Scream 4/Characters
Characters unique to Scream 4
Jill Roberts (Emma Roberts)
Sidney's cousin, though not very close to her since she and her mother live in Woodsboro, while Sidney left the town many years ago (presumably ever since Scream 2). She reminds Sidney of herself, as a young woman. Jill looks like a somewhat ingenuous girl, but she's actually smart and strong-minded. She deals with her complicated relationship with her ex-boyfriend... and the rise of a new Ghostface, who seems determined to kill her and her friends before targeting Sidney.
- Action Girl: Ultimately proved to be one.
- Attention Whore: To the point of convincing Charlie to help her kill all of her friends and her mother, just for a few minutes of fame.
- Ax Crazy
- Big Bad: Of the fourth film.
- Evil Is Hammy
- Evil Is Petty: She shoots Trevor in the groin before she kills him, shouting "I am NOT the girl you cheat on!"
- Fifteen Minutes of Fame: Her motivation for the killings. She even uses the exact phrase.
- Final Girl: Hell no.
- Girls Are Really Scared of Horror Movies: Subverted.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: She's able to lift Sidney, throw her, beat Dewey senseless with a bedpan...
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To Sidney. Ultimately, subverted.
- The Sociopath
- Three Amigos: With Kirby and Olivia, though the expanded gang includes Trevor, Charlie and Robbie.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: The girly girl to Kirby's tomboy.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit
Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere)
A notorious horror film fan, Kirby is a quirky and spirited best friend to Jill and Olivia. She's somewhat of a tomboy and "alternative" girl, who likes to watch movies, drink (a lot, apparently) and party. She seems to be aware of Charlie's crush on her, but instead prefers to "tease and torment" him. Upon realizing she's the only one of the Three Amigos not to receive a phone call from the killer, she becomes really uneasy (ultimately insisting it means she'll be the next one to die).
- Deadpan Snarker
- Drives Like Crazy: Unbelievable speed, real loud music, doesn't always see the stop signs... Jill and Olivia must be very courageous to go to school with her every day.[1]
- Dumb Blonde: Subverted; Kirby is probably the wittiest character in the film.
- Girls Are Really Scared of Horror Movies: Thoroughly subverted. She absolutely loves them.
- Hard-Drinking Party Girl: "You continue your good girl thing and I'll drink for the both of us." The young lady isn't afraid of alcohol at all.
- The Ladette
- Sacrificial Lion
- However, many believe Kirby isn't dead. Others point to her inclusion in Jill's list of the victims in the hospital climax, but the film itself never actually confirms she's gone... as Panettiere and director Wes Craven point out on the DVD/Blu-ray commentary track.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To Tatum.
- Three Amigos: With Jill and Olivia, though the expanded gang includes Trevor, Charlie and Robbie.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: The tomboy to Jill's girly girl.
Trevor Sheldon (Nico Tortorella)
Jill's ex-boyfriend, who is said to have cheated on her. Despite being pretty much shunned by Jill and their friends after the incident (they all behave at least uncomfortably towards him, except maybe Robbie), he's eager to win her forgiveness and resume their relationship... with little to no success. He's an avid fan of the Stab series -- surprisingly even attending to the Stab-a-thon -- a fan of the Ghostface character and is notorious for his ninja-like skills.
- Deadpan Snarker: Has his moments.
"Yeah, 'cause that's what I would do if a was a crazy psycho killer, I'd use my own phone to call you."
- Death by Woman Scorned: His death was part of the plan, but Jill specifically evokes this trope before murdering him.
- Determinator: "The problem with Trevor is: he never quits".
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold
- Kick the Dog: Tied up, shot in the groin and then in the head.
- Moment Killer: For Kirby and Charlie.
- Noodle Incident: The fateful "going out" with someone else that caused his falling out with Jill. The subject is only mentioned, never explored upon.
- Red Herring: And a well played one; because of the fourth movie's whole remake theme, viewers are led to believe that this time the killer will actually be the obvious boyfriend again, just like Billy. Ends up completely Subverted.
- Stealth Hi Bye: His trademark! He simply pops out of nowhere when people less expect it. Both he and Robbie Lampshade this.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To Billy. Ends up subverted, and he gets Neil Prescott's role - though this time it works as planned by the killers.
- Troubled but Cute
- The Woobie: Ends up as one. He really loved Jill and was trying to get her back and protect her from the killer. He didn't know, of course, that she was the killer, and gets grievously murdered.
Charlie Walker (Rory Culkin)
President of the Cinema Club at Woodsboro High, "one run below the Glee Club, two above Nintendo Wii Fit". Charlie has a vast knowledge about films in general, although with a penchant for the horror genre, and a calm, collected, but somewhat clumsy air. He has a very obvious crush on Kirby, which she is naturally well aware of, but doesn't seem to reciprocate. He and Robbie host the Stab-a-thon every year.
- Beware the Nice Ones: He's really NOT nice. At all.
- The Dragon: To Jill.
- Hollywood Nerd: Just without the glasses
- Meta Guy
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Seemingly to Randy, and even stated as he was going to be the next Randy to Jill's Sidney during the reveal. However, Sidney basically states that Charlie is much like Stu, which leads to his death by Jill.
- UST: With Kirby because well, he (may or may not have) killed her, and possibly with Robbie.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: As soon as they run out of targets and the final act comes, Jill kills him so she can come out as the sole survivor.
Robbie Mercer (Erik Knudsen)
Vice-president of the Cinema Club at Woodsboro High, "in case Charlie takes a bullet". Usually seen with a headset and a camera, broadcasting his school experiences live into a videoblog, something he believes will be common one day. Less collected and more playful and prone to panic than Charlie, but as much a film geek, knowledgeable about the makings of a modern horror movie. He and Charlie host the Stab-a-thon every year.
- Adorkable
- Bury Your Gays: He thought gay people always survived horror movies. Ghostface disagrees.
- Cool Loser: Slightly. "We don't have reputations, but we'd like to."
- Determinator: Even after being stabbed three times, he barely pulls himself back to the house and warns the girls to run before dying.
- Drowning My Sorrows: After the killer attacks at Stab-a-thon -- a risk both Sidney and Gale warned Robbie and Charlie about -- and it looks like his website will be shut down, this is his reaction to cope.
- Hollywood Nerd: Just without the glasses.
- Invisible to Gaydar: Though some do find him somewhat flamboyant on rewatches. Or even first watches.
- Meta Guy
- Sacrificial Lion
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To Randy
- UST: With Olivia. Probably would never be resolved, though.
Deputy Sheriff Judy Hicks (Marley Shelton)
A dedicated police officer and loyal right-hand woman to Dewey, whom she idolizes and seems to have a crush on (and likes to bake lemon squares to). There is some sort of rivalry between herself and Gale, and the latter doesn't even bother hiding her antipathy towards the deputy (and her lemon squares). Judy knew Sidney from high school, but didn't make a big enough impression for Sidney to remember her.
- Fair Cop
- Forgotten First Meeting: She and Sidney went to high school together and used to act together in plays. Sidney doesn't remember her, though.
- Meaningful Name: 'Deputy Judy' sounds very close to 'Deputy Dewey'.
- Number Two: To Dewey, now a Sheriff.
- Police Are Useless: Subverted. She ends up saving Gale's life.
- Red Herring: More subtle than the obvious Trevor, but still.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: She's essentially the female version of Dewey, which is explicitly lampshaded by Gale.
- Tomboyish Ponytail
Deputy Ross Hoss (Adam Brody) and Anthony Perkins (Anthony Anderson)
Two police officers working under Dewey, assigned to guard Sidney and Jill after it's confirmed that a new Ghostface killer has surfaced. Hoss is a rookie officer, recently graduated, with a reserved, respectful and somewhat apprehensive demeanor -- as well as a sad realization that cops are always endangered in fiction -- while Perkins is an older and seasoned cop with a perpetual cocky and bigoted disposition.
- Deadly Prank / Too Dumb to Live: Instead of answering when Hoss reports a suspicious open window in the vicinities, Perkins decides to Fake the Dead to scare him. As soon as Hoss comes back to the car to check if he's okay, Ghostface takes advantage of their distraction and kills them both.
- Genre Savvy: Hoss, who knows exactly how a cop can get killed in fiction and seems to be knowledgeable about the horror movie rules.
- Police Are Useless: Ghostface has no problems getting past them to kill Olivia.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Perkins is red, Hoss is blue.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Hoss, to Dewey.
- Those Two Guys
Rebecca Walters (Alison Brie)
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Three girls get brutally killed, and the only thing she can think about is how well this will affect the sales of Sidney's book. She also seems to be somewhat envious of Sidney.
- Composite Character: In the original draft of the script, there were two characters named Bette (Sidney's pushy and secretly envious assistant) and Rebecca (editor-in-chief of the high school newspaper and Gale's fangirl and wannabe), who were eventually combined into Rebecca Walters.
- If It Bleeds, It Leads: If it bleeds, it rockets the book sales.
- Motor Mouth: Even when she's completely by herself.
- Plucky Comic Relief: Somewhat.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To Gale, but she acts towards her in a way similar to Debbie Salt.
Kate Roberts (Mary McDonnell)
Maureen's younger sister, Sidney's aunt and Jill's mother.
- Hot Mom: She's considered better-looking than Maureen.
- One-Scene Wonder: Almost. Her screentime is very limited, but you gotta love every second of it.
- Shipper on Deck: In the deleted hospital scene, she convinces Jill to talk to Trevor and looks like she really supports him.
- Tempting Fate: She utters the dangerous sentence "I'll be right back". Gets killed minutes later.
- Back to Scream 4
- ↑ This may be a bizarre kind of Actor Appeal, as Hayden Panettiere's been similarly dangerous behind the wheel in Heroes and I Love You, Beth Cooper.