List of The Grudge characters
The Grudge film series features a large cast of characters mainly created by screenwriter Stephen Susco and Takashi Shimizu.
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.
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.
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.
[1][2] 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Yoko (portrayed by Yōko Maki) is a young Japanese nurse who can speak English and is volunteering at the Care Center; she is Karen's predecessor as Emma Williams caretaker.
In a deleted scene, the morticians explain that because Yoko's blood had been covering Alex's corpse, it was only plausible that she killed him, even though this would require her to have survived for three days without her jaw.
She manages to avoid the curse through her entire stay at Japan, but nearly loses all of her sanity when Jake sees her being helped by her parents in the apartment complex hallway.
She is finally killed by Kayako after a couple of nights at home; the ghost appears in the shadows of her own hood and takes her life right in front of Jake, then proceeds to attack him.
Vanessa Cassidy (portrayed by Teresa Palmer) is a popular and deceitful American schoolgirl who attends Tokyo International High School with Allison and Miyuki.
Miyuki Nazawa (portrayed by Misako Uno) is a Japanese schoolgirl from Tokyo International High School, and one of Vanessa's best friends.
Eason (portrayed by Edison Chen) is a Hong Kong journalist who is researching the paranormal events created from Kayako's curse.
Jake Kimble (portrayed by Matthew Knight) is a young boy who lives in an apartment in Chicago along with Bill, his father, Lacey, his sister, and Trish, his stepmother, who has just moved in.
When he finds Allison in the hallway, he asks her what she brought to Chicago with her, and she only replies "it followed me here" before being killed by Kayako, who then attacks Jake immediately after.
Nakagawa Kawamata (portrayed by Kim Miyori) is an Itako, Kayako and Naoko's mother, Toshio's maternal grandmother and Takeo and Daisuke's mother-in-law.
In the film, she explains to Aubrey Davis that it is not her fault the curse was created, but rather because her daughter was foolish and was killed out of Takeo's rage, and that there is no way to stop it.
Later in the film, Jake spots them helping Allison to their apartment; when he says hi to Mr. Fleming, he simply turns around, gives a momentary glance, and keeps walking.
At the time of the events of The Grudge 3, she had been intending to leave Chicago for New York with her boyfriend to work as a fashion model so she can win the scholarship money to pay for Rose's medical bills.
It appears Max was the landlord of the apartment for some time and it is presumed he did fairly well in his job before the chaos Kayako, Takeo and Toshio began causing at around the events between the second and the third films.
The spirits caused many people in the apartment to either die, go missing or simply move, bringing Max into hard times, not to mention that the flow of new residents was at an all-time low.
Muldoon, still mourning the loss of her husband who died of cancer 3 months prior, had relocated to a new home with her son Burke to hopefully start anew and live closer to her job.
Arriving at the address, Muldoon proceeded to knock on the door, but let herself in when she began hearing Faith Matheson moaning and crying inside.
On her way back home from the house, she spots the mysterious apparition of Nina Spencer alongside the road, holding her never-born son.
Muldoon’s research leads her to interrogating Detective Wilson, now a patient at a mental hospital, who was the former partner of Goodman who was traumatized after coming into contact with the curse.
Fearing for her son’s life, Muldoon ultimately decides to try and end the curse by dousing the house in gasoline and setting it ablaze, seeing visions of Fiona murdering her family in the process.
As the illusion fades, revealing that it was Melinda’s ghost the whole time, the house is burned down to the ground, and Muldoon embraces the real Burke outside.
