(Sharaku Jr.)
(Spycrab)
(Gnomechompski)
(Tario)
(Bang)
“Being evil is something only humans are capable of.” - Jane Goodall
Ghostface, the legendary masked serial killer from Scream.
The Fisherman, the hook-handed serial killer from I Know What You Did Last Summer.
Slashers are the stars of the horror genre, and seldom are they truly human, but when they are, odds are they are a serial killer. And in the mid to late 90s, the slasher genre introduced us to the true dark side of what obsession and psychopaths can truly become, men in masks and cloaks that stalk your every move and enter your home…just when you can’t see them, they can see you…oh and make sure you don’t pick up the phone or read any letter you didn’t expect; it might just be the last thing you do. But which scary movie will come out on top? Will the Ghostface be a memory of last summer, or will this be the Fisherman’s last scream? Don’t leave your house in this DEATH BATTLE!
Before We Start…
Both of these characters really only draw from their movies. For Ghostface, we’ll be focusing on the Scream franchise as a whole, which is six movies in total and the mobile game for Scream 4. While each of the Ghostfaces have different characters/pairings, we decided that for this blog, a hypothetical ‘composite’ Ghostface should not be too difficult. The reasons being are:
While they are different characters, the premise of Ghostface remains the same, two (or one or three) killers in the black cloak and white mask who are after Sidney Prescott or other Woodsboro survivors
All of their feats are largely the same, with the only difference between all of them being in personality and motive, and even then all of them trace back to involving Prescott in some way except for maybe Scream 5 and 6.
Each Ghostface uses roughly the same tactics to go about their killing sprees, along with the same weapons (knife, firearms, voice changer, phone).
Even if we stuck with a single pairing, the others would get a mention anyways in a scaling section since they all perform the exact same feats, so you would either use one pairing and put the rest in scaling, or tackle it as ‘Ghostface’ and compile feats from each version across the blog, which is what we will be doing. So in question, for a fight animation, script, or any debate, you could easily just use a ‘hypothetical’ Ghostface without really caring on the identity, or if you want to use a certain duo such as Billy and Stu due to their iconicity, that’s fine as well, but no matter what route you take, you end up talking about every version of Ghostface.
The only Ghostface we aren’t compositing however is the one from the video game Dead by Daylight, which is a completely different character known as Danny Johnson. Disregarding the differences in abilities, this version is not canon to the Scream timeline at all, since Behavior Studios only gained license to the Ghostface mask, and not the franchise itself, hence why this Ghostface is a completely new character. We also won’t be using the Scream TV show from 2015 (yes this exists) due to not being canon to the main movie timeline at all.
For Fisherman, we are primarily using the story of Ben Willis as the Fisherman killer. As for the media we’re using, we’ll be of course pulling from the film franchise consisting of 3 movies. But we will also be taking a look at the original 1973 novel by Lois Duncan that the film series was based off of. Along with the TV series of the same name, which only got 1 season of 8 episodes before sadly being canceled in 2022. Despite The Fisherman Killer and Ben Willis not being in the TV series or book, it still is comfortably canon enough to scale him to any feats human characters perform.
One last thing, this blog is going to include Zombie Fisherman as a standard form for Fisherman. Since that form of Fisherman is the last we ever see of Ben Willis and is unfortunately canon, there’s no real reason not to use it (even if it makes no sense.)
Background
Ghostface
“What’s your favorite scary movie?”
Casey Becker was asked this question from a random phone call as she prepared for a scary movie night with her boyfriend, Steven Orth. What seemed like a harmless prank slowly turned into threatening messages, as the caller continued to ask the question again and again. It soon settled into Casey that the caller was watching her, and her boyfriend? Tied to a lawn chair outside, beaten down badly. The only way out of this nightmare? A pop quiz. Answer trivia related to horror movies, and he lives. But, Casey answered the final question wrong, and Steven was gutted in front of her by a stranger with a black cloak and mask. Casey made a run for it, but it wasn’t enough, and she was murdered in cold blood and hung from a tree for her poor parents to find. Woodsboro, California was never the same after that terrifying night.
The double homicide sent the town into a panic, and nothing was left to pick up for the authorities or anyone who knew poor Casey, certainly not who could’ve done such a terrible killing. Everyone seemed to be on edge, except for a young high school student named Sidney Prescott, someone who knew all too well the strain and fear of murder, after losing her mother a year ago. But when she answered the phone, the same caller from the other night asked her the same question, and Sidney was attacked by that same man with the white mask, but Sidney was able to escape the attempted murder. Her boyfriend, Billy Loomis was nearby, coming to check on Sidney, but Sidney noticed a phone in his hand, and instantly assumed he was the killer. Billy was brought into custody, but the killer called Sidney again. Could this have been the man who took the life of her mother? Surely not, everyone assumed Cotton Weary, the man she had seduced was the killer.
Woodsboro High School was shut down after Sidney was attacked by the killer a second time in the high school bathroom, and when it seemed like everyone was safe, Principal Himbry was killed quietly in the building. By this point, Sidney was invited to a party at Stu Maher’s place Friday night, promising Sidney that Billy won’t be there. Everyone was certain that the masked killer was going to strike again, and that was certainly the plan. The news of the principal’s death, along with him being strung out on a flagpole, set the scene for the killings to occur, and Sidney’s friend Tatum, along with cameraman Randy Meeks, were caught in the crossfire in an attempt to catch him. Sidney is all alone; the policeman, Dewey, is stabbed on the front door, Randy Meeks has gone mad, and the killer is after her.
She goes to Stu for help, only to be met with a familiar voice; “Surprise, Sidney.”
The killers all along were Billy Loomis and Stu Maher. But why? Why go to all this trouble? The motivation was all from Billy Loomis, who wanted to get back at the Prescott family, for Maureen Prescott having an affair with Billy’s dad, causing Billy’s mother to abandon the family. He was the one who killed Sidney’s mother a year ago, and was coming for Sidney next, along with her father to frame him for the murders. With help from news reporter Gale Weathers, Sidney escaped the clutches of death and was ready to turn the tables on Billy and Stu, dawning the mask herself as he talked them down on the phone, before stabbing Billy with an umbrella and electrocuting Stu with a TV, before finally shooting Billy for good. These bone chilling killings would later become known as the Woodsboro Murders, a survival story with the eye-witness account of Sidney Prescott’s story of survival, and the wrongful accusations against Cotton Weary.
Unfortunately, these killings would not be the last. As with most tragedies, Billy Loomis & Stu Maher were immortalized for what they did, and a slasher franchise known as Stab was made by Hollywood based on the true events of what happened in Woodsboro, California, and in real time, would go on to inspire five killing sprees under the black cloak and the ghostly mask; whether it's the set of Stab, the Windsor College, the Big Apple or even back in Woodsboro, no one, not Sidney Prescott or her friends, were safe anywhere. Don’t pick up the phone, or you just might see a ghost, one that has carved its knife into the museum of horror for nearly 30 years as the one and true Woodsboro Killer…Ghostface.
The Fisherman
Julie James, Helen Shivers, Barry Cox, and Ray Bronson were fresh off a night of celebrating their high school graduation. Life seemed full of promise as they drove down a winding road in their coastal town of Southpoint, Carolina. But the night took a dark turn when the car they were driving struck a pedestrian. Panicked and fearing the consequences, the group decided to hide the body, swearing to take the secret to their graves. They tossed the man into the cold, unforgiving waters below, never to speak of that night again. But secrets have a way of surfacing.
A year later, as summer returned, Julie received a cryptic letter that chilled her to the core: “I know what you did last summer.” Someone knew their secret, and worse, someone wanted revenge. A shadowy figure soon began stalking them, donning a slicker and wielding a razor-sharp hook. This wasn’t just any man; it was the Fisherman, a vengeful force who wouldn’t stop until all four paid for what they did.
One by one, the friends are terrorized by this relentless pursuer. Helen’s dreams of becoming a beauty queen are ripped apart, Barry’s arrogance is shattered, Ray is forced to face the guilt he tried to bury, and Julie, now paralyzed by fear, must confront the consequences of their fateful choice. The Fisherman doesn’t play games; he strikes with brutal precision, leaving a trail of bodies in his wake. The friends scramble to figure out who’s behind the mask, but the Fisherman is always one step ahead, dragging them deeper into a nightmare of their own making.
As it turns out, this “Fisherman” killer had a name and a life before he started terrorizing the people who hit him. Before he was a masked killer, he was a man named Ben Willis, a father who had his daughter die in a car accident. Her fiance at the time was intoxicated and Ben was furious. So one night, on the same road his daughter was killed in, he killed his dead daughter's finance. That was the same night that he got hit by Helen and her friends on that dreadful road on the hillside.
As Helen and her friends come face-to-face with the haunting figure, it becomes clear that this isn’t just a man out for justice—it’s their darkest fear, the embodiment of their guilt. The only way to survive is to confront the truth about that terrible night, but the Fisherman isn’t interested in forgiveness. His hook is sharp, his presence inescapable, and he won’t stop until the last one of them is left hanging by a thread.
Ben’s vengeance didn’t stop there, he went after Helen a year after the first film by faking a trip to the Bahamas to lure them in and took his bloody mayhem to other towns. Killing those who got away with crimes during the summer, this time not as a man, but a zombie carried by his undying hatred. The story of Ben WIllis and the Fisherman killings remains a chilling reminder that some secrets refuse to stay buried. And in this small coastal town, The Fisherman is always watching, always waiting… ready to strike.
Experience & Skill
Ghostface
Ghostface is a name held by many individuals across a few decades, but the long and short of it is that Ghostface is a serial killer, and each and every wearer of the mask has shown the capabilities to be cunning, pragmatic, and very skilled in what they do. They are capable of orchestrating entire killing sprees as partners, and the way they do so is nothing short of ruthless and deadly. For starters, they ain’t too shabby with their knives, and their standard tactics are always a slash to the throat, multiple stabs to the body, or even stabs to precise areas such as near the ankle to prevent someone from getting away. Roman Bridger in particular has used his knife as a projectile, which knocked out Dewey Riley cold. Surprisingly, Ghostfaces have gotten the upper hand on stronger and armed opponents as well. Roman Bridger held his own against Steven Stone, a professional bodyguard with a frying pan, and Charlie Walker was able to get the drop on two police officers, stabbing one through the skull.
The real magic happens however in their planning and tactics. Ghostfaces work in teams, with one operating the phone and keeping the victims talking while the other uses stealth to sneak up on them, and will do things in their favor in order to carry out their killings, sometimes as a way to set the scene or close in on a kill without being seen, such as disabling the electronic security system of a house, or manipulating Detective Hicks into thinking they killed her son so she never anticipates them jumping out at her.
And when it comes to the grand finale, you bet they’re ready for that as well. Ghostfaces plan their killing sprees all the way to the final act, which often involves luring people to places in their favor, such as when they lured Chad outside using his girlfriends phone to isolate him and used an app to track his location, or when they stole Tara's inhaler making it so the 3rd act would have to take place at Stu's old house for their ‘requel’. More often than not they always have plans to frame those they are opposing, such as Sidney Prescott and Samantha Carpenter, like when Billy and Stu came up with a plan to frame Neil Prescott for their first killing spree, lining up with the suspicions regarding Maureen Prescott’s murder.
Lastly, almost every Ghostface is a master or enthusiast for the genre of horror, with some being huge fans of the in-universe franchise known as Stab, while others are horror fanatics, knowing dozens upon dozens of movies and knowing the ins and out of everything to do with the genre, which in some cases lets them gain valuable information to help with their killing sprees. But this sometimes opens them up for just…stabbing their partner and revealing an even bigger plan.
The Fisherman
In the town of Southpoint and most other coastal states, The Fisherman is treated as an urban legend and this became especially true after Ben Willis’s killings and quickly became much more supernatural then what you’d probably expect. While he’s not so much a direct killer with a multitude of skills behind his name, Ben is an extremely cunning and well-planned man with many feats of intelligence to his name.
He once studied the lives of 4 teenagers in the length of a year and analyzed how they act and their address, which allowed him to take his time to little them down till he was ready to kill them. All from just looking at them once after he was hit by a car and left to drown. He and his son invited people to a vacation to the Bahamas that ended up being a setup, making people think they were working at the Bahamas and making people think they won a trip to the Bahamas by answering a question on the phone. All just to try to kill them once again. He also reprogrammed a karaoke machine into having all lyrics of the song be “I know what you did last summer”, for some reason.
But the real terror and bad movies started after his death in the second movie, his real death this time. He became a Zombie and moved from town to town looking for the next group of grief filled young adults to hunt and kill, becoming the true legend of The Fisherman in the flesh.
Equipment
Ghostface
Mask/Cloak
What seems like an ordinary Halloween costume is the disguise for one of the most iconic slashers across the horror genre. The black cloak lets Ghostface blend in with the dark and the shadows easier, and obviously conceals the identity for who the killer is. The white ghostly mask is often said to be a reflection of the killer’s victim, someone who is screaming as they are being brutally murdered.
Buck 120 Knife
While its initial use is with hunting and woodworking, for a Ghostface its cutting open their victims, stabbing them, and slitting their throats. Sometimes Ghostface will use two knives to stab their victims simultaneously or keep an extra one handy just in case. They even make sure to clean the blood off!
Voice Changer
“What’s the matter, Sidney? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
To help conceal their identity, Ghostface will use a voice changer to mask their voice with a more threatening one when talking on the phone to their victims. Roman Bridger, the Ghostface of Scream 3, made a voice changer that let him perfectly mimic the voices of other people, a futuristic piece of technology that was way ahead of anything in the year 2000. In Scream 4 however, the voice changer was moved to an app on their phones. Lame. But they brought back the classic for 5 along with a new type that's embedded in the neck of their costume so it's all good.
Telephone
When it’s trivia time, the Ghostface will call their victims on a telephone to talk to them and taunt their victims, or to communicate with their fellow Ghostface partner if they have one. Typically, one Ghostface will be on the phone while the other will be moving in for the kill, catching them off-guard.
Bulletproof Vest
Many of the Ghostface killers past the third movie wore bulletproof vests, allowing them to survive being shot in the chest many times and walk away from it, and would often fake being dead to surprise an opponent up-close.
Beretta 92FS
When the Ghostface is unmasked, don’t expect it to be over, because at the end of the day, a psychopath isn’t without their weapons. The Beretta 92FS is a semi-automatic pistol, with its standard ammo capacity being 15 rounds, and consistently the gun used when the film is about to end…just weird they don’t use it that much but a slasher ain’t a slasher if they aren’t using a knife.
Mossberg 590 Shotgun
Found at your local convenience store! A gauge pump-action shotgun that holds six rounds in the chamber, used by one of the Ghostfaces of Scream 6 to attack Samantha and Tara.
Smith & Wesson Model 36 Revolver
Another firearm from the Scream 6 cast of killers, this weapon was used briefly by Wayne Bailey after he and Sam took a tumble and was disarmed of his pistol. It's worth noting that he is likely the most experienced of any Ghostface killer with a firearm given his background as a police officer and his accuracy with the weapon.
Spy Camera
In Scream 4, Jill and Charlie would use spy and web cameras to film their killings to fulfill Jill’s motive of being the survivor of a survivor story, and would hide the cameras in their masks and in various hiding spots to get multiple angles of the killings.
Duct Tape
For some victims, Ghostface will tie them to a chair with duct tape on their wrists, and across their mouth so they can’t speak, often leaving their fate up to someone else in the house to answer the questions right, or they will be promptly gutted.
Rope
For less than fortunate victims, Ghostface will use rope to hang their victims from trees or balconies as decorations for unfortunate parents or authorities to find.
The Fisherman
Fisherman Outfit
Dawn by anyone imitating the urban legend, The Fisherman gear is a staple of the franchise and of course the identity of Fisherman killers. It lets the wearer blend in with the dark and shadowy environment and hide their face while not limiting their vision.
Hook
The Fisherman’s signature weapon from urban legend to serial killer, Fisherman is experienced in knowing how to gut any pesky teenager like a fish and cleans off any blood that got on his previous hook as well.
Hook Hand
After losing his hand at the end of the first film, Ben took it upon himself to do what any killer who uses a hook would do. Replace his lost hand with a hook itself!
Garden Shears
Despite his preference of his dear hook, Fisherman doesn’t mind using other tools to get the job done. Like when he used garden shears to kill… Jack Black. I’m not kidding.
Machete
Although it was offscreen, Fisherman got his hands on a machete which he then stabbed into the skull of a receptionist. Herbert noooo
Firepoker
Another improvised weapon, Fisherman has a fire poker that he stabs through the chest of someone and then stabbing it through another for two for one kill.
Decoy Body
During his first appearance in the second film, Fisherman used a mannequin disguised as a body on the road to successfully trick Ray to leave his car so he could kill the other occupant in the car and nearly run him over.
Crabs
Hell yeah.
Abilities
Ghostface
Stealth
Like many slashers before them, Ghostface has the seemingly superhuman ability to appear and disappear at will with their mastery of stealth. From the original killers all the way to 2023 every Ghostface has multiple impressive showings of stealth. Some of the most impressive examples are when they snuck out of a car to get the jump on Vince despite him looking directly at the car for nearly the entire time, they got into a house guarded by cops without being detected, quickly fleeing the scene in just a few seconds after a stabbing, or escaping from Sam and Tara’s view after looking back once. Perhaps the most impressive one, is in Scream 4, when Ghostface is clearly beaten and falls in a small hallway, the cops enter the house and Sidney points to the Ghostface on the floor, but they’re gone.
Pain Tolerance/Superhuman Endurance
A trademark of every Ghostface killer is their ability to take frankly absurd amounts of punishment and either keep on fighting or survive the beating they’ve taken. The original Ghostface killers, Billy and Stu stabbed each other multiple times and were still able to fight Sidney afterwards. Mickey was involved in a car accident and was able to recover shortly later and stealth around Sidney and Hallie. Roman was stabbed multiple times by Sidney but was able to get back up again and try to kill the Woodsboro trio, and even later faked his death by slowing his heartbeat. As seen above Jill made it look as though she was a victim of Ghostface by slamming into any object she could think of. Amber after fighting Tara, Gale and Sidney was set on fire and shot multiple times but still came back for one last scare. Ethan got stabbed through the mouth by Tara and survived (before getting Stu'ed) along with many more examples.
Ghostmode
In the Scream 4 mobile game, Ghostface has a special technique dubbed “Ghostmode” that briefly turns him invisible but can only be activated when no one else is in the room, allowing Ghostface to ambush his victims.
The Fisherman
Stealth
Being less of a direct killer and more of a stalker that takes his time delighting in his victims suffering, Fisherman is an expert at stealth and has performed some quite impressive stunts. He snuck into a house undetected in broad daylight, cleaned up a trunk with a dead body and over 100 crabs before anyone could see it and he hid all evidence of a body down to the last drop of blood in just under a minute. In fact he’s strangely very good at hiding bodies in a short notice once they’re discovered. But his most impressive stealth feat is when he, somehow, was able to spell out “I Know What You Did Last Summer” in his font perfectly on pool cement with water in a short timeframe with no one noticing him.
Superhuman Endurance
As expected from a killer who managed to live his “death,” Ben can push through a hell of a lot of punishment and keep on killing. Not only did he live being hit by a car, beaten into the water and stuck under there for at least a night but after having his hand cut off and thrown into the ocean, he came back next film with more vengeance than ever.
Zombie Fisherman
Sequels amiright? At the end of the second film, Ben Willis was officially killed after being shot 8 times in the chest and falling into his own grave. But in the next film, Ben came back as an undead creature with newfound supernatural abilities. He’s now much stronger than before with greater endurance to boot. He can walk through knife stabs and gunfire from a pistol and shotgun fire with no issue and even regenerate his previous injury of his hand being cut off and being shredded into a million pieces. Although both of these injuries took significant time to regenerate from since the only known timeframe we have of his regeneration is 1 year.
Teleportation
Much like other zombie slashers, Zombie Fisherman is no stranger to teleportation and can teleport across long distances the moment someone takes their eyes off of him or teleport directly in front of someone to catch them off guard.
Technology Manipulation
With his mere presence, Zombie Fisherman can cause technology like lights around him to flicker and malfunction along with being able to spam your phone with “I know what you did last summer” over 50 times if he really wants to mess around with his victims.
Feats
Ghostface
Overall
Amassed a total of 61 kills across six killing sprees, with victims including previous survivors of the killings such as Cotton Weary, Randy Meeks, and Dewey Riley
Successfully framed Cotton Weary for the murder of Maureen Prescott for over a year
Attacked Windsor College, the set of Stab in Hollywood, and New York City
Sent multiple members of the cast, including Sidney Prescott, Gale Weathers and Tara Carpenter to the hospital
Became an icon of the slasher horror genre
Got into Dead by Daylight, Call of Duty, and Mortal Kombat 1
Power
Stabbed Dewey Riley hard enough to sever a nerve and cause him to limp
Forced open a locked door, which broke the latch (3.2 Kilojoules)
Kicked Gail Weathers into a pole (2.18 Kilojoules)
Gutted Dewey Riley rip 🪦
Dismembered Greg Brockner
Grabbed and killed Randy Meeks
Destroyed a chair by hitting Mark Kincaid with it (112 Kilojoules)
Ragdoll’s Galis boyfriend somehow (dudes jacked)
Throws Marnie Cooper through a door (378 Kilojoules)
Punches Sarah Darling hard enough to shatter a glass window (2.9 Kilojoules)
Broke a car window with a single punch
Shattered a balcony door by shoving Cici Cooper through it
Pulled a rug hard enough to send a grown man flying into the air
Speed
Comparable to Dewey’s movement speed, who jumped out of the way of a speeding car (22.69 m/s)
Frequently stab victims in rapid succession before they can react
Caught up to Casey Becker
Killed Steven Orth and ran across the patio without being seen despite the lights turning on
Ran down the hallway after knocking on a door without being seen
Looped around a large movie set, went into the house and inside a closet in the time it took for Sidney to run half that distance
Avoids Dewey Riley’s gunfire
Durability
Tanked a freezer door to the face and two beer bottles smashed over his head and crotch without injury
Detective Bailey survives Sam stabbing him even more times than Richie got stabbed
Mrs. Loomis survived a bundle of bricks falling on her
Mickey survived a car crash
Roman shrugged off being shot hard enough to break a car window
Comparable to Sidney Prescott, who fell from two stories high (2.38 Kilojoules)
The Fisherman
Overall
Scored a kill count of over 21 kills.
Lived through his supposed death and spent a whole year researching the kids that “killed” him.
Next summer, he stalked, toyed with and killed the teens who had run him over.
Came back the summer after, faking a trip to the Bahamas just to mess with the two survivors of the first film.
After his actual death, returned as a zombie to go around towns and kill anyone he saw.
Power
Can easily lift and drag dead bodies around with his hook.
Lifted a man up after stabbing his neck.
Stabbed through a cop’s gut.
Later on, he sent Ray overboard with a smack from the blunt end of his hook.
Broke the lock off of a door by repeatedly banging on it. (3.2 Kilojoules)
As Zombie Fisherman…
Easily overpowers and knocks away people, including a cop.
Pulls someone through a glass window while they’re on the other side.
Tore the door off of a snowblower vehicle. (56.5 Kilojoules)
Speed
Was able to hide Barry’s body and evidence of his murder before cops caught him.
Cleaned up someone's trunk being full of crabs and a dead body before they could show anyone it, after he placed them in there that is.
Appeared and killed Helen right before she got into a crowd.
Scales to Ray, who can briefly outrun a pickup truck and leap out of the way when it almost hits him. (9 m/s)
Durability
Was fine after he was hit with the blunt end of a swinging boat hook.
Knows, still knows and will always know that he was hit by a car and later thrown into the ocean last summer. (24 Kilojoules)
Comparable to Barry, who survived a car running into him and ramming into a wall with him on it. (246 Kilojoules)
As Zombie Fisherman…
Got right back up after being hit with a car… AGAIN. This guy must fucking hate cars.
Weaknesses
Ghostface
Ghostface is…hilariously clumsy. While the costume has a fear factor, it also causes some tunnel vision due to the low visibility of the mask, and oftentimes when a Ghostface does take chase, they’re prone to bump into things or trip easier, as killing for them is done better with stealth. Perhaps the biggest weakness of any Ghostface however, is they are very prone to human weakness. High pain tolerance can only go so far before you succumb to your wounds or injuries, and each Ghostface suffers a lot from ego and arrogance, and unmasking themselves to reveal their master plan often proves to make them just as vulnerable as the victims they stalk, which often lets people like Sidney Prescott or Sam Carpenter to plan for how to take them down…even though they have a blatant advantage whether they have a knife or gun in their hand.
The Fisherman
Despite Ben Willis being an incredibly dangerous killer, he’s nowhere near perfect. His biggest weakness being his mental state, as you could’ve guessed from someone who killed his wife. Ben’s emotions often make him blind to his actions and makes him extremely petty, rather wanting to slowly torment his victims then kill them right then and there. Which is how he got into that car wreck in the first place and how he accidently killed his son. Zombie Fisherman isn’t immortal either, he’s shown to be vulnerable to his own hook, screaming in pain when he’s stabbed by it, and since his regeneration takes time and hasn’t shown the ability to regenerate wounds automatically, if he’s ever sliced or shredded into pieces, he cannot keep going and will die.
Verdict
Stats
While both aren’t known for being super soldiers or as strong as other slashers, they’re both still quite impressive in terms of stats. Horror characters often have a tint of the supernatural, so it makes sense that both of these killers have feats that wouldn’t be considered human by most standards, whether it’s coming back from the dead after a car accident or sending a man flying by pulling a rug under him. But who truly is stronger? For starters, both could easily get into the low Kilojoule ranges and even into wall level with higher level feats. But when comparing these feats, it seems Ghostface had the edge. Although Fisherman had more consistent wall level feats, Ghostface got to 112 Kilojoules by breaking a chair and 378 Kilojoules by throwing someone through a door. Meanwhile, Fisherman’s infamous car crash feat got up to 24 Kilojoules and he scaled to survivors like Barry, whose car feat could get up to 246 Kilojoules. Resulting in a 1.53x gap favoring Ghostface.
Wouldn't Zombie Fisherman change things? Surprisingly, not really. The best strength feat Zombie Fisherman had was ripping a car door off by its hinges, which only got up to 56.5 Kilojoules. Impressive, but lower than Barry’s feat. Overall, Zombie Fisherman didn’t do much stat wise, we’ll get to how it shakes things up in a bit.
Speed wasn’t much better for Fisherman, Fisherman’s best calculable speed feat was scaling to Ray, who could briefly outpace and dodge a car driven by The Fisherman himself, which got up to 9 m/s. Ghostface obviously had more speed feats to go off but they pretty much all faster, Dewey’s own car dodging got 22.69 m/s, Roman ducking under a gunshot got to 37.32 m/s and Ghostface moving out of the way of a shot fired by a shotgun got 94 m/s. While the shotgun feat isn’t exactly dodging the blast, it’s still clear in tandem movement and he did move after the shot was fired, although not enough to be considered full on dodging which is why it’s noticeably lower than other shotgun dodging feats. All of this meant that Ghostface was at least 2.52x - 4.14x faster and at most was over 10.5x faster.
No matter which way you slice it, Ghostface took stats.
Arsenal & Abilities
Their weapons are very straightforward. Ghostface is always rocking his knife, and given the ending of the films typically have them with a firearm after the mask comes off, it's implied that they are typically carrying a firearm with them, but prefer the blade to keep with the theme of a serial killer/slasher. Their voice changers don’t really do anything game changing here, nor their bulletproof vests for that matter since Fisherman doesn’t use any firearms. Fisherman has used some weapons before such as various tools such as a machete or garden shears, but those are often found within the settings of the movies rather than something he always has on hand like he does with his hook.
When it came to their bread and butter, stealth, they were basically identical in terms of efficiency. Ghostface was able to escape a car unnoticed with some help from flashing lights despite someone staring directly at him, snuck into a house guarded by two cops and managed to disappear without a trace after being kicked into a small hallway by Sidney the moment cops arrived. Just because Sidney couldn’t keep her eyes on him. On the flipside, Fisherman was able to clean a corpse and several crabs out of a car before Helen could tell anyone - in fact he’s got a thing for disposing of corpses quickly after the main character sees him - and creating his catchphrase in water on pool cement in broad daylight with the victim being right next to him without being seen. Both’s feats of stealth were insanely impressive in their own right, so there really isn’t a definite way to say who was stealthier.
Abilities is where Zombie Fisherman starts becoming a problem for our good ol’ pal Ghostface, the form offered Ben Willis abilities and resilience that in some scenarios could be real game changers. Such as technology manipulation, which could potentially give away Ghostface’s position, since they usually keep a phone handy, and cause their voice changer and or spy cameras to malfunction. Rendering them useless to aid Ghostface. What’s worse is Fisherman’s teleportation, which he could use in rapid succession to escape, disorient, or get the jump of Ghostface, who will naturally have a hard time keeping track of Fisherman due to this and his previously mentioned stealth. Ghostface doesn’t have a counter to this and the only thing he has to match this is Ghostmode, which while invisibility may sound like a big deal on paper, had plenty of flaws to it. Firstly, they can only activate it if they’re the only person in the room, which is in of itself unlikely due to Fisherman’s teleportation. It only lasts for a brief time and Ghostface cannot attack their victims while cloaked. Admittedly, invisibility is still definitely useful but it hardly made keeping track of Zombie Fisherman any easier.
As the trope goes, all good slashers always come back for one last scare and that was certainly the case for these two, as their endurance and pain tolerance were off the charts. Most Ghostfaces were able to keep going after slamming themselves into walls, repeatedly being stabbed by knives and even in some cases getting shot. Obviously, the plot of IKWYDLS already showcases Ben’s ability to live and recover damages like being hit by a car, beaten into the water where he drowned and later having his hand torn off and thrown into the freezing ocean. But this is all if you’re focusing on Human Ben specifically, when you factor Zombie Fisherman this becomes a lot more one sided. Zombie Fisherman is effortlessly able to get back up after being run over (again), stabbed in the back by a knife and most impressively, walk through shots from pistols and shotguns. This trumped any Ghostface’s endurance by a long shot and would make Fisherman one tough son of a bitch to put down.
On the surface, you would think Zombie Fisherman’s healing factor would play a big role in this fight. Unfortunately for Fisherman, his regeneration was way too slow to matter here. The primary examples of his regeneration we have seen is him regenerating his hand being cut off at the end of the original movie sometime after the second movie and sometime before the third movie, meaning that it took at least a year to grow back, and him appearing a year later after being shredded into pieces by a snowblower vehicle. The only timeframe we really have to go off of is one year. Fitting for his series, but not exactly useful in a vs scenario.
Zombie Fisherman is not invincible by any means, he shows a specific weakness to his hook, as it makes him scream in agony if he’s stabbed by it. But his unkillability hinges on his endurance, if he can’t hold himself together he can’t keep fighting and will falter. Which would be considered incapacitated given it will take him at least a year to get back up, if he gets back up at all. Ghostface, with the stat and arsenal advantage and more often than not working in duos with another Ghostface, could eventually exploit this by slowly ripping Fisherman apart or dismembering him with either his own hook or any other piece of Ghostface’s arsenal.
Even if we were to ignore stats and look at this at a surface level, a zombified monster vs a couple of regular people, the ball is still in Ghostface’s court. There being multiple Ghostfaces at work here is very key to their success, on top of their prior knowledge of the horror genre. In movies such as The Evil Dead and Friday the 13th Part 2, it is part of the plot that items tied to the killer are what eventually become their downfall, such as the Necronomicon being used to defeat the Deadites and Pamela’s sweater being used to confuse Jason. While not exactly one to one with something like the Fisherman’s hook, the similarities between him and Deadites or Jason could clue them in to this weakness, given enough time. This is where their teamwork comes into play. Usually, one Ghostface will be present while the other is off somewhere else. They could use this time to gather information while the other keeps the Fisherman busy, giving them more than enough time to formulate a plan. Especially when you consider Ghostface’s own endurance and their ranged options (As well as invisibility if you include the mobile game). This is further amplified by the fact that there can be more than just two Ghostfaces in the mix, with as many as three being active during the events of Scream VI. Three heads is better than two after all. With all of this in mind, The Ghostface killers would naturally put their knowledge to the test, using what they can figure out about the Fisherman and drawing on the key similarities he has with other popular horror icons to deduce a way to keep him down. Using their skills and stealth to ultimately overwhelm their undead opponent in a surprising upset, fittingly just like a classic horror movie. However, it is still important to keep in mind they do still lack a method of permanently killing the Fisherman, even with the hook. A reoccurring tactic in zombie movies (and really just horror in general) is dismemberment, a method that would keep him down for a long period of time.
Tertiary Factors
Finally, let’s talk about one of the more crucial points for this 90s slasher scare. When it comes to sheer intelligence, on some level both have very similar feats. They do things that make it advantageous for them to get the drop on others such as Ghostfaces luring people to various locations by doing very calculated moves, or Fisherman using a mannequin in the road to distract drivers and allow him to get the drop on them. In the long run, both are considerably pretty smart when it comes to being killers, being able to map out their routes, killings, with Ghostface having more of an advantage due to having the benefit of communicating between two people. But both are able to escape a scene if they need to, all the while hiding their trails and ready to make a new plan and play the long game if they need to.
In terms of sheer experience, the edge should go to Ghostface on this one by a slim margin. While all of the killing sprees for Ghostface happened over the span of many days, so did Fishermans, and the opponents they’ve faced are of a similar scale, being groups of teenagers and adults, along with some policemen here and there, being able to overwhelm people like bodyguards considerably stronger than them. But Ghostface would take the slight edge due to being more skilled when it comes to a confrontation with weapons. Ghostfaces are very precise with where and how they stab their victims, such as slitting a throat so they cannot call for help. While Fisherman has used his hook to also slit throats or even split skulls sometimes, they’re often meant to be quick kills, something that a Ghostface is capable of pulling off also, meanwhile they would also be able to stab and slash in the places that would slow down even the Zombie Fisherman more then before.
A question that would often come up is would both of the Ghostfaces really work together to both even show themselves to fight someone in the first place when normally only one does the killing at a time? Odds are, the answer would be yes, such as when they worked together to stab Chad in Scream 6, and no matter what pairing you use, if the other Ghostface saw their partner struggling, they wouldn’t exactly idly stand by for long unless they were coming up with a plan. Using the ends of the movies isn’t the most reliable evidence, since many times one of the Ghostface killers betrays the other, as shown with Jill Roberts and Charlie Walker, but that also came with a primary motivation from one of them that had to do with the plot of the story, and one involving Sidney Prescott. But these two aren’t fighting Sidney, they’re fighting a completely different opponent. In-character, it wouldn’t make sense for one to just betray the other mid-fight so the other can be the one to secure the kill. If they need to work together, they can and will.
Conclusion
Ghostface
Advantages:
Slightly stronger even with Zombie Fisherman in mind.
Much faster.
Superior arsenal.
If working in pairs, they could potentially jump and overwhelm Fisherman.
Could very likely dismember or reduce Fisherman to pieces given enough time.
Voiced by Mojo Jojo
Ties:
Comparable Stealth.
Similar experience and intellect as killers
The TV show fucking sucked.
Disadvantages:
Worse pain tolerance and endurance.
Struggles to keep up with The Fisherman’s teleportation, even with Ghostmode.
Weapons like guns would not affect Zombie Fishermen.
Less cunning.
His Dead by Daylight chase theme SUCKS.
Is definitely gonna trip over something during the fight.
The Fisherman
Advantages:
Far superior endurance and pain tolerance.
Teleportation offered much better mobility.
Tech manip could potentially cause Ghostface’s equipment to malfunction, such as the voice changer.
Actually one of horror movie’s biggest haters.
Knows what you did last Summer.
Ties:
Comparable Stealth.
Similar experience and intellect as killers
The TV show fucking sucked.
Disadvantages:
Slightly weaker.
Far slower.
His regeneration takes a long time and could be incapacitated through dismemberment.
Likely could not handle more than one Ghostface at once.
I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer.
Not in Dead By Daylight.
I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer. (So bad it’s here twice)
In conclusion, there are a lot of variables in this fight that make it a close call, but Ghostface should be equipped to deal with even the threat of the Zombie Fisherman. Their strength and speed advantage mean they wouldn’t have any trouble ganging up on Willis and overwhelming him, and their skill with a knife would let them chip him down enough to be able to incapacitate him, as his regeneration would take a year to work, counting as a win for Ghostface if it came down to it. Their stealth was very similar, being able to appear and disappear in a few moments notice, but Ghostface has the leg up with having two of them running around, but Zombie Fisherman’s teleportation would make it hard for the Ghostfaces to keep up with him in spite of their invisibility option. While the Ghostfaces endurance also isn’t as good as Fishermans, they can continue to fight through being stabbed with the hook in the event of, and their high stamina would make it so they can stay in the fight long enough to figure out what to do, such as figure out the weakness of the hook or overwhelm him enough to chip him down, and the Ghostfaces knowledge in the horror genre would mean it wouldn’t take long to figure all of this out, and eventually, they would find a way to take him down, completely overwhelming him with the presence of two killers with an advantage in strength and speed.
Even ignoring it and putting this on the surface level, look at it this way; both have a tint of the supernatural implied throughout the series, even if it isn’t clear. Ghostfaces have stealth that logically shouldn’t be possible in real world scenarios, and the Fisherman came back to life as a zombie. Combining those two would still leave you with two slashers that are much faster and more agile than a zombie, a creature that is usually portrayed as being very slow aside from teleportation, meaning that Fisherman’s endurance can only hold him together so long before he is overwhelmed by two slashers who are consistently fans of horror, enough to exploit weaknesses present to them. And if the Fisherman comes back a year later as a vengeful zombie, he’ll always remember what Ghostface did to him last summer. It was a screaming sensation.
The winner is Ghostface.
Final Tally
Ghostface (8) - Tario, iceking, Gio789, Bang, ThiccGrimes, Fiction, Spycrab, Paglekettle
The Fisherman (0) - He knows what we did.
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