Movies: Recurring Characters (Sidney Prescott | Gale Weathers | Dewey Riley | Sam Carpenter) | Ghostface (Scream 4 Mastermind) | Scream (1996) | Scream 2 | Scream 3 | Scream 4 | Scream (2022) | Scream VI
TV Series: MTV Series | Resurrection
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Students
Cici Cooper
Casey "Cici" Cooper
"I'm 'sober sister'. I need to be here in case a drunk sister calls and needs a ride."
Played By: Sarah Michelle Gellar
A film studies student at Windsor College and member of the Omega Beta Zeta sorority.
- Alliterative Name: Cici Cooper. And her real first name is Casey.
- Big "NO!": As she is thrown off the balcony and falls to her death.
- Dead Star Walking: Although she doesn't get killed in the opening scene, she's the first victim after that, dying pretty early.
- Disney Villain Death: A heroic inversion. She does get stabbed twice, but is still alive and screaming before Ghostface throws her off the balcony.
- Dumb Blonde: Subverted. Cici's first scene has her engaging in an intelligent conversation about violence in media, decrying the idea that film violence correlates with real-life violence.
- Pink Means Feminine: She tends to wear pink and purple, and is somewhat refined, but fashionable.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Seems to be something like this at Omega Beta Zeta, being available to help drunk sisters.
- Significant Name Overlap: She shares a first name with Casey Becker, to make the death look like a copycat killer.
Derek Feldman
Derek Feldman
"Oh thank god Sidney, I thought I was gonna be up there until opening night."
Played By: Jerry O'Connell
Sidney's second boyfriend and a pre-med student at Windsor College.
- Bound and Gagged: He gets bound by his Omega Kappa Beta friends as a prank. Ghostface then gags him.
- The Cassandra: He states he's not the killer multiple times throughout the movie, but Dewey and Sidney don't trust his word until he dies.
- Distressed Dude: And he could've been saved if Sidney knew he was a Red Herring.
- Forgotten Fallen Friend: Subverted. Derek is not mentioned in the following movies; but in Scream 3, Sidney can still be seen wearing the necklace he gave her.
- Good All Along: The film heavily teases that he is the killer. He isn't, and Mickey, one of the real villains, mocks Sidney for not trusting him.
- Good Counterpart: Unlike the psychopathic Billy Loomis, Derek really does care about Sidney.
- Grand Romantic Gesture: When Sidney tries to break up with him without giving a reason, Derek sings a song for her in the cafeteria in full view of other students, before presenting her with his fraternity's necklace.
- The Lost Lenore: It took a long time for Sidney to move on from Derek, as she only forms a relationship with a man again over a decade after his death.
- Nice Guy: He's pleasant and good-natured to a fault.
- Red Herring: He is suspected by Sidney and Dewey to be the killer. He isn't.
- Ridiculously Average Guy: Part of the reason why Sidney doesn't know whether or not she should trust him.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: For Billy as Sidney's seemingly caring but suspicious boyfriend. Sidney realizes this and begins to suspect he may be the killer. Subverted and Deconstructed. Unlike Billy, Derek really is the Nice Guy he appears to be, but Sid hesitates to save him out of fear of another betrayal until it's too late.
- Too Good for This Sinful Earth: He's a very nice, loyal and kind hearted young man and a great boyfriend who ends up getting shot to death after Sidney starts to doubt him. Even Mickey lampshades this trope to rub the salt in Sidney's wound after she realizes too late that he was the opposite of Billy in every way.Mickey: I mean, poor Derek. He's completely innocent. And such a nice boy too. He's bright and funny and handsome. Decent singing voice. And he was gonna be a doctor. This was just the kind of boy you'd like to take home to Mom.
- Tragic Keepsake: Sidney is still wearing the Omega Kappa Beta necklace that Derek gave her in Scream 3, three years after his death.
- Useless Boyfriend: You can't blame him for not trying. The lack of help he provides to protect Sidney from the killer is in fact what makes him suspicious.
Mickey Altieri
Mickey Altieri
"It's a classic case of life imitating art imitating life."
Played By: Timothy Olyphant
A film studies student at Windsor College and a pop culture enthusiast.- Meta Guy: Like Randy, a big-time horror movie buff. Randy even calls him a "freaky Tarantino film student."
- Nice Guy: He is supportive of Sidney after she survives Ghostface's attack.
- Plucky Comic Relief: Somewhat. Getting snarkily rejected by Hallie, discussing sequels with Randy, supporting Derek's singing performance, conducting the crowd's applause…
- You Are Not Alone: His words of encouragement to Sidney after Ghostface's attack at Omega Beta Zeta.
Hallie McDaniel
Hallie McDaniel
"Stupid people go back, okay? Smart people run. We're smart people so we should just get the fuck outta here!"
Played By: Elise Neal
A psychology student and Sidney's roommate at Windsor College.
- Deadpan Snarker: As part of her Sassy Black Woman attitude.
- Death by Genre Savviness: After Hallie and Sidney manage to escape the police car after the crash, Sidney suggests going back to find out Ghostface's identity. Hallie, however, thinks that smart people run away from the danger rather than towards it. Nevertheless, despite this observation, Hallie gets killed moments later.
- Forgotten Fallen Friend: She is never mentioned in the following movies.
- Light Feminine Dark Feminine: Hallie wears lighter colors while Sidney wears darker colors.
- Sassy Black Woman: She's Sidney's snarky, sassy roommate.
- The Shrink: She's studying psychology and often acts as Sidney's informal therapist, convincing her to come out of her shell.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Of Tatum Riley from the first movie.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: The Girly Girl to Sidney's Tomboy.
Lois and Murphy
Lois and Murphy
Played By: Rebecca Gayheart (Lois) and Portia de Rossi (Murphy)
The co-heads of the Delta Lambda Zeta sorority at Windsor College. Lois is the brunette while Murphy is the blonde.
- Actually Pretty Funny: Lois and Murphy are initially annoyed by Derek's impromptu dance number in the cafeteria (especially when he almost kicks Murphy in the face by accident) but become more amused by it as he continues.
- Bearer of Bad News: Downplayed. They're the ones to alert Sidney about the police's arrival after Cici is killed, but they don't know about the murder.
- Ethical Slut: The two describe themselves as supporters of "safe condomed sex" and express annoyance that people think that sororities are just about sex.
- Hard-Drinking Party Girl: They host a college party where they make some flighty comments about sorority life and Sidney. According to the script, they say a lot of that because they are plastered at the time.
- Hidden Depths: Both of them share an interest in theatre and do a good job playing the Chorus in Agamemnon.
- Hypocritical Humor: Lois and Murphy talk about how offended they are about the stereotype that sororities are just places where girls who like giving blowjobs gather, then pause to agree that "harmonica style is ok."
- Lovable Alpha Bitch: Lois and Murphy run the campus's most prominent sorority and are pretty, popularity minded, and a bit shallow, but generally friendly. Sidney is uninterested in joining their sorority or befriending the two, but doesn't seem to dislike them. The closest they're ever shown to being mean to anyone is when they join Derek's frat brothers in pranking him over giving his letters to Sidney which has the regrettable but unforeseen side effect of leaving Derek tied up for Ghostface to find. Even then, they're doing it out of tradition, not malice, and pause to agree that what Derek did was a nice romantic gesture.
- Plucky Comic Relief: They never encounter Ghostface, and just show up to occasionally provide some humorous dialogue about college life.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: At one point, when they greet Sidney, Murphy says "Hi," then suspiciously says "No, I really mean that, hi."
- Those Two Girls: They always appear together and pick up after each other in conversations.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: They tie Derek up as part of fraternity tradition, so they certainly didn’t intend to leave him for Mickey to capture and parade in front of Sidney before murdering him.
- Valley Girl: They're fashionable, not particularly bright, and a bit self-centered, although friendly enough.
Phil Stevens
Phil Stevens
Played By: Omar Epps
One of the Windsor College seniors stalked by Ghostface at the premiere of Stab.
- Black Dude Dies First: Fits the trope's name to the tee by being the first death in the movie.
- Deadly Prank: Phil dresses up as Ghostface to scare Maureen after she goes out to get popcorn and drinks. Later, when Mickey sits next to Maureen, she's none the wiser because Mickey is also wearing the Ghostface costume.
- Deadpan Snarker: Phil gets really sarcastic when Maureen dismisses the Stab movie for its lack of black characters.Phil: Yeah, Maureen. I read my Black Beat too, homey. Tonight, we're going to have an all-black movie, all-black cast, all-black wardrobe, black eyes, everything, black-eyed peas, black cats if you will.
- Ear Ache: Phil gets stabbed through the ear through the bathroom wall.
- The Prankster: He gets the mischievous idea of scaring Maureen while wearing the "Father Death" costume. Given his girlfriend's complaints, it is implied that he pranks her a lot.
- Raging Stiffie: When Maureen complains about the unnecessary nude scene in Stab, Phil replies that he's got a stiffie.
- Significant Name Overlap: The only reason he was a victim of the killer? As a way to reference the death of Steven "Steve" Orth from the first film, with whom he shares a similar name.
Maureen Evans
Maureen Evans
"See, if that was me, I would be out of there."
Played By: Jada Pinkett Smith
"It's a dumbass white movie about some dumbass white girls gettin' their white asses cut the fuck up, okay?"
One of the Windsor College seniors stalked by Ghostface at the premiere of Stab.
- Black Girl Dies First: Maureen lampshades it when telling Phil why she doesn't like horror movies before they become examples themselves.
- Boyish Short Hair: Maureen's hair is the shortest of any character in the film.
- Fangirl: She wants to watch a Sandra Bullock movie instead of Stab.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: "You came back just in time, it looks like she's about to get it."
- "I Can't Look!" Gesture: Right before Casey dies in the movie, Maureen turns away with a grimace.
- Malcolm Xerox: Phil jokingly accuses Maureen of being this when she complains about the horror genre's issues with diversity. Maureen also notes that Ghostface's mask is white.
- Meta Girl: Maureen mocks and rolls her eyes at all the clichés in Stab, hence why she doesn't like horror movies. Phil, on the other hand, is just happy to watch Heather Graham naked.
- Significant Name Overlap: The whole reason she is killed is because she shares her name with Maureen Prescott.
Dawnie
Dawnie
Played By: Marisol Nichols
One of Cici's sorority sisters.
- Bit Character: She's onscreen for less than a minute but provides a Jump Scare and some Deadpan Snarker dialogue.
- Deadpan Snarker: She cracks a couple of witticisms during her brief screen time, such as telling Cici that "your ill-conceived boyfriend" is on the phone.
- Nice Girl: She seems friendly and considerate.
- Properly Paranoid: She warns Cici to set the alarm for the sorority house, presumably due to the recent murders of Maureen and Phil. Unfortunately, Ghostface has already snuck inside.
- Serendipitous Survival: Downplayed, but she nearly runs into Ghostface while dropping by the sorority house to change clothes, and had she turned around at a certain moment, she would have been attacked along with Cici.
- True Blue Femininity: Dawnie wears a blue jacket and spends most of her screen time showing concern and friendliness toward Cici.
Film Class Guy #1
Film Class Guy #1
Played By: Joshua Jackson
One of the students in film class.
- Butt-Monkey: His contributions to the class discussion are treated as a joke for the most part. He gets the Aliens quote correct, but his classmates, including his friend, back Randy's version of the quote. He also proposes that House II: The Second Story is a good sequel, only for everyone else to make fun of his taste in films.
- No Name Given: The film creatively dubs him as "Film Class Guy #1".
- Those Two Guys: He's an example with his friend, who sits next to him in film class and pats him on the shoulder during the debate. Both of them agree with Mickey that movie violence can inspire real life violence and that sequels can surpass the originals.
Film Class Guy #2
Film Class Guy #2
Played By: Walter Franks
One of the students in film class.
- Both Sides Have a Point: When Mickey and Cici argue about movie sequels, he immediately takes Mickey's side by stating that Aliens is a better movie than Alien. On the other hand, when Mickey proposes that Terminator 2: Judgment Day is better than The Terminator, he initially agrees but then acknowledges that the first Terminator has more historical value.
- No Name Given: The film dubs him as "Film Class Guy #2".
- Those Two Guys: He's an example with his friend, who sits next to him in film class. Both of them agree with Mickey that movie violence can inspire real life violence and that sequels can surpass the originals.
Mopey Girl
Mopey Girl
"This is not a hypothetical. It's not about art. I had Biology with that girl. This is reality."
Played By: Nina Petronzio
One of the students in film class.
- Nice Girl: She reminds her classmates that they are discussing the deaths of fellow Windsor College students.
- No Name Given: The film dubs her as "Film Class Mopey Girl".
- This Is Reality: The mopey girl, who shared a class with Maureen, says this word for word when some of her classmates start comparing the murders of Maureen and Phil to the murders in the Stab movie.
- Took a Level in Cheerfulness: Downplayed, given her short screen time, but the mopey girl gets less mopey as the conversation moves away from the recent murder and is seen laughing and smiling several times during the debate about Sequelitis.
Girl in Dorm Hallway
Girl in Dorm Hallway
"Check out the news."
Played By: Sandy Heddings-Katulka
One of Sidney and Hallie's dorm mates.
- Bearer of Bad News: Upon hearing about Phil and Maureen's murders, she seems to understand the connection to the Woodsboro murders and the implications that more murders may follow as she hurries to tell Sidney and Hallie to turn on the news.
- Boyish Short Hair: Her hair is barely any longer than Billy's or Derek's.
- Nice Girl: She acts upset and concerned about the murders of Phil and Maureen and is considerate enough to give Sidney a heads up about it before she gets blindsided with the information that a Ghostface copycat killed them.
- No Name Given: Her name is unrevealed.
- Pink Means Feminine: She's a concerned young woman who wears a pink sorority t-shirt.
- Spear Carrier: She's a perfect example of a spear carrier. She abruptly hurries up to deliver one line of dialogue (even if it is plot relevant and delivered with a decent sense of urgency and concern) and then departs from the film.
Professors
Gus Gold
Gus Gold
Played By: David Warner
The drama teacher at Windsor College.
- Alliterative Name: Gus Gold.
- Cool Teacher: Gus encourages Sidney to follow her passions, and shows concern for her when she panics onstage after seeing Ghostface.
- Deadpan Snarker: Dryly admits that his pep talk is pretty cliched and half-jokingly says he's giving it because he doesn't want to have to do a re-cast so close to opening night.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: He doesn't appear again after the Cassandra scene. The reason why the climax takes place at the theater is because Sidney attempts to seek his help, but cannot find him anywhere.
Artsy Teacher
Artsy Teacher
"Are you suggesting that someone's trying to make a real-life sequel?"
Played By: Craig Shoemaker
The teacher for Randy, Mickey, and Cici's film class.
- The Alleged Expert: Downplayed and Played for Laughs, but the teacher is unable to tell whether Randy or another student got a line from Aliens right.
- Cool Teacher: The teacher starts an engaging discussion about horror movies, albeit one that is slightly in poor taste since he references the deaths of two Windsor college seniors.
- No Name Given: The credits refer to him as "Artsy Teacher".
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He creates the discussion topics, but he doesn't interfere in the ensuing debates. Whenever Randy or Mickey appeal to his authority by looking at him, he makes non-committal, silent gestures in response to stay neutral.
Press
Debbie Salt
Debbie Salt
"It's called a makeover. You should try it. Looking a little tired yourself there, Gale."
Played By: Laurie Metcalf
A reporter who is a big fan of Gale Weathers.
- Boyish Short Hair: An Action Girl with short hair.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To pre-Scream Gale. She most likely modeled her Debbie Salt persona on Gale.
Joel
Joel
"Brothers don't last long in situations like this."
Played By: Duane Martin
Gale's new cameraman.
- Beleaguered Assistant: Given how he works for Gale, and there's a lot of murders going on around them.
- Berserk Button: Mentioning the dead cameraman that was his predecessor prompts him to threaten to quit and bolt.
- Black Dude Dies First: Defied. He leaves before the final act, citing this trope as the reason why.
- The Drag-Along: He becomes this for Gale after she forces him into snooping around locations where murders have taken place.
- Genre Savvy: Downplayed. Joel might just be the most Genre Savvy character in the franchise for taking a leave after Randy's murder and not returning until the killings have ceased. Although seeing as how he didn't read Gale's book before taking his job as her cameraman, it kind of puts him in check.
- Humble Goal: He wants to report the news. He doesn't want to be the news.
- Plucky Comic Relief: Most of his dialogue is humorous worrying about the situation.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After he discovers that Gale's previous cameraman was one of the victims in Woodsboro, he begins to threaten to bail on Gale. After Randy's death, seeing Randy's body, and the subsequent impounding of his news van, where Ghostface/Debbie Salt/Mrs. Loomis skewered Randy, Joel makes good on his threat and doesn't reappear until Mickey and Mrs. Loomis are killed at the end of the film.
Cops
Officers Richards and Andrews
Officers Richards and Andrews
Played By: Christopher Doyle (Richards) and Phillip Pavel (Andrews)
Two police officers assigned to protect Sidney during the murder spree.
- Ambiguously Gay: Sidney says that she thinks Andrews is gay after noticing Hallie giving him an appraising look. Sidney never elaborates on why she thinks that though, and it's never confirmed if she was right.
- Brick Joke: Andrews jokingly states "Don't ask, don't tell," a reference to Sidney's assumption that Andrews is gay.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Richards is killed when Ghostface crashes the police car into a construction site, with a pipe going through his head.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: Both officers are always seen in fancy suits.
- Shipper on Deck: As a Funny Background Event, Andrews is among the people clapping for Derek (but stops when Richards seems to glare at him) when he tries to win over Sidney by singing.
- Shout-Out: Their surnames are references to Kyle Richards and Brian Andrews, who played Lindsey Wallace and Tommy Doyle in Halloween (1978).
- Slashed Throat: Andrews' throat is cut by Ghostface.
- Spanner in the Works: Richards indirectly saves Sidney's life by forcing Ghostface to crash his car during an attempt to kidnap Sidney. She would have been trapped, helpless, and unable to escape from Ghostface otherwise.
- Those Two Guys: The two detectives have similar names, always appear together, and receive little individual characterization.
Chief Lewis Hartley
Chief Lewis Hartley
Played By: Lewis Arquette
The chief investigator of the Windsor College murders.
- Police Are Useless: Zigzagged. On one hand, he needs help from civilians to make progress in the investigation and it still isn't enough to peacefully expose the killer. On the other hand, he's very fair and open-minded about letting Gale and Dewey help with the investigation and assigns bodyguards to stick close to Sidney (the killer's main target).
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: There isn't much to distinguish him from Sheriff Burke from the first movie.
