Jigsaw Trivia: 20 facts you probably didn’t know about the fictional character!

John Kramer, known as Jigsaw, is a fictional character appearing in the Saw franchise as the main antagonist. 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, Saw 3D and, eventually his own movie, Jigsaw. He is portrayed by American actor Tobin Bell.

1. If you watch all the movies from the SAW movie franchise it would take you a total time of 666 minutes!

2. Kramer is a former civil engineer.

3. He is dying from an inoperable frontal lobe tumor that had developed from colon cancer.

4. After failing to commit suicide by driving himself off a cliff, his life found new meaning by testing his subject’s will to live with torterous methods.

5. Jigsaw never actually 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.

6. His puppet’s name is Billy.

7. The Jigsaw puppet Billy is James Wan’s creation. Jigsaw’s creepy face wasn’t bought in the back of an antique store or made by a Hollywood props company, James Wan stitched Billy together himself.

8. The character of John Kramer is also featured in the non-canon comic book, Saw: Rebirth, which is set prior to the events of the first movie.

9. Tobin Bell reprises his role as the voice of Jigsaw in the Saw video game.

10. Bell describes his character’s role as being more of a scientist or engineer and “he thinks very specifically and very pragmatically”.

11. The character of Jigsaw was the result of migraine headaches co-creator Leigh Whannell used to suffer from for an extended period of time.

12. One of the main reasons he created the hell that he did is the fact that life is no longer the survival of the fittest, it’s the survival of the mediocre. That’s what angered him the most.

13. Many of the games involve clocks, counting down timers. Jigsaw elaborated in Saw II his appreciation of “time”, outlining the importance of savoring every moment.

14. Jake Huntley wrote of the complexity of Jigsaw’s character in the Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies.

15.  It is shown in Saw IV that the original puppet was created by Kramer as an intended toy for his unborn child Gideon. 

16. The pig mask worn by Jigsaw and his accomplices is explained to be a tribute to the “Year of the Pig”, the year in which Jigsaw started his work.

17. Jigsaw had developed a tendency to recruit “apprentices” to carry on his perceived mission. Amanda Young, Lieutenant Mark Hoffman, and two masked men are the only known Jigsaw apprentices. Dr. Lawrence Gordon and Jill Tuck are also assistants in certain games.

18. Kramer was frequently mentioned throughout The Scott Tibbs Documentary.

19. He was also mentioned in the documentary Full Disclosure Report, hosted by TV moderator Rich Skidmore.

20. “Billy” is not only the movie name of the puppet, is is also the name by which the puppet is referred to by writers, directors, and members of the cast and crew on documentaries and interviews.