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Jigsaw is a fictional serial killer within the Saw trilogy. He is different from most fictional serial killers as he does not kill his victims directly, but instead relies on various lethal traps in which he places his victims.
| Saw character | |
|---|---|
| |
| Jigsaw | |
| Real Name | John Kramer |
| Gender | Male |
| Race | Caucasian |
| Relationships | Amanda Young (apprentice), Jill (ex-girlfriend) |
| M.O. | Cleverly constructed and ironic death traps |
| Weapon of Choice: | Varies depending on the individual |
| Portrayed by: | Tobin Bell |
Jigsaw believes that he has never killed anyone in his life and that the choices that his victims make are up to them. Says Darren Lynn Bousman, director of Saw II and Saw III, "He's not the typical serial killer. He's not some madman. He's not Jason or Freddy. He's not even Hannibal Lecter. He's a person with extreme beliefs and he really thinks he's making a difference. He's a vigilante if anything. He thinks he's making a difference."[1]
History
Early life
Jigsaw's backstory was explored in the comic book Saw: Rebirth published by IDW Publishing[2] as well as flashbacks in Saw II.
John Kramer was originally employed as a toy maker, living a relatively dull, average existence content that there was always time to achieve goals tomorrow. Though he realised that there were more opportunities in life, he was simply too lazy and complacent to pursue them until a tragic discovery changed his life.
John rapidly grew ill, returning home every evening to violently vomit, he became weaker and his symptoms more severe. John was diagnosed with an inoperable frontal lobe tumor and cancer, forcing him to face his own mortality. He began to realize how fleeting and valuable life truly was. Becoming more attentive to other peoples lives as his own diminished, John saw how they took their lives for granted and was disgusted.
At the hospital, he witnessed various people who, in his opinion, were abusing their lives. Among them were Amanda Young, a young woman who had overdosed on heroin, and Paul, John's friend at the toy factory; Paul, who had a wife and kids, had attempted to commit suicide by cutting his wrists.
Utterly depressed at the futility of life, John attempted to commit suicide by driving his car over a cliff. John survived the crash however, clinging to the remnants of his life, however small. He discovered that only when he knew his death was impending did he really begin to value his life. As John observed other people wasting their lives, people undeserving and unappreciative of the life being denied to him, John began his mission to make people appreciate their blessings and realize how precious life truly is.
Jigsaw
John spent the next months of his life observing and planning meticulously for his "subjects", painstakingly creating devices to "test" their desire to live, often through ironic means. For example, Paul, the man who had slashed his wrists, was sentenced to crawl through a maze of razor wire in order to survive.
Placing his subjects in lethal traps, each victim was left a single chilling message explaining the 'crime' they had committed to deserve their fate and how they could escape. Each was conveyed either by a distorted voice or by Jigsaw's puppet, Billy[1]. They often involved quick thinking, ethically difficult decisions and often self-mutilation that Jigsaw would often be present to view, unknown to the victim.
As his victims increased, authorities coined the nickname "The Jigsaw Killer" or simply, "Jigsaw" for John based upon the jigsaw-shaped piece of flesh that he would cut from an unsuccessful victim. As John would later explain to Detective Eric Matthews however, the piece was not intended to be used as a signature but simply to represent the 'piece' that the victims were missing; the survival instinct. Though police intensity continued to increase as more and more bodies were found in incredible and brutal devices, Jigsaw continued to follow his mission undaunted.
Jigsaw's apprentice
Jigsaw targeted a new victim, Amanda Young, a heroin addict who he felt had thrown her life away when she had a whole life ahead of her. Placing her in a lethal trap, Amanda managed to pass her test and escape with her life. Though Amanda had been placed in a deadly trap, she felt as though Jigsaw had 'helped' her reconsider her life and how she had wasted it on drug abuse.
After she returned home following police interrogation, Jigsaw confronted Amanda, seeing potential within her. Amanda agreed to become his apprentice, taking on his mantle when he eventually succumbed to his illness.
Jigsaw set about training Amanda to posess the beliefs and skills to carry on his legacy, struggling to help her cope with her emotional responses to the brutal nature of their work. The pair grew closer, Jigsaw seeing Amanda as the daughter he never had, she became of great importance to him and Amanda reciprocated these feelings.
Jigsaw's health continued to rapidly decline gradually reducing his mobility as his body degenerated and withered, confining him to a makeshift hospital bed. He was forced to ensure that Amanda was ready for the task before her before he died but he knew that she was already experiencing problems and not following the rules of Jigsaw's 'game'. Amanda had become a full-out murderer, creating traps that offered salvation to its victims but in reality guaranteed death even if the victim completed the tasks asked of them. Jigsaw could not let Amanda continue on this path when he died, so he prepared an elaborate trap with which he could once again test his apprentice to decide if she could truly carry on his work.
The final test
As Jigsaw lay on his deathbed, Amanda, at his order, kidnapped Dr. Lynn Denlon and tasked her with maintaining Jigsaw's life until another victim, Jeff Reinhart, could escape his 'trap'. If Jigsaw was to die before this trap was complete then Lynn would be killed by an explosive trap around her neck, tied to Jigsaw's life signs. Jigsaw struggled to cling to life and see his final test complete but his condition deteriorated rapidly causing Amanda great distress.
Amanda's anxiety grew into hostility towards Dr. Lynn, jealous of the attention that Jigsaw was giving to her, intended or otherwise. As the tests continued, Amanda started to become increasingly unstable, eventually refusing to release Lynn from her trap when ordered to do so by Jigsaw. Jigsaw revealed his knowledge of Amanda's murders but begged her not to kill Lynn, saying that she was important to Amanda's own survival. Amanda admitted that she thought no-one really changed from the near-death experiences in Jigsaws trap's and that is why she was not allowing any victim to escape. Jigsaw continued to plead with his remaining strength for Amanda to release Lynn because he did not want anything to happen to Amanda, but she refused, shooting Lynn in the back just as Jeff appeared, having escaped his trap. Jeff retaliated, shooting Amanda in the neck.
As she lay bleeding to death, Jigsaw revealed that Jeff was Lynn's husband and that everything that had occurred was an elaborate ploy to test Amanda's ability to release victims who pass the test; Amanda had failed. Though she meant everything to Jigsaw, there was nothing more Jigsaw could do for Amanda. She reached her hand out to Jigsaw before she eventually died of blood-loss, their relationship still strong until death.
As Lynn lay injured, Jigsaw spoke to Jeff and offered him one last test. If Jeff could forgive Jigsaw for putting him through his traps and learn to let the death of his son go, then Jigsaw would summon medical help for Lynn and Jeff could have his family back together again. Jeff forgave Jigsaw but then picked up a circular saw blade, slitting Jigsaw's throat. With his last breaths, Jigsaw pressed the play button on a tape recorder he was holding in his hand. It relayed a personal message telling Jeff that he had learned nothing and was still motivated by vengeance. Jigsaw went onto explain that he had hidden Jeff's daughter in a secret ___location that only he knew and the secret would die with him. Jigsaw then flatlined, activating Lynn's trap to fatal effect, dooming Jeff to lose everything by failing the test. Jigsaw died, having completed his final test.
Appearance
Jigsaw is known best by his talking puppet, which he uses when he records his instructions for his "subjects." Although no reason for the puppet is given in the actual films, the backstory revealed in Saw: Rebirth explained that John Kramer worked in a factory that dealt with toys, and the puppet was one of his creations.
Jigsaw is often seen wearing a black and red theatrical robe with a large hood. For defense, he has large blades stored in the wrist which are able to pop out when needed. Amanda has also worn similar attire.
Another commonly used disguise by both Jigsaw and his apprentice is the pig mask, which appears to be an actual pig's head coupled with long black hair.
References
- ^ http://movies.ign.com/articles/741/741449p1.html.
- ^ http://www.saw2.com/rebirth/. Jigsaw's backstory