History Franchise / Saw

* ''Film/SawLegacy'' (2017)

Lions Gate Entertainment released all seven films in the franchise on the week prior to Halloween for seven years in a row, from 2004 to 2010. The seventh (and, according to WordOfGod, final) installment, titled ''Saw 3D'', was renamed ''Saw: The Final Chapter'' for its home video release. This turned out to be a SeriesFauxnale when it was revealed that the eighth and final installment, ''Saw: Legacy'', was to be released in 2017.

*** Hoffman and Amanda knew that Gordon survived, but they did not know that he helped out with some traps.

* JawBreaker: The "reverse beartrap" is one of the series' most iconic traps.

The ''Saw'' franchise -- comprised chiefly of a series of horror films -- centers around a PoeticSerialKiller dubbed "The Jigsaw Killer" (or just "Jigsaw"), who places people in {{Death Trap}}s and gives them a chance to escape before death claims them. Jigsaw designs each trap as a violent form of poetic justice by reflecting what Jigsaw sees as the vital flaw of its victim(s). To escape these traps -- or [[DeadlyGame "games"]], as Jigsaw calls them -- the victims must typically harm either themselves or others in some horrific way to escape their impending (and likely horrific) death. The films' storylines center around the victims' efforts to escape their traps, Jigsaw's life, and his connection to the films' other characters.

These films (especially the first) [[FollowTheLeader inspired many imitations]], though some argue that ''Saw'' itself is an imitation of ''Film/{{Se7en}}'': Both films focus on elaborate, grisly murders carried out by a man trying to send a message to society. Whereas ''Film/{{Se7en}}'' portrays John Doe as vain and interested in showing the world a lesson through murder, Jigsaw focuses on a more "individualized" message with his "games". Hell, the concept of a moralistic serial killer playing God to a society he deems morally corrupt didn't even originate with ''Film/{{Se7en}}'' -- and according to Word Of God, a short film of the same name inspired the first ''Saw'' film.

!!Oh yes... there will be tropes.

* ContinuityNod: Too much to list.

* MonsterClown: Billy the Puppet, whom Jigsaw uses to deliver his [[ToThePain prologues to his victims.]] See below.

* TorturePorn: Made the genre popular again in the 2000's, along with the {{Hostel}} series.

* ''Saw: Legacy'' (2017)

* BlackDudeDiesFirst: Averted - none of the films has a black character die first.

Lions Gate Entertainment released all seven films in the franchise on the week prior to Halloween for seven years in a row, from 2004 to 2010. The seventh (and, according to WordOfGod, final) installment, titled ''Saw 3D'', was renamed ''Saw: The Final Chapter'' for its home video release.

* AnachronicOrder: The story told by the series is not shown linearly. Flashbacks, including the OnceMoreWithClarity variety, are used frequently. The story itself is like a jigsaw puzzle.

* AnachronicOrder: Especially prevalent in the fifth and sixth film, where it's used to show [[spoiler:how Hoffman fits into the plots of the other films]] and [[spoiler:John's StartOfDarkness]], respectively. Shades of this trope show up in the other movies, too, but it's not nearly as prevalent.

* ContinuityPorn: Much of the later films had flashbacks that explained details from previous films, such as how Jigsaw and his apprentices set up their "games". A large chunk of ''Saw V'' had this as it tried to retroactively fit Hoffman into the previous installments.
** In particular the "reverse bear trap", first appears on Amanda's head in the first film, then in the background in ''III'' and ''IV'', then plans can be seen for it in ''V'', then on [[spoiler:Hoffman]] at the end of ''VI'' and finally on [[spoiler:Jill]] in ''VII'' where [[spoiler:it finally goes off as John intended, and it looks awesome]]. Of course, [[spoiler:John never ''intended'' for it to go off at all.]]

* JawBreaker: The "reverse beartrap".

** John Kramer was responsible for the original blueprint of what traps should be: his involved inflicting physical pain with a heavy focus on self-mutilation to survive, but also placed an emphasis on following and interpreting instructions. That said, he was not above making use of [[spoiler: Amanda's]] style ([[spoiler: The Cube Trap in ''V'' was intended to kill Strahm, and was quite amusingly the only "inescapable trap" that ''was'' escaped]]) or [[spoiler: Hoffman's]] ([[spoiler: The Reverse Bear Trap in the first movie would by design result in either the death of Amanda or her cellmate]]).

The ''Saw'' franchise -- comprised chiefly of a series of horror films -- centers around a PoeticSerialKiller dubbed "The Jigsaw Killer" (or just "Jigsaw"), who places people in {{Death Trap}}s and gives them a chance to escape before death claims them. Jigsaw designs each trap as a violent form of poetic justice by reflecting what Jigsaw sees as the vital flaw of its victim(s). To escape these traps -- or "[[DeadlyGame games"]], as Jigsaw calls them -- the victims must typically harm either themselves or others in some horrific way to escape their impending (and likely horrific) death. The films' storylines center around the victims' efforts to escape their traps, Jigsaw's life, and his connection to the films' other characters.

* BlondGuysAreEvil: Jigsaw/John Kramer himself.

** Oswald McGillicutty's name is on a newspaper clipping in David Tapp's apartment in ''Saw.'' He appears in the first video game.

Read more: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Ride/ThorpePark#ixzz3nIZUKKDW

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-->[[AC:[[SelfDemonstrating/{{Saw}} PLAY ME]]]]

* AnimalMotifs: Pigs.

The ''Saw'' franchise -- comprised chiefly of a series of horror films -- centers around a PoeticSerialKiller, dubbed "The Jigsaw Killer" (or just "Jigsaw") by the press, who places people in {{Death Trap}}s and gives them a chance to escape before death claims them. Jigsaw designs each trap to serve as a violent form of poetic justice by reflecting what Jigsaw sees as the vital flaw of its victim (or victims). To escape these traps -- or "[[DeadlyGame games"]] -- the victims must usually harm themselves (or others) in some horrific way to escape their impending (and likely horrific) death. The films' storylines center around the victims' efforts to escape their traps, Jigsaw's life, and his connection to the films' other characters.

Lions Gate Entertainment released all seven films in the franchise on the week prior to Halloween for seven years in a row, from 2004 to 2010. The seventh (and, according to WordOfGod, final) installment, titled ''Saw 3D'', ended up renamed as ''Saw: The Final Chapter'' on home video.

These films (especially the first) [[FollowTheLeader inspired many imitations]], though some argue that ''Saw'' ''itself'' serves as an imitation of ''Film/{{Se7en}}''. Both films focus on elaborate, grisly murders carried out by a man trying to send a message to society, but ''Film/{{Se7en}}'' portrays John Doe as vain and interested in showing the world a lesson through murder, while Jigsaw focuses on a more 'individualized' message with his "game". Indeed, the concept of a moralistic serial killer playing God to a society he deems morally corrupt didn't even originate with ''Film/{{Se7en}}''. (According to Word Of God, though, a short film of the same name inspired the first ''Saw' film'.)

The series managed to spawn two video game adaptations. The first -- ''[[VideoGame/{{Saw}} Saw: The Video Game]]'' -- takes place after the events of the first film: Detective Tapp (thought dead after Zepp shot him) ends up forced into one of Jigsaw's games and has to play to survive. The sequel, ''VideoGame/SawIIFleshAndBlood'', takes place between the events of the second and third films as Detective Tapp's son, Michael, becomes Jigsaw's newest target. Konami has also expressed an interest in turning the games into a franchise series.

!!! WARNING: This page contains no small number of spoilers, but many of the trope examples below will assume you know the spoilers revealed by the endings of the first four films -- and as such, those spoilers frequently go untagged. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.

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* DisproportionateRetribution: The whole series runs on it. Maybe when Jigsaw puts murderers and rapists through his trials it seems deserved, but the problem is that basically anyone who is guilty of just being depressed deserves to be put thorugh the trials in his mind. This often extends to relatively petty "crimes" such as being a drug addict, a sex worker, an adulterer, being generally sleazy, or just having depression in general.

The series managed to spawn two video game adaptations. The first -- ''Saw: The Video Game'' -- takes place after the events of the first film: Detective Tapp (thought dead after Zepp shot him) ends up forced into one of Jigsaw's games and has to play to survive. The sequel, ''Saw II: Flesh and Blood'', takes place between the events of the second and third films as Detective Tapp's son, Michael, becomes Jigsaw's newest target. Konami has also expressed an interest in turning the games into a franchise series.

!!The games
* DecoyProtagonist: In the sequel ''Saw II: Flesh and Blood'', the first level has you play as a character named Campbell. After the first level, however, your perspective switches to Michael Tapp, the son of David Tapp (the protagonist from the first ''Saw'' video game, and the cop from the first movie) for the rest of the game.
* DummiedOut: In the final two chapters of the first game, you see some sewing kits. It looks like they would be tools to help make traps, but none of the ones you can make require them. It's likely there were more traps that didn't make it to the full game. Notably, you can't actually pick up the sewing kits except for one near the end which does nothing.
* EverythingTryingToKillYou: You ''are'' in Jigsaw's little game, after all. And everyone wants to kill you because you have the key to the front door sewn into your chest.
** In ''Saw II: Flesh and Blood'' the occupants of Jigsaw's game were supposedly all criminals that Michael Tapp's father had put in jail, and therefore didn't like you very much.
* FirstPersonGhost: In the video game sequel, there is a brief first person section near the beginning which utilizes this technique. Also when interacting with puzzles and traps, your view switches to a first person perspective. While in this perspective you don't see your body interacting with the pieces of the puzzle.
* ForegoneConclusion: Since it takes place after the first film, we all know Jigsaw will still be at large by the end of the game. [[spoiler:And if you've seen SAW ''IV'', you would know that Tapp had died]].
** Ditto with the sequel which takes place soon after the first game.
* GoMadFromTheRevelation: The [[spoiler:Truth]] ending.
* InLoveWithYourCarnage: It's revealed that Obi from ''Saw II'' actually wanted Jigsaw to put him in a test. He was saved by Tapp, much to his disappointment, so he got himself recaptured.
* LateToTheTragedy: You come across a few rooms of others that were playing Jigsaw's games. The blood splatters on the wall should tell you how they fared.
* NintendoHard: Some of the puzzles are extremely frustrating.
* MultipleEndings
** In the first game, there's two - one canon and one alternative. In the last room of the game, you are tasked with choosing one of two doors; one is marked "Truth", and one is marked "Freedom". Jigsaw explains that "Freedom" will allow Tapp to leave the asylum alive, while "Truth" will satisfy his obsession with catching Jigaw (but will also cost him dearly).
*** '''Freedom:''' [[spoiler:Tapp leaves the asylum alive, and is hailed as a hero by those he saves, but his obsession with catching Jigsaw eventually overtakes him and he commits suicide; due to Tapp being shown as dead during ''Saw V'', and the plot of the sequel, this is the canon ending.]]
*** '''Truth:''' [[spoiler:Tapp's pursuit of a cloaked figure he believes to be Jigsaw ends with the person dying from a Jigsaw trap; the person was actually Melissa Sing, the wife of Tapp's deceased partner and one of the victims he saves earlier in the game - she had been tasked by Jigsaw to keep Tapp playing the game in order to have a chance of seeing her son alive again. As a result of her death, Tapp suffers a complete mental breakdown and is placed in another asylum, still believing he is playing Jigsaw's game]].
** ''Saw II: Flesh and Blood'' has multiple endings as well, depending on [[spoiler:whether or not DecoyProtagonist Campbell survives his final test]].
*** [[spoiler:If Campbell makes it through the SpikesOfDoom and enters the elevator, he shows up at the end when Michael makes it to the end of his own SpikesOfDoom room, preventing Michael's escape and ensuring his death (since the elevator is occupied and cannot be opened). Jigsaw then congratulates Campbell, tells him that his son is fine (he claimed to have kidnapped him earlier) and allows him to leave. Campbell, traumatized by everything he went through, tries to attack Jigsaw - and falls prey to a trap.]]
*** [[spoiler:If Campbell dies, he's obviously not in the elevator, thus allowing Michael to enter the elevator and escape. At the end of his ride, Jigsaw presents him with two doors, just like Tapp was shown. One door has the evidence Michael needs to put Jigsaw away for good, while the other has the pigman costume - implying that Jigsaw is offering Michael a chance to become his apprentice. The screen cuts out before we see Michael's choice.]]
* SpikesOfDoom: Used several times in the sequel.
* {{Understatement}}: One of the loading screen blurbs warns against activating tripwires, as they generally cause "unpleasant surprises". [[spoiler:Tripwires are always connected to a nearby shotgun trap, so the unpleasant surprise will be Tapp's head being blown apart]].
* UngratefulBastard: All the people Tapp has to save blame ''him'' for being kidnapped by Jigsaw and will quickly let you know it once you free them from their traps.
* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: C'mon, you know full well you wanna see how many ways you can eviscerate Tapp and how the people he's supposed to save eat it.
* TheWallsAreClosingIn: Used a lot in the sequel, adding spikes into the mix.
* WhyAmITicking: Halfway into the game, Tapp gets a shotgun collar put on him. Which will start beeping when he comes within distance of a certain enemy. After a few second unless the enemy is felled or you pull back, boom. Likewise a few enemies have the same collar or the venus flytrap one (from part two). After you kill them and walk away, you can hear the traps going off. There is actually an [[CosmeticAward achievement]] tied to avoiding one of these enemies until their trap activates; instantly killing him for you.

* DownerEnding: Every film in the series[[spoiler:, with the ''possible'' exception of ''Saw 3D'' and "Saw 2" since the boy does survive.]].

* TheFaceless: Jigsaw

* GreaterScopeVillain: The Jigsaw Killer is the BigBad in the first three ''Film/{{Saw}}'' movies. After he dies at the end of the third one, he becomes a Bigger Bad posthumously, as his remaining legacy hovers over and still drives the actions of his various apprentices nominally trying to continue his work: [[spoiler:Amanda (who dies before Jigsaw himself), Detective Hoffman, and Doctor Gordon]]. Plans he deliberately set into motion before his death still have far-reaching effects long after he died.

* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: ''{{Saw}} II'' revealed that Adam, one of the main characters from the original, had died, showing us his corpse. In ''{{Saw}} III'' not only showed his death scene (in a flashback) but it also killed off Amanda (a former test subject, [[InLoveWithYourCarnage then apprentice]]), Detective Kerry, who had been investigating the Jigsaw case since the beginning and ''Jigsaw himself''. ''{{Saw}} IV'' saw the death of two characters who were introduced in ''{{Saw}} II'', [[CorruptCop Det. Eric Matthews]] and Agent Daniel Rigg. The main character of ''III'', Jeff Denlon, was also quickly dispatched. Special Agents Peter Strahm and Lindsay Perez were introduced in ''IV'' and died in the second ''{{Saw}}'' film they appeared, respectively ''V'' and ''VI'', the second one ''after having been declared dead in V'', in which also their boss, Agent Erickson, who first appears in ''V'', ended up dying. Detective David Tapp, whose fate is unclear in ''I'', is revealed to be dead in ''V'' and his fate is shown in the canonical ending of TheVideoGame, while the saga averts the trope with the return of one of the lone survivors of ''I'', Dr. Lawrence Gordon, for the last sequel, ''VII'', and playing it straight with the return of some survivors of other movies who are in ''VII.''

[[redirect:Film/{{Saw}}]]