The depictions of women in film noir come in a range of archetypes and stock characters, including the alluring femme fatale. A femme fatale (/ˌfæm fəˈtɑːl/ or /ˌfɛm fəˈtɑːl/; French: [fam fatal], literally "lethal woman"), is a prevalent and indicating theme to the style of film noir. The main archetypes of female roles in film noir can be divided into two categories: the girl-next-door and the femme fatale.
