Jigsaw

**John Kramer** (Jigsaw or Jigsaw Killer) is the main antagonist of the *Saw* franchise. He is a serial killer who did not directly kill his victims but instead relied on symbolic death traps in which he abducted and placed his victims within. In most cases, they must subject themselves to extreme pain or trauma in order to escape their "games", thus proving their will to live.

## History

### Background

John Kramer was originally a successful civil engineer, who ventured into property development, explaining his mechanical skills, and how he was aware of the various buildings that he would subsequently use as his lairs and game locations. He was also a devoted husband to Jill Tuck, who ran a recovery clinic for drug addicts, and they were expecting a child named Gideon Kramer. One night while closing down the clinic, Jill was robbed and assaulted by a drug user named Cecil Adams, causing her to miscarry. This incident changed John's outlook on life, as he began to realize that people can only change themselves. Afterwards, John became detached and angry, which ultimately led to his divorce.

   After going to the doctor's office for a checkup, John was informed by Dr. Lawrence Gordon that he had colon cancer and an inoperable brain tumor, and he had not much time left to live. Shortly after being diagnosed, he visited Umbrella Health hoping to be treated through a experimental drug program, but the executive of the company, William Easton, denied him health coverage.
Utterly depressed, John attempt to commit suicide by driving off a cliff but managed to surprisingly survive

   the crash. Clinging to his life, John discovered that only when he knew his death was impending he did really begin to value his life. As John observed others wasting their lives, people unappreciative and undeserving of the life being denied to him, John started his mission to make people appreciate their lives and realize how precious life truly is, one person at a time. His first test subject was Cecil Adams, the man responsible for the loss of his son who managed to free himself from his trap but ultimately died while attempting to kill John.

### Saw

Jigsaw had Adam Stanheight and Lawrence Gordon captured and placed in the Bathroom, where Jigsaw had to pose as a corpse in the middle of the room holding a revolver and a tape recorder in his hands in order to oversee the Bathroom game in person unknowing to the two. Jigsaw tasked Lawrence with killing Adam before 6:00 AM or else his wife and husband will die and he'll be left to die.

    Lawrence tells Adam the story of the Jigsaw Killer and how he was a suspect. Victims were found dead in their traps including Mark Rodriguez Wilson and Paul Leahy. Lawrence's penlight was found at Mark's scene which caused him to be a suspect but Lawrence was let off after the Detectives heard his aliby. But before leaving, Lawrence heard Amanda Young's story where she escaped the Reverse Beartrap. Another story was also told where Detectives David Tapp and Steven Sing almost caught Jigsaw. They rescued another victim and then pursued him, with Tapp being injured directly by Jigsaw and Sing was killed by a security trap.

He also arranged a test for a hospital orderly named Zep Hindle where he had to monitor Adam and Lawrence to make sure Lawrence killed Adam before 6:00 AM. If he fails to do so, then Zep would have to kill Lawrence's wife and daughter in order to obtain an antidote for a poison administered by Jigsaw.

At the end of the game, Zep fails to kill the two and so goes to the Bathroom in order to kill Lawrence. Zep though is killed by Adam and then Lawrence leaves the Bathroom, promising Adam to get help, and so Adam searches Zep's corpse for a key but instead finds a microcassette which reveals he is another victim of Jigsaw's. The corpse in the room then gets up and reveals himself as Jigsaw, telling Adam that the key to his chain is in the bathtub, but Adam caused it to go down the drain. Jigsaw then turns off the lights, seals the door and leaves Adam to die saying "Game Over".

### Saw: The Video Game

Jigsaw had found Tapp who was shot by Zep outside the Bathroom, and nursed him back to health. He then had a key surgically placed in his body. Jigsaw then placed him in the Reverse Beartrap and told him if

    he wants to escape, he has to complete a puzzle to escape the trap and then pursue him. Jigsaw also placed various people linked to Tapp one way or another.

Tapp managed to do so and Jigsaw presented him with two doors: Freedom and Truth. The canon choice is the Freedom door where Tapp would escape the asylum to cause those still alive to be freed and then he will go to his apartment to commit suicide. The Truth Door will cause Tapp to chase down Melissa Sing who is pretending to be Jigsaw as part of her test, then she attempts her escape but a shotgun trap blows her head off and kills her with Billy on the other side laughing.

### Saw II: Flesh and Blood

Jigsaw had Campbell Iman abducted and placed in the Venus Flytrap where he had to retrieve the key which was surgically placed behind his eye in order to survive. Campbell succeeded and then made it to the Glass Elevator where he was given the choice rather to sacrifice himself to save someone he never met or save himself and watch someone die. The player can rather allow Campbell to die or ride the elevator.

Michael Tapp was then abducted by Pighead II and Jigsaw forced him to face a series of tests in order to

    escape from where he is. Michael had to face various Jigsaw victims with the majority attempting to kill him, and Michael has to save some victims who can only escape if Michael completes a puzzle to free them from their traps.

Towards the end, depending on Campbell's decision, Michael will either die or go through the elevator. If he lives, then Jigsaw will inform him he passed his test and is given one final choice: become an apprentice or publish the truth to the public, the choice is not revealed. If Campbell lives, Campbell will come face to face with Jigsaw in person and Jigsaw tells him to go outside and see his son. Campbell though becomes enraged, so he charges at Jigsaw only to be killed by a concealed, swinging scythe.

### Saw II

Jigsaw captures Michael Marks, an police informant working for Detective Eric Matthews, and places him in the Venus Flytrap where, if he wants to survive, he has to obtain a key which is surgically placed behind his eye or else the mask will close and the nails will spike in his head to kill him instantly. He then left a message painted on the ceiling "LOOK CLOSER DETECTIVE MATTHEWS".

    Detective Eric Matthews, Detective Allison Kerry and Sergeant Daniel Rigg will lead a SWAT Team in infiltrating the Wilson Steel factory and found a terminally-ill Jigsaw. As Eric was about to move him into custody, Jigsaw told him to look in the next room which was filled with monitors. So they looked and eight victims was revealed to be trapped in the Nerve Gas House with one being Daniel and the others being people that Eric arrested for crimes Eric framed them for. Jigsaw went to explain that the victims have a poison running through their veins and in two hours they'll die, so Jigsaw proposed a deal where all Eric has to do is sit down and talk to him, then he can have his son back who is in a safe and secure state.
Towards the end, Eric became tired with Jigsaw and resorted to brutallity so Jigsaw brought him to the Nerve Gas House while Kerry went to another house which the tech team located. There, they discovered the videos on the monitors were recordered and the safe before her and the SWAT Team opened,

    revealing Daniel gagged with a oxygen mask and bound. While Eric was taken to another house where he found the victims's corpses and eventually entered the bathroom, where he was drugged by a pig mask wearing Amanda Young. He was then locked up in the bathroom and left to die by Amanda, Jigsaw heard Eric's screams and slowly formed a bloody grin.

### Saw III

Jigsaw has now been confined to his deathbed, where his being taken care of by Amanda Young in the Gideon Meatpacking Plant. Jigsaw had Jeff Denlon and Lynn Denlon kidnapping, forcing Lynn to keep him alive until he sees a series of tests complete and forcing Jeff to complete his tests which involve him rather forgiving or letting Timothy Young, Judge Halden and Danica Scott die for being responsible for the loss of his only son.

Lynn Denlon completes her test so Jigsaw attempts to have Amanda release her, but she refuses and claim she hasn't learned anything from her game. Meanwhile, Jeff completes his trials but fails to save anybody and keep them alive, so Jeff loads a handgun and heads into the sickroom where Jigsaw, Amanda and Lynn are for his final game. As he walks in, Amanda shoots Lynn in the back, so Jeff shoots Amanda in the neck and kills her but not before Jigsaw reveals he was testing her and her will her keep someone alive but

    despite Jigsaw wanted her to succeed, she failed.

After Amanda's death, John laid in his deathbed and gave Jeff two choices: kill him with one of the tools on the nearby table or forgive him and spare his life. Jeff claims he forgives him, but then slashes Jigsaw's throat with a power saw as an act of revenge. Lynn is then killed by her trap and John provides Jeff with a microcassette; informing him that his daughter has been locked away with limited air supply and John was the only person who knows where she is.

### Saw IV

Meanwhile, Jigsaw had another game playing which is mainly being oversaw by his secret apprentice; Mark Hoffman. The game involved Eric Matthews, Art Blank and Daniel Rigg. Rigg was forced through a number of tests while Eric has been forced to stand on an ice club and will be hung if he falls off, next to him is Hoffman who has been gagged and bound to a chair which is apparently electrocute him if Eric fails. Art

    also has been forced to maintain him on the cube or his trap will severe his spine.

In the end, Rigg causes the death of Eric and then kills Art. But Rigg has been shot by Eric, and a surviving Hoffman releases himself from the chair and leaves the room before saying "Game Over" to a dying Rigg, leaving him to die from his gunshot. Hoffman then locks Peter Strahm up in a room with the corpses of Jigsaw, Amanda, Lynn and Jeff.

### Saw V

Through flashbacks, Jigsaw is shown ordering Hoffman to arrange the tests for five people.

    Also through flashbacks, it is shown how Jigsaw recruited Hoffman as an apprentice and what he did before as an apprentice to Jigsaw such as helping him kidnap Paul Leahy and plant evidence to lead the police to believe Lawrence Gordon is Jigsaw.

### Saw VI

Jigsaw had left a box for Jill Tuck containing six envelopes, Reverse Beartrap 2.0 and a package with unknown origins. The first five envelopes were given to Hoffman, while Jill kept the sixth one without Hoffman's knowledge. It is disclosed that the first envelope contained William Easton's photograph, the second contained Pamela Jenkin's photograph, the third contained Brent and Tara Abbott's photograph, the fourth contained photographs of Hank, Allen, Aaron, Josh and Dave, the fifth

    contained photographs of Addy, Debbie, Emily, Shelby and Gena, and the sixth contained Hoffman's photograph.

Jigsaw had targeted William for his refusal to give everyone a fair chance, so he had Hoffman abduct and force him through a series of tests. William was placed in the Oxygen Crusher Room, which he survived at the expense of his janitor's death (Hank) and then moved through his tests until the end. The end is where Tara and Brent are given the choice to spare or kill William, to which the Brent killed William.

Jill then knocked out Hoffman, placed the Reverse Beartrap 2.0 and when he awakened, Jill left him to die and claimed it was John's final request. Though Hoffman escaped the trap and Jill escaped the location.

### Saw VII

A flashback is shown where Jigsaw meets and warns Bobby Dagen who is profiting and gaining fame from

    a lie about surviving a Jigsaw trap.

Towards the end, it is revealed that Jigsaw's third apprentice was Lawrence Gordon, being his best. Lawrence assisted him by surgically placing a key in Michael Marks' eye

## Quotes

* "I want to play a game."
* "Live or die. Make your choice."
* "How much blood will you shed to stay alive?"
* "Killing is distasteful!"
* "Not long to go now until your son is pissing blood."
* "Game Over."
* "Oh yes, there will be blood."
* "Yes, I'm sick, officer. Sick from the disease that's eating away at me inside. Sick of people who don't appreciate their blessings. Sick of those who scoff at the suffering of others. I'm sick of it all!"
* "I was his patient and he was mine."
* "Death is a surprise party. Unless, of course, your already dead on the inside."
* "Suffering? You haven't seen anything yet."
* "There is no turning back."
* "Cherish your life, your life."
* "I can't give you time. Time's an illusion."
* "They have to help themselves."
* "You see, Cecil, things aren't so sequential. Good doesn't lead to good, nor bad to bad. People who steal, don't get caught, live the good life. Others lie, cheat and get elected. Some people stop to help a stranded motorist and get taken out by a speeding semi. There's no accounting for it. How you play the cards your dealt...that's all that matters."
* "Tonight, you'll see the difference between killing and rehabilitation."
* "Everybody deserves a chance!"
* "I assume nothing. I anticipate the possibilities and let the game play out."
* "If you're good at anticipating the Human mind, it leaves nothing to chance."
* "Addiction is not simple, Jill! Wake up! These people have no respect for the lives they're destroying. Once you see death up close, then you know what the value of life really is...and that's my way, and I brought proof that it works."
* "Healthcare decisions should made by doctors and their patients, not by the government. Well, now they're not made by doctors and their patients or the government. They're made by the fucking insurance companies."
* "Did you know that in the Far East, people pay their doctors when they're healthy? When they're sick, they don't have to pay. So basically, they end up paying for what they want, not for what they don't want. We've got it all ass-backwards here."
* "You think it's the living that will have ultimate judgement over you because the dead will have no claim over your soul. But you may be mistaken."
* "Most people are so ungrateful to be alive...but not you...not anymore."
* "In ancient Egypt, if you were speaking under oath, you will be required to say, If I'm lying, take me to the quarries. I'll tell you what it means, it means, if you knowingly lied on the public record, you were subject to a period of enslavement."

## Tapes/Messages

* "It's the tool. The tool that's going to save your life. I want to play a game. Your life is a lie, Cecil. Now comes your moment of truth. As a drug addict and a thief, you've preyed on the kindness of others to fuel your addiction. Today, we're bringing the ugliness inside you out into the open. Now, in order for you to stay alive, we have to match your face with the ugliness of your soul. Just lean forward into the knives with your face. Press hard enough and you'll release the arm and leg restraints that bind you. Press hard though, and you'll be free. Or you sit idly and bleed out on the floor. Live or die, Cecil. Make your choice."
* "Hello, Mark. If you're so sick, then why do I have so many photos of you up and about? Let's put your so called illness to the test. Right now, there's a slow acting poison in your veins. The antidote is in the safe. The combination to the safe is written on the wall. Hurry up and program it in, but watch your step. And by the way, that's a flammable substance smeared on your body. So I would be careful with that candle if I were you, or all the people you've burned with your act just might get there revenge."
* "Hello, Paul. You're a perfectly healthy, sane, middle-class male. Yet last month, you ran a straight razor across your wrists. Did you cut yourself because you truly wanted to die, or did you just want some attention? Tonight you'll show me. The irony that is if you want to die, you just have to stay where you are. But if you want to live, you'll have to cut yourself again. Find the path through the razor wire to the door. But hurry at 3:00 that door will lock and then this room becomes your tomb. How much blood will you shed to stay alive, Paul?"
* "Hello, Amanda. You don't know me but I know you. I want to play a game. Here's what happens if you lose. The device you're wearing is hooked into your upper and lower jaw. When the timer on the back goes off, your mouth will be permanently ripped open. Think of it like a reverse bear trap. Here, I'll show you. There's only one key to open the device, it's in the stomach of your dead cellmate. Look around, Amanda. Know that I'm not lying. You better hurry up. Live or die. Make your choice."
* "Rise and shine, Adam. You're probably wondering where you are. I'll tell you where you might be. You might be in the room that you die in. Up until now you've simply sat in the shadows, watching others live out their lives. But what do voyeurs see when they look into the mirror? Now, I see you as a strange mix of someone angry, yet apathetic but mostly just pathetic. So are you going to watch yourself die today, Adam? Or do something about it?"
* "Dr. Gordon, this is your wake up call. Everyday of your working life you have given people the news that they're going to die soon. Now you will be the cause of the death. Your aim in this game is to kill Adam. You have until 6 on the clock to do it. There's a man in the room with you. When there's that much poison in your blood, the only thing left to do is shoot yourself. There are ways to win this, hidden all around you. Just remember: X marks the spot for the treasure. If you do not kill Adam by 6, then Alison and Diana will die, Dr. Gordon, and I'll leave you in this room to rot. Let the game begin. Follow your heart."
* "Hello, Mr. Hindle. Or as they call you around the hospital: Zep. I want you to make a choice. There's a slow acting poison coursing through your system, which only I have the antidote for. Will you murder a mother and her child to save yourself? Listen carefully, if you will; there are rules..."
* "Hello, Detective Tapp. I want to play a game. Your obsession with catching me has robbed you of your life and the lives of others. You abuse every resource available to you, tearing apart lives in your quest to find the truth. You have lost your family, your badge, even the life of your partner, Detective Sing. You have lost your health, whittled away from the bullet wound in your chest. But you have not given up, have you? Now we will see if you can overcome your obsession. No doubt you remember the device attached to your jaw. It is evidence, left over from your investigation. Here's what happens if you lose. Free yourself from the device and pursue me, or sit there and let it tear you apart. The choice is yours."
* "Hello, Amanda, you remember me. I want to play a game. You told our friend Detective Tapp that I saved you, but you forgot your lesson. You damaged your body with drugs and pain. Now the needle will save your life. Each of you will be injected with different poisons that will slowly break down your bodies. The device in front of you contains the antidotes to each of the poisons. The red vials go to the left and the blue vials go to the right. But be careful, incorrectly mixing the antidotes will cause some...discomfort. The last time we played, you freed yourself by taking a life. Now your only salvation is to put your trust in someone else. Live or die, Amanda."
* "Hello, Jennings. While intoxicated, you hit and killed a homeless man with your car. As a forensic scientist, you know you just want to be clean. But you couldn't clean the guilt from your soul, could you? You even put an innocent man in jail for your crime, all to preserve your perfect life. But you couldn't stop the guilt from eating away at you, rotting you from the inside. Unless the officer you involved in your crime can halt the blade, we will see what you really have inside."
* "Hello, Melissa. It's time to wake up and see what your life has become. You understood the risks of marrying an officer of the law. When he was killed, you let your vengeance for Detective Tapp consume you. Your life crumbled, and you neglected your son. I now offer you a gift, a chance to break through the numbness and taste the life you buried with your husband. Will you forgive Detective Tapp or is your hatred too great to be satiated? You are in what might be called an Iron Maiden. Move the metal cubes to the symbols and avoid the strikes. After six strikes, the device will shut and this place will be your tomb."
* "Hello, Oswald. Your newspaper has been the primary source of information about my message; why I do what I do. But your motivations are selfish. You spread my message, but pervert it for your own personal glory. You twisted my words to implicate Detective Tapp, to make the public suspected him to be me. The device you are strapped to will twist until your body is broken. To stop this device, you must complete the electrical circuit panel. If you do not complete the circuit in time, words will not to be able to describe your agony."
* "Hello, Obi. You have isolated yourself from society, creating a life so empty that you have come to me for your test, for a reason to live. You wish to become like me. But the only way to give others the chance to live is to understand why it is so precious. The room you are in is attached to a large furnace. Detective Tapp is your only hope of redemption. If he fails, the temperature will increase and the liquid within your body will boil you alive. Time is short."
* "Hello, Jeff. Day after day you live alone isolating yourself to avoid the stress of reality. You have tried to take your own life on multiple occasions because you cannot endure the mental pain of everyday life. Now you will have have to endure real pain. The game is simple. Detective Tapp must match all the corresponding symbols and you will be released. Match the wrong symbols, and a metal spike will pierce your body. Match too many wrong symbols, and your suffering will end."
* "This is the end, Detective, the end of all that you know. You have saved everyone that you could save. Their lives were yours to do with as you wished. You're here, but have you overcome your obsession? You can save everyone who is left in the asylum, you can grant them their freedom. You can free yourself from your obsession if you only let go of the truth. Or you can continue to pursue the truth, giving into your obsession and throwing all your lives away."
* "Your obsession destroyed your life on the outside, hurting everyone around you. You could not conquer your obsession, so now the the people you have in here must also suffer. Why didn't you choose your freedom?"
* "Hello, Melissa. If you are hearing this, you survived your test. You have forgiven Tapp, the man responsible for your husband's death, the man you obsessed over as your life fell into pieces. Now you must rebuild your family. Your son is now in my care. If you want him to live, you'll have to play a game. Follow the instructions provided for. All you have to do to see your son again is keep Detective Tapp on track. To make sure you follow the rules, I have temporarily removed your ability to speak. When the clock strikes 6, you will be free of this place. But watch your step, or you will meet the same fate as your late husband. Live or die, Melissa."
* "Hello, Campbell. I want to play a game. You flushed your own life down the toilet with your addiction to drugs. The sins of your father pass on to the son, who is also a drug addict. You no longer know if his alive or dead. I can show you the truth. But you must shed some blood."
* "Above you is another of my subjects. He is about the same age as your son, and you've never met him. But he has a long life ahead of him. The glass elevator at the end of the hall will only fit one. Now you must make a choice, save yourself and watch someone die, or sacrifice your life for his. Let the game begin."
* "Hello, rise and shine. Michael, Solomon; each of you have an opportunity to escape this room. The first one to move their cage to the door will be freed. However, there is no prize for second place. Oh, and watch your step. The floor is covered in broken glass. You like stories, don't you? Well here's the first one: the tortoise and the hare. Let the game begin."
* "Hello, Griff. You were a promising college student until you become obsessed with a female professor who wanted nothing to do with you. But you persisted. Rape is a serious crime, Griff, it labels you as a sex offender, a ticking time bomb that nobody wants to be around. Kind of like the bomb you are attached to right now. The son of the officer that arrested you is your chance of survival. You blamed Detective Tapp for keeping you from your true love. Let us see if you can free yourself from your obsession long enough to survive."
* "Hello, Zeke. You like to molest little girls robbing them of their precious childhood and steering them into lives of prostitution and drug abuse. You were caught red-handed, but went to prison for only a fraction of your real crimes. Around your wrists are razors. Soon, someone will come in and tell you a series of numbers. Twist the device in the box to match the numbers you are given. This time, your hands will be red with blood."
* "Hello, Patrick. When you were a child, your father used to cut you with knives as a sadistic gesture of intimacy. Rather than break the cycle of violence, you've escalated to carving up strangers who do no more than greet you. Detective Tapp said during your trial that you were incurable. But I have a cure. The device attached to your head will carve deeper and deeper into your skull everytime you make a sudden move. Try to keep still, Patrick."
* "Hello, Anton. You were a mercenary for hire, specializing in terror. Your particular method of choice is throwing corrosive acid on the faces of your victims. This ensures that, even if they live, they have no chance to surgically repair their faces, leaving them forever scarred. Time to see what that's like. There is an acid drip on the chain to your cage. The son of the officer that put you in prison will decide whether you escape unharmed or you burn like your victims. You had better hope he has a steady hand, Anton."
* "Hello, Donovan. You have always been a violent man, especially to the women you claim to love. You tell them that the pain you cause them is their own fault, that you love them too much to not beat them mercilessly. Let's see if you can take the pain you dish out. The device attached to your body has spikes that point inward and outward. The pain you cause with these spikes will be reflected back onto you. Understand Donovan, sometimes the use of force can be your downfall."