Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger
Freddy Krueger (b. September 1942) also known as the Springwood Slasher was a serial murderer who killed several children in the town of Springwood, located either in Ohio or Indiana, depending on when you ask. He was the son of Amanda Krueger (a.k.a. Sister Mary Helena), a nun who volunteered at Westin Hills Mental Institution. He was concieved when Amanda was accidentally locked into a bedlam area and was susequently raped by the 100 inmates inside. After he was born, Freddy became a ward of the state and was adopted by an abusive alcoholic named Mr. Underwood.
Freddy grew up in Springwood, eventually getting married to Loretta Krueger and having a daughter named Katherine. While appearing to be a normal family on the outside, Freddy lured children to their death by taking them to an abandoned boiler room and killing them with hand-made specialized weapons, his favorite being a glove with four long sharp blades extending from the fingers. Freddy eventually murdered Loretta by strangling after Loretta discovered a basement workshop where Freddy kept his weapons and momentos from his victims. Katherine also found the basement room and witnessed her mother's murder. Though Freddy tried to convince her not to tell, Katherine eventually reported Freddy's crimes and he was arrested.
The trial ended in a debacle as a technicality was called upon that set Freddy Krueger free. According to some accounts, the search warrent wasn't filled out properly, while others claim Freddy was not read his Miranda rights. The parents of Springwood were outraged by the court's actions and formed a vigilante mob. Together they chased Freddy to the same boiler room where he had committed most of his crimes and set it on fire, burning Freddy to death. Officially, Freddy Krueger died in that fire in 1971, but while in the fire Freddy was approached by three flying demons who promised him great power and immortality.
In 1984, Freddy Krueger began using his supernatural powers to target the teenage children of his killers. While the children are asleep, Freddy is able to enter their dreams to torment them. Any wound inflicted in these nightmares manifests itself in reality, and if Freddy kills in the dream the death is real. Through these methods Freddy murders Tina Gray, framing Rod Lane for the crime. He then kills Rod from inside the local jail, staging it to look like a suicide. His killing became less explainable as he also killed Glen Lantz in what can only be called a blood geiser. He targeted Nancy Thompson, but was repelled when Nancy turned her back on him, taking energy away, revealing that Freddy's powers are fueled in some way by the fear he inspires in his victims. While Nancy survived this encounter, Freddy still murdered Nancy's mother Marge.
In 1985, Freddy returned with a new method. Possessing the mind of Jesse Walsh through his nightmares, Freddy was able to kill several teenagers, including Ron Grady and a teacher/coach at Springwood High School, Coach Schneider. Jessie was brought to his senses through the efforts and love of Lisa Webber, but could not be driven out entirely, he might have killed several others, it was left unclear.
In 1987, the last remaining children of Freddy's killers were moved to the Westin Hills Mental Institution for treatment on their constant nightmares. Nancy Thompson, now a dream specialist working for the hospital, councelled them and attempted to teach them defensive techniques. Freddy was able to murder Taryn White, Will Stanton, Phillip Anderson and Jennifer Caulfield by elaborate methods that targetted specific fears and character traits. The other children, helped by Kristen Parker's ability to pull others into the same dream, are able to repel Freddy long enough for Dr. Neil Gordon, an associate of Nancy's at the hospital; and Nancy's father Donald to locate the burned body of Freddy and give it more proper burial, blessing the earth with holy water. Nancy Thompson was killed in the final struggle.
In 1988, Freddy was ressurected within the dream world when Jason, the dog of survivor Roland Kincaid, urinated fire on Freddy's grave. Freddy quickly hunted down and killed all the survivors from Westin Hill: Roland Kincaid, Joey Peterson and Kristin Parker. Before her death, Kristen brought her friend Alice Johnson into the dream and passed her power to Alice. Afterward, Freddy began using Alice to pull new victims into the dream world, killing Debbie Stevens, Rick Johnson and Sheila Kopecky. When Dan Jordan is injured in a car crash attempting to hit Freddy he is taken to the hospital and is placed on anesthetic for surgery, putting him to sleep. Alice goes into the dream to defend him. There she remembers a nursery rhyme about a "Dream Master" giving her the idea that evil can't survive if it sees itself. She shows Freddy a mirror and Freddy is torn apart by the souls of his victims.
In 1989 Freddy entered the nightmare of Alice's unborn child, Jacob to begin again, killing Dan Jordan, Greta Gibson and Mark Grey. Yvonne Miller was able to discover the body of Amanda Krueger, freeing her soul, and together Amanda, Alice and Jacob were able to face down Freddy. Amanda absorbed Freddy into herself in order to keep him controlled.
By 1999 Freddy had killed all the chilren left in Springwood with the exception of one, called John Doe as he had lost his memory. Manipulating John through is dreams, Freddy sends him out of Springwood to reach out to Maggie Burroughs, who was once Katherine Krueger, his daughter. When Maggie returned to Springwood with John, she brought several kids from a group home. Freddy killed two of them, Spencer and Carlos, before revealing that Maggie was his daughter and killing John. Maggie returned to her job at the group home along with Tracy, one of the attempted runaways. Together with Doc, a dream therepist, they discover that most of the people around had forgotten that the recent victims had ever existed, showing that Freddy had been absorbing their essences and essentially erasing them from existance. Eventually, Maggie brings Freddy into the real world by holding onto him while waking up from a dream, a method that had been attempted by Nancy Thompson before. In a final confrontation Maggie pinned Freddy to a wall using knives and a crossbow before blowing Freddy up with a pipe bomb. The three demons that were the source of Freddy's power were seen flying away, suggesting that Freddy's power and immortality were at an end.
In 2003 Freddy attempted to use fellow supernatural murderer Jason Voorhees as a pawn to create fear in Springwood (which had mysteriously recovered from its nearly decrepit state) knowing that without that fear he had no power. When Jason started acting on his own, murdering in plain sight and drawing all the fear to himself Freddy became enraged and targeted Jason himself. The battle between the two raged both in a dreamscape and in the real world, and the ending was ambiguous. Though Freddy was decapitated by Jason, he was apparently still alive and may or may not have been in control of Jason in the end.
Alternatively, in 1994, Freddy briefly broke out of the film world to torment Heather Langenkamp, the actress who played Nancy Thompson. He killed Chase Porter, Heather's husband; and Julie, a babysitter who works for them. He came close to killing Heather and her son Dylan but together they are able to push Freddy into an oven in a dreamscape and burn him alive again. After they awake Heather and Dylan find a screenplay that detailed the events leading to that moment, proving that Freddy had been returned to a cinematic reality.
Jackie Earl Haley as Freddy Krueger
Another Freddy Krueger was seen in 2010, with a similar MO and backstory, but it wasn't nearly as memorable. This version of Freddy was a janitor at a school where he stalked his early victims, molesting them and killing them. He was killed by angry parents in the same way, and returned from the grave to stalk teenagers in a more by the numbers maner than before. This Freddy was bested by Nancy Holbrook and Quentin Smith by being pulled out of the dream world when Quentin injected Nancy with adrenaline. Nancy then cut off Freddy's hand and sliced his throat with a paper slicer before burning the body. Freddy still returned shortly after, appearing in a mirror and killing Nancy's mother.
While his dream powers alow his appearance to change at times, Freddy is commonly recognized wearing his dirty red and green striped sweater, a brown fedora hat and his signature clawed glove. His body is covered in scar tissue from the horrible burns that lead to his mortal death.
Freddy Krueger was played in eight films by Robert Englund. He was played in the 2010 reboot by Jackie Earl Haley.
Riffography[]
- A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) by Ronin Fox Trax
- A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985) by Ronin Fox Trax
- A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) by Ronin Fox Trax
- A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988) by Ronin Fox Trax
- A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989) by Ronin Fox Trax
- Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991) by Ronin Fox Trax
- Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994) by Ronin Fox Trax (Announced)
- Freddy vs Jason (2003) by Hor-RIFF-ic Productions and Ronin Fox Trax (Announced)
- A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) by Ronin Fox Trax (Announced)