Why Ghostface Is Different In Scream VI

The Scream series has generally juggled between a few types of killer motives - revenge, a desire for fame, and deranged fandom. It's fair to say that each of these motives feels fairly played out in their own ways, so it's reasonable to expect something quite different for Scream VI.

Without spoiling anything, reliable leaker ViewerAnon has already suggested that fans shouldn't expect a "fun" motive like those in the last two films, seeming to imply that Scream VI's killer has a rationale both dark and unique.

One popular Reddit fan theory is that Ghostface could this time be someone who lost a family member in a previous Ghostface massacre, and effectively attempts to wipe everybody linked to the Woodsboro Murders off the map once and for all (though, evidently, not finding Sidney).

The most obvious candidate would clearly be Dermot Mulroney's cop character, who Mulroney has already confirmed is mourning the loss of his daughter to Ghostface.

Or perhaps for the first time in the series Ghostface might be a former survivor themselves, embarking on a killing spree in the hope of quite literally ending the series... of murders.

It'd make for quite the meta-commentary on horror series that just won't end - though perhaps that motive's a little too fun.

Elsewhere we could be dealing with a true crime obsessive given the fetishistic fascination with serial killers in society at present, where the killer isn't so much a Stab fanboy as a fanboy of the actual Woodsboro murders themselves.

And finally, the boldest motive would be that there simply isn't one at all - the killer is somebody with no links to any prior characters, offering up a commentary on the audience's insatiable thirst for the "why?", even though a motive-less boogeyman like Michael Myers is arguably scarier.

This would risk massively pissing people off, but would also reflect the reality of society often never getting satisfying answers about the reasons for horrific massacres.

All in all it's entirely possible the real motive is something else entirely, but from what little we know so far, fans should definitely expect the unexpected from the big reveal.