Dewey Riley
The bumbling police deputy who survived the first Woodsboro massacre and became a fan favorite.
Dwight "Dewey" Riley is a fictional character in the Scream franchise. Dewey first appears in Scream (1996) as a bumbling police deputy doing his best to deal with the first Woodsboro massacre. He was created by Kevin Williamson and portrayed by David Arquette. A comic relief character of sorts, Dewey is known for his affable personality, his bravery, and his resourcefulness. Arquette was initially called in to audition for the role of Billy Loomis but requested to director Wes Craven that he play Dewey instead, which Craven agreed to. Initially written to die in the first Scream, Dewey was kept alive in a last-minute decision that Wes Craven considered "The best decision [they] ever made".
Quick Facts
- Series
- Scream
- First
- Scream (1996)
- Last
- Scream 7 (2026)
- Creator
- Kevin Williamson
- Portrayed by
- David Arquette
- Full name
- Dwight Riley
- Gender
- Male
- Occupation
- Police officer
- Technical advisor
- Deputy sheriff
Lore & Background
Dewey first appears in Scream (1996) as a police officer and the older brother of Tatum Riley, best friend of protagonist Sidney Prescott. After the murders of Steve Orth and Casey Becker, Dewey questions students at Woodsboro High School to narrow down suspects. He is stabbed in the back by Ghostface during the house party but survives. In Scream 2, now paralyzed in one leg due to a nerve severed when he was stabbed, Dewey flies out to Windsor College, Ohio to keep an eye on Sidney. He is repeatedly stabbed in the back again by Ghostface but survives. In Scream 3, Dewey accepts a job on the set of Stab 3 as a technical advisor and flies out to Los Angeles. He saves Gale from being stabbed by Ghostface by shooting at him. He proposes to Gale, who accepts. In Scream 4, Dewey now resides in Woodsboro with Gale and works as the town's sheriff. He is knocked out by Jill Roberts but survives. In Scream (2022), now a divorced and retired recluse who lives alone in a trailer, Dewey is brutally stabbed to death by Ghostface (Amber Freeman).
Reader's Guide
Dewey appears in Scream in 1996, Scream 2 in 1997, Scream 3 in 2000, Scream 4 in 2011, and Scream in 2022, in which the character is murdered by one of the Ghostface killers. During the events of Scream VI, Dewey is mentioned several times. He also makes a posthumous cameo appearance in Scream 7. In Stab, the fictional film within a film based on the Ghostface murders, and again in Stab 3, Dewey is portrayed by David Schwimmer and fictional actor Tom Prinze, respectively. David Arquette also reprised his role as Dewey in Creed's "What If" music video from the Scream 3 soundtrack.
More in Characters & Killers
Elsewhere in Scream
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