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DISCLAIMER: I do not own Friday the 13th or Halloween, either the films or comics. If you are a fan of horror films, especially slasher films, I highly recommend the first Halloween film and the first few Friday the 13th films.
Deep in the woods in the dead of night, a small truck made its way down a dark road that hadn’t been used in many years. Various branches and twigs scraped against the truck from all sides, while the wheels bounced on deep potholes and fallen branches and stones. Despite the truck groaning in protest, the driver urged it forward, ever so aware of the headlights that dipped into view behind the truck every so often. They were the headlights of the car that was pursuing the truck and had been for hours. The woman in the truck grunted as the truck bounced across yet another obstruction on the road, and she felt a sharp pain followed by a warm wet feeling as the wound in her stomach opened up once again. The wound her pursuer had inflicted with a butcher knife. She heard a groan from the back seat and looked back. Her husband lay in the back, having been seriously wounded by their pursuer earlier.
“John? Are you okay?”
After a moment of silence, John answered, “Molly… I’m so sorry I dragged you into this.”
Molly shook her head. “Don’t be silly, John. I’d be dead if you hadn’t tackled him when you did. And remember it was my choice to come with you when you went into hiding. We just have to deal and hope to God this works.”
As she said this, the road opened up, and the truck came out into an open clearing, the truck’s headlights reflecting off a large surface of water in front of them. They had arrived at Camp Crystal Lake. Molly continued to drive the truck forward away from the road, turning to head towards the cabins she could see.
As she drove, John asked, “How do we get this guy to attack Michael and not us?”
Molly answered, “Jason Voorhees usually waits a while before attacking. But if we leave, he won’t pursue us. We’re not invading his home; we’re just making a delivery.”
As she said this, the car Michael had stolen emerged from the road, speeding up and heading straight for them. As this happened, Molly gritted her teeth.
“Come to mama, you sick freak.”
As the car headed for them, Molly switched the truck into first gear and slammed on the brakes while she and John braced themselves, allowing the car to slam into the back of the truck. The back of the truck was caved in, but so was the front of the car. When this happened Molly heard a hissing sound which she knew meant the car’s engine was seriously damaged. She turned to make sure John had fared as well as she had and was relieved to see that he was still curled up in the back seat, although he was visibly scared.
“What are you doing?” He asked.
Molly put the truck into reverse and backed into the car, further caving in the front of it and pushing the smaller vehicle back.
“A truck with all-wheel drive can still get us back to the city with its backend busted. The truck’s not legally roadworthy, but it’ll still get us out of here. A car with a destroyed engine on the other hand, that thing isn’t going anywhere unless something’s towing it. All I have to do is finish destroying the engine.”
As she finished speaking, the back of the car slammed into a tree, further crippling it, and she shifted the truck into first gear again to turn it around. The car’s wheels spun, but it was a rear-wheel-drive vehicle and its rear wheels had been lifted slightly off the ground by the base of the tree. Molly turned the truck around to face the car, and accelerated into it, slamming the truck head-on into the front of the car, and watching as the front of the car was crushed, while feeling the truck shudder from the impact. Molly then reversed the truck, feeling it sputtering as she moved it. Her truck was definitely going to be sent to the garbage dump, but it would get her and John back to the city. The car on the other hand was now useless. Molly shifted the truck back into first gear and drove as fast as she could away from the camp, heading back down the same road they had come from, determined to separate Michael Myers from her and John by as much distance as possible.
Seeing his targets escaping, Michael continued trying to move the car for several seconds before concluding that the car wasn’t moving anymore. As he reached this conclusion, the engine affirmed it by pouring out a column of black smoke. Michael broke open the door and climbed out of the car, staring intently at the retreating truck. After a few seconds of silent contemplation, Michael began to simply walk after them, following the truck down the same dark road.
After he had travelled the road for a few minutes, he heard several twigs snapping nearby in the woods. He turned to look, wondering if their truck had failed and they had attempted to hide in the woods. For a few seconds he stood still like a statue, staring into the darkness, and when he turned back to the road to continue following them, he saw a tall man in a mask standing in his path further down the road. Michael cocked his head while staring at this other masked man, but quickly decided to keep walking, and simply kill this man first. As Michael advanced, the other masked man did too. Jason stared intently at this invader of his territory. The invader gave off a vibe that was unlike most. He seemed very similar to Freddy Krueger or Jason himself. Jason didn’t like this individual invading his land, even less so than when teenagers did so. Jason tightened his grip on his machete and advanced on Michael.
The two killers advanced until they reached each other and at that moment both of them sprang into action, each drawing a blade and swinging it at the other. Jason’s machete connected with Michael’s chest, cleaving a large hole into it, and then Michael’s butcher knife stabbed into Jason’s chest right up to the handle. Both killers stood for a moment, each waiting for the other to fall. When neither did, they both gripped each other, attempting to crush their enemy. After several seconds of snapping bones, Jason picked Michael up and threw him away, sending through several trees. Michael landed heavily, with several tree branches stabbed through him, but after a few seconds he sat bolt upright, staring intently at Jason, who was walking towards him. Michael stood up while Jason advanced, and by the time Jason reached him Michael was attacking him back. Each of them landed blow after blow on the other, but still neither fell.
After several seconds of this exchange, Jason suddenly took a step back, raising his machete to block Michael’s knife. Jason flicked his wrist, smacking the knife to one side, and swung the machete through Michael’s head, cleaving halfway through his skull. Michael staggered and fell, while Jason stood over him. After a few seconds, Michael sat up yet again, but as soon as he did, Jason swung his machete once more, this time chopping partway through Michael’s neck. Michael was knocked back onto his back again by the force of the swing, but once again stood back up, raising his knife to attack Jason again. Jason then slammed into Michael, gripping his face with his left hand and forcing him to the ground. The two slashers exchanged several more blows now, each holding nothing back in order to destroy the other. Michael’s knife cleaved deep gouges into Jason’s face and torso, while Jason repeatedly hacked away at Michael with his machete. After several seconds of this brutal close combat a telling blow was finally landed, and one of the slashers finally collapsed, never to stand up again. Jason stood over Michael’s body, regarding Michael’s severed head which he held in his left hand. After admiring his trophy for a few seconds, Jason looked down to see Michael’s knife sticking out of his throat. Jason pulled the knife out of himself with his right hand, the same hand he held his machete in, and walked away, still carrying both Michael’s knife and his severed head.
Analysis:
Truthfully, this fight is between two very similar characters, but with one being stronger than the other in basically every category. Everything that makes Michael dangerous, Jason is better at, and even generally meaningless things like the clothes they wear give a small edge to Jason since his hockey mask and heavy clothes give more protection than Michael’s clothes do. Regarding the main factors however, we can directly compare the two villains.
Striking power/strength: Michael’s best feats involve breaking through wooden doors with some effort, and walking straight through a locked glass door. Jason meanwhile shatters wooden doors far more easily and completely, and has even broken through a steel door. As similar as these feats are, Jason’s feats require more force and energy to perform and are often performed more easily.
Speed: Both of them seem similar in this regard at a glance. They both walk slowly and only move fast when swinging their weapons for the most part. However, Jason has two things that give this category to him. One is his apparent travelling speed. In the film Jason Takes Manhattan he is shown to travel across a room in the time it takes his intended victim to glance from one part of the room to another, and soon afterwards he pursues someone up a ladder and easily catches them despite them going up first. The latter seems to be the result of him jumping up the ladder, but that is something Michael has never been shown to do. The other advantage, arguably the more important one, is his reaction speed. In the comics he is able to fight Ash Williams, who in the film Army of Darkness, sometimes called Evil Dead 3, was able to dodge a bullet from a shotgun after it had been fired from a few feet away, which would have required Ash to be able to move at similar speed to the bullet itself. To be able to fight Ash in his prime, Jason has to be able to swing his machete at a similar speed.
Survivability: Both villains are very difficult to kill for a character at their level of power, with both withstanding bullets to the face as well as impalement through the heart. Both have also displayed a regenerative ability, with Michael’s eye returning to normal after Laurie stabbed it with a coat hanger, and Jason regenerating spinal vertebrae after a boat propeller twisted his head sideways and broke his spine. However, Jason has come back from being rotted away to a husk in his grave over the course of several years. All he needed was his heart jump started and this rotted skeleton stood up and resumed his violent ways. This means his body can resume function after having been dead and even rotting for years. He also survives for years chained to a rock in a lake, and is able to return once the chain breaks. While both can kill the other via dismemberment or decapitation, Jason will handle any other wound far better than Michael will.
Weapons: This is an easy category. Even leaving aside Jason’s various weapons from over the years and limiting him to only his machete, a machete is a far better weapon than Michael’s butcher knife. In truth, a butcher knife makes for a very poor weapon; it has no guard or pommel, its grip is designed for slow slicing rather than swinging, its tip widens straight away resulting in a weapon that isn’t good for piercing, and its blade is not particularly strong. While the machete isn’t a particularly good weapon either, it does have a guard and a grip designed for swinging the blade by, its blade is designed to be heavy so as to hack through tree branches and the like, and as a result the blade is designed to be sturdy. It’s not very good for thrusting but it is indeed good for slashing. In addition, it also clearly gives Jason a longer reach than Michael’s butcher knife, especially when combined with the fact that Jason is taller.
Tactics: Neither of these two is a good tactician by any means, but Michael has never even been shown to block an attack. He walks slowly and lets things hit him. Jason has blocked several attacks and has used various weapons including harpoon guns, and he has shown an ability to throw his weapons as well, another thing Michael never thinks to do.