Camp Crystal Lake, a cursed land of tragedy, plagued by the killer, Jason Voorhees, but after 4 movies of terror they finally killed off the murderer in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter. When it came time to make another movie, they decided to continue the legend by going with a new non Jason killer in Friday the 13th: A New Beginning, and that killer was Roy Burns! While ultimately afterwards they decided to raise Jason from the dead as a revenant and continue with him onwards, I felt today we should have a look at this underappreciated madman.
Roy Burns was a Paramedic working in Crystal Lake, New Jersey. A quiet and awkward man, Roy secretly had a mentally handicapped son named Joey who lived at the Pinehurst Youth Development Center. One day, another resident of Pinehurst named Vic psychopathically murdered Joey with an Axe, and when Roy was called to collect a body and saw his own son lying brutalized there, something inside him snapped. Enraged at Pinehurst allowing a dangerous lunatic like Vic to be around his son, Roy set out to close that place down forever. Utilizing the legend of the infamous killer Jason Voorhees from a few years prior, Roy dawned a Hockey Mask, with Blue markings instead of Jason’s red, and went on a killing spree. Murdering not just nearly all the residents of Pinehurst, but the surrounding area as well, so it could easily be blamed on Jason and his own motives would be disguised. By the end of the night he had Murdered 17 people, and while he ended up being defeated and killed in the process, he ultimately achieved his goal, Pinehurst was closed forever.
Roy Burns, despite being a Jason Voorhees copycat killer, Ironically has better feats that Jason did at that point, like a Human Jason 2.0. He was strong enough to violently shatter an entire wooden door to pieces in just a single punch, stab repeatedly through metal walls, and flat out tank being crashed into head on by a speeding tractor that launched him several feet away. In terms of speed, Roy was able to decapitate a guy who was riding on a speeding motorcycle, hide in the closet faster than a girl could turn around totally unnoticed, and move so fast he casually ran around a large area, which two of his targets were running for their lives through, and killed a paramedic positioning his body in his car before they got there. Roy also has powerful Stealth abilities, he can maneuver through a home completely undetected and was unable to be detected by violet while they were in the same small cramped room. He also is very skilled at execution, his medical background seems to allow him to know perfectly how to instantly kill someone as most of his victims die before they can even cry out in pain. Lastly, Roy has very high superhuman endurance, being able to keep on running and fighting at full strength even after enduring multiple spike wounds across his stomach, being slashed in the shoulder by a chainsaw and stabbed through the leg.
Also even though he uses a Machete for a lot of his kills to fit the Jason disguise, he actually has a fair arsenal of tools, ranging from, Road Flares, Knives, Axes, Hedgeclippers, Cleavers and even belts. Weaknesses wise would be despite the willingness to use a lot of weapons, Roy has absolutely no long ranged weapons, and has not shown the ability to throw weapons like Jason has. Also Roy is ultimately a Mortal Man, and can be killed by badly damming injuries, which is ultimately why the studio went back to Jason.
Name: Roy Burns
Origin: Friday the 13th (A New Beginning)
Classification: Human Serial Killer
Powers and Abilities: Superhuman physical characteristics, high stealth, superhuman endurance, weapons mastery.
Weaknesses: Mentally Unstable, Distance Weapons, Can be put down by a damming enough injury.
Destructive Capacity: Small Building Level
Range: Melee
Speed: Subsonic
Durability: Small Building Level.
Stamina: High, powered through a long chase scene despite retaining multiple crippling injuries.
Intelligence: High, is a professionally trained Para-Medic, his scheme of framing Jason/Tommy was actively fooling the police.
So how would he do in other verses?
In DC Comics, Roy Burns would be comparable to other low tier serial killers of the verse like Victor Zsasz in terms of physical stats, but would ultimately be above him in terms of his endurance and lethality, especially given his willingness to kill instantly instead of torture. Against JLA members Roy would have a somewhat even fight against low tier members like Tasmanian Devil, but would have to be careful as any low tier member who packs guns or other long range weaponry could kill Roy before he gets a chance.
In Dead Space, Roy would be a boss enemy, having superior power and speed to the vast majority of Necromorphs and would be able to fight evenly with entities like The Hunter and despite the Hunters advantages in regeneration, Roy would more than likely be able to defeat it in a prolonged fight. If Roy uses his stealth correctly he could pose trouble to Issac Clarck himself, though if he doesn't kill him immediately, Issac is more than likely to win with his haxier abilities and long range weaponry.
In the I Know series of slasher movies, Roy would be an extremely deadly threat, while he isn't quite as skilled as The Fisherman, his stats are higher than even his and he can take a lot more punishment before going down. In a head to head fight between Roy and The Fisherman, Roy would likely just overpower him. The only one in the verse who would give Roy Trouble is the Specter Fisherman, who’s teleportation, regeneration and intangibility powers would likely be too much for Roy, though it wouldn’t be impossible for him to win that.
In Resident Evil, Roy would have stats comparable to the elite humans of the series like HUNK, as well as low to mid tier Tyrants and B.O.W. 's. He would easily be able to fight off large squads of zombies and should be able to go head to head against tough foes like Jack Krauser and The Licker. That said in terms of firepower Roy is completely outgunned and could be taken down by foes with guns or using some sort of virus based ability. He could possibly get around this with stealth if he's lucky, but against someone like Wesker or Nemesis it’d be impossible.
And Lastly in the Halloween series, Roy would be a very powerful foe able to take down multiple of Cokran’s robots at once in a head to head fight with his comparable stats yet superior intelligence and fighting ability. He could stop Conal if he utilizes his stealth abilities to do so, and even go head to head against Michael Myers himself in a fight. However, Michael would still almost certainly defeat him if he didn’t have some kinda ace up his sleeve, due to Michael’s impressive regeneration abilities, illusion powers and generally better showings across the board.
Short but interesting how they compare Thor! I am surprised to see that this faux Jason was even stronger then Jason when he was human. He seems to be quite a skilled stealthy opponent for his tier, though the lack of ranged attacks is definitely a hinderance. It's interesting how he can sort of get around that via stealth tactics ala someone like Altair from Assassin's Creed. He doesn't have many abilities but I think you did a good job of laying out the possibilities of what he could do regardless. Your analysis of DC was pretty good though I was especially impressed by how well you thought he would do in Dead Space. Given how much trouble The Hunter gave Isaac, Roy beating him really goes to show just how strong he is for a human. I suppose that is the power of wanting to get revenge for one's loved ones, in particular one's loved ones who were helpless victims, which seems to be a theme in these films. The breadth of your knowledge of horror verses continues to be impressive!
ReplyDeleteGreat blog Thor. Roy Burns seems like a cool horror villain. It was a cool idea for them to do a reverse Jason Voorhees and have the distraught parent take the masked killer role instead of the sadly killed child. There is a nice variety of series represented here from horror movies, horror video games, and of course DC Comics. I was particularly impressed with how well he would do in the more futuristic, space setting of Dead Space, even being a threat to Isaac Clarke himself given the right scenario. I didn't expect him to get that far in DC (even less powerful characters seem to have some crazy skills and abilities in that verse), but I like seeing you talk about characters who he compares well to such as Zsasz and Tasmanian Devil. The Halloween and I Know comparisons were pretty interesting in that he would actually do pretty well until he has to deal with characters with more supernatural abilities like Specter Fisherman and Michael Myers. Just a great analysis; it really shows you have an in-depth knowledge of the character and the verses in question.
ReplyDeleteIf I'm reading this blog, then Halloween isn't over yet! Fantastic idea for a blog bro, 5th Friday always felt underrated. The twist actually got me all those years ago, and Roy made a great stand-in for Jason. I'm kind of hazy on the details these days, so your blog was instrumental in clarifying the differences between these two masked killers (and the similarities).
ReplyDeleteFor a human with no explicit superpowers or supernatural abilities whatsoever, this guy is pretty damn tough. Strong too. He had to be, to convince everyone both in his own universe and in our own watching him, that he was the true Crystal Lake Killer come again. And it worked. Nice that you call out his range limitations as Jason has not only one helluva throwing arm, but has great aim and skill with ranged weapons in general. Roy's focused exclusively on melee, which is a neat contrast. His durability's what impresses me most though. Adrenaline can make a person able to do crazy things but even by those standards his toughness seems extraordinary. Roy's feats exceeding even human Jason's is the cherry on top for this analysis.
The selection of series to compare Roy to was so on point for the season. I didn't think there would be much he could handle in DC, but comparing him to Zsasz was fantastic thinking! And pulling a Jason X and taking Roy to space (Dead Space, that is :P) was an inspired choice. It was pretty cool to see he could throw his weight around with necromorphs. Speaking of throwing his weight around, slasher vs slasher in the I Know verse is right up my alley, and reminds me of that excellent death prediction you wrote. Roy sure would cause chaos if added to that mix. I love Resident Evil and now I want to see Roy vs Krauser, but limit Krauser to just his knife and see who wins. Because yeah, he is totally outgunned with just the normal firearms from that series, let alone more advanced tech.
Halloween. Couldn't ask for a more perfect way to close out the blog. I agree Mike's got this but any man who can go toe to toe with him is worthy of respect and even fear. And Roy's a terror for the rest of the verse. Great blog dude, I love it when you can shine a spotlight on some of the more underappreciated characters and series out there. Here's to a spooky year until next Halloween!
Heavy disagree on the section of: "Ironically has better feats that Jason did at that point." When Roy burns didn't? In Part 4 Jason had shattered a door with his palm, Roy didn't use any "punch" when he did the door feat, he clearly used his shoulder and body, Jason is stronger than Roy by as a human by a lot, Jason threw healthy grown men through a window, Roy threw an elder old man, Jason crushed a man's head and Roy couldn't do that physically, Jason was superior in everyway as either a Human, Zombie, or a Serial Killer.
ReplyDelete"Roy didn't use any "punch" when he did the door feat, he clearly used his shoulder and body,"
DeleteThat is equally true in both senarios, both of them are strong enough to just break through a door by walking and can be argued to do the same by punching since they went through arm first
"Jason is stronger than Roy by as a human by a lot, Jason threw healthy grown men through a window, Roy threw an elder old man"
Thats such a minuscule difference I am surprised it was even brought up to be frank, but at the end of the day this is a Bit feat for both of them, its far less impressive than other feats they have so trying to compare it isn't going to prove anything
"Jason crushed a man's head and Roy couldn't do that physically"
All Evidence from Roy's other feats suggest Roy could Totally do that physically if he tried, crushing someone's head only needs 81 PSI
"That is equally true in both senarios, both of them are strong enough to just break through a door by walking and can be argued to do the same by punching since they went through arm first."
DeleteBut that's not the same equivalency? Palm Vs Shoulder? Jason sounds like he'll be more to punch a Door apart before Roy ever could.
"Thats such a minuscule difference I am surprised it was even brought up to be frank, but at the end of the day this is a Bit feat for both of them, its far less impressive than other feats they have so trying to compare it isn't going to prove anything."
That's a minuscule difference?...literally a difference in weight and the power necessary to do it living or corpse-wise?? You say it's no impressive when it is?? Imagine Throwing a Old Man in his 50s Vs Young Man in his early 20s?? The feat is Massively different and impressive if performed different.
"All Evidence from Roy's other feats suggest Roy could Totally do that physically if he tried, crushing someone's head only needs 81 PSI"
There's literally no feats from the movies or anything else suggesting thay Roy could "Totally" do the same feats as Jason did LOL literally None Known in the F13 Community and that's incorrect it takes these numbers:
It takes PSI: 235 to 1,200 PSI to crush a skull.
It takes Newtons: 12,727 to 65,000 N to crush a skull.
It takes Pounds of Force: 2,860 to 14,613 lbf to crush a skull.
So I don't know where you got 81 PSI from??
Again...Jason is superior to Roy factually from the 1st 3 films as a Human as Jason was taking more damage, showing more strength feats and showing better display of why he's a true killer.
Alright, first of all, dude calm down, this is a discussion about killers from campy 80s slasher movies on a blog i wrote half a decade ago, and if you wanna disagree with me its fine but I'm not gonna stand for being mocked.
DeleteTo give this more actual attention https://youtu.be/rcv1XuW4B4E?si=mrAnmS_m17ddAJ3w&t=220 this does not look like he shoulder charged this door, this looks like he straight Backhanded this door and it easily shattered to pieces as opposed to Jason who looks more like he charged through the door with both arms out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHPCxl1sS08 I am not saying its that big a difference, but it seems clear to me that Roy did so more casually
On to the tossing dudes thing, first and foremost being older doesn't make you weight less, studies show if anything an older person of similar size should weigh more if anything https://www.nutribase.com/wtchartm.html The actor that Roy threw Samuel Vernon Washington was not a small guy, standing 5'11 and weighing over 165 lbs. I can't find solid Data on Paul Kratka but he looks to be roughly 6'1 comparing him to the 5'8 larry zerner who played Shelly. He probably does weigh more but I'd like to point out that when I say its not impressive I don't mean its not impressive compared to a normal person, its not impressive compared to other feats they have such as smashing through doors and stuff. ALSO Roy's throwing people feat could totally be more impressive than Jasons still as the most important thing when calculating this isn't actually throwing the guy at all, its how far you threw them, and we have no idea what distance they threw these two corpses from in both cases.
The 81 PSI is admittedly a number I got from the results of the Peach VS Zelda Death Battle for how much force it takes to shatter the human skull which i just kinda ran with cause I never bothered to check its accuracy. I don't normally blog on characters low powered enough for something like that to be relevant so I didn't need to. But yeah its my bad for not checking. Still though, Shattering a hardwood door with a big slap like he did is still well in excess of crushing a head like a grape.
"Again...Jason is superior to Roy factually from the 1st 3 films as a Human as Jason was taking more damage, showing more strength feats and showing better display of why he's a true killer."
This final sentence rubs me the wrong way, saying anything is Factual in fiction is pretty close minded, scientists don't even say that about physics. But more so it seems like you are taking this personally? Jason is an amazing Killer, I LOVE Jason, hes got better movies than Roy, I have made a Giant ass Analysis Blog on him and used him in one of my fights, while Roy gets more of this low effort blog from me. That said, I made this Blog cause I feel like Roy got unfairly hated simply for not being Jason and wanted to give him some love, the Guy was a pretty dang good Slasher villain, killing 17 people in this movie, while the most Jason killed in one of his movies before this was 13, guy needed Some cred
I am calm and never mocked you, I simply pointed out Misinformative remarks, yes I used "LOL" because it was in my opinion an honestly comedic statement, not meant to be mocking you directly.
DeleteRebuttal Paragraph #1: Your feat from the youtube link doesn't at correlate to a "backhand" tho? Look at in slowmo you can clearly see before the door crashes in-ward that he is using his side arm to side shoulder to break down the door.
Jason on the other hand is using his bare palms clearly on screen vs Roy using his body on screen is a major difference of Strength/Durability, play them both side by side in slow-mo and you'll see what I mean.
Rebuttal Paragraph #2: Roy throwing an elder man who is skinny by visual presentation vs Jason throwing a young adult male who's clearly having more muscle is a clear indicator of a strength difference, like try throwing a 100 pound dumbbell vs throwing a 150 there is a massive difference am I right? This is the same principles of importance of difference, play both their corpse throwing scenes and you'll see the major difference between the two's strength feats.
Rebuttal Paragraph #3: I'm happy you admitted you didn't further look Into the clarification of the numbers but that should show you the strength of Jason from two films (Part 3/4 namely), it takes ALOT and I MEAN of Grip Strength/Pressure to crush a man's skull the way Jason did in both his appearances in these film.
Rebhttal Paragraph #4: How is it close-minded tho? when its factually speaking? Its like me denying the evidence/existence of Fossils despite there existwnce being known and it also goes for fictional based discussions, we see them visually and we seen both: Jason and Roy display their abilities, and Jason simply having more showings which is (understandable given the series), and its for me when I got into the hobby of online debates is that feats that are visually recognized will always display the better method or demonstration, and with me giving Jason praise isn't a knock to Roy, but to say Roy is anywhere "above" Jason in a any known category other than Intelligence is just a slap in the face to Jason, and Yes, I can acknowledge that Roy was displaying some peak human feats, but I cant at all ignore that Jason was showing Superhuman feats.
It's like...comparing Corey Cunningham to OG Michael Myers it's simpler to notice they are physically different and Corey displayed "Similar" degrees of almost supernatural aspects but if we put these two into a discussion of who's winning? We know it's not Corey Cunningham due to what we visually seem from Michael Vs Corey.
(Didn't mean any disrespect tbh btw)
Well dude, I don't know what else to tell you then I just disagree with what you are saying. The interpretation of these feats you are selling is quite different from my own. You don't have solid data for the size difference of those actors and also have no idea the distance either was thrown from. Like if Jason threw his guy from 5 feet from the window while Roy threw his from 20 feet for example, Obviously Roy's would still be more impressive even with his guy being somewhat lighter. And again, crushing a human head is very bit feat like, theres a reason it takes dozens of hits with a Sludgehammer to break through a door even though hitting a person over the head with the same hammer would almost certainly kill them instantly, just for a quick example. I also, relevant to Rebuttal 4, didn't completely disagree with you that Jason was a better killer than Roy, and didn't even say that in the blog, I argued Roy had slightly superior physical feats, but yeah Jason has killed more people and certainly survived far more punishment due to his supernatural nature.
DeleteIf you still disagree that is fine, but i think it better to just agree to disagree at this point as I really don't find many of your arguments very convincing. Particularly the massive overstatements like saying Human Jason being > Roy is factual to the point someone saying otherwise is paramount to claiming Fossils don't exist which is obviously pretty ridiculous. Also the comparison of Michael Myers VS Corey Cunningham similarly doesn't work, I haven't seen that film yet but the fact that he fought Michael before at all gives us massively more info on the fight, as opposed to Jason and Roy who were never active at the same time and clearly never fought each other. If Human Jason directly fought Roy and kicked his ass I would be totally on you side but we never saw that so he have to speculate based on their feats. And I am sure you can at least agree Roy's feats are a LOT more relevant to Jason's proportionate to how Corey's are to Michael's