Goosebumps/Characters

Notable Protagonists

Amy Kramer

The protagonist of Night of the Living Dummy II. A middle child who acquires Slappy and finds herself being alienated in her family when he starts causing havoc.

• Green-Eyed Monster: She's very jealous of her sister Sara due to her perfect report card and talent at art.
• Middle Child Syndrome: She feels this way, being not as talented as her older sister or even funny like her younger brother.
• The Unfavourite: She doesn't get much support for her stories on Family Sharing Night since no one in her family likes her taste in music, and her parents gush over her sister's artistic talents.

Carly Beth Caldwell

The protagonist of The Haunted Mask and the Horrorland sequel The Scream of the Haunted Mask. An exceedingly meek and easily scared girl who decides one Halloween that she's tired of being scared and wants to be the one scaring others for a change.

• Butt Monkey: She's the school laughingstock for a long time, but eventually grows out of it.
• Demonic Possession: The mask compels her to hurt people as well as becoming her face.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Chuck and Steve enjoy scaring and pranking her, and even her best friend Sabrina occasionally makes fun of her for how easily scared she is.
• Only Sane Woman: In the Horrorland spinoffs, she's much more level-headed than the rest of the group.
• Took a Level in Badass: She becomes much braver and more confident after her encounter with the mask.

Evan Ross and Andy

The protagonists of the Monster Blood series. Two best friends who consistently find themselves wrapped up in adventures involving evil green goo.

• Aesop Amnesia: Andy never learns that messing with Monster Blood will never lead to anything good. Evan learns but forgets in the third book.
• Asleep in Class: Evan falls asleep in class at the start of the second book and gets woken by his teacher.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: They seem to have a kid version of this.
• Butt Monkey: Evan is one of, if not the biggest one in the series. He cannot catch a break.
• The Cameo: Evan has one in Return to Horrorland where he shows off the Monster Blood on TV.
• Cassandra Truth: When Evan tells Andy none of the kids at school believed him about the Monster Blood, her response is the equivalent of "No shit, Sherlock".
• Do Not Call Me "Paul": Andy hates to be called by her real name, Andrea.
• Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: Andy is much more bold, daring and impulsive than Evan, who is more sensible and cautious about things like using the Monster Blood and breaking into Conan's house.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: They regularly banter and tease each other.

Gabe Sabry and Sari Hassad

The protagonists of The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb and its sequel. Two Egyptian American cousins who regularly find themselves caught up in mummy adventures.

• Butt Monkey: Gabe is always on the receiving end of his uncle and cousin's pranks.
• Competition Freak: Sari, big time. Gabe says she can even turn breakfast eating into a contest.
• Daddy's Girl: Sari. Justified since her mom died when she was little and she only sees her dad during the holidays.
• Missing Mom: Sari's mother died when she was little.
• Named by the Adaptation: Gabe's last name is only revealed in the TV episode.
• The Prankster: Sari likes to prank Gabe.

Gary Lutz

The regularly bullied and tormented protagonist of Why I'm Afraid of Bees.

• Butt Monkey: Hands down the biggest one in the entire series, and that's saying something. He has ZERO friends, he's regularly bullied and beaten up, the family cat hates him, and his neighbor enjoys tormenting him with bees, knowing they are his biggest fear. Let's just say the moment where he considers stinging someone in bee form and therefore dying isn't completely out of nowhere.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: As the title suggests, he's afraid of bees. Naturally, his neighbor is a beekeeper and a total Jerkass.

Greg Banks

The protagonist of Say Cheese and Die and its sequel. He has the misfortune of finding a camera that causes evil whenever a picture is taken.

• Aesop Amnesia: In the sequel, he seems to forget all the horrible things the camera did and attempts to retrieve it to get a good grade.
• Body Horror: Aside from making him morbidly obese, the camera causes him to develop peeling rash.
• Butt Monkey: He's more this in the sequel due to what the camera does to him and his teacher and classmates' treatment of him.
• Only Sane Man: He's considered the sensible one in his group of friends, which he dislikes as his friends tease him about it.
• Revenge Before Reason: He becomes insistent on taking Mr. Saur's picture even after all the horrible things the camera caused to happen. Not that he doesn't deserve it.

Hannah Fairchild

The protagonist of The Ghost Next Door, who gains suspicion that her new neighbor may be a ghost. :It turns out she is the ghost.

• Cute Ghost Girl: :She turns out to be this.
• Dead All Along: :She was dead throughout the entire book, returning as a ghost after she and her family perished in a backyard fire.
• Tomato in the Mirror: :After suspecting Danny of being a ghost throughout the entire book, she learns she actually is one.
• Unfinished Business: :She and her family died in a fire and she returned as a ghost to save Danny from the same fate. Afterwards, she joins her family in the afterlife.

Joe and Mindy Burton

The protagonists of Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes, two siblings whose father buys lawn gnomes that come to life.

• Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Mindy is embarrassed by her father's obsession with lawn ornaments.
• Ambiguous Disorder: OCD for Mindy, due to how over-the-top organized she is.
• Annoying Younger Sibling: Joe is one of the rare examples who is the protagonist, taking every opportunity to pester Mindy.
• Crying Wolf: Due to his love of pranks, Joe's parents assume he's just messing around like he always does when he tells them the lawn gnomes are alive.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Joe is the foolish and easy-going to Mindy's responsible and organized.
• Forbidden Friendship: Downplayed with Joe's friendship with Moose, the son of his father's gardening rival. They're allowed to hang out, but this gets complicated when their fathers becoming gradually more antagonistic towards each other.
• Only Sane Woman: Mindy is much more sensible than Joe and his friend Moose.
• Super OCD: Mindy needs to have everything organized, from her closet to her dinner.

Lucy Dark

The protagonist of The Girl Who Cried Monster. A girl with a fascination for monster stories who learns that her librarian is also a monster. Due to all the monster stories she already told, everyone assumes it's just another one when she attempts to inform them.

• Big Sister Bully: She loves freaking out her little brother Randy with stories about monsters. :Though why he'd be scared of them when he is also a monster is anyone's guess.
• Crying Wolf: She's annoyed everyone with her monster stories, so of course no one believes her when she sees an actual one. After getting her friend Aaron to witness Mr. Mortman change into a monster, he tells her parents and they finally believe her...:and then eat Mortman.
• Curtains Match the Window: Has black hair and black eyes, along with her brother. :Probably a trait of being a monster.
• Deadpan Snarker: Enjoys snarking at her parents. When her mother tells her that her obsession with monsters is just a phase she's going through, she replied, "life is just a phase I'm going through." :Well, being a monster is her life, so...
• Determinator: After witnessing Mortman change into a monster, she becomes determined to prove it to everyone and repeatedly returns to the library to spy on him, even following him to his house at one point.
• Nightmare Fetishist: Her love of monster tales. {{spoiler|:Makes sense; she herself is a monster.]]

Matt Amsterdam

The protagonist of Don't Go to Sleep. Tired of getting the worst of everything in his family, including the smallest bedroom, he decides to sleep in it against his mother's wishes and ends up waking up to a different reality each time he goes to sleep.

• Butt Monkey: His siblings try their hardest to make him miserable.
• Circus Brat: In one of his alternate realities, he's a member of a circus family and the star of the show.
• Disappeared Dad: His father died when he was a baby.
• Plot-Relevant Age-Up: The first time he falls asleep in the guest room, he wakes up as sixteen when he used to be twelve.
• The Unfavorite: His mother takes Greg and Pam's side whenever they torment him, believing they're wonderful siblings who take good care of him.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: By falling asleep in the guest room, he inadvertently changes the laws of reality each time he wakes up. This is why the Reality Police decide they have to put him to sleep forever.

Michael Webster

Long suffering brother of Tara Webster and the protagonist of The Cuckoo Clock of Doom.

• A Birthday, Not a Break: Tara sees to it that his birthday is as miserable as possible.
• Butt Monkey: His sister does everything in her power to make his life a misery and his parents do little to stop her.
• Fountain of Youth: After turning the bird's head back, he becomes gradually younger each time he falls asleep, eventually regressing to infanthood.
• The Unfavorite: His parents practically worship Tara and treat him like garbage.

Nathan and Lindy Nichols

The protagonists of Brain Juice who are tired of being stupid, so they ask their scientist uncle for something to make them smarter. He gives them regular grape juice claiming it's a special drink, hoping to boost their confidence, but two aliens replace it with Brain Energizer Fluid.

• Alliterative Name: Nathan Nichols.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: They become as smart as they wished, resulting in alienating their classmates and even risking expulsion at one point.
• Book Dumb: They do very poorly in school, no matter how much they study.
• Brainy Brunette: Nathan has black hair and becomes this after drinking the Brain Juice.
• I Just Want to Be Normal: They beg their uncle not to tell them what happened because they want to lead normal lives.
• Insufferable Genius: They become this after drinking the Brain Juice, taking every opportunity to show off their intelligence to the point of annoying others.
• Intelligence Equals Isolation: Their friends don't want to hang out with them anymore after they become smart, finding their constant showing off annoying.
• Significant Green-Eyed Redhead: Lindy is described as having auburn hair and green eyes, and is one of the protagonists.
• Smart People Wear Glasses: Nathan wears glasses and, again, falls into this after drinking the Brain Juice.

Ricky Beamer

The bullied protagonist of Calling All Creeps who inadvertently finds himself the only one who can stop a group of monsters and their plans to Take Over the World.

• Butt Monkey: He's regularly bullied and tormented at school, by both the four Creeps and the editor-in-chief of the newspaper, Tasha. : Let's just say that his Face Heel Turn at the end of the book isn't entirely unjustified.
• Embarrassing Nickname: "Sicky Ricky" and "Ricky Rat".
• Face Heel Turn: :After trying to save his classmates from the Creeps throughout the entire book only to be thanked with their ingratitude, he decides that if you can't beat em, join em.
• Mistaken for Badass: After putting that message in the newspaper, the Creeps assume he is their Commander.
• Revenge Before Reason: He's so desperate to get revenge on Tasha that he doesn't consider the very plausible possibility that she edits her work and would've noticed his message.
• Who's Laughing Now?: :When he does his Face Heel Turn.

Samantha Byrd

The protagonist of Be Careful What You Wish For. A bullied girl who encounters a witch who grants her Three Wishes that all inevitably backfire.

• Baleful Polymorph: :She gets turned into a bird as a result of Judith's first wish.
• Butt Monkey: Her life was miserable even before she met Clarissa.
• The Klutz: Her clumsiness is of the things Judith bullies her for.
• Meaningful Name: :Eventually gets turned into an actual bird.
• My God, What Have I Done?: After Judith and Anna become severely ill as a result of her first wish, she feels extremely guilty despite their bullying of her, even going to the trouble of visiting Judith to see if she's okay.
• Nice Girl: Has moments of temper, but is one of the nicer protagonists, even showing concern for her bully when she becomes ill.

Sarah Maas

The protagonist of The Curse of Camp Cold Lake. An exceedingly socially awkward girl who fails to make friends at Camp Cold Lake and pretends to drown in an attempt to garner sympathy. This results in her getting stalked by a ghost girl named Della.

• Butt Monkey: Mostly because she's so awkward that it's hard for her to not get the short end of the stick.
• Death by Irony: :She pretends to drown to gain friends. It's heavily implied at the end of the book that she's going to die for real, at the hands of a ghost who wants to be friends with her.
• Easily Forgiven: When her bunkmates decide to offer her a second chance, she is completely fine with making a fresh start, even though they apologized previously as a ploy to put a snake down her back. She also agrees to be Jan's canoeing partner even though last time she was, Jan tipped the canoe over.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The foolish to her brother Aaron's responsible. Despite being younger than her, he's much more mature and social than she is.
• I Just Want to Have Friends: Aside from pretending to drown to gain friends, she's so happy to finally have them that she immediately forgives her bunkmates when they apologize, even though last time they were lying. Ironically, Della wants to be friends with Sarah, but even after the latter has died and there's no reason for her not to be friends with a ghost, she refuses.
• Innocently Insensitive: When she accidentally insults Meg's height due to speaking without thinking.
• Nice Girl: Aside from her awkwardness, she's rather nice and forgiving.
• No Social Skills: Within the first few chapters, Sarah's awkwardness and selfishness have already alienated her from her bunkmates, taking the bunk Briana has already claimed, insulting Meg's height, and revealing Jan's asthma to the whole bunk.
• Too Dumb to Live: Her plan of pretending to drown to guilt trip everyone into feeling sorry for her - you can guess how well that went.

Steve Boswell

The protagonist of The Haunted Mask II. A year after Carly Beth's encounter with the Haunted Mask, Steve decides to find the one she wore last Halloween to scare the bratty first graders he's forced to coach.

• Ascended Extra: He's a side character in the first book and the protagonist of the sequel.
• Asshole Victim: The first graders torment him the same way he did to Carly Beth.
• The Bully: However, he's a bully whose victim has begun to fight back and thus made his bullying rather ineffectual.
• A Day in the Limelight: Due to The Haunted Mask II.
• Heroic Sacrifice: :In the TV episode, he jumps in front of the Haunted Mask to protect Carly Beth, which becomes the symbol of love needed to remove his own one.
• Jerkass: He delights in tormenting Carly Beth in the first book and in the sequel, he lets a squirrel loose in the girls' locker room.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: In the TV episode. He loves pranking Carly Beth, but also claims he does it because he likes her and even :shields her from the Haunted Mask.
• Loving Bully: In the TV episode, he and Chuck claim the reason they pick on Carly Beth is because they like her.
• The Prankster: His pranks are primarily directed at Carly Beth.
• Promoted to Love Interest: In the TV episode, where he claims he pranks Carly Beth because he likes her.

Tim Swanson

The protagonist of Bad Hare Day. A magic enthusiast who discovers something about his idol magician Amaz-O.

• Broken Pedestal: He loses all respect for his idol Amaz-O after the latter calls him a punk and tells him to beat it.
• Fanboy: He's a huge fan of Amaz-O and magic, although he gained a Broken Pedestal for the former.
• Pull a Rabbit Out of My Hat: One of his magic tricks, but it gets ruined when the rabbit escapes out of the side compartment.
• The Unfavorite: His parents encourage his sister's interest in karate while discouraging his interest in magic, as well as letting her practice her karate moves on him.

Todd Barstow

The protagonist of Go Eat Worms. A worm collector whose obsession turns against him.

• Aesop Amnesia: You'd think he'd learn to stop abusing animals after facing a giant worm, but instead he just switches to chloroforming butterflies.
• Asshole Victim: :After he takes up killing butterflies instead of worms as a hobby, a giant butterfly shows up with a safety pin, about to take revenge on him for his animal cruelty.
• Collector of the Strange: He collects and is obsessed with worms, though more to torment his sister and slice them in half rather than out of much fondness for them.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: :The book ends with him about to be impaled by a butterfly brandishing a safety pin, with no seeming way of escape.
• Jerkass: Aside from abusing animals, he's rather nasty to his sister and her friend, as well as getting so angry about Patrick's science project that he decides to trespass onto his property and spy on him.
• Laser-Guided Karma: :While he gives up torturing worms, he still tortures butterflies, and a giant one shows up, seemingly intending to avenge the other ones killed by him.
• The Sociopath: He comes off as this due to his interest in harming and killing animals, which is considered one of the early signs of sociopathy.
• Took a Level in Kindness: At the end of the book, he throws out his worm collection and becomes much nicer to his sister. This is debatable though, as he still abuses animals.
• Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: He's way too fascinated by how much pain he can inflict on animals, be they worm or butterflies.
• Villain Protagonist: Debatable. While not entirely villainous per say, he's still a flat-out sociopath who abuses animals, torments his sister and trespasses on private property.

Wade Brill

A girl whose brother's abusive behavior causes her to seek payback with the help of the titular company, Revenge R Us.

• Baleful Polymorph: :She gets turned into a frog at the end, along with her brother.
• Butt Monkey: Her brother makes her life a living hell in ways like reading her diary over the loudspeaker of a public pool and humiliating her in front of her crush.
• Distaff Counterpart: She's essentially a female version of Michael Webster.
• Gender Blender Name: Wade?
• My God, What Have I Done?: When Iris causes Micah to vanish as Wade's third revenge without telling her, she finds herself feeling genuinely guilty and missing him despite his abusive behavior towards her. :It turns out he was just hiding to mess with her some more.
• Revenge Before Reason: She keeps returning to Iris to get revenge on Micah despite all her prior attempts backfiring on her.
• The Unfavourite: How else would her brother get away with the horrible things he does to her?
• Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?: Seriously, Wade?
• Yank the Dog's Chain: : Even when she finally gets revenge on Micah by transforming him into a slug and then a frog, Iris then shows up and reveals that any wishes made in a day after the third one will also happen to her, leading to Wade also getting turned into a frog.

Villains and Monsters

Abominable Snowman

The titular Abominable Snowman of Pasadena.

• Fish Out of Water: He finds it hard to adapt to the hot climate he's brought to.
• Starter Villain: He's the first of the villains unleashed in the movie.
• Trademark Favorite Food: He loves trail mix.

Ahmed

The villain of The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb.

• Ax Crazy: Thinks absolutely nothing of his horrific occupation.
• Big Bad: Of The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb]].
• Humans Are the Real Monsters: The mummies are actually the victims and Ahmed is the one mummifying anyone who invades the tomb.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When Gabe unleashes his Summoner and the mummies start rising.
• Would Hurt a Child: Has no qualms killing and mummifying Gabe and Sari.

The Creeps

The titular Creeps of Calling All Creeps. A group of aliens who mistakenly believe Ricky is their Commander due to a message he puts in the newspaper.

• Adapted Out: Jared doesn't appear in the TV episode.
• Adaptation Dye Job: In the TV episode, they're yellow while in the book they're described as purple.
• And Then John Was a Zombie: :The entire student body at the end, including Ricky.
• The Bad Guy Wins: :One of the rare examples that benefits the protagonist.
• Big Bad Ensemble: Of Calling All Creeps!
• Evil Phone: How they contact Ricky.
• Gang of Bullies: In their human forms, they exist solely to make Ricky as miserable as possible.
• Lizard Folk: They're described as looking like huge purple lizards.
• My God, What Have I Done?: When they believe that Ricky, the kid they bully, is actually their Commander, they pull him into the woods and apologize profusely for their treatment of him.
• Take Over the World: Their ultimate goal.

Della Raver

The villain of The Curse of Camp Cold Lake. After dying at Camp Cold Lake, her ghost now haunts the campgrounds, looking for a buddy to proceed to the afterlife with.

• And I Must Scream: Being forced to wander a place she hates for years with barely any human contact.
• Anti-Villain: A little girl willing to do anything for a friend, even murder.
• Ax Crazy: Veers into this after Sarah rejects her friendship offer, at one point attempting to decapitate her head with the propellors of a boat.
• Big Bad: Of The Curse of Camp Cold Lake,.
• Cute Ghost Girl: When she's not trying to stalk or kill you, she's actually rather friendly, offering Sarah a coat when she's cold.
• I Just Want to Have Friends: More specifically, she wants a "buddy" to join her in the afterlife.
• Manipulative Bitch: :She lied to Sarah about how she died as a vicious scheme to lure her into the woods and kill her.
• Tragic Villain: She resents her existence and will do anything to escape it.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: She was once an utterly normal young girl who perished in a tragic accident. The years spent wandering camp have done a number on her sanity, however.
• Yandere: Brushing off her affections is a very bad idea.

Masked Mutant

The titular villain of Attack of the Mutant, a supervillain who comes to life.

• Apologetic Attacker: He apologizes to Skipper before declaring he has to destroy him.
• Big Bad: Of Attack of the Mutant, as well as his comic books.
• Consummate Liar: He prides himself on being a great liar.
• The Dog Was the Mastermind: :Hands up, who guessed Libby was the villain?
• Evil Redhead: :As "Libby", his human guise.
• Kick the Son of a Bitch: His murder of the Magnificent Molecule Man, who was just as evil as him.
• Too Dumb to Live: You can shapeshift into anything. Your only weakness is sulphuric acid. A boy claims to be made of elastic, and that his only weakness is sulphuric acid. What do you do? Turn YOURSELF into sulphuric acid to defeat him.
• Tricking the Shapeshifter: How Skipper defeats him.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: He can apparently change shape by rearranging his molecules.

Micah Brill

The sadistic older brother to Wade Brill and basically everything wrong with her life. His abuse is so bad that she enlists help in a company called Revenge R Us.

• Baleful Polymorph: He gets turned into a slug and then a frog, :the latter along with his sister.
• Big Brother Bully: And how. He loves tormenting and embarrassing Wade in any way he can. The fact that he's five years older than her and almost an adult makes his behavior even more disgusting.
• Distaff Counterpart: Make Tara Webster male and ten years older. You've created Micah!
• For the Evulz: He gives no reason for why he torments his sister. :In fact, when he learned that Wade wanted to pay him back with the help of Revenge R Us, he paid Iris $200 beforehand so she'd make all of Wade's revenge requests backfire on her. Why? Because he felt like it.
• Jerkass: The first thing he does in the book is to embarrass Wade in front of her friends and crush by wearing her underwear on his head, and he only gets worse from there.
• Laser-Guided Karma: :At the end of the book, he gets turned into a frog and then a slug. However, Wade also gets turned into the latter, so the karma aspect is downplayed.
• Must Have Caffeine: Claims to drink many cups of coffee a day.
• The Sociopath: He delights in bullying and tormenting his sister for no reason other than because he can.
• Teens Are Monsters: He's seventeen and a legitimately terrible person.

Slappy

The villain of the Night of the Living Dummy series.

• Adaptation Dye Job: In the TV show, his hair color is changed from brown to red.
• Ascended Extra: He was a minor character in the first book, but then went on to become the franchise's most iconic villain.
• Berserk Button: From The Movie: Don't call him a dummy.
• Big Bad: Of the Night of the Living Dummy series.
• Demonic Dummy: Well, obviously.
• Determinator: His owners are always in for a surprise when they try to get rid of him.
• Evil Redhead: Only in the TV show. In the books, he has brown hair.
• I Have You Now, My Pretty: His interactions with his female owners are much more disturbing to read as an adult.
• Politically-Incorrect Villain: Aside from being a raging misogynist, he also mocks people's weight and age. At least he avoids racism.
• Villain Protagonist: In Slappy's Nightmare, where he's forced to do good deeds.
• Would Hurt a Child: Even a toddler.

Tara Webster

The sadistic little sister to Michael Webster in The Cuckoo Clock of Doom.

• Annoying Younger Sibling: Jesus Christ.
• Asshole Victim: :She gets erased from time at the end of the book. Only Michael knows, and he's in no hurry to bring her back.
• Bratty Half-Pint: Oh "bratty" doesn't even BEGIN to describe her.
• Creepy Child: The way she takes such pleasure in tormenting her brother and is so good at manipulating adults makes her come off as this.
• Freudian Excuse: It's possible she's this horrible because her parents never taught her how to be a good person or treat her brother.
• Hate Sink: There's absolutely nothing redeemable about this girl.
• Jerkass: To an utterly absurd degree.
• Laser-Guided Karma: :She gets deleted from existence at the end of the book due to Michael accidentally knocking off the year of her birth. It's really, really hard to feel sorry for her.
• Manipulative Bitch: She's very good at convincing her parents that she's completely innocent. In fact, everyone except for Michael thinks she can do no wrong.
• Parental Favoritism: Her parents clearly favor her and let her bully Michael with no consequences.
• The Sociopath: There's something seriously wrong with her that goes beyond just being annoying. She's a sadist who delights in tormenting her brother and manipulating others. :One can only wonder what she might've grown up to me if Michael hadn't deleted her from existence.
• Spoiled Brat: Her parents dote on her while turning a blind eye to her horrendous behavior.
• Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: She's way too devoted to making her brother's life a misery. The book also shows her torturing the family cat at an early age.

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