Stock characters in horror films

1. STOCK CHARACTERS IN HORROR FILMS

2. THE WANDERER
 The wanderer is often the character who wanders off and typically gets killed first making them the first
victim. The wanderer also takes risks. In a group of friends the wanderer is often the character who has a
comedic influence and thinks that they are the most responsible ones. The wanderer is also portrayed as
the curious and naïve one out of the other stock characters which leads them to end up in a dangerous
situation.
Tatum from ‘Scream’
Wade from House of Wax
Megan Helms from Black Christmas

3. THE POPULAR GIRL
 In horror films the popular girl is liked by majority and has lots of friends. In terms of appearance,
stereotypically the popular girl is blonde, pretty and wears trendy clothes. She is also typically friends
with ’The Final Girl.’ However, she is portrayed as rude, spoilt and catty. She can also be portrayed as
vain and slutty therefore tends to attract attention from boys particularly from the Jock. In horror films
she is one of the characters who gets killed at the beginning and at that point is in a vulnerable position.
Jules from Cabin in the woods
Helen from I Know what you did last
summer
Lisa from Prom Night

4. JOCK
 The ‘Jock’ is always portrayed as the strong, brave and tough character who is built athletically. He also
tends to be part of a sports team and often is in a relationship with the popular girl. In a dangerous
situation (the death scenes) they usually try to protect everyone as well as themselves from the evil
antagonist but however he ends up getting killed himself after attempting to defeat the antagonist.
Scotty from Jeepers Creepers
Curt from Cabin in the woods
Tom from My bloody
Valentine

5. THE FINAL GIRL
 The Final girl is usually the protagonist/the main character who survives throughout the film. She is
usually smarter than the other stock characters. She also has friends but not in the same way as the
popular girl. As she is seen as the last character standing the audience have the chance to follow her
story and see how she is in communication with the monster. In addition, her stages of fear, brave
moments and self defense are shown in the film.
Laurie from
Halloween
Alice from Friday the
13th
Sidney from Scream

6. PANDORA
 Pandora is the character who ‘opens the box.’ Pandora is interested in something mysterious and is often
curious. At first ‘Pandora’ is portrayed as sweet and innocent however is often the one who twists the
plot of the film which means that they turn out to be the killer trying to kill the stock characters.
Esther from Orphan
Mrs Baylock from the Omen
Detective Hoffman from Saw

7. THE PERVERT
 The pervert is usually a male character who is sexually motivated; he typically lusts for the final girl or the
popular girl and has sexual desires for other women which could lead to them becoming a rapist or a
murderer. He is usually portrayed as an outcast and doesn’t really get along with the other stock
characters. The character is so focused on sex that he forgets his surroundings and ends up being killed
therefore unable to protect himself.
Blake from House of waxNorman from Psycho Frankie from Final Destination