Character page for Dawn of the Dead (2004).
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Ana
Ana
Played By: Sarah Polley
A nurse.
- Action Survivor: She manages to survive to the end of the film.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: Ana keeps picking hints and various clues on zombie behaviour or even how The Virus spreads. Her observations are always proven correct later on.
- Combat Medic: Ana, a nurse, is able to kick ass and survive until the end (and possibly beyond it, given the ambiguity of the ending).
- Double Take: Once after shooting Steve and on the way back to the bus, she instantly backtracks once realization of who the owner of the group's escape ship is, forcing her to loot Steve's pockets despite having a hoard of running zombies coming around the corner.
- Damsel in Distress: Subverted, Ana is shown to be able to handle herself multiple times throughout the movie.
- Hospital Hottie: Attractive and a nurse.
- The Medic: She uses her skills as a nurse whenever she can for the group.
- Ms. Fanservice: That gratuitous little bit in the shower serves no apparent purpose other than this.
- Tank-Top Tomboy: Subverted. She starts out wearing a tank top because that was her night shirt, and after she takes a level in badass, she swaps it for a regular T-shirt.
- Took a Level in Badass: Has become a competent survivor within the opening. Then she takes another few levels in badass throughout the plot.
Kenneth
Kenneth Hall
Played By: Ving Rhames
A police officer.
- Badges and Dog Tags: Served in the military and later became a police officer.
- Bald of Authority: Subverted. He soon settles in with the survivors and does all he can to help out, but despite his law enforcement experience and physical capabilities, he's not particularly interested in a leadership role and is fine with letting Ana and Michael have the responsibility.
- Bald Head of Toughness: A police officer and former Marine, Kenneth serves as the group's The Big Guy, blasting through the hordes of zombies with his preferred weapon of a shotgun.
- Bash Brothers: With CJ by the end.
- The Big Guy: Very large compared to the other survivors.
- Gentle Giant: Except when it comes to fighting zombies.
- Shotguns Are Just Better: Uses a shotgun as his primary weapon, and quickly replaces it with another when his first is lost.
- Not So Stoic: Before he decides to settle with the rest of the group, has few moments of angry outbursts whenever someone tries to convince him to stay, rather than head toward Fort Pastor.
- Scary Black Man: When he wants to be.
- The Stoic: Calm, unphased, methodical.
Michael's Group
Michael
Michael
Played By: Jake Weber
A television salesman.
- Better to Die than Be Killed: After being bitten, he chooses to shoot himself in the head before he can turn.
- Jack of All Trades: His wide variety of jobs has left with him experience in a number of fields, as well as being an adequate fighter both armed and unarmed.
- Oh, Crap!: When he comes across a turned over bucket and mop in the sport department, realizing what it means and then in complete silence reach for anything to defend himself while he still can.
- Nice Guy: He is very friendly and welcoming to the bus survivors and tries to make the right decisions for the good of everyone.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: While Nicole gets a lot of hate for her actions, it is actually Michael's reckless idea of using chainsaws as weapons on a moving bus that causes the biggest case of Disaster Dominoes. Though to be fair, he's not the one who uses it.
- Zombie Infectee: Slightly subverted as Michael doesn't bother hiding his infected wound once they make it to the marina.
Andre
Andre
Played By: Mekhi Phifer
- Ax-Crazy: He briefly and finally loses it after Luda dies, turns, and gives birth to a Fetus Terrible.
- Black Dude Dies First: Averted, Andre dies about 2/3 of the way into the movie.
- Death by Irony: His death eerily mirrors the conversation where he tells Kenneth that his purpose was to bring his child into the world. Er, mission accomplished?
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: As shown whilst talking to Kenneth about giving his child everything he never had.
- Multiple Gunshot Death: Norma shoots him twice in the chest.
- Papa Wolf: He's determined to let his child be born at all costs... even a zombified one.
- Sanity Slippage: He keeps Luda's infected bite hidden no matter what. As Luda gets closer to zombification, Andre gets closer to losing his mind.
- Staking the Loved One: His inability to do this to Luda gets him and Norma killed.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: In the end, the events that turned him Ax-Crazy were all simply because he was out of luck.
Luda
Luda
Played By: Inna Korobkina
- Imperiled in Pregnancy: She's due to have a baby and in a lot of danger from as soon as she appears.
- Russian Woman Suffers Most: She gets zombified, then tied to a bed, then killed while still tied to said bed, and finally gives birth to a zombie baby, who is killed minutes after.
- Satellite Character: Gets no character other than being Andre's pregnant wife. Justified Trope as she gets infected pretty early and Andre keeps her isolated for fear that the others will kill her and their baby.
- Zombie Infectee: Luda is blindsided by one of the mall’s former security staff and gains a superficial bite wound under her wrist in the struggle, proceeding to slowly succumb to the infection over the course of several days and turn after dying in childbirth.
Mall Security
C.J.
C.J.
Played By: Michael Kelly
- Deadpan Snarker: Provides some of the snarkiest lines in the film.Michael: So what's the plan?
CJ: The plan is that you drink a nice, tall glass of shut the fuck up. - Death by Irony: Says about midway through the movie to the other survivors, "I'll kill each and every one of you in order to stay alive." Guess who ends up making a Heroic Sacrifice?
- Dying Moment of Awesome: He dies by igniting the propane tanks in the buses, blowing up dozens of zombies and allowing the group time to escape.
- Fire-Forged Friends: He and Kenneth don't get along at first, but eventually become Bash Brothers by the end.
- Heel–Face Turn: After spending some time in solitary he decides to turn over a new leaf.
- Heroic Sacrifice: C.J. stays behind to lure and kill a great number of zombies to let the survivors escape.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Later evolves into this after realizing that trust is the most important thing in any successful relationship.
- Let Me Get This Straight...: His classic summation of the shuttle bus escape plan.
- Power of Trust: C.J. is more compelled to cooperate with the other survivors after reading some magazine articles while locked up.Trust. The primary ingredient in any relationship.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: Loves using the F-word.
- The Obi-Wannabe: His efforts to order around or give advice to rookie security guard Terry don't resonate that well, and he eventually gives up.
Terry
Terry
Played By: Kevin Zegers
- The Generic Guy: Aside from being a nice guy who's slightly perverted, he doesn't get much characterization. * He's given a bit more characterisation in deleted scenes, but still remains on the orbit of this trope.
- Nice Guy: One of the nicest in the group.
- Official Couple: With Nicole.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Turns against Bart and C.J. to save the people in the truck.
Bart
Bart
Played By: Michael Barry
- Asshole Victim: You wont be shedding any tears for him when he's Eaten Alive. Though it is disturbing to listen to...
- Casanova Wannabe: A light example since he doesn't get a lot of opportunities to hit on women.
- Devoured by the Horde: After being bitten, he is swarmed and killed.
- The Dragon: To CJ.
- Eaten Alive: His final fate.
- Jerkass: Aside from Steve, he's probably the biggest jerk in the movie.
- Mauve Shirt: Survives for quite a while, though he's ultimately not as important as CJ or Terry.
- Oh, Crap!: His reaction to getting bitten is one of utter horror, as he knows exactly how screwed he is.
- Yes-Man: He basically just goes along with whatever CJ does.
Truck Survivors
Nicole
Nicole
Played By: Lindy Booth
- Beware the Nice Ones: Just to save Chips, she hijacked Norma's truck and drove it through the horde of zombies across the street to Andy's gun store.
- Break the Cutie: Happens twice, after her father dies and when she loses her dog Chips and has to get him back from the zombified Andy, finding herself trapped in the closet of his gun store.
- Damsel in Distress: Has to be rescued by the group when she becomes trapped in the closet in Andy's gun store.
- Extremely Protective Child: She lies in front of her father Glen to stop him from being killed. Justified, since she has lost everybody else in her life, including her mother.
- Idiot Houdini: To an extent. Despite being Too Dumb to Live when she goes alone with no backup to rescue Chips when the dog isn't actually in danger, needlessly endangering herself and indirectly causing Tucker's death when the other survivors must come to rescue her, she ends up as one of the four survivors who make it to the end credits.
- The Load: Has little-to-no skills on taking on zombies and her actions even endanger the group.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Her decision to drive over to the gun shop to rescue Chips the dog, who wasn't even in any real danger, results in Tucker's death and the zombies overrunning the mall, forcing the group to make an early departure.
- Official Couple: With Terry.
- Sole Survivor: She is the only one of the truck survivors who makes it until the end credits.
- Too Dumb to Live: She goes after the dog in her truck despite the fact that those infected don't seem to mind him, indirectly causing the deaths of a third of the group. Sadly, she took Kenneth's cry of "They got him!" to mean the dog Chips, and not Andy. She even triumphantly calls out over the radio that "Chips is okay! Oh, here's Andy..." Right before Zombie Andy jumps her. It's amazing how she managed to survive in a situation where her colossal lapse in both self-preservation and common sense would have gotten her torn to bloody chunks by the horde.
Steve
Steve Markus
Played By: Ty Burrell
- Asshole Victim: His cowardice and constant whining is not missed. If his character traits weren't enough, his actions directly and indirectly lead to death of most of the group, him included.
- Boom, Headshot!: He ask Ana to "blow my fucking head off" if he ever turns. She does.
- Camp Straight: His sense of style and somewhat effeminate mannerisms evoke the "metrosexual" stereotype of the mid-aughts. His sex scene with Monica makes it perfectly clear that he's straight.
- Deadpan Snarker: The most he contributes are unhelpful wisecracks that only serve to aggravate the rest of the group during serious situations.
- Dirty Coward: Leaves his post when the group go to save Nicole, almost getting them killed as a result. Also abandons Kenneth and the others when the bus overturns; he doesn't last long outside.
- For the Evulz: He had no real reason to lock the door during his Dirty Coward moment, as the zombies were outside and it was only because the horde was a hair's inch behind them that they finally got in.
- Hate Sink: We can't hate the zombies, but we can hate Steve, who has absolutely no redeeming traits whatsoever.
- Jerkass: His introduction has him casually mocking the deceased at Fort Pastor and he only gets worse from there.
- The Load: Refuses to help the group reinforce the shuttle buses, claiming that "a captain never works alongside his men."
- Wealthy Yacht Owner: The survivors use his yacht to escape in the end.
Monica
Monica
Played By: Kim Poirier
- Accidental Murder: Glen accidentally cuts her in half with a chainsaw when the bus carrying several of the group makes a hard left.
- All There in the Script: Her name is only shown in the end credits. Also, in the script, her last name is Foree, a shout-out to original Dawn of the Dead actor, Ken Foree.
- Black Bra and Panties: During her sex scene. Interestingly she still has both of them on, just slid down.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: See Accidental Murder above.
- Demoted to Extra: A lot of her scenes were cut out of the final product.
- Ms. Fanservice: Is shown topless in the montage.
- No Name Given: In the final cut of the movie her name is never mentioned once.
- Sex Signals Death: She was in a physical relationship with Steve and dies before the group reaches the marina.
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: She snips with Nicole once or twice over trivial things but seems nice enough to everyone else.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: We learn absolutely nothing about her except that she may have been a stripper, seems good-naturedly disapproving when Michael and Tucker say being a husband is like a job, and was in a sexual relationship with Steve.
Tucker
Tucker
Played By: Boyd Banks
- Awful Wedded Life: Hinted at when he empathetically agrees with Michael that being a husband is a job, although he could have just meant in reference to temptations.
- Boom, Headshot!: Courtesy of CJ, though on Tucker's request.
- Death by Irony: The first time we meet him he's recovering from a sprained ankle. Later, he falls and breaks the same leg and ends up getting swarmed.
- Guns Akimbo: After he breaks his leg in the sewer, he resorts to using two guns to shoot off zombies while being dragged away by another survivor.
- Mauve Shirt: Gets a bit of characterization before getting swarmed in the sewer.
- Mercy Kill: He is given one by CJ (on his request) to keep from being Eaten Alive.
- Nice Guy: A helpful, loyal member of the group.
Glen
Glen
Played By: R.D. Reid
- Neck Snap: Breaks his neck when the bus he is in crashes.
- Evil Stole My Faith: Hinted at when he won't say any words for Luda and Norma, saying he doesn't believe in God anymore and doesn't know how anyone could after this.
- The Load: He hands Ana a socket wrench during the construction of the armored buses. This is the sum total of on-screen contributions that he makes for the group's wellbeing, after which he kills Monica by accident and then dies.
- Straight Gay: The only hint that Glen may be gay was him trying on shoes at the mall, except when it's spelled out in the unrated cut.
- Too Dumb to Live: Jesus Christ... LET GO OF THE FUCKING SAW, GLENN!
- We Hardly Knew Ye: The only things we learn about him in the original movie are that he's gay, called Norma to pick up the survivors in the truck, and (presumably) took care of the Bloated Woman prior to reaching the mall. The extended cut gives him a line specifying he was an organ player at the church but is an atheist.
Norma
Norma
Played By: Jayne Eastwood
- Blood from the Mouth: Norma uncontrollably spews out streams of blood when she talks after being shot by Andre, seconds before she dies.
- Good Is Not Soft: She's one of the most altruistic people of the group, but she's also a badass who doesn't mince words and has some zombie kills to her name despite her age.
- Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: Undoubtedly heroic and is seen smoking cigarettes multiple times.
- Hand Cannon: She carries a gun with a lot of recoil power.
- Never Mess with Granny: Downplayed with Norma, but she did answer a call to rescue a church full of survivors and drive them to the mall. She also dispatches Andre and Luda, and despite getting shot first, lives just a little longer than Andre.
- Mutual Kill: She gets shot by Andre, but she manages to shoot him back, the bullets hitting him twice in his chest.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Risked her life to pick up the rest of the truck survivors, something that Michael congratulates her on.
- Profane Last Words: "Son of a bitch shot me." Norma's last words to Ana just as she expires.
- Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!: A foul-mouthed elderly trucker.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: The only thing we learn about her is that she picked up the truck survivors from the church before reaching the mall.
Frank
Frank
Played By: Matt Frewer
- Dies Wide Open: When Frank finally passes away from the infection, his eyes remain open as his lifeless body falls slack.
- Face Death with Dignity: When it's confirmed that bites are the main transmission vector and is locked in the carousel as a result, he accepts his upcoming death and reanimation without a struggle.
- Mercy Kill: Given to him by Kenneth after he reanimates.
- Nice Guy: In his short screentime, he seems to be a friendly guy, which makes his death that much more heartbreaking.being
- Outliving One's Offspring: Mentions that Nicole has lost her mother and two brothers, though nonspecifically enough that it could mean they passed before the outbreak.
- Papa Wolf: He managed to save his daughter Nicole from an earlier zombie attack at the cost of being bitten himself, and after becoming aware of his infection it’s heavily implied that one of the reasons he accepts being quarantined is to protect Nicole from himself when he turns.
- Sacrificial Lamb: Got himself bitten to protect Nicole.
- Sound-Only Death: As Michael and Ana wait for the inevitable after Frank finally succumbs to the infection, the sound of a reanimated Frank screaming is heard, before it’s cut off by a gunshot.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: He is the first named character in the mall to bite the dust.
- Zombie Infectee: He's one from the start, already bitten before the truck of survivors arrives at the mall, presumably in a struggle with a zombie while trying to protect his daughter, Nicole.
Other Survivors
Andy
Andy
Played By: Bruce Bohne
A lone survivor stranded in a gun store across the street from the mall.
- Apocalyptic Log: His video diary in the DVD extras, which reveals that he's terrified about what happened to his daughter, especially after seeing his zombified ex-wife in the crowd.
- Crazy Survivalist: Subverted. Andy is the closest thing to the trope, but he maintains his sanity and appears to be a jovial fellow from what's shown. The DVD extra, containing his own video log, further cements him as a subversion.
- Friendly Sniper: Being a gun shop owner, he's very skilled at performing headshots.
- Sound-Only Death: His turning, anyway. The group hears his attack and turn into a zombie over the walkie-talkies.
- Stepford Smiler: He seems to take the loss of Fort Pastor very well. However, in his video diary, he has a Heroic BSoD because of it and the knowledge that no help was coming.
- There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Trying to figure out how to kill the zombies, he focus-fires on his first one until it's a moaning meatball on the asphalt.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: In the movie proper. The DVD extras give him a little more character and backstory.
- Your Head Asplode: His death after he turns, courtesy of Kenneth.
- Zombie Infectee: Becomes one after a zombie follows Chips into the gun store's access hatch and bites him. He reanimates shortly after.
