10 Horror Movie Heroes Who Became Smarter In The Sequel

Scream's Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) is certainly one of the smartest protagonists of any major horror franchise, and is actually shown to become ever-smarter over the course of the series.

If you can excuse some of her iffier decision-making in Scream 2 - namely, going back to unmask Ghostface following the car crash - Sid constantly learns from her prior near-death experiences.

For instance, in Scream 3 Sidney decides that being stalked by two pairs of deranged murderers is enough for one lifetime and moves to an undisclosed location in remote California, where only her closest associates have her phone number.

Sure, she lives as a recluse, but she has a peaceful life while doing meaningful work as a crisis counselor for women.

By the time Scream 4 rolls around, Sidney feels decidedly better-equipped to take down her cousin Jill (Emma Roberts) in the climax, refusing to be caught off-guard by "one last scare" and reflexively shooting her dead when she attempts a last stand.

In the fifth movie, Sidney has entirely moved on from Woodsboro and started a family, yet is still shown to harbour exemplary survival skills, even hanging up on Ghostface mid-call this time around.

But it's in Scream VI where Sid demonstrates her greatest smarts of all, straight-up refusing to help with the Ghostface situation in New York City, even if this was ultimately dictated by a salary dispute between Neve Campbell and Paramount.

While it's likely that Sidney will eventually return in a future Scream film, at present she's living her best life and not allowing herself to be dragged back into the fray out of a misguided sense of obligation.