| “ | Match the wrong symbols and a metal spike will pierce your body. Match too many wrong symbols, and your suffering will end. | ” |
| — Jigsaw explains the rules[src]
| ||
The Impaler Trap is a trap from the Saw franchise, appearing in Saw: The Video Game.
Design and Function
The victim of this trap was strapped to a metal platform in a standing position. Behind the platform was a machine with several long, thin, pointy metal spikes. To survive, the test subject had to rely on the help of a second person. There were 16 monitors, each one with a different picture on screen. The second person had to play a matching game and had to choose, which two pictures fitted together until all eight pairs were found. For every mistake, one of the metal spikes rushed through a tiny hole in the platform and pierced the first victim's body. It was pulled back again if the second person found a correct pair of pictures. After five mistakes in a row, the final spike pierced the victim's head, killing them in the process. (Saw: The Video Game)
History
David Tapp's Test
Jeff in his trap
The persons tested in this trap were David Tapp, a detective obsessed with apprehending John Kramer, better known as the Jigsaw Killer, and Jeff Ridenhour, a man who had repeatedly tried to commit suicide and had therefore been abducted once already. When Jeff woke up in his trap at the abandoned Whitehurst Insane Asylum, he was greeted by Jigsaw and immediately started to panic. While talking to the killer, Jeff finally admitted that he wanted to live. Jigsaw however confronted him with the fact that he had tried to kill himself again even after he escaped him for the first time. Jeff tried to defend himself, stating that he did it because Tapp kept harrassing him after his escape in order to get information about the killer.
| “ | Hello, Jeff. Day after day you live alone, isolating yourself to avoid the stress of reality. You have tried to take your own life on multiple occasions because you cannot endure the mental pain of everyday life. Now, you will have to endure real pain. The game is simple: Detective Tapp must match all of the corresponding symbols and you will be released. Match the wrong symbols and a metal spike will pierce your body. Match too many wrong symbols, and your suffering will end. | ” |
| — Jeff Ridenhour's tape[src]
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When Tapp finally reached the hall where Jeff was trapped, a TV turned on in front of them. Jigsaw's mechanical ventriloquist puppet appeared on the screen and once more confronted Jeff with his isolation and his repeated attempts of suicide. Thereby, he also told him that Tapp was now the only one who could save him and gave the latter the instructions of how to do so. Finally, he also showed him all the symbols on the TV screens before they disappeared again.
Jeff is released from the trap
When the tape ended and the TV turned off again, Tapp tried to find the corresponding symbols just as Jigsaw had told him. Eventually, he managed to accomplish his task, resulting in Jeff being released from the trap. He fell to his knees and was only able to stand up under great pain. As he recognized Tapp, he was distraught to see him and despite the latter's attempts to calm him down, he angrily yelled at him. When Tapp assured him that they could beat Jigsaw together, Jeff merely insulted him and left Tapp, stating that he was now on his own. (Saw: The Video Game)
