The Jigsaw Killer, commonly referred to as simply "Jigsaw", is a fictional character in the Saw franchise. Jigsaw made his debut appearance as the primary antagonist in the first film of the series, Saw, and later Saw II, III, IV,V and VI. He is portrayed by American actor Tobin Bell. Jigsaw, introduced in the series as John Kramer,was a civil engineer dying from an inoperable frontal lobe tumor that had developed from colon cancer. After a failed suicide attempt, Kramer experienced a new respect for his own life and set out to put others through similarly deadly tests, often a symbolic representation of what could be seen as a flaw in the person's life, to help them appreciate their own lives by testing their will to live through self-sacrifice. The Jigsaw name was given by the media for his practice of cutting puzzle pieces out of the flesh of those who failed his tests, symbolic of their missing survival instincts.