Michael Myers | Laurie Strode | Samuel Loomis | Jamie Lloyd | Rachel Carruthers | Tina Williams | Season of the Witch | Halloween (2007) | Halloween (2018)
Characters that appear in the only anthology film for Halloween.
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Dr. Dan Challis
Dr. Dan Challis
Played By: Tom Atkins
The protagonist of the only anthology film, Dr. Challis is a doctor who has an estranged relationship with his ex-wife and two children. He stumbles upon a greater conspiracy on October 23rd involving a mysterious television ad and the Silver Shamrock Novelties company.
- Action Survivor: He manages to be quite resourceful in dealing with Conal Cochran's cronies despite being just a doctor.
- Awful Wedded Life: It's pretty clear that Challis and his ex-wife do not get along.
- Contrasting Sequel Main Character:
- To Laurie Strode. Laurie is a positive and kind-hearted student in her late teens, Dan is a doctor in his 40s who is rather dour and more of a Jerkass with a Heart of Gold than the outright nice Laurie.
- Also Dr. Challis and Dr. Loomis are different types of action heroes, Challis is shown to be very skilled in hand-to-hand combat due to his younger age whereas Loomis relies on firearms. In addition Loomis succeeded in defeating Michael and saving Laurie at the cost of his own life(at least until Halloween 4) whereas Challis survived III's events but failed to stop Cochran's plan and was too late to save Ellie.
- The Hero: Of the third film.
- Jerkass with a Heart of Gold: Although not the best parent and an understandably moody and gruff person, Dan's heart is ultimately in the right place and he goes through hell in order to try and stop Cochran from killing millions of children.
- May–December Romance: Falls in love with Ellie, who is a good two decades younger than him.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To Dr. Loomis. Both Dan and Michael are gruff yet still ultimately moral doctors who are also extremely capable and badass yet aren't exactly the most social, also sadly both end up failing in their mission to protect someone and defeat the antagonist, as Dan loses Ellie and Cochran's plan is implied to succeed(albeit on a smaller scale thanks to Dan) whereas Loomis ultimately fails in his mission to protect Jamie Lloyd from Michael(thanks to suffering a stroke while trying to finish off Michael, which meant that he wasn't there to save Jamie from Dr. Wynn when he kidnapped her) and despite inflicting many temporary defeats on Michael stopping his killing sprees, never truly dispatches him.
Ellie Grimbridge
Ellie Grimbridge
Played By: Stacey Nelkin
The female lead of the only anthology film, whose father was murdered by a mysterious man over a connection to masks made by Silver Shamrock Novelties. She joins Dr. Challis in his investigation and develops an attraction to him.
- And Then John Was a Zombie: Dr. Challis discovers she was replaced by one of Cochran's androids after he escapes his lair.
- Ms. Fanservice: She spends a scene in a short and seductive black nightgown. Before that she had a Shower Scene followed by her being covered by a Modesty Towel.
- May–December Romance: Is a good two decades younger than Dr. Challis.
- Uncertain Doom: Is replaced with one of Cochran's androids when she and Challis are captured, leaving her true whereabouts unknown.
Conal Cochran
Conal Cochran
Played By: Dan O'Herlihy
The Big Bad of the only anthology film, who runs the Silver Shamrock Novelties company and plans on killing children across America using special masks.
- Adaptational Jerkass: Calling him "nice" in the film proper is being too generous, but he's less of a sadistic Child Hater and more of a coldly indifferent Knight Templar who doesn't seem to hold anything personal against his victims. The Novelization has him describe how disgusting he finds children, brag to Challis about his superior ancestry, and applaud when he sees the Kupfer family die, whereas in the film he showed only stoic satisfaction.
- Bad Boss: How does he reward his best salesman? By locking him and his wife and child in a room to be the first test subjects, causing his son's head to rot.
- Ambiguously Human: While he doesn't display any visible alien traits, it's implied Cochran isn't just an evil old man. His technology is beyond advanced for humanity(especially in the 80s), his plan borders on Blue-and-Orange Morality with how pointlessly extreme it is, and his speech to Challis implies Cochran was actually there during pagan Samhain rituals.
- The Bad Guy Wins: The film implies Dr. Challis didn't manage to get his commercial pulled from every television station, so a large number of children are still implied to have died.
- Better with Non-Human Company: Cochran is the only member of Silver Shamrock who's explictly not an android, and at one point states he finds androids more pleasant company than people. Then again, Cochran's own humanity is questionable.
- Big Bad: Of the third film.
- Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Michael Myers is a young, strong man, while Cochran is an elderly man with little physical power. Michael is a mute mental patient with no social skills while Cochran is a very charismatic businessman and well-liked among the townspeople. Michael is a brutal unstoppable killer, and Cochran's android enforcers do all of the killing for him. Perhaps most interestingly, the Shape is defined by the iconic mask he wears, while Silver Shamrock uses masks as weapons to kill their unlucky victims.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Runs the Silver Shamrock Novelties company as a front for his plan to kill children.
- Evil Old Folks: Is quite an old fellow and very evil.
- Evil Sounds Deep: When his evil nature is exposed he talks in a quite deep and cold voice.
- Face Death with Dignity: Maybe. When Challis kills his employees, Cochran gives a slow cap and smiles before he appears to disintegrate, although given his supernatural plot, it's unknown if he died.
- Faux Affably Evil: Cochran is an undeniable monster who wants to cause the deaths of millions of children, however he's still extremely charismatic and can even come across as warm if creepy a lot of the time, even when explaining his plan to Dan he still never loses his charm, which only makes him more horrifying. Still its no wonder how he became such a well loved figure in the toy making world.
- Graceful Loser: Smiles and gives a golf clap when he appears to lose, but it's possible it's because he had one more trick up his sleeve.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: He ends up getting disintegrated by both the commercial he used to kill countless children and the part of Stone henge he had previously stolen.
- It Amused Me: He describes his evil plan as a great big joke on the children.
- Non-Action Big Bad: He clearly knows magic, but he almost entirely relies on his robotic henchmen to drive the plot for him.
- Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: According to Cochran, his plan is intended as a mass Human Sacrifice to ancient pagan gods. This could be seen as a well-intentioned plan - especially since the existence of such deities is strongly vindicated by the fact that Cochran's Stonehenge-powered ritual magic actually works. None of this changes the fact that he is a horrible person who has absolutely no remorse over the massacre and in fact seems to consider it amusing.
- Offscreen Villain Dark Matter: It's never really explained just where this guy has the resources for fully functioning robot minions or the means to steal whole landmarks. He even humorously lampshades it when he shows his steal to Challis.
- Oh, Crap!: It's possible he wasn't expecting the stonehenge to backfire, as he has a look of sheer shock on his face when it starts to glow ominously. Although he regains calm and gives a gentleman's clap before he's disintegrated by the ensuing beam.
- Pyrrhic Victory: Assuming he did succeed in broadcasting his ultimate weapon, it still cost Cochran plenty. His factory is destroyed, his minions are all dead, and the Stonehenge he harnessed turned its wrath upon him, meaning he won't even get to enjoy the fruits of his dark labor. And after this night, he will be remembered not as the lovable toy tycoon he was, but as a demon in human skin who engineered the deaths of hundreds to thousands.
- The Sociopath: Arguably as horrifying as Michael Myers with his evil plan to murder millions of children.
- Uncertain Doom: He appears to disintegrate at the end of the film, but the novelization implies he survived.
- Would Hurt a Child: His plan revolves around the murder of millions of children across the United States.
Silver Shamrock Henchmen
Silver Shamrock Henchmen
Played By: Dick Warlock, Martin Cassidy, Stacey Nelkin, numerous others
The silent, intimidating enforcers of Silver Shamrock Novelties, and Cochran's muscle throughout the film.
- Berserk Button: Badmouthing Cochran, apparently. Whether this is due to Cochran ordering them to, or they're just that fanatically loyal to him is unclear.
- Dressed to Kill: Like their master, they're typically seen in snazzy business suits as they go about killing.
- Glass Cannon: For what deadly killers they are, they're still walking clockwork machines and thus don't share Michael Myers's supreme durability. Dr. Challis takes down a good many of them.
- The Heavy: Cochran is the one with the plan, but these guys are the ones eliminating all potential threats to him and constructing Silver Shamrock's lethal masks, thus doing most of the heavy lifting.
- Helping Hands: The Ellie-Bot shows the ability to continue controlling it's limbs after Dr. Challis severs them.
- Killer Robot: They're designed as unfeeling assasins, and they carry their job out with lethal precision.
- Machine Blood: They have yellow oil inside of them.
- Magitek: As the automaton creations of a warlock, they both constitute and utilize this, mass producing deadly Halloween masks that transform the wearers into vessels for vermin, reptiles, and insects.
- Mecha-Mooks: A way more lethal type of this.
- Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: An organization of android-warlock toy-makers.
- Ridiculously Human Robots: Mostly avoided since they don't display much agency, but oddly one of them is shown sneezing. The novelization takes it a step further with the Ellie droid who refers to Cochran as her "father" and displays the personality of a small child. The implications are quite disturbing.
- Silent Antagonist: Much like Myers himself, although one of them does speak to Cochran when reporting about Challis' escape.
- Super-Strength: They're built well enough to rip a man's head off his shoulders or crush another's nose with their fingers.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To Michael Myers, being silent unfeeling killers who only appear human and seek to cause carnage on Halloween. Although they aren't quite as strong or tough.
Walter
Walter Jones
Played By: Essex Smith
An African-American gas station owner who bears witness to some strange occurences throughout the film.
- Creepy Gas-Station Attendant: He is a slow-talking mustached man who is introduced calmly reading a magazine inside an empty service station in an isolated part of town, ignoring a thunderstorm. However, he turns out to be the biggest Nice Guy in the movie, and when a Pursued Protagonist comes to his doorstep, Walter takes the man to the hospital.
- Nice Guy: He is a Good Samaritan who also gives candy to trick-or-treaters.
- Small Role, Big Impact: He only has three scenes, but he is the one who drives an injured Harry to the hospital (drawing Dan into things). Additionally, in the final scene, Dan uses Walter's phone to call the TV station airing Cochran's commercials in an effort to stop the Evil Plan.
Teddy
Teddy
Played By: Wendy Wessberg
A morgue worker and occasional girlfriend of Dan.
- Deadpan Snarker: She likes to make jokes while commenting on serious plot developments.
- Hospital Hottie: She is a pretty, well made-up woman who works in a hospital morgue.
- She Knows Too Much: Examining the remains of the villains' robotic enforcers proves hazardous to her health.
Bella and Willie Challis
Bella and Willie Challis
Played By: Michelle Walker and Joshua John Miller
The children of Challis and his ex-wife.
- Chekhov's Gunman: They are initially just there to show Dan's troubled family life, but the final act reveals that they are in danger because of the Evil Plan, causing Dan to develop a case of It's Personal.
Starker
Starker
Played By: Jonathan Terry
An alcoholic Santa Mira local who dislikes Cochran.
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: When enforcers for the Corrupt Corporate Executive who he was badmouthing and talking about ruining show up, Starker desperately pleads he was just kidding. His killers aren’t mollified.
- The Cuckoolander Was Right: He is a drunk who makes all kinds of claims about how Cochran is an evil person who spies on people, and he is absolutely correct.
Harry Grimbridge
Harry Grimbridge
Played By: Al Berry
Ellie's father, and a Silver Shamrock salesman with a case of He Knows Too Much.
- Pursued Protagonist: The film begins with Harry running through the woods and into a town while being chased by a man who wants to kill him before he can expose the Evil Plan. Harry wins a fight with his pursuer, but is badly injured in the process.
Marge Guttman
Marge Guttman
Played By: Garn Stephens
The owner of a shop selling Silver Shamrock masks.
- Chekhov's Gunman: She initially just seems to be a Mr. Exposition character who tells Ellie a lot of new information about the Silver Shamrock Corporation, but she later dies in an accident involving one of the booby-trapped masks to show how dangerous they are.
- Released to Elsewhere: After she dies from activating a booby-trapped mask, Cochran has her body taken away and claims that she was injured in an accident and has been taken to a hospital in another town.
Linda Challis
Linda Challis
Played By: Nancy Kyes
Challis's ex-wife.
- Deadpan Snarker: She is good at making quick, sarcastic comments at her ex-husband. When he gets paged to take a call right after consuming alcohol, she says "Drinking and doctoring. Great combination."
The Kupfer Family
Buddy, Betty, Little Buddy Kupfer
Played By: Ralph Strait (Buddy), Jadeen Barbor (Betty), and Brad Schacter (Little Buddy)
The salesman who sold the most Silver Shamrock masks and his wife and son, who are invited to tour Cochran's planet.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Once Buddy is done selling masks, his "reward" involves having himself and his family used as Unwitting Test Subjects for the masks' secret dangerous properties.
