Lawrence Gordon

"He doesn't want us to cut through our chains, he wants us to cut through our feet!"

- Dr. Lawrence Gordon about Jigsaw.

Dr. Lawrence Gordon, M.D., is the doctor responsible for diagnosing John Kramer's cancer and had initially been a suspect in the Jigsaw case.

He was put through a test to prove his respect for life after Jigsaw found out about him being cold, uncaring, and unfaithful to his wife Alison. Following his successful completion of his test, John Kramer takes Lawrence on as his apprentice. Lawrence proves to be indispensable to Kramer's tests, using his profession to assist Kramer in preparing many of his traps for his victims. He is the main protagonist of, and makes a brief reappearance in .

He was portrayed by Cary Elwes, who also played William Boone in the live-action film of The Jungle Book (1994).

Background
With 42 years of age, while investigating a crime scene involving Jigsaw, Lawrence's penlight was found, tying him to the gruesome murders and making him a suspect. He was brought in for investigation by detectives David Tapp and Steven Sing. Accused of being the Jigsaw Killer, Lawrence managed to prove he wasn't after giving his alibi; at the time of the death, Lawrence had been with Carla Song. Lawrence was released from custody after watching more detectives interrogate Amanda Young, a survivor of one of Jigsaw's games. However, Lawrence was again suspected of being Jigsaw by Tapp, who had been discharged from the force following Detective Sing's death. Believing he had let the killer go, he watched Lawrence carefully, hiring Adam Faulkner to follow and take pictures of him.

After leaving his home, supposedly to go to work, Lawrence arrived at a motel where he had been called to meet Carla. Annoyed with her for paging him at home, he decided their affair was getting too risky, and broke it off. However, before he left the room, someone called, revealing that someone knew about the secret affair. At the time, Lawrence had no idea that he was being followed and photographed. While leaving the parking garage, Lawrence found himself locked in, and unable to call to get out. Before he could get back in his car, he was attacked and rendered unconscious by Jigsaw.

Test
When he awoke, he and Adam were shackled to pipes on opposite sides of a grimy industrial bathroom. Between them, just out of their reach, was what would appeared to be a dead man who shot himself in the head, lying in a pool of poisoned blood. A gun was clutched in one of the dead man's hands, with a cassette player in the other. Working together, Lawrence and Adam learned what they had to do to escape, from a pair of cassette tapes which left them clues about objects around the room. Lawrence learned that he had to kill Adam by 6:00 pm if he wished to escape, also learning that his wife and daughter's lives were at stake as well. Enclosed with the tape was a key and a bullet for the dead man's gun. Both Adam and Lawrence were supplied with hacksaws, which they found were unable to cut through their chains. It was then that Lawrence realized that they were meant to cut through their feet, not their chains.

By following the clues and receiving some unwanted help from Adam, Lawrence also managed to obtain a box (which his key opened) that contained a couple of cigarettes, a one-way cell phone, and a lighter. Also in the box was a note, meant just for him, that told him that he didn't have to shoot Adam, but could instead poison him with one of the cigarettes, if it were dipped in the toxic blood puddle.

He then informed Adam that he knew that the Jigsaw Killer was the one behind the "game", and revealed that he was once suspected to be Jigsaw. Lawrence then received a call from his daughter and wife, both being held hostage by Zep Hindle, telling him not to believe Adam. He then discovered that Adam had been taking pictures of him for Detective Tapp.

The two men ran out of time, and Lawrence, desperate to save his family, cut through his right foot to free himself, severing it. In pain and agony, he managed to slowly crawl to the bullet, and finally to the revolver. He put the round in the chamber, and cocked it. He apologized to Adam before firing a shot into him.

He shouted towards the two-way mirror in hopes of being able to see his family after completing his test. Late, but completed, he wept in remorse and sorrow over the events of the day.

Later, Zep showed up in the bathroom. Lawrence, furious, tried to attack and shoot Zep with the empty gun. Zep was about to kill him when Adam attacked and killed Zep by beating him with the toilet lid. Lawrence then told Adam that he had to go and get help for both of them, or else he would bleed to death. Adam begged Lawrence not to leave, but Lawrence assured Adam that he would bring someone back to save him. He then crawled out of the bathroom.

Survival
Just after leaving the bathroom, Gordon is forced to crawl his way down the hall in an attempt to save himself from bleeding to death. He crawls slowly down the hall in pain, and agony.

After a short while, he comes across a smoldering hot pipe, with steam coming from it. He decides to use this pipe to his advantage, and help save himself.

After testing the heat with his hand, he slowly, and painfully cauterizes his stump on it, screaming loudly into the hall before passing out. He is dragged away by John, and woken up from being unconscious. John congratulates him on his survival. John helps Gordon into a room, and then a bed where he sanitizes his stump, and gives him a prosthetic leg. John later lets Gordon go free from his lair.

Becoming an apprentice
After Lawrence was set free by John, he found his way home to his wife and daughter, but eventually Alison was unable to cope with Lawrence's new unstable state of mind (as well as for being unfaithful to her in the first place). The two then divorced and Alison left the unnamed city the Jigsaw killings take place in, taking Diana along with her. Gordon then returned to John because of. Gordon quickly becomes John's most valuable asset. He performs some medical procedures on several test subjects, such as sewing a key inside a victims body. He helps him put the key behind Michael's eye, helps choose Lynn Denlon for her test, sews Trevor's eyes shut, and writes Hoffman a note, revealing that he knows who he is.

The Final Request
"Hello Dr. Gordon. You are, perhaps, my greatest asset. Without you, my work over the last few years would not have been possible. That being said, I have a request, watch over Jill. Should anything happen to her, I want you to act immediately on my behalf, and in return for that; I will keep no more secrets from you. I have shown you a lot of places, but there is one that will perhaps be the most meaningful to you..."

- Jigsaw explains his last request

It is revealed that the package delivered by Jill Tuck to the St. Eustace Hospital in  was for Gordon. In it was a tape that John has Lawrence's decomposed foot, still in the shackle. Telling Gordon to keep an eye on Jill and to act immediately if anything is to happen to her. After Jill's death at the hands of Hoffman, Gordon, Brad and Ryan attack him wearing pig masks.

Hoffman fights back until Gordon impales his neck with a needle. Gordon then removes the mask to reveal himself. Hoffman is shocked at this turn of events before passing out from the injected fluid.

Gordon takes Hoffman back to the iconic bathroom where Gordon was once tested, and chains Hoffman to the same pipe as Adam. After Hoffman awakens, Gordon turns on the lights and enters the room. When Hoffman attempts to reach for the rusted saw to sever his own foot, Gordon throws it out the bathroom door, denying Hoffman his only chance at escape, as punishment for killing Jill and numerous police officers. He then tells Hoffman "Game Over" and seals Hoffman in the bathroom to die, glancing at the decayed remains of his own severed foot on the way out.

Dr. Lawrence Gordon's first chronological appearance was in the animated comic Saw: Rebirth where it is revealed that he was a cold, uncaring doctor, and the person responsible for diagnosing John Kramer with cancer. A hospital orderly named Zepp Hindle hinted to John that Lawrence had been cheating on his wife, and he was, with his medical student, a woman named Carla Song. This, together with his uncaring attitude at work and his crumbling relationship with his wife and daughter, was the reason he was targeted by John Kramer, now known by the media as the Jigsaw Killer.

Lawrence was mentioned briefly in one of the case files that can be found in Saw: The Video Game and was supposed to be a psychotic boss wearing the pig mask, until the boss was cut off the game. He is also referred to several times in the sequel: , mainly through Det. Tapp's audio files and notes on the Jigsaw case. In them he mentions that Gordon "fits the profile" or Jigsaw, and even suffered an emotional breakdown when he was young and had to be instituted. He also delves into his investigation of Gordon's illicit relationship with Carla Song.

In Saw II, Lawrence's severed foot is shown in the bathroom along with Zep and Adam's decomposed corpses, meaning that he did not return to Adam with help. The film - along with the subsequent four films - never specified whether or not Lawrence lived or died. His name is also seen outside his office door in a flashback scene. Dr. Gordon was however seen in Michael Marks' test putting a key in Michael's eye but he was robed. This appearance sprouted out rumors that Gordon was alive and this was officially confirmed in Saw 3D.

Lawrence's severed foot is seen yet again in Saw III. He is also seen being placed down unconscious in the bathroom, ready for his test in the first film. It is also revealed in Saw III that Lawrence worked at the same hospital as another doctor called Lynn Denlon who bore similar characteristics to him in the first film.

Lynn is seen reading Dr. Gordon's report on John Kramer, handed to her by Amanda.

In Saw IV, Lawrence is referenced to, but not by name; he is referenced to when Homicide Detective Fisk discovers that another doctor has been abducted by the Jigsaw Killer from the same hospital. The other doctor is later revealed to be Lynn Denlon, the "other" refers to Gordon, as Lawrence was abducted by Jigsaw before Lynn. His name is also seen outside his office again at the hospital.

In Saw V, Lawrence's name appears on a list of Jigsaw victims as indicated by a document observed by FBI Agent Peter Strahm. In Saw V, it is also revealed that Detective and Jigsaw Apprentice Mark Hoffman was the one who planted Lawrence's penlight at the Mark Wilson trap location, this was an order from Jigsaw, because the police were coming to close to apprehending them, so they planted evidence that would lead the police to believe Lawrence was the true Jigsaw Killer, in order to lead them off track.

Strahm, while pursuing Hoffman, comes across the bathroom and the blood trail Gordon leaves behind while crawling away for help for him and Adam.

A flashback in Saw VI to a conversation with John Kramer (Jigsaw) and William Easton prior to the first film, Lawrence is also mentioned by name. John says that "he has his hand on the door knob half the time".

Trivia

 * He is the only main character to survive all the way from Saw to the end of Saw 3D.
 * Many fans claimed to have seen his corpse in Saw II, but the claims were confirmed false in the Saw II commentaries.
 * There were many hints and signs that told the audience that Dr. Gordon was alive and they were scattered from movies Saw II to Saw VI. Long before Saw 3D was released, many noticed that the hooded figure placing the key behind Michael's eye in Saw II is limping, and as a surgeon he has the skill to do this unlike Jigsaw who is an engineer.
 * Lawrence Gordon was originally going to appear in the Saw video game as a pighead boss. Taking place after the original film, Lawrence was to be captured by Jigsaw for his failings to cut off his foot on time and was to carry out a new test in order to rescue his recaptured wife and daughter. However this was cut from the final product as it was planned for the character to be reintroduced in the final film, with a different story.