How Kevin Mcallister Of Home Alone Became Jigsaw From Saw

In 1990, the world was treated to a delightful Christmas story in the form of the first Home Alone film. It was an instant smash hit and Macaulay Culkin who played its lead character, Kevin McAllister, became one of the most recognizable child stars in the world.

While it birthed a franchise that led to five more films, after Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, the other Home Alone sequels were never able to recapture the same magic. This was likely due to them not starring Culkin and therefore never being able to capitalize on the nostalgia of the original character.

On the other hand, in a very different type of movie released in 2004, Saw was also a huge hit and started its own franchise that has spanned nine movies to date. On the surface, its chief antagonist known as the Jigsaw Killer, or simply Jigsaw, couldn’t be more different from the lovable kid that Kevin McAllister was in Home Alone.

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However, for some time now, there have been plenty of fan theories doing the rounds on the internet, which suggest that Kevin McAllister may have grown up to become Jigsaw. Seems crazy at first, but there may actually be some compelling grounds for why this theory exists.

The Similarities Between Kevin McAllister and Jigsaw

     20th Century Fox  

Jigsaw is a psychopathic killer that uses incredibly intricate plans to capture and torture people in ways that usually end with their gruesome deaths. The character’s popularity has been enduring and fans are eager to see his return in the tenth installment of the franchise, due for release later this year.

In contrast, Kevin McAliister is a lovable child who unintentionally gets left home alone by his family and must use his wits to defend himself and his home from two bungling burglars. They might seem completely disconnected as characters, but here’s where things between them start to coalesce a little.

Jigsaw is extremely inventive and often creates brilliantly designed booby traps and sadistic devices to ensnare his victims with. Kevin McAllister actually does exactly the same thing. While Kevin’s traps are more simply designed and use a childlike imagination, it does show that the character has a pretty creative brain when it comes to stuff like that.While his contraptions and traps didn’t kill anyone, it certainly caused them a lot of pain, fear, and humiliation — just as Jigsaw’s do.

In Home Alone 2: Lost in New York Kevin McAllister visits New York and ends up stranded there for a while. He uses his ingenuity and crafty ideas to survive on his own, and even turns parts of the stay into a luxurious little vacation for himself.

Jigsaw often conducted his operations out of the now infamous Gideon Meat Packaging Plant in Philadelphia, New York. It’s not that much of a stretch to imagine that McAllister may have become enamored by the city and moved there when he grew up.

Kevin and Jigsaw Also Share Other Traits

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Some other similarities between them include the fact that Jigsaw was a civil engineer and later a toy maker. Again, given the ingenuity and eye for inventiveness that Kevin McAllister displays as a kid, those seem like the kind of jobs that might have suited him as an adult.

However, perhaps the most striking similarity between them comes from the fact that, physically, they’re pretty compatible. This means Kevin could technically have grown up to look like Jigsaw, who is famously played by Tobin Bell.

In this regard, they both have straight blonde hair and striking blue eyes. Even though Kevin was (to some) a sweet kid and Jigsaw is a maniac, the nine Saw movies did often build a narrative around the fact that Jigsaw wasn’t always a sadistic killer.

In fact, an intriguing observation may lie in the fact that Kevin actually shows more hallmarks of a sadist than Jigsaw does. Kevin, in some ways, is arguably a victim of some very bad parenting and, at times, proves to have a pretty sadistic personality.

Setting Up Traps

One of the most ingenious elements of Jigsaw’s antics is the fact that he rarely ever needs to actually kill anyone himself directly. His devices and contraptions usually give victims a chance to free themselves and even strive to teach them a valuable life lesson of some sort, if they can actually make it out alive. Now we’re not saying that Jigsaw is actually some kind of benevolent figure, but there are some nuances to the character that suggest he may not be as sadistic as audiences might think.

On the other hand, as cute and lovable as Kevin McAllister is, he often revels in the pain he causes his victims and does seem to enjoy hurting them in inventive ways. While it’s easier to sympathize with Kevin’s character (since his victims had it coming by trying to harm a kid), Jigsaw also has elements of being a very dark and disturbing anti-hero in some ways.

Despite his quest to torture and break people, he also tries to show them why they have been neglectful and ungrateful for the life they had before encountering him. From his character development throughout the Saw movie franchise, we see that Jigsaw is also a tragic victim in a sense too, since he suffered from cancer and once tried to take his own life.

Could Kevin McAllister Really be Jigsaw?

     20th Century Studios  

As popular and intriguing as this theory is, in all honesty, it’s still difficult to say that Kevin McAllister could realistically grow up to become Jigsaw. He’s simply too lovable (at least for some). Despite all his antics and him actually harming people, the similarities between these two iconic characters still seem too remote to actually be plausible.

Anyone who’s ever watched the first two Home Alone movies will likely cringe at the thought of the beloved main character ever becoming more than a sweet and kind-hearted person. Kevin certainly also showed enough of these traits in the movies to warrant this opinion. Lastly, to probably put this theory to bed once and for all, the timelines would make no sense. In 1990 Kevin McAllister is only eight-years-old. By 2004, Jigsaw is already an old man.

As fun and darkly intriguing as this theory is, maybe it’s best to just leave the memory of Kevin McAllister where it should be, as that of an awesome little kid who was beloved by an entire generation of moviegoers.