Leatherface

**Bubba "Junior" Sawyer**, better known by his nickname of **Leatherface**, is a character who has appeared in multiple attractions of the annual Halloween Horror Nights event at Universal Studios Florida. He is the primary antagonist of *The Texas Chainsaw Massacre* film franchise, though this is debatable as he is actually taking orders from his abusive family to attack and kill anyone unfortunate to stumble across the family home. Leatherface and his family are cannibals, and kill their victims to process their meat for chili. They also use leftover bones to make furniture, and have generally stayed out of sight from law enforcement. The character's nickname comes from his obsession with wearing the facial skin of his victims as masks. This is a reference to real-life killer Ed Gein, who was also a major inspiration behind Norman Bates of the *Psycho* films. Leatherface is considered an icon in horror culture, and has been licensed for use at Halloween Horror Nights multiple times as a result.

## Background

*NOTE: Leatherface's backstory varies depending on whether the associated films are connected to the original 1974 film, or its 2003 remake, the latter of which features different real name of Thomas Brown Hewitt. This article focuses primarily on the canon of the 1974 film.*

Bubba "Junior" Sawyer is a member of the cannibalistic Sawyer family in an unknown area of Texas. Although he is recognized as the primary antagonist of *The Texas Chainsaw Massacre* and its subsequent sequels, Bubba is not evil on his own terms, and is instead acting out of fear from numerous factors, which includes being punished by his family members in charge of him, or the outside world finding out about the family's murderous and cannibalistic tendencies.

## Park Appearances

As an iconic horror antagonist, Leatherface has been licensed to Universal for use in Halloween Horror Nights multiple times. The character first appeared as a guest alongside other iconic horror villains in HHN 13's *All Nite Die-In* from 2003. He would not return to the event until four years later in 2007's HHN: Carnival of Carnage. Here, Leatherface was featured as a sub-icon for this event alongside fellow horror antagonists Jason Voorhees of *Friday the 13th* and Freddy Krueger of *A Nightmare on Elm Street*, as all three were owned by New Line Cinema at the time. During that year, he was featured in his own maze titled *The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Flesh Wounds*. This maze was held in the queue for the now closed *Earthquake: The Big One*, located in the San Francisco area of Universal Studios Florida, where *Fast and Furious: Supercharged* now operates.

Leatherface would then be absent from the event for almost ten years before returning for 2016's HHN 26, featured in a maze based on and named after the first film in *The Texas Chainsaw Massacre* franchise. This house was located in the World Expo section of the park.

## Trivia

*For additional and more detailed information about the character of Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre film franchise, please refer to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Wiki article.*

* The version of Leatherface featured in Halloween Horror Nights: Carnival of Carnage was based on the 2003 remake of the original film, as this was the film produced by then-film rights owners New Line Cinema.
	+ As a result, Leatherface is one of few characters to have a reboot version featured in Halloween Horror Nights.