| “ | You remind me of me. No matter what kind of fucked up situation you're in, you alway got to find yourself an enemy. | ” |
— Jonas tries to ally with Xavier[src]
| ||
Jonas Singer is a fictional character from the Saw franchise as well as a supporting protagonist in Saw II. He was portrayed by Glenn Plummer.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Throughout his life, Jonas Singer had made a lot of enemies. However, at one point he was innocently framed and arrested by Detective Eric Matthews, after the latter had faked the evidence in his case. He was then imprisoned in the Joliet Correctional Center until his release. (Saw II)
Test[]
Due to his troublesome past and his connection with Eric Matthews, Jonas was eventually targeted by John Kramer, better known as the Jigsaw Killer. Therefore, he was subdued and taken to a run-down house. John and his apprentice, Detective Mark Hoffman, took his unconscious body to a room with a large safe and trapped him there along with seven other people: his business associate Gus Colyard, the prostitute Addison Corday, the drug dealer Xavier Chavez, Laura Hunter, Obi Tate, Eric Matthew's son Daniel Matthews and Amanda Young, a former heroin addict who was in fact a Jigsaw apprentice on her own. John placed a tape recorder behind a brick wall and helped Hoffman to install a booby trap connected to the lock of the room's only door. Having finished all of their preparations, John and Hoffman left the room and locked the door. (Saw II, V)
The prisoners discuss their situation
Shortly afterwards, the prisoners woke up and were immediately frightened by the situation. Jonas tried to wake up Amanda, who was the last one who was still unconscious, while Addison yelled that someone should open the door. Xavier sarcastically commented that no one was listening, to which Laura responded that someone was and pointed at a camera. However Daniel, who squatted in a corner out of fear, said that those kinds of cameras didn't record sounds. The group's concerns grew worse when Gus suddenly started to panic. Gus talked about a movie he had seen about a man who had been trapped in a room for nine years, which frightened the others, especially Laura, and caused a discussion with Xavier. They were quickly interrupted when Addison heard a ticking on the other side of the door. However before they could find out what it was, Amanda suddenly woke up. Playing her role as another victim, she acted as if she were in a panic and searched the room until she finally found the instruction tape as well as the key and the message which warned them not to use the key to open any door in the room.
The tape told them that they were all breathing in a deadly nerve gas since the moment they arrived in the house. While the doors would open after three hours, the gas would already kill them after two hours. In order to survive the prisoners had to find syringes with the antidote which were hidden in the house with one of them being in the safe. Additionally Jigsaw told them that they all had a connection and told them that the clue to this connection was marked with a "X". After listening to the tape Xavier grabbed the key. Amanda begged him to listen to the message which warned them not to use the key to open any door in the room. However he refused to do so and tried to open the door which activated the booby trap and caused the magnum on the other side to go off and shoot Gus Colyard right in the eye. While the other prisoners panicked, Jonas demanded Amanda to tell him how she knew about the tape. She then told them about Jigsaw and his games and therefore also revealed that she had survived one of his tests before.
Jonas looks at the magnum trap
As they now knew the amount of danger in their situation, the group began to search the whole room. Daniel picked up Gus' jacket from the floor and used it to cover the latter's mutilated head. Moments later the door of the room finally opened. Jonas was shocked when he saw the magnum trap which had killed Gus. Amanda tried to remove the gun and take it with her, albeit unsuccessful. Therefore the group left the room behind. In the hallway, Xavier found a nail-studded baseball bat. When he wanted to go further, Jonas voiced his doubts that there even was an antidote and tried to convince him and the others to make up a plan. Xavier however was too impatient to listen and went on, followed by the rest of the group. Shortly afterwards, Addison also found a lamp, which she took with her. While making their way to the entrance hall, Jonas discovered a tattoo on Xavier's arm and asked him about it, as he recognized it from Joliet, but Xavier wasn't interested in talking to him. When they eventually reached the entrance hall, he tried to open the front door with the key from the first room and angrily threw it away when it didn't work. However Jonas grabbed the key and put it in his jacket. Furious and angry Xavier tried to smash the door with the baseball bat. After this attempt failed as well he got into a fight with Addison until Jonas intervened. Only moments later Laura found a door which led them down to a boiler room.
Jonas learns the truth about Obi
Xavier took the lamp from Addison and slowly went down the stairs, followed by the others. Upon entering the basement, they found a mysterious hooded figure sitting at the table. Xavier placed the lamp in front of it and prepared to kill the figure, if he or she would move. However when Jonas took the hood from its head, they realized it was merely a mannequin. A small envelope with the name "Obi" written on it was attached to the mannequin's chest with a knife. Xavier grabbed it and opened the envelope, which contained an audio tape. When they played it, using the recorder from the starting room, it revealed to them that their fellow prisoner, Obi, had assisted Jigsaw in their abductions. Furthermore, the tape told him that in order to redeem himself, he had to crawl into the large furnace in front of them, where two syringes with the antidote were waiting for him; one for him and one for another prisoner of his choice.
Jonas tries to free Obi
Upon this revelation, Laura recognized him as her abductor. Therefore, the group and Obi engaged in an argument during which Daniel asked who'd get the second antidote. Xavier yelled at him that they'd talk about that later on and instead threatened Obi with a knife and demanded to tell them how to get out. When Obi said he didn't know how to get out, Xavier slowly cut his throat to fear him. However, he was interrupted when Daniel accidently knocked down a large metal tub. Eventually, Obi agreed to crawl into the furnace, but demanded that one of the syringes was for him. However, when he grabbed the second syringe the door of the furnace was suddenly locked and the furnace itself was activated. As the flames came closer to him Obi started to panic and desperately tried to get out of the oven. Jonas covered his hands with his jacket and unsuccessfully tried to open the door. As the flames came closer to Obi, Daniel eventually noticed a window on the other site of the furnace. When he tried to get him out, Jonas accidently burned his own hand. Xavier then stepped in and smashed the window with his baseball bat, enabling Obi to crawl out. However, as Obi tried to do so, he got stuck and ultimately died in front of the others as the flames burned him alive. When they realized that the syringes were burned as well, the remaining prisoners left the basement, while Amanda remarked that it was his own choice that had eventually killed Obi.
Shortly afterwards the group divided. While Jonas, Xavier and Addison went upstairs Amanda, Laura and Daniel decided to stay on the ground floor in order to look for more of Jigsaw's clues as well as the antidote. Upon searching the upper floor, Jonas and the others found a door without a lock, but couldn't open it. Jonas went downstairs and returned with the rest of the group moments later. When they came back, Addison still tried to open the door but remarked that it was stuck. Therefore Xavier angrily shoved her away and attempted to open it by brute force to which Amanda responded that the room was most likely a trap, while Jonas pressed himself against the wall to cover himself if she was right. Xavier sarcastically told her that the whole house was a trap and went on until he finally managed to open the door. Unfortunately, this caused a metal pin to be pulled out of a timer which was connected to another door. Daniel told Laura to wait in the hallway and followed the rest of the group into the room. An audio tape left for Xavier by Jigsaw told him, that there was another antidote behind the second door. However, it would be locked permanently if he didn't manage to find the key in time. Moments later Daniel found a pit full of thousands of used syringes hidden under a bed. According to Jigsaw, the key to the door was somewhere in the pit.
Jonas argues with Xavier
After listening to the tape, Xavier demanded that one of the others had to crawl into the pit and get the key. However, when they refused he grabbed Amanda who immediately started to panic. As the remaining members of the group were afraid of Xavier they stood back and watched how he ruthlessly threw her in the pit. While the needles were piercing her skin Xavier became more and more angry and yelled at her to hurry up. Frightened and in pain, Amanda rifled through the syringes until she eventually found one which had the key attached to it. When she threw it out of the pit Xavier grabbed it and tried to open the door while Daniel helped Amanda to climb out of the pit. Unfortunately, Xavier didn't manage to open the door in time and angrily tried to attack Amanda but was only held back by Jonas. While Daniel carefully pulled the needles out of Amanda's skin Xavier ultimately separated from the group. Meanwhile, the others discussed their connection they all had been imprisoned at some point, except for Daniel.
Death[]
Jonas, seconds before his death
Shortly afterwards, Jonas returned to the starting room with the safe where he met Xavier again, who kneeled over the corpse of Gus Colyard, after he had discovered a number in the back of his neck which belonged to the combination to the safe. Due to the effects of the nerve gas, Jonas spit blood and threw up on the floor. In an attempt to convince Xavier to work together, he told him that they had more in common than he thought. Furthermore he told him that he had enemies that would go after his family if they wouldn't get their hands on him. However Xavier wasn't interested and instead told Jonas to turn around so he could see the number on the back of his neck. When he pulled out a knife from his waistband, the two of them engaged in a brutal fight during which Xavier was heavily injured when Jonas kicked him right in the face. Unfortunately Jonas lost the upper hand when the effects of the gas forced him on his knees. Embracing his opportunity, Xavier grabbed a nail-studded baseball bat which he had found earlier and brutally smashed Jonas' head. Stunned by the blow, Jonas turned around and tried to speak, but ultimately fell dead before he could mutter his finals words. When he was dead, Xavier checked the number in his neck, which was a yellow "16". After that he went for the other prisoners and shouted for them, claiming he had found a way out. (Saw II)
Post-Mortem[]
Jonas' corpse
While Xavier went to the basement to obtain the next number from Obi, Amanda returned to the starting room and found Jonas' corpse. Alerted by this, she reunited with Daniel and told him they had to leave. Unfortunately they crossed the path of Xavier, who told him not to run away. Despite this they tried to flee and ran to the first room while Xavier pursued them. When he tried to break through the door Amanda grabbed the nail-studded baseball bat which was still stuck in Jonas' skull and used it to jam the door. Due to the odd shape of the puddle of blood emerging from his smashed head Amanda realized there was a hidden trapdoor on the floor. With Daniel's help she managed to push the heavy safe away and unlocked the trapdoor with the key found in the beginning of the game which was in Jonas' pocket at this point. Only seconds after Daniel and Amanda went through the trapdoor and found the underground tunnels underneath the house, Xavier managed to open the door and continued to pursue them.
As the game went on and eventually came to an end, Amanda and Daniel were the only survivors of the massacre. Therefore, the time for the next part of Amanda and John's plan had come. Amanda subdued Daniel and injected him with the antidote from the safe. Afterwards she took his unconscious body with her and brought him to the Wilson Steel Plant, where John was already waiting for her to arrive.
The room was found approximately two days later when Daniel's father, Eric, reached the Nerve Gas House as he had been provided with the recordings of the game by Jigsaw and thought that his son was still trapped inside. Upon entering the room he found the remains of Gus and Jonas, who already showed obvious signs of decomposition, as well as the syringe used by Amanda to cure Daniel from the nerve gas. Shortly afterwards he also found the corpse of Xavier in a dilapidated bathroom located in the tunnels. However as he was abducted only minutes later, he wasn't able to tell his colleagues about the house's location. (Saw II)
Following the end of the game and the abduction of Eric, Detective Mark Hoffman returned to the Nerve Gas House, where he disposed of the traps as well as the corpses of the other prisoners. Additionally, he renovated the entire building and even refurnished it, giving it the appearance of an average residential house. (Saw V)
Personality[]
Jonas was probably the most reasonable one among the prisoners of the Nerve Gas House. Even in situations when he was put under pressure, he tried to stay calm and make up a plan before doing anything rash. However he was also very pessimistic, evident by his constant doubts on the existence of an antidote for the nerve gas. During his imprisonment, he tried to keep the group together, believing that they had better chances to survive if they cooperated. Despite his usually calm nature, he was also capable to defend himself if necessary and was therefore one of the few prisoners who weren't afraid of Xavier or at least didn't openly show it.
Jonas was also kind and selfless, showing genuine concern over his fellow prisoners, trying to make Amanda calm down right after she woke up, asking Addison if she was fine or trying to save Obi from burning to death in an oven. He was capable of understanding other people's feelings, telling to Xavier that the rest of the prisoners were afraid of him.
Trivia[]
- Due to his final talk with Xavier where Jonas talked about his enemies, many fans assumed that Jonas was involved in criminal gang activities.
- Jonas was originally supposed to be the drug dealer, however the producers rejected the idea due to considering that would a racist stereotype so instead they made Xavier the drug dealer.
Appearances and References[]
| Films | |||||||||
| Saw | Saw II | Saw III | Saw IV | Saw V | Saw VI | Saw 3D | Jigsaw | Spiral | Saw X |
| Absent | Flashback, Recording, & Corpse | Archive | Absent | Pictured & Mentioned | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| Other Media | |||||
| "Saw" (2003 Short) |
Saw: Rebirth (2005 Comic) |
Full Disclosure Report | The Scott Tibbs Documentary | Saw: The Video Game | Saw II: Flesh & Blood |
| Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |