John Kramer wasn’t always the deranged madman the Saw franchise depicted him to be. Before pursuing this endeavor, he was just a former civil engineer who wanted nothing more than to live the perfect life with his wife who was carrying their first child.
However, things changed when his wife’s miscarriage led to his near-suicidal attempt, and the thirst for revenge came into view. But surely, there’s more to this, right? Especially since he chooses his victims specifically.
That said, here is why Jigsaw kills in the Saw franchise.
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Who is Jigsaw’s First Victim?
The Saw franchise may indicate the numbers of how the films have been released in order, however, the timeline’s narrative is told differently.
John (Tobin Bell) lived a normal life with his wife Jill (Betsy Russell), who ran a rehabilitation clinic for drug addicts.
They were content and expecting their first child. That is, until, Jill miscarried their child, thanks to the drug addict that accidentally injured her during his robbery.
Since then, John and Jill fell apart. It didn’t help that he eventually found out he had terminal cancer, leading to his suicide attempt.
However, when that failed, he found a new meaning to life and that is by hunting down the man responsible for losing his kid’s life.
It was only in Saw IV when Cecil Adams (Billy Otis), the drug addict who caused Jill to get a miscarriage, was caught by John, the early reason why he turned into the Jigsaw Killer we know today.
At the time, Jigsaw played the role of ‘God’ and provided Cecil with two options: he repents for his sins by cutting himself through the Knives displayed in his chair or he is going to get forced through it. Either way, this would guarantee Cecil’s death.
Considering that Cecil was addicted to Heroin, it reminded John why the culprit deserved to learn his lesson the violent way. Thus, the early beginnings of how the Jigsaw Killer formed his philosophy.
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Jigsaw Enforces His Philosophy Through His Elaborate Traps
Jill is likely the Jigsaw Killer’s inspiration behind starting his philosophy. Seeing as Jill’s good samaritan work with the rehab clinic aligned with her motto, “Cherish Your Life”, this also led to John’s personal realization that people should appreciate their life more before it’s too late.
It is important to note that John has always described his deathly traps as “tests” to see whether his victims deserved to live or not.
His tests were intricately designed to fit the story of the victims, which not only makes him smart but also dangerous.
While most of his best traps almost always ensured that he would “heal” the victims and guarantee their escape before the clock ran out, the majority of his victims wouldn’t exactly be in tip-top shape to continue living (what with losing and twisting some of their limbs in the process).
Ultimately, the Jigsaw Killer’s role was to prove that he could easily play the role of God and tamper with people’s lives, convinced he could ‘redirect’ their wrongful ways of living.
And now, with Saw X seemingly being the last film in the franchise, we’re getting yet another flashback of one of his early killings — the con artists who fooled him into thinking they could cure his terminal cancer.
You can check out the official trailer for Saw X below:
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