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{{About|a character from the [[Saw (franchise)|Saw]] films|the 2009 murder|Murder of Jeffrey Howe|other persons with a similar name|John Cramer}}

{| class="infobox" style="width: 21em; font-size: 90%; text-align: left"
|-
!colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | ''[[Saw (franchise)|Saw]]'' character
|-
|colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | [[Image:Sawiii.jpg|300px]]
|-
!colspan="2" style="text-align:center; font-size: small; background-color: #000; color: #ffa;" |Jigsaw
|-
!Birth name:
|John Kramer
|-
!Nickname(s):
|The Jigsaw Killer, Jigsaw
|-
!Gender:
|[[Male]]
|-
!Age:
|52 (at death)<ref>John's age was said during his autopsy</ref>
|-
!Relationships:
|[[Amanda Young]] (apprentice)<br />[[Mark Hoffman (Saw series)|Mark Hoffman]] (accomplice/successor)<br />[[Jill Tuck-Kramer|Jill Tuck]] (ex-wife/accomplice)<br />[[List of Saw characters#Lawrence Gordon|Lawrence Gordon]] (doctor)<br /> [[List of Saw characters#Art Blank|Art Blank]] (lawyer)<br />[[List of Saw characters#William Easton|William Easton]] (health insurer)<br />[[List of Saw characters#Gideon|Gideon]] (unborn son)
|-
![[Modus operandi|M.O.]]:
|Constructing symbolic death traps<br />Psychological torture<br />Indirect physical torture
|-
!Status:
| Deceased
|-
!First appearance:
|''[[Saw (film)|Saw]]''
|-
!Created by:
|[[James Wan]] & [[Leigh Whannell]]
|-
!Portrayed by:
|[[Tobin Bell]]
|}
'''The Jigsaw Killer''', commonly referred to as simply "'''Jigsaw'''", is a [[fictional character]] in the [[Saw (franchise)|''Saw'' franchise]]. Jigsaw made his debut as the primary antagonist in the first film of the series, ''[[Saw (film)|Saw]]'', and later ''[[Saw II]]'', ''[[Saw III|III]]'', ''[[Saw IV|IV]]'',''[[Saw V|V]]'' and ''[[Saw VI|VI]]''. He is portrayed by American actor [[Tobin Bell]].

Jigsaw, introduced in the series as '''John Kramer''',<ref>[http://www.moviesonline.ca/movienews_12275.html Tobin Bell Interview, SAW 4 - MoviesOnline<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> was a [[civil engineer]] dying from an inoperable [[frontal lobe]] [[tumor]] that had developed from colon cancer. After a failed suicide attempt, Kramer experienced a new respect for his own life and set out to put others through similarly deadly tests, often a symbolic representation of what could be seen as a flaw in the person's life, to help them appreciate their own lives by testing their will to live through self-sacrifice. The Jigsaw name was given by the media for his practice of cutting puzzle pieces out of the flesh of those who failed his tests, symbolic of their missing survival instincts.

==In film==
===''Saw''===
The Jigsaw Killer character was introduced in the 2004 film ''[[Saw (film)|Saw]]'' through the character [[List of Saw characters#Lawrence Gordon|Dr. Lawrence 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 unsuccessful subjects, a practice explained in ''[[Saw II]]'' as reflecting each subject "was missing a vital piece of the human puzzle; the survival instinct". Throughout the first film, his identity remains uncertain; the unstable ex-cop [[David Tapp]] suspects that he may be Dr. Gordon, one of the film's two protagonists, and near the end of the film Dr. Gordon and fellow protagonist [[Adam Faulkner]] are led to believe it is the hospital orderly [[List of Saw characters#Zep Hindle|Zep Hindle]]. Only at the end of the film is it revealed that the Jigsaw Killer was in fact a terminal cancer patient of Dr. Gordon's, John Kramer, who spent the entire movie posing as a corpse to watch the test he created for Faulkner and Dr. Gordon.

===''Saw II''===
[[Image:Johnkramersawii.PNG||thumb|left|John Kramer before becoming Jigsaw]]
Much of the character's backstory was revealed in ''[[Saw II]]'', revealing that he had become sick and had gone in for a medical examination, where he learned from [[List of Saw characters#Lawrence Gordon|Dr. Lawrence Gordon]] that he was dying of colon cancer, with an inoperable brain tumor. At this point, he stated that he began to see how many people took their lives for granted. He drove himself off of a cliff but survived the suicide attempt, and subsequently began his "work" to save people from themselves. Though he never claimed nor encouraged the name, Kramer's work eventually earned him the nickname ''The Jigsaw Killer'', in spite of the circumstances and intentions he had while conducting his work; he did not consider himself to be a "killer" or "murderer". This is because rather than killing his [[List of Saw characters|victims]] outright, he trapped them in situations which he called "tests" or "games", in order to test their instinctual will to live versus physical or psychological [[torture]].

In ''Saw II'', Jigsaw leaves a hint in one of his traps that leads police to apprehend him. There, he puts police [[Eric Matthews (Saw)|Detective Eric Matthews]] through a test by showing him Matthews' son [[List of Saw characters#Daniel Matthews|Daniel]] trapped in a house filled with [[Sarin|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 (introduced previously in ''Saw'') who, having survived her trap and seeing her captor as a savior, has become his apprentice.

===''Saw III''===
[[Image:Jigsawonbedwithwax.PNG|thumb|Jigsaw on his deathbed]]
By ''[[Saw III]]'', a [[dying]] Jigsaw is bedridden and extremely concerned over Amanda Young's failure to allow her subjects a fair chance to survive her tests. In his desperation, Jigsaw administers a final test to Young, in order to see if she was truly capable of successfully carrying on his work. Being kept alive by [[List of Saw characters#Lynn Denlon|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 Young from failing her test. However, after she breaks down, Young shoots Dr. Denlon. Witnessing this, [[List of Saw characters#Jeff Reinhart|Jeff Reinhart]], Dr. Denlon's vengeful husband who is also being tested, kills Young with a gunshot to her neck. After explaining the rules of a final game to Reinhart, Jigsaw is mortally wounded when Reinhart slices his throat with a power saw. As he dies, Jigsaw pulls out a tape player and plays a recording explaining that he is responsible for the abduction of Corbett, Reinhart's daughter, and that if he wants her back he'll have to participate in another game.

===''Saw IV''===
[[Image:DeadJigsawTable.JPG|thumb|left|Jigsaw's corpse is autopsied]]
While Jigsaw appears as a corpse in the present at the beginning and end of ''[[Saw IV]]'', a tape found in his stomach during his autopsy assures [[Mark Hoffman (Saw)|Lieutenant Mark Hoffman]] that his games have just begun. During the autopsy, it was revealed that Kramer was 52 at the time of his death.<ref name=ToeTag>[http://a825.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/123/l_741c611338f9bb215c341849cf698dd0.jpg Jigsaw's age]</ref>

''Saw IV'' also explored Jigsaw's history, more so than previously done in ''Saw II'', rendering some of the content in ''Saw: Rebirth'' (a one-shot comic published in 2005) non-canon, instead showing a new back story. From the story given in ''Saw IV'', Kramer was a successful [[civil engineer]] who got into [[property development]], and was 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 [[List of Saw characters#Cecil Adams|Cecil Adams]] resulted in the loss of the Kramers' unborn child, John became detached and angry, which eventually caused their divorce. After being diagnosed with cancer as first seen in ''Saw II'', and trying to kill himself, Kramer began his work as Jigsaw, hunting down Adams as his first test subject.
{{-}}

===''Saw V''===
Jigsaw reappears in ''[[Saw V]]'', in flashbacks meeting with Hoffman, attacking and kidnapping [[List of Saw characters#Paul Leahy|Paul Leahy]], then setting up and later watching his razor wire trap from ''Saw'', as well as setting up the house of ''Saw II''. He is shown on his deathbed talking to Hoffman about setting up a test, which leads Hoffman to exit the room as Young enters with Dr. Denlon, which occurs near the beginning of ''[[Saw III]]''. Jigsaw also appears in a video will to his ex-wife [[Jill Tuck-Kramer]], leaving her a mysterious box. His deceased body is shown several times during the start of the movie, which was also the end of ''Saw IV'', an opening scene in which [[List of Saw characters#Peter Strahm|Peter Strahm]] receives his first cassette tape, and a flashback which occurs to Strahm later in the film.

===''Saw VI''===
Jigsaw appears in flashbacks in the film. One flashback set prior to the events of the first film showed that it was Amanda Young who sent Adams to Jill Kramer's clinic to steal drugs for her. This resulted in Jill's miscarriage, and thus Young was revealed to be an indirect cause of John Kramer's transformation into Jigsaw. Further flashbacks set prior to the events of the first film reveal that Jigsaw targeted William Easton for one of his games because William, without any sensitivity, had denied him health coverage after he developed cancer. In the present time of ''Saw VI'', Kramer shows himself on video twice to Easton instead of the [[Billy (Saw)|Billy Puppet]] (the method Kramer usually used to speak to his subjects), so Easton could look in the eyes of someone he let die. In another flashback, this time set between the events of the first and second film, Jigsaw explains to his ex-wife that his "rehabilitation" works, showing Amanda Young as supposed evidence of this. A flashback set just before the events of the third and fourth films explores the group dynamic between Jigsaw, Amanda Young and Hoffman. Jigsaw criticises Hoffman for not seeing the test subjects as human beings and also critiques his approach to setting up Timothy Young's trap. It was also shown that Jigsaw seemed to have had a closer emotional attachment to Amanda Young than Hoffman. Shortly afterward, Jigsaw gave his ex-wife the key which she later used to open the box he gave her in his will in ''[[Saw V]]''). In the present time of ''Saw VI'', it is revealed that the box contained six envelopes (marked 1 through 6), a thicker envelope, and an updated version of the "Reverse Bear Trap". She gave [[Mark Hoffman (Saw)|Hoffman]] envelopes 1 through 5, but hid everything else from him and later delivered the thick envelope to an unknown person. Envelope 6 was meant only for Tuck-Kramer, instructing her to trap Hoffman and put the "Reverse Bear Trap" on him so he could be "tested". This fulfilled the promise made, via the audio tape discovered in the stomach of Jigsaw's corpse, that Hoffman would not go untested.

==In other media==
===''Saw: Rebirth''===
The character of John Kramer is also featured in the comic book, ''[[List of Saw media#Printed|Saw:Rebirth]]'', which is set prior to the events of the first movie. It filled in some of his history, showing him as a toy designer at Standard Engineering Ltd. who was too lazy to do much with his life, ultimately ending his relationship with Jill. ''Saw: Rebirth'' also reveals Kramer's discovery that he had terminal cancer and outlined how his subsequent failed suicide attempt impacted his train of thought. His relationships with Dr. Lawrence Gordon, Zep Hindle, Paul Leahy, Amanda Young, and Mark Wilson were explored, along with his transformation into Jigsaw. ''Rebirth'''s continuity was ultimately contradicted by the backstory presented in ''Saw IV''.

===''Saw: The Videogame''===
Tobin Bell reprises his role as the voice of Jigsaw in the [[Saw (video game)|Saw video game]]. He is shown in television screens dressed in his signature robes setting up traps for people and preaching his lesson of life appreciation to them. He frequently advises and taunts Detective Tapp as he traverses through an abandoned insane asylum, usually through Billy the Puppet.

==Characterization==
The producers of the ''Saw'' films have fought to differentiate the Jigsaw Killer from other horror film killers. [[Darren Lynn Bousman]], the director of ''Saw II'', ''III'' and ''IV'', has stated on the character's role "He's not [[Jason Voorhees|Jason]] or [[Freddy Krueger|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."<ref name="IGNview"/> [[Tobin Bell]], the actor who plays Jigsaw, describes his character's role as being more of a scientist or engineer and "he thinks very specifically and very pragmatically".<ref>[http://movies.ign.com/articles/660/660958p3.html Tobin Bell IGN interview]</ref>

Bousman mentioned that ''Saw III'' was intended to contain a scene in which Jigsaw showed remorse for his actions after seeing the results:

For the first time, we actually see him break down and cry. Imagine your entire life's work. You're on your deathbed. You know there's nothing else you can do and here's how you'll be remembered: as a killer, as a murderer. Not as someone who helped people. Not as someone who changed lives. Someone who took away lives. The one thing he didn't want to be and, as he's on his deathbed, he's realizing this.<ref name="IGNview">{{cite web|url=http://movies.ign.com/articles/741/741449p2.html|title=Interview: Darren Lynn Bousman|publisher=[[IGN]]|page=2|date= 2006-10-24|accessdate=2007-07-26</ref>

As a result of his cancer and a failed suicide attempt, John decided to dedicate the rest of his life to teaching people to appreciate their own lives. The producers of ''Saw III'' and director [[Darren Lynn Bousman]] see Jigsaw,<ref>Saw III: Audio Commentary</ref> not as a serial killer, but a "scientist" who is determined to initiate the survival instinct in his "subjects", believing that humanity no longer uses its instinct of survival.<ref>Saw II: Jigsaw Lecture scene</ref>

While the character's discovery that he has cancer is acknowledged to be the "final straw" that drove him to his actions, Bell has stated in an interview that "His terminal cancer is one of the elements of his life but he's as angry over the fact the world is going to hell in handbasket because it's no longer the survival of the fittest; it's the survival of the mediocre. That drives him as much as anything else. He doesn't just talk about his frustrations, he does something about them, and he puts himself on the line. His cancer was about one element in about 130 elements that caused him to create the world that he's created."<ref>[http://www.ugo.com/ugo/html/article/?id=17413 A Dinner Date with Saw IV | UGO.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

Jigsaw is depicted in the ''Saw'' films as being extremely intelligent in the areas relevant to his actions. In ''Saw: Rebirth'' he is depicted doing extensive study in multiple fields to gain knowledge for designing his tests, and recurring director Bousman himself has described Jigsaw as being "extremely educated" in an interview.<ref>{{cite news |title= Saw IV: Tobin Bell Talks Jigsaw, New Characters & Crazy Finale!!|url= http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/9104|publisher= Bloody Disgusting|date= 2007-06-13|accessdate=2007-07-26}}</ref>

==Symbolic representations==
===Traps===
In the series, Jigsaw usually builds deadly traps for his subjects, which are often a symbolic representation of what Jigsaw perceives as a flaw in the person's life. Jigsaw calls these tests "games", and tells the person the "rules" of the game usually 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 there have been occasions where it is possible for the subject not to harm themselves if they are clever enough, such as the Hand Trap). On occasion, Jigsaw has used psychological torture for the subject's test.

Many of the games involve clocks, counting down timers or other measured time constraints provided to the victims. Jigsaw elaborated in ''Saw II'' his appreciation of "time", outlining the importance of savoring every moment. He also stated his belief that telling someone the time in which they may die would awaken an alertness for every moment of existence.

Jake Huntley wrote of the complexity of Jigsaw's character in the ''Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies''. Huntley described the intention behind Jigsaw's actions, and evaluated the extent to which they can be analyzed to fit into the philosophies associated with [[Gilles Deleuze|Deleuze]], [[Charles Darwin|Darwin]] and [[Friedrich Nietzsche|Nietzsche]]:

{{quote|The subject of one of Jigsaw's games is therefore always presented with an opportunity, the aim of which is to reinvigorate the potential of the subject, jump-start the survival instinct and instil a celebration or "savouring" of life. In Deleuzian terms, it is the potential of life that is at stake... It is this that gives Jigsaw's games their Deleuzian tone, the urgent revitalisation of life occasioning new experiences to be learnt and assimilated: such as the perverse, singular and aberrant situation of waking to find a man-trap secured around your neck. There is then the instruction to live or die, to make your choice, to survive the encounter with affect, or the affection-image... There is no thrill, sadistic or otherwise, in setting these games; they are throws of the die by the subjects, aleatoric opportunities... As Jigsaw makes clear to Detective Matthews during their conversation in ''Saw II'', where Jigsaw's motivation and philosophy are most comprehensively explored, "I've never murdered anyone in my life. The decisions are up to them." Whilst it probably wouldn't stand up in court, he is at least correct in his usual, carefully literal sense. The decisions, the choices, the selection of a potential, are in the hands of the subjects of his games and he only intervenes in order to keep the game within its rules so a decision can be reached. The subjects are faced with a shocking choice that forces them to acknowledge what Deleuze identifies as the virtual – that is, the unacknowledged aspects of our experience with reality.

This, in effect, is the particular game that Jigsaw himself plays; one where the organism might be failing but the flow of desire succeeds and endures. Jigsaw might resort to discussing Darwin's "little trip to the Galapagos Islands" to provide a theoretical underpinning for his project and echo Nietzsche in talking of the will to survive, but this merely misdirects investigators and witnesses in the same way that the gruesome traps and freely flowing gore earn him his unsettling serial killer soubriquet. Jigsaw's games are designed to crack open the world of their respective players: the challenges are nearly always relevant to the subject's lifestyle in a symbolic or literal way, bringing them to painful self awareness, prompting a reappraisal of their squandered potential.<ref name="Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies">{{cite web|url=http://irishgothichorrorjournal.homestead.com/SawHuntley.html|title="'I Want To Play A Game': How To See Saw"|publisher=Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies|page=1|date= 2006|accessdate=2008-03-22}}</ref>}}

Jigsaw intends through these traps to force his victims to prove to him that they are "worthy" and "deserving" to continue living, and also for them to learn to abandon what he perceives to be their vices. Jigsaw often expressed a desire for his victims to succeed, but stressed that their fate was always in their own hands. The video and audio tape instructions for his games often echo this idea: "Live or die. Make your choice."

===Billy the puppet===
{{mainarticle|Billy (Saw)}}

Billy the puppet is an icon of the Jigsaw character. Jigsaw often used it for the purposes of delivering messages to his victims. This was often done via a television screen, but at times it has also been physically present with Jigsaw's victims during their tests. Jigsaw provided the (disguised) voice for Billy when it delivered its messages. It is shown in ''Saw IV'' that the original puppet was created by Jigsaw as an intended toy for his unborn child. Jigsaw is shown constructing the more menacing Billy puppet in ''Saw III'' for the purpose of its inclusion in his psychotic 'games'.

===Microcassettes===
Another of Jigsaw's trademarks is his use of [[microcassette|microcassettes]] to deliver instructions to his victims, disguising his voice as on the Billy videotapes. A flashback in ''Saw IV'' reveals that he accomplished this by speaking into a reel-to-reel tape recorder, then slowing down the playback. Often, a victim would find a microcassette recorder left for him/her with a tape already loaded in, while at other times the tape would be found separately in an envelope marked with the victim's name. One tape was found in Jigsaw's stomach during his autopsy at the beginning of ''Saw IV''. Both of his apprentices, Amanda Young and Mark Hoffman, eventually began making their own microcassettes, but without altering their voices as he did; with the exception of [[List of Saw characters#Seth Baxter|Seth Baxter's]] tape, which Hoffman had to mask his voice to avoid detection.

Huntley remarked that Jigsaw's voice recordings operated for a specific purpose as part of Jigsaw's M.O. Huntley stated that it allowed Jigsaw to be present there not as "a participant or even a spectator but instead as a referee, observing the rules pertinent to that particular subject rather than salaciously enjoying the ‘victim’s agony’."<ref name="Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies"/>

===Pig mask===
The pig mask is a thematic prop worn by Jigsaw and his accomplices throughout the Saw film series to conceal their identities while abducting their "test subjects". As the series continues, the purpose of the pig mask is explored in detail; explained to be a tribute to the "Year of the Pig", the year in which Jigsaw started his work.

The origin of the pig mask was shown in ''[[Saw IV]]'', revealing the first known pig masks to have been latex strap-on masks used at a [[Pig (zodiac)|Year of the Pig]] [[Chinese New Year]] festival. Jigsaw had snatched them and donned one, while using the other one to hold his chloroform-soaked rag. The second mask was then used to knock out John's first test subject, [[List of_Saw characters#Cecil Adams|Cecil]], by placing the mask over his head with the [[chloroform]] rag still inside.

When working on the original ''Saw'' film, writer Leigh Whannel and director James Wan wanted their antagonist Jigsaw to have some sort of mask. After some discussion, the idea of Jigsaw wearing a rotting pig's head was chosen to symbolize his pessimistic view of the world and the disease that he was "rotting" from.

Nevertheless, the mask given to them from production (a rubber halloween mask) was considered by them to be less than satisfactory. A number of things were added to make it look more gruesome, including long black hair and pus running from its eyes and nostrils. Leigh Whannell has still admitted to being disappointed with its final appearance compared to his intended one, but has admitted that the mask has since become one of the "staples" of the ''Saw'' franchise.

Along with [[Billy (Saw)|Billy]] and perhaps Jigsaw himself, the mask has since become one of the more iconic symbols of the franchise. It has appeared on both the posters for the first film<ref name=SawPoster>[http://ca.movieposter.com/poster/MPW-12105/Saw.html Saw poster with pig mask]</ref> and the fourth.<ref name=SawIVPoster>[http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Saw-IV-Posters_i2729458_.htm Saw IV poster]</ref> The mask has also been featured on many forms of merchandise. Officially licensed pig mask replicas have been sold for [[Halloween]]. In addition, the mask has been featured on numerous Jigsaw action figures. NECA has released two Jigsaw figurines with the pig mask; the original was Jigsaw wearing the mask in his black cloak, and a ''Saw III variant'' of Jigsaw wearing it in his red cloak.<ref>[http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/6293 Bloody-Disgusting.com]</ref><ref>[http://www.mwctoys.com/REVIEW_102306a.htm Captain Toy review]</ref> In addition, the Be@rBrick line has released a "bear" version of Jigsaw wearing the pig mask.<ref name=BearBrick>[http://www.hypebeast.com/2007/05/berbrick-series-14/ BerBrick series]</ref> Medicom has also released a figurine of Jigsaw wearing his infamous pig mask in the "Real Action Hero" line.<ref name=RealActionHero>[http://action-figure.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=22193 Real Action Hero line]</ref>

On the commentary track of ''Saw IV'', several discussions occur about Jigsaw's decision to use references to pigs in the series. In the series, the producers explained that Jigsaw was a spiritual person. However, it has never been revealed what religion he follows. In ''Saw IV'', Jigsaw's ex-wife Jill explains Jigsaw's organized and planned lifestyle, stating that she had conceived their miscarried son Gideon, with Jigsaw planning for him to be born in the year of the Pig. On the commentary track, the producers explain that in the [[Chinese Zodiac]], the pig stands for fertility and rebirth. Jigsaw is seen several times throughout the series with figurines of clay soldiers and [[Buddharupa|buddhas]], further symbolizing his reference to various Asian cultures.

===Jigsaw puzzle pieces===
Cut outs were made, in the shape of jigsaw puzzle pieces, from the flesh of Jigsaw's deceased victims who failed to pass their test. John Kramer received the nickname "Jigsaw" from the police and the press stemming from his tendency to perform such a ritual; however, he never encouraged that name or used it to refer to himself.

Huntley argued that the jigsaw pieces that John cut out of the flesh of his failed test subjects was not intended as a mere stylized signature, but rather that it had a much deeper philosophical reflection. He stated that:

{{quote|Far from being a stamp of final approval, a post-(mortem)-script to the game, the jigsaw piece represents the admission of the subject's missing survival instinct, the corporeal body's non-relational or "snagged" desire. Those marked with jigsaw pieces are the ones that got away, left inert, reduced to the zero intensity of death. It would seem strange that Jigsaw – surely the last figure ever to be deemed sentimental – should choose to extract this symbolic jigsaw piece from these subjects, except that Jigsaw is linguistically consistent in explaining how he "takes" or "cuts" the piece of skin. The jigsaw shape marking those who "fail" is the adding of a subtraction – in effect, the removal of their inability, their unfulfilled potential or their lack – the excision that leaves the whole of the body that is not the closed, inert corporeal body but is, instead, the "body-without-organs", that is, the nexus point where energy pools amid the flow and fold of forces and durations, existence beyond the living organism.<ref name="Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies"/>}}

A hand-drawn jigsaw puzzle piece was also present on the back of a photograph in ''Saw'' as part of a clue for one of his games.

===Apprentices===
Throughout the ''Saw'' series, Jigsaw developed a tendency to recruit "apprentices" to carry on his perceived mission. Amanda Young and Lieutenant Mark Hoffman are currently the only two known apprentices Jigsaw has had.
Huntley analyzed Jigsaw's intentions in taking in protégés as stemming from the terminally ill character's desire to overcome death itself, and argues that this is further evidence of his thought process being characterized by Deleuzian philosophy. Huntley argued:

{{quote|Jigsaw decides that the answer is to achieve immortality through a legacy, having a successor to continue with his work. The impulse is Deleuzian. Jigsaw remains calm, neutral and impassive throughout the ''Saw'' films (not least because of his terminal condition) yet his only express wish, concern or desire, is that his legacy is maintained – the work of testing the fabric of humanity should go on. "Jigsaw" – as the intensive site of being, a locus of desire, the body-without-organs – can survive the death of the organism John Kramer... What seems to be consistent thematically through the Saw films is that "Jigsaw" is a part for various players, an identity composed of pieces...<ref name="Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies"/>}}

The term "apprentice" was used in the official plot synopses for ''Saw III'' and ''Saw IV''.<ref name=SawIIIFactSheet>[http://www.lionsgatepublicity.com/epk/saw3/docs/fact_sheet.doc Lionsgate Publicity: Saw III Fact Sheet With Synopsis]</ref><ref name=SawIVFactSheet>[http://www.lionsgatepublicity.com/epk/saw4/docs/fact_sheet.doc Lionsgate Publicity: Saw IV Fact Sheet With Synopsis]</ref>

===Theatrical robe===
Jigsaw is usually seen wearing a black theatrical robe with a large hood and red lining when running traps or abducting victims. On the commentary track for the first ''Saw'' film, it was explained that the producers originally wanted Jigsaw to have the red robe with black interior. Thinking that the red robe was too vibrant for the film, they reversed the robe to make it black with red interior.<ref>Saw: Audio Commentary</ref> Amanda wore a similar robe in ''Saw III'' in an attempt to symbolically emulate her mentor.<ref name="Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies"/>

==Tobin Bell==
Speaking about his character, actor [[Tobin Bell]] says, "My wife mentioned to me that she read an interview with [[Jeffrey Dahmer]]'s mother about his childhood. And she said he was a perfectly normal child. He had friends like everyone else, he participated in the same kind of activities. In terms of your question about icons, if you begin to think of people like that, it's a deadly thing to do. You have to think of someone like Jigsaw from a very specific point of view. He doesn't view himself as some kind of diabolical psychotic. You know there's a little bit of evil in everyone. It just gets carried further. Most of us have some sort of moral fiber that restricts that. Some framework. And then others because of their lives and what happens to them, the thing develops in some other way. You know, I've played a lot of different kind of guys. Jigsaw's a fascinating person. And it's up to the filmmakers to do what ever they want to do with where he's coming from and to shape it and make it something meaningful and fits into the picture."<ref>[http://movies.ign.com/articles/660/660958p3.html Ign: Saw Ii Q&A<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

==Reaction==
===Critical Reception===

A review of ''Saw II'' in the ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]'' praised Tobin Bell and Jigsaw as being "more terrifying than the movie villains in Hollywood's last five horror films put together; even though he's in a wheelchair and hooked up to multiple [[Intravenous therapy|IVs]]."<ref>[http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/10/28/DDG17FEJ0A1.DTL&type=movies FILM CLIPS / Opening today<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

Don Summer, a writer for ''Best-Horror-Movies.com'', stated that "the villain, in Jigsaw, is brilliant and formidable" and that actor Tobin Bell has done a "fantastic job" in his recurring role.<ref name=BHM>[http://www.best-horror-movies.com/saw-III.html 'The genuis of Jigsaw continues']. Retrieved 2009-10-20.</ref>

Neil Smith, a film reviewer for the BBC, described Bell's Jigsaw as "creepy", describing the character as adding "a palpably sinister charge" to the scenes he appeared in.<ref name=BBC>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2005/10/27/saw_2_2005_review.shtml 'Saw II (2005)']. Retrieved 2009-10-21.</ref>

Sorcha Ní Fhlainn, a reviewer for the Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies, remarked that Tobin Bell's Jigsaw had become such an entrenched staple of the ''Saw'' franchise, that the character's reduced appearance in ''Saw V'' was drastically felt. Ní Fhlainn also commented that Jigsaw's unique character was not successfully compensated for by his apparent successor in ''Saw V'', Mark Hoffman. Ní Fhlainn went to the extent to remark that the character of Jigsaw is so central to the ''Saw'' franchise, that it should have ended as a trilogy considering Jigsaw's death at the end of ''Saw III''.<ref name=IJGHS>[http://irishgothichorrorjournal.homestead.com/FilmReviews5.html#anchor_82 'Saw V']. Retrieved 2009-10-21.</ref>

Tobin Bell was nominated for a [[Spike TV]] ''[[Scream Awards|Scream Award]]'' three times in the category of "Most Vile Villain" for his portrayal of Jigsaw in 2006 for ''Saw II'', in 2007 (alongside [[Shawnee Smith]]'s portrayal of Amanda) for ''Saw III'', and in 2008 for ''Saw IV''.<ref name=ScreamAwards2006>[http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=20060721spiketv01 'GET YER SCREAM ON! CATEGORIES AND NOMINEES ANNOUNCED FOR SPIKE TV'S SCREAM AWARDS 2006']. Retrieved 2009-10-11.</ref><ref name=ScreamAwards2007>[http://www.movieweb.com/news/NEjmQmksXRL5nk 'Scream 2007 Awards Coming to Spike TV on October 23']. Retrieved 2009-10-11.</ref><ref name=ScreamAwards2008>[http://horror.about.com/od/horrorawardnominees/a/scream2008.htm '2008 Scream Award Nominees for Horror']. Retrieved 2009-10-11.</ref>

===Impact===
As early as October 2005, an interviewer for [[IGN]] was willing to describe the Jigsaw Killer as "the next [[Freddy Krueger|Freddy]]" in terms of iconic status as a modern horror film character<ref>{{cite news|first= Eric|last= Goldman|title= Saw II Q&A|url= http://movies.ign.com/articles/660/660958p1.html|publisher= IGN|page= 2|date= 2005-10-24|accessdate=2007-07-26}}</ref>, a comment that deeply touched [[Leigh Whannell]], the screenwriter of Saw. Sorcha Ní Fhlainn, a reviewer for the Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies however argued that the character of Jigsaw broke into new ground. Ní Fhlainn argued that Jigsaw's character is remarkably different from that of the slasher villains Freddy Krueger and [[Jason Voorhees]] as Jigsaw was portrayed as a villain who was shown as "increasingly frail and human".<ref name=IJGHS>[http://irishgothichorrorjournal.homestead.com/FilmReviews5.html#anchor_82 'Saw V']. Retrieved 2009-10-21.</ref> Neil Smith, a reviewer for the BBC, believed Jigsaw's villainy to be carrying on in the tradition of the likes of [[Hannibal Lecter]].<ref name=BBC>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2005/10/27/saw_2_2005_review.shtml 'Saw II (2005)']. Retrieved 2009-10-21.</ref>

Ní Fhlainn reflected that Jigsaw's unique character and criminal M.O. draw from philosophical influences such as that of [[Arthur Schopenhauer|Schopenhauer’s]] "will to survive" to Nietzsche’s "will to power", [[Sigmund Freud|Freud’s]] "death drive" and Gilles Delueze’s theories on "lines of flight" and potential. Due to this, Ní Fhlainn was willing to categorise the ''Saw'' films not as 'modern horror' but rather impacting on the genre as being part of what she described as "postmodern horror".<ref name=IJGHS>[http://irishgothichorrorjournal.homestead.com/FilmReviews5.html#anchor_82 'Saw V']. Retrieved 2009-10-21.</ref>

Despite the mystery of the character's identity created by the filmmakers in ''Saw'', Bell's depiction of Jigsaw was used in promotional posters for ''[[Saw III]]'' and ''[[Saw IV]]''.<ref>[http://www.movieweb.com/news/52/15052.php Limited Edition Saw III Posters Made With Tobin Bell's Blood<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://www.movieweb.com/news/10/22010.php New Saw IV Poster<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Action figures of Jigsaw have also been produced by the [[National Entertainment Collectibles Association]].<ref>[http://www.necaonline.com/article/detail/18 www.necaonline.com || National Entertainment Collectibles Association, Inc<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://www.necaonline.com/article/detail/134 www.necaonline.com || National Entertainment Collectibles Association, Inc<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
*{{imdb character|0002593|Jigsaw}}
*[http://www.sawgame.net/saw_characters.php Jigsaw character description in the ''Saw'' video game]

{{Saw Series}}

[[Category:Fictional criminals]]
[[Category:Fictional inventors]]
[[Category:Fictional murderers]]
[[Category:Fictional serial killers]]
[[Category:Fictional toymakers and toy inventors]]
[[Category:Fictional vigilantes]]
[[Category:Fictional mass murderers]]
[[Category:Saw characters]]
[[Category:Fictional engineers]]
[[ar:جيغسو]]
[[be-x-old:Піла (пэрсанаж)]]
[[es:Jigsaw]]
[[fa:جیگ‌ساو]]
[[it:Jigsaw (personaggio)]]
[[ja:ジグソウ]]
[[pt:Jigsaw]]
[[ru:Джон Крамер (персонаж)]]
[[sr:Џон Крејмер]]
[[fi:Jigsaw]]
[[sv:Jigsaw]]
[[fr:Jigsaw (saga Saw)]]

Revision as of 18:08, 8 February 2010

Saw character
Jigsaw
Birth name: John Kramer
Nickname(s): The Jigsaw Killer, Jigsaw
Gender: Male
Age: 52 (at death)[1]
Relationships: Amanda Young (apprentice)
Mark Hoffman (accomplice/successor)
Jill Tuck (ex-wife/accomplice)
Lawrence Gordon (doctor)
Art Blank (lawyer)
William Easton (health insurer)
Gideon (unborn son)
M.O.: Constructing symbolic death traps
Psychological torture
Indirect physical torture
Status: Deceased
First appearance: Saw
Created by: James Wan & Leigh Whannell
Portrayed by: Tobin Bell

The Jigsaw Killer, commonly referred to as simply "Jigsaw", is a fictional character in the Saw franchise. Jigsaw made his debut as the primary antagonist in the first film of the series, Saw, and later Saw II, III, IV,V and VI. He is portrayed by American actor Tobin Bell.

Jigsaw, introduced in the series as John Kramer,[2] was a civil engineer dying from an inoperable frontal lobe tumor that had developed from colon cancer. After a failed suicide attempt, Kramer experienced a new respect for his own life and set out to put others through similarly deadly tests, often a symbolic representation of what could be seen as a flaw in the person's life, to help them appreciate their own lives by testing their will to live through self-sacrifice. The Jigsaw name was given by the media for his practice of cutting puzzle pieces out of the flesh of those who failed his tests, symbolic of their missing survival instincts.

In film

Saw

The Jigsaw Killer character was introduced in the 2004 film Saw through the character Dr. Lawrence 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 unsuccessful subjects, a practice explained in Saw II as reflecting each subject "was missing a vital piece of the human puzzle; the survival instinct". Throughout the first film, his identity remains uncertain; the unstable ex-cop David Tapp suspects that he may be Dr. Gordon, one of the film's two protagonists, and near the end of the film Dr. 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 Dr. Gordon's, John Kramer, who spent the entire movie posing as a corpse to watch the test he created for Faulkner and Dr. Gordon.

Saw II

File:Johnkramersawii.PNG
John Kramer before becoming Jigsaw

Much of the character's backstory was revealed in Saw II, revealing that he had become sick and had gone in for a medical examination, where he learned from Dr. Lawrence Gordon that he was dying of colon cancer, with an inoperable brain tumor. At this point, he stated that he began to see how many people took their lives for granted. He drove himself off of a cliff but survived the suicide attempt, and subsequently began his "work" to save people from themselves. Though he never claimed nor encouraged the name, Kramer's work eventually earned him the nickname The Jigsaw Killer, in spite of the circumstances and intentions he had while conducting his work; he did not consider himself to be a "killer" or "murderer". This is because rather than killing his victims outright, he trapped them in situations which he called "tests" or "games", in order to test their instinctual will to live versus physical or psychological torture.

In 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 Matthews' 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 (introduced previously in Saw) who, having survived her trap and seeing her captor as a savior, has become his apprentice.

Saw III

File:Jigsawonbedwithwax.PNG
Jigsaw on his deathbed

By Saw III, a dying Jigsaw is bedridden and extremely concerned over Amanda Young's failure to allow her subjects a fair chance to survive her tests. In his desperation, Jigsaw administers a final test to Young, 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 Young from failing her test. However, after she breaks down, Young shoots Dr. Denlon. Witnessing this, Jeff Reinhart, Dr. Denlon's vengeful husband who is also being tested, kills Young with a gunshot to her neck. After explaining the rules of a final game to Reinhart, Jigsaw is mortally wounded when Reinhart slices his throat with a power saw. As he dies, Jigsaw pulls out a tape player and plays a recording explaining that he is responsible for the abduction of Corbett, Reinhart's daughter, and that if he wants her back he'll have to participate in another game.

Saw IV

File:DeadJigsawTable.JPG
Jigsaw's corpse is autopsied

While Jigsaw appears as a corpse in the present at the beginning and end of Saw IV, a tape found in his stomach during his autopsy assures Lieutenant Mark Hoffman that his games have just begun. During the autopsy, it was revealed that Kramer was 52 at the time of his death.[3]

Saw IV also explored Jigsaw's history, more so than previously done in Saw II, rendering some of the content in Saw: Rebirth (a one-shot comic published in 2005) non-canon, instead showing a new back story. From the story given in Saw IV, Kramer was a successful civil engineer who got into property development, and was 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 Adams resulted in the loss of the Kramers' unborn child, John became detached and angry, which eventually caused their divorce. After being diagnosed with cancer as first seen in Saw II, and trying to kill himself, Kramer began his work as Jigsaw, hunting down Adams as his first test subject.

Saw V

Jigsaw reappears in Saw V, in flashbacks meeting with Hoffman, attacking and kidnapping Paul Leahy, then setting up and later watching his razor wire trap from Saw, as well as setting up the house of Saw II. He is shown on his deathbed talking to Hoffman about setting up a test, which leads Hoffman to exit the room as Young enters with Dr. Denlon, which occurs near the beginning of Saw III. Jigsaw also appears in a video will to his ex-wife Jill Tuck-Kramer, leaving her a mysterious box. His deceased body is shown several 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

Jigsaw appears in flashbacks in the film. One flashback set prior to the events of the first film showed that it was Amanda Young who sent Adams to Jill Kramer's clinic to steal drugs for her. This resulted in Jill's miscarriage, and thus Young was revealed to be an indirect cause of John Kramer's transformation into Jigsaw. Further flashbacks set prior to the events of the first film reveal that Jigsaw targeted William Easton for one of his games because William, without any sensitivity, had denied him health coverage after he developed cancer. In the present time of Saw VI, Kramer shows himself on video twice to Easton instead of the Billy Puppet (the method Kramer usually used to speak to his subjects), so Easton could look in the eyes of someone he let die. In another flashback, this time set between the events of the first and second film, Jigsaw explains to his ex-wife that his "rehabilitation" works, showing Amanda Young as supposed evidence of this. A flashback set just before the events of the third and fourth films explores the group dynamic between Jigsaw, Amanda Young and Hoffman. Jigsaw criticises Hoffman for not seeing the test subjects as human beings and also critiques his approach to setting up Timothy Young's trap. It was also shown that Jigsaw seemed to have had a closer emotional attachment to Amanda Young than Hoffman. Shortly afterward, Jigsaw gave his ex-wife the key which she later used to open the box he gave her in his will in Saw V). In the present time of Saw VI, it is revealed that the box contained six envelopes (marked 1 through 6), a thicker envelope, and an updated version of the "Reverse Bear Trap". She gave Hoffman envelopes 1 through 5, but hid everything else from him and later delivered the thick envelope to an unknown person. Envelope 6 was meant only for Tuck-Kramer, instructing her to trap Hoffman and put the "Reverse Bear Trap" on him so he could be "tested". This fulfilled the promise made, via the audio tape discovered in the stomach of Jigsaw's corpse, that Hoffman would not go untested.

In other media

Saw: Rebirth

The character of John Kramer is also featured in the comic book, Saw:Rebirth, which is set prior to the events of the first movie. It filled in some of his history, showing him as a toy designer at Standard Engineering Ltd. who was too lazy to do much with his life, ultimately ending his relationship with Jill. Saw: Rebirth also reveals Kramer's discovery that he had terminal cancer and outlined how his subsequent failed suicide attempt impacted his train of thought. His relationships with Dr. Lawrence Gordon, Zep Hindle, Paul Leahy, Amanda Young, and Mark Wilson were explored, along with his transformation into Jigsaw. Rebirth's continuity was ultimately contradicted by the backstory presented in Saw IV.

Saw: The Videogame

Tobin Bell reprises his role as the voice of Jigsaw in the Saw video game. He is shown in television screens dressed in his signature robes setting up traps for people and preaching his lesson of life appreciation to them. He frequently advises and taunts Detective Tapp as he traverses through an abandoned insane asylum, usually through Billy the Puppet.

Characterization

The producers of the Saw films have fought to differentiate the Jigsaw Killer from other horror film killers. Darren Lynn Bousman, the director of Saw II, III and IV, has stated on the character's role "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."[4] Tobin Bell, the actor who plays Jigsaw, describes his character's role as being more of a scientist or engineer and "he thinks very specifically and very pragmatically".[5]

Bousman mentioned that Saw III was intended to contain a scene in which Jigsaw showed remorse for his actions after seeing the results:

For the first time, we actually see him break down and cry. Imagine your entire life's work. You're on your deathbed. You know there's nothing else you can do and here's how you'll be remembered: as a killer, as a murderer. Not as someone who helped people. Not as someone who changed lives. Someone who took away lives. The one thing he didn't want to be and, as he's on his deathbed, he's realizing this.[4]

As a result of his cancer and a failed suicide attempt, John decided to dedicate the rest of his life to teaching people to appreciate their own lives. The producers of Saw III and director Darren Lynn Bousman see Jigsaw,[6] not as a serial killer, but a "scientist" who is determined to initiate the survival instinct in his "subjects", believing that humanity no longer uses its instinct of survival.[7]

While the character's discovery that he has cancer is acknowledged to be the "final straw" that drove him to his actions, Bell has stated in an interview that "His terminal cancer is one of the elements of his life but he's as angry over the fact the world is going to hell in handbasket because it's no longer the survival of the fittest; it's the survival of the mediocre. That drives him as much as anything else. He doesn't just talk about his frustrations, he does something about them, and he puts himself on the line. His cancer was about one element in about 130 elements that caused him to create the world that he's created."[8]

Jigsaw is depicted in the Saw films as being extremely intelligent in the areas relevant to his actions. In Saw: Rebirth he is depicted doing extensive study in multiple fields to gain knowledge for designing his tests, and recurring director Bousman himself has described Jigsaw as being "extremely educated" in an interview.[9]

Symbolic representations

Traps

In the series, Jigsaw usually builds deadly traps for his subjects, which are often a symbolic representation of what Jigsaw perceives as a flaw in the person's life. Jigsaw calls these tests "games", and tells the person the "rules" of the game usually 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 there have been occasions where it is possible for the subject not to harm themselves if they are clever enough, such as the Hand Trap). On occasion, Jigsaw has used psychological torture for the subject's test.

Many of the games involve clocks, counting down timers or other measured time constraints provided to the victims. Jigsaw elaborated in Saw II his appreciation of "time", outlining the importance of savoring every moment. He also stated his belief that telling someone the time in which they may die would awaken an alertness for every moment of existence.

Jake Huntley wrote of the complexity of Jigsaw's character in the Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies. Huntley described the intention behind Jigsaw's actions, and evaluated the extent to which they can be analyzed to fit into the philosophies associated with Deleuze, Darwin and Nietzsche:

The subject of one of Jigsaw's games is therefore always presented with an opportunity, the aim of which is to reinvigorate the potential of the subject, jump-start the survival instinct and instil a celebration or "savouring" of life. In Deleuzian terms, it is the potential of life that is at stake... It is this that gives Jigsaw's games their Deleuzian tone, the urgent revitalisation of life occasioning new experiences to be learnt and assimilated: such as the perverse, singular and aberrant situation of waking to find a man-trap secured around your neck. There is then the instruction to live or die, to make your choice, to survive the encounter with affect, or the affection-image... There is no thrill, sadistic or otherwise, in setting these games; they are throws of the die by the subjects, aleatoric opportunities... As Jigsaw makes clear to Detective Matthews during their conversation in Saw II, where Jigsaw's motivation and philosophy are most comprehensively explored, "I've never murdered anyone in my life. The decisions are up to them." Whilst it probably wouldn't stand up in court, he is at least correct in his usual, carefully literal sense. The decisions, the choices, the selection of a potential, are in the hands of the subjects of his games and he only intervenes in order to keep the game within its rules so a decision can be reached. The subjects are faced with a shocking choice that forces them to acknowledge what Deleuze identifies as the virtual – that is, the unacknowledged aspects of our experience with reality. This, in effect, is the particular game that Jigsaw himself plays; one where the organism might be failing but the flow of desire succeeds and endures. Jigsaw might resort to discussing Darwin's "little trip to the Galapagos Islands" to provide a theoretical underpinning for his project and echo Nietzsche in talking of the will to survive, but this merely misdirects investigators and witnesses in the same way that the gruesome traps and freely flowing gore earn him his unsettling serial killer soubriquet. Jigsaw's games are designed to crack open the world of their respective players: the challenges are nearly always relevant to the subject's lifestyle in a symbolic or literal way, bringing them to painful self awareness, prompting a reappraisal of their squandered potential.[10]

Jigsaw intends through these traps to force his victims to prove to him that they are "worthy" and "deserving" to continue living, and also for them to learn to abandon what he perceives to be their vices. Jigsaw often expressed a desire for his victims to succeed, but stressed that their fate was always in their own hands. The video and audio tape instructions for his games often echo this idea: "Live or die. Make your choice."

Billy the puppet

Billy the puppet is an icon of the Jigsaw character. Jigsaw often used it for the purposes of delivering messages to his victims. This was often done via a television screen, but at times it has also been physically present with Jigsaw's victims during their tests. Jigsaw provided the (disguised) voice for Billy when it delivered its messages. It is shown in Saw IV that the original puppet was created by Jigsaw as an intended toy for his unborn child. Jigsaw is shown constructing the more menacing Billy puppet in Saw III for the purpose of its inclusion in his psychotic 'games'.

Microcassettes

Another of Jigsaw's trademarks is his use of microcassettes to deliver instructions to his victims, disguising his voice as on the Billy videotapes. A flashback in Saw IV reveals that he accomplished this by speaking into a reel-to-reel tape recorder, then slowing down the playback. Often, a victim would find a microcassette recorder left for him/her with a tape already loaded in, while at other times the tape would be found separately in an envelope marked with the victim's name. One tape was found in Jigsaw's stomach during his autopsy at the beginning of Saw IV. Both of his apprentices, Amanda Young and Mark Hoffman, eventually began making their own microcassettes, but without altering their voices as he did; with the exception of Seth Baxter's tape, which Hoffman had to mask his voice to avoid detection.

Huntley remarked that Jigsaw's voice recordings operated for a specific purpose as part of Jigsaw's M.O. Huntley stated that it allowed Jigsaw to be present there not as "a participant or even a spectator but instead as a referee, observing the rules pertinent to that particular subject rather than salaciously enjoying the ‘victim’s agony’."[10]

Pig mask

The pig mask is a thematic prop worn by Jigsaw and his accomplices throughout the Saw film series to conceal their identities while abducting their "test subjects". As the series continues, the purpose of the pig mask is explored in detail; explained to be a tribute to the "Year of the Pig", the year in which Jigsaw started his work.

The origin of the pig mask was shown in Saw IV, revealing the first known pig masks to have been latex strap-on masks used at a Year of the Pig Chinese New Year festival. Jigsaw had snatched them and donned one, while using the other one to hold his chloroform-soaked rag. The second mask was then used to knock out John's first test subject, Cecil, by placing the mask over his head with the chloroform rag still inside.

When working on the original Saw film, writer Leigh Whannel and director James Wan wanted their antagonist Jigsaw to have some sort of mask. After some discussion, the idea of Jigsaw wearing a rotting pig's head was chosen to symbolize his pessimistic view of the world and the disease that he was "rotting" from.

Nevertheless, the mask given to them from production (a rubber halloween mask) was considered by them to be less than satisfactory. A number of things were added to make it look more gruesome, including long black hair and pus running from its eyes and nostrils. Leigh Whannell has still admitted to being disappointed with its final appearance compared to his intended one, but has admitted that the mask has since become one of the "staples" of the Saw franchise.

Along with Billy and perhaps Jigsaw himself, the mask has since become one of the more iconic symbols of the franchise. It has appeared on both the posters for the first film[11] and the fourth.[12] The mask has also been featured on many forms of merchandise. Officially licensed pig mask replicas have been sold for Halloween. In addition, the mask has been featured on numerous Jigsaw action figures. NECA has released two Jigsaw figurines with the pig mask; the original was Jigsaw wearing the mask in his black cloak, and a Saw III variant of Jigsaw wearing it in his red cloak.[13][14] In addition, the Be@rBrick line has released a "bear" version of Jigsaw wearing the pig mask.[15] Medicom has also released a figurine of Jigsaw wearing his infamous pig mask in the "Real Action Hero" line.[16]

On the commentary track of Saw IV, several discussions occur about Jigsaw's decision to use references to pigs in the series. In the series, the producers explained that Jigsaw was a spiritual person. However, it has never been revealed what religion he follows. In Saw IV, Jigsaw's ex-wife Jill explains Jigsaw's organized and planned lifestyle, stating that she had conceived their miscarried son Gideon, with Jigsaw planning for him to be born in the year of the Pig. On the commentary track, the producers explain that in the Chinese Zodiac, the pig stands for fertility and rebirth. Jigsaw is seen several times throughout the series with figurines of clay soldiers and buddhas, further symbolizing his reference to various Asian cultures.

Jigsaw puzzle pieces

Cut outs were made, in the shape of jigsaw puzzle pieces, from the flesh of Jigsaw's deceased victims who failed to pass their test. John Kramer received the nickname "Jigsaw" from the police and the press stemming from his tendency to perform such a ritual; however, he never encouraged that name or used it to refer to himself.

Huntley argued that the jigsaw pieces that John cut out of the flesh of his failed test subjects was not intended as a mere stylized signature, but rather that it had a much deeper philosophical reflection. He stated that:

Far from being a stamp of final approval, a post-(mortem)-script to the game, the jigsaw piece represents the admission of the subject's missing survival instinct, the corporeal body's non-relational or "snagged" desire. Those marked with jigsaw pieces are the ones that got away, left inert, reduced to the zero intensity of death. It would seem strange that Jigsaw – surely the last figure ever to be deemed sentimental – should choose to extract this symbolic jigsaw piece from these subjects, except that Jigsaw is linguistically consistent in explaining how he "takes" or "cuts" the piece of skin. The jigsaw shape marking those who "fail" is the adding of a subtraction – in effect, the removal of their inability, their unfulfilled potential or their lack – the excision that leaves the whole of the body that is not the closed, inert corporeal body but is, instead, the "body-without-organs", that is, the nexus point where energy pools amid the flow and fold of forces and durations, existence beyond the living organism.[10]

A hand-drawn jigsaw puzzle piece was also present on the back of a photograph in Saw as part of a clue for one of his games.

Apprentices

Throughout the Saw series, Jigsaw developed a tendency to recruit "apprentices" to carry on his perceived mission. Amanda Young and Lieutenant Mark Hoffman are currently the only two known apprentices Jigsaw has had. Huntley analyzed Jigsaw's intentions in taking in protégés as stemming from the terminally ill character's desire to overcome death itself, and argues that this is further evidence of his thought process being characterized by Deleuzian philosophy. Huntley argued:

Jigsaw decides that the answer is to achieve immortality through a legacy, having a successor to continue with his work. The impulse is Deleuzian. Jigsaw remains calm, neutral and impassive throughout the Saw films (not least because of his terminal condition) yet his only express wish, concern or desire, is that his legacy is maintained – the work of testing the fabric of humanity should go on. "Jigsaw" – as the intensive site of being, a locus of desire, the body-without-organs – can survive the death of the organism John Kramer... What seems to be consistent thematically through the Saw films is that "Jigsaw" is a part for various players, an identity composed of pieces...[10]

The term "apprentice" was used in the official plot synopses for Saw III and Saw IV.[17][18]

Theatrical robe

Jigsaw is usually seen wearing a black theatrical robe with a large hood and red lining when running traps or abducting victims. On the commentary track for the first Saw film, it was explained that the producers originally wanted Jigsaw to have the red robe with black interior. Thinking that the red robe was too vibrant for the film, they reversed the robe to make it black with red interior.[19] Amanda wore a similar robe in Saw III in an attempt to symbolically emulate her mentor.[10]

Tobin Bell

Speaking about his character, actor Tobin Bell says, "My wife mentioned to me that she read an interview with Jeffrey Dahmer's mother about his childhood. And she said he was a perfectly normal child. He had friends like everyone else, he participated in the same kind of activities. In terms of your question about icons, if you begin to think of people like that, it's a deadly thing to do. You have to think of someone like Jigsaw from a very specific point of view. He doesn't view himself as some kind of diabolical psychotic. You know there's a little bit of evil in everyone. It just gets carried further. Most of us have some sort of moral fiber that restricts that. Some framework. And then others because of their lives and what happens to them, the thing develops in some other way. You know, I've played a lot of different kind of guys. Jigsaw's a fascinating person. And it's up to the filmmakers to do what ever they want to do with where he's coming from and to shape it and make it something meaningful and fits into the picture."[20]

Reaction

Critical Reception

A review of Saw II in the San Francisco Chronicle praised Tobin Bell and Jigsaw as being "more terrifying than the movie villains in Hollywood's last five horror films put together; even though he's in a wheelchair and hooked up to multiple IVs."[21]

Don Summer, a writer for Best-Horror-Movies.com, stated that "the villain, in Jigsaw, is brilliant and formidable" and that actor Tobin Bell has done a "fantastic job" in his recurring role.[22]

Neil Smith, a film reviewer for the BBC, described Bell's Jigsaw as "creepy", describing the character as adding "a palpably sinister charge" to the scenes he appeared in.[23]

Sorcha Ní Fhlainn, a reviewer for the Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies, remarked that Tobin Bell's Jigsaw had become such an entrenched staple of the Saw franchise, that the character's reduced appearance in Saw V was drastically felt. Ní Fhlainn also commented that Jigsaw's unique character was not successfully compensated for by his apparent successor in Saw V, Mark Hoffman. Ní Fhlainn went to the extent to remark that the character of Jigsaw is so central to the Saw franchise, that it should have ended as a trilogy considering Jigsaw's death at the end of Saw III.[24]

Tobin Bell was nominated for a Spike TV Scream Award three times in the category of "Most Vile Villain" for his portrayal of Jigsaw in 2006 for Saw II, in 2007 (alongside Shawnee Smith's portrayal of Amanda) for Saw III, and in 2008 for Saw IV.[25][26][27]

Impact

As early as October 2005, an interviewer for IGN was willing to describe the Jigsaw Killer as "the next Freddy" in terms of iconic status as a modern horror film character[28], a comment that deeply touched Leigh Whannell, the screenwriter of Saw. Sorcha Ní Fhlainn, a reviewer for the Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies however argued that the character of Jigsaw broke into new ground. Ní Fhlainn argued that Jigsaw's character is remarkably different from that of the slasher villains Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees as Jigsaw was portrayed as a villain who was shown as "increasingly frail and human".[24] Neil Smith, a reviewer for the BBC, believed Jigsaw's villainy to be carrying on in the tradition of the likes of Hannibal Lecter.[23]

Ní Fhlainn reflected that Jigsaw's unique character and criminal M.O. draw from philosophical influences such as that of Schopenhauer’s "will to survive" to Nietzsche’s "will to power", Freud’s "death drive" and Gilles Delueze’s theories on "lines of flight" and potential. Due to this, Ní Fhlainn was willing to categorise the Saw films not as 'modern horror' but rather impacting on the genre as being part of what she described as "postmodern horror".[24]

Despite the mystery of the character's identity created by the filmmakers in Saw, Bell's depiction of Jigsaw was used in promotional posters for Saw III and Saw IV.[29][30] Action figures of Jigsaw have also been produced by the National Entertainment Collectibles Association.[31][32]

References

  1. ^ John's age was said during his autopsy
  2. ^ Tobin Bell Interview, SAW 4 - MoviesOnline
  3. ^ Jigsaw's age
  4. ^ a b {{cite web|url=http://movies.ign.com/articles/741/741449p2.html%7Ctitle=Interview: Darren Lynn Bousman|publisher=IGN|page=2|date= 2006-10-24|accessdate=2007-07-26
  5. ^ Tobin Bell IGN interview
  6. ^ Saw III: Audio Commentary
  7. ^ Saw II: Jigsaw Lecture scene
  8. ^ A Dinner Date with Saw IV | UGO.com
  9. ^ "Saw IV: Tobin Bell Talks Jigsaw, New Characters & Crazy Finale!!". Bloody Disgusting. 2007-06-13. Retrieved 2007-07-26.
  10. ^ a b c d e ""'I Want To Play A Game': How To See Saw"". Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies. 2006. p. 1. Retrieved 2008-03-22.
  11. ^ Saw poster with pig mask
  12. ^ Saw IV poster
  13. ^ Bloody-Disgusting.com
  14. ^ Captain Toy review
  15. ^ BerBrick series
  16. ^ Real Action Hero line
  17. ^ Lionsgate Publicity: Saw III Fact Sheet With Synopsis
  18. ^ Lionsgate Publicity: Saw IV Fact Sheet With Synopsis
  19. ^ Saw: Audio Commentary
  20. ^ Ign: Saw Ii Q&A
  21. ^ FILM CLIPS / Opening today
  22. ^ 'The genuis of Jigsaw continues'. Retrieved 2009-10-20.
  23. ^ a b 'Saw II (2005)'. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
  24. ^ a b c 'Saw V'. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
  25. ^ 'GET YER SCREAM ON! CATEGORIES AND NOMINEES ANNOUNCED FOR SPIKE TV'S SCREAM AWARDS 2006'. Retrieved 2009-10-11.
  26. ^ 'Scream 2007 Awards Coming to Spike TV on October 23'. Retrieved 2009-10-11.
  27. ^ '2008 Scream Award Nominees for Horror'. Retrieved 2009-10-11.
  28. ^ Goldman, Eric (2005-10-24). "Saw II Q&A". IGN. p. 2. Retrieved 2007-07-26.
  29. ^ Limited Edition Saw III Posters Made With Tobin Bell's Blood
  30. ^ New Saw IV Poster
  31. ^ www.necaonline.com || National Entertainment Collectibles Association, Inc
  32. ^ www.necaonline.com || National Entertainment Collectibles Association, Inc