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John Kramer
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Real name Jigsaw, le Tueur au Puzzle
John Kramer (also known as The Jigsaw Killer, commonly referred to as Jigsaw) is a fictional character and the main antagonist from the Saw franchise. Jigsaw made his debut in the first film of the series, Saw, and he later appeared in Saw II, Saw III, Saw IV, Saw V, Saw VI, and Saw 3D. He is portrayed by American actor Tobin Bell.
In the series' narrative, Kramer is a former civil engineer dying from an inoperable frontal lobe tumor that had developed from colon cancer. After a failed suicide attempt, Kramer found a new appreciation for his life, and decided to dedicate the rest of his life to inspiring the same appreciation in others by testing their will to live. His methods include forcing his subjects through deadly scenarios, which he referred to as "games" or "tests", in which they were forced to inflict pain upon themselves or others in order to escape. These tests were typically symbolic of what Jigsaw perceived as a flaw in each person's moral character or life. The Jigsaw name was given to him by the media for his practice of cutting a puzzle piece shape of flesh from those who fail.
Biography
Jigsaw was introduced in the 2004 film Saw through the character Lawrence Gordon's recounting of his first killings. Jigsaw is described as a mysterious person who kidnaps people he believes take their lives for granted and subjects them to "tests", usually mechanical devices rigged to maim or kill the subjects if they fail to complete it within a certain time period. Unlike most killers, Jigsaw never intends to kill his subjects; the purpose of his traps is to see if the subject has the will to live, as he hopes their experience will teach them the value of life. In John's mind the deaths of those that fail is justified, because those who fail to do what's necessary to survive don't deserve life. 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 removes from unsuccessful subjects, which he explains in Saw II is meant to symbolize that the 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 and near the end of the film, Dr. Gordon and Adam Stanheight 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, named John Kramer, who spent the entire time posing as a corpse on the floor of the bathroom Adam and Lawrence were trapped in.
Much of Kramer's back story was revealed in Saw II. He had gone in for a routine medical examination, when he learned from Dr. Lawrence Gordon that he was dying of colon cancer, with an inoperable brain tumor. Depressed by this news, Kramer drove himself off a cliff. He survived the suicide attempt, and subsequently began his life's "work" of testing others' will to live. Though he never encouraged the name, Kramer eventually earned the nickname The Jigsaw Killer. In spite of the intentions he had while conducting his work, he did not consider himself to be a "killer" or "murderer" because rather than killing his victims outright, he trapped them in situations from which they could escape by inflicting severe physical torture upon themselves or by killing other victims.
In Saw II, Jigsaw leaves a clue to his location at the scene of a game. When the police apprehend him, John places Detective Eric Matthews in a test of his own, revealing Matthews' son Daniel is trapped in a house filled with a deadly nerve gas, along with several people who, although far from innocent, had previously been framed by Matthews for crimes they did not commit. Jigsaw offers to let his son survive if the Detective simply talks to him until the game is complete. Matthews eventually loses patience, and after assaulting Kramer, Eric forces him to lead him to the house at gunpoint. It is later revealed that the events in the house took place before they found John, and his son was locked in a safe the whole time. Upon their arrival, Jigsaw is rescued by Amanda Young (previously introduced in Saw), who, having survived her trap, sees John not only as a savior, but as a mentor and father figure.
By Saw III, Jigsaw is on his death bed and extremely concerned over whether or not Amanda has what it takes to continue his legacy, as the traps she designs are inescapable. In his desperation, Jigsaw administers a final test to Young, in order to see if she was truly capable of carrying on his legacy. Meanwhile, Dr. Lynn Denlon, is forced to keep John alive, while her vengeful husband, Jeff, undergoes tests of forgiveness. Jigsaw attempts to keep Young from failing her test, however, after breaking down, she admits that she no longer believes in Jigsaw's philosophy, and Young shoots Dr. Denlon. Witnessing this, Jeff kills Young by shooting her in the neck. After explaining that this is Jeff's final test of forgiveness, Jeff slices John's throat with a power saw. As he dies, Jigsaw pulls out a tape player, explaining that he has abducted Corbett, Jeff's daughter, and if he wants to get her back he'll have to participate in another game.
Saw IV opens with Jigsaw's autopsy, during which a wax-coated tape is found in his stomach. The tape revealed to Lieutenant Mark Hoffman that he would not go untested. The end of the film reveals that Hoffman is in fact another one of Jigsaw's accomplices.
Saw IV also explored Jigsaw's history, more so than previously done in Saw II. 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 Tuck; who ran a recovery clinic for drug users, with the motto "Cherish Your Life". After the reckless actions of a patient named Cecil Adams resulted in the loss of Kramer's unborn child, John became detached and angry, which eventually led to their divorce. After being diagnosed with cancer and attempting suicide, as seen in Saw II, Kramer began his work, and abducted Cecil as his first test subject, while wearing the first version of his iconic pig-mask.
Jigsaw reappears in flashbacks in Saw V which detail his first encounter with Hoffman, and explore's their relationship; Hoffman initially killed his sister's murderer with an inescapable trap mimicking Jigsaw's. Furious, Jigsaw blackmailed Hoffman into becoming his apprentice as a way to 'redeem' himself, although Hoffman eventually became a willing apprentice. Jigsaw also appears in a video will in which he declares his love for Jill, and leaves her a mysterious box.
Jigsaw also appears through flashbacks in Saw VI. One flashback set prior to the events of the first film shows that it was Amanda Young who convinced Cecil to steal drugs from Jill's clinic, inadvertently causing her miscarriage, and John's transformation into The Jigsaw Killer. More flashbacks set prior to the events of the first film reveal that Jigsaw targeted health insurance executive William Easton for one of his games, because he had denied two-thirds of all applicants health coverage, due to a flawed policy, including Kramer himself. 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, as he underwent tests in which he was forced to decide which of his co-workers would live or die. In another flashback, this time set between the events of the first and second film, Jigsaw presents Amanda to Jill as proof that his "rehabilitation" works, and Jill subsequently aided him as well. A flashback set just before the events of the third and fourth films explores the group dynamic between Jigsaw, Amanda Young and Hoffman. Jigsaw criticizes Hoffman for his brutal approach, and lack of compassion for the subjects. 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 a key, which she later used to open the box he gave her in Saw V. In the present, it is revealed that the box contained six envelopes containing future test subjects, a thicker envelope, and an updated version of the "Reverse Bear Trap". She gave Mark Hoffman envelopes 1 through 5, but hid everything else and later delivered the thick envelope to an unknown person at the hospital. Envelope 6 was intended for Tuck to carry out alone, and as per John's instructions she placed Hoffman in the "Reverse Bear Trap"; fulfilling the promise made, via the audio tape discovered in Kramer's stomach during his autopsy in Saw IV that Hoffman would not go untested.
Bell reprises his role as John Kramer/Jigsaw in Saw 3D, though his role was extremely minimal compared to previous films. He is seen in a flashback meeting Bobby Dagen, a man who acquired quick fame and fortune after falsifying a story about surviving a Jigsaw trap. Hoffman later places Dagen through a series of tests in which he comes face-to-face with those who knew he lied, but refused to expose his secret; all are killed in separate traps despite his efforts to save them. Jigsaw appears at the end of the film, where it was revealed that after Dr. Gordon escaped the bathroom, Jigsaw found him unconscious, and nursed him back to health. John subsequently recruited Gordon, considering him to be his greatest asset. Gordon assisted Jigsaw in traps which required surgical knowledge. The contents of the package Jill left at the hospital in Saw VI was shown to be a video tape intended for Gordon, in which Jigsaw instructs him to watch over Jill, and to "act on [Jigsaw's] behalf", if anything was to happen to her. It is implied that John knew Hoffman would go rogue and stray from his ideals and wanted him to be punished. After Jill is killed by Hoffman, Gordon fulfills his request by assaulting Hoffman and sealing him in the bathroom from the first film.
Best films
Played by the actor
Filmography of John Kramer (7 films)
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Saw 3D (2010)
, 1h27Directed by Kevin Greutert
Origin Canada
Genres Thriller, Horror, Crime
Themes Medical-themed films, Psychologie, Serial killer films, Films about psychiatry
Actors Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Betsy Russell, Sean Patrick Flanery, Cary Elwes, Gina Holden
Rating55%
Two men, Brad and Ryan, wake up in a metropolitan storefront window. Each man is bound at the wrists to opposite side of a worktable with a circular saw in front of them. Their mutual lover, Dina, is suspended above a third saw. As a crowd gathers and police attempt to break the window, a puppet informs the men that one of them can kill the other or they can let Dina die. They initially fight each other, during which Brad is cut, but they soon realize Dina's betrayal and allow her to die instead.
Saw VI (2009)
, 1h30Directed by Kevin Greutert
Origin Canada
Genres Thriller, Horror
Themes Medical-themed films, Psychologie, Serial killer films, Films about psychiatry
Actors Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Betsy Russell, Mark Rolston, Peter Outerbridge, Shawnee Smith
Rating60%
Predatory lenders Simone and Eddie awaken on either side of a room split by a cage containing a scale, wearing head harnesses with screws poised to pierce their temples. They learn via videotape that the one who sets more flesh weight on their tray will survive. Eddie cuts fat from his torso, but Simone chops off her arm, which tilts the scale in her favor; the timer expires, and Eddie is killed by the screws. While he reviews the game's footage, Detective Lt. Mark Hoffman is called to the scene by FBI Agent Dan Erickson, who found Agent Peter Strahm's fingerprints around the room. Also present is Agent Lindsey Perez, whose survival was covered up by Erickson for her protection. They learn from Dr. Adam Heffner, who performed all of the autopsies for the Jigsaw case, that the knife used to cut the jigsaw piece from Eddie's flesh was only used on Seth Baxter before then. The agents intend to find the Baxter videotape to prove Strahm's involvement.
Saw V (2008)
, 1h32Directed by David Hackl
Origin Canada
Genres Thriller, Horror, Crime
Themes Medical-themed films, Psychologie, Serial killer films, Films about psychiatry
Actors Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Scott Patterson, Betsy Russell, Mark Rolston, Julie Benz
Rating58%
Convicted murderer Seth Baxter wakes up chained to a table beneath a pendulum blade. A videotape informs him that he can release himself by crushing his hands between two presses. He does so, but the blade still swings down and cuts him in half as someone watches through a hole in the wall. In the meatpacking plant, FBI Agent Peter Strahm guns down Jeff Denlon and is locked in the sickroom. He discovers a hidden exit with a microcassette recorder, which urges him to stay in the sickroom. He ignores it and is attacked in the tunnel by a pig-masked figure, waking up with his head sealed in a box which quickly fills with water; he survives by performing a tracheotomy using his pen. Outside, Detective Mark Hoffman delivers Corbett Denlon to the police and claims they are the only survivors, and is shocked when Strahm is also brought out alive.
Saw IV (2007)
, 1h33Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman
Origin USA
Genres Thriller, Horror, Crime
Themes Medical-themed films, Psychologie, Serial killer films, Films about psychiatry
Actors Tobin Bell, Scott Patterson, Costas Mandylor, Betsy Russell, Lyriq Bent, Justin Louis
Rating59%
During John Kramer's autopsy, a wax-coated microcassette is found in his stomach. Detective Mark Hoffman is called in and learns from it that he will still be tested and, despite Kramer's death, the games will continue. In a mausoleum, two men awaken chained at the neck to a winch. One's eyes are sewn shut, as is the other's mouth, making communication impossible. In a blind panic, the blinded man activates the winch and attacks the muted man, who kills him and frees himself with the key on the other collar.
Saw III (2006)
, 1h48Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman
Origin USA
Genres Thriller, Horror, Crime
Themes Medical-themed films, Psychologie, Serial killer films, Films about psychiatry
Actors Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Angus Macfadyen, Bahar Soomekh, Kim Roberts, Dina Meyer
Rating62%
After Amanda Young seals him in the bathroom, Eric Matthews escapes his shackle by breaking his foot with a toilet tank cover. Six months later, he is still missing. A SWAT team led by Lieutenant Daniel Rigg discovers the site of a Jigsaw game in which the victim, Troy, had to escape a bomb by ripping chains from his body. Rigg calls Detectives Mark Hoffman and Allison Kerry, who is guilt-ridden over Matthews' disappearance, to the scene. Kerry points out that the door was welded shut, breaking Jigsaw's modus operandi of giving his victims a chance to escape. She is abducted from her home that night while reviewing Troy's tape and awakens in a harness that is hooked into her ribs. She manages to retrieve the key from a suspended beaker of acid and unlocking it before the timer expires, but it tears her rib cage apart anyway, killing her.
Saw II (2005)
, 1h33Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman
Origin USA
Genres Thriller, Horror, Crime
Themes Medical-themed films, Psychologie, Serial killer films, Films about psychiatry
Actors Donnie Wahlberg, Franky G., Glenn Plummer, Beverley Mitchell, Dina Meyer, Emmanuelle Vaugier
Rating65%
Informant Michael Marks wakes up to find a spike-filled mask locked around his neck. A videotape informs him that he has sixty seconds to remove his eye with the scalpel and retrieve the key, but he cannot bring himself to do so and is killed when the mask closes. Detective Eric Matthews, is called to the scene by Detective Allison Kerry when a message for him is found. Although he is initially reluctant to join the case, Eric joins Kerry and Sergeant Daniel Rigg in leading a SWAT team to an old factory. There they find the John Kramer, The Jigsaw Killer, who he is weak from cancer, and several computer monitors showing eight people trapped in a house. Among them are Amanda Young, Jigsaw's only known survivor, and Eric's estranged son Daniel. A nerve agent filling the house will kill them within two hours, but John assures Eric he will get Daniel back if Eric talks with John until the game is complete. At Kerry's urging, Eric reluctantly agrees in order to buy time for the police tech team to arrive and trace the video signal.
Saw (2004)
, 1h43Directed by James Wan
Origin Australie
Genres Thriller, Horror, Crime
Themes Medical-themed films, Psychologie, Serial killer films, Films about psychiatry
Actors Cary Elwes, Danny Glover, Monica Potter, Michael Emerson, Ken Leung, Tobin Bell
Rating75%
Adam, a young photographer, awakens in a filthy bathtub. He gets out and finds himself chained to by one foot to a pipe in a large dilapidated bathroom. Lawrence Gordon, an oncologist, is chained by one foot to a pipe across the room and between them lies a corpse, holding a revolver and a microcassette recorder. Adam manages to retrieve the recorder and they learn from tapes in their pockets what they must do: Adam must escape the bathroom, and Lawrence must kill Adam before six o'clock, or his wife and daughter will die and he will be left to die as well. Using a clue from the tape, Adam finds a bag in the toilet tank containing two hacksaws, though neither is able to cut through their chains. Adam's saw breaks and he throws it at a mirror in frustration. Lawrence realizes the saws are meant to be used on their feet and identifies their captor as the Jigsaw Killer, whom Lawrence knows of because he was once a suspect.