Biography for
Jigsaw (Character)
from Saw (2004)

Jonathan Kramer,[1] commonly referred to as The Jigsaw Killer or simply Jigsaw, is a fictional character in the Saw film series. Jigsaw made his debut appearance as the primary antagonist in the first film of the series Saw, and later Saw II and Saw III. He is portrayed by American actor Tobin Bell.

Jigsaw is introduced in the series as a dying cancer patient who is obsessed with teaching people the value of their own lives. As stated by the producers of the third film, and Director Darren Lynn Bousman,[2] Jigsaw is not considered an actual serial killer, but a "scientist" who is determined to initiate the survival instinct in his "subjects", believing that humanity no longer used its instinct of survival.[3]

In the series, Jigsaw usually builds deadly traps for his subjects, which are often a symbolic representation of what is seen as a flaw in the person's life. Jigsaw calls these tests "games", and tells the person the "rules" of the game either by audio or video tape. The rules are tasks that the person must perform in order to pass the test and survive; however, the tasks often involve extreme self-mutilation, although Jigsaw on occasion has used psychological torture for the subject's test.

Even though Jigsaw is not considered a conventional killer, in the first film, he can be seen slashing the throat of a detective in an attempt to escape arrest. The detective lives, but is killed by another character later in the film.

Contents [show] 1 Appearances 2 Characterization 3 Bell on Jigsaw 4 Reaction 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Appearances John Kramer before he became Jigsaw.The 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 murderer who kidnaps people he sees as wasting their lives and putting them through symbolic death traps, being a physical representation of the problems that Jigsaw saw in their lives. As his victims increase, the media dub him the "The Jigsaw Killer" - or simply, "Jigsaw" - because of the jigsaw puzzle-shaped piece of flesh that he cuts from an unsuccessful victim, a practice explained in Saw II as reflecting the victim "was missing a vital piece of the human puzzle; the survival instinct". Throughout the 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. 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 subjected Adam and Dr. Gordon to.

Much of the character's backstory was revealed in Saw II, the one-shot comic Saw: Rebirth, and Saw IV. John Kramer was originally a building engineer and toy designer working at Standard Engineering Ltd. who lived an uneventful life out of laziness and complacency. The first radical change in his life occurs when his wife Jill started a clinic for drug addicts, something John was not in favor of, as he feels drug addicts are beyond help. His wife is pregnant with a boy at that time, who they plan to name Gideon, after the company that houses in the first building John designed. Jigsaw's signature doll is a design he had made for the boy. However, one of the drug addicts, Cecil, forces his way into the clinic one day to steal some money, and this assault causes Jill to lose the baby. John becomes a broken man, and understands that drug addicts can only help themselves. He subjects Cecil to his first trap, which involves mutilating his face in order to survive. Cecil succeeds, but learns nothing from the experience and instantly tries to attack John, who simply steps aside and allows Cecil to fall into a box filled with razor wire. John's bitter attitude toward life makes him unrecognizable for his wife and friends. John implicitly blames Jill for losing the baby by chosing a dangerous line of work, and his wife's suspicions that John has killed Cecil results in Jill leaving him. Shortly thereafter, John discoveres from Dr. Gordon and Dr. Lynn Denlon that he has an inoperable frontal lobe tumor and cancer, a revelation that makes him realize how valuable and temporary life is. During his stay at the hospital, John becomes distraught at seeing people wasting their lives, knowing his will end soon, and after discovering his successful coworker Paul (a victim in Saw) has cut his wrists he makes a suicide attempt by driving his car off of a cliff. The attempts fails, and John instead decides to dedicate what remains of his life to make people appreciate their own lives by making them face death. Jill tries to make contact with him during that time, but severs all ties with him, as she feels as if another person has crawled from the ashes of John's accident.

In Saw II, Jigsaw leaves a hint in one of his traps that leads the police to apprehend him. There, he puts police Detective Eric Matthews through a test by showing him his son trapped in a house filled with sarin, along with people whom 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.

Jigsaw pouring wax over a tape. By Saw III, a dying Jigsaw is bedridden and extremely concerned over Amanda's practice of making traps that have no escape, a significant break from his M.O. While having Amanda conduct his final experiment, Jigsaw simultaneously puts her through a test to see if she is capable of continuing his work after he dies. She fails this test as she grows jealous of the attention that Jigsaw was giving to the victim Lynn Denlon, the doctor charged with keeping him alive until her husband Jeff Reinhart completed the test set out for him. Amanda ultimately shoots the doctor as Jeff enters the lair. Witnessing his wife getting shot down, Jeff kills Amanda. Jigsaw puts Jeff to the final test, by offering Jeff the change to forgive him for putting him through his ordeal. Jeff fails, as he slices Jigsaw's throat with a power-saw, triggering a device attached to Lynn to kill Lynn and sealing them all in the make-shift hospital room. A final tape activated by Jigsaw upon dying reveals that he has also kidnapped Jeff's daughter, and by killing Jigsaw, Jeff has effectively destroyed the one opportunity to save her.

Jigsaw's death has been confirmed as canon and the producers have no plans to resurrect him, although he is planned to appear in future installments in the Saw franchise.[4] A scene from Saw IV released by Fearnet shows a tape being found in Jigsaw's stomach during his autopsy taunting the police that "the games have just begun". A toe-tag on his corpse revealed John to be 52 at the time of his death.[5] Saw IV also revealed that Jigsaw actually has another student who helped him set-up the earlier traps and who will continue his work, besides Amanda. This person is revealed to be Det. Hoffman, a colleague of Eric Matthews. The tape found in Jigsaw's stomach reveals that there are more students who even Hoffman does not know of.