{"id":449673,"date":"2026-02-28T04:28:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T04:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/449673\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T04:28:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T04:28:08","slug":"scream-ranking-every-ghostface-so-far","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/449673\/","title":{"rendered":"Scream: Ranking Every Ghostface So Far"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Scream series<\/a> differentiates itself from other slasher series in many ways, beginning with its meta approach, but one other notable aspect is its lack of an ongoing villain. In 2022\u2019s Scream (AKA Scream 5), Amber Freeman, discussing the movie-within-a-movie franchise used for much of the self-referential comedy, Stab, directly brings this up. Says Amber, \u201cYou know what the biggest problem with the Stab movies is? There’s no Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees. No bad guy to keep coming back!\u201d <\/p>\n

Of course, that\u2019s never really been a problem for Scream as the concept is part of its baked-in formula. Rather than an ongoing killer, Scream has mostly stuck to the same ongoing heroine, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), along with other key characters like Dewey Riley (David Arquette) and Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox). Each movie is a whodunnit, with a new killer donning the familiar Ghostface persona, complete with mask and robe, until their identity is revealed in the final act. Almost all of these movies have multiple killers too, working in tandem together, meaning as we go into the new Scream 7 (review)<\/a>, there\u2019s already been plenty of Ghostfaces to go around. <\/p>\n

But which of them has stood out the most and ranks as the best? We\u2019re here to help! <\/p>\n

Some Quick Notes: We\u2019re sticking with the canon movie Ghostfaces only, so sorry to you Scream TV series<\/a> fans. Also, the parameters here take into account many factors, in terms of the killers\u2019 impact on the franchise, how memorable they are as characters, how clever their plan was, etc. In some cases, we are noting high body counts, or a lack thereof (and whether other factors outweigh that), but keep in mind that can get tricky because there are many times where things are murky on which specific Ghostface killed which exact victim when partners are involved. <\/p>\n

Scream: Ranking Every Ghostface So Far\"The13. Jason Carvey (Scream VI)<\/p>\n

Scream VI<\/a>\u2019s Jason kind of has to go last, if you include him at all, simply for accomplishing so little. Well, unless we also gave a ranking to his would-be partner, Greg, who never actually managed to fully become Ghostface, despite intending to. <\/p>\n

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Blackmore University student Jason (played by Tony Revolori) wanted to follow in the footsteps of previous Ghostface Richie Kirsch, with a new murder spree alongside his intended partner Greg that would \u201cfinish Richie\u2019s movie\u201d – as in commit new murders to inspire a crowd-pleasing new Stab movie. But on the very night Jason killed his first victim, both Jason and Greg found out the hard way that there were others with their own Ghostface plans who saw these two as an inconvenience to be quickly disposed of. <\/p>\n

We didn\u2019t learn much more about the full extent of Jason and Greg\u2019s plans because they become the kind of pre-title fodder that any good Scream (and Stab) fan knows is usually there just to set the scene, not be the focus. <\/p>\n

12. Ethan Landry (Scream VI)<\/p>\n

You\u2019re about to notice a logjam of Scream VI killers here at the bottom, which is funny, because Scream VI is a really good movie. And on top of that, the final showdown<\/a> between that film\u2019s heroines, Samantha (Melissa Barrera) and Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega), and these particular killers is awesome, with the Carpenter sisters taking out each of the Scream franchise\u2019s first-ever Ghostface trio in satisfying and suitably intense ways.<\/p>\n

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But that makes it all the more glaring that the actual killer reveal is kind of a dud. Yes, it\u2019s a fun idea to have it be the family of the previous film\u2019s killer, Richie, but the characters chosen aren\u2019t exactly the most exciting, particularly Ethan, played by Jack Champion. Though sorta-kinda part of the central friend group in the film, by virtue of being \u201cCore Four\u201d character Chad\u2019s roommate, Ethan is kept at arm\u2019s length, not interacting with the others as much except in a jokey manner. He\u2019s the nerdy virgin and that\u2019s about it. Though it is amusing how Chad\u2019s sister Mindy continually suspects he\u2019s Ghostface before it turns out she\u2019s right, there\u2019s not much more to him than that. <\/p>\n

But man is it great when Tara literally twists the knife after she stabs him in the mouth\u2026 <\/p>\n

11. Quinn Bailey (Scream VI)<\/p>\n

Liana Liberato\u2019s Quinn rates just above her brother for a handful of reasons, including her simultaneous moxie and restraint. First off, she\u2019s just a likeable character. Introduced as the roommate to Sam and Tara Carpenter, she\u2019s funny and quirky and the idea that she has a, ahem, healthy amount of sexual partners is treated in an amusing manner. As Quinn describes it, she\u2019s not \u201cthe slutty roommate\u201d – she\u2019s just sex positive. <\/p>\n

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Also, kudos on her stellar dead-body acting when she needed to fake her own death. But most of all, she stands out for feeling like the only one of the family who has a more grounded (by Ghostface standards) attitude when she, her brother, and her dad are revealed as the killers. She genuinely seems angry and menacing and vengeance-minded the whole time, while her brother and father are going just a wee bit \u2013 okay a lot \u2013 bigger. <\/p>\n

Quinn\u2019s kill count is probably low, most likely limited only to franchise perennial Gale Weathers\u2019 boyfriend, but her showdown with Gale is memorable, as she comes closer than anyone ever has to finally taking out the intrepid reporter. And on top of that, she\u2019s the first-ever Ghostface to actually get Gale on the phone for a classic Ghostface phone call scene, and that\u2019s something, dang it! <\/p>\n

10. Wayne Bailey (Scream VI)<\/p>\n

Take it down a notch, Wayne!<\/p>\n

Dermot Mulroney<\/a> is a good actor, but the decision to have him go so very big, performance-wise, when his character Wayne is revealed as the patriarch of a very twisted, homicidal family, briefly knocks the wind out of the sails in Scream VI. It doesn\u2019t mesh with how Wayne had behaved up until that point and it also feels contradictory because Wayne doesn\u2019t personally care about the Stab movies – he just wants revenge for Samantha Carpenter killing his son Richie. But he\u2019s behaving like the wackiest Stab superfan we\u2019ve ever seen. <\/p>\n

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Wayne rates above his kids though for being the mastermind of the New York City Ghostface killings and for how he used his position as a police detective to further all sorts of Ghostface shenanigans. This goes back even before the family began killing people to when he helped Richie buy artifacts connected to the previous Ghostface murders for his first born\u2019s macabre shrine. He then was able to successfully fake his daughter\u2019s death and cast doubt on Kirby Reed, implicating her as Ghostface (though we\u2019re still not sure if the stuff about Kirby no longer being FBI was true or not?). <\/p>\n

On the kill-count front, it seems likely he was the Ghostface who stalked Sam and Tara in that bodega, taking out three different victims back-to-back-to-back in an intense and uncharacteristic group-kill scene unlike any in the series. This included him using a gun, in what\u2019s become a debated fan topic, since that makes him the only Ghostface to use a firearm while in their full masked persona. <\/p>\n

So yeah, Wayne did a lot during his Ghostface stint, but did he need to be so Crazy with a capital C about it?!<\/p>\n

9. Charlie Walker (Scream 4)<\/p>\n

Among Scream\u2019s many murderous partners, there\u2019s pretty much always a Ghostface hierarchy where you can tell who\u2019s the one who\u2019s coming up with most of the plans and calling the shots. And in a couple of cases, that hierarchy gets underlined in a big way by an outright betrayal as it turns out one Ghostface was just the pawn of another. Such is the case with Scream 4<\/a>\u2019s Charlie, who found out the hard way that his partner Jill had no intention of sharing the falsified \u201cWe\u2019re the only survivors!\u201d spotlight with him when she stabbed and killed him. <\/p>\n

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Up until then, Rory Culkin\u2019s Charlie had been a decent Ghostface. With Jill needing to play her pre-determined role as the seeming main target of this killing spree, it was up to Charlie to carry out most of the actual murders, which he embraced wholeheartedly. And there was a clever hiding-in-plain-sight aspect to making him part of a nerdy movie-loving duo alongside his pal (until he murdered him) Robbie, which gave him more cover than he might have otherwise. <\/p>\n

Oh, and though it\u2019s delivered through the ol\u2019 Ghostface voice changer (as said by the ever-great Roger L. Jackson, who\u2019s been the Ghostface alter-ego voice from the start), it\u2019s technically Charlie who has one of the funniest Ghostface lines in the franchise\u2019s history as he gets outright pissed off about being misidentified on the phone as Jill\u2019s ex-boyfriend and yells \u201cThis isn\u2019t fucking Trevor!\u201d in exasperation.<\/p>\n

8. Mickey Altieri (Scream 2)<\/p>\n

Obviously Timothy Olyphant rules, and kudos to Scream 2<\/a> for giving one of Hollywood\u2019s greatest modern cowboy types his first high-profile role. But as a Ghostface, Olyphant\u2019s Mickey isn\u2019t exactly a standout. <\/p>\n

First and foremost is that he just isn\u2019t in enough of the movie. He\u2019s established early on as one of Sidney\u2019s college friends, but his appearances are rather scattershot, and he rarely gets a moment to stand out – except for voicing his false (in retrospect, of course) suspicions about Sid\u2019s boyfriend, Derek. When he takes off the Ghostface mask, there really isn\u2019t much excitement behind it because of how the movie has sidelined him so much.<\/p>\n

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That being said, once he is revealed as Ghostface, he gets a couple of strong moments, including his diabolical treatment of Derek, who he pretends is his partner in front of Sid, only to then shoot and kill him. The fact that he made Derek\u2019s last moments extra emotionally agonizing is pretty dang cruel, which gets him some points, because remember, Ghostfaces are bad people!<\/p>\n

Also, he\u2019s interesting as the only Ghostface in Scream movie history who wants to be caught as part of his endgame, excited by the prospect of a big televised trial where he\u2019s going to blame the movies for corrupting him. It\u2019s a nice change-up from the norm of wanting to frame someone, which helps him briefly stand out\u2026 Except that he was always a pawn in someone else\u2019s game, as proven when he\u2019s oh-so-casually betrayed by fellow Ghostface Nancy Loomis, who guns him down. <\/p>\n

More to Scream About7. Roman Bridger (Scream 3)<\/p>\n

Played by Scott Foley, Roman\u2019s a tricky one because he\u2019s got some clear trouble spots, starting with the fact that he\u2019s Ghostface in the weakest Scream movie, Scream 3<\/a>. Also, the big reveal about his identity and his role in past events is a massive retcon that is not always embraced by the fanbase. And on top of that, that reveal is predicated on him telling Sidney who he really is in a movie that never had these two characters meet a single time before he takes off his mask, so from her point of view, he\u2019s just some random guy suddenly showing up to take the spotlight.<\/p>\n

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Of course, that random guy then quickly explains he\u2019s the brother she never knew she had, the most recent Ghostface who\u2019s been killing his way through Los Angeles, and the guy behind everything in this series, given he\u2019s the one who first pushed Billy Loomis to kill Roman and Sidney\u2019s mother prior to the events of the first film. That last point may be divisive, but it positions him as a key player in the entire series, like it or not. <\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s the fact that you have to give Roman some extra credit because he\u2019s the only solo Ghostface in the entire series. He had no partner to rely on or to help cover for him, and was doing it on his own with even greater danger of being caught. That takes initiative! <\/p>\n

And jeez, he killed the entire main cast of Stab 3, the movie he was the director of! Think about how crazy that is and how much that would be talked about for the rest of time among infamous Hollywood scandals. <\/p>\n

6. Nancy Loomis (Scream 2)<\/p>\n

There\u2019s nothing like the love of a mother, which was proven once more when original Ghostface Billy Loomis\u2019 mom Nancy took up her baby boy\u2019s mantle and set out to get revenge on Sidney for killing her son. <\/p>\n

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As it turned out, Billy must have gotten all of his own natural diabolical serial killer prowess from Momma, because Nancy took to her new mission like a pro. She gave herself a makeover and a new identity as seemingly awkward, small-town reporter Debbie Salt, while simultaneously recruiting her accomplice Mickey on the internet and getting him inserted at Windsor College alongside Sidney. And Mickey was the perfect dupe for her, not realizing she never intended to let him get arrested and have the showy trial he dreamed of. <\/p>\n

It seems likely Nancy let Mickey take on most of the actual killings at Windsor, but look, as much as it hurts when fan favorite characters are taken out, Nancy was the one who managed to get the drop on Scream\u2019s first movie geek extraordinaire, Randy Meeks, after he dared disparage her Billy. And when you\u2019re accomplishing that, and bringing the audience that much pain, it\u2019s a notch on your bloody belt. <\/p>\n

Plus, Nancy gave us Laurie Metcalf as a Ghostface, and who doesn\u2019t enjoy seeing Roseanne\u2019s Aunt Jackie get homicidal? <\/p>\n

5. Amber Freeman (Scream 2022)<\/p>\n

There\u2019s an argument to be made for putting Amber above her partner, given that she committed most of the murders in the fifth Scream movie, one of which was an incredibly notable character, and that Scream 5<\/a> filmmakers Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett have speculated<\/a> she was likely the one really \u201cleading from behind,\u201d despite how it might have appeared. However, that latter bit of pondering was never made canon, and she does suffer a bit from just feeling like part of the friend group for much of the film without a lot of moments of her own (an excised plot point about her and Tara Carpenter actually being ex-girlfriends might have both alleviated that but also made her too obvious a suspect).<\/p>\n

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Still, by the end of the film, we realize Amber is a particularly passionate and cruel Ghostface. And this includes the revelation that she\u2019s the one who pulled off the fan-agonizing move of finally taking out the beloved Dewey Riley after he managed to survive so many other near-fatal attacks before. \u201cIt\u2019s an honor\u201d she declared while slicing Dewey open, underlining the significance of what she\u2019s doing. <\/p>\n

When she\u2019s revealed as Ghostface, she also stands out for how much future Academy Award-winner Mikey Madison absolutely goes for it as this demented teenager, who mocks Gale and Sidney \u2013 though she\u2019ll come to regret that \u2013 to their faces with how she killed Dewey, while prematurely declaring \u201cYour story\u2019s over!\u201d <\/p>\n

4. Richie Kirsch (Scream 2022)<\/p>\n

In a film series that\u2019s always been oh-so meta and self-aware both about the movie tropes it\u2019s trafficking in and how the audience perceives them, along with how that changes through the years, Scream 5\u2019s Richie got to be the avatar for the ugly side of modern fandom in a notably witty and wicked way.<\/p>\n

Richie\u2019s motivation for going on a murder spree<\/a>, along with tricking a woman into thinking he loved her when he really intended to frame her for his crimes? Well, there was a sequel to a movie he loved that he really hated! Who could blame him after that!? <\/p>\n

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Richie\u2019s plan is to orchestrate a new Ghostface murder spree built around a \u201cstory\u201d he thinks will make for a great Stab movie. Then the producers of the franchise will base the next Stab movie on these murders, course-correcting after the loathed Stab 8 dared to stray too far from the formula. <\/p>\n

We\u2019re all familiar with how nasty things can quickly get these days when fans feel \u201cbetrayed\u201d by a new installment of a franchise they love failing to meet expectations, with some of the most intense folks sounding particularly\u2026 heated. From earnestly asking how fandom can possibly be perceived as toxic to the fact that the fictional movie that set him and Amber off was a sequel to a long-running franchise directed by freaking Rian Johnson, the commentary Richie embodies regarding where things can go with overly \u201centhusiastic\u201d fans in the modern era is very on the nose, and also very funny and perfect for a Scream movie. Richie plotted an intricate murder spree because he’s the biggest, most loyal Stab fan ever, and this is how he\u2019ll fix the movies he loves so very much. <\/p>\n

Another reason Richie works so well as a Ghostface is that Jack Quaid makes for the perfect seemingly sweet, dorky boyfriend type you hope truly has his girlfriend Sam\u2019s best interests at heart, making it all the worse when he stabs her and reveals the truth. \u201cI know, it\u2019s a bummer it\u2019s me!\u201d he tells her. Which it is, which is also why it\u2019s great.<\/p>\n

3. Stu Macher (Scream)<\/p>\n

Stu\u2019s just the best! He\u2019s so fun and goofy and likeable in that manner we\u2019ve come to expect from the man portraying him, Matthew Lillard. Well, okay, he is an awful murderer too, but nobody\u2019s perfect. <\/p>\n

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Ultimately, Stu is clearly the follower in his Ghostface partnership with Billy, who\u2019s calling the shots and personally motivated when it comes to why the first-ever Woodsboro murder spree happens. But you can\u2019t deny Stu didn\u2019t embrace his role with gusto. He was all in, serving as both a perfect sidekick and partner, fully immersed in all of the murder, manipulation, and movie trivia phone calls that came with the territory. Lillard makes Stu a funny, quirky presence throughout the film, but it’s his performance in the film\u2019s big reveal sequence and ensuing showdown with Sid where he really gets to shine, as we see just how gleefully deranged and nearly Joker-esque he can be. It\u2019s the kind of Big Crazy Killer vibe that other Ghostfaces are often living in the shadow of. <\/p>\n

Oh, and he allowed himself to get grievously injured by Billy as part of their plan to look like the survivors at the end. Of course, Stu didn\u2019t end up reacting so well after Billy stabbed him, which is where that whole likeable\/disarmingly funny thing takes center stage again (including some healthy improv-ing from the intrepid Mr. Lillard). Because yes, Stu has other memorable lines like \u201cIt\u2019s a scream baby!\u201d and \u201cIt was fun!\u201d but his most relatable moment is probably yelling \u201cYou hit me with the phone, you dick!\u201d at Billy, along with becoming a blubbering mess and crying \u201cMy mom and dad are gonna be so mad at me!\u201d when he believes Sidney is going to be able to successfully get them arrested. That might not make for a scary Ghostface moment, but it sure is an entertaining one. <\/p>\n

2. Jill Roberts (Scream 4)<\/p>\n

We know, we know, how can Stu not be number two when he\u2019s so funny and Matthew Lillard is so great!? All of which is absolutely true, but we\u2019re ranking Ghostfaces here and in the Ghostface realm, Stu wasn\u2019t a mastermind. And when it comes to those who took the reins in the Ghostface dynamic, Emma Roberts\u2019 Jill stands tall, despite her short stature. <\/p>\n

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Jill is as demented a Ghostface as you\u2019ll find, coldly willing to kill all of her high school friends, her cousin Sidney Prescott, and even her own mother in order to achieve her ultimate goal. And that particular goal, to be famous for the sake of being famous, is another time Scream has stood out for shrewdly parodying a particularly online mindset. In fact, Scream 4 feels somewhat ahead of its time in this regard, because Jill\u2019s motivations already worked in 2011, but eerily feel even more part of our zeitgeist these days as we\u2019ve seen so many more people attract huge followings for the most random or inexplicable of reasons. <\/p>\n

Jill has one of the best Ghostface reveal sequences ever, both because of her proclamation of why she\u2019s doing what she\u2019s doing \u2013 \u201cI don\u2019t need friends, I need fans!\u201d standing out as her most iconic and oft-quoted line \u2013 and for how she goes about setting the scene to look like the only survivor of another massacre. Jill may be \u201cremaking\u201d what Billy and Stu did, but she\u2019d doing it in her own impressive manner, from how coldly she kills both her ex-boyfriend Trevor and her partner and secret lover Charlie in order to frame them, to brutally stabbing Sidney. Frankly, she was so close to getting away with it too if she\u2019d just made sure Sid was dead. <\/p>\n

But the biggest feat of all is seeing her on her own go about causing all the brutal damage she needs to sell her lone-survivor scenario. From using Trevor\u2019s dead hand to scratch her face and yank out her hair, to bracing a knife against a wall to deeply stab herself, to throwing her entire body through a glass table, Jill is fully committed, just not in the way she should have been if she\u2019d gotten proper psychological testing. <\/p>\n

More: Scream (1996) Flashback Review<\/a><\/p>\n

1. Billy Loomis (Scream)<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s face it: Billy\u2019s got to be number one. He was the first! Sure, Roman was the one who pushed him into killing Maureen Prescott, but Billy kept going after that with a much larger murder spree thanks to his own psychotic initiative. And presumably he was the one who came up with the whole \u201clet\u2019s wear this cool mask and call people with horror movie trivia questions\u201d thing when the Ghostface murders really kicked in, though perhaps Stu helped with some brainstorming. <\/p>\n

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In so many ways, Billy really set the template for a Ghostface, which included his cruelly close relationship to Sidney prior to the murders and how diabolical it was that he was pretending to be a loving boyfriend while also the one killing her mother, her friends, and ultimately planning to kill her. And he took it to the next level of manipulation, leaning into and using that he knew he\u2019d be seen as an obvious suspect before getting Stu to fake it so it seemed he himself was attacked, stabbed (and, for a moment it appeared, even killed) right in front of Sidney, both briefly making it seem like there was no way he could be the killer \u2013 and make her feel terrible for ever suspecting him \u2013 and then making it all the worse when he revealed he actually was the killer moments later. <\/p>\n

His impact on the series has been profound, with later killers like Nancy and Roman turning out to be either related to him or directly connected to him. And then things went even further when the fifth and sixth movie introduced a new heroine, Samantha, who was his secret daughter, setting the stage for Skeet Ulrich\u2019s Billy to become the first Ghostface to ever return onscreen in later installments of this supernatural-free series, albeit through Sam\u2019s visions of him. <\/p>\n

In Scream VI, when the shrine to all of the Ghostfaces is revealed, it\u2019s Billy\u2019s robe and mask that stands at the center, given an extra bit of reverence above the others. Which is fitting for the guy who first reminded us that we all go a little mad sometimes. <\/p>\n

But who do you think is the greatest Ghostface of all time? Vote in our poll, and let\u2019s discuss in the comments!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Scream series differentiates itself from other slasher series in many ways, beginning with its meta approach, but…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":449674,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[96,2839,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-449673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-entertainment","tag-movies","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=449673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449673\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/449674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=449673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=449673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=449673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}