There have been many classic supernatural characters that have made their mark in the horror genre, such as Dracula or the Wolfman. But as the genre continued to evolve with slasher films, it seemed like the supernatural has taken a backseat during the '70s and '80s. However, that all changed with The Nightmare On Elm Street, with its villain of Freddy Krueger.
A seemingly unstoppable force of nature who kills his victims in his sleep, Freddy became so popular that he easily became many fans' favorite horror monsters. Of course, there are some things that newcomers may not know about the character. Here are 10 facts about the famous Springwood Slasher.
Wes Craven Named Freddy After A School Bully
When Wes Craven first created Freddy Krueger, many things from the real world and his own life brought the nightmare to life. Some of the small but important influences include Nosferatu (1922) and a disfigured homeless man Craven once saw. However, the name "Freddy Krueger" is far more innocent and personal than anyone would assume.
Back when he was only 11 years old, Craven was bullied by a schoolmate named Fred Krueger. This childhood event influenced the name of the character and stuck around for the longest time, though it was subtly changed to "Freddy" instead of "Fred."
There's A Scientific Logic To Freddy's Look
One of the most interesting facts about Freddy Krueger is his design. The perfect combination of a fedora, gloved hand, and striped sweater may look gaudy on paper but in execution, it was genius. However, this get-up's color scheme isn't simply a creative choice, but rather a cool factoid on Wes Craven's part.
This is because he chose Freddy's colors based off of an article from Scientific American, which said that the colors red and green were the most difficult to perceive. This perfectly fit Freddy, given how vast his control of the nightmare world really is.
He Hangs His Gloved Hand Low Because It's Heavy
When A Nightmare On Elm Street was first introduced to viewers, Freddy Krueger was memorable thanks to his appearance. His gloved hand, which was inspired by Wes Craven's cat, helped imply that Freddy had a long reach within the shadows of the dream world. Even Freddy just standing with his gloved hand hanging lower than his free one became an iconic image, though this was born out of necessity than intimidation.
The idea of having the gloved hand hanging low was purely accidental since Freddy's actor -- Robert Englund -- found the glove too heavy to swing around or pose with. Nonetheless, this laid the foundations for Freddy's iconic pose.
His Original Screentime Was Deliberately Kept Under 10 Minutes
Despite being the main antagonist of the original A Nightmare On Elm Street, Freddy only appeared for a total of about 7 minutes at best. There is a strong reason behind this, though, as the filmmakers wanted to make the character very dangerous, scary and also unknown. Needless to say, it worked.
Although the character showed up more often over the course of the sequels since he arguably became its protagonist, it really does illustrate just how frightening Freddy Krueger was originally meant to be.
His Abilities Were Inspired By Real-Life Events
When Wes Craven and his team were first creating Freddy Krueger, they took heavy inspiration of an event that happened in real-life in order to create his powers.
According to Craven, it was inspired by a series of deaths that were detailed within the Los Angeles Times. These were a result of various people suffering from their nightmares and dying within their sleep. This helped lay the foundations for Freddy Krueger as a dream demon and cemented him as one of the most dangerous horror monsters of all time.
He Has 3 Distinct Incarnations
Though his name stayed the same, there are really three different Freddy Kruegers. First is the original Freddy Krueger (portrayed by Robert Englund), the one that everyone is familiar with who slowly evolved from a mere boogeyman to a darkly humorous killer. Next is the one from Wes Craven's New Nightmare, who acts differently even if it's still Englund in the costume. This is because this Freddy is more the manifestation of an author's demons rather than a slasher villain. The New Nightmare Freddy is often overlooked due to his movie's cult status.
Finally, there was the version from the 2010 remake/reboot portrayed by Jackie Earle Haley. This Freddy was considerably darker, menacing and given a sort-of tragic backstory. Almost everything about this new Freddy was hated by Nightmare fans, though Haley's performance was one of its very few redeeming qualities.
He Appeared In Mortal Kombat 9
The more popular a character becomes, the more inevitable it is that they'd either cameo in a video game or get one themselves. Freddy Krueger is no exception, although his video game outings during the NES era wasn't exactly the greatest. However, he was able to appear in some cool crossovers.
One of them is the 2011 franchise soft reboot Mortal Kombat, where Freddy battled gaming icons like Liu Kang and Scorpion. The inherent brutality of the Mortal Kombat franchise proved to be the perfect match for Freddy and his existence eventually led to other movie characters being brought into the Mortal Kombat series, like the Predator, RoboCop, and The Terminator.
His Glove Appeared In Other Horror Films
The Nightmare On Elm Street franchise has become an icon in both horror and general pop culture. Arguably, all of this is thanks to Freddy Krueger as a character and his iconic bladed glove that has since gone on to score more movie cameos than Freddy himself.
For starters, the glove appeared in Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday, where an offscreen Freddy drags Jason's mask to Hell. This established that Friday the 13th and Elm Street shared the same universe, leading to Freddy vs. Jason. The glove also appeared in Evil Dead II inside a tool shed and even in Bride Of Chucky, where it is inside an evidence locker.
He Became A Theme Park Attraction
Any franchise that gets insanely popular has a high chance of putting their trademark on other forms of media including (but not limited to) books, comics or music videos. However, some are lucky enough to have their own ride in an amusement park or their own haunted house.
This is shown back in the late '80s where Freddy appeared during the Six Flags Fright Fest where he had his own haunted house called "Freddy's Nightmare: The Haunted House On Elm Street," for two years. Later on, he appeared with fellow killer Jason Voorhees during Universal Sutdio's Halloween Horror Nights 17 and 25.
He's A Metaphor For Child Neglect & Subconscious Fears
Freddy Krueger, as a character, has often been described as terrifying. This is because of what he was during his life as a child murderer and then as a dream demon, where he killed victims within their sleep. However, there are some arguably more tangible fears that the Springwood Slasher also represents.
According to Robert Englund, Freddy is supposed to represent the children's neglect at the hands of their apathetic parents and their own personal subconscious fears. Considering everything that the teenagers have to go through in the Elm Street movies -- from stubbornly ignorant adults to Freddy turning their insecurities into reality -- this makes a disturbing amount of sense.