The late 1970s and the 1980s were a very fruitful period for horror movies, with some major classics debuting during that exact period. These horror movies would end up receiving numerous sequels and remakes, and their main killers became, in a strange way, icons of pop culture.
This prompted us to write this article, in which we are going to determine whether Michael Myers, the masked serial killer from John Carpenter’s Halloween, or Jason Voorhes, the main antagonist of Friday the 13th, would win in a fight.
Michael Myers is the alpha killer, but only by a little. The fact that Michael Myers has managed to consistently be successful during his killing sprees without having any major powers and abilities, save for superhuman strength and invulnerability makes him superior to Jason, who has increased his kill count thanks to various plot elements that have been added in the movies to make Jason more dangerous, but to no avail.
The rest of this article is going to be divided into three sections. The first two are going to bring an overview of the two characters, in whose scopes we are going to compare their powers, including their signature techniques. Finally, we’re going to bring you a detailed analysis of the two characters to determine which one would win in a direct clash.
Michael Myers and His Powers
Michael “Mike” Myers is the main villain from the Halloween horror films. The serial murderer appears for the first time in the first Halloween movie in 1978, directed by director and screenwriter John Carpenter. Using his main weapon – a large table knife – as a child, he kills his older sister, and fifteen years later, after escaping from a hospital, begins mass murders in his hometown of Haddonfield.
The film credits Michael as “The Shape” and is played by Nick Castle, as well as Tony Moran and Tommy Lee Wallace in the final scenes. The creators of the character are producer Debra Hill and director John Carpenter. Michael appears in ten films out of eleven, several literary works, comics, and video games.
Michael Myers as a Murderer
Michael Myers is a character that seems quite catatonic, but once he begins his hunt, he is an apex predator: although he was born human, he subsequently loses all traits of a human being. He has been diagnosed with mental disorders such as catatonia, psychosis, and schizophrenia, which likely cause him to have visions and nightmares that lead him to hate and kill people.
Michael’s ability to survive every known attack at him is, according to some, due to his innate fury and his murderous mind. In the post-Carpenter sequels, though, his presumed immortality is inferred to be due to the Thorn curse, as it was explained in the sixth film.
The Curse of Thorn
This “curse” possesses and forces Michael to kill all members of his family and anyone who stands in his way. According to the legend, this sacrifice would serve to ward off a plague or disaster that would otherwise befall the “village” in which Michael lives. The “curse” uses Michael as a puppet and guides him to the intended victims.
The Thorn seems to instill in Michael powers beyond human capacity, such as his strength and his apparent immortality: it is however likely that behind the mask the real Michael feels remorse for the murders he commits. In Halloween 5, he seems to be fighting the curse that manipulates him, and, taking off the mask for his niece Jamie Lloyd, he cries (presumably from the remorse of the trail of blood left behind).
It almost seems that he is no longer in control of himself, as if he were forced by the curse to make every gesture. Michael himself, on occasion, goes against the curse by attempting to kill some members of the Cult of the Thorn.
It is unknown what Michael may have suffered from the sect, so it could have been revenge against them, as using the time available to him for their killing would have slowed his progress towards Jamie’s son, Steven Lloyd. There is also no logical explanation why Thorn could have wanted the members of the Cult of the Thorn to die.
These actions of his may have been inspired by the fact that Michael was getting closer and closer to achieving his goals. He probably takes advantage of the moment to reflect on all his actions, allowing old Michael Myers, the shy little boy to wake up. But when Kara Strode tries to talk to him, she suffocates all these positive thoughts.
Jason Voorhes and His Powers
Jason Voorhees is a fictional character born with a hydrocephalic head adapted for cinema by Victor Miller, Ron Kurz, Sean S. Cunningham, and Tom Savini in the movie Friday the 13th, directed by Sean S. Cunningham in 1980.
- RELATED: Friday The 13th Movies in Order
He is the son of a cook from Camp Crystal Lake who becomes a serial murderer. Jason Voorhees has also been portrayed in numerous novels, comics, and a crossover with Freddy Krueger. His famous hockey mask does not appear until the third film. Jason dies in the fourth and returns as an undead in the sixth.
Nature
Generally speaking, Jason is a ghost, not to be confused with a zombie; zombies are dead devoid of intelligence who move to feed, while ghosts have a spirit, and sometimes even a mission to accomplish. (Eric Draven of The Crow is also a ghost).
Jason constantly avenges his mother who was killed by the monitors of Camp Crystal Lake; it is also by pretending to be his mother that Freddy will use him in Freddy vs Jason.
Powers and Abilities
With all that that includes, he doesn’t feel pain or fear, he’s pretty much immortal and is able to resurrect (which is interesting when you know he dies in at least four movies). He is a perfect and agile killing machine; he runs, swims, jumps, and occasionally manages to develop small strategies, like hiding or strangling someone, his real specialty is using the elements of the scenery.
Jason has a knack for finding himself in barns or fishermen’s huts with all possible and imaginable objects. Typical of the living dead, Jason possesses an overdeveloped strength because, as he does not think, he does not control the force that he puts into an effort and systematically uses all his power, whether it is to open a door, hit with a machete or strangling someone.
This also explains a large amount of damage Jason does in his path. It is almost impossible to stop him, however, it is possible to disturb him momentarily by a disguise; for example, we could see a child shaving his head to look like Jason as a child, or a young girl putting on an old sweater of Jason’s mother in order to impersonate her.
But, these ploys only last as long as Jason understands the deception, usually not very long, but long enough to stop him or run away.
Weapons
Jason’s preferred weapon of choice is a machete. On most of the covers of the various films of the saga, we can see Jason holding his famous machete. In Freddy vs. Jason, he uses this weapon for most of the movie. But, of course, Jason is not exclusive in his weapon of choice and is quite promiscuous when the situation demands it.
Jason occasionally wields other items as well, but he kills with anything he can use, even killing with his bare hands. In the films of the series, Jason uses all the objects that pass through his hands, usually very sharp or pointed such as an ax, a javelin, a bow and arrows, a pitchfork, but also other objects. such as a knitting needle, corkscrew, screwdriver, etc.
Michael Myers vs Jason Voorhes: Who Is the Alpha Killer?
Now, this one was, in all honesty, a tough one. Michael Myers and Jason Voorhes are very, very similar characters, both in terms of their origins and their modus operandi. Jason Voorhes was born out of revenge and he became a demonic entity, but he has still shown to have a lot of weaknesses.
On the other hand, Michael Myers is, as far as we know, human and he doesn’t have that many superhuman powers and abilities. He is nigh-invulnerable and super strong but despite this, he has been around for almost half a century, terrorizing Illinois and audiences.
Jason has been killed and killed, he went into space, and he fought Freddy. Michael Myers has done nothing except butchering people and being silent for almost fifty years. For us, that is enough to declare him the winner, if only by little, as it takes a lot of sass to be that notorious by doing nothing.
