [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/sydney/top "Sydney"]]), for most people of Sidney's generation it would be known mainly as a boy's name. Even so, many girls with this name often spell it as Sydney.
* TookALevelInBadass: There weren't any doubts about her badassery in the first two movies, but she ''really'' cranks it up by the third.
-->'''Sidney:''' (walks in on Ghostface and starts unloading her gun into him) It's ''your'' turn to scream, asshole!
* VillainKiller: Of the protagonists, she has the highest villain kill count, taking out [[spoiler:Stu Macher, Billy Loomis, Mickey Altieri (with Gale's help), and Jill Roberts]]. It's enough that she's lampshading this tendency in the thrid and fourth films.
* ZenSurvivor: What she becomes after surviving the horrors of the ''Scream'' movies, especially after the events of the second movie. Poor girl needs to catch a break.
----
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Gale Weathers]]
!!Gale Riley (née Weathers)
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/4ad7a97609ae2bc05bbc258e6fbf41dd.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Hey, you'd better check your conscience at the door, sweetie. I'm not here to be loved."'']]
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/CourteneyCox
->''"People treat me like I'm the anti-Christ of television journalism."''
A reporter who, in the first film, is fighting to prove that Cotton Weary did not commit the murder that he was put on death row for, and returns to Woodsboro for the one-year anniversary and to cover the new string of murders. Come the sequel, she's written a book about the Woodsboro murders, which has been [[RippedFromTheHeadlines adapted into a film]], and comes to Windsor College to cover yet another killing spree. Has a [[{{Jerkass}} rather abrasive]] personality.
----
* ActionGirl: Put a gun in her hand, and she'll take Ghostface down in a heartbeat. The killers from the first two movies found that out the hard way.
* AloofDarkHairedGirl: A dark-haired woman and sort of an IceQueen.
* BadBoss: To her cameramen Kenny and Joel. [[spoiler: Though she is shocked and horrified at the murder of the former.]]
* BrainyBrunette: A dark-haired, intelligent, clever, and driven woman.
* BrutalHonesty: She can be pretty rude.
* CassandraTruth: [[spoiler: Before Billy and Stu were exposed as the killers,]] Gale was the only one who believed Cotton Weary was innocent.
* DeadpanSnarker: Gale is quite snarky when push comes to shove. Most of her interactions with Jennifer Jolie in the third film, for example, are good examples of her snark at work.
* DefrostingIceQueen: Her CharacterDevelopment over the course of the series.
* {{Determinator}}: She always gets her story.
* EveryoneHasStandards: In ''Scream 2'', a reporter insinuates that Dewey is responsible for the new Ghostface killings. Gale, clearly outraged that anyone could even make such a claim, says that Dewey is a good guy "unlike some of us".
* FireForgedFriends: She and Sidney initially have a very, very rocky relationship. This changes over the course of the films.
* GenreSavvy: Progressively grows into this as the series progresses.
* GoodIsNotNice: Despite her abrasive personality, she's one of the good guys.
* IfItBleedsItLeads: At first, but she gets better.
* IntrepidReporter: In the first movie she goes to great lengths to get a good story.
* JerkassHasAPoint: Even when she's at her worst in the first Scream, she's still ultimately right that Cotton Weary was innocent.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: She's rather insensitive towards Sidney in the first movie, but gets better in the sequels. She also ditched Dewey between Scream and Scream 2, but is shown to regret it.
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: In the first film. Most notably highlighted when she explains her motive to prove Cotton Weary's innocence: largely to get good publicity and sell her book. [[spoiler:She's right that Cotton's innocent, but that doesn't make her motive any less self-serving.]]
-->'''Gale''': If I'm right about this, I could save a man's life. Do you know what that would do for my book sales?
* ManipulativeBitch: She was prone to twisting the facts and misleading people to suit her own needs.
* MeanBoss: Is quite mean towards Kenny and Joel, who don’t appreciate her attitude towards them.
* NonProtagonistResolver: Tries to be this in the first movie and would've been had she not left the safety on.
* OfficialCouple: With Dewey at the end of the third film.
* PitbullDatesPuppy: The Pitbull in her relationship with Dewey.
* PluckyGirl: Gale is willing to risk danger for her ambitions and is confident about things working out for her.
* PunnyName: Though it's quite subtle
-->'''Gale (to Dewey)''': Gale Weathers, right? [[LampshadeHanging Makes me sound like a meteorologist or something]].
* RunningGag: Her getting punched in the face by people (usually Sidney) that she pisses off. In the third film, this is turned on its head when she punches Jennifer, the actress playing her in ''Stab 3''. She threatens to do it again in the fourth film.
* SuddenlyShouting: To her cameraman in the first film.
-->'''Gale''': Look, Kenny, I know you're about fifty pounds overweight, but when I say hurry, please interpret that as ''MOVE YOUR FAT TUB OF LARD ASS, NOW!''
* TookALevelInKindness: She was a major bitch in the first film, but slowly warms up to others as the series continues.
* {{Tsundere}}: Type A.
* UnreliableNarrator: Given Gale's reputation as a sensationalist news reporter, her publications are very often accused of this.
** Before the events of the first film, she wrote news stories that vouched for the innocence of Cotton Weary and accused Sidney of falsely identifying her mother's killer. Gale doesn't genuinely believe in Cotton's innocence; instead, Gale felt that saving Cotton's life would make for a great story, which would in turn earn her greater publicity and profit. [[spoiler:It is later revealed that she is RightForTheWrongReasons.]]
** Before the events of the second film, she writes a book about the Woodsboro murders and gets many details wrong, at least if one takes into account the ''Stab'' movie, which is based on her book. At one point, she admits to Joel that she exaggerated the death of [[spoiler:Kenny]] in her book.
----
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Dewey Riley]]
!!Dwight "Dewey" Riley
[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bccf4eadd3a35bbbd563ddc173977b46.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:320:''"One generation's tragedy is the next one's joke."'']]
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/DavidArquette
->''"How do you know that my dimwitted inexperience isn't merely a subtle form of manipulation, used to lower people's expectations, thereby enhancing my ability to effectively maneuver within any given situation?"''
Woodsboro's deputy sheriff, Dewey is always on the case when a new Ghostface killer comes out of the woodwork, partly due to the loss of his little sister Tatum to the first Ghostface, and partly out of his [[TrueCompanions sense of family]] with Sidney, Gale, and Randy. He is also the only character to [[spoiler:not break any of Randy's horror movie rules.]]
----
* ActionSurvivor: Dewey might be the poster child for this trope. He is uncannily lucky, enduring horrible stabbings and beatdowns over the course of four movies. He lives to fight another day.
* BadassMustache: Dewey's trademark moustache.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: He frequently dishes taunts from his co-policemen, family and friends, but when they are threatened, he is the first to help.
* BigBrotherInstinct: Literally towards Tatum, metaphorically towards Sidney. [[IllKillYou He threatens to personally kill Ghostface]] in ''3'' when Ghostface attempts to hurt Sidney. [[spoiler:He ultimately does.]]
* BerserkButton: [[spoiler:He hates any mentions of his younger sister's death.]]
* ButtMonkey: He gets the shit beaten out of him by Ghostface in each movie, [[spoiler:although he survives them all]]. Also counts as IronButtMonkey.
* EmbarrassingNickname: His real name is "Dwight", with "Dewey" being a childhood nickname he got stuck with. By the time ''Scream 2'' rolls around, he makes a point on being called "Dwight" by Gale - it doesn't take, though.
* GoodHairEvilHair: Dewey sports a heroic cop mustache.
* MadeOfIron: Stabbed in the back in the first film, stabbed multiple times in the second one, beaten almost to death with a bedpan in the fourth one...and still alive.
* NiceGuy: Especially compared to Gale.
* PitbullDatesPuppy: The Puppy in his relationship with Gale.
* TheSheriff: He's been promoted to this in the fourth film.
* TookALevelInBadass: In ''Scream 4'', he's much sharper and competent at his job than ever before, and correctly deduces that [[spoiler: Sidney's cousin Jill is the Ghostface killer after she makes a small comment about Gale's injury that no one else would've known about unless they were present or inflicted it themselves]].
* TwoFirstNames: "Dewey" and "Riley" can both be used as first names.
----
[[/folder]]
!Characters appearing in multiple films
[[folder:Randy Meeks]]
!!Randy Meeks
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/image_93.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"See, you push the laws and you end up dead. Okay, I'll see you in the kitchen with a knife."'']]
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/JamieKennedy
A horror movie fan who, in the first three films, gave the characters (and the audience) a list of rules for surviving a horror movie. He is one of the key reasons for the series' reputation for self-referential, post-modern humor.
----
* AmbiguousDisorder: His laser focused knowledge on horror movies and lack of certain social graces (in the first movie, he discusses gory stuff while the others are eating and multiple characters automatically assume that Ghostface is actually Randy pulling some kind of prank when he comes around) can lead to this conclusion. Then again, he could also just be just a passionate horror geek who's a little socially awkward at times.
* BreakoutCharacter: Randy is probably the most popular character in the franchise, to the point that [[spoiler:fans were ''furious'' when he was killed off in ''2''.]] This is the reason why he got a [[spoiler:posthumous role]] in ''3''.
* CrazyPrepared: As revealed in ''3'', [[spoiler:he made a VideoWill explaining the rules of a trilogy to Sidney and co. in the event that he didn't survive the second Ghostface incident, commenting that he might have broken one of the rules to end up as a victim.]]
* DeadpanSnarker: The snarkiest in the entire series. And that isn’t an easy feat when you live in a WorldOfSnark.
* DeathBySex: [[spoiler:A NoodleIncident involving sex in a video store turns out to be the culprit behind his grisly end at the hands of Mrs. Loomis. Or at least that's what he suspected.]]
* DeathByGenreSavviness: [[spoiler: His recording in ''3'' had him suspect he would be killed in the previous film due to the rules he established for the first two, and how he probably broke one of them along with the fact that he was in a sequel.]]
* DoggedNiceGuy: To Sidney, but he unfortunately isn't allowed much of a shot with Billy or Derek around and even when he HAD a window between the first two movies, [[CanNotSpitItOut he never worked up the nerve to tell her how he felt.]] In the original script of the 1st movie, he asks her out at the end & she happily accepts. He sadly might not have been so unrequited after all.
* DroppedABridgeOnHim: [[spoiler:He gets unexpectedly yanked into Gale's news van about halfway through the second film during a telephone call with the killer (who had been hiding in the van), and is then stabbed to death.]]
* DyingMomentOfAwesome: [[spoiler:Keeping the killer on the phone so Gale and Dewey could track him down and bravely insulting the killer to his face, er, voice.]]
* ForgottenFallenFriend: [[spoiler:Averted. He is the only killed-off character to get a posthumous role, unless you count the impact the original killers have on the sequels]].
* GenreSavvy: A horror movie fan who lists three rules for surviving a horror movie — don't have sex, don't drink or use drugs, and never say "I'll be right back." Naturally, the characters break all three in record time. Randy expands his rules to sequels and trilogies warnings in the later films.
* HollywoodNerd: An dorky film geek.
* InnocentBlueEyes: He has bright blue eyes, and is one of the series's friendliest and most selfless and lovable characters.
* IronicEcho: In the first movie, Randy nearly dies when the killer sneaks up behind him and is about to stab him, before Sidney's screams prompt the killer to abort this plan. In the second movie, Randy is standing in front of Gale's news van talking on the phone with the killer [[spoiler:but this time isn't so lucky.]]
* KillTheCutie: The lovable and excitable movie geek who [[spoiler:gets mutilated beyond belief in the sequel and before that plays the general role of the underdog with many BreakTheCutie moments occurring.]]
* LargeHam: Can get a little too passionate when talking about horror movie rules, even when it's not the time or place.
-->'''Randy:''' (in the video store) The police are always off track with this shit! If they'd watch Prom Night, they'd save time! There's a formula to it. [[PunctuatedForEmphasis A very! Simple! Formula]]! ''[[SuddenlySHOUTING EVERYBODY'S A SUSPECT]]!''
* MetaGuy: In the original trilogy, and is replaced by Robbie and Charlie in the fourth film.
* TheMovieBuff: He even works in a video store in the first movie.
* NoAccountingForTaste: [[spoiler: In the VideoWill, he mentions sleeping with a video store employee, which arouses groaning from the gang and he even anticipates this reaction by talking about the woman's good points]].
* NoodleIncident: You're left wondering exactly [[spoiler:what rule he broke]] when he [[spoiler:becomes Ghostface's next victim]] in ''2''. We find out exactly [[spoiler:[[DeathBySex which rule he fell foul of]]]] in ''3''.
* OhCrap: In the first movie, after [[spoiler:Billy pulls a gun on him.]]
* OneThingLedToAnother: In ''3'': "We were working late, we were putting away some videos in the porno section and, you know, shit happens."
* PluckyComicRelief: An adorable common relief character whose only crime is making constant tongue-in-cheek remarks.
* PosthumousCharacter: [[spoiler:He dies in ''2'', but makes a cameo via video tape in ''3.'']]
* RightForTheWrongReasons: [[spoiler: Randy assumes that Billy is the killer and went on a spree because Sidney wouldn't have sex with him. He turns out to be right but not for the reason he thinks; Billy became a killer after Roman Bridger revealed Sidney's mother had been sleeping with his father which caused his parents' marriage to dissolve.]]
* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:When he's killed in ''2.'']]
* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: [[spoiler:Survives the first film, but bites it in the middle of the second. Though he did make a video for the third in case this would happen.]]
* VideoWill: [[spoiler:Made one shortly before his death at Windsor College to provide the "rules of a trilogy." Also counts as TheTapeKnewYouWouldSayThat, during a humorous exchange with Dewey.]]
----
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Cotton Weary]]
!!Cotton Weary
[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/image_45.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:320:''"I don't know about homicide, but you've definitely got me for raising my voice in a public library."'']]
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/LievSchreiber
The man who was sentenced to death for the murder of Maureen Prescott, Sidney's mother, whom he was having an affair with. In the first film, Gale Weathers is trying to get his name cleared for the murder, feeling that he is innocent. [[spoiler:She's right.]] In the second film, he travels to Windsor College to convince Sidney to do an interview with him. By the third film, his exploits have made him a celebrity, getting him his own talk show.
----
* AscendedExtra: [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-zagged.]] He has a bigger role in the second film, but in the third film, [[spoiler:he is the second character to die.]]
* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler:He arrives barely in time to save Sidney from being killed by Mrs. Loomis in the second film's climax.]]
* ClearTheirName: What Gale does for him prior to the first film, and also what he does in the second film.
* DeadpanSnarker: Cotton has a rather dry sense of humor.
* DeadStarWalking: [[spoiler:He makes a cameo at the beginning of the third film, only to be killed off moments later. Also doubles somewhat as a case of DroppedABridgeOnHim.]]
* DeathByIrony: A meta example. [[spoiler:He'd just finished shooting a cameo on the set of ''Stab 3'', only to be killed off in little more than a cameo at the beginning of ''Scream 3.'']]
* DudeWheresMyRespect: Played with: after being found innocent of the murders, he feels pretty entitled to his newfound fame and asks Sidney to help him land a big TV interview, believing she "owes" it to him.
* EarlyBirdCameo: In the first film.
* EveryoneHasStandards: The second film has him unapologetic about wanting his own FifteenMinutesOfFame, but he refuses a TV interview right on the heels of the murder spree's end.
* FrameUp: [[spoiler:The first film reveals that Billy and Stu framed him for Maureen's murder.]]
* FriendlyEnemy: With Sidney in the second film.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: As seen in BigDamnHeroes, he's eventually revealed to be this at the end of the second film.
* GoodAllAlong: Sidney was uneasy around him, Gale believed for a second he was the killer and Mrs Loomis believed he was a psychopath like her. However,[[spoiler:it turns out he never intended to hurt Sidney or anybody beside Mrs Loomis for that matter.]]
* PunnyName: His talk-show is named ''100% Cotton''.
* RedHerring: [[spoiler:In the second film.]]
* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:In the third film, he's offed in ten minutes to set up the "all bets are off" arc.]]
* ShowWithinAShow: In the beginning of ''Scream 3'', he's been hosting the talk show ''100% Cotton'' for some time; furthermore, he has also finished shooting a cameo for the latest ''Stab'' movie.
* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: [[spoiler:After surviving the first two movies, he becomes the "prologue victim" of the third film.]]
* TallDarkAndSnarky: He's 6'3, has dark brown hair and is fairly snarky.
----
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Neil Prescott]]
!!Neil Prescott
[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/neil_00.jpg]]
!!!'''Played By:''' Lawrence Hecht
Sidney's father and a widower since the death of his wife.
----
* BoundAndGagged: [[spoiler:During the climax of the first film.]]
* DistressedDude: [[spoiler:Billy and Stu kidnapped him at some point during the first film and stuck him in a closet at Stu's house.]]
* DroppedABridgeOnHim: Sidney mentions he has died in between the third and fourth films.
* FrameUp: [[spoiler:Billy and Stu attempted to frame him for the murders in the first film.]]
* NiceGuy: For one thing, he always forgave his wife for her numerous infidelities.
* PutOnABus: He's on "business abroad" in ''Scream 2''.
* RedHerring: He's suspected to be the killer in the first and second films.
----
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Maureen Prescott]]
!!Maureen Prescott, nee Roberts
[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maureen.jpg]]
!!!'''Played By:''' Lynn [=McRee=]
Sidney’s mother, murdered a year prior to the first film.
----
* AintTooProudToBeg: Ghostface mentions she begged for her life.
-->'''Ghostface''': Do you want to die, Sidney? Your mother sure didn't.
* AlliterativeName: Her StageName '''R'''ina '''R'''eynolds.
* AssholeVictim: Subverted and Deconstructed. While it becomes clear Maureen was a deeply flawed person, Sidney still loves her and she clearly didn't deserve the sheer brutality she got in life.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: [[spoiler: She was an aspiring actress who got pregnant after a gang rape by Hollywood honchos in the 1970s, set the baby up for adoption and turned him away out of fear of breaking her current family apart, she cheats on her husband with Cotton Weary and gets murdered by her daughter's boyfriend]].
* DeceasedParentsAreTheBest: Zig-zagged, she cheated on her husband with several men but he and Sidney forgave her and remember her very well.
* NothingIsScarier: Exactly how she died is possibly purposely left vague. Her body bag in ''3'' indicates that she sustained stab wounds to the crotch, chest, and head, but it was just a prop for a FilmWithinAFilm, and thus possibly not true to life. She is said to have been tortured, but this is only ever brought up exactly once in the entire series, by self-admitted sensationalist Gale Weathers, who unsurprisingly could have just been embellishing like she did with Kenny's death (he had his throat slit, but Gale said that he was disemboweled). All we know is that [[spoiler:Billy and Stu]] attacked her after she had sex with Cotton (which gave the impression that it was a rape-murder) and that the killing left a coat that Cotton had forgotten at the Prescott house after the romp with Maureen drenched in blood.
* PosthumousCharacter: Murdered a year before the first film.
* PromiscuityAfterRape: [[spoiler:The third movie reveals she was gang-raped at a party, leading to her cheating on her husband with, among other men, Cotton Weary and Mr. Loomis.]]
* SlutShaming: Even after her death, she is more remembered for sleeping around "like she's Creator/SharonStone" while the men she slept with (when you leave Cotton Weary being unfairly jailed out of account) get their reputations off easily.
* StageNames: During her time in Hollywood, she went by the name [[AlliterativeName Rina Reynolds]].
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: A lot of trouble could have been averted if she had accepted [[spoiler:Roman Bridger]] as her son...
----
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Judy Hicks]]
!!Deputy Sheriff Judy Hicks
[[quoteright:180:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Sc4_JH_3336.png]]
[[caption-width-right:180:''"Wear a vest, save your chest!"'']]
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/MarleyShelton
A dedicated police officer and loyal right-hand woman to Dewey, whom she idolizes and seems to have a crush on (and likes to bake lemon squares to). There is some sort of rivalry between herself and Gale, and the latter doesn't even bother hiding her antipathy towards the deputy (and her lemon squares). Judy knew Sidney from high school, but didn't make a big enough impression for Sidney to remember her.
----
* ActionGirl: When she saves Gale from [[spoiler:being shot by Jill.]]
* DistaffCounterpart: To Dewey, complete with having his rank in the original trilogy and having similarly sounding names, [[spoiler: She even gets incapacitated by the killer like Dewey in every movie.]]
%%* FairCop
* ForgottenFirstMeeting: She and Sidney went to high school together and used to act together in plays. Sidney doesn't remember her, though.
* MeaningfulName: 'Deputy Judy' sounds very close to 'Deputy Dewey'.
* NumberTwo: To Dewey, now a Sheriff.
* PoliceAreUseless: [[spoiler:Subverted. She ends up saving Gale's life.]]
* RedHerring: [[spoiler:More subtle than the obvious Trevor, but still.]]
* RememberTheNewGuy: Her and Sidney went to high school together, but was not seen or mentioned in the very first film. Sidney even points out that she doesn't even remember her from high school, but stated that they've met before.
* SoleSurvivor: [[spoiler: Is the only new character in the film to unambiguously survive, with her bulletproof vest saving her at the end.]]
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: She's essentially [[GenderFlip the female version]] of Dewey, which is explicitly lampshaded by Gale.
* TomboyishPonytail: She wears her hair this way.
[[/folder]]
----
[[foldercontrol]]
!Characters appearing in all the films
[[folder:Sidney Prescott]]
!!Sidney Prescott
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/9e1714701bc35ed7d501fa93341411d8.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"I'm a fighter."'']]
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/NeveCampbell
->''"Psychos can't kill what they can't find."''
The [[FinalGirl professional]] [[ActionSurvivor survivor]], Sidney's life has been defined by a series of killing sprees all directed at her. First her mother Maureen was killed out of a jealous rage, then her friends in high school and college were hacked to bits, and ''then'' they started making [[ShowWithinAShow hit slasher movies]] based on her tragedy. While this has brought her fame, fortune and a bestselling autobiography, it also means that she has had to spend large parts of her adult life constantly looking over her shoulder for the next wannabe Ghostface.
----
* ActionGirl: In the fourth film, ready to take on the killer at the drop of a head.
* AloofDarkHairedGirl: By the time of the third film, she became distant to other people due to being a BrokenBird.
* BadassAdorable: A very pretty, naturally sweet-natured young woman who only becomes more badass with each passing installment. In her first on-screen fight against Ghostface, she successfully holds her own and knocks him down, and can generally be counted on to put up a fight.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Transforms into this as her character evolves over the course of the series.
* BigGood: Sidney becomes one throughout each of the movies. The second and fourth movie especially, where ItsPersonal and willing to take a proactive approach.
* BrainyBrunette: She's smart enough to live through all the movies.
* BrokenBird: She is what constantly being the FinalGirl [[DeconstructedCharacterArchetype in real life is like]].
* BullyHunter: When she actively fights back against Ghostface, who beneath the mask would simply be TheBully in another work if not a SerialKiller in a horror film.
* ButtMonkey: When you consider that she's destined to spend the rest of her life being periodically attacked by masked psychopaths attempting to copy one another's murder sprees. Oh, and Tori Spelling played her in the ''Stab'' movie. Why, Sidney, did you have to [[TemptingFate mention that?]]
* CartwrightCurse: [[spoiler:Both men she’s involved with die; Billy because he was one of the killers and she had to put him down herself, and Derek because he was a suspect and she didn’t act fast enough before Mickey killed him]].
* CharacterDevelopment: At the beginning of the first film, she's just a [[PluckyGirl perky high school kid]] who, over time, develops into a guilt-ridden survivor in the second film, to a seclusive hermit by the third. The fourth, however, shows how, many years later, [[spoiler:[[LetsGetDangerous she's fully willing to take the fight to the killer]], having her first encounter with him directly after Olivia's death. And winning.]]
* CombatPragmatist: Sidney uses anything at her disposal when Ghostface comes for her; [[ParasolOfPain umbrellas]], guns, defibrilators, [[BreadEggsMilkSquick sticking her fingers into open wounds]], you name it.
* DamselOutOfDistress: While she's the target for each Ghostface, she survives each encounter by taking them out instead.
* DeathBySex: Subverted in the first film; she's the only named character in the franchise to have sex and live to tell about it.
* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: Being the FinalGirl in real life is not good for one's mental health.
* DoomMagnet: She's destined to spend the rest of her life being periodically attacked and having all her friends killed by nutjobs trying to imitate the previous killers. In the second movie her drama teacher outright compares her to [[TheCassandra Cassandra, a woman from Greek myth who was cursed.]]
* FamedInStory: Becomes a celebrity after the events of the first movie.
* FinalGirl: Initially played straight (except for the film's subversion of DeathBySex), although she slowly evolves into a {{deconstruct|edCharacterArchetype}}ion as the series goes on, with her life defined by her "perpetual victimhood" and the bloody consequences that this has for those around her.
* FriendlyEnemy: With Cotton, in the second film.
* GenreSavvy: "Horror movies are all the same. Some stupid killer stalking some big-breasted girl who can't act who's always running up the stairs when she should be going out the front door. It's insulting."
* ImprobableWeaponUser: Wields an array of [[ImprovisedWeapon Improvised Weapons]] throughout the series, to the point that it's practically a RunningGag. Greatest hits include an ornate ice pick, [[ParasolOfPain an umbrella]], a defibrillator, a framed picture on the wall, and a ''necklace''. Basically, if you're trying to kill her, she can and will use anything she can get her hands on to defend herself, and use it well.
* KirkSummation: In the third film, she can't help but be annoyed and disgusted with [[spoiler:Roman for blaming Sidney's existence for his life, thus his eventual murdering spree]]. Eventually, she gets fed up, having heard this speech before, and shouts furiously that [[spoiler:he's]] really just looking for an excuse and every last one of the scapegoating Ghostfaces should [[RevengeMyopia learn to take some responsibility for once in their twisted lives]].
* MadeOfIron: Similar to the Ghostface killer, she's pretty durable considering she survives getting stabbed a few times, a couple car crashes, and falling out an upper-story window onto a boat.
* NiceGirl: She's introduced as innocent, supportive and caring and it doesn't completely go away after her various traumas.
* PlotArmor: She's been critically injured every movie, but it's never been fatal.
* PluckyGirl: Considering everything she went through.
* SanitySlippage: [[spoiler:Through her half-brother's movie tricks]], she apparently undergoes this in the third film, having visions of her dead mother coming for her. It doesn't work though.
* SheWhoFightsMonsters: While Sidney has managed to survive four occasions of attacks, there were some scenes that make you wonder whether or not she might end up as a killer, or no different from one. In the third film, this was a part of Ghostface's plan as Ghostface wanted to pin the murders on her. She herself even [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] this in said film.
-->'''[[spoiler: Roman]]''': I shot you.
-->'''Sidney''': ''[reveals bullet proof vest]'' I guess we think alike.
* ShutUpHannibal: In the third movie, when confronted with Ghostface [[spoiler:revealed himself to be Roman, Sidney's half-brother]], she cuts him off in the middle of his MotiveRant, declaring that she's tired of all the bullshit that the killers she has encountered have told her, and says that all of the reasons she has heard are just pathetic excuses that the killers use to hide the fact that they kill people simply because they enjoy doing it. This leads to a rather large VillainousBreakdown.
-->'''Sidney''': God, why don't you stop your whining and get on with it? I've heard this shit before! Do you know why you kill people, [[spoiler:Roman]]? Do you? [[ForTheEvulz BECAUSE YOU]] ''[[ForTheEvulz CHOOSE]]'' [[ForTheEvulz TO!]] There ''is'' no one else to blame! Why don't you take some ''fucking'' responsibility?!
-->[[spoiler:'''Roman:''']] ''*livid*'' FUCK YOU!!!
-->'''Sidney:''' FUCK ''[[NoYou YOU]]''!!!
* TheScapegoat: Every Ghostface with a motive for their killings finds some way to [[NeverMyFault blame her for how fucked up and psychopathic they are]], naturally seeing murder for revenge as the ideal solution. By the third time this happens, Sidney has completely had it and lividly calls them out on their bullshit.
* SupportingProtagonist: Dewey and Gale are more active than her in the third film but she's still the main character.
* SympatheticMurderer: She deliberately kills most of the killers, even though in the case of [[spoiler:Billy and Mickey]] they were already defenseless and it was unnecessary. However considering the paranoia they made her endures can you blame her ?
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: The Tomboy to Tatum's Girly Girl in the first movie and Hallie's Girly Girl in the second one.
* TomboyishName: A name befitting of any respectable FinalGirl. While "Sidney" did [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/sidney/top become popular]] as a girl's name in the early '90s (especially in the alternate spelling [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/sydney/top "Sydney"]]), for most people of Sidney's generation it would be known mainly as a boy's name. Even so, many girls with this name often spell it as Sydney.
* TookALevelInBadass: There weren't any doubts about her badassery in the first two movies, but she ''really'' cranks it up by the third.
-->'''Sidney:''' (walks in on Ghostface and starts unloading her gun into him) It's ''your'' turn to scream, asshole!
* VillainKiller: Of the protagonists, she has the highest villain kill count, taking out [[spoiler:Stu Macher, Billy Loomis, Mickey Altieri (with Gale's help), and Jill Roberts]]. It's enough that she's lampshading this tendency in the thrid and fourth films.
* ZenSurvivor: What she becomes after surviving the horrors of the ''Scream'' movies, especially after the events of the second movie. Poor girl needs to catch a break.
----
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Gale Weathers]]
!!Gale Riley (née Weathers)
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/4ad7a97609ae2bc05bbc258e6fbf41dd.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Hey, you'd better check your conscience at the door, sweetie. I'm not here to be loved."'']]
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/CourteneyCox
->''"People treat me like I'm the anti-Christ of television journalism."''
A reporter who, in the first film, is fighting to prove that Cotton Weary did not commit the murder that he was put on death row for, and returns to Woodsboro for the one-year anniversary and to cover the new string of murders. Come the sequel, she's written a book about the Woodsboro murders, which has been [[RippedFromTheHeadlines adapted into a film]], and comes to Windsor College to cover yet another killing spree. Has a [[{{Jerkass}} rather abrasive]] personality.
----
* ActionGirl: Put a gun in her hand, and she'll take Ghostface down in a heartbeat. The killers from the first two movies found that out the hard way.
* AloofDarkHairedGirl: A dark-haired woman and sort of an IceQueen.
* BadBoss: To her cameramen Kenny and Joel. [[spoiler: Though she is shocked and horrified at the murder of the former.]]
* BrainyBrunette: A dark-haired, intelligent, clever, and driven woman.
* BrutalHonesty: She can be pretty rude.
* CassandraTruth: [[spoiler: Before Billy and Stu were exposed as the killers,]] Gale was the only one who believed Cotton Weary was innocent.
* DeadpanSnarker: Gale is quite snarky when push comes to shove. Most of her interactions with Jennifer Jolie in the third film, for example, are good examples of her snark at work.
* DefrostingIceQueen: Her CharacterDevelopment over the course of the series.
* {{Determinator}}: She always gets her story.
* EveryoneHasStandards: In ''Scream 2'', a reporter insinuates that Dewey is responsible for the new Ghostface killings. Gale, clearly outraged that anyone could even make such a claim, says that Dewey is a good guy "unlike some of us".
* FireForgedFriends: She and Sidney initially have a very, very rocky relationship. This changes over the course of the films.
* GenreSavvy: Progressively grows into this as the series progresses.
* GoodIsNotNice: Despite her abrasive personality, she's one of the good guys.
* IfItBleedsItLeads: At first, but she gets better.
* IntrepidReporter: In the first movie she goes to great lengths to get a good story.
* JerkassHasAPoint: Even when she's at her worst in the first Scream, she's still ultimately right that Cotton Weary was innocent.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: She's rather insensitive towards Sidney in the first movie, but gets better in the sequels. She also ditched Dewey between Scream and Scream 2, but is shown to regret it.
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: In the first film. Most notably highlighted when she explains her motive to prove Cotton Weary's innocence: largely to get good publicity and sell her book. [[spoiler:She's right that Cotton's innocent, but that doesn't make her motive any less self-serving.]]
-->'''Gale''': If I'm right about this, I could save a man's life. Do you know what that would do for my book sales?
* ManipulativeBitch: She was prone to twisting the facts and misleading people to suit her own needs.
* MeanBoss: Is quite mean towards Kenny and Joel, who don’t appreciate her attitude towards them.
* NonProtagonistResolver: Tries to be this in the first movie and would've been had she not left the safety on.
* OfficialCouple: With Dewey at the end of the third film.
* PitbullDatesPuppy: The Pitbull in her relationship with Dewey.
* PluckyGirl: Gale is willing to risk danger for her ambitions and is confident about things working out for her.
* PunnyName: Though it's quite subtle
-->'''Gale (to Dewey)''': Gale Weathers, right? [[LampshadeHanging Makes me sound like a meteorologist or something]].
* RunningGag: Her getting punched in the face by people (usually Sidney) that she pisses off. In the third film, this is turned on its head when she punches Jennifer, the actress playing her in ''Stab 3''. She threatens to do it again in the fourth film.
* SuddenlyShouting: To her cameraman in the first film.
-->'''Gale''': Look, Kenny, I know you're about fifty pounds overweight, but when I say hurry, please interpret that as ''MOVE YOUR FAT TUB OF LARD ASS, NOW!''
* TookALevelInKindness: She was a major bitch in the first film, but slowly warms up to others as the series continues.
* {{Tsundere}}: Type A.
* UnreliableNarrator: Given Gale's reputation as a sensationalist news reporter, her publications are very often accused of this.
** Before the events of the first film, she wrote news stories that vouched for the innocence of Cotton Weary and accused Sidney of falsely identifying her mother's killer. Gale doesn't genuinely believe in Cotton's innocence; instead, Gale felt that saving Cotton's life would make for a great story, which would in turn earn her greater publicity and profit. [[spoiler:It is later revealed that she is RightForTheWrongReasons.]]
** Before the events of the second film, she writes a book about the Woodsboro murders and gets many details wrong, at least if one takes into account the ''Stab'' movie, which is based on her book. At one point, she admits to Joel that she exaggerated the death of [[spoiler:Kenny]] in her book.
----
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Dewey Riley]]
!!Dwight "Dewey" Riley
[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bccf4eadd3a35bbbd563ddc173977b46.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:320:''"One generation's tragedy is the next one's joke."'']]
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/DavidArquette
->''"How do you know that my dimwitted inexperience isn't merely a subtle form of manipulation, used to lower people's expectations, thereby enhancing my ability to effectively maneuver within any given situation?"''
Woodsboro's deputy sheriff, Dewey is always on the case when a new Ghostface killer comes out of the woodwork, partly due to the loss of his little sister Tatum to the first Ghostface, and partly out of his [[TrueCompanions sense of family]] with Sidney, Gale, and Randy. He is also the only character to [[spoiler:not break any of Randy's horror movie rules.]]
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* ActionSurvivor: Dewey might be the poster child for this trope. He is uncannily lucky, enduring horrible stabbings and beatdowns over the course of four movies. He lives to fight another day.
* BadassMustache: Dewey's trademark moustache.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: He frequently dishes taunts from his co-policemen, family and friends, but when they are threatened, he is the first to help.
* BigBrotherInstinct: Literally towards Tatum, metaphorically towards Sidney. [[IllKillYou He threatens to personally kill Ghostface]] in ''3'' when Ghostface attempts to hurt Sidney. [[spoiler:He ultimately does.]]
* BerserkButton: [[spoiler:He hates any mentions of his younger sister's death.]]
* ButtMonkey: He gets the shit beaten out of him by Ghostface in each movie, [[spoiler:although he survives them all]]. Also counts as IronButtMonkey.
* EmbarrassingNickname: His real name is "Dwight", with "Dewey" being a childhood nickname he got stuck with. By the time ''Scream 2'' rolls around, he makes a point on being called "Dwight" by Gale - it doesn't take, though.
* GoodHairEvilHair: Dewey sports a heroic cop mustache.
* MadeOfIron: Stabbed in the back in the first film, stabbed multiple times in the second one, beaten almost to death with a bedpan in the fourth one...and still alive.
* NiceGuy: Especially compared to Gale.
* PitbullDatesPuppy: The Puppy in his relationship with Gale.
* TheSheriff: He's been promoted to this in the fourth film.
* TookALevelInBadass: In ''Scream 4'', he's much sharper and competent at his job than ever before, and correctly deduces that [[spoiler: Sidney's cousin Jill is the Ghostface killer after she makes a small comment about Gale's injury that no one else would've known about unless they were present or inflicted it themselves]].
* TwoFirstNames: "Dewey" and "Riley" can both be used as first names.
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[[/folder]]
!Characters appearing in multiple films
[[folder:Randy Meeks]]
!!Randy Meeks
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/image_93.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"See, you push the laws and you end up dead. Okay, I'll see you in the kitchen with a knife."'']]
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/JamieKennedy
A horror movie fan who, in the first three films, gave the characters (and the audience) a list of rules for surviving a horror movie. He is one of the key reasons for the series' reputation for self-referential, post-modern humor.
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* AmbiguousDisorder: His laser focused knowledge on horror movies and lack of certain social graces (in the first movie, he discusses gory stuff while the others are eating and multiple characters automatically assume that Ghostface is actually Randy pulling some kind of prank when he comes around) can lead to this conclusion. Then again, he could also just be just a passionate horror geek who's a little socially awkward at times.
* BreakoutCharacter: Randy is probably the most popular character in the franchise, to the point that [[spoiler:fans were ''furious'' when he was killed off in ''2''.]] This is the reason why he got a [[spoiler:posthumous role]] in ''3''.
* CrazyPrepared: As revealed in ''3'', [[spoiler:he made a VideoWill explaining the rules of a trilogy to Sidney and co. in the event that he didn't survive the second Ghostface incident, commenting that he might have broken one of the rules to end up as a victim.]]
* DeadpanSnarker: The snarkiest in the entire series. And that isn’t an easy feat when you live in a WorldOfSnark.
* DeathBySex: [[spoiler:A NoodleIncident involving sex in a video store turns out to be the culprit behind his grisly end at the hands of Mrs. Loomis. Or at least that's what he suspected.]]
* DeathByGenreSavviness: [[spoiler: His recording in ''3'' had him suspect he would be killed in the previous film due to the rules he established for the first two, and how he probably broke one of them along with the fact that he was in a sequel.]]
* DoggedNiceGuy: To Sidney, but he unfortunately isn't allowed much of a shot with Billy or Derek around and even when he HAD a window between the first two movies, [[CanNotSpitItOut he never worked up the nerve to tell her how he felt.]] In the original script of the 1st movie, he asks her out at the end & she happily accepts. He sadly might not have been so unrequited after all.
* DroppedABridgeOnHim: [[spoiler:He gets unexpectedly yanked into Gale's news van about halfway through the second film during a telephone call with the killer (who had been hiding in the van), and is then stabbed to death.]]
* DyingMomentOfAwesome: [[spoiler:Keeping the killer on the phone so Gale and Dewey could track him down and bravely insulting the killer to his face, er, voice.]]
* ForgottenFallenFriend: [[spoiler:Averted. He is the only killed-off character to get a posthumous role, unless you count the impact the original killers have on the sequels]].
* GenreSavvy: A horror movie fan who lists three rules for surviving a horror movie — don't have sex, don't drink or use drugs, and never say "I'll be right back." Naturally, the characters break all three in record time. Randy expands his rules to sequels and trilogies warnings in the later films.
* HollywoodNerd: An dorky film geek.
* InnocentBlueEyes: He has bright blue eyes, and is one of the series's friendliest and most selfless and lovable characters.
* IronicEcho: In the first movie, Randy nearly dies when the killer sneaks up behind him and is about to stab him, before Sidney's screams prompt the killer to abort this plan. In the second movie, Randy is standing in front of Gale's news van talking on the phone with the killer [[spoiler:but this time isn't so lucky.]]
* KillTheCutie: The lovable and excitable movie geek who [[spoiler:gets mutilated beyond belief in the sequel and before that plays the general role of the underdog with many BreakTheCutie moments occurring.]]
* LargeHam: Can get a little too passionate when talking about horror movie rules, even when it's not the time or place.
-->'''Randy:''' (in the video store) The police are always off track with this shit! If they'd watch Prom Night, they'd save time! There's a formula to it. [[PunctuatedForEmphasis A very! Simple! Formula]]! ''[[SuddenlySHOUTING EVERYBODY'S A SUSPECT]]!''
* MetaGuy: In the original trilogy, and is replaced by Robbie and Charlie in the fourth film.
* TheMovieBuff: He even works in a video store in the first movie.
* NoAccountingForTaste: [[spoiler: In the VideoWill, he mentions sleeping with a video store employee, which arouses groaning from the gang and he even anticipates this reaction by talking about the woman's good points]].
* NoodleIncident: You're left wondering exactly [[spoiler:what rule he broke]] when he [[spoiler:becomes Ghostface's next victim]] in ''2''. We find out exactly [[spoiler:[[DeathBySex which rule he fell foul of]]]] in ''3''.
* OhCrap: In the first movie, after [[spoiler:Billy pulls a gun on him.]]
* OneThingLedToAnother: In ''3'': "We were working late, we were putting away some videos in the porno section and, you know, shit happens."
* PluckyComicRelief: An adorable common relief character whose only crime is making constant tongue-in-cheek remarks.
* PosthumousCharacter: [[spoiler:He dies in ''2'', but makes a cameo via video tape in ''3.'']]
* RightForTheWrongReasons: [[spoiler: Randy assumes that Billy is the killer and went on a spree because Sidney wouldn't have sex with him. He turns out to be right but not for the reason he thinks; Billy became a killer after Roman Bridger revealed Sidney's mother had been sleeping with his father which caused his parents' marriage to dissolve.]]
* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:When he's killed in ''2.'']]
* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: [[spoiler:Survives the first film, but bites it in the middle of the second. Though he did make a video for the third in case this would happen.]]
* VideoWill: [[spoiler:Made one shortly before his death at Windsor College to provide the "rules of a trilogy." Also counts as TheTapeKnewYouWouldSayThat, during a humorous exchange with Dewey.]]
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[[/folder]]
[[folder:Cotton Weary]]
!!Cotton Weary
[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/image_45.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:320:''"I don't know about homicide, but you've definitely got me for raising my voice in a public library."'']]
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/LievSchreiber
The man who was sentenced to death for the murder of Maureen Prescott, Sidney's mother, whom he was having an affair with. In the first film, Gale Weathers is trying to get his name cleared for the murder, feeling that he is innocent. [[spoiler:She's right.]] In the second film, he travels to Windsor College to convince Sidney to do an interview with him. By the third film, his exploits have made him a celebrity, getting him his own talk show.
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* AscendedExtra: [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-zagged.]] He has a bigger role in the second film, but in the third film, [[spoiler:he is the second character to die.]]
* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler:He arrives barely in time to save Sidney from being killed by Mrs. Loomis in the second film's climax.]]
* ClearTheirName: What Gale does for him prior to the first film, and also what he does in the second film.
* DeadpanSnarker: Cotton has a rather dry sense of humor.
* DeadStarWalking: [[spoiler:He makes a cameo at the beginning of the third film, only to be killed off moments later. Also doubles somewhat as a case of DroppedABridgeOnHim.]]
* DeathByIrony: A meta example. [[spoiler:He'd just finished shooting a cameo on the set of ''Stab 3'', only to be killed off in little more than a cameo at the beginning of ''Scream 3.'']]
* DudeWheresMyRespect: Played with: after being found innocent of the murders, he feels pretty entitled to his newfound fame and asks Sidney to help him land a big TV interview, believing she "owes" it to him.
* EarlyBirdCameo: In the first film.
* EveryoneHasStandards: The second film has him unapologetic about wanting his own FifteenMinutesOfFame, but he refuses a TV interview right on the heels of the murder spree's end.
* FrameUp: [[spoiler:The first film reveals that Billy and Stu framed him for Maureen's murder.]]
* FriendlyEnemy: With Sidney in the second film.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: As seen in BigDamnHeroes, he's eventually revealed to be this at the end of the second film.
* GoodAllAlong: Sidney was uneasy around him, Gale believed for a second he was the killer and Mrs Loomis believed he was a psychopath like her. However,[[spoiler:it turns out he never intended to hurt Sidney or anybody beside Mrs Loomis for that matter.]]
* PunnyName: His talk-show is named ''100% Cotton''.
* RedHerring: [[spoiler:In the second film.]]
* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:In the third film, he's offed in ten minutes to set up the "all bets are off" arc.]]
* ShowWithinAShow: In the beginning of ''Scream 3'', he's been hosting the talk show ''100% Cotton'' for some time; furthermore, he has also finished shooting a cameo for the latest ''Stab'' movie.
* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: [[spoiler:After surviving the first two movies, he becomes the "prologue victim" of the third film.]]
* TallDarkAndSnarky: He's 6'3, has dark brown hair and is fairly snarky.
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[[/folder]]
[[folder:Neil Prescott]]
!!Neil Prescott
[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/neil_00.jpg]]
!!!'''Played By:''' Lawrence Hecht
Sidney's father and a widower since the death of his wife.
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* BoundAndGagged: [[spoiler:During the climax of the first film.]]
* DistressedDude: [[spoiler:Billy and Stu kidnapped him at some point during the first film and stuck him in a closet at Stu's house.]]
* DroppedABridgeOnHim: Sidney mentions he has died in between the third and fourth films.
* FrameUp: [[spoiler:Billy and Stu attempted to frame him for the murders in the first film.]]
* NiceGuy: For one thing, he always forgave his wife for her numerous infidelities.
* PutOnABus: He's on "business abroad" in ''Scream 2''.
* RedHerring: He's suspected to be the killer in the first and second films.
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[[/folder]]
[[folder:Maureen Prescott]]
!!Maureen Prescott, nee Roberts
[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maureen.jpg]]
!!!'''Played By:''' Lynn [=McRee=]
Sidney’s mother, murdered a year prior to the first film.
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* AintTooProudToBeg: Ghostface mentions she begged for her life.
-->'''Ghostface''': Do you want to die, Sidney? Your mother sure didn't.
* AlliterativeName: Her StageName '''R'''ina '''R'''eynolds.
* AssholeVictim: Subverted and Deconstructed. While it becomes clear Maureen was a deeply flawed person, Sidney still loves her and she clearly didn't deserve the sheer brutality she got in life.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: [[spoiler: She was an aspiring actress who got pregnant after a gang rape by Hollywood honchos in the 1970s, set the baby up for adoption and turned him away out of fear of breaking her current family apart, she cheats on her husband with Cotton Weary and gets murdered by her daughter's boyfriend]].
* DeceasedParentsAreTheBest: Zig-zagged, she cheated on her husband with several men but he and Sidney forgave her and remember her very well.
* NothingIsScarier: Exactly how she died is possibly purposely left vague. Her body bag in ''3'' indicates that she sustained stab wounds to the crotch, chest, and head, but it was just a prop for a FilmWithinAFilm, and thus possibly not true to life. She is said to have been tortured, but this is only ever brought up exactly once in the entire series, by self-admitted sensationalist Gale Weathers, who unsurprisingly could have just been embellishing like she did with Kenny's death (he had his throat slit, but Gale said that he was disemboweled). All we know is that [[spoiler:Billy and Stu]] attacked her after she had sex with Cotton (which gave the impression that it was a rape-murder) and that the killing left a coat that Cotton had forgotten at the Prescott house after the romp with Maureen drenched in blood.
* PosthumousCharacter: Murdered a year before the first film.
* PromiscuityAfterRape: [[spoiler:The third movie reveals she was gang-raped at a party, leading to her cheating on her husband with, among other men, Cotton Weary and Mr. Loomis.]]
* SlutShaming: Even after her death, she is more remembered for sleeping around "like she's Creator/SharonStone" while the men she slept with (when you leave Cotton Weary being unfairly jailed out of account) get their reputations off easily.
* StageNames: During her time in Hollywood, she went by the name [[AlliterativeName Rina Reynolds]].
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: A lot of trouble could have been averted if she had accepted [[spoiler:Roman Bridger]] as her son...
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[[/folder]]
[[folder:Judy Hicks]]
!!Deputy Sheriff Judy Hicks
[[quoteright:180:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Sc4_JH_3336.png]]
[[caption-width-right:180:''"Wear a vest, save your chest!"'']]
!!!'''Played By:''' Creator/MarleyShelton
A dedicated police officer and loyal right-hand woman to Dewey, whom she idolizes and seems to have a crush on (and likes to bake lemon squares to). There is some sort of rivalry between herself and Gale, and the latter doesn't even bother hiding her antipathy towards the deputy (and her lemon squares). Judy knew Sidney from high school, but didn't make a big enough impression for Sidney to remember her.
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* ActionGirl: When she saves Gale from [[spoiler:being shot by Jill.]]
* DistaffCounterpart: To Dewey, complete with having his rank in the original trilogy and having similarly sounding names, [[spoiler: She even gets incapacitated by the killer like Dewey in every movie.]]
%%* FairCop
* ForgottenFirstMeeting: She and Sidney went to high school together and used to act together in plays. Sidney doesn't remember her, though.
* MeaningfulName: 'Deputy Judy' sounds very close to 'Deputy Dewey'.
* NumberTwo: To Dewey, now a Sheriff.
* PoliceAreUseless: [[spoiler:Subverted. She ends up saving Gale's life.]]
* RedHerring: [[spoiler:More subtle than the obvious Trevor, but still.]]
* RememberTheNewGuy: Her and Sidney went to high school together, but was not seen or mentioned in the very first film. Sidney even points out that she doesn't even remember her from high school, but stated that they've met before.
* SoleSurvivor: [[spoiler: Is the only new character in the film to unambiguously survive, with her bulletproof vest saving her at the end.]]
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: She's essentially [[GenderFlip the female version]] of Dewey, which is explicitly lampshaded by Gale.
* TomboyishPonytail: She wears her hair this way.
[[/folder]]
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