Chucky (Brad Dourif) has been a long-standing villain in the horror genre, dating back to 1988. He’s often included among the most well-known and iconic horror villains — unlike his villainous counterparts though, Chucky has gone through many changes throughout his years in the horror genre, from being a starkly serious killer in his early years to a near parody in later ones. But with the Chucky TV series just wrapping its second season, we’re seeing more sides to the character than ever before. Sure, he’s still the same cold-blooded, wise-cracking little terror we know and love, but the series has brought with it even more sides to the character than we’ve ever seen before.
A Long-Standing History
Chucky first began terrorizing audiences back in 1988 with Child’s Play. The film of course went on to spawn multiple sequels — and most interestingly, multiple versions of the titular character. His character arc throughout the first three Child’s Play films is a gradual upwards-slope to the more campy and lewd persona he’s become known for. Bride of Chucky took both the character and the franchise in an entirely new direction, both by bringing in Tiffany Valentine (Jennifer Tilly) and by introducing the cheesy, wise-cracking Chucky that we know and love.
Bride was followed by Seed of Chucky which only expanded upon the ludicrousness that had been previously introduced, and even gave us Chucky as a father. It’s a silly arc in the franchise, but there’s no denying the cultural impact the two films had in expanding the character. Curse of Chucky and Cult of Chucky followed Seed (albeit, Curse came out nine years later) and interestingly returned the franchise to its more strictly horror roots. This pair of films was moodier, focused more on the characters and story and opted for a more serious approach, much like the original film.
A Return to Form
Chucky can now be seen terrorizing the small screen, a move that was smart and plays to the character’s strengths of being a little terror all the time. Eight episodes of Chucky just messing with people? That’s right up his alley, and it’s thoroughly entertaining. While he’s definitely gone through many changes and evolved throughout the film franchise, he specifically shines in the two seasons (so far) of the series and is constantly showing more sides to him than we’ve ever seen before.
The first season of the show begins with Chucky having a similar dynamic with Jake (Zackary Arthur) as he did with Andy (Alex Vincent) — acting sweet and like nothing is out of the ordinary. That is until Jake checks his battery pack and realizes he doesn’t have any. Thus ensues a twisted little mind game from the doll, who acts as though he wants to protect Jake but, of course, we know that’s not the case. He’s quick to brainwash Jake, saying how he only kills people who deserve it and who hurt Jake — even briefly convincing him to kill Lexy (Alyvia Alyn Lind). It’s a classic Chucky mind game, trying to get others to do his dirty work for him, and it’s interesting to watch play out given the fact that his original confidant is much older than Andy was and is therefore less easy to persuade and mess with. Not from a lack of trying though.
There’s also a second Chucky that’s revealed in a surprise twist, having been hunted down by Andy and Kyle (Christine Elise) all the way in South Carolina. It’s not the first time we’ve dealt with multiple versions of the doll, and as the show would soon prove, it wouldn’t be the last either. Tiffany (posing as Jennifer Tilly) reveals to the town of Hackensack that she has 72 Good Guy dolls ready to be donated to hospitals across the country. With the (unbeknownst) help of Junior (Teo Briones), Chucky is able to complete a voodoo spell that brings all 72 of the dolls to life.
Speaking of Tiffany, she’s holding Nica (Fiona Dourif) captive since she was previously possessed by Chucky back in Cult and continues to be under his spell. Fiona Dourif’s work portraying both characters is phenomenal, and she effortlessly flips back and forth between Nica and Chucky. This also may be the most threatening version of Chucky in the season, as he has control of a human body, and that’s really all he’s wanted the entirety of the franchise. There is much more at stake while in Nica’s body, and until now we had seen very little of a human Chucky and what that could entail.
An Abundance of Chuckys
Season 2 of the series proved to be a doozy as we were properly introduced to three of the 72 Good Guy dolls revealed in Season 1. Andy drives off a cliff to effectively put an end to Chucky’s reign of terror, but of course, that’s not to be, and the aforementioned three dolls survive the crash. Interestingly this gives us three distinctly different versions of the character.
Scout Chucky
Firstly, there’s “Scout” Chucky, who is sent to Incarnate Lord where Devon (Bjorgvin Arnarson), Lexy and Jake have been sent. After one of the nuns passes away from a Chucky-induced heart attack, the kids realize that Chucky is on the loose in the school and set out to track him down. They soon discover that this Chucky is only there to collect information on them, thus gaining his nickname of Scout. To get said information out of him they brainwash him. Unfortunately for the kids this only wipes his memories, and he’s unable to provide any information, but it does give us an unlikely side of Chucky that has never been explored before.
Scout Chucky is infantile. He cuddles, tells sweet jokes and sings songs — he’s exactly what the Good Guy dolls were originally intended to be. His innocence is short-lived however, as he soon begins to have an identity crisis of sorts after Devon blames him for the death of his mother and the rest of the victims in Season 1. Jake, however, sees the good in him and opts to baptize him with the help of Nadine (Bella Higginbotham). But once again, due to his roots that stem from pure evil, he eventually slips back into the habits at his core and kills a fly without any adverse reaction. He’s still aware that his existence stems from evil, and after confusing Nadine’s words, he pushes her out a window to her death. While short-lived, this is easily one of the most dynamic versions of Chucky that we’ve seen. It’s also one of the funniest, as it’s straight-up weird to see him act so sweet and feels completely wrong for the character. Naturally, his time on the show isn’t long, but it’s an interesting and never-before-seen angle on Chucky that was fun to see explored.
Buff Chucky
A second Chucky is delivered to the school but unlike the first, this Chucky is muscular and burly, with a deep, taunting voice. He’s quick to build up a victim tally with both Father O’Malley (Ian D. Clark) and Trevor (Jordan Kronis) — killing the latter of the two by punching a hole straight through his chest, thus displaying his scary super-strength. He’s soon poisoned by Colonel Chucky, but there’s no denying Buff Chucky was a fun addition, despite his minimal screen time. Chucky has always had unnatural strength given that he’s a doll, but we’ve never seen him so robust and powerful. He’s done a lot in previous films that you sort of just have to suspend your disbelief with, but this version of the doll feels much more in line with some of his past antics. Plus his look is just so unlike anything we’ve seen in the franchise.
Colonel Chucky
The Colonel is the last version of Chucky we meet, and he’s the meanest and most grotesque of them all. After surviving the crash, he enlisted the remaining Chuckys to bring Andy back to a secluded cabin near the school. Eventually, he killed all the remaining Chuckys and scattered their pieces around the woods. He spends a year torturing Andy — removing pieces of his flesh little by little all while he’s still alive. Colonel Chucky is revealed to be the one who sent Scout Chucky out to collect information, and he was also the one who sent Buff Chucky after he could no longer get in contact with Scout. This version of Chucky really plays off the sadistic ways we’ve seen him dabble in, but never quite to the level at which he messes with Andy this season. We’ve never seen Chucky torture someone for such a lengthy amount of time, and to see it now is frightening.
With Each New Chucky, We Get a New Piece of Charles Lee Ray
With every new version of Chucky revealed, it feels like a different piece of Charles Lee Ray’s soul has been split between each one — as if each Chucky represents a singular piece of him that has never been fully expanded on. Scout holds the sweetness that the Good Guy dolls were intended to have, and also the friendliness he showed Andy at first. Buff Chucky shows off the brutality and love for violence that has been prominent since the beginning but has built throughout the films. The Colonel seems to represent the pure evil that overwhelmingly makes up Chucky as a whole.
For how off-the-wall the concept of multiple Chuckys originally seemed, the series played it brilliantly and expertly gave us so many new sides to the character that bode well and provide thorough entertainment and intrigue. The films are classics of course and will forever be beloved, but the TV series may just be the best version of him we’ve seen yet. It has helped to evolve Chucky into a more modernized version of himself that appeals to new audiences while still staying true to his roots and expanding upon them. It only proves that Chucky is always going to be a mainstay of the horror genre.