| “ | Congratulation, David. You are still alive. | ” |
— Billy congratulates David for passing his test.[src]
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Billy the Puppet is an item from the Saw franchise, appearing in the original short film Saw.
Design and Function[]
Billy was a mechanical ventriloquist puppet. As usual for this kind of dummy, his mouthpiece and eyes were movable, giving him a more lively appearance when interacting with others. The puppet's head was hollow and contained a loudspeaker to deliver pre-recorded messages. His upper body consisted of a cylindrical construction to which the limbs were attached. Due to mechanical joints, Billy could move his head, arms, and legs, which enabled him to sit and move forward on a tricycle.
In his outer appearance, Billy resembled a male clown. His face was pale white with protruding eyebrows, black eyes with red irises, and red spirals painted on his cheeks. The puppet's red lips formed a sinister grin, and its head was topped with black, messy hair. In contrast to his otherwise childish appearance, Billy's clothes were notably elegant. He wore a black tuxedo, a white shirt, black gloves, red shoes, and a red bowtie. Furthermore, he wore a bowler hat and had a red handkerchief in his left chest pocket. (Saw)
History[]
David's Test[]
Billy was designed by a psychopathic killer to interact with his victims. One of his targets was a hospital orderly named David. One day, in June 2003, David was about to leave the hospital after ending his shift. However, while waiting for the elevator, the killer suddenly approached him from behind, knocked him out with a bludgeon, and took him to an abandoned location. He strapped David to a chair and put a mechanical contraption on his head. This device was hooked into David's upper and lower jaws. He also abducted another man and injected him with an opiate overdose, rendering him unable to move or feel anything. When the kidnapper prepared David's game, he made the second victim swallow a key and painted a black question mark on his stomach. After finishing all of his preparations, the killer left the building.
Billy introduces David to his test.
Shortly afterward, David woke up. Although initially confused, he quickly panicked upon realizing he was trapped. David desperately tried to free himself from the chair but stopped when a TV turned on next to him. Billy appeared on-screen and introduced him to a perfidious game. The doll described the device on his head as a "reverse bear trap" and demonstrated its deadly function on a mannequin's head. The trap would rip David's mouth open if he did not free himself within 60 seconds. To do so, he had to cut the key to the device from the stomach of his supposedly dead cellmate.
When the TV turned off, David panicked again. After initially struggling, he ultimately freed his arms from his restraints. However, as he got up from the chair, a metal pin was pulled out of the deadly device, setting off the timer. David eventually spotted the seemingly lifeless body of his cellmate and the black question mark painted on his stomach. After a brief hesitation, David realized his cellmate was not dead but only paralyzed. Nonetheless, he took a knife lying next to him and repeatedly stabbed the helpless man.
After killing him, David searched through his stomach for the key. When he eventually found it, he unlocked the trap and freed himself only moments before its activation. Horrified by these events, David started crying when the mechanical puppet approached him on its tricycle. It congratulated him for his survival, telling him he had finally learned to appreciate his life. In a panic, David fled and ultimately found a way out of the building. (Saw)
Trivia[]
- In some capacity, Billy appeared in all installments of the Saw franchise, making him its iconic mascot.
- Although Billy's appearance in other Saw-related media generally remained the same as in the short film, his bowler hat was missing in all later incarnations.
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Billy the Puppet • Billy's Tricycle • Clue Symbols • Mannequins • Recorded Messages |
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