Main Series: Recurring Characters | Final Destination | Final Destination 2 | Final Destination 3 | Final Destination 4 | Final Destination 5
Spinoffs: Dead Reckoning | Destination Zero | End of the Line | Dead Man's Hand | Looks Could Kill | Death of the Senses
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Wendy Christensen
Wendy Christensen
Played By: Mary Elizabeth Winstead
"This fear is more than just being scared. It's like a presence. Like a living thing, always with me."
Wendy is the protagonist of the third film and the one whose vision of Devil's Flight derailing saves her classmates' lives. She goes on the ride with her boyfriend Jason, her best friend Carrie, Carrie's boyfriend Kevin and several of the other McKinley High students, only to get off with Kevin and eight others after the premonition while Jason and Carrie are forced to stay on and die. After the accident she is stricken with Survivor Guilt, but tries her best with Kevin to save the other survivors before it's too late.
- Blood-Splattered Innocents: She and Kevin get splattered after Frankie and Lewis's deaths.
- Control Freak: By her own admission. It's a recurring plot point and implied to be one of the reasons she has survivor guilt.
- Death Is a Sad Thing: You can tell that all the deaths happening around her are weighing her down. Unlike the other survivors, she seems to be the only one with survivor guilt, mourning in her room instead of continuing with her normal life like her friends.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: She is kind of cold and distant towards Kevin at first, before the incident due to his constant ogling of other girls (including an upskirt photo of one) causing Carrie to want to break off her relationship with him and after the incident because he tries to confront her with the Flight 180 incident while she is grieving. However, she quickly warms up to him and takes his advice to try and help the others after Ashley and Ashlyn's deaths.
- Disney Villain Death: This is how Wendy dies in the premonition. She falls out of the malfunctioning roller coaster and is set to land on the tracks hard before the premonition ends.
- Final Girl: As with every protagonist, she is the last one to die, although it's unknown whether she actually died or not. Also like the other protagonists, she is the last to die in the premonition.
- Forgets to Eat: When she visits Jason's grave she admits to Kevin that she doesn't remember the last time she ate.
- From Bad to Worse: She becomes highly depressed over the loss of Jason and Carrie, as they were her boyfriend and best friend. Cue Death killing off the rest of her friends and then going after her sister Julie, Kevin (who she has now befriended) and Wendy herself.
- Grey Rain of Depression: In the scene after the accident occurs, when she's leaving the school and going to her car.
- The Heroine: As with every Final Destination film, the one with the premonition is always the protagonist, and she is no exception.
- Uncertain Doom: Her fate, along with Kevin and Julie's, is left ambiguous, as she has one last premonition of them dying in a train crash but a Smash to Black occurs when the crash actually happens, ending the film on a Bolivian Army Ending.
- Vocal Dissonance: Wendy is a teen but being played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead means her voice is much deeper and huskier than most other women and girls. Hearing her deep voice use casual teen lingo in the beginning can be a bit jarring to hear compared to the Ashes.
Kevin Fischer
Kevin Fischer
Played By: Ryan Merriman
Carrie's boyfriend and the deuteragonist of the third film. Initially a slightly perverted boy with a tendency to admire other girls despite his relationship, he ends up sitting next to Wendy instead of Carrie on Devil's Flight which consequently allows him to leave the ride along with Wendy and eight others after her premonition, at the cost of Jason and Carrie. After the incident, he takes on a more serious demeanor and introduces Wendy to the Flight 180 incident so that they can stop the other students from dying together.
- Blood-Splattered Innocents: He and Wendy get splattered after Frankie and Lewis's deaths.
- Half the Man He Used to Be:
- How he dies in the premonition. He's standing up when a broken piece of pipe rips his body in half.
- His fate in the train premonition at the end of the film. He falls out a window and gets his body ripped in half.
- The Lancer: To Wendy.
- Nice Guy: Along with Jason, he's the definitely kind and good-hearted in this film and he even helps Wendy.
- Plucky Comic Relief: Despite being serious in his search for clues with Wendy, he is often involved in many comical antics, especially in the beginning where he is seen ogling other girls and taking an upskirt photo of one. He is also often on the receiving end of humiliation in front of Wendy, such as the upskirt photo coming up when Wendy is searching for clues and being insulted by Wendy for knowing who SpongeBob SquarePants is.Is it bad? Is it painful, or embarrassing? I mean, there's nothing like up my ass, is there?
- Uncertain Doom: His fate, along with Wendy and Julie's, is left ambiguous, as Wendy has one last premonition of them dying in a train crash but a Smash to Black occurs when the crash actually happens, ending the film on a Bolivian Army Ending.
Julie Christensen
Julie Christensen
Played By: Amanda Crew
Wendy's younger sister, who before the incident does not talk much with her older sister and instead prefers to talk to her friends, Amber and Perry. Unbeknownst to Wendy, she boards the Devil's Flight ride in the seat in front of her along with Perry, getting off with several of the other students after Wendy's premonition unnoticed by Wendy due to the commotion. Despite her behavior, she shows that she cares for Wendy after the incident by trying to comfort her and giving her a charm bracelet for luck.
- Annoying Younger Sibling: Oh yeah.
- Doting Grandparent: She was apparently close with her and Wendy's late grandmother, who left Julie her lucky bracelet.
- Flipping the Bird: She complements her harsh personality with this, and it becomes an important point when Wendy recognizes it as a sign of her oncoming demise at the Tricentennial Fair, as Julie also flipped her off before boarding Devil's Flight.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: It's pretty clear that, despite her behavior, she cares deeply about her sister Wendy and is the only one willing to talk to her about the Devil's Flight derailment since both of their parents refuse to do so.
- Uncertain Doom: Her fate, along with Wendy and Kevin's, is left ambiguous, as Wendy has one last premonition of them dying in a train crash but a Smash to Black occurs when the crash actually happens, ending the film on a Bolivian Army Ending.
Ian McKinley
Ian McKinley
Played By: Kris Lemche
The boyfriend of the goth couple along with Erin, Ian is a sarcastic and sadistic loner who, along with his girlfriend and several other students, get off of Devil's Flight after Wendy's premonition. Always hanging around with Erin, he blames Wendy for her death when she saves him and the list skips over to Erin, who immediately dies, causing him to become mad and deranged. This all culminates in him trying to kill Wendy for revenge.
- Agent Scully: Until Erin's death.
- Ambiguously Evil: It's actually kind of vague if he was going to try and kill Wendy, as he makes some creepy statements but never actually tries to attack her before he's killed.
- Asshole Victim: Tries killing Wendy because Erin died.
- Bad People Abuse Animals: Downplayed, but he's one of the most ruthless people (and biggest jerks) in the movie, which is underscored by how he uses a nail gun to kill a pigeon.
- Death by Irony: A clue in Wendy's photo indicates that his death was meant for Wendy herself. While he was trying to kill her as revenge for Erin, he attacks Wendy... and moves her out of the way of a cherry picker about to fall and crush her. When he is the first person still alive on the list and Wendy is the last. Needless to say, his plan to kill Wendy did not succeed, and since the list started over Death simply took him instead. Adding to the irony, his last words are him proclaiming that he's off Death's list while flipping Wendy and Kevin off.
- Disney Villain Death: How he dies in the premonition. He falls from the roller coaster car when it's stuck on top of a loop.
- Half the Man He Used to Be: Crushed by a cherry picker, which cuts his body in half.
- Jerkass: Even before his Sanity Slippage, Ian mocks Kevin & Wendy, even going as far as suggesting that she kill herself. All for trying to warn him and Erin that death is coming for them.
- Pet the Dog: He's genuinely distraught at Ashlyn and Ashley's funeral, stating that they never did anything to hurt anyone. He also really loved Erin, if his reaction to her death is of any indication.
- Sanity Slippage: After Erin dies, he loses his mind and tries to kill Wendy in an illogical revenge scheme since he somehow blames her for Erin’s death.
- The Smart Guy: He's interested in physics.
- Also, he's perhaps the only character besides Bludworth to come up with a potential strategy for defeating Death on his own, namely by killing someone out of order and seeing if that would break the chain. Judging by how Death won't let George die out of his place in the following movie, this would have been difficult to achieve, but might have actually worked.
- Squashed Flat: A falling cherry picker smashes him. The clue in Wendy's photo for herself indicates that Ian inadvertently saved Wendy from this death by pushing her out of the way to attack and kill her, causing the list to skip over her back to him and Death to just take him instead.
- Unfortunate Name: Ian comments on how awful it is to have the same last name as his high school, McKinley High. This foreshadows a major plot point where Wendy mistakes the word "McKinley" in her premonition to mean him.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Wendy saves Ian's life and he still tries to kill her. His motive of "She killed Erin" becomes especially hollow when Wendy had absolutely nothing to do with Erin's death.
Erin Ulmer
Erin Ulmer
Played By: Alexz Johnson
The girlfriend of the goth couple along with Ian, Erin is nearly identical, though more passive, to her sarcastic, loner boyfriend. The couple and several other students get off of Devil's Flight after Wendy's premonition. Once it reaches their turn on the list, Wendy saves Ian and the list skips to the immediately killed Erin, causing Ian to to swear revenge on Wendy and ensure that she is killed.
- Agent Scully: Doesn't believe Wendy and Kevin when they warn her about death. Unfortunately, hers moments later causes Ian to drop this trait at the cost of a Sanity Slippage.
- Blood from the Mouth: When her head is perforated, some blood seeps from her mouth.
- Disney Villain Death: How she dies in the premonition. She falls from the roller coaster car when it's stuck on top of a loop.
- Distaff Counterpart: Could be named "Ian in a wig." There's a reason that she and Ian have an almost identical set of tropes.
- Everyone Has Standards: Macabre Jerkass or not, Erin seems grossed out after seeing that Ian killed a pesky pigeon with a nail gun.
- Human Pincushion: She's killed by nails shot through her head.
- Jerkass: Like her boyfriend, she mocks and demeans Kevin and Wendy for trying to help them.
- Pet the Dog: Tries to keep Ian from causing a fuss at Ashley and Ashlyn's funeral and appears to thank Lewis for escorting them out afterwards.
- The Smart Guy: Like Ian, she's interested in physics as well.
Lewis Romero
Lewis Romero
Played By: Texas Battle
- Asshole Victim: Like most of the cast is.
- Do Not Taunt Cthulhu: When Wendy and Kevin try to warn Lewis about his impending death, Lewis loudly and repeatedly shouts, "Fuck Death!" in defiance. Naturally, he meets his end not long after.
- Dumb Muscle: Very muscular and not too bright on noticing anything or checking his equipment after swords slice the weights loose.
- Ironic Last Words: Loudly talking about how all you do is win just before losing to death definitely comes off as ironic.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: After Ashley and Ashlyn die, Lewis says that it "sucks" having to attend the funerals of so many of their classmates. Then he goes on to say that this is because he finds the funerals boring.
- Jerk Jock: After Wendy has her vision, her angrily states that she's just trying to get attention. He later makes a lot of jerky comments in the gym, including one about winning before his head is smashed.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Jerkass or not, he makes a very valid point that Kevin and Wendy's investigation may just be a strange way of their grief manifesting. He's wrong, of course, but it isn't out of the question otherwise.
- Named After Somebody Famous: His first and last names come from two famous horror movie directors, Herschell Gordon Lewis and George A. Romero.
- Pet the Dog: Quietly escorts Ian away when the latter starts ranting at Ashley and Ashlyn's funeral. A big change from earlier in the film when he starts a fistfight with Kevin after Wendy wants to leave the ride after her premonition.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: Practically every sentence he says contains at least one piece of profanity.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Possibly with Kevin.
- Your Head Asplode: He dies when his head gets crushed between a pair of weights, like a melon.
Ashley Freund and Ashlyn Halperin
Ashley Freund and Ashlyn Halperin
That's Halperin on the left and Freund on the right.
Played By: Chelan Simmons (Freund) and Crystal Lowe (Halperin)
- Big Damn Heroes: Ashlyn, in the Choose Their Fate extra. Instead of getting locked in her tanning bed, Ashlyn is able to open Ashley's and tries to save her, emphasis on "tries". Instead of burning alive, she ends up getting both of them electrocuted at once...which is admittedly a far more preferable way to die.
- Class Princess: While they have most of the qualities of alpha bitches, they're shown to be genuinely nice people. This extends to outside of school; while they're visibly annoyed when the tanning salon attendant gets a call from his wife, they're still patient with him. Ian even notes at their funeral that they never did anything mean to anybody which is a big part of why he's genuinely upset at their deaths.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: They get burned alive in their tanning beds.
- Death by Irony: At the Tanning Saloon, Ashlyn says "A little heat won't hurt". Guess what caused their deaths?
- The Ditz: Two of 'em. They were told by the tanning attendant NOT to take a slushie in with them, and the slushie leads to their deaths. Otherwise, they would only have been locked in the beds until someone came in.
- Due to the Dead: An odd example, with them wanting to get tans to look good at graduation for the kids who won't be there, but apparently a sincere one.
- Dumb Blonde: Ashley is blonde and fairly slow-minded.
- Graceful Loser: Ashlynn excitedly hugs Ashley after her friend beats her at a carnival game they were both getting engaged in. It probably helps that there were other people playing and she could tell that Ashley was doing better for a while beforehand.
- High-Voltage Death: How the girls died in the Choose Their Fate extra,
- I Do Not Like Green Eggs and Ham: Ashley and Ashlyn initially lament the lack of any "cool" music at the tanning salon and seem irritated about having to listing to a seventies R&B CD. However, once the music starts, the two girls quickly find themselves happily nodding and singing along.
- Kill It with Fire: They both die when their tanning beds malfunction and they are burned alive.
- Lovable Alpha Bitch: Despite being characterized as the typical popular girls, they behave friendly towards Wendy, and in their funeral, Ian mentions how they had never done anything bad to anybody.
- Meaningful Name: Both have names starting with "Ash", which they get turned into alive when their tanning beds become a Rube Goldberg trap.
- Missing Mom: According to the Schrödinger's Canon movie novelization, Ashlyn's mother died when she was born, and she feels a stronger connection to Ashley and her parents than she does to her own father or siblings.
- Morality Pet: Seemed to function as ones for the main cast. The more jerkish characters are all notably brought down by their deaths, with Ian and Frankie talking about how unfair them dying was and a stoic Lewis quietly escorting the former out of their funeral.
- Ms. Fanservice: They have general skimpy wardrobes and strip down on their trip to the tanning salon. Then they are immolated.
- Nice Girl: They were good friends with Wendy. Ashley even invites Wendy to the salon to help her get her mind off of Jason.
- Nice to the Waiter: They're fairly patient (despite looking a bit annoyed) with the tanning salon attendant when a call from his wife delays him serving them (something they comment happens every time they visit).
- Pink Means Feminine: They are very girly and Ashlyn always is wearing some pink, and Ashley is too when they go to the tanning salon.
- Shut Up, Hannibal!: They don't bother disguising their contempt for Frankie and his behavior.
- The Smart One: Ashlyn is shown to be the smarter one of the duo. She initially warned Ashley not to leave her Slurpee by the Tanning Beds and in the Choose Their Fate extra, gets out of her tanning bed just in time. She still has her dumb moments (which lead to their deaths in the alternate ending). She also sounds wittier when the two are insulting Frankie.
- Squee: They let out high-pitched squeals of glee while playing a carnival balloon pop game, especially once Ashley wins.
- Tan Lines: Ashley deliberately gets them, mentioning that her boyfriend likes them.
- Those Two Guys: They're never seen apart. They even get a joint funeral.
- Too Dumb to Live: When they go to the tanning salon, a worker there tells Ashley to leave the slurpee she brought. She takes it in, and sets it on a table above the beds' power supply. When the ice in the slurpee melts, it drops onto the power box and short-circuits it, causing the temperature in the beds to rise well above normal and eventually burst into flame, which the girls cannot escape when the AC pushes a bookshelf to lock them in.
- Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Both of them are sweet, bubbly, kind-hearted, and as a result so well loved by their entire class that even the notably sour and cynical Ian has a soft spot for them, yet they're the first to die and in a truly brutal way. Ian even Lamp Shades this at their funeral by yelling about how unfair it is that so many awful people are still alive while Ashley and Ashlyn who never hurt a soul are dead.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Seem to think that they're in a teen comedy based on some of their dialogue before leaving the roller coaster due to the fight between Kevin and Lewis.
Frankie Cheeks
Frankie Cheeks
Played By: Sam Easton
- Asshole Victim: He constantly harasses other women, especially Ashley and Ashlyn.
- Camera Fiend: He spends the opening sequence walking around with a video camera trying to get dirty pictures of girls. He then sneaks it into the roller coaster, which is one of the things that end up exacerbating the (premonitioned) disaster.
- Casanova Wannabe: To the Ashes. They aren't having any of it.
- Deadly Rotary Fan: The spinning blades from a rotary fan utterly destroy his head.
- Flipping the Bird: Does this to Wendy and Kevin before he dies.
- Iconic Item: He gets a mudflap girl
necklace from a claw crane early in the film and a couple of scenes establish that he carries it with him everywhere so the audience will notice that the asshole parked in front of Kevin and Wendy has a similar necklace dangling from his rearview mirror. The necklace then gets splattered in blood, punctuating Frankie's death. - It's All About Me: Blames himself for Ashley and Ashlyn's death, assuming they were trying to live up to his standards. Julie calls him out on it, which he interprets as a romantic moment.
- Stalker with a Crush: To Ashley and Ashlyn, extending itself to coming on their graduation trip to harass them, despite graduating two years prior to them.
Perry Malinowski
Perry Malinowski
Played By: Maggie Ma
One of Julie's two friends along with Amber, and the one who went on Devil's Flight with her before they got off due to Wendy's premonition, although Wendy failed to notice them in the commotion. After the incident, she follows Julie to the Tricentennial Fair, where she witnesses Julie getting skipped (although she does not know that is what has happened) by being saved from being impaled while getting dragged around by a horse by Wendy. As Wendy reveals the story behind Death and the list, she begs Julie to tell her who the person who went with her on the ride was, as they are next. As Perry and Amber look at each other knowingly and worriedly, Perry is revealed to be the unfortunate person when the horse from earlier breaks free and sends a flagpole flying through her body, killing her.
- Anime Hair: Perry has a different hairstyle in all of her scenes, and in her second scene, her hair is uncombed and wildly sticking up.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Impaled by a flagpole.
- Pink Means Feminine: Perry is a shy, good-natured sophomore who wears pink shirts (or, in one case a blue and pink shirt) in all four of her scenes.
- Social Circle Filler: She and Amber play this role to Julie (as Wendy's friends are not her mutual friends), but only appear in the first scene before the incident, the funeral and graduation scenes, and the fair scene, where Perry is revealed to be part of the list but gets killed off immediately, leaving Amber to freak out and leave. Naturally, neither of them have any plot significance beyond Perry being on the list.
- Take a Moment to Catch Your Death: Right after Wendy narrowly saves Julie from death, she uses her moment of peace to ask her who the next victim will be... right before Perry, who is said victim, is suddenly impaled by a flagpole. Naturally, the girls are all shocked and horrified at this sight.
- Walking Spoiler: Try talking about her without revealing that Julie was also on the rollercoaster too. Or her death.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Even though she lasts from the beginning of the movie to near the end, she is only seen once with Julie and Amber in the beginning before her death at the fair with them. She is never seen attempting to survive or simply live her life normally as she dies immediately afterward. In fact, she is revealed as a survivor by her death, meaning that she did not even die right after being introduced as a survivor, but instead was introduced as a survivor because of her death.
- Because she only finds out about Death and the list moments before her own death, she has absolutely no context for what is happening. As far as she knows, Wendy has just saved Julie from certain death, and because she was sitting next to Julie on a ride that they ended up getting off of, she will be the next one to die. She has absolutely no idea about how Death and the list work.
Amber Regan
Amber Regan
Played By: Ecstasia Sanders
One of Julie's two friends along with Perry, and the one who did not go with her on Devil's Flight (and was never intended to die), sparing her from death. After the incident, she follows Julie to the Tricentennial Fair, where she witnesses Julie getting skipped (although she does not know that is what has happened) by being saved from being impaled while getting dragged around by a horse by Wendy. As Wendy reveals the story behind Death and the list, she begs Julie to tell her who the person who went with her on the ride was, as they are next. As Amber and Perry look at each other knowingly and worriedly, Amber is revealed to have been the safe one when the horse from earlier breaks free and sends a flagpole flying into the body of the unfortunate one, Perry, killing her as Amber freaks out and leaves.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Immediately bolts after Perry is impaled next to her.
- Social Circle Filler: She and Perry play this role to Julie (as Wendy's friends are not her mutual friends), but only appear in the first scene before the incident, the funeral and graduation scenes, and the fair scene, where Perry is revealed to be part of the list but gets killed off immediately, leaving Amber to freak out and leave. Naturally, neither of them have any plot significance beyond Perry being on the list.
- Walking Spoiler: Try talking about her without revealing that Julie was also on the rollercoaster too.
Jason Wise
Jason Wise
Played By: Jesse Moss
Wendy's boyfriend, who goes on the Devil's Flight ride with her, Kevin, and Carrie, but the couples swap partners before the ride, leaving him sitting with Carrie. This move makes him and Carrie the first ones to die in the premonition, being in the front seats, and also causes the two to die in reality when the ride operator starts the ride before they can leave, dooming them to their fate.
- Collateral Angst: His death is what sends Wendy into a downward spiral.
- Nice Guy: Basically the only one in the entire movie. Although Wendy and Kevin can also be counted, he's the nicest one based off of what is known about him.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: He dies in the accident, falling out of the car with Carrie.
Carrie Dreyer
Carrie Dreyer
Played By: Gina Holden
Wendy's best friend and Kevin's girlfriend, who goes on the Devil's Flight ride with them and Jason, but the couples swap partners before the ride, leaving her sitting with Jason. This move makes her and Jason the first ones to die in the premonition, being in the front seats, and also causes the two to die in reality when the ride operator starts the ride before they can leave, dooming them to their fate.
- Named After Somebody Famous: Like Blake, her surname comes from Carl Theodor Dreyer.
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Carrie is mostly exasperated with Kevin and is planning to dump him, but she does laugh and smile while watching him break dance.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: She dies in the accident, falling out of the car with Jason.
