List of American Horror Story characters

American Horror Story title screen.

American Horror Story is an American horror television series created and produced by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk. Described as an anthology series, each season is conceived as a self-contained miniseries, following a disparate set of characters, settings, and a storyline with its own beginning, middle, and end. However, Murphy has stated that all of the seasons are and will be connected by the end of the series.

The first season, subtitled Murder House, takes place during 2011 in Los Angeles, California and centers on a family that moves into a house haunted by its deceased former occupants. The second season, subtitled Asylum, takes place during 1964 in Massachusetts and follows the stories of the inmates and staff of an institution for the criminally insane. The third season, subtitled Coven, takes place during 2013 in New Orleans, Louisiana and follows a coven of witches who face off against those who wish to destroy them. The fourth season, subtitled Freak Show, takes place during 1952 in Jupiter, Florida and focuses on one of the last remaining freak shows in America and its struggle to survive. The fifth season, subtitled Hotel, takes place during 2015 in Los Angeles, California and centers on the unusual occurrences and people of a mysterious and outdated hotel. The sixth, and current season, subtitled Roanoke, takes place in 2015 on Roanoke Island in North Carolina, and follows a documentary of experiences endured by a couple and one of their relatives while living on Roanoke Island followed by reenactments, and, in 2016, the real experiences on the Island of the couple and the reenactors of the documentary.

Although each season is set in a different time period, there have been characters who have appeared in multiple seasons. Billie Dean Howard (Sarah Paulson), Marcy (Christine Estabrook), Dr. Charles Montgomery (Matt Ross), Sister Mary Eunice McKee (Lily Rabe), Dr. Arthur Arden (James Cromwell as old Arden; John Cromwell as young Arden), Pepper (Naomi Grossman), Queenie (Gabourey Sidibe), and Lana Winters (Paulson) are the only eight characters to appear in more than one season of the series. Sister Mary, Dr. Arden, and Pepper appear and reappear in Asylum and Freak Show. Billie, Marcy, and Dr. Montgomery make appearances in Murder House and Hotel. Queenie appears in both Coven and Hotel, while Lana appears in Asylum and Roanoke. Murphy has stated that as the series progresses, more and more characters will be making a return to the show.

Notable cast members

Main

^1 Frances Conroy and Lady Gaga in Roanoke are two actresses, whose name is unknown, who play in the My Roanoke Nightmare re-enactment Mama Polk and Scathach, respectively.

Recurring

^2 Alexandra Breckenridge in Murder House and John Cromwell in Asylum and Freak Show portray the young versions of Moira O'Hara (Frances Conroy) and Dr. Arthur Arden (James Cromwell), respectively.

Murder House

Main cast

• Connie Britton as Vivien Harmon
• Dylan McDermott as Ben Harmon
• Evan Peters as Tate Langdon
• Taissa Farmiga as Violet Harmon
• Denis O'Hare as Larry Harvey
• Jessica Lange as Constance Langdon

Special guest stars

• Kate Mara as Hayden McClaine
• Zachary Quinto as Chad Warwick
• Charles S. Dutton as Det. Granger
• Eric Stonestreet as Derek

Recurring

• Frances Conroy as Moira O'Hara
• Alexandra Breckenridge as Young Moira O'Hara
• Lily Rabe as Nora Montgomery
• Jamie Brewer as Adelaide Langdon
• Matt Ross as Dr. Charles Montgomery
• Michael Graziadei as Travis Wanderley
• Sarah Paulson as Billie Dean Howard
• Teddy Sears as Patrick
• Ben Woolf as Thaddeus Montgomery

Asylum

Main cast

• Zachary Quinto as Dr. Oliver Thredson
• Joseph Fiennes as Monsignor Timothy Howard
• Sarah Paulson as Lana Winters
• Evan Peters as Kit Walker
• Lily Rabe as Sister Mary Eunice McKee
• Lizzie Brocheré as Grace Bertrand.
• James Cromwell as Dr. Arthur Arden
• Jessica Lange as Sister Jude Martin

Special guest stars

• Chloë Sevigny as Shelley
• Ian McShane as Leigh Emerson

Recurring

• Naomi Grossman as Pepper
• Britne Oldford as Alma Walker
• Clea DuVall as Wendy Pyser
• Frances Conroy as Shachath: The Angel of Death
• Fredric Lehne as Frank McCann
• Adam Levine as Leo Morrison
• Jenna Dewan Tatum as Teresa Morrison

Coven

Main cast

• Sarah Paulson as Cordelia Foxx
• Taissa Farmiga as Zoe Benson
• Frances Conroy as Myrtle Snow
• Evan Peters as Kyle Spencer
• Lily Rabe as Misty Day
• Emma Roberts as Madison Montgomery
• Denis O'Hare as Spalding
• Kathy Bates as Delphine LaLaurie
• Jessica Lange as Fiona Goode

Special guest stars

• Angela Bassett as Marie Laveau
• Gabourey Sidibe as Queenie
• Danny Huston as The Axeman
• Patti LuPone as Joan Ramsey
• Stevie Nicks as Stevie Nicks

Recurring

• Jamie Brewer as Nan
• Josh Hamilton as Hank Foxx
• Alexander Dreymon as Luke Ramsey
• Lance Reddick as Papa Legba
• Leslie Jordan as Quentin Fleming
• Robin Bartlett as Cecily Pembroke

Freak Show

Main cast

• Sarah Paulson as Bette & Dot Tattler
• Evan Peters as Jimmy Darling
• Michael Chicklis as Dell Toledo
• Frances Conroy as Gloria Mott
• Denis O'Hare as Stanley
• Emma Roberts as Maggie Esmerelda
• Finn Wittrock as Dandy Mott
• Angela Bassett as Desiree Dupree
• Kathy Bates as Ethel Darling
• Jessica Lange as Elsa Mars

Special guest stars

• Celia Weston as Lillian Hemmings
• Wes Bentley as Edward Mordrake
• Gabourey Sidibe as Regina Ross
• Danny Huston as Massimo Dolcefino
• Neil Patrick Harris as Chester Creb
• Matt Bomer as Andy
• Lily Rabe as Sister Mary Eunice McKee

Recurring

• Naomi Grossman as Pepper
• Grace Gummer as Penny
• John Carroll Lynch as Twisty the Clown
• Skyler Samuels as Bonnie Lipton
• Patti LaBelle as Dora
• Jamie Brewer as Marjorie
• Mare Winningham as Rita Gayheart

Hotel

Main cast

• Kathy Bates as Iris
• Sarah Paulson as Sally McKenna and Billie Dean Howard
• Evan Peters as James Patrick March
• Wes Bentley as Det. John Lowe
• Matt Bomer as Donovan
• Chloë Sevigny as Dr. Alex Lowe
• Denis O'Hare as Liz Taylor
• Cheyenne Jackson as Will Drake
• Angela Bassett as Ramona Royale
• Lady Gaga as Elizabeth Johnson

Special guest stars

• Mare Winningham as Hazel Evers
• Finn Wittrock as Tristan Duffy and Rudolph Valentino
• Naomi Campbell as Claudia Bankson
• Lily Rabe as Aileen Wuornos
• Gabourey Sidibe as Queenie

Recurring

• Lennon Henry as Holden Lowe
• Richard T. Jones as Det. Andrew Hahn
• Shree Crooks as Scarlett Lowe
• Max Greenfield as Gabriel
• Helena Mattson as Agnetha
• Kamilla Alnes as Vendela
• Christine Estabrook as Marcy
• Alexandra Daddario as Natacha Rambova
• John Carroll Lynch as John Wayne Gacy

Roanoke

Main cast

• Kathy Bates as Agnes Mary Winstead
• Sarah Paulson as Audrey Tindall and Lana Winters
• Cuba Gooding Jr. as Dominic Banks
• Lily Rabe as Shelby Miller
• André Holland as Matt Miller
• Denis O'Hare as William van Henderson
• Wes Bentley as Dylan
• Evan Peters as Rory Monahan
• Cheyenne Jackson as Sidney Aaron James
• Angela Bassett as Monet Tumusiime

Special guest stars

• Lady Gaga as Scathach¹
• Frances Conroy as Mama Polk¹
• Finn Wittrock as Jether Polk

Recurring

• Adina Porter as Lee Harris
• Leslie Jordan as Ashley Gilbert
• Saniyya Sidney as Flora Harris¹
• Charles Malik Whitfield as Mason Harris¹
• Robin Weigert as Mama Polk
• Shannon Lucio as Diana Cross
• Taissa Farmiga as Sophie Green
• Jacob Artist as Todd Connors
• Chaz Bono as Brian Wells

^1 These actors portray their characters solely in the My Roanoke Nightmare reenactment.