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Jigsaw
Saw
John Kramer before becoming JigsawThe Jigsaw Killer character was introduced in the 2004 film Saw through the character Dr. Gordon's recounting of his first killings. Jigsaw is described as a mysterious person who kidnaps people he sees as wasting their lives and attempts to "save" them by administering various inhumane tests. As opposed to other killers, Jigsaw does not actually intend to kill his subjects. The purpose of his traps is to see if the subject has the will to survive, and thus inflict enough psychological trauma for the subject to appreciate their life and save themselves from their own demons. As his victims increase, the media dubs him The Jigsaw Killer—or simply, Jigsaw—because of the jigsaw puzzle-shaped piece of flesh that he cuts from an unsuccessful subject, a practice explained in Saw II as reflecting the subject "was missing a vital piece of the human puzzle; the survival instinct". Throughout the first film, his identity remains mostly unknown; the unstable ex-cop David Tapp suspects he is in fact Dr. Gordon, one of the film's two protagonists, and near the end of the film Gordon and fellow protagonist Adam Faulkner are led to believe it is the hospital orderly Zep Hindle. Only at the end of the film is it revealed that the Jigsaw Killer was in fact a terminal cancer patient of Gordon's, John, who spent the entire movie posing as a corpse to watch the test he created for Adam and Dr. Gordon.
Saw II
Much of the character's backstory was revealed in Saw II, revealing that he had become sick and had gone in for a check-up, where he learned from Dr. Lawrence Gordon that he was dying of colon cancer, with an inoperable brain tumor. From there, he stated that he began to see how many people took their lives for granted. He ended up driving himself off of a cliff, but survived the suicide attempt, and began his work to save people from themselves. John's work eventually got him the name of The Jigsaw Killer, in spite of the fact that the circumstances and intentions he had while conducting his work did not make him a killer by definition. John never accepted the name Jigsaw, nor encouraged the media or law enforcement to call him by it.
Jigsaw on his deathbedIn Saw II, Jigsaw leaves a hint in one of his traps that leads police to apprehend him. There, he puts police Detective Eric Matthews through a test by showing him Eric's son Daniel trapped in a house filled with nerve gas, along with people whom, though far from innocent, Matthews had framed for crimes they did not commit. Jigsaw offers to let the younger Matthews survive if the Detective sits and talks to him, which ends with Eric brutally beating Jigsaw and forcing him to lead him to the house. Upon their arrival, Jigsaw is rescued by Amanda Young, one of his victims who, having survived her trap and seeing her captor as a savior, has become his apprentice.
Saw III
By Saw III, a dying Jigsaw is bedridden and extremely concerned over Amanda's failure to allow her subjects a fair chance to survive her tests. In his desperation, Jigsaw administers a final test to Amanda, in order to see if she was truly capable of successfully carrying on his work. Being kept alive by Dr. Lynn Denlon, a test subject who is forced to perform brain surgery on Jigsaw at the risk of dying by her own trap, Jigsaw attempts to keep Amanda from failing her test. However, after she breaks down, Amanda shoots Lynn. Witnessing this, Jeff Reinhart, the vengeful husband of Lynn who is also being tested, kills Amanda with a gunshot to her neck. After explaining the rules of a final game to Jeff, Jigsaw is killed when Jeff slices his throat with a power-saw. Whilst dying from this wound Jigsaw pulls out a tape player and plays Jeff a tape explaining that he is responsible for the abduction of Corbett, Jeff's daughter, and that if Jeff wants her back he'll have to participate in another game.
Saw IV
Jigsaw's corpse is Autopsied.While Jigsaw appears as a corpse in present-time at the beginning and end of Saw IV, a tape found in his stomach during his autopsy assures Detective Hoffman that his games have just begun. During the autopsy, it was revealed that John was 52 at the time of his death.[2]
Saw IV also explored Jigsaw's history, more so than previously done in Saw II, rendering some of the content in Saw: Rebirth non-canon, instead showing a new back story. From the story given in Saw IV, John was a successful civil engineer who got into property development, and a devoted husband to his wife Jill; she ran a recovery clinic for drug users, to which he gave his belief, "Cherish Your Life." However, after a robbery and the reckless actions of a clinic patient named Cecil resulted in the loss of John's unborn child, he became detached and angry, which ultimately resulted in the divorce of John and Jill. After being diagnosed with cancer, as first seen in Saw II, and trying to kill himself, John began his work as Jigsaw, hunting down Cecil as his first test subject.
Saw V
Jigsaw reappears in Saw V, by appearing in flashbacks meeting with Hoffman, attacking and kidnapping Paul Stallberg, then setting up, and later watching his razor wire trap from Saw, as well as setting up the house of Saw II. He appears on his deathbed talking to Hoffman about setting up a test, which leads Hoffman to exit the room, as Amanda enters, with Lynn Denlon, which occurs near the beginning of Saw III. Jigsaw also appears in a video will to his ex-wife Jill, leaving her a mysterious box. His deceased body is seen several short times, during the start of the movie, which was also the end of Saw IV, an opening scene in which Peter Strahm receives his first cassette tape, and a flashback which occurs to Strahm later in the film.
Saw VI
It has been confirmed that Tobin Bell has officially signed on for Saw VI, reprising his role as Jigsaw. |
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