Remember me
For as many films as there are in the Friday the 13th franchise, there’s surprisingly few recurring characters in the series beyond Jason himself. The final girl always changes between movies, and any new characters tend to be killed off just as quickly as they’re introduced. But that isn’t to say there haven’t been many Friday the 13th characters who have made a lasting impression on fans.
Whether they use telekinesis or their own wit, these 5 characters have gone toe to toe with Jason and lived. Several of them still stand as the masked killer’s greatest on-screen rivals. As fans eagerly await a new Friday the 13th installment, they’d likely welcome a rematch when it finally arrives – via a return of these fan-favorite characters.
5. Chris Higgins (Friday the 13th Part III)
Paramount Pictures.
The final girl of Friday the 13th Part III, Chris spends most of the film traumatized over a past encounter with Jason. It’s a plot point which helps make her feel both vulnerable and sympathetic to the viewer, and is further aided by the girl-next-door type performance from actress Dana Kimmell.
When it comes time for Chris to actually fight Jason, she deals the killer some serious damage, including an axe to the head. The blow damages Jason’s mask, leaving a wound that would become a permanent fixture of the character in future appearances. We have Chris to thank for that. While she ultimately ends Part III in a state of hysteria, fans would love to see her come back to face her trauma one more time. Kimmell has since retired from acting (years earlier she nearly landed the part of Sarah Connor in The Terminator) but if Laurie Strode can still kick horror movie butt, there’s no reason to think Kimmell couldn’t bring Chris back too.
4. Creighton Duke (Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday)
new line cinema.
Creighton Duke has long been lauded as the best part of the oft-maligned Jason Goes to Hell, and for good reason. Portrayed by actor Steven Williams, Duke is a perfect representation of just how insane Friday the 13th’s ninth entry truly is, and I mean that in a good way. The character is introduced as a bounty hunter and expert on Jason Voorhees. When the killer is blown up at the start of the film, Duke continues his hunt, acting both as the Van Helsing to Jason’s Dracula as well as the primary exposition dumper for the . But that’s not to say he’s not a complete bad-ass while doing it.
Williams himself is still active in Hollywood, having appeared in the DCEU Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) movie along with several more-recent TV projects. If anything from Jason Goes to Hell deserves to be re-visited, it’s Creighton Duke — especially if Friday the 13th wants to embrace its stranger side.
3. Tommy Jarvis (Friday the 13th Parts 4-6)
Paramount Pictures.
Tommy Jarvis is one of the few exceptions to Friday the 13th’s lack of recurring characters, having a whole trilogy of films centered around his character. Introduced as a young boy living with his family on Crystal Lake, Tommy makes his first appearance in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter. It’s here he first outsmarts Jason, dressing to resemble the killer as a young boy before delivering the final blow. For a time, the scene acted as Jason’s final demise. Tommy spends the subsequent films, like Friday the 13th: A New Beginning, traumatized by his experience. In fact, the fifth entry would even try to shift gears into making Tommy the next killer before retconning that decision in Jason Lives.
Jason Lives opens with Tommy accidentally resurrecting Jason. For the rest of the film, Tommy attempts to remedy his mistake, culminating in a scene where he chains the killer to the bottom of Crystal Lake. When looked at together, the Tommy trilogy firmly cements the character as Jason’s most personal rival. After all, Few Friday the 13th characters have been as directly impacted by Jason as he has. He’s important not just for the history he has with the killer, but for the overarching narrative he brings to the series. For this reasons, fans would more than welcome another appearance from Tommy Jarvis.
2. Ginny Field (Friday the 13th Part 2)
Paramount Pictures.
Child psychology major and final girl of Friday the 13th Part 2, Ginny Field stands as the only character to truly get into Jason’s head. It’s the film’s final act which is most remembered: when Ginny dons Pamela Voorhees’ sweater, talking Jason down by pretending to be his mother. The scene shortly before that, however, in which Ginny psychoanalyzes Jason at the bar, deserves spotlight too, because it’s one of the few scenes in the franchise which explore Jason as a character.
In this way, Ginny is just as interesting for the layers she manages to squeeze out of Friday the 13th’s main killer as she is as a final girl. If the series were to bring her back, one could easily see her having grown since Part 2, becoming, say, Dr. Ginny Field in the years since then. If Friday the 13th wanted an Avengers style team-up of all its past survivors, Ginny could easily be their leader.
1. Tina Shepard (Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood)
paramount pictures.
Played by the late Lar-Park Lincoln, Tina stands out as the only explicitly supernatural protagonist to fight Jason. Introduced as a teenager with telekinetic powers, Tina is haunted by the death of her father, whose drowning she accidentally caused as a child. It’s this which brings her back to Crystal Lake, where Tina’s doctor is trying to help her manage her powers (or use them to his own gain.) Tina’s telekinesis gives her an advantage when she fights Jason. She sets fire to the killer, hangs him from the ceiling, and even destroys his mask. It’s by and large the most damage Jason has ever taken from a final girl.
While not all fans are keen on Part VII’s veer into superpowered shenanigans, Tina is just as compelling as a foil to Jason. Both characters have lost parents, and both have trauma stemming from Crystal Lake. All of this serves to make Tina Shepard not only Jason’s strongest nemesis, but his perfect opposite. If Friday the 13th wants to continue to explore the supernatural side of Crystal Lake, promises to do, Tina would be an excellent way to do so.