The Modernization of the “Final Girl” Trope

The “Final Girl” trope is common in horror media and it's when the final character confronts their antagonist. It gives its viewers hope that at least one of the characters will survive the person, creature, or entity stalking them. A horror movie typically starts with a group of people deciding to do something innocent like having a sleepover, taking a vacation, visiting a summer camp, etc… They very innocently stumble onto something that sparks their curiosity, but then decide to engage in that curiosity, unknowingly bringing forth their demises. In many cases, most of the characters are silly because we wouldn’t have much of a movie if they were all smart, right? A lot of the characters make some sort of dumb decision that ultimately ends in their death, but the “Final Girl” is typically the brains in the situation, using their quick thinking to help push them closer to the odds of survival.

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Traditionally, the "Final Girl" is a woman (or girl) and she is typically the straight edge character out of her group of friends; meaning that she is a virgin, fully clothed throughout the film, and she doesn’t engage in drugs or alcohol. She will also probably be the more intelligent person of the group, using her wit to navigate around the antagonist to survive. She is also traditionally brunette in contrast to the blonde (who is often portrayed as the sexy, drug-using, ditsy character).

A “Final Girl” can also be anyone. A man (or boy) can be used in this trope and examples that we see of this are Evil Dead (1981) and Hostel (2005). It’s still just as interesting to see a guy play a role that follows this trope. They have the added strength in some cases and can combat their stalker (assuming it has a physical form). 

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