The Most Overused Character Stereotypes In Horror Movies, Ranked

The archetype: Big, strong, usually crude, often a misogynist, almost always a bully, the jock is the antagonist of any nerds around, and the nerds are often our heroes in horror films. The jock is generally the most popular guy in school, despite the fact that he's pretty much always a jerk.

Why we're tired of it: The jock archetype so tired that the Simpsons devoted nearly a whole episode to making fun of it as far back as 1993, pointing out the ridiculousness of the arbitrary division between “jocks” and “nerds" that was popular in zany college films but also found its way into plenty of horror movies.

Popular examples: Curt from Cabin in the Woods; Tommy Ross from Carrie; Barry from I Know What You Did Last Summer

The archetype: Sure, she's not always a cheerleader, but you still immediately knew what we meant, right? You can also think of her as the “first” girl - the one who is pretty much guaranteed not to make it through the movie - as opposed to the final girl, who will. The cheerleader type is hot, often blond, popular, outgoing, and possibly promiscuous. She may be the final girl's best friend - the foil to her shyness, or she may be a nemesis who uses her popularity against the protagonist.

Why we're tired of it:  People come in a lot more flavors than “popular and outgoing” or “shy and introverted,” and stereotypes like these further a misogynistic view of women - especially young women, despite some recent attempts to lampoon or otherwise interrogate this trope.

Popular examples: Jules from Cabin in the Woods; Tina from A Nightmare on Elm Street; Claudette Hayes from Friday the 13th; Jennifer from Jennifer's Body.

The archetype: Maybe they mean well, but they're just bumbling. Maybe they're corrupt, racist, or have some other ulterior motive. Regardless, members of law enforcement are seldom much help in a horror movie. 

Why we're tired of it:  Many of the tropes of contemporary horror pictures grew out of the slasher boom of the 1980s, but this one goes back even further, to the origins of that subgenre in the Italian Giallo films. There, police were as likely to be corrupt as inept. While the idea that you can't go to the police for help is one that still carries some powerful resonances in the modern day, this is a trope that needs an update - see, for example, how it was subverted in Jordan Peele's Get Out.

Popular examples: Sheriff Leigh Brackett from Halloween, Deputy Dewey Riley from Scream, Sheriff Frank Kelly from Gremlins.

The archetype: In The Cabin in the Woods, this archetype is identified as “the fool," but the only thing potentially “foolish” that Marty Mikalski does is get high - the definition of the stoner archetype. Generally speaking, these characters provide comic relief throughout the film and get picked off because of their propensity for getting nicely toasted rather than staying alert to possible danger.

Why we're tired of it:  Leftovers from a world where horror flicks felt the need to offer heavy-handed and regressive “moral lessons” to offset their gore, stoners often provide a ham-fisted “drugs are bad” message, which modern viewers do not jive with.

Popular examples: Marty from Cabin in the Woods, Shaggy from Scooby-Doo, Ron from Attack the Block, Titus from I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, Palmer from The Thing.

The archetype: Sometimes they're ghosts, as in The Shining, or deranged people, as in Ti West's slasher called simply X, but horror movies sure love to have old ladies disrobe so that their not-so-nubile bodies can become objects of horror and disgust.

Why we're tired of it: Obviously some filmmakers think elderly people are gross - especially when put into situations that would otherwise be titillating. But besides being ageist, such thinking doesn't mesh with a lot of our modern sensibilities, which rebel against the idea that old age is disgusting, or that nudity is shocking.

Popular examples: The woman in room 237 from The Shining, the mother from Barbarian, Pearl from X.

The archetype: From spooky little ghostly girls in white dresses to pint-sized sociopaths who won't hesitate to knock off other kids or even adults, horror movies are full of creepy kids. Since at least as far back as The Bad Seed in 1956, horror flicks have been relying on the juxtaposition of the seeming innocence of children with malevolent will to create tension in countless different permutations.

Why we're tired of it:  To paraphrase Scream 4, what was once the reversal has become the standard. While the idea of an evil child may have been taboo at one time, today they are so common that it's often harder to find normal kids in horror movies than creepy ones. 

Popular examples: Gage from Pet Sematary, Isaac from Children of the Corn, Damien from The Omen, Esther from Orphan.