Dec 6
That was hard to state clearly in the title field... I was just thinking about the collages and montages of horror icons, and how almost all of the icons are the villains. Some of the only exceptions that occur to me are Ash (from Evil Dead (obv)), and arguably Herbert West from Re-Animator. If you can think of any other horror franchises in which the person who fights againts the main villain becomes the most iconic figure in the franchise, please share.
The way I asked the question probably makes us all automatically think of the older classic horror franchises. But, the Patrick Wilson characters in the Insidious and Conjuring franchises might be the most iconic figure in those franchises.... no, wait, maybe Lin Shaye for Insidious. I haven't really followed those franchises too closely.
Also, any franchise that has invisible villains will have difficulties with having the villain be iconic. So, like, in the Paranormal Activity movies, most people would probably say Katie Featherston is the icon. She deserves that, she did a great job in the PA movies I have seen.