10 Great Horror Movies With Annoying Final Girls

Battle Royale is a highly influential Japanese film and the precursor to The Hunger Games. The movie is filled with a colorful cast of characters, all of whom have well-written backstories and motivations. One of the principal figures is Noriko Nakagawa, who serves as our final girl.

But in a film filled with memorable heroes and villains such as Kawada, Mitsuo, and Kiriyama, our heroine - along with the male lead, Shuya - often feel plain compared to their more interesting classmates. It doesn't help that our final girl isn't given enough screen time for her backstory and, as a result, she often feels underdeveloped.

Sure, Noriko has the traditional qualities of a final girl - like being innocent and pure - but while other examples of the trope are strong female leads, Noriko is more of a damsel rather than an active character. The males, including the villainous Kitano, all exist to protect her, and because of this, a lot of fans feel like Noriko does not deserve to survive the events of Battle Royale.

Even by the time she finally grows a spine and kills Kitano, many would claim Noriko's development was a little too late.