Here is where you will find biographies for the characters.

Doctor Finklestein

Doctor Finklestein is a resident of Halloween Town. He is the mad scientist and the "father" of Sally. He is described as a pale-as-a-sheet mad scientist with a duckbill-like mouth and a hinged skullcap that he can open up to reveal his brain. For unknown reasons he uses a motorized wheelchair (early drawings of Finklestein depict him standing freely, and his original action figure followed this example, implying he was not always intended to be a wheelchair user). Finklestein is only referred to as the "Evil Scientist" in the credits. His true name is only mentioned in the movie when the Mayor calls him up to the front of the line for his Christmas assignment.

Doctor Finklestein lives in a large observatory with his living rag doll creation Sally and his hunchbacked assistant Igor. James Whale's Frankenstein is quoted in Finklestein's line "I made you with my own hands" which is ironic as Finklestein's body appears to be largely if not entirely artificial. Unlike Frankenstein who takes no responsibility for his creations and disowns them almost as soon as they are completed (much like the original Dr. Frankenstein), Finklestein takes full responsibility over Sally and acts as an over-protective father and in some ways an overbearing husband (thus explaining Sally's attempts to run away) by keeping her under lock and key under the pretext of sheltering her from the world. In addition to being an overbearing and antagonistic father figure for Sally to overcome, Finklestein also has a hand in helping Jack Skellington (of whom he seems to be very fond) with his plan to take over Christmas by bringing to life several skeletal reindeer to pull Jack's sleigh. At the end of the film, Finklestein, deciding that Sally is too much of a handful, creates a wife for himself using a portion of his own brain.

Dr. Finklestein was voiced by William Hickey in the film.

Jack Skellington

The film's protagonist, Jack Skellington is a dreaded nightmarish skeleton with the alias of The Pumpkin King. He is popular among the inhabitants of Halloween Town, due to his charming personality and aim to please. Despite a lack of inhibition, he means well. He is in charge of Halloween. Having not left it within many years (as heard in the song Jack's Lament where he mentions England, Kentucky and France), he felt his inspiration for his own holiday waning. Christmas Town gave him new ideas and inspiration.

Jack is voiced by Chris Sarandon, and his singing voice is provided by Danny Elfman.

Lock, Shock & Barrel

Lock, Shock, and Barrel are introduced as Oogie Boogie's not-so-loyal "little henchmen". Lock, Shock, and Barrel are not really loyal to Oogie as they are simply making mischief for their own fun and to stay on his good side (in other words: they serve him out of fear) and after his death they just have harmless fun, which they seem to enjoy more; however, this is contrasted by their lack of common sense as, presumably due to their lust for mischief they have shown no protest when their master was revived in the spinoffs, and once out of boredom revived him themselves in "Oogie's Revenge".. They all three are trick-or-treaters, with masks similar to their faces (e.g. Barrel's skeleton mask is large and round to fit his face, with a huge grin on it like his near-permanent creepy smile). Their names are a play on the phrase, "lock, stock, and barrel." Though not totally antagonistic, they are usually the comedy relief. They appear to be anti-heroes or merely neutral characters, as they'll work for most of those who summon them.

Lock is supposedly the leader of Oogie's Boys, but does not always think through things thoroughly and just likes to be in charge. Lock wears a red devil costume; his tail is a real devil's tail, his teeth are pointed sharply. His face is narrow and long-jawed with angular features, and his red and brown hair is formed into two horns making him, literally, a handsome devil. He likes to think highly of himself and gets upset when others insult him or take the lead; however, he goes along with others' ideas if he fails to come up with anything himself.

Shock is the most cunning and dangerous of the three, presumably she is the oldest, and she is the only female of Oogie's henchmen. She has some contempt for the other two and their supposed stupidity, although she often gets tired with them. Shock wears a purple witch costume with an elongated hat and she sometimes carries a broomstick. She has a high-pitched girl's voice, green skin, a pointed nose, and wirey hair. She often takes the lead in many plans and likes to be right.

Barrel is Oogie's "star pupil," presumably the youngest, and mistakenly considered the stupidest of the three troublemakers, despite his protests to the contrary. He is the butt of many jokes made by his friends but usually gets even through his own tricks which he always gets away with. Barrel wears a skeleton costume and has deformed feet and almost always carries an orange and black lolipop, otherwise resembling a small human boy, albeit one with white skin, sunken eyes, and perfectly coiffed green hair. His face is round and has a perpetual grin, except when he is angry or scared. Barrel usually pilots the walking bathtub the trio use as transport. He also unintentionally bothers Jack when asking him a number of annoying questions. Often he gets left out of things because he is forever falling over his own deformed feet and he is sometimes slow to catch on.

Instructing them to "leave that no-account Oogie Boogie OUT of this!" (they promise to do so, but cross their fingers), Jack sends Lock, Shock, and Barrel to "Kidnap the Sandy Claws" (the Halloween Town residents' mistaken name for Santa Claus). At first, they accidentally capture the Easter Bunny, whereupon Jack tells them to apologize and sends them back. They then capture their true quarry, and Jack takes Santa's hat. The trio then take Santa Claus to Oogie's lair, where Oogie taunts and threatens Santa. Once Jack has defeated Oogie and rescued Santa Claus, a hatch above opens and Lock, Shock, and Barrel appear now protagonists, having led the Mayor to Oogie's lair to find them.

In the movie, Lock was voiced by Paul Reubens, Shock was voiced by Catherine O'Hara, and Barrel was voiced by Danny Elfman.

The Mayor

The Mayor of Halloween Town is depicted as a short, fat man, who has the appearance of a giant candy corn with a cone-shaped head, wearing an impossibly tall top hat, a spider bolo tie, and a ribbon of office that says "Mayor" on it. His cone-shaped head has two faces. One face is peach-skinned, rosy-cheeked, and smiling while the other face is white-skinned, pale and frowning with pointed teeth. Depending on the Mayor's mood, his head swivels around to display the right face with a loud clicking sound; the other face, when not in use, has its eyes closed and is considered dormant. This split personality is likely inspired by Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and is a literal interpretation of the phrase "two-faced politicians".

Despite his office, the Mayor apparently has very little actual authority in the day-to-day running of the town, especially in planning for Halloween. This is attested when he arrives at Jack Skellington's house to discuss some plans with him, not knowing that Jack is not home. When Jack does not answer, the Mayor quickly gets hysterical and yells, more to himself than anyone, "Jack, please, I'm only an elected official here! I can't make decisions by myself!". Nonetheless, the Mayor seems to enjoy his position. He apparently owns the only automobile in town....a hearse-like car called the "Mayor-mobile" that is equipped with a loudspeaker for making announcements and a black, cat-shaped hood ornament that sounds a siren when its tail is cranked. The Mayor supports Jack and helps him in his quest to bring his own version of Christmas to the world, despite his secret misgivings about it. When Jack is apparently killed by the US Army, the Mayor openly admits he had a bad feeling about "this Christmas thing," and sorrowfully goes off in his Mayor-mobile to make the announcement throughout Halloween Town and the surrounding countryside that "the king of Halloween has been blown to smithereens". Later, he is told by Lock, Shock, and Barrel that Jack is in over his head and alive, and comes to retrieve him and Sally after Oogie Boogie has been defeated. The Mayor of Halloween Town is among the citizens surprised (and once again uneasy) when it starts snowing in Halloween Town, but when he catches a snowflake on his tongue, his head swivels around to reveal his pleased expression.

He is voiced by Glenn Shadix in the film.

Oogie Boogie

Oogie Boogie is the main antagonist of the film. Oogie Boogie is essentially the Bogeyman, resembling a large burlap sack. When Oogie Boogie is defeated, it is revealed that he is a colony of bugs wrapped in sacking.

Oogie Boogie did not appear in Tim Burton's original poem, but Burton later sketched a portrait of what appeared to be a potato sack man with horrible things inside. The Oogie puppet was two feet high, twice the height of the other puppets. In his autobiography Burton on Burton, Burton says that Oogie Boogie was loosely inspired by Cab Calloway's 1932 appearance in a Betty Boop cartoon, and that he asked Danny Elfman to make Oogie's song slightly resemble Calloway's 1931 recording of the song "Minnie the Moocher". Elfman ended up referencing the Betty Boop cartoon The Old Man of the Mountain (1933), also featuring Calloway. Santa's line "Well, what are you going to do?" and Oogie Boogie's response of "I'm gonna do the best I can!" are direct quotes from this cartoon. Another idea for Oogie's identity was for him to be Dr. Finklestein in disguise, gaining revenge on Jack and Sally, but it was not pursued past storyboards since Tim Burton scrapped the idea.

Unlike all the other inhabitants of Halloween Town, who are merely monsters who scare people simply because they enjoy it as a celebration of their skill and fun, it appears that Oogie is truly evil. It is suggested that his sinister nature had resulted in his exile from the mainstream Halloween Town. He lives in an underground lair full of torture devices, each of which features a casino-like appearance. Red skeletons - implied to be the remains of previous victims - are in several of the devices, and overhanging chains are used as perches by skeletal bats. Oogie-Boogie's lair, during his theme song, is lit with black lights in the style of a cheap funhouse. Under these, Oogie himself glows bright green, similar to a glow stick. After the lights dim, however, the bright color is sapped from his lair, transforming its appearance into that of a dank, cellar-like dungeon. Above his lair is the clubhouse of Lock, Shock, and Barrel, who feed him bugs regularly via a metal chute. It is at first believed that Oogie cannot be killed or die but it is later revealed he can be destroyed if his brain, the lead bug, is destroyed. In the movie, Lock, Shock, and Barrel kidnap Santa Claus and (against the wishes of Jack, who holds Oogie in great contempt) send him down to Oogie Boogie's lair, where he is bound to a giant roulette wheel. According to deleted song material (found in the soundtrack version), Oogie plans to add "Sandy Claws" to his new batch of Snake and Spider Stew, to "add a little spice". Sally, after finding out Santa's fate, attempts to rescue him but is captured herself. Oogie then tortures and tries to kill Sally and Santa Claus, but is destroyed when Jack pulls a thread loose from him, which causes the majority of his bugs to fall into the lava pit. The lead bug is then squashed by Santa after it falls next to the pit. The rest of the bugs scurry off after this.

Despite the fact that he is hated for the most part by the other inhabitants of Halloween Town, it appears they still allow him to take part in their celebration, as his shadow makes an appearance in the opening musical "This Is Halloween" as the "shadow on the moon at night, filling your dreams to the brim with fright".

He is voiced by Ken Page in all of his appearances.

Sally

Sally is Jack Skellington's love interest. She is a loving, caring, and shy rag doll who told Jack that Christmas and Halloween shouldn't be mixed. She is originally patched together by Doctor Finkelstein. She is the only one to have doubts about Jack's Christmas plan. Although her creator attempts to keep her constantly imprisoned, she often manages escape with deadly nightshade she slips him, causing him to fall asleep. Despite her makeshift appearance, Sally is a determined individual with a good feel for what is right.

Sally is a rag doll-type character, with detachable limbs stuffed with fall leaves. She often falls apart, requiring her to sew herself back together, and carries a set of sewing needles and thread for precisely that purpose. She was created by Doctor Finklestein, Halloween Town's resident mad scientist, as a companion. Their relationship is rather tense, as Finklestein insists on keeping Sally under lock and key, under the pretext of protecting her from the excitement of the outside world. However Sally is restless, and is intrigued by the wonders of the outside world.

It is this restlessness, or, more specifically, this desire for something better in her life, that draws her to Jack Skellington. In the beginning of the movie, she idolizes and admires Jack much like any of the other female members of Halloween Town; however, she quickly discovers that they are connected by the desire for something more in their lives, and her feelings for him intensify. The two refer to each other as "friends", though Jack seems unaware of Sally's true feelings for him, as she is too shy to make them known to him other than through her sweet actions, however this could be argued because after Boogie's defeat, Jack and Sally are left alone and Jack sees that Sally tried her best to help him. Thus prompting him to finally realize how much she cares for him and how much he loves her in return.

On the album to the film it is mentioned that years later Sandy Claws returned to Halloween Town and saw that Jack now had four or five skeleton children of his own. Many fans of the film and of the franchise assume that given the ending to the film, that Jack and Sally eventually got married and had a family of their own.

Sally's voice was provided by Catherine O'Hara throughout the movie.

Santa Claus

Santa Claus (or Sandy Claws as Jack calls him) is the leader of Christmas Town. When Jack stumbles upon the town, he becomes mesmerized with the holiday and he tries to bring Christmas to Halloween Town. In order to do so, Jack orders Lock, Shock, and Barrel to kidnap Santa on Christmas Eve so Jack can take his place for the Christmas season. The three then take Santa to Oogie Boogie where the holiday figure's life is threatened. A last minute rescue helps save not only Santa, but the entire holiday of Christmas as well. Santa Claus manages to round up the living gifts and replace them with the right ones.

Santa Claus is voiced by Ed Ivory.

Zero

Zero is Jack's faithful ghost dog who floats about freely and follows Jack wherever he goes. His nose, which is in the shape of a jack-o-lantern, also doubles as a bright light.

Behemoth

A tall, somewhat fat zombie-like man with blue overalls, yellow gloves, and an axe stuck in his head. He looks rather dumb, but looks strong at the same time. He shouted at the Easter Bunny causing him to jump back into the bag. He is voiced by Randy Crenshaw.

Clown With The Tear-Away Face

A fat clown who rides a unicycle and can tear off his face to reveal complete darkness and disappear into a puff of smoke. When his face is on, he speaks in a high voice. But when his face is off, he speaks in a deep, booming voice. He is voiced by Danny Elfman.

Corpse Family

A family of zombies. Corpse Dad, Corpse Mom, and Corpse Kid. According to The Nightmare Before Christmas Trading Card Game, Corpse Dad is named "Ned," Corpse Mom is named "Bertha," and Corpse Kid is named "Ethan." Corpse Kid would often be seen in the company of Mummy Boy and Withered Winged Demon. Ethan and Bertha are voiced by Debi Durst while Ned is voiced by Kerry Katz.

Creature Under the Bed

A monster whose sharp teeth and glowing, red eyes are only shown. He is only seen once in the whole entire movie. With the line of "I am the one hiding under your bed, Teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red!" He is voiced by Carmen Twilie.

Creature Under the Stairs

A brownish-grey monster with black and white stipes on his neck has fingers resembling snakes and spider-like hair as his line in "This is Halloween" quotes "I am the one hiding under your stairs, fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair!" He is voiced by Kerry Katz.

Cyclops

A thin, black, pointy-eared monster with one eye. He looks rather nervous. His voice actor was never credited.

Devil

A red devil complete with horns and a goatee. He likes the idea of a Pox being in the box (Christmas present) as suggested by the Harlequin Demon during the town hall meeting song. He is seen working the large saw on the bat toy with the Wolfman and the Corpse Dad during the "Making Christmas" song. He is voiced by Greg Proops.

Gate Keeper

The keeper of the Halloween Town Gate only seen a few times in the film. He is an anthropomorphic raven with yellow suit and a bowler hat.

Ghosts

A quintet of ghosts who provide a chorus role during musical numbers. According to The Nightmare Before Christmas Trading Card Game, their names are Alberto (a Bass), Pietro (a Baritone), Luciano (a Tenor), Sophia (an Alto), and Maria (a Soprano).

Grim Reaper

A Grim Reaper was seen only twice in "This is Halloween" and at the town meeting. You never see his face and he also carries a scythe.

Grim Reaper's Companion

A strange hooded woman sits beside the Reaper during the town meeting.

Hanging Tree and Hangmen

A spirited tree with skeletons hanging from his branches. The Hanging Tree's voice actor is never credited in the film.

Harlequin Demon

A monster that attempts to make a hat out of dead rat during the song "Making Christmas". Though Jack voices his opinion and tells him to convert a dead bat into a hat. He also has the thought of pox in the box (Christmas present). He is voiced by Greg Proops.

Igor

Dr. Finklestein's assistant who enjoys dog bone treats. He is seen giving at the town meeting and later giving Dr. Finklestein the plans for the skeleton reindeer. His voice actor is uncredited in the film, but was revealed on the Toy Story 3 DVD to have been voiced by Joe Ranft.

Jack O' Lantern

There are a bunch of Jack-O'-Lantern that are found throughout Halloween Town. One Jack O' Lantern can be seen at the town meeting.

Jewel

She is a monster created by Dr. Finklestein (also thought to be his wife) to replace Sally as his servant. Throughout the film he is seen creating her and is finally seen at the end pushing his wheelchair during the finale part when the Halloween Town residents are enjoying the snow.

Melted Man

A slimy man in a fancy suit who is always melted. He is seen in the song "Making Christmas" trying to pass of a dead turtle as a present. He is also very sticky and can get things stuck to him easily. His voice actor is unknown.

Mr. Hyde

A man with little versions of himself in his top hat (similar to The Cat in the Hat). He is voiced by Randy Crenshaw.

Mummy Boy

A tiny mummy child with one visible yellow eyeball. He is seen in the company of the Corpse Kid or the Withered Winged Demon. He is also on top of the mayor's car helping him. Mummy is voiced by Sherwood Ball.

Rats

Several rats can be seen running around Halloween Town. One rat is seen with a Christmas present and a party hat upon Santa Claus being brought into Halloween Town by Lock, Shock, and Barrel.

Shadows

A demented shadow who looks like an odd ghostly demon shadow, a werewolf shadow, and a female Siamese Twin shadow who introduce the song "This Is Halloween." The demon and wolf shadows have exactly the same voice.

Skeletal Reindeer

The Skeletal Reindeer were created by Doctor Finklestein in the movie to act as the reindeer that will pull the sleigh that Jack will pilot. They were broken when the air force shot down Jack's sleigh.

Skeletal Rooster

A Skeletal Rooster is seen crowing before the musical number "Jack's Obsession".

Undersea Gal

Referred to once in the film as "The Fabulous Dark Lagoon Creature". She is a cross between a gill-man and a mermaid. Voiced by Carmen Twillie.

Vampire Brothers

Four vampires that have umbrellas when moving around in the day. The characters' last appearance in the movie features them playing ice hockey with a small jack o' lantern as a puck. They are voiced by Randy Crenshaw, Kerry Katz, and Sherwood Ball.

Witches

Two witches. One is tall and one is short. While their names aren't given in the movie, the Nightmare Before Christmas trading card game gives them the names "Helgamine" (tall witch) and "Zeldaborne" (short witch) The tall witch is voiced by Susan McBride. The small witch is voiced by Debi Durst.

Withered Winged Demon

A small demon that uses her large wings to walk. She is often seen in the company of the Corpse Kid and the Mummy Boy. Withered Wing Demon is voiced by Susan McBride.

Wolfman

A werewolf that lives in Halloween Town. In the "Making Christmas" number, he was seen working with the Corpse Dad and the Devil on a bat toy. Voiced by Glenn Walters.

Zombie Band

An Accordion, bass, and saxophone zombie players. According to The Nightmare Before Christmas Trading Card Game, the Accordion player is named "Jimmy", the bass player is named "Jim", and the Sax Player is named "James". Jim's bass contains a severed head in it that spoke. Jimmy is voiced by L. Peter Callendar (who was never credited for the role), Jim never spoke. James is voiced by Greg Proops.