Jason Voorhees is a fictional character from the Friday the 13th series. He first appeared in Friday the 13th (1980) as the young son of camp cook-turned-murderer, Mrs. Voorhees, in which he was portrayed by Ari Lehman. Created by Victor Miller, with contributions by Ron Kurz, Sean S. Cunningham, and Tom Savini, Jason was not originally intended to carry the series as the main antagonist. The character has subsequently been represented in various other media, including novels, video games, comic books, and a cross-over film with another iconic horror film character, Freddy Krueger.

The character has primarily been an antagonist in the films, whether by stalking and killing the other characters, or acting as a psychological threat to the protagonist, as is the case in Friday the 13th: A New Beginning. Since Lehman’s portrayal, the character has been represented by numerous actors and stuntmen; some have played him as a mute and almost invulnerable presence; others have given him varying degrees of dialogue. Kane Hodder is the best known of the stuntmen to portray Jason Voorhees, having played the character in four consecutive films. The character’s hockey mask has become one of the