Bobby the Puppet

Bobby the Puppet
Information
Appearances	Saw IV, V, VI, 3D
Purpose	A gift for the birth of Gideon Kramer
Status	Inanimate

“	I got a surprise for you.	”
	— John reveals Bobby to Jill

Bobby, the wooden ventriloquist puppet, was a recurring item throughout the Saw franchise. It was built by John Kramer as a gift for the birth of his and Jill Tuck's son, Gideon.

Appearance

Bobby was a wooden puppet resembling a male clown. Its face was pale white with a protruding brow and cheeks that had red spirals painted on them. His red lips formed a friendly smile, his eyes were black with red irises and his head was topped with black, messy hair. Additionally he wore a black tuxedo with a white shirt and gloves, a big red bow tie as well as red shoes and a red handkerchief in his breast pocket. It was later used as an inspiration for the design of Billy, a mechanical, more sinister-looking version of Bobby which was also much bigger and was used by John Kramer to communicate with his victims after he had become the serial killer known as Jigsaw.

History

Gideon Kramer

When Jill Tuck became pregnant by her husband, John Kramer, the latter immediately was as devoted to his unborn child as he was to his wife. In order to surprise her John built a small, wooden puppet as a present for the birth of their son, Gideon. When it was finished, he took her to his new workshop and proudly revealed it to her.

After Jill was injured during a robbery by one of her patients, Cecil Adams, and therefore lost her unborn child, John suffered from severe depression and became somehow emotionally attached to the puppet as it was one of the few memorabilia left from his child. Following the tragedy, John withdrew from other human beings, resulting in his divorce from Jill, and spent most of his time in his workshop. When Jill and their lawyer, Art Blank, who were worried about him eventually found him there, Art accidentally knocked the puppet down from a table. After bumping them, John picked it up from the floor and stroked its hair, remembering the loss of his son. (Saw IV)

The Jigsaw Investigation

Following Gideon's death, John suffered from severe depression, which worsened even more when his oncologist, Dr. Lawrence Gordon diagnosed him with an inoperable brain tumor and the insurance company denied the coverage of the treatment costs. Ultimately, John tried to commit suicide by driving his car over a cliff, but unexpectedly survived the crash despite being heavily injured. When he climbed out of the wreck, John realized that only when his death was imminent he finally began to actually appreciate his life. As he observed other people wasting their lives, he decided to spend the rest of his life on testing other peoples' will to survive, hoping to make them appreciate their lives just as he did. Therefore he soon became known as the serial killer Jigsaw. (Saw II)

Hoffman interrogates Jill

At one point he revealed his identity to the Metropolitan Police Department but escaped custody shortly afterwards. However, now that the police knew about his true identity, they started to observe and search the house of his ex-wife and also interrogated Jill. Upon searching her house, they also found the wooden puppet. Therefore Jill was interrogated by Detective Mark Hoffman, who was in fact an accomplice of John. During the interrogation he showed her photos of the puppet and asked her about it. Jill responded that it was merely a toy, concealing the true meaning it had for her and John. (Saw IV)

Trivia

• During the very first meeting of John Kramer and his eventual apprentice, Detective Mark Hoffman, in John's workshop in Saw V, Bobby can be seen in the background, sitting on a table.
• At the evidence room where Hoffman kills Jill in Saw 3D, a photo of Bobby can be seen on a board behind Hoffman when he activates the Reverse Bear Trap.