John Kramer, more commonly known as Jigsaw, is the main antagonist in the copiously gory Saw series. Like most budding serial killers, Kramer had a traumatic experience which triggered his descent into deranged insanity. Not only was he diagnosed with terminal cancer but his wife also experienced a miscarriage after a drug-addled lunatic hit her with a door. This man would go on to be Jigsaws first victim. Kramer tried to end his life early by driving his car off a cliff but the plan backfired as he somehow managed to survive. It was after this that he dedicated his life to devising twisted games to give people a platform through which to prove how much their lives mean to them. The luckless souls Jigsaw chooses for his games are often those who take life for granted or are criminals. For example, some of his victims have been drug dealers, prostitutes, drug addicts or suicide-cases. Jigsaws traps are an attempt by him to 'kindly' rehabilitate them. The traps themselves are horrifying, though undeniably ingenuitive: a shotgun collar, a reverse bear trap, the razor box do we have to say any more? Jigsaw got his interesting nickname after it was discovered that he carved a piece of a jigsaw in the flesh of his victims to represent their missing survival instinct and willingness to fight for their life. While Jigsaw may seem like a downright psycho, some people consider him a vigilante of sorts as the victims of his traps are always there for some form of wrong-doing. One of his victims ex-heroin addict Amanda Young became Jigsaws apprentice after surviving her trap and feeling that Jigsaw had given her a second chance at life. However, in our minds it is the unsettlingly creative methods Jigsaw uses to slaughter people that means he has to be honoured as one of cinemas deranged psychopaths.
Hailing from South East London, Sam Heard is an aspiring writer and recent graduate from the University of Warwick. Sam's favourite things include energy drinks, late nights spent watching the UFC with his girlfriend and annihilating his friends at FIFA.
