10 Movie Villains Totally Ruined In The Sequels

9. Jigsaw - Saw IV (And Every Sequel Since)

The Original

John Kramer aka The Jigsaw Killer (Tobin Bell) was introduced in the original Saw as the demented mastermind who placed "ungrateful" people in a series of elaborate, potentially fatal traps to test whether they truly appreciated their lives.

The first film concluded with the shock revelation that Kramer, briefly introduced earlier in the film as one of Dr. Gordon's (Cary Elwes) terminal cancer patients, was behind it all, and jaws were left firmly on the floor.

Though the first movie is undeniably the best of the bunch, the first two sequels actually did a relatively solid job of reinforcing Jigsaw's gnarly genius, yet not pushing the needle too far in the wrong direction.

The Sequel(s)

Saw IV is where both the series and the character truly goes off the rails, however. Jigsaw dies at the end of Saw III, but the fourth film reveals that he had a second secret apprentice, Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor), to carry on his bidding - and basically keep the franchise ticking along.

From this point, each subsequent sequel depicts Jigsaw's meticulously-organised plan from beyond the grave in an increasingly convoluted and laughable manner.

The surprisingly entertaining sixth film even tries to make Jigsaw vaguely sympathetic, taking pot-shots at America's (admittedly horrendous) healthcare system, despite him being a far more monstrous person than the filmmakers clearly want to admit.

But the real kicker comes in the recent part-prequel, part-sequel Jigsaw, which reveals that Kramer had yet another apprentice up his sleeve, and if that's not enough of an ass-pull, he also predates the existence of all the other ones.

It's just an impossible level of ingenuity that would put even the most ambitious and megalomaniacal James Bond villain to shame.

As awesome as Jigsaw was in the first three movies, the decision to have him posthumously haunt every subsequent film in the franchise mutated him from creative maniac into a joke with seemingly supernatural precognitive abilities.