The Rocky Horror Picture Show/Characters

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


A list of the major characters in the film The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Brad Majors: A hero

An All-American man who proposes to his girlfriend Janet Weiss. However, on the way to meet his old friend and science teacher Dr. Scott, Brad Majors ends up with a flat tire on his car. He soon finds himself at the mercy of Dr. Frank N. Furter, his servants and ends up confused over his own sexuality after the events in the castle.

Janet Weiss: A heroine

A formerly innocent girl who is Brad's fiancee. Though during her time in the castle, she has sex with both Frank N. Furter and Rocky... the latter prompting pure rage from the former. In the end, she's also confused about what has occurred, but also realizes the benefits of living a sexually active life.

Dr. Frank N. Furter: A scientist

Frank is a Mad Scientist bent on creating the "perfect man", which he succeeds in doing so by creating Rocky. He's something of the antagonist of the film, causing all sorts of trouble for Brad and Janet. In the end, he's killed by Riff Raff. He's played by Tim Curry.

  • All Take and No Give: As Columbia pointed out, Frank is very selfish.
  • Anything That Moves: Frank's not picky when it comes to gender... or species for that matter. The original stage show stated that Frank came to Earth to conquer it for the planet Transsexual, but loved having sex with Earthlings so much, he just stopped giving a shit.
  • Attention Whore: Oh, so very much. He hates it when people steal the spotlight from him.
  • Ax Crazy: Frank is completely and utterly insane.
  • Berserk Button: Do NOT make Frank jealous. It will be the absolute last thing you'll ever do.
  • Crazy Jealous Guy: He'll sleep with (almost) anyone. But... if he sees ANYONE with his beloved Rocky, he'll unleash his jealousy-induced rage upon you. Janet had to find this out the hard way.
  • Crossdresser: As the famous line goes, he's "a sweet transvestite".
  • Depraved Pansexual: And how!
  • Faux Affably Evil
  • The Hedonist: Is a strong believer in "absolute pleasure".
  • Hypocrite:
    • As a hedonist, he's all for people being faithless in relationships and sleeping with whoever..... unless Rocky does it. If Rocky does it, all hell breaks loose.
    • Though this is possibly because he's more than a bit of a control freak. He is always the one to initiate sexual encounters and is always in control of those sexual encounters, any other arrangement seems to make him uncomfortable or angry.
  • Manipulative Bastard: Frank's an expert at convincing people to sleep with him by playing with their emotions.
  • Mysterious Middle Initial: Frank is his first name, and Furter is his last name. His middle initial is "N", and it's never revealed what it stands for.
  • Punny Name: "You're a hot dog..."
    • Get it?...get it?
  • Puny Earthlings: Frank views himself as superior to human beings.
  • Screw the Rules, I'm Beautiful
  • Shout-Out/Take That: Steve Reeves movies are "something more visual, but not too abysmal."
  • Slasher Smile: Does this when he hacks Eddie to pieces with a pick-axe.
  • Spoiled Brat: He's implied to be this.
  • Taken for Granite: He does this to Janet, Brad and Dr. Scott in the end.
  • Too Funny to Be Evil: Part of the reason why he's so popular with the fans. He's crazy, but he's also just so charming.
  • Truly Single Parent: Sort of. In a sense, he could be considered both Rocky's mother and father... which only adds to the Squick factor of their relationship.
  • Villainous Crossdresser
  • Villainous Lament: His final moments are a desperate attempt to get people to feel sorry for him.
  • Villain Song: "Sweet Transvestite" and "Planet Schmanet Janet (Wise Up Janet Weiss)".

Riff Raff: A handyman

Frank's personal butler, Riff Raff is a shady character who seems to be up to something throughout the film. In the end, he and his sister Magenta kill Frank, Rocky and Columbia before returning to their home planet of Transsexual, Transylvania.

  • Berserk Button: Making Riff Raff jealous is even worse than making Frank jealous, and that's putting it very mildly. Case in point, Richard O'Brien stated in an interview that the main reason why Riff Raff killed Frank was purely out of jealousy.
  • Brother-Sister Incest: Riff Raff shares a rather, erm, close bond with his sister Magenta.
    • ELBOW SEX! ELBOW SEX!
  • Deadpan Snarker: As some sort of defense mechanism for having his work stolen by Frank N. Furter. Also, any audience member familiar enough with the show to use the callbacks will become this during a viewing by default.
  • The Dog Bites Back: He eventually kills Frank for the abuse he suffered from him.
  • Mr. Fanservice: He has quite a few fangirls.
  • The Igor: He is Frank's lab assistant, though Word of God says he did most of the work on Rocky.
  • Karma Houdini
  • Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: "THEY DIDN'T LIKE MEEE! They never liked me."
    • GET PARANOID, RIFF! GET RETROACTIVELY PARANOID, RIFF!
      • Alt: GET EMO, RIFF! ... GET REALLY EMO, RIFF!
      • Alt Alt: GET PARANOID, RIFF! GET "REALLY" PARANOID, RIFF!
  • The Starscream
  • Zeerust: The beam of pure antimatter is a deliberate send-up of the fifties.

Magenta: A domestic

Riff Raff's sister, and also Frank's maid. In the end, she and Riff Raff kill Frank, Rocky and Columbia before heading back to their home planet of Transsexual, Transylvania.

Rocky Horror: A creation

Frank's beloved creation, Rocky is supposed to be the "perfect man". However, things don't go well when Janet seduces him causing Frank to go into a jealous rage. In the end, he's killed by Riff Raff while mourning the loss of Frank and trying to escape.

  • All There in the Manual: In the film, while he is called "Rocky Horror" in the credits, he isn't called anything other than Rocky.
    • "Rocky Horror, you need peace of mind, I want to tell you that you're doing just fine..."
  • Artificial Human: Created from scratch by Frank.
  • Brainless Beauty: He's a/an (almost) literal example.
  • Dumb Blonde: Rocky, thanks to only having half a brain. He can't even speak properly in the film. In the musical, he's more aware of it, but unfortunately can't do much about his situation.
  • Walking Shirtless Scene: Pantsless too: all he wears is gold briefs.

Columbia: A groupie

A groupie who is both Frank's and Eddie's ex-girlfriend. She starts off as being extremely loyal to Frank. Though she quickly realizes that he's simply using her and turns on him. In the end, she's killed by Riff Raff.


Dr. Everett Scott: A rival scientist

Brad's former science teacher and close friend. He ends up at the castle while looking for his nephew Eddie.


Eddie: An ex-delivery boy

A former delivery boy who was also Frank's (and Columbia's) ex-boyfriend. Half of his brain was used to create Rocky. After escaping from the freezer (and singing a song), Eddie is promptly killed by Frank.

The Criminologist: An expert

A description of the character goes here.

  • Butt Monkey: Thanks to Original Cast Precedent, should you be portraying the Criminologist, get ready for a load of neck-related jokes, from "THAT MAN HAS NO NECK!" to your every line being greeted with "WHERE'S YOUR FUCKING NECK?".
    • "What diabolical chicken kicked your forehead, shat on your tie, and pecked out your neck!?"
    • "The man you are about to see has no neck...obviously, his mother didn't fuck a giraffe."
  • Greek Chorus: In the play, the Phantoms (Transylvanians) also fulfill this role.
  • Mr. Exposition: Without him, it would be hard for the audience to understand what's going on.
  • Narrator: Listed as this in the original play.
  • Nietzsche Wannabe: "And there, on the planet's face, some insects called the human race, lost in time, lost in space, and meaning."
  • Only Sane Man: Well, considering he's completely removed from the main action...
    • Well, unless you count his part of the Time Warp...