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"Mature Content Warning!" |
| “ | Throughout this ordeal, if we've learned anything, it's that human life is sacred. And we've learned that, every day, life should be cherished. Justice is the backbone to every peaceful society. And I believe that true justice has been served. | „ |
| ~ Hoffman's promotional speech. |
| “ | Out of all the men to cheat... you picked John Kramer? I mean... I call that - epic bad luck. | „ |
| ~ Mark Hoffman to Henry Kessler in the post credit scene of Saw X. |
Detective-Lieutenant Mark David Hoffman, also known as Jigsaw II, is the secondary antagonist of the Saw franchise.
He was one of Jigsaw I's secret apprentices. Like his mentor and his other apprentice, Hoffman designed death traps that, for survivors, give them reason to appreciate their lives. Unlike Amanda Young and possibly Logan Nelson, many of his traps give the victims the chance to escape, but unlike John, he was apathetic towards his victims and broke the Jigsaw code overtime.
He was portrayed by Costas Mandylor.
His Evil Ranking[]
What Makes Him Close to Being Pure Evil?[]
- He gunned down an unarmed crazy man and then lied about it to Internal Affairs to gain a promotion.
- He killed Seth Baxter (who murdered his sister and then only went to prison for five years) with an inescapable Jigsaw-like trap and watched as he was being killed, which offended John although the death was well-deserved.
- He helped John setup traps and kidnap victims from the first three films.
- He assisted John in finding all the participants of The Pederson Project and kidnapped Henry Kessler to take him to the bathroom, where John puts him on a Disemboweling Trap that likely claims his life due to Kessler not being seen or heard in subsequent films.
- He betrayed John and Amanda Young by spitefully blackmailing the latter, threatening to expose the truth about her being responsible for the former's wife's miscarriage unless she kills Lynn Denlon, thus resulting in all three of them plus Jeff dying. Also, he knew that Lynn and Jeff were married and also took the violent and vindictive character of the latter into account; therefore, Hoffman anticipated Amanda's death.
- He continued the games for his sadistic pleasure, putting the kidnapped victims from the fifth, sixth, and seventh films in their respective trials.
- He left Detective Daniel Rigg behind to bleed to death and sealed him in the factory after he failed his test, and then locked Special Agent Peter Strahm in the room alone with the corpses of John and the people from Saw III.
- He attacked Strahm and put him in an inescapable trap where two jugs of water poured in a glass box attached to his head, which would eventually drown him to death in an effort to kill him and for himself to make a "heroic story" to prevent Strahm from further investigating the Jigsaw murders.
- As soon as he learns that Strahm was still alive, he tries to manipulate the MPD into thinking that Strahm is an accomplice to the murders in order to prevent anyone from suspecting him.
- He brutally killed Strahm after tricking him into avoiding the Glass Coffin and allowing the room to close in on him, and he watches satisfyingly as Strahm is getting slowly crushed to death.
- When an armless victim, Simone, in a hospital tells him about what happened to her in her trap and explains to him that Jigsaw wanted her to learn, he remarked, "And did you?" in an insensitive manner just to provoke her.
- He listened to the audio recording of his victims screaming in their traps, with no emotion left behind afterwards.
- He framed Strahm as the new Jigsaw and then killed 2 FBI agents, which include Agent Dan Erickson, Agent Lindsey Perez, and a technician, after they decoded his voice on the tape and found out that he was the one behind the killings. After he kills them, he then plants the fingerprints from Strahm's severed hand across the room to frame him and then sets the room on fire to destroy the evidence.
- He had Bobby Dagen's wife Joyce burnt alive in a Brazen Bull Trap right in front of him, which is considered by many to be the most unjust death in the entire franchise, as Joyce did nothing bad or wrong to deserve to die and was only used to prove Bobby's lie wrong.
- He put people in exceptionally brutal traps in Saw 3D that he designed himself, such as Silence Circle, the Public Execution Trap, the Horsepower Trap etc.
- He killed everyone who knew about him, which includes two doctors in a morgue, a SWAT team, and an entire police squad, one of whom was his ex-partner, Detective Matt Gibson.
- He pursues Jill and ties her up in a chair with a rigged Reverse Bear Trap, ultimately killing her out of petty revenge for her betrayal.
- After he kills everyone and finishes the games, he goes to destroy all the evidence of his work to avoid getting caught by law enforcement.
- Although he had a tragic background (i.e., becoming antisocial and slipping into alcoholism after losing his sister who was his only family) and might've even been a vigilante at first, as the franchise goes on, it becomes clearer that he doesn't have any of John’s restraint/morals and that he just flat-out kills people indiscriminately for his own enjoyment, which he even admits personally to John himself. Furthermore, he has no qualms about killing people's loved ones right before their eyes in a horrific manner (i.e. burning Joyce in front of Bobby), thus negating the tragedy. His death at the hands of Dr. Lawrence Gordon, while horrifying, isn't played for sympathy whatsoever and was well-deserved considering the fact he broke the Jigsaw code.
What Prevents Him from Being Pure Evil?[]
- Regardless of his tragedy's invalidity, he still clearly loved his sister (since he's shown mourning and then later avenging her death by killing Seth Baxter). His sole redeeming quality is never contradicted in any way, no matter how vile he became.
Trivia[]
- While he is currently NPE, there's the possibility that this may change if he returns in the future installment of the Saw franchise, as the producers had admitted that the post-credit scene of Saw X is a set up for a future installment (specifically Saw XI) when asked about it.
- In Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan's original Saw IV screenplay written in November 2006, the screenplay described him as "pure evil" when Dr. Lawrence Gordon's lawyer, Brett, pleads with him to save him. It's unknown if Melton and Dunstan intended him to be Pure Evil or not, but it should be noted that his subverted tragic past and the loss of his sister Angelina Acomb weren't established until Saw V.
- He is, alongside Ivan Landsness, of the two Saw villains to be Near Pure Evil.
External Links[]
- Mark Hoffman on the Villains Wiki
- Mark Hoffman on the Horror Wiki
- Mark Hoffman on the Saw Wiki
- Mark Hoffman on the Wikipedia
[]
 Near Pure Evils
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Animated Films Live-Action Films See Also | ||
