While the Friday the 13th franchise is known for its revenge themes, I can prove that it’s secretly about protecting kids with one Jason Voorhees storyline. With the upcoming “Jason Universe” thrusting the Friday the 13th series back in the public eye, Jason has become more popular than ever. However, I’ve always suspected that there’s more to Jason’s motive than just revenge, and one fan comic has ultimately proven he’s actually trying to protect Crystal Lake’s campers.

Janie Lee (aka junkmix)’s Webtoon series Camp Counselor Jason follows an alternate universe version of Jason that reimagines him as an official counselor for Camp Crystal Lake instead of the infamous slasher. The hockey-masked icon focuses on ensuring that every kid gets the ideal camp experience with fun activities mirroring some of the franchise’s most iconic scenes, such as the sleeping bag kill from Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood. Meanwhile, he’s consistently keeping an eye on his fellow counselors to make sure they don’t do things that led to him nearly drowning as a child.

This is an incredibly wholesome series that presents a hilarious new perspective on the classic slasher villain. However, what’s fascinating about its execution is how it suggests that Jason from the main franchise kills counselors to protect the campers.

Jason’s Motives to Kill Were to Protect Campers from Suffering His Fate

He Never Wants Another Child to Die from Counselor Negligence

By comparing the wholesome adventures of Camp Counselor Jason to his actions in the films, there’s a pretty clear line to suggest that his main goal is to ensure camper safety. While this means he wants to keep Camp Crystal Lake closed in the films by killing anyone who comes close, the webcomic shows that he’s essentially the ultimate safety inspector. He’s constantly jumping at counselors who try to sneak off for a romantic fling and reminding them of their duties as counselors because he was robbed of this experience as a child.

This isn’t to say that some of his actions aren’t motivated by revenge. Friday the 13th Part II‘s opening kill even shows him murdering Alice, the previous film’s survivor, after placing his mother’s decapitated head in her refrigerator. However, that’s not his primary motive. The truth is he doesn’t want any camper to drown like he did. Whether he sets a great example for his fellow counselors in the Camp Counselor Jason series or outright kills them like in the films, Jason’s motive has always been about preventing more camper deaths at the hands of negligent counselors.

The Movies Already Proved Jason’s True Motive Before the Fan Comic

Campers Were Never Jason’s Targets

Of course, it’s easy to shrug off this reveal from Camp Counselor Jason because it’s a fan-made comic. However, my personal favorite film in the series, 1986’s Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives, actually proved this secret motive beforehand. This movie is notorious for being the only film in the series to actually feature kids attending camp. When Jason manages to make his way back to Crystal Lake (now renamed Forest Green), he continues to only go after the counselors. Even when he wanders inside one of the camper cabins, he just stares at the one girl who’s frightened of him before being distracted by the sound of a nearby adult and leaving her alone.

This one moment alone solidifies that Jason never really had any interest in turning his anger on young Crystal Lake campers. His beef has always been with the counselors who let him drown, and he’ll never let something like that happen again. The alternate Camp Counselor Jason universe ultimately proves Jason Voorhees‘ bloodshed was never about vengeance, making the Friday the 13th franchise about a masked killer who sets out to save lives from meeting his own untimely fate.

Source: Warner Bros. UK Horror