Hannah Baker

Hannah Baker
Thirteen Reasons Why character
Katherine Langford as Hannah Baker
First appearance	Novel: "Cassette 1: Side A" (2007) Television: "Tape 1, Side A" (2017)
Last appearance	Novel: "Cassette 7: Side B" (2007) Television: "Tape 7, Side A" (2017)
Created by	Jay Asher
Portrayed by	Katherine Langford
Information
Gender	Female
Occupation	Student
Relatives	Andy Baker (father) Olivia Baker (mother)

Hannah Baker is a fictional character created by American author Jay Asher. She is the subject of his 2007 mystery novel Thirteen Reasons Why, and Netflix' adaptation of the book, 13 Reasons Why. Hannah is introduced as a sophomore at the fictional Liberty High School, characterized by her struggle adjusting to life in an unsympathetic school environment. She is played by Katherine Langford on the television series.

At the beginning of the series, Hannah Baker, a junior at Liberty High School, commits suicide by slitting her wrists (by taking "a bunch of pills" in the novel). Her school locker becomes a memorial adorned with students' letters. On returning from school, Clay Jensen, a shy introverted classmate of Hannah's, finds a box filled with audio cassette tapes anonymously dropped on his front doorstep. On listening to the side A of the first tape, he discovers that the tapes were recorded by Hannah. The first words in the tape are, "Hey, it's Hannah, Hannah Baker. [...] I'm about to tell you the story of my life. Or more specifically, why my life ended."

Clay listens to the first tape, on which Hannah narrates the events that led to her suicide. She starts by sharing the story of her first kiss with Justin Foley, a boy she met at a friend's party. He later spreads a salacious rumor about their encounter, and his friend Bryce Walker forwards her private photograph from his phone to everyone at school, further embarrassing her. Meanwhile, in the present-day, Clay recalls being rude to Hannah about her leaked photograph, without having given her a chance to explain. Hannah also reveals on the first tape that each subsequent tape will reveal the thirteen reasons that caused her to kill herself. She also warns listeners to follow certain rules: Everyone on the tapes must listen to the complete set, then pass it along to the next person addressed. However, if they fail to do so, a second set of tapes, held by a friend not on the tapes, will be released.

Clay, who was secretly in love with Hannah, reminisces about the time he spent with her; they worked together at the Cresmont, a local movie theater, and often had candid interactions at work and school. She also gave him a nickname, "Helmet", teasing him for being a nerd. He has a hard time listening to Hannah tell her story, but as he hesitates, his friend Tony finds him and reveals that he has helped shepherd the tapes along — and that he knows that Clay is on them as well. He warns Clay that things will go wrong if he doesn’t do as the tapes say.