We say that the hour of death cannot be forecast. But when we say this, we imagine that the hour is placed in an obscure and distant future. It never occurs to us that it has any connection with the day already begun, or that Death could arrive this same afternoon - this afternoon which is so certain, and which has every hour filled in advance.
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Tod Waggner is a main character in Final Destination and a survivor of the Volée Airlines Flight 180 plane crash. He is the best friend of Alex Browning.
Tod is the first survivor of Flight 180 to die, and theatrically the first survivor to die in the entire series.
Biography
Tod was born and lived in Mt. Abraham, New York with his parents, Jerry and Linda, and older brother, George. He and George have been friends with Alex since childhood, and have also been his classmates' since then. He was shown to be gullible and barely phlegmatic. Tod attended Mt. Abraham High School, and was one of the students qualified for the school's annual field trip to Paris.
Final Destination
Tod, along with George and Alex went to John F. Kennedy Airport by Mr. Waggner's car. Mr. Waggner gave George some cash as a surprise and he didn't share with Tod, which sparked a small fight broken up by Ms.Lewton. Later Tod asked Alex if he could go with him to the restroom. Alex asked him why and he tells him about his plan to hook up with Christa and Blake on the plane. Alex agrees and they go to the bathroom where Alex hears Rocky Mountain High playing on the speakers. Later, Tod boarded Flight 180 with Alex and pushed him along several times, because Alex repeatedly stopped, after having a feeling that something bad was going to happen. He stared at Alex in anger when he sat next to him, because now he couldn't initiate his plan with the girls. After Alex had a premonition that the plane would explode, George instructed Tod to go check on him, and Tod witnessed the plane explode shortly afterwards. After the fight between Alex and Carter, Agents Weine and Schreck interrogate the survivors. Tod nearly cried when he realised George died. Then his parents came and picked him up. The Waggners blamed Alex for George's death and Tod's friendship with Alex became distant.
A month after the incident, he gave a farewell speech at the memorial service for the Flight 180 victims, where he also made plans to go on a trip with Alex after his father got over George's death.
Death
The same day later, at night, while Tod is in his bathroom, his toilet leaks. When he finishes, the water flows across the floor and almost makes him slip several times. While Tod takes the clothes off a clothesline over the bathtub, he slips on the puddle from the toilet leak, falling into the bathtub as the clothesline coils around his neck.
Tod struggles to get up due to the shampoo and conditioner spilling into the tub as the wire begins to tighten around his neck and slowly begins to suffocate him. He desperately attempts to reach for a pair of scissors on top of the sink. When he is unable to reach them, Tod attempts to untie the wire but dies from asphyxiation soon after. After his body goes limp, the water slides back across the floor and under the toilet, covering Death's tracks.
When his death is ruled a suicide, the Waggners foolishly blame Alex, believing that Tod killed himself because of his guilt over George's death.
Signs/Clues
- A skeleton figurine hanging in a noose is among the toys scattered around Alex's room.
- On the plane, Tod performs a gesture saying he'd hang himself if Alex changed seats with Blake and Christa.
- While Tod is in the bathroom, a gust of wind breezes through the window and brushes past him.
- When Tod plugs in his radio, the song that plays is "Rocky Mountain High" by John Denver, who died in a plane crash.
- Tod sees a rippling shadow in his bathroom mirror.
- While Alex is sitting in his bedroom reading a porn magazine, an owl lands on a tree branch outside the window. In many cultures, owls are viewed as omens of death.
- Right before Tod's death, Alex picks up a shred of a magazine that reads "Tod".
- During his strangulation, Tod looks out into the bathroom and notices the dolls on the shelf seem to be smiling, as though they're pleased at the fact that he's dying.
- Ironically Tod's name is German for Death.
- Tod died at 10:39 PM 39 days after the crash of Flight 180.
- In Alex's premonition, Tod is killed by a radio that breaks his neck before the explosion. Tod uses a radio similar to the one in Alex's vision.
- In both of his deaths, Tod uses the toilet before dying.
- The toilet water was a blueish color instead of clear, and was following Tod until it reached him to die, this could mean that death is real, and was controlling the water.
Final Destination 2
About a year ago, my mom and I were at the mall. I was supposed to meet her outside, but I got caught up watching this news report about some kid that committed suicide. I kept thinking, "How can you strangle yourself in the bathtub? That's... That's stupid." I don't know, it felt wrong. And yet... I heard, um, some gunshots and I ran outside. Some kids were trying to steal my mom's car. She tried to fight them off, she was a fighter, and they killed her. After the funeral, I kept thinking that it should have been me. I guess everyone must think that but I guess I was right.
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Tod was mentioned in Final Destination 2 by Kimberly Corman, a survivor of the Route 23 pileup. She reveals that one day she went to a mall with her mother and was following her to the parking lot, but got distracted by a news report on Tod's death. Meanwhile, her mother was shot by thugs who attempted to steal her car, and had Kimberly stayed with her, she most likely would've been killed as well.
Final Destination 5
Tod is seen briefly in the events of Final Destination 5 before the Flight 180 explosion.
Appearances
- Final Destination (portrayed by Chad Donella)
- Final Destination (novel)
- Final Destination 2 (in a photo) (portrayed by Chad Donella)
- Final Destination 2 (novel) (in a photo)
- The Final Destination (opening credits) (CGI image, not actor)
- Final Destination 5 (archive footage) (portrayed by Chad Donella)
Trivia
- Tod is the first survivor of the series to die in terms of theatrical release.
- Tod's death is among those showcased in a montage shown at the beginning of The Final Destination.
- Tod's death is also referenced in the opening of Final Destination 5 by showing a scissors is seen as the screen shattered by the water in the background.
- Prior to the release of Final Destination 5, Tod was, chronologically, the first survivor to die in the entire series. After that point, however, Candice Hooper now holds this title. However, Tod will forever be the first survivor to die in the entire series theatrically.
- His death is the only one in the franchise when Death tries to cover the tracks after its intervention.
- He is one of two survivors whose body was posthumously seen by main protagonists in a morgue/crematorium. The second one is Evan Lewis.
- His death is the only in the franchise which was considered being a suicide (although it probably changed after the report of the pathologist).