Jason Voorhees () is a fictional character and the

antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist and is often depicted as a villain.''Friday the 13th'' series. He first appeared in '' Friday the 13th'' (1980) as the young son of camp-cook-turned-killer

Pamela Voorhees Pamela Voorhees () is a fictional character and the overarching antagonist of the ''Friday the 13th'' series of horror films. She was created by Victor Miller, and first appeared in Sean S. Cunningham's '' Friday the 13th'' (1980), played by ...

, in which he was portrayed by Ari Lehman. Created by Victor Miller, with contributions by Ron Kurz, Sean S. Cunningham and

Tom Savini Thomas Vincent Savini (born November 3, 1946) is an American prosthetic makeup artist, actor, stunt performer and film director. He is known for his makeup and special effects work on many films directed by George A. Romero, including ''Martin ( ...

, Jason was not originally intended to carry the series as the main antagonist. The character has subsequently been represented in various other media, including novels, video games, comic books, and a crossover film with Freddy Krueger. The character has primarily been an antagonist in the films, whether by stalking and killing the other characters, or acting as a psychological threat to the protagonist, as in the case of '' Friday the 13th: A New Beginning''. Since Lehman's portrayal, the character has been represented by numerous actors and stuntmen, sometimes by more than one at a time; this has caused some controversy as to who should receive credit for the portrayal. Kane Hodder is the best known of the stuntmen to portray Jason, having played the character in four consecutive films. The character's physical appearance has gone through many transformations, with various special makeup effects artists making their mark on the character's design. Tom Savini's initial design has been the basis for many of the later incarnations. The trademark hockey mask did not appear until '' Friday the 13th Part III''. Since '' Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives'', filmmakers have given Jason

superhuman strength Superhuman strength is a superpower commonly invoked in fiction and other literary works, such as mythology. A fictionalized representation of the phenomenon of hysterical strength, it is the power to exert force and lift weights beyond what is ...

, regenerative powers, and near invulnerability. Some interpretations suggest that the audience has empathy for Jason, whose motivation for killing has been cited as being driven by the immoral actions of his victims and his own rage over having drowned as a child. Jason has been featured in various humor magazines, referenced in feature films, parodied in television series, and was the inspiration for a

horror punk Horror punk is a music genre that mixes punk rock and 1950s-influenced doo-wop and rockabilly sounds with morbid and violent imagery and lyrics which are often influenced by horror films and science fiction B-movies. The genre was pioneered by t ...

band. Several toy lines have been released based on various versions of the character from the ''Friday the 13th'' films. Jason’s hockey mask is a widely recognized image in

popular culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of cultural practice, practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art

f. pop art F is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet. F may also refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * F or f, the number 15 (number), 15 in hexadecimal and higher positional systems * ''p'F'q'', the hypergeometric function * F-distributi ...

or mass art, sometimes contraste ...

Appearances

Jason Voorhees first appears during a nightmare of the main character Alice Hardy ( Adrienne King) in the original ''Friday the 13th'' film; he becomes the main antagonist of the series in its sequels. As well as the films, there have been books and comics that have either expanded the universe of Jason, or been based on a minor aspect of him.

Films

Jason made his first cinematic appearance in the original '' Friday the 13th'' on May 9, 1980. In this film, Jason ( Ari Lehman) is portrayed in the memories of his mother, Mrs. Voorhees ( Betsy Palmer), and as a nightmare of the film's protagonist,

Alice Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...

( Adrienne King). Although not a central character in the original movie, he is still the catalyst of the film's plot—Mrs. Voorhees, the main antagonist, seeks revenge for her son's drowning, which she blames on the irresponsible camp counselors. Jason's second appearance was in the sequel, ''

Friday the 13th Part 2 ''Friday the 13th Part 2'' is a 1981 American slasher film produced and directed by Steve Miner in his List of directorial debuts, directorial debut, and written by Ron Kurz. It is the sequel to ''Friday the 13th (1980 film), Friday the 13th'' (1 ...

'' (1981). Revealed to be alive, an adult Jason exacts revenge on Alice for decapitating his mother in the original film. Jason ( Steven Dash and Warrington Gillette) returns to Crystal Lake, living there as a

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Chr ...

and guarding it from all intruders. Five years later a group of teenagers arrive to set up a new camp, only to be murdered one by one by Jason, who wears a sack over his head to hide his face. Ginny ( Amy Steel), the lone survivor, finds a makeshift shack in the woods with a shrine built around the severed head of Mrs. Voorhees, and surrounded by corpses. Ginny fights back and slams a machete through Jason's shoulder. He is left incapacitated as Ginny is taken away in an ambulance. In '' Friday the 13th Part III'' (1982), Jason ( Richard Brooker) escapes to a nearby lake resort, Higgins Haven, to rest from his wounds. At the same time, Chris Higgins ( Dana Kimmell) returns to family property with some acquaintances. An unmasked and reclusive Jason kills anyone who wanders into the barn where he is hiding. Taking a hockey mask from a victim to hide his face, he leaves the barn to kill the rest of the group. Chris fends off Jason by slamming an axe into his head, but the night's events drive her into hysteria as the police take her away. '' Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter'' (1984) continues the story, with a presumed-dead Jason ( Ted White) found by the police and taken to the morgue. Jason awakens at the morgue and kills the coroner and a nurse, and makes his way back to Crystal Lake. A group of teens renting a house there fall victim to Jason's rampage. Jason then seeks out Trish ( Kimberly Beck) and Tommy Jarvis (

Corey Feldman Corey Scott Feldman (born July 16, 1971) is an American actor and musician. As a youth, he became well known for his roles in popular 1980s films such as '' Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter'' (1984), '' Gremlins'' (1984), '' The Goonies'' (198 ...

) next door. While Trish distracts Jason, Tommy finally kills him with a machete. '' Friday the 13th: A New Beginning'' (1985) follows Tommy Jarvis ( John Shepherd), who was committed to a mental hospital after the events of ''The Final Chapter'', and has grown up constantly afraid that Jason ( Tom Morga) will return. Jason's body was supposedly cremated after Tommy killed him. Roy Burns (Dick Wieand) uses Jason's persona to become a copycat killer at the halfway home to which Tommy was moved. Jason appears in the film only through Tommy's dreams and hallucinations. In '' Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives'' (1986), Tommy ( Thom Mathews), who has run away from a mental institution, visits Jason's grave and learns that Jason's body was never actually cremated, but buried in a cemetery near Crystal Lake. While attempting to destroy his body, Tommy inadvertently resurrects Jason ( C. J. Graham) via a piece of cemetery fence that acts as a

lightning rod A lightning rod or lightning conductor (British English) is a metal rod mounted on a structure and intended to protect the structure from a lightning strike. If lightning hits the structure, it is most likely to strike the rod and be conducted ...

. Now possessing

superhuman The term superhuman refers to humans, humanoids or other beings with abilities and other qualities that exceed those naturally found in humans. These qualities may be acquired through natural ability, self-actualization or technological aids. ...

abilities, Jason returns to Crystal Lake, renamed Forest Green, and begins his killing spree anew. Tommy eventually lures Jason back to the lake where he drowned as a child and chains him to a boulder on the lake floor, but almost dies in the process. Tommy's friend, Megan Garris (Jennifer Cooke), finishes Jason off by cutting his neck with a boat propeller. '' Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood'' (1988) begins an undisclosed amount of time after ''Jason Lives''. Jason ( Kane Hodder) is inadvertently freed from his chains by the telekinetic Tina Shepard ( Lar Park Lincoln), who was attempting to resurrect her father. Jason begins killing those who occupy Crystal Lake, and after a battle with Tina, is dragged back to the bottom of the lake by an apparition of Tina's father. '' Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan'' (1989) sees Jason return from the grave, brought back to life via an underwater electrical cable. He follows a group of students on their senior class trip to

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, boarding the ''Lazarus'' to wreak havoc. Upon reaching Manhattan, Jason kills all the survivors but Rennie ( Jensen Daggett) and Sean ( Scott Reeves); he chases them into the sewers, where he is submerged in toxic waste and dies. In '' Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday'' (1993), through an unexplained resurrection, he returns to Crystal Lake where he is hunted by the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

. The FBI sets up a sting to kill Jason, which proves successful. However, through mystical possession, Jason survives by passing his

demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in Media (communication), media including f ...

-infested heart from one being to the next. Though Jason does not physically appear throughout most of the film, it is learned he has a half-sister and a niece, and that he needs them to retrieve and reinhabit his body. After resurrecting it, Jason is stabbed by his niece Jessica Kimble (Kari Keegan) and dragged into Hell. '' Jason X'' (2001) marked Kane Hodder's last performance as Jason. The film starts off in 2010; Jason has returned after another unexplained resurrection. Captured by the U.S. government in 2008, Jason is being experimented upon in a research facility, where it has been determined that he has regenerative capabilities and that

cryonic suspension Cryonics (from ''kryos'', meaning "cold") is the Cryopreservation, low-temperature freezing (usually at ) and storage of human remains in the hope that resurrection may be possible in the future. Cryonics is regarded with skepticism by the ma ...

is the only possible solution to stop him, since numerous attempts to execute him have proved unsuccessful. Jason escapes, killing all but one of his captors, and slices through the cryo-chamber, spilling cryonics fluid into the room, freezing himself and the only other survivor,

Rowan The rowans ( or ) or mountain-ashes are shrubs or trees in the genus ''Sorbus'' of the rose family, Rosaceae. They are native throughout the cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with the highest species diversity in the Himalaya ...

( Lexa Doig). A team of students 445 years later discover Jason's body. On the team's spacecraft, Jason thaws from his cryonic suspension and begins killing the crew. Along the way, he is enhanced by a regenerative

nanotechnology Nanotechnology is the manipulation of matter with at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometers (nm). At this scale, commonly known as the nanoscale, surface area and quantum mechanical effects become important in describing propertie ...

process, which gives him an impenetrable metal body. Finally, he is ejected into space and falls to the planet Earth II, incinerated in the atmosphere. '' Freddy vs. Jason'' (2003) is a crossover film in which Jason battles ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'''s villain Freddy Krueger ( Robert Englund), a supernatural killer who murders people in their dreams. Krueger has grown weak, as people in his home town of Springwood have suppressed their fear of him. Freddy, who is impersonating Jason's mother ( Paula Shaw), resurrects Jason ( Ken Kirzinger) from Hell and sends him to Springwood to cause panic and fear. Jason accomplishes this, but refuses to stop killing. A battle ensues in both the dream world and Crystal Lake. The identity of the winner is left ambiguous, as Jason surfaces from the lake holding Freddy's severed head, which winks and laughs. In the 2009 ''Friday the 13th'' reboot, young Jason (Caleb Guss) witnesses his mother's ( Nana Visitor) beheading as a child and follows in her footsteps, killing anyone who comes to Crystal Lake. The adult Jason ( Derek Mears) kidnaps Whitney Miller (

Amanda Righetti Amanda Righetti (born April 4, 1983) is an American actress. She is known for playing Grace Van Pelt on ''The Mentalist'' and her roles in ''Friday the 13th (2009 film), Friday the 13th'', ''The O.C.'' and ''Colony (TV series), Colony''. Early ...

), a girl who looks like his mother, and holds her prisoner in his tunnels. Months later, Whitney's brother

Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

( Jared Padalecki) comes to Crystal Lake and rescues her. Eventually, Whitney uses Jason's devotion to his mother against him, stabbing him with his own machete while he is distracted when she appears. When his body is dumped into the lake, Jason emerges from the water to grab Whitney and their fates are left unknown.

Literature

Jason first appeared outside of film in the 1982

novelization A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book, or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent ...

of ''Friday the 13th Part 3'' by Michael Avallone. Avallone chose to use an alternate ending, which was filmed for ''Part 3'' but never used, as the ending for his 1982 adaptation. In the alternate film ending, Chris, who is in the canoe, hears Rick's voice and immediately rushes back to the house. When she opens the door, Jason is standing there with a machete, and he decapitates her. Jason next appears in print in the 1986 novelization of ''Jason Lives'' by Simon Hawke, who also adapted the first three films in 1987 and 1988. ''Jason Lives'' specifically introduced Elias Voorhees, Jason's father, a character who was slated to appear in the film but was cut by the studio. In the novel, instead of being cremated, Elias has Jason buried after his death. Jason made his

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

debut in the 1993 adaptation of ''Jason Goes to Hell'', written by Andy Mangels. The three-issue series was a condensed version of the film, with a few added scenes that were never shot. Jason made his first appearance outside of the direct adaptations in ''Satan's Six'' No. 4, published in 1993, which is a continuation of the events of ''Jason Goes to Hell''. In 1995, Nancy A. Collins wrote a three-issue, non-canonical miniseries involving a crossover between Jason and Leatherface. The story involves Jason stowing away aboard a train, after being released from Crystal Lake when the area is drained due to heavy toxic-waste dumping. Jason meets Leatherface, who adopts him into his family after the two become friends. Eventually they turn on each other. In 1994, four young adult novels were released under the title of ''Friday the 13th''. They did not feature Jason explicitly, but revolve around people becoming possessed by Jason when they put on his mask. In 2003 and 2005, Black Flame published novelizations of ''Freddy vs. Jason'' and ''Jason X'' respectively. In 2005, they began publishing a new series of novels; one set was published under the ''Jason X'' title, while the second set utilized the ''Friday the 13th'' title. The ''Jason X'' series consisted of four sequels to the novelization of the film. '' Jason X: The Experiment'' was the first published. In this novel, Jason is being used by the government, who are trying to use his indestructibility to create their own army of "super-soldiers". '' Planet of the Beast'' follows the efforts of Dr. Bardox and his crew as they try to clone the body of a comatose Jason, and shows their efforts to stay alive when Jason wakes from his coma. '' Death Moon'' revolves around Jason crash-landing at Moon Camp Americana. Jason is discovered below a prison site and unknowingly awakened in '' To the Third Power''. Jason has a son in this book, conceived through a form of

artificial insemination Artificial insemination is the deliberate introduction of sperm into a female's cervix or uterine cavity for the purpose of achieving a pregnancy through in vivo fertilization by means other than sexual intercourse. It is a fertility treatment ...

. On May 13, 2005, Avatar Press began releasing new ''Friday the 13th'' comics. The first, titled ''Friday the 13th'', was written by Brian Pulido and illustrated by Mike Wolfer and Greg Waller. The story takes place after the events of ''Freddy vs. Jason'', where siblings Miles and Laura Upland have inherited Camp Crystal Lake. Knowing that Jason caused the recent destruction, Laura, unknown to her brother, sets out to kill Jason using a

paramilitary A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934. Overview Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...

group, so that she and her brother can sell the property. A three-issue miniseries titled ''Friday the 13th: Bloodbath'' was released in September 2005. Written by Brian Pulido and illustrated by Mike Wolfer and Andrew Dalhouse, the story involves a group of teenagers who come from Camp Tomorrow, a camp that sits on Crystal Lake, for work and a "party-filled weekend". The teenagers discover they share common family backgrounds, and soon awaken Jason, who hunts them. Brian Pulido returned for a third time in October 2005 to write ''Jason X''. Picking up after the events of the ''Jason X'' film, Über-Jason is now on Earth II where a biological engineer, Kristen, attempts to subdue Jason, in hopes that she can use his regenerative tissue to save her own life and the lives of those she loves. In February 2006, Avatar published ''Friday the 13th: Jason vs. Jason X''. Written and illustrated by Mike Wolfer, the story takes place after the events of the film ''Jason X''. A salvage team discovers the spaceship Grendel and awakens a regenerated Jason Voorhees. The "original" Jason and Über-Jason are drawn to each other, resulting in a battle to the death. In June 2006, a one-shot comic entitled ''Friday the 13th: Fearbook'' was released, written by Mike Wolfer with art by Sebastian Fiumara. The comic has Jason being captured and experimented upon by the Trent Organization; Jason escapes and seeks out Violet, the survivor of ''Friday the 13th: Bloodbath'', who is being contained by the Trent Organization in their Crystal Lake headquarters. The ''Friday the 13th'' novella storyline was not connected to the ''Jason X'' series, and did not continue the stories set forth by the films, but furthered the character of Jason in its own way. '' Friday the 13th: Church of the Divine Psychopath'' has Jason resurrected by a religious cult. Jason is stuck in Hell, when recently executed serial killer Wayne Sanchez persuades Jason to help him return to Earth in '' Friday the 13th: Hell Lake''. In ''Hate-Kill-Repeat'', two religious serial killers attempt to find Jason at Crystal Lake, believing that the three of them share the same contempt for those that break the moral code. In ''The Jason Strain'', Jason is on an island with a group of convicts placed there by television executives running a reality game show. The character of Pamela Voorhees returns from the grave in '' Carnival of Maniacs''. Pamela is in search of Jason, who is now part of a traveling sideshow and about to be auctioned off to the highest bidder. In December 2006,

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

imprint

Wildstorm Wildstorm Productions (stylized as WildStorm) is an American comic book imprint. Originally founded as an independent company established by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi to publish through Image Comics, Wildstorm became a publishing imprint of DC C ...

began publishing new comic books about Jason Voorhees under the ''Friday the 13th'' moniker. The first set was a six-issue miniseries involving Jason's return to Camp Crystal Lake, which is being renovated by a group of teenagers in preparation for its reopening as a tourist attraction. The series depicts various paranormal phenomena occurring at Crystal Lake. Jason's actions in this storyline are driven by the vengeful spirits of a Native American tribe wiped out on the lake by fur traders sometime in the 19th century. On July 11 and August 15, 2007, Wildstorm published a two-part special entitled ''Friday the 13th: Pamela's Tale''. The two-issue comic book covers Pamela Voorhees' journey to Camp Crystal Lake and the story of her pregnancy with Jason as she recounts it to hitchhiker Annie, a camp counselor who was killed in the original film. Wildstorm released another two-part special, entitled ''Friday the 13th: How I Spent My Summer Vacation'', that was released on September 12 and October 10, 2007. The comic book provides new insight into the psychology of Jason Voorhees as he befriends a boy born with a skull deformity. Wildstorm released a six-issue series called '' Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash'', starring the two killers and Ash from the '' Evil Dead'' series. In this story, Freddy uses the '' Necronomicon'', which is in the Voorhees' basement, to escape from Jason's subconscious and "gain powers unlike anything he's had before". Freddy attempts to use Jason to retrieve the book, stating it will make him a real boy. Ash, who is working at the local S-Mart in Crystal Lake, learns of the book's existence and sets out to destroy it. Wildstorm released another two-issue miniseries on January 9 and February 13, 2008, titled ''Friday the 13th: Bad Land'', written and illustrated by Ron Marz and Mike Huddleston respectively. The miniseries features Jason stalking a trio of teenaged hikers taking shelter from a blizzard in Camp Crystal Lake. A sequel to ''Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash'', subtitled '' The Nightmare Warriors'', was released by Wildstorm in 2009. Jason escapes from the bottom of Crystal Lake to resume his hunt for Ash, but is captured by the U.S. government. Freddy helps him escape and appoints him the general of his Deadite army, using the ''Necronomicon'' to heal his accumulated injuries and decomposition; it removes his natural deformities in the process. At the climax of the story, Jason battles his nemesis Tommy Jarvis and his great-niece Stephanie Kimble; Stephanie impales him before Tommy decapitates him with a shard of glass. Jason's soul is then absorbed by Freddy, who uses it to increase his own power.

Other appearances

Jason has made an appearance in five video games. He first appeared in '' Friday the 13th'', a 1985

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in ...

game. His next appearance was in 1989, when

LJN LJN Toys Ltd. was an American toy company and video game publisher founded by Jack Friedman in 1967. MCA Inc. acquired the company in 1985, and sold to Acclaim Entertainment in 1990. The toy division of the company was closed by Acclaim and a m ...

, an American game company known for its games based on popular movies in the 1980s and early 1990s, released ''Friday the 13th'' on the

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...

. The premise involved the gamer, who picks one of six camp counselors as their player, trying to save the campers from Jason, while battling various enemies throughout the game. On October 13, 2006, a ''Friday the 13th'' game was released for

mobile phone A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This rad ...

s. The game puts the user in the persona of Jason as he battles the undead. Jason also appears as a playable character in the fighting game ''

Mortal Kombat X ''Mortal Kombat X'' is a 2015 fighting game developed by NetherRealm Studios and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It is the tenth main installment in the ''Mortal Kombat'' s ...

'' as a downloadable content bonus character. A new '' Friday the 13th video game'' was released in 2017, which allows players to take control of Jason or camp counselors in a multiplayer format focused on Jason trying to kill the counselors before they can escape or time runs out. Jason is also playable in the fighting game '' MultiVersus''.

Concept and creation

Initially created by Victor Miller, Jason's final design was a combined effort by Miller, Ron Kurz, and

. The name "Jason" is a combination of "Josh" and "Ian", Miller's two sons, and "Voorhees" was inspired by a girl that Miller knew at high school whose last name was Voorhees. Miller felt it was a "creepy-sounding name", which was perfect for his character. Miller initially wrote Jason as a normal-looking child, but the crew behind the film decided he needed to be deformed. Victor Miller explained Jason was not meant to be a creature from the "Black Lagoon" in his script, and scripted Jason as a mentally disabled young boy; it was Savini who made Jason deformed. Ron Kurz confirmed that Miller's version of Jason was that of a normal child, but claims that it was his idea to turn Jason into a "mongoloid creature", and have him "jump out of the lake at the end of the film". Miller later agreed the ending would not have been as good if he looked like " Betsy Palmer at eight years old". Miller wrote a scene where Alice dreams she is attacked in a canoe by Jason, and then she wakes up in a hospital bed. Miller's intention was to get as close to '' Carrie''s ending as possible. Savini believed having Jason pop out of the lake would be psychologically disturbing to the audience, and since Alice is supposed to be dreaming, the crew could get away with adding anything they wanted. When it came time to cast the role of Jason, Ari Lehman, who had received a part in Sean Cunningham's ''Manny's Orphans'', arrived to read for the character of Jack. Before he could get started, Cunningham walked in and offered him a different part: Jason. Without having read a single word, Cunningham just looked at Ari and said, "You're the right size, you've got it." In the original ''Friday the 13th'', Ari Lehman is seen only in a brief flashback as the surprise ending. Subsequent actors who portrayed a young Jason include Timothy Burr Mirkovich in ''Jason Takes Manhattan'' and Spencer Stump in ''Freddy vs. Jason''. The adult role of Jason Voorhees has been played by various actors, some not credited, others taking great pride in their parts. Due to the physical demands the adult character requires, and the lack of emotional depth depicted, many of the actors since have been stuntmen. The most well known among them is Kane Hodder, who is cited as the best to play the role. Many ideas were suggested for the sequel to ''Friday the 13th'', including making the title part of a serialized film series, where each succeeding film would be its own story and not related to any previous film under the ''Friday the 13th'' moniker. It was Phil Scuderi, one of the producers for the original film, who suggested bringing Jason back for the sequel. The director Steve Miner felt it was the obvious direction to take the series, as he felt the audience wanted to know more about the child who attacked Alice in the lake. Miner decided to pretend as if Alice did not see the "real Jason" in her dream, and Jason had survived his drowning as a boy and had grown up. After killing Jason in ''The Final Chapter'', it was the director Joseph Zito's intention to leave the door open for the studio to make more films with Tommy Jarvis as the main antagonist. Screenwriter Barney Cohen felt Jarvis would become a substitute for Jason, but the idea was never fully developed in ''A New Beginning''. Director and co-screenwriter Danny Steinmann disliked the idea of Jason not being the killer, but decided to use Tommy's fear of Jason as the primary story. This idea was immediately abandoned in ''Jason Lives'', when ''A New Beginning'' did not spark the "creative success" the studio was looking for. Executive producer Frank Mancuso Jr. wanted to bring Jason back, and he did not care how it was achieved. In yet another alteration of the series' continuity, Tom McLoughlin chose to ignore the idea that Jason had survived his drowning, instead presenting him as always having been some sort of supernatural force. Since ''A New Beginning'', no sequel has attempted to replace Jason as the main antagonist. Miller, who has not seen any of the sequels, took issue with all of them because they made Jason the villain. Miller believes the best part of his screenplay was that it was about a mother avenging the senseless death of her son. Miller stated, "Jason was dead from the very beginning; he was a victim, not a villain."

Men under the mask

Jason Voorhees went from deceased child to full-grown man for ''Friday the 13th Part 2'', and Warrington Gillette was hired to play the role. Gillette auditioned for the role of Paul; that role eventually went to John Furey. Under the belief that he had attended the Hollywood Stuntman's School, Gillette was offered the role of Jason Voorhees. Initially Gillette was unsure about the character, but the idea of starring in his first film grew on Gillette, and he also thought the role was amusing. It became apparent Gillette could not perform the necessary stunts, so the stunt coordinator Cliff Cudney brought in Steve Daskawisz. Daskawisz filmed all of the scenes except the opening sequence and the unmasking shot at the end; Gillette returned for the unmasking scenes. Gillette received credit for playing Jason, while Daskawisz was given credit as the stunt double. When ''Part 3'' was released the following year, Daskawisz was credited as Jason for the reused footage from the climax of the film. Initially, Daskawisz was asked to return to the role for ''Part 3'', but it would have required him to pay for his own transportation and housing during filming. Having secured a part on ''

Guiding Light ''Guiding Light'' (known as ''The Guiding Light'' before 1975) is an American radio and television soap opera. ''Guiding Light'' aired on CBS for 57 years between June 30, 1952, and September 18, 2009, overlapping a 19-year broadcast on radio ...

'', Daskawisz declined. Now wanting a "bigger and stronger-looking" Jason, one that was also "more athletic and powerful",

Steve Miner Stephen C. Miner (born June 18, 1951) is an American director of film and Television program, television, film producer, and a member of the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is notable for his work in the horror genre, including '' ...

hired former

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

trapeze artist Richard Brooker. After a conversation, Miner decided he was the right person for the job. Being new to the country, Brooker believed that "playing a psychopathic killer" was the best way into the movie business. Brooker became the first actor to wear Jason's now-signature hockey mask. According to Brooker, "It felt great with the mask on. It just felt like I really was Jason because I didn't have anything to wear before that." For ''The Final Chapter'', Joseph Zito brought his own spin to the character, one that required a "real hardcore stuntman"; Ted White was hired to perform the role. White, who only took the job for the money, did "get into the Jason psychology" when he arrived on the set. White went so far as to not speak to any of the other actors for long stretches. As filming continued, White's experience was not pleasant, and in one instance, he went to battle for co-star Judie Aronson, who played Samantha, when the director kept her naked in the lake for extended periods of time. Displeased with his experience from filming, White had his name removed from the credits. As with ''Friday the 13th Part 2'', there was confusion over who performed the role in ''A New Beginning'', partly because Jason is not the literal antagonist in the film. When Ted White turned down the opportunity to return, Dick Wieand was cast. Wieand is credited as Roy Burns, the film's actual murderer, but it was stuntman Tom Morga who performed in the few flashes of Jason, as well as portraying Roy in almost all of the masked scenes. Wieand has been outspoken about his lack of enthusiasm over his role in the film. Feeling alienated during the shoot, Wieand spent most of his time in his trailer. By comparison, Morga enjoyed his time as Jason and made sure he "really got into the character". A

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

manager in Glendale, C. J. Graham, was interviewed for the role of Jason in ''Jason Lives'', but was initially passed over because he had no experience as a stuntman. Dan Bradley was hired, but Paramount executives felt Bradley did not have the right physique to play the role, and Graham was hired to replace him. Although Bradley was replaced early during filming, he can be seen in the paintball sequence of the film. Graham opted to perform most of his own stunts, including the scene where Jason catches on fire while battling Tommy in the lake. The rest of the cast spoke highly of Graham, remarking that he never complained during all the uncomfortable situations he was placed in. Graham had no intention of being an actor or a stuntman, but the idea of playing the "bad guy", and the opportunity to wear the prosthetics, intrigued him. Graham was not brought back to reprise the role, but has often been cited as speaking highly of his time in the part. Kane Hodder took over the role in ''The New Blood'', and played Jason in the next four films. He previously worked alongside director John Carl Buechler on a film called ''

Prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

''. Based on his experience working with Hodder, Buechler petitioned Frank Mancuso Jr. to hire him, but Mancuso was apprehensive about Hodder's limited size. Knowing he planned to use full body prosthetics, Buechler scheduled a test screening, the first in ''Friday the 13th'' history for the character, and Mancuso immediately gave Hodder approval upon seeing him. It is Buechler's contention that Hodder gave Jason his first true personality, based on the emotions, specifically the rage, that Hodder would emit while acting the part. According to Hodder, he wanted to "get in touch with Jason's thirst for revenge" and try to better understand his motivation to kill. After viewing the previous films, Hodder decided that he would approach Jason as a more "quick and agile" individual than he had been portrayed in the previous sequels. John Carl Buechler felt that Kane had "natural affinity for the role"—so much that Kane's appearance, when wearing the mask, would often terrify the cast, the crew, and in one incident a lone stranger that he came across on his walk back to his trailer. Initially Frank Mancuso Jr. and Barbara Sachs planned to use a Canadian stuntperson for ''Jason Takes Manhattan''. Hodder acted as his own voice, calling and requesting that he be allowed to reprise the role; the ultimate decision was left to director Rob Hedden, who intended to use Hodder, because he felt Hodder knew the lore of the series. With Sean Cunningham's return as producer for ''Jason Goes to Hell'', Hodder felt his chances of reprising the role were even better: Hodder had worked as Cunningham's stunt coordinator for years. Regardless, Adam Marcus, the director for ''Jason Goes to Hell'', always intended to hire Hodder for the role. ''Jason X'' would mark Hodder's last performance as Jason, to date. Todd Farmer, who wrote the screenplay for ''Jason X'', knew that Hodder would play Jason from the beginning. Jim Isaac was a fan of Hodder's work on the previous films, so hiring him was an easy decision.

New Line New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

believed ''Freddy vs. Jason'' needed a fresh start, and choose a new actor for Jason. Cunningham disagreed with their decision, believing Hodder was the best choice for the role. Hodder did receive the script for ''Freddy vs. Jason'', and had a meeting with director Ronny Yu and New Line executives, but Matthew Barry and Yu felt the role should be recast to fit Yu's image of Jason. According to Hodder, New Line failed to provide him with a reason for the recasting, but Yu has explained he wanted a slower, more deliberate Jason, and less of the aggressive movements that Hodder had used in the previous films. Yu and development executive Jeff Katz recognized the outcry among fans over the replacement of Hodder as Jason, but stood by their choice in recasting. The role eventually went to Ken Kirzinger, a Canadian stuntman who worked on ''Jason Takes Manhattan''. There are conflicting reports over the reason Kirzinger was cast. According to Yu, Kirzinger was hired because he was taller than Robert Englund, the actor who portrays Freddy Krueger. Kirzinger stands , compared to the of Kane Hodder, and Yu wanted a much larger actor to tower over the Englund. Kirzinger believes his experience on ''Part VIII'' helped him land the part, as Kirzinger doubled for Hodder on two scenes for the film, but also believes he was simply sized up and handed the job. Although he was hired by the creative crew, New Line did not officially cast Kirzinger until first seeing him on film. Kirzinger's first scene was Jason walking down Elm Street. New Line wanted a specific movement in Jason's walk; Kirzinger met their expectations and signed a contract with the studio. However, concerns that test audiences were confused by the film's original ending caused the studio to reshoot the final scene. Actor Douglas Tait was brought in to film the new ending, as he was available for the reshoot and had been the production's second choice to portray the role of Jason during the original casting. For the 2009 remake, stuntman Derek Mears was hired to portray Jason Voorhees at the recommendation of makeup special effects supervisor Scott Stoddard. Mears's pleasant demeanor had the studio worried about his ability to portray such a menacing character on screen, but Mears assured them he would be able to perform the role. When Mears auditioned for the role he was asked why they should hire an actor over just another guy in a mask. As Mears explained, portraying Jason is similar to Greek mask work, where the mask and the actor are two separate entities, and, based on the scene, there will be various combinations of mask and actor in the performance.

Design

The physical design of Jason Voorhees has gone through changes, some subtle and some radical. For ''Friday the 13th'', the task of coming up with Jason's appearance was the responsibility of

, whose design for Jason was inspired by someone Savini knew as a child whose eyes and ears did not line up straight. The original design called for Jason to have hair, but Savini and his crew opted to make him bald, so he would look like a "

hydrocephalic Hydrocephalus is a condition in which cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) builds up within the brain, which can cause pressure to increase in the skull. Symptoms may vary according to age. Headaches and double vision are common. Elderly adults with nor ...

, mongoloid pinhead", with a dome-shaped head. Savini created a plaster mold of Ari Lehman's head and used that to create prosthetics for his face. Lehman personally placed mud—from the bottom of the lake—all over his body to make himself appear "really slimy." For ''Part 2'', Steve Miner asked Carl Fullerton, the make-up effects supervisor, to stick to Savini's original design, but Fullerton only had one day to design and sculpt a new head. Fullerton drew a rough sketch of what he believed Jason should look like, and had it approved by Miner. Fullerton added long hair to the character. Gillette had to spend hours in a chair as they applied rubber forms all over his face, and had to keep one eye closed while the "droopy eye" application was in place. Gillette's eye was closed for twelve hours at a time while he was filming the final scenes of the film. False teeth created by a local dentist were used to distort Gillette's face. Much of the basic concept of Fullerton's design was eliminated for ''Part 3''. Miner wanted to use a combination of the designs from Tom Savini and Carl Fullerton, but as work progressed the design began to lean more and more toward Savini's concept.

Stan Winston Stanley Winston (April 7, 1946 – June 15, 2008) was an American television and film special make-up effects artist, best known for his work in the ''Terminator'' series, the first three '' Jurassic Park'' films, '' Aliens'', '' The Thing'', ...

was hired to create a design for Jason's head, but the eyes were level and Doug White, the make-up artist for ''Part 3'', needed a droopy right eye. White did keep Winston's design for the back of the head, because the crew did not have the time to design an entirely new head for Jason. The process of creating Jason's look was hard work for White, who had to constantly make alterations to Richard Brooker's face, even up to the last day of filming. The script for ''Part 3'' called for Jason to wear a mask to cover his face, having worn a bag over his head in ''Part 2''; what no one knew at the time was that the mask chosen would become a trademark for the character, and one instantly recognizable in popular culture in the years to come. During production, Steve Miner called for a lighting check. None of the effects crew wanted to apply any make-up for the light check, so they decided to just throw a mask on Brooker. The film's 3D effects supervisor, Martin Jay Sadoff, was a hockey fan, and had a bag of hockey gear with him on the set. He pulled out a

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

goaltender mask for the test. Miner loved the mask, but it was too small. Using a substance called VacuForm, Doug White enlarged the mask and created a new mold to work with. After White finished the molds, Terry Ballard placed red triangles on the mask to give it a unique appearance. Holes were punched into the mask and the markings were altered, making it different from Sadoff's mask. There were two prosthetic face masks created for Richard Brooker to wear underneath the hockey mask. One mask was composed of approximately 11 different appliances and took about six hours to apply to Brooker's face; this mask was used for scenes where the hockey mask was removed. In the scenes where the hockey mask is over the face, a simple head mask was created. This one-piece mask would slip on over Brooker's head, exposing his face but not the rest of his head. Tom Savini agreed to return to make-up duties for ''The Final Chapter'' because he felt he should be the one to bring Jason full circle in terms of his look from child to man. Savini used his design from the original ''Friday the 13th'', with the same practice of application as before, but molded from Ted White's face. Since Jason is not the actual killer in ''A New Beginning'', it was not necessary to do any major designing for Jason's look. Only a head mask to cover the top and back of the head, like the one Brooker wore while wearing the hockey mask, was needed for the film. Make-up artist Louis Lazzara, who cites ''A New Beginning'' as almost a direct sequel to ''The Final Chapter'', did base his head-mask on Tom Savini's design for ''The Final Chapter''. ''Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood'' sought to make Jason more of a "classic monster along the lines of Frankenstein." From the beginning, Buechler tried to tie the previous films together by having Jason's appearance reflect that of the damage he received in the previous installments. Buechler wanted the motor boat damage from ''Jason Lives'', and the axe and machete cuts Jason received in ''Part 3'' and ''Part 4'' to part of the design for ''The New Blood''. Since Jason had been submerged under water in the previous entry, the effects team wanted Jason to appear "rotted", with bones and ribs showing, and for Jason's features to have a more defined feel to them.

Howard Berger Howard Berger (born 20 December 1964) is a special make-up effects creator who is best known for his work on ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' films. He has over 200 films to his credit since 1977. Berger is the co-founder of KNB EFX Group along w ...

was inspired by Carl Fullerton's design in ''The New Blood'', and wanted to incorporate the exposed flesh concept into his model for ''Jason Goes to Hell''. Berger designed Jason's skin to overlap with the mask, to make it appear as if the skin and mask had fused and the mask could no longer be removed. Gregory Nicotero and Berger sculpted a full-body, foam latex suit for Kane Hodder to wear under the costume. The idea was to reveal as much of Jason's skin as possible, because Nicotero and Berger knew the physical character would not be seen for most of the film. Stephan Dupuis was given the task of redesigning Jason for the tenth ''Friday the 13th'' film. One concept brought into the film was Jason's regenerative abilities. Dupuis gave the character more hair and more of a natural flesh appearance to illustrate the constant regeneration the character goes through; Dupuis wanted a more " gothic" design for Jason, so he added chains and shackles, and made the hockey mask more angular. Jim Isaac and the rest of his crew wanted to create an entirely new Jason at some point in the film. The idea was for the teens to completely destroy Jason's body, allowing the futuristic technology to bring him back to life. What was referred to as Über-Jason was designed to have chunks of metal growing from his body, bonded by tendrils that grew into the metal, all pushing through a leather suit. The metal was created from VacuForm, the same material used to increase the size of the original hockey mask, and was attached by Velcro. The tendrils were made from silicone. All of the pieces were crafted onto one suit, including an entire head piece, which Hodder wore. The make-up effects team added zippers along the side of the suit, which allowed Hodder to enter and exit the suit within 15 minutes. By the time ''Freddy vs. Jason'' entered production there had been ten previous ''Friday the 13th'' films. Make-up effects artist Terezakis wanted to put his own mark on Jason's look—he wanted Jason to be less rotted and decomposed and more defined, so that the audience would see a new Jason, but still recognized the face. Terezakis tried to keep continuity with the previous films, but recognized that had he followed them too literally, then "Jason would have been reduced to a pile of goo." Ronny Yu wanted everything surrounding the hockey mask to act as a frame, making the mask the focal point of each shot. To achieve this, Terezakis created a "pooled-blood look" for the character by painting the skin black, based on the idea the blood had pooled in the back of his head because he had been lying on his back for a long time. As with other make-up artists before him, Terezakis followed Savini's original skull design, and aged it appropriately. For the 2009 version of ''Friday the 13th'', effects artist Scott Stoddard took inspiration from Carl Fullerton's design in ''Friday the 13th Part 2'' and Tom Savini's work in ''Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter''. Stoddard wanted to make sure that Jason appeared human and not like a monster. Stoddard's vision of Jason includes hair loss, skin rashes, and the traditional deformities in his face, but he attempted to craft Jason's look in a way that would allow for a more human side to be seen. Stoddard took inspiration from the third and fourth films when designing Jason's hockey mask. The make-up artist managed to acquire an original set piece, which he studied and later sculpted. Although he had a model of one of the original masks, Stoddard did not want to replicate it in its entirety. As Stoddard explains, "Because I didn't want to take something that already existed, there were things I thought were great, but there were things I wanted to change a bit. Make it custom, but keep all the fundamental designs. Especially the markings on the forehead and cheeks. Age them down a bit, break them up." In the end, Stoddard crafted six versions of the mask, each with varying degrees of wear.

Characteristics

In his original appearance, Jason was scripted as a mentally disabled young boy. Since ''Friday the 13th'', Jason Voorhees has been depicted as a non-verbal, indestructible,

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-wielding mass murderer. Jason is primarily portrayed as being completely silent throughout the film series. Exceptions to this include in ''Part III'' when he grunts in pain several times when final girl Chris manages to stab him (once in the hand and once just above his knee), flashbacks of Jason as a child, a brief scene in ''Jason Takes Manhattan'' where the character cries out "Mommy, please don't let me drown!" in a child's voice before being submerged in toxic waste, and in ''Jason Goes to Hell'' where his spirit possesses other individuals. Online magazine ''

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...

''s Andrew O'Hehir describes Jason as a "silent, expressionless...blank slate." When discussing Jason psychologically, Sean S. Cunningham said, "...he doesn't have any personality. He's like a

great white shark The great white shark (''Carcharodon carcharias''), also known as the white shark, white pointer, or simply great white, is a species of large Lamniformes, mackerel shark which can be found in the coastal surface waters of all the major ocea ...

. You can't really defeat him. All you can hope for is to survive." Since ''Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives'', Jason has been a "virtually indestructible" being. Tom McLoughlin, the film's director, felt it was silly that Jason had previously been just another guy in a mask, who would kill people left and right, but get "beaten up and knocked down by the heroine at the end". McLoughlin wanted Jason to be more of a "formidable, unstoppable monster". In resurrecting Jason from the dead, McLoughlin also gave him the weakness of being rendered helpless if trapped beneath the waters of Crystal Lake; inspired by vampire lore, McLoughlin decided that Jason had in fact drowned as a child, and that returning him to his original resting place would immobilize him. This weakness would be presented again in ''The New Blood'', and the idea that Jason had drowned as a child was taken up by director Rob Hedden as a plot element in ''Jason Takes Manhattan''. Many have given suggestions as Jason's motivation for killing. Ken Kirzinger refers to Jason as a "psychotic mama's boy gone horribly awry...very resilient. You can't kill him, but he feels pain, just not like everyone else." Kirzinger goes on to say that Jason is a "psycho-savant", and believes his actions are based on pleasing his mother, and not anything personal. Andrew O'Hehir has stated, "Coursing hormones act, of course, as smelling salts to prudish Jason, that ever-vigilant enforcer of William Bennett-style values." Todd Farmer, writer for ''Jason X'', wrote the scene where Jason wakes from cryonic hibernation just as two of the teenagers are having sex. Farmer liked the idea that sex acts triggered Jason back to life. Whatever his motivations, Kane Hodder believes there is a limit to what he will do. According to Hodder, Jason might violently murder any person he comes across, but when ''Jason Takes Manhattan'' called for Hodder to kick the lead character's dog, Hodder refused, stating that, while Jason has no qualms against killing humans, he is not bad enough to hurt animals. Another example from ''Jason Takes Manhattan'', involves Jason being confronted by a street gang of young teenage boys one of whom threatens him with a knife, however Jason chooses not to kill them and instead scares them off by lifting up his mask and showing them his face. Likewise, director Tom McLoughlin chose not to have Jason harm any of the children he encounters in ''Jason Lives,'' stating that Jason would not kill a child, out of a sympathy for the plight of children generated by his own death as a child. In ''Jason Goes to Hell'', director Adam Marcus decided to include a copy of the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis, from the '' Evil Dead'' franchise, in the Voorhees home as a way to insinuate that Jason was actually a "Deadite", a type of demonic being from that series. Marcus stated the book's placement was intended to imply that Pamela Voorhees had used it to resurrect Jason after his childhood drowning, resulting in his supernatural abilities: "This is why Jason isn't Jason. He's Jason plus ''The Evil Dead''... That, to me, is way more interesting as a mashup, and am Raimi loved it! It's not like I could tell New Line my plan to include ''The Evil Dead'', because they don't own ''The Evil Dead''. So it had to be an

Easter egg Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are decorated for the Christian holiday of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are commonly used during the season of Eastertide (Easter season). The ...

, and I did focus on it. It absolutely is

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

." In an early draft of ''Freddy vs. Jason'', it was decided that one of the villains needed a redeemable factor. Ronald D. Moore, co-writer of the first draft, explained that Jason was the easiest to make redeemable, because no one had previously ventured into the psychology surrounding the character. Moore saw the character as a "blank slate", and felt he was a character the audience could really root for. Another draft, penned by Mark Protosevich, followed Moore's idea of Jason having a redeemable quality. In the draft, Jason protects a pregnant teenager named Rachel Daniels. Protosevich explained, "It gets into this whole idea of there being two kinds of monsters. Freddy is a figure of actual pure evil and Jason is more like a figure of vengeance who punishes people he feels do not deserve to live. Ultimately, the two of them clash and Jason becomes an honorable monster." Writers Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, who wrote the final draft of the film, disagreed about making Jason a hero, although they drew comparisons between the fact that Freddy was a victimizer and Jason was a victim. They stated, "We did not want to make Jason any less scary. He's still a brutal killer ... We never wanted to put them in a situation where Jason is a hero ... They're both villains to be equally feared." Brenna O'Brien, co-founder of Fridaythe13thfilms.com, saw the character as having sympathetic qualities. She stated, " asonwas a deformed child who almost drowned and then spent the rest of his childhood growing up alone in the woods. He saw his mother get murdered by a camp counselor in the first ''Friday the 13th'', and so now he exacts his revenge on anyone who returns to Camp Crystal Lake. Teenage fans can identify with that sense of rejection and isolation, which you can't really get from other killers like Freddy Krueger and Michael Myers." As Jason went through some characterization changes in the 2009 film, Derek Mears likens him more to a combination of

John Rambo John James Rambo is a fictional character in the Rambo (franchise), ''Rambo'' franchise. He first appeared in the 1972 novel ''First Blood (novel), First Blood'' by David Morrell, but later became more famous as the protagonist of the film serie ...

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, a feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer. Creat ...

, and the Abominable Snowman from ''

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American media franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The franchise began as a series of animated short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, alongside its spin-off series ''Merrie Melodies'', during t ...

''. To him, this Jason is similar to Rambo because he sets up the other characters to fall into his traps. Like Rambo, he is more calculated because he feels that he has been wronged and he is fighting back; he is meant to be more sympathetic in this film. Fuller and Form contend that they did not want to make Jason too sympathetic to the audience. As Brad Fuller explains, "We do not want him to be sympathetic. Jason is not a comedic character, he is not sympathetic. He's a killing machine. Plain and simple." In 2005,

California State University The California State University (Cal State or CSU) is a Public university, public university system in California, and the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, largest public university system in the United States ...

's Media Psychology Lab surveyed 1,166 people Americans aged from 16 to 91 on the psychological appeal of movie monsters. Many of the characteristics associated with Jason Voorhees were appealing to the participants. In the survey, Jason was considered to be an "unstoppable killing machine." Participants were impressed by the "cornucopic feats of slicing and dicing a seemingly endless number of adolescents and the occasional adult." Out of the ten monsters used in the survey—which included

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

s, Freddy Krueger,

Frankenstein's monster Frankenstein's monster, commonly referred to as Frankenstein, is a fictional character that first appeared in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel '' Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' as its main antagonist. Shelley's title compares the monster's ...

, Michael Myers,

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or ''kaiju'', that debuted in the eponymous 1954 film, directed and co-written by Ishirō Honda. The character has since become an international pop culture icon, appearing in various media: 33 Japanese films p ...

, Chucky, Hannibal Lecter,

King Kong King Kong, also referred to simply as Kong, is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. The character has since become an international pop culture icon,Erb, Cynthia, 1998, ''Tracking Kin ...

and the Alien—Jason scored the highest in all the categories involving killing variables. Further characteristics that appealed to the participants included Jason's "immortality, his apparent enjoyment of killing ndhis superhuman strength."

Reception

Popularity

Jason Voorhees is one of the leading

cultural icon A cultural icon is a person or an cultural artifact, artifact that is identified by members of a culture as representative of that culture. The process of identification is subjective, and "icons" are judged by the extent to which they can be seen ...

s of American

or mass art, sometimes contraste ...

. In 1992 Jason was awarded the MTV Lifetime Achievement Award. He was the first of only three completely fictional characters to be presented the award;

(1996) and Chewbacca (1997) are the others. Jason was named No. 26 in '' Wizard'' magazine's "100 greatest villains of all time". Universal Studios theme parks, in collaboration with New Line Cinema, used the character for their Halloween Horror Nights event. In June 2020, Jason appears in a PSA to encourage people to wear a mask during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In October 2021, ''

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

'' named Jason the "Greatest Movie Slasher of All Time", while Scott Gleeson of ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'' named Jason the 2nd most "haunting horror movie villain". ''

Red Bull Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks created and owned by the Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With a market share of 43%, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2020, and the third most valuable soft drink brand, behind Coca-Cola and ...

'' called Jason as one of the scariest video game villains of all time, because "playing as Jason is loads of fun, but having to run and hide from him is as exhilarating as it is terrifying." The character has been produced and marketed as merchandise over the years. In 1988 Screamin' Toys produced a model kit where owners could build their own Jason statuette. The kit required the owner to cut and paint various parts in order to assemble the figure. Six years later, Screamin' Toys issued a new model kit for ''Jason Goes to Hell''. Both kits are now out of production. McFarlane Toys released two toy lines, one in 1998 and the other in 2002. The first was a figure of Jason from ''Jason Goes to Hell'', and the other was of Über-Jason from ''Jason X''. Since McFarlane's last toy line in 2002, there has been a steady production of action figures, dolls, and statuettes. These include tie-ins with the film ''Freddy vs. Jason'' (2003). In April 2010 Sideshow Toys released a polystone statue of Jason, based on the version appearing in the 2009 remake. NECA and Mezco Toyz also released figures of Jason in its own action figure series.

Cultural impact

The character has been referenced, or made cameo appearances, in various entertainment mediums. Outside of literature sources based on the character, Jason has been featured in a variety of magazines and comic strips. '' Cracked'' magazine has released several issues featuring parodies of Jason, and he has been featured on two of their covers. '' Mad'' magazine has featured the character in almost a dozen stories. He has appeared twice in the comic strip ''

Mother Goose and Grimm ''Mother Goose and Grimm'' (a.k.a. ''Mother Goose & Grimm'') is an internationally syndicated comic strip by cartoonist Mike Peters of the '' Dayton Daily News''. It was first syndicated starting October 1, 1984, and is distributed by King Fea ...

''. The ''

Usagi Yojimbo is a comic book series created by Stan Sakai. It is set primarily at the beginning of the Edo period of Japanese history and features anthropomorphic animals replacing humans. The main character is a rabbit '' rōnin'', Miyamoto Usagi, whom ...

'' antagonist Jei is based on Voorhees; his name, with the honorific "-san" attached, is in fact a pun on Voorhees' first name. Many musical artists have made references to Jason Voorhees. Inspired by his own experience, Ari Lehman founded a band called "First Jason". Lehman's band is classified as

, and is influenced by the sounds of the

Dead Kennedys Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining punk bands during its initial eight-year run. Initially consisting of lead guitarist East Bay Ray, bassist Klaus Fl ...

and the Misfits. The band's name pays homage to Lehman's portrayal of Jason Voorhees in the original ''Friday the 13th''. One of the band's songs is entitled "Jason is Watching". In 1986, coinciding with the release of ''Jason Lives'',

Alice Cooper Vincent Damon Furnier (born February 4, 1948), known by his stage name Alice Cooper, is an American rock singer and songwriter whose career spans sixty years. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusion ...

released " He's Back (The Man Behind the Mask)" from his album '' Constrictor''. The song was written to "signal Jason's big return" to cinema, as he had been almost entirely absent in the previous film in the series.

Rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time, he is credited with popula ...

has referenced Jason in several of his songs. The song "Criminal", from the album '' The Marshall Mathers LP'', mentions Jason specifically, while songs "Amityville" and "Off the Wall"—the latter featured fellow rapper Redman—contain Harry Manfredini's music "ki, ki, ki ... ma, ma, ma" from the film series. Eminem sometimes wears a hockey mask during concerts. Other rap artists that have referenced Jason include

Tupac Shakur Tupac Amaru Shakur (; born Lesane Parish Crooks; June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor, regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all tim ...

, Dr. Dre,

LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, alongside fellow new school hip ho ...

, and

Insane Clown Posse Insane Clown Posse, often abbreviated as ICP, is an American hip hop duo. Formed in Detroit in 1989, ICP's best-known lineup consists of rappers Violent J (Joseph Bruce) and Shaggy 2 Dope (originally 2 Dope; Joseph Utsler). Insan ...

. In 1989, Puerto Rican rapper Vico C had a song titled "Viernes 13" which featured Jason in

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

. The song was so popular in the island that Vico C wrote a second part titled "Viernes 13, Parte II".

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

issued an advertisement for their Vogue Fashion Awards which was labeled "Friday the 20th", and featured Jason's mask created out of rhinestone. Jason has been referenced or parodied in other films. The 1988 British film '' Unmasked Part 25'', whose title lampoons the high number of installments in slasher film series like ''Friday the 13th'', features a hockey mask-wearing serial killer named Jackson who grows tired of his routine murder sprees and develops a romance with a young woman. In the 1996 film '' Scream'', directed by ''Elm Street'' creator

Wes Craven Wesley Earl Craven (August 2, 1939 – August 30, 2015) was an American film director, screenwriter and producer. Amongst his Wes Craven filmography, prolific filmography, Craven worked primarily in the Horror film, horror genre, particularly sla ...

, actress

Drew Barrymore Drew Blythe Barrymore (born February 22, 1975) is an American actress, talk show host, and businesswoman. A member of the Barrymore family of actors, she has received multiple List of awards and nominations received by Drew Barrymore, awards a ...

's character is being stalked by a killer who calls her on her home phone. In order to survive, she must answer the man's trivia questions. One question is "name the killer in ''Friday the 13th''." She incorrectly guesses Jason, who did not become the killer for the film series until ''Part 2''. Writer Kevin Williamson claimed his inspiration for this scene came when he asked this question in a bar while a group was playing a movie trivia quiz game. He received a free drink, because nobody got the answer right. In another Wes Craven film, '' Cursed'', a wax sculpture of Jason, from ''Jason Goes to Hell'', can be seen in a

wax museum A wax museum or waxworks usually consists of a collection of wax sculptures representing famous people from history and contemporary personalities exhibited in lifelike poses, wearing real clothes. Some wax museums have a special section dubbe ...

. In 2014, Jason made a cameo appearance in the

RadioShack RadioShack (formerly written as Radio Shack) is an American electronics retailer that was established in 1921 as an amateur radio mail-order business. Its parent company was purchased by Tandy Corporation in 1962, which shifted its focus from ma ...

Super Bowl XLVIII Super Bowl XLVIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2013 Denver Broncos season, Denver Broncos and National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2013 Seattle Seahawks season, Seattle Seahawks to ...

commercial " The '80s Called". Jason has also been referenced by several television shows. The

stop motion Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exh ...

animated television series ''

Robot Chicken ''Robot Chicken'' is an American adult animation, adult stop motion, stop-motion animated sketch comedy television series created by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich for Cartoon Network's nighttime programming block Adult Swim. The twelve-minute ...

'' features Jason in three of its comedy sketches. In episode seventeen, " Operation: Rich in Spirit", the mystery-solving teenagers from ''

Scooby-Doo ''Scooby-Doo'' is an American media franchise owned by Warner Bros., Warner Bros. Entertainment and created in 1969 by writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears through their animated series, ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'', for Hanna-Barbera (which wa ...

'' arrive at Camp Crystal Lake to investigate the Jason Voorhees murders, and are killed off one by one as well as killing

Don Knotts Jesse Donald Knotts (July 21, 1924February 24, 2006) was an American actor and comedian. He is widely known for his role as Deputy Sheriff Barney Fife on the 1960s sitcom ''The Andy Griffith Show'', for which he earned five Emmy Awards. He als ...

. Velma is the only survivor, and in typical Scooby-Doo fashion, she rips off Jason's mask to reveal his true identity: Old Man Phillips. In "

That Hurts Me ''Robot Chicken'' is an American stop motion, stop-motion Animation, animated television program, television series created by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich that premiered on Cartoon Network's nighttime programming block Adult Swim on February ...

", Jason reappears, this time as a housemate of "Horror Movie Big Brother", alongside other famous slasher movie killers such as Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, Leatherface, Pinhead and Ghostface. Three years later, in episode sixty-two, Jason is shown on the days before and after a typical ''Friday the 13th''. Jason is spoofed in the season five episode of ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII, with the rest of the first season airing from April 11, 1999. Th ...

'' entitled " It Takes a Village Idiot, and I Married One". The so-called "Mr. Voorhees" explains to Asian reporter Trisha Takanawa how happy he is to see local wildlife return following the cleanup and rejuvenation of Lake Quahog. He reappears later in the episode as the manager of the "Britches and Hose" clothing store. As opposed to his monstrous personality in the films, Jason is depicted here as polite and articulate, albeit still a psychopath; he murders random swimmers and threatens to kill his employee if she screws up. In an episode of ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

'', Jason appears in a Halloween episode sitting on the couch with Freddy Krueger waiting for the family to arrive. When Freddy asks where the family is, Jason responds, "Ehh, whaddya gonna do?" and turns the TV on. He also appears in ''The Simpsons'' episode " Stop, or My Dog Will Shoot!", alongside Pinhead, menacing Bart in a fantasy sequence. The ''

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boysStan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand the ...

'' episodes " Imaginationland Episode II" and " III" feature Jason among an assortment of other villains and monsters as an inhabitant of the "bad side" of Imaginationland, a world populated by fictional characters. This version of Jason has an

effeminate Effeminacy or male femininity is the embodiment of feminine traits in boys or men, particularly those considered untypical of men or masculinity. These traits include roles, stereotypes, behaviors, and appearances that are socially associated wi ...

voice and describes the removal of

Strawberry Shortcake Strawberry shortcake may refer to: * Strawberry shortcake (dessert), a shortcake served with strawberries * Strawberry Shortcake, a cartoon character and franchise created by American Greetings ** Strawberry Shortcake (TV series), ''Strawberry Sho ...

's eyeball as "super hardcore". Experimental pop artist Eric Millikin created a large mosaic portrait of Jason Voorhees out of Halloween candy and spiders as part of his "Totally Sweet" series in 2013.

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Voorhees, Jason Child characters in film Film characters introduced in 1980 Film supervillains Fictional characters with accelerated healing Fictional immortals Fictional characters with superhuman strength Fictional cryonically preserved characters Fictional cyborgs Fictional demons Fictional hermits Fictional blade fighters Fictional mass murderers Fictional sororicides Fictional zombies Friday the 13th (franchise) characters Male horror film villains Orphan characters in film Slasher film antagonists Undead supervillains Fictional characters from New Jersey Fictional characters with mental disorders