None of the horror icons have a more recognizable presence than the hockey mask-wearing, machete swinging slasher of Camp Crystal Lake, Jason Vorhees. While the first Friday the 13th film saw his mother as the camp counselor killer, the movie's closing scene featured Jason's return from the lake to seek vengeance on those who wronged him for almost a dozen films after. As the franchise progressed, Jason's strength and near indestructibility made him one of the most powerful slashers in cinema, except for one unusual weakness -- water.
For the majority of the Friday the 13th franchise, Jason had almost no weaknesses. However, later films chose to give him a crippling fear of water. This was due to the circumstances of his death when he drowned in Crystal Lake as a child. While the weakness makes sense for the character, it inadvertently created a massive plot hole in the franchise.
In the early years of the Friday the 13th franchise, Jason showed no signs of aquaphobia. In fact, he was forced to spend a lot of time close to the water, whether it be due to a kill or how he returned from the dead. In Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives, he was lured to a boat by the film's protagonist, Tommy Jarvis, where he planned to drown Jason -- again. However, Jason reached the boat by getting into the lake, which undermined his future fear of the water. During his supernatural rebirth in Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood, Jason still showed no signs of aquaphobia and navigated the lake with ease.
His water weakness first appeared in Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan. In the film's climactic scene, Jason tried to grab the main character but froze at the sight of the rushing sewer water. He flashbacked to when he drowned in childhood, begging for his mother to save him. The next moment he was battered by the New York City sewers and popped up for one last scare as his face decayed, and his mind went back to that fateful day at the lake.
The next time water was used as a weakness was Freddy vs. Jason, where the titular killer faced off against Freddy Krueger. In one scene, an unconscious Jason took on Freddy, who discovered his aversion to water. Freddy quickly exploited the weakness by surrounding Jason in water, which crippled him with fear and reverted him into a little boy. While this worked well, Jason's aquaphobia would be called into question yet again in the reboot, Friday the 13th. Jason appeared numerous times near the water and dock to kill and, in the film's final scare, emerged from the water to grab one more victim.
Jason's fear of water is subject to interpretation depending on the film. However, one constant weakness that the indestructible slasher has had since he first appeared is his mother. Jason's love for his mother has always caused him to hesitate, especially in Friday the 13th Part II, where the final girl pretended to be her to escape. While Jason's weakness to water has created holes in his continuity, it hasn't hindered his reputation as horror's scariest slasher with one of the largest body counts in the genre.