The infamous Ghostface is the primary antagonist of the Scream franchise and has been used as a disguise in five different murder sprees in the town of Woodsboro. While the now-iconic Ghostface voice and costume never change, each movie has a different killer (or, more often than not, killers) behind the mask.
As of the most recent installment in the franchise, nine people have donned the mask, but none have been successful in taking out the ultimate final girl, Sidney Prescott. Despite all wearing the same costume, the killers have different motives in each movie, and this means some of the characters behind the mask are scarier than others.
Charlie Walker
Charlie is unfortunately the most forgettable of the Ghostface killers and his motive is one of the weaker ones. In Scream 4, Charlie is being set up to take on the mantle of the resident expert from one of Ghostface's strongest enemies, Randy Meeks. Unfortunately, even before he's revealed as one of the killers, he's nowhere near as likeable or charismatic as Randy.
When Charlie stabs Kirby and reveals he's the killer, he berates her for never 'noticing him' which confirms just how pathetic he really is. His motive seems to be purely based on impressing Jill, who completely overshadows him as Ghostface and unsurprisingly leads to his downfall. While the shock of Jill being the killer couldn't have worked without her having an accomplice, a stronger character than Charlie would have made sense in this role.
Mickey Altieri
Mickey from Scream 2 is another secondary Ghostface who is playing second-fiddle to a far more superior character. Mrs. Loomis uses Mickey and manipulates him into doing her bidding. He wants them to get caught so he can become famous for his killings but she never has any intention of letting this happen.
Mickey is naive enough to trust Mrs. Loomis who has a much more personal motive and she callously takes him out after his usefulness expires. As Mickey is nothing more than a pawn of Mrs. Loomis, it's difficult to find him particularly threatening as Ghosface.
Roman Bridger
Roman has to be commended somewhat for being the only solo killer in the whole franchise yet still being the Ghostface with the most kills. While the audience is led to believe he has been killed earlier on, the reveal itself isn't all that shocking as he is a fairly minor character throughout the movie.
That being said, his motive is a lot stronger than that of some of the other killers. Roman reveals he is Sidney's half-brother and wants revenge after being rejected by their now-deceased mother. Although, his reveal regarding Billy and Stu from the original Scream is questionable and certainly divisive with the fandom and his lack of character development prior to the reveal makes him one of the less intimidating antagonists from the franchise.
Richie Kirsch
Scream 2022 continues the franchise tradition of having two killers, one of which is Samantha's boyfriend, Richie. The reveal of him being the killer is pretty effective as it harks back to the first movie with Sidney's boyfriend, Billy. Also, Richie is almost 'too obvious' to suspect so will certainly be overlooked by plenty of viewers.
More eagle-eyed viewers and fans of the franchise will spot Richie being the killer a mile off though; he is barely harmed in any of his confrontations with Ghostface and is consistently watching Stab on his phone, despite claiming to have no interest in the franchise. The motive and the commentary of toxic fandom that come with the reveal are an interesting new direction to go down and the actor does a great job at switching between the loyal boyfriend and the crazed killer.
Jill Roberts
Sidney's cousin, Jill is introduced as a new target for Ghostface in Scream 4. The reveal of Jill as the killer is one of the most shocking and the switch from the shy and unassuming school girl to the vicious, jealous killer is sublime.
One of Scream is her confrontation with Jill. Seeing Sidney's own cousin revealed as Ghostface is a big shock especially as the audience know they're family throughout the movie (unlike with Roman) and the main crux of Jill's motive is that she's jealous of all the attention Sidney received following her previous ordeals. The scene where she throws herself across the room and onto a glass table to try and play the victim makes this character particularly disturbing.
Mrs. Loomis
Mrs. Loomis, or Debbie Salt as she is known for the majority of Scream 2, has one of the most straightforward motives: old-fashioned revenge. Like Billy, Mrs. Loomis has a similar disdain for Sidney and her mother and wants to punish the latter for killing her son.
While she gets close to getting her revenge, she is ultimately stopped by Cotton Weary with Sidney securing the final kill-shot. Mrs. Loomis' ability to hide in plain sight and her manipulation of Mickey and the way she ruthlessly disposes of him make her a true force to be reckoned with. The personal nature of her motive also make her one of the most determined and deranged Ghostface killers.
Amber Freeman
Scream 2022 opens with Ghostface taunting Tara from her friend, Amber's phone which is a big clue to her real identity. Amber being one of the killers isn't all that surprising as she's highly suspicious throughout the movie but the way in which she's revealed is particularly shocking.
She unveils herself by suddenly shooting one of her friends mid-scene which is what makes her one of the best characters from Scream 2022. Amber takes out original character, Dewey and is vicious when she attacks her victims. Although her motive is far less personal than some of the others in the franchise, the actress' performance and the character's brutality make her a chilling addition to the line-up of Ghostface killers.
Stu Macher
As one of the two original killers of the franchise, Stu is certainly one of the most memorable characters to wear the Ghosface mask. While his motive isn't particularly strong, it's simple and believable considering how manipulative Billy is.
The most recent movie in the franchise cleverly ends in Stu's old house, exactly where the original concludes. Stu delights in taunting Sidney and describes his murder spree as 'fun.' Matthew Lillard gives a stellar and chaotic performance as Stu at the end of the movie that leaves the viewer disturbed especially because of his lack of motivation (besides 'peer pressure').
Billy Loomis
One of the most unexpected returns in the franchise is that of Billy Loomis who most fans wouldn't expect to show up in Scream 2022. Fairly early on, Samantha is revealed as the illegitimate daughter of the very first Ghostface which makes her a target for the new killer. At several points in the movie, Samantha has visions of Billy and even interacts with him.
As Sidney's boyfriend in the original Scream, Billy is one of the main suspects when the killings begin. The biggest shock with the first Ghostface reveal is that there are two killers which has now become a trend within the franchise. Billy is chilling in the final scene of the movie and him dating Sidney despite killing those around her and having killed her mother make him the scariest of all the Ghostface killers.
