Franklin Scrooge

Franklin Scrooge is a posthumous antagonist of the 2019 British television miniseries A Christmas Carol, based on the 1843 novella of the same name by the late Charles Dickens. He Ebenezer and Lottie Scrooge's abusive father, who is responsible for much of the former's cruelty and misanthropy.

He was portrayed by Johnny Harris.

Life
Franklin Scrooge was a poor man, married and having two children: Lottie and Ebenezer. The family's poverty was always a rage-inducing fact in Franklin's life, which drove him to drink and frequently abuse his children, especially Ebenezer, whom he saw as burdens. Franklin was very tight with any form of money or valuables, which instilled into Ebenezer from an early age the importance of wealth and material possessions above all else. Despite this, Ebenezer had a black horse that he used to get to and from school every day that he cared and provided for.

One Christmas, Ebenezer was given a pet albino rat with a bell around its neck as a gift, and loved it dearly. However, his father was enraged by the gift; he saw the faux golden bell as a mockery of their poverty, despised the idea that the rat somehow ceased to be vermin simply due to the holiday, and saw it as nothing more than a nuisance and another mouth to have to provide for. In one of his drunken rages, Franklin stole the rat from Ebenezer and decapitated it in front of the boy. The event would traumatize Ebenezer, and instill a softness for animals for the rest of his life.

When Ebenezer reached his preteens, Franklin sent him off to boarding school and sold Ebenezer's horse. Franklin made a deal with the Schoolmaster that, in exchange for not having to pay any school fees, the Headmaster could have his way with the boy, and that Ebenezer would never be released from the school, even on breaks and holidays. Ebenezer spent the next few years of his life in misery under the abuse and misconduct of the schoolmaster, with his only escape being the books he read, and his only companions being the characters and the occasional schoolmate.

Sometime later, Franklin passed away from unknown means. That Christmas, Lottie arrived at the school and informed Ebenezer and the schoolmaster that Franklin Scrooge has died, and that Ebenezer is to be taken home. Lottie and Ebenezer go home, but at that point, Ebenezer had lost his hope in humanity, and found himself incapable of loving another, even his own sister. Scrooge grew up cold and bitter, as well as greedy and cruel.

Legacy
Even years after his death, Ebenezer remained haunted by his father's memories and teachings. On a special Christmas Even where Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future come to visit Scrooge and try to reform him, the Ghost of Christmas Past appears as his father, yelling at Scrooge and making him relive the rat's death.