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{{trope}}{{Needs Image}}
'''Buffy''': [[Kill'Em All|Everyone gets horribly killed]] except [[Hair of Gold|the blonde girl]] in the nightie who finally kills the monster with a machete but it's not really dead.
▲{{quote|'''Benny''': But I still want to know what happens!<br />
'''Jennifer''': Oh my God. Is that true?
▲'''Buffy''': [[Kill'Em All|Everyone gets horribly killed]] except [[Hair of Gold|the blonde girl]] in the nightie who finally kills the monster with a machete but it's not really dead.<br />
'''
The simplest definition of this is "[[Dwindling Party|the last character]] [[Sole Survivor|left alive]] to confront the killer" in a slasher flick. The character in question tends to follow a certain set of characteristics. The most obvious one is being (almost) [[Always Female]]. She'll also [[Token Wholesome|almost certainly be a virgin]], avoiding [[Death by Sex]], and probably won't [[The Scourge of God|drink alcohol, smoke tobacco or take drugs]], either. Finally, she'll probably turn out to be more intelligent and resourceful than the other victims, occasionally even evolving into a type of [[Action Girl]] by the movie's end. Looking at the [[Sorting Algorithm of Mortality]], you could say that the Final Girl is a combination of [[The Hero]], [[The Cutie]] and the [[
It's also interesting to note how the
The term was coined by Carol J. Clover in her critical examination of slasher movies.
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== Straight examples ==
=== Anime and Manga ===
* Lisa Pacifist from ''[[Final Fantasy Unlimited]]''.
===
* The comic book ''[[Hack Slash]]'' stars a former Final Girl who becomes a slasher-hunter.
=== Films -- Live-Action ===
* Pick a [[Slasher Flick]], any slasher flick.
** ''[[Friday the 13th (film)|Friday the
** As does the [[Nightmare On Elm Street]] series. {{spoiler|Nancy, Lisa, Kristen, Alice, Alice again, Maggie/Tracy, Heather Langenkamp (the actual actress who played Nancy), and Laurie. Part 2 is a partial subversion, as Lisa doesn't so much kill Freddy as drive him out of his possessed victim Jessie, who also survives.}}
* In ''[[Scream (film)|Scream]]'', the main character {{spoiler|has sex (with the killer!), but still maintains her final girl status}}.
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* ''[[Alien]]'' does this. And it should be noted that every role in the film was written as gender neutral (which is probably why everyone just used their last names for the whole film), so it could have easily been a Final Guy instead.
** It's a common misconception that all of the subsequent ''[[Alien]]'' movies followed suit; in reality, there were other survivors in the second and fourth movies, and {{spoiler|Ripley actually dies}} in the third.
* Sarah Connor in ''[[The Terminator]]'' is an interesting combination of Final Girl and [[
* Trish from ''[[Jeepers Creepers]]'' fits into the Final Girl trope, as the only real other main character, her brother, is murdered and torn apart for his body parts.
* Played straight in the official ending of ''Autopsy'' from the third set of After Dark Horrorfest. The Final Girl manages to escape the insane doctor and nurse who had killed all of her friends.
** It is however subverted in the alternate ending where instead of escaping or being killed {{spoiler|she is strapped to a bed with all her organs removed but still functioning to keep the doctor's ailing wife alive.}}
* In ''[[Turbulence]]'', a serial killer gets loose aboard a specially chartered 747, <s>killing</s> [[Executive Meddling|putting everyone in the cargo hold]] except for the cute, intrepid flight attendant who has to take him down. Slight variant on this trope in that, after she dispatches the serial killer, she still has to [[Crash-Course Landing|land the plane]].
* ''[[Halloween (film)|Halloween]]'' was the Trope Codifier and introduced the [[Death by Sex]] trope (actually unintentional) which became a staple of the genre. [[Jamie Lee Curtis]] was typecast as a
* The ''[[Evil Dead]]'' series subverts this, but not in spirit. The main character' name, "Ashley", is usually reserved for women.
** [[Older Than They Think|Yeah, now]]. Ashley started out as a male name. A lot of male names end up like that after a century or two. Still, Ashley had been a popularly female for so long, this is easily exactly what the filmmakers were going for.
* In ''[[Nine Dead]]'', {{spoiler|Kelley Murphy}} was the sole surviving female to confront the masked shooter at gun point. In the end, {{spoiler|she shot the masked shooter, leaving 9 people dead in the room.}}
* Tree from ''[[Happy Death Day]]'' could be considered the ''ultimate'' Final Girl. Due to the [[Groundhog Day Loop]] she is trapped in, she dies - horribly - a total of eleven times, with each "reset" seemingly forcing her to die again and again - if not for the fact that she learns from each time and fights back, finally managing to figure out what happens and defeat the villain.
=== Live-Action TV ===▼
* In murder mystery ''[[
▲== Live-Action TV ==
▲* In murder mystery ''[[Harpers Island|Harper's Island]]'', protagonist Abby Mills is female, beautiful, clean living and is strongly implied to be a virgin. She has a [[Dark and Troubled Past]] and only picks up the [[Idiot Ball]] towards the last few episodes. Also, she {{spoiler|is the object of affection of one of the murderers}}. She survives along with {{spoiler|her love interest (and a little girl with [[Infant Immortality]] and by extension the girl's mother), and is the one to kill the murderer.}}
* [[Gender Inverted]] in ''[[Psychoville]]'' where at the end of Series Two, {{spoiler|Mr Jelly}} is the lone survivor who calls out {{spoiler|Grace}} for the murders. {{spoiler|David Sowerbutts also survives, but is not present at Andrews Nanotech.}}
===
* Claire Redfield in ''[[Resident Evil Code: Veronica]].''
* Not to mention Rebecca Chambers who managed to be the sole official survivor of her team from ''[[Resident Evil
=== Web Originals ===
* A [[Journal Roleplay]] called ''[http://program68.livejournal.com/ Battle Experiment Program N]'' threw characters from various series into a ''[[Battle Royale]]''-style program. The first group included characters like [[Code Geass|Lelouch]], [[Spider-Man|Peter Parker]], [[House (TV series)|House]], [[Johnny the Homicidal Maniac]], [[Street Fighter|Akuma]], [[Dexter]] and [[The Usual Suspects|Verbal Kint]]. The last one standing from the main group at the end of the plot? {{spoiler|Ichigo from ''[[Katamari Damacy]]''.}}
=== Anime and Manga ===
* As of the final page of ''[[Gyo]]'', {{spoiler|both the protagonist's girlfriend and his uncle's assistant both died (girlfriend) and are likely to die later on if not already dead (assistant)}}.
=== Films -- Live-Action ===
* The "survivor" of Cry Wolf (also provides the film's "twist" ending).
* The movie ''[[Shrooms (film)|Shrooms]]'' gleefully takes aim at the whole concept of the
* In ''[[High Tension]]'', a lesbian spends most of the film trying to rescue the girl she likes from the hands of a slasher. It turns out that {{spoiler|her alternate personality is actually the killer, having been [[Love Makes You Evil|driven murderously insane by her secret crush]]. Both [[Psycho Lesbian|the killer]] and the final girl survive.}}
* Played with in the movie ''[[
* ''[[Final Destination]] 3'', in which {{spoiler|the makers explicitly went out of their way to kill the Final Girl. Whether the two people she saved live or die is left open in the theatrical version.}}
** Also in the first [[Final Destination]]... {{spoiler|until 2, which subverts it for 1 by [[Incredibly Lame Pun|finally]] killing Clear}}.
* The girl who looks most likely to be the
* ''The Cottage'', saw the
* Cindy Campbell from the ''[[Scary Movie]]'' films is pretty much a sustained spoof of Final Girls.
** The slasher film final girl spoof was done a few decades previously (and just as, if not more, effectively) in 1982's ''Pandemonium'', with the character of Candy, who was not only a comedic take on the Final Girl, but also on [[Carrie]].
* Averted in ''[[The Ruins]]''. Technically there ''is'' a
* Averted in ''[[The Descent (film)|The Descent]]''. The cast of female spelunkers gets whittled down one by one, but ultimately the
* Played straight in the original cut of ''[[Deep Blue Sea]]'', but averted in the finished cut, because test audiences found the female lead to be obnoxious and self-centered. {{spoiler|The [[Plucky Comic Relief]] survived in her place.}}
* Subverted in ''[[Hostel]].'' {{spoiler|The film's only surviving character is Paxton, who is not only male, but a heavy drinker and drug user who spends the first half of the film screwing anything with a pulse. By contrast, Josh, who dies earlier, is relatively innocent--although Josh's ambiguous sexuality may make him an example of [[Bury Your Gays]].}}
** Also subverted in ''Hostel 2.'' Beth, the Final Girl who we've come to see as innocent and virginal, {{spoiler|turns out to be just as ruthless and bloodthirsty as her captors. She brutally castrates her "hunter" and strikes a deal with Sasha, the club's ringleader. In contrast Lorna, the untouched [[Cloudcuckoolander]], is the first to die and was selected specifically ''because'' she was a virgin. Her "hunter" had a [[Elizabeth Bathory|Countess Bathory]] fetish}}.
* Subverted the hell out of in ''[[Saw]]''. Amanda is the only one of Jigsaw's victims to get free of his traps, but she's not the typically innocent
** In ''[[Saw]] VI'', the only survivors of the Roulette Trap are, you guessed it, female.
*** ''[[Saw]] 3D'' has a Final Boy in Bobby Dagen.
* Tony in ''[[Devil]]''.
* Though, as mentioned above, the ''[[Friday the 13th (film)|Friday the 13 th]]'' film series usually plays it straight, special mention should be made for the character of Tommy Jarvis, who manages to make it safely through installments 4-6 as the [[Tagalong Kid]], [[Troubled but Cute]], and [[Zen Survivor]] respectively.
** The 2009 remake has a Final Girl, but also has a {{spoiler|[[Decoy Protagonist|decoy Final Girl]] in Jenna who is quite possibly on screen for more time than actual Final Girl Whitney until her sudden death near the end}}. Additionally there is another [[Action Survivor|survivor]] in {{spoiler|Whitney's brother Clay}}.
** Original Final Girl Alice was shown smoking marijuana in one scene, Ginny from ''Part 2'' has offscreen sex and kicks back a few beers, and Jessica of ''Jason Goes to Hell'' has a kid.
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* Subverted in ''[[Grizzly Park]]'', where Bebe, the ditzy, sweet girl, survives most of the movie, but {{spoiler|it turns out it was all an act, and she is really a mean, spoiled bitch. Ranger Bob ends up sending the bear to kill her once he finds out.}}
* Brutally subverted, along with every other aspect of the genre, by ''[[Funny Games]]''. {{spoiler|The Final Middle-Aged Woman is tied up on a boat, when she spots a knife dropped there at the beginning of the film. But before she can accomplish anything, the killers nonchalantly pitch her over the side. THE END}}
* ''[[Identity (film)|Identity]]'' subverts this twice: the character set up as the
** It could also be considered a subversion that {{spoiler|the
*** {{spoiler|Except the people in the van crash, who were all male.}}
* In After Dark Horrorfest 4's movie ''Kill Theory'' subverts this trope when the expected final girl {{spoiler|stabs her boyfriend in the stomach}}, breaking the rules and ends up {{spoiler|being killed by the actual final girl who she had shot earlier.}}
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* Thoroughly subverted in ''[[Trick 'r Treat]]'' with Laurie, whose name is a reference to [[Jamie Lee Curtis]]' Final Girl in the ''[[Halloween (film)|Halloween]]'' films, a cute virgin [[Little Dead Riding Hood|dressed as Little Red Riding Hood]] who is surrounded by loud, promiscuous friends who want to get her laid. {{spoiler|However, none of them were in danger at all. It turns out that they're a pack of bloodthirsty werewolves, and that all along they were actually looking for a man so that Laurie could eat him.}}
* Set up in ''[[Damnatus]]'', where Nira is the last of the party left alive (with [[The Hero]] even commenting that if anyone's going to make it out alive, it will be her), {{spoiler|but when the daemon catches up with her she dies just like the rest.}}
* Subverted to hell and back in ''[[All the Boys Love Mandy Lane]]''. The innocent and pure Mandy appears to be this at first, {{spoiler|but then comes [[The Reveal]] that, the whole time, she was working with the killer, with whom she had entered a [[Suicide Pact]]. It's then given a [[Double Subversion]] when Mandy backs out of the pact at the last minute, allowing her to be the
* Inverted with ''[[Student Bodies (film)|Student Bodies]]'', in which everyone is suspicious that the obvious
* In ''[[Scream (film)|Scream]] 4'', the character of Jill Roberts {{spoiler|takes this trope and puts it through the ringer. She was the killer all along, and planned to frame somebody else for it so that she can come out looking like the
* [[Invoked Trope|Invoked]] and [[Subverted Trope|subverted]] in ''[[The Cabin in the Woods]]''. {{spoiler|When the monsters ritually slaughter the college kids, the victim labelled as "The Virgin" can't be killed unless all the others are killed first, and, as long as she's suffered a lot and is the last one left standing, she can be allowed to escape the monsters without ruining the ritual. However, it turns out one of the earlier male victims [[Unexplained Recovery|wasn't as dead as everyone thought]], and comes back to save the
=== Literature ===
* Used as a theme in Jane Mendelsohn's [[Mind Screw]] novel ''Innocence,'' with the main character seeing herself as the Final Girl in her own horror story. {{spoiler|She does kill the villain - that is, her stepmother.}}
* The Final Girls of the ''Friday the 13th'' spin-off books ''Church of the Divine Psychopath'' and ''Carnival of Maniacs'' are also [[The Ladette]].
* In [[Agatha Christie
** Played straighter in a number of theatrical and film adaptations, although there's usually another survivor too.
=== Live-Action TV ===
* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', both the movie and TV show were created specifically as a subversion of the
** According to the [[Word of God]], Buffy was actually a subversion of the girls who get killed in monster movies, not those who survive slashers (if memory serves).
** Buffy only became "sexually active" halfway into the second season - prior to that she was a virgin. She also doesn't smoke or do drugs or drink that much, and as for girlishness she is a cheerleader for all of ''one'' episode. In fact, whether by accident or design, Buffy resembles the classic Final Girl a lot more than the characters she is supposedly subverting.
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=== Web Originals ===
* [[The Angry Video Game Nerd]] ended up being the last one to confront Freddy in his ''[[Nightmare On Elm Street]]'' review after his clones died in various ways. Instead of having the usual Final Girl traits, the one thing he had that his clones didn't was a Power Glove!
===
* ''[[The white chamber]]'' seems to play with this... And it seems quite ironic. {{spoiler|Sarah may be the last survivor, but ''she was the killer''.}}
* Averted in [[Dino Crisis|''Dino Crisis 1'']], no matter what ending you get, Regina and [[Black Dude Dies First|Ri]][[Averted Trope|ck]] will always survive, but Gail and Doctor Kirk [[Multiple Endings|may or may not]]. But {{spoiler|played with but probably played straight in the sequel. Dylan and Paula make it to the gate room, but Regina is the only character that definitely survives the entire ordeal. Dylan and Paula might have if Regina did perfect a time gate and save them at the last moment.}}
* Subverted in ''[[Shivers]]''. When Beth and Merrick released the Ixupi 15 years in the past, Beth was the last survivor. {{spoiler|She figured out how to solve all the museum's puzzles, but she died before she could finish the job.}}
* In the Survival Horror mech game ''Space Griffon [[VF 9]]'' the final girl is the useless [[
* In the 2012 version of ''[[Twisted Metal]]'', [[Monster Clown|Sweet]] [[Serial Killer|Tooth]]'s wish is to track down his
=== Western Animation ===
* A parody in ''[[Robot Chicken]]'' where ''[[Scooby Doo]]'' meets [[Friday the 13th (film)|Jason Voorhees]]. Velma complains that she is the final girl due to the stereotype that the virgin is always the last to die.
{{quote|
* In the episode "Failsafe" of ''[[Young Justice (animation)|Young Justice]]'', M'gann is the last of ''all the heroes'' in their battle against the invading aliens. {{spoiler|Turns out she had to be the last one, as she was the one subconsciously controlling the [[Mind Makes It Real]] simulation that [[Went Horribly Wrong]]. Once she is 'killed', everyone awakens.}}
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[[Category:Victimhood Tropes]]
[[Category:Women Are Delicate]]
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[[Category:Gender and Sexuality Tropes]]
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