The femme fatale is a global phenomenon in (popular) culture that focuses on the figure of a woman who is fatal to everyone around her, especially men. We find records of female fatality in ancient writings, but also in the Bible and in all later periods of world literature, and with the appearance of film, this type of woman character also shifts from literature to film adaptations. Femme fatale is a cultural phenomenon that is still discussed today - from the very meaning of the term, its influence on a specific discourse, features and/or stylistic expression - trying to answer these questions: what makes a fatal woman truly fatal and to whom is she truly fatal? However, even today, this archetype is often analyzed very superficially, so polemics arise over whether the femme fatale represents an anti-heroine, a kind of a villain in literature/film/culture, or whether it is the most complex female character and a feminist icon. Therefore, this paper will focus on defining the archetype of the femme fatale as concretely as possible and on recognizing the basic features of the fatal woman character, firstly in literature and then on film. The paper provides an insight into the style and fashion of the classic concept of the femme fatale, as well as the characteristics of different fatal women with regard to style. Finally, the work provides an insight into the discussions related to the phenomenon of femme fatale on issues of ethics and morality and the possible influence of this character as a positive or negative phenomenon in global culture.