The Sawyer Family is an American family of butchers, serial killers and cannibals in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise.
They live in Newt, Texas. The family engages in human hunting, where they would capture and murder wandering travellers that venture near their ranch before having their flesh cooked and dined on by the family and other parts would be sold to unsuspecting customers at the Last Chance Gas station, which is owned by Cook.
Members of the Sawyer Family include:
- Drayton Sawyer, the cook, and the eldest brother in the family.
- Nubbins Sawyer, the most deranged member of the family, also known as the hitchhiker.
- “Chop-Top” Sawyer, a mentally unstable hippie and Vietnam War veteran.
- Bubba “Leatherface” Sawyer, the physically strongest member of the family and biggest in size due to his diagnosis of acromegaly.
- “Grandpa” Sawyer, the old grandfather of Cook, Nubbins, Chop-Top, and Leatherface. His grandsons often ask him to kill a victim for them as he was the best there ever was but proves he's too weak and frail to do so.
- “Grandma” Sawyer, Grandpa Sawyer's mother. She died at an unspecified time before the events of the first film, although her corpse has been preserved by the family and was originally kept in the attic of the Sawyer House.
History[]
Not much is known about the family history of the Sawyers. What is known is that some of them used to work as butchers at a slaughterhouse. Grandpa Sawyer, who also worked there as an employee, proved to be a professional at executing cattle at high speeds. However, when the plant began switching to the usage of machinery, the Sawyer Family fell into poverty after Grandpa Sawyer quit his job in protest. At an unknown point in time, some family members, such as Grandma Sawyer, had passed away, leaving Drayton Sawyer as the head of the family.
As the surviving Sawyers have no other professional skills, besides Drayton, who only knows how to cook, as well as no money and food, the family resorted to cannibalism, where they began killing other people for food. They also used the flesh of their victims in making their chili/barbecue, which Drayton sells to the public from his restaurant/gas station. It was stated that since Drayton doesn't have a pleasure in killing, he makes his brothers do the job while he does the cooking.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)[]
In The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Drayton was the owner of a gas station, Nubbins was a hitchhiker. Leatherface, since he doesn't have a job, mostly does the killing as he murdered Kirk, Pam, and Jerry when they entered the Sawyer family's house. He later killed Franklin Hardesty-Enright and chased his sister Sally Hardesty-Enright, until Drayton took her to his house. Grandpa Sawyer appeared as a corpse, but when Sally's finger was cut and Grandpa licked the blood, he was revealed to be alive.
Drayton said he doesn't take pleasure in killing, instead having his younger brothers do the killing for him. They tried to have Grandpa kill Sally, but he keeps missing her with the hammer due to his old age; Nubbins and Leatherface tried to help him, but Sally took advantage of the opportunity and escaped from them. Nubbins was killed when an 18-wheeler ran him over, and Leatherface was hit with a wrench by the driver, causing him to accidentally cut his leg with his own chainsaw. In the first movie the it's implied that the family's name is Slaughter, not Sawyer, as on Drayton's gas station the name "W.E. Slaughter" is seen, but it is more likely a joke due to their cannibalistic tendencies.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2[]
12 years later, in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, the Sawyers all moved to a new underground house in an abandoned carnival. Drayton was winning awards for making the best chili (unbeknownst to the town, he was using human meat in the chili), and there were more mysterious chainsaw killings by Leatherface. Though no one discovered them at the time, Vanita "Stretch" Brock played the tape recording of the deaths of Buzz and Rick (two victims of Leatherface) on the radio, leading Drayton to sending Leatherface and Nubbins' brother Chop Top to kill her and her coworker LG. Chop Top mortally wounded LG, but Leatherface fell in love with Stretch, and didn't kill her, telling Chop Top that she was dead (through strange vocal noises, as he does not talk.) Eventually, Lieutenant Boude “Lefty” Enright attacked Drayton with his chainsaw and dueled Leatherface, impaling him with the chainsaw on the table. Drayton set off a grenade, appearing to kill himself, Leatherface, Grandpa Sawyer, and Lefty. Chop Top escaped, as he was chasing after Stretch, who later killed him with a chainsaw.
Grandma Sawyer died sometime before the events of the films, and her skeleton was treated as if it were still alive, and in a shrine full of bones, chainsaws, and other macabre decorations. When Stretch grabbed the chainsaw in the second film, Grandma Sawyer's skeleton crumbled and Chop Top yelled "You killed her, you bitch!"
Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3[]
In Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3, more family members are shown:
- Edward "Tex" Sawyer, a hitchhiker and cowboy, and Leatherface's brother. His real name is Edward. He is the main antagonist in the film.
- Anne Sawyer, Leatherface's mother.
- Alfredo Sawyer, a brother of Leatherface.
- Tinker Sawyer, father of Leatherface with a hook for a right hand.
- Leatherface, referred to as "Junior" by his family.
- Babi Sawyer, who is the "daughter" of Leatherface.
Anne Sawyer was killed by Benny with a rifle, also blowing Tinker's ear off. Tex was killed when Benny set him on fire, and Alfredo was shot in the chest by Michelle using a shotgun. Leatherface, however, survived, as did the little girl, whose final fate is unknown.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation[]
In Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, which takes place four years after Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, they are involved in a conspiracy by the Illuminati. Members of this family are:
- W.E. Slaughter, a brother of Leatherface.
- Vilmer Sawyer, brother and trucker with a prosthetic leg.
- Darla Sawyer, Vilmer's girlfriend.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (3D)[]
In the Texas Chainsaw 3D timeline, the Sawyer Family are the worst enemies of the Hartman Family, mostly notoriously Burt Hartman.
