Jigsaw (Saw)

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.