Jamie Lloyd is a fictional character and one of the main protagonists of the Halloween franchise. Introduced in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers as the series' new protagonist after Jamie Lee Curtis refused to return as Laurie Strode, the character also appears in Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers and Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers. Jamie was created by Alan B. McElroy and portrayed by child actress Danielle Harris in the fourth and fifth films of the series, while J. C. Brandy played her in the sixth (although Harris reappears in an archival opening flashback sequence in the latter film’s Producer’s Cut). Originally, the character was named Brittany "Britti" Lloyd, before her name was changed to Jamie, in an homage to Jamie Lee Curtis.
In the films, Jamie is the daughter of Laurie Strode, who died off-screen in a car accident in the time between Halloween II and 4. As such, she is also the niece of the series' main antagonist, Michael Myers, and becomes her uncle's new primary target after he learns about Laurie's death. Michael eventually succeeds in killing Jamie (by this point a young adult) in The Curse of Michael Myers, though not before she gives birth to a baby son, who becomes Michael's next target.
Jamie is introduced in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988) as Laurie Strode's daughter and Michael Myers' niece. Her mother is described to have died in a car crash at some point before 1988; the identity of her father is not revealed. Following Laurie's death, Jamie was adopted by the Carruthers family, developing a close bond with her older foster sister, Rachel Carruthers (Ellie Cornell). However, she suffers from nightmares about Michael and is bullied at school for being related to "The Boogeyman". On October 30, 1988, Michael (George P. Wilbur) recovers from his ten-year coma while being transported in an ambulance, and escapes to hunt down his relatives once more. In Haddonfield, while on the trail for Jamie, Michael kills the Carruthers' dog, a worker at the power plant (which causes a blackout of the entire town), most of the police force, the deputy, the police chief's daughter Kelly Meeker, Rachel's boyfriend Brady, and 4 men from a vigilante mob. Escaping from town, Jamie cowers in a pick-up truck as Rachel hits Michael head on, throwing him off the road and knocking him out. Despite Rachel's orders, Jamie goes over to him and holds his hand. When the police arrive, they tell Jamie to drop to the ground and open fire on Michael, sending him falling down a mine shaft, which then collapses on top of him. Later, back in her foster home, Jamie is apparently possessed by Michael's spirit and attacks her foster mother (Karen Alston). When screams are heard from upstairs, Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasence) goes to investigate and finds Jamie holding a pair of bloody scissors, similarly to Michael when he killed his older sister Judith. Sheriff Ben Meeker (Beau Starr) restrains Loomis from shooting her, and both men, Jamie's foster father (Jeff Olson), and Rachel watch in horror, realizing that Jamie is following in Michael's footsteps.
In Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989), set a year later, a severely traumatized Jamie is housed in the Haddonfield Children's Clinic. She has now been rendered mute and suffers from nightmares and seizures, while being treated for attacking her foster mother (who is described to have survived) under Michael's influence. When a still-living Michael (Donald L. Shanks) awakens from a year-long coma, she exhibits signs of a telepathic link with her uncle, eventually regains the ability to speak, and has seizures whenever her uncle kills someone. Michael kills Rachel, four of her friends, two cops, and the Carruthers' new dog while in pursuit of Jamie. Towards the end, Loomis lures Michael into a trap at the old Myers house, using Jamie as bait. Michael finds Jamie, who tries to appeal to his humanity. At her request, he takes off his mask, but is set into a fit of rage when Jamie touches his face. Ultimately, Loomis is able to shoot Michael with tranquilizer darts and beat him unconscious with a wooden beam. Michael is subsequently imprisoned at the local jail, awaiting transport to a maximum-security facility, where, Meeker says, he will remain "until the day he dies," to which Jamie responds, "He'll never die." After Jamie is escorted out to be taken home, the mysterious "Man in Black" attacks the police station and frees Michael. Jamie enters to see numerous police officers dead and Michael gone, causing her to sob in terror.
In Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995), a deleted scene included in the Producer's Cut shows the Man in Black kidnapping Jamie (portrayed by a combination of Harris via footage from the previous film and a similarly-aged body double in a new back shot) immediately after breaking Michael (George P. Wilbur) out of jail, and keeping her captive for six years, during which time she is artificially inseminated and impregnated with Michael's son. On the night of October 30, 1995, Jamie gives birth to a baby son, and escapes with the help of a nurse, but is pursued by Michael. She makes it to the local radio station, where she pleads to help (which is heard by Loomis and Tommy Doyle [now played by Clueless’ Paul Rudd]) and hides her baby, before being forced to run again when Michael finds her. She eventually crashes the truck she is driving at a barn, where Michael confronts and murders her. The Man in Black is later revealed to be Loomis' former medical colleague Dr. Terence Wynn (now played by Mitchell Ryan), who is the leader of a Druid-like cult. It is implied that the cult is responsible for Michael's actions, placing an ancient curse on him to kill his family to ward off sickness and death. It is also implied that Wynn has been trying and failing to breed the ultimate evil using Michael's DNA and female patients in in-vitro fertilization experiments; finally reaching a success with Jamie's baby. In another deleted scene included in the Producer's Cut, Jamie survives Michael's attack and is hospitalized. Loomis and Wynn visit her in the hospital, but she is later killed with a silenced pistol by an unseen person (later revealed to be Wynn).
When screenwriter Kevin Williamson first outlined Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998), he created the storyline in which Laurie Strode has faked her own death and taken on a new identity as a specific way of retconning the character's death in Halloween 4. In Williamson's original treatment, there are scenes in which a Hillcrest student does a report on Michael Myers' killing spree, mentioning the death of Jamie, complete with flashbacks to 4-6 mentioned in the text. "Keri"/Laurie responds to hearing the student's report on the death of her daughter by going into a restroom and throwing up. In a controversial decision, director Steve Miner retconned the series with Halloween H20: 20 Years Later. This installment retained Laurie's faked death from Williamson's treatment, revealing that she did so in order to avoid detection by her relentless brother. Under a new identity, Laurie has fled to Summer Glen, California, along with her only son, John Tate (Josh Hartnett). However, to focus more on the Laurie Strode character, the events of parts 4, 5, and 6 are implicitly written out of the continuity, thus erasing the Jamie Lloyd character from the new canon.
Early on, the script for Halloween (2018) had Jamie appear alongside Laurie for the first time. However, subsequent rewrites changed her to 'Karen', followed by the casting of an actress with no resemblance to Danielle Harris. Even before those early plans were publicly known, Harris objected, feeling strongly about Laurie having a daughter that was not Jamie, but her appeals to the production company were dismissed. The film, which is a direct sequel to the original film, also disregards Michael as Laurie's brother.