Richie Kirsch

## Villain Description

### Goals

Bond with Samantha so he could gain her trust before killing her and her allies (failed).
Create a requel in real life for Stab 8 (failed).

### Hobbies

Killing people.
Watching Stab movies (formerly).

### Skills

Fighting skills
Manipulation
High Intelligence
Charisma

### Type of Villain

Treacherous Serial Killer

**Richard "Richie" Kirsch**, also known as **Ghostface**, is the main antagonist of the 2022 slasher film *Scream*, and the overarching antagonist of *Scream VI*.

He is a vlogger and movie star wannabe who plans on making a Stab 8 requel in real life, and also the ex-boyfriend turned arch-nemesis of the film's protagonist Samantha "Sam" Carpenter, who plotted a killing spree with Amber Freeman assisting him at all costs.

He was portrayed by Jack Quaid.

## History

He and Amber have been watching Stab movies, and they came up with a new, psychotic agenda of creating a "requel" with their real life friends being the villains. Amber slowly became his accomplice, and the two of them have been causing a large killing spree as they've been acting as Ghostface in turns. Unlike Amber, Richie spoke while being the Ghostface with a disguised voice machine.

He was at first seen attempting to kill Tara Carpenter, as he used his disguised voice and Amber's phone number in order to invade her house and kill her. He threatens to stab Amber, but in reality he toggled with the locks of the house and he managed to invade Tara's home and stab her, thus sending her to hospital. He is then seen romantically flirting and spending his time with Samantha "Sam" Carpenter, who did not suspect him out of all the other people which she did. He knew everything about her and he only went with her to visit Tara and pretended to make sure that everything is alright only so he could kill them both himself. He and Amber are then seen as the two Ghostfaces, attacking the hospital.

First, Amber attacks and he pretends to save the two sisters. However, he then comes out of the shadows, and as the same Ghostface with the disguised voice he tries to kill both of them. However, before he could kill them, Dewey intervenes and leads them to the elevator, where he sends them off alone without him to guard them. He returns to search for Richie and kill him, but instead, Amber comes from behind, as she stabs and kills him.

Richie then returns to his normal state and still pretending to help, he drives to Stu Macher's house together with Tara and Sam. As they get there, Amber goes alone to get some drinks, although she actually went downstairs alone so she could be dressed as Ghostface.

However, she was caught by Mindy who began to suspect her and told her to go upstairs. While all this happened, Richie came from outside and killed Chad, while Amber was hosting a party. He asked Mindy if he could go to the basement and grab some drinks, as in reality, this was a first piece of evidence that he was the actual Ghostface all along and Amber was helping him around, also dressed up as a Ghostface. During a conversation between the suspects later on, Amber reveals herself to be one of the two killers. However, Richie runs with Sam downstairs, and as he remarks that there must have been two killers, Sam begins to realize that he was the more prominent Ghostface, and she ran to save Tara and Sidney Prescott.

As the protagonists fight Amber in the stairs, he comes and pretends to help, until he stabs Sam with a knife, just before he reveals himself to be Ghostface and therefore the second killer as well as the more prominent one. He revealed that he used the disguised voice machine while he was Ghostface, and that he was bossing Amber around as the two of them wanted to make a "requel" by killing innocents and making them look like villains in their movie.

Richie then sends Amber to kill Tara. However, Amber warns Richie that Tara is not there. Richie and Amber did not know that earlier, Sam released Tara and staged a little trap for the two Ghostfaces. After Amber finds the protagonists, who throw her into the stove and burn her alive, Richie starts to battle with Sam, and reveals his true colors one more time, implying that she should have never trust a lover and that villains like her meet their ends. However, he eventually had the upper hand and she stabbed him angrily multiple times. He begged for her to kill him, which she did by slitting his throat. The others arrived, and Sidney warned that the killers will come back for one last time. Sam then shoots Richie in his chest and face multiple times.

## Personality

Richie is a sadistic mastermind who enjoys hurting others. His goals were also very sadistic and twisted, as he would do anything to create a "requel". Whatever love he gave to people and most notably to Sam, it was all a ploy to avoid suspicion. He enjoys killing people with Amber's help, and he even admits that he is the villain just before his death, by begging for Sam to end his life like he wanted to end hers.

## Victims

2. Wes Hicks

Kill count - 1

## Trivia

* He is the fifth Scream villain to team up with a woman Ghostface, after Debbie Loomis and Mickey Altileri, Charlie Walker and Jill Roberts, Piper Shaw and Kieran Wilcox, and Beth with Jamal Elliot.
* While he is the Ghostface who speaks, Amber was the silent Ghostface who helped him around all the time.
* He is also the second *Scream* main antagonist to be a love interest of some sort, the first being Billy Loomis himself.
* Prior to the film's release, many fans thought that he wouldn't be any sort of villain. On a list made by the website of the Collider, he was ranked as the 8th most suspicious character, behind many other protagonists. However, this was ultimately debunked and in large, since the movie points out that he is not only one of the movie's two ghostfaces, but also the smarter, more scheming and more prominent one, who directly gives Amber orders and plays with Samantha's insecurities.
	+ There were 5 hints for him being the secret killer. One is that when the victims suspected that Amber is attacking them with the voice disguiser on he honestly admitted it wasn't Amber and indicated that there is another killer. Two is that Dewey told Sam to never trust a love interest. Three is that he asks Mindy where there is some beer and he goes to the basement while Amber is hosting the party. Four is that he takes Sam to the basement and tells her that there are two killers, as he even attempts to shift the blame on Tara who is obviously innocent. Five is that he shouts "Wait" with a slightly edited and yet still mostly recognized voice as he talks to Sidney on the phone. This was all before his confession as a Ghostface killer.