Every Single Ghostface in the Scream Franchise

It has now been 26 years since the original Scream sliced and stabbed its way through movie theaters, earning it a spot as one of the best slashers in the horror genre. It spawned four sequels (and counting) and its own spin-off television series that lasted for three seasons. Scream has staying power because of its killer cast, brutal kills, and tongue-in-cheek meta-commentary on filmmaking and the horror genre.

But who is Ghostface? The iconic masked killer has been voiced in every single film installment by voice actor Roger L. Jackson, but each film presents a different pair of killers who dawn the black robe, white mask, and big honking knife.

Scream (1996): Skeet Ulrich and Matthew Lillard as Billy Loomis and Stu Macher

Billy Loomis, (Skeet Ulrich) and Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard) are the killers behind the brutal attacks in the very first Scream. Billy planned the murders as revenge on Sidney Prescott’s family because he blamed her mother’s affair with his father for the destruction of his family. With Stu’s help, his plan was to frame Sidney’s father for all of the murders.

Scream 2 (1997): Laurie Metcalf and Timothy Olyphant as Debbie Salt and Mickey Altieri

Billy’s mother Debbie (played by Laurie Metcalf) is out for revenge over the death of her beloved son and so she hires Mickey Altieri (Timothy Olyphant), a psychopath she finds online, to commit murders at Sidney’s college. Mickey poses as Sidney’s friend while also carrying out the copycat murders.

Scream 3 (2000): Scott Foley as Roman Bridger

The only Scream film installment to only have one killer. Scott Foley plays Roman Bridger, an actor in Los Angeles that is actually Sidney’s half-brother. He’s out for revenge because he’s jealous that Sidney got the perfect childhood that he was denied after their mother gave him up for adoption. There was originally going to be a second killer—Emily Mortimer’s character Angelina Tyler, was going to be helping Roman Bridger, but this was cut from the final film.

Scream 4 (2011): Emma Roberts and Rory Culkin as Jill Roberts and Charlie Walker

In the fourth installment, Sidney’s family continues to wreak havoc when her estranged cousin Jill Roberts (Emma Roberts) decides to don the Ghostface mask. Jill is jealous of the fame and attention Sidney has received and so she decides to commit more murders with the help of her secret boyfriend Charlie Walker (Rory Culkin), in order to center herself as the new “victim” and reap the supposed benefits.

Scream (2022): Mikey Madison and Jack Quaid as Amber Freeman and Richie Kirsch

In the latest film installment, the focus of the killings shifts off of Sidney and on to Sam Carpenter, the hidden daughter of Billy Loomis! Sam has been battling her own demons (including visions of her dead dad encouraging her to pick up a knife and start stabbing) but it isn’t until her baby sister is attacked that she is drawn back into the mix. It turns out the Ghostface killer this time around is her sister’s best friend Amber Freeman (Mikey Madison) and Sam’s own boyfriend Richie Kirsch (Jack Quaid.) The pair met online over their obsession with the Stab movies and decided to make the ultimate fanfiction—their own killings in what they considered to be the correct way for a proper Stab movie. They targeted Sam because she was Billy’s daughter, thinking that would be the best plot decision for the future movie.

Scream TV series: 

The Scream TV series is not connected to Sidney Prescott, but was instead an anthology series, with new killers each season. The first two seasons take place in the fictional town of Lakewood, while the third season takes place in Atlanta.

Season 1 – Amelia Rose Blair as Piper Shaw

In the first season, the killer is revealed to be Piper Shaw (Amelia Rose Blair) a podcaster obsessed with the Lakewood serial killer. It’s revealed that she is actually the daughter of Brandon James, the original murderer. And much like in Scream 3, she is also the half-sister of Emma Duvall (the new Sidney) and she is jealous that Emma grew up with their mother while she was adopted. It’s notable that technically Piper, while the killer, is not a “Ghostface” killer because she wears a different mask.

Season 2 – Amadeus Serafini as Kieran Wilcox  

Following up the storylines of Season 1, it is revealed that Kieran Wilcox was Piper’s secret accomplice and boyfriend, often carrying out some murders when Piper was unable to. After Piper is killed, Kieran is enraged and decides to go on a new killing spree. He is caught and arrested, but killed in prison by a different Ghostface killer referred to as “The Third Killer.” However, this storyline was dropped for the third season and so the Third Killer has never been identified.

Season 3 – Giorgia Wigham and Tyga as Beth and Jamal “Jay” Elliot

The final season of the Scream TV series moves the story to Atlanta, Georgia. Jamal Elliot (Tyga) is, like most Ghostface killers, an unstable young man with serious family issues. He is pushed and prodded into the killings by Beth (Giorgia Wigham), the goth horror expert who seems to have no other motive than pure sadism. However, when Jamal starts to feel guilty and reveals her identity to his brother, Beth has to kill her accomplice.

And those are all of the Ghostfaces and Screams we’ve had to date!

(images: Dimension Films, Paramount Pictures, MTV)

—The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—