characters

1. The Nightmare Before
Christmas Character
Biographies
Created By: Tim Burton

2. Jack Skellington
 Jack Skellington is a
dreaded nightmarish skeleton
with the alias of The Pumpkin
King. He is popular among
the inhabitants of Halloween
Town, due to his charming
personality and aim to please.
Despite a lack of inhibition, he
means well. He is in charge of
Halloween. Having not left it
within many years he felt his
inspiration for his own holiday
waning. Christmas Town gave
him new ideas and inspiration.

3. Sally
 Sally is Jack Skellington's love
interest. She is a very pretty,
loving, caring, and shy rag doll
who told Jack that Christmas and
Halloween shouldn't be mixed.
She is originally patched together
by Doctor Finkelstein. She is the
only one to have doubts about
Jack's Christmas plan. Although
her creator attempts to keep her
constantly imprisoned, she often
manages escape with deadly
nightshade she slips him, causing
him to fall asleep. Despite her
makeshift appearance, Sally is a
determined individual with a good
feel for what is right.

4. Doctor Finkelstien
 Doctor Finkelstein is a resident of
Halloween Town. He is the mad
scientist and the "father" of Sally. He
is described as a pale-as-a-sheet mad
scientist with a duckbill-like mouth and
a hinged skullcap that he can open up
to reveal his brain. For unknown
reasons he uses a motorized
wheelchair (early drawings of
Finklestein depict him standing freely,
and his original action figuree followed
this example, implying he was not
always intended to be a wheelchair
user). Finklestein is only referred to as
the "Evil Scientist" in the credits. His
true name is only mentioned in the
movie when the Mayor calls him up to
the front of the line for his Christmas
assignment.

5. Oogie Boogie
 Unlike all the other inhabitants of
Halloween Town, who are merely
monsters who scare people
simply because they enjoy it as a
celebration of their skill and fun, it
appears that Oogie is truly evil. It
is suggested that his sadistic
nature had resulted in his exile
from the mainstream Halloween
Town. He lives in an underground
lair full of torture devices, each of
which features a casino-like
appearance. Red skeletons -
implied to be the remains of
previous victims - are in several of
the devices, and overhanging
chains are used as perches by
skeletal bats.

6. Sandy Claws
 Sandy Claws is the leader of
Christmas Town. When Jack
stumbles upon the town, he
becomes mesmerized with the
holiday and he tries to bring
Christmas to Halloween Town. In
order to do so, Jack orders Lock,
Shock, and Barrel to kidnap Santa
on Christmas Eve so Jack can
take his place for the Christmas
season. The three then take
Santa to Oogie Boogie where the
holiday figure's life is threatened.
A last minute rescue helps save
not only Santa, but the entire
holiday of Christmas as well.
Santa Claus manages to round up
the living gifts and replace them
with the right ones.

7. Mayor
 The Mayor of Halloween Town is
depicted as a short, fat man, who has
the appearance of a giant candy cornn
with a cone-shaped head, wearing an
impossibly tall top hat, a spider bolo
tie, and a ribbon of office that says
"Mayor" on it. His cone-shaped head
has two faces. One face is peach-
skinned, rosy-cheeked, and smiling
while the other face is white-skinned,
pale and frowning. Depending on the
Mayor's mood, his head swivels
around to display the right face with a
loud clicking sound; the other face,
when not in use, has its eyes closed
and is considered dormant. This split
personality is likely inspired by Dr
Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and is a literal
interpretation of the phrase "two-faced
politicians".

8. Lock, Shock, and Barrel
 Lock, Shock, and Barrel are
introduced as Oogie Boogie's not-
so-loyal "little henchmen". They all
three are trick-or-treaters, with
faces similar to their masks (e.g.
Barrel's skeleton mask has a
huge grin on it and he has a near-
permanent grin). Their names are
a play on the phrase, "lock, stock,
and barrel." Though not totally
antagonistic, they are usually the
comedy relief. They appear to be
Anti-heroes or merely neutral
characters, as they'll work for just
about anyone who summons
them.

9. Lock
 Lock is supposedly the leader of
Oogie's Boys, but does not think
thoroughly and actually appears
to be the least intelligent of the
three. Lock wears a devil
costume; his tail (real tail), his
teeth are pointed sharply, his face
is narrow and long-jawed, and his
hair is formed into two horns
making him, literally, a handsome
devil. He loves being large and in
charge, and gets upset when
others insult him or take the lead;
however, he goes along with
others' ideas if he cannot come up
with anything himself.

10. Shock
 Shock is the most
cunning and dangerous,
presumably the oldest,
and the only female of
Oogie's henchmen. She
has some contempt for the
other two for their
supposed stupidity. Shock
wears a purple witch
costume with an
elongated hat. She has a
high-pitched voice, green
skin, a pointed nose, and
stringy hair.

11. Barrel
 Barrel is Oogie's "star pupil,"
presumably the youngest, and
mistakenly 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 at which he always gets away
with. Barrel wears a skeleton costume
and has deformed feet, but otherwise
resembles 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. Barrel is usually the
pilot of the walking bathtub the trio use
as transport. He also unintentionally
bothers Jack when asking him a
number of annoying questions.

12. Zero
 Zero is Jack's faithful
ghost dog who floats
about freely and
follows Jack wherever
he goes. His nose,
which is in the shape
of a jack-o-lantern,
also doubles as a
bright light.

13. Now You Know!!
 Now you know the
characters behind The
Nightmare Before
Christmas! Enjoy! <3