Death shown in the novel Final Destination: Spring Break.
Death is the antagonist in the Final Destination series, coming in the form of overly complex freak accidents (similar to a Rube Goldberg creation) to kill off the survivors of a major accident in the beginning, in the order that they would have died in the original accident; if somebody intervenes in a person's death, then Death would skip that person and move on to the next before returning to that person to complete the rift in its design, although the order has been shown to reverse itself in Final Destination 2.
In the series, Death is never physically shown but it's presence is known when there is a sudden large gust of wind or when it casts a large shadow.
The series
There are also a few cases where someone's death comes before (or after) another victim on the list for an unexplained reason (Gunter Nonhoff and Eric Prescott most notably). Death would usually leave clues as to how the next person will die, it's most common form being a brief gust of spontaneous wind. Other secondary clues range from pictures or brief images or signs or an odd formation of something on the ground. The clues could be about anything on how they die (i.e. the word "EYE" for Evan Lewis, a series of cracks in the ground that look like a skeletal hand for Hal Ward, the song "Rocky Mountain High" for various situations, or nothing but a dark, black shadow that appears out of nowhere).
Death also has a handful of servants who unintentionally (in some cases on purpose) kill a person next on Death's list. Additionally, Death does not appear to be above killing others to hasten its acquisition of survivors, with Tom Gaines theorizing the entity is perfectly willing to "sneak souls" when the opportunity to do so arises.There have been mixed theories in what Death will do if the survivor with premonitions deliberately kills him/herself despite not being next on the list. Ian had a theory that, if the last in Death's list (the premonitionist) kills himself, It would ruin death's plans, since the survivor isn't next to die. It would throw Death's list away and save everyone else still alive from the accident.
In an alternate ending in The Final Destination, Nick kills himself, ruining Death's design. However, at the very end of it, the final two survivors of the McKinley Speedway accident died at exactly the same moment, meaning Death will just kill the rest of the survivors without hesitation based on the design they were supposed to die.
In the alternate ending of Final Destination, Alex saves Clear from an electric wire on the front of the car, therefore, he was caught on fire, and died ruining Death's design. After this, Clear and Carter both lived the rest of their lives in peace, meaning that the final survivors of Flight 180 actually defeated Death. It was not clear on what Death will actually do if this situation happened, since these situations only happened in alternate endings.
It should be noted however that in Final Destination 3 it took five months after Ian's death for Train 081 to happen meaning that in the alternate ending of Final Destination the reason Clear and Carter survived is because the scene showed could have been before five months passed or because Clear gave birth to a baby, as it was mentioned in Final Destination 2 that if someone who was supposed to die in an accident but survived and gave birth all the remaining survivors would live, William Bludworth himself said that "only new life defeats Death".
Victims
Being the personification of death, Death is personally responsible for most of the deaths in Final Destination series. This list shows his victims, in chronological order.
| Name | Cause of Death | Film | On Screen | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Bay Bridge Victims and bus driver | Various: died trying to escape North Bay Brigde collapse. | Final Destination 5 | Yes | Shown in detail in vision, later partially shown from afar |
| Hipper | Severe Organ Damage: stabbed in the chest | Final Destination 5 | No | Deleted scene |
| Candice Hooper | Severe Cervical and Spinal trauma: snapped in half, breaking her back and neck, after a fall during gymnastic training. | Final Destination 5 | Yes | |
| Isaac Palmer | Decapitation/Crushing: got his head crushed by a budha statue. | Final Destination 5 | Yes | Prior to his death, he fell from a table, during an acupunture session, while trying to escape a starting fire. The needles were driven into his flesh, due to the drop. An explosion, knocked him against the wall, which in turn caused the statue to fall. |
| Olivia Castle | Falling: slipped on bead eye, falling through a window, crashing into a car | Final Destination 5 | Yes | Prior to her death, her eye was lasered by a malfunctioned laser surgery machine, searing both her eye (blinding her in that eye) and her hand. After her fall, her eye was slammed out of the socket and a car drove over it. |
| Dennis Lapman | Severe Head Trauma: a wrench was launched in his face, at eye level. | Final Destination 5 | Yes | |
| Flight 180 female attendant | Explosion/Incineration: died when the plane exploded. | Final Destination 5 | Yes | The disaster that kills her, is the plane disaster from Final Destination. |
| Molly Harper | Bisection: sucked out of a plane, bisected on one of the tail wings. | Final Destination 5 | Yes | The disaster that kills her, is the plane disaster from Final Destination. |
| Flight 180 victims, Sam Lawton and George Waggner | Explosion/Incineration: died when the plane exploded. | Final Destination 5 and Final Destination | Yes | The disaster that kills her, is the plane disaster from Final Destination. |
| Several people in the bar and Nathan Sears | Explosion/Incineration: died when the plane exploded. | Final Destination 5 | Yes | The disaster that kills them, is the plane disaster from Final Destination. |
| Tod Waggner | Strangulation: slipped on water leaking from the tiolet and fell on the retractable clothing line hanging in the badtub, hanging him. | Final Destination | Yes | This death marks one of the few times, Death covered its tracks, as it retracts the water after Tod's death. |
| Terry Chaney | Blunt Force Trauma: hit facefront with a bus | Final Destination | Yes | |
| Valerie Lewton | Exsanguination/Severe Organ Damage: got her throat slit by a glass shard, from an exploding computer monitor and later stabbed in the chest with a knife, which was driven further when a chair fell. | Final Destination | Yes | Her death was covered up with a gas explosion. |
| William "Billy" Hitchcock | Bisection: a piece of schrapnel hit him in the face, bisecting his head at mouth level. | Final Destination | Yes | Died after Carter cheated Death again. |
| Carter Horton | Blunt Force Trauma: was hit by a huge neon sign that was knocked lose by a bus accident. | Final Destination | Partially | |
| Alex Browning | Severe Head Trauma: died when a loose brick fell on his head. | Between Final Destination and Final Destination 2 | No | Mentioned by Clear Rivers in Final Destination 2 |
| Route 23 Victims | Various: died in a pile-up/car crash | Final Destination 2 | Yes | Shown fully in a vision, partially shown when it really happened. |
| Shaina, Dano, Frankie | Blunt Force Trauma/Explosion: the SUV they were in, was hit in the flank by an 18-wheeler, that shortly after led to an explosion. | Final Destination 2 | Yes | |
| Evan Lewis | Impalement: was impaled through the eye, by a falling ladder. | Final Destination 2 | Yes | |
| Tim Carpenter | Crushing: was crushed under the glass plate, which fell from great height. | Final Destination 2 | Yes | |
| Nora Carpenter | Decapitation: was beheaded after elevator doors trapped her neck and started moving upwards. | Final Destination 2 | Yes | |
| Kat Jennings | Impalement: after a car accident, a plastic pipe impaled the headrest of her seat. When a rescue worker tried to free her, he accidentally activated the airbag, impaling her head on the pipe. | Final Destination 2 | Yes | |
| Rory Peters | Trisection: trisected by razor wire fence, that was blown away by Kat's car exploding. The wire cut his torso into three pieces and cut of his right arm. | Final Destination 2 | Yes | |
| Eugene Dix | Explosion: died when an electrical ignited a leaking oxygen tank, that exploded as a result. | Final Destination 2 | Partially | |
| Clear Rivers | Explosion: caught in the blast that killed Eugene | Final Destination 2 | Yes | Original survivor from Final Destination |
| Brian Gibbons | Explosion: died when the gas barbecue explodedan electrical ignited a leaking oxygen tank, that exploded as a result. | Final Destination 2 | Yes | Brian was orginally saved by Rory from being run over by a news van |
| Devil's Flight Victims, Jason Wise, Carrie Dreyer and Jill | Various: died when the Devil's Flight rollercoaster derailed | Final Destination 3 | Yes | Shown in detail in vision, later partially shown from afar |
| Ashley Freund and Ashlyn Halperin | Immolation/Explosion: were incinerated in malfunctioning tanning beds, in which they were trapped and which eventually exploded | Final Destination 3 | Yes | |
| Frankie Cheeks | Severe Head Trauma: got the back of his head sliced apart by an engine fan. | Final Destination 3 | Yes | |
| Lewis Romero | Decaptitation/Crushing: got his head crushed by falling weight | Final Destination 3 | Yes | |
| Erin Ulmer | Severe Head Trauma/Impalement: fell against a nail gun, which went off against the back of her head, nine times. | Final Destination 3 | Yes | 5 nails were shot so deep, they left through her face and nailed her arm to her face. |
| Perry Malinowski | Impalement: got impaled by a flagpole, launched in the air by a stampeding horse. | Final Destination 3 | Yes | |
| Ian McKinley | Crushing/Dismemberment: was crushed beneath a malfunctioning cherry picker, caused by the fact the cherry picker was hit by firework. | Final Destination 3 | Yes | Ironically, the Cherry Crusher belonged to his family |
| Julie Christensen | Blunt Force Trauma: hit by Train wheel | Final Destination 3 | Yes | Only seen in a new premonition, unavoidable. |
| Kevin Fischer | Shredding: Scraped apart between the train and the tunnel wall. | Final Destination 3 | Yes | Only seen in a new premonition, unavoidable. |
| Metro 081 Victims, Laura and Sean | Mangling: Mangled in the train crash | Final Destination 3 | No | Only seen in a new premonition, unavoidable. |
| Wendy Christensen | Blunt Force Trauma: hit face first by an incoming train | Final Destination 3 | Partially | Only seen in a new premonition, cut away before the real impact, unavoidable. |
| 50 McKinley Speedway Victims | Various: died when cars crashed on the racetrack, launching debris into section 180, which eventually collapsed | The Final Destination | Yes | Shown in detail in vision, later partially shown from afar |
| Cynthia Daniels | Bisection: cut in half by flaming car hood, launched in the public. | The Final Destination | No | Shown in detail in vision, happened for real off-screen |
| Nadia Monroy | Decapitation/Dismemberment: got hit by flaming tire, launched out the stadium, destroying her head and part of the upper body. | The Final Destination | Yes | Her death was the same as in the premonition. |
| Carter Daniels | Explosion: got his foot caught in a in gasoline drenched tow hook, set on fire as the tow wagon drove further, which eventually exploded. | The Final Destination | Yes | |
| Samantha Lane | Severe head trauma: shot in the eye with a rock, propelled by lawn mower. | The Final Destination | Yes | |
| Andy Kewzer | Dismemberment: got hit in the chest by a flying CO2 tank and knocking him through a chain link fence, slicing pieces out of his chest. | The Final Destination | Yes | |
| Hunt Wynorski | Disembowelment: got his intestines sucked out, through his buttocks by the pool drain. | The Final Destination | Yes | |
| Jonathan Groves | Crushing: was crushed under a overfilled bathtub that fell through the ceilling. | The Final Destination | Yes | For a large part of the film, he served as a secret survivor. |
| George Lanter | Blunt Force Trauma: hit by an ambulance | The Final Destination | Yes | |
| Janet Cunningham | Crushing: got run over, breaking both ribs, spinal cord and organs, by the truck that crashed into the coffee shop she, Lori and Nick are sitting. | The Final Destination | Yes | Shown in a X-Ray sequence. |
| Lori Milligan | Cervical Trauma: got her neck broken when being thrown against wall by the truck that crashed into the coffee shop where she, Janet and Nick are sitting. | The Final Destination | Yes | Shown in a X-Ray sequence. |
| Nick O'Bannon | Severe Head trauma: got thrown against the wall, causing his jaw to break as well cause severe skull fracture, by the truck that crashed into the coffee shop where he, Janet and Lori are sitting. | The Final Destination | Yes | Shown in a X-Ray sequence. |