The term "final girl," has become not just a niche horror trope but an expected part of a slasher film. The concept harkens back to films like Halloween and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre where a sole survivor makes her way out of peril and destroys her tormentor. As franchises have continued on, moviegoers get attached to their respective heroes, but few make it to more than one film.
Some franchises have stuck to their heroes, while others, like A Nightmare on Elm Street, have gone on to kill their survivors off in subsequent sequels. Most protagonists ride off into the sunset never to be seen again, but the grit and bravery of these particular scream queens have earned them final girl status in multiple films.
1 Laurie Strode - 'Halloween'
Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) has become synonymous with final girls. She has survived six Halloween films, and though the continuity fluctuates, she has survived more films than any other final girl to date. Laurie is the prime example of a virginal final girl who slowly comes into her own power before overcoming their aggressors.
In subsequent films Laurie comes into her own power, going into hiding and preparing for the return of Michael Meyers. In one timeline of the films, she is killed by him, however, in the most recent timeline she is able to kill him once and for all.
2 Sidney Prescott - 'Scream'
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Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) is a survivor. In Scream, she defines what it means to be a final girl, virginal and reluctant. She willingly takes on the many Ghostface killers that come after her despite the personal connection she shares with them.
In each subsequent film, she learns from her experience and is more prepared. She has survived five films, and though she reportedly won't make an appearance in the upcoming Scream VI, she is known to be alive and well.
3 Julie James - 'I Know What You Did Last Summer'
Julie James (Jennifer Love Hewitt) is the main protagonist of the I Know What You Did Last Summer franchise. She is a reluctant participant in covering up the killing of a fisherman they hit on the road. A year later, Julie starts to receive notes about the cover-up as the fisherman returns to slaughter her friends. She and her ex-boyfriend, Ray (Freddie Prinze Jr.), are the only survivors.
The second film takes place in the Bahamas where Julie and her friends are vacationing. The fisherman returns, terrorizing patrons of the resort before Julie and Ray are able to defeat the fisherman, yet again.
4 Tree Gelbman - 'Happy Death Day'
Tree Gelbman (Jessica Rothe) is an unusual final girl, as she dies several times in both Happy Death Day films. The time-loop slasher shows Tree being murdered at least eight times before she is able to close the time loop and survive the Babyface killer.
Tree wakes up the next day to be stuck in another time loop, this time with more information and quantum physics involved. This time she survives not only the time loop but inter-dimensional travel.
5 Kirsty Cotton - 'Hellraiser'
Kirsty Cotton (Ashley Laurence) is the protagonist of the Hellraiser films. In the first film, she is the perfect example of a pure final girl. She is able to use a puzzle box to banish the Cenobites. In the second film, she survives being stuck in the Cenobites' realm and is able to save her friend of the psychiatric ward she is confined to.
She appears next in the sixth installment. She becomes the antagonist, negotiating her husband's soul for her own with Pinhead, framing him for murder and killing him.
6 Ellen Ripley - 'Alien'
Ripley has transcended final girl status and come out a legitimate action hero. In Alien, Ripley is an unsuspecting final girl, defeating the alien on the Nostromo after the entire crew has been killed. In subsequent films, she is a hardened warrior eventually sacrificing herself in the third film to kill the alien queen.
She returns in the fourth film as a clone of the original Ripley. She survives yet again, finally making it to Earth, albeit over 250 years after she left it.
7 Alice - 'Resident Evil'
Alice (Milla Jovovich) is another example of a final girl turned action hero. In Resident Evil, she suffers from amnesia at first but slowly begins to realize she is a highly trained operative.
Through the six films, she becomes more powerful, discovering she was a genetically altered bio-weapon. She has telekinesis, superhuman abilities and an army of clones that all fight against the Umbrella Corporation.
8 Marybeth Dunston - 'Hatchet'
Marybeth Dunston (Danielle Harris) is the protagonist of the Hatchet franchise. She survives two films before being impaled by Victor Crowley in the third. She is shown to have survived in the fourth film in a post-credits scene.
After Victor Crowley kills her father and brother, Marybeth seeks revenge. She is teased as returning to a fifth installment, however, there is no word on development.
9 Angela Vidal - 'REC'
Angela Vidal (Manuela Velasco) is the main character from the REC film series. The film follows Vidal, a reporter, and her cameraman as they follow a group of firefighters into a building where an infection is spreading. She is dragged away in the first film leaving her survival ambiguous but is found alive in the second film.
Being infected and then cured, Angela survives the fourth installment and is shown to have stopped the infection from spreading.