List of The Grudge characters
The Grudge film series features a large cast of characters mainly created by screenwriter Stephen Susco and Takashi Shimizu. The film series focuses on people affected by a deadly curse that spreads like a virus and manifests itself in various ways, such as turning people homicidal or people being haunted, ultimately leading to their demise, if they come in contact with the curse in any way.
All films in the series feature different protagonists, with the first being Karen Davis played by Sarah Michelle Gellar. The protagonist of the second installment and Karen's younger sister Aubrey was played by Amber Tamblyn, while the protagonist of The Grudge 3, Lisa was portrayed by Johanna Braddy.
The ghosts
The Ghosts are the only characters that appeared in all three of The Grudge films.
Kayako Saeki
- Status: Deceased
- Faction: Humanity (formerly) / Vengeful Spirit
Kayako Saeki portrayed by (Takako Fuji and Aiko Horiuchi) is the primary antagonist of The Grudge series, in life, an ordinary housewife, married to Takeo Saeki and mother of a little boy called Toshio. When she was a child, her mother performed unorthodox exorcisms, and passed her clients' curses to her instead of herself. Kayako and Toshio were later killed in a fit of rage by Takeo after he found her journal and discovered that she had feelings for an American man named Peter. Becoming an Onryō after her death, she now haunts the house, along with that of her husband, son, and her son's pet cat, Mar. A throaty, rattling noise usually comes out of her mouth.
Toshio Saeki
- Status: Deceased
- Faction: Humanity (formerly) / Vengeful Spirit
Toshio Saeki portrayed by (Yuya Ozeki, Ohga Tanaka and Shimba Tsuchiya) was the son of Kayako and Takeo. In life, he enjoyed drawing and owned a cat. After he witnesses the death of his mother at the hands of his father, Takeo drowned Toshio in the bathtub, before killing his son's pet cat. Now Toshio's cursed spirit inhabits the house, along with the spirits of his parents and cat. He usually just haunts people, but there are times in which he has killed. He makes a meowing noise.
Takeo Saeki
- Status: Deceased
- Faction: Humanity (formerly) / Vengeful Spirit (possibly)
Takeo Saeki (portrayed by Takashi Matsuyama) is the husband of Kayako. Takeo finds Kayako's personal diary entries, several of which detail her love obsession with Peter Kirk. As a result, he murders her and Toshio in a fit of jealousy. Kayako hangs him by using her hair like a noose. He too, returns as a ghost but he doesn't have a special ghost form like Kayako and Toshio. He was not physically seen in The Grudge 3 except through archive footage.
Mar
- Status: Deceased
- Faction: Animal (formerly) / Vengeful Spirit
Mar is a black cat that belonged to Toshio. Takeo drowned him (stuffed into a microwave oven microwaved to death in Ju-on: The Beginning of The End) along with his son which is why his spirit is linked with Toshio's spirit which is the reason why his meows come out of Toshio's mouth. Mar turns up every now and again, usually to create suspense, and is sometimes seen around Toshio, his appearance is usually to warn people of their impending doom. He has an extended and high-pitched meow, which sometimes comes out of Toshio's mouth. He was not seen in The Grudge 3 except for in archive footage, though his meow still came out of Toshio's mouth.
The Grudge
The Grudge is the first film in the series and a remake of the Japanese film Ju-on: The Grudge. It follows a similar storyline though with different ending. The film focuses on Karen Davis, and revolves around Karen encountering the curse and trying to end it herself before all people around her die. Karen ends up being the only survivor.
Karen Davis
- Status: Deceased
- Faction: Humanity
Karen Davis (portrayed by Sarah Michelle Gellar) is the main protagonist in The Grudge. She starts as an American nurse who moves with her boyfriend to Tokyo. After the first nurse, Yoko, does not show up at work, she volunteers to take care of Emma Williams, which causes her to fall victim to the curse. When the curse starts claiming the people around her, she starts investigating the origin of the curse. She decides to head back to the house to keep her boyfriend, Doug, from falling to the grudge, but fails. Karen then tries to stop the curse by burning down the house, but this instead releases the curse. Karen is later placed in a Japanese hospital. She is strapped to a bed and constantly guarded by the police. She is now paranoid, traumatized, and frantic to stop Kayako. She is visited by her sister Aubrey, who was sent by their mother. Later, a hand grabs her arm, causing Karen to panic and she frees herself and successfully evades the Police while being chased by Kayako. When she reaches the roof of the hospital, she backs away to the edge of the roof and Kayako pushes her off, which results in Karen falling to her death. Later by the end of Grudge 2 just as Aubrey went back to Saeki residence to confront Kayako, Aubrey spots Karen calling for Doug and follows her only to spot Takeo instead who kills Aubrey by snapping her neck. Karen is the first one killed in The Grudge 2, and one of two characters other than ghosts to appear in multiple films.[1][2]
Doug
- Status: Deceased
- Faction: Humanity
Doug (portrayed by Jason Behr) is Karen's boyfriend who is studying at University of Tokyo, and works at the local bar to make amends. He lives with Karen and share a flat together. When Karen becomes obsessed with discovering what happened at the Saeki house, he grows worried and goes to the house to look for her, and is attacked offscreen. Karen later discovers him in a weakened state and tries to save him but fails when Kayako crawls down the stairs and kills him.
Alex
- Status: Deceased
- Faction: Humanity
Alex (portrayed by Ted Raimi) is an employer for Karen. He asked her to replace the missing Yoko. Later on, he entered the cursed house, where he found Emma Williams dead and Karen in a state of shock, and then called the police. Later, when he was coming home after work, he spots a pool of blood on the floor and goes downstairs to investigate. After going down a little bit, he spotted a woman which reveals to be a disfigured Yoko without a lower jaw. As he screams in fear, she kills him, and the detectives later find his dead body along with Yoko's.
Nakagawa
- Status: Deceased
- Faction: Humanity
Nakagawa (portrayed by Ryo Ishibashi) is a detective employed in Tokyo. He and his men are on the case of Yoko being missing from work, and some of the detectives working for him start to disappear as well. During investigation, he and his men discover a detached bottom jaw (later revealed to belong to Yoko), along with the bodies of several people, but a security video from Susan's office building is what convinces him that the history of the Saeki house is connected to the murders. When he enters the house with two tanks of gasoline, he becomes drawn by the sounds of Toshio being drowned, and goes upstairs to investigate. When he enters the bathroom, he finds a boy there, and attempts to save his life; however, while he does this, Takeo appears behind him, and drowns him like he did his son.
In The Grudge 2, he is briefly seen in a video Eason is watching. In the video, Eason spots a barely visible Kayako forming in the window of the door behind where the detective is sitting.
Igarashi
- Status: Unknown
- Faction: Humanity
Igarashi (portrayed by Hiroshi Matsunaga) is a detective and the assistant of Nakagawa. In the film he visited in the house of Saeki family together with Nakagawa and he help him to investigation. It is unknown if he got the curse from Saeki family and it later killed him.
Suzuki San
- Status: Unknown
- Faction: Humanity
Suzuki San (portrayed by Hajime Okayama) is a real estate broker. In the film, he shows the house of the Saeki family to the Williams. When he tries to unblock the bath, the ghost of Toshio grabs his arm. It is unknown if he got the curse from him and it later killed him (though in a deleted scene, he is indeed confirmed dead).
Matthew Williams
- Status: Deceased
- Faction: Humanity
Matthew Williams (portrayed by William Mapother) is an American businessman who gets a job in Tokyo, Japan. His wife Jennifer dislikes their life in Japan, because she cannot speak the language and doesn't understand their culture; he assures her that if things don't improve, then they will go back to the United States. One day, when he comes home from work, he finds the house a total mess, and his wife in a weird trance on a bed. He tries to call for help, but is killed by Toshio before he could do anything. He is first possessed by Takeo, and he kicks Susan out of the house before dragging his wife's body up to the attic (at the deleted scene), where Toshio follows him. Later, Detective Nakagawa and his men discover his corpse along with his wife's in the attic.
Jennifer Williams
- Status: Deceased
- Faction: Humanity
Jennifer Williams (portrayed by Clea DuVall) is the wife of Matthew Williams. She is unhappy in Japan because of her misunderstanding of the culture, inability to speak the language, and the fact that she doesn't like Emma. Her husband Matthew assures her that they will go back to the US if things don't improve. While Matthew is at work, she is awoken by the sound of a bowl hitting the floor. After admonishing Emma for making the mess, she sees child's footprints going up the stairs, and follows them up to her (and Toshio's former) bedroom. She is killed by Toshio, who suffocates her on her bed in a vaguely fashion. Matthew then drags her body upstairs, which is discovered alone with his by Detective Nakagawa. Their deaths are ruled as a murder suicide.
Emma Williams
- Status: Deceased
- Faction: Humanity
Emma Williams (portrayed by Grace Zabriskie) is the mother of Matthew and Susan Williams. She is suffering from severe dementia and requires caretakers to watch over her. She is the only one of the Williams aware of the curse being there, but does and says nothing because of her condition. She has a habit of getting up and taking food whenever she pleases, and often leaves a mess behind, one time disturbing Jennifer with some noise she had made. She has only one line in the film before she is killed by the curse - "I just want her to leave me alone!". Additionally, the title character of the Tapas syndicate webcomic Erma by Brandon J. Santiago and Outcast Studios, Erma Williams, was named after Williams and Irma Langinstein from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Susan Williams
- Status: Deceased
- Faction: Humanity
Susan Williams (portrayed by KaDee Strickland) is the sister of Matthew Williams (William Mapother). She is a businesswoman employed in Tokyo. She becomes nervous when she is unable to contact Matthew, and the ghosts of Toshio and Kayako later play around with her, coming to her disturbance. After much running, and one attempt to get help, she resorts to hiding under a duvet. She is killed by Kayako, who drags her under the duvet. She is the last of the Williams' to die, and does not live in the Saeki house.
Peter Kirk
- Status: Deceased
- Faction: Humanity
Peter Kirk (portrayed by Bill Pullman) was a lecturer at one of Tokyo's university and Kayako's infatuation. When he went to the Saeki house, he found out about Kayako's obsession over him, and he finds the family dead. The next day, in front of his wife Maria and in the early morning, he commits suicide by jumping off of his balcony. Whether or not he was possessed by the curse is unknown.
Yoko
- Status: Deceased
- Faction: Humanity
Yoko (portrayed by Yōko Maki) is a young Japanese nurse who can speak English and is volunteering at the Care Center; she is Karen's predecessor as Emma Williams's caretaker. One day while she was nursing Emma at the beginning of The Grudge, she spots the pile of garbage on the floor which she follows to the attic door. When she climbs upstairs and uses the lighter she glimpses Kayako who drags her to the attic and kills her. Later, Alex witnesses a woman, stumbling about in the Care Centre. He notices straight away that there is something weird going on and he slips on something to discover the woman is dripping blood. Realizing it is Yoko, he asks her what happened, upon which she turns around to reveal her hideous, jawless face. Alex is later found dead. It is revealed that what actually killed Alex was Kayako, not Yoko's ghost, because Kayako possessed the corpse of Yoko and returned to claim victims in the Centre. This explains why the police only found Yoko's jaw in the Attic, and why Kayako was also not in the Attic at the same time as the police went up there.
Maria Kirk
- Status: Alive
- Faction: Humanity
Maria Kirk (portrayed by Rosa Blasi) is the wife of Peter Kirk. After waking up one morning, she witnesses her husband's suicide. Maria was later questioned by Karen regarding her husband before his death. She was also unaware of Kayako's love/obsession for Peter but is yet untouched by the curse as she has not entered the house herself.
The Grudge 2
Aubrey Davis
- Status: Deceased
- Faction: Humanity (formerly) / Vengeful Spirit (possibly)
Aubrey Davis (portrayed by Amber Tamblyn) is Karen's younger sister and the protagonist of The Grudge 2. She lives in Pasadena, California and is one day called to her Mother's house. Mrs. Davis tells Aubrey what has happened to Karen and Doug before announcing to her she will be flying to Tokyo, Japan to bring Karen back. Aubrey is pushed to investigate Karen's death (after Karen is pushed off the roof of the hospital building by Kayako) and at least try to stop Kayako's curse. During her visit to the Saeki House, she mysteriously gets warped into time; to the night of the first murders. There, she is violently killed by Takeo Saeki in exactly the same manner as Kayako was. She turned into a ghost because she died out of extreme sorrow and pain. From that point on, she replaces Kayako until Allison comes face to face with her. Whether she still resides in the house as Kayako's replacement is unknown.
Allison Fleming
- Status: Deceased
- Faction: Humanity
Allison Fleming (portrayed by Arielle Kebbel) is a new American schoolgirl from Chicago, Illinois USA who attends Tokyo International School in Tokyo, Japan. Two popular American and Japanese schoolgirls, Vanessa and Miyuki, pretended to be her friends. They take her to the Saeki Family house and lock her in the closet, only to find that the door is stuck when they try to open it. She sees Aubrey's ghost there (which the audience is supposed to think is Kayako), and as a result the curse falls upon her. As the film goes on, she is constantly haunted by the curse, and it begins to take the lives of people around her, including Vanessa and Miyuki. She manages to avoid the curse through her entire stay at Japan, but has almost lost all of her sanity when Jake sees her being helped by her parents in the apartment complex hallway. During her stay in the apartments she is constantly tormented by Kayako, Toshio, Vanessa and Miyuki. She is finally killed by Kayako after a couple of nights at home; the ghost appears in the shadows of her own hood and takes her life right in front of Jake, then preceding to attack him.
Allison is the cause of the curse gathering in the apartment complex in the first place. It is quite possible that her parents were cursed by her, and her parents later spread the curse to Jake's parents while they were together at a dinner they were talking about going out to. Allison is the final one killed. She has last replied to Jake before she is killed by the curse - "It followed me here. They followed me here."
In The Grudge 3, it is revealed that Allison's body was never found.
Vanessa Cassidy
- Status: Deceased
- Faction: Humanity/Vengeful Ghost
Vanessa Cassidy (portrayed by Teresa Palmer) is a popular and deceitful American schoolgirl who attends Tokyo International High School with Miyuki. She and Miyuki attempt to snap a picture of Allison frightened at the old house as a prank. When Allison screams in terror (after seeing a ghost), Vanessa scampers out in a cowardly panic, followed closely by Miyuki. At school, she and a group of other girls harass Allison, notably when they heard she had to go and see the school shrink. The curse, however, does not cease to taunt her as it does Miyuki and Allison; she is taken by Kayako after trying to make a call in a phone booth. In the booth, she notices Toshio sitting at her feet and Kayako's hair comes out of the phone. Later, she and Miyuki appear as ghosts in Principal Dale's office (the principal herself is a ghost as well) while Allison is there. Vanessa and Miyuki continue to haunt Allison until her death.
Miyuki Nazawa
- Status: Deceased
- Faction: Humanity/Vengeful Ghost
Miyuki Nazawa (portrayed by Misako Uno) is a Japanese schoolgirl from Tokyo International High School, and one of Vanessa's best friends. She assists her in playing a mean prank on their classmate Allison Fleming, although she seems to be rather unsure of their visit at the Saeki house. She gets the curse for being in the house, and is the first of the 3 schoolgirls to be killed; while at a love hotel with her boyfriend Michael, Kayako tickles her under the covers, making her think it's Michael just by goofing around, and finally kills her by dragging her into the mirror behind the bed. When Allison is in Principal Dale's office for around the third time, she sees Miyuki, Vanessa, and her principal all returned as ghosts.
Eason
- Status: Deceased
- Faction: Humanity
Eason (portrayed by Edison Chen) is a Hong Kong journalist who is researching the paranormal events created from Kayako's curse. He was the one who rescued Karen from the house's fire, and introduces himself to Aubrey when she goes to the hospital. During her stay in Japan, he asks Aubrey questions about the curse, and also supports her as a friend. After a little while, he discovers that the fire that Karen set to the house didn't eliminate the curse, stating instead it worsened something. He was killed by Kayako in his dark room, when Kayako emerged from one of the photos. His corpse is later found by Aubrey, which is then possessed by Kayako and nearly kills her.
Jake Kimble
- Status: Deceased
- Faction: Humanity
Jake Kimble (portrayed by Matthew Knight) is a young boy who lives in an apartment in Chicago along with Bill, his father, Lacey, his sister, and Trish, his stepmother, who has just moved in. In The Grudge 2, he discovers strange occurrences in his apartment, and grows more and more disturbed by them as the movie goes on. At the end of the film, he finds the corpses of his father and sister, and witnesses his stepmother be drowned by Toshio. When he finds Allison in the hallway, he asks her what she brought to Chicago with her, and she only replies "it followed me here" before being killed by Kayako, who then attacks Jake immediately after.
In The Grudge 3, Jake is hospitalized in an insane asylum. He has become as paranoid and traumatized as both Karen and Allison after being exposed to the curse for too long. He ends up killed by Kayako at the beginning of the film by being thrown around the room by the invisible Kayako. Then, he is lying in a pool of blood, with almost every bone in his body broken. The curse is reborn in his apartment. Jake was the only one who survived in The Grudge 2 (presumably: there are some characters where it is unstated what happened to them) and the first killed in The Grudge 3 and along with Karen, are the only characters (besides the Saeki ghosts) to appear in more than one film.
Trish Kimble
- Status: Deceased
- Faction: Humanity
Trish Kimble (portrayed by Jennifer Beals) is Jake and Lacey's new step mother and Bill's second wife. She is a kind, tender woman to begin with, but she scares Jake, and seems to have a bad relationship with him. She gradually gets more interesting around when the curse arrives at the apartment complex. The noises in the apartment begin to disturb her, and later she becomes under the influence of Kayako, which prompts her to kill her husband with hot oil and a frying pan. Later, Jake finds her in a bathtub with a blank look, revealing the curse's presence upon her to him. She is killed by Toshio, who drowns her in the bathtub, only seconds after she says to her step son "it's time for your bath, Jake."
In The Grudge 3, it is revealed that Trish became the primary suspect of the deaths in murder-suicide act.
Bill Kimble
- Status: Deceased
- Faction: Humanity
Bill Kimble (portrayed by Christopher Cousins) is Jake's father. He is a kind, loving family man, but later becomes influenced by Takeo. This begins to show more when he starts to act strangely and not like himself; his influence by the spirit is indicated when he overhears Trish talking on the phone with a man named Nate, and begins to squeeze his keys in his fist to the point where he makes his hand bleed. From that point on, he thinks his wife is having an affair, and scolds her about it the following morning, while she is making him breakfast. When he yells at her for burning his bacon, she (being under Kayako's influence) kills him by having hot oil from a frying pan poured onto his head, and then smacking him with the same pan. Jake later finds his corpse in his parents' bedroom.
Lacey Kimble
- Status: Deceased
- Faction: Humanity
Lacey Kimble (portrayed by Sarah Roemer) is a young cheerleader and Jake's older sister. She cares a lot about her brother, and spends a night with him when he is awakened and frightened by the banging next door. Jake looks up to her, appearing to see her as the only one who understands what he is dealing with, but is unaware and unaffected by the curse until the very end. Jake later finds her dead with her head hanging in water in a bathtub, indicating that the curse had murdered her by drowning her.
In The Grudge 3, it is revealed that Lacey was murdered by Trish.
Nakagawa Kawamata
- Status: Deceased
- Faction: Humanity
Nakagawa Kawamata (portrayed by Kim Miyori) is an Itako, Kayako and Naoko's mother, Toshio's maternal grandmother and Takeo and Daisuke's mother-in-law. she used her daughter to "eat" the evil spirits she drove from her patients, marking Kayako for the rest of her life. In the film, she explains to Aubrey Davis that it is not her fault the curse was created, rather because her daughter was foolish and was killed out of Takeo's rage, and that there is no way to stop it. She is then killed by Kayako's vengeful spirit, although it looked as if she died of a heart attack.
Mrs. Davis
- Status: Deceased
- Faction: Humanity
Mrs. Davis (portrayed by Joanna Cassidy) is the mother of Karen and Aubrey. She is extremely sick, coughing repeatedly, and never once in the film is seen out of bed. Since she obviously cannot go to Japan to search for Karen herself, she sends Aubrey to do the job for her. Mrs. Davis sees Karen as a far superior human being than Aubrey, and often makes rude comments to Aubrey, even during their final conversation together (before Aubrey's death) over the phone. Aubrey tells her that she loves her but cannot treat her that way anymore before her death in the Saeki house. She is one of only a few characters to never encounter the curse, but it is undecided if her illness killed her in the near future. Also, it is unknown if she knows about Aubrey's death. In the alternate ending (unrated version) the curse travels all the way to Pasadena to claim her, so it is unknown if she died of her sickness or Kayako. This would mean that the curse would also be spreading throughout California as well as Chicago.
Sally
- Status: Deceased
- Faction: Humanity
Sally (portrayed by Jenna Dewan) is Lacey's best friend who resides in one of the next door apartments. She is first seen as a friendly, helpful girl, but is later obviously influenced by the curse. Later in the movie, Lacey goes to her apartment to show her how she looks in her cheer leading outfit, only to find her drinking milk from a gallon, and then regurgitating it back into the gallon, with a ghostly look on her face. She is later killed in the same way Jennifer Williams was in the first Grudge film. It is unknown how she encountered the curse.
Mrs. Dale
- Status: Deceased
- Faction: Humanity/Vengeful Ghost
Mrs. Dale (portrayed by Eve Gordon) is the calm but ghostly principal of Tokyo International High School. Allison is called to her office a couple of times in the film, and she is reluctant to tell her what is wrong, saying that she wants to go home. The principal tells Allison that what is haunting her isn't real; she claimed to have been in the Saeki house with police, and that there's nothing there, saying that it's just an old, abandoned house. However, this quickly proves to be false, when two ghosts of Vanessa and Miyuki appear next to her, and she becomes a ghost herself, indicating that the curse had already killed her along with the others.
Sotaro
- Status: Alive
- Faction: Humanity
Sotaro (portrayed by Sotaro Nagasawa) is the teacher of Japanese in Tokyo International High School. During his lesson Allison and Miyuki persecuted by the ghosts of Toshio and Mar. But he never encountered the curse himself.
Michael
- Status: Unknown
- Faction: Humanity
Michael (portrayed by Shaun Sipos) is Miyuki's caring but rather lustful boyfriend. On the night of Miyuki's death, he brings her to a love hotel. Miyuki finds a condom on the bed while he is showering, indicating that he was clearly planning on having sex with her that night. He is still showering while the curse kills Miyuki, and claims that she just disappeared when he got out. It is unknown if he got the curse from her and it later killed him.
John and Annie Fleming
- Status: Deceased
- Faction: Humanity
John and Annie Fleming (portrayed by Gwen Lorenzetti and Paul Jarrett) are the parents of Allison. When Bill and his family first move in, they are very friendly and welcoming towards them, and suggest that they get together for dinner sometime. Later in the film, Jake spots them helping Allison to their apartment; when he says hi to Mr. Fleming, he simply turns around, gives a momentary glance, and keeps walking. Jake later tells Lacey that they were acting "really weird." They do not appear again in the film, and it is unknown if the curse kills them like it did Allison. It is quite possible that the Fleming parents and the Kimble parents did indeed go out for dinner, and the Flemings had gotten the curse from Allison then spread it to the Kimbles. In the alternate ending, we discovered the Fleming's house is now-silent, indicating that Mr. and Mrs. Fleming, are dead.
In The Grudge 3, it is revealed that John and Annie were killed by Trish.
Mishima
- Status: Alive
- Faction: Humanity
Mishima (portrayed by Zen Kajihara) is a friend of Eason who has a very large interest for folklore. Eason goes to him when he and Aubrey have questions about the curse and Kayako's past history, and he provides them with some information. He himself never went into the house, nor does he have any lines, so it is assumed that he never encountered the curse himself.
The Grudge 3
Lisa
- Status: Alive
- Faction: Humanity
Lisa (portrayed by Johanna Braddy) is the main protagonist of The Grudge 3 who lives in the same building as Jake did. She is the sister of Max and Rose. She appeared to be living in the apartment for some time, knowing most of the residents such as Jake and Allison Flemming (rarely meeting the latter). At the time of the events of The Grudge 3, she had been intending to leave Chicago for New York with her boyfriend to work as a fashion model so she can win the scholarship money to pay for Rose's medical bills. She becomes rather uncomfortable with the fact that Rose saying that a new boy had moved into the building despite not hearing any of it before. She later finds out the 'new boy' is in fact Toshio after running into him at the floor Jake's apartment is. Lisa is one of the two survivors of the apartment though she does not know that Rose's body also houses Kayako's spirit.
Rose
- Status: Alive
- Faction: Humanity
Rose (portrayed by Jadie Rose Hobson) is an 8-year-old girl who suffers from asthma attacks. She is Lisa and Max's little sister. At the end, Rose asks Lisa if they will be safe and Lisa assures her that they will be, embracing her. As the camera moves, we discover that Lisa is now hugging Kayako, her curse now contained in Rose's body. Rose was the only one to stop the curse throughout the films. She is still alive, even if Kayako is shown instead of her. It is implied that when she gets older Kayako will take over her body to get her own body back.
Dr. Sullivan
- Status: Deceased
- Faction: Humanity
Dr. Sullivan (portrayed by Shawnee Smith) is Jake's case worker. Since the day Jake was put in mental care, Dr. Sullivan attempted to ease him, believing that Jake's stories of Kayako killing his family was merely him hallucinating his stepmother Trish killing them instead (this was due to the police suspecting Trish to be the murderer at the most). Her assumptions come wrong when she is urgently called to Jake's room by a security guard, only to see Jake dead along with every bone in his body broken in a bloody mess. Sullivan later investigates Jake's apartment and is the one who tells Lisa about Jake's horrible and abnormal death. She also informs Lisa that the 'new boy' Lisa saw in her apartment is in fact dead after revealing a photo of Toshio in a newspaper, revealing Toshio died years ago. Sullivan later sees unusual visions in the surveillance cameras viewing the hallways of the facility and investigates, only to be chased by Kayako once getting there. She attempts to escape but is killed when the final door she attempts to open does not respond despite yelling out to the cleaner just outside for help. Lisa calls for Sullivan after she is kicked out of her apartment, but learns that she had been killed.
Naoko Kawamata
- Status: Deceased
- Faction: Humanity (formerly) / Vengeful Spirit (currently)
Naoko (portrayed by Emi Ikehata) is Kayako's younger sister. For Naoko, growing up in their mother's care was "frightening", but for Kayako it was a living nightmare. She knows of the curse and how to end it once and for all. Killed in rage by a possessed Max (in a fashion similar to her sister's death), she is resurrected as a new Onryō. With Kayako's curse now contained inside Rose's body, Naoko's curse has taken its place and now haunts the Chicago apartments.
Daisuke
- Status: Alive
- Faction: Humanity
Daisuke (portrayed by Takatsuna Mukai) is the widowed husband of Naoko, he appeared briefly trying to convince Naoko to stay in Tokyo fearing for her safety because she was attempting to stop the curse, in the end he finally agrees to let her move to Chicago. He never encountered the curse himself nor did he visit the Saeki house, it is unknown if he is aware of Naoko's death.
Max
- Status: Deceased
- Faction: Humanity
Max (portrayed by Gil McKinney) is the landlord of the Chicago building. It appears Max was the landlord of the apartment for some time and while it is presumed he did fairly well in his job before the chaos Kayako, Takeo and Toshio began causing at around the events between the second and the third films. The spirits caused many people in the apartment to either die, go missing or simply move, bringing Max into hard times, not to mention that the flow of new residents was at an all-time low. Max is revealed to be on the brink of being fired and does what he can to keep the building together. He introduces Naoko to the building (having no idea what she came for) and his sisters though does not tell her why the apartment itself seems rather empty of residents. Throughout the film, it becomes clear Max is possessed by Takeo; showing signs of extreme anger, resentfulness and other signs of odd behavior, frightening Rose and Lisa. His possession also leads to getting fired after he pushed his boss to a pile of bricks. Max, being possessed, also interrupts the ceremony Naoko attempts to get rid of Takeo, Toshio and Kayako's spirits. He unknowingly kills Naoko in the similar way Takeo killed Kayako and after Takeo's spirit is finally banished, he breaks down in tears after seeing that he was responsible for Naoko's death. He is shortly attacked by Naoko, who has taken the form of a ghost, similar to that of her sister Kayako. Max is the true final one killed.
Andy
- Status: Deceased
- Faction: Humanity
Andy (portrayed by Beau Mirchoff) is Lisa's boyfriend. He was very unaware of the curse in the apartments and seems to not care about the deaths and disappearances that much. He and Lisa were going to go to New York, but a worried Lisa had to take care of her family so, they stayed. Right after he reassures Lisa everything will be alright, he walks back to his apartment, only to find Toshio's running legs up the stairs. He follows them, and goes into the room. He is then killed by Kayako's ghost. His body is later found by Lisa and Rose which is then possessed by Kayako to kill Lisa.
Gretchen
- Status: Deceased
- Faction: Humanity
Gretchen (portrayed by Marina Sirtis) is a neighbor of Lisa, Rose, and Max, and a painter. She is often hired as a guardian to Rose when Max or Lisa are busy. Gretchen appears to be friends with Max, and is killed by Kayako in her apartment when she was painting a picture of Rose, when Kayako came out of one of her paintings, crawled to Gretchen, and gouged her eyes out, then ripped off her jaw. Her body was later found by Max and taken away by paramedics. Gretchen's death triggers Max's possession.
Brenda
- Status: Deceased
- Faction: Humanity
Brenda (portrayed by Mihaela Nankova) and her mother move out of the Chicago building after Brenda starts seeing the ghosts of Kayako and Toshio. She might have had extra-sensory perception or a feeling of impending doom as evidenced by her reluctance to speak. She is killed by being dragged into her bathtub, and drowned by Takeo's evil spirit while her mother was unpacking. Her mother returned upon hearing a struggle she returned to find Brenda had vanished. It is unknown if Brenda's mother is also killed by the curse.
Renee
- Status: Unknown
- Faction: Humanity
Renee (portrayed by Laura Giosh) is the mother of the silent Brenda and one of the few tenants left in the apartment, because the Kimble family deaths frightened Brenda and because Brenda continuously saw Kayako and Toshio she finally decided to move out of the apartments, while unpacking at her new home she hears a struggle in the bathroom and discovers Brenda had vanished. It is unknown if she got the curse from Toshio and it later killed her.
Ben
- Status: Alive
- Faction: Humanity
Ben (portrayed by Mike Straub) is a security guard and the assistant of Dr. Sullivan. After he sees Kayako kill Jake through the camera, he calls to Dr. Sullivan and both are shocked to see Jake's mangled corpse. Later when Kayako is chasing Dr. Sullivan, Dr. Sullivan begs him to open the door to save her, but he's busy at cleaning the floor and therefore he did not hear her.
Mr. Praski
- Status: Deceased
- Faction: Humanity
Mr. Praski (portrayed by Michael McCoy) is Max's boss. He was for giving the apartment to a company because of the deaths, disappearances, the leaving tenants, and the loss of money, but he settled to give Max one last chance. After Gretchen's death he views Max as unfit to be landlord and fires him. A possessed Max shows his rage to him, and pushes him into a pile of bricks. Shortly after the incident, Toshio kills him in his car.
The Grudge (2020 film)
Detective Muldoon
- Status: Unknown/Likely Deceased
- Faction: Humanity
Detective Muldoon (Andrea Riseborough)
References
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