The Grudge film series features a large cast of characters mainly created by screenwriter Stephen Susco and Takashi Shimizu. The film series focuses on people affected by a deadly curse that spreads like a virus and manifests itself in various ways, such as turning people homicidal or people being haunted, ultimately leading to their demise if they come in contact with the curse in any way.

All films in the series feature different protagonists, with the first being Karen Davis played by Sarah Michelle Gellar. The protagonist of the second installment and Karen's younger sister Aubrey was played by Amber Tamblyn, while the protagonist of The Grudge 3, Lisa, was portrayed by Johanna Braddy.

The ghosts The Ghosts are the only characters that appeared in all three of The Grudge films.

Kayako Saeki

Kayako Saeki (portrayed by Takako Fuji and Aiko Horiuchi) is the primary antagonist of The Grudge series. In life, she was an ordinary housewife and mother. When she was a child, her mother performed unorthodox exorcisms and passed her clients' curses to Kayako instead of herself. Kayako and her son Toshio were later killed in a fit of rage by her husband Takeo after he found her journal and discovered that she had feelings for an American man named Peter. Becoming an Onryō after her death, she now haunts the house, along with her husband, son, and her son's pet cat, Mar. In place of a voice, she usually makes a throaty, rattling noise.

Toshio Saeki

Toshio Saeki (portrayed by Yuya Ozeki, Ohga Tanaka and Shimba Tsuchiya) was the son of Kayako and Takeo. After he witnessed the death of his mother at the hands of his father, Takeo drowned Toshio in the bathtub, before killing his pet cat. Toshio's cursed spirit was left to inhabit the house, along with the spirits of his parents and cat. He makes a meowing noise instead of speaking.

Takeo Saeki

Takeo Saeki (portrayed by Takashi Matsuyama) is the husband of Kayako and the father of Toshio. Takeo finds Kayako's personal diary entries, several of which detail her love obsession with Peter Kirk. As a result, he murders her and Toshio in a fit of jealousy, but Kayako’s spirit retaliates by hanging him using her hair as a noose, and he too returns as a ghost. He was not physically seen in The Grudge 3 except through archive footage.

Mar

Mar is a black cat that belonged to Toshio. Takeo drowned him (though he was originally microwaved to death in Ju-on: The Beginning of The End) along with Toshio. For this reason, his spirit is linked with Toshio's spirit. Mar’s appearance is usually to warn people of their impending doom. He has an extended and high-pitched meow, which occasionally comes out of Toshio's mouth. He was not seen in The Grudge 3 except for in archive footage.

The Grudge

The Grudge is the first film in the series and a remake of the Japanese film Ju-on: The Grudge. It follows a similar storyline but with a different ending. The film focuses on Karen Davis, and revolves around Karen encountering the curse and trying to end it herself before all people around her die. Karen ends up being the only survivor.

Karen Davis

Karen Davis (portrayed by Sarah Michelle Gellar) is the main protagonist in The Grudge. She starts as an American nurse who moves with her boyfriend to Tokyo. After the first nurse, Yoko, does not show up at work, she volunteers to take care of Emma Williams, which causes her to fall victim to the curse. When the curse starts claiming the people around her, she starts investigating the origin of the curse. She decides to head back to the house to keep her boyfriend, Doug, from falling to the grudge, but fails. Karen then tries to stop the curse by burning down the house, but this instead releases the curse. Karen is later placed in a Japanese hospital. She is strapped to a bed and constantly guarded by the police, as she is now paranoid, traumatized, and frantic to stop Kayako. She is visited by her sister Aubrey, who was sent by their mother. Later, a hand grabs her arm, causing Karen to panic. She frees herself and successfully evades the police while being chased by Kayako. When she reaches the roof of the hospital, she backs away to the edge of the roof and Kayako pushes her off, which results in Karen falling to her death. Later, by the end of The Grudge 2, just as Aubrey went back to the Saeki residence to confront Kayako, Aubrey spots Karen calling for Doug and follows her only to spot Takeo instead, who kills Aubrey by snapping her neck. Karen is the first one killed in The Grudge 2, and one of two characters other than ghosts to appear in multiple films.

Doug

Doug (portrayed by Jason Behr) is Karen's boyfriend who is studying at University of Tokyo, and works at the local bar to make ends meet. He lives with Karen and share a flat together. When Karen becomes obsessed with discovering what happened at the Saeki house, he grows worried and goes to the house to look for her, and is attacked offscreen. Karen later discovers him in a weakened state and tries to save him but fails when Kayako crawls down the stairs and kills him. Doug is the final one killed in the first film.

Doug is primarily an original character and has no Japanese counterpart in the original film, as Rika didn't have a boyfriend in the original film. However, his role in Karen's story does mirror that of Rika's friend Mariko in the original film, and they both have similar death scenes where they follow their respective protagonist to the Saeki house and are claimed by the curse as a result.

Doug reappears in The Grudge 2 via a photographic cameo.

Alex

Alex (portrayed by Ted Raimi) is Karen’s employer. He asked her to replace the missing Yoko. Later on, he entered the cursed house, where he found Emma Williams dead and Karen in a state of shock, and was the one to call the police. Later, while coming home after work, he spots a pool of blood on the floor and goes downstairs to investigate. After going down a little bit, he spotted a woman, revealed to be a disfigured Yoko without a lower jaw. As he screams in fear, she kills him, and the detectives later find his dead body along with Yoko's.

Alex is the American counterpart of Hirohashi, Rika's employer, from the original film. His death scene however is different from Hirohashi's, and is instead based on Noriko's death scene from Ju-On: The Curse where she is attacked and killed by the jaw-less ghost of Kanna.

He reappears in The Grudge 2 via a photographic cameo.

Nakagawa

Nakagawa (portrayed by Ryo Ishibashi) is a detective employed in Tokyo. He and his men are investigating Yoko’s disappearance, and some of the detectives working for him start to disappear as well. During investigation, he and his men discover a detached bottom jaw (later revealed to belong to Yoko), along with the bodies of several people, but a security video from Susan's office building is what convinces him that the history of the Saeki house is connected to the murders. When he enters the house with two tanks of gasoline, he becomes drawn by the sounds of Toshio being drowned, and goes upstairs to investigate. When he enters the bathroom, he finds a boy there, and attempts to save his life; however, while he does this, Takeo appears behind him, and drowns him like he did his son.

He is the American counterpart of Kenichi Nakagawa from the original film, though his storyline and death scene also mirrors that of Yuji Toyama from the original film as well, a character who also lost his colleagues to the curse and tried to burn the house down as a result. Unlike Toyama or Nakagawa though, his death is actually shown on-screen.

In The Grudge 2, he is briefly seen in a video Eason is watching. In the video, Eason spots a barely visible Kayako forming in the window of the door behind where the detective is sitting.

Igarashi

Igarashi (portrayed by Hiroshi Matsunaga) is a detective and the assistant of Nakagawa. In the film, he visited the Saeki house with Nakagawa and assisted him in the investigation. It is unknown if he got the curse from the Saeki family or if it killed him (it is vaguely confirmed in a deleted scene that he is indeed dead).

He is the American counterpart of Daisuke Igarashi from the original film.

Suzuki

Suzuki (portrayed by Hajime Okayama) is a real estate broker. In the film, he tries to sell the Saeki house to the Williams. When he tries to unblock the bath, the ghost of Toshio grabs his arm. It is unknown if he got the curse from him and it later killed him (though in a deleted scene, he is indeed confirmed dead).

He is the American counterpart of Tatsuya Suzuki, a character from Ju-On: The Curse, who was also a real-estate broker.

Matthew Williams

Matthew Williams (portrayed by William Mapother) is an American businessman who gets a job in Tokyo, Japan. His wife Jennifer dislikes their life in Japan, as she doesn’t speak the language or understand the culture; he assures her that if things don't improve, then they will go back to the United States. One day, when he comes home from work, he finds the house a total mess, and his wife in a weird trance on the bed. He tries to call for help, but is killed by Toshio before he could do anything. He is first possessed by Takeo, and he kicks Susan out of the house before dragging his wife's body up to the attic (in a deleted scene), where Toshio follows him. Later, Detective Nakagawa and his men discover his corpse along with his wife's in the attic.

He is the American counterpart of Katsuya Tokunaga from the original film.

Jennifer Williams

Jennifer Williams (portrayed by Clea DuVall) is married to Matthew Williams. She is unhappy in Japan because of her misunderstanding of the culture, inability to speak the language, and her dislike of Emma. Her husband Matthew assures her that they will go back to the US if things don't improve. While Matthew is at work, she is awoken by the sound of a bowl hitting the floor. After admonishing Emma for making the mess, she sees child's footprints going up the stairs, and follows them up to her (Toshio's former) bedroom. She is killed by Toshio, who suffocates her on her bed. Matthew then drags her body upstairs, which is later discovered alone with his by Detective Nakagawa. Their deaths are ruled as a murder suicide.

She is the American counterpart of Kazumi Tokunaga from the original film.

Emma Williams

Emma Williams (portrayed by Grace Zabriskie) is the mother of Matthew and Susan Williams. She is suffering from severe dementia and requires caretakers to watch over her. She is the only one of the Williams aware of the curse being there, but does and says nothing because of her condition. She has a habit of getting up and taking food whenever she pleases, and often leaves a mess behind, one time disturbing Jennifer with some noise she had made. She has only one line in the film before she is killed by the curse - "I just want her to leave me alone!".

She is the American counterpart of Sachie Tokunaga from the original film.

Susan Williams

Susan Williams (portrayed by KaDee Strickland) is the sister of Matthew Williams (William Mapother). She is a businesswoman employed in Tokyo. She becomes nervous when she is unable to contact Matthew, and the ghosts of Toshio and Kayako later play around with her, coming to her disturbance. After much running, and one attempt to get help, she resorts to hiding in her apartment under a duvet. She is killed by Kayako, who drags her under the duvet. She is the last of the Williams to die, and does not live in the Saeki house.

She is the American counterpart of Hitomi Tokunaga from the original film.

Peter Kirk