Freddy Krueger, played by Robert Englund, is one of the deadliest slashers in horror movie history, but even his intended prey sometimes survives. Accurately dubbed The Springwood Slasher, after the town he prowls like a predator, A Nightmare on Elm Street's Freddy is an extremely dangerous foe, and if he's after someone, they're likely to end up a diced up corpse pretty soon. That's what makes the characters who survive his attack all the more remarkable, either through cunning and determination, or simply getting really lucky.
Freddy doesn't fail on many of his deadly missions, spurred on by both the rage over being burned alive by Springwood's vengeful parents, and his sick and twisted desire to do awful things to teens and children. That was of course taken to a nauseating extreme in the woefully misguided 2010 remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street, which saw talented actor Jackie Earle Haley try really hard to keep the film afloat via an interesting Freddy performance.
Presented below is a breakdown of who survived Freddy Krueger's nocturnal assault in each A Nightmare on Elm Street film, along with noting where applicable where a survivor went on to die in a future sequel. That's the thing about cheating death, it doesn't last forever.
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Unlike the Halloween and Friday the 13th movies, the body counts in the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise have never been particularly high. Still, Freddy managed to knock off Nancy's boyfriend Glen, her best friend Tina, Tina's boyfriend Rod, and even Nancy's mom. The only two major characters to survive were Nancy herself (Heather Langnkamp), and her father Donald Thompson (John Saxon). The ending makes things really confusing, but future movies confirmed that only those two survived among the Wes Craven film's main cast.
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985)
As with the first film, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 - which has become famous for its rampant gay overtones and for just being plain weird - has two major characters surviving a few rounds with Freddy. Those are Jesse Walsh (Mark Patton, who has since come out as gay in real life) and his love interest Lisa (Kim Myers, a dead ringer for Meryl Streep). On the minor end, Jesse's parents and little sister survive, as does Lisa's friend Kerry, assuming the final scare is just a nightmare, which it seems to be.
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 is definitely the best Freddy sequel, and it introduces the titular Dream Warriors, a group of teens who have dream powers. Sadly, most of them get offed in brutal fashion by a stronger than ever Freddy. Surviving the sequel are Kristen Parker (Patricia Arquette), Joey (Rodney Eastman), Kincaid (Ken Sagoes), and Dr. Neil Gordon (Craig Wasson), after laying Freddy (temporarily) to rest. This marked the return of Nancy and Donald Thompson, who both met the business end of Freddy's knives, knocking them out in round two.
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)
Keeping up the spirit of returning to Elm Street long enough to die are Dream Warriors trio Kristen (now played by Tuesday Knight), Joey, and Kincaid. The lead survivors of The Dream Master are new final girl Alice Johnson (Lisa Wilcox), and her love interest Dan (Danny Hassel). Alice's emotionally abusive alcoholic father also lives, for some reason. Thankfully, he gets better in the next film.
A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989)
And with A Nightmare on Elm Street 5, Alice Johnson became the first and only major character in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise to survive two encounters with Freddy Krueger. This is made all the more impressive by the fact that she did it with child, although father to be Dan doesn't survive. Alice's friend Yvonne (Kelly Jo Minter), also makes it through the credits alive, as does Alice's now reformed dad.
Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)
If it weren't for A Nightmare on Elm Street 2, Freddy's Dead would easily be the weirdest movie in the franchise, although it's still probably the silliest. There are multiple major survivors though, starting with Freddy's daughter Maggie (Lisa Zane), who gets the honor of killing him off temporarily. Tough but damaged abuse survivor Tracy (Lezlie Deane), also makes it out alive, as does the sage-like Doc (Yaphet Kotto). Of course, The Final Nightmare was not at all that.
Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994)
Now comes Wes Craven's New Nightmare, Freddy's trip out of movie land and into the real world. Heather Langenkamp, this time battling Freddy as herself, gets the last laugh for Nancy by winning. In doing so, she also saves her son Dylan (Miko Hughes). Other major characters who survive include John Saxon, Wes Craven, and even Robert Englund, as themselves.
Freddy vs. Jason (2003)
After over a decade in development hell, Freddy vs. Jason saw both slashers escape from actual Hell for some more slicing and dicing fun. The two lead survivors are Lori (Monica Keena), and her boyfriend Will (Jason Ritter). It could be argued - and has been - that Jason Voorhees himself is a survivor of Freddy Krueger, since he ends up carrying Freddy's severed head. However, since Jason has technically been dead since Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, he's disqualified. Zombies, making things more complicated since 1968.
A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)
Ah, the 2010 Nightmare on Elm Street remake, one of the worst to emerge from the horror remake trend. It's a pointless film, copying a lot wholesale from the original, and making awful small changes. The micro-naps idea is at least cool. Anyway, Nancy (Rooney Mara) survives just like Langenkamp did in the original, although this time her love interest Quentin (Kyle Gallner) lives too. Freddy is not in fact Nancy's boyfriend now. The ending is just as confusing as the original, but is probably just a nightmare, meaning Nancy's mom is still alive. Hopefully Freddy returns for a new movie soon, as this can't be the way he goes out.