The Jigsaw Killer character was introduced in the 2004 film Saw through the character Dr. Lawrence Gordon's recounting of his first killings. Jigsaw is described as a mysterious person who kidnaps people he sees as wasting their lives and attempts to "save" them. This is accomplished by administering various inhumane tests consisting of mechanical devices rigged to maim or kill the subjects or other victims if not completed within a certain time period. As opposed to other killers, Jigsaw does not actually intend to kill his subjects. The purpose of his traps is to see if the subject has the will to survive, and thus inflict enough psychological trauma for the subjects to appreciate their life and save themselves from their own demons. As his victims increase, the media dubs him The Jigsaw Killer, or simply Jigsaw, because of the jigsaw puzzle-shaped piece of flesh that he cuts from unsuccessful subjects.

Billy, a puppet, is an icon of the Jigsaw character. Jigsaw often used it for the purpose of delivering messages to his victims via a television screen, but at times it has also been physically present with the victims during their tests. He provided the (disguised) voice for Billy when it delivered its messages.

Early life
Mario was most likely born in Monteriggioni, Tuscany, and was the elder brother of Giovanni, who was born when Mario was two years old. Mario came from a bloodline of notable Assassins, and thus also became one, starting his training at a young age.
When he was six years old, Mario played an important role in the Battle of Anghiari, where he alerted the condottiero Micheletto Attendolo to dust clouds over the road, signaling a surprise advance on the Florentines by Milanese troops. The attack was stopped, and the Florentines won the battle.

In contrast to helping the Florentines, Mario spent most of his life defending Monteriggioni from their persistent attacks on the town.

Ruler of Monteriggioni
In 1454, after Mario's younger brother Giovanni decided to move to Florence to pursue a career in banking, and after their father died, Mario became the lone ruler of Monteriggioni. Mario remained at the Villa Auditore, and exchanged letters with Giovanni to keep in touch. In one of these letters, Mario defended his decision to stay in Monteriggioni by writing that he "preferred fighting like a man, to filling out balance sheets." It is insinuated that he rarely saw the family after that.
Under Mario's rule, Monteriggioni had a time of prosperity. Mario opened several shops and guilds in the city and greatly increased the city's defenses, in order to withstand Florentine attacks. In 1454, he discovered a Florentine informant, Luciano Pezzati, living in Monteriggioni; thus he faced him and his men, alongside his own mercenaries.

Mario then dueled Luciano, barely defeating him, and had him dragged back to the Villa Auditore. From Luciano, he discovered that Florence was sending the condottiero Federico da Montefeltro to lead an attack on Monteriggioni. Due to Mario's leadership, the city was successfully defended and the invasion attempt was a failure.

Eventually, Luciano Pezatti confessed the truth behind the siege, which was that the Florentines had attacked in search of a mysterious artifact in Monteriggioni. Mario, curious as to what this might be, gathered his architects and historians, eventually discovering that, years before, the city well had once been drained and excavated.


Together with a miner and some of his men, Mario entered the well. While at first they did not find anything, Mario saw that the miner's flame was flickering while near the back wall, indicating the presence of an opening. Together, they pushed against the wall and found a hidden corridor, filled with various deadly traps. Members of their group lost their lives to them, and Mario himself was caught by a swinging pendulum trap, which blinded him in the left eye, and left him with a scar across his face.
Finally, despite their injuries, the group finally found a wooden box within the well, from which a presence told Mario's men that their "pain was temporary" and to "ignore it." Mario's men were certain that the presence would heal their wounds, but Mario thought that, as the box had been hidden for so long, there had to be a reason why it was there, and that opening it would be unwise.

At this, Mario's men rebelled, and he was forced to strike them down. Mario was curious as to what the box might contain, but he promised himself not to open it. Instead, he carried it to the Villa Auditore, ignoring the artifact's offers for him to be healed. After storing it temporarily within the villa, he summoned his brother pick it up, dismissing it as "the Brotherhood's problem."

Family reunion
In 1476, Giovanni and two of his sons, Federico and Petruccio, were executed under the pretext of treason, by order of the Templars, the arch-enemies of the Assassins. After evacuating Florence to get to safety, Giovanni's remaining son Ezio escorted his mother Maria and sister Claudia out of the city and towards Monteriggioni.


Just as the three neared Monteriggioni, they were ambushed by Vieri de' Pazzi and his soldiers. In the middle of the fight between his nephew and the gang, Mario and his mercenaries arrived and saved them, before he insisted that they accompany him back to Monteriggioni. There, Mario told Ezio of his Assassin heritage, and that he needed to be trained so that he could properly fight and defeat the Templars, as well as protect his mother and sister.
Mario then started Ezio's training to become an Assassin, teaching him combat skills such as disarming and countering, as well as taunting his enemy. In 1478, Ezio announced his decision to take Maria and Claudia to Spain, against Mario's wishes. Due to his pride in his Assassin heritage, he stormed off, and left for San Gimignano before Ezio could rethink his decision.

Feeling guilty, Ezio followed Mario to San Gimignano to aid him in killing Vieri de' Pazzi. When Ezio successfully assassinated Vieri and began to abuse the body, Mario stepped in and urged him to have respect for the dead. Then, addressing Vieri's body, he delivered a short monologue and closed the corpse's eyes.



When they returned to Monteriggioni, Mario's men celebrated the victory, and Mario himself showed Ezio the Sanctuary, an alcove for the memory of legendary Assassins, which was hidden under the villa. He also explained the importance of the Codex of Altaïr, and talked about a few of the pages that he and Giovanni had collected and translated over the years, before placing the page from Vieri onto the Codex Wall.
After having observed Ezio as he placed feathers in the chest in Maria's bedroom, in an attempt to hearten his mother into speaking again, Mario intervened upon seeing Ezio deposit the fiftieth feather. He attempted to discourage Ezio from continuing something that he considered to be a "vain effort," and then departed after informing his nephew that he had left a new weapon at the city blacksmith for him to use.

Acquisition of the AppleEdit
In 1488, Mario and some of the other leading Assassins met in Venice, planning to acquire the "Apple" from the Grand Master of the Templar Order, Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia, knowing that it was to be delivered to him that day. When they found Rodrigo, they saw that they had been beaten to him by Ezio, who was locked in combat with Rodrigo and his men.
The other Assassins rushed in to aid him, and after they had defeated Rodrigo's guards and almost killed Rodrigo himself, the Templar leader fled for his life, leaving the Apple behind in the process. Speaking with his nephew, Mario revealed to Ezio that all those who assisted him were members of the Assassins, much to his surprise. That same night, the group met atop a tower in the city, where Ezio was inaugurated into the Assassin Order.



After securing the Piece of Eden, Mario studied it alongside Niccolò Machiavelli, Leonardo da Vinci and Ezio. When the Apple was activated, Mario and Niccolò were both affected by the artifact and collapsed, clutching their heads in discomfort. Ezio and Leonardo however, remained unfazed, though the two were slightly blinded by the bright flare of light that the Apple emitted.
At this, Mario recognized the Apple's potential for great power, and urged Ezio to protect it by taking it to the Rocca di Ravaldino in Forlì, as the citadel was protected by their ally Caterina Sforza. When they departed, Mario also invited Leonardo to visit the Villa Auditore in Monteriggioni.

Journey to Rome
In December 1499, Mario, Ezio and several other Assassins gathered in the Villa Auditore to find out the prophecy hidden in the Codex. After Ezio had rearranged the pages, the group discovered that the pages concealed a world map with locations of the Temples. Ezio concluded that the nearest vault was in the Vatican, and that Rodrigo Borgia had became Pope so that he could have easy access to the Vault and the Staff of Eden.


Ezio then left for Rome to assassinate Rodrigo and enter the Vault, while Mario and his fellow Assassins caused trouble around the city to distract the Papal army's attention. Ezio spared Rodrigo, but was able to use the combined Pieces of Eden to enter the Vault. After communicating with Minerva, one of Those Who Came Before, he left the room, returning to the antechamber.
Afterwards, Ezio met up with Mario in the Capella Sistina, where he commented to his nephew that the Staff was "Better in the hands of the earth, than in the hands of man." From there, after Ezio had climbed his way up from the handholds in the room, the two of them fought their way back through the Vatican until they reached Tiber River. Once they reached the river, Mario encouraged Ezio to drop the Apple into the waters, but Ezio could not do it. Reassuring his nephew, Mario took the Apple from Ezio and told him that he would keep it in his possession, until the time that he made his decision.

Siege of Monteriggioni and death
Returning to Monteriggioni on horseback, Ezio and Mario made it back to the town by the afternoon of New Year's Day 1500. As they neared the gates, Mario listened to Ezio as he told him about what had occured in the Vault, though Mario advised him that - as the foretold events were stated to happen in the future - they need not worry about them. Mario also told Ezio about the new cannons that he had had installed across the city battlements, after a cannonball startled his nephew when it crashed into the earth nearby.
As the two rode into town, they were cheered for by the townspeople for their victory in the Vatican. Mario returned to the villa, while Ezio began to enjoy the new abundance of time he had.

At dawn, on January 2, Claudia's birthday, Monteriggioni was besieged by the Borgia, under the command of Cesare Borgia. Mario quickly met Ezio, saying that he would keep the Apple safe with him and that Ezio had to stop the enemy's cannons, whilst he himself led a frontal assault on the Borgia.

However, Mario became wounded during the battle, and as he attempted to flee back into the city, he collapsed within the town's gates. He was soon followed by Cesare and his three lieutenants, and as he attempted to regain his feet, Cesare approached him and called out for Ezio's attention.
Holding the Apple in his hand, Cesare then shot Mario in the head as he lay beneath him, killing the Assassin as an "invitation" from Cesare's family to Ezio's, and as an incentive for Ezio to go to Rome. After Mario's death, the town was destroyed, the Villa Auditore was desecrated, and the Assassin Order was forced to relocate to Rome, under the acting leadership of Niccolò Machiavelli.