In The Last to Drown, Noelle W. Ihli grounds the novel’s violence in the real-world ideology of misogynistic “incel” culture, portraying the killer’s violence as a calculated expression of deep-seated hatred for women. The antagonist, Leo Marsden, embodies the incel worldview, framing his rampage as justified retribution against the “Stacys” and “Chads” he believes have denied him social and sexual status. By rooting his motives in this specific brand of gender-based grievance, the novel presents his methodical cruelty as an ideological project, making the isolated Garnet River a stage for his twisted and deadly fantasy of vengeance.

The narrative explicitly connects Leo to the incel movement through his online activities, establishing his motive as ideological from the outset. Allie’s research uncovers the screen name “OneSadRealm,” an anagram for Leo Marsden, who posted in a subreddit dedicated to the misogynist mass murderer Elliot Rodger. His posts included violent, AI-generated images of his own mother’s murder, accompanied by captions railing against the “Stacys” and “Chads” who “deserved to die horrible deaths” (174). This direct link to incel terminology and iconography makes it clear that Leo’s violence is the product of a worldview that dehumanizes women and glorifies violence against them as a form of righteous rebellion.

Leo Marsden not only follows the online discourse surrounding his original crimes but actively seeks the adulation of online misogynists. He taunts Allie directly, referencing her role as a moderator and his desire to claim credit for his “opus,” furious that the deceased Kellen Stroop has received “credit” for the original Camus Creek murders. His frustration is evidence of his warped worldview: Rather than the tragedy that befell Kellen Stroop—who was not only murdered but framed for a heinous crime—he envies the dead man’s “fame.” This twisted perspective is the product of an online subculture in which murderers are hailed as heroes. Speaking to Allie, he says, “The story I want people to tell on your obsessive little subreddit […] is the one where I kill all of you. Not Splinter Ridge” (281), explicitly framing his murders as a narrative crafted for public consumption. This meta-awareness demonstrates how a killer can feed on the attention of an online community, viewing his violence as a means to achieve the notoriety he craves.

Leo’s rage is specifically directed at women who represent competence, authority, and conventional attractiveness—figures who challenge his fragile sense of masculine entitlement. The original Camas Creek massacre was likely precipitated by his successful, athletic mother attempting to assert parental authority by sending him to a disciplinary camp. In the present, his fury is particularly focused on Macy, a confident and capable guide who publicly embarrassed him during the “Fight Night” training exercise. He also targets Allie, a woman with intellectual authority and online influence, with condescending taunts. His victims are not random; they are avatars for the types of women he feels have wronged him, and his violence is a means of reasserting the dominance he believes is his due as a man.

Leo’s initial, feigned incompetence is a manipulative tactic rooted in the incel narrative of victimhood. By presenting himself as the bumbling, socially awkward “Flip-Flop,” he encourages others to underestimate him, masking his violent intentions behind a facade of harmlessness. The shocking reveal that he is, in fact, a highly skilled rafter capable of navigating treacherous rapids alone at night emphasizes the depth of his deception. This calculated performance of inadequacy allows him to get close to his intended victims, demonstrating how the self-pitying victim narrative can be weaponized by predators to conceal their true, hateful beliefs and intentions.