Bobby Richter II

Robert "Bobby" Ricther is a fictional murder survivor and a minor character featured on the FX Network television series American Horror Story. He appeared in the season nine story, "1984", and was played by actor Finn Wittrock. The character first appeared as an infant in episode 9x06, "Episode 100", but made his first actual appearance as an adult in the season finale, "Final Girl".

Biography
Bobby Richter was born the son of Benjamin Richter and a woman named Lorraine. He was named for his uncle, Bobby Richter, who died as a child in a boating accident in 1948.

Benjamin Richter was a reformed serial killer known as "Mr. Jingles", who was driven to murder after being made to believe that he had already committed a previous massacre back in 1970. Deciding to put that ugly part of his life behind him, he moved to Alaska, took up a mundane job working as a video store clerk and married Lorraine, who was a former prostitute. During his "Mr. Jingles" years, Richter had been partnered up with another serial killer of note, Richard Ramirez, but betrayed him, which resulted in Ramirez being sent to prison.

By 1989 - the year that Bobby was born, Richard Ramirez had escaped from prison and sought revenge against Benjamin. He facilitated this by murdering Bobby's mother. Benjamin took infant Bobby and left him in the care of an aunt and then took off in search of Ramirez.

Bobby Richter grew up aware of his father's dark history, but never understood the truth behind every thing that had happened. The only thing he did know was that some mysterious benefactor had been sending him money every year since he was born.

In 2019, Bobby Richter came to the abandoned Camp Redwood in Northern California in search of answers. He knew that the darker parts of his father's past took place at this site back in 1984.

When he arrived, he encountered Montana Duke, though he was unaware that she was actually a ghost, who died at the camp back in the 1980s. She introduced him to Trevor Kirchner - her lover, and a ghost as well. Bobby didn't believe that they were ghosts until they proved it by killing themselves in front of him, then re-materializing in perfect ghostly health.

Montana and Trevor told Bobby that his father died at this campground, but they had no knowledge of his ghostly presence, as they had not seen him in nearly thirty years. Montana warned Bobby that she should leave, because the ghost of Richard Ramirez - killed years earlier, was present at Camp Redwood. Although the ghosts tried their best to keep Ramirez' spirit contained, he was able to escape their supervision.

Ramirez learned that Richter's son was present at the campground, and committed himself to finishing his cycle of revenge that he began thirty years ago.

Richard Ramirez pursued Bobby Richter and severely injured him, by throwing an axe into his back. For the first time in decades, Benjamin Richter manifested himself. He defeated Ramirez and had a heart-felt reunion with his son. He warned Bobby to get away from the campground. If he wanted to learn more about his life, he mysteriously told him, he needed to go to the Red Meadows Asylum and speak to the director.

Though wounded, Bobby did as instructed. He went to Red Meadows and spoke with director Donna Chambers, who was intimately involved in the events that took place in 1984. Bobby mistakenly believed that it was Donna who had been sending him checks all his life, but Donna denied this. They decided to work together to find out the truth, which led them to another Camp Redwood survivor, Brooke Thompson. Brooke explained how much she admired Benjamin Richter for being able to move past his "Mr. Jingles" persona and forge a true life for himself. Because of this, she decided to financially support Bobby as he grew up.

Still needing a sense of closure, Bobby Richter decided to return to Camp Redwood. He found himself the target of another evil ghost - Margaret Booth, who was the owner of Camp Redwood from the 1980s until her own untimely death at the hands of the other ghosts. Margaret tried to kill Bobby, but Benjamin emerged once again and temporarily put Booth down by stabbing her in the head.

Bobby Richter was not only reunited with his father once again, but met the ghosts of his extended family, including his grandmother, Lavinia Richter, and his namesake, the first Bobby Richter.

Satisfied that he gotten what he needed and now felt a sense of family again, Bobby bade goodbye to Benjamin, Lavinia, and Bobby and left Camp Redwood.

Notes & Trivia



 * The identity of the infant that played baby Bobby Richter in "Episode 100" is unknown.


 * This is the fifth character from American Horror Story played by actor Finn Wittrock. He previously played Dandy Mott in the season four storyline, "Freakshow". He played Tristan Duffy and Rudolph Valentino in season five's "Hotel". He played Jether Polk in season six's "Roanoke".


 * Bobby Richter was born the same year as Hayden McClaine from season one, "Murder House".

Appearances

 * American Horror Story: Episode 100
 * American Horror Story: Rest in Pieces
 * American Horror Story: Final Girl