Paint it black: 20 best goths from movies, TV and music

Recently, “NCIS” fans had to say goodbye to Abby Sciuto, a character that has been with the show since day one. In fact, Pauley Perrette actually first portrayed the gothic forensic scientist in season 8 of “JAG,” the series from which “NCIS” spun off. Despite her dark attire, tattoos, and interest in death and the supernatural, Abs has an energetic and upbeat personality, which made it even harder to bid her farewell after 15 long years.

Vincent Damon Furnier has been active in the rock music scene for more than 50 years, but few have heard his name, because on stage, he plays the ghoulish character known as Alice Cooper. After starting a band with the same name in the late ‘60s, Furnier eventually adopted the group’s moniker as his own, and he has been rocking studded leather, dark eye makeup, and elaborate stage shows complete with guillotines, electric chairs, giant snakes and oodles of blood ever since. Whether you know him best as a goth rocker, a shock rocker, or just a darn good golfer, there’s one thing we can all agree on: Alice Cooper is a living legend.

The goth subculture was still establishing itself when the 1985 coming-of-age classic “The Breakfast Club” was released, which is why Allison Reynolds (Ally Sheedy) is instead referred to as an outcast and a basket case. However, based on her Converse Chucks, dark makeup, black and baggy clothing, introversion, and general disdain for conformity, we think her labels would be different if the film were released a few years later. (We also believe her movie makeover was completely unnecessary!)

Cassandra Peterson has been playing Elvira, Mistress of the Dark for more than 35 years, beginning with the B-grade horror film marathon show “Elvira’s Movie Macabre.” In conjunction with the movies she shows, Elvira’s style consists of red lipstick and black hair, cat-eye makeup, and clothing, with the latter always accentuating her ample curves. Although she has an affinity for the grotesque, her personality is bubbly, sarcastic, and witty, and she speaks with a Valley girl-like dialect. When it comes to horror and Halloween, Elvira is still the reigning queen.

After Wendy breaks up with Stan in the season 7 episode “Raisins,” he becomes depressed and starts hanging out with South Park Elementary’s “Goth Kids,” who, according to Kyle, “dress in black and talk about pain all the time.” This is our first introduction to Henrietta, Michael, Pete, and Firkle — but certainly not the last. In various capacities, activities, and storylines (which include smoking, kidnapping, dance-battling, and rivaling the emo and vampire students), the Goth Kids eventually appeared in another 16 episodes... and counting!

We’re big fans of Lizzy Caplan’s Janis Ian character because in the movie “Mean Girls,” she was one of the only girls that wasn’t actually mean. Although she has a tough exterior, she was one of the first students to befriend Cady (Lindsay Lohan), she eventually forgives Cady for betraying her, and she ends up dating the nerdy Kevin Gnapoor. Sure, she also hatched the original plan to take down Regina, but the girl had it coming.

Whether she’s played by Noomi Rapace or Rooney Mara, Lisbeth Salander gives hope to all who have had traumatic childhoods, as the hacker fought back to get revenge on her tormentors and various other evil people of the world in both the Swedish and American film adaptations of Stieg Larsson's “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” as well as the two Swedish sequels. Lisbeth also shows you can look like a badass goth rocker while doing it.

A 16-year-old Winona Ryder played Lydia, the goth daughter of the Deetz family (Catherine O’Hara and Jeffrey Jones) who moved into the house once belonging to Adam and Barbara Maitland (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) in 1988’s “Beetlejuice.” Not only is she a unique individual with a passion for photography, but she’s also the only one who can see the ghosts of the Maitlands, and she ends up saving their lives at the end of the classic Tim Burton comedy.

Rarely seen without ample makeup, dyed hair, exposed tattoos, creepy contact lenses and elaborate costumes, Marilyn Manson (born Brian Hugh Warner) was a hero to goth teens in the ‘90s and ‘00s despite his often obscene, offensive, and grotesque lyrics, music videos and stage shows. Manson helped carry the torch first lit by Alice Cooper, and nearly 25 years after the release of his first album, 1994’s “Portrait of an American Family,” he’s still recording, touring, and freaking people out.

Although we would never condone some of her behavior, we have to say that we love Marla Singer (Helena Bonham Carter) of “Fight Club,” whether she’s defrauding a support group, stealing and selling clothes from laundromats, or just being her quirky little self. She has more of a mature goth style, but still rocks plenty of dark eye shadow, chain-smokes cigarettes, flashes large pieces of jewelry and always wears black (except for that one time she was wearing a thrift store wedding dress). 

Just because Mavis (Selena Gomez) is the daughter of Count Dracula (Adam Sandler), it doesn’t mean she has to dress like a goth. But she does, so here we are. The sweet, 118-year-old “teenage” Mavis flaunts black hair, makeup, and clothing, and often wears fishnets or other stocking on her legs and/or arms... all of which go perfectly with her naturally pointed vampire teeth. 

All four of the main characters in “The Craft” (played by Robin Tunney, Neve Campbell, Rachel True, and Fairuza Balk) are witches, but only one would also be classified as goth. That’s of course Nancy Downs (Balk), the witch that eventually goes completely banana sandwich, gets struck by lightning, and turns on Sarah (Tunney) before eventually getting committed to a mental hospital. Hey, we never said the “best” goths have to be good people... and Balk did a great job being bad.

She may have been born Saraya-Jade Bevis, but the sports entertainment world knows her best as Paige. After making her wrestling debut at age 13, Paige would only take another six years before reaching WWE’s Florida Championship Wrestling (now known as NXT) in 2011, and the main WWE roster in 2014. Clad in studded leather, boots, fishnet stockings, and sporting long black hair and dark lipstick, Paige won the Divas Championship twice before a serious neck injury ended her in-ring career at the age of just 25. Thankfully, she is still a member of the WWE universe, as she currently serves as the general manager of SmackDown.

Before being banished to the back room of the IT department, Richmond was actually second in command at Reynholm Industries. However, in a totally uncool move, he was demoted due to his gothic and almost vampire-like appearance. Besides his looks, Richmond is mostly known for his unique voice and affinity for dark wave bands, as well as his devotion to Cradle of Filth.

Off stage, Rob Zombie is a just t-shirt and jeans metal head who directs some quality movies, but his on-stage persona involves a lot of horror elements, dark and elaborate costumes and heavy makeup, making him another goth god in the music industry. The legend now has six studio albums under his belt (two of which are certified platinum) and numerous Grammy nominations, and can be seen on tour this summer with Marilyn Manson.

The emergence of early gothic rock — dark, dancing music with gothic overtones — is generally credited to ‘80s groups like The Cure, Joy Division, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Bauhaus... and Robert Smith was in two of these bands. The English singer, songwriter, and musician isn’t just credited with crafting the goth sound, but also the goth look, complete with smeared red lipstick and disheveled hair. Although he cleaned up his image a few times during his career, we will always continue to view The Cure frontman as one of the very first goth gods.

Born in the ‘90s? Then you probably remember “Danny Phantom,” the superhero cartoon that aired on Nickelodeon from 2004 to 2007. Danny’s best friend (and eventual girlfriend) on the show was Samantha “Sam” Manson, a vegetarian goth girl who was also an activist and environmentalist. Sound like anyone you know in person? Us too.

Tiffany Valentine (Jennifer Tilly) first appears in the “Child’s Play” franchise’s fourth installment, 1998’s “Bride of Chucky,” and later returned for “Seed of Chucky” (2004), “Curse of Chucky” (2013), and “Cult of Chucky” (2017). Tiffany is the girlfriend and eventual wife of serial killer Charles Lee “Chucky” Ray, and whether she is in human or doll form, she can be seen sporting plenty of leather and makeup, with a bit of body ink, too.

The teenage daughter of Dr. Orpheus on “The Venture Bros” is your typical high school goth, as she wears either purple or black hair, dark lipstick, black clothing, choker necklaces, and is a fan of the ‘80s rock band Adam and the Ants. She also has a portal to the Necropolis in her closet (which prevents her from changing clothes) and trains as a sorceress, but that’s totally normal, especially in the Orpheus household.

There are a lot of characters from “The Addams Family” TV show and movies (1991’s “The Addams Family,” 1993’s “Addams Family Values,” and 1998’s “Addams Family Reunion”) who could be considered goth, but none is seen as an icon of the subculture quite like Wednesday Addams, who almost always sports twin braids, dresses, stockings and shoes — all of which are, of course, jet black. Christina Ricci gets most of the credit for bringing the character to the mainstream, where she is now seen as the epitome of bitterness, cynicism, or a general lack of emotion. But really she’s just a normal kid who enjoys collecting headless dolls, raising spiders, and wishing for the world to burn.