List of The Nightmare Before Christmas characters

Design

Main characters

Jack Skellington

Sally

Oogie Boogie

Doctor Finklestein

Mayor of Halloween Town

Lock, Shock and Barrel

• Lock is the leader of Oogie's Boys, but does not always think through things thoroughly and just likes to be in charge. Lock wears a red devil costume; his tail is a real devil's tail, his teeth are pointed sharply. His face is narrow and long-jawed with angular features, and his red and brown hair is formed into two horns making him, literally, a handsome devil. He likes to think highly of himself and gets upset when others insult him or take the lead; however, he goes along with others' ideas if he fails to come up with anything himself.
• Shock is the only female of Oogie's henchmen. She is the oldest, and the most cunning and intelligent of the three. She has some contempt for the other two and their supposed stupidity, although she often gets tired with them. Shock wears a purple witch costume with an elongated hat and she sometimes carries a broomstick. She has a high-pitched girl's voice, green skin, a pointed nose, and purple wirey hair. She often takes the lead in many plans and likes to be right.
• Barrel - is Oogie's "star pupil," presumably the youngest, and considered the stupidest of the three troublemakers, despite his protests to the contrary. He is the butt of many jokes made by his friends, but usually gets even through his own tricks which he always gets away with. Barrel wears a skeleton costume and has deformed feet and almost always carries an orange and black lolipop, otherwise resembling a small human boy, albeit one with white skin, sunken eyes, and perfectly coiffed green hair. His face is round and has a perpetual grin, except when he is angry or scared. Barrel usually pilots the walking bathtub the trio use as transport. He also unintentionally bothers Jack when asking him a number of annoying questions. Often he gets left out of things because he is forever falling over his own deformed feet and he is sometimes slow to catch on.

Santa Claus

Zero

Minor characters

Halloween Town residents

• Bats - There are bats seen all over throughout Halloween Town. The most notable ones are the ones seen appearing before Oogie Boogie's shadow on the moon, and the ones hanging on the Christmas Tree in the real world.
• Black cat - The black cat is a minor animal character from Halloween Town. They appeared during "This is Halloween" and "Sally's Song." There is a possibility that they might be Sally's pet.
• Behemoth - A tall, somewhat fat zombie-like man with blue overalls, yellow gloves, and an axe stuck in his head. He looks rather dumb, but strong at the same time. He shouted at the Easter Bunny causing him to jump back into the bag. In ', it was shown that Behemoth likes to grow pumpkins as mentioned by Mr. Hyde when Behemoth caught him near his pumpkins.
• Clown with the Tear-Away Face A fat vile-looking clown who rides a unicycle and can tear off his face to reveal complete darkness and disappear into a puff of smoke. When his face is on, he speaks in a high voice. But when his face is off, he speaks in a deep, booming voice. The Clown also appears in ' where Jack finds him the sewers upon his return. The Clown then unlocks the gate so that Jack could proceed to the graveyard. In the residential areas of Halloween Town, the Clown's unicycle was out of control causing Jack to use one of Dr. Finklestein's inventions to stop the unicycle.
• Corpse Family - A family of zombies consisting of the Corpse Dad, Corpse Mom, and Corpse Kid. According to The Nightmare Before Christmas Trading Card Game, Corpse Dad is named "Ned," Corpse Mom is named "Bertha," and Corpse Kid is named "Ethan." Corpse Kid would often be seen in the company of Mummy Boy and Withered Winged Demon. Corpse Kid also appears in Tim Burton's where he would ask questions to Jack.
• Creature Under the Bed - A monster whose sharp teeth and glowing, red eyes are only shown. He is only seen once in the whole entire movie with the line of "I am the one hiding under your bed, Teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red!"
• Creature Under the Stairs - A brownish-grey monster with a snake-like head, black and white stipes on his neck, with fingers resembling snakes, and spider-like hair noted by his line in “This is Halloween”; "I am the one hiding under your stairs, fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair!" During the Town Meeting, he, the Clown, and the Undersea Gal debate about what is in the present. He is later seen helping pass presents up a supply line in the song “.”
• Cyclops - A thin, black, pointy-eared monster with one eye. He looks rather nervous. His voice actor was never credited.
• Devil - A red devil complete with horns and a beard. He likes the idea of a Pox being in the box as suggested by the Harlequin Demon during the town hall meeting song. The Devil is seen working the large saw on the bat toy with the Wolfman and the Corpse Dad during the "Making Christmas" song.
• Frankenstein - Frankenstein is seen in Halloween Town during the ending of "This is Halloween" clapping in the crowd in Town Square. He is never seen again through the rest of the film and is most likely just an Easter Egg character.
• Gate Keeper - The keeper of the Halloween Town Gate only seen a few times in the film. He is a short monster with a bird-like face, a yellow trench coat and a yellow bowler hat.
• Ghosts - A quintet of ghosts who provide a chorus role during musical numbers. According to The Nightmare Before Christmas Trading Card Game, their names are Alberto, Pietro, Luciano, Sophia, and Maria.
• Grim Reaper - A Grim Reaper was seen only twice in "This is Halloween" and at the town meeting. You never see his face and he also carries a scythe.
• * Grim Reaper's Companion - A strange hooded old crone who sits beside the Reaper during the town meeting.
• Hanging Tree - A spirited tree. The Hanging Tree also appears in ' where Jack helps him find his skeletons after they got separated from him.
• *Hanging Man Skeletons - A bunch of skeletons hanging from the Hanging Tree's branches. They have one line in “This is Halloween.”
• Harlequin Demon - A monster with three moving horns, sharp teeth, and a strange mouth. During the Town Meeting, he has the thought of pox in the box. It attempts to make a hat out of dead rat during the song "Making Christmas". Though Jack voices his opinion and tells the Harlequin Demon to convert a dead bat into a hat. It is one of the more unique-looking and less-cliché characters in the movie.
• Igor - Dr. Finklestein's assistant who enjoys dog bone treats. He is seen at the town meeting and is later seen giving Dr. Finklestein the plans for the skeleton reindeer. In ', Igor tells Jack Skellington of Dr. Finklestein's strange behavior. Jack later helps Igor when his bone biscuit treats are stolen.
• Jack-o'-lantern - Numerous Jack-O'-Lanterns can found throughout Halloween Town. One Jack-O'-Lantern can be seen at the town meeting.
• Jewel Finklestein - She is a monster created by Dr. Finklestein to replace Sally as his servant. Throughout the film, he is seen creating her and is finally seen at the end pushing his wheelchair during the finale part when the Halloween Town residents are enjoying the snow.
• ' - A slimy man in a fancy suit who is always melting. He is seen in the song "Making Christmas" trying to pass off a dead turtle as a present as Jack suggests he try to find something pleasant. He is also very sticky, as seen when Jack's hand gets stuck on his head. In The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Pumpkin King, he was attacked by Oogie during the invitation where Oogie tore him to pieces. The three pieces were used as heads for some headless horsemen while the fourth piece the eyeball was left to roll on the ground. While the Mayor of Halloween Town was looking for ingredients for his lunch, Jack attacks and defeats the horsemen and gathers his piece thinking they were food but when they put them in the pot. The eyeball jumps in and the melting man reassembled himself. He then reveals that Oogie Boogie is behind the bug invasion. To thank Jack, he helps in pulling himself together and he gives him the gum shoes so he can climb up to high places.
• Mr. Hyde - A man with little versions of himself in his top hat. They also appear in ' where they travel with Jack to serve as the Save Points of the game and give facts about the area they are in.
• Mummy Boy - A tiny mummy child with one visible yellow eyeball. He is seen in the company of the Corpse Kid or the Withered Winged Demon. The Mummy Boy is also on top of the Mayor's car helping him.
• Rats - Several rats can be seen running around Halloween Town. One rat is seen with a Christmas present and a party hat upon Santa Claus being brought into Halloween Town by Lock, Shock, and Barrel.
• Shadows - An assortment of shadows consisting of an odd ghostly demon shadow, a werewolf shadow, and a female two-headed twin shadow who introduce the song "This Is Halloween." The demon and wolf shadows have exactly the same voice.
• ' - The Skeletal Reindeer were created by Doctor Finklestein in the movie to act as the reindeer that will pull the sleigh that Jack will pilot. They were broken when the air force shot down Jack's sleigh. In ', the Skeletal Reindeer were rebuilt when the sleigh arrives for Santa Claus to use after Oogie Boogie had hijacked Santa's sleigh.
• ' - A Skeletal Rooster is seen crowing at the crack of dawn before the musical number "Jack's Obsession".
• Undersea Gal - The Undersea Gal is a cross between a gill-man and a mermaid. During the Town Meeting, she thought that the item in the present was the head that she found in the lake.
• Vampire Brothers - Four vampires that have umbrellas when moving around in the day. They are all a different height and width. Two of them are tall and skinny, the other two are rather plump. The Vampire Brothers are also apparently of different ranks: Prince, Baron, Lord, and Count. The characters' last appearance in the movie features them playing ice hockey with a small jack-o'-lantern as a puck. In ', the Vampire Brothers are among the Halloween Town citizens driven out of town by the bug army. One of them is put into some kind trance by Lock, Shock, and Barrel, but is restored to normal after its death. They reward Jack the bat boomerang upgrade that Dr. Finkelstein asked him to deliver. The Vampire Brothers also appear in ' where Jack had to find the bat forms of the Vampire Brothers and return them to their coffins in order to change them back. After that was done, the Vampire Brothers stated to Jack Skellington that they opposed Oogie's plan stating that it wasn't the Halloween that Jack wanted which led to them getting trapped in their bat forms. The Vampire Brothers then give Jack the pieces of the key to the Mayor of Halloween Town's house.
• Witches - A tall witch and a short witch are two of the characters that sing in the song, “This is Halloween.” While their names aren't given in the movie, the Nightmare Before Christmas trading card game gives them the names "Helgamine" and "Zeldaborne" They also appear in ' where they have a shop near the town hall.
• ' - A small demon that uses his large, torn, and withered wings to walk. He is often seen in the company of the Corpse Kid and the Mummy Boy.
• Wolfman - A werewolf that lives in Halloween Town. In the "Making Christmas" number, he was seen working with the Corpse Dad and the Devil on a bat toy.
• Zombie Band' - A zombie band that consists of an Accordion player, a bass player, and a saxophone player. According to The Nightmare Before Christmas Trading Card Game'', the Accordion player is named "Jimmy", the bass player is named "Jim", and the Sax Player is named "James". Jim's bass contains a severed head in it that spoke.

  Halloween Town-based Toys

• ' - A large orange python with black stripes and large mouth. It almost eats the Corpse Dad. Later it eats a Christmas tree much to a child's horror until Santa makes him cough out the tree and a gift as well. It is also unknown what the real gift was for the little boy.
• Jack-in-the-box - A and a were seen being created by the Clown with the Tear Away Face. The pumpkin-headed one was given to a rather plump kid who was first seen running down a hall in terror as it does an evil laugh. The kid is next seen on a shelf while the jack-in-the-box jumps up and down until Santa rescues him. The portly kid's real present is a candy cane. It is unknown who Jack gave the black cat jack to. They both have a crazy clown face on the front of their boxes.
• ' - One of the Christmas gifts. Jack gives it to an old lady during his Christmas Eve run.
• ' - A vampire-like teddy bear with a big open mouth grin and Mickey Mouse-like ears that Jack gives on Christmas. It flies and chases a little boy and a little girl until the real Santa Claus returns and grabs the teddy and gives the two a normal Teddy Bear and a toy Sailboat. In ', the Scary Teddy appears as a common enemy called "Trick" alongside another enemy named "Treat" where their vocal effects are provided by Dee Bradley Baker.
• ' - A shrunken head that Jack Skellington as Santa Claus gave to a boy which caused the boy's parents to faint. Santa Claus returned and replaced the shrunken head with a Puppy.
• ''' - A yellow evil-looking toy duck that has a minor part in the song "Making Christmas" being built and painted by the Vampire Brothers. It later chased after some kids until Santa Claus returns and takes it away.

  Christmas Town residents

• Christmas Elves - Santa Claus's helpers who are responsible for preparing the gifts and decorations for Christmas.
• Mrs. Claus - Santa Claus's wife, she is seen in the background as he checks the naughty-nice list.
• Penguins - Several penguins can be seen in Christmas Town.
• Santa Claus' reindeer - Santa Claus' reindeer fly with magic and pull Santa's sleigh.

  Enemies

• Colossal Moth - A huge moth that has super acidic saliva and exhales poisonous fumes. Featured in '.
• Fire King Skeleton and Ice King Skeleton - Two bosses from '. Fought in "Fire and Ice Frenzy," these two big skeletons appear to fight Jack after he replaced the Oogie-Doors with the real Holiday Doors. Use the Santa Jack costume to fight the Fire King Skeleton and the Pumpkin King costume to fight the Ice King Skeleton.
• Giant Snake - An artificial bug-filled snake who is a boss in '.
• Halloween Ghosts - The Halloween Ghosts appear in ' having been created by Dr. Finklestein at the time when Oogie Boogie tricked the citizens of Halloween Town. The Halloween Ghosts are much different from the ghosts that appear in the movie as they are very fast and great at dodging. Tricking them to come near Jack and sending them into the ground is an easy way to defeat them. They are seen in "Jack's Return" in the Oogie Boogie Shadow battle.
• * King Ghosts - They are stronger than the Halloween Ghosts, but require the same tactics to defeat them.
• Mega Spider - A Mega Spider is fought three times in '. It will shoot cobwebs at Jack and even charge. Its weak spot is the pumpkin shape on its abdomen. If successfully attacked there, it will go underground and launch Baby Spiders at Jack. Another type of Mega Spider appears in ' as the mutated pet of Lock, Shock, and Barrel.
• Mother Locust - A locust with an abdomen filled with swollen eggs who is a boss in '.
• Oogie Cycle - A colossal beetle that serves as Oogie's ride and the final boss in '. It acts as a motorcycle-like mode of transportation for Oogie, Lock, Shock, and Barrel.
• Oogie Train - A scissor-tipped train who is a boss in '. Fought in "Saving Sandy," Jack had to always change the train tracks to keep this scissor-tipped train from going on the track leading to the rope that is holding Santa Claus up. Keep attacking the Oogie-Train while evading skeletons disguised as snowmen.
• Roly Poly - A large but somewhat weak pillbug who is a boss in '.
• * Enormous Poly - A large offspring of Rolly Polly. Featured in '.
• Skeletons - In ', Oogie Boogie had a bunch of skeletons that served him which were brought to life by Dr. Finklestein at the time when Oogie Boogie tricked the citizens of Halloween Town. They resemble the Skeletons in Oogie Boogie's lair.
• * Blue Skeletons - The Blue Skeletons are the easiest to defeat. They are slow and have short reaches unless they are mad and spinning.
• * Heat Skeletons - The Heat Skeletons are the most annoying of the enemies Jack fights. They have short reaches, but they can throw boomerangs.
• * Orc Skeletons - They are like the Blue Skeletons except the mad ones wield clubs. Just like the Blue Skeletons, they are slow and have short reaches unless they are mad and spinning.
• * Troll Skeletons - The Troll Skeletons are big and wield big clubs. They can only be grabbed when the Soul Robber is Level 3. If they drop their clubs, use the Soul Robber to throw the clubs at them.
• * King Skeletons - The King Skeletons are also big and wield big axes. The attack on the King Skeletons are the same as Troll Skeletons, with two exceptions. They cannot be grabbed at all, only turned around. They can be only hit while they are growling, or from behind.
• Zombie Centipede - A huge centipede with wings that was brought back from the dead by Oogie. Featured .

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