Kirby Reed

Kirby Reed is a fictional character in the Scream film series, created by Kevin Williamson and portrayed by Hayden Panettiere. She first appeared in Scream 4 (2011) and returns in Scream VI (2023). The character is a target in the fourth killing spree committed by Ghostface, a mysterious, masked killer who wears a ghost mask and black cloak, to pursue her and her friends. In each film, the killer targets their victims with threatening phone calls and intimate knowledge of their target's lives before one or several of the alleged victims is revealed as a killer. In Scream 4, Reed is introduced as the best friend of franchise protagonist Sidney Prescott's young cousin, Jill Roberts, a millennial target for a copycat anniversary serial killer wearing the infamous Ghostface costume. Since the original killings, no killer has targeted Woodsboro until 2011, making it the second Woodsboro massacre. Panettiere's character worries for her survival after not receiving a phone call like her best friends. The character is a horror genre savvy, trivia fanatic with a dry sense of humor who makes sarcastic quips. She shows subtle interest in fellow film geek Charlie Walker. Kirby reappears in Scream VI, now an FBI special agent based in Atlanta who travels to New York to assist in the investigation into the latest Ghostface knockoff mystery. She is initially slotted into the "sidekick" archetype but outgrows this by the final act. She rises to heroine status by the end and is left near-fatally wounded. Being the only unconfirmed victim of the Woodsboro Remake, Kirby was confirmed alive through a photographic cameo in the fifth entry, making her the sole teenage survivor of the fourth film and a final girl. Kirby has been described as a "fan-favorite" and the fourth film's breakout character.