Fan Creation:Women in Refrigerators

Charlie Andrews was killed shortly after her introduction to develop Hiro's story.

Women in Refrigerators is the title of a list compiled by American comics author Gail Simone. It details occurrences of the victimization of female characters as a plot device in comics throughout the years.

About

Taking its name from an infamous event in Green Lantern where the hero returned home to find his girlfriend's dismembered body stuffed in his refrigerator by an adversary, the list originally merely provided a listing of events without much in the way of commentary or analysis, although on its face the list speaks volumes. The authors of the list submitted it to various other comic book creators for comment. Responses ranged from denial to disgust, and explanations offered ranged from poor writing to misogyny to the imbalance of secondary (and thus disposable) female characters compared to secondary male characters.

Heroes Characters in Refrigerators

List of Victimized Female Characters

The following female characters have been subjected to physical, psychological, emotional, or sexual violence.

• Charlie Andrews—blood clot in brain, murdered by Sylar
• Claire Bennet—repeatedly injured (both accidentally and intentionally), sexually assaulted, murdered, attacked by Sylar
• Sandra Bennet—repeatedly brainwashed on her husband's orders
• Bus accident victim—squished by a bus
• Simone Deveaux—codependent relationship, father dead
• Eden's stepmother— abandoned by her husband, unintentionally killed by her stepdaughter
• Hana Gitelman—survived a suicide attack, knocked to the ground by Mr. Bennet, knocked out by Mr. Bennet, knocked out and captured by Henry Strauss's henchmen
• Zahava Gitelman—killed in a suicide attack
• Hana's grandmother—captured and tortured by Nazis, killed in suicide attack
• Audrey Hanson—nearly forced to commit suicide by Sylar
• Nurse Jennifer—held hostage and burned by Ted Sprague
• Eden McCain—abused and abandoned by her father, abused by her stepmother, former addict and thief, committed suicide when assaulted by Sylar
• Heidi Petrelli—crippled in an accident
• Jessica Sanders—killed by an abusive, alcoholic father
• Niki Sanders—abused as a child, alcoholic, forced to strip by Linderman's thugs, assaulted by Linderman's henchman, forced into non-consensual sex with Nathan Petrelli by her alter-ego, possibly psychotic, imprisoned in a padded cell.
• Sheila—trapped in a fire
• Karen Sprague (and the Engineer's wife)— dead from cancer due to husband's powers
• Shanti Suresh—dead from incurable genetic anomaly
• Lori Tremmel—raped by Brody Mitchum
• Mrs. Walker—Pinned to a wall and murdered by Sylar
• Molly Walker—parents brutally murdered, nearly abducted by Sylar
• Jackie Wilcox—murdered by Sylar
• Woman in car crash—was in a potentially fatal car crash

List of Victimized Male Characters

For purposes of comparison, the following male characters have been subjected to physical, psychological, emotional, or sexual violence.

• Ando—severely beaten by the high roller's thugs.
• Armed robber—has his car T-boned by Matt and is apparently injured in the crash.
• Brian Davis—bludgeoned by Gabriel
• Brody Mitchum—car wrecked by Claire, mind-wiped by the Haitian
• Chandra Suresh—killed by Sylar
• Charles Deveaux—spends the first episodes of the series dying.
• David—killed by Sylar
• D.L. Hawkins—shot by Jessica
• D.L.'s crew—killed by Jessica
• Eden's driver—is taken over by Eden who uses him to go 'west'.
• Ernie—killed by Jessica
• Hal Sanders—beaten and threatened by Jessica
• High roller—killed by Jessica
• Hiro—knocked unconcious by the high roller's thug.
• IDF enlisting officer—attached by Hana after telling her she can't be a paratrooper.
• Isaac Mendez—killed by Sylar (in the future)
• James Walker—killed by Sylar
• Jumpsuit—smashed over the head by Mohinder with a large metal figurine.
• Linderman's henchman—threatened by Jessica
• Linderman's thugs—killed by Jessica
• Lowlife—killed by Jessica
• Lyle Bennet—brainwashed by orders of his father.
• LVPD detective—assaulted by D.L. Hawkins
• Micah Sanders—arm smashed by Jessica, witnessed attack on Niki Sanders.
• Micah's Principal—assaulted by Jessica.
• Money launderer—killed by Jessica
• Nathan Petrelli—abducted by Mr. Bennet; forced into a car accident by Mr. Linderman's men
• Peter Petrelli—attacked by Sylar, dropped about 25 feet by Nathan Petrelli, nearly died.
• Prison guard—nose broken by Jessica Sanders
• Robert Fresco—killed by Theodore Sprague
• Sylar's decoy victim—used as a decoy, and shot by Audrey
• Tom McHenry—punched by Matt.
• Train wreck victim—was trapped in a burning traincar.
• Zach—brainwashed by order of Mr. Bennet

External Links

• Women in Refrigerators
• Women in Refrigerators on Wikipedia