The following is a list of characters who have appeared throughout Beetlejuice film series, the animated series, and the Broadway musical.
Main characters Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (also spelled Betelgeuse) (Michael Keaton in the films, Stephen Ouimette in the animated series, Alex Brightman in the Broadway musical and the Teen Titans Go! episode "Ghost With the Most", and Justin Collette in the US tour of the musical) is a mischievous ghost. He is the main antagonist of the movies and the main protagonist of the animated TV series.
Beetlejuice's first appearance in the first film shows him reading a newspaper page welcoming Adam and Barbara Maitland to the afterlife, called the Netherworld, after their deaths. He comments they look nice and stupid, and begins using advertisements (flyers, business cards, and a commercial) to get the Maitlands to hire him as a "bio-exorcist" to get rid of the Deetz family, the new occupants of their home. However, Juno, the Maitlands' case worker, advises them to avoid him. Beetlejuice appears within Adam's model town in the attic and instructs the Maitlands to say his name three times, which they do, summoning them into the model. Beetlejuice harasses them and makes perverted comments towards Barbara and gross displays of his ghostly body. He then leaves the model and begins attacking the Deetz's, turning into a large snake to scare them. The Maitlands decide that his behavior is too extreme and say his name three times to stop him.
Later, Beetlejuice comes across Lydia when she enters the Maitlands' attic and finds the model town. She confesses to him that she is suicidal and wants to cross into the Netherworld like Adam and Barbara. Beetlejuice tells her that she can do so if she says his name three times, which she nearly does before being stopped by the Maitlands. When the Deetzs hold séance that begins to exorcise the Maitlands, Beetlejuice tells Lydia that he'll save them if she agrees to marry him, which, seeing no other option, she accepts. The marriage is only stopped last second by the Maitlands, and Beeltejuice is swallowed by a sandworm.
In the animated series, Beetlejuice's creepy, womanizing nature is toned down for a younger audience. He is best friends with Lydia, who he takes on adventures in the Netherworld. Unlike his movie counterpart, his powers seem to be limited to wordplay, needing a timely gag or pun to transform (e.g., he says something "bugs" him, he'll turn into an insect).
In the Broadway musical, Beetlejuice, unlike previous incarnations of the character, is a self-proclaimed demon from Hell and fully aware he is in a musical. He frequently breaks the 4th wall and occasionally narrates the story. The musical blends aspects of the movie and animated series, turning Beetlejuice into a more likeable protagonist and showing a friendship with Lydia, although he still deceives her and attempts to marry her.
In the second film, set 36 years after the first film, Beetlejuice first appears at Lydia's supernatural show Ghost House between the crowd. He then appears at Astrid's school only to disappear when Astrid and Delia turn around. Lydia thinks these are just hallucinations due to her past trauma but it turns out Beetlejuice has a psychic connection to Lydia and this allows him to actually show up in the land of the living, albeit this seems to be limited. In his office, where he expanded his business of bio-exorcism, he keeps a picture of Lydia as a teenager and stares at it as he spies on her. He is called by the afterlife detective Wolf Jackson that reveals to him that his ex-wife, Delores is back for revenge. Beetlejuice hides in his office and plans to have Bob disguised as himself to be bait for Delores. After finding out the Deetz family is coming back to Winter River for Charles's funeral after the latter's death, Beetlejuice decides to take the occasion to convince Lydia into marrying him again so he can be alive again and escape from Delores forever. Beetlejuice once again uses flyers and promos to gain Lydia's attention. When Lydia's sly boyfriend Rory thinks he is just a figment of Lydia's imagination, he says his name 3 times and it results in them being transported in the model, where Beetlejuice, disguised as a couple therapist, makes Lydia give ‘birth’ to a creepy Baby Beetlejuice and scares Rory into fainting after he said he was just a figment of his imagination. Lydia scolds him for stalking her, but he admits he wants to remarry her because she is the love of his life. However, Lydia says home 3 times bringing her and Rory out of the model but Beetlejuice appears to her, playing a guitar and singing Right Here Waiting for You, declaring his love for her. Later, after Astrid gets manipulated by Jeremy to swap souls, Lydia reluctantly summons Beetlejuice and asks him to help her save her daughter before she gets taken to the Soul Train, which would bring her to the Great Beyond forever. Beetlejuice agrees to help, but in return he wants her marry him. Lydia agrees but Beetlejuice makes sure this time she keeps her word by making her sign a contract and promising to make her happy with him. As they cannot enter the usual way, he draws a bomb with chalk on the wall and lights it up, causing an explosion into his office. Because of the explosion Beetlejuice sets off the Code 699 alarm and security start looking for him and Lydia. Beetlejuice tells Bob to block the entrance but instead he lets the shrunken heads escape into the world of the living. Beetlejuice and Lydia go towards the door leading to the Soul Train station but he senses Delores is nearby so he tells her where to go and they split up. Delia, after realizing she is dead and reluctantly summons Beetlejuice to help her find her husband Charles. He agrees if she will help him find Lydia. As Jeremy is about to get his passport stamped to re-enter the living world, Beetlejuice is revealed to be the immigration officer and rejects his passport, sending Jeremy to Hell thus killing him again and giving Astrid her soul back. Helped by Delia, Beetlejuice crashes the pending wedding of Lydia and Rory. He warns Astrid to refrain from saying his name via his agreement with Lydia and asks Astrid to call him ‘Dad’. He then injects Rory with truth serum to admit he never loved Lydia and is only after her money, angering her and Beetlejuice provides her some of his powers to let her punch him. He kills the social media influencers Rory invited, changes himself and Lydia into their original wedding attire, and begins a musical wedding ceremony. The wedding is interrupted by Wolf whom he freezes to avoid arrest, and then Delores who, along with Rory, is eaten by a Sandworm. Astrid says the contract is null and void due to him illegally bringing Lydia into the afterlife by setting off the 699 alarm and turning the shrunken heads lose in the land of the living. Beetlejuice is left disappointed when Lydia summons him back to the afterlife.
Lydia Deetz Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder in the films, Alyson Court in the animated series, Sophia Anne Caruso in the Broadway musical, and Isabella Esler in the US tour of the musical) is the daughter of Charles Deetz and the stepdaughter of Delia Deetz.
In the first film, Lydia is a 15-year-old goth girl who moves to Winter River, Connecticut from New York City with her family. Lydia takes a liking to their new house and disapproves of her eccentric stepmother's extreme home renovations. She finds the Handbook for the Recently Deceased in the attic and is able to understand it. Lydia is also able to discover the Maitlands as, in her words, she is also "strange and unusual". Sympathizing with the Maitlands' plight and mission to scare the Deetzs from their home, Lydia helps them attack her parents' dinner party. The guests, however, become excited at the prospect of using the house as an attraction, and the Maitlands summon Beetlejuice to scare them. Lydia, who has also been scared by the display, accuses the Maitlands of deceiving her. Later, when attempting to leave a suicide note in the Maitlands' attic, she comes across Beetlejuice in Adam's model town and is nearly convinced to summon him before Adam and Barbara stop her. Delia's friend Otho finds the Handbook and uses it for a séance, successfully re-animating the Maitlands to exorcise them, causing their bodies to decay. Seeing no other option, Lydia summons Beetlejuice, who says he will help them if she marries him. Lydia agrees and Beetlejuice forces her through a ghostly marriage ceremony, which is only stopped at the last moment when Barbara manipulates a sandworm to kill him. In the end of the film, Lydia is shown to have adjusted well, earning good grades in her new school and sharing her family's home with the Maitlands.
In the animated series, Lydia lives in the fictional New England town of Peaceful Pines with her parents and black cat, Percy. She attends Miss Shannon's School for Girls, where she is friends with two classmates named Bertha and Prudence, and rivals with a rich girl, Claire Brewster. Like in the film, Lydia is different from her peers because of her gothic interests and style and describes herself as "strange and unusual". She is best friends with Beetlejuice, whose creepy and womanizing personality is toned down for a younger audience. Together, the two go on adventures in the real world and the Netherworld.
In the Broadway musical, Lydia, her father, and her life coach, Delia, move to Winter River, Connecticut after the death of Lydia's mother. Akin to the series, Beetlejuice strikes a friendship with Lydia, and she is initially delighted when he is summoned during her father's dinner party. However, Beetlejuice tricks her into exorcising the Maitlands, and she must agree to marry him to save them. She does, and escapes into the Netherworld with them, where a deceased ensemble teaches her to enjoy living. When she returns to her home, she agrees to go through with the wedding ceremony. Beetlejuice is resurrected through the marriage and Lydia stabs him to kill him again, making him "recently deceased".
In the second film, set 36 years after the first, Lydia had found a loophole that allowed the Maitlands to leave their house and move on to the afterlife. She went on to marry and have a daughter, Astrid, but was widowed and estranged from her daughter after the incident. She became famous from starring in her own TV show, Ghost House with Lydia Deetz, and began dating a man named Rory. After her father dies, she reconnects with Delia and Astrid, and Rory surprises her by proposing at his wake, which she is manipulated into accepting. As it becomes increasingly obvious to her that Beetlejuice is back and attempting to get her attention, she tells Rory about her experiences. He assumes Beetlejuice is only a figment of her imagination and summons him. The two manifest in the model town and are harassed by Beetlejuice, who tells Lydia that he loves her and wants to remarry her, before they are able to leave the model. After learning that Astrid has been tricked into entering the Netherworld, Lydia reluctantly summons Beetlejuice for help, who says he will if she marries him. She agrees and is brought to the Netherworld. Separated from Beetlejuice, she finds Astrid and her ex-husband, Richard, and the three reconcile. When Lydia and Astrid arrive back in the real world, Beetlejuice reveals to Delia and Rory that she'd agreed to marry him. He forces Rory to admit that he never loved Lydia and was only after her money, and she punches him. Beetlejuice attempts a new marriage ceremony between himself and Lydia, but Astrid figures out that since he'd illegally brought Lydia to the afterlife, their agreement is null. Lydia banishes him to the afterlife before deciding to quit her show to spend time traveling with Astrid.
Delia Deetz