Characters found in the live-action film Beetlejuice and its sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the cartoon Beetlejuice, and the Broadway musical Beetlejuice.
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Film Characters
The Maitlands
In General
General tropes about Adam and Barbara Maitland.
- Afterlife Angst: Initially averted until the Deetz family buys their home.
- Bedsheet Ghost: While trying to scare the Deetz family. It didn't work: Charles thinks one of them was Lydia trying to play a prank, Delia is too doped out on "Prince Valium" to notice them, and Lydia thinks (at first) that it's Charles and Delia playing some kinky bedroom game. Lampshaded by Barbara.
- Country Mouse: Adam and Barbara's idea of a vacation is to spend it in their country house and renovate.
- Dead to Begin With: The Maitlands die a few minutes into the film. Most of the plot involves them dealing with the afterlife and with the people who are now inhabiting their house.
- Foil: To Charles and Delia Deetz. Whereas the Maitlands are very much in love, the Deetzes, to put it mildly, have a very rocky relationship. While the Maitlands have common interests and easily cooperate as partners, the Deetzes frequently argue as Delia's bombastic eccentricity and artistic aspirations clashes with Charles's more down-to-earth personality and initial wish to have a peaceful, quiet life. Charles and Delia, although not abusive to Lydia, are shown to be so caught up in their own drama that they are somewhat neglectful of her, while Adam and Barbara quickly take a liking to her, providing her with more parental affection than her own father and stepmother, even though she's not their actual daughter.
- Happily Married: They're obviously very happy together and were planning to spend their vacation working on their house before their untimely deaths.
- Idiot Ball: Adam and Barbara grab this at the climax when they both have enough time to get out Betelgeuse's name three times if they're quick about it, but fail. Barbara even waits for him to retaliate between sayings.
- Especially bad since Barbara did this properly earlier in the film.
- Monster Roommate: The Maitlands are this for the Deetzes, although they seem to feel it's the other way around.
- Nice Folks: Two of the sweetest people you'll ever meet, to the point that they're awful at actually scaring the Deetzes and their friends.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The Maitlands do this a few times.
- The "Day-O" haunting attempt only serves to entertain the Deetzes and their guests, not frighten them.
- The Maitlands release Betelgeuse, they let Otho steal the Handbook, and their lackluster haunting attempts succeed only in making Charles think the town would make a neat tourist attraction. Juno calls them out on all of it.
- Stupid Good: They're more naïve and out of their depth than actually stupid, but with that said, they are easy prey for conman Beetlejuice and they left the Handbook around which, in Juno's opinion, means a whole bunch of trouble.
- Together in Death: They died in the same accident when their car fell into the Winter River. It almost happens to them again at the end of the movie when Otho nearly exorcises them.
Adam Maitland
Adam Maitland
Played By: Alec Baldwin
A humble countryman who enjoys building miniature models.
- AcCENT upon the Wrong SylLABle: When Adam finds the advert for Betelgeuse, he actually says the name three times, but because he pronounces it "Bay-til Guy-ce", the incantation doesn't work.
- Body Horror: Having his head cut off, then stretching his nose out while shoving his hand into the back of his head and growing eyes on his fingers.
- Establishing Character Moment: Adam and the spider. Instead of squashing it, he only comments on its size and lets it go free, showing him to be a nice guy.
Barbara Maitland
Barbara Maitland
Played By: Geena Davis
A homemaker who was planning on starting a family before her death.
- '80s Hair: Her bushy curls aren't as extreme as some examples but the general shape is very specific to the 1980s.
- Action Girl: A downplayed example, since she doesn't have too many action scenes, but the scenes where she deals with the sandworm definitely put her here.
- Big Damn Heroes: Just as Betelgeuse is about to marry Lydia, Barbara comes in riding on a Sandworm that eats Betelgeuse, stopping the wedding in the nick of time.
- Body Horror: Ripping her face off, then stretching out her jaws and setting her eyes in her open mouth.
- Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Barbara wangs the Sand Worm right on the nose, causing it to retreat... and then later befriends it!
- Hate at First Sight: Upon seeing Delia trash the house with Otho's help and hearing her call it "a hellhole" in an argument with Charles, Barbara growls, "I'm gonna get her."
- Law of Inverse Fertility: It's possible that Barbara is infertile, especially when Jane says that their house should belong to a family; Barbara looks crushed. At the very least, they've had no luck conceiving. It's no wonder they become almost second parents to Lydia.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Barbara tames the sandworm — and since time passes differently on Saturn, she must have tamed it almost instantly.
- Wight in a Wedding Dress: Otho uses her and Adam's wedding clothes as part of his séance-turned-exorcism. She spends the climax of the movie wearing her wedding dress.
Deetz Family
Lydia Deetz
Lydia Deetz
I myself am strange and unusual.
Played By: Winona Ryder
A goth girl who can see ghosts.
- Ambiguously Jewish: Due to being played by Winona Ryder.
- Camera Fiend: Lydia is an avid photographer.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Gloomy and goth, but a gentle soul.
- Deadpan Snarker: Lydia occasionally makes snarky retorts towards the other characters, mostly her parents and their friends. For example, when Otho announces his plans to summon Adam and Barbara to the group, Lydia is momentarily shocked before saying (paraphrased): "Wait, why am I worried? Otho, you can't even change a tire."
- Death Seeker: The existence of the Maitlands, combined with their supposed betrayal, just makes her more convinced that suicide is the answer. The Maitlands manage to cure her of this with An Aesop that the afterlife is just as difficult and that death doesn't have any of the mystery people think it does.
- Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: A Tim Burton staple.
- Emotionless Girl: At least, she tries to be; she actually feels things pretty intensely.
- Establishing Character Moment: Lydia sees a big spiderweb and notes, "I could live here." It's a hint that she'll get on well with the Maitlands, since shortly before his death, Adam kindly put the spider outside rather than killing it.
- Free the Frogs: Lydia gets a C in Biology because she refuses to dissect frogs. But she clearly states that she did it because she thought it was gross, not for animal rights. She tries to get out of it by claiming that it's against her religion, but gets the C all the same.
- Goodbye, Cruel World!: Lydia considers suicide early in the film.
- Goth: Lydia qualifies, though she becomes a Perky Goth at the end of the movie.
- I Just Want to Be Special: Lydia longs to be a ghost.
- Missing Mom: She explicitly identifies Delia as her stepmother, but the film never reveals who or where her birth mother is.
- Only Sane Man: As strange as she is, Lydia is basically this for the film.
- Unconventional Wedding Dress: Beetlejuice dresses her in a bright red dress, gloves and veil for their wedding.
Delia Deetz
Delia Deetz
Played By: Catherine O'Hara
An eccentric contemporary artist and Lydia's stepmother.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Delia gets along much better with Lydia in the cartoon, even if they're very different.
- Adaptation Personality Change: A snobbish and somewhat jerkish Upper-Class Twit who very clearly doesn't care about Lydia in the film, she's a friendly, upbeat if highly eccentric Cloud Cuckoo Lander who tries her best (and at first fails) to get along with Lydia in the cartoon.
- Arbitrary Skepticism: Subverted. She at first refuses to believe Lydia about her claims about the house being haunted, but comes to believe it immediately after the dinner scene. Her agent Bernard, on the other hand, absolutely refuses to believe it happened, despite the fact that he was there when it happened. It is also an avenue to attract Maxie Dean, an art patron she desperately wants to ingratiate, since he and his wife are huge believers in the paranormal.
- Berserk Button: If you do not let Delia gut out her new house and make it her own, she will go insane AND SHE WILL TAKE YOU WITH HER!
- Cloud Cuckoolander: Delia is an obnoxious yuppie in the film, but in the cartoon she's this. Whenever she's visited the Neitherworld, she's actually enjoyed it. Other living people laugh at Delia's strange art, but the ghosts of the Neitherworld love it.
- Everyone Has Standards: At first, she's excited with the idea of profiting off their haunted home. But during the seance/exorcism, she's appalled to see what the ritual is doing to the spirits.
- Impossibly Tacky Clothes: A lot of what Delia wears could be considered this. In one scene she has a glove on her head as part of a sort of headband. Meanwhile, the red sweater Charles wears in one scene makes a reappearance later as Delia's pants, held up with suspenders.
- Informed Flaw: Everyone calls Delia's sculptures "garbage," but they're actually pretty good. She clearly has talent; what she lacks is conventional taste. The workers hired to help the Deetzes move into and renovate the house, as well as Delia's own agent, show no appreciation for her work.
- Living humans laugh at Delia's art in the cartoon like they do in the film, but the ghosts of the Neitherworld love her bizarre creations.
- Suddenly Shouting: "I'm here with you. I will live with you in this hellhole, but I must express myself! If you don't let me gut out this house and make it my own, I will go insane, AND I WILL TAKE YOU WITH ME!"
- Taken for Granite: In the cartoon, she has a successful art show in the Neitherworld. The curator then turns her into a stone statue to become part of the exhibit. Beetlejuice manages to turn her back to normal.
- True Art Is Incomprehensible: Living people in both the movie and the cartoon ridicule her strange art, but the ghosts of the Neitherworld think it's great. The Monster Across The Street buys one of her sculptures, and her art show is a big success.
- Wicked Stepmother: Largely averted. She and Lydia clearly don't understand each other much at all, and Lydia resents the fact that her father keeps referring to Delia as her mother, but they don't seem to dislike each other too much. Delia is actually fairly well-meaning in the way she interacts with Lydia, and seems genuinely frightened by the situation her stepdaughter is in during the climax.
Charles Deetz
Charles Deetz
Played By: Jeffrey Jones
A city native that just wants to retreat to the country.
- All Just a Dream: Subverted in the cartoon. The bizarre Neitherworld things Charles sometimes sees are all real, but he just assumes they're dreams or hallucinations brought on by Delia's Lethal Chef cooking.
- Bumbling Dad: He's not the most hands-on parent, but he's shown calling Lydia "pumpkin" and demonstrating genuine affection toward her.
- Butt-Monkey: Betelgeuse makes a hobby out of tormenting him in the animated series.
- Everyone Has Standards: He's excited about profiting off his new haunted house, and resorts to a séance/exorcism to force the Maitlands to go along with it. However he's unaware that doing so will cause them to suffer a Fate Worse than Death, and quickly demands that Otho stop when he realizes that the ritual is harming Adam and Barbara.
- Nervous Wreck: He's often this in the cartoon. Beetlejuice takes full advantage of it.
- Only Sane Man: Subverted; he seems to be this at first, because of his wife and daughter's wackier personalities. However, his obsession with money and turning the quiet town into a tourist attraction shows that he's at least as weird as either of them.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Lydia mentions that Charles "never backs away from equity." During the exorcism, he has a change of heart upon seeing the Maitlands' bodies deteriorate, taking pity on them even at the cost of potential profits.
- Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: The teaser for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice shows a funeral being held for him, confirming that he died in between films. The real-life reason for this is
his actor having been arrested for sex offenses in the 2000s.
Astrid Deetz
Ghosts
Betelgeuse
Betelgeuse
I'm the ghost with the most, babe!
Played By: Michael Keaton
The Ghost with the Most. A shady "bio-exorcist", a ghost that professionally scares the living out of other ghosts' haunts, who loves his work.
- Abnormal Limb Rotation Range: Betelgeuse's head spins freely, apparently not within his complete control.note
- Affably Evil/Faux Affably Evil: Zig-zaggs between the two. On one hand, while he's hardly anybody's friend, Betelgeuse actually seems like a fun guy to be around (unless you're a woman). He offers to make Barbara and Adam an Italian dinner, attempts to do the task that they wanted him to do (albeit in a manner they didn't like) while being earnestly offended when they interfere and is genuinely confused about Lydia's choice to be dead at first when she brings it up to him, but still offers to help her out since she seemed insistent on it. Then he demonstrates that he's a crude, perverted murderer with no restraint or self-control, and it becomes clear that as fun as he seems, he is a dangerous man to be around for more than a few minutes, even if he does have genuinely quirky traits.
- On the other hand, Betelgeuse's fun side can actually be the enjoyment of a sadistic nature to torment and just about kill with his pranks. It has been shown that he's reckless if not willing to harm people, with Dark Humor continuing in the laughter and humorous effects afterward, with him nearly killing Lydia's father as a snake, killing Maxie Dean and his spouse, and using Lydia to permanently gain access to the living world.
- And Now You Must Marry Me: Betelgeuse's main goal is to marry Lydia, because marrying a living person will allow him to stay in the living world indefinitely.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Betelgeuse does the following in his second summoning: maims if not outright kills Maxie Dean and his wife, sexually harasses Lydia, and… changes Otho's clothes into a leisure suit (though considering what a fashion-obsessed prima donna Otho is, he acts as if the harmless prank is the same as trying to murder him).
- Beast with a Human Face: Briefly turns into a serpentine version of himself while retaining his face but exaggerated to look demonic and serpentine.
- Berserk Button:
- He might not look it, but Betelgeuse takes great pride in his work as a bio-exorcist. When the Maitlands stop Betelgeuse from continuing to menace the Deetzes in his snake form, he gets pissed off at them for interrupting the work of a professional.
- Also calling his name to summon him only to reject his services, thus getting his hopes up and wasting his time. That's the first time you really see him upset.
- Beware the Silly Ones: He's a fast-talking weirdo whose antics and abilities make him come across as a Live-Action Cartoon, but make no mistake that you wouldn't want him haunting your home. He's a Dirty Old Man whose first question when the Maitlands summon him is who they want him to kill, he eats live bugs, he can reverse spells cast from the Handbook for the Recently Deceased on a whim, can banish ghosts to Saturn at the mercy of the Sandworms and a whole host of other horrifying things.
- Big Bad: There's a reason why he's (sort of) the source for the Antagonist Title.
- Bishōnen Line: Betelgeuse shapeshifts into a variety of forms throughout the film and appears in the model repeatedly, but for the final confrontation he appears full-sized at last, now wearing the iconic black and white prison-stripe-style suit.
- Dirty Old Man: Okay, so Keaton wasn't old when he played him (at least in the first film), but almost every perverted aspect of Betelgeuse's personality is based around this trope.
- Even Evil Has Standards: When Lydia gives Betelgeuse the implication she wants to die by telling him "I want to get in," he responds with a confused "Why?", pointing out that no matter how bad things get, death is still worse. Then he tells her that if she lets him out, they can talk, and maybe he can help her if she helps him.
- Eaten Alive: At the end of Beetlejuice, he gets eaten by the Sandworm used by Barbara.
- Forceful Kiss: Immediately after introducing himself to Adam and Barbara, Betelgeuse grabs the latter and gives her this kind of kiss. As you can imagine, they're already regretting their decision to meet with him, especially since he acts like a pervert around her the rest of the time.
- Iconic Outfit: Betelgeuse's black-and-white striped suit. Ironically, he's only wearing the outfit for about five minutes of screen time (during the climax), as he's typically in a long coat and ratty pajamas for most of the film like a ghastly Hugh Hefner. However, the look was so iconic and so heavily featured in the movie's advertising that it's basically the only thing he wears in the animated adaptation.
- I Gave My Word: For all his faults, he always honors his deals even if he doesn't particularly care for his clients. In fact, one of his Berserk Buttons is banishing him while he's in the middle of working, thereby breaking the contract made when summoning him.
- Lack of Empathy: One of Betelgeuse's traits that's hard to miss. He'd have a hard time giving a shit about anyone but himself; the closest we ever see him get to showing real empathy is when he talks to Lydia about her suicidal impulses.
- Large Ham: He's lecherous, shouts at random, has no sense of personal space, and cackles a lot.
- Laughably Evil: Betelgeuse is a perverted, murderous hitman who takes pride in his work, and a con man who tries forcing Lydia into marrying him so he'll have permanent access to the mortal world… but he's so funny that people forget what a rotten person he is.
- Light Is Not Good: While usually dressed in dark attire, and mostly portrayed with dark elements, Betelgeuse is associated with a golden light that occasionally shows up, notably with a light illuminating when Juno talks about him. The second time is when he's summoned, and his final demise. It along with his serpentine form and guile to manipulate others into deals, subtly hint to his traits as the devil of the story.
- Manipulative Bastard: Betelgeuse tries, at least; but it is hampered by his impatience, tendency to act perverse, and inability to keep his mouth shut. These make it difficult to make him convincing unless the individual is desperate.
- Monster Clown: Betelgeuse invokes this a tiny bit.
- Motor Mouth: Betelgeuse talks very quickly. It veers into Talkative Loon when he changes the subject without pausing.
- Mysterious Past: Aside from the fact that he was once Juno's assistant, we really don't know anything about Betelgeuse. He makes all sorts of grand claims, but these are clearly Blatant Lies.
- New Powers as the Plot Demands: Betelgeuse has all sorts of strange powers, from Voluntary Shapeshifting to making illusions to magically transporting people to depriving people of their speech to perfectly imitating someone's voice to immediately changing both his and other people's clothes to bringing Delia's sculptures to life to freeing the Maitlands from their exorcism and immediately restoring them to normal.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: By sending Adam to the model city and Barbara to the desert where the sandworm is, Betelgeuse makes it that much easier for the Maitlands to defeat him.
- Nightmare Face: Betelgeuse makes one to demonstrate his talents to the Maitlands. "Can I be scary? Well, whaddya think of this?" The audience can't see it, but the Maitlands certainly seem terrified.
- Noble Demon: Despite being a disgusting con man and pervert, Betelgeuse does have some otherwise redeeming moments:
- When the Maitlands first enlist his services as a bio-exorcist, he goes right to work and actively tries to live up to his end of the bargain in getting rid of Otho and the Deetzes.
- When Lydia is contemplating suicide, he shows genuine concern for her.
- When Lydia agrees to release him in exchange for saving the Maitlands from being exorcised by Otho, he lives up to the end of their deal and saves them. He then immediately subverts this when he attempts to banish the Maitlands; however, his chosen methods are much more temporary than exorcism, and he only does it because they're attempting to stop the wedding – and to be fair, Lydia did agree to marry him as the price for his aid. He also treats Lydia very affectionately throughout the whole wedding scene, although whether this is genuine or a continuation of his con artistry is up for debate. In any case, the Maitlands return and promptly turn the tables on him.
- Non-Indicative Name: If the lead character's name had been spelled the same as the title of the movie, it would have made sense. However, he has nothing to do with what he's actually named after: a star in the constellation Orion, notably home of the Elder Gods in the Cthulhu Mythos and the location of Hell in the poem "Betelgeuse, a Trip Through Hell."
- Pet the Dog: When Lydia states "I want to get in" (i.e., she wants to die), Betelgeuse shows genuine concern for her.
- Precision F-Strike: After Betelgeuse kicks over the Maitlands' model tree, he glances up at them and says, "Nice fuckin' model!"
- A Pupil of Mine Until He Turned to Evil: He was once Juno's assistant, but his unruliness and chaotic nature led him to quit and go freelance instead. The mere mention of him causes the otherwise unflappable Juno to lose her composure in fear.
- Reality Warper: Is capable of some pretty powerful haunting, like turning a staircase railing into his serpentine form until Barbara traps him. He can also teleport others to different locations, turn himself into a test-your-strength machine, change Lydia and Otho's clothes transform with a flick, create the illusions of a human-size beetle and a box of orange juice when doing charades with Lydia, cause alterations to the Maitlands' mouths, revert the Maitlands back to their previous condition after being subjected to the process of exorcism, make Delia's statues come to life and grow in size, and summon a priest from nowhere. His only limitation revolves around his name curse and Sandworms.
- Really 700 Years Old: Actually 600, if his claims to have lived through the Black Death have any validity to them. Kind of a big if, though.
- Red-Flag Recreation Material: Betelgeuse mentions that he's seen The Exorcist a hundred and sixty-seven times "and it keeps getting funnier every single time I see it!" firmly establishing him as an extremely morbid character even before he starts launching ghostly attacks on the Maitlands.
- Resized Vocals: Having ended up stuck in the afterlife's waiting room following his defeat in the finale, Beetlejuice makes the mistake of stealing the number from a Witch Doctor, who immediately retaliates by shrinking his head to the size of a cue ball; as he does so, Beetlejuice's voice gets progressively higher until he's squeaking like a chipmunk.
- Rule of Three: Saying his name three times both frees him and seals him.
- Satanic Archetype: He's the closest thing to a "Satan" that the film's afterlife seems to possess. It is indicated that he worked for the Celestial Bureaucracy which manages the afterlife before he quit and went "freelance" as a "Bio-exorcist." He is invited to the house by the then-recently deceased Maitlands and makes a deal with them to get rid of the Deetzes, and later makes a deal with Lydia to save the Maitlands from an exorcism. Much in the same way that Lydia's parents and their city friends are meant to represent the worst that modern humanity has to offer (shallow, apathetic, etc.), Betelgeuse represents this on the ghostly side, being a pervert, a con man, and a complete sociopath. Much like how Beelzebub is the "Lord of Flies", Betelgeuse both has "beetle" in his name (in pronunciation, at least) and seems to subsist on bugs. He also briefly takes on the form of a serpent with his face to scare the Deetzes. Even the fact of his name being a source of power for him (he can be summoned and banished by saying it three times and he cannot say it out loud himself) is a reference to some forms of demonology where it is believed that knowing a demon's true name can give you power over it.
- Saw Star Wars 27 Times: Betelgeuse has seen The Exorcist "about a hundred and sixty-seven times" (and it keeps getting funnier every time he sees it).
- Scaled Up: Betelgeuse can turn into a giant snake with an exaggerated version of his face, complete with wide eyes with slit pupils.
- Scarpia Ultimatum: He forces this onto Lydia, after she begs him Please, I Will Do Anything! so he'll save Adam and Barbara from being exorcised.
- The Scottish Trope:
- Saying his name while he's not currently freed is looked down upon by other ghosts, as it risks releasing him. Once released, he does his best to stop others from saying it again for fear of putting him back.
- It also seems to be impossible for him to say his own name aloud, or at least say it to others in order to let them say it. He can write out his name (unless one subscribes to the theory that his name really is spelled "Beetlejuice" and he's forced to spell it the same as the star homophone) or play charades to get the point across, but he can't directly tell them verbally.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: The ghostly con artist is trapped in the afterlife. He can be temporarily brought back to the real world (and returned) by saying his name three times, but can only be truly free if he marries a human.
- Shrunken Head: At the end, Betelgeuse runs into a hunter who has a shrunken head, then starts chatting with the Witch Doctor next to him, asking if that's his work, while he steals the witch doctor's line number. He gets his head shrunk himself in retaliation. He takes it pretty well, however, noting that "this could be a good look for me.
- Visual Pun: When he sees the Maitlands rotting from their exorcism, he says they've had enough "exorcise" for the night, and does a golf swing a la Johnny Carson as Adam and Barbara are restored to normal.
Juno
Juno
Played By: Sylvia Sidney
An undead caseworker and Betelgeuse's old boss.
- Beleaguered Bureaucrat: Juno has a lot of clients, and she's easily frustrated at having to deal with their demands.
- Cool Old Lady: She's savvy and competent, and easily the most helpful person in the realm of the dead. Naturally, she has a huge waiting list.
- Deadpan Snarker: She has some moments.
- Get Out!: Juno explodes at the football players when one of them asks where the men's room is."I'm not your coach! He survived!"
- Good Is Not Nice: She does her best to help the Maitlands, but she's sharp-tongued and easily agitated and mainly says they should deal with their problems on their own.
- Jerkass Has a Point: She's not very helpful to the Maitlands; but she does point out that while the Deetzes are annoying, they're better than a lot of absolutely horrible people (like Italians) and that they should value their house and share it.
- Psychopomp: She serves as this in the Afterlife as the Maitlands' caseworker. As stated in the film, anyone whose death is attributed to suicide becomes a "Civil Servant" in the Afterlife.
- Smoking Is Cool: In a Black Comedy sort of way. When she smokes, she exhales through her Slashed Throat (evidently how she originally killed herself).
Miss Argentina
Miss Argentina
Played By: Patrice Martinez
A former beauty queen who took her own life, and a receptionist in the Neitherworld.
- Amazing Technicolor Population: Her skin is electric green.
- Beleaguered Bureaucrat: Because she took her own life, she must work as a receptionist in the Neitherworld, which regularly gets millions of cases. She admits to the Maitlands that if she had known the fate that awaited her, she wouldn't have had her "little accident."
- Deadpan Snarker: Likely due to her circumstances, she has this attitude, especially with the Maitlands, who are still figuring out the ways of the Neitherworld.
- Driven to Suicide: She took her own life by slitting her wrists, which she refers to as her "little accident."
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: When she brings the Maitlands to Juno's office, her sash reveals she won her title in 1939.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Her name is never stated, so fans have taken to calling her "Miss Argentina" after her sash.
- Servile Snarker: Continuing with the movie's opinion of bureaucrats, Miss Argentina is depicted as being incredibly rude to the confused Maitlands when they try to ask for help, even rolling her eyes at them when they fail to understand the rules of the Neitherworld.
Other Humans
Otho
Otho
Played By: Glenn Shadix
Delia's friend. An interior designer and amateur occultist.
- Ambiguously Gay: He's obsessed with fashion and interior design and overall behaves in a very effeminate manner. It helped that Shadix himself was gay, and that Otho makes a The Wizard of Oz reference.
- Everyone Has Standards: Otho is portrayed as a pompous and hubristic thief at worst; he actually seems to be a pretty good friend to Delia and, to a lesser extent, Charles, and is always polite to Lydia. Even he's horrified at what his bumbling nearly does to the Maitlands.
- Hidden Depths: He does seem to have some genuine knowledge of the supernatural and the occult, which may account for why he was able to see the Maitlands partially the moment he arrived in the house, as well as sense Adam running past him when rushing to close the attic door.
- Impossibly Tacky Clothes: Betelgeuse inflicts Otho with this in the climax.
- Ironic Hell: While it's an extremely light example, what little punishment Otho gets is catered directly to his critical attitude toward fashion.
- Karma Houdini: Otho seemingly gets off with nothing more than a torn suit and a bad replacement.
- Know-Nothing Know-It-All: Otho claims to be schooled in chemistry (among other things) while sharing many of Delia's off-beat fashion and artistic interests; but according to Lydia, he can't even change a tire. Otho's lack of know-how comes back to bite him in the ass when he snags the Recently Deceased handbook and summons the Maitlands without realizing he's actually exorcising them; this leads to Betelgeuse humiliating him with a Shameful Strip. He does get one thing right, though he doesn't know it: he jokes during his dinner with the Deetzes that people who commit suicide become civil servants in the afterlife.
- Naked Freak-Out: He's not left naked or in his underwear, but Otho has this kind of reaction after Betelgeuse changes his outfit into a leisure suit.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Otho is all too happy to ditch the Deetzes when his séance gets out of control. He doesn't get far, though...
- Shameful Strip: This happens to Otho when Betelgeuse goes on his climactic rampage. When Otho tries to make a run for it, Betelgeuse uses his powers to shoot Otho's black and red clothes off — but rather than leave Otho naked or in his underwear, Betelgeuse leaves the poor bastard dressed in a light blue leisure suit, which causes Otho to scream in horror before running away.
- Too Clever by Half: He understands enough of the supernatural to be able to make sense of the Handbook for the Recently Deceased, but he doesn't realize he's following the instructions to perform an exorcism until it's too late to stop it.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Otho's fate is left in the air, as he runs away after Beetlejuice enacts a Shameful Strip on him.
Maxie and Sarah Dean
Maxie and Sarah Dean
Played By: Robert Goulet (Maxie) and Maree Cheatham (Sarah)
A wealthy real estate couple and the heads of Botco Industries, who the Deetzes turn to.
- Asshole Victim: Both of them are possibly killed by Betelgeuse, but it's hard to feel sorry for them after they spend the entire dinner acting like aloof, callous jerks.
- The Bore: The movie implies both of them are dead inside. The only time they display any actual emotion is when Lydia unleashes Betelgeuse and he begins to wreak havoc.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Averted. They are present at the seance and are the only ones who don't seem to care the Maitlands are outright rotting in front of them, even after Lydia protests that they're clearly in pain.
- Foil: To Charles and Delia. The Deetzes, while at first function as antagonists to the Maitlands, have sympathetic qualities and regret the impact of their actions. It's because of this that the Maitlands allow them to remain in the house. Meanwhile, the Deans lack any redeeming traits and seem to care about nobody but themselves.
- Hate Sink: While the Deetzes and their associates are established as simply being well-meaning idiots, the Deans lack any of their sympathetic qualities. Maxie even goes as far as to shush Lydia when Barbara starts to literally rot in front of them.
- Jerkass: They are jerks who are hard to move, and generally care about money over others.
- Lack of Empathy: They show outright glee when Betelgeuse begins to wreak havoc, acting like a pair of giggling children. They also don't care what happens to the Maitlands, with Maxie thinking that because they're dead, they can't feel a thing.
- "Test Your Strength" Game: Betelgeuse kicks them out of the house through the use of such, and they don't realize until it's too late they're the targets
- Uncertain Doom: They are last seen when Betelgeuse launches them from the house by use of a "Test Your Strength" Game, although it is never clarified if they were killed or simply injured.
- Yiddish as a Second Language: Maxie calls Charles a putz after their phone call.
Jane Butterfield
Jane Butterfield
Played By: Annie McEnroe
A realtor and Barbara's cousin, who tries to persuade the Maitlands to sell their house.
- Innocently Insensitive: When trying to talk Barbara into selling their house, she offhandedly mentions that the house is meant for a family. Barbara, who's implied to want a child but seems to be infertile, is visibly hurt by the statement.
- Obnoxious In-Laws: Adam seems to think so.
- Shady Real Estate Agent: Selling her relatives' house just after they died definitely cements her as this.
Animated Series Characters
Beetlejuice
Voiced by: Stephen Ouimette
The Ghost With the Most again, although this incarnation is much more weird and gross rather than cruel and lecherous.
- Adaptational Dye-Job: His film and theatre counterparts have green hair while this incarnation has blond hair.
- Adaptational Heroism: Big time. He may be as much as a scammer as before, but here he has transitioned from the main antagonist to the main protagonist.
- Adaptational Name Change: Subverted. His named is pronounced the same, but is spelled as it sounds and as written in the title.
- Adaptational Nice Guy:
- He's a much more benevolent (though still crooked) figure in the animated series than he was in the movie. Rather than wanting to actually cause physical harm to people, he's content with merely driving them crazy - he even has a license to do so.
- Also, since this series had to be toned down from the original film for children's television, his perverted tendencies had to be excised from his character. He does nothing worse than the occasional approving gaze at attractive adult female ghosts.
- Affectionate Nickname: Lydia calls him "Beej" or "BJ", and increases the frequency of the nicknames as the series progresses.
- Aloof Big Brother: He's something like this to his brother Donny, who loves him anyway.
- Anti-Hero: Type 1. He's rude, obnoxious, and slovenly, but he is loyal to those he considers friends and as previously stated, is considerably nicer than his movie counterpart.
- Badass in a Nice Suit: He can be incredibly powerful, and unless he's shapeshifted or disguised he almost always wears his black and white striped suit.
- Berserk Button:
- Do not get him wet and clean. Poopsie nearly learned this the hard way.
- He also really hates a wild goose chase.
- If you know what's good for you… Never. Hurt. Lydia. He will juice you something fierce if you even so much as insult her.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: Beetlejuice is amazingly powerful and could probably do almost anything with his magic. One episode implies he could take over the whole Neitherworld if he wanted to. He's really only interested in hanging out with Lydia and pranking and conning other people. He dreads the idea of having to get an honest job unless it really appeals to him, like becoming a scarecrow on a beetle farm.
- Character Catchphrase: "It's showtime!"
- Crazy Jealous Guy: He occasionally behaves like this about Lydia. The biggest example is in "The Prince of the Neitherworld", where he witnesses Prince Vince proposing marriage to her; Beetlejuice very nearly explodes, literally.
- Demonic Possession: He's capable of possessing both living people like Claire Brewster and inanimate objects like construction equipment.
- Do Not Adjust Your Set: Beetlejuice can partially manifest in the Outerworld to speak to Lydia. A few episodes have him appearing on her TV set.
- Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Beetlejuice is terrified of his mother's cleanliness and would probably rather be fed to the sandworms than get a full-time job like his father. He still loves them very much, as he rescued his father from a sandworm despite usually being terrified of them.
- Everyone Has Standards:
- He loves pranking Lydia's parents, but he draws the line at anything that would actually hurt them. He actually saves them multiple times from more malevolent ghosts.
- Even he can't stand the obnoxious nuisance that is Lipscum.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: He's this to his own neighbors in the Neitherworld, and his human disguise of Betty Juice is this to Lydia's other friends in the living world.
- Hand Blast: He occasionally fires his magic from his hands when he wants to target something.
- He Cleans Up Nicely: He'd actually be pretty handsome if he groomed himself, which he obviously never does. When he accidentally sprays himself with his "New U" cologne that turns the user into a complete opposite of their personality, he becomes a Sharp-Dressed Man and Neat Freak. Lydia ogles the "new" Beetlejuice and is clearly attracted to him.
- Heroic BSoD: Lydia's father Charles is one of his favorite targets. When Beetlejuice completely fails to scare Charles in one episode (due to Charles being half-asleep and thinking Beetlejuice was All Just a Dream) he becomes depressed.
- Hidden Depths: He presents as a Dumb Blonde, but he really isn't. He's well versed in the works of his old friend Shakespeare, knows enough about auto mechanics to repair Doomie on his own, and is something of a chemistry whiz. He's also shown to be a rather impressive violinist.
- Iconic Outfit: He wore the black and white striped suit for all of about five minutes in the film. In the show, he's rarely seen wearing anything else.
- Inexplicably Awesome: While the film implies that a lot of his weird powers are something most ghosts are capable of if they practiced their abilities, here Beetlejuice's abilities seem unique to him, having started a literal war in the Neitherworld as a baby. While he isn't the only being there with magic, having had encountered witches, warlocks and some judicial authority-figures that can perform similar feats of reality warping, Beetlejuice's "juicing" is implied to be powerful enough to conquer the entire Neitherworld if he wasn't satisfied using it for petty pranks.
- Insult Backfire: Many living people who see Beetlejuice, whether they think he's one of Lydia's sketches or he's turned into a dog, think he's utterly revolting. Beetlejuice, of course, always appreciates the compliments.
- Involuntary Dance: He can do this to both people and inanimate objects, such as when he livened up the Deetzes' boring dinner party by forcing Lydia's parents, aunts and uncles to all sing and dance.
- Involuntary Shapeshifting: An occasional side effect of his Literal Genie powers is that he is not immune to being affected by using figures of speech that can directly affect him.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He is far more likable in this version than he was in the film. He's still a selfish scammer, and probably even more obnoxious here, but there's no doubt he cares about Lydia and has a Hidden Heart of Gold.
- Let's Get Dangerous!: When Lydia is threatened, Beetlejuice reminds everyone why he's called the Ghost With The Most. He can even curbstomp sandworms with minimal effort when he's sufficiently motivated, whether by Lydia encouraging him or his father being in danger.
- Literal Genie: The main demonstration of his powers in this iteration. He can alter reality just by using the right (or wrong) phrase. Whenever he uses a metaphor, simile, or other non-literal phrase, he involuntarily shapeshifts or otherwise morphs reality into a literal representation of what he said.
- Literal-Minded: On occasion, such as when he thinks "babysitting" means "sitting on babies."
- Mad Libs Catchphrase: He often says "[X], you know I hate/love them", with X being whatever inconvenience or interest of his has come up. Often doubles as a Lame Pun Reaction.
- Multiple-Choice Past: Functions as a Running Gag. Some episodes go with Beetlejuice was born a ghost and always lived in the Neitherworld, while others go with he was born a human, but died at some point and ended up there.
-
Nausea Fuel:- He takes great pride in his ability to disgust people and his generally being filthy.
- Almost all of his diet consists of bugs of some kind. His favorites are beetles, but he's also enjoyed locusts and fleas.
- Not Me This Time: Beetlejuice has pulled so many pranks in the Neitherworld that it's easy for his enemies to frame him for things that get him imprisoned. When Lydia was turned into a delinquent by his "New U" cologne, Beetlejuice laughed at her sliming Mayor Maynot. He stopped laughing when the Mayor blamed Beetlejuice and resolved to feed him to the sandworms.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
- In "Snugglejuice", when Lydia first sees him after he's been "rehabilitated" in Neither-Neither-Land, one of the worst punishments imaginable in the Neitherworld, she initially thinks that it's just another one of his scams or pranks... but when he refuses to eat a beetle, that's when she knows that something is seriously wrong.Lydia: You turned down a beetle? YOU!?
- "Moby Richard" has Lydia observe how crazy he's gotten when while playing the role of Captain Ahab in a Neitherworld television adaptation of Moby-Dick and has become a bit too into character, to the point that the normally greedy ghost is offering a bounty to whoever helps him find the whale.Beetlejuice: I'd give anything to get me hands on Moby Richard. Money isn't important!
Lydia: He is sick!
- In "Snugglejuice", when Lydia first sees him after he's been "rehabilitated" in Neither-Neither-Land, one of the worst punishments imaginable in the Neitherworld, she initially thinks that it's just another one of his scams or pranks... but when he refuses to eat a beetle, that's when she knows that something is seriously wrong.
- Organ Autonomy: On occasion, his body parts have demonstrated having minds of their own and have separated from him to act indepdendently of him. One example is his funny bone demonstrating independent sapience and resisting efforts to get him back into Beetlejuice's body in "Them Bones, Them Bones, Them Funny Bones".
- Person as Verb: Other characters occasionally refer to his tendency to use his reality-warping abilities to cause trouble as "Beetlejuicing".
- Pet the Dog: As much as he enjoys pranking them, Beetlejuice is genuinely fond of Lydia's parents and will do things to help them, as well as protect them from real danger.
- Phrase Catcher: Saying his name three times allows him, the speaker and anyone else in contact with them to go between the Neitherworld and Outerworld. Lydia's usually the one to say it, but Claire unwittingly summoned him this way once in one episode, as did the residents of the Neitherworld when they cheered him for being a "sandworm hero".
- The Pig-Pen: Beetlejuice takes great pride in being a filthy pig. Cleanliness is almost like Kryptonite to him.
- Positive Friend Influence: The episode "It's a Wonderful Afterlife" reveals that he became this to Lydia when they met. She was a shy, lonely, and depressed outcast who was constantly teased for her interests in things considered creepy or gross. He actually helped her become more outgoing and confident in herself, which led her to be able to expand her social circle, not only in the Living World, but the Neitherworld as well.
- Reality Warper: Much like the movie, Beetlejuice has all kinds of strange powers. While he mostly does Voluntary and Involuntary Shapeshifting, he can also transport himself and others between the Outerworld and Neitherworld, control living people and inanimate objects through Demonic Possession, compel people to do an Involuntary Dance, and almost anything else the plot requires.
- Really 700 Years Old: Looks like he's in his mid-to-late 30s, but according to a comment he makes in "Scare and Scare Alike", he's in his late 620s.
- Scary Scarecrows: Played for Laughs in the episode "Scarecrow" when Beetlejuice gets a job as a scarecrow on a beetle farm. He pranks the birds who are trying to eat Farmer Bailey's glow worms before they hatch into beetles.
- Smelly Feet: Beetlejuice's feet smell so bad, he briefly saved Charles and Delia from being executed by a mob of ghosts re-enacting The French Revolution by taking off his shoes. The Visible Odor and foghorn sound for the stench from Beetlejuice's bare feet were so bad that the crowd went from yelling "Off with their heads!" to "On with your shoes!"
- Smug Super: Beetlejuice doesn't just love to prank people, he loves to perform his pranks. Whether it's the worms cheering him for protecting them from birds when he's a scarecrow, the other factory workers applauding as he saves his father Gnat from a sandworm, the patrons of Lydia's school carnival funhouse loving his spooky creations or even just Lydia enjoying his pranking the hunters after a baby sandworm, Beetlejuice always appreciates an audience.
- Strong as They Need to Be: Depending on the episode, he can have Story-Breaker Power said to be powerful enough for him to conquer the Neitherworld and is enough to sufficiently handle any threat, or he'll just scream profusely like a girl while being beaten up by or forced to run away from what should be minor nuisances to him, with Lydia sometimes having to bail him out.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Beetles, of course. But he can't stomach killer beetles, since they bite back.
- Traumatic Superpower Awakening: Double Subverted in "Highs-Ghoul Confidential"; he already had his powers and could be plenty chaotic with them, but he didn't gain full control of his "juice" until getting publicly humiliated at his high school prom finally sent him over the edge, making him say his Character Catchphrase for the first time.
- The Un-Favorite: In "Oh, Brother!", we meet his younger brother, Donny, a who is the complete opposite of him and is shown to be vastly loved more than him by their extended family. In the Crimebusters on the Haunt miniseries that was among the comic book tie-ins by Harvey Comics, he even believes his own parents to prefer Donny over him. They deny this is the case, but he doesn't believe them, particularly since it is apparently common for his mother and father to ask him why he can't be more like Donny.
- Villain Protagonist: Downplayed, but still a rare kids' show example. Beetlejuice loves to mess with everyone, even people who've done nothing to him (like his neighbors), and usually suffers no consequences in the end.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Or rather, sandworms. Beetlejuice is so terrified by sandworms that he's all but helpless against them. Occasionally subverted when he overcomes this fear, such as in saving his father from being eaten by a sandworm, or when Lydia's encouragement rallies him.
Lydia Deetz
Voiced by: Alyson Court
A living girl in her early teens who is Beetlejuice's best (and arguably only) friend.
- Adaptational Nice Girl: While her film version was a good person and not a jerk by any means, the animated version is sweeter and less creepy. She also gets more opportunities to be a real hero in the show.
- Affectionate Nickname: She's "Pumpkin" to her father, and Beetlejuice has a few of these for her, mostly "Lyds" and "Babes."
- Camera Fiend: As was the case for her film counterpart, her main hobby is photography.
- The Fashionista: In her own macabre way; it's shown in a few episodes that clothing design and manufacture is one of her hobbies.
- Friend to All Living Things: Several episodes show her interacting with assorted wildlife, all of which seem to love her. She's also a friend to all unliving things, as she's widely beloved by many of the Neitherworld ghosts.
- Hair Reboot: When she takes a collect call from Beetlejuice, the Neitherworld phone exchange's "charge" is an electrical one that gives her a hairdo resembling The Bride of Frankenstein. She quickly returns it to normal with one brush.
- Morality Chain: For Beetlejuice. Any time you see him doing something good, it's due to her influence in one way or another. Overlaps with The Kid with the Leash.
- Nice Girl: She's friendly and sweet to everyone, and as a result, the large majority of the cast is dearly fond of her. There are a number of episodes which show residents of the Neitherworld agreeing to tolerate Beetlejuice's latest scam only because doing so will benefit her in some way.
- Nightmare Fetishist: In a downplayed, kid-friendly way. She's been shown consistently to be very fond of all that is scary and grotesque.
- Overly Narrow Superlative: The Neitherworld denizens present her, in one episode, with an award for being the "Cutest Mortal to Visit the Afterlife." There is not a large pool of contenders for the title.
- Perky Goth: Like her movie counterpart, she enjoys dark, spooky, and bizarre things; however, this is offset by her being cheerful, friendly, and kindhearted.
- The Rival: Claire sees her this way, for reasons that are never made entirely clear. Lydia would just as soon be left alone, but Claire has a gift for pushing her buttons. It's implied that Claire detests Lydia for being "weird," but also because Lydia could be a genuine contender for the most popular girl in school due to how sweet and likable she is.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: In one episode, we find out she's afraid of hospitals. She gets over it by the end, though.
Jacques LaLean
Voiced by: Charles Kerr
One of Beetlejuice's housemates. A French skeleton who is also a fitness enthusiast, and Beetlejuice's old high school classmate.- French Jerk: Inverted. Jacques is a perfect gentleman, particularly to Mademoiselle Lydia.
- Gratuitous French: He has a French accent and occasionally says French words in his lines. Possibly justified if he was a Frenchman in life.
- Irony: He's a bodybuilder who is somewhat obsessed with building muscles. He's also a skeleton.
- Meaningful Name/Punny Name: In addition to being named after Jack LaLanne, "LaLean" refers to him, a skeleton, being lean. In "It's a Wonderful Afterlife," he becomes an overweight restauranteur whose name is changed accordingly to "LaLarge."
- Beyond the Impossible: How can a skeleton be overweight?
- Not So Above It All: He willingly participates in the scheme to humiliate Claire in "Foreign Exchange" as well as the haunted house in "Bizarre Bazaar."
- Pulling Themselves Together: He frequently falls apart, usually due to Beetlejuice's pranks. He's never hurt, just annoyed when he has to put himself back together.
- Shout-Out: To fitness guru Jack LaLanne. He briefly becomes a tribute to Canadian goalie Jacques Plante when he dresses as a French Canadian skeleton at BJ's Halloween party.
Ginger
Voiced by: Paulina Gillis
Beetlejuice's other neighbor and high school classmate who is a tap-dancing spider.- The Dead Can Dance: Tap dancing is her biggest passion in (un)life, especially since she has eight legs.
- Friendly Neighborhood Spider: Literally. She's one of Beetlejuice's neighbors and is an absolute sweetheart. Too bad for her both qualities make her a frequent target for BJ's pranks.
- Not So Above It All: She willingly participates in the scheme to humiliate Claire in "Foreign Exchange" as well as the haunted house in "Bizarre Bazaar".
- Ocular Gushers: She cries easily and always in this manner.
- Shout-Out: To Ginger Rogers.
The Monster Across the Street
Voiced by: Len Carlson
Beetlejuice's neighbor, a big fluffy brown monster who wears a cowboy hat, gloves, and boots and speaks with a western dialect. He has a pink monster dog named Poopsie who hates Beetlejuice, and whom BJ hates in turn.- Character Catchphrase: Frequently bellows "What in tarhooties" whenever he's annoyed by Beetlejuice's shenanigans.
- Dreadful Musician: Beetlejuice thinks so, anyway — he really hates the Monster's country-style music.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": He's only ever referred to as "The Monster Across the Street".
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: He's a monster who lives across the street from Beetlejuice. In the episode "It's a Wonderful Afterlife," he instead lives down the block, and his name is changed accordingly.
- Eyeless Face: Zigzagged. The Monster actually has eyes, but they're usually hidden under his hair. They only pop out when he's really embarrassed or scared.
- Long-Lost Relative: "It's a Big, Big, Big, Big Ape" has him reunite with his gigantic father, who he was separated from when he was very young.
- Mister Muffykins: Poopsie is small, and can be vicious if he doesn't like you. Not that Beetlejuice doesn't deserve it.
- No Name Given: It would seem his given name is simply based on his proximity to his neighbors.
- Not So Above It All: He willingly participates in the scheme to humiliate Claire in "Foreign Exchange."
- Southern Gentleman: Acts this way towards Lydia, addressing her as "Miss Lydia" and generally being quite pleasant so long as Beetlejuice isn't annoying him.
Doomie
- Berserk Button: His "Hyde" side comes out whenever he sees a dog.
- Cool Car: It's hard to get much cooler than a car which 'talks', drives itself, and flies.
- Happily Adopted: In a way. Some episodes have Beetlejuice and Lydia treating him like he's their son rather than their car.
- Hopeless Suitor: He falls into this in "Doomie's Romance," when he falls in love with an adorable but non-sentient pink convertible. By the end of the episode, his love for "Pinky" brings her to life.
- Jekyll & Hyde: Doomie is ordinarily very friendly and docile, but as the Dragster of Doom beomes a manic, werewolf-like terror who isn't above racing through the streets of the Neitherworld at high speeds.
- Morality Chain: Not nearly to the extent that Lydia is, but he has shades of this with Beetlejuice.
- Nice Guy: Most of the time. Even his "Hyde" side is still pretty lovable.
- Sentient Vehicle: Thanks to an abnormal brain and some judicious application of lightning.
- Superpowered Evil Side: Normally Doomie is quite restrained. But in his "feral" form, he moves at a truly staggering speed, unmatched by any other vehicle.
Bea and Nat Juice
Voiced by: Susan Roman and Len Carlson
Beetlejuice's mother and father who love him dearly, despite the fact that he refuses to bathe or get a job.- Affectionate Nickname: Bea has a tendency to call everyone "Dear", regardless of whether or not they're a member of her family.
- Amazingly Boring Parents: As the main page indicates, their picture is in the dictionary under the word "boring." Literally.
- The Dreaded: Beetlejuice is terrified by the idea of Bea visiting him and trying to clean up both him and the Roadhouse. An April Fool's episode had him repeatedly pranking Lydia with his magic. The only time she got him back was when she faked a phone call from Bea saying that she was coming to visit him for a month.
- Early Installment Character-Design Difference: In their debut episode, Bea has dark grey hair and pale greenish skin, but in all following appearances her hair is blonde, her skin is a pale lavender, and she now more closely resembles her two sons.
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Nat has a large, Frankenstein-like figure, while Bea is a tiny old woman who's barely Lydia's height.
- Neat Freak: Bea. She always chastises Beetlejuice for not bathing or cleaning his room, and has several broom closets in her and her husband's home, as Lydia points out.Bea: Can't have too many brooms, Lydia, dear.
- Not So Above It All: At the end of their introductory episode, they show Beetlejuice that they've learned to spin their heads just like him. He's absolutely delighted.
- Workaholic: Nat loves working at the neck bolt factory, and explains to Beetlejuice that it fills him with a sense of pride knowing that he's doing something important for others.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: They are overbearing and can put a lot of pressure on Beetlejuice. However, they do love him dearly and at the very least, their hearts are in the right place.
Donny Juice
Voiced by: Richard Binsley
Beetlejuice's younger brother who couldn't be more different than him if he tried, to the point that their extended family prefer him.- Annoying Younger Sibling: Beetlejuice can't stand how kind, giving and overly friendly Donny is, to the point that he dreads whenever Donny stops by for a visit.
- Big Brother Worship: Donny absolutely adores BJ, to the point that he's near oblivious to how much BJ can't stand him.
- Fall Guy: One of the comic book tie-ins by Harvey Comics, the Crimebusters on the Haunt miniseries, has him get in trouble for claiming to be the leader behind the gang of sentient cleaning appliances cleaning up the Neitherworld. It subsequently turns out that he was tricked into taking the fall by the real mastermind.
- Fluffy Tamer: The Crimebusters on the Haunt miniseries establishes that he kept a sandworm named Cuddles as a pet.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Donny is definitely the Responsible Sibling to BJ's Foolish Sibling. In "Midnight Scum", when there's a price on Donny's head for vandalism (he was planting trees all over the Neitherworld, but he was doing it for a benevolent reason), BJ wants to turn him in for the large bounty. Once Donny becomes aware of this, he does the honorable thing and turns himself in, and then donates the reward money to charity.
- Green Thumb: Downplayed in "Midnight Scum". The acorns he plants become full size trees in a matter of minutes, but he doesn't seem to have control over them.
- The Pollyanna: Donny sees the bright side in everything. In his debut episode, he and Lydia are searching for Beetlejuice by plane, but when that plane crashes, they have to climb a cliff to get to BJ. Donny's response to this? An excited "I like climbing!" He even starts to wear on Lydia's nerves after a while.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: Donny is everything Beetlejuice is not; clean, kind, giving and friendly.
- Stepford Smiler: Is implied to be this in his debut episode when he reveals that he's not as "most loved" as Beetlejuice claimed he was."Everybody hates me because I'm so cheerful. Oh sure, they like me at first, but after a while they all say I drive 'em crazy. […] That's why I came to see Beetlejuice. I thought at least my own brother wouldn't turn on me…"
Bertha and Prudence
Voiced by: Tara Strong (Bertha) and Paulina Gillis (Prudence)
Lydia's other best friends from the human world.- Bespectacled Cutie: Prudence wears round glasses that emphasize her eyes.
- The Dividual: They're the Syndividual variety, as they aren't remotely identical and have some differing personalities, but don't usually show much indication of individuality.
- Goofy Buckteeth: Bertha has those, emphasizing her status as an outcast.
- Hidden Depths: As revealed in "The Brides of Funkenstein", Prudence has a wild side underneath her mousy exterior, and she admits that she's always wanted to become a rockstar.
- Huge Schoolgirl: Bertha towers over most of the other students.
- Meaningful Name: Prudence is the shy one between them.
- Only One Name: Unlike Lydia and Claire, neither of their last names were ever mentioned.
- Simpleton Voice: Bertha, though downplayed due to her being less stupid and more weird.
- Smart People Wear Glasses: Prudence is bespectacled and is consistently shown to be very intelligent.
Claire Brewster
Voiced by: Tara Strong
Lydia's arch-rival and the snobby girl in Miss Shannon's School for Girls.- Alpha Bitch: She's the standard popular girl at school who's mean as heck.
- Egocentric Team Naming: Her band is Claire and the Claire-inettes... naturally.
- Foil: Surprisingly, she counts as one to Beetlejuice.
- Both can be utterly obnoxious and unpleasant people who mostly think of themselves, but Beetlejuice is more willing to do the right thing while Claire has no consideration for anyone.
- Both can be disgusting. In Beetlejuice's case it's because he's slovenly and loves all things gross, while Claire is disgusting because her personality is foul to the core despite how cute she is.
- Beetlejuice is loathed by the majority of the Neitherworld while Claire is adored by most of her classmates in school.
- Lydia is Beetlejuice's best friend but Claire's arch enemy.
- Hate Sink: There's nothing even remotely likable about her.
- It's All About Me: She acts like she's the center of the universe.
- Jerkass: She spends most of her screentime bullying Lydia and her friends.
- Laser-Guided Karma: She almost always gets her comeuppance whenever she bullies Lydia considering that Beetlejuice gives her a very big comeuppance to her whenever she goes too far with her Jerkass behavior.
- Rich Bitch: She lives with her parents in a big mansion.
- Too Dumb to Live: Claire is always put through the wringer whenever she harasses Lydia and her friends, but she never picks up on the idea that maybe she'd be fine if she just stopped being an absolute bitch.
Scuzzo the Clown
Voiced by: Joseph Sherman
Beetlejuice's arch-rival and the monster clown.- Arch-Enemy: He's the most recurring foe Beetlejuice faces in the series and their rivalry gets pretty personal.
- Gag Nose: He has a huge nose.
- Villainous Harlequin: He's a clown and a constant thorn in Beetlejuice's side, though his plans don't usually get any more severe than pranks.
Mayor Maynot
Voiced by: Len Carlson
The Mayor of the Neitherworld, who despises Beetlejuice and wishes to punish him.- Berserk Button: He always gets mad at Beetlejuice's pranks, but he gets really angry at anything that risks his chances at re-election. When he gets publicly slimed and embarrassed in front of the voters, he goes all-out to find Beetlejuice and feed him to the sandworms.
- Covered in Gunge: Under the influence of Beetlejuice's "New U" cologne, Lydia drenches Mayor Maynot in slime. He mistakenly thinks Beetlejuice did it, and is so angry at the public humiliation that he becomes determined to feed Beetlejuice to the sandworms.
- Early Installment Character-Design Difference: Earlier episodes depicted him as a blue-skinned monster in a top hat and a maroon coat, when the remainder of his appearances made him more of a bandaged invisible man/mummy clad in a blue suit with a red necktie as well as sunglasses.
- Invisibility: He looks like a mummy, but he's actually an invisible man who covers himself in bandages to be visible to the voters.
- Mummy: Subverted. He seems like a mummy, but he's actually an invisible man who covers himself in bandages to be visible to the voters. Close-up shots of the Mayor show a gap between the bandages covering his hands and the sleeves of his suit.
- Say My Name: He yells Beetlejuice's name angrily when he mistakenly thinks Beetlejuice is the one who slimed him.
- Sleazy Politician: He's a conniving sleazebag who's really no better than Beetlejuice. He even wears a campaign button that says "Vote 4 Me" on his breast pocket.
Lipscum
Voiced by: Harvey Atkin
A giant pair of lips with arms, legs and a pair of eyes who is a nuisance to both Beetlejuice and the rest of the Neitherworld.- Cephalothorax: He's a giant pair of lips with limbs.
- The Ditz: He doesn't have much in the "brains" department, even being convinced rather easily by Mr. Monitor that getting a damaged TV set is a better deal than getting his own TV show like the other members of S.N.O.T.R.A.G.
- Dumbass Has a Point: In spite of being the least intelligent of the assembled villains in "Neitherworld's Least Wanted", he's the first one to correctly deduce Mr. Big's plan for defeating Beetlejuice.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: He's so obnoxious that even Beetlejuice can't stand him and he gets on the nerves of BJ's other enemies in "Neitherworld's Least Wanted" to the degree that they all give him a Big "SHUT UP!".
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: While generally regarded as a joke, he's the only member of S.N.O.T.R.A.G. in "Neitherworld's Least Wanted" to succeed in tricking Beetlejuice into saying "I'm coming apart at the seams".
- Perpetual Smiler: He always has this doofy grin on his face.
Jesse Germs
Voiced by: Dan Hennessy
A smooth-talking Cowboy who happens to be a Scary Skeleton. His name is a Shout-Out to Jesse James.- No Historical Figures Were Harmed: His character is based on the real-life Outlaw Jesse James, with his name even being a a pun on it.
- Outlaw: He's a skeleton cowboy-outlaw based on real-life outlaw Jesse James.
- Professional Killer: Hires himself out to those needing someone to "eliminate" their adversaries.
- Weapon Specialization: His weapon of choice is a whip.
Bartholomew Batt
Voiced by: John Stocker
A black-and-white cartoon character who prides himself in being "a typical cartoon bad guy" and is jealous of being overshadowed by color cartoons.- Alliterative Name: Both his first and last name start with the letter B.
- Card-Carrying Villain: By his own admission, he does what he does because he's a typical cartoon bad guy.
- Corrupted Character Copy: He's a parody of Mickey Mouse, as one can tell by his being an anthropomorphic cartoon character based on a small mammal with Alliterative Name, even running a theme park called "Grislyland". However, while Mickey is generally mischievous at worst, Bartholomew is a self-proclaimed "typical cartoon bad guy".
- Diminishing Villain Threat: His power was easily on par with Beetlejuice's in his first appearance, with their battle leaving Beetlejuice battered and injured while Bartholomew was able to heal up easily once he got the news he wanted and walk it off like nothing happened to him. By his second appearance, however, Bartholomew is much more easily taken out by Beetlejuice, with or without backup from other villains.
- Mocky Mouse: He has several overt similarities to Mickey Mouse, with the most notable Mickey-influenced attributes being that his name is an alliteration, he's an anthropomorphic cartoon character based on a small mammal and he runs a theme park called Grislyland (an obvious play on Disneyland).
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: He talks like Edward G. Robinson.
Little Miss Warden
Voiced by: Tara Strong
The warden of Neither-Neither-Land, the Neitherworld's jail system: a Candyland-like environment where prisoners are "rehabilitated" into cute, sweet, playful creatures.- Adorable Evil Minions: Several teddy bears work for her, complete with police uniforms and Lawman Batons.
- Enfante Terrible: A little girl who's in charge of a jail system that brainwashes prisoners into being cute and cuddly.
- Hat of Authority: Her pointed blue hat, which has a badge with a Wicked Heart Symbol.
- Nothing Nice About Sugar and Spice: She likes frilly dresses, has long blonde ringlets, and brainwashes prisoners into cute, cuddly versions of their former selves.
- Punishment Box: She sometimes forces prisoners to spend the night inside a Scary Jack-in-the-Box, where Jack plays videos for brainwashing.
- Sinister Shades: Never seen without her dark glasses.
- Wardens Are Evil: Her prisoners are forced to work on the "daisy chain gang." Those who try to escape are sent to the Scary Jack-in-the-Box.
Mr. Big
Voiced by: Len Carlson
A miniature gangster who has occasinally caused trouble for Beetlejuice.- Big Bad Wannabe: In "The Neitherworld's Least Wanted", he appears to be the Big Bad who gathered all of BJ's foes together in a Legion of Doom but towards the end, he runs away without a fight once Beetlejuice shines a light on him and Mr. Monitor is revealed to be The Man Behind the Curtain and the true Big Bad of the episode.
- Mister Big: It's right in his name. He's a powerful mobster who's very short in stature.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Like a lot of cartoon gangsters, his voice is an Edward G. Robinson impression.
Mr. Monitor
Voiced by: John Stocker
A Neitherworld television executive who is willing to do anything for desirable TV ratings, and screwing Beetlejuice over or endangering his afterlife are no exceptions.- Big Bad: While Scuzzo is the closest thing Beetlejuice has to an Arch-Enemy, Mr. Monitor is the closest thing there is to being the main villain of the series. In any interaction between Mr. Monitor and Beetlejuice, the threat of cancellation always hangs over BJ's head and Beetlejuice getting to zap or juice Mr. Monitor is never even presented as a remote possibility.
- Fat Bastard: He has tremendous girth and is as unscrupulous as they come.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: Most of the time he's able to casually make demands of Beetlejuice or screw around with his life for higher TV ratings. In "The Neitherworld's Least Wanted", all the villains he helped gather together turn on him at the end and beat him up for trying to order them around.
- Non-Human Head: His head is four television monitors, each of which have their own face.
Prince Vince
Voiced by: Hadley Kay
The perpetually depressed young ruler of the Neitherworld.- Dreadful Musician: In his second appearance he becomes a rock star, but the song he writes depresses everyone who hears it and his singing is terrible. Even so, no one in the Neitherworld can bring themselves to tell him the truth.
- The Eeyore: Vince is constantly gloomy and, much like the Trope Namer, is often accompanied by literal rain clouds.
- Expy: Of the titular character from Tim Burton's 1982 stop-motion short Vincent - in name, looks, and even their overdramatic personalities.
- Fisher King: If Vince is in a particularly sad mood, rain will fall in the area surrounding him, much to the general annoyance of members of his court.
- Hopeless Suitor: He falls in love with Lydia and asks her to be his princess but she only wants to be friends.
- Large Ham: A major part of Vince's character is his tendency to be melodramatic.Vince: FRIENDS?! You just want to be FRIENDS?! (collapses on his throne) Love's labour lost! I am CRUSHED—utterly DEFEATED!
- Looks Like Cesare: Vince has the gaunt face, dark shaggy hair and sunken eyes typical of Tim Burton's young male characters. He fits right in with his namesake and the two Victors.
- Milking the Giant Cow: Vince commonly makes over-the-top gestures of anguish.
Sandworms
A species of massive, bloodthirsty beasts that frequently endangers Beetlejuice and his friends.
- Deader than Dead: Given that being fed to the sandworms is one of the worst punishments you can suffer in the Neitherworld, it's implied that any ghost eaten by a sandworm is permanently destroyed as if they'd been exorcised. No wonder Beetlejuice is so scared of them.
- The Dreaded: The Apex predator of the Neitherworld, and one of the few beings Beetlejuice truly fears. Being eaten by one is implied to permanently destroy you whether you're a living human or a ghost like Beetlejuice.
- More Teeth than the Osmond Family: Their mouths are filled with fangs.
- Purple Is Powerful: In the cartoon, their stripes are purple and blue rather than black and white. They're also some of the most powerful creatures in the Neitherworld.
- Roar Before Beating: Sandworms scream in rage as they attack their prey.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: These monsters are apparently from "Sandworm Land" and are rarely seen in Neitherworld cities. Sometimes though, one can slip in if a certain prankster opens a door.
- The Unintelligible: Sandworms can't talk, but their roars and yelps say everything they need them to.
Musical Characters
Beetlejuice
Originated by: Alex Brightman (OBC)
The titular character and the Ghost with the Most.
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: He's a lot more openly upset about the restrictions he faces in death than any other official version of the character.
- Adaptational Attractiveness: The musical tones down Beetlejuice's rot, removes his greasy hair and gives him a younger, healthier appearance. Notably he's at his grungiest at the very start of the show, in the graveyard, and his cleanest during the wedding scene (where even his wild hair is tamed, intentionally by the other characters), while in his final scene it's hidden by a hat.
- Adaptational Name Change: Apparently, his real name is "Lawrence" and "Beetlejuice" is only his middle name. If one were to take the DC tryout into account, his full name in this version would be "Lawrence Beetlejuice Shoggoth."
- Adaptational Nice Guy: In the movie, Betelgeuse very clearly had the hots for an underage Lydia and was openly perverted in his behavior towards her. This take on him, however, shows absolutely no indication of lusting after her and she's notably one of the few characters he doesn't hit on; he still plans to marry her, but he also makes it very clear that it's just something akin to a Citizenship Marriage and he has absolutely no intentions of actually consummating it.
- Adaptational Villainy:
- While not wholly or irredeemably evil, he's still depicted in a much darker light than his original counterpart from the movie (though most of it is Played for Laughs), and definitely much darker than the cartoon:
- This version of Betelgeuse manipulates the Maitlands from the start instead of merely being hired by them and then going into his schemes. He plans pretty much everything that happens to them.
- He's way, way more into killing people, much to the horror of whoever is listening to him at the time.
- In the movie, Beetlejuice has a moment of empathy when Lydia confesses she's suicidal, and goes as far as to offer to talk to her if she frees him. In this version, he doesn't try to save Lydia from her suicide out of the kindness of his heart, but rather to manipulate her into saying his name three times.
- Subverted with the wedding and his relationship with Lydia. Beetlejuice is overall much more lecherous towards Lydia in the movie to the point that he has to relieve himself at a demonic brothel after seeing her for the first time. In the musical, Lydia is one of the few major characters he never hits on or makes any sexual remarks towards and he goes out of his way to clarify their marriage as "a green card thing" with no sexual or romantic implications whatsoever. However, the actual setup of the wedding has Beetlejuice come off as much more villainous and manipulative in the musical, where he tricks Lydia into exorcising Barbara and only agrees to spare her if Lydia accepts his proposal, as opposed to the movie where he had nothing to do with the Maitlands' exorcism.
- Between the tryout and the Broadway version, BJ goes from being so thrilled to be alive again that he's too stunned to do much before Lydia stabs him, to getting a whole scene where he gets angry at the fleeting natures of his newfound feelings (having already cycled through happy and sad). He decides to take his anger out by killing someone, and Lydia stops him by killing him then.
- While not wholly or irredeemably evil, he's still depicted in a much darker light than his original counterpart from the movie (though most of it is Played for Laughs), and definitely much darker than the cartoon:
- Afterlife Angst: He's much more openly upset about his restrictions in death than any other adaptation of the character. This reaches its breaking point after Lydia seemingly ditches him to try to bring back her mother, which he interprets as betrayal and causes him to trap her in a green-card marriage that will bring him back to life.
- Ambiguously Jewish: There are some hints that he's Jewish, even though he's a literal demon from the Neitherworld. During the previews and DC tryout, he wears a yarmulke to his wedding to Lydia, and even says "l'chaim" to life during "Creepy Old Guy."
- Ax-Crazy: As noted under Adaptational Villainy, this version of Beetlejuice's first instinct is usually murder. He mentions to the Maitlands that he wants nothing more than to kill the Deetzes after he's hired, and only restrains himself because they keep insisting. After Lydia escapes into the Neitherworld, he decides to kill Otho, Delia, and the Maitlands, starting with Otho.
- Badass Longcoat: He wears a dirty, gray trench coat over his outfit during the opening of Act 1, although he ditches it after introducing the audience to the Maitlands.
- Blue-and-Orange Morality: He is the Ghost with the Most, after all, so this is to be expected. In-universe this is because he was "born dead" and has never experienced life, and therefore doesn't get why the living care about it (until experiencing being alive for himself).
- Call a Human a "Meatbag": He often refers to the living as "breathers."
- Card-Carrying Villain: He becomes this from "That Beautiful Sound (Reprise)" all the way to the end of "Creepy Old Guy," where he finally becomes alive and has a Heel–Face Turn. He even proudly announces during "Good Old Fashioned Wedding" that he's "holding all the aces."Beetlejuice: Well, if you wanna treat me like a demon...then I'll be a demon.
- Cruel to Be Kind: "The Whole 'Being Dead' Thing" is essentially this as a song. Beetlejuice is trying to get the audience prepared to deal with the existentialism of the story by beating them over the head with the fact that death is inevitable, the world will move on afterwards, and the only thing you can really do is talk through the ramifications of it with loved ones while you have the chance and try to relax when the time comes.
- Depraved Bisexual: Beetlejuice freely makes passes at men and women alike, and spends a good chunk of the play sexually harassing Adam, whom he calls "sexy." Word of God states that Beetlejuice, at least in this iteration, is pansexual.
- Even Evil Has Standards: After his clones are squicked out when he decides to propose to Lydia, he makes it clear that he doesn't want a real marriage, he wants a "green card thing" and an excuse to be in the mortal world. Of course, this does nothing to reassure Lydia, the Deetzes, or Adam when he springs this on her.
- Foil: To Otho, weirdly enough. Both are Con Men who prey off of others' insecurities, have Embarassing First Names, and are the only characters in the cast to show interest in characters of the same sex. While Beetlejuice's cons tend to fail and he mainly relies on opportunism to get what he wants, Otho is so successful in his guise as a life coach that Delia never suspects that she's been duped. This is especially ironic because while Otho is a total fraud, Beetlejuice actually can do everything that he promises to, it's just that nobody in their right mind would trust him. Beetlejuice's main goal in Act 1 is to get a living person to say his name three times, while Delia constantly quotes and name drops Otho throughout the show. Beetlejuice goes by his middle name and openly admits to the Maitlands that his first name is Lawrence, while Otho only reveals that his name is actually Kevin in the moments before his death with nothing to suggest that "Otho" was ever part of his full name. Beetlejuice is a Depraved Bisexual who sexually harasses Adam constantly while Otho is a harmless Camp Gay who never makes a move on anyone. Finally, Beetlejuice starts off the play dead and later comes alive (briefly) and Otho ends up being killed near the end of Act 2 by none other than Beetlejuice himself.
- Forceful Kiss: He gives one of these to Adam when he and Barbara agree to hire him, and later tries to do the same to Barbara. Adam pays him back when conning him into thinking Lydia (and Adam) really wants to marry him.
- Freudian Excuse: According to Beetlejuice, his mother was a verbally abusive alcoholic and his father left, which is the reason he is the way he is. His reasoning for wanting to marry a human or have somebody say his name three times is he's tired of being alone.
- Hates Being Alone: Beetlejuice wants friends, and it's a reason why he does what he does. Lydia even considers him the loneliest person she's ever met, and they are able to bond by taking the anger of their circumstances out on others. After he believes Lydia left him in order to find her mother, he decides to come up with a plan to marry her so he can have an excuse to remain in the living world and leave the house.
- Heel–Face Turn: He gains a newfound appreciation for life after he's briefly resurrected, which prompts him to defend Lydia when Juno tries to drag her back to the Neitherworld. Keep in mind this happens directly after Lydia stabbed him in the back, literally.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: How he's taken care of in this version, as Lydia stabs him "with bad art."
- Jerkass Realization: He has one of these after he briefly comes to life, realizing it's wrong to deprive Lydia of that same chance. After Lydia kills him, he willingly goes to the Neitherworld, permanently.
- Loves the Sound of Screaming: It even gets a song in the form of "That Beautiful Sound" which is about Beetlejuice and Lydia (and later his clones) scaring whoever comes near the house. It's even shown during the end of Act 1 that he gets aroused by hearing people scream in fear.Beetlejuice: Oh, god! I missed that sound!
- Meaningful Echo: At the beginning of the play, he burns the Maitlands' copy of the Handbook for the Recently Deceased, using it as a puppet that screams "tell my story!" when it burns to ashes. When he leaves Earth for the Neitherworld for good, he tells the Deetzes and the Maitlands this exact line.
- "Not So Different" Remark: As he lampshades to Lydia, they both view themselves as "invisible" to others and have problems with their aloof parents.
- Odd Friendship: He develops this with Lydia to an extent. However, it doesn't stop him from trying to hurt her or her family when he thinks she'll leave him.
- Running Gag: He has several.
- At the beginning of the play, he makes a sad quip and then point to a random man in the audience, saying "This guy knows what I'm talking about." He does this several times throughout the play, even thanking the man for coming.
- Sexually harassing Adam. The game show segment even has Adam's name tag read "Sexy" whereas everybody else has their normal names. During his goodbye to Adam, he tells his looks are an asset and to "own it".
- His hatred for his abusive mother is known, and he will go on rants about her and the sad childhood he endured.Beetlejuice: We're not so different. You don't like your dad, I don't like my mom. She's a demon and she just doesn't get me. She's always like "get a job!" "Why is your hair purple?!" "I should've left, like your father!" (Beat) The point is...
- Unconventional Wedding Dress: Just as Lydia wears a red dress and veil, Beetlejuice wears a red suit. In the previews and DC tryout, he even wears a matching yarmulke.
The Maitlands
Originated by: Barbara: Kerry Buter (OBC), Adam: Rob McClure (OBC)
Other Productions: Adam: David Josefberg (CBC)
A loving couple, Barbara and Adam Maitland perish in a gruesome accident and return to their home as ghosts.
- Adaptational Wimp: The Maitlands are depicted as a squeaky clean and overly-polite suburban couple here, and are much worse at scaring people than their movie counterparts (they were able to pull off some genuinely terrifying scares in the film, they just couldn't be seen).
- Adaptational Dye-Job: Barbara is a brunette in the film, but is played by the blonde Kerry Butler in the original cast.
- Adaptation Personality Change: Adam and Barbara in the original film were essentially sweet, normal people intended as audience surrogates, and while Adam was a little bit of a Cloud Cuckoolander they were both very grounded, as well as pretty good at coming up with scares, just not at being seen performing them. Here they're essentially Brad and Janet if they never made it to Frank's castle, and too set in their milquetoast ways to have basically any idea of how to scare anyone until Lydia collaborates with them.
- Adaptational Sexuality: This version of Adam is either bisexual or very good at faking it.
- Demoted to Extra: Due to the play focusing more on Lydia grieving for her dead mother. They still play a very important role, but it is diminished from their film selves.
- Dies Differently in Adaptation: Unlike their movie counterparts, they don't die in a car accident. Instead they get a particularly Undignified Death of the final jump of their musical number causing them to crack through the weakened floorboards of their house and fatally fall into the basement. In touring productions, they are instead electrocuted by faulty wiring.
- The Ditherer: Their first song, Ready Set, Not Yet sets them both up as this. The whole song is basically Barbara and Adam making every excuse they can to avoid the decision on their minds of if they want to have a kid or not. They wind up dithering on the decision so long that they run out of time without even realizing their clocks were ticking. They shed this for the most part in Barbara 2.0 where they resolve to better themselves to help Lydia.
- Family of Choice: They very quickly bond with Lydia as if she was their own daughter, becoming incredibly protective of her. By the end of the story, they decide to continue haunting their old house as essentially Lydia's godparents.
- He's Back!: Subverted with the song "Barbara 2.0" where the Maitlands rally themselves—they realize they were never really living before and decide to really bring it in order to help Lydia.
- Minion with an F in Evil: The Maitlands, making BJ give up on getting them to be scary and move on to manipulating Lydia directly. The creepiest they manage is the "Day-O" haunting, and even that goes wrong.
- Papa Wolf: Adam and Charles reach this at the same point, angrily refusing to let Lydia marry Beetlejuice nearly in perfect unison.
- Parental Substitute: Barbara and Adam become this to Lydia almost immediately (with Lydia even delightedly laughing at one of Adam's corny jokes and declaring it "the perfect dad joke" only minutes after they've met). By the end of the show, though, she gets to have both them and her biological father Charles, as well as her future stepmom Delia, as parental figures, all working together to take care of her.
- Stepford Smiler: Adam and Barbara, a little, though in their case it's less trying to pretend they're happy when they're not so much as (initially) not wanting to venture into thinking of anything complicated or grim enough to mess with their happiness.
Lydia Deetz
Originated by: Sophia Anne Caruso (OBC)
Other Productions: Presley Ryan, Elizabeth Teeter (CBC)
A teenager dealing with the loss of her mother.
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: The musical explains Lydia's obsession with dying comes from the death of her mother, Emily, which combined with her father's insistence she move on and forget, hits her like a truck of bricks. She spends most of the musical trying to find ways to get her back or die herself.
- Ambiguously Jewish: Since the original film actress to play the part was Winona Ryder .
- Despair Event Horizon: She reaches her during "Home" when she tries to find her mother. But as she quickly learns, the Neitherworld is a big, empty abyss (she even goes as far as to compare it to the "emptiness of space") and she can't find her and likely won't see her again. What snaps her out of it is finding Charles and finally getting him to notice her.
- Determinator: She's dead set on either getting her mother back, or dying to be with her. This winds up deconstructed as determination for such an impossible task chips away at her stability until Home, where she breaks down completely upon realizing that the Neitherworld is so vast that there's next to no chance of actually finding her mother no matter how long she looks. It takes an open conversation with her father combined with her Despair Event Horizon to realize exactly what her determination almost caused her to throw away.
- Driven to Suicide: Lydia was prepared to throw herself off the roof after discovering Charles and Delia are having an affair. She's stopped by Betelgeuse, who tells her it's better to Scare 'Em Straight and take revenge on Charles personally.
- Five Stages of Grief: She goes through each of the stages:
- Depression: Lydia is in a state of this during the first act, even being willing to throw herself off the roof, as she's still dealing with the death of her mother.
- Anger: She reaches a Rage Breaking Point when Charles and Delia are excited by the monetary opportunities presented by the Maitlands' existence instead of getting scared.
- Denial/Bargaining: BJ tells her there's a spell in the Handbook for contacting ghosts, but much to her horror, it exorcises ghosts, and it was done as payback for abandoning him to get her mother back.
- She also experiences this in the Neitherworld. Juno informs her that everybody who has ever died is in the Neitherworld, but makes it clear that because the Neitherworld is such a big and empty place, she's very unlikely she'll find who she's looking for. She searches as far as she can, even while she's being chased by Juno's goons, but she can't find her mother. It leads to...
- Sadness: When she has her Despair Event Horizon in the Neitherworld.
- Acceptance: After her and Charles are able to talk, she's able to accept that while she misses her mother, she'll never forget her and she has a new family in the form of Delia, Charles, and the Maitlands.
- Goth: Lydia is a mopey version until she and Beetlejuice develop a friendship, disliking a yellow dress Delia buys her for the business dinner and preferring dark things.
- Odd Friendship: She forms one with Beetlejuice after he scares her family away. She even confesses to Charles she feels bad for him, because he's the loneliest person she's ever met. That said, she has no problem killing him after he lies to her and was going to torture/kill her family if she didn't marry him. Still, the pair say goodbye and end their friendship on good terms with the implication that they could be friends again if they ever meet again.
- Perky Goth: She becomes one after her and Beetlejuice become friends, and is cemented as this after she and Charles have a heart to heart.
- Rage Breaking Point: Lydia gets one at the end of Act One, after Charles and Maxie view the Maitlands as a gold mine rather than scary. Thinking things will get much worse, Lydia finally summons Betelgeuse and lets him wreck havoc.
- Scare 'Em Straight: With Beetlejuice's advice (and the Maitlands' aid), Lydia attempts this on Charles during his business dinner with Maxie, hoping it'll make him listen to her. She even goes as far as to wear the yellow dress Delia bought her and act like a happy daughter to help sell the ruse. But instead of them being scared, Charles and Maxie see it as an opportunity to turn the house into a haunted tourist trap. So she uses her last resort and calls Beetlejuice.Lydia: You didn't listen, Dad. Now this is what you get!
Beetlejuice: Yeah, Dad! This is what you get! - Slasher Smile: She and Beetlejuice give one to the audience at the end of Act 1, after kicking out the Deetzes and their associates.
- Teens Are Monsters: After unleashing Beetlejuice, Lydia spends the next few days scaring and possessing whoever comes by the house for shits and giggles. This includes a girl scout named Sky, a Census taker, two delivery men, and an elderly neighbor. This is lampshaded in the scrapped song "Ain't It Strange", where Lydia is cut off before she can call herself an asshole and the rest of the cast interject "No, you're a teenager".
- You're Not My Mother: The crux of Lydia's conflict with Delia comes from a place of anger that she's becoming Charles' Second Love, furious that he would "replace" her mother. By the end of the play however, she makes peace with Delia by repeating a piece of her own advice back to her as a way of accepting her into the Deetz's family.
Charles Deetz
Originated by: Adam Dannheisser (OBC)
Lydia's distant father, who buys the Maitlands' house in order to use it as a flagship for a gated community.- Adaptational Jerkass: He gets a slight case of this, trying to get Lydia to move past her mother's death.Their disconnect is a reason for Lydia's suicidal ideation, and it's only when they are finally able to talk in the Neitherworld that they move past this.
- Fatal Flaw: His need to "fix" how Lydia can't get over Emily's death. It lands them both in the afterlife for a bit.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Despite being explicitly warned by his late wife to "not try to fix this", trying to "fix" things for Lydia is in fact what Charles spends the majority of his time doing, assured that if they can just get past Emily's death, things will be fine again and they'll feel better. He doesn't realize his fix-it attitude makes his daughter think he doesn't care, nor that his unwillingness to talk about his wife because it still hurt too much is taken by Lydia as his rejecting Emily's memory.
- Last Words: Relates Lydia's mother's to her, realizing that Emily wasn't talking about herself and Charles, but about Charles and Lydia, and how his tendency to need to "fix" things might cause a rift.
- Only Sane Man: While this is noticeably toned down, this aspect of the character is still present to a degree, especially after Delia hires Otho to exorcise Beetlejuice.
- Parents as People: To Lydia, he comes off as distant and trying desperately to get Lydia to forget about her mother. However, he himself is still grieving and wants to move past it.
- While it's inappropriate for him to have an affair with his daughter's life coach, he does seem to genuinely think Delia would be a good maternal figure for Lydia, and says so when announcing the proposal. He also seems genuinely taken with her.
- Second Love: With Delia. To Lydia's horror.
- Uptight Loves Wild: The stiff and controlling real estate developer Charles genuinely falls for the kooky new age life coach Delia.
Delia
Originated by: Leslie Kritzer (OBC)
Lydia's life coach, who is secretly having an affair with Charles.
- Adaptational Dumbass: While slightly ditzy and off-beat in the original movie, she is depicted in this version as an airhead who adheres to pseudoscientific New Age woo.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Movie!Delia was apathetic to her stepdaughter for most of the movie, not showing any sign of care for her until Betelgeuse arrives. It's implied this sour relationship is one reason for Lydia's depression. In this version, Delia is nice to Lydia from the start and generally wants to help her, but she can't get on Lydia's wavelength.
- Adaptational Name Change: This version mentions her maiden name is "Schlimmer," as she doesn't become a Deetz until after the events of the musical.
- The Dog Bites Back: She allows Betelgeuse to torture Otho after he confesses he's a fraud who took advantage of her depression.
- Foil:
- The play makes her one to Miss Argentina. Both individuals are depicted as Stepford Smilers with sad backstories, who try to help Lydia and give their advice in the form of songs. However, whereas Delia is aloof to Lydia and her advice hurts her more than help her, Miss Argentina emphasizes with Lydia's suicidal tendencies and is able to get through to the girl. But while there is no way for Miss Argentina to change her position, Delia is able to move on and live a happy life. To hammer this point home, both are played by the same actress.
- She also serves as one to Lydia, as it's revealed in the song "No Reason" she got into all her new age woo after a personal tragedy (her husband running out on her) and copes by looking for reason and positivity in the world. Unfortunately, this makes her vulnerable to con artists like Otho and she admits that when crystals speak to her, it's to say "buy more crystals". Lydia takes this as her simply being well off enough to afford new age products and being "bored" with how dull life is.
- Innocently Insensitive: Despite making the point she's technically paid to care about Lydia, she tries to help and befriend her as best she can, but most of her actions end up driving a wedge between the pair, as either it does nothing to help the situation or Lydia finds it too annoying and condescending to take seriously.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: After Lydia learns Delia and her father are engaged, Delia tries to console Lydia, assuring her it might've happened for a reason. This does nothing but lead Lydia to try and throw herself off the roof of the house. And if Beetlejuice hadn't been on the roof, she would've succeeded.
- Pep-Talk Song: She attempts this with Lydia in "No Reason" telling her everything happens for a reason and she needs to go with her feelings. Her advice hurts Lydia and does nothing to help her out of her depression, and in reveals Delia herself is also coping (in this case, being left by a previous husband) with her new ageisms being how she's dealing.
- Pet the Dog: Despite being a bother to Lydia, she does get several moments:
- After moving in, Delia suggests they clear out the attic and turn it into a dark room after hearing Lydia might be into photography. She still turns her down, but some shows have Lydia pause before declining.
- Although it's a case of Innocently Insensitive, after Lydia discovers Delia's been sleeping with Charles, her only concern is trying to help the poor girl, telling her maybe it's for the best.
- She genuinely tries to give Lydia a Pep-Talk Song in "No Reason" but fails due to Lydia misunderstanding her due to their lack of connection.
- Power Crystal: She mentions in "No Reason" that she uses healing crystals which "speak" to her.Lydia: What are they saying?
Delia: Buy more crystals. - Satellite Character: Mainly interacts with Charles, Lydia, and Otho. Lampshaded during Betelgeuse's farewell, where he not only gets her name wrong ("Danika"), but also flatly admits they didn't hang out much before walking over to speak with Charles instead.
- Second Love: With Charles.
- Secret Relationship: She has a primarily sexual one with Charles, although the pair try to keep it a secret from Lydia, as Charles doesn't think she's strong enough to handle the truth about their relationship yet. When Lydia finds out, she is less than happy about it.
- Sleeping with the Boss: Lampshaded by Charles.
- Charles: You're my employee, but also my lover! It's—-
Delia: Prostitution?
- Stepford Smiler: The subject of her duet with Lydia, "No Reason." She mentions her husband abandoned her to sail to Rome with his lover, and she ended up in a depression due to her fear of not having a family, freezing her eggs, buying a cat as a substitute, and "talking to the walls 'cause there's no one there." She almost has a mental breakdown over this during her coaching session to Lydia.
Juno
Originated by: Jill Abramovitz (OBC)
Other Productions: Zonya Love (CBC)
The demonic Director of the Neitherworld Bureau of Customs and Processing.
- Adaptational Name Change: In the DC tryout, her name was changed to Mrs. Eileen Shoggoth, or simply Mrs. Shoggoth. After Miss Argentina was added on Broadway, her name was changed back to Juno.
- Adaptational Villainy: In the stage musical, Juno is changed into Beetlejuice's alcoholic and overbearing, abusive mother. It's suggested that her bad parenting might be a reason Beetlejuice turned out the way he did. While the movie-version of Juno disliked the living, she was content with letting the Deetzes and the Maitlands coexist; musical-Juno, on the other hand, tries to keep Lydia in the Neitherworld after she enters in an attempt to escape Beetlejuice and locate her mother.
- Abusive Parents: Throughout the play, Beetlejuice mentions his terrible mother, who is later revealed to be her, and she goes as far as to say she wishes he had never been born and she had left like his father. She is the reason for his crazy powers and is strong enough to throw BJ around like a ragdoll.
- The Alcoholic: According to Beetlejuice, Juno loved booze more than him, and spent most of his childhood drunk.
- Asshole Victim: Is eaten by a sand worm.
- Beehive Hairdo: She possesses one of these.
- Brutal Honesty: Crosses over with Jerkass Has a Point. She tells Lydia everybody who's ever died is in the Neitherworld, but because it's an "infinite abyss of nothingness", she's certain to never find who she's looking for, her mother included. Lydia doesn't listen, but sure enough, when she's chased down by Juno's goons, she comes to the realization that her mother is gone for good.
- The Dreaded: To Miss Argentina, who wishes to avoid upsetting her demonic superior, and encourages Lydia and Charles to escape before Juno sees them.
- Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: She has a tracheostomy and like her movie counterpart, is regularly shown smoking, with the smoke being exhaled through this. She is also a mean, evil demon and a terrible employer and mother.
- Hate Sink: Unlike Beetlejuice, she possesses no redeeming qualities. She is shrill and rude to the new Neitherworld residents, she tries to keep Lydia and Charles in the Neitherworld permanently after they wander in, and she is an abusive mother who mentions she wishes her son was never born.
- Jerkass Realization: Subverted. Beetlejuice tells her that because he got to live (briefly) he realizes it's wrong to deprive Lydia of that same chance. It seems like Juno has been overcome by his speech, even removing her glasses and taking her son aside. But it was just a trick to throw him into Saturn and get him out of her way.
- Juno: Oh, Lawrence, that was beautiful. Maybe I've been all wrong about you. And I'll admit, I haven't always been such a good mother. But that's only... because I wish you were never born!
Beetlejuice: You fooled me with love!
- Lady in Red: Wears a red suit and matching skirt and pearls.
- Obstructive Bureaucrat: Downplayed, but she tries to keep Lydia in the Neitherworld after finding out she's still alive, as the rules state that once you go to the Neitherworld, you don't come back, and has no problem maiming the Deetzes and the Maitlands to make it happen. She also does nothing to make the transition to the Neitherworld any easier for the new arrivals.
- Related in the Adaptation: In the musical, Juno goes from merely being Beetlejuice's former boss to being his overbearing mother, and a demon who can rival even him in terms of prowess.
- Voice of the Legion: It happens when she uses her demonic powers.
- Walking Spoiler: Though she was in the original movie as well, it's very difficult to talk about her musical counterpart and her impact on the plot without spoiling two things: 1) that Lydia escapes to the Neitherworld, and 2) that she's Beetlejuice's mother.
Otho
Originated by: Kelvin Moon Loh (CBO)
Delia's frequently mentioned Guru.
- Adaptational Name Change: He confesses before Beetlejuice tortures him that his real name is Kevin.
- Adaptational Sexuality: While his film counterpart was implied to be gay, a scrapped song from the musical, "I am Very Good at Running Cults," had him brag about having slept with a lot of women.
- Adaptational Villainy: While the film had Otho be an arrogant Know-Nothing Know-It-All who was a genuinely polite family friend to the Deetzes and regretted what his actions did to the Maitlands, the stage musical changes him into a charlatan who took advantage of Delia's depression. He confesses after Beetlejuice decides to kill him that his real name is Kevin and he's from Nutley, New Jersey.
- Broken Pedestal: To his "disciple" Delia, after he spells it out he's a fraud, so she wastes no time in letting Beetlejuice torture him.
- Con Man: Many of his contraptions, such as the Soul Box, don't work, and he scams Delia and Charles when they try to enlist his help exorcising Beetlejuice by charging exorbitant prices. It's revealed he is a fraud and his name isn't even Otho, it's Kevin.
- Foil: To Beetlejuice, weirdly enough. Both are Con Men who prey off of others insecurities, have Embarassing First Names, and are the only characters in the cast to show interest in characters of the same sex. While Beetlejuice's cons tend to fail and he mainly relies on opportunism to get what he wants, Otho is so successful in his guise as a life coach that Delia never suspects that she's been duped. This is especially ironic because while Otho is a total fraud, Beetlejuice actually can do everything that he promises to, it's just that nobody in their right mind would trust him. Beetlejuice's main goal in Act 1 is to get a living person to say his name, while Delia constantly quotes and name drops Otho throughout the show. Beetlejuice goes by his middle name and openly admits to the Maitlands that his first name is Lawrence, while Otho only reveals that his name is actually Kevin in the moments before his death with nothing to suggest that "Otho" was ever part of his full name. Beetlejuice is a Depraved Bisexual who sexually harasses Adam constantly while Otho is a harmless Camp Gay who never makes a move on anyone. Finally, Beetlejuice starts off the play dead and later comes alive (briefly) and Otho ends up being killed near the end of Act 2 by none other than Beetlejuice himself.
- The Ghost: He is frequently mentioned but never shown, at least until the second act, although his actor appears in ensemble roles until then.
- Hurricane of Aphorisms: He has many of these, most of which are insensitive or do little to help the situation. It becomes a Running Gag for Delia to spout these off, especially to Lydia.Delia: I believe I quoted my guru, Otho, who said, "depression is like kale salad: no one likes it, throw it out."
- Out of Focus: He barely appears in the play, even during the second act. He had several songs that were cut for time, such as "I'm Very Good At Running Cults" and "The Box."
- Snake Oil Salesman: In this version, Otho is an obvious New Age Con Man who spends most of his screen-time trying scams the Deetzes, especially Delia.
- Uncertain Doom: When Charles and Lydia navigate the Neitherworld, Beetlejuice decides to have a game show style segment where he tortures the "contestants" to death by strapping them to a giant torture wheel, and decides to start with Otho. After he confesses he's a fraud, Delia allows BJ to torture him, although his fate is unclear.
- The Un-Hug: He and Delia greet each other with a "spirit hug" which involves them crossing their arms and circling each other, and saying this phrase.
- Delia/Otho: Life is life. Love is love. Live a life of love.
Maxie and Maxine Dean
Originated by: Danny Rutigliano (Maxie) and Jill Abramovitz (Maxine)
Other Productions: Zonya Love (CBC)
Associates of Charles Deetz and a wealthy real estate couple.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: While they still aren't saints, the Deans in this version are slightly better than their movie counterparts. They are friendly old chums to the Deetzes, and although they are somewhat loud and obnoxious, they are still polite to Lydia, Maxie complimenting her when she arrives. It's a step-up from movie-Maxie shushing Lydia during the séance and disregarding what she says, and calling Charles a putz after a call.
- Adaptation Name Change: Sarah Dean is renamed Maxine in this version.
- Adaptation Personality Change: In the movie, the Deans are cold, unfeeling jerks. In this version, they are a boorish, hedonistic couple, with Maxie being Big Fun and Maxine being a Brainless Beauty.
- Big Fun: Maxie is an overweight, middle-aged man, but he seems like a joy to be around.
- Brainless Beauty: Maxie describes his new wife as having "a body that doesn't quit and a brain that doesn't work." If Maxine is to be believed, she was kicked in the head by a horse.
- I Kiss Your Hand: Maxie does this to Lydia during the dinner scene when she comes down wearing the dress Delia bought her. She's repulsed.
- Mythology Gag: Like the movie, they arrive to the Deetz residence via a helicopter. While the movie did it to establish their wealth, the musical portrays them as an insanely wealthy, out of touch rich couple.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Both only appear in one scene, but are responsible for the events of Act Two, as instead of being scared when they're possessed, Maxie suggests Charles turn the house into a tourist trap instead of the flagship for his gated community. Lydia, who feels like she has no other options, summons Beetlejuice as a trump card to get her father to finally listen to her.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Averted in the DC tryouts, as Beetlejuice kills the pair after Lydia unleashes him. On Broadway, he simply chases them out, along with their associates.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Charles adds shrimp to the dinner menu because Maxie loves shrimp.
- Trophy Wife: Maxine is much younger and attractive than her husband, and is outright stated to be his fourth wife (or fifth wife according to her).
Miss Argentina
Originated by: Leslie Kritzer (OBC)
Other Productions: Michelle Aravena(CBC)
A former troubled Beauty Queen and an assistant to Juno.
- Acting for Two: In the musical, she's played by the same actress who portrays Delia. During the curtain call, Delia's actress even comes out wearing Miss Argentina's sash.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: While the movie had her be snarky around the Maitlands, the musical has her take pity on Lydia and try to convince her to return to Earth and live her life while she still can. Her song manages to get through to her and it's one of the reasons Lydia stops her suicidal ideation.
- Afterlife Angst: Her music number, "What I Know Now," is all about how miserable the afterlife is and how she regrets not living life to the fullest while she still could.
- Ascended Extra: She has little impact on the movie, beyond being a receptionist with little patience towards the Maitlands, explaining they must remain in their house until their paperwork is finished being processed in 125 years. In the musical, while she only appears in one scene, she gets her own song which builds upon her backstory as a depressed beauty queen who was Driven to Suicide, using it to encourage Lydia that death doesn't solve her problems and to live her life while she still can.
- Driven to Suicide: While she still had her little accident, the musical goes on to explain she was a beauty queen and a party girl who had low self-esteem and depression and took her own life in order to end her suffering, something she regrets.
- Foil: She is one to Delia. Both are attractive Stepford Smilers with depressing backstories who Lydia encounters. Each try to give advice in the form of a song, Miss Argentina with "What I Know Now" and Delia with "No Reason." Delia's advice is well-meaning, yet patronizing and ends up making Lydia's depression worse. Miss Argentina is better able to empathize with Lydia and get through to her. In essence, Miss Argentina is a version of Delia that gave in to her depression because she didn't have people to help her through it. To hammer this point home, both are played by the same actress.
- Gratuitous Spanish: She has several lines of Spanish when talking to Lydia and Charles, such as calling Lydia "mami" when Lydia shows up without a handbook.
- Minor Character, Major Song: Miss Argentina appears for one single scene, but sings "What I Know Now", which helps to convince Lydia to give up her suicide ideation and return with Charles.
Emily Deetz
Lydia's deceased mother and Charles's first wife. Her death serves as a motivation to Lydia.
- Adaptational Expansion: Emily is never mentioned in the movie, and it's never explained how Delia became Lydia's stepmother. In this version, she got very sick and died, although she accepted her fate by the time it happened.
- The Ghost: Pun not intended. As Emily is dead, she is reminisced about by the characters, especially Lydia and Charles. Even when Lydia goes to the Neitherworld in an attempt to find her, she still can't, as the Neitherworld is too big and empty.
- The Lost Lenore: She functions as a non-romantic one to her daughter, who misses her dearly and will do whatever to have her back. Downplayed with her husband, as while he misses her, too, he accepts she's not coming back and is trying to make himself and Lydia happy by being with Delia.
- Missing Mom: And how. Lydia's solo, "Dead Mom," is about the grief she feels from losing her.
- Nightmare Fetishist: Downplayed, but Lydia mentions her mother loved ghosts and anything scary, and would love the Maitlands.
- Shout-Out: Emily's name could be a reference to the Tim Burton character, Emily, from "Corpse Bride", a deceased heroine living in the Land of the Dead.
Beetlejuice Clones
Clones of Beetlejuice he brings to life to serve him as minions.
- Blue-and-Orange Morality: They share their creator's kooky, perverted nature. Strangely, however, they do have slightly higher standards than him (see below).
- Everybody Has Standards: After Beetlejuice decides to get the teenage Lydia to marry him so he can become human, the clones are noticeably disgusted, at least until Beetlejuice explains he means a "green card thing" and "strictly business."
- Evil Minions: They serve as this to Beetlejuice and follow him into the Neitherworld after he's killed by Lydia.
- Me's a Crowd: They are all clones of Beetlejuice and share his Blue-and-Orange Morality.
- Summon Backup Dancers: Beetlejuice brings them to life during "That Beautiful Sound" to help him and Lydia scare people who wander by the house.
Sky
Originated by: Dana Steingold (OBC)
A teenage Girl Scout who is scared by Beetlejuice and Lydia, and has a congenital heart defect.- Bring My Brown Pants: She soils herself after Beetlejuice and Lydia scare her.
- Canon Foreigner: She is a new character created specifically for the musical.
- Delicate and Sickly: As Sky mentions in her song, she was born with heart arrhythmia and "could be killed by a random sneeze," but the Girl Scouts helped her deal with this. Still, she wasn't allowed to sell cookies until she's a teen around Lydia's age. Her heart condition almost kills her when Lydia and Beetlejuice scare her, but she manages to run away in fright.
- In the DC tryout, she survives Beetlejuice scaring her, but is chased away by his clones and has her cookies stolen.
- Too Dumb to Live: Is very naïve and sheltered, ringing the bell to the Deetz house that has been enchanted by Beetlejuice's magic and agrees to enter Lydia's house because "nobody gets molested by a Goth-y teen."
