Jason Voorhees
Main Film Series: Friday the 13th (1980) | Friday the 13th Part 2 | Friday the 13th Part III | Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter | Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning | Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives | Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood | Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan | Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday | Jason X | Freddy vs. Jason
Other Continuities: Friday the 13th (2009) | Friday the 13th: The Game
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Rennie
Rennie Wickham
Played by: Jensen Daggett (as a teen) and Amber Pawlick (as a child)
- Calling the Old Man Out: She abandons her uncle after regaining her memories of the incident where she first became scared of water. Namely, that Charles tried to teach her how to swim in Crystal Lake by throwing her into the water and almost letting her drown while warning her that Jason would get her if she couldn't swim away.
- Dark and Troubled Past: She's been raised primarily by her abusive and controlling uncle since she was a child, and he was not only responsible for her fear of water but it's implied he allowed her to forget it was his fault so he wouldn't have to deal with her rightfully blaming him.
- The Empath: In the tie-in comics it's revealed Rennie has empathic abilities, explaining why she kept seeing visions of Jason.
- Expy: Of Tina from the previous movie, only a poorly defined version. Whereas Tina was a full blown psychic, Rennie has vaguely defined psychic visions of Jason as a child (which was later clarified in Nightmare Warriors as her being an empath). Tina lost one parent and was raised by another, while Rennie lost both her parents and was raised by a man who was an expy of Dr. Crews.
- Final Girl: Of Jason Takes Manhattan.
- Hallucinations: Rennie is haunted by hallucinations of Jason as a child.
- The Pen Is Mightier: She manages to fend Jason off at one point by stabbing him in the eye with an ink pen, one that supposedly belongs to Stephen King.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: She is afraid of swimming due to a childhood trauma.
Sean
Sean Robertson
Played By: Scott Reeves McCulloch
Charles McCulloch
Played By: Peter Mark Richman- Above the Influence: One of McCulloch's few redeeming points comes when his student Tamara strips down to her underwear and tries to seduce him so he'll let her graduate without doing her final project. McCulloch angrily pushes her away and vows to have her held back for that stunt.
- Actor Allusion: Richman's pompous character dies face first drowning in a barrel of sewage. A couple decades prior, Richman guest-starred in an episode of Combat! titled "The Hostages" as the equally pompous Villain of the Week Nazi SS Captain Aptmeyer who dies when Doc held Aptmeyer's face down into the grass until he suffocated. Also, while Richman's character's an Evil Uncle, in a previous Paramount production Richman plays a Villain of the Week General Ripper who does a Bodyguard Betrayal by attempting to make it look like an Evil Uncle killed his nephew in an episode of Mission: Impossible titled "Gitano."
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: When Jason gets his hands on him, McCullouch tries to beg for his life. Jason, unsurprisingly, doesn't listen.
- Asshole Victim: One of the assholiest, as entries below detail.
- Complaining About Rescues They Don't Like: When Sean navigates them to land (with Sean and Julius being the only ones rowing), he proceeds to complain about how unsatisfied he is with where they landed. Never mind the fact that they just escaped a storm and a serial killer.
- Dean Bitterman: He's a biology teacher actually, but his behavior follows this trope.
- Entertainingly Wrong: He assumes that the creepy deck hand, rather than Jason, is responsible for the murders. Obviously, McCullouch is wrong, but given that the deck hand appeared at the scene of two murders saying "you're all going to die", on top of Jason being presumed dead (which he essentially was until earlier that day), it's not hard to see why he'd come to this conclusion.
- Everyone Has Standards: Judging from his less than enthusiastic response to Tamara's attempt at seduction, McCullouch isn't one to trade sex for favors.
- Evil Uncle: Especially following The Reveal of the time when he took his niece out for a swim.
- Expy: Of Dr. Crews from Part VII.
- Hate Sink: Literally every moment of his screen time seems devoted to making the audience cheer when Jason catches up to him.
- Hypocrite: After Tamara pushes Rennie into the ocean, he verbally wails on Mrs. Van Deusen and Sean for not looking out for her safety. It turns out he has zero room to talk, since he pushed her into Crystal Lake's waters when she was young, which led to her phobia of water in the first place.
- Insane Troll Logic: As revealed in a flashback, his idea of trying to teach Rennie how to swim was by throwing her into Crystal Lake, almost drowning her in the process. Oh, after telling her a scary story about how a little boy drowned in this very lake because he never learned to swim, and she doesn't want to end up like him, does she?
- Jerkass: He is a Dean Bitterman Obstructive Bureaucrat Asshole Victim and is even played by a veteran character actor (who in contrast is a Mean Character, Nice Actor) who had been pigeonholed as this along with being a Villain of the Week on episodic television in his acting resume that spanned for several decades before and after this role (working as long as Betsy Palmer, Pamela Voorhees' actress) until his retirement to become a painter instead and later his passing in January 2021.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Quite a few.
- He may have been wrong, but when he accused the deck hand of being the killer, he had every right to think that considering what had happened so far. We know it's Jason, but to him, Jason is a long-dead guy the deck hand keeps insanely spouting nonsense about.
- He angrily tells the surviving kids to stay in a group. They decide to run off and try and fight Jason. Sure enough, one by one, they die.
- When Rennie goes to drop the anchor, he rightfully points out how dumb an idea it is to drop anchor in the middle of a storm with a killer on board instead of staying on course to reach land.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Despite his Obstructive Bureaucrat nature, he appears to seemingly care for his niece, but then comes The Reveal of having pushed Rennie into Crystal Lake that nearly drowns her as a child.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Before his well-deserved death at the hands of Jason, he is one of the group who are mugged at gunpoint, which is tame compared to his death.
- Never My Fault: Refuses to acknowledge he traumatized Rennie as a little girl by throwing her into Crystal Lake and almost letting her drown, pathetically claiming he was trying to teach her and later "saved" her. Not helped by how he went along with her blocking out the event for years.
- Obstructive Bureaucrat: He's an uptight Moral Guardian-esque killjoy wearing the disposition of a stern puritan who reins in on the teens' fun while on chaperone duty.
- Pet the Dog:
- After finding Admiral Robertson dead, McCullouch makes a brief attempt to express condolences to Sean, though he doesn't get more than two words out before abandoning the effort.
- Once the survivors have finally found a police officer and apparent salvation, McCullouch specifically mentions the need to find Julius.
- When Rennie was drowning in Crystal Lake as a child, McCullouch did save her... after throwing her in in the first place.
- Sink or Swim Mentor: Deconstructed. He threw Rennie into Crystal Lake to teach her to swim. Instead of being viewed as Tough Love like in most works of fiction, it just highlights how much of an asshole he is.
- Slimeball: Once Rennie remembers him pushing her into the water, he tries to weasel himself out by saying he tried to save her to make up for it (akin to a previous similar scenario Richman's past character found himself in as shown at the denouncement of the Mission: Impossible episode "Gitano" when Richman's Villain of the Week tried to talk his way out for trying to shoot a kid king dead by lying it was a cruel trick to frame him as the devastated boy king realized how his most trusted guardian tried to kill him). She does not buy it.
- Stern Teacher: A thoroughly unsympathetic example, as being a stick in the mud is him at his best.
- This Cannot Be!: He keeps denying Jason's very existence, right up until the masked killer finds him in New York, at which point all McCullouch can do is utter "this isn't possible" before fleeing for his life.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Even after Sean's efforts manage to get him, Rennie, Mrs. van Deusen, and Julius off the sinking ship alive, McCullouch complains about the young man's difficulty in finding somewhere to dock. When Sean manages to actually get them to New York, McCullouch keeps complaining, this time about the isolated dock where the group disembarks.
Mrs. van Deusen
Colleen Van Deusen
Played By: Barbara Bingham- Cool Teacher: Unlike Rennie's own uncle, Mrs. van Deusen treats her with affection, supports her desire to overcome her fear of the water, and even gives her a pen once owned by Stephen King, showing that she supports Rennie's dream of becoming a writer.
- Death by Irony: The most supportive adult in Rennie's life dies in a car explosion Rennie accidentally caused.
- Expy: Of Amanda from Part VII.
- Foil: To her colleague, Charles McCullouch; unlike McCullouch, a Dean Bitterman type jerkass, Mrs. van Deusen is much more approachable and supportive of the students, especially Rennie.
- Surprisingly Sudden Death: Is killed in a car explosion, of all things.
Tamara
Tamara Mason
Played By: Sharlene Martin- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Her last moments are spent screaming "No" before Jason stabs her to death.
- Alpha Bitch: Even more so than Melissa, given that she almost murders Rennie.
- Asshole Victim: Be honest, did anyone feel bad for Tamara when she died?
- Death by Irony: She's a vain, self-absorbed Alpha Bitch who gets killed with a broken mirror, something often used to symbolize vanity and narcissism.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Because she thought Rennie might have told on her and Eva for using drugs, Tamara responded by pushing Rennie off the boat.
- Expy: Of Melissa from Part VII.
- Laborious Laziness: She'd rather try to seduce her teacher and get someone to film it on tape for blackmail material instead of actually doing her science project.
- Lack of Empathy: She's confused and put off when Eva visibly wants distance from her after Tamara almost killed Rennie, clearly unable to comprehend how her actions have unsettled Eva.
- Manipulative Bitch: Seduces her teacher, only to have the seduction scene filmed by one of her would-be suitors and then blackmailing the teacher with the filmed footage. The cameraman expects sexual favors or a date from Tamara as a reward, but she was just using him and leaves him empty-handed.
- Morality Pet: Apparently Eva. Tamara mistreats, manipulates, or attempts to kill everyone she meets. Except her best friend Eva, to whom she acts nicely, and genuinely enjoys spending time with. Even in the drug scene, the cocaine is Tamara's, but she offers it to Eva for free.
- Ms. Fanservice: Of the movie. Seduces her teacher in just her lingerie, with the camera panning up her body, and has a nude shower scene. Although the latter quickly turns to Fan Disservice when Jason arrives...
- Those Two Guys: With her best friend Eva.
- Toxic Friend Influence: She's this to Eva. While she treats Eva fairly well compared to literally everyone else around her, Tamara still tries to entice Eva into doing drugs with her and doesn't understand Eva's disgust after Tamara pushes Rennie off the boat and almost kills her. In fact, it's this very friendship that ends up getting Eva killed when she tries to find Tamara following the emergency announcement and gets her within Jason's sight.
Eva
Eva Watanabe
Played By: Kelly Hu- Asian and Nerdy: Clearly intelligent and studious, spending most of the movie worrying about the status of the college scholarship she won.
- Everyone Has Standards: Eva's visibly unnerved by Tamara pushing Rennie off the boat and asks for some time away from Eva afterwards.
- Horrible Judge of Character: There's no explanation given as to how or why Eva would want anything to do with such a nasty piece of work like Tamara. Even Eva seems to realize her best friend is horrible after Tamara almost kills Rennie by pushing her off the boat.
- Nice Girl: Surprising, considering her best friend is a manipulative bitch.
- Odd Friendship: Despite being shown to be shy, kind and studious, she is best friends with the manipulative, bitchy, drug-using Tamara.
- Scholarship Student: In a subplot, Eva has won a college scholarship, but is in danger of losing it because her school principal caught her using drugs and threatens to report her.
- Those Two Guys: With her best friend Tamara.
Julius
Julius Gaw
Played By: V.C. Dupree
- Badass Normal: Is a boxer and went out after taking on Jason in a fist fight.
- Black Guy Dies First: He's the first to die once the characters reach Manhattan.
- Decapitation Presentation: Jason puts his severed head on the dashboard of a cop car to frighten the other survivors.
- The Determinator: He fought Jason for a good minute and a half before he became too exhausted to continue throwing punches.
- Face Death with Dignity: Once he realized he couldn't beat Jason, he resigns himself to his fate and tells him "Take your best shot, motherfucker."
- Fingore: Julius' hands are noticeably battered and bloodied from punching Jason to the point he can barely move his fingers.
- Good Old Fisticuffs: He is a boxer, and cornered in a rooftop by Jason with no other available weapons, he starts whaling on Jason. Goes without saying, taking on Jason Voorhees with only your fists turns out to be a fatally bad idea.
- Lovable Jock: He boxes, and he comes across as a pretty nice, decent guy overall.
- Off with His Head!: Punched right off in a boxing match.
- Token Minority: The only major black character in the movie.
J.J. Jarett
J.J. Jarrett
Played By: Saffron Henderson- Alliterative Name: Though what the first J's stand for is never revealed.
- Morality Pet: She tries to be one to Wayne, attempting to convince him that Tamara's only using him. He doesn't listen.
- Musical Assassin: Inverted. Jarett is a skilled guitarist, loves hair metal, and aspires to be a professional musician. Jason grabs her guitar, and uses it as a weapon to bludgeon her to death.
- Nice Girl: Sweet, supportive and funny, JJ really was a rocker with a heart of gold.
- Odd Friendship: With the nerdy Wayne.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Dies within about 3 minutes of being introduced which brief even by this movie's standard.
Miles
Miles Wolfe
Played By: Gordon Currie-
Deleted Role: The vast majority of his scenes were cut at one point or another, leaving him as little more than a background extra with almost no dialogue. - The Generic Guy: Literally no discernible personality traits. He's not even given a name in the final film.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Ends up impaled on a radio antennae.
Wayne
Wayne Webber
Played By: Martin Cummins- Asshole Victim: More than willingly helps out the resident Alpha Bitch Tamara with her schemes, though mainly because he has a big crush on her.
- Expy: Of Eddie from Part VII.
- Blind Without 'Em: Taken to the extreme. He loses his glasses and shoots a crew member thinking that he's Jason.
Deck hand
Deck hand
Played By: Alex Diakun- Expy: Of Crazy Ralph from I and II.
- No Name Given: Simply credited as the "Deck hand".
- The Cuckoolander Was Right: His warnings about Jason are correct.
Jim
Jim Miller
- Out with a Bang: Jason attacks and kills Jim while he's having sex with his girlfriend, Suzi
Suzi
Suzi Donaldson
Played By: Tiffany Paulson- Out with a Bang: Jason attacks Suzi and her boyfriend, Jim, as they're having sex. She doesn't make it.
