Michael Myers (full name: Michael Audrey Myers, also known as The Shape) is a fictional character who has appeared in all of the Halloween films, with the exception of Halloween III: Season of the Witch. The character was originally portrayed by Nick Castle.

The first film, Halloween, was written and directed by John Carpenter and was released in 1978. It starred Jamie Lee Curtis. Throughout the films, the character wears a mask of the actor William Shatner, which is painted white, and a pair of coveralls.

Halloween and Halloween II

In the first movie, six year old Michael Myers brutally kills his older sister and is locked in a mental institution. Fifteen years later, he escapes and returns to his hometown of Haddonfield, Illinois to continue his rampage.

Myers was born on October 19, 1957. On Halloween night in 1963, he brutally murdered his 17-year-old sister, Judith Margaret Myers. After this, he was sent to Smith's Grove Sanitarium until he was 23 (though he was supposed to be six years old in 1963, he is, according to the film's credits, 23 years old in 1978), when he could be tried for his sister's murder.

During his fifteen years at Smith's Grove, he was placed under the care of psychiatrist Dr. Samuel J. Loomis (named after a character in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and portrayed by Donald Pleasence). Loomis tries to treat him, but eventually finds that he is completely devoid of conscience and tries to keep him locked up.

On October 30, 1978, Myers escapes from Smith's Grove and steals a car to go to Haddonfield to murder his other sister, Laurie Strode, who was given up for adoption a year after his original murder (his relationship to Strode is revealed in Halloween II). Loomis stops Myers, first by shooting him (resulting in his fall from a second-story window at the end of Halloween) and then by burning him in a hospital where Laurie was brought after the attack (Halloween II).

Sequels

The continuity of the series branches after Halloween II, with both Halloween 4 and Halloween H2O taking up the story as it was at the end of Halloween II.

First Set

The first set of sequels in which the Myers character appears (Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, , and ) all relate to each other and take place after the events of Halloween II.

In Halloween 5, Myers remained comatose in a hospital until he was going to be taken back to Smith's Grove, and he overheard one of the ambulance drivers mentioning having a young niece by the name of Jamie Lloyd. Jamie is the daughter of Laurie Strode. Myers then escapes the ambulance and tries to hunt her down, but is once again beaten by Loomis, who had been driven to the brink of insanity by his quest to destroy Myers. He tries to use Jamie to find Michael, but Michael and Jamie disappear.

In the sixth Halloween film, it is revealed that Jamie has been kidnapped by a group of Druids that protect Myers. She has been impregnated with his child, and he kills her after she gives birth. Her child is taken in and by a survivor of the 1978 murders (Tommy Doyle, the boy Laurie Strode was babysitting). Doyle finds out that Michael is cursed by Thorn. This makes the victim believe that if he/she kills all of his/her family members, he/she will have peace. Loomis stops Myers one last time, but was then possibly infected with the curse. The film ends with Loomis' screaming.

Second Set

The second group of sequels in which the Myers character appears (Halloween H20: 20 Years Later and Halloween: Resurrection) discount the stories told in all other sequels and continue the story twenty years after Halloween II.

It is revealed that Laurie Strode (again portrayed by Curtis) has been living under an alias. Michael finds her and tries to kill her and her son. She believed she has killed him. In the following film, it is revealed that the man she killed was actually a police officer who Michael had dressed as himself. This causes the authorities to commit her to a mental institution, where Michael eventually kills her. He returns to his home in Haddonfield and is eventually stopped by the crew of Dangertainment TV. In the last scene of the film, Michael is shown waking up in the morgue.