Final Girl: Difference between revisions

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 [[Damsel in Distress]] - which obviously gives her a very low deadness score. The Final Girl is usually but not always brunette, often in contrast to a [[Slashers Prefer Blondes|promiscuous blonde who traditionally gets killed off]].

 

 

The term was coined by Carol J. Clover in her critical examination of slasher movies.

** 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]].

* 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.

=== Films -- Live-Action ===

* The "survivor" of Cry Wolf (also provides the film's "twist" ending).

* 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 ''[[Mind Hunters]]'', {{spoiler|there are two of the original group left standing - a guy and a girl, but seeing as the boy is the killer, she is technically the Final Girl standing. But alas it's not technically true, as one of the other victims is shown to have just passed out.}}

* ''[[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}}.

* 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]].

* 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}}.

** In ''[[Saw]] VI'', the only survivors of the Roulette Trap are, you guessed it, female.

*** ''[[Saw]] 3D'' has a Final Boy in Bobby Dagen.

* 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}}

*** {{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.}}

* 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.}}

 

 

 

=== Live-Action TV ===

** 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.

* 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 [[Damsel in Distress]] scientist the hero picks up who is trapped in a locked room on the station. It appears the awesomely classy punk rocker chick will survive, [[Idiot Ball|but then she sacrifices herself to kill her brother]] that [[Came Back Wrong]] when he shows up out of nowhere in the final sequence. The crazy/idiot thing about it? Both you and her have battlemechs. He's in a hybrid recon/maintenance mecha. Even if he had gotten the drop on you in an ambush (and he didn't) either one of you could mop the floor with him without much trouble, so her completely random sacrifice was a waste, especially as the real [[Big Bad]] is still alive and waiting for you at the hangar. He's a mad scientist who turned himself into an [[Eldritch Abomination]] kaiju, so if anyone needed a mech blowing up in their face it definitely would have been then. It's a pretty difficult fight, so you'll find yourself wishing she'd have saved herself for this instead.

 

 

[[Category:Gender and Sexuality Tropes]]

[[Category:Horror Tropes]]

[[Category:Identity]]