Characters / Black Christmas (1974)

Billy

Played by Nick Mancuso (voice), Bob Clark (shadow)

The sorority house murderer. A psychopathic madman who sneaks into the Pi Kappa Phi house to prey on the resident female college students. After harassing his victims with disturbing phone calls, Billy kills Clare Harrison and brings her corpse with him to hide in the sorority's massive attic. When the other girls notice Clare missing, they go to the local authorities, never realizing how close the killer has been the entire time.

Billy is never directly seen throughout the duration of the film, always in shadow or behind the camera, and his backstory is only briefly alluded to. During his haunting rantings over the phone, he mentions something about a baby and his presumed sister Agnes.

• All Men Are Perverts: Billy makes many obscene sexual references over the phone.
• Ax-Crazy: He is completely insane, murdering several innocent women, throwing bizarre tantrums, and making nonsensical obscene phone calls after each murder. It's just a miracle he's capable of being stealthy and hiding, picking the girls off one at a time, instead of going on an outright rampage.
• Big Bad: He is the true villain of the film, responsible for all the murders.
• Cop Killer: Kills Officer Jennings to prevent him from interfering with his murder spree.
• Dark Is Evil: The only time we ever see his full body, he's draped in shadow.
• The Faceless: All we ever see of him is a single eye.
• Hell Is That Noise: Billy's demented phone calls.
• Karma Houdini: Still at large by the end of the film.
• Murderers Are Rapists: It's mentioned he raped Janis Quaife before killing her.
• Nothing Is Scarier: Practically the embodiment of this trope.
• The Peeping Tom: He is constantly watching the girls from the attic.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: Sexually harasses and murders several young women.
• Psychopathic Manchild: There's a strange childlike quality to his madness. He sings lullabies to "Agnes", presumably his baby sister, and throws an angry tantrum for no reason at one point.
• Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: If his phone calls are any indication, he raped his little sister Agnes as a child.
• Reluctant Psycho: In one of his calls he says, "Help me... Please stop me... Oh god please help me...", implying that he isn't entirely in control of his actions. The original screenplay was titled "Stop Me" which also fits the trope.
• Serial Killer: Murders several women, a police officer, and a young girl.
• The Spook: A killer who we barely learn anything about and never fully see.
• Shifting Voice of Madness: In his phone calls, Billy often alternates between voices and personalities, often mentioning someone named Agnes ("You left Billy alone with Agnes?!" "Where's Agnes?" "Dirty Billy!"). In addition, he has a habit of screaming randomly and squeaking like a pig.
• Theme Serial Killer: Averted. Despite the timing, Billy's rampage seemingly has little to do with Christmas itself.
• The Unreveal: All the way till the end, we never find who Billy really is, what he looks like, or his true backstory.
• The Voice: He's often just a voice over the phone, screaming obscenities and blabbering nonsense.
• Voice Changeling: Billy changes his voice quite a bit during his phone calls. On two occasions he also mimics the house cat, Claude, in order to lure in his victims.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: If the scene where he throws a temper tantrum in the attic is any indication, Billy suffers from a great deal of psychological pain.
• Would Hit a Girl: He does a lot more than hit them.
• Would Hurt a Child: A little girl reported missing and is found dead later. It's heavily implied that this is one of Billy's victims. It's also implied through his insane ramblings that it may not have been the first time he hurt a child, as he keeps referring to a baby and something horrible happening between himself and a person named Agnes.

Jess Bradford

Played by Olivia Hussey

The main heroine of the film. A kind and empathetic young woman, Jess is nevertheless troubled by her recent pregnancy and wishes to have an abortion. To make matters worse she becomes the unwilling recipient of a rash of terrifying obscene phone calls

• Action Girl: Tries to save her friends at the end of the film and manages to beat Peter to death with a fire poker.
• All-Loving Hero: She's a very kindhearted girl.
• Audience Surrogate: We see much of the film through her eyes.
• Babies Make Everything Better: Averted, as Jess wants to abort her child.
• Brainy Brunette: Quite intelligent, and has long brown hair.
• Celibate Hero: Averted. Atypical for most final girls, Jess has had sex.
• Final Girl: A prototypical example. Although unlike most Final Girls, Jess isn't a virgin.
• Nice Girl: She's perfectly pleasant to her dorm-mates, and puts up with a lot more crap from Peter than most people would.
• Plucky Girl: Jess is pretty resourceful in the final chase scene, escaping Billy, arming herself, and hiding in the basement.
• Unbuilt Trope: Jess is the brunette Final Girl and somewhat more moral than her sorority sisters, but she has an active sex life and a steady boyfriend. In fact, she subverts Good Girls Avoid Abortion by planning to get one against the wishes of her boyfriend. Not to mention that having a Latina actress in the lead role is still rather unconventional (Olivia Hussey is Argentinian born). It's arguably Clare who fits the template of the typical Final Girl most—being more timid and modest than the others—and she's the first victim!
• Useless Protagonist: Not that it's her fault, but Jess isn't able to do much to prevent her friends' deaths at the hands of Billy.

Barb Coard

Played by Margot Kidder

The resident party girl of the Pi Kappa Phi sorority house. This foul-mouthed, hard-drinker is the only character to stand up to the killer.

• The Alcoholic: Gives Ms Mac a run for her money.
• Ambiguously Bi: Alludes to having sex with men, but is also seen looking at a nude woman in a magazine.

• Deadpan Snarker: Barb pretty much shit-talks everyone, her sorority sisters, the housemother, the police. Even the killer isn't safe from her venomous tongue.
• Hidden Depths: Despite her coarse behavior, feels genuine guilt for Clare's disappearance.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She puts up a tough front, but is sincerely heartbroken over what happened to Clare.
• Lovable Alpha Bitch: Barb can be obnoxious, but is a good person underneath it all.
• Parental Neglect: Has some unresolved issues with her mother.

Ms. MacHenry

Played by Marian Waldman

The middle aged house mother of the Pi Kappa Phi sorority. A seemingly sweet old lady, who harbors a hidden snarky attitude and is a closet alcoholic.

• The Alcoholic: Stores hidden booze bottles in old books, her closet, and even in a toilet.
• Cool Old Lady: One of the most beloved characters in the film.
• Deadpan Snarker: Second only to Barb in this regard.

Phyllis Carlson

Played by Andrea Martin

A sweet, geeky sorority sister and one of Jess's closest friends.

• Cute Bookworm: She's pretty attractive, if quiet and nerdy.
• Nice Girl: Phyl weeps profusely when she fears that Clare is dead.
• Nerd Glasses: A huge pair, to go with her meek personality.
• Smart People Wear Glasses: Wears a large pair of Nerd Glasses.
• Tomboyish Name: Or tomboyish nickname, anyway, though she's not much of a tomboy in nature.

Peter Smythe

Played by Keir Dullea

Jess's neurotic and overbearing boyfriend. He lives in the college conservatory as a piano student.

• Heel–Face Door-Slam: At the end, he seems genuinely concerned about Jess and breaks into the sorority to check on her, but Jess — armed with a fire poker — thinks he's the killer. The results are predictable.
• It's All About Me: He's thoroughly dismissive of Jess' needs, only ever thinking of how their relationship affects him.
• Jerkass: Jess says Peter is sensitive due to being an artist, but it doesn't excuse his dismissive attitude towards Clare's disappearance or threatening Jess after learning about her planned abortion.
• Percussive Therapy: Smashes his piano out of anger.
• Red Herring: His erratic behavior and the veiled threats he makes against Jess make him the prime suspect. In the end however, he is revealed to be completely innocent. ...After Jess has already murdered him, and only to the audience. Jess goes to sleep completely unaware that not only did she kill an innocent man, but the real killer is still there with her.

Lt. Ken Fuller

Played by John Saxon

The local police chief.

• Reasonable Authority Figure: Basically the only one to take the girls' complaints seriously. When he realizes that Nash has been writing them off, despite the fact that the obscene phone calls are coming from the house where the missing woman they've been looking for was living, he's clearly disgusted with him.