Come on, now, did they really have to kill that person? Friday the 13th doesn’t discriminate when it comes to the body count, but there have been quite a few victims that we felt sorry for. Here we’ll be ranking those victims based on how likable they were or how sympathetic we were to their character.
10. Violet Morainie (Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning)
Who could forget that Gothic wallflower dancing with herself in her room? While some of her fellow institutionalized friends also didn’t deserve to die, Violet (Tiffany Helm) certainly stood out as the most alluring of the group, even if she was a bit of an antisocial brat. We would like to have seen more of her, preferably alive.
9. Debbie (Friday the 13th Part III)
I think it would be fair to say that the pregnant girl didn’t deserve to die. Though Debbie (Tracie Savage) probably wouldn’t have made the best parent considering her sarcastic, laidback party-girl attitude throughout most of the film. She appears to have a pang of conscience moments before her demise, however. Who would have thought it was a bad idea to have a beer when you’re pregnant?
8. J.J. Jarrett (Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan)
While she only had about 3 minutes of screen time, rocker chick J.J. (Saffron Henderson) had the potential to be a captivating character. She rocks out with her Flying V with the hopes of hitting it big in the music industry, which she certainly had the potential for. If only her cruise had not been crashed by a certain undead, hockey-masked killer. To add insult to injury J.J. is bludgeoned to death with her own guitar. Of course, maybe it was a bad idea to go into the creepy, dark engine room in the bowels of the ship. Especially on your own.
7. Eva Watanabe (Jason Takes Manhattan)
While bookish girl Eva (Kelly Hu) may hang out with mean girl Tamara (Sharlene Martin), they certainly don’t fall into the same cliché. Eva reluctantly hangs out with Tamara in sought of validation, however; her moral compass directs her away. Despite of this, she does attempt to find her former friend when the emergency alarm sounds. It’s too bad she broke the first rule of horror: never go anywhere alone. At least she got the chance to bust some sick moves with Jason on the dance floor.
6. Allen Hawes (Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives)
Seems like almost anyone around Tommy Jarvis is doomed. Hawes (Ron Palillo) accompanied Tommy (Thom Matthews) on his quest to cremate Jason’s body, only to have his heart literally ripped from his chest upon Jason’s accidental resurrection. Way to go, Tommy. Hope it was worth it just to temporarily trap Jason at the bottom of the lake.
5. Jenna (2009 reboot)
The 2009 reboot wasn’t a great film, or even an adequate one. Of all the characters in the movie, none were more likable than Jenna (Danielle Panabaker) and Clay (Jared Padalecki). Responsible brother Clay wants to save his missing sister Whitney (Amanda Righetti), and nice girl Jenna wants to help him out even when the rest of her friends push him away. They succeed in rescuing Whitney from Jason’s underground lair, however; while escaping, Clay helps his sister to safety, leaving Jenna in the back of the line to be stabbed by a pursuing Jason (Derek Mears). Chivalry is dead, apparently. Just like Jenna.
4. Colleen Van Deusen (Jason Takes Manhattan)
Who would have thought that an awful movie could have so many likable characters? Colleen (Barbara Bingham) certainly didn’t deserve her death. She cared for all of her students, but she was especially loving towards Rennie (Jensen Daggett), acting almost as a replacement mother for her. She does lose points for leading half the ship’s passengers to their death just before the boat sinks, though. But what a kick in the teeth it was that she met her demise at the hands of Rennie’s horrible driving, rather than from the deranged killer stalking them throughout the film.
3. Amanda Shepard (Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood)
The mother of telekinetic Tina Shepard (Lar Park Lincoln), Amanda (Susan Blu) only wanted to help her daughter deal with her powers and her guilt over her father’s death. While she was originally blind to Dr. Crews’ abusive treatment of Tina, she eventually caught on and sought to rectify the situation. She catches her death when the cowardly doctor uses her as a human shield against Jason. The biggest dick move in the history of the franchise, right there.
2. Alice Hardy (Friday the 13th Part II)
The definitive Final Girl of the franchise Alice Hardy (Adrienne King) survived the events of the first film, beheading her would-be killer, only to be murdered by Jason in the second. Even more haunting is the last thing she saw before her death was the severed head of Mrs. Voorhees (Betsy Palmer) sitting in her refrigerator. While it’s fair to say that she earned her peace, she did kind of have it coming. I mean, she killed Jason’s mother; I think Jason was entitled to have his revenge. It’s still a rather shameful way to treat her character.
1. Mark (Part II)
If only one person in the franchise deserved not to die, it was Mark (Tom McBride). He’s in a wheelchair, he doesn’t drink or do drugs, and he was one of the nicest characters in the movie. His luck starts to turn around when he gets the chance for a romantic liaison with the polite-yet-flirty Vickie (Lauren Marie-Tyler), but things go south when he catches a machete to the face to be thrown down a flight of stairs. Come on now, Jason, that was just rude.
That concludes our list on victims who didn’t deserve to die in Friday the 13th. Did you agree with us? Let us know if we got it right, and tell us which characters you think the killers should have spared!
