The Scream franchise is going strong in Hollywood right now with its brilliant scares, devoted fan base, and fascinating assortment of characters. With the release of Scream VI, audiences can look forward to seeing some of their favorite characters, like Gale Weather (Courteney Cox) and Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega), return to battle the iconic masked killer Ghostface in another bloody confrontation.
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Many characters from this whodunit slasher franchise have become enjoyed by fans as each film has no shortage of exciting and memorable characters that can't help but be loved and appreciated. What about the characters that don't get that much attention? These mostly forgotten supporting characters aren't quite so memorable but still played an integral part in the story and deserve a closer look.
These entries contain spoilers for Scream franchise.
10 Mark Kincaid
Detective Mark Kincaid (Patrick Dempsey) only appeared in Scream 3 as a red herring to distract the audience from the film's actual masked killer. Unlike other suspicious characters throughout the film, however, Kincaid proved a valuable ally in stopping Ghostface and survived the entire ordeal.
Kincaid's survival and revelation that he's not the killer is a welcoming surprise to the horror genre as he diverges away from the unhelpful cop trope from other films and helps Sidney (Neve Campbell) and her friends win against their tormentor. It's only a shame Dempsey didn't get to reprise the role in the later installments.
9 Martha Meeks
Also appearing in Scream 3, Martha Meeks (Heather Matarazzo) is the sister of slain fan-favorite funny character Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy). Although her stint in the film is brief, she provides the heroes with an audio recording of her late brother giving advice about the rules of horror trilogies that ultimately helps them defeat the killer in the climax.
Martha later made another cameo in Scream 5 and was revealed to be the mother of the franchises' next generation of survivors, Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Chad (Mason Gooding), showing that her and Randy's legacy in the Scream series will continue.
8 Mr. Prescott
Mr. Prescott (Lawrence Hecht) started the franchise's long history of including false killer suspects to keep the viewers guessing who's underneath the mask. Throughout most of the first Scream film, his disappearance is made to draw all the suspicion onto him until it's revealed he's been kidnapped and used as a scapegoat.
However, he survived the ending of the first film and returned in the third installment as one of Sidney's only outside contacts after she isolated herself from the rest of the world due to the events of Scream 2. Mr. Prescott is a caring father to his daughter in a world where everyone she knows is either dead or can't be trusted.
7 Joel
Scream 2 saw Gale's new cameraman Joel (Duane Martin), as he documents the events of the latest killing spree at Windsor College. As the story unfolds and the body count rises, Joel makes the smart decision to leave the campus until the film's conclusion, as he suspects Gale's ambitions in finding the killer will end in his death.
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Though some fans could consider his decision to leave as cowardice, it seemed like the wisest decision as Gale's pursuit of the killer once again gets Dewey (David Arquette) hospitalized. Joel is a man that some audiences could relate to, as some people would find that the best decision in a horror situation would be to escape from the danger.
6 Wes Hicks
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Named after the first four installments' late director Wes Craven, Wes Hicks (Dylan Minnette) is the son of Scream 4's survivor Officer Judy Hicks (Marley Shelton). He's ambushed and killed halfway through the fifth film by Ghostface to get Tara and her friends to converge at a house party to honor his passing.
Wes is shown during his scenes to be a genuinely caring and protective friend to Tara and her sister Sam (Melissa Barrera) as he's trained to be couscous and ready for a fight. It's possible that had he lived to the climax, then; he would have proved to be a more helpful participant in stopping the killers' evil plans.
5 Hallie
Originally intended to be revealed as one of the killers in Scream 2's first drafts, Hallie (Elise Neal) is Sidney's new close friend and ally as she accompanies her during the film's events. Hallie is tragically killed at the start of the climax to isolate Sidney so that the killer can force her to the auditorium for a final confrontation.
Had Sidney not made the regretful decision to stop and unmask the unconscious Ghostface in the car crash scene instead of running away with Hallie, her death possibly could have been avoided, making her death one of the most needless in the entire series.
4 Kate Roberts
Scream 4 saw Kate Roberts (Mary McDonnell) as the caring aunt to Sidney and the mother of the film's evil masked killer, Jill (Emma Roberts). Kate was ultimately killed in the third act as part of her daughter's plans to become famous as the new "Sidney" in the franchise.
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Kate was an essential character to Sidney's arc in the film as the two bonded over Sidney's mother, Maureen (Lynn McRee), and her involvement in their lives. Seeing Kate die due to Jill's monstrous plans is both disheartening and tragic as she's taken down by someone she would never have suspected to be her murderer.
3 Jennifer Jolie
Jennifer Jolie (Parker Posey) became a source of comic relief throughout Scream 3 as she played an active role in helping Gale and Dewey discover the killer's identity. However, her comedic presence and tendency to stick close to the two heroes did not work out for her in the end, as Ghostface killed her before Dewey could save her.
Jennifer's death seems unnecessary to the film's already high body count, and her hilarious performance by Posey makes her one of the most truly entertaining characters to watch in the movie. Had she survived and gone into the series' later films, Jennifer would have surely made each scene she's in more comical.
2 Cotton Weary
Cotton Weary (Liev Schreiber) became the most sympathetic character within the original Scream trilogy. The first two installments saw Cotton wrongfully accused, pushed aside, and harmed due to other people's actions. Once he finally gets the attention and respect he wanted at the start of the third film, he's abruptly killed off in the opening scene.
It's easy to feel for Cotton as he's an innocent man wrapped up in stressful situations created by murderous criminals who use him as a tool in their plans to harm Sidney Prescott. He never catches a break, and when he does, it's only to fool the audience's happiness for him as it's all taken away from him. It truly makes him one of the most tragic characters in the franchise.
1 Kenny
Kenny (W. Earl Brown) is the real unsung hero of the first Scream film. Throughout the story, Kenny is Gale's cameraman who gets easily picked on by Gale's abrasive attitude but sticks with her till the end and shows off his selflessness by risking his life and dying due to trying to save the final girl Sidney.
In his final moments after the killer deals a fatal wound to his neck, Kenny uses his last strength to point to Sidney at a back hatch in his van for her to escape. His heroic death ultimately leads to Sidney's survival and eventual triumph over the killers.
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