Betel Geuse Jr., AKA Betelgeuse (pronounced "Beetlejuice") is the main anti-hero of Beetlejuice. He is a centuries-old eccentric poltergeist and so-called "bio-exorcist" who specialises in scaring people out of their homes. He is played by Michael Keaton.
Biography[]
Betelgeuse was once the assistant of Juno, a caseworker in the Netherworld. However, he presumably got bored of this and decided to become a freelance bio-exorcist. According to his own words, he lived through the Black Plague, attended Julliard, is a graduate of the Harvard Business School, traveled extensively, and has seen The Exorcist 167 times. However, it is very likely that he could have been making this up for comedic effect. He spends most of his screen time hanging out in the Maitland's miniature replica of Winter River, Connecticut.
After Barbara and Adam Maitland were made aware of Betelgeuse's existence through him putting a flyer in their attic and playing his own commercial on their TV, the Maitlands decided to summon him (by saying his name three times in a row) to scare the Deetzes out of their house. However, they were quickly turned off by Betelgeuse's rude and crude personality, so decided to ditch him and go back to trying to scare the Deetzes away by themselves, When they fail, however, Betelgeuse takes over and tries to scare the Deetzes by transforming into a giant snake. When his antics start hurting them, however, Barbara says him name three times and summons him back to the miniature of the town.
Later, when Adam and Barbara start to decay from Otho accidentally performing an exorcism on them, Lydia hurries over to Betelgeuse and asks him to save them. but he only says that he'll help them if she marries him, since that will allow him to run around the living world and cause chaos. She reluctantly agrees, and Betelgeuse saves the Maitlands, but before he can marry Lydia, Barbara rides a Sandworm through the roof, which swallows Betelgeuse whole and sends him back to the Netherworld.
Beetlejuice getting eaten.
At the end of the film, Betelgeuse is seen in the Afterlife waiting room, where he finds himself last in a long line. He sees that the Witch Doctor sitting net to him has a ticket with a much smaller number, and, after distracting the Witch Doctor, steals it. He gets his comeuppance when the Witch Doctor sprinkles magic powder on his head, causing it to shrink. However, Betelgeuse remains upbeat and says "This could be a good look for me."