History Characters / ANightmareOnElmStreet

->"When I was alive, I might have been a little naughty, but after they killed me, I became something much, much worse. The stuff nightmares are made of."

* [[spoiler: BroughtDownToNormal: At the end of FreddyVsJasonVsAsh: Nightmare Warriors.]]

->"Why are you screaming? I haven't even cut you yet."

This version of Freddy was a gardener at Badham Pre-School, who was loved by all the kids there. He was also a child molester who used his position to have his way with the children. After the parents found out, they chased him into an abandoned warehouse and burned him alive. Years later he returns to kill all those who attended the pre-school except Nancy, as he has [[AndIMustScream different plans for her]].

** This troper's favorite line:

* CompleteMonster: Er, where shall we start...?!

* NeutralEvil

* StalkerWithACrush: He comes across like this, wanting Nancy all by himself and killing anyone that gets in his way.

* [[spoiler: BroughtDownToNormal: At the end of FreddyVsJasonVsAsh.]]

* PaedoHunt: In the original film and ''Freddy vs. Jason'', its strongly implies but does not state outright that Freddy is a pedophile in addition to being a child killer. WesCraven originally wanted to make him one, but in the end decided not to in order not to be accused of exploiting then recent news headlines about pedophiles at day cares, et al.

* NeverSleepAgain

* BigBag: Naturally. However, he was possibly TheDragon to the [[BiggerBad Dream Demons]] since they are the ones that gave him powers. Though he cuts his ties to them in the comic series FreddyVsJasonVsAsh and becomes the BigBad once more.

* FreudianExcuse: In ''Freddy's Dead'', the filmmakers try to explain away his evilness by giving him a horrifically awful childhood. His mother(who was a nun) gave birth to him only after being raped repeatedly by one hundred patients at a mental asylum she worked at. His adopted father was a sleazy pimp who beat him up daily(and who Freddy later murdered). He was bullied by kids at school, and gave signs of being a textbook sociopath by killing the classroom hamster, for which he never punished for or got help with. Then he shuffled through life as an adult from one low paying job to another, until he decided to express his rage at life by killing kids.

* RealityWarper

** In the first movie, Nancy manages to hold onto Freddy and drag him into the real world, from then which she leads him through her booby trapped laden house and has him set on fire (Freddy hates fire since he was burned to death). She manages to somehow survive the first movie's [[CruelTwistEnding Cruel Twist]] GainaxEnding when she appeared in third movie(''Dream Warriors''), where she led some of Freddy's other victims into facing him head on (but she sadly died in that one).

* FirstGrayHair: She gets one in ''New Nightmare'' due to the overwhelming stress of Freddy crossing over into the real world.

* OverdrawnAtTheBloodBank: When Glen is sucked into his bed by Freddy and killed, gallons of blood(far more than what the human body contains) suddenly spew out from it like a blood fountain.

This version of Freddy was a gardener at Badham Pre-School, who was loved by all the kids there. He was also a child molester who used his position to have his way with the children. After the parents found out, they chased him into an abandoned warehouse and burned him alive. Years later he returns to kill all those who attended the pre-school except Nancy, as he has [[AndIMustScream different plans for her]].

* PaedoHunt: However, the remake explicitly makes him out to be one after a lot of misdirection.

* StalkerWithACrush: As pointed out by {{Phelous}}, the remake comes across like this, wanting Nancy all by himself and killing anyone that gets in his way.

!Freddy Krueger

-->'''Freddy''': (Brandishes claws) ''This'' is God!

* MeanCharacterNiceActor: Robert Englund and Jackie Earle Haley.

* NighInvulnerability: [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], because he's dead(no body to feel pain with). Even when he's pulled into the real world, he laughes off getting impaled through the stomach and getting the crap beaten out of him by Jason Voorhees.

* PaedoHunt: The first series of films strongly implies but does not state outright that Freddy is a pedophile in addition to being a child killer(Wes Craven originally wanted to make him one, but in the end decided not to in order not to be accused of exploiting then recent news headlines about pedophiles at day cares, et al). The remake with Jackie Earle Haley explicitly makes him one though.

** In the first movie, Nancy manages to hold onto Freddy and drag him into the real world, from then which she leads him through her booby trapped laden house and has him set on fire(Freddy hates fire since he was burned to death). She manages to somehow survive the first movie's [[CruelTwistEnding Cruel Twist]] GainaxEnding when she appeared in third movie(''Dream Warriors''), where she led some of Freddy's other victims into facing him head on (but she sadly died in that one).

* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome

** In the first movie, Nancy manages to hold onto Freddy and drag him into the real world, from then which she leads him through her booby trapped laden house and has him set on fire(Freddy hates fire since he was burned to death). She manages to somehow survive the first movie's OuterLimitsTwist GainaxEnding when she appeared in third movie(''Dream Warriors''), where she led some of Freddy's other victims into facing him head on(but she sadly died in that one).

* BadassNormal: In the first movie, Nancy manages to hold onto Freddy and drag him into the real world, from then which she leads him through her booby trapped laden house and has him set on fire(Freddy hates fire since he was burned to death). She manages to somehow survive the first movie's OuterLimitsTwist GainaxEnding when she appeared in third movie(''Dream Warriors''), where she led some of Freddy's other victims into facing him head on(but she sadly died in that one).

[Played by: Robert Englund-]

'''Freddy Krueger'''

* BadassDecay: YourMileageMayVary. Freddy ''never'' joined the good guys(who would want him?), but as the series went on, he became quite the jokester, and became much more goofy and playful with people's dream sequences than he was in the first few films. This came to a head in ''Freddy's Dead'', where he turned someone's dream into a {{Nintendo}} game, where you can tell he's having a great time.
* ChildByRape: He's "The Bastard Son Of 100 Maniacs".
* CompleteMonster: Oh boy...
* EvilMakesYouUgly: [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], because he was burned to death.
* FauxAffablyEvil: Of all the movie monsters to come out of the late 1970's/1980's period, Freddy is perhaps the most entertaining to watch.
* FreudianExcuse: In ''Freddy's Dead'', the filmmakers try to explain away his evilness by giving him a horrifically awful childhood. His mother(who was a nun) gave birth to him only after being raped repeatedly by one hundred patients at a mental asylum she worked at. His adopted father was a sleazy pimp who beat him up daily(and who Freddy later murdered). He was bullied by kids at school, and gave signs of being a textbook sociopath by killing the classroom hamster, for which he never punished for or got help with. Then he shuffled through life as an adult from one low paying job to another, until he decided to express his rage at life by killing kids.

* MisaimedFandom: Who would have thought that a child molesting, serial killing, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking bad joke telling]] CompleteMonster could be so popular?

'''Nancy Thompson/ Heather Lagenkamp'''

* BadassNormal: In the first movie, Nancy manages to hold onto Freddy and drag him into the real world, from then which she leads him through her booby trapped laden house and has him set on fire(Freddy hates fire since he was burned to death). She manages to somehow survive the first movie's OuterLimitsTwist GainaxEnding when she appeared in third movie(''Dream Warriors''), where she led some of Freddy's other victims into facing him head on(but she sadly died in that one). In the ''New Nightmare'' continuity(where she's actually Heather Lagenkamp, an actress who is famous for playing Nancy Thompson), she actually manages to flat out ''beat'' the [[EldritchAbomination entity]] that is taking on the form of Freddy Krueger after the movies stopped being produced.

'''Glen Lantz'''

* RetroactiveRecognition: This was the first movie JohnnyDepp played in.

* NighInvulnerablity: [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], because he's dead(no body to feel pain with). Even when he's pulled into the real world, he laughes off getting impaled through the stomach and getting the crap beaten out of him by Jason Voorhees.

* NighInvulnurable: [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], because he's dead(no body to feel pain). Even when he's pulled into the real world, he laughes off getting impaled through the stomach and getting the crap beaten out of him by Jason Voorhees.

* VillainoutValour: During FreddyVsJason, Freddy puts up a good fight against the superstrong Jason Voorhees even when he's technically just a weak, disfigured, physical ghost [[BuffySpeak thing]] when not in the Dream World.

* ClothesMakeTheMonster

* ChaoticEvil

* EvillyAffable: Of all the movie monsters to come out of the late 1970's/1980's period, Freddy is perhaps the most entertaining to watch.

* ManipulativeBastard: He sets off the event's of FreddyVsJason by posing as the mother of {{Film/Friday The 13th}} villain Jason Voorhee in order to trick Jason into resurrecting from the dead once again and heading for Freddy's hometown of Springwood, Ohio. Freddy banks on Jason's inevitable killing spree being blamed on Freddy by the town residents(if no one remembers Freddy, he can't harm anyone), and he is proven correct.

* ManipulativeBastard: He sets off the event's of FreddyVsJason by posing as {{Film/FridayThe13th}} Jason Voorhee's mother]] in Jason's dreams in order to trick Jason into resurrecting from the dead once again and heading for Freddy's hometown of Springwood, Ohio. Freddy banks on Jason's inevitable killing spree being blamed on Freddy by the town residents(if no one remembers Freddy, he can't harm anyone), and he is proven correct.

* ManipulativeBastard: He sets off the event's of FreddyVsJason by posing as [[FridayTheThirteenth Jason Voorhee's mother]] in Jason's dreams in order to trick Jason into resurrecting from the dead once again and heading for Freddy's hometown of Springwood, Ohio. Freddy banks on Jason's inevitable killing spree being blamed on Freddy by the town residents(if no one remembers Freddy, he can't harm anyone), and he is proven correct.

* TypeCasting: The first Nightmare On Elm Street forever branded Robert Englund as a go to guy for horror movie roles. Previously, he was best known for portraying a lovable alien called Willie on the 1983 TV miniseries {{V}}.

* FreudianExcuse: In ''Freddy's Dead'', they try to explain away his evilness by giving him a horrifically awful childhood. His mother(who was a nun) gave birth to him only after being raped repeatedly by one hundred patients at a mental asylum she worked at. His adopted father was a sleazy pimp who beat him up daily(and who Freddy later murdered). He was bullied by kids at school, and gave signs of being a textbook sociopath by killing the classroom hamster, for which he never got help. Then he shuffled through life from one low paying job to another, until he decided to express his rage at life by killing kids.

* PaedoHunt: The first series of films strongly implies but does not state outright that Freddy is a pedophile in addition to being a child killer(Wes Craven originally wanted to make him one, but in the end decided that he didn't want to be accused of exploiting then recent news headlines about pedophiles at day cares and et al). The remake with Jackie Earle Haley explicitly makes him one though.

* TallDarkAndSnarky