The Odds of Surviving Saw

You might not want to play these games

Perhaps because Amanda Young seems to elude the Jigsaw Killer in every iteration of the "Saw" franchise, women have a better chance of surviving the horrific games played out by John Kramer or Billy the Puppet. Even though Billy is never called by his given name in any of the films, you certainly know his face. Over the course of seven installments and 77 deaths, two-thirds of female characters introduced in the movies were murdered. If that seems grim, consider 89% of male characters introduced suffered similar (or worse) fates by Jigsaw and his psychopathic series of games and traps.

Being Caucasian might help you survive the twisted puzzles set out by Jigsaw if you find yourself in such a precarious situation. While more than three out of every four white characters introduced still died, every single Hispanic, Asian-American, Pacific Islander, and Middle Eastern character in the movies ultimately became a victim of the games.

The details are in the deaths

Men and women didn't always have the same odds when it came to the way they died at the hands – or traps – of Jigsaw.

While more than a quarter of male victims died from blood loss, less than 23 percent of female fatalities were caused by the same cruel method. Don't let this trick you into thinking women are getting off easy when they play Jigsaw's twisted games, though. More than 1 in 10 female characters who died were impaled – a method Jigsaw seems to reserve just for the ladies. Women were also almost twice as likely as men to be dismembered, which probably isn't easy for anyone.

While men and women were almost equally likely to get shot over the course of the last seven "Saw" movies, only male characters suffered severe head trauma – resulting in the death of nearly 8% of Jigsaw's victims.

Playtime is over

"Saw" movies have steadily gotten deadlier – and more gruesome – over the years. While the first "Saw" movie only featured the deaths of six characters, no other version of the film (besides "Saw V" with six deaths) has had so few. "Saw 3D," which was released in 2010, currently holds the record with 26 total on-screen deaths, more than twice as many as the "Saw" film before it. Only time will tell if "Saw: Legacy" can best the expectations set forth by its predecessor.  

"Saw 3D" also had the most variations of ways a character could be tortured and killed by Jigsaw. While five characters (all SWAT team members) managed to die from poisoning, another five died from blood loss. Three characters in "Saw 3D" had the unfortunate displeasure of being dismembered – an all-time high for this type of death over the course of the franchise's history.  

If it makes you feel any better, severe head trauma, electrocution, decapitation (perhaps the most severe head trauma there is), and impalement were among the least common ways characters died in the "Saw" universe. On the other hand, more simplistic methods like gunshots and blood loss turned out to be the most common.

Methodology

We examined 77 deaths from the first six "Saw" movies and "Saw 3D." Some character deaths (Dylan Denton, Gideon Kramer, and Harold Abbott) happened as a part of the plot of the movie and were not a part of Jigsaw's games. Those deaths were not included in our calculations.

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