Characters / Day of the Dead (1985)

Dr. Sarah Bowman

Played by: Lori Cardille

• Action Girl: She is capable of using a gun when she needs to. Such as escaping the base when the trio decided to cut their losses and killing crowds of zombies to make their escape.
• Adaptation Name Change: Her name is Sarah Bowman in the original, but she's renamed Sarah Cross in the 2008 remake, Zoe Parker in Bloodline, and Sarah Blackwood in the 2021 series. The other Sarah-esque character in the series (See Decomposite Character below) is called Amy.
  • The 2021 series' name change doesn't really make sense, considering that a Bowman family exists, yet Sarah is part of a different family in this version.
• Adaptational Job Change: She's a scientist in the original and Bloodline, but in Day of the Dead (2008), she's a corporal. A much more confusing case happens in Day of the Dead (2021), where she used to work for Special Forces, but now works in a frac crew, and Amy works as a life coach.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: She and Salazar were dating in the original. In the 2008 remake, her romantic interest is Bub (At least, until he turns into a zombie). Averted in Bloodline, but played straight with the 2021 series, where her relationship with the series' version of Salazar is instead given to Amy.
• Adaptation Dye-Job: Brunette in the original, blonde in the 2008 remake, redheaded in Bloodline, and raven-haired in the series. Amy is brunette, making the series the only version to (partially) Avert this.
• Adaptational Nationality: Amy is Canadian.
• And Then John Wasa Zombie: The Living Dead revealed that at some point Sarah died through unknown means and reanimated as a zombie in the universe of that book.
• Contrasting Sequel Main Character: Unlike Barbra and Francine, Sarah is the most proactive protagonist of the two. Where Barbra and Francine would freak out during the Zombie Apocalypse, Sarah keeps herself cool and is capable of defending herself against zombies.
• Decomposite Character: In the series, her first name is still Sarah, and she's still the protagonist, but her relationship with a male lead is given to a new character called Amy.
• Find the Cure!: Her priority solution to the Zombie Apocalypse.
• Heroic BSoD: She is already teetering on the brink of it after having to amputate Miguel's arm, which is then followed by listening to Logan's tape, which undeniably proves that her colleague has well and truly lost his marbles. What really sets her off, though, is seeing the severed, undead head of Pvt. Johnson (who was accidentally shot by Pvt. Miller when the latter was attacked and bitten by a zombie), which Logan has been using for his experiments. She is only stopped from shooting it by McDermott's intervention, who reminds her that firing her gun would only bring in Rhodes and his men.
• Only Sane Woman: Sarah is hands down the most stable and rational person in the film.
• Race Lift: She's usually Caucasian, but she's Lenape in the series.
• The Smurfette Principle: She's the only female among the main cast.
• Women Are Wiser: She's the only one advocating everyone working together, the most practical solutions, and staying calm.

Pvt. Miguel Salazar

Played by: Anthony Dileo Jr.

• All the Other Reindeer: Is picked on by the other soldiers, especially Steel and Rickles, and it's clear Rhodes, his superior officer, doesn't give a damn about him either. While him nearly getting Rickles killed in the beginning is a factor, it's heavily implied that his relationship with Sarah, the sole woman in the facility, is the real cause of resentment toward him by the other military men.
• Amputation Stops Spread: Sarah amputates his arm after he gets bitten in the hopes of saving him. Unfortunately, Miguel is Driven to Suicide before anyone finds out whether it would have actually worked.
• Adaptational Badass: Much higher ranking in Bloodline.
• Adaptational Name Change: A weird variation in the 2008 remake. His first name is never mentioned, but his last name is still Salazar.
• Adaptational Jerkass: Due to being a Composite Character with Rhodes in Bloodline, he becomes a lot more of an obnoxious jackass.
• Composite Character: He's somehow both this and Decomposite Character in Bloodline. He has the name of Salazar, but he has the same personality and military ranking as Rhodes.
• Decomposite Character: In Bloodline, he has the name of Salazar, the personality and ranking as Rhodes, but his original counterpart's personality and role in the story is given to a new character called Baca.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's whiny and often insults Sarah. But he does pull off a Heroic Sacrifice to save his friends.
• Race Lift: Black in the 2008 remake.
• Sanity Slippage: He becomes more and more unstable throughout the film. After he's bitten and Sarah cuts off his arm in an effort to save him, he completely snaps, and commits suicide by zombie, letting himself be Devoured by the Horde while simultaneously letting the zombie horde into the complex.

John

Played by: Terry Alexander

• Adapted Out: Not featured in any of the remakes.
• And Then John Wasa Zombie: The Living Dead revealed that at some point John died through unknown means and reanimated as a zombie in the universe of that book.
• The Anti-Nihilist: Even though he knows things are looking bleak, he tells Sarah he intends to enjoy the time he has and tells her to do the same.
• Black Dude Dies First: Defied. The film's climax when the zombies invade the complex make it look like this is about to happen, but he's saved at the last second.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Makes no secret of his desire to take off for an island if things get hopeless. Ultimately, he goes through with it.
• Stepford Smiler: He's largely upbeat in group settings, but while sharing a private drink with Sarah, he reflects on his own personal belief that the zombie horde is God punishing humanity and that the situation is so hopeless that all they can do is enjoy their limited time.
• Zombie Apocalypse Hero: John is just a helicopter pilot, but he kills more zombies (mostly with his gun but some by bludgeoning them) than any of the soldiers and is the character with the best plan on how to survive long-term.

Captain Henry Rhodes

Played by: Joseph Pilato

• Asshole Victim: Getting eaten alive by zombies was definitely well-deserved for this psycho.
• Ax-Crazy: It's clear that the bleak situation, being cut off from his superiors, not receiving results from the scientists and the stresses of command have worn down Rhodes' psyche. He yells, he points guns at people and even kills Dr. Logan and Fisher.
• Big Bad: As all too often happens in Romero's zombie films, the true bad guy is a human or at least humanity and its various faults. In this case we have Rhodes, the slimy, jerkish, domineering, would-be tyrant whose attempts to bully others and assume control winds up killing most of what's left of the staff.
• Break the Haughty: He starts out big and bad when it comes to bullying the living, treating the Zombie situation like an active war zone. However upon facing Bub who is armed, he's reduced to running, screaming and getting wounded, before becoming a screaming mess when faced with an Overrun. He does get a cool line in the end though.
• Defiant to the End: As scummy as he is, Rhodes loses no points for grit when he's on death row—when Bub caps him twice with a gun, Rhodes refuses to stop scrambling away while defiantly roaring "come on!" to his pursuer, and his final words when he's eaten are a spiteful "choke on 'em!"
• Devoured by the Horde: His ultimate fate.
• Dirty Coward: He freaks out when the zombies find a way downstairs (courtesy of Miguel), flees with the only available vehicle and even locks his own men out of the compound. Though, he does regain some points with a series of badass final words.
• Establishing Character Moment: Rhodes, as with the other soldiers, is initially introduced as your typical Jerkass military meathead who really couldn't care less about the scientists' problems. In the meeting scene soon afterwards, he orders Steele to shoot Sarah for disobeying his orders. Steele takes it as a joke, so Rhodes makes it quite clear that he's not joking when he threatens to kill Steele instead. The other soldiers are not too likable either, but even they're clearly shocked to find out their leader doesn't enjoy defiance too much.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Psychotic and unhinged as he is, Rhodes is still disgusted to learn that Logan has been using the bodies of his own men to use in his experiments, and promptly kills him over it.
• A Father to His Men: Zig-Zagged big time, he balks once he learns Logan has been feeding Bub bits of his men's corpses, but abandons his men in order to save his own skin. It doesn't do him much good though.
• "Facing the Bullets" One-Liner: Say this much for him: when he's about to be eaten by a mass of zombies, he provides one of the finest examples of this trope. His final words as the zombies start to eat his intestines?
  Rhodes: Choke on 'em! CHOKE ON 'EM!!
• Half the Man He Used to Be: As he's Devoured by the Horde, he's ripped in half at the waist.
• Large Ham: Pilato was clearly having a ball playing this role, though it's also justified according to him, since he was attempting to portray someone who was clearly losing his mind and he felt his performance reflected that.
• The Neidermeyer: He's this trope to an almost ridiculous degree. Constantly screaming at everyone around, attempting to take control of every situation by force, ordering his men to kill people for minor offenses... they really should have found someone more mentally stable to be in his position.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • His reaction when Bub suddenly pulls the slide back on a handgun, indicating that yes, he does know how to use it.
  • At the end, when running from Bub, he opens a door and comes face to face with a horde of zombies. His only reaction is to scream in utter terror.
• Only a Flesh Wound: Averted. He's shot in the shoulder and unable to do anything with that side of his torso. Then he gets shot in the leg and is essentially crippled.
• Regret Eating Me: His last words("Choke on 'em! CHOKE ON 'EM!") are both this and a "Facing the Bullets" One-Liner.
• Sanity Slippage: The zombie apocalypse has clearly taken its toll on his sanity, and it eventually turns him into a monster who doesn't care who gets hurt as long as he survives.
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: He says "fuck" in about half of his sentences. Though excessive profanity is the least heinous of his characteristics.
• Suddenly Shouting: He's rather prone to this, especially when his authority is challenged.
• Tyrant Takes the Helm: While his predecessor Major Cooper is implied to have not been very pleasant himself, Rhodes takes it to a whole new level when he threatens to have Sarah killed, after which he makes it clear that any person in the facility who questions his authority will be executed following a court martial. It's actually stated that while Cooper was an "asshole," he was still a "sweetheart" compared to Rhodes.
• Villain Has a Point: While he's a complete bastard, Rhodes still makes a lot of logical points that are hard to argue with. He spent months surviving the Zombie Apocalypse inside an unused mine, protecting the scientists who were supposed to be working on a cure. Then he finds out the chief scientist has wasted countless hours training a zombie to be docile, plans on doing it to other zombies, and was feeding said zombie the bodies of Rhodes' deceased friends. He rightfully points out that he and the rest of the soldiers risked their lives everyday for a pointless cause, demanding that they scrap the plan and simply take a helicopter out of the mines in search of someplace safe.
• Villainous Valour: For all his assholish and dominating attitude, Capt. Rhodes does go out like a total psycho badass. "Choke on 'em!''

Dr. Matthew Logan

Played by: Richard Liberty

• Apocalyptic Log: When Sarah and Bill are searching through Logan's office, they decide to listen to his recorded lab notes, which quickly degenerate from clinical analysis of one of his zombie test subjects into an argument with his dead mother, where he claims that "[The zombies'] minds are talking to me," proving to them that the doctor has totally lost it.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Logan is definitely...off and spends more time doing his experiments on civilizing zombies.
• Expy: Of Dr. Victor Frankenstein, which is lampshaded by the people around him calling him Frankenstein as a nickname. Much like the doomed scientist of Shelley's book, he is determined to create a new form of life through corpses, though Logan uses the whole body for his experiments, while Victor stole parts to create his monster.
• For Science!: He believes he can teach the zombies good manners - an obsession that comes to a head when the soldiers guarding the place find out he's using the corpses of their fallen comrades as positive reinforcements.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Thinks that domesticating the zombies is an answer to the hordes of monsters out there, or that the soldiers wouldn't turn on him in a heartbeat if they found out about his experiments with the corpses of their fallen comrades.
• Lack of Empathy: Does not care at all about dissecting the corpses of the fallen soldiers protecting him, even if they were all Jerkass jerks to him.
• Mad Scientist: Nicknamed "Frankenstein" by the soldiers, is the embodiment of this trope. He is so obsessed with his work he fails to consider how the soldiers will react to him cutting up their deceased comrades for his experiments. Sarah already calls him out on this in the beginning when she thinks that the worst that he's done is using the re-animated corpse of Major Cooper, the previous commanding officer, in his experiments.
• Morality Pet: Bub develops some affection and loyalty to Logan after a while, and Bub is visibly upset about Logan dying.
• Sanity Slippage: The apocalypse has taken a toll on his sanity, and his audio recordings suggest that he's completely lost it.

Dr. Edward "Ted" Fisher

Played by: John Amplas

• Lab Coat Of Science And Medicine: He wears one, with it being notably cleaner than Logan's.
• Nerd Glasses: Wears a pair of spectacles which help emphasize his role as a scientist.
• Oh, Crap!: He has a subdued version of this upon finding out the truth about Dr. Logan's experiments.
• Omnidisciplinary Scientist: He works with Sarah in looking for a vaccine for the zombies, but also assists Dr. Logan in some of his attempts to behaviorally condition the zombies.
• Only Friend: Normally a serious, irritable man who views almost everyone else around them as crazy or unreasonable, he gets along well with Sarah, warns her about the soldiers, and is willing to joke with her.
• Surrounded by Idiots: Has this attitude toward the soldiers who are supposed to help the scientists with their work. To be sure, it's implied that their sloppiness and negligence is making the scientists' work that much harder, as according to his words half their work winds up "getting flushed down the toilet" because of it.
• We ARE Struggling Together: He really doesn't get along with Rhodes.

Pvt. Steel

Played by: Gary Howard Klar

• Alas, Poor Villain: Played With. While the guy's a grade-A Asshole Victim, his death is played somewhat somberly. It's clear he doesn't want to kill himself, but he also doesn't want to be Devoured by the Horde, so he does what he must.
• Ate His Gun: After being bitten and cornered by a horde of zombies, Steel opts to punch his own ticket rather than face an inevitable, painful death at the hands of the horde. He does so by placing his gun in his mouth and firing.
• The Brute: Steel's a big and tough guy with little to no subtlety and self-control.
• Hidden Depths: Gently performs a Mercy Kill for a fellow soldier and is hinted to be religious during his death scene.
• Old Soldier: A middle-aged man who is honestly older than the Army would allow a private to be.
• Say My Name: Furiously screams Rhodes' name when the Captain escapes with the cart leaving them behind.
• Those Two Guys: He shares most of his scenes with Rickles.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: He was always crude and unpleasant towards Miguel and the civilians, but isn't outright threatening or homicidal until after Johnson and Miller die, at which point he becomes nearly as Ax-Crazy as Rhodes towards Sarah and her allies.

William "Bill" McDermott

Played by: Jarlath Conroy

• The Alcoholic: He spends a good amount of the film drinking to cope with the situation.
• And Then John Wasa Zombie: The Living Dead revealed that at some point Bill died through unknown means and reanimated as a zombie in the universe of that book.
• Communications Officer: He's the only one who can work the group's radio, although given how long it's been since they've heard from anyone else, and as the equipment he's working with is sub-par, it's become a relatively moot point. Which in turn ultimately makes him expendable as far as Rhodes is concerned.
• Oireland: A pretty stereotypical one, including being the bunker's resident drunk.

Pvt. Rickles

Played by: Ralph Marrero

• Asshole Victim: Despite the graphic nature of his death, he was a jerkass who had it coming.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: He was a prick, but damn...getting eaten alive is still a nasty way to go.
• Eye Scream: Gets his eye torn out as he's Devoured by the Horde.
• Jerkass: He's probably the most odious and hot-headed of the soldiers besides Rhodes himself.
• Laughing Mad: When he's surrounded by zombies, with no chance of escape.
• Meaningful Name: Rhymes with 'tickles', and prone to laughing it up when he's stressed.
• Those Two Guys: He and Steel are generally paired together.

Pvt. Torrez

Played by: Taso N. Stavrakis

• Betrayal by Inaction: He just stands by and watches, betraying no emotion, when Rhodes, Steel and Rickles turn on the scientists and the pilots and kill Logan and Fisher.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: GOOD GOD. While escaping from a a large horde of zombies, he gets swamped by a crowd of them and they rip him to pieces. The cruel part of the death is his head getting ripped off and his vocal cords rising higher in pitch.
• Off with His Head!: The most gruesome example ever.
• The Quiet One: He only has a single line of dialogue in the film even though he survives until the last fifteen minutes.
• The Stoner: Is introduced watering marijuana plants.

Pvt. Johnson

Played by: Gregory Nicotero

• Bearer of Bad News: He informs Sarah and the others of the death of Rhodes' commanding officer, Major Cooper, and that there've been more zombies arriving every day, when they return from a search for other survivors.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's not terribly friendly, but is more respectful towards the scientists than any of the other soldiers (with the possible exception of Miguel) and is less hot-headed and neurotic than his comrades.
• Mildly Military: He is introduced lounging around reading a magazine, and seems more laidback than the other soldiers.
• The Stoner: Is seen smoking marijuana during Rhodes' meeting.

Bub

Played By: Sherman Howard

• Avenging the Villain: Shoots Rhodes and leaves him to be devoured by the zombies.
• Dumbass No More: Logan's lessons stick, and he learns to use guns.
• Evil Detecting Zombie: Bub growls at Rhodes and no one else in the room, either due to the latter refusing to return his salute or just general dislike out of Rhodes' hostile attitude toward him. Later, he seems to work out on his own that the soldiers had killed Dr. Logan, as he fires at Steel and later hunts down Rhodes.
• It Can Think: Bub is revealed to be much smarter than his fellow zombies, and Logan takes an interest in him as he demonstrates that he can remember shaving, reading a book, and listening to music. He expresses sincere grief when he sees Logan dead and eventually uses a gun to take revenge on Rhodes for killing Logan.
• Token Heroic Orc: The only zombie to defy his usual instinct to eat human flesh, and has an avuncular relationship with Logan.