List of American Horror Story: Hotel characters


' is the fifth season of the FX horror anthology series American Horror Story. The season's theme is addiction and revolves around the Hotel Cortez, a mysterious Los Angeles hotel owned by a bloodsucking fashionista named The Countess. An anonymous tip regarding a serial killer who murders people in accordance to the Ten Commandments points John Lowe, a detective haunted by the abduction of his son, to Room 64 of the Cortez.
Veteran cast members include Wes Bentley, Kathy Bates, Chloë Sevigny, Denis O'Hare, Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson, Matt Bomer, and Angela Bassett, with Lady Gaga and Cheyenne Jackson making their series debuts. Special guest stars include Naomi Campbell. Veteran cast members with recurring appearances include Mare Winningham, Lily Rabe, Matt Ross, Finn Wittrock, Christine Estabrook, John Carroll Lynch, and Anthony Ruivivar. This is the second season that is not strictly anthological, with Christine Estabrook, and Matt Ross reprising their previous roles as Marcy and Charles Montgomery respectively, and Gabourey Sidibe reprising her role as Queenie from '. Paulson herself also reprises a previous character from Murder House. This is the first season not to feature mainstay Jessica Lange. This is also the first season not to feature Frances Conroy in any capacity.

Cast members

Main cast

Characters

Main characters

Iris

Iris is the manager of the Hotel Cortez who works at the reception desk and is often seen doing crossword puzzles. Despite hating the hotel, she remains in order to keep proximity to her son Donovan, who despises her after she divorced his father and became involved in a breatharian cult which prevented her from providing him medical care. She remains protective of him, pushing Sally McKenna out of a window of the hotel's seventh floor in 1994 after she supplied him with China White heroin, which killed him. Since then, Iris and Donovan have maintained an ongoing rivalry. After Donovan rejects her in a heated confrontation, Iris asks Sally to help her commit suicide, but a damaged Donovan revives Iris by infecting her with the blood virus.
Iris initially rejects killing, but is driven to it when her craving for blood takes a physical toll. She teams up with Donovan and Ramona Royale to kill The Countess out of revenge, despite her initial loyalty to the Countess. She begins killing guests and detoxing them so she may serve their blood to The Countess, and her relationship with Donovan begins to improve as he enjoys his mother's more murderous and reckless behavior. Their relationship deteriorates when Donovan reunites with The Countess and calls off the truce between the trio. Iris warns him of his impending downfall, to which Ramona testifies. Iris plans on committing suicide with her friend Liz Taylor, but decides to enact revenge on The Countess and gain control of the hotel. They go into The Countess's penthouse, guns blazing, fatally wounding Donovan and injuring The Countess. The Countess escapes when Iris refuses Liz Taylor's plea to find her and runs to Donovan's aid. Donovan says it's too late for him and as a dying wish, he asks her to take him off the hotel's premises so his spirit will not be stuck there. They succeed, and Donovan dies in the street, telling Iris, "I love you, Mom."
Following the death of The Countess, Iris and Liz become the new managers of the Hotel Cortez. Some of the ghosts continue their murderous activities, but Iris and Liz eventually strike a deal with them and James March to stop killing the guests so that the hotel can be declared a historical landmark hotel in 2016 and stay in business. Iris also makes amends with Sally's spirit by purchasing her an iPhone as a present, allowing her to become a social media star. Iris agrees to help Liz contact the missing spirit of Tristan with the help of psychic Billie Dean Howard. Billie contacts a spirit who they first believe to be Tristan but Billie tells them it is Donovan. Despite Donovan's spirit not residing in the hotel, he passes on a message for Iris through Billie that he is finally living a happy life in the afterlife and that he loves her, which brings joyful tears to her eyes.
For her performance, Bates was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Movie/Miniseries and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Movie.

Sally McKenna

Sally McKenna, also known as Hypodermic Sally, is a drug addict who killed Iris's son Donovan with a contaminated heroin needle. Sally died on the Hotel Cortez property in 1994 when Iris shoved her out of a hotel window and she plummeted seven stories to her death. She has since resided in the hotel and considers it her home, unable to leave, maintaining a rivalry with Iris. She follows drug addicts like Gabriel around the hotel and uses The Addiction Demon to punish them for their addiction. She sews all of her victims into the mattresses of the hotel, one of which was found in Vendela and Agnetha's bed. She is constantly seen taunting John, believing they're destined to be lovers. She and James March have an agreement to share John, allowing James to let John be a buffer for the remaining Commandment Killings in exchange for James' protection from the Addiction Demon. As John realizes he is the killer, he and Sally begin to bond, but he quickly leaves her for Alex, Sally vows to kill him for abandoning her. After John's death, Sally is initially depressed and feels her life now has no purpose. However, after Iris gives her an iPhone to make amends for killing her, Iris tells her to get on social media, and she finally finds new meaning in life by becoming a social media star.
For her performance, Paulson was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Movie/Miniseries and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Movie.

James Patrick March

James Patrick March, sometimes referred to as Jimmy or Mr. March, is a wealthy oil businessman and serial killer, who used his money to construct the Hotel Cortez in the late 1920s and built it to serve his need to kill by incorporating secret shafts and dead-end hallways to hide the victims of his murders. He is helped in this task by his loyal servant and hotel laundress Hazel Evers. James' father was militantly religious and implied to be abusive toward young James, resulting in his resentment of religion and God. After murdering a victim who was religious, James decides to commit a series of murders based on the Ten Commandments, murdering people who broke said commandments and posthumously harvesting a body part from each.
He first met The Countess at the opening of the Cortez when he prevented her from committing suicide in the wake of Rudolph Valentino's alleged death. The two married at the Cortez, but James had had unreciprocated feelings of affection toward the Countess. When The Countess resumed her polyamorous relationship with Rudolph and his wife Natacha Rambova, he abducts them and encloses them in a dead-end hallway, where they remain for the next 90 years. The Countess initially encourages him to use his murderous habits in a progressive manner, killing people in order to get money. However, James believes she eventually turns him in to the police so that she can gain control of the hotel and his wealth. He kills himself in his office at 2:25 AM before the police are able to arrest him. His office is later converted into Room 64, where the clock's alarm goes off at 2:25 AM every morning. After his death, he and The Countess come to an arrangement where the couple must have dinner together one night every month. He recruits Det. John Lowe as his successor to complete the remaining eight Commandment Killings upon seeing John's rage, claiming he is better than killers such as Jeffrey Dahmer and John Wayne Gacy. The Countess continues to reject him, but, due to her "immense beauty," he always forgives her. He shows The Countess's new husband Will Drake her only biological son, Bartholomew. Will insults the child and The Countess kills Will in a fit of rage. James later kills Queenie for Ramona, then asks Ramona to kill The Countess so her ghost can spend eternity with him in the hotel. She is unsuccessful, but The Countess is later shot dead by John. Her ghost then successfully stays in the hotel. James expresses his pride for John, meaning their work is now complete.
He arranges to have a dinner party with The Countess, where he tells her that he forgives her for turning him in to police, however, she says she was not the one who turned him in. Hazel Evers admits to turning him in, because she was in love with James and wanted the two of them to be killed by police so they would spend eternity together. In response, James banishes her from his service. James later then makes an agreement with the ghosts of the Cortez to stop killing the guests so in a year the hotel can be made a historic landmark where they can stay forever. He hosts a "Devil's Night" soirée every year where dead serial killers whom he personally mentored come to celebrate each other on their murders, including one in the episode "Devil's Night" for John, and the one in "Be Our Guest" for when he and the serial killer ghosts hold Billie Dean Howard for ransom so that no one will ever film another documentary in the hotel. He is notable for his unique and bizarre Boston Brahmin accent.
James March returns in the eighth season, , where he is seen playing cards with Queenie after killing her. When he encounters Cordelia Goode, the supreme witch, who comes to rescue Queenie, March does not attempt to stop her, and encourages Queenie to leave with Cordelia to have another shot at life. Cordelia was unsuccessful to save her, much to March's joy. When Michael Langdon, the antichrist, arrives to save Queenie, he does the same with him. After Langdon and Queenie leave the room, he sadly recollects the playing cards knowing that she will not return, saying "Solitaire it is."
For his performance in Hotel, Peters was nominated for the Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Best TV Supporting Actor.

Det. John Lowe

Det. John Lowe is a Los Angeles homicide detective, husband of Alex Lowe, and father of Scarlett and Holden. Holden was kidnapped five years ago at a carnival in Santa Monica, an incident which severely damaged John and Alex's marriage. John is investigating a series of murders happening in Los Angeles. He receives a phone call that he finds to be originating from Room 64 of the Hotel Cortez. When he goes there to investigate, he finds the room empty. He receives a text from Alex with an address, asking for help. When he arrives at the house, twin boys are found murdered and disemboweled. He realizes the perpetrator hacked Alex's phone and leaves the house, fearing his presence there will endanger Alex and Scarlett, and checks into Room 64 of the Hotel. During his stay, he sees what he believes are hallucinations of his lost son Holden, though apparently the same age as he was when he was abducted. He learns about the origins of the hotel from Iris, and learns that the murders he is investigating may be connected to the late James March and the Ten Commandments. John, due to his addiction to alcohol, is targeted by Sally, believing that he is her destined lover. He rejects her advances, as he is still faithful to his wife. But when he discovers that his wife has gone behind his back and reunited with their son Holden, John embraces Sally.
He suffers from long periods of unconsciousness, which Sally explains is the result of him drinking and being recruited by James March to complete the series of murders he started, and that he has been the one committing the Ten Commandment Killings. When he confesses this to his partner Andrew Hahn, he tells John that is impossible, since the murders started months before he checked into the hotel. John then regains his memory of going to the Blue Parrot Lounge, the bar at the hotel, for drinks in 2010 after working on a case where a father committed suicide upon finding his entire family dead. Donovan takes him to James, who deems him a worthy successor and successfully convinces him over two days that the world no longer gives justice to those who he believes deserve it. He remembers being convinced to take the lead on the case and killing each of the victims he has been investigating. He kills Andrew when he discovers he has been having coffee with Alex, citing the commandment "Thou shalt not covet." John reunites with Alex and helps her halt a blood virus outbreak by killing The Countess and completing James's collection. In return, James releases John's family, whom he had been holding hostage over breaking his promise. He decides to reunite his family and takes them home initially, providing blood for his wife and son, but they later decide to return to the hotel, feeling that it is their true home and they send Scarlett away to boarding school to keep her safe. After killing a man in an alley and draining his blood for Alex and Holden, he is gunned down by the police before he is able to re-enter the hotel. As a result, John can only visit his family once a year on Devil's Night at Halloween. In the finale "Be Our Guest" he and James frighten away Billie Dean Howard and he visits his family in the hotel, including a now teenaged Scarlett.
For his performance, Bentley was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Movie/Miniseries.

Donovan

Donovan is the former partner of The Countess, and she revived him from dying from a heroin overdose by infecting him with the blood virus. Since then, he has vowed to stay away from drugs. The Countess values "the hunt," where she tracks down the proper people to kill and consume their blood, while Donovan values domesticity, and would rather stay home. This bores the thrill-seeking Countess, and she seeks romance with the more exciting Tristan Duffy and abandons Donovan. Hurt, he teams up with Ramona Royale and his mother, Iris, with whom he has a difficult relationship, to murder the Countess as revenge for what she's done to the three of them. However, he still feels affection for The Countess, and he gets cold feet when he and Ramona arrive at the hotel to kill the children. Instead, he returns to the penthouse and smells The Countess's clothing.
In Episode 8, it is revealed that Donovan introduced John to James so John could become James' successor in the killings. After The Countess kills Tristan, she and Donovan reunite, and he disbands the truce between him, Ramona, and Iris, and traps Ramona in an enclosed hallway. Donovan begins doubting Elizabeth's affection toward him when he sees her kiss Rudolph Valentino, a past lover of hers. He responds by killing Rudolph and disfiguring his face. The Countess, although upset, views this as an act of love, and they reunite again, only for Iris and Liz to burst in and begin firing at them. Both The Countess and Donovan are shot, and he makes one last request to Liz and Iris to drag his body out of the hotel so his ghost will not return on the property. He dies on the road outside the Cortez and his last dying words are to Iris is that he loves her. When Liz and Iris use psychic Bille Dean Howard to initially contact Tristan for Liz, she manages to contact Donovan's spirit instead, and he gives Billie a message for Iris telling her he is finally happy in the afterlife and that he loves his mother.

Dr. Alex Lowe

Dr. Alex Lowe is John's wife from whom she becomes estranged after the abduction of their son Holden. She makes at least one suicide attempt since his disappearance, citing that she has grown closer to Holden than she has to Scarlett or John. She is a pediatrician employed by Mrs. Ellison, a West Hollywood anti-vaxxer mother, to treat her son Max, who has been infected with the measles. When she visits a drunken John at the hotel to drop off divorce papers, she is shocked to see Holden in the hotel hall, and she brings him back home. However, Holden insists that he bring her back to the hotel so he can see his "other mommy." She interrogates The Countess about Holden and why he hasn't aged since his abduction, and she learns about the ancient blood virus with which The Countess has infected the children. Benefits include eternal youth and immortality, although they are able to be killed by unconventional methods, and a thirst for blood. The Countess then infects Alex at her request so that she may remain with Holden forever. When Max is admitted into the hospital where his conditions worsens, Alex infects him with the blood virus to save him, but this results in him killing his parents, teacher, principal, and several school nurses in order to consume their blood, as well as spreading the measles to his friends.
Later, John discovers them and Alex enlists the help of Liz to destroy any evidence of her being there. She convinces John that he is spiraling into insanity, and that the hotel is only aiding his departure from reality. After hearing about a series of killings in which adults have their blood drained, The Countess sends Alex on a mission to contain the outbreak, threatening to kill her and Holden if she does not. After convincing the children to come back to the hotel, she and John trap the group of children in the enclosed hallway with a blood-thirsty Ramona. She and John reunite and take Holden home, while a heartbroken Sally vows to kill John. However, she returns with her family to the hotel, deciding it is their true home after being temporarily held captive there by James for John. John provides for Alex and Holden's bloodthirst by killing people, but he is then killed. Following her husband's death, his ghost visits her, Holden and Scarlett every year on "Devil's Night" in the Hotel Cortez.

Liz Taylor

Liz Taylor is the eccentric, transgender bartender of the Blue Parrot Lounge and long-time employee of the hotel. Formerly known as Nick Pryor, Liz worked as a medical representative up until 1984, and was in an unhappy marriage to a woman named Tracy, with two kids, toward whom she displayed no affection. While on a business trip in Los Angeles, she meets The Countess in her hotel room while dressing up in her wife's clothes. The Countess does her make-up in a style similar to her namesake, Elizabeth Taylor, and dubs her Liz Taylor. The Countess suggests that they go out so Liz can feel like her true self, but fearful of the reaction, the two settle on Liz taking a walk down the hallway. While doing so, Liz encounters her two coworkers, who threaten to expose her while hurling homophobic slurs. Fearful that they may hurt Liz, The Countess slits their throats in front of Liz and persuades Liz to pursue her true self at the Cortez. Liz quits her job and breaks off her marriage, sending money to her kids every month.
It is revealed in "Room Service" that, although she was very close to The Countess, she was never infected with the blood virus. Liz becomes enamored with The Countess's new flame, Tristan Duffy. When the two confront Elizabeth about their love for each other, The Countess says that Liz may have Tristan, moments before slitting his throat in front of her. In "Room 33," it is revealed that she is very close with The Countess's ex-girlfriend Ramona Royale. Since then, Liz has scrapped all loyalty to The Countess, even making a vain attempt to stop her wedding to Will. Liz plans on killing herself, but has second thoughts when her son, Douglas Pryor, finds her and asks her to rejoin his life, even welcoming her as a grandparent to his newborn child. She then decides to team up with Iris and take over the hotel and kill The Countess. After The Countess is finally killed, Liz and Iris manage to fix up the hotel to keep the business alive. When Liz learns she has cancer, she allows The Countess to kill her to remain in the hotel as a ghost. After her revival as a ghost, Liz is finally reunited with Tristan after unsuccessfully trying to contact him before. When Tristan appears in his room, Liz asks why he did not seek contact her. Tristan tells her he did not wish to interfere with her life as a living being, and the two embrace knowing that they will spend eternity in the hotel together as ghosts.

Will Drake

Will Drake is the recent buyer and new owner of the Hotel Cortez. Similar to Liz, he loves art and fashion, formerly living in New York City as a fashion mogul, but moves to Los Angeles with his son Lachlan after he felt that "the pulse" of the city was gone. Will is initially thought to be gay, but he later identifies himself as bisexual. He plans to knock down and renovate the hotel which upsets the residents, most of all Donovan who does not take kindly to Will's arrival. Will begins a relationship with The Countess, and later marries her in the hotel lobby. He has construction workers knock down a concrete wall which held The Countess's past lovers, Rudolph Valentino and Natacha Rambova, unleashing them. He celebrates his marriage at the Blue Parrot Lounge, where he meets James March, who brings him to Room 33. Will is disgusted by the hideous appearance of The Countess's only child, Bartholomew. Although The Countess planned to murder him after they married, she bumps up her murder plan and locks him away in the enclosed hallway with a weakened and bloodthirsty Ramona Royale, who tricks Will into unlocking her cage, allowing her to slit his throat and consume his blood as The Countess watches from a monitor in her room. He is revived as a ghost and he resents The Countess for killing him, and interrupts her filing a police report for his disappearance. He accuses of her of killing him for his money, but she tells him she is Lachlan's legal guardian and will inherit his wealth once he reaches the age 18. Following his death, his business empire liquidates and his vast savings become worthless. Feeling without meaning following his economic collapse, he sets out with Sally in murdering the hotel guests. However, Liz convinces him to revive his fashion career, and with her help, he establishes a new fashion company and holds fashion shows in the hotel lobby with the ghosts and vampires of the hotel appearing as catwalk models, allowing him to continue building his fame and success in death.

Ramona Royale

Ramona Royale is a well-known actress and The Countess's ex-lover. She was an actress who did many TV commercials and movies during the 1970s, when she had a lesbian relationship with The Countess. Later, in the 1990s, Ramona witnesses The Countess killing her boyfriend. After her boyfriend's death, her acting career ultimately fails and she moves into her parents' house to care for her mother, who has cancer, and her father, who has Alzheimer's. After her mother dies of cancer, a group of robbers break into the house and kill her father. She resurrects him with her blood virus, but he then goes on a killing spree, which ultimately leads her to drown him in the bathtub, killing him. She is introduced in "Mommy" and plans to get revenge on The Countess for her boyfriend's murder. She plans to stab The Countess in her sleep in "She Wants Revenge" but Donovan ends up betraying her by tazing her. While unconscious, The Countess and Donovan put Ramona in one of the neon cages in the sealed hallway alongside Will Drake. Will eventually releases himself and while attempting to free Ramona, she slits his throat and drinks his blood while The Countess watches via cameras.
Ramona kills the infected children after John and Alex lure them to her, though she is ill by the time Liz and Iris find her. Liz and Iris give her Queenie and she drinks her blood, then James kills Queenie. James asks Ramona to kill The Countess for him. She goes into The Countess's room to kill her, but is unsuccessful after The Countess seduces her and they have sex. Ramona later participates in Will Drake's fashion show and Liz tells her that she is dying. In the finale, Ramona joins "Devil's Night" and assists in torturing Billie Dean Howard, who flees the Cortez, after threatening to hunt her down and kill her should she ever make another live show in the hotel on Devil's Night. For her performance, Bassett was nominated for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special.

The Countess

The Countess, is the enigmatic, bloodsucking, malevolent owner of the Hotel Cortez and resides in the penthouse. Born Elizabeth Johnson in 1904, she was an actress who was featured in a Rudolph Valentino movie and later invited to dinner at his house. That night, she met his wife Natacha Rambova who indicates that their divorce was just a publicity stunt. She then engages in a secret love triangle with Rudolph and Natacha. While attending a cocktail party celebrating the opening of the Hotel Cortez, she heard about Valentino's death in New York and planned to commit suicide by jumping out a window. She is saved by James Patrick March whom she later marries, but doesn't profess to love. Even during her marriage, she frequently disguises herself and visits Valentino's coffin, leaving a single red rose each time. On one such visit, she finds Valentino and his wife alive, and they state that they are infected with a blood virus that saved them from death. They then turn Elizabeth so she can spend eternity with her true loves while her disappointed husband watches from afar. After hearing about her secret love affair with the Valentinos, James gets his revenge by trapping the couple in the sealed hallways of the hotel. This damages her relationship with Natacha, who believes that Elizabeth is the one who trapped her. After discovering what James has done, Elizabeth becomes even more angry and hates him even more. In 1994, she turns Donovan, who was dying of a heroin overdose given to him by Hypodermic Sally. For the last 20 years until the time setting of the series, he has been her partner and paramour, but after meeting Tristan Duffy, she dumps him. She also marries newcomer Will Drake, whom she plans to kill and steal his fortune. In the 70s, she had a relationship with Ramona Royale which lasted until the 90s when Elizabeth shot Ramona's boyfriend, Prophet Moses, in revenge. She is obsessed with fashion and hates betrayal, especially infidelity, which causes her to kill Tristan after he professes his love for Liz Taylor. In spite of her hatred of betrayal, she herself indulges in as many lovers as she wishes. She then reunites with Donovan, but he is crushed a second time after she professes her love for Valentino. After Donovan jealously kills Valentino, he and Elizabeth reunite again. After this reconciliation, Liz and Iris burst into the penthouse shooting at them. Donovan leaps in front of Elizabeth, is shot and dies outside the Hotel Cortez. The Countess is injured in the shooting and helped by Sally, who vows to never leave her. She is then confronted by Ramona, but while attempting to enter the elevator, John appears and shoots her five times and she dies. Her head is placed on the Ten Commandments Killer's "Thou Shall Not Commit Murder" marker but she is resurrected as a ghost and spends eternity with her husband James March. He thanks her for turning him in to the police and forgives her, but Hazel Evers confesses that she is the one who actually turned in March. The Countess begins to cry while realizing that she's living in a personal nightmare: spending the rest of her days with a person she doesn't love. She later appears when Liz announces her battle with prostate cancer, and mercifully slits Liz's throat using her chainmail glove. In the last moments of the season, The Countess is at the bar at 2:25 AM, and meets a guest who says he's awaiting some friends. She comments, "You have a jawline for days" before the episode ends, revealing that she has found herself a new lover in Donovan's image. For her performance, Gaga won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Miniseries or Television Film and was nominated for the People's Choice Award for Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Actress, the Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Best TV Actress, and the Satellite Award for Best Actress - Television Series Drama.

Supporting characters