Hi everyone! This is CindyLou95 here. Now recently, I had shown you my own list of the top ten monsters that should have appeared in Goosebumps Most Wanted. Well now, I am going to show you a list of the top ten protagonists that should have been more prominent in the series. Now that I think about it, these characters should have appeared in Goosebumps HorrorLand (apart from Evan Ross, Greg Banks and Gabe Sabry) and Goosebumps Most Wanted, along with their enemies. Now before you go any further, I must let you know that these are my own personal thoughts and opinions. I most definitely should warn you that this list also contains some spoilers. So if you don't want any spoilers, then I would advise you to leave the page right now. With that out of the way, on with the list.
Number 10
Brandon Plush (Goosebumps Series 2000 #10 Headless Halloween) - The boy who enjoyed scaring everyone. The reason Brandon is so low on my list is because he acted more like an antagonist than a protagonist. I mean he was kind of a bully, mostly to his cousin, Vinnie and sister, Maya. Anyway, what put Brandon on my list was his untimely death on Halloween night. He disobeyed his mother by leaving Maya and Vinnie on their own, along with his best friend, Cal, to go to his teacher, Mr. Benson's house to vandalise it as revenge for giving him detention after a mean prank on Vinnie. But the plan went awry, due to Mr. Benson's dogs coming loose. Brandon attempted to escape by jumping Raven's Ravine, but ended up falling to his death. Because he had constantly played so many mean tricks on others, Brandon was forced to stay as a ghost on Earth. But Norband, one of the other ghosts, told Brandon that he could permanently come back to life after doing three good deeds in an hour. Brandon managed to do so by rescuing Cal, Vinnie and Maya from terrible situations (though he died again before completely rescuing Maya), but unfortuantely it turned out that Norband had been playing a trick on Brandon all along. But rather than being scared, Brandon decided to join Norband and go to scare everyone in his neighbourhood. Now this was a story that should have continued in Goosebumps, because this was one in which a protagonist met his untimely end without his loved ones knowing. And I'll bet Brandon's poor family and friends are still wondering what had happened to him on Halloween.
Number 9
Trina O'Dell (Goosebumps #40 Night of the Living Dummy III) - Slappy the Dummy's third victim (or fourth counting the fact that Lindy and Kris Powell were twins), along with her brother, Dan. Slappy had started causing havoc in Trina's home while her cousin, Zane came to stay with them and their father assumed that Trina and Dan were to blame. The problem was, Trina and Dan had played tricks on Zane during his last visit, due to Zane being a nerdy coward. Soon after a terrible disaster with dinner, Trina and Dan suspected that Zane was causing the trouble, because earlier he was playing those tricks on himself to get Trina and Dan in trouble and pay them back for last time. But Trina and Dan discovered that it was Slappy causing more trouble and desperately tried to stop him. Slappy was stopped eventually, but Zane saw Trina and Dan with the dummies and thought they were playing another trick and he got them grounded for life by telling their father on them. Trina and Dan were angry with Zane for getting them grounded when he didn't know what was really going on, so Trina decided to pay him back by giving him Slappy as an early birthday present. So far, that was the last we had seen of Trina in the series and it was left ambiguous as to what had happened with her and her family after those events. She should have at least appeared in another story with Slappy to have hers and Dan's names cleared and to mend their relationship with Zane.
Number 8
Grady Tucker (Goosebumps #14 The Werewolf of Fever Swamp) - Grady and his family had moved to Fever Swamp so that his parents can study the swamp deer. While at Fever Swamp, Grady made some new friends, Will Blake and Cassie O'Rourke and had a new dog named Wolf. At night, Grady had heard some howls at night during the full moon and suspected them to be wolf howls. Animals were also brutally murdered in the swamp and Wolf was accused of killing them, since he looks like a wolf. Grady was adamant that Wolf was not a killer and he was told by Cassie that the Swamp Hermit, who was said to be harmless, was the werewolf. When Grady set out into the swamp at night to prove that his dog wasn't a killer, he discovered that it was Will that was the werewolf. Grady was bitten by Will and the curse of the werewolf was passed onto him. So Grady became the new werewolf of Fever Swamp. So it would have been intriguing to see what has been going on with Grady after these events, not to mention that it would be interesting to see if anyone had discovered his secret about being a werewolf.
Number 7
Billy Harlan (Goosebumps #9 Welcome to Camp Nightmare) - The bravest and most daring camper at Camp Nightmoon. Billy always knew how to act in a dangerous situation, due to being taught by his parents, who are scientists. He helped one of his friends out with a snake and saved the counciller named Larry from drowning. Billy even stood his ground against Uncle Al when he revealed that they were hunting Dawn and Dori with tranquiliser guns. In the end, it was revealed that Billy lived on a planet that was similar to Earth and his parents were going to Earth itself for a science expedition. They wanted to take Billy with them, but he had to prove that he was able to handle such an expedition, which he did very successfully in Camp Nightmoon, which was actually a training base for Billy. So Billy would have gone to Earth with his parents, but his debut has been the last we ever saw of him in the series. So it would have been interesting to see how Billy would have gone on his expedition to Earth.
Number 6
Drew Brockman (Goosebumps #48 Attack of the Jack-O'-Lanterns) - Drew and her friends were upset with Tabitha Weiss and Lee Winston for ruining Halloween for them. So one night on Halloween, Drew's friends, Shane and Shana Martin managed to help pay Tabby and Lee back by using their pumpkin head powers to scare them. At the end of the story, it was revealed that Drew's two friends are aliens who eat very plump adults, indicating their race had kidnapped the four fat people who had disappeared, which shocked Drew and her friend Walker greatly. Well after hearing about that, it would have been intriguing to see what Drew would have done about that, considering that she is friends with these aliens. I mean, the authorities have been searching for these people, so was there anything Drew could have done to save them? These reasons were what had put Drew Brockman on my list.
Number 5
Jerry Sadler (Goosebumps #22 Ghost Beach) - Jerry and his sister Terri had gone to visit their cousins, Brad and Agatha in New England for the remainder of their summer. They also met three other kids, Sam, Louisa and Nat, who have the same surname as them. They told Jerry and Terri about a ghost in a cave that was haunting the beach, but the "ghost" was actually a man named Harrison Sadler. When Jerry and Terri confronted Harrison, it was revealed that it was their three friends who were the ghosts. And their cousins were also revealed to be ghosts, thanks to Harrison's dog. The ending was left ambiguous in the story, which is one of the reasons Jerry is on my list. Another reason is that Jerry's family history was explained after the discovery of Sam, Louisa and Nat's graves. Jerry's family has a very big history, as they were once on the brink of extinction in a terrible winter in 1641. It was also told that Sam, Louisa and Nat were also Jerry and Terri's distant cousins, like Brad and Agatha were. I would like to see Jerry and Terri alive after the events of their summer vacation, because maybe they could learn some more about their family history and maybe there are some more relatives that they're unaware of, possibly dead or even alive. Yes, Jerry was an interesting protagonist who should have appeared in another story. He and Terri were also the first protagonists to be related to ghosts.
Number 4
Freddy Martinez (Goosebumps #49 Vampire Breath) - One of the toughest kids in school, along with his friend, Cara Simonetti. At first we thought that Freddy was a human like everyone else. But then, he and Cara discovered Count Nightwing in a secret tunnel below Freddy's basement, which Freddy had been unaware of. After a scary journey through time, thanks the Vampire Breath and many encounters with Count Nightwing, it was revealed by Freddy's parents that the Count himself is Freddy's grandfather, meaning that Freddy and his parents were vampires too. Freddy was most shocked to discover that he was a vampire and thought that his parents should have revealed it to him a long time ago. Yes, it can be very alarming to find out that you're not really normal. So it would have been interesting to see Freddy's story continue and to see how he would go as a vampire - especially in his grandfather's eyes.
Number 3
Spencer Kassimir (Goosebumps Series 2000 #11 Attack of the Graveyard Ghouls) - Spencer and his family had moved to Highgrave where Spencer had learned about the legend of the Graveyard Ghouls (which is later revealed to be true). When he and his class went up to Highgrave Cemetery for a history lesson, Spencer accidentally knocked over the tombstone of Oswald and Martin Manse, who were really evil when they were alive, therefore giving them a way out of the graveyard by taking over his and his friend, Audra Rusinas' bodies. Before he and Audra managed to defeat the Ghouls, Spencer saw the destruction that they left in their wake and held himself responsible, blaming himself for giving them a way out of the graveyard. So it would have been interesting to see what would have happened with Spencer after the Graveyard Ghouls' defeat. Spencer also seems quite capable of standing up for himslef, not to mention that he has a bit of a crush on Audra.
Number 2
Heidi Davidson (Goosebumps Series 2000 #14 Jekyll and Heidi) - Heidi was a recently orphaned girl whose life had changed forever after the unexpected tragic loss of her parents. She went to live with her uncle, Dr. Palmer Jekyll and cousin, Marianna, which led Heidi through some epic and twisted events. Her uncle was said to be a mad scientist, who created a monster to terrorise the village that they were living in (the monster was actually Marianna, who was bitten by a werewolf and Dr. Jekyll was trying to make a cure for her). Eventually the villagers got fed up with the attacks and started an invasion to Dr. Jekyll's house. Heidi was going to escape with Dr. Jekyll and Marianna, but then remembered a book that she wanted to keep and she hurried back to get it. Unfortunately Dr. Jekyll's boat was starting to leave as she did so and by the time Heidi got back through the tunnel, Dr. Jekyll and Marianna were gone, leaving Heidi all alone. So later on, she stayed with her friend Aaron until they were able to locate any of her other relatives. There, Heidi discovered that she had Marianna's diary and that Marianna had bitten her in her sleep, therefore cursing her. And we were left in a cliffhanger there. Yes, Heidi's story was an interesting one and it would have been intriguing to seen what happened with her after those events.
Before I go to Number 1, I would like to put in some honourable mentions:
- Jack Archer (Goosebumps Series 2000 #4 and #5 Invasion of the Body Squeezers Part I and II) - The hero of the invasion from the Body Squeezers. The reason he didn't make it to my list was because he did appear in a sequel with the Body Squeezers. But then again, that sequel was one of the Give Yourself Goosebumps books and Give Yourself Goosebumps isn't canon.
- Sue Morgan (Goosebumps #27 A Night in Terror Tower) - The Princess of York and true heir to her throne. Her reason for not being on my list is the same as Jack's. Her brother, Eddie, the Prince of York also gets an honourable mention in this.
- Lindy and Kris Powell (Goosebumps #7 Night of the Living Dummy) - These two are in the honourable mentions because they were Slappy's first owners and of all of Slappy's former owners, they seem like the most well known of them.
Now these characters weren't on my list because they were the second main protagonists in the stories, but they get honourable mentions too:
- Audra Rusinas (Goosebumps Series 2000 #11 Attack of the Graveyard Ghouls) - Spencer's best friend and love interest who helped him fight the Graveyard Ghouls. It would be good to see her return alongside Spencer.
- Terri Sadler (Goosebumps #22 Ghost Beach) - Jerry's younger sister, who solved the mystery of the ghosts on the beach alongside her brother. As I said before, Terri was also one of the first protagonists to be related to ghosts.
- Cara Simonetti (Goosebumps #49 Vampire Breath) - Freddy's best friend who fought Count Nightwing alongside him and found out that her best friend was a vampire in the end.
- Walker Parkes (Goosebumps #48 Attack of the Jack-O'-Lanterns) - Drew's best friend who also knew that Shane and Shana were aliens.
- Dan O'Dell (Goosebumps #40 Night of the Living Dummy III) - Trina's younger brother who fought against Slappy alongside his sister.
And Number 1 is...
Lucy Dark (Goosebumps #8 The Girl Who Cried Monster) - Lucy was the girl who always made up stories about monsters to scare her friends and her brother, Randy. That was why no one believed her about the librarian, Mr. Mortman being a monster. But when Mr. Mortman came to her house, it was revealed that Lucy and her family were monsters themselves. After her parents devoured Mr. Mortman, they explained to Lucy and Randy that the reason for eating Mr. Mortman was because they didn't want other monsters to come to Timberland Falls and give them away. Lucy's family left their old home because it had too many other monsters in it and they wanted a nice quiet life in Timberland Falls. And if anyone in Timberland Falls discovered that they were monsters, then they would get scared and chase them away. And Lucy's family didn't want to leave because they love Timberland Falls. Now that you think about it, Lucy actually should have been stretched for another story. Her secret about being a monster was what put her on my list as well as the number one spot. It is a secret that she has to keep from her human friends or they will either turn on her or be afraid of her. What could have happened with Lucy later on is either she would discover another person who is actually a monster living in Timberland Falls or someone will discover her secret and attempt to tell everyone else about it. Now that would be interesting.
And that's my list of the top ten protagonists that should have been stretched in Goosebumps. Once again, I'm not trying to criticise R. L. Stine, I'm just saying that these characters should have been more prominent in the series. Do you guys agree with my list? Either that or you can tell me if there's anyone that I should have put in or you could make your own top ten. As I said, these are just my thoughts.