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It's in our nature to save them. It's what we do.
— Rigg talks about his work.[src]

Officer Daniel Rigg is a fictional character from the Saw franchise. He serves as the main protagonist of Saw IV and a supporting protagonist in Saw II and Saw III.

He was portrayed by Lyriq Bent.

Biography[]

Early Career[]

Daniel Rigg was an officer who worked for the Metropolitan Police Department. However, his strong sense of justice occasionally caused him to act aggressively when he feared that a criminal might escape their punishment. At some point in his career, Rigg got involved in a case of child abuse. He and his colleague, Detective Mark Hoffman, were called to an elementary school due to a presumed issue of domestic violence against one of the students, Jane. While Hoffman interrogated Jane's parents, Morgan and Rex, in the principal's office, Rigg talked to the girl and asked her about the bruises on her hand and neck. Although he tried to convince her to tell him the truth, Jane chose to remain silent.

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Rigg attacks Rex

Moments later, Hoffman and Morgan left the office, and Jane asked Rigg if she could go home. Rigg told Hoffman not to trust Rex as it was obvious to him that the latter was lying to them. Furthermore, he accused Morgan of covering up his violent outbursts. However, Hoffman had no evidence that would allow them to arrest the suspect. Therefore, he told Jane to go back to her class. Rex, feeling safe and confident, clapped Rigg on the shoulder and sarcastically commented that "sometimes these kids just get out of control." To his surprise, Rigg suddenly yelled at him and struck him in the face, breaking his nose and cheekbone in the process. As he was about to attack him again, Hoffman pulled him back and angrily told him to leave immediately. (Saw IV)

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Rigg in Hoffman's office

Following the incident, Rex tried to sue Rigg for the assault and was aided by his lawyer, Art Blank. Furthermore, the Internal Affairs Division investigated the case. Due to the severe accusations, Art Blank went to the police station to talk to Rigg and Hoffman. While speaking with the latter in his office, the lawyer tried to convince Hoffman to suspend his colleague. To protect him, Hoffman made an incorrect statutory declaration and falsely claimed to have witnessed that Rigg was attacked by Rex first. Knowing that Hoffman was lying, Art warned them that this behavior would redound upon them someday. Due to Hoffman's false testimony, the charge was dismissed, and Rigg's career wasn't further endangered. As he was allowed to stay in employment, Rigg eventually became a member of the department's SWAT unit. Due to his services, he was ultimately promoted to the rank of Sergeant and became the commander of his own SWAT team. (Saw II, Saw IV)

Raid on Wilson Steel[]

Some day, Rigg got involved in the investigation of a serial killer case. When Detective Eric Matthews received a message from a wanted serial killer known as Jigsaw, he was able to identify the latter's hideout at the Wilson Steel Plant. The next day, Eric went to the Wilson Steel Plant, accompanied by Detective Allison Kerry and Rigg's SWAT team. While the detectives stayed outside, Rigg entered the building with three of his men.

While making their way through a storage area, the officers reached a staircase surrounded by a chain-link cage. As the door was secured by a chain, Officer Pete Baker cut it with a bolt clipper. Upon opening the door, the lights in the cage suddenly turned on. Pete entered the staircase, followed by his two teammates while Rigg backed them up. They were about to go up the stairs but eventually stopped when they heard a squealing sound. Moments later, a mechanical ventriloquist puppet appeared at the head of the stairs, sitting on a tricycle and mockingly laughing at them. At the same time, the door slammed shut behind them. Pete carefully approached the doll when a rigged step suddenly sprang forward and broke his shins, causing the other officers to back away. However, as they accidentally touched the cage, both of them received a lethal electric shock. Upon witnessing his colleagues' death, Rigg called for reinforcements while the puppet slowly rode back on its tricycle. Afterward, the electricity was turned off, enabling Rigg to open the door. When Eric, Kerry, and the remaining SWAT members stormed the plant, they finally made their way to the upper floor, where the Jigsaw Killer, who was, in fact, a civil engineer named John Kramer, sat at a table and waited for them. (Saw II)

Eric Matthews' Test[]

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Eric, Kerry, and Rigg confront Jigsaw

Initially, Rigg ordered his men to arrest him. However, John spoke to Eric and told him that he should stay where he was until Eric had dealt with his "problem." Then, he told him to take a look in the next room. Eric carefully approached the door to the adjacent area, along with Kerry and Rigg. After securing the room, they discovered several surveillance monitors hidden under a white cloth. Upon looking at the monitors, they saw what appeared to be another one of Jigsaw's games. Eight people were trapped in a room, one of whom Eric recognized as his son, Daniel. When he saw the footage, Eric angrily attacked John. However, he was held back by Rigg. John explained the rules of his game to him. To save his son, Eric had to sit down and talk to John for two hours while his colleagues left the area. After that time, Daniel would be released. Otherwise, he and the other prisoners would succumb to deadly nerve gas.

Eric went back to the surveillance area and immediately tried to call his son, hoping that Jigsaw was only bluffing. However, when Daniel didn't answer the call, he realized that John was telling the truth. Therefore, Kerry tried to calm Eric down. However, this attempt remained unsuccessful as Eric got more and more nervous, especially when the first victim, Gus Colyard, was killed by a booby trap a few minutes after the game began. On Rigg's advice, Kerry called for a tech team to trace back the video broadcast. Meanwhile, Eric talked with John, who repeated his demand. When he returned and informed his colleagues about the ultimatum, Kerry engaged in an argument with Rigg, who suggested to grill John about the victims' whereabouts by using violence. She told him this wouldn't work, stating that John fit a specific psychological profile. Eventually, she convinced Eric to accept John's challenge and play by his rules while she kept an eye on the game's progress. As he took a seat at John's table, Eric placed a walkie-talkie beneath his chair, so his colleagues could listen to their conversation.

John introduced himself to Eric and engaged in discussion with the detective. When Eric referred to his Jigsaw persona, John stated that this nickname had been given to him by the press and police, claiming that he never encouraged them to do so. He explained that the jigsaw pieces he cut from his dead victims' bodies were meant to symbolize their lacking survival instinct, which, according to John, was the most essential human element of all. As they talked to each other, Eric tried to direct the conversation towards his son. However, when John demanded that Eric listened to him and reminded him not to forget the rules, Eric insulted him and made it clear that he deemed talking to him a waste of time. Seeing how uncomfortable he felt, John tried to provoke him and spoke about Eric's occasionally violent temper, thereby alluding to an incident five years earlier when Eric brutally battered a suspect and broke the latter's jaw with a flashlight. When talking about Eric's status as a fearless officer, John wanted to know whether he felt safer now that he only sat behind a desk instead of being on patrol. Afterward, he asked him to get him a glass of water, which Eric reluctantly did.

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Rigg tries to convince Kerry to let him interrogate Jigsaw

When the second victim in the house, Obi Tate, died in another trap, Rigg repeated his suggestion to make John tell them about the location by violation as they were wasting time. Kerry, however, still insisted on keeping the situation calm as long as possible. As the game went on, Eric became more and more distressed. Upon his return to John, the latter compared his work to Charles Darwin's theory of the survival of the fittest, stating that most people didn't have what it took to survive. John asked Eric why he was so desperate to see Daniel again and wanted to know whether he appreciated his son's life. When confronted with the last thing he said to his son, Eric claimed that he always loved Daniel despite their strained relationship. As Eric was about to lose his temper again, John explained the reasons for his games to him and revealed that he suffered from incurable cancer. After receiving his diagnosis, he had ultimately tried to end his life by driving his car off a cliff. Contrary to his expectations, he survived the crash. At this moment, John decided that he wanted to live. Severely injured, he crawled out of the wreck and pulled a jagged piece of metal out of his body. Thereby, he realized that he had only learned to cherish his life when his death had been imminent. Because of this, he decided to spend the remaining time of his life on testing other people's will to live in order to convince them to value their lives and the lives of those around them. Unwilling to listen to him any longer, Eric stood up and went to his colleagues.

As they witnessed another game playing out on the monitors, Eric angrily asked where the tech team was. When Kerry answered that they should arrive any second, Rigg angrily told her that they didn't have much time left and had to come up with a new plan if they wanted to save the victims. Upon seeing John's blueprints, notes, and drawings on the wall, Kerry suggested provoking him by destroying them. However, as Eric did so, John was barely impressed by his fit of rage and death threats. While watching him calmly, he responded that Eric wouldn't be able to convict him if he destroyed all the evidence in his hideout. Eric stopped when the tech team finally arrived to trace the video broadcast to its source. When he decided to end his conversation with John, the latter told him to look in the drawer of one of his desks. Upon doing so, he and Kerry found the files of the prisoners in the house - Gus Colyard, Obi Tate, Jonas Singer, Laura Hunter, Addison Corday, Xavier Chavez, and Amanda Young, the first known survivor of Jigsaw's games. Eric had wrongfully arrested all those people for crimes they didn't commit by faking the evidence in several cases. John mocked him and told him that Daniel would be in danger if his fellow prisoners learned about their connection.

Shortly afterward, Eric saw how Daniel and Amanda were pursued by one of the other prisoners, Xavier Chavez, and therefore ultimately lost his composure. To force John to reveal his son's whereabouts, he violently battered him, broke one of his fingers, and threatened him with his gun. Although Kerry tried to stop him, she was held back by Rigg. Eventually, John ended Eric's test with the words "Game Over" and promised to take him to the house. However, he demanded to go there with Eric alone. Eric agreed, and they left the building in a hidden elevator. As they escaped, Kerry sent the SWAT team after them while she stayed with SWAT Officer Joe and the tech team, which traced the video feed to an address at 237 North Hyde Crescent shortly afterward.

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Rigg realizes that Jigsaw deceived them

Upon their arrival, Rigg's team broke through the front door and secured the lower level. However, they couldn't find Eric or any of the victims. Afterward, they made their way up the stairs. In one of the rooms on the upper floor, Rigg and his men discovered another set of surveillance monitors underneath a red cloak, showing the game they had already witnessed at the Wilson Steel Plant. Next to the monitors was a DVD player. When Rigg pressed the pause button, they realized the game had taken place in a different house and was already over long before they even arrested Jigsaw. Upon learning that the video feed was merely a recording, Kerry told the team to come back. As the timer eventually went off, a safe in John's hideout suddenly opened and revealed Daniel Matthews, who had been locked up in the safe all the time. (Saw II)

Obsession[]

When Eric didn't return, his colleagues eventually concluded that he had become a victim of Jigsaw as well. Shortly after the game, Kerry found out that Amanda Young was, in fact, Jigsaw's accomplice and had merely pretended to have been tested again. Desperate to find Eric, Rigg developed a downright obsession with protecting and saving everyone around them. As he spent most of his time at work and was eventually promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, Rigg began to neglect his wife, Tracy. (Saw II, Saw IV)

Troy's Death[]

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Rigg and Kerry at the crime scene

Six months later, Rigg and his team were called to the elementary school, where Rigg had attacked Rex years earlier. Following an emergency call about an explosion, they raided the building. Upon examining the location, the officers discovered that one of the classrooms' doors had been welded shut. They eventually cut it open and stormed into the room. As they secured the scene, they found the torn up remains of Troy, a drug addict who had been killed by a self-made nail bomb during one of Jigsaw's games. Therefore, Rigg immediately ordered one of his men to call Kerry. When Kerry arrived, she immediately asked if the victim was Eric, but Detective Mark Hoffman, who investigated the crime scene, told her it wasn't him. He also informed her that Troy had been held in place by eleven chains piercing his body and was eventually killed by the bomb. Thinking that Troy's death might have something to do with Eric, Kerry asked if she could join the investigation. Seeing how distressed she was, Rigg tried to calm her down and told her that Eric's disappearance wasn't her fault. Furthermore, he reminded her that Eric was no homicide case but a missing person case at this point and encouraged her to keep a clear head so they could finally stop Jigsaw and end his games for good. However, due to Jigsaw's bad physical condition, Rigg wondered how the latter had set up Troy's game in the first place. Upon examining the scene, Kerry got suspicious when she learned that the SWAT team had to cut the door open as it had been welded shut, giving Troy no chance to escape even if he would've passed his test. This detail led her to the conclusion that someone else was responsible for the game. Seconds later, a member of the forensic team told her that the videotape containing the instructions for Troy's game was still intact, despite the explosion. (Saw III)

Allison Kerry's Death[]

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Pete and Rigg send in the robot

Four days later, Detective Hoffman, accompanied by a SWAT team led by Rigg and Officer Lamanna, were called to the location. As they entered the area, their path was blocked by a chain-link door. Upon spotting a device connected to the door, Hoffman told the SWAT to send in a tactical robot before entering. Rigg ordered Pete Baker to cut a hole in the door and send the robot in. The robot slowly made its way to the lower floor and soon reached a corpse hanging from the ceiling. When the robot's camera eventually captured her face, Rigg immediately recognized his colleague, Allison Kerry, who had been killed by another one of Jigsaw's gruesome traps. Horrified by the discovery, he broke through the door and ran to her, ignoring Hoffman's order to stand back. However, as he approached Kerry, Rigg realized that his hopes to save her were in vain and fell on his knees. Seconds later, the remaining SWAT officers entered the area and called for the forensics. (Saw III, Saw IV)

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Rigg watches the forensic team

Shortly afterward, the crime scene was investigated by a forensic team joined by Detective Fisk. Thoroughly depressed, Rigg sat down and observed their work. He asked his partner, Lamanna, to cut down Kerry's mutilated corpse. Lamanna replied that he couldn't do this, but Rigg repeated his plea as he wanted to bestow at least some respect to her. He then left Lamanna alone when Hoffman approached him. Initially angry at him, Hoffman rebuked him for breaching through an unsecured door but calmed down when Rigg told him that he thought he could have saved Kerry. Depressed by Kerry's death, they talked about their work and how they could still go on. Hoffman then pointed at a message written on the wall, saying, "Cherish your life." Rigg asked him how they could if this was their life. Hoffman responded that they had chosen this life and told Rigg to go home.

However, instead of doing so, Rigg returned to the police station and reviewed an old video recording. The tape contained the interrogation of Jill Tuck, John Kramer's ex-wife. When Hoffman arrived at the station shortly afterward, he entered the room along with the special agents Peter Strahm and Lindsey Perez. Rigg tried to convince him to let him continue his search for Eric and told him that he suspected Jill Tuck of holding back crucial information about the case. To his dismay, Hoffman voiced his doubts that Eric was still alive, considering that Kerry had been found dead after having been missing for four days only. Once again, he ordered Rigg to take some time off and go home, telling him that he'd call him later that day. Albeit Rigg initially refused to obey, he ultimately gave in and left the office. (Saw IV)

Family Problems[]

Rigg and Tracy

Tracy leaves Rigg

When he arrived at home and entered his apartment at 23 Park Place, Rigg was surprised to see his wife's packed bags in the hallway. He found a letter from her lying on a shelf but realized that Tracy was still at home and asked her what she had written. Tracy told him that she wanted to visit her mother, who needed her help for some days. When she asked him to come with her, Rigg responded that he couldn't do so. Tracy, who had already become aware of his obsession long ago, told him that the only thing he couldn't do was save everyone. After that, she kissed him and took her bag. Rigg asked her to stay, but Tracy eventually left. Utterly depressed, Rigg went to bed and unsuccessfully tried to get some sleep. However, during the night, the light in the hallway was turning on and off. Initially thinking that Tracy had returned to give him another chance, he called for her but realized that something was wrong when he received no response. However, he spotted someone scurrying through the hallway. Rigg carefully went in the direction where he had seen the mysterious figure but was eventually attacked and subdued by the invader. The attacker was, in fact, Art Blank, the lawyer who previously attempted to get Rigg suspended from the police force after the violent incident at the elementary school. After sedating him, Art took his unconscious body to the bathroom and placed him in the tub. (Saw IV)

Trial[]

Rigg's Introduction

Rigg is introduced to his game

Shortly afterward, Rigg woke up again and scrambled from the bathtub. He was dazed and disoriented at first but eventually noticed a red question mark painted on the door. Upon trying to open it, Rigg realized that it was stuck. Therefore, he used a wardrobe hook to prize it open. However, when this attempt was successful, and Rigg opened the door, he caused a metal pin to be pulled out of a device connected to a TV in his bedroom, which subsequently turned on. Jigsaw's ventriloquist puppet appeared on-screen and introduced Rigg to one of his games. Rigg immediately tried to call for help but quickly realized that the invader had destroyed the phone and wrote the words "No phone, only you can save them" next to it. Therefore, Rigg put on his clothes and grabbed his weapon. Meanwhile, the doll confronted him with his obsession with saving everyone around him. While it explained the rules to him, the video switched to a live broadcast of Mark Hoffman and Eric Matthews, who was still alive and had been imprisoned for the past six months. Eric had to stand on a large ice block placed at one end of a big seesaw-like scale and was held in place by a chain noose hanging from the ceiling. Meanwhile, Hoffman was strapped to an electric chair at the other end of the scale. If Eric stepped or fell from the ice block, the runoff water would flow to Hoffman's side and cause him to be fatally electrocuted. The puppet told Rigg that Eric had 90 minutes to save himself and that Hoffman's fate was linked to his survival. (Saw IV)

First Test[]

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Rigg finds Brenda in his living room

When the video ended, Rigg left the bedroom. As he opened the door, another metal pin was pulled out of a 90-minute-timer, setting it off in the process. While Rigg carefully made his way through the adjacent hallway, he spotted multiple photos hanging from the ceiling, showing the other people involved in his game. When he eventually reached and entered the living room, Rigg saw a woman named Brenda, who sat on a mechanical chair in the middle of the room, while her face was covered with a pig mask. As he approached her, several spotlights turned on around them and illuminated the wall, which was wallpapered with countless additional photos. The words "See What I See" were written above them in red letters. While holding her at gunpoint, Rigg told the woman to take off the mask. However, when she started begging for help, he realized that she was chained to the chair. Moments later, another TV turned on in front of them. Once again, Rigg was greeted by the puppet that introduced him to his first test. It informed Rigg that Brenda was in desperate need of help but told him to leave and abandon her as it wasn't his job to save her. Furthermore, the doll warned him that Brenda was a criminal, whom he deemed undeserving of her life.

After watching the tape, Brenda immediately panicked and asked Rigg if he was a cop, which he affirmed. As he refused to follow Jigsaw's rules and leave her behind, Rigg removed the mask from her face. Unbeknownst to him, it was connected to a metal pin, which was subsequently pulled out of the chair's mechanism. When the trap was activated, Brenda's head was slowly pulled back as her hair was tied to a rotating metal axis. Brenda desperately told Rigg that the combination to the lock securing her chains was written in the gears. Rigg quickly searched his apartment for something to cut her hair. However, when he opened a drawer in his kitchen, he discovered that the invader had removed all the knives and left only a note behind, telling Rigg that "Time is wasting." Therefore, Rigg returned to the living room, where Brenda desperately yelled at him to come back, and repeatedly shot the chair's exposed gear system. Although the bullets briefly jammed the mechanism, the trap continued to work after a few seconds. As it started to rip Brenda's scalp off, the latter screamed in agony while Rigg examined the gears to find the combination. Eventually, he spotted the correct numbers, 647, and finally freed Brenda from the chair.

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Rigg learns the truth about Brenda

Due to her severe injuries, Rigg told her to stay where she was and not touch anything. Afterward, he ran back to the kitchen to get a towel. However, when he returned, Brenda suddenly attacked him with a knife she had found in a shelf underneath the TV. Rigg attempted to calm her down, reminding her that he had saved her life. Nonetheless, Brenda proceeded to attack him. Therefore, Rigg grabbed her, pulled her scalp back, and threw her into a mirror on the wall. While she lay on the ground before him, bleeding to death, he spotted a tape recorder chained to her hand. Upon playing the tape, he learned that Brenda had been tested as well. Assuming that Rigg would ignore his instructions and try to rescue her, Jigsaw had told Brenda that a cop would save her. However, he also warned her that Rigg would use the photos scattered in his apartment to arrest Brenda for her illegal profession as a pimp. To prevent him from doing so, she had to kill him with the knife that was taped underneath the TV. After listening to the recording, Rigg went back into the hallway and found a box containing two keys, one of which was for Room 261 of the Alexander Motel. Furthermore, it contained a note from Jigsaw, saying, "One saves a life... One takes it away." Knowing his next destination, Rigg left his apartment and set out for the motel. (Saw IV)

Second Test[]

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Rigg is introduced to his second test

Shortly afterward, Rigg arrived at the run-down motel. Upon entering the building, he was yelled at by a drunk vagrant, who had been sleeping in the doorway, whereas the proprietor, an overweight man named Ivan Landsness, tried to be friendly and asked if he could help Rigg. However, the latter ignored both of them and went up the stairs to Room 261. Armed with his gun, he hesitantly opened the door and went in. As he entered the room, he discovered a large box on the bed. Rigg carefully approached it and noticed a photo of Tracy lying on top of it. The words "She needed you" was written on its backside. Due to several long, black strands of hair sticking out of the box, Rigg initially feared that Tracy's severed head might be inside and therefore hesitated to open it. However, when he ultimately brought himself to lif the lid, he was relieved as the hair belonged to one of Jigsaw's pig masks. Aside from it, the box contained a mugshot of the motel proprietor, whom Rigg had briefly met downstairs. Furthermore, Rigg found an audiotape with the instructions for his next test. It informed him that Ivan was in desperate need of help and had to play one of Jigsaw's games. Therefore, Rigg had to take him to the next room behind a door with the words "Feel What I Feel" written on it. In doing so, Rigg was advised to use the pig mask to hide his identity.

When the tape ended, Rigg decided to play Jigsaw's game but chose to use the mask differently. While Ivan was busy getting rid of the vagrant, Rigg attracted the attention of Ivan's dog, Chance, and lured her upstairs to the bedrooms. After dealing with the vagrant, Ivan became aware of Chance's disappearance and followed her upstairs. Upon doing so, he spotted the pig mask lying on the floor right before the door to Room 261. Ivan carefully approached and picked it up. At this moment, Rigg stepped out and aimed his gun at Ivan, forcing him into the room. Frightened and distressed, Ivan asked Rigg why he did this to him. When Rigg showed him the mugshot from the box, the proprietor admitted to having made a mistake years ago and claimed to have paid for it. As he desperately begged Rigg to let him go, the latter handed him the key to the next room and told him to open it. While Rigg held him at gunpoint, Ivan unlocked the door. However, after taking a brief look into the adjacent room, Ivan tried to flee. Rigg prevented him from doing so and pushed him through the door.

Upon entering, he discovered numerous photos of brutally violated women hanging from the ceiling and the walls. Furthermore, the bed in the middle of the room had been turned into a vicious trap. It was surrounded by four large metal posts, one at each corner, with metallic chains and shackles attached to each of them. On the upper end of the bed was a vise equipped with a timer. Attached to either side of the contraption were two upright standing miniature scythes. When he examined the scene, he saw a live broadcast of Eric and Hoffman on a TV. Meanwhile, Ivan tried to flee through the next door and desperately screamed for help but was ruggedly pulled back by Rigg. When the latter asked him what he knew about Eric Matthews, Ivan stated that he didn't know him at all. Moments later, Rigg found a piece of paper with his name and another tape recorder standing on a small table. The audiotape informed him that Ivan was a brutal criminal, thereby confirming Rigg's assumption that the women on the photos were Ivan's victims. Jigsaw told him that Ivan had to play a game. However, it couldn't begin without Rigg, who was tasked with giving Ivan the tools to complete his test.

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Rigg forces Ivan to strap himself

When the tape ended, the live broadcast of Eric and Hoffman switched to a video of a blindfolded woman strapped to a bed. As he watched the video and saw how Ivan raped her, Rigg angrily forced him to lie down on the bed and shackle himself to the metal posts. Ivan initially refused but ultimately gave in when Rigg threatened him with his gun. Although he desperately begged him for mercy, Rigg told him to go on and eventually put Ivan's head in the vise. Afterward, he found another note, which told him to hand Ivan the tools to save his life. He picked up two triggers from the table and gave them to the rapist, who started to cry. The last thing left on the table was another audiotape for Ivan. As Rigg grabbed the recorder, a drawer opened and revealed a box. It contained another written message for Rigg, which told him to "become the teacher and save a life" and "go back to where it all began." After picking up everything he needed, Rigg started the tape and threw it onto Ivan's stomach. The recording confronted Ivan with his crimes and the fact that he kept the photos of his victims. To save himself from the trap, he had to press the triggers given to him within 60 seconds. Each of them would activate one of the scythes next to his head, which would subsequently gouge his eyes out. If he refused to do so, the metal posts he was shackled to would fall back one by one when the timer expired, thereby ripping off his limbs.

While Ivan received his instructions and struggled to activate the triggers, Rigg left the room and listened to the game from next door. Although Ivan brought himself to sacrifice one of his eyes, he couldn't press the second button in time and was subsequently torn apart. Meanwhile, Rigg thought about Jigsaw's latest clue and ultimately realized that he had to go back to the elementary school where he had clashed with Rex, the abusive father, years earlier. Therefore, Rigg left the motel and set out for his next destination. (Saw IV)

Third Test[]

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Rigg enters the classroom

Shortly afterward, he reached and entered the school building. While walking through the hallways, Rigg came across the room where he and his men had discovered Troy's corpse four days earlier. Eventually, he spotted a red question mark painted on another classroom's door. Upon entering, he read the words "Save As I Save" on the blackboard. As he went further, he found the lifeless bodies of Rex and his wife, Morgan. They had been strapped back to back to a metal pole while several spikes had impaled their bodies. Rigg calmly approached them and was scared witless when Morgan, whom he initially believed to be dead, suddenly regained consciousness. When she claimed to have won her game, Rigg asked her what she had done. He learned that the couple had been abducted due to Rex's frequent acts of violence and woke up in the classroom, where Morgan received her instructions from an audiotape. Jigsaw had confronted her with her husband's brutality and gave Morgan the opportunity to save her life by sacrificing his. Morgan had survived by pulling out the skewers and merely received non-lethal flesh wounds in the process. However, Rex had died of blood loss as the spikes had impaled his major blood vessels. Rigg found another tape recorder on a table and learned about the next lesson Jigsaw wanted to teach him. The audiotape informed him that he had to wait for Morgan to pass her test before playing his role in her salvation. Once he managed to do so, the next clue was waiting for him "just off the map."

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Rigg finds the next clue

When the tape ended, he asked Morgan if she knew who had put her in this situation, which she denied. Afterward, he helped her by pulling out the final spike from her shoulder. Despite the pain she had to endure, Morgan thanked him for saving her. Moments later, Rigg realized that the map mentioned by Jigsaw was, in fact, a chart of a human body, which had been positioned in front of Morgan. Behind it, he found another photo of Tracy with the words "Go Home" written on its backside. Afraid that she might be in danger, Rigg asked Morgan about Tracy's whereabouts. However, Morgan couldn't give him any useful information as the blood loss and the shock took a toll on her. As she was freezing and shivering, Rigg covered her body with his jacket and handed her the second key he had found in his apartment earlier, telling her that she had to save herself. Morgan immediately panicked and begged him not to leave her. However, Rigg ignored her and left the room. On his way out, he set off the fire alarm to make sure that Morgan was found quickly. (Saw IV)

Final Test[]

Upon looking at the photo of his wife, Rigg had noticed the oddly shaped "G" in "Go Home" and recognized it from the logo of the Gideon Meatpacking Plant, which he had seen before in a newspaper article about John Kramer. Shortly afterward, Rigg reached the plant and entered it through the delivery entrance. As he went in, he found a box containing a message, which told him to remember who he was saving. Furthermore, it warned him to be patient as time was on his side. Rigg continued his way and passed a storage area, where he found another box, which was empty. Unbeknownst to him, it had formerly contained a clue used for another game that took place at the meatpacking plant at the same time. Upon going further, he entered another hallway with the messages "See As I See," "Feel What I Feel," "Save As I Save," and "Judge As I Judge" written all over the walls. Additionally, he found Eric's and Hoffman's ID cards lying on a barrel, along with another written message, saying, "Have you learned HOW to truly save a life?" (Saw III, Saw IV)

Rigg continued his way through the plant and reached the room where his friends were trapped. Eric yelled at him not to open the door. However, Rigg ignored his warning and burst through the door with only one second left on the clock. Upon doing so, he was shot in the chest by Eric in a final attempt to keep him from entering. When he opened the door, Art Blank, who was trapped there as well, approached him and was, in return, shot in the chest by Rigg, causing him to collapse. Moments later, Eric's head was smashed by two massive ice blocks swinging down from the ceiling. Rigg subsequently fell to the floor, screaming in grief and agony upon watching his friend's demise. (Saw IV)

Death[]

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Rigg grabs his final tape

He angrily yelled at Art as he believed him to be Jigsaw's accomplice. Art tried to explain that he was tested by Jigsaw and reached for his bag, causing Rigg to shoot him in the head. However, it turned out that Art was merely grabbing a tape recorder. Upon listening to the recording, Rigg realized that his test wasn't to save Eric but let Eric save himself. Moments later, Hoffman freed himself from the chair, and calmly approached Rigg. When he saw him, Rigg finally realized that Hoffman was Jigsaw's accomplice. However, due to his gunshot wound, he collapsed as Hoffman left the room. The latter turned around one last time and ended Rigg's game with the words "Game Over" before he disappeared and left Rigg to die. Shortly afterward, Rigg succumbed to his injury. (Saw IV)

Post-Mortem[]

Later that night, the Metropolitan Police Department found and raided the plant. As they secured and searched the entire building, they discovered the many corpses of Jigsaw's victims, including Rigg. All of them were sent to the morgue, where Dr. Adam Heffner performed the autopsies on their bodies. (Saw V, Saw VI)

After John Kramer's and Amanda Young's deaths at the hands of Jeff Denlon, another one of their victims, Rigg and his deceased colleagues - Eric Matthews, Allison Kerry, David Tapp, and Steven Sing - were given a memorial. A picture of him stood next to those of his colleagues. On this occasion, Detective Hoffman and the Chief of Police each delivered a speech to honor them and their efforts. (Saw III, Saw V)

Personality[]

Daniel Rigg had a temperamental and focused personality. Combined with his strong sense of justice, these traits occasionally caused him to act aggressively when he feared that a criminal might escape their punishment. Sometimes, Rigg even turned violent in such situations, which brought him into conflict with the Internal Affairs Department at least once.

In contrast to his occasionally aggressive behavior towards suspects, Rigg was empathetic and compassionate when talking to the victims of crimes, as seen when he interrogated Jane at the elementary school. He showed the same level of compassion when interacting with Allison Kerry after Eric Matthews' disappearance. Although they initially didn't get along with each other due to their differing opinions on how to deal with Jigsaw, Eric's abduction bound them together throughout the following months. Therefore, Rigg tried to comfort her and help her get over her feelings of guilt, as she deemed herself responsible for what happened to Eric. Due to their relationship, Rigg was visibly saddened when he learned about Kerry's death.

On several occasions throughout his career, Rigg proved his loyalty to his colleagues and the Metropolitan Police Department. To protect his friends and partners, he went to great lengths and was even willing to risk his own life in the process. Due to these personality traits, Rigg was a well-respected member of the department. Furthermore, he was dedicated to his work and was repeatedly promoted for his efforts. His status as a SWAT commander showed that Rigg had tactical experience when it came to dealing with difficult and dangerous situations.

Although Rigg was a very self-confident individual, he became more introverted and self-reflective after Eric's disappearance. Around this time, he became obsessed with his urge to save and protect everyone around them. This desire became stronger over time and ultimately caused him to ignore everything else for the sake of his work. Eventually, his obsession put a strain on his marriage with Tracy as he neglected her as well, even though he still loved her.

Trivia[]

  • In the original script for Saw IV, Rigg didn't open the door to the room where Eric was trapped as he finally understood the rules of his game. Therefore, Eric was initially supposed to survive. Rigg, however, was shot by Peter Strahm during an encounter at the meatpacking plant.
  • Rigg shares his first name with Daniel Matthews.
  • Rigg's pistol is a Beretta 92FS.

Appearances and References[]

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