Originally helmed by horror icon, James Wan, the Saw films are a deliciously gory movie series that has been going strong since 2004, and there is even a reboot in the works. Jigsaw's gruesome traps may draw fans in, but the psychology behind what drives the characters is even more fascinating.
The complexity of John Kramer's desire to make his victims treasure their lives, how they're chosen, and what "sins" resonate most with the killer all blend together to make an intelligent story full of intriguing characters. Let's take a look at a list of 10 of the main characters from the series, and the D&D moral alignments that guide their choices.
David Tapp: Chaotic Good
Shortly after the murder of his partner, Detective Tapp (Danny Glover) spends Saw in obsessed pursuit of the killer, Jigsaw, despite the warnings of law enforcement and others around him. A good man committed to justice, he loses his job as a detective because he is unwilling to let the case go.
His obsession escalates to the point where his dingy apartment is papered wall-to-wall with newspaper clippings of potential clues, some about his main suspect, Dr. Gordon. Tapp is determined to avenge his friend and save potential victims from the killer, even if it means shirking the law and risking his own life.
Dr. Lawrence Gordon: True Neutral
Some characters don't work specifically towards a good or a bad, but are simply concerned with their own well-being. True neutrals help others, as long as doing so does not cause them to give up anything themselves. The main protagonist of Saw, Dr. Gordon (Cary Elwes) is the man that diagnosed John with life-threatening cancer. He is also shown to be selfish and cheating on his wife.
During his test, Dr. Gordon amputates his own foot and drags himself to safety, leaving Adam behind to die with a feeble promise to find help (which doesn't come). Later, he credits Jigsaw with changing his life and carries on his work.
Mark Hoffman: Neutral Evil
Detective and secondary antagonist featured throughout various films in the franchise, Mark Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) is a sadistic and revenge-driven Jigsaw apprentice. He doesn't have the rules that John Kramer lived by, but neither is he chaotic and unplanned. He just wants to take power back that he feels that he has lost.
Stewing in grief and fury after his sister's murderer is released on a technicality, Hoffman orchestrates the painful death of Seth Baxter in an unwinnable trap. Ultimately, Hoffman is imprisoned in the bathroom from the first film and is currently presumed dead.
Jill Tuck: Neutral Good
A loving wife to John, and mother to their late son, Gideon, Jill Tuck (Betsy Russell) always had notions of making the world a better place and improving other people's lives. In the past, she was a civil engineer that worked for a company that built homes for the homeless. She also worked at a clinic for drug addicts but suffered a miscarriage after one of them attacked her.
Though she begged John to stop the game-like killing, she kept his secrets. Jill often protected his work and his identity and even partnered with Hoffman for a time before turning on him. This betrayal led to her death in the reverse bear trap.
Lynn Denlon: Lawful Good
Lynn Denlon (Bahar Soomekh) is a surgeon, generally committed to good and following the rules, though she has missteps along the way. After the death of her young son, and the continuous strained marriage caused by her neglectful husband, Jeff, she has an affair. That seems to be the worst of her mistakes.
Throughout the test, she follows Amanda's rules, but when Amanda completely freezes in panic when John has an epileptic attack that would have proven fatal with no intervention, Lynn jumps into action to save the murderer's life and instructs Amanda on how to help her.
Eric Matthews: True Neutral
A homicide detective in Saw II and eventual victim of Jigsaw's sinister games, Eric Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg) is not that nice of a guy, and really pushes the limits of the "true neutral" name. Like many of the characters, he has an affair during his marriage, but his real sin is that he frames Amanda for a crime that she didn't commit.
His career comes first and the law comes second. It's not necessarily about inflicting pain or lording power over anybody, it's just selfish. He does show some remorse, especially when it comes to his relationship with his son, but he still has a long way to go to get to "good".
Amanda Young: Chaotic Evil
A major antagonist of the franchise, Amanda Young (Shawnee Smith) is a prior Jigsaw victim and John's most loyal apprentice. She was chosen by John due to her self harm and drug addictions and is one of the few victims that sees John's murderous traps as a blessing. It was her second chance at a life without drugs, and with a new calling.
Her devotion to John and his cause is closer to psychotic obsession. She proves her intentions as less than pure when the tests that she devises are cruelly unwinnable. She fails her final test given to her by John when she tries to kill Lynn Denlon after the surgeon passes her own test.
Allison Kerry: Lawful Good
A hard worker devoted to law and justice, Allison Kerry (Dina Meyer) is more good than bad. Despite her affair with a married Eric Matthews, Detective Kerry generally plays by the book and wants good for the world. She feels deep guilt over Eric's abduction and suffers from nightmares and depression because of it.
Her main flaw is that she is a workaholic, and she gets so deeply immersed in solving crimes, that she pulls away from relationships with her friends and her family. This is the reason for her own, unwinnable Jigsaw game, which results in her ribcage being torn open by the Angel Trap.
Bobby Dagan: Chaotic Neutral
He's not good, he's not evil, and he picks the riskiest way possible to "get rich quick". There is nothing more chaotic than taunting a serial killer (or his various apprentices), by claiming to be a Jigsaw victim for fame and fortune, but that's exactly what Bobby Dagan (Sean Patrick Flanery) does.
Hearing about the series of murders, Bobby scars himself and writes a book called "S.U.R.V.I.V.E. - My Story Of Overcoming Jigsaw". This gets him exactly what he wants - money, attention, television spots - but it also gets him a one-way ticket to being a real-life Jigsaw victim himself.
John Kramer: Lawful Evil
John Kramer (Tobin Bell) is very focused on rules that he develops for his games, bound by his own laws and skewed sense of morality. Like most villains, he claims that he is working for good, but he's not truly working to make the world a better place.
John Kramer is angry. He is angry that he was diagnosed with cancer, and a mistake caused it to be found too late to save him. He is angry that a drug addict caused his wife to miscarry their son. John constructs these tests to satiate his own bitterness that others get to live their lives in full, when he must lose his, with no option of a game to play to win it back.