Interesting Fan Theories From The 'Saw' Franchise That Make Us Want To Play A Game

From Redditor u/dngaay:

I just got to the third one and it occurred to me why Jigsaw set about his murderous ways. Forgive me if this is common knowledge, but I don't remember all the details from the later movies and this just hit me like a bolt of lightning.

I know the movie says his motive is to "help" people appreciate theirs lives... He picks people who he thinks have squandered the opportunities given to them. And he has cancer so he fully realizes the value of life and all that bullsh*t.

BUT! Jigsaw, or John Kramer, doesn't just have any cancer. He has a brain tumor. A tumor on the frontal lobe, in fact. It's pretty well-established that brain tumors can affect your behavior, and the front lobe is associated rational thinking and judgement. Maybe the tumor is clouding his judgement and he really can't understand that he shouldn't be doing what he's doing.

I mean, when you think about it, when you want to teach someone to value their life, you could pay for their therapy sessions or something. You don't have to drug them and stick them in a steampunk torture device.

If you think about it, Jigsaw's cancer affected him threefold and led him to become the killer we all know:

1. Made him realize how much people squander their lives
2. Gave him nothing to lose if he got caught
3. Made him just crazy enough to actually go through with his evil plans

From Redditor u/Cheap-Hour6579:

I think it could be possible. Here are my reasons for believing that this theory could be plausible.

Point #1: In Adam’s supposed death scene, we see Amanda suffocating him for about 36 seconds (which is an accurate estimate as there are little to no cuts from the moment the shrink wrap goes on Adam’s face) before he stops struggling, at which point Amanda breaks down and the scene abruptly ends. Most would understandably believe that he died here, but 36 seconds without air likely wouldn’t be enough to kill him because it takes between 30 seconds to 3 minutes of oxygen deprivation to render someone unconscious, with death becoming imminent at 5 minutes. If oxygen is restored before then, a person could feasibly recover. Of course, factors like Adam’s weakened state and panicked response could impact that, but looking at the timing of it, it’s more likely that he was just knocked out (he survived nearly that long without air when he was passed out in the bathtub). In fact, he also could’ve been playing dead to get Amanda to stop.

Point #2: In the director’s cut of Saw 3, there’s a scene where as Amanda sneaks off to kill Adam while John is asleep, he wakes up and looks at her suspiciously, implying that he’s aware of what she’s doing (he was aware of her rigging her games to be unbeatable, so it’s plausible that he’d know about her trying to kill Adam). Since this is the director’s cut, the inclusion of this scene implies that the director thought it was important enough to put back in the movie. Additionally, when Amanda was trying to kill Lynn and arguing with John, he said to her that he cleaned up her mistakes (emphasis on the plural). We know he’s referring to how she attempted to kill Eric Matthews, but as far as we know, Eric was the only mistake she made that could be fixed, so the fact that he said it as a plural implies that there might’ve been more than one mistake that could still be fixed. If John knew that Amanda was planning to kill Adam, he could’ve easily sent another one of his followers to save Adam and secretly nurse him back to health like he did with Gordon and Eric.

Point #3: The shackle on the corpse is on the right foot, but in all instances of Adam being shown alive in the bathroom, his shackle is on his left foot. This happened both in Saw 2 and Saw 3D, and considering how much attention to detail was put into both of those scenes to recreate it as accurately as possible, this is a huge oversight to make twice. And it’s not like they just forgot which leg the shackle was supposed to be on because in Saw 3, in the flashback of the setup for the Bathroom Trap, John tells Amanda to put Adam’s left leg in the shackle. If it was only one time, I could believe it was just a prop error, but I have a harder time believing that it happened twice. I find it very hard to believe that the team got everything else in the bathroom right and only screwed up this one corpse in both instances.

Point #4: In Saw 2, Adam’s corpse is shown to be losing its hair, but Zep’s corpse still has all of his hair (he still has all of his hair in Saw 3D too). Their deaths didn’t happen too far apart, so they should be in a similar state of decomposition, but Adam’s corpse is somehow more decayed than Zep’s and going bald. The only way this and the misplaced shackle could happen is if someone took Adam out of the bathroom and replaced him with a corpse.

Point #5: We don’t get any concrete confirmation of Adam’s death. His supposed death scene ends abruptly after Adam stops struggling and Amanda breaks down, and it’s never revisited. As shown with Gordon, Perez, Eric and most of the Jigsaw Survivor self-help group, any character whose death is not definitely shown always comes back later.

Point #6: In the VHS John made for Gordon, he said to him that he’ll keep no more secrets from him, but we never get any information on what those secrets are. Perhaps one of those secrets was that Adam had been alive the whole time.

Point #7: There was no reason for John to save Eric, but he did.

There’s one thing Adam is able to do that John would need: gather information. We know that Hoffman and Amanda were in charge of setting up the traps and capturing the victims, Gordon was in charge of surgical operations with the victims (I.e. Implanting the key under Michael’s eye, stitching Trevor’s eyes, stitching Art’s mouth), and Logan helped John with building his traps (the early ones at least), but we never see how John gets information on his targets. Adam’s job was gathering information on people without their knowledge, so he’d be useful to John. You might ask, “If John did save Adam to use him as an informant, then how did he gain information on his victims before he recruited Adam?”, but it’s perfectly possible that Adam’s involvement with Jigsaw goes further back we might think. It’s known that Adam didn’t ask many questions about his clients, so it’s possible that John anonymously hired Adam to track and gather info on his targets without being asked why. He may have even hired Adam to gather info on his first victim, Cecil. Saw 4 meticulously shows the process of John’s first kill since it’s such an important part of his backstory, but the one thing they didn’t show is how he managed to get photos of Cecil or find his location. He easily could’ve hired Adam to tail Cecil and snap some photos of him no questions asked and became a repeat customer after that, anonymously hiring Adam to gather intel on his targets before putting him in a game of his own (John put his other followers through games before he recruited them, so it wouldn’t be out of character).

If that is Adam’s corpse, it wouldn’t explain why his shackle is on the wrong foot and the corpse is more decayed than Zep’s when Adam died not too long after him. If it only happened once, I could believe that it’s just a prop error, but the fact that it happened twice and this corpse was the only detail of the bathroom that they got wrong in both instances makes it far less believable. There’s no way they could’ve gotten everything else right, but f*cked up this one corpse twice.

You may be wondering why Adam would start working for Jigsaw. I believe it’s for the same reason Gordon, Hoffman, Amanda, and Logan started working for Jigsaw: manipulation and Stockholm Syndrome. After narrowly surviving their games, all of them were emotionally and psychologically vulnerable, and manipulation works best when the victim is vulnerable (that’s why cults primarily target impressionable people who are struggling in life, and Jigsaw’s group is basically a miniature cult).

John likely kept Adam hidden from his other followers (he did that with Gordon and Eric). He may have had another follower take Adam out of the bathroom and replace him with a corpse to fake his death so someone like Amanda wouldn’t try to kill him again.

I won’t pretend that this theory is 100% canon and that Adam is definitely alive, but I won’t act like it doesn’t have merit either. Until the movies prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Adam is alive or dead, I’ll keep my mind open.

From Redditor u/HelpImAwake:

Erickson and Perez knew or at least suspected Hoffman was an accomplice/apprentice before Saw IV. Strahm seems new to the investigation but they both knew him as perceptive and committed enough to help them peg Hoffman for sure, albeit without sharing their direct suspicion.

Then Hoffman threw a wrench into the plan with everyone in Rigg's game dying making him look like a hero and incapacitating Perez, forcing them to improvise by faking her death and leaving the name hint that Strahm uses to figure it out himself.

I don't think they bought into Hoffman's framing of Strahm for a moment. A lot of their dialogue in VI seems aimed to simultaneously string him along and needle him. I like to think that they were itching for the moment to nail him. The one thing they didn't count on was Hoffman being crazy and desperate enough for the move he pulls in the voice analysis scene.

The Gibson flashback in VII/3D also suggests Hoffman had a known violent/murderous streak for some time. That could have set some red flags, not just to the police but for your headcanon: their family knew or at least suspected he was or could be a psycho. His sister could have been the one who believed he could still be somewhat of a good person in spite of that. Then she was murdered, the guy who killed her got off with a slap on the wrist, and the psycho went loose.

Also who's to say Hoffman wasn't responsible for the "technicality" that got Seth released? Considering how strategic he is in V, VI and 3D, it wouldn't strike me as out-of-character for him to figure out a way to get him out of prison just to kill him himself.

From Redditor u/fabricatorgeneral:

Did anyone notice that as the Saw movies went on, more and more people began surviving jigsaws traps?

I think it's because of the media exposure. As more and more jigsaw murders are discovered, more and more survivors begin being discovered. For example, in Saw 4, we see the first survivor almost an instant after the act, she killed her abusive husband to save herself. Eventually, by Saw 7, there are enough survivors to warrant a support group, and push a book to the best seller list.

My reasoning, as I said, is media exposure. The more the public hears about the murders; the numbers of survivors increase, their stories are constantly told and retold, to national news outlets. This leads to it attaining a state of almost normality, and the mindset is that "I must play the game. I have to maim myself, physically or mentally in order to survive." People go into the game knowing they have to play to win, they can't just be a speculator. And they participate, and that's why they survive. And that's also why the number of people involved increase rises each movie.

To keep the shock factor, and stay relevant to be shown nationally, the body count has to rise. More losers, same number of winners.

From Redditor u/lycanstars:

My favorite theory for Saw III is that John knew that Amanda was there for Gideon's death, and that his last test was for her to learn to forgive herself/for him to give her some sense of closure before his death.

From Redditor u/RaynorN7:

Revisiting last decade's horror kingpin, and… Well, the middle stretch- films three through six, colloquially known from this point forward as "the Hoffman arc"- brought a really interesting facet to light:

It's entirely possible Amanda Young wasn't crazy-homicidal after all- and that she was in fact simply Mark Hoffman's unknowing patsy. I intend to give this argument a hell of a shot.

Let us consider the three essential factors in committing a crime: Means, Motive, and Opportunity. Each of these factors must be present in order to qualify one as a suspect in any act; pursuant to the stated goal, I intend to document how Amanda Young could not definitively satisfy those criteria, and further, how Mark Hoffman satisfies those same criteria to a greater extent. For the purposes of this argument, we will be examining the two "impossible tests" present at the beginning of Saw III, Troy's and Kerry's, as they form the basis of the theory that Amanda was in fact their killer.

Though it comes second in the list, we will first focus on motive. Being that we have no information regarding the character of Troy, it is safe to assume that he could have crossed paths with either apprentice in such a way that they deemed him unworthy of life. Kerry, however, presents an interesting wrinkle: during the forensic investigation of Troy's test site, she observes aloud- in the presence of Hoffman- that the test does not fit the Jigsaw modus operandi by virtue of the sealed door preventing Troy's safe escape from the bomb that ultimately killed him, even barring the ring latched through his jaw. This presents a clear motive for Hoffman to dispose of her: she is onto the possibility that an apprentice other than Amanda exists, who operates outside the moral parameters established by the Jigsaw methodology and uses it as a means of execution rather than rehabilitation. Conversely, a character examination of Kerry, particularly during Saw II in which she opposes Eric Matthews' and Daniel Rigg's methods of interrogation, implies that Amanda should not in fact take issue with her commitment to her job, as she conducts herself in an ethical manner not concurrent with the other "dirty cops" comprising their precinct and would thus in theory have put a stop to Young's fabricated possession charge that catalyzed her descent into becoming Jigsaw's apprentice, had she been in some position to do so.

We further see in subsequent entries that Hoffman has no qualms about dispatching fellow law enforcement officers when they threaten his secret identity, including leaving his former partner, Rigg, to die of a gunshot wound at the end of Saw IV, killing no fewer than three FBI agents across two movies, and butchering several officers while armed with nothing but a knife. Given their close working proximity as detectives investigating the Jigsaw killings, Hoffman would have an inside track into Kerry's thought process, indicating he would know exactly when she crossed the threshold and became an immediate threat to him. This is not consistent with the theory that Amanda was responsible for her execution, as John's worsening condition necessitated that she act as his caretaker; while she was capable of performing some tasks such as grabbing Lynn and constructing devices in their workshop, she lacked the autonomy to build Kerry's execution device. Similarly worth noting is that, during their study of the crime scene, Hoffman observes that, "all he had to do was remove the chains from his body," at a point prior to their extraction and study of the Jigsaw tape; though it could have been posited before the tape's assessment, his phrasing strongly indicates a familiarity with the test and its subject, placing the ball squarely in his court. Motive goes conclusively to Hoffman on both counts.

Insofar as opportunity is concerned, I believe this is again no contest. We see routinely during the final four movies that Hoffman operated with a large range of autonomy as needed to protect his dual identity, whereas Amanda was shown almost exclusively acting as John's caretaker during the relevant flashback sequences in Saw VI. Opportunity goes conclusively to Hoffman.

Now comes the divisive point: means. While we have ample evidence throughout the films to substantiate the idea that either apprentice could have constructed the device used to kill Kerry, we also have a stark contrast in the nature of the devices canonically attributed to each apprentice. Dismissing Troy's execution as irrelevant to that assessment, we have only a single device absolutely linked to Amanda Young: the shotgun collar, a device of mechanical simplicity and electrical sophistication, fabricated in a low-tech manner concurrent with John Kramer's early tests. For argument's sake, we will compare this to only a single test design similarly absolutely linked to Mark Hoffman: the pendulum, a device of mechanical and electrical sophistication, fabricated in a high-tech manner not concurrent with most Kramer tests. The device used to kill Kerry was highly mechanically sophisticated, as was its aerial suspension; it was also relatively high-tech in comparison to the "salvaged" appearance of the shotgun collar. Means are attributed, once again, to Hoffman.

Now we enter the correlative stage of this argument: using comparative evidence to support the abovementioned theory by highlighting patterns and inconsistencies in fact. I would like to call your attention to the audio recording in Kerry's instruction tape; even the lay ear can tell that the voice on the tape does not match the audio present in any other Jigsaw tape; its pitch is lower and its vocal cadence does not line up, from breathing and emphasis pauses to pronunciation of certain syllables. Upon closer study, there is once again one tape that shares in these traits: the pendulum. Interestingly, these inconsistencies are not present in Troy's tape, though I am not sure as to whether this is of significant consequence.

We can also observe, during the forensic studies of both Troy's and Kerry's death sites, that Mark Hoffman pockets some piece of evidence from each; we see him place something into his inner jacket pocket while at Troy's scene, and overtly pockets a metal ring at Kerry's. This is not a behavior we see him exhibit during any other scene, though we also know he collected a trophy from Seth Baxter, the pendulum victim as we see him cut the telltale jigsaw piece from his flesh; this leads to two theories which do not necessarily exclude one another: that he is obscuring his own involvement by removing some telling piece, or that he is in fact a trophy collector a la Dexter Morgan. Given his obsessive need for vengeance (as drives his actions in Saw V and VII), it is highly probable that Troy wronged him at some point, leading to his execution, and that he viewed eliminating Kerry via Jigsaw method as a mark of cleverness- hubris the like of which he is known for during Saw VII in his taunting of Gibson.

Character analysis of Hoffman suggests, indeed, that framing Amanda Young would have been perfectly in line with his standard methods, and also that he possesses the capacity for forethought necessary to execute such a plan. His elaborate frame job of Agent Strahm reinforces this theory with every letter of its script, as does obscuring his retaliatory murder of Seth Baxter by guising it as a Jigsaw test. His repeated insistence that "Amanda will fail you" to John suggests an endgame in which no party who knew his true identity would survive, by playing every member of Jeff's test against one another. In turn, we also know conclusively that he sabotaged the final gambit of Amanda's own test by supplanting John's letter with his own blackmail threat, illustrating further his intent to be the last man standing.

Conversely, character analysis of Amanda Young does not support the theory she was capable of such actions. We know of only one death which she directly, irrefutably caused- Adam's- and that in itself was an act of euthanasia given his misery and torment. Even when confronted with Eric Matthews- whom she, like Hoffman with Seth, had justifiable reason to hate as she did- and having him at her mercy, she was unable to kill him, leading ultimately to Matthews' death in Saw IV. By the opposite token, her actions during Saw II indicate a desire for the other test subjects to succeed, ranging from her significant distress at Obi's and Addison's deaths (beyond the reactions of the other test subjects) to her attempt to comfort Laura as she died. Given her personal investment and need for validation in the Jigsaw method, I find it highly unlikely that- until the events during Lynn's test in Saw III, in which her worldview came rapidly unraveled- she would have sabotaged that method prior to her schism with John; it became her focal point of existence. During the flashback sequence in Saw VI detailing the setup of the Rack, we are made aware that Hoffman has been making "last-minute tweaks" to the design, as called out by Amanda; there is similarly a cinematic change to the execution of that test in the original theater version of the third film, in which Jeff attempts to free Timothy from the Rack but is unable to find a keyhole- a concept anathema to John, and presumably at this time to Amanda as well.

Additionally, there is a physical inconsistency worth noting during Kerry's abduction: the figure we see grab her from behind surpasses her in height. IMDb serves to remind us that Dina Meyer- Kerry- is 5'7" tall, whereas Shawnee Smith- Amanda- is 5'3". By the same token, Costas Mandylor- Hoffman- is 5'11" tall, making him the only party to fit that fact.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury (heh heh), I present to you what I feel is all relevant data to support the theory as follows:

Mark Hoffman framed Amanda Young for the deaths of Allison Kerry and Troy, utilizing that information to sow seeds of dissent in John Kramer's ear and leading him to orchestrate a final test for Amanda, which Hoffman then sabotaged, as he is amply known to do, so that she would be faced with an insurmountable final obstacle and fail, resulting in her and John's deaths and securing his anonymity as the final Jigsaw apprentice. Amanda Young was innocent of the murders John accused her of during her death.