It is no secret that Jason Voorhees has endured more than his fair share of bodily damage. The hockey-masked killer was considered immortal with multiple bludgeons to his head and gunshots to his chest. However, using measurements of pain, one can figure out how much damage it would take to incapacitate or kill Jason from Friday the 13th.
In 1940, three scientists sought to determine how pain could be measured. They created a gun that shot a beam of light onto the user’s arm. The intensity had 29 notches, each one increasing the bulb's temperature. And it was found that once the bulb reached 113F (45C), the user could no longer differentiate 113F from a higher temperature. So, the 29th notch, then titled the 29th Dol, was the most amount of pain one could experience. In Jason’s case, his victims would experience over 29 Dols of pain, incapacitating and killing them.
As Jason does not experience pain like a human, often able to withstand searing pains, the Dolorimeter may seem relatively worthless. However, when combined with another pain scale, titled the Comfort Scale, one can begin to understand better the pain he can endure. The Comfort Scale differs from the Dolorimeter as no gun gets used to determine pain. Instead, it uses nine variables to describe pain: Alertness, Agitation, Respiratory Response, Blood Pressure, Heart Rate, Muscle Tone, Crying, Movement and Facial Tension.
While Jason is a Gemini of few words, he would be unable to describe the pain. Therefore, each variable must get adapted onto a scale itself. Using the Dolorimeter number of 29, dividing it by the nine variables, a scale of four values could get assigned to each variable. 0 for no pain, one for slight pain, two for pain and three for heavy pain. That would leave an additional two points that could not get placed into one of the Comfort Scale’s variables. In this case, a new variable will get created to accommodate Jason better. The Severing variable will serve as the 10th trait, with 0 for no severing, one for slightly severed and two for complete severing.
All that is left to assign all these variables to each time Jason gets injured and killed. As Jason rarely has any sympathy or emotion, most of the list of injuries will lose three points in the Crying and Facial Tension variables. As this measurement is an entirely new system, it would not be appropriate to name these new pain units Dols. Instead, they will be referred to as VDolls (Voorhees-Dolorimeters).
- Mental Block = 7 VDol
- Various Bruises = 9 VDol
- Telekinesis = 14 VDol
- Bullet Wounds = 14 VDol
- Bludgeons to the head = 16 VDol
- Prolonged Swimming = 21 VDol
- Fire Wounds = 24 VDol
- Severed Arm = 24 VDol
- Continuous Stabbing = 27 VDol
Note that all of the mentioned situations featured Jason becoming injured in some form and not killed. That is due to another variable not being added, as it was unnecessary, but as Jason dies, it becomes crucial.
Later in the 1940s, another Scientist argued the Dolorimeter’s validity. He found that, if given the right circumstances, such as emotional trauma from a loved one, the participant would experience 50 percent more pain. Coincidentally, each time Jason dies, it is somehow related to his mother. As the subject of his mother is touchy to Jason, an additional 50 percent can get multiplied by each death. That is where the VDols see an uptick. Listed below are the VDols Jason would feel during death.
- Ripped to Shreds (Death) = 29 VDol
- Incinerated (Death) = 29 VDol
- Stab Wound (Death) = 30 VDol
- Ax to head, deep (Death) = 34 VDol
- Drowning (Death) = 41 VDol
This pain unit may be confusing as it is applied to a supernatural serial killer. However, below is what the average male would feel if undergoing pain on the VDol scale.
- Mental Block = 7 VDol
- Various Bruises = 14 VDol
- Deep Wound = 26 VDol
- Death = 27 - 29 VDols
Due to Jason’s spotty record of deaths, he has come to an end the same way a human would on the VDol scale. However, the responses to injuries are vastly different. Jason’s VDol scale for a severed limb would be the equivalent of a deep cut for a standard human. So, as Jason seeks his revenge on innocent campers in the future, it might be worth investing in an incinerator or something capable of outputting over 29 VDols.