Assemble! - Horror Victim Archetypes - The Monster Hunter

Welcome to Assemble!

Here, we'll look at several different characters across multiple series to see who would form a perfect team for a certain genre. From fighting game rosters to RPG adventuring parties, different types of characters tend to show up frequently. What we'll do here is look at those archetypes to see what character is the best fit for that slot, and in the end, we’ll have the best team for the job. These articles will also be shorter entries, compared to some of the more long-form articles here, focusing on one or two characters at a time.

When talking about horror, the villains, monsters, and killers are often the first things that come to people’s minds. The people they hunt are often an afterthought, but these characters show that not all survivors are that easy to kill. The right group with the right people can make things very difficult for the killer. Here, we’ll be looking at that can represent different archetypes of horror movie characters, to build a strong squad of survivors.

THE MONSTER HUNTER

Another step above the Hero is the character whose duty is to slay evil monsters and protect humanity. Whether they chose this path, or the path chose them, The Monster Hunter has the knowledge and skills to take down their chosen prey and often any other creature that stands in their way. Their presence in a horror scenario often means the work leans more into action-horror, with the focus on the hunter fighting an evil monster before any innocent people can get hurt. How successful they are is up to the story, but usually, this character will work hard to keep as many people as they can safe.

Our pick for the Monster Hunter is…

Buffy Summers from Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Buffy started out as a normal high school cheerleader and a shallow one at that, normally prime game to be the first target of a horror villain. But early on in this story, it is established that Buffy is destined to be the Slayer, a chosen warrior destined to kill vampires and gifted with extraordinary abilities to do so. Soon after discovering this, she begins to lead a double life, balancing her school life in the day and her vampire-slaying duties by night. Though initially apprehensive, she eventually accepts her duties in fighting the forces of evil, fighting not just vampires, but demons and other supernatural threats as well. She even faced Dracula himself and fought him to a draw.

For going from potential victim to the person that the monsters are scared off, we now add Buffy Summers to our roster.

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What did you think about this article? Want to see what other characters get picked for our roster? Do you think someone would fit this role better besides whoever got picked? Make your voice heard in the comments below. 

Thanks for coming!

Assemble! - Horror Victim Archetypes - The Hero

Welcome to Assemble!

 

Here, we'll look at several different characters across multiple series to see who would form a perfect team for a certain genre. From fighting game rosters to RPG adventuring parties, different types of characters tend to show up frequently. What we'll do here is look at those archetypes to see what character is the best fit for that slot, and in the end, we’ll have the best team for the job. These articles will also be shorter entries, compared to some of the more long-form articles here, focusing on one or two characters at a time.

When talking about horror, the villains, monsters, and killers are often the first things that come to people’s minds. The people they hunt are often an afterthought, but these characters show that not all survivors are that easy to kill. The right group with the right people can make things very difficult for the killer. Here, we’ll be looking at that can represent different archetypes of horror movie characters, to build a strong squad of survivors.

THE HERO

This is one of the rare instances in horror where the villain is not the biggest focus of the story.

The Hero is a capable and competent character when it comes to battling the evil forces of whatever this world’s horror is. They may have faced a threat and survived in a previous movie, only to face it again in the sequel, but this time, they’re better prepared. They know what to do and how to do it and they survive long enough to put it into action. Before long, they become a go-to individual when it comes to surviving this this threat and can kill off the enemy with little problem.

Our pick for the Hero is…

Ash Williams from Evil Dead

From his beginnings as a regular college student going with his friends for a vacation at a remote cabin in the woods, Ashley J. Williams, or just Ash for short, has become one of the most iconic characters in horror. After surviving the horrors thrown at him, brought forth by the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis, Ash has had to fight through several demon-possessed, zombie-like beings. Even losing his hand hasn’t slowed him down as he was able to mount a chainsaw onto the stump, hold a shotgun in the other hand, and keep up the combat. He’s been sent back in time to the Middle Ages, and if you count comics, he’s also been to a zombified version of the Marvel Universe, and he still managed to survive and find his way back to his own world and time period. He’s even fought both Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees at the same time.

…and won! (Whoops, spoilers.)

For surviving horror story after horror story when all the odds were stacked against him, we now add Ash Williams to our roster.

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Honorable Mention: Ellen Ripley (Alien)

Another hero to not be counted out is horror's leading lady, Alien's Ellen Ripley. A protagonist in the first few films, then later, a recurring character in spin-offs and licensed features, Ripley has a long history of fighting off the Xenomorphs, even when the rest of her crew has been killed off by them. Even her death (sorry, spoiler) in the movies was a heroic sacrifice on her part rather than becoming prey to the aliens that have been pursuing her. As impressive of a character as Ripley is, Ash has done more and fought against different kinds of threats in his depictions, which edges him out over her. Sorry.

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What did you think about this article? Want to see what other characters get picked for our roster? Do you think someone would fit this role better besides whoever got picked? Make your voice heard in the comments below. 

 

Thanks for coming!

Assemble! - Horror Movie Archetypes - The Final Girl

Welcome to Assemble!

 

Here, we'll look at several different characters across multiple series to see who would form a perfect team for a certain genre. From fighting game rosters to RPG adventuring parties, different types of characters tend to show up frequently. What we'll do here is look at those archetypes to see what character is the best fit for that slot, and in the end, we’ll have the best team for the job. These articles will also be shorter entries, compared to some of the more long-form articles here, focusing on one or two characters at a time.

When talking about horror, the villains, monsters, and killers are often the first things that come to people’s minds. The people they hunt are often an afterthought, but these characters show that not all survivors are that easy to kill. The right group with the right people can make things very difficult for the killer. Here, we’ll be looking at that can represent different archetypes of horror movie characters, to build a strong squad of survivors.

THE FINAL GIRL

There's something full circle about this movie. I'm just not sure what.

The Final Girl is one of the last notable characters, if not THE last character, left alive after a killer’s rampage in a horror movie. Abstaining from sex, drugs, alcohol, or any of the other vices that the other characters may partake in, circumstance leaves them as the lone survivor while their friends lay dead. They have the final confrontation with the villain and, from there, either kill the villain or are saved from them at the last second by intervention from an outside source. 1980s slasher movies especially used this trope, with the character’s purity being implied as the reason why she earns having survived for so long, hinting at the values behind the movies made at that time.

Our pick for the Final Girl is…

Laurie Strode from Halloween

Laurie is the first recognizable instance of the Final Girl in horror movies, having survived the rampage of Michael Myers in the first Halloween movie. Along with Dr. Sam Loomis, she would become a recurring character within the series, fighting against Michael for several films. In the most recent entry in the series in 2018, she has trained herself and created several battle plans and booby traps for when he tries to come back to finish her off. The terror he caused hasn’t left her mind even as she ages and she uses that fear to steel her resolve and make herself an even stronger survivor.

For lasting through the several attempts on her life and not once giving in, we now add Laurie Strode to our roster.

ADDED!

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What did you think about this article? Want to see what other characters get picked for our roster? Do you think someone would fit this role better besides whoever got picked? Make your voice heard in the comments below. 

 

Thanks for coming!