Final girl

"Final girl" refers to a character archetype often utilized in the slasher sub-genre. Also known as the "survivor girl", the Final girl is the would-be victim of a slasher who not only survives the assailant's attack, but is also responsible for defeating him. The psychology behind the Final girl trope implies that the woman can only defeat her opponent by adopting masculine characteristics and killing him with some sort of phallic symbol. The film Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon goes into great detail explaining what the Final girl syndrome is and how it applies to horror films.