Summary

• Billy the Puppet, originally meant to be a harmless wooden toy for John and Jill's unborn son, represents the tragic loss they experienced after a violent confrontation caused Jill to have a miscarriage.
• The transformation of the wooden toy into Billy the Puppet symbolizes John's own transformation from a hopeful soon-to-be father to the twisted figurehead of vigilante justice, reinforcing the tragic backstory that fueled Jigsaw's emotions.
• Although never named in the movies, Billy was unofficially named by James Wan, the co-creator of Saw, and became an iconic symbol of the franchise, along with the pig mask, which was inspired by Gideon's anticipated birth during the Chinese zodiac's Year of the Pig.

Billy the Puppet is an iconic figure in the Saw franchise and his origin story is quite tragic. In the Saw series, Tobin Bell plays Jigsaw in the Saw cast, and his gravelly tones also gave Jigsaw (a.k.a. John Kramer) menace, despite hardly having any screen time in the very first Saw flick. Bell became a new slasher icon but many people actually still call the puppet he uses to deliver messages Jigsaw when the name is actually Billy.

James Wan is a huge fan of Dario Argento - as proven by Malignant and its many Argento inspirations - and Billy the Puppet acted as an embodiment of the unseen Kramer throughout Saw. The eerie doll speaks with Bell's voice and always wears a tuxedo, with Billy appearing on a TV screen or in person to explain the rules of a given game to victims. Billy the Puppet is easily one of Saw's most recognizable elements, but it wasn't until Saw IV that viewers learned what drove Kramer to create Billy the Puppet, and the prop has a tragic backstory.

How Billy The Puppet Fits Into Jigsaw's Backstory

John Kramer has a tragic backstory in Saw, and he was deeply affected by the personal tragedies in his life. Billy the Puppet stands as a manifestation of that pain. Before the series of events that led him to become the notorious Jigsaw Killer, Kramer was joyously looking forward to the birth of his child with his wife, Jill Tuck. The couple had settled on the name Gideon for their unborn son. Eagerly awaiting the arrival of Gideon, John had crafted a wooden toy to welcome him into the world. However, a violent confrontation involving a drug-addicted patient named Cecil led to Jill's traumatic miscarriage.

The Tragedy Of Billy The Puppet

As shown in the poorly reviewed Saw IV, Cecil violently pulled open the door of a pharmacy, which slammed into Jill's stomach, killing the baby. Grief-stricken, Kramer's once harmless wooden toy took on a darker transformation, and the innocent doll that was meant for Gideon would later serve as Jigsaw's series messenger. However, while the doll Kramer created for his unborn son later formed the basis for Saw's Billy the Puppet, the original Billy the Puppet is much less creeper than the one on the tricycle.

Through Billy the Puppet, Kramer conveyed his philosophies and twisted games to his unsuspected victims. While Billy the Puppet itself is an inanimate object, its significance to John and Jill's lost child adds a haunting layer of tragedy to the story. The baby, Gideon, was not just a symbol of love and hope for the couple but represented a future that was abruptly snatched away from them.

John's transformation into the Jigsaw killer can be attributed to numerous pivotal moments in his life, and the loss of his unborn son was undeniably one of the most profound. The evolution of the wooden toy into Billy the Puppet is emblematic of John's own metamorphosis: from a hopeful soon-to-be father to a twisted figurehead of vigilante justice. Every time Billy appeared in the games or on screens it was a chilling reminder of the tragedy that fueled Jigsaw's emotions.

Billy The Puppet's Name Origin

Despite being one of the most iconic symbols of the Saw franchise, Billy was never addressed by that name within the movies. According to the Saw: Uncut special features, it was influential horror director James Wan, the co-creator of Saw, who personally named the puppet "Billy." This name would unofficially stick, becoming a staple reference for fans and subsequent filmmakers. The Saw films, over their numerous entries, delved deeper into the intricacies of Jigsaw's persona, his choices, and his symbolism.

Gideon's anticipated birth during the Chinese zodiac's Year of the Pig inspired another chilling aspect of Jigsaw's lore: the pig mask. For instance, Gideon was supposed to be born during the year of the pig in the Chinese zodiac, which is why the pig mask was used by John or his apprentices to kidnap victims. The series explained many elements of Jigsaw's methodology that largely went unaddressed in the original Saw, and Gideon is the catalyst for many of them.