Saw | Jigsaw | Saw X
- Even if he is sarcastic and gruff, you can't help but feel sorry for Ryan once his fate is sealed. After being forced to cut off his leg, he and Anna find themselves in the final test, shackled to opposite walls as John explains that they've been doing things backwards. He offers them their key to freedom in the form of a shotgun and a shell and says the choice is up to them. Anna takes it to mean that her only way out is to kill Ryan. As he begs her not to shoot, he remembers John's words and tries to warn her, but the shotgun backfires, killing her instantly. Then, in the cartridge, Ryan finds a broken pair of keys, realizes what John meant, and breaks down crying.Ryan: We could've been free, Anna...
- For everyone else in the game, their reason for being there was because of a crime they committed out of greed, negligence, or malice... except for Ryan, who pulled a reckless prank as a teenager, and the car he was in with his friends crashed as a result. Once you learn this, it makes more sense as to why he's had so many problems with substance abuse and unstable marriages; he likely felt an immense amount of guilt for distracting his friend in the driver's seat, and for being the only one to make it out alive. And now at the end, he's left in a locked room to die from either dehydration or blood loss with only Anna's corpse for company.
- Logan's backstory is another long road of misery. After a tour of duty in Iraq, during which he was captured and subjected to Cold-Blooded Torture, he was discharged and returned to medical school to pursue a career as a medical examiner. However, an accidental mislabeling of John's X-ray lead to him being pulled into the first game. With one disadvantage- John gave him too much sedative and he was nearly killed by the buzzsaw trap without a chance to win- lead to John saving his life, befriending and later recruiting him as his first apprentice. His wife Christine was later killed by Edgar Munsen, who was set free by Halloran. This was the catalyst behind his own game. Unlike John's other apprentices, Logan isn't motivated by trying to change people or by pure sadism, but by the desire to punish criminals and see justice done for their victims. After all, he's examined plenty of them on his table already, one of whom, which haunts him especially, was a little girl.Logan: I speak for the dead.
- Anna's husband Matthew and their baby have to be two of the most tragic victims in the entire franchise. Their family was originally very kind and supportive neighbors of John's, helping him get through his chemo treatments. As time went on, however, they argued more often and Anna became increasingly frustrated and spiteful toward their baby. One night, when their baby wouldn't stop crying, Anna suffocated it and framed Matthew by placing their dead baby in their bed, making it look like he rolled over on top of him. He was utterly devastated by the event and was sent to an asylum by police. Overwhelmed by guilt over something he didn't actually do, he hanged himself. And Anna insists, right up until when John outright calls her out on it, that she's never done anything to deserve being tested.
