Samara Morgan

"But I do, and I am sorry. It won't stop."

- Samara's response when the psychiatrist assumes that she doesn't truly want to hurt anyone.



Samara Morgan is the main antagonist of The Ring and The Ring 2.

Her character is a remake of Sadako Yamamura from the 1998 Japanese horror film Ringu which also spawned several sequels and international remakes. She is portrayed by Daveigh Chase, whom also portraying Lilo Pelekai in Lilo and Stitch series.

Birth
In 1970, a pregnant woman named Evelyn went to a Christian hospital and gave birth to a baby girl named Samara, who ceased to cry. The identity of the biological father remained unknown though it was assumed that he was some form of sea demon. However, Evelyn began to hear voices which told her to drown Samara to release the demon inside of her. Finally, she went outside and attempted to drown Samara in a pond but a group of nuns caught her and took her baby girl away. Samara was held for adoption whilst Evelyn was locked up in a mental hospital.

Adoption
Eventually, Samara was adopted by Anna and Richard Morgan, who were avid horse breeders from Moesko Island. While Anna loved her unconditionally, possibly because of her several miscarriages, Samara began to develop strange supernatural powers, which she had no control over as it was presumed that she inherited it from her biological father, resulting her to become an outcast in the community. Her relationship with Anna began to sour as she unintentionally burnt gruesome and disturbing images into her mind, causing her to slowly become insane.

Eola Psychiatric Hospital
Anna consulted a local doctor about the gruesome images in her mind and the doctor sent both her and Samara into Eola Psychiatric Hospital under 24/7 surveillance. Anna was treated for depression and suicidal thoughts while Samara was studied by Doctor Scott on her ability to burn images into minds and objects. Doctor Scott later filmed a medical interview of Samara and told her that her father planned to leave her there. Provoked, Samara killed him with her powers and on the contrary, her father decided to release Anna and Samara from the hospital and return to their normal lives.

The Horse Epidemic
Richard decided to isolate Samara in the horse barn, which only had a TV set for entertainment. Samara never slept due to the noises that the horses made and out of rage, she drove them mad and forced them to commit suicide by jumping off a nearby cliff. About 27 horses died, which made Anna and Richard the centre of unwanted attention. The surviving horses were placed in quarantine but none were aware of Samara's presence. Anna was heavily affected by the epidemic and was sent back to Eola Psychiatric Hospital, suffering from severe depression.

Trapped in the Well
Having enough of Samara's constant abuse towards her and her horses, the family decided to have a vacation in Shelter Mountain Inn. While Samara stood near an open well and sung her lullaby, Anna walked behind her and unexpectedly suffocated her with a black garbage bag. She later felt remorse of what she had done but nevertheless continued to throw Samara into the well. Samara watched as she saw her adoptive mother closing the lid of the well. Even when she had temporarily stopped Samara from harming more living beings, Anna proceeded to commit suicide by jumping off a nearby cliff. While in the well, Samara tried to crawl out but broke her fingernails in the process. She eventually died after 7 days from either starvation or hypothermia.

Resurrection
Many years after the event, holiday cabins were built in Shelter Mountain Inn and Cabin 12 was built directly above the well. Inside Cabin 12 was a television set and a blank videotape and Samara, as a vengeful ghost, used this opportunity to use her powers for revenge by mentally transferring all the gruesome images from her twisted mind and her own miserable life into the blank videotape. She also placed a curse on the videotape and vowed to kill anyone who watched the videotape after 7 days. After the person had watched the videotape, Samara would usually call them and in a creepy voice, say "7 days". The only way they could be spared was to copy the videotape and send it to another person who has never watched it under the 7 day deadline. One day, a group of teenagers stayed in Cabin 12 to record a football match with the blank videotape. They were shocked that the cursed videotape played instead of the football match and ran out of the cabin without notifying the owner of the cabins.

Samara's Killing Spree
After 7 days, one of the teenagers named Katie Embry had a sleepover with her friend Becca. They eventually discussed about the cursed videotape and suddenly, the telephone rings downstairs which frightens both the girls as they think it's Samara. However, it is revealed to be Katie's mum and Becca returns upstairs. As Katie grabs a drink, several supernatural occurences occur which frighten her and she eventually calls Becca for help by running upstairs. However, she discovers that the doorknob of her bedroom is leaking with water and as soon as she opens it, the cursed videotape plays on her TV and an unseen force, presumably Samara, rushes up to her as Katie screams, causing her face to distort and mutilate by itself. Katie's other friends were also killed by Samara on the same night and they were driven insane by the gruesome images that Samara imprinted in their minds and as a result, killed themselves by crashing their cars and jumping off an apartment building.

Everyone Will Suffer
Katie's death brought the attention of a troubled journalist named Rachel Keller, whose son Aidan eerily predicted Katie's death. Aidan was also the only one who knew how truly evil Samara was and how she wasn't supposed to help her, especially after Rachel and her ex-boyfriend Noah tried to appease Samara's spirit in the well and as a result, gave her a proper burial. As a result, Noah, who didn't copy the videotape and send it to another person, was killed by Samara after she crawled out of his TV screen and killed him by frightening him to death. Rachel finally realised why she was spared as she had sent the videotape to Noah previously and does the same thing for Aidan, who has also seen the videotape as well. She also receives flashbacks from the time when she visited Richard Morgan telling her how "his wife wasn't supposed to have a child" moments before killing himself after realising that Samara has returned to the world for no good, which causes her to change the way she views Samara.

Defeat
Meanwhile, a subculture that was dedicated to the cursed videotape rises in popularity as more people watch the cursed videotape but many of them send it to another person before 7 days to avoid being killed. However, a teenager named Jake failed to send the videotape to his girlfriend who has never seen it before and was killed that night. Rachel and her son Aidan move to the same town where Jake was killed and is deeply horrified that Samara is still alive and well. Samara, who is attracted to Rachel's motherly personality, decides to make Rachel her new mother by possessing Aidan but often fails in trying to emulating him. Under Samara's possession, Aidan kills several people including a man named Max who tried to help Rachel from her past experiences and a doctor named Dr. Temple who is unaware that Aidan is possessed. However, Rachel already knew that Aidan was possessed and successfully drowns him to release Samara. Moments later, the vengeful Samara tries to return to Rachel by emerging out of her TV screen and Rachel decides to sacrifice herself by allowing herself to be dragged into the well by Samara so that Aidan won't be endangered by Samara ever again. Looking up from the well, Rachel realises that the well has always been open, which had freely allowed Samara to enter and exit into the world to kill people. Suddenly, Rachel notices Samara emerging from the water. Rachel manages to crawl out of the well in time and as Samara calls out "MOMMY!" in a deep demonic voice, Rachel replies "I'M NOT YOUR FUCKING MOMMY!" and proceeds to close the well with a stone lid, eternally trapping Samara inside the well, where she belongs. Though still alive, she is tormented with misery and as a result, suffers more than ever.

Resurgence
However, it is revealed in Rings, a sequel set 13 years later after the events of the original film, that Samara is still active and albeit more powerful than ever. How she become more powerful implied due to the popularity of her cursed videotape: Because a lot of people watch the video but many of them send it to another person before 7 days to avoid being killed, it's much more likely that the contain of her cursed videotape spread across electronic media unchecked, which explained how she able to have upgraded the technology of her cursed video and is able to spread it to many, if not millions, of people via e-mails, the Internet, texts etc. In the trailer, a character attempts to prevent Samara from emerging out of a TV screen by hurling and smashing the TV on the ground but Samara is able to come out regardless. It is revealed that she can appear in many screens at once, which can fatally affect everyone nearby it, even if they haven't watched the video, as seen when she is able to appear in many screens in an airplane, nearly causing it to crash.

The Cursed Videotape
The cursed videotape contains surreal, otherworldly and somewhat graphic imagery that is based on both Samara's life and her twisted imaginations. In order, the disturbing scenes of the videotape include: 1) A "ring" light is shown around the lid that is covering the well and is shown from Samara's point of view.

2) Blood is shown flowing in water. This hints to the horses that were forced by Samara to commit suicide and foreshadows the ferry incident where Rachel indirectly causes a horse to kill itself.

3) A chair that Samara sat on whilst being isolated in the barn is shown in an empty room.

4) Hair is shown being combed moments before it is revealed to be Anna Morgan, who is combing her hair in front of the mirror. Samara telekinetically switches the mirror to the other side of the wall for a brief moment as a childly prank. Anna looks at her and smiles. If you turn up the volume, you can hear Samara's lullaby in the background.

5) Richard Morgan is seen looking down from the window of the upper level of the Morgan residence. It is from Samara's point of view as she occassionally plays on the swings below.

6) A fly flies in the sky near the cliff at Shelter Mountain Inn. Once the tape is watched more and more, a person can physically grab the fly out of the screen.

7) Intestines are shown being pulled out from a humanoid mouth at a fast rate. This hints to the cords that various characters who are cursed by the videotape vomit out.

8) A black plastic bag, which was used to suffocate Samara, was briefly seen being thrashed.

9) A tree is then shown on fire, which is revealed to be the Japanese maple tree seen at Shelter Mountain opposite the well's location. Samara was admiring the tree before being pushed down the well by Anna. The fire element is a reference to the tree's red leaves lighting up when in the presence of the sun.

10) A finger is impaled right through a needle and we briefly see the nail come off. This mimicks Samara's nails painfully falling off when she tried to crawl out of the well.

11) Maggots are seen swarming before it switches to humans swarming around in a liquid substance. This hints Samara's misanthropic view towards humanity.

12) A centipede crawls out from under the table which has a glass of water on top of it. This could probably show Samara's twisted view towards her own psychiatrist Dr. Scott, whom she killed after trying to treat her condition.

13) A three-legeed lamb or goat is shown limping into the barn in order to hide. This symbolises the "freak show elements" that Samara had which caused her to be isolated and marginalised from society.

14) A horse's eye stares in horror, presumably in response to Samara's malevolent presence which drove the other horses to commit suicide.

15) Seven severed fingers are shown twitching in a box. This symbolises the 7 days that the viewers after viewing the tape or the restless and neverending nature of the curse and Samara's spirit.

16) The burning maple tree is shown once again and it glitches for a few brief moments.

17) Anna is shown tying her hair after finishing combing and stares at the camera (in reality she is looking at Samara).

18) Richard disappears from the window at the upper level of the Morgan residence and the same chair from earlier is seen spinning upside down in the air. A ladder, which was used as the only access to Samara's barn, is seen leaning against the wall.

19) Blurry images of the bodies of the horses that were driven to commit suicide by Samara are seen being washed up on the shores.

20) A footage of Anna Morgan committing suicide by jumping off the cliff at Shelter Mountain Inn is shown.

21) The well's lid is shown being closed and a ladder falls down after that. The videotape ends with the well being surrounded by the trees of a nearby forest. If the videotape is watched more and more, the viewer can see Samara's hair and arm briefly emerging from the well.

Body Count

 * The Ring 2.jpgr Scott - The doctor who interviews Samara in the tape Rachel finds at the Morgan house. He was killed shortly afterwards by Samara.


 * 27 Morgan ranch horses- Driven insane by Samara which drove them to kill themselves.


 * Noah-1.jpg Embry - One of the group of teenagers who accidentally used the cursed videotape in an attempt to record a football match. She is also the only one in the group who is seen to be directly killed by Samara, leading to the instiutionalisation of her traumatised friend Becca.


 * Josh Turnadot - Katie's boyfriend who was also part of the group. who jumped off a building to presumably escape from Samara or was driven insane by her.


 * Scott Conroy - Katie's friend and a member of the group who is killed in a mysterious car crash. Samara most likely appeared on a reflective surface as they were nowhere near a TV and frightened and distracted them, which caused him to lose control of his car and crash.


 * Stacey Nyugen - See above.


 * Shelter Mountain Innkeeper - Noah finds him dead in a canoe at Shelter Mountain's lake. This is only included in the deleted scenes of the first film's DVD.


 * Ferry Horse - The horse is frightened by Rachel, who is "infected" by Samara's presence, causing it to go in a frenzy moments before jumping off the ferry. Blood is seen flowing out from the bottom of the ferry, hinting that the horse was sucked underneath and mutilated and killed by the propellers.


 * Noah Clay - Rachel's ex-boyfriend. He was unaware he had to copy the tape, and is killed by Samara directly.


 * Numerous viewers in Rings.


 * Jake - Killed by Samara directly.


 * Doctor Emma Temple - Whilst possessing Aidan, Samara forced Temple to inject a lethal injection into her neck, making her look like she killed herself.

Total: 38 (excluding numerous viewers in Rings) 
 * Max Rourke - He tries to photograph Samara possessing Aidan as proof but Samara (in Aidan's body) notices this and kills him. His distorted corpse is found slumped against the steering wheel of his pickup truck.

Trivia

 * It is highly likely that Samara inherited her supernatural abilities from her biological father as she managed to manipulate and control the movement of water despite the fact that she was aquaphobic (fear of water).
 * Samara's name means "protected by God" in Hebrew, hinting that her biological father is indeed from a supernatural realm. One of her victims' name was Noah and Noah is of Hebrew origin as well and Noah is a well-known character in the Bible who suffered in a great flood (a nod to the major theme of water in the films) and was one of the victims forced to endure the wrath of God, in contrast to Samara's name.
 * Although both Samara and her Japanese counterpart have similar tragic backstories, Samara is far less sympathetic than Sadako as after her tragedy, she continued to kill and never wanted to fix her mistakes unlike Sadako, who attempted to revert to her kind-hearted persona. Even when one of the protagonists try to help Samara (e.g. when Rachel sacrificed her safety to be her mother), Samara will often refuse it and continue to be the deranged psychopath that she unfortunately became.
 * Another theory about how Samara killed her victims is that she mentally projects all the horror from her life and the cursed videotape into the victim's mind in a short amount of time, which literally blows their mind to the point that their faces and eventually bodies become bloated and distorted. This is why a series of images from the cursed tape is shown briefly, followed by static, before each victim dies in the films.
 * In a deleted Scene, local fishermen tell Rachel an alternate version of Samara's beginning. They claim that Samara is Richard and Anna's biological child, and that a doctor from overseas helped them get pregnant. It is assumed that made deals with demonic forces as the fishermen tell Rachel that Richard and Anna often "messed with nature" before they finally gave birth to Samara.