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Final Girl: Difference between revisions
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'''Buffy''': Probably. What movie is this?|[[Executive Meddling|Cut dialogue]] from ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film)|Buffy, the Vampire Slayer]]''}}
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]].
It's also interesting to note how the [[Final Girl]] can be interpreted in film theory. On one hand, the character seems to be the living embodiment of stereotypical conservative attitudes of what women "should be". On the other, feminists have noticed that through this device the mostly male audience ([[Did Not Do the Research|or...not]]) is forced to identify with a woman in the climax of the movie. In practical terms, the makers of a horror film want the victim to experience abject terror in the climax, and feel that viewers would reject a film that showed a man experiencing such abject terror.
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** 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 [[Final Girl]] early on in her career so if she was in a slasher film, she would definitely be surviving.
* 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.
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== Live-Action TV ==
* In murder mystery ''[[
* [[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.}}
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== 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 [[Final Girl]]. At the end {{spoiler|the Final Girl discovers that she herself is the killer, having been driven insane by the titular ''Shrooms''.}}
* 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.}}
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* The girl who looks most likely to be the [[Final Girl]] in ''The Deadly Spawn'' {{spoiler|dies in the last 20 minutes and is replaced by another girl who arrived shortly before two-thirds of the way through the film. The monster ends up being killed by the precocious little boy who was hiding in the basement where he was cornered by the monster earlier, figured out its weaknesses by observing it, and had enough know-how to construct a home-made bomb when he finally got free.}}
* ''The Cottage'', saw the [[Final Girl]] turn out to be so unpleasant and obnoxious that the technically-bad but not actually evil kidnappers who made up the other three heroes were much more sympathetic characters. Hilariously {{spoiler|she not only releases the monster but manages to get herself killed by said monster before any of the guys - it is probably not a good idea to mouth off to a psychotic 7-foot tall deformed cannibal when he is about to brain someone with a shovel}}.
* 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 [[Final Girl]] but {{spoiler|she is not the main character, and is not the most intelligent or resourceful one amongst the victims. Her boyfriend is the wise and resourceful leader, but he sacrifices himself to save her. Ultimately, the end implies that she is doomed anyway.}}
* Averted in ''[[The Descent (film)|The Descent]]''. The cast of female spelunkers gets whittled down one by one, but ultimately the [[Final Girl]] crosses a [[Moral Event Horizon]], losing audience sympathy. In the end, {{spoiler|she seems to escape, but the scene cuts to reveal that it was just a fantasy and she's irrevocably trapped in the cave.}} Due to [[Executive Meddling]], the Final Girl trope is upheld in the American version, and she escapes.
* 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]].}}
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*** ''[[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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== 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|Agatha Christie's]] ''[[And Then There Were None]]'', {{spoiler|Vera Claythorne}} is the last survivor on the island, only to {{spoiler|hang herself}}. Furthermore, {{spoiler|she wasn't exactly the ''last'' person left, she (and the reader) only ''thinks'' she is}}.
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[[Category:Horror Tropes]]
[[Category:Final Girl]]
[[Category:Identity]]
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