Lydia Deetz

Lydia Deetz
Occupation:	Speaking with the dead High School student (formerly) Miss Shannon's student #1 (animated series) Host of Ghost House with Lydia Deetz (formerly)
Quote:	"Though I know I should be wary, still I venture someplace scary. Ghostly Hauntings I turn loose… Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!"
Also Known As:	Pumpkin, Lyds, Babes
Appeared In:	Beetlejuice (movie) Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (movie) Beetlejuice: The Musical The Musical The Musical Beetlejuice (animated series)
Played By:	Winona Ryder (movies) Sophia Anne Caruso (musical) Alyson Court (animated)
Related:	Charles Deetz (father; deceased) ((all)) Delia Deetz (stepmother; deceased) ((all)) Richard (ex-husband; deceased) ((BJ2)) Astrid Deetz (daughter) ((BJ2)) Emily Deetz (biological mother; deceased) ((musical))

Lydia Deetz is the daughter of Charles Deetz and the stepdaughter of Delia Deetz. She’s mostly referred to as a "goth" girl. Beetlejuice plans on marrying her, so he can return to the world of the living. She’s the main protagonist of the Beetlejuice movies and the deuteragonist of the animated series. It is revealed in the second film that Lydia's biological mother isn't dead, which is what people initially theorized happened to her mother for Delia to end up her stepmother. In fact, in the musical, the plot is primarily a modified version of the original film's story where Lydia's mother passes away and Lydia attempts to reconnect with her in the afterlife by making a deal with Betelgeuse, similar to Astrid Deetz' deal with Jeremy Frazier to enter the afterlife and find her father.

Movie canon

History (BJ1)

Lydia Deetz is from New York City and moved with her family to Winter River, Connecticut after her father decided to take a break from his real estate business and Delia needs a new inspiration for her art gallery. She defines herself as strange and unusual, and quickly sighted the Maitlands in the attic window on moving day. When the Maitlands tried to scare Delia and then were leaving her room, Lydia photographed them in the hall, then realizing they were the ghosts, and formally introduced themselves.

History (BJ2)

Lydia hosts the TV Show "Ghost House With Lydia Deetz". But, recent events following the unexpected death of her father has caused her, her mother Delia and her daughter Astrid to meet in the small town of Winter River in the house that her and her parents had called home.

Physical Description (BJ1)

In the movie Lydia has medium-length black hair with pointed bangs and always has her hair in a half-ponytail. She is perpetually dressed in black. During the wedding scene, she’s seen wearing a poofy red, rose-themed dress and looks disgusted at the fact that she’s marrying Betelgeuse.

Personality (BJ1)

Lydia is an irritable but friendly girl who is sensitive beyond her Goth dress and feels isolated in the world. Her father and stepmother do not take anything she says seriously and often ignore her for their own selfish pursuits. Lydia loves writing poetry, taking photographs, and loves anything pertaining to the supernatural and paranormal. Despite her young age, Lydia appears to be the most sensible member of the Deetz household. Though in her dark personality she has a great dark sense of humor to her. She also has a certain flair for the dramatic, particularly when talking about herself. By the end of the film, she is more happy and well-adjusted because Adam Maitland and Barbara Maitland become active parental figures alongside Charles Deetz and Delia Deetz, who take a stronger role in her upbringing after having seen her nearly forced into marriage with Betelgeuse.

Trivia (BJ1)

• In an early script, Lydia was originally to be a minor character and a typical teenage angsty goth. She would've also had a 9-year-old sister named Cathy who would be the one to befriend the Maitlands. Most of Cathy's plot points and personality traits in the script were merged with Lydia.
• Only in the first script from the movie Lydia had a sister. The original script before it was changed was much darker. You can find the original movie script online.
• In early versions of the script it was set that Lydia would die in a fire and join the Maitlands in the afterlife. This was decided against after the realization that too many teens would be interpret this as "death being only way out of sadness" and might seem like a push for teens to commit suicide to find happiness instead of dealing with their problems.
• In early versions of the script it was set that Betelgeuse did not seek to marry Lydia in order to gain life among the living, but to rape her.
• A Monster High doll has been made of her in 2021.

Gallery (BJ1)

Gallery (BJ2)

Lydia Deetz Poster

Beetlejuice (musical)

History (BJ:M)

Lydia Deetz

Lydia Deetz along with her Father and assistant/life coach Delia moved to Winter River, Connecticut. This was after just losing her real mother Emily Deetz.

Physical Description (BJ:M)

After the death of her mother, Emily Deetz, Lydia is seen with long wavy blond hair that is quite clearly bleached and bangs. Shortly afterward, she’s seen with short curly dark brown hair and high straight bangs. Her most memorable and notable outfit consists of a black long-sleeved lacy dress with safety pins attached around the collar of the dress. Although during the wedding the classic red dress is brought back. During the Act 1 finale, when Day-o is sung, she can be seen wearing a yellow dress.

Beetlejuice (animated series)

History (BJ:AS)

Lydia Deetz is Beetlejuice's best friend. She lives in the fictional New England town of Peaceful Pines with her stepmother Delia and her dad Charles. She owns a black cat named Percy. Lydia goes to Miss Shannon's School for Girls. Along with her schoolmates, she's friends with two girls named Bertha and Prudence (their last names were never given in the series). Lydia's rival is Claire Brewster, a beautiful, rich, pompous blonde who's always mean to her. Lydia's unlike other humans and, despite her beauty, she likes things scary and spooky. Possibly for this reason, she's the only human (at least in the show) who knows about Beetlejuice and the Neitherworld. She often goes there and back by memorizing a poem and saying his name 3 times, and she can also call him to her world and send him back in the same way. She also says a longer version of the incantation if she wants to enter the Neitherworld to visit BJ or when there's an emergency, sometimes. Lydia serves as the voice of reason to Beetlejuice, who adores her, and he would do anything to make her happy. Although the series includes a number of small callbacks to the film, the exact backstory of how she and Beetlejuice met, is never clearly revealed. The series begins, in "Critter Sitters," as the pair are about to celebrate their year anniversary, as her mom offers Lydia to babysit Arnlow until then.

After she recites the poem, her window opens by itself with thunderclap in the sky, her room turns into a room of a medieval castle and her tablecloth becomes her poncho and turns red.

Physical Description (BJ:AS)

Lydia has pale white skin with black eyes with black irises. She sports midnight black hair with bangs covering her forehead and worn in a bun held by a purple ribbon.

Her regular outfit at home is a long dark purple top, a pair of black leggings, a light purple and pink sash tied around her waist and black slipper-shoes. Her Neitherworld attire consists of a large spiderweb pattern red poncho, over a full-body black Unitard (the ends of the sleeves are like finger-less gloves, and the bottom of the legs double as footwear). Though this is her outfit of choice in the Neitherworld, she wore various different outfits throughout the series.

At school, Lydia wears her hair down and her school uniform consists of a blue jacket worn over a white blouse and a black necktie and a spider-shaped badge with a short dark purple skirt, grey socks and black shoes.

Trivia (BJ:AS)

• Her exact age isn't given, although in The Big Face Off she makes a reference to being in the seventh grade. Assuming time passes in the show's universe as it does in real life, she would therefore be in her mid-teens by the time of the series finale. The short plot for the animation series on IMDb states that she is 12 years old at the start of the show.
• Even though she is the co-star of the animated series, there are five episodes in which Lydia doesn't appear.
• In the episode "Vidiots," she identifies herself as "Lydia 'Joystick' Deetz." This has led to a fan theory that her middle name is Joyce, which's plausible but unconfirmed.
• In "Robbin Juice of Sherweird Forest", it's revealed that she's violently allergic to roses.
• According to Beetlejuice, she's the only person he knows that is "nice" in ways he can actually stomach. She's kind to all animals, even insects and worms; in "Out of My Mind," he observes that no one is nicer to worms (or to him) than she is. He even has a shrine to her inside his mind, indicative of just how much he reveres her.
• He also describes her, in the episode "It's a Wonderful Afterlife," as "the greatest person I know."
• In "Oh Brother," he explicitly states that he would do anything for her.
• Claire makes life miserable for Lydia on a regular basis, although the misery is certainly tempered by Beetlejuice's influence. He dislikes Claire's general attitude, but despises her for how she treats Lydia, and frequently offers to enact bizarre revenge pranks on her. Lydia is tempted, but insists on keeping her revenge artistic rather than personal; she enjoys letting Claire worry about how she might retaliate. This doesn't always keep Beetlejuice from acting on his own, however.
• Like in the live-action movie, her father calls her "Pumpkin," and as promised in the film by him, Lydia has a darkroom in the basement.
• She also says Beetlejuice's name when she's in a big hurry.
• She says the main reasons BJ is her best friend is because he makes her laugh, he knows 101 ways to eat beetles, and (in his own words) he's "the ghost with the most."
• Lydia and Beetlejuice are often "shipped" by many fans of the cartoon; according to several of the writers, this was invoked deliberately in the show. Several characters they encounter are uncertain as to the exact nature of their relationship, but it's clear to everyone who meets them that Lydia is the one individual who matters the most to Beetlejuice.
• In "It's a Wonderful Afterlife," Beetlejuice experiences an alternate reality in which he never existed. Without his influence, Lydia is a lonely, depressed, and painfully shy girl who longs for just one friend. Despite it being against the rules, Beetlejuice presents himself to this version of Lydia and manages to make her laugh, promising to show her even greater things in the future. However, he's then informed by his 'guide' that Lydia can't be part of the new un-reality he's wished for himself; realizing that he would leave her completely miserable without him, he immediately cancels the wish and returns to his regular afterlife.
• Lydia only scares Beetlejuice once, in "Scare and Scare Alike," by saying his mother called and was on her way to visit for a whole month.
• Lydia may have inspired a lot of other goth cartoon girls: Sam Manson (Danny Phantom), Gwen (Total Drama series), Triana (Venture Bros.), Carrie (The Amazing World of Gumball), Marceline (Adventure Time), etc.
• In "Bewitched, Bothered and Beetlejuiced", she and Beetlejuice masquerade as witches to save her pet cat Percy from the witches.
• Her hobbies include sewing, writing in her notebook, photography, and traveling to the Neitherworld.
• She has a keen knowledge in mechanics, when she repaired Doomie.
• She is the winner of the Neitherworld Award for "Cutest Mortal to Visit the Neitherworld."
• Lydia was Alyson Court's all-time favorite character and voice role.
• She was one of a few characters who visited the Neitherworld. The others are: her parents Charles and Delia, her cat Percy, and Bertha and Prudence.

Gallery (BJ:AS)

Lydia's mouth

Appearances

• Beetlejuice (movie):
  • Chapter 06: "Enter the Deetzes."
  • Chapter 08: "Wormlike wildlife."
  • Chapter 09: "Moving day."
  • Chapter 10: "The power of advertising."
  • Chapter 11: "The afterlife."
  • Chapter 14: "Unspookable."
  • Chapter 15: "Beetlejuice."
    • Deleted Scene: "Lydia Develops Photos"
  • Chapter 16: "The dinner party (Day-O)."
  • Chapter 17: "No-Shows."
    • Deleted Scene: "Adam and Barbara Hanging From Window"
  • Chapter 18: "Turn on the juice."
  • Chapter 21: "Funny faces."
  • Chapter 22: "Lydia meets Beetlejuice."
  • Chapter 23: "Otho's seance."
  • Chapter 24: "It's showtime."
  • Chapter 25: "Marriage of incovenience."
    • Deleted Scene: "Wedding Ceremony"
  • Chapter 26: "High marks."
    • Deleted Scene: "Alternate Ending"
  • Chapter 28: "End credits."
    
• Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (movie)
  
  
• Beetlejuice (musical)
• Beetlejuice (animated series):
  • Various Episodes