Christine "Chris" Hargensen is a supporting antagonist of the Stephen King multiverse.
She serves as the secondary antagonist of Stephen King's novel Carrie and its three film adaptations, and a posthumous antagonist of IT.
She is the beautiful and wealthy 17 year old daughter of John Hargensen, a successful lawyer, and a student at the local public Ewen High School in the town of Chamberlain, Maine. She is the archenemy of Carrie White.
Novel[]
- "This isn't over, This isn't over by a long way."
- ―Chris Hargensen
In the novel, Christine "Chris" Hargensen is a wealthy and popular 17-year-old[1] student at Ewen High School. She is described as a beautiful teenager, with long black hair, tanned skin, and "ultra-makeup". The director of Carrie 2013, he said this represents some kind of "insecurity" in Chris' character. Chris is the most popular girl in her school, even she is the leader of a gang of popular girls /bullies.
She had a long history of bullying unpopular or outcast fellow classmates especially Carrie White. She as been sent to detention 73 times in the last 4 years. Chris had also been known to slip a firecracker into the shoe of a girl named Irma Swope with a harelip and blew her two front toes off. It is implied that Chris calls her "victims" Mortimer Snerd. Also, Chris was more vulgar. For example: halfway through the novel, Chris called Mr. Grayle a "cocksucker" and stood up to Miss Desjardin before getting slammed into a group of lockers. As a result, she was banned from the Prom.
Later, after setting the Prom Night prank into motion, Chris and Billy Nolan attempted to make love inside of a roadhouse until they were interrupted by a fellow classmate Jackie Talbot, who warned them that their school and their town were burning to the ground. Some time afterward, just as Carrie arrived at the roadhouse's parking lot, Chris and Billy hurried to his car, started it up,
Billy decides to run over Carrie, but Chris is surprised, because her intention was not to kill Carrie. But Carrie takes control of the car, causing Billy's car to crash into a wall and then setting the car on fire, killing Chris and Nolan.
1976 Film[]
- "I hate Carrie White"
- ―Chris Hargensen
This version of Chris Hargensen is portrayed by Nancy Allen. She is similar to her novel counterpart. very rebellious, unfazed by authority figures and manipulative.
Still she is portrayed even more dangerous than her novel counterpart, because in this version she is in every way the driving force behind the evil prank. She initiated the shower incident with Carrie White and when she and the other girls in her class were forced to serve a special kind of "detention" with Miss Collins, she refused to cooperate on all fronts and was banned from the Prom. Afterwards, it was almost second nature in Chris's eyes to blame Carrie for her new troubles and looked for any way to destroy her and turned to her boyfriend Billy Nolan who is in this film more a follower than a leader. The pair went out driving one night and Chris used this as the perfect opportunity to spin her "noodle headed" beau around her finger once more and get him to do something for her. Billy was virtually clueless until he heard Chris say, "Billy, I hate Carrie White”.
A couple of nights later, Chris, Billy and two of his friends crept into a pig farm with the intent on pulling a "prank" and that prank turned out to be one of them killing a helpless pig, draining it’s blood and pouring it into a bucket. But, there was more to it. Billy and Chris later broke into the Bates High School gym, where they climbed a ladder up towards the rafters, placed the bucket on one of them and poured the pig´s blood into it. Chris was getting impatient and wanted to go home. Billy told her, that if she kept cool, she would get to pull the rope on the bucket when everything was ready. Chris all too happily obliged. Chris was seen the next day with a friend of Billy's, Freddy DeLois talking to the Prom committee leader Ernest Peterson, Freddy convinced Ernest to allow him to collect the ballots for the Prom King and Queen and Ernest agreed. But when he was asked to be at school at 6:30 p.m., Freddy did not want any of that and blurted out that he would arrive at 8:00 p.m., Ernest was a bit discouraged, but consented nonetheless. Later, during the Prom, Chris and Billy spent most of their time hiding under the stage, looking for Carrie and her date Tommy Ross. The 2 were also looking around for Freddy and Norma Watson to see if they were collecting the ballots for Prom King and Queen. They were… until Norma and Freddy retired to the other side of the stage, where Norma kicked the real ballots behind her and pulled another set of "ballots" from Freddy's coat. She gave these to the small King and Queen committee, who were counting the votes and then headed over to the stage's stairwell and gave it a small tap. Chris and Billy peeked their heads out to acknowledge the "signal". Chris continued tugging restlessly at the rope all while Carrie and Tommy were heading to the stage to be crowned King and Queen. Later, she watched as Sue Snell was dragged from out of the gym by Miss Collins. As soon as the doors were closed again, Chris pulled the rope tied to the bucket of blood. The applause and cheers were silenced… and soon many of the kids and teachers began laughing at what they had seen.
As their "work" was done, Billy and Chris quickly and happily found the nearest exit and fled out of it. Of course, they had a window side view through, which to see the results of the actions and Carrie had suddenly gone into a trance-like state and began destroying the gym and everyone inside, much to the shock of Chris and Billy. Chris also saw Miss Collins die and looked horrified. The pair then ran off, feeling as though their plan had backfired. Later, Chris and Billy chanced after Carrie, as she was apparently walking home. Chris was horrified about what happened at the Prom and devastated about the death of her best friend Norma and planned to avenge her. Chris revved up the car and footed the gas pedal, heading straight towards Carrie. It seemed as though she would finally strike down her "enemy" and have avenge everyone, but it was Carrie who struck the final blow with her telekinesis.
She took control of the car away from Chris and sent it rolling into a clearing for a few yards. After a while, the vehicle exploded undoubtedly killing Chris and Billy.
1988 Episode[]
2002 TV-Film[]
Chris was portrayed by Emilie de Ravin, and was far more similar to the "novel" Chris than Nancy Allen's version.
Her confrontation with Miss Desjardin was also in concordance with the novel. At one point, she even tried to convince Carrie that Sue was the "enemy."
In this film, Chris is presented as a cruel, wicked and manipulative girl. However, she is shown to have a certain amount of remorse (earlier, after she was banned from the prom because of testing Ms. Desjarden and not bowing to the punishment for what she did to Carrie).
Her father John Hargensen (Michael Kopsa) threatened to have the gym teacher fired and take the school to court if Chris' prom privileges were not restored. However, Principal Morton did not cave in, and countered by saying that he would battle Hargensen's suit on all fronts. He further stated that Chris belonged in either military school or jail for her countless acts of cruelty against the "reject" student population. Faced with this situation, her father changes his mind and relents, which makes Chris swear revenge on Carrie.
However, unlike the other versions, Chris is shown to have a certain degree of change of heart after seeing how happy Carrie was, and became reluctant about pouring the pig's blood over Carrie. Billy pressured her to carry out the plan, and in the end, she finally poured the pig's blood over Carrie.
When Billy attempts to run over Carrie when they find her during her rampage, Chris actually begs Billy not to run her over, but Billy doesn't listen. Carrie stops the car and sends it smashing into a tree, which kills both Chris and Billy.
2012 Musical[]
2013 Remake-Film[]
- "Help. Me."
- ―Chris Hargensen's last words
In the 2013 film, Chris is portrayed by Portia Doubleday. The Chris in this version is similar to the book character.
Chris is the main leader of the Ultras and records Carrie having her period on her smartphone, which she posts on the Internet. She is forced to be in Miss Desjardin's boot camp style detention. When Chris refuses to attend the detention and tells her dad, she ends up being banned from the prom.
When Chris and her father speak to Mr. Morton, Mr. Hargensen asks Chris to give up her phone, but Chris refuses to do so, and she storms out.
Chris with Billy in the 2013 movie
Later on, Chris and her boyfriend Billy Nolan go to a farm and slaughter a pig. Chris slits the pig's throat. Chris, Billy and his other friends are setting up the bucket and a drip of blood lands on her.
On the night of the prom, Chris texts Sue saying: "Your girl looks so good, she won't for long." Sue rushes to the school, where she witnesses Billy about to pull the rope.
After Billy pulls it, Chris falls back. She watches the blood pour on Carrie and smiles. When Carrie is humiliated, Chris laughs with excitement. She begins to run, but stops when the bucket hits Tommy's head, killing him. She is shown to look partly shocked and partly mournful when she sees Tommy lying dead on the stage (as though wondering how their prank could've gone so wrong).
As Billy pulls her out of the gymnasium, Chris looks back at the burning gym, while Billy is driving and she worries. When Billy pulls over, Chris texts her dad to come and get her, but Billy threatens her. Chris and Billy discuss how they are going to escape before attempting to leave.
When Carrie unleashes her power and forces Chris to face her for what she did, all she thinks is about killing her, pressing Billy to do it, to which he relents. When Carrie uses her powers in self-defense, she stops the car from running her over, which causes Chris to fall back and Billy to fall head first into the steering wheel. He dies because of this event.
Chris tries to leave the car, but Carrie locks her in. When Carrie tries to tie Chris to the chair with the seatbelt, she is able to tear it off. Carrie lifts the car up, and the two girls coldly stare at each other. When Chris obsessively tries to run over Carrie herself, Carrie sends the car crashing into a gas pump, which causes Chris to fall head first into the windshield leaving her with open wounds and glass sticking out of her cheeks.
Chris silently begs for help, but Carrie refuses. Carrie then causes a gas pump to fall on the car as it explodes, with the corpses of Billy and Chris inside.
Physical Appearance[]
In the novel, Chris is a beautiful teenager with long Black hair, tanned skin, very thin and as someone who wears “ultra makeup” meaning she wears many layers of makeup.
In the 1976 film adaption, Chris is presented as having shoulder-length, wavy Blonde hair, pale skin, Blue eyes and a slim figure. She’s shown to enjoy Volleyball which suggests she is athletic, which may contribute to her nice figure.
In the 1988 Episode,
In the 2002 version, once again she is portrayed as a Blonde girl with wavy hair, however it’s longer and she has wears lots of expensive clothes, contributed by her wealth. She is thin and implied to be athletic; enjoying Softball and also wearing a Cheerleader outfit, hinting she is on the Cheerleading Squad.
In the 2012 Musical,
In the 2013 version, Chris is portrayed differently. She is very skinny with fake-tanned skin, a significant amount more of makeup than her previous movie counterparts, Blue eyes, dark Brown hair often tied up in buns or ponytails (with ratty hair extensions as well), a somewhat tomboyish style and does not seem to be a fan of sports, preferring to just play around in the swimming pool rather than do something in the Water Polo match.
Gallery[]
Chris Hargensen (1976)[]
Chris Hargensen (1988)[]
Chris Hargensen (2002)[]
Chris Hargensen (2012)[]
Chris Hargensen (2013)[]
Appearances[]
Trivia[]
- Despite Chris being the secondary antagonist, she was more of an enemy to Carrie, but Margaret, the main antagonist needed to be revealed after Chris's death.
- Chris was the main antagonist for the majority of the film, but was ultimately killed off to make way for the true main villain to take over.
- She is the polar opposite of Carrie; Chris is a spoiled brat and, unlike Carrie, possesses only a faint moral or ethical centre, and is generally considered strikingly attractive.
- She is one of the most cruel and sadistic villains in Stephen King's books. As well as one of the most hated by fans.
- Some fans consider Chris to be even worse than Margaret White as Chris wanted to torment Carrie relentlessly, despite the fact she knew what the consequences would be (while Margaret suffered from a mental illness which caused her to be deluded into thinking that her abuse towards Carrie was justified). Even worse, Chris is technically the one who started the horrendous prom massacre as she drove Carrie insane, who was happy and cheerful before the event, after dumping pig's blood on her. It is highly likely that she didn't know (or even care) that her friends were killed as a result of her cruel actions, as she was too focused on taking down Carrie completely — even to the point of murder.