| “ | If you do not complete the circuit in time, words will not be able to describe your agony. | ” |
— Jigsaw explains the rules[src]
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The Backbreaker is a trap from the Saw franchise, appearing in Saw: The Video Game.
Design and Function[]
The Backbreaker was a mechanical chair, which was mounted onto a pedestal in a prone position. Originally, the chair was designed as a medical restraint for aggressive patients with psychotic disorders. It consisted of several movable segments, which could be moved in different directions. In detail, there were segments for the fixation of the legs, the back and the head of the victim as well as two restraints for the arms which were spread to both sides. Once the game began, the arm segments were slowly twisted backwards and thereby bended the arms until they broke. After that, the same would be done with the victim's back until the spine broke, resulting the victim's death. To survive, the test subject had to rely on the help of a second person. Within four minutes, this person had to reverse the electric motors of the trap by bypassing three circuit panels on the walls. (Saw: The Video Game)
History[]
David Tapp's Test[]
The persons tested in this trap were David Tapp, a detective obsessed with apprehending John Kramer, better known as the Jigsaw Killer, and Oswald McGillicutty, a sensational reporter, who investigated the case and thereby purposefully destroyed Tapp's reputation. When Oswald woke up in his trap at the abandoned Whitehurst Insane Asylum, he saw a hooded man working on the trap and angrily yelled at him. However, he stopped and started to panic when he realized that this man was in fact the Jigsaw Killer. Therefore, Oswald tried to persuade him to let him go as he had helped him to spread his message. Jigsaw however told him he couldn't free him and instead confronted him with his personal vendetta against Tapp. When he asked him for the reasons of it, Oswald admitted that he wanted revenge on Tapp for not giving him information about the Jigsaw Case.
| “ | Hello, Oswald. Your newspaper has been the primary source of information about my message; why I do what I do. But your motivations are selfish. You spread my message, but pervert it for your own personal glory. You twisted your words to implicate Detective Tapp, to make the public suspect him to be me. The device you are strapped to will twist until your body is broken. To stop the device, you must complete the electrical circuit panel. If you do not complete the circuit in time, words will not be able to describe your agony. | ” |
— Oswald McGillicutty's tape[src]
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When Tapp finally reached the hall where Oswald was trapped, a TV turned on in front of them. Jigsaw's mechanical ventriloquist puppet appeared on the screen and once more confronted Oswald with his sensationalism and his hate campaign against Tapp. Thereby, he also told him that the trap he was strapped to would bend his limbs and midsection backwards and kill him if Tapp didn't save him within four minutes. Eventually, Tapp received his instructions of how to do so.
Oswald in the trap
When the tape ended and the TV turned off again, the trap was slowly set in motion. Oswald frantically yelled at Tapp to hurry up while he tried to shut off the machine. In order to free Oswald, he had to reverse the electric motors of the trap by bypassing the three circuit panels. Eventually, he managed to accomplish his task in time, resulting in Oswald being released from the trap unharmed. After his salvation, he accused Tapp of having let Jigsaw escape. However, he ultimately admitted that he was wrong when he suspected Tapp. Tapp asked him what Jigsaw looked like, which Oswald couldn't answer. In an attempt to escape, both of them went on and continued their way together. (Saw: The Video Game)