Character Relationship Map: Needle

Characters

• Ben Rutherford (played by Michael Dorman) — supporting

  Ben is a college student who inherits the mechanical box Le Vaudou Mort from his late father. After Ryan and other friends are murdered through the device, he investigates its history with Marcus, con...

• Jed (played by Khan Chittenden) — supporting

  Jed is one of Ben's friends and part of the group connected to the stolen mechanical box. He leaves the gathering to go to the game house, later accepts a ride from Kandi, and is murdered before Ben c...

• Professor Banyon (played by Jane Badler) — supporting

  Professor Banyon is Ben and his friends' Archaeology professor. She examines the mechanical box, initially describing it as a theatre prop, then introduces Ben to another expert and helps reveal its i...

• Robert Shaw (played by Michael Loney) — minor

  Robert Shaw was the owner of Le Vaudou Mort and a friend of Samuel Rutherford. Ten years before the main events, he is killed after being accused of confronting Samuel over the theft of the artifact....

• Kandi (played by Jessica Marais) — supporting

  Kandi is Isabel's partner and one of Ben's friends, but she is secretly Robert Shaw's daughter. Seeking revenge for her father's death, she uses the box to murder Ryan, Nelson, Isabel, and Jed before...

• Nelson (played by Luke Carroll) — minor

  Nelson is a school-paper photographer and a friend of Ben's group. He takes the photograph that becomes central to the killings and plans to photograph the box for a potentially valuable advertisement...

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Ben Rutherford → Professor Banyon (Professional Informational Contact) — Banyon provides Ben with essential archaeological and historical information.

  Professor Banyon explains that the box is a revenge apparatus and contacts Ben urgently to continue the investigation.

• Robert Shaw → Kandi (Family Father) — Kandi's revenge is centered on her father's death.

  The plot reveals that Kandi is Robert Shaw's daughter and that her revenge is motivated by his death.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Jed → Ben Rutherford (Social Friend) — Jed belongs to Ben's social circle and becomes involved in the threat.

  Jed is introduced as one of the friends who gathers with Ben to see the mechanical box.

• Nelson → Ben Rutherford (Social Friend) — Nelson is part of Ben's close college friend group.

  Nelson joins Ben's group of friends, photographs the box, and discusses advertising it with Ben.

• Kandi → Professor Banyon (Conflict Murderer And Victim) — Professor Banyon is eliminated after providing crucial information.

  Ben and Marcus find Professor Banyon dead in her office with her head severely beaten after she helps explain the box.

• Kandi → Jed (Conflict Murderer And Victim) — Jed is another victim in Kandi's revenge sequence.

  Ben finds Jed's body with a slit from ear to ear after Kandi has taken him in her car.

• Kandi → Nelson (Conflict Murderer And Victim) — Kandi's revenge scheme causes Nelson's gruesome death.

  After Nelson's face is cut from the group photograph and inserted into the box, his wax figure is dismembered and Nelson is killed in reality.

• Kandi → Ben Rutherford (Conflict Enemy) — Kandi secretly orchestrates the killings against Ben.

  Kandi reveals that she targeted Ben's family and friends to make Ben experience the agony she felt after Robert Shaw died.

Story Analysis

A stolen revenge device transforms an old family crime into a chain of supernatural killings before the surviving characters destroy it.

Plot Progression

1. The Inherited Mechanism — Ben receives the strange mechanical box and shows it to his college friends. After the box disappears, its connection to the group photograph becomes disturbing.
2. Photographs of Death — A hidden killer uses faces cut from the group photograph to activate the box. The first supernatural attack is followed by Nelson's gruesome death.
3. The Revenge Apparatus — The survivors seek Professor Banyon's help while more victims are attacked. Banyon's research identifies the box as an instrument of revenge tied to an old theft.
4. The Hidden Heir — Ben follows the trail to the old neighborhood and discovers further bodies. Kandi is exposed as Robert Shaw's daughter and the architect of the killings.
5. A Taste of Her Medicine — Kandi prepares to kill Ben and uses the box against Mary. Mary reverses the ritual, Kandi dies, and the box is later thrown into the ocean.