List of American Horror Story: Cult characters

Cast members

Main cast

• Sarah Paulson as Ally Mayfair-Richards and Susan Atkins
• Evan Peters as Kai Anderson, Andy Warhol, Jim Jones, David Koresh, Marshall Applewhite, Jesus and Charles Manson.
• Cheyenne Jackson as Dr. Rudy Vincent
• Billie Lourd as Winter Anderson and Linda Kasabian
• Alison Pill as Ivy Mayfair-Richards

  Supporting cast

Characters

Main characters

Ally Mayfair-Richards

Kai Anderson

Dr. Rudy Vincent

Winter Anderson

Ivy Mayfair-Richards

Supporting characters

• Ozymandias "Oz" Mayfair-Richards is the young son of Ally and Ivy, and the charge of babysitter Winter. Despite his mother's wishes, he has an inclination towards clowns, and owns a comic book of Twisty. There is some tension between him and his mother, Ally, which is worsened by her growing paranoia and anxiety, as well as her strict rules. After Ivy leaves home with Oz, his relationship with Ally grows worse.
• Harrison and Meadow Wilton are the eccentric couple who moves next door to the Mayfair-Richards residence. Despite his marital status, Harrison reveals that he is actually a homosexual. He made a pact with Meadow in high school, that if they were still single at 35, they would marry each other. He is a personal trainer and beekeeper, as well as a personal firearm owner who keeps a sizable collection of firearms in his home. Meadow used to work in pharmaceuticals, but after being diagnosed with melanoma, she quit her job and rarely spends time outside during the day. When she does go outside, she frequently wears hats, sunglasses, and carries around a parasol to protect herself. After not generating enough income to keep the mortgage, she fears homelessness. She is a fan of The Real Housewives and Nicole Kidman, and uses humor and superficiality to hide her emotions. After the election voting, Kai Anderson recruited both of them - he had been tracking Harrison and enrolled in his training sessions where he found that he was being unfairly treated by his boss, Vinny. After an implied sexual interaction with Kai, he murders Vinny and dismembers the body, making him the first member of Kai's cult. When Meadow arrived home at their apartment and saw the men dismembering his body, she became the second cult member and designer of the clown costumes to conceal the identities. After murdering the Changs with the help of Kai and the other cult members, they settle in the residence posing as new neighbors. Although they were initially friendly to Ally and Ivy, the couple turn on them especially Ally, who was frequently called a racist by Meadow, after the death of Pedro. The couple each confides a ritual with Kai - Harrison was resentful for marrying his wife and wishes she was dead while Meadow fears of being alone and unloved after her husband's affair with Detective Samuels. Therefore, she formed a bond with the cult leader instead and when Kai turned his attention to Ivy, Meadow was upset and attempted to leave but the cult began to toss her out and claimed she is worthless. Instead of execution, Kai gave her one last test of loyalty: to gain huge support from the public to vote him as councilman by staging an attempted assassination at the rally after gaining Ally's trust. After they buried her, Harrison returns to Kai's cult by imposing a fake arrest from the police behind Meadow's alleged murder. When Ally found Meadow in the ground, she rescued her and the latter reveals to Ally the existence of the cult and her wife's involvement. Upon arriving at the rally, Meadow shoots several people and injures Kai. Ally manages to wrestle the gun from her, but Meadow commits suicide by shooting herself in the mouth. After learning about Harrison making sexist remarks, Winter, Ivy, and Beverly confront him at The Butchery on Main, where they knock him unconscious and tie him to a table in the butchery room. A short while later, Ivy dismembers him with a chainsaw, killing him. Meadow was the second member of the cult to die, followed by Harrison, who was the third.
• Beverly Hope is a resentful broadcast newscaster whose rage caught Kai's eye as he murdered a young reporter named Serena to win her loyalty to join his cult as its third member under the promise of being the last person alive. Beverly uses her position to ensure that Kai's running for city council and the shock value of their killings is on the public mind. Beverly is approached by a woman named Bebe Babbitt, who tells her that Kai is manipulating her and the other female cult members. Beverly then sets up a meeting with Winter and Ivy, who get convinced by Bebe's speech of feminism. They lure Harrison to an alleged meeting and savagely murder him after learning that he made sexist remarks. But after being placed in solitary confinement when Winter set her up for the death of Jack Samuels and then drinking what was assumed to be poisoned kool aid, Beverly broke down and became defeated. After the FBI raid on the cult, she was released without charges as the FBI assumed she was a victim rather than a member. Beverly became Ally's supporter and later killed Kai when he came to Ally's debate. For her performance, Porter was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie.
• Detective Jack Samuels is a police officer who investigates many of the troubling situations that arise. He seemingly holds some Nazism beliefs, based on the Nazi memorabilia in his home. He meets Kai during a drug bust, but agrees to not arrest him if he receives a percentage of Kai's profits. One night, Samuels confides his relationship concerns with Kai, who suggests that he sleep with a man instead of a woman. Although Samuels insists he is not gay, he agrees to have sex with him. He is presumably inducted into the cult soon after. He is called upon to investigate the mysterious brutal attacks at the hands of clown-masked assailants, including Ally's alleged attack in a supermarket and the murder of the Chang family. Upon being questioned by Ally and Ivy, he postulates that the incident was a murder-suicide, and that there was no third party involved. He questioned Ally after she discovers the body of Roger, one of the employees at The Butchery, as well as her accidental shooting of another employee, Pedro. Kai persuades Samuels to participate in a threesome with him and Winter so that they can produce the new Messiah. Although he agrees with the ritual, he is unable to retain an erection, causing Winter to angrily object. Samuels later tries to rape Winter in attempt to carry on the ritual, only to end up the fourth cult member to die when Winter wrestled his gun away from him and shoots him in the head.
• Gary K. Longstreet is a local grocery store owner and Trump supporter. The day before the election he had gotten into an argument with Ivy at a political rally, resulting in him sexually assaulting her before being chased off by Winter. That night, Winter and Ivy kidnap him and handcuff him to a pole to deny him the chance to vote. However, Kai Anderson helps him free himself by giving him a saw. Gary saws his hand off and Kai leads him to the polling station, where he proudly votes for Trump before being rushed to the hospital. It is later shown that he had joined Kai's cult. He becomes the sixth member of the cult to die when Kai sacrifices him and leaves his dismembered body outside an abortion clinic.
• Bob Thompson is a news anchor as well as Beverly and Serena's superior. Serena sexually uses him to get the job that she wants. After Serena's murder, he keeps the video of her death under his responsibility and does not let anyone see it. Beverly insists that he publishes the material so people can know what's going on — and because Kai ordered her to get the video. After deciding that Bob is jeopardizing the fear spread, Kai and Beverly gather members of the cult to kill him. During the act, they discover he has a sexual slave in his attic. They kill the gimp and Bob shortly after, much to Ivy's dismay.
• R.J. is a young cameraman who works with Beverly Hope. He joins Kai's cult and participates in the group's murders and acts of terror across the city, though he often vocalizes his unease with the killings, showing him to be more empathetic than his fellow members. Despite his involvement in the group, Kai seemingly dislikes him. Beverly eventually convinces Kai that R.J. is a weak link who should be removed from the group. Kai agrees, and orders the other cult members to kill him, making each take a turn shooting a nail into his head with a nail gun. He is the first member of the cult to be killed.

  Minor characters

• Tom and Marilyn Chang were the former neighbors of the Mayfair-Richards household. Tom was a member of the Brookfield Heights City Council who rejected Kai's speech of emphasizing fear, resulting in the brutal murder of himself and Marilyn at the hands of Kai's group with Oz made a witness to it.
• Pedro Morales is the head chef at Ally and Ivy's restaurant, The Butchery on Main. Although Ally implies he is an immigrant, he states that he is actually from San Diego. He appears to have a good relationship with Ivy, and has been working at her restaurant since it opened. He gets involved in an escalated argument with another staffer, Roger, who displays some racist tendencies against people of Hispanic descent. Shortly after, Roger is murdered, and Pedro becomes a person of interest in the case due to their recent argument. During an unexpected blackout, Ivy sends him to her home to give Ally a charger as well as some supplies, though when he arrives, Ally shoots him dead, believing him to be a home intruder.
• Roger is an employee at The Butchery on Main. He appears to display some racist tendencies, getting into an argument with a Hispanic coworker, Pedro. Shortly after, he is found dead by Ally in the meat locker of the restaurant.
• Rosie is a patient of Dr. Vincent who is dealing with trauma from being frequently locked in a cupboard by her father as a child. Due to this, she developed a fear of enclosed spaces, particularly coffins, which is triggered any time she has sex with her husband, Mark. After the death of her father, and with the treatment she received from Dr. Vincent, she managed to control her fear. But Rosie and her husband are ambushed in their home shortly after by Kai's group, locked in arranged coffins and left to die as their decomposed bodies are found a few weeks after.
• Mark is Rosie's husband. He and his wife are attacked by a group of clown assailants in their home, and they are both locked in coffins and left to die.
• Vincenzo "Vinny" Ravoli was a personal trainer and the boss of Harrison. He treated Harrison unfairly and Kai saw this. This led to Kai manipulating Harrison to murder Vinny with weights. Kai then taught Harrison how to dismember the body and discard the body parts.
• Serena Belinda was a young broadcast newscaster who is a rival to reporter Beverly Hope. Serena uses her femininity and sexuality to accomplish her career goals. She aims to work at The Today Show. She and her cameraman are murdered by clowns under the orders of Kai, who did it to persuade Beverly Hope to enter his cult.
• Cole was the cameraman for Serena Belinda who helps the news reporter despite her attitude off-camera. Cole was killed by Kai and his clowns when he attempted to help Serena who was murdered as well.
• Scott Anderson was the father of Vincent, Kai and Winter Anderson. Before Scott got into a motorcycling accident, he was a lawyer with a sharp tongue and was firm but fair with his family. After his accident, he became disabled and wheelchair bounded, which caused him to be angry and verbally abusive to Kai for his choice in what he wants to do and his wife in which he constantly accuses her of having an affair with someone else. One night his wife has enough and shot him with Kai next to him, eventually dying from his injuries before his wife eventually killed herself. After their deaths Kai would visit them in their bedroom grave and Kai admitted that he was happy with his father rotting.
• Julie Anderson was the mother of Vincent, Kai and Winter Anderson. After her husband got into a motorcycling accident she endured his verbal abuse and was constantly accused of having an affair with someone else, which she would always deny. One night after having enough of his abuse, she shot and killed her husband before committing suicide in front of a horrified Kai. After their deaths Kai would visit them in their bedroom grave and he would constantly talk to her and is sorry for her pain, Kai then promises to make her proud.
• Sally Keffler is a member of city council who opposites Kai's method of insert fear on population. She decides to run against Kai at the last minute, planning to send in her name during the polls. Later at her home, she is visited by Ally who tells her that Kai is a part of the clown cult. Sally believes her and continues to speak to her, up until the cult breaks into Sally's home. Sally is cornered by the clowns, and Kai reveals himself to her as he writes a suicide note on her Facebook account. Shortly thereafter, he shoots Sally in the chest, staging her death as a suicide.
• Valerie Solanas was a radical American feminist who wrote the SCUM Manifesto and attempted to kill Andy Warhol on June 2, 1968, due to his indifference over rejecting her script. But what the public is unaware is that Solanas founded a legion of female occultists with full intention to overthrow male oppression, her attempted murder on Warhol and incarceration in an asylum being a signal for her followers murder various men along with compliant women. But one of the few gay male members took credit for the serial killings under the alias of the Zodiac Killer. Once released three years later, Solanas's behavior gradually disillusions her followers as they abandoned her as she eventually died while having a pneumonia-based hallucination of Warhol. Dunham's performance divided opinions from critics regarding her portrayal of the character.
• Andy Warhol was an American artist who rejected a script written by Valerie Solanas, which made her angry, thus leading her to attempt to assassinate him.
• Bebe Babbitt is a woman who was romantically involved with Solanas and led SCUM in carrying out the 1960s murders which the public would credit to the Zodiac Killer. Years later, Babbitt became Kai's anger therapist as she played a role in enticing him to political power as a means to unleash female rage. But when stirring Beverly, Winter, and Ivy to act out their rage on Harris, Babbitt learns that Kai has no intent to be a martyr for her cause and is killed by Ally when she attempted to kill Kai.
• Hedda is one of the followers of Valerie Solanas. She was abandoned and orphaned as a child. She and the other women later abandoned Solanas because of her behavior.
• Butchy May joined SCUM whilst on the run from the police for murdering a man. She and the other women later abandoned Solanas because of her behavior.
• Pastor Charles was an ultra-conservative minister who punished those he considered sinners, such as drug addicts, homosexuals and women who had abortions. On October 2015, his wrongdoings were intercepted by Kai and Winter Anderson who rescued his victims from further torture and entrapped him in one of his own devices, killing him. His death would have a significant mental scarring on Kai, who would soon after begin to see the world as a place where not everyone can be saved.
• Sharon Tate was an American actress and model who was murdered by the Manson Family on August 9, 1969.
• Dorothy is one of Winter Anderson's friends. On October 19, 2016, she, Winter and Riley watch and discuss the final US Presidential debate in the Anderson's basement until Winter's brother Kai intervenes by talking about Donald Trump's likelihood of becoming the next president. After witnessing Kai slapping Riley in the face in rage, Riley angrily storms out, causing her to follow Riley and leaves.
• Riley is one of Winter Anderson's friends. On October 19, 2016, while she, Winter and Dorothy watch and discuss the final US Presidential debate in the Anderson's basement, Winter's brother Kai intervenes by talking about Donald Trump's likelihood of becoming the next president, this causes her to get into a verbal argument with him. After she insults him, Kai slaps her in the face in rage, causing her to angrily storm out and later press charges against him.
• Herbert Jackson is a political adversary to Ally Mayfair-Richards' campaign who he is running for senate. He was making remarks about Kai Anderson in an interview where he was saying he was not doing the right things. Herbert was in a debate with Ally to see who would become senator before the debate was ambushed by Kai. He attempted to stop Kai of his actions before being knocked out by him. After Kai's death Ally wins the debate, becoming the new senator.
• Gloria Whitmore is a prison guard at the Robert Gordon Maximum Security Prison. Gloria began a relationship with Kai Anderson in prison where she became a cult member. She helps Kai escape prison only to betray him after Ally Mayfair-Richards warns her about Kai. At the debate with Ally and Herbert Jackson she hands Kai a gun for him to find out it is out of bullets, letting Kai know he was betrayed.
• Erika is Ally's new girlfriend. She also works for Ally as the receptionist at the Butchery on Maine. It is shown that she turns down an interview with Rachel Maddow on Ally's behalf. She later supported her girlfriend along with Ally's son Oz and Beverly Hope for Ally's Michigan State Senate campaign.
• Trevor Geary was a 19 year old prisoner who was sentenced 25 years to life in Robert Gordon Maximum Security Prison after he killed a child in his father's Tesla while driving under the influence. Instead of calling the police of what he had done, he dumped the child's corpse in a reservoir out of fear that he would go to jail for the rest of his life if anyone found out. He meets Kai Anderson in the prison yard and they engage in pinky-power, after he confessed everything to Kai and asks him for protection, Kai calls him a coward for killing the child but is willing to take him under his wing. Later Trevor meets up with Kai and security guard Gloria Whitmore in the prison laundry. He begs Kai to escape with him out of fear that he will die in prison without him. Kai, however, fatally stabs him, mutilating his face with Gloria's help so that he can pass as his body double. Police later found his mutilated body and mistaken him as Kai, unaware that the real Kai actually escaped.