Nancy Thompson (A Nightmare on Elm Street)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Nancy Thompson is a fictional
character Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...
in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' franchise. She first appears in ''
A Nightmare on Elm Street ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' is a 1984 American supernatural slasher film written and directed by Wes Craven and produced by Robert Shaye. It is the first installment in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' franchise and stars Heather Langenkamp ...
'' (1984) as a teenager hunted in her dreams by enigmatic serial killer
Freddy Krueger Freddy Krueger () is a fictional character and the primary antagonist in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' film series. He was created by Wes Craven and made his debut in Craven's ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' (1984) as the malevolent spirit ...
. In this film, she was portrayed by
Heather Langenkamp Heather Elizabeth Langenkamp (born July 17, 1964) is an American actress. She is considered an influential figure in horror films and in popular culture, noted for her acting in several works of the genre and her behind-the-scenes work coordinat ...
—who reprises the role in the sequel, '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors'' (1987). Langenkamp later portrayed a fictional version of herself who embodies the role of Nancy in ''
Wes Craven's New Nightmare ''Wes Craven's New Nightmare'' (also known simply as ''New Nightmare'') is a 1994 American meta slasher film written and directed by Wes Craven, creator of 1984's ''A Nightmare on Elm Street''. A standalone film and the seventh installment in ...
'' (1994). A reimagined version of Nancy is portrayed by
Rooney Mara Patricia Rooney Mara ( ; born April 17, 1985) is an American actress. She has received various accolades, including a Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, ...
in the 2010 remake.
Wes Craven Wesley Earl Craven (August 2, 1939 – August 30, 2015) was an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and editor. Craven has commonly been recognized as one of the greatest masters of the horror genre due to the cultural imp ...
conceptualized Nancy after a conversation with his daughter, Jessica. She questioned him over his clumsy-depiction of the heroine in ''
Swamp Thing The Swamp Thing is a superhero in American comic books published by DC Comics. A humanoid/plant elemental List of swamp monsters, creature, created by writer Len Wein and artist Bernie Wrightson, the Swamp Thing has had several humanoid or mo ...
'' (1982)—particularly over the scene in which the heroine stereotypically trips and falls over nothing. He wanted Nancy to be a start to depicting a positive portrayal of women in his films. Being Freddy's
archenemy In literature, an archenemy (sometimes spelled as arch-enemy) is the main enemy of someone. In fiction, it is a character who is the protagonist's, commonly a hero's, most prominent and most-known enemy. Etymology The word ''archenemy'' sometim ...
, Nancy is the protagonist in the original film, and serves as a supporting character guide for other characters in the third film. The character also appears in spin-off works of the series such as the various
novelizations A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative work, derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, Play (theatre), stage play, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particula ...
and the
canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...
comic book continuation '' Nightmares on Elm Street'' (
Innovation Publishing Innovation Publishing (also known as Innovation Books and the Innovative Corporation) was an American comic book company based in Wheeling, West Virginia. It was co-founded by David Campiti in 1988 after writing a business proposal and raising US ...
) amongst supporting roles in other
comics a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...
by different publishers. Nancy has been called a significant figure in the
horror genre Horror is a genre of fiction which is intended to frighten, scare, or disgust. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror, which is in the realm of speculative fiction. Literary historian ...
and American
pop culture Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * Pop (Gas al ...
, with depictions in various
video games Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...
, toy lines, and
fan art Fan art or fanart is artwork created by fans of a work of fiction and derived from a series character or other aspect of that work. They are usually done by amateur artists, semi-professionals or professionals. As fan labor, fan art refers to ...
, and is considered "one of the most progressive female representations in the teen horror genre." She is one of the original examples of the "final girl" theory by Carol J. Clover in her 1992 non-fiction book ''
Men, Women, and Chainsaws ''Men, Women, and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film'' is a non-fiction book by American academic Carol J. Clover, published in 1992. The book is a cultural critique and investigation of gender in slasher films and the appeal of horror ...
''. However, Clover's inclusion of the character in this trope has been agreed upon and challenged due to Nancy's characterization.


Concept and creation


Development

The origins of Nancy began with a conversation that
Wes Craven Wesley Earl Craven (August 2, 1939 – August 30, 2015) was an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and editor. Craven has commonly been recognized as one of the greatest masters of the horror genre due to the cultural imp ...
had with his daughter Jessica, which led to him reevaluating his 1982 film ''
Swamp Thing The Swamp Thing is a superhero in American comic books published by DC Comics. A humanoid/plant elemental List of swamp monsters, creature, created by writer Len Wein and artist Bernie Wrightson, the Swamp Thing has had several humanoid or mo ...
'' and the way he had portrayed women up until that point. There is a scene in which the heroine Alice Cable (
Adrienne Barbeau Adrienne Jo Barbeau (born June 11, 1945) is an American actress, singer and the author of three books. Barbeau came to prominence in the 1970s as Broadway's original Rizzo in the musical '' Grease'', and as Carol Traynor, the divorced daughter o ...
) is running, and she trips and falls. Upon watching, his daughter remarked, "You know, just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I'm clumsy. You don't have to have them falling down." He attests that this was a common trope in filmmaking and that he wanted Nancy to be a start of young heroines eliminating this concept. Nancy was a highly sought-after role, with many of the actresses having to sit on the floor due to there not being enough chairs. In the winter of 1983, newcomer actress
Heather Langenkamp Heather Elizabeth Langenkamp (born July 17, 1964) is an American actress. She is considered an influential figure in horror films and in popular culture, noted for her acting in several works of the genre and her behind-the-scenes work coordinat ...
became aware of auditions. Her reading impressed casting director Annette Benson and Craven enough that she received a call back to read with another actress auditioning,
Amanda Wyss Amanda Louise Wyss (born November 24, 1960) is an American actress. She began her career in the early 1980s in teen-oriented roles such as Lisa in the coming-of-age comedy film ''Fast Times at Ridgemont High'' (1982), Tina Gray in the slasher f ...
. During this audition, she improvised a clawing motion with her fingers and a screeching sound. Her natural approach to the character ultimately caught Craven's attention, and she got hired for the part. He wrote Nancy as a "legitimate all-American, girl-next-door" and felt that Langenkamp embodied these qualities. Craven approached Langenkamp in 1986 to ask if he could include her Nancy character in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors'' script that he was writing. In Craven's script, Nancy was closer to her personality in the first film. While the characteristics of the character change significantly in the final product, her death at the end remains the same. Some significant scenes involving Nancy in ''Dream Warriors'' were either cut from the film or never filmed; Langenkamp and co-star Craig Wasson both refer to a scene they filmed in which they kissed, with Wasson stating that "No, we didn't have sex, but there was this one real hot kiss that just about melted the camera lens. Too bad they cut it." Another significant scene that does not feature Nancy but mentions her is the cut penultimate scene (before the final scene with the model house lighting up while Neil sleeps) in the shooting script between survivors Kristen Parker and Neil Gordon in which Neil hint that she's visiting him in his dreams post-mortem, similarly to Freddy but benevolent; this was carried over from the original script but was not ultimately included in the film. With regard to ''A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors'', Heather Langenkamp stated her viewpoints about Nancy Thompson's characterization: :"The connection with Nancy was there. I never felt that comfortable in the skin of that role because...I just felt like the dialogue that they gave Nancy was so stiff and there was no sense of humour at all. She had barely anything going in that department at all and then she’s supposed to be having this quasi-love affair with
Craig Wasson Craig Wasson (born March 15, 1954) is an American actor. He made his film debut in ''Rollercoaster'' (1977). He is best known for his roles as Jake Scully in Brian DePalma's ''Body Double'' (1984), and Neil Gordon in Chuck Russell's '' A Nightm ...
’s character... None of it really seemed to have a dynamic energy behind it and as a result I felt I didn’t know what Nancy was anymore. I was struggling to make something of her because she didn’t have that big of a role in some way. She was like a facilitator, she was always showing things like 'let me show you how to do this', 'let’s do it together' but she was never really moving the plot forward herself that much and as a result I didn’t feel like I did a very good job in that role. Then when I saw the movie I thought 'oh it’s not as bad as I thought' because actually the relationship I had with the kids does come through and she is a kind of a reassuring presence in the movie rather than this fighting, battle warrior that she was in the first movie. So I just had to get used to this different role that Nancy played..."
Rooney Mara Patricia Rooney Mara ( ; born April 17, 1985) is an American actress. She has received various accolades, including a Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, ...
was confirmed to portray a reimagined Nancy in 2011; Mara signed on for a sequel if it were to ever be made. Director Samuel Bayer describes this version of the character as "the loneliest girl in the world". Mara stated her portrayal is different than the original, performed by Langenkamp, and refers to her as "socially awkward and timid and really doesn't know how to connect with people". She stated to ''
Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...
'' that she disliked the experience of portraying the character so much, that she contemplated quitting acting.


Design

Nancy's appearance is recognizable for her gray streak in her hair and her emblematic
pajamas Pajamas (American English, US) or pyjamas (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth) (), sometimes colloquially shortened to PJs, jammies, jam-jams, or in South Asia night suits, are several related types of clothing worn as night ...
. The character's hair was supposed to be entirely gray and white, and Wes Craven had a wig made but was ultimately unsatisfied; deciding for Nancy to have a streak of gray—which would remain in both ''Dream Warriors'' and ''New Nightmare''. For the 1984 film,
costume designer A costume designer is a person who designs costumes for a film, stage production or television show. The role of the costume designer is to create the characters' outfits or costumes and balance the scenes with texture and colour, etc. The costume ...
Dana Lyman conceptualized Nancy's white pajamas that the character wore during her encounters with Freddy. Lyman described the outfit as "her armor as she went into battle." The details of her white top include blue trim and a pattern of roses. Jolene Richardson of ''
Fangoria ''Fangoria'' is an internationally distributed American horror film fan magazine, in publication since 1979. It is published four times a year by Fangoria Publishing, LLC and is edited by Phil Nobile Jr. The magazine was originally released i ...
'' interprets these details as combining masculine and feminine traits of Nancy.


Appearances


Films

The character made her cinematic debut in ''
A Nightmare on Elm Street ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' is a 1984 American supernatural slasher film written and directed by Wes Craven and produced by Robert Shaye. It is the first installment in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' franchise and stars Heather Langenkamp ...
'' on November 9, 1984. In this film, Nancy (
Heather Langenkamp Heather Elizabeth Langenkamp (born July 17, 1964) is an American actress. She is considered an influential figure in horror films and in popular culture, noted for her acting in several works of the genre and her behind-the-scenes work coordinat ...
) is a middle-class teenage girl with divorced parents. Nancy and her friends begin having the same realistic nightmares of a severely burnt man with a bladed glove trying to kill them. The character takes active steps to trace down the cause of the phenomena and finds the enigmatic figure in her dreams to be the
vengeful ghost In mythology and folklore, a vengeful ghost or vengeful spirit is said to be the spirit of a dead person who returns from the afterlife to seek revenge for a cruel, unnatural or unjust death. In certain cultures where funeral and burial or crem ...
Freddy Krueger Freddy Krueger () is a fictional character and the primary antagonist in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' film series. He was created by Wes Craven and made his debut in Craven's ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' (1984) as the malevolent spirit ...
(
Robert Englund Robert Barton Englund (born June 6, 1947) is an American actor and director. He is best known for playing the supernatural serial killer Freddy Krueger in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street (franchise), Nightmare on Elm Street'' film series. Class ...
), a child killer that was burned alive by local parents when she was a child. The
lone survivor ''Lone Survivor'' is a 2013 American biographical war film based on the 2007 nonfiction book of the same name by Marcus Luttrell with Patrick Robinson. Set during the war in Afghanistan, it dramatizes the unsuccessful United States Navy SEAL ...
, Nancy realizes she can pull things out of the nightmare and devises a plan to pull him into the real world, where he is vulnerable. Nancy
booby trap A booby trap is a device or setup that is intended to kill, harm or surprise a human or another animal. It is triggered by the presence or actions of the victim and sometimes has some form of bait designed to lure the victim towards it. The trap m ...
s her house and lures Freddy through the traps. After he kills her mother, in the final confrontation, Nancy realizes her fear gives him his power and takes it back, defeating him. Although Nancy does not appear in '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge'', she maintains a presence when a new family moves into the house where she battled Freddy. Teenager
Jesse Walsh Jesse Walsh is a fictional character in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' franchise. He was created by David Chaskin and portrayed by Mark Patton. Making his debut in '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge'' in 1985, Jesse became the ...
( Mark Patton), who inhabits Nancy's old room and his girlfriend Lisa ( Kim Myers) discover Nancy's old diary, which chronicles the events of the first film. '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors'' (1987) re-introduces Nancy to the franchise. In this film, the character is a young adult studying psychology. Nancy is hired as a student intern at Westin Hills Mental Institution due to her groundbreaking research on pattern nightmares (
nightmare disorder Nightmare disorder, also known as dream anxiety disorder, is a sleep disorder characterized by frequent nightmares. The nightmares, which often portray the individual in a situation that jeopardizes their life or personal safety, usually occur du ...
). Nancy realizes the teenagers inhabiting the hospital are the surviving children of the parents who killed Freddy when one of the patients,
Kristen Parker Kristen Parker is a character from the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' series. She is a co-protagonist and final girl of the third film of the series '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors'' and the false protagonist in the following film ...
(
Patricia Arquette Patricia Tiffany Arquette (born April 8, 1968) is an American actress. She made her feature film debut as Kristen Parker in '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors'' (1987). Her other notable films include ''True Romance'' (1993), ''Ed Wo ...
), pulls her into one of her nightmares. Nancy explains to them their pasts and begins to train them on how to use their " dream powers," superpowers that are unique to them in their dreams. In a last attempt effort to save one of the patients from Freddy, Nancy does a group
hypnosis Hypnosis is a human condition involving focused attention (the selective attention/selective inattention hypothesis, SASI), reduced peripheral awareness, and an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion.In 2015, the American Psychologica ...
with them, and together they navigate the nightmare world. The film ends with Nancy dying while stabbing him with his glove. ''
Wes Craven's New Nightmare ''Wes Craven's New Nightmare'' (also known simply as ''New Nightmare'') is a 1994 American meta slasher film written and directed by Wes Craven, creator of 1984's ''A Nightmare on Elm Street''. A standalone film and the seventh installment in ...
'' (1994) takes a
meta Meta (from the Greek μετά, '' meta'', meaning "after" or "beyond") is a prefix meaning "more comprehensive" or "transcending". In modern nomenclature, ''meta''- can also serve as a prefix meaning self-referential, as a field of study or ende ...
approach to the character. The film is set in the " real world," following a fictionalized version of
Heather Langenkamp Heather Elizabeth Langenkamp (born July 17, 1964) is an American actress. She is considered an influential figure in horror films and in popular culture, noted for her acting in several works of the genre and her behind-the-scenes work coordinat ...
contemplating
Wes Craven Wesley Earl Craven (August 2, 1939 – August 30, 2015) was an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and editor. Craven has commonly been recognized as one of the greatest masters of the horror genre due to the cultural imp ...
's offer of her reprising her role of Nancy in another ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' film he is directing. Heather is hesitant as she has a stalker and is reluctant to do another horror film. After several nightmares of a disfigured man, Craven tells her she is the target of an ancient entity taking on a scarier form of Freddy. As Nancy is Freddy's original nemesis, this being must kill her to be set free. The film has Heather become one with Nancy when her son Dylan (
Miko Hughes Miko John Hughes (born February 22, 1986) is an American actor known for his film roles as a child, such as Gage Creed in ''Pet Sematary'' (1989), ''Kindergarten Cop'' (1990), ''Apollo 13'' (1995), ''Spawn'' (1997), '' Mercury Rising'' (1998), ...
) is sedated, with her obtaining the white streak and wearing her pajamas inspired by the original film. Embodying Nancy, she enters the dream world and combats the entity, saving her son. In the 2010 remake, Nancy's last name is "Holbrook," portrayed by
Rooney Mara Patricia Rooney Mara ( ; born April 17, 1985) is an American actress. She has received various accolades, including a Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, ...
. When people in Nancy's high school begin dying in their sleep, she joins Quentin Smith (
Kyle Gallner Kyle Steven Gallner (born October 22, 1986) is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of Cassidy "Beaver" Casablancas in the television series ''Veronica Mars'', superhero Bart Allen in the drama series ''Smallville'' and Reed Garrett ...
) in an investigation into their shared nightmares. Nancy's mother (
Connie Britton Constance Elaine Britton ( Womack; born March 6, 1967) is an American actress. Britton made her feature film debut in the independent comedy-drama film ''The Brothers McMullen'' (1995), and the following year, she was cast as Nikki Faber on the ...
) admits to them that all the kids in the preschool were
molested Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assau ...
by a man named Fred Krueger, the school gardener. She claims that Freddy fled the area before they could turn him in and that their dreams of Freddy are just
repressed memories Repressed memory is an inability to recall autobiographical information, usually of a traumatic or stressful nature. The concept originated in psychoanalytic theory where repression is defined as a protective mechanism that excludes memory of ...
. After Nancy realizes she can pull things out of her dreams and hallucinations, they plan to pull him into the real world and kill him. After killing him, they burn down the preschool with Freddy's corpse inside, and they escape. The film ends ambiguously with Freddy killing her mother.


Literature

The character appears in the 1991 short story collection ''The Nightmares on Elm Street: Freddy Krueger's Seven Sweetest Dreams.'' In the story "Asleep at the Wheel," Freddy and Nancy are long dead, and they are considered urban legends or the result of
mass hysteria Mass psychogenic illness (MPI), also called mass sociogenic illness, mass psychogenic disorder, epidemic hysteria, or mass hysteria, involves the spread of illness symptoms through a population where there is no infectious agent responsible for c ...
due to Springwood's infamous history. The pretentious band Nancy Thompson Grave Watch, which includes songwriter and guitarist Ian, rents the dilapidated house at 1428 Elm Street for musical inspiration. Nancy's spirit appears in Ian's dreams to warn him that Freddy is real. Nancy and the events of '' Dream Warriors'' are mentioned in the story "Le Morte De Freddy". Nancy returned in '' Nightmares on Elm Street'', a
canonical The adjective canonical is applied in many contexts to mean "according to the canon" the standard, rule or primary source that is accepted as authoritative for the body of knowledge or literature in that context. In mathematics, "canonical example ...
six-issue comic book series published by Innovation Comics from 1991 to 1992. In the story, Nancy teams up with several other characters from the
film series A film series or movie series (also referred to as a film franchise or movie franchise) is a collection of related films in succession that share the same fictional universe, or are marketed as a series. This article explains what film series are ...
, including Neil Gordon, Jacob Johnson, and Alice Johnson, to fight Freddy in his nightmare world. The events of this series were meant to fill in the period between '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child'' and '' Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare'' films, written by Andy Mangels. The first two issues of the story explain to the readers about Nancy's life in between the first and third films. After the events of the first film, Nancy is institutionalized. In college, she studied psychology and sleep disorders and made two friends in her roommates Cybil Houch and Priscilla Martin. After Nancy dies in ''Dream Warriors'', Kristen had dreamed her soul into the Beautiful Dream, the good side of the dream world, where Nancy now acts as its agent as Freddy acts as an agent for the nightmare realm. The next four issues, titled ''Loose Ends'', deals with the characters from previous ''Nightmare'' movies teaming up to defeat Freddy again. Nancy defeats Freddy and manages to stop his plan of using Jacob Johnson to break into the real world with help from Neil Gordon and Devonne, a psychotic former accomplice of Freddy's. Nancy makes an appearance in the final issue of the
crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...
comic series '' Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash: The Nightmare Warriors''. In a battle against Freddy Krueger, Dream Master Jacob Johnson summons the spirits of Freddy's past victims, including Amanda Krueger and the Dream Warriors. Nancy also appears, reuniting with Neil Gordon to help him read the ''
Necronomicon The ', also referred to as the ''Book of the Dead'', or under a purported original Arabic title of ', is a fictional grimoire (textbook of magic) appearing in stories by the horror writer H. P. Lovecraft and his followers. It was first menti ...
''s' passages needed to banish Freddy. With Freddy defeated, Nancy leaves Neil and returns to the afterlife with the other spirits.


In popular culture

Nancy is a playable character in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' (1989) video game. Released by Monarch Software and Westwood Associates, Nancy and the Dream Warriors face Freddy Krueger once again. As each character has a dream power, Nancy can freeze enemies. Nancy has accumulated a large following in the
gay community The LGBT community (also known as the LGBTQ+ community, GLBT community, gay community, or queer community) is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other queer individuals united by a common culture and social ...
since her 1984 cinematic debut.
Freddy Krueger Freddy Krueger () is a fictional character and the primary antagonist in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' film series. He was created by Wes Craven and made his debut in Craven's ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' (1984) as the malevolent spirit ...
actor
Robert Englund Robert Barton Englund (born June 6, 1947) is an American actor and director. He is best known for playing the supernatural serial killer Freddy Krueger in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street (franchise), Nightmare on Elm Street'' film series. Class ...
recollects the popularity of the Nancy character within the community upon attending a costume party in 1985 and seeing numerous
drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part o ...
s dressed as Nancy in full drag, wearing her pajamas with the embroidery, and the white streak. Englund interprets this large following as a result of
Heather Langenkamp Heather Elizabeth Langenkamp (born July 17, 1964) is an American actress. She is considered an influential figure in horror films and in popular culture, noted for her acting in several works of the genre and her behind-the-scenes work coordinat ...
having a "
Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The ...
in '' The Wizard of Oz'' element to her", as well as the community identifying with the "strong" and "survivor" aspects of her. In the
Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...
adaption called ''
Mahakaal ''Mahakaal'' (also known as ''Mahakaal: The Monster'') is a 1994 Indian horror film directed by Shyam Ramsay and Tulsi Ramsay. It was loosely plagiarised off of the American horror film ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' (1984) and was also the last ...
'' (1994) by the
Ramsay Brothers Ramsay Brothers is a pseudonym or brand name used for a family of Bollywood filmmakers, the sons and grandsons of F.U. Ramsay. They are famous for making the genre of horror films synonymous with the name "Ramsay Brothers." History The actual surn ...
, Nancy's analogue is called Anita and is played by actress
Archana Puran Singh Archana Puran Singh (born 26 September 1962) is an Indian actress and television personality. She is known for her comedy roles in several Bollywood movies and as a judge in the comedy shows ''The Kapil Sharma Show'' and ''Comedy Circus''. She ...
. Much like the original Nancy, Anita is the daughter of a policeman who killed Shakaal (the placeholder for Freddy's character) for murdering his young daughter, Anita's sister, as deleted scenes from Wes Craven's film hinted. She and her friends are college students instead of attending high school like Nancy. Anita has been criticized for being overly passive and doing little more than running away and screaming. Nancy is featured in two figures by toy company
Mezco Toyz Mezco Toyz is an American company that makes action figures and other collectibles based on original and licensed properties. One of the popular products is the cult hit toy line Living Dead Dolls. The more popular line is its One:12 line. Other ...
.
Jada Toys Jada Toys, Inc. is an American manufacturer of collectible scale model cars, figures, radio controlled model vehicles, and dolls. It was founded in 1999 by Jack and May Li. Jada's products are predominantly aimed at the collectible market, and are ...
included Nancy alongside Freddy in the release of the
die-cast Die casting is a metal casting process that is characterized by forcing molten metal under high pressure into a mold cavity. The mold cavity is created using two hardened tool steel dies which have been machined into shape and work similarly t ...
model car A model car, or toy car, is a miniature representation of an automobile. Other miniature motor vehicles, such as trucks, buses, or even ATVs, etc. are often included in this general category. Because many miniature vehicles were originally aime ...
of the 1958 Cadillac from the original film. Nancy is mentioned in Quentin Smith's biography in the video game ''
Dead by Daylight ''Dead by Daylight'' is an asymmetric multiplayer survival horror online game developed by Canadian studio Behaviour Interactive. It is a one-versus-four game in which one player takes on the role of a savage Killer and the other four play as Su ...
''. Additionally, a variety of Freddy's in-game
power-ups In video games, a power-up is an object that adds temporary benefits or extra abilities to the player character as a game mechanic. This is in contrast to an item, which may or may not have a permanent benefit that can be used at any time chosen ...
are named after Nancy. Artist Matthew Therrien included Nancy alongside Freddy in his "Final Girls & Cinema Survivors" digital series. In 2019, as a part of a series of
horror movie Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, ap ...
poster
variant cover In comic books, a variant cover (sometimes variant edition) refers to an issue of a comic book printed with multiple covers, each with unique cover art. The first comic book marketed with a variant cover was the 1986 first issue of '' The Man of St ...
s, visual artist Yasmine Putri created a piece for the ''
DCeased ''DCeased'' is a six-issue comic book miniseries published by DC Comics from May to October 2019. It was created by writer Tom Taylor and the artistic team including penciler Trevor Hairsine and inker Stefano Guadiano. The story takes place in a ...
'' #2 that featured Poison Ivy as Nancy and
Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...
as Freddy in a homage to the original poster for ''
A Nightmare on Elm Street ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' is a 1984 American supernatural slasher film written and directed by Wes Craven and produced by Robert Shaye. It is the first installment in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' franchise and stars Heather Langenkamp ...
'' (1984).


Characterization

Nancy's characterization, along with Langenkamp's performance, has received praise. American literary critic
John Kenneth Muir John Kenneth Muir (born December 3, 1969) is an American literary critic. As of 2022, he has written thirty reference books in the fields of film and television, with a particular focus on the horror and science fiction genres. Biography Born ...
highlighted her intelligence and insightfulness for her original appearance. Muir describes her dysfunctional home life as attributing to her preparedness and courage to face the dark truth (
Freddy Krueger Freddy Krueger () is a fictional character and the primary antagonist in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' film series. He was created by Wes Craven and made his debut in Craven's ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' (1984) as the malevolent spirit ...
). He attests her turning her back on him in the end counters against her character trait of facing things. In a 2011 thesis, writer Kyle Christensen wrote that Nancy is one of the more strong representations of feminism in cinema. He cites her interactions with several male characters, noting she is not submissive to any of them and is, therefore, self-reliant and in control of her sexuality, unlike many other popular heroines within the genre. Professor Carol J. Clover, the creator of the "final girl" theory, describes Nancy as the "grittiest of the Final Girls" in her 1992 non-fiction book ''
Men, Women, and Chainsaws ''Men, Women, and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film'' is a non-fiction book by American academic Carol J. Clover, published in 1992. The book is a cultural critique and investigation of gender in slasher films and the appeal of horror ...
''. Clover's inclusion of Nancy in this theory, however, has been both agreed with and challenged. Writer Shannon Keating states she surpasses the stereotypes of this trope coined by Clover and refers to Nancy as Freddy's equal in audience popularity. Similarly, writer Don Sumner dismisses Nancy's association to this trope, analyzing her as an antithesis to it despite following the chaste aspects of it. Sumner states the victimization of women in horror films does not apply to Nancy due to her proactive nature. Sumner states that because of this character trait, she broke the mold for horror heroines. Psychologist Kelly Bulkeley compares Nancy to
Dorothy Gale Dorothy Gale is a fictional character created by American author L. Frank Baum as the protagonist in many of his ''Oz'' novels. She first appears in Baum's classic 1900 children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and reappears in most of its ...
in ''The Wizard of Oz'' in that they both find their inner strength within their dreams to conquer what's troubling them in the real world. Author Barbara Creed highlights the dysfunctional relationship that Nancy has with her parents and how her intense yearning for parental love leads to her demise in ''A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors''. Film critic
James Berardinelli James Berardinelli (born September 25, 1967) is an American film critic and former engineer. His reviews are mainly published on his blog ''ReelViews.'' Approved as a critic by the aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, he has published two collections of r ...
writes that ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' is Nancy's story rather than Freddy's and attests similarities to
Sigourney Weaver Susan Alexandra "Sigourney" Weaver (; born October 8, 1949) is an American actress. A figure in science fiction and popular culture, she has received various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Gram ...
as
Ellen Ripley Ellen Louise Ripley, often referred to simply as Ripley, is a fictional Character (arts), character and protagonist of the Alien (franchise), ''Alien'' film series, played by American actress Sigourney Weaver. The character earned Weaver worldwide ...
in ''
Alien Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...
'' (1979) due to her resourcefulness.


Notes


References


Further reading

* * * * * * *


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Nancy A Nightmare on Elm Street (franchise) characters Characters created by Wes Craven Fictional parapsychologists Fictional diarists Fictional waiting staff Fictional characters from Ohio Film characters introduced in 1984 Teenage characters in film Final girls Fictional insomniacs Fictional victims of child sexual abuse