Line #62 Franchise/ChildsPlay


1	[[quoteright:329:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/91niw4agmql_sy445_4.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:329:''"You know what they say; you just can't keep a Good Guy down!"'']]
3
4	->''"WANNA PLAY?!"''
5
6	''Child's Play'' (also known as ''Chucky'') is a series of [[VillainBasedFranchise villain-based]] horror-comedy {{slasher film}}s that consistently feature Chucky (Creator/BradDourif), a CreepyDoll who actually [[SoulJar contains the soul]] of a notorious SerialKiller named Charles Lee Ray. The films follow Chucky's exploits as he causes all sorts of murderous mayhem in his search for a new human host, in addition to a rotating set of protagonists (who are also the only ones who know of Chucky's true nature) and their efforts to stop him.
7
8	Creator/DonMancini, creator of the Chucky character, has written every installment to date, and he made his directorial debut in the franchise with 2004's ''Seed of Chucky''.
9
10	Not to be confused with [[MediaNotes/ChildsPlayCharity the charity]] or [[Series/ChildsPlay1982 the Bill Cullen game show]].
11	----
12	!!Media in the ''Child's Play'' franchise:
13	[[index]]
14
15	[[AC:Film and television]]
16	* ''Film/ChildsPlay1988'' (original continuity) -- Single mother Karen Barclay (Creator/CatherineHicks) manages to procure a "Good Guy" doll (named Chucky) for her young son Andy (Alex Vincent) from a sketchy peddler, but she doesn't realize there's something ''very'' wrong with him. Turns out the doll is possessed by a supposedly dead serial killer named Charles Lee Ray, and he's looking to transfer into Andy's body.
17	** ''Film/ChildsPlay2'' (1990) -- Shortly after the events of the original film, Andy Barclay is put into the foster care system when his mother --majorly rattled from their ordeal with Chucky-- is deemed unfit to raise him. When a [[BackFromTheDead revived]] Chucky manages to track him down, Andy is forced to put an end to his bloody dealings once again.
18	** ''Film/ChildsPlay3'' (1991) -- Now a teenager, Andy (Justin Whalin) has been sent to MilitarySchool after it's decided he's unable to re-adapt to the world after Chucky. Guess who shows up to finish what he started.
19	** ''Film/BrideOfChucky'' (1998) -- After having been destroyed once and for all, Chucky's obsessed ex-girlfriend Tiffany (Creator/JenniferTilly) restores him back to life. Feeling insulted by her teasing of his doll form, Chucky does what he knows best -- he kills Tiffany and transfers her soul into the body of a female doll. This entry is notable for shifting the franchise into more [[HorrorComedy comedic territory]] than previously seen.
20	** ''Film/SeedOfChucky'' (2004) -- Chucky and Tiffany (who were [[DeathIsCheap both destroyed in the previous film]]) meet their biological child Glen (Billy Boyd), who struggles to share the bloodthirsty ways of his parents. Jennifer Tilly also appears AsHerself ([[AdamWesting an exaggerated version, anyway]]), and is explained to have portrayed Tiffany in [[ShowWithinAShow the films based on Chucky's exploits]] in this universe. The movie mostly follows the dolls planning to take over Jennifer Tilly's life and impregnate her so that Glen can become a real boy.
21	** ''Film/CurseOfChucky'' (2013) -- Paraplegic Nica Pierce (Fiona Dourif, the real-life daughter of Chucky himself) receives an ''unexpected'' package in the mail, and it's up to her to figure out why it arrived -- before it's too late. Alex Vincent, who originated the role of Andy Barclay in the first two films, returns as the character in a [[TheStinger post-credits scene]].
22	** ''Film/CultOfChucky'' (2017) -- Institutionalized after the events of the previous film, Nica thinks she's free of Chucky's terror... until he sneaks into the facility to resume his bloody business. Christine Elise, who originated the role of Kyle in the second film, returns as the character in a [[TheStinger post-credits scene]].
23	** ''{{Series/Chucky}}'' (2021–present) — EverytownAmerica is rocked by a series of gruesome murders when Chucky is found at a yard sale, while figures from Chucky's past reemerge and threaten to expose the truth of his origins. Dourif reprises his role as Chucky along with Jennifer Tilly, Alex Vincent and Fiona Dourif, while Zackary Arthur stars as the protagonist. It premiered on Creator/USANetwork and Creator/{{Syfy}} simultaneously in October 2021.
24	* ''Film/ChildsPlay2019'' ([[ContinuityReboot reboot film]]) -- Starring Creator/AubreyPlaza as Karen Barclay, Gabriel Bateman as Andy, Creator/BrianTyreeHenry as the detective investigating their case, and Creator/MarkHamill as the voice of Chucky. In this iteration, Chucky has ArtificialIntelligence elements and has no connection to Charles Lee Ray, with the voodoo aspects and Ray himself being written out entirely.
25
26	[[AC:Comic books]]
27	* ''ComicBook/ChildsPlayInnovation'' (1991)
28
29	[[AC:Video Games]]
30	* ''VideoGame/DeadByDaylight'' (2016) - Chucky was added as a GuestFighter [=DLC=] killer in November 2023, alongside Tiffany as an alternate cosmetic for him.
31	* ''VideoGame/FunkoFusion'' (2024)
32
33	[[/index]]
34	----
35	!!General tropes across the franchise:
36	* AbortedArc: Glen/Glenda from ''Seed'' has not returned for any sequels so far, even though Tiffany did.[[note]]Don Mancini said he ''would'' like to resolve this storyline, but hasn't thought of any ideas on how to bring them back. Another issue is ExecutiveMeddling seemingly trying to avoid referencing ''Seed'' in any way to the point that just a brief mention of Glen/Glenda was cut from ''Cult of Chucky''.[[/note]]
37	** They get a mention in ''Chucky'' season 1 when Chucky mentions him having a gender-fluid kid [[spoiler: and Glen/Glenda finally make a proper return in season 2, now both occupying separate bodies.]]
38	* AdultsAreUseless: Most of them can't accept the reality that a killer doll is on the loose. Probably because it's the last thing they'd suspect.
39	* AshFace: When Chucky gets burnt. Also in ''Seed'', Joan has this when [[spoiler:Glenda burns her with a flamethrower]].
40	* AndIMustScream: It's implied in the ''ComicBook/HackSlash'' crossover that Chucky is stuck in this type of state whenever he is killed.
41	* ArtisticLicenseReligion:
42	** The films make references (including in the words to the possession spell) to "Damballa". While he is a real Loa (basically a god) in the Voodoo religion, he isn't some GodOfEvil like the movies imply, but rather the main creator god. Indeed some historians believe he may even be loosely inspired by ''Moses''.
43	** There are several lines of dialogue implying Hell exists in the film's universe (or at least that Chucky and Tiffany believe that it does). The voodoo religion doesn't have a Hell, instead, evil people are thought to be doomed to walk the Earth as bodyless spirits rather than go to the afterlife.
44	* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: Chucky's whole possession spell chant. It probably meant to sound like French or possibly Creole, however, it also has bits from other languages as well as some nonsense words [[https://childsplay.fandom.com/wiki/Damballa on this page (second post from the top) someone attempts a rough translation, although they admit a lot of it is just guesswork based on the context and tone he says it in.]]
45	* AxCrazy: Charles Lee Ray, the actual murderer and by extension, Chucky in all films.
46	* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler:Chucky's plots to transfer his soul into another body and get rid of his enemies always ended in colossal failure until he finally wised up in Curse of Chucky, where he manages to off everyone and successfully pin everything on Nica Pierce. Then he comes back in the sequel and not only offs everyone at the mental institution she's in, but he manages to transfer his soul into her and (using a voodoo spell he got off the internet) can now split his and Tiffany's souls into as many vessels as they want. Oh, and his arch-nemesis Andy Barclay is now locked up in the facility as well.]]
47	* BigBad: Chucky.
48	* BitchInSheepsClothing: Chucky, of course, since who would ever suspect a Good Guy doll of being an infamous voodoo-practicing serial killer? Even Andy and Tyler, his first two intended {{Soul Jar}}s, think he's a nice guy at first when he reveals to them that he's actually alive.
49	* BloodierAndGorier: Each and every successive installment just gets messier than the last.
50	* BodyHorror: What happens to Chucky over the course of the first few films to a degree. He becomes 'more human' the longer he's in the doll, which ultimately makes him this twisted fusion of flesh, blood, plastic, and wires. Kind of light, except it also makes him still feel pain, but unable to die (or so it seems) from more normal biological things like blood loss and shock.
51	* BodySurf: Chucky's goal for much of the series is to transfer his soul into a human body.
52	* BondageIsBad: Chucky and Tiffany are vile and sadistic serial killers who, at different points of the series, have been hinted to have an affinity for BDSM.
53	** In ''Bride of Chucky'', Tiffany handcuffs Damien to her bed under the guise of foreplay (but truly just to awaken Chucky).
54	** In ''Seed of Chucky'', during preparation for a soul transfer, Chucky attacks Jennifer Tilly and binds and gags her with sadistic glee. When he asks her if the ropes he's used to bind her are too tight, she responds in the affirmative, to which he counters, "Ain't no such thing."
55	* BrokenPedestal: TheHero finds him or herself in this position when one or more of their confidantes believed they committed the crimes that were in fact caused by Chucky. This however, causes the one who becomes disillusioned to TookALevelInJerkass or reveals him or herself to be negatively NotSoAboveItAll and becomes just another AssholeVictim who is TooDumbToLive for Chucky to kill.
56	** Andy is this to Joanne in the second film.
57	** Jade and Jesse are this to David in the fourth film (though unlike most mean-spirited examples in the series, its revelation is more PlayedForLaughs in a BlackComedy manner due to the fourth film steering more towards the humorous route as well as David's actor's [[LargeHam over-the-top]] approach on how his character becomes disillusioned).
58	** Nica is this to Ian in the sixth film.
59	* CassandraTruth: No one ever believes Andy or any other protagonist about Chucky. When they do, they usually die.
60	** After the first film, Karen Barclay was locked away in an asylum because she insisted the killer doll story was true even when the police didn't back it up.
61	** Even Mike doesn't believe that Chucky is possessed by Charles Lee Ray at first, despite the fact that he witnessed Ray summon a freak lightning storm out of nowhere in his final moments.
62	* ConvictedByPublicOpinion: Sadly, given how much a CrapsackWorld and a WorldOfJerkass the films' setting turns out to be the protagonists would be automatically preordained as the prime suspect for the killings or any other misdeeds rather than Chucky.
63	* CrapsackWorld: The apparent setting of the films, as it's a WretchedHive of a universe filled with multiple kinds of deplorable and despicable characters such as [[{{Jerkass}} jerks]] (who [[AssholeVictims most deserved]] Chucky's wrath) and supporting characters who are mostly either TooDumbToLive, NotSoAboveItAll, {{Hate Sink}}s, or have [[TookALevelInJerkass taken a level in jerkass]], compared to the HeroWithBadPublicity protagonists who all happen to the [[OnlySaneMan Only Sane People]] in comparison to the supporting cast. The world these films depicts — almost every character except TheHero of each installment [[WorldOfJerkass unilaterally selfish and motivated by their worst impulses — is definitely this]]. It also has a bleak depiction of Chicago, Illinois or at least mid-America, ranging from Chicago being littered with vagrants who are rapists at night and has a rundown mental hospital for criminally insane children run by a BitchInSheepsClothing DrJerk in the first film to a toy company run by a heartless CorruptCorporateExecutive in the second and third films to a military school run by {{The Neidermeyer}}s in the third film to the life on the road filled with thieving couples and {{Dirty Cop}}s in the fourth film as well as a BigScrewedUpFamily filled with a married couple who are {{Jerkass}}es in different degrees and a TooDumbToLive lesbian babysitter with the paraplegic woman to be the OnlySaneWoman in the family and more {{Dirty Cop}}s in the sixth film and a mental hospital filled with TooDumbToLive patients and orderlies run by another BitchInSheepsClothing DrJerk (who is also really a perverted SmugSnake PsychoPsychologist who rapes a female paraplegic patient during their sessions) in the seventh film. However, it's PlayedForLaughs in the fifth film when depicting the glamorous HorribleHollywood filled with LargeHam [[NewMediaAreEvil paparazzi]] (or as [[EvenEvilHasStandards Chucky points it out, "Paparazzi scumbag!"]]).
64	** The second film depicts Chicago to be a CrapsaccharineWorld, that despite the bright (if somewhat eerie) look of the film, it's actually still an unkind city that not even Andy is safe from other than Chucky (the aforementioned toy company run by cold-hearted {{corrupt corporate executive}}s including one SmugSnake cheating on his wife, an elementary school where it's implied {{sadist teacher}}s are authorized to inflict [[WouldHurtAChild physical and emotional child abuse]] on their students, and foster parents who, [[NotSoAboveItAll despite their appearances to be seemingly ideal-looking and what model families should look like]], [[SupernaturalProofFather naturally disbelieve that a killer doll is on the loose out to get a child]] and can be vindictively judgmental if a child is a HeroWithBadPublicity and can easily deduce kids can be murderers ranging from an ObstructiveBureaucrat {{Jerkass}} foster father to a mother who starts out as caring and kind towards the child, but then TookALevelInJerkass towards the kid [[spoiler:after seeing her husband dead and irrationally jumped to a conclusion that the child killed him somehow]] just because of his [[HeroWithBadPublicity prior reputation]]). Not to mention TooDumbToLive social workers and factory employees and a minor newspaper truck driver who [[JerkassHasAPoint understandably]] from an impartial viewpoint can be [[BerserkButton irked]] if getting run off the road for seemingly no reason (except to prevent a killer doll to transfer his soul to a child). Plus, in contrast to the seemingly and visually family-friendly environment, anyone besides Chucky can be [[SirSwearsALot Sir Swears-a-Lots]] (or go into a ClusterFBomb or inflict a PrecisionFStrike towards somebody, like Kyle or the truck driver when confronting Kyle), though not as much as Chucky, who swears the most.
65	** The series's universe is also filled with characters who start out as friends of the protagonists, but then can [[TookALevelInJerkass take a level in jerkass]] and show WhatYouAreInTheDark once turning on the {{The Hero}}es after viewing the protagonists as {{Broken Pedestal}}s ConvictedByPublicOpinion after Chucky frames the leads for his crimes, [[spoiler:then become {{Asshole Victim}}s after stooping that low]].
66	* CosmicHorrorStory: If the Matthew Costello novels are taken as canon, then Chucky is the earthly representative of a being straight out of the Franchise/CthulhuMythos. Even discounting his description codifying Damballa as an EldritchAbomination, the movies themselves establish it as a supernaturally powerful voodoo entity that acts as mystical equivalent of TheManBehindTheMan to Chucky. There is no GodOfGood that stands in opposition to it, and no matter how many times the good guys kill Chucky it never matters because Damballa will just raise him from the dead to try again anyway.
67	* {{Determinator}}: Chucky to the T. Even missing a hand, having his face sliced off, or worse, nothing stops the Chuck from killing or stalking his prey. It's even more impressive, considering he lacks the 'feel no pain' a lot of his slasher peers have.
68	* DevilInPlainSight: Nobody noticing Chucky is semi-justified by the fact that nobody seems to think too much of a doll sitting there. Only semi because people rarely question why a doll would be where they find him.
69	* EarlyBirdCameo: The Heart Of Damballa was actually intended to appear in the FIRST film of the franchise. A deleted scene with human Charles and John, The Voodoo Man was shot but didn't make the final cut. A major difference here however was the heart was not an amulet, but a staff or gem in the possession of the voodoo man.
70	* EvilMakesYouMonstrous: Chucky. Charles Lee Ray was actually a TallDarkAndHandsome man before his death and the voodoo ritual that turned him into a doll, with long hair and a square jaw, albeit criminally insane. The more time he spends in the Good Guy doll, the more evil the doll looks (as well as slowly mutating from plastic to actual flesh and blood).
71	* EvilMakesYouUgly: The more Chucky stays in the doll's body, the less it looks like a child and more like Charles Lee Ray.
72	* EvilRedhead: Chucky - at least as a doll.
73	* ExorcistHead: Chucky does this to mess with Damien Baylock in ''Bride''.
74	* {{Expy}}: The Good Guys toyline is a BlandNameProduct of the real-life My Buddy toyline.
75	* FantasyCreep: While the series has always had a supernatural element to it, with Chucky being a doll inhabited by the spirit of a serial killer who made a pact with the voodoo loa Damballa, ''Series/{{Chucky}}'' takes the supernatural elements even further, with the implication that Damballa's power can be fought using baptism, one of Chucky's past victims managing to intervene in a suicide attempt in angel form, and Chucky ending up in the "Spirit Realm" when one of his "bodies" gets shot before he can transfer to a new body.
76	* FauxAffablyEvil: Chucky has pretty moments. As does Tiffany.
77	* FlatEarthAtheist: Despite the preceding events in past films, Chucky and the existence of {{Killer Doll}}s are still ruled out to be not real, even up to ridiculously StrawVulcan and WeirdnessCensor levels, making this universe an outright TooDumbToLive CrapsackWorld that is stubbornly unprepared for and vulnerable to any tiny terror.
78	* HateSink: Most of the {{Jerkass}}es in the series tend to fall into this, which is why these films have more {{Asshole Victim}}s than any other SlasherMovie franchise, even more than the ''Franchise/FridayThe13th'' films.
79	* HauntedTechnology: Chucky and Tiffany.
80	* HeartOfTheMatter: The Heart of Dimballa was the voodoo artifact that allowed Charles Lee Ray to transfer his soul into the killer doll he's best known for (and later his girlfriend Tiffany). It's also his only way to transfer out of the doll and into another human's body.
81	* InappropriateSpeakAndSpell: Chucky the doll (a battery-powered, talking [[{{Irony}} "Good Guy"]] doll) is possessed by the spirit of a serial killer. One can only imagine the inappropriate things he was saying to Andy, but onscreen we see and hear him [[ClusterFBomb going berserk]] when Andy's mom threatens to throw him into the fireplace if he didn't talk (thereby proving her suspicion that the doll was sentient).
82	* InkSuitActor: Both Chucky's and Tiffany's doll forms are basically creepy miniature caricatures of their actors Brad Dourif and Jennifer Tilly. Even Chucky's hairdo, both before and after his stitched-up appearance, resembles Dourif's actual real-life haircuts unlike Charles Lee Ray's long hair when he was human. Also, initially, when Tiffany has her soul transferred into the bridal doll for the first time, she was a brunette, much like Tilly's real-life hair color, before she dyed it blond along with changing the rest of her appearance to resemble a doll version of her human form.
83	* InsaneTrollLogic: In the franchise's CrapsackWorld, it seems anyone can easily accept that any human being, whether it's either impossibly a 6 to 8 year-old child or a wheelchair-bound woman, is capable to commit a murder, ''[[IdiotBall except]]'' a KillerDoll.
84	* JawsFirstPersonPerspective: Used sometimes when Chucky moves around.
85	* {{Jerkass}}: At least one per film to ensure each installment has a HateSink. Notable examples include [[DrJerk Dr. Ardmore]] and [[BabysitterFromHell Maggie Peterson]] in the first film, [[TheNeidermeyer Lt. Col]]. [[TheBully Shelton]] in the third movie, [[ObstructiveBureaucrat Phil]] (even though he can be considered the least horrible compared to the rest in the films and is depicted as a JerkWithAHeartOfGold instead in the television cut) and [[SadistTeacher Miss Kettlewell]] in the second, [[SmugSnake John Ritter]]'s [[DirtyCop character]] in ''Bride'', Creator/JohnWaters' [[NewMediaAreEvil character]] (who is [[LoveToHate more]] PlayedForLaughs unlike the other examples) in ''Seed'', [[BigSisterBully Barb]] in ''Curse'', [[DrJerk Dr. Foley]] and [[AsianRudeness Claire]] in ''Cult'', [[DomesticAbuser Shane]] and [[AllMenArePerverts Gabe]] in the remake, [[AbusiveDad Lucas Wheeler, Logan Wheeler]], [[TheBully Oliver Hayden]], [[BigBrotherBully Junior Wheeler]], [[AlphaBitch Lexy Cross]] (at first for the former and latter until their CharacterDevelopment), [[TheBully Trevor Cain]], [[LowerClassLout Jeeves]] and [[CorruptBureaucrat Warren Pryce]] in the television series and Chucky himself. With these despicable characters altogether, this reveals that the franchise's universe is a WorldOfJerkass.
86	* KarmicDeath: Chucky in all films.
87	* KickTheDog: Chucky is evil all right, but this gets quite {{flanderiz\|ation}}ed throughout the series.
88	* KillerRabbit: Many people find it hard to take Chucky seriously because he's a two-foot-tall doll. [[GenreBlindness Big mistake.]]
89	* LeftForDead: Chucky is left for dead in all the movies.
90	* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Most of the supporting characters beside TheHero have nothing to do with the main plots of the films except to act as either TooDumbToLive and/or AssholeVictim cannon fodder for Chucky's body count or as oblivious bystanders frustratingly flabbergasted at what's going on due to them disbelieving the existence of Chucky. See FlatEarthAtheist above for more information.
91	* LoserProtagonist: A common staple for TheHero of the films due to them being a HeroWithBadPublicity that no one believes Chucky is on the loose and out to get them and find themselves framed by Chucky as well, which also shows much a CrapsackWorld the films' universe is by being so unforgiving, dreadful, grim and unpleasant towards them:
92	** The first three films had Andy Barclay, a child in the first two and a cynical teen forced into military school in the third.
93	** ''Bride'' had Jesse and Jade, a poor couple trying to make ends meet.
94	** In a way, Glen/Glenda could be seen as this in ''Seed'' since they're at the centre of trying to stop their parents from killing and still figuring out their gender.
95	** ''Curse'' and ''Cult'' has the wheelchair-bound Nica.
96	** The series has Jake Wheeler, an outcast gay middle schooler who's bullied by his peers and his own father.
97	* MamaBear: Andy's mother at first, then Kyle in the second film.
98	* MonsterMisogyny: Charles Lee Ray certainly has a... ''way'' with women, as evidenced by his obsession with Sarah Pierce in ''Curse of Chucky'' (and by extension her daughter Nica) and his casual abuse of [[MadLove mad lover]] Tiffany. And those are the women he ''likes''. Notably, his very first onscreen victim is a woman he kills for being a "bitch", and when Karen Barclay forces him to reveal himself he immediately launches into a violent misogynistic tirade.
99	* MotiveDecay: Double subverted throughout the franchise. After transferring his soul into the Good Guy doll, Chucky spends the first half of the first film intent on killing all whom he blamed for his human death. Upon learning, even as a doll, he can still physically sustain injury, he spends the remainder of the film and all of the first four sequels trying to transfer his soul into a human body. Only at the end of the fifth film does he decide to remain a possessed doll, and the following movies have him going back to his original spree to avenge his human death.
100	* NoOSHACompliance: Lending further credence to the inherently CrapsackWorld nature of this film series, OSHA in the Chuckyverse for all intents and purposes ''does not exist''. The second film features a climax in a hilariously unsafe factory, while the third film's climax takes place in a carnival that is so hilariously unsafe that it qualifies for AmusementParkOfDoom status.
101	* NotGoodWithRejection: Chucky is this, to put it altogether too mildly.
102	* OffWithHisHead: However, he does get killed when he's decapitated by [[spoiler:Glen]].
103	* PerversePuppet: Chucky is almost the poster child to this trope.
104	* PintSizedPowerhouse: Chucky is about the size of a toddler, and capable of taking down fully-grown adults.
105	* PrettyInMink: A couple scenes with Jennifer Tilly (playing herself).
106	* ParentalAbandonment: Post-''Child's Play'', Andy's mother is absent from his life due to being taken in for "psychological evaluation." [[spoiler:''Curse'' shows they have reunited and it's implied she has been released]].
107	* PoliceAreUseless: While Detective Mike Norris serves as the BigGood in the first movie, just about every policeman appearing in sequels are incompetent and/or corrupt making them sitting ducks for Chucky ([[BigBadDuumvirate and Tiffany]]). One cop in ''Curse'' is even bribed by Tiffany to steal Chucky (pretending to be inanimate evidence) from Nica's court trial when the latter was framed for Chucky's murders.
108	* PutOnABus: Glen/Glenda hasn't appeared since their debut in ''Seed'', even though Don Mancini vocally expressed his desire to bring them back. They return in the second season of the '' Chucky'' series.
109	* RasputinianDeath: In the first three films, Chucky takes an absurd amount of punishment. Getting set on fire, dismembered, melted, and ''having half of his face cut off'' only slowed him down temporarily.
110	* RecoverySequence: In the opening sequences to ''2'', ''3'', and ''Bride of Chucky'', Chucky is shown being reconstructed.
111	* ResurrectedMurderer: Charles Lee Ray, the "Lakeshore Strangler", uses Voodoo to transfer his body into a Good Guy Doll at a toy store after being shot. The doll starts calling himself "Chucky".
112	* RevelingInTheNewForm:
113	** At the start of the film series, serial killer Charles Lee Ray transfers his soul into the body of a Good Guy doll, and much of the overarching plot of the franchise involves him trying to transfer his soul back into a suitable human host, all while cutting a bloody path through the cast. However, in ''Film/SeedOfChucky'', he comes to the realization that he actually ''likes'' being a possessed doll as it renders him impossible to permanently kill and he's become a legend for his deeds as Chucky. Plus, despite ample evidence, people never suspect him of being behind the rising body count until it's well underway.
114	** In ''Film/CultOfChucky'', when Chucky possesses [[spoiler:Nica Pierce]], the first thing he does is admire his new body.
115	* {{Revenge}}: [[spoiler:The entire reason ''Curse of Chucky'' takes place]].
116	** Also, a big part of Chucky's motivation in the original ''Child's Play'': he's out to kill those he blames for his death as a human.
117	* ReverseCerebusSyndrome: The series turned to self-parody from ''Bride of Chucky'' onward.
118	** ''Curse of Chucky'' attempts to take the series back to its roots, but whether it succeeds or not is a matter of opinion.
119	* SirSwearsALot: Chucky has quite the filthy mouth.
120	* SlidingScaleOfComedyAndHorror: The series start out as fairly straight horror, but by the time of ''Bride'' it's become a splatter comedy before reverting back to horror in 'Curse''.
121	* StayingAlive: To the point that Chucky provides the page quote.
122	* StrawVulcan: The public in the films absolutely and annoyingly refuses to accept that Chucky the KillerDoll is real and think instead the protagonists has to be the murder culprits, even if they're [[InsaneTrollLogic impractically young children and wheelchair-bound women]].
123	* ThisCannotBe: The reaction of almost all of Chucky's victims just before their deaths.
124	* TookALevelInBadass:
125	** Andy at the end of every movie he's featured in.
126	** Glen in ''Seed''... although a really weird one. [[spoiler:Nica at the end of ''Curse of Chucky''.]]
127	** [[spoiler:In ''Curse of Chucky'' Andy points a gun at Chucky before he even manages to get out of the box he was shipped in.]]
128	* UncannyValley: The dolls consistently evoke this thanks to their exaggerated faces and mixes of realistic anatomy and plastic parts.
129	* UnholyMatrimony: Chucky and Tiffany.
130	* VillainBall: Despite being logically running out of time before he turns completely human, Chucky surely wastes a lot of time killing random people ForTheEvulz in ''Child's Play 2'' and ''3'' instead of going straight to Andy [[spoiler:(and Tyler in 3)]] to transfer his soul. You would expect him to hurry and keep a low profile until he gets his new body, especially considering where revealing himself led him in the first movie, but apparently [[StupidEvil he doesn't learn from his mistakes]].
131	* VillainDecay: Chucky fell into this more and more after each film. When he first appeared, the threat he posed was played dead serious, and even when the second and third films introduced slightly more humor, they still didn't overshadow his monstrous nature. In ''Bride'' and ''Seed'', he was PlayedForLaughs to the point of bordering on LaughablyEvil. ''Curse'' is largely successful in reversing this trend.
132	** ''Cult'' however (while indeed much darker than the series has been lately) still seems to put the films back en route to the comedy genre, even going so far as to have Chucky make a pop culture reference to the cancellation of the TV series ''Hannibal'', while its balance between BlackComedy and dark horror brings the second film's tone in mind.
133	* VillainExclusivityClause: Chucky in every installment, to the point that the latter movies start using his name in the title.
134	* WeirdnessCensor: Even after seven movies, the populace still does not believe in {{Killer Doll}}s and insisted that the protagonists are the killers instead.
135	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Andy doesn't return after the third ''Child's Play'' movie. The movie ends with him being brought in by the police for questioning. Same thing applies to Tyler as well. [[spoiler:''Curse of Chucky'' however, shows that Andy seems to be doing just fine.]]
136	** Nor has the Good Guy Dolls company ever been mentioned, even though they're back in business. However, some dialogue from ''Bride'' implies they've been shut down again, this time for good.
137	** Ian's nanny cam, and the footage it shot in ''Curse''.
138	* WouldHurtAChild: Chucky most definitely would, if swapping souls doesn't work.
139	** Per episode 1x08 - Chucky is willing to kill anyone over the age of 5.
140	* WorldOfJerkass: With TheHero as an exception and besides Chucky, the entire universe is apparently inhabited with all kinds of unpleasant folk on different degrees, making Chucky's body count being filled with almost nothing but {{Asshole Victim}}s.
141	----

Context Franchise / ChildsPlay