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| “ | She's going to cry. | „ |
| ~ Heather's most evil quote as she taunts Heather McNamara. |
| “ | Veronica... You look like hell! | „ |
| ~ Heather's final line in the movie and her most famous quote |
Heather Duke is the secondary antagonist of the 1989 black comedy film Heathers, as well as its musical adaptation. She is a member of the titular trio of Heathers and the underling of Jason Dean.
She was portrayed by Shannen Doherty.
History
Heather is the second member of the trio of Heathers and is best recognized by her signature color of green and timid personality. During her time within the group Heather was heavily bullied by the group's leader Heather Chandler and suffered from bulimia, using the condition as a coping mechanism, despite Chandler's treatment of her however she was treated well by Heather McNamara and Chandler's best friend. Following Chandler's death however (at the unintentional hands of Veronica Sawyer and intentional hands of Jason unbeknownst to the other Heathers) Duke's personality begins to somewhat improve as she starts eating healthily again and seems more relaxed and confident. At the cost of her new found confidence however, she shows her true colours by changing her signature colour from green to red and becoming more and more despicable, eventually culminating when she is manipulated by Jason into taking over Heather Chandler's original role in the school. She also reveals her severe sadism by this point as she takes delight in belittling Heather McNamara at any chance she gets.
Following this Heather is continuously manipulated by Jason into spreading around rumors in a petition of a special event coming to the school, often changing the origin of what the event actually is in order to gain every demographic. In reality this petition was actually a suicide note designed by Jason unbeknownst to Heather. Sometime around this point Heather hears of the overweight Marla Dunnstock's attempted suicide and comes to Veronica's home and expresses her amusement to the situation prompting in enraged Veronica to violently slap her in the face. Later on that evening the two tune into a radio show which revolves around supporting those saddened by the recent "suicides", to the shock of the pair Heather McNamara appears on the show confessing her insecurity and misery over the death of Ram Sweeny her love interest (who Jason forged a note pretending he was a homosexual who killed himself previously) and how she blames herself, Veronica is horrified by this while Heather finds it amusing, this is immediately followed by Duke's cruelest act from when she openly mocks a grieving McNamara by spreading around to the entire school the latter's struggles with depression prompting McNamara to try and commit suicide who was thankfully rescued by Veronica before this could be accomplished.
At the end of the movie after Jason's death Duke approaches a battle damaged Veronica confused, this ends with Veronica stealing the signature red scrunchie once belonging to Heather Chandler declaring herself to Duke the "new sheriff in town" before kissing Duke on the cheek. She last appeared simply looking on at Veronica confused.
Other Versions
Heathers Musical
Heather Duke appears in the musical version and has almost the same role as in the movie.
Songs
- Beautiful
- Candy Store
- Big Fun
- Never Shut Up Again
- Shine a Light
- Shine a Light (Reprise)
- Dead Girl Walking (Reprise)
- Seventeen (Reprise)
Personality
Earlier in the movie Heather is a very insecure, quiet and envious girl who secretly loathes Heather Chandler and the attention she gets. She is also an avid reader who is usually seen reading Moby Dick throughout the movie. By the end of the movie however, her true self is revealed to be nothing more than an opportunistic, cold-hearted bully who slowly drops all care she has for anybody who can't give her something in return. She is incredibly unsympathetic especially towards Heather McNamara who she drives to attempted suicide.
Appearance
Heather is short pale, slim girl with chestnut brown hair and grey eyes. For the first half of the movie her signature color was always green however over the course towards the movie's end this changes to red symbolizing her change into filling Heather Chandler's role.
Trivia
- Heather Duke is undoubtedly the most evil of the Heathers.
- Heather's initial color of green is symbolic of her envy towards Heather Chandler. This is further confirmed after she takes on Heather's old colour of red after the latter's death symbolising her new found confidence and domininance over her peers.