The final girl is a trope in the horror genre. It refers to the last girl(s) or woman alive to confront the killer, ostensibly the one left to tell the story. It is generally believed that Jess Bradford from the slasher film, Black Christmas (1974) originated the trope, though there are some earlier examples that serve as precursors to her as examples.
A woman who is the only survivor of the group of people pursued by the killer(s).
She gets a final confrontation with the villain(s) (either she kills him herself or is saved at the last minute by someone else).
That she is special because of her implicit moral superiority (no sex, no drugs, no alcohol).
The final girls often survive, but in the sequel, they may be killed or institutionalized.
The final girl will often have a shared story with the killer.
The final girl's trope has evolved over the years to the more-modern final girls who are more likely to survive due to their own abilities.
In Scream[]
Sidney Prescott: Sidney debuts in the original Scream (1996) and is the ultimate Final Girl of the Screamfilm series. As the primary target for the first four massacres (Scream and its sequels, Scream 2, 3 and 4), and a survivor of the first five massacres (including Scream 5), she amasses the greatest survivability and character centrism of all known Final Girls in the horror genre. While some of her precursors, Halloween's Laurie Strode and A Nightmare on Elm Street's Nancy Thompson have died in a later sequel, Sidney has managed to endure and be a figure of resilience.
"Don't fuck with the original."
Jill would become the ultimate sole survivor and beat Sidney as the Ultimate "Victim".
Jill Roberts: The character was a false protagonist. After introduced as a heroine for a new generation, she was later revealed to be the mastermind behind the anniversary murders. Jill's goal was to be left as a sole survivor, like Sidney herself, but this time without Randy Meeks in her first massacre (and consequently, her "Randy" being fellow killer, Charlie Walker).
"Sidney this and Sidney that and Sidney, Sidney, Sidney! You were always so special! Well, now I'm the special one."
Kirby accepts Ghostface's trivia to save Charlie.
Kirby Reed: She initially appears to serve as the best friend archetype for Jill, and an amalgam of both Tatum Riley and Randy Meeks, two of Sidney's closest friends in the original film. However, towards and by the end of the film, she seems to be based on Sidney herself; the two work together against the later-revealed mastermind killer, Jill, and she shares Sidney's survival instincts and similar circumstances. She becomes the sole teenage survivor of the Second Woodsboro Murders (2011), known as the "Woodsboro Massacre Remake". She accidentally gained what her envious antisocial best friend Jill desired in her pursuit to be the perfect victim — fame as a sole survivor.
"Before you get in the car, you have to promise not to kill me."
Samantha Carpenter: She is the true "reboot" successor of Sidney, after Jill Roberts was initially false marketed to be the original successor to hide the eventual reveal that she was the film's ultimate antagonist.
Sam kills Richie before the eyes of the originals, Sidney and Gale.
Sam is chosen by Ghostface as she is the illegitimate daughter of the original film's antagonist, Billy Loomis. Her final conversation with Sidney subtly implies that Sidney successfully "passes the torch" to Samantha as the new "final girl" when she tells him that "eventually" she will be okay.
"Never fuck with the daughter of a serial killer."
Tara Carpenter: She is considered the true final girl (by fans) of the new franchise, serving as an amalgam of Casey Becker (the first target) and Sidney Prescott, the teenage heroine who survives in the climax.
Tara surprise kills Amber and launches a final sentence (typical of the final girls when they defeat the villain).
The fact that she survived despite her harsh injuries and became a final girl further connects the hybrids of Casey and Sidney between these two characters in the movie's recollection. This fulfills the original intent of what Wes Craven wanted Drew Barrymore (Casey) to play as a final girl.
Emma is her own version of Sidney and becomes the new Scream: TV Series' first Final Girl
Emma Duval: Emma's debut in the first two seasons of the MTV series, starting with Season 1 (2015) and until the finale of Season 2 (2016) and its Halloween specials of the latter, is essentially the "TV Sidney" in the storyline of the first two seasons of the TV series, facing the Lakewood Slasher. As the main target and survivor of her town's second infamous generational massacre (Season 1-2), and a survivor of her town's second massacre as well as an island massacre (Halloween/II) after the defeat of the killers through each divided part of Lakewood's Second Murders, she succeeds her predecessor Sidney Prescott from the Screamfranchise, and gains perseverance as her survivability is tested, making her gain the traits known for Final Girl in horror, and being one of the new modern portrayed in TV, as well as touch on mental health.
"I don't need a hero! I'm Emma Duval! I don't need you!"
Kym would prove herself to be her revealed Ghostface killer, former faux-friend's Beth's "partner", by being the one to kill her due to Kym's former friendship with her and Kym having suspected Beth all along.
Kym: The first Black female character in the franchise to successfully determine the killer, as well as one of the first Black characters to kill Ghostface, Kym becomes an essential character in the third season of the TV series, now on VH1, subtitled Resurrection, who despite being a tritagonist and not seen as the "final girl" as much as the protagonist (and her friend, both) Marcus Elliot's girlfriend, Liv Reynolds, even stated by the faux-friend and killer, Beth, Kym is smart and whose quick wit and intellect makes her an essential Final Girl and led to her survivability due to her thick skin and personality, as well as fan of cop movies, whose traits are included and make her one of the few Black Final Girls in media. She also resembles in her personality being sarcastic and versed in horror, leading to her survival, similar to her film predecessor Sidney, but more akin to Kirby Reed.
"Boom! Final girl, y'all. Underestimate at your own risk."
Liv was made a suspect by Beth, only to flip the tables and be a Final Girl by having Beth as the killer chase her only for her boyfriend, Marcus to surprise attack and for Liv to jump in and push her down a skylight.
Liv Reynolds: Being another of the few Black female characters in the franchise to survive, and her boyfriend, Marcus, essentially being the gender-swapped parallel to Sidney from the films, Liv still is akin to Sidney and Emma, in a sense that while, unlike her predecessors, it was her boyfriend who had been the primary target, that didn't stop Liv's attempted killer Beth from naming her the "final girl". While Beth betrayed her male partner to go after Liv, similar to Nancy Loomis in Scream 2 to Jill Roberts in Scream 4 each going after Sidney after betraying their male accomplices, just like Sidney before her, Liv is akin and who gets into a physical confrontation with Beth who chases her, but ultimately in true Final Girl traits, she transforms from sarcastic and vulnerable to tough skinned and resilient in the end who becomes a formidable opponent against her own killer, who despite being injured by her, was also underestimated by them. She's also alike to Emma Duval as a Final Girl in the fact that each deal with mental health, who are both succeeded by Samantha Carpenter (and to an extend her sister, Tara), making Liv in the franchise and in general, one of the few Black Final Girls in horror media to be shown to deal with this, as well as survive alongside another fellow Final Girl, whose also Black.
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