History Main / FinalGirl

** Laurie Strode in ''Film/Halloween1978'' is the TropeCodifier, and her actress Creator/JamieLeeCurtis wound up typecast in Final Girl roles early in her career, such as in ''Film/PromNight1980'' and ''Film/TerrorTrain''. The film also introduced the DeathBySex trope that became a staple of the genre, which Creator/JohnCarpenter expressed [[CreatorBacklash some regret]] for, later saying "if I ended the sexual revolution, I apologize." Laurie remained a final girl in ''Film/HalloweenII1981'' and ''Film/HalloweenH20TwentyYearsLater''.

* CHVRCHES has the song “Final Girl,” in which singer Lauren Mayberry assumes the titular role.

* ''Film/Halloween1978'' was the TropeCodifier and introduced the DeathBySex trope (actually unintentional) which became a staple of the genre. Laurie Strode's actress, Creator/JamieLeeCurtis, was typecast as a Final Girl early on in her career so if she was in a slasher film, she would definitely be surviving. Except in ''Film/HalloweenResurrection''. Laurie remained a final girl in ''Film/HalloweenII1981''. In ''Film/Halloween4TheReturnOfMichaelMyers'', Rachel and Jamie both shared this title, and in ''Film/HalloweenResurrection'', Sara is the Final Girl.

* ''Film/FromDuskTillDawn'' ends with two survivors. Kate Fuller, the virginal [[PreachersKid preacher's daughter]], is a straight example of this trope. Seth Gecko, on the other hand, is not only a VillainProtagonist, but arguably the most evil character in the film. Whereas his AxCrazy rapist brother Richard is implied to be legitimately insane, the bikers and truckers at the Titty Twister are [[GoodIsNotNice rough-hewn but otherwise not harming anybody]], and even the vampires are portrayed as animalistic and killing out of instinct, Seth is a professional bank robber who coldly murders multiple people out of pure greed or anger and is entirely aware and in control of his actions. That said, he does [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold get a bit nicer]] over the course of the film, convincing the preacher Jacob to recover his faith in God to help them fight the vampires and feeling regretful when he has to [[StakingTheLovedOne kill Richard]]. As he puts it to Kate at the end, "I may be a bastard, but I'm not a fucking bastard."

* As of the final page of ''Manga/{{Gyo}}'', both the protagonist's girlfriend and his uncle's assistant both died (girlfriend) and are likely to die later on if not already dead (assistant).

* Famously toyed with in the twist ending of ''Film/SleepawayCamp'' during the early 80's when the trope was especially popular in slasher films. The character set up to be the final girl, Angela, is revealed not only as the killer but also as having been the young, seemingly male child who was thought to be dead the whole film, as it was actually her ''sister'' that had died.
** The sequels, however, play this straight this with [[Film/SleepawayCampIIUnhappyCampers Molly]] and [[Film/SleepawayCampIIITeenageWasteland Marcia]].
* Subverted in the original ''Film/PromNight1980''. With Jamie Lee Curtis playing her, the protagonist practically had "Final Girl" written all over her. However, when the killer is revealed, we find out that she was not a target all along. It is also outright {{averted}} with the killer's actual victims: 3 girls and 1 guy. All three girls die, the guy survives.
** It's played pretty straight in ''Film/PromNightIVDeliverUsFromEvil'', until the virginal Final Girl takes down the killer and escapes. The ending suggests a subversion in that Meagan may now be possessed by the evil of the dying killer.
* The characterization is subverted in ''Film/JustBeforeDawn''. Connie starts out as a normal tomboy variety, which would imply an inherent strength in the face of danger in the woods. However, she notices that the other female in the group -- pretty-girl Megan -- has a bit more tenacity and bravery in the face of danger than she herself does. Connie spends the rest of the film reinventing herself with the use of make-up and more-revealing clothes to be more like Megan. When danger does strike, Connie takes down the killer at the end not with a weapon but with her bare hands. As if that's not enough, the trope is also downplayed given that Connie's masculine boyfriend survives as well but is severely injured and cannot help while Connie is being attacked.

* Subverted in ''Film/{{Curtains}}'' (1983). After all actresses but one coveting the role of Audra are murdered, we're left with one plucky actress (Patti) who easily fits the final girl mold. A use of an ImpendingDoomPOV makes us think Samantha truly was the killer and not just a red herring. However, in the end, Samantha only killed the director and his mistress, but it was not-so-innocent Patti who killed her rivals for the role.
* Jess from ''Film/{{Triangle}}'' averts this. She's technically the Final Girl, and she's also the killer. But it's [[StableTimeLoop much more complicated than that]].
* The movie ''Film/{{Shrooms}}'' gleefully takes aim at the whole concept of the Final Girl. At the end, the Final Girl discovers that she herself is the killer, having been driven insane by the titular ''Shrooms''.
* Subverted in ''Film/Inside2007''. Sarah starts out as a DamselInDistress, but she eventually graduates to ActionSurvivor status despite being pregnant and ''this close'' to giving birth. While she does a serious number on her attacker, it wasn't enough since Sarah still gets killed at the end.

* In ''Film/HighTension'', a lesbian spends most of the film trying to rescue the girl she likes from the hands of a slasher. It turns out that her alternate personality is actually the killer, having been [[LoveMakesYouEvil driven murderously insane by her secret crush]]. Both [[PsychoLesbian the killer]] and the final girl survive.
* While ''Film/{{Frontiers}}'' technically has ''two'' final girls, neither fit the wholesome image of the final girl (at least by association). Yasmine is pregnant member of a group of thieves, and Eva is a kind but obedient member of the cannibalistic family that's killed Yasmine's companions.

* The ''Film/FinalDestination'' series:
** ''Film/FinalDestination3'', in which the makers explicitly went out of their way to kill the Final Girl. Whether the two people she saved live or die is left open in the theatrical version.
** ''Film/FinalDestination1'' follows this...until ''[[Film/FinalDestination2 2]]'', which subverts it [[JustForPun finally]] killing Clear.
* The girl who looks most likely to be the Final Girl in ''Film/TheDeadlySpawn'' dies in the last 20 minutes and is replaced by another girl who arrived shortly before two-thirds of the way through the film. The monster ends up being killed by the precocious little boy who was hiding in the basement where he was cornered by the monster earlier, figured out its weaknesses by observing it, and had enough know-how to construct a home-made bomb when he finally got free.

* Cindy Campbell from the ''Film/ScaryMovie'' films is pretty much a sustained spoof of Final Girls.
** The slasher film final girl spoof was done a few decades previously (and just as, if not more, effectively) in 1982's ''Pandemonium'', with the character of Candy, who was not only a comedic take on the Final Girl, but also on Film/{{Carrie}}.
* Subverted in ''Film/{{Candyman}}''. The main character studying urban myths for graduate school discovers the legend of the titular Candyman, who can be summoned when his name is said in the mirror five times. Needless to say, Candyman is indeed summoned during Helen's investigation and shows himself, framing Helen for murder as well as killing her best friend and her therapist. Helen dies saving the life of a baby at the end, but she herself becomes immortalized and is just as vengeful as the Candyman in that she kills her cheating husband when he unknowingly summons her after her death.
** Played completely straight in the two sequels with Annie and Caroline, both of whom are descendants of the titular villain.
* Averted in ''Film/TheRuins''. Technically there ''is'' a Final Girl but she is not the main character, and is not the most intelligent or resourceful one amongst the victims. Her boyfriend is the wise and resourceful leader, but he sacrifices himself to save her. Ultimately, the end implies that she is doomed anyway.

* Played straight in the original cut of ''Film/DeepBlueSea'', but averted in the finished cut, because test audiences found the female lead to be obnoxious and self-centered. The PluckyComicRelief survived in her place. It should be noted that in both a shark wrangler - halfway between ActionHero and ActionSurvivor - also lives.
* The slasher-satire ''Hack!'' puts the trope through the grinder. The girl so obviously the final girl ends up being an evil bitch involved in the killings, whereas the hunky leading male is revealed to be a virgin and ends up being a final boy.
* ''Hostel''
** Subverted in ''Film/{{Hostel}}.'' The film's only surviving character is Paxton, who is not only male, but a heavy drinker and drug user who spends the first half of the film screwing anything with a pulse. By contrast, Josh, who dies earlier, is relatively innocent--although Josh's ambiguous sexuality may make him an example of BuryYourGays.
** Also subverted in ''Film/HostelPartII''. Beth, the Final Girl who we've come to see as innocent and virginal, turns out to be just as ruthless and bloodthirsty as her captors. She brutally castrates her "hunter" and strikes a deal with Sasha, the club's ringleader. In contrast Lorna, the untouched {{Cloudcuckoolander}}, is the first to die and was selected specifically ''because'' she was a virgin. Her "hunter" had a [[UsefulNotes/ElizabethBathory Countess Bathory]] fetish.
* ''Franchise/{{Saw}}''
** Subverted the hell out of in ''Film/SawI'' and ''Film/SawII'' regarding the character Amanda Young. In the first film, Amanda is the only one of Jigsaw's victims to get free of his traps, but she's not the typically innocent Final Girl (she had been addicted to heroin) and she agrees with the man that tried to kill her. In the second movie, the sweet, innocent-like (at least by ''Saw'' standards) blonde girl dies fairly early on. The final girl? Amanda again -- and this time, she's revealed to be working with the killer.
** In ''Film/SawVI'', the only survivors of the Roulette Trap are, you guessed it, female. The film in general acts as a deconstruction, actually. The tests are designed to show who the main character, a manager at an insurance company, is more likely to save and he always deviates towards the women as would the audience in these kinds of scenarios, despite the men deserving it just as much or more than the women. This bias led to him denying insurance claims to men who were fitter and more likely to survive with the aid of medical care compared to women.
** As for ''Film/Saw3D: The Final Chapter'':
*** It has a Final Boy in Bobby Dagen.
*** Subverted with Jill Tuck. As the last female left alive after the death of Bobby Dagen's wife Joyce, Jill is ultimately dispatched by Detective Hoffman with the use of the reverse bear trap, and her death drives the film to its final twist reveal (see below).
*** Dr. Gordon is revealed to have escaped in the original ''Saw'' film and is now an accomplice to the late John Kramer, having put Detective Hoffman in the bathroom trap without a saw for killing Jill.
** ''Film/{{Jigsaw}}'' presents a subversion. Anna shows all the traits of a traditional final girl early on: she is a resourceful and intelligent ActionSurvivor who comes across as kind, compassionate, and level-headed in comparison to the other players. [[BitchInSheepsClothing But most of this is an act.]] Having murdered her infant child for purely selfish reasons and then framed her husband for it, which got him sent to an insane asylum where he [[DrivenToSuicide hanged himself]], she is one of the vilest characters in the entire franchise, and she eventually suffers a well-deserved KarmicDeath. This leaves Ryan, the JerkWithAHeartOfGold, as the last man standing... [[AndIMustScream trapped in a room with Anna's corpse]], where he too eventually dies. The film then reveals that Logan, the first victim of the Barn, both survived his "death" — making him the Final Boy and sole survivor of the Barn — and later became the new Jigsaw.]]
* Though, as mentioned above, the ''Franchise/FridayThe13th'' film series usually plays it straight, special mention should be made for the character of Tommy Jarvis, who manages to make it safely through installments ''[[Film/FridayThe13thTheFinalChapter IV]], [[Film/FridayThe13thPartVANewBeginning V]]'' and ''[[Film/FridayThe13thPartVIJasonLives VI]]'' as the TagalongKid, TroubledButCute, and ZenSurvivor respectively.
** [[Film/FridayThe13th2009 The 2009 remake]] has a Final Girl, but also has a [[DecoyProtagonist decoy Final Girl]] in Jenna who is quite possibly on screen for more time than actual Final Girl Whitney until her sudden death near the end. Additionally, there is another [[ActionSurvivor survivor]] in Whitney's brother Clay.
** [[Film/FridayThe13th1980 Original Final Girl Alice]] was shown smoking marijuana in one scene, Ginny from ''[[Film/FridayThe13thPart2 Part 2]]'' has offscreen sex and kicks back a few beers, and Jessica of ''Film/JasonGoesToHellTheFinalFriday'' has a kid.
*** Speaking of ''Jason Goes to Hell'', its arguable Stephen is more the main protagonist than Jessica.
** The seventh and eighth installments, ''[[Film/FridayThe13thPartVIITheNewBlood The New Blood]]'' and ''[[Film/FridayThe13thPartVIIIJasonTakesManhattan Jason Takes Manhattan]]'' respectively, have the male love interest survive alongside the Final Girl character for the entire final act.
* Inverted big time in 2008 horror movie ''Credo''. It's all typical with our [[TheIngenue sweet and innocent]] main character being the last one out of our group to die...That is, until it's revealed most of the movie was [[AllJustADream all just a hallucination]] brought on by an evil demon [[EvilPlan to get her to hang herself]]. The other college twats are just fine, playing with a Ouija Board downstairs.
* In ''Film/AprilFoolsDay'', the cast are whittled down to two and the killer is revealed to be the secret and crazy twin sister of one of the characters. The boy gets locked in a closet while the Final Girl is left to confront the crazy twin. She backs into a room, and there are all the "dead," people, behaving calmly and casually as though nothing had happened. After about thirty seconds of her freaking out, they start laughing and explain that that the whole thing was both a elaborate practical joke and a test for a "Murder Mystery," inn, there is no twin. Then they have a party. Even when you first think it's a slasher, the first female victim is the one most likely to be a Final Girl - the bookish ShrinkingViolet. The actual Final Girl is shown in bed with her boyfriend and they nearly have sex in the boathouse the next day.
* ''Film/AQuietPlace'' semi-uses it in a couple ways.
** The first film ends with most of the world, including the family's own father and the (formerly) youngest child, dead, and the remaining physically capable boy huddled in the corner desperately trying to keep the new youngest child quiet, leaving the mother and daughter as the two final girls of sorts. One to give the creature a seizure and expose its weakness, the other to finish it off with a shotgun.
** [[Film/AQuietPlacePartII The second film]] plays it a bit straighter with Regan and Emmett alone in the radio station, with Emmett incapacitated and the creature on the prowl, leaving Regan to play the seizure-inducing sound and kill the creature by herself. Also [[GenderFlip gender-flipped]], with Marcus having to protect his injured mother and baby brother from another creature at the same time his sister is facing down another one.

* In ''Film/PitchBlack'', the woman who seems most likely to be the final girl is killed off only a few minutes before the movie ends, though the fact that she tries to sacrifice the passengers of the ship she was piloting early in the film hints at her {{redempti|onEqualsDeath}}ve [[HeroicSacrifice death]]. The only characters to survive the movie are ironically the ones most likely to die in another slasher flick: the pacifist [[BlackDudeDiesFirst black man]]; the teenage [[SweetPollyOliver girl who pretended to be a ''boy'']] for the first half of the movie and has just reached [[DeathBySex sexual]] [[NoPeriodsPeriod maturity]]; and Riddick, the VillainProtagonist, who survives due to ExecutiveMeddling that turned out to be very profitable. This approach is arguably what sets the film apart and part of why the sequel fails to deliver the same emotional punch. ''Film/PitchBlack'' is a survival movie in space that subverts character expectations; ''Film/TheChroniclesOfRiddick'' tries more to be straightforward ''Franchise/StarWars''.
* In the film ''CrazyEights'', the character Beth is built up to be the final girl, only to become the second victim when a horrible monster visits her and persuades her to rip out her own jaw to remove her guilt. The final girl is actually Jennifer, but she prepares to kill herself as the movie abruptly ends.
* Also subverted in ''Film/{{The Dark|2005}}'', where Creator/MariaBello's character Adèle fights through the Welsh interpretation of the afterlife to save her daughter, only to unintentionally kill herself and switch places with her. And depending on how you interpret the ending, she may not have even succeeded in saving her daughter.

* ''Film/TheEvilDead1981'' subverted the trope by having the sweet virginal girl raped by trees and then possessed. Her brother, Ashely J. Williams, becomes the Final Guy, though even he gets possessed at the end. In the sequels, he reverts back to humanity and becomes the boomstick-toting, [[ChainsawGood chainsaw-handed]] badass we know and love.
* Used one way or another in every ''Film/{{Cube}}'' movie:
** ''Cube'' features a cute, innocent girl in the cast of prisoners, but it's the the mentally retarded boy who survives, apparently by being even more innocent.
** ''Film/Cube2Hypercube'' [[SubvertedTrope appears to play it straight]], with a wholesome blonde surviving to the end but not much further -- she's revealed to be a government operative who, after her de-briefing, [[ShootTheShaggyDog is executed to keep the secrets secure]].
** ''Film/CubeZero'' plays it straight with Raines.

* Averted in ''Literature/{{Perfume}}'', where the killer saves the beautiful Laura Richis as his final victim to complete his perfect perfume. Laura's wealthy father uses all his power to protect her, but the killer walks right through all his defenses, right into Laura's bedroom, and kills her.
* Subverted in ''Film/GrizzlyPark'', where Bebe, the ditzy, sweet girl, survives most of the movie, but it turns out it was all an act, and she is really a mean, spoiled bitch. Ranger Bob ends up sending the bear to kill her once he finds out.

* In After Dark Horrorfest 4's movie ''Kill Theory'' subverts this trope when the expected final girl stabs her boyfriend in the stomach, breaking the rules and ends up being killed by the actual final girl who she had shot earlier.
* The ''Film/{{Wishmaster}}'' series is prone to playing with this. While played completely straight in the original, the sequel's Final Girl was a {{goth}} burglar who actually kills a guy in the opening, during a heist gone wrong, though she later redeems herself, in order to beat the Djinn. The protagonist of ''Wishmaster 4: The Prophecy Fulfilled'' is also shown having sex at least twice, including ''with the Djinn''.

* Thoroughly subverted in ''Film/TrickRTreat'' with Laurie, whose name is a reference to Creator/JamieLeeCurtis' Final Girl in the ''Franchise/{{Halloween}}'' films, a cute virgin [[LittleDeadRidingHood dressed as Little Red Riding Hood]] who is surrounded by loud, promiscuous friends who want to get her laid. However, none of them were in danger at all. It turns out that they're a pack of bloodthirsty werewolves, and that all along they were actually looking for a man so that Laurie could eat him. Though her eventual victim is actually a serial killer, and she does technically fight him off.
* Set up in ''Film/{{Damnatus}}'', where Nira is the last of the party left alive (with {{the hero}} even commenting that if anyone's going to make it out alive, it will be her), but when the daemon catches up with her she dies just like the rest.
* Subverted to hell and back in ''Film/AllTheBoysLoveMandyLane''. The innocent and pure Mandy appears to be this at first, but then comes TheReveal that, the whole time, she was working with the killer, with whom she had entered a SuicidePact. It's then given a DoubleSubversion when Mandy backs out of the pact at the last minute, allowing her to be the Final Girl after all.
* Inverted with ''Film/StudentBodies'', in which everyone is suspicious that the obvious Final Girl is really the killer.

* {{Invoked|Trope}} and {{subverted|Trope}} in ''Film/TheCabinInTheWoods''. When the monsters ritually slaughter the college kids, Dana, the victim labelled as "The Virgin", can't be killed unless all the others are killed first, and, as long as she's suffered a lot and is the last one left standing, she can be allowed to escape the monsters without ruining the ritual. However, it turns out that Marty, one of the earlier male victims, [[ChekhovMIA wasn't as dead as everyone thought]],[[labelnote:Explanation...]]His [[TheStoner routine smoking]] made him [[DisabilityImmunity immune to the mind-altering drugs laced in the air]] and the zombie that pulled him underground was [[LiteralDisarming dismembered and left growling on the ground as a limbless torso]], implying he [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass overpowered it.]][[/labelnote]] and comes back to save Dana and kick some monster ass...and [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt end the world]] [[NiceJobBreakingItHero in the process by sabotaging the ritual.]] Further subverted by the fact that Dana, who the technicians had set up to become "The Virgin", was in fact screwing her professor in order to pass the class, while Jules, who had been picked as "The Whore", was the smarter and more wholesome of the two before she was drugged.
* In ''Film/FromHell'', Mary Kelly is played pretty straight as a Final Girl as she escapes UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper and survives after all her friends have been picked off and despite the fact that the real life Mary Kelly didn't. However, she's also a subversion in that she doesn't kill the Ripper, just manages to avoid him and, what with being a prostitute, isn't the traditionally wholesome girl either.
* Since there are no women among the survivors (or even passengers) of the crashed plane in ''Film/TheGrey'', it's pretty obvious that there will not be a final ''girl''. Creator/LiamNeeson's character becomes the last survivor before meeting a BolivianArmyEnding (he does manage to [[TakingYouWithMe kill the alpha wolf before dying]], though).
* ''Film/DeathProof'': Quentin Tarantino himself noted during interviews about this film that he is a ''major'' fan of Carol Clover's writings on slasher films. As such, part of the thrill of the first half involves how he consciously [[PlayingWithATrope plays with]] this trope in particular: Arlene/Butterfly is set up from the beginning to be a played-straight Final Girl in a standard slasher--especially how she's portrayed as rather "apart" from her friends, and not as open in her sexuality. Alas, she ends up ''dying'' with the others--which, as Quentin anticipated, is a ''big'' shock to the audience. Not to mention that the first group of girls are slightly repressed with their sexuality, whereas the second are more open about it - and survive.

* In ''Film/{{Evidence}}'', there are two surviving girls...who then turn out to actually be the killers, who took turns taking on the role of the masked bad guy to throw everyone off.

* In ''Film/{{Unfriended}}'', Blaire meets all the criteria at first glance -- virginal, less obnoxious than her female friends, and conventionally attractive but not quite gorgeous. However, it turns out that Laura's saving her for last not because she's the most innocent, but because she's the most guilty -- she's a BitchInSheepsClothing who filmed the humiliating video of Laura that caused her to [[DrivenToSuicide kill herself]], and she refuses to take responsibility for it, even throwing her boyfriend Mitch under the bus to save her own skin. She's also not a virgin, having cheated on Mitch with his best friend Adam. Furthermore, at the end of the film she's not the lone survivor, but rather, the final ''victim''.
* ''Boggy Creek'': A group of friends get terrorized by a [[BigfootSasquatchAndYeti Bigfoot]] creature while vacationing a remote cabin and its surrounding woods. When the rest of her group is either dead or captured, Jennifer almost manages to escape until she herself is captured right before the credits roll. While this may be seen as a simple subversion, the film might truly avert the trope. The creature seems to [[MenAreTheExpendableGender selectively kills the men]] in the group, while it is hinted that the women victims are kept alive for breeding. The killing of AlphaBitch Brooke leaves the line between subversion and aversion a bit murky, though.
* Completely Subverted in the ironically titled ''Film/FinalGirl''. Instead of the film being about a terrified girl being the last survivor of a psycho, it's about a girl [[BadassAdorable trained as an assassin]] who hunts, [[TheFakeCutie baits]], and kills a group of psychos.
* Subverted in ''Film/TheWitch'', a period horror film about [[SalemIsWitchCountry a Puritan family in 1630s New England being stalked by a local witch]]. Thomasin, the family's eldest daughter, seems to check off nearly all of the classic markers of this trope: she's a beautiful, strong-willed, [[DeathBySex virginal]] teenage girl, and she ''is'' indeed the only member of her family to survive to the end. But she ends up as the Final Girl after personally killing her mother in self-defense, after her mother accuses ''her'' of being a witch. And almost immediately after, she ends up personally selling her soul to {{Satan}} and joining a witch's coven, ''becoming'' the very thing that she successfully survived. And though the details are left deliberately ambiguous, there are also some strong hints dropped that [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane there was never a witch at all]], and that Thomasin killed her entire family herself -- meaning that she could either be the Final Girl or the slasher. [[MindScrew Watch the movie and decide for yourself.]]
* Painfully averted in ''Film/TheLazarusEffect'' - Eva doesn't succeed in stopping Zoe's rampage, she just had a DyingDream that she did.
* Played straight in ''Frayed'', where the virginal girl is the last left to confront her murderous brother in true Final Girl fashion...until it's revealed that she as well as the other victims only existed as they were presented in the killer's delusional fantasies. The real sister was a completely different person whom the brother had never seen after childhood, the 'killer' was actually framed for a murder he did not commit, and the slasher portion of the film [[AllJustADream never really took place]] at all.
* ''Film/TheFinalGirls'': The film, appropriately, features several examples, and thoroughly parodies the concept.
** Paula, the original final girl of the film ''[[ShowWithinAShow Camp Bloodbath]]''. Despite not fitting the traditional [[TheIngenue ingenue]] mold, instead being an ActionGirl who arrives on the scene in a Trans Am and wears a leather jacket and ripped jeans, she makes a point of mentioning that [[VirginPower she's a virgin and plans to stay that way]] as soon as she's introduced.
** Vicki nominates herself to be the final girl after Paula dies, but is not eligible because being a TechnicalVirgin doesn't cut it by the movie's rules.
** {{Enforced|Trope}} when Nancy and Max try to survive together. Max's mortal wound leads Nancy (who had sex earlier) to pull a HeroicSacrifice, making Max the ''final'' girl. As soon as this happens, Max's wound becomes JustAFleshWound, and she can suddenly fight Billy with [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer slayer-level competence]].
* Subverted in the SciFiHorror film ''Film/{{Morgan}}''. Lee Weathers is the last girl standing, but only because she executes the other two survivors in order to LeaveNoWitnesses to Morgan's rampage. And her toughness, poise under pressure, and avoidance of sex aren't because she's a virginal ActionSurvivor, but because she's a hard-nosed, emotionless corporate suit -- ''and'' an ArtificialHuman just like Morgan.
* PlayedWith in ''Film/MyLittleEye''. Technically, at the end of the film, the only person alive apart from Travis and the cop is Emma. However, unlike numerous instances where this trope is played straight or even subverted, by the time she's left as the lone survivor her eventual survival is virtually out of question.
* ''Film/FromDuskTillDawn'' ends with two survivors. Kate Fuller, the virginal [[PreachersKid preacher's daughter]], is a straight example of this trope. Seth Gecko, on the other hand, is not only a VillainProtagonist, but arguably the most evil character in the film. Whereas his AxCrazy rapist brother Richard is implied to be legitimately insane, the bikers and truckers at the Titty Twister are [[GoodIsNotNice rough-hewn but otherwise not harming anybody]], and even the vampires are portrayed as animalistic and killing out of instinct, Seth is a professional bank robber who coldly murders multiple people out of pure greed or anger and is entirely aware and in control of his actions. That said, he does [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold get a bit nicer]] over the course of the film, convincing the preacher Jacob to recover his faith in God to help them fight the vampires and feeling regretful when he has to [[StakingTheLovedOne kill Richard]]. As he puts it to Kate at the end, "I may be a bastard, but I'm not a fucking bastard."
* ''Film/GetOut2017'''s Rose Armitage appears to have all the traits of the Final Girl at first, but it is later revealed that Rose is actually part of her family's plot to kidnap African Americans and insert the brains of family members or well-paying customers into their bodies. In fact, she plays a key role as the HoneyTrap who dates and lures the victims to her parents' isolated house under the guise of introducing them to her family.
* ''Film/TheCave'' contrasts the slightly demure scientist Katheryn with the sexy blonde climber Charlie. Katheryn is indeed the only one of the two females to survive, but this is subverted at the end when she is revealed to be infected and out in the world to infect others.
* Irina in the Russian horror film ''Deadly Still'' initially looks like a typical final girl, only to be revealed to be working with the main villain of the film, who is her adoptive father. While she turns against him after discovering that he killed her birth parents (the creators of the deadly MagicalCamera at the center of the film, which kills anybody photographed with it), she simply proceeds to continue the experiments that both her birth parents and her adoptive father did with the camera, killing the other surviving main character and then the group of police officers dispatched to investigate the deaths.
* Chelsea in ''The Ranger'' starts out as an aesthetic subversion, being a punk chick with pink hair and a leather jacket who is seen doing drugs in the first act. She plays it straighter in her characterization, at least at first, feeling like something of an odd duck amidst the [[TheQuincyPunk archetypal punk rockers]] she's friends with and [[NatureHero identifying more with nature]] -- a feeling that is reciprocated by their leader Garth, who regards her as an outsider to their group. However, her DarkAndTroubledPast involves her having killed her uncle in cold blood on a camping trip [[EnfantTerrible when she was a little girl]], with the titular villain, a park ranger who hates the protagonists for [[GreenAesop trashing his pristine wilderness]], knowing her secret (having been the one who rescued her and helped cover it up) and wanting to bring that side of her back to the surface.
* In ''Film/CabinFever'', Karen is initially presented as Final Girl material, with [[HairOfGoldHeartOfGold blonde hair]], no nudity, and a relationship with the least debauched of the three guys in the group. Instead, she is the ''first'' to fall ill to the [[BodyHorror flesh-eating bacteria]]. The last survivor is Jeff, who decided to [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere run away from the cabin]] rather than risk getting infected, and even he [[KillEmAll gets gunned down by the police at the end]]. What's more, the film inverts TheScourgeOfGod in one notable way: the main vector for infection is the cabin's drinking water, so it's actually ''safer'' to get drunk than stay sober, hence why Jeff (who took two cases of beer when he fled) is the only one who doesn't get infected.
* Set up and subverted in "The Raft" segment of ''Film/Creepshow2'', in which the girl less concerned with boys and drugs at first ends up being the first victim of the monster after letting her guard down and trying pot. The story may serve as a cautionary tale for why the Final girl must avoid certain vices if she wants to survive a horror movie.
* Discussed and invoked in ''Film/YouMightBeTheKiller'', where the last two girls get in an argument over who is the most pure, and end up fighting to the death over who gets to be the Final Girl. The winner then goes on to use the killer's EvilMask to become both the Final Girl AND the killer.
* Theresa 'Tree' Gelbman, the protagonist of ''Film/HappyDeathDay'' would be one of the first victims in a traditional slasher as a snooty college AlphaBitch who is having sex with her married professor and drinks alot lot and in fact she is quickly murdered...only to wake up in bed that same morning. Tree is caught in a GroundhogDayLoop reliving the same day over and over until she manages to defeat the killer and along the way she becomes a nicer person. By the [[Film/HappyDeathDay2U sequel]] she's not only a better person but pretty badass, whose first response on hearing someone else is suffering the same fate is to pick up a baseball bat and go hunting the bad guy.
* The [[Creator/BlumhouseProductions Blumhouse-produced]] horror film ''Thriller'' includes a traditional final girl in Lisa, who embodies many wholesome girl stereotypes found in the trope. However, she subverts it because she isn't the only survivor of the film; her love interest Ty survives, as does (surprisingly) AlphaBitch Gina.
* Subverted in the British thriller ''Film/TheHole''. We open with a teenage girl, who is the lone survivor of a group of four teens locked in a bunker for ten days. When the girl gives her story to the police, she appears to follow the Final Girl archetype - a studious, responsible, intelligent and more level-headed than her peers. Of course, it turns out to be a complete lie - where she's a sociopath who locked her friends down in the bunker in the first place, because she was {{Yandere}} for one of the boys. She's shown to be just as promiscuous, drug-obsessed and prone to hysterics as the other teens.
* Erica Yang, the protagonist of ''Into The Dark: School Spirit'', is presented as a classic Final Girl: A sweet, virginal, rule-abiding, AsianAndNerdy teenager who tries to help her fellow students escape from a killer. After she takes the killer out, the trope is subverted: She reveals that she's had sex with her ex-boyfriend several times, has actively cheated on multiple occasions to boost her GPA, and really doesn't care about the other kids who died except as a means to make herself look good in the media.
* In ''Film/MySuperPsychoSweet16'', Skye Rotter is the daughter of a SerialKiller who has been haunted by her father Charlie's crimes ever since she caught him in the act. She spends the rest of the film as a more [[EmoTeen emo-tinged version]] of a classic final girl...until the very end, when the AlphaBitch Madison Penrose reveals herself to be a JerkWithAHeartOfJerk, causing Skye to [[AloneWithThePsycho lock her in the basement of the Roller Dome]] to be killed by Charlie without feeling a shred of remorse. She drives off in Madison's car, the epilogue revealing that she's been missing for several days. The LovableJock Brigg and the DoggedNiceGuy Derek also survive, albeit wounded, with Brigg having nightmares about Skye killing her. The kicker: the film is a horror parody of the notorious Creator/{{MTV}} RealityShow ''Series/MySuperSweetSixteen'', with Madison based on any number of the bratty teenagers featured on that show, meaning that Skye leaving Madison to die is portrayed as karma for an AssholeVictim -- complete with Skye's final scenes being set to the triumphant tune of [[Music/{{AFI}} "Miss Murder"]].
* ''The Babysitter'' Netflix series:
** Bee in the first film, ''Film/TheBabysitter2017'' is a character who seems consciously designed to evoke the image of a badass modern horror heroine, an attractive blonde babysitter who serves as a CoolBigSis figure to the protagonist Cole...except she's actually the BigBad who wants to use his blood for a [[HollywoodSatanism Satanic ritual]]. Cole's friend Melanie, on the other hand, is a straight example, portrayed as a wholesome GirlNextDoor with hints of PuppyLove.
** In [[Film/TheBabysitterKillerQueen the sequel]], Melanie turns out to be EvilAllAlong and became the new leader of the cult, complete with a HotterAndSexier EvilMakeover now that SheIsAllGrownUp. The actual Final Girl this time, Phoebe, is not at all wholesome, being a NewTransferStudent who is initially presented as a "bad girl", but turns out to be a straightforward hero beneath her "alternative" fashion sense.
* In ''Film/BloodyReunion'', Mi-Ja is only one of the students to survive the ReunionRevenge. Because she's the killer.
* ''{{Film/Midsommar}}'' is a FolkHorror rather than slasher movie, and Dani does survive until the end while being portrayed as nicer and more wholesome than her jerkass friends. However, she survives because she decides to get inducted into the cult -- and punishes her boyfriend by making him the final sacrifice!
* In ''Film/{{Slaxx}}'', Libby is framed as this almost from the get-go, the one employee at [[PeaceAndLoveIncorporated Canadian Cotton Clothiers]] who isn't either a cynic like Shruti or an asshole like everybody else. Of the main characters, she is the SoleSurvivor and almost makes it to the end of the film, but gets killed in the stampede of shoppers she desperately tried to stop from entering the store, where the ghost of Keerat was waiting to kill them all. The actual sole survivor, a stockboy named Camilo, spent the whole movie in a changing room completely unaware of what was happening outside.
* In "The Babysitter Murders", the final segment of ''Film/TheMortuaryCollection'' (originally released as a standalone short film), we learn that Sam, the AudienceSurrogate throughout the film's FramingDevice, had been one of these, surviving an attack on the home where she was [[BadlyBatteredBabysitter babysitting]] by a SerialKiller who'd just escaped from the asylum. Except she's actually the escaped killer herself, having killed the ''real'' babysitter and taken his place. When Montgomery Dark learns who she really is, he subjects her to a KarmicDeath before bringing her BackFromTheDead and condemning her to take his place as the mortician.
* ''Film/EscapeRoom2019'':
** Zoey is a by-the-book final girl: she is the younger of the two women who participate in the escape room, is socially awkward but immensely resourceful, being the one who contributes the most for the participants to survive. But she is seemingly killed in the fourth challenge, leaving two men to continue. The one who ultimately wins the challenge is Ben, a smoking addict who is initially unsympathetic and serves as TheLoad, but matures throughout the film. And then Zoey is revealed to have secretly survived and ends up rigging a game that was supposed to leave only one alive, so now there are ''two'' survivors.
** The sequel, ''[[Film/EscapeRoomTournamentOfChampions Tournament of Champions]]'', averts the SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome characteristic of final girls. All of the new characters, including two women, are killed off, and the ones who remain standing to the end are Zoey and Ben again. They are joined by Amanda, the other woman from the first film, whose death is revealed to have been faked, meaning not only there are three survivors, they are all characters from the previous film.
* Maxine in ''Film/{{X|2022}}'' doesn't just violate every moral rule of slasher movie survival, she does so ''professionally''. She's a literal porn star who habitually uses cocaine, and she's the most scantily-clad female character in the film, spending most of it (when she isn't outright fully nude) wearing overalls with [[VaporWear nothing underneath]] that just ''[[TheissTitillationTheory barely]]'' [[{{Sideboob}} cover her breasts]]. The ending also reveals that the televangelist we see throughout the film railing against the sins of pornography [[PreachersKid is her father]]. She winds up the SoleSurvivor who departs the film with a triumphant snort of blow as she drives away, having no doubts or second thoughts about her line of work. Meanwhile, Lorraine, the virginal "church mouse" who does the audio on the porn film that the protagonists are making, is initially presented as Final Girl material, but later decides to star in the film herself (cheating on her boyfriend in the process, [[EmasculatedCuckold while he's filming it]]) -- and sure enough, she's the last of them to die.
* Jenny in ''Film/{{Ghostkeeper}}'' seemed destined for this: Brunette, insecure, and more reserved when compared to the other (blonde) girl in the group. The original intent was for her to have a chase with the monster when she was the last one left. However, production [[NoBudget ran out of money]] halfway through filming, so a new ending had to be made that completely subverted this altogether. Rather than confronting the monster, Jenny confronts the woman who runs the lodge and as a result becomes the new ghostkeeper.
* ''Film/GirlsNiteOut'' had Lynn, who looked and behaved every bit of the part as well as top billing for actress Julia Montgomery. However, this is subverted in the finale when the more seasoned actors in the cast are in final scene while our final girl isn't anywhere to be found. [[AntiClimax Roll credits.]]
* Subverted via [[Main/GenreShift genre shift]] in ''Film/TheMajorettes''. The film starts out as a standard slasher, with both Vicky and Judy appearing to be the wholesome candidates for this trope to happen. Vicky lives with her invalid grandmother, whose caregiver -- Helga -- has evil intentions. Judy is the girlfriend of the true hero, Jeff. Judy ends up being the final victim of the serial killer, who gets snared in a plot by Helga when he's photographed killing her. Helga [[InvokedTrope invokes]] the trope by ordering that he kill Vicky once she turns 18 years old so that she can secure money from an irrevocable trust. After the killer has been incapacitated due to the Helga's blackmail, a local gang then kidnaps Jeff and Vicky for steering the police in their direction for potential involvement in an earlier murder. Vicky is then subsequently killed in a shoot out, resulting in a devastated Jeff going [[Main/VigilanteMan all vigilante]] on the gang and killing them one by one. The final shots of the film have the serial killer murdering Helga, pinning his murders on her perverted son, and then watching a new batch of majorettes who may serve as potential victims for him in the future.
* ''Film/BodiesBodiesBodies'': Bee and Sophie play it straight at first glance, being the {{Token Good Teammate}}s within an otherwise extremely toxic friend circle that's comprised primarily of {{Alpha Bitch}}es and their asshole boyfriends, and who wind up being the only survivors of the bloodbath that goes down in the mansion (barring Max, who left early and [[TheBusCameBack came back at the very end]]).
** However, it turns out that [[WrongGenreSavvy they were never in]] a SlasherMovie. David's death, the inciting incident of the plot, wasn't a murder, but an accident caused by [[TooDumbToLive his own drunken stupidity]]. When the rest of the cast discovered his body with a SlashedThroat and a blood-stained {{kukri|sAreKool}} nearby, they immediately suspected that he'd been murdered and that one of them was the killer, and all the death that followed was a result of them turning on each other. Nobody was in any danger, at least not before their paranoia got the better of them.
** Bee and Sophie are also a lesbian couple, and what's more, a lot of circumstantial evidence suggests that Sophie cheated on Bee with Jordan. By the end of the film, even though they both know that the other isn't the killer, their romance is likely toast.

* Used as a theme in Jane Mendelsohn's MindScrew novel ''Innocence,'' with the main character seeing herself as the Final Girl in her own horror story. She does kill the villain - that is, her stepmother.
* The Final Girls of the ''Franchise/FridayThe13th'' spin-off books ''Church of the Divine Psychopath'' and ''Carnival of Maniacs'' are also TheLadette.

* ''The Final Girls'' was a series proposed to Creator/ABCFamily (now Freeform) in 2013 in which Jamie Lee Curtis would play the Charlie to a team of Angels consisting of girls who were Final Girls and use that experience to become monster hunters.
* ''Series/{{Scream Queens|2015}}'', a show that ''did'' wind up starring Jamie Lee Curtis, had two possible candidates for the Final Girl in the first season. Grace Gardner is the traditional kind, the blonde, virginal [[TheIngenue ingenue]] with a hint of Literature/NancyDrew to her. Chanel Oberlin is... not. While she fought off the Red Devil twice, she's also an [[RichBitch elitist]] and [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain bigoted]] AlphaBitch who is guilty of the murder of Ms. Bean and later tries to kill Hester, along with all manner of lesser crimes, to the point where she can be considered a VillainProtagonist even though she's not the Red Devil killer. To be fair, though, she didn't mean to kill Ms. Bean. Her trying to kill Hester, though, is an entirely different matter. Even though Hester is later revealed to be one of the Red Devil killers, Chanel didn't know this when she pushed Hester down a flight of stairs. Both Grace and Chanel survive, but neither of them is fully alright at the end of the season; Grace is revealed in the second season to have been [[BreakTheCutie institutionalized due to the trauma of what she went through]][[note]]In reality, this was because her actress Creator/SkylerSamuels had returned to college, forcing the writers to [[PutOnABus write out her character]].[[/note]], while Chanel and her GirlPosse get served a major dose of LaserGuidedKarma when they are framed for the murders. The real killers remain TheUnfought, with their last surviving member, Hester, [[TheBadGuyWins getting away with everything]], and the other two Red Devils, Gigi and Boone, both dying at Hester's hands.

* The first season of ''Series/{{Chucky}}'' has an interesting example in Lexy Cross, as she is a preteen AlphaBitch who bullies the gay protagonist. She also has an unchildlike promiscuous streak but is ProperlyParanoid about the titular doll. After some BreakTheHaughty moments, along with her younger sister being targeted courtesy of Chucky, [[EnemyMine she finds herself teaming up with her bullying victim to stop Chucky]] to protect their families. Ultimately, she survives the season with a change of heart, but at the cost of her boyfriend and father's lives.
* In the ''Series/MurdochMysteries'' slasher pastiche "I Know What You Did Last Autumn", Andrea Porter is the Final Girl (although it's Dr Ogden who actually stops the slasher), but an intentionally unsympathetic one; rather than being the TokenWholesome, her distaste for the activities of the other "teeners" mark her as a judgemental prude ''by Edwardian standards''.

* ''VideoGame/TheWhiteChamber'' seems to play with this...And it seems quite ironic. Sarah may be the last survivor, but ''she was the killer''.

* In the [[http://storynexus.com/s Storynexus]] game ''Final Girl'' this can be played straight, subverted or averted, [[MultipleEndings depending on your choices]].

* Invoked in ''VideoGame/DeadByDaylight''. Some characters and perks work better if you're the last survivor of your team, giving you an easier chance to escape from the killer. An escape hatch will also open up, giving the player an easier time of getting out if they could find it.
* The Final Girl is the unlockable class in the slasher-themed DLC "Bring the Crunch" of ''VideoGame/SouthParkTheFracturedButWhole''. It turns the New Kid into an ActionSurvivor who fights with improvised weapons (throwing garden shears, laying down sawblades as traps, blowing up enemies with a bomb attached to a sledgehammer), with the LimitBreak showing the New Kid being chased into a toolshed by monsters and MacGyvering a brutal chainsaw/axe combo to turn the tide on [[InjuredVulnerability low-health enemies]] by instantly killing them, even bosses. Despite the name, the player can be of any gender when using the class. Gets lampshaded by Spontaneous Bootay (an obese stripper who was an AdvancingBossOfDoom the last time she was seen beforehand), whereafter the New Kid changes to the Final Girl class, Bootay refuses to fight them and walks away since the class is her kryptonite.
--> '''Spontaneous Bootay''': Hell no! [[KnowWhenToFoldEm I ain't fighting no Final Girl, with their lucky surviving ass!]] [[KryptoniteFactor That's my Kryptonite, baby!]] [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere I'm outta here!]]
* Completely averted in ''VideoGame/PeretEmHeruForThePrisoners''; fuck up one too many times, and both of the final survivors will be men.
* The games in ''VideoGame/TheDarkPicturesAnthology'' can have this played straight, subverted, or averted in each game. However, very few female characters actually fit the archetype, and a clear protagonist is never truly specified in two of the three games in the series. ''VideoGame/LittleHope'' comes the closest, with the protagonist actually being a Final Boy in Andrew. He has only one possible death compared to the numerous deaths the other characters have, and cannot die until the final cutscene. The third installment ''VideoGame/HouseOfAshes'' actually has an achievement if only one character makes it out alive, however it can be any of the five allowing for subversions if the player wishes.
* Like it's predecessors, ''VideoGame/TheQuarry'' allows for this trope to be played straight, subverted, or averted depending on player choice. However, like in ''VideoGame/UntilDawn'' two characters in particular are set up to be this trope with achievements to be earned if they are the sole survivor of the game.
** [[ActionGirl Kaitlyn]] is the most straight example with her being the most supportive and level headed of the group with undoubtedly the best aim with a gun out of all 9 playable characters. In the games climax the player gets to guide her through the lodge culminating with her either trapping the werewolf pursuing her or shooting it with a silver bullet. Like ''VideoGame/UntilDawn'''s Sam she is among the only characters that can't die before chapter 9 and provided [[DeadpanSnarker Dylan]] is alive, she cannot die until the final chapter. The game will even change the title of the final chapter to "The Final Girl" if she is left alone in the final confrontation with one of the werewolves with the achievement for her being the SoleSurvivor taking on the same title.
** The game also awards the player with an achievement for Ryan coming out of the story as the SoleSurvivor. He's a lot more subversive than Kaitlyn being a lot more distant and brooding comparitively.
** Abigail like ''VideoGame/UntilDawn'''s Ashley before her acts as a SubvertedTrope though to a lesser extent. Abigail fits the bill of the traditional final girl being reserved, shy and virginal but she ultimately only ever serves as a supporting role in the story being locked up in a different room in the lodge while Kaitlyn does the actual fighting. She can potentially pass Kaitlyn a silver bullet to kill Caleb with however.
** Laura also fits the bill as an ActionGirl who participates in the final confrontation with the werewolf from whom the curse originates which, provided the player makes the right decisions to get to that scene, will be the last thing the player does in the game.

* The ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' episode "Fear Itself" had a similar premise, with a monster stalking Titan Tower and picking off the Titans one by one, using a method similar to killers used in slasher movies. Raven was the last one left because the "monster" was her own powers acting on her repressed fear - after the team had watched a scary movie, no less. Ironically, this would not only make her the Final Girl in this scenario, but technically, the antagonist as well.

* The characterization is subverted in ''Film/JustBeforeDawn''. Connie starts out as a normal tomboy variety, which would imply an inherent strength in the face of danger in the woods. However, she notices that the other female in the group -- pretty-girl Megan -- has a bit more tenacity and bravery in the face of danger than she herself does. Connie spends most of the film reinventing herself to that point that when danger does strike, she takes down the killer at the end with her bare hands. As if that's not enough, the trope is also downplayed given that Connie's masculine boyfriend survives as well but is severely injured and cannot help while Connie is being attacked.

* Gradually subverted in ''Film/JustBeforeDawn''. Connie starts out as an ordinary Final Girl candidate with conservative looks and lack of sex appeal. As the movie progresses, her clothing gets sexier and she's wearing more makeup. Rather than relying on masculine qualities to survive as most final girls had before her, Connie finds strength in herself by getting in touch with her feminine side to take down the killer at the end. The trope is downplayed in boyfriend Warren's survival, as well.

* Subverted via [[Main/GenreShift genre shift]] in ''Film/TheMajorettes''. The film starts out as a standard slasher, with both Vicky and Judy appearing to be the wholesome candidates for this trope to happen. Vicky lives with her invalid grandmother, whose caregiver -- Helga -- has evil intentions. Judy is the girlfriend of the true hero, Jeff. Judy ends up being the final victim of the serial killer, who gets snared in a plot by Helga when he's photographed killing her. Helga [[InvokedTrope invokes]] the trope by ordering that he kill Vicky once she turns 18 years old so that she can secure money from an irrevocable trust. After the killer has been incapacitated due to the Helga's blackmail, a local gang then kidnaps Jeff and Vicky for steering the police in their direction for potential involvement in an earlier murder. Vicky is then subsequently killed in a shoot out, resulting in a devastated Jeff going [[Main/VigilanteMan all vigilante]] on the gang and killing them one by one. The final shots of the film have the serial killer murdering Helga, pinning his murders on her perverted son, and then watching a new batch of majorettes who may serve as potential victims for him in the future.[[/folder]]

* Subverted via [[Main/GenreShift genre shift]] in ''Film/TheMajorettes''. The film starts out as a standard slasher, with both Vicky and Judy appearing to be the wholesome candidates for this trope to happen. Vicky lives with her invalid grandmother, whose caregiver -- Helga -- has evil intentions. Judy is the girlfriend of the true hero, Jeff. Judy ends up being the final victim of the serial killer, who gets snared in a plot by Helga when he's photographed killing her. Helga [[InvokedTrope invokes]] the trope by ordering that he kill Vicky once she turns 18 years old so that she can secure money from an irrevocable trust. After the killer has been incapacitated due to the Helga's blackmail, a local gang then kidnaps Jeff and Vicky for steering the police in their direction for their potential involvement in an earlier murder. Vicky is then subsequently killed in a shoot out, resulting in a devastated Jeff going [[Main/VigilanteMan all vigilante]] on the gang and killing them one by one. The final shots of the film have the serial killer murdering Helga, pinning his murders on her perverted son, and then watching a new batch of majorettes who may serve as potential victims for him in the future.[[/folder]]

[[/folder]]

* ''Film/FinalExam'' with Courtney, who is basically a Laurie Strode clone.

** {{Enforced|Trope}} when Nancy and Max try to survive together. Max's mortal wound leads Nancy to pull a HeroicSacrifice, making Max the ''final'' girl. As soon as this happens, Max's wound becomes JustAFleshWound, and she can suddenly fight Billy with [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer slayer-level competence]].

** [[ActionGirl Kaitlyn]] is the most straight example with her being the most supportive and level headed of the group with undoubtedly the best aim with a gun out of all 9 playable characters. In the games climax the player gets to guide her through the lodge culminating with her either trapping the werewolf pursuing her or shooting it with a silver bullet. Like [[''VideoGame/UntilDawn'' Sam]] she is among the only characters that can't die before chapter 9 and provided [[DeadpanSnarker Dylan]] is alive, she cannot die until the final chapter. The game will even change the title of the final chapter to "The Final Girl" if she is left alone in the final confrontation with one of the werewolves with the achievement for her being the SoleSurvivor taking on the same title.

** Abigail like [[''VideoGame/UntilDawn'' Ashley]] before her acts as a SubvertedTrope though to a lesser extent. Abigail fits the bill of the traditional final girl being reserved, shy and virginal but she ultimately only ever serves as a supporting role in the story being locked up in a different room in the lodge while Kaitlyn does the actual fighting. She can potentially pass Kaitlyn a silver bullet to kill Caleb with however.

* The games in ''VideoGame/TheDarkPicturesAnthology'' can have this played straight, subverted, or averted in each game. However, very few female characters actually fit the archetype, and a clear protagonist is never truly specified in two of the three games in the series. ''VideoGame/LittleHope'' comes the closest, with the protagonist actually being a Final Boy in Andrew. He has only one possible death compared to the numerous deaths the other characters have, and cannot die until the final cutscene.

* Jenny in ''Film/{{Ghostkeeper}}'' seemed destined for this: Brunette, insecure, and more conservative when compared to the other (blonde) girl in the group. The original intent was for her to have a chase with the monster when she was the last one left. However, production [[NoBudget ran out of money]] halfway through filming, so a new ending had to be made that completely subverted this altogether. Rather than confronting the monster, Jenny confronts the woman who runs the lodge and as a result becomes the new ghostkeeper.

** The [[Film/ColdPrey2 second film]] serves as a [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruction]]. Jannicke grows quite savvy by this film and knows what will happen if the killer gets resuscitated. Despite her warnings, she ends up getting sedated as the killer wakes up and starts killing the hospital staff one by one, leaving only Camilla left as a Final Girl. Once Jannicke comes to, she becomes an [[ActionSurvivor action survivor]] and teams up with Camilla to stop the killer for once and for all. And they both end up surviving.

* ''Film/{{Halloween 1978}}'' was the TropeCodifier and introduced the DeathBySex trope (actually unintentional) which became a staple of the genre. Laurie Strode's actress, Creator/JamieLeeCurtis, was typecast as a Final Girl early on in her career so if she was in a slasher film, she would definitely be surviving. Except in ''Film/HalloweenResurrection''. Laurie remained a final girl in ''Film/HalloweenII1981''. In ''Film/Halloween4TheReturnOfMichaelMyers'', Rachel and Jamie both shared this title, and in ''Film/HalloweenResurrection'', Sara is the Final Girl.

* ''Film/{{Laid to Rest}}'' and its sequel, though the concept is subverted slightly in the first when the Final Girl is revealed to be a prostitute.

* In ''Film/{{Scream 1996}}'', the main character has sex (with the killer!), but still maintains her final girl status throughout the entire film franchise. Subverted somewhat as Gale, Dewey, and Randy survive the events of the first film as well.
* ''Film/SpiritCamp'' demonstrates an unusual [[Main/ZigZaggingTrope zig-zagging]] use of the trope. While playing it straight, this film has a Final Girl with vices that would normally signal sure death for a character in a slasher film. For instance, she's a juvenile delinquent who smokes and she is the only character other than the opening victim who is seen topless.

* ''Film/{{Urban Legend}}'' and ''Film/UrbanLegendsFinalCut'' have Natalie and Amy (respectively), but there are also other survivors in both films.

** It's a common misconception that all of the subsequent ''Franchise/{{Alien}}'' movies followed suit; in reality, there were other survivors in [[Film/{{Aliens}} the second]] and [[Film/AlienResurrection fourth]] movies, and Ripley actually dies in [[Film/{{Alien 3}} the third]].

* Sue in ''Film/{{Carrie 1976}}'' is an imperfect example. While she is the only major character who survives the film, she's also best friends with the villainous AlphaBitch Chris, and she never ''actually'' faces the killer after everyone dies. However, she had genuinely good intentions in asking her boyfriend to take Carrie to prom to make up for how she and her friends humiliated her in the showers, and it's hard to forget about the {{dream sequence}} at the end that shows Carrie grabbing Sue's arm in an infamous {{jump scare}}. It succeeds at showing how traumatized Sue is left by what happened.
** Sue is a more conventional example in the [[Literature/{{Carrie}} original book]] and in the [[Film/{{Carrie 2013}} 2013 remake]], where she does indeed confront Carrie at the end, triggering Carrie's HeelRealization [[RedemptionEqualsDeath before she dies]].
** [[Main/GenderFlip Gender-flipped]] in the sequel, ''Film/TheRageCarrie2''. Rachel's love interest Jesse is the only survivor, and he's also left spooked by what's happened. Like Sue, Jesse is the TokenGoodTeammate of the antagonists, in this case a [[JerkJock high school football team]] who treat their female classmates as "points" to score in a game they have going, which led to Rachel's best friend killing herself when she found out.

** While the franchise tends to play this straight, it also has a habit of [[Main/SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome killing its survivor right away in the next sequel]] so no one ever truly escapes the curse. Karen survives the first film, and Lisa makes it through the third along with her little sister.

* The ''Franchise/{{Hellraiser}}'' films tend to feature a young woman at odds with the Cenobites as all Hell breaks loose. [[Film/{{Hellraiser}} Kirsty]], [[Film/HellraiserIIIHellOnEarth Joey]], [[Film/HellraiserBloodline Bobbi]], [[Film/HellraiserBloodline Rimmer]], [[Film/HellraiserHellworld Chelsea]], and [[Film/HellraiserRevelations Emma]]. Deconstructed in ''[[Film/HellraiserHellseeker Hellseeker]]'' in that original heroine Kirsty becomes [[DarkerAndEdgier Darker and Edgier]] in how she makes a deal with the Cenobites to kill five people (one being her husband, who conspired to have her killed for her family fortune) to save herself.

* Barbara becomes this in the ''[[Film/NightoftheLivingDead1968 Night of the Living Dead]]'' remakes. In the 1968 original, Barbra, having just seen her brother get killed, was a [[Main/TheLoad catatonic mess]] for much of the movie and presumably dies towards the end when she's captured by the zombies. In the [[Film/NightOfTheLivingDead1990 1990 remake]], the character responds to the living dead by becoming an Main/ActionGirl and ultimately survives.

* Subverted in ''Curtains'' (1983). After all actresses but one coveting the role of Audra are murdered, we're left with one plucky actress (Patti) who easily fits the final girl mold. A use of an ImpendingDoomPOV makes us think Samantha truly was the killer and not just a red herring. However, in the end, Samantha only killed the director and his mistress, but it was not-so-innocent Patti who killed her rivals for the role.

* Subverted in ''Film/TheCollector'' (2009). Arkin is an [[Main/AntiHero anti-hero]] ex-con who breaks into a house at the wrong time to steal a valuable gem in order to pay off his wife's debts. While the innocent family he was stealing from is killed off one by one, Arkin survives, but is captured. Not to mention being a final ''boy''.

** The first film ends with most of the world, including the family's own father and the (formerly) youngest child, dead, and the remaining physically capable boy huddled in the corner desperately trying to keep the new youngest child quiet, leaving the mother and daughter as the two [[FinalGirl final girls]] of sorts. One to give the creature a seizure and expose its weakness, the other to finish it off with a shotgun.

** The main heroine, Sidney Prescott, evolves from a straight Final Girl into a {{deconstruct|edCharacterArchetype}}ion of such. Even in [[Film/{{Scream 1996}} the first film]], she snaps at reporters trying to exploit her trauma (there's a quick scene of a shameless tabloid journalist, [[TheCameo played by]] [[Film/TheExorcist Linda Blair]], asking her "[[IfItBleedsItLeads how does it feel to be almost brutally murdered?]]"), she [[DeadpanSnarker snarks]] at the [[TooDumbToLive stupid mistakes]] that SlasherMovie victims often make (though to be fair, this is a series where [[WorldOfSnark everybody does that]]), and she breaks the [[DeathBySex "virgins don't die"]] rule by having sex -- with the killer! -- and still surviving. In [[Film/{{Scream 2}} the second film]], her life has grown to be defined by her status as the survivor of a massacre, and while this has brought her fame, fortune, and [[RippedFromTheHeadlines movie deals]], it also means that she is constantly having to look over her shoulder for [[HereWeGoAgain the next wannabe Ghostface]]. And then she has to repeat the entire experience, watching her friends getting slaughtered all over again -- by [[MamaBear the pissed-off mother]] of [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes the last killer]], at that, looking for payback against Sidney for [[YouKilledMyFather killing her son]].
** By [[Film/{{Scream 3}} the third film]], she's [[ProperlyParanoid living in a self-imposed isolation]] bordering on CrazySurvivalist levels, working from home under a fake name. She suffers [[ShellShockedVeteran recurring nightmares]] about Ghostface killing her, and when she visits the set of ''[[ShowWithinAShow Stab 3]]'', a recreation of her old home in Woodsboro, [[HeroicBSOD she has a mental breakdown]] as her memories of the first movie come flooding back. The passage of time and the settling of [[BigScrewedUpFamily her family drama]] (and, presumably, years of therapy) mean that she's gotten better by [[Film/{{Scream 4}} the fourth film]], where she's written a bestselling autobiography about her life and having the inner strength to move on from the nightmares she's experienced. She even returns to Woodsboro as part of the healing process...and then her cousin Jill (see below) turns out to be a [[TheSociopath murderous sociopath]]. For a real Final Girl, the horror wouldn't end when the credits roll -- she'd have to live with the experience forever, and may God help her if she's cast in the sequels. No matter what she does, no matter how much time passes, [[IronWoobie poor Sidney Prescott]] will always be haunted by the most traumatic moment of her life.

** Randy Meeks, the film's resident MetaGuy, discusses this trope when laying out his rules for surviving a horror movie. The first two points on his list are [[DeathBySex "never have sex"]] and [[TheScourgeOfGod "never drink or use drugs"]][[note]]The third one is [[TemptingFate "never say 'I'll be right back'."]][[/note]], citing Laurie Strode from ''Film/{{Halloween 1978}}'' as an example of the sort of character who typically survives. He credits his own survival in the first film to him still being a virgin, and in the third film, he appears posthumously (having been killed off in the second film) in a {{Video Will|s}} he recorded shortly after he lost his virginity, claiming that, if anybody is watching the video, he's probably dead-on account of DeathBySex.
** In ''Film/{{Scream 3}}'', Angelina Tyler appears to be this trope at first glance, as she's TheIngenue who's playing Sidney in ''Stab 3''. She turns out to be a BitchInSheepsClothing, however, revealing that she'd employed the CastingCouch to get the part -- and promptly suffers one of the fastest-acting examples of DeathBySex ever. [[WhatCouldHaveBeen An earlier version of the script]] also had her as the main killer's accomplice, a further subversion.

* ''Boggy Creek'': A group of friends get terrorized by a [[Main/BigfootSasquatchAndYeti Bigfoot]] creature while vacationing a remote cabin and its surrounding woods. When the rest of her group is either dead or captured, Jennifer almost manages to escape until she herself is captured right before the credits roll. While this may be seen as a simple subversion, the film might truly avert the trope. The creature seems to [[Main/MenAreTheExpendableGender selectively kills the men]] in the group, while it is hinted that the women victims are kept alive for breeding. The killing of AlphaBitch Brooke leaves the line between subversion and aversion a bit murky, though.

** [[EnforcedTrope Enforced]] when Nancy and Max try to survive together. Max's mortal wound leads Nancy to pull a HeroicSacrifice, making Max the ''final'' girl. As soon as this happens, Max's wound becomes JustAFleshWound, and she can suddenly fight Billy with [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer slayer-level competence]].

* ''[[Series/ScreamQueens2015 Scream Queens]]'', a show that ''did'' wind up starring Jamie Lee Curtis, had two possible candidates for the Final Girl in the first season. Grace Gardner is the traditional kind, the blonde, virginal [[TheIngenue ingenue]] with a hint of Literature/NancyDrew to her. Chanel Oberlin is... not. While she fought off the Red Devil twice, she's also an [[RichBitch elitist]] and [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain bigoted]] AlphaBitch who is guilty of the murder of Ms. Bean and later tries to kill Hester, along with all manner of lesser crimes, to the point where she can be considered a VillainProtagonist even though she's not the Red Devil killer. To be fair, though, she didn't mean to kill Ms. Bean. Her trying to kill Hester, though, is an entirely different matter. Even though Hester is later revealed to be one of the Red Devil killers, Chanel didn't know this when she pushed Hester down a flight of stairs. Both Grace and Chanel survive, but neither of them is fully alright at the end of the season; Grace is revealed in the second season to have been [[BreakTheCutie institutionalized due to the trauma of what she went through]][[note]]In reality, this was because her actress Creator/SkylerSamuels had returned to college, forcing the writers to [[PutOnABus write out her character]].[[/note]], while Chanel and her GirlPosse get served a major dose of LaserGuidedKarma when they are framed for the murders. The real killers remain TheUnfought, with their last surviving member, Hester, [[TheBadGuyWins getting away with everything]], and the other two Red Devils, Gigi and Boone, both dying at Hester's hands.

* Invoked in ''Videogame/DeadByDaylight''. Some characters and perks work better if you're the last survivor of your team, giving you an easier chance to escape from the killer. An escape hatch will also open up, giving the player an easier time of getting out if they could find it.
* The Final Girl is the unlockable class in the slasher-themed DLC "Bring the Crunch" of ''Videogame/SouthParkTheFracturedButWhole''. It turns the New Kid into an ActionSurvivor who fights with improvised weapons (throwing garden shears, laying down sawblades as traps, blowing up enemies with a bomb attached to a sledgehammer), with the LimitBreak showing the New Kid being chased into a toolshed by monsters and MacGyvering a brutal chainsaw/axe combo to turn the tide on [[InjuredVulnerability low-health enemies]] by instantly killing them, even bosses. Despite the name, the player can be of any gender when using the class. Gets lampshaded by Spontaneous Bootay (an obese stripper who was an AdvancingBossOfDoom the last time she was seen beforehand), whereafter the New Kid changes to the Final Girl class, Bootay refuses to fight them and walks away since the class is her kryptonite.

* In the episode "Failsafe" of ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'', M'gann is the last of ''all the heroes'' in their battle against the invading aliens. Turns out she had to be the last one, as she was the one subconsciously controlling the YourMindMakesItReal simulation that [[GoneHorriblyWrong Went Horribly Wrong]]. Once she is 'killed', everyone awakens.
* The ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' episode "Fear Itself" had a similar premise, with a monster stalking Titan Tower and picking off the Titans one by one, using a method similar to killers used in slasher movies. Raven was the last one left because the "monster" was her own powers acting on her repressed fear - after the team had watched a scary movie, no less. Ironically, this would not only make her the Final Girl in this scenario, but technically, the antagonist as well.

* ''Film/{{Halloween 1978}}'' was the Trope Codifier and introduced the DeathBySex trope (actually unintentional) which became a staple of the genre. Laurie Strode's actress, Creator/JamieLeeCurtis, was typecast as a Final Girl early on in her career so if she was in a slasher film, she would definitely be surviving. Except in ''Film/HalloweenResurrection''. Laurie remained a final girl in ''Film/HalloweenII1981''. In ''Film/Halloween4TheReturnOfMichaelMyers'', Rachel and Jamie both shared this title, and in ''Film/HalloweenResurrection'', Sara is the Final Girl.

* Ellen is the SoleSurvivor of British werewolf horror film ''Film/{{Howl}}''. Everyone else is either killed or [[AndThenJohnWasAZombie transformed into a werewolf]].

* ''Film/TheBabysitter'':
** Bee in the first film is a character who seems consciously designed to evoke the image of a badass modern horror heroine, an attractive blonde babysitter who serves as a CoolBigSis figure to the protagonist Cole...except she's actually the BigBad who wants to use his blood for a [[HollywoodSatanism Satanic ritual]]. Cole's friend Melanie, on the other hand, is a straight example, portrayed as a wholesome GirlNextDoor with hints of PuppyLove.