Friday The 13th: 10 Facts About Jason Voorhees Every Fan Should Know

Jason Voorhees is one of the most dangerous horror villains to ever exist. From his immense strength to his seemingly unstoppable durability, it is no secret that he is almost invincible. Not only that but he has one of the highest kill counts out of any horror villain.

That being said, there is more to Jason Voorhees, some things that newcomers may not know about. Something that gives the character more depth than just being some indestructible and mute monster.

10 He Isn’t The First Villain Of Friday The 13th

As popular as Jason Voorhees is as a villain, he isn’t the original villain in Friday The 13th. In fact, he is one of three villains within the acclaimed franchise. However, he is still the most popular character that comes straight out of the motivations of the first villain: his mother Pamela Voorhees.

Distraught after the death of her son, Pamela Voorhees took it upon herself to murder anyone that comes into Camp Crystal Lake. This is due to the neglect of the camp in the past that caused her son’s death. However, her death eventually culminated with Jason Voorhees taking the mantle.

9 He Became A Zombie During The 6th Film

Although Jason Voorhees is an incredibly popular villain, some of the traits that make him so powerful didn’t become fully realized until the 6th film. Prominently titled Jason Lives, the character during the first four parts was often human, an incredibly durable and persistent one, but human nonetheless.

However, once he died and got resurrected, the character became far more powerful. Almost becoming a force of nature where he could only be stopped by supernatural means.

8 He Wore His Iconic Mask By Part 3

Jason Voorhees is known for his hockey mask. This simple yet cool design helped make the character become extremely iconic. However, this mask didn’t show up for at least two films.

In the first film, it was because the main villain was his mother, Pamela Voorhees. While in the second film, he was dressed up more like a farmer, with a bag over his head instead. However, by the third film, he was able to wear the hockey mask for the first time. From there, history was made.

7 His Design Is Never Consistent

Unlike other slasher characters such as Michael Myers or Freddy Krueger (with an exception here and there), Jason Voorhees design is almost never consistent. Starting from the second film, he was depicted to look like a father. From part 3 and 4, Jason wore the iconic hockey mask with a button up shirt and jeans.

However, in the sixth movie onwards he was a zombie with even further disfigurement being shown in part 7. Combined with some changes to the design with each film and it shows how inconsistent Jason Voorhees is.

6 He Is Portrayed By A Lot Of Actors

With horror villains, there have been many actors to take their chance to play as a monster. A good example is Bela Legosi and Christopher Lee both taking a role as the vampiric Dracula. For others, some roles allow them to signified as the character such as Robert Englund’s Freddy Krueger.

However, Jason Voorhees has the unique distinction of being played by a large number of people. That being said, one actor that played the character the most is Kane Hodder who went on to get legendary status.

5 He Wasn’t Originally Going To Be Deformed

When Jason Voorhees was getting conceived, the idea of him being disfigured was originally not going to be a part of the character. Victor Miller, when he was creating the character along with Ron Kurz and Tom Savini, intended him to be a normal-looking child.

However, due to the insistence of the film crew, they turned him into the deformed character that fans love to this day. According to Kurz, he is specifically the reason why the deformity exists now.

4 The Character Is Named After Victor Miller’s Sons

Jason Voorhees was actually named after Victor Miller’s children. Specifically, Jason was a combination of Josh and Ian. On top of that, the last name of Voorhees was more inspired by a person that Miller knew back when he went into high school.

The end result created Jason Voorhees, which is often described as being creepy sounding. Something that everyone felt was perfect for the character.

3 Jason Was Supposed To Stay Dead

During the development of the Friday The 13th films, it was made clear during the events of part 4 that Jason Voorhees would be permanently dead. This is combined with the fact that in part 5, he was replaced by a copycat killer.

This was intentional on the director of part 5, Joseph Zito as he wanted to leave it open for Tommy Jarvis to be the villain. However, due to certain dissatisfactions after part 5, it was producer Frank Mancuso Jr. who wanted him back. The rest is history.

2 He Fought Fellow Horror Icons

Although the character has been situated within his own affairs for the most part. Fighting against other horror icons was never out of the question for the character. The most obvious example is when he fought against Freddy Krueger in the film Freddy vs Jason.

Later on within the comics, the film got itself a sequel in the form of Freddy vs Jason vs Ash. In there not only did Jason Voorhees end up fighting against the dream demon, but he also fought against the king himself.

1 Sexual Acts Trigger Him

When Jason Voorhees first initially drowned in Camp Crystal Lake, it was because the fellow camp councillors were too busy having sex. Although it doesn’t seem to appear all that often, it seems like there is the occasional moment where a sexual act can awaken him to kill.

This is especially made clear following the film of Jason X, where it was what roused him out of his initial slumber. According to Todd Farmer, the writer of the film, he liked the idea of the character being awoken as a result of the act.

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