List of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre characters

The Sawyers (renamed the Hewitts in the reboot and its prequel) are a large, Southern American family of cannibalistic butchers and serial killers in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise, who live in the Texas backwoods, where they abduct, torture, murder, and eat stranded motorists. The family uses booby traps and man-traps, such as bear traps and spike traps, to capture or kill victims. The family also owns a gas station, where they sell the meat from the victims as barbecue and chili. It has been confirmed in the crossover comic book series, Jason vs. Leatherface, that the Sawyer family did engage in inbreeding, something that was heavily implied in the third film. As seen in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, the remake & the prequel, the family (both Sawyer and Hewitt) are fond of leaving bodies in mass body pits or mass graves in various parts of Texas. The inspiration for the family was real killer Ed Gein, whom the filmmakers also based Leatherface on.

Cast and characters

Character Original films Platinum Dunes films Lionsgate film
The Texas
Chain Saw Massacre

(1974)
The Texas
Chainsaw Massacre 2

(1986)
Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III
(1990)
The Next Generation
(1994)
The Texas
Chainsaw Massacre

(2003)
The Beginning
(2006)
Texas Chainsaw 3D
(2013)
Leatherface Gunnar Hansen Bill Johnson R. A. Mihailoff
Kane Hodder (stunts)
Robert Jacks Andrew Bryniarski Gunnar Hansen
(archival footage)
Dan Yeager
Grandfather Sawyer John Dugan Ken Evert (corpse cameo) Grayson Victor Schirmacher John Dugan
Drayton Sawyer Jim Siedow Bill Moseley
Nubbins Sawyer (The Hitchhiker) Edwin Neal (corpse cameo) Edwin Neal
(archival footage)
Sally Hardesty Marilyn Burns Marilyn Burns Marilyn Burns
(archival footage, Photograph, and Voiceover)
Franklin Hardesty Paul A. Partain (corpse cameo) Paul A. Partain
(archival footage)
"Chop Top" Sawyer Bill Moseley
Lieutenant William "Lefty" Hardesty Enright Dennis Hopper
Vanita "Stretch" Brock Caroline Williams
Edward "Tex" Sawyer Viggo Mortensen
Michelle Kate Hodge
Benny Ken Foree
Vilmer Slaughter Matthew McConaughey
Jenny Renée Zellweger
Erin Jessica Biel
Sheriff Hoyt / Charlie Hewitt Jr. R. Lee Ermey
Monty Hewitt Terrence Evans
Luda Mae Hewitt Marietta Marich
Chrissie Jordana Brewster
Bailey Diora Baird
Heather Miller Alexandra Daddario
Note: A gray cell indicates character did not appear in that film.
The original Sawyer family; Leatherface (Gunner Hansen), Drayton (Jim Siedow), Nubbins (Edwin Neal), Grandpa (John Dugan) and the dead Grandma from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, 1974

Leatherface

Main article: Leatherface

Leatherface is the main antagonist of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre films. He is a deformed, intellectually disabled, overweight, cross dressing, cannibalistic serial killer who uses a chainsaw to kill his victims. He was portrayed by Gunnar Hansen in the original 1974 film, Bill Johnson in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, R. A. Mihailoff in Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, Robert Jacks in Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, Andrew Bryniarski in the Platinum Dunes films, and Dan Yeager in Texas Chainsaw 3D. Leatherface is portrayed as being "severely intellectually disabled and mentally disturbed," and often uses butchering tools, like meat hooks, to slaughter his victims.[1] He lives with a family of fellow cannibals, who are often abusive and violent towards him. Despite this, Leatherface does what ever his family orders him to do. The character was loosely inspired by serial killer Ed Gein, who also wore the skin of his victims, cross dressed, and was possibly a cannibal.[2]

His name has been given differently in different films. Chop Top calls him "Bubba" in the second movie while in Texas Chainsaw 3D, his name is Jedidiah. In the third film, he is only referred to as Junior by his family. In the fourth film, Leatherface is called "Leather" by his relatives. Whereas many horror movie villains are sadistic or evil; Leatherface is in fact intellectually disabled and most of the time is merely following the orders of his family. Hansen has stated that Leatherface is "completely under the control of his family. He'll do whatever they tell him to do. He's a little bit afraid of them".[3] Tobe Hooper has argued on the documentary The Shocking Truth that Leatherface is a 'big baby' and kills in self-defense because he feels threatened, pointing out that, in the first film, Leatherface is actually frightened of all the new people entering his house.[4] Leatherface is also mute, aside from making bizarre, baby-like gibberish and screams, which his family somehow understands.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 is a direct sequel to the 1974 film. Tobe Hooper said on The Shocking Truth that he wanted to expand on the dark comedy in the original film, an element that he felt no one truly picked up on. In this film, Leatherface develops a "crush" on one of his victims and, in one scene, skins off the face of her friend (while alive) and places it on her to hide her from the rest of his family. At the end of the film, he apparently dies in an explosion. Leatherface is later seen in Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III which is an alternate sequel to the first film similar to "Texas Chainsaw 3D", and Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation.

Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, is the second sequel in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre film series. Leatherface is affectionately called "Junior" by the members of his family. The filmmakers attempted to make the series darker and grittier like the original, but interventions from the MPAA quashed their vision and had them tone it down and change the ending. An uncut version was released in 2003. In this film, Leatherface is given a new family, including a daughter.[5] A four issue comic series based on the film, entitled Leatherface, was also created. In this film, Leatherface appears much more aggressive and violent than in previous installments, a trait intentionally added, as it is explained on the audio commentary that Leatherface was in a childlike mode in the first two films and now he has reached the rebellious teen mode.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation apparently takes place in its own continuity, although the original film is mentioned in the opening prologue, in the same prologue it also references the other sequel films, as "two minor, yet apparently related inncidents". This is the lowest rated film of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre series. The film features Leatherface as a yelping, pizza-eating transvestite involved in an Illuminati conspiracy to provide society a source of horror and, again, with a different family.[6][7] Leatherface (who is referred to as "Leather" in the whole film) is presented as a much more effeminate character than the previous two installments feature, which portrayed Leatherface as being attracted to women. In part 4, Leatherface is reverted to his original self, a screaming mentally ill killer with an identity problem. He seems even more feminine than his character in the original film, wearing a female face mask and a Gein-like female skin suit, a woman's dress, make-up, even painting his fingernails.

Texas Chainsaw 3D is a direct sequel to the 1974 original film and starts immediately after Sally Hardesty's escape. Sheriff Hooper arrives right after the extended Sawyer family gather to the house with shotguns, in which the sheriff demands Drayton hand over Leatherface. Drayton attempts to justify his and "Jed's" actions by arguing that the characters from the first film were trespassing, but ultimately the family agrees to give him "Jed", with Drayton scolding him for letting Sally escape. Just as they prepare to send Leatherface out to Sheriff Hooper, a group of townspeople led by Burt Hartman shoot up the house, killing nearly all of the Sawyer clan before burning the house down with a Molotov cocktail, killing all but "Leatherface", his cousin, Loretta Sawyer, and her baby. Loretta, wounded via a gunshot, attempts to receive help from one of the townspeople, only to be killed and have her baby taken. Leatherface, who was believed to have died in the fire, was hidden and cared for by his paternal aunt, Verna Sawyer Carson.

The Sawyer Family

Drayton Sawyer (Old Man/The Cook)

Drayton Sawyer,[8] is portrayed by Jim Siedow in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 where he served as the main anatagonist and by Bill Moseley in Texas Chainsaw 3D.

In all of his appearances, Drayton is an antagonist and appears to be the head of the Sawyer Family. He is the older brother (the father in Texas Chainsaw 3D) of Leatherface and the rest of the family. A mentally unstable and murderous cannibal, Drayton, along with his family of fellow cannibals and serial killers, lives in the backwoods of Texas, preying upon travelers, whom he and his relatives capture and devour, selling some of their meat to unwary people in chili at his restaurant/gas station. He also gets mad at Leatherface for ruining the house. Drayton's name wasn't mentioned until the second film, the first simply referred to him as "the Cook" and "the Old Man".[8] Like his younger brother Nubbins, Drayton seems to be suffering from a mental disorder, probably schizophrenia or multiple personalities, as he is seen enjoying the torture of his family's victims, but at one point he flips personalities and is disgusted by the torment as his more empathic side surfaces. His personality disorder has been discussed by Tobe Hooper several times, like on the audio commentary for Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. Drayton often bickers with the rest of his brothers and is abusive towards them. Although Drayton appears to be the head of the household, his brothers often mock and antagonize him and his authority.

Drayton Sawyer made his debut appearance in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, in which he first appears as the mild-mannered, middle-aged proprietor of the Last Chance Gas Station, a rural Gulf Oil gas station and barbecue shop (with an unnamed car door window washer as an employee), where a group of teenagers stop for fuel while passing through the area. He tells the teenagers that he has no gas for their van because he is supposedly waiting for the tanker truck to show up with fuel. When he learns that the teenagers destination is an abandoned house near his property, he casually advices the youths against going around there. Drayton's malevolent nature is revealed later in the film, when he beats Sally Hardesty (Marilyn Burns) unconscious and captures her after she approaches him seeking help when her friends disappear and her brother Franklin (Paul A. Partain) is killed by Leatherface. Having been chased by Leatherface previously, she is highly hysterical after her shocking experience. Taking Sally to his home, Drayton torments her alongside his brothers, Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen) and Nubbins (Edwin Neal), before deciding to let the family patriarch, Grandpa (John Dugan), kill her. When Grandpa proves too decrepit to kill Sally with a hammer, Drayton, Nubbins and Leatherface attempt to aid him, but only succeed in losing grasp on Sally, who flees out a window. Drayton is the only one of the three active members of the family who does not pursue Sally, choosing instead to stay behind with Grandpa. The more humane side of Drayton is revealed during the so-called "dinner scene" when he states: "I just can't take no pleasure in killing" after Nubbins accuses him of doing nothing but cooking for the family while he and Leatherface do all the killing, which explains why Drayton beat and captured Sally rather than killing her.[8]

In The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, Drayton reappears, now he and his family are living in an abandoned amusement park in Dallas (called Texas Battle Land), due to the intense police investigation sparked by the events of the first film, with what remains of his family, Leatherface (Bill Johnson), Chop Top (Bill Moseley) and Grandpa (Ken Evert). Now a two-time award-winning chili cook selling his meat at a Chilli Cook-off (dismissing the bones and teeth as peppercorns), Drayton appears far more unhinged than in the previous film, happily joining in on his family's murderous frenzies, which previously disturbed him somewhat. In public, Drayton displays a folksy & happy personality, but alone with his family, he displays his deranged mental disease & is very abusive with them. Drayton presumably dies, off-screen, at the end of the film, when, during the fight between Leatherface and Lieutenant "Lefty" Enright (Dennis Hopper), he is accidentally struck by Leatherface and the hand grenade he is holding (planning to commit suicide and destroy the hideout with) explodes prematurely.[9] In this film, Drayton also rambles about the plight of the small business man and how crooks, politicians and movie stars don't pay taxes, yet he and his poor family must.

The only reference of Drayton made in Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III was when Sawyer brother Tinker gives a large chromed chainsaw he crafted to Leatherface as a gift, on the saw's blade he engraved a quote of Drayton's from the second film ("The saw is family"). In this film, it says that a man by the name of W.E. Sawyer took the blame for Leatherface's crimes, and was executed in 1981. Many believe that in this alternate universe, W.E. Sawyer is the Cook, as originally intended in the first film. The sign at the gas station says "W.E. Slaughter", W.E being the Cook's first name and Slaughter being last. The name was intended to hint at his involvement in the killings, 'WE Slaughter'.

Drayton was originally set to be the grandfather in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre 4, but when Jim Siedow turned down the role, director Kim Henkel replaced Drayton as the grandfather and turned the character into Grandpa from the earlier films, though the character is still referred to as "Grandfather".

In Topps Comics' 1995 comic miniseries Jason vs. Leatherface, Drayton, only identified by the name Cook Slaughter, appears as a main character. After Leatherface and the Hitchhiker bring Jason Voorhees, the main antagonist of the Friday the 13th franchise home, Drayton befriends him and inducts him in as an unofficial member of the Sawyer family.[10]

The comics expand on Drayton's back story, revealing that, though he aspires to gain fame and fortune using his culinary skills in the city, he stays in the Texan backwoods due to a vow he made to his younger sister Velma on her deathbed, promising he would always look after her children, the Hitchhiker and Leatherface. The comics imply that he is both their father and uncle and they were merely adopted and treated by him as brothers: they suggest that Leatherface and Hitchhiker were born of incest between Drayton and Velma Sawyer as they refer to Velma as having been both their sister and mother. The comics also portray Drayton as much more apathetic and lax towards his relatives murdering of people, with him, at one point, stating that he wishes the Hitchhiker and Jason, who had just delivered to him a freshly killed couple, had brought him some children as well ("their meat's so much more tender...").[11] At one point in the comics Drayton even attacks Jason with a meat cleaver and helps dispose of his body, which the Sawyer brothers dump into a lake. Drayton is also seen wearing an apron which reads "Kiss the Cook" throughout the series.

Bill Moseley, the actor who portrayed Chop Top, portrayed Drayton in the opening scene of Texas Chainsaw 3D. When Sheriff Hooper arrives at the Sawyer house from which Sally escaped earlier that day, Drayton comes out with a shotgun and tries justifying his family's actions by arguing that the characters from the first film were trespassing. Drayton is accompanied by Grandpa, two older male relatives named Boss Sawyer and Bear Sawyer, four unidentified gunmen and a younger woman named Loretta, who holds a baby named Edith-Rose Sawyer. Boss tries convincing Drayton to give Leatherface, whose real name is Jedidiah, to Hooper. Drayton argues that Jed is family, but Boss retorts that "the boy is simple," to which Bear agrees. Drayton gives in, and Boss informs Hooper that they are bringing out Jed. Drayton goes to Leatherface's room and scolds him for attracting the police. Before he can be brought out, local residents of Newt led by Burt Hartman, arrive and burn down the house. Drayton is apparently shot to death. In 2012, Edith-Rose, who survived, was adopted, and renamed Heather Miller, walks through the Sawyer cemetery at her grandma Verna's house, and one of the gravestones has Drayton's name on it.

Nubbins Sawyer (The Hitchhiker)

Nubbins Sawyer (called "the Hitchhiker" in the credits) appears in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Edwin Neal portrays him as a mentally unstable and murderous cannibal and grave robber; he lives with his equally depraved family, the Sawyers, in the back roads of Texas, capturing, torturing and feasting on unwary travellers.[8][8] Though sadistic and violent, he is generally one of the least threatening characters in the movie, being not very intelligent, and behaving erratically. The character also has a bizarre speech impediment and a large birth mark on the right side of his face. His speech impediment came from the actor who portrayed him, Edwin Neal, who played the hitchhiker as someone who suffered from schizophrenia.

The Hitchhiker first appears in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre walking along a road, where he is picked up by a group of friends traveling through the area, who feel sorry for him having to walk in the heat. The group ask him what he was doing out there and he tells them that he was "over at the slaughterhouse" where he and "his brother" and "his grandfather" used to work and shows them pictures of him and his family killing the cattle while telling them a story about how headcheese comes from the cows there when their heads are melted, all the while attempting to get them to drop him off at his home and even inviting them to dinner. The Hitchhiker soon begins acting erratically after being given back the photographs by the disgusted travelers, slashing his own hand with a pocket knife; after Franklin Hardesty (Paul A. Partain) refuses to buy a picture he took of him, the Hitchhiker sets the photo on fire and slashes Franklin's arm with a straight razor before being kicked out of the van. The Hitchhiker briefly chases after the van, kicking, yelling and smearing a bloody hand print on it, but soon relinquishes his attack on it.[8]

The film later identifies Nubbins as one of the brothers of the main villain of the film, Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen) and of Drayton Sawyer (Jim Siedow), as well as one of the family members of a mentally unstable and murderous family of cannibals. It's also revealed that he was the one responsible for the grave robbings mentioned at the beginning of the film. Together, they torment Sally Hardesty (Marilyn Burns), Franklin's sister whom Drayton had captured. Eventually deciding to kill Sally, Nubbins, Drayton and Leatherface are at first content to allow their highly regarded Grandpa (John Dugan) to do so, but when Grandpa proves unable to kill Sally with a hammer, the Hitchhiker and his brothers become impatient and over-eager in trying to help him, the Hitchhiker forgets to keep a hold on Sally, allowing her break free of their grasp and jump out a nearby window; as Sally flees, the Hitchhiker and Leatherface give chase to her, with the Hitchhiker catching up to her on a road. While slashing Sally with a knife, the Hitchhiker meets his demise when he is run over by an 18-wheeler.[8]

In the Jason vs. Leatherface Topps Comics' miniseries, Nubbins the Hitchhiker (bearing only a minor resemblance to his film counterpart and without his name mentioned) appears as a main character. Encountering Jason Voorhees (the main villain of the Friday the 13th franchise) in the woods near the Sawyer house, the Hitchhiker, after seeing Jason non-lethally disarm Leatherface after a brief skirmish and decapitate a man he and Leatherface were chasing, befriends him and takes him home, where Jason is inducted as an unofficial member of the family by Drayton. After a fight happens between Jason and the family, the Hitchhiker "kills" Jason by bashing him in the head with a hammer.[10]

The miniseries expands upon the Hitchhiker's character, revealing that he owns a pet dog named Sparky (whom he killed by shooting in the head and treats as if it were still alive) and that he creates furniture and sculptures out of corpses (another possible reference to Ed Gein, upon whom The Texas Chainsaw Massacre series is loosely based).[2] The miniseries also showed the extent of the Hitchhiker's abuse of Leatherface whom the Hitchhiker constantly bullies for little or no reason (although he apparently respects Leatherface's prowess at frightening and killing people, as he laments to Jason). The comics also hint that the Hitchhiker, as well as Leatherface, were born of incest, with Drayton's younger sister Velma being implicated as being their sister and mother.[11] The Hitchhiker is also seen driving a tow truck and working at the family gas station, where he sabotages motorists' automobiles. He then informs his family and they attack the newly stranded people. The Hitchhiker's bizarre birth mark also changes shape several times throughout the comics, at one point it takes the form of a swastika and a lightning bolt. After "killing" Jason, the Hitchhiker's brother Drayton (called Cook Slaughter in the comics) implicates that the Hitchhiker killed his own cousin named Emery with a two-by-four after a losing a game of checkers, to which the hitchhiker replies "He shouldn't have laughed at me".

Grandfather Sawyer

Grandfather Sawyer appears in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and its sequel The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, portrayed by John Dugan and Ken Evert, respectively,[8][9] and appears in more of the franchise than any other character besides Leatherface. He is a supercentenarian, former butcher/slaughterman and implied mass murderer. Director Tobe Hooper stated on the audio commentary for Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 that Grandpa is kept alive by drinking the blood of his family's victims.

Snippets of Grandfather's history prior to the events of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre films occur throughout the series; it is revealed that Grandfather was originally a worker at a slaughterhouse whose skills at killing and butchering cattle were unmatched. After new technology was implemented in abattoirs, Grandfather quit his job due to "the shame" (not being able to cope with the noises the machines are making). Grandfather later apparently settled down with the unnamed Grandma and began a family, the cannibalistic Sawyers (how they became cannibalistic is never revealed, though it is implied that they resorted to cannibalism in order to survive starvation, because the family was already poor when Grandpa and the rest of his family quit working).[8]

In The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, the 124-year-old Grandfather (John Dugan) appears as a somewhat minor character, initially thought to be already dead; he is first seen briefly during Leatherface's chase scene, Sally approaches him seeking help but assumes he is dead when she sees how old he is. Later after heroine Sally Hardesty (Marilyn Burns) is captured by his grandchildren, Drayton (Jim Siedow), Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen) and the Hitchhiker (Edwin Neal), Grandfather is taken from the second floor of the house and brought to her by them. Leatherface proceeds to slash Sally's finger and forces it into Grandpa's mouth, so he can suck her blood (proving that he is, in fact, alive), an event that causes Sally to fall unconscious. Some time after Sally is awakened, Drayton, Leatherface and the Hitchhiker decide to allow Grandpa to end her life through the use of a hammer; due to his advanced age, Grandpa is largely incapable of using the hammer efficiently and continues to drop it. The hassle that ensues with Grandfather's continued dropping of the hammer and his grandchildren's over-eagerness to help him allows Sally to break free of the Sawyer family and jump out a window, though he and Drayton do not attempt to follow her.[8]

Grandpa (Ken Evert), now 137 years old, later appears in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, inhabiting an abandoned theme park named the "Texas Battle Land" with what remains of his family; when the film's heroine, Vanita "Stretch" Brock (Caroline Williams), is captured by his grandson Chop Top (Bill Moseley), Grandpa is brought forth to kill her (in the same way he tried to do to Sally) with help from Chop Top, unlike in the first film here he actually lands a hit though he succeeds in only causing a minor head wound to her with a sledgehammer (and a second wound caused by an impatient Drayton). When Lieutenant William "Lefty" Hardesty Enright (Dennis Hopper), the film's male protagonist, engages in a chainsaw duel with Leatherface (Bill Johnson), Grandfather attempts to aid his grandson by throwing a hammer at his opponent, only to hit Leatherface instead and subsequently fall to the floor (which alludes the first film's climax). Grandfather apparently meets his demise when a grenade, accidentally set off by an injured Drayton (Jim Siedow), Lefty and Leatherface, detonates in close proximity to him.[9]

In Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, which has connections to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, Grandfather appears only as a decayed corpse kept and treated as if he were alive by Leatherface (R. A. Mihailoff) and his new extended family who regularly pour blood into his mouth to "feed" him; when one of the film's protagonists, Benny (Ken Foree), opens fire on the Sawyer house with an automatic rifle, Grandfather's body takes several shots to the chest and one to the face, but the body is left for the most part intact.[12] On the special documentary on Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, director Jeff Burr mentions that Grandpa is "on his way out" meaning that the corpse of Grandfather still might have some life in him. Also in this film, the character of Mama mentions that she castrated both herself and "Papa", referring to Grandfather, implying an incestuous relationship between the two.

In the 1994 film Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, a minor character very similar to Grandpa, referred to as "Grandfather" (Grayson Victor Schirmacher), appears as a member of the Sawyer family.[13] The character might, in fact, be Grandpa, as the film possibly takes place in its own continuity. In Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Grandpa was also credited as "Grandfather".

In the 1991 Leatherface comics by Northstar Comics, which are based upon Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, Grandfather appears, though he is portrayed as extremely different in this appearance than in others; instead of the solitary and silent figure he is usually shown as, this version of Grandpa is depicted as a rambling old man with a habit of telling non-linear stories, he also seems to be much younger and more in shape than in the films (he still seems to be much more sane and harmless than the rest of the family though) and appears largely oblivious to his surroundings. It is also revealed by the character Mama that Grandfather isn't biologically related to the featured version of the Sawyer family and that he was abandoned as a child and subsequently adopted into it.[14]

Grandfather also appears throughout the 1995 Jason vs. Leatherface comic miniseries by Topps Comics; in the comics, Grandfather acts as essentially nothing more than a background character and has little interaction with any other characters, mostly appearing only in dinner scenes. Also of note, a picture depicting a much younger Grandfather is found by Jason Voorhees in the attic of the Sawyer house.[15]

John Dugan reprised his role in Texas Chainsaw 3D, in which Grandfather is shown sitting inside the Sawyer house with his relatives as they are confronted by Sheriff Hooper. He is present when the residents of Newt burn down the Sawyer house and kill the family members inside.

Paul "Chop Top" Sawyer

Chop Top is one of Leatherface's many brothers. Chop Top also has the same bizarre birth mark as his twin brother Nubbins, except Chop Top's is on the left side of his face (Nubbins' birthmark is on the right of his face). He appears in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 as one of the film's villains and is portrayed by Bill Moseley.[16] Chop Top is also in the habit of scratching around his metal plate with a heated clothes hanger; he then eats the dead skin he has picked off. Both director Tobe Hooper and actor Bill Moseley state that if he scratches in the right spot, Chop Top will instantly "get off". It is explained by Tobe Hooper that Chop Top was in Vietnam at the time of the first film. It is in Vietnam where Chop Top receives his head wound by a "lucky gook with a machete". Chop Top has pale skin, like an albino. Tobe Hooper stated on the audio commentary for Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 that Chop Top's character was originally that of the Hitchhiker, who had a metal plate grafted onto his skull after the events of the 1974 The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and was referred to as "Plate-Head", but the character later evolved into his twin, Chop Top. It is often believed among the popular fan-base that his true first name is Bobby, because one of his lines, "You gotta buy me a new plate cover, Leatherface," spoken in the radio station attack scene, is misheard as "you're getting Bobby a new plate cover." This line is spoken after Chop Top tries to lure Stretch into the music vault, but Leatherface misses her and inadvertently hits Chop Top's plate with his saw, and ruins his Sonny Bono wig. However, if listened to carefully, there is a scene in the Sawyers' underground cavern lair where Drayton, looking for Chop Top, calls out to him under the name "Paul," meaning his true birth name would be Paul Sawyer, on an official canonical basis.

Chop Top is a deranged and sadistic individual who gleefully murders people when given the chance. He possesses a "hippie"-like mentality and view on the world around him, stating that "music is his life" and revealing that he is a fan of the bands Iron Butterfly and Humble Pie. Chop Top often remarks about Ho Chi Minh and napalm, as he is a Vietnam veteran, and he also talks about having flashbacks from the war. Chop Top adorns himself in a variety of tattered, multi-color clothing.[9] In The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, Chop Top first appears alongside Leatherface (Bill Johnson) driving a pick up truck. Together they attack a pair of drunk high school motorists who are in a smaller car on a bridge. Chop Top and Leatherface kill the two men, not realizing that their attack on the drivers was being recorded at a radio station the two drunken teens had called using a car phone prior to the attack. When DJ Vanita "Stretch" Brock (Caroline Williams) plays the recording of Chop Top and Leatherface's attack on the drivers over the radio, the two brothers break into the radio station with the intention of killing Stretch, but the brothers' plan is not carried out. Leatherface, having become infatuated with Stretch, tricks Chop Top into believing he had killed her. When the two leave the station, they take an injured co-worker of Vanita's with them.

When Chop Top and brother Drayton (Jim Siedow) discover that Stretch is still alive after finding her in the Sawyer family's home in an abandoned amusement park called the Texas Battle Land, which Chop Top bought using government checks,[16] the brothers hold her captive and decide to let the decrepit patriarch of the Sawyer family, Grandpa (Ken Evert), kill her with Chop Top's help. Vanita is saved when protagonist Lieutenant "Lefty" Enright (Dennis Hopper) arrives and engages Leatherface in a chainsaw duel. The battle between the Sawyers and Lefty reaches a climax when a hand grenade, accidentally set off by Drayton, explodes and kills Grandpa, Lefty, Drayton and possibly Leatherface, as well as presumably destroying the puppet-like corpse of Nubbins Sawyer.

Narrowly escaping the grenade explosion, Chop Top follows Vanita to the top of the Matterhorn attraction in the Texas Battle Land, which the Sawyers converted into a shrine known as "Chainsaw Heaven".[16] Slashing Vanita and himself several times with a straight razor, Chop Top apparently meets his end when Vanita stumbles upon the mummified corpse of Great-Grandma Sawyer and tears a chainsaw out of the corpse's abdomen. In the ensuing struggle, Chop Top is sent plummeting into the ruins of Texas Battle Land.[9] Since we don't see what happens to him after he falls through the tunnel Stretch knocks him into, his fate is unknown, but he is presumed dead, given his injuries were severe as they were(he was sawed in the abdomen and knocked into a deep tunnel).

Though Chop Top does not appear in the 1991 Leatherface by Northstar Comics, a reference to him is made through the use of his catchphrase "Lick my plate!", seen spray-painted on the side of Alfredo Sawyer's Last Chance Gas Station.[17] In Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, the original script had the character of Alfredo as his brother Chop Top, but due to copyrights he evolved into the character of Alfredo. This was revealed on the film's audio commentary. In this film he also has another brother named Tech/Tinker, who is a fellow hippie and music lover (as seen in the comics based on the film). Tech has an unnatural metallic body piece like his brother, though in his case it is a hook hand instead of a head plate & he also drives a large pick up truck, which is similar to the truck owned by Chop Top in Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, although Tech seems to have souped his truck up, basically making it into a monster truck.

All American Massacre is an unreleased film directed by William Hooper, son of Tobe Hooper. The film was to serve as a prequel to the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre series. The film was to feature Chop Top who had been captured and placed into a psychiatric prison. Memories of how his family became killers and cannibals were to feature in the film, as he was interviewed by a tabloid television journalist. Bill Moseley portrays Chop Top in the film's trailer.

Grandmother Sawyer

Grandfather's wife, she died at an unspecified time before the first film's events, although her obese corpse has been preserved by the family and was originally kept in the attic of the Sawyer ranch. Her corpse also appears in the comic book series, Jason vs. Leatherface.

Great Grandma Sawyer

The Cook, Chop Top, Nubbins and Leatherface's other grandmother.[8] It is revealed in the audio commentary on The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, by Tobe Hooper, that she is in fact "Great-Grandma Sawyer". First mentioned by Drayton in the second film, who states "Oh Great Grandma in chainsaw heaven!"; her skeletal corpse is later seen in chainsaw heaven - actually a macabre shrine hidden in the amusement park where the remaining Sawyers live in the second film.[9]

Edward "Tex" Sawyer

A hitchhiking cowboy and brother of Leatherface, Edward (simply referred to by the shortened name Eddie) completely despises his real name - for unknown reasons - and prefers to be called "Tex", and goes into a rage when referred to by his true name. Tex is also seen wearing a female's cooking apron and painted fingernails, leading to the possibility that he is sexually ambiguous. Tex is portrayed as the most normal looking family member, which helps in his family's capturing of victims, who believe Tex to be a regular person, however, when enraged Tex becomes highly psychotic. Film writer David J. Schow likened him to Norman Bates on the film's audio commentary. In the rated and unrated versions, Tex is killed when set ablaze by survivalist Benny, after Tex attacks him with an ax. In the alternate ending, Tex is set on fire, but survives, and then is killed when Michelle pushes him into a spike trap. Tex (never referred to as Eddie or Edward) is portrayed as one of the more sane members of the family in the Leatherface comics, actually showing some level of remorse for his actions. Tex is killed in the comics by Michelle, who beats and disembowels him with the very knife he was planning to butcher her with.[12] Co-star William Butler claims that his friend, fellow actor Viggo Mortensen's characterization for Tex was as a sexually ambiguous killer who looked normal, but could snap at any moment. He is portrayed by Viggo Mortensen.

Tinker "Tech" Sawyer

Another brother of Leatherface and easily one of the least sane members of the family, he has a transradial prosthesis hook in place of a right hand for unknown reasons and an affinity for machines, chrome and technology. As he goes by two different names his real name remains unknown. Tech often makes devices to assist his family in the slaughtering of people, he also drives a very large, suped up pick up truck, which is basically a monster truck. One of the devices Tech makes is an extra large chromed out chainsaw for his brother Leatherface, engraved on the blade, a sort-of tribute and reference to his late brother Drayton, the reference being a quote of Drayton's from the second film ("The saw is family"), another invention of Tech's is a swinging sledgehammer machine which quickens the family's slaughter methods, something brother Tex is grateful for (as he personally dislikes the "hit to the head business"). Tech also calls one of the main characters, Benny, an African-American, a "darkie", "brotha" and refers to him as "dark meat", leading to the possibility that he is a racist. Tech also tries to discipline his brother Leatherface by throwing his brother's walkman into the oven, however, this plan backfires when Leatherface forces Tech to retrieve it with his good hand. In both the rated and unrated versions as well as the alternate ending Tech is wounded, possibly fatally, when Benny opens fire on the families' house with an automatic rifle, blasting two of Tech's fingers off, as well as an ear. He appears to have died after the shooting, as he is heard saying to his brother Tex that he would be in Hell for breakfast. In the Leatherface comics, Tech is depicted as a former party loving hippie, like his brother Chop Top from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, and is fixated with classic rock music and a "Chrome Machine God" he believes controls everything. He also mentions taking quaaludes and hash and lush and the purest lysergic acid ever come from Hashbury. Tech is fatally injured in the comic by being shot repeatedly by Benny, later dying in Leatherface's (who admired Tech, who was his favorite brother) arms.[12] Like his brother Drayton Sawyer, Tech appears as the head of the family household, this role is also explained by writer David J. Schow on the audio commentary for the Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, in which he refers to Tech as the "brains" of the operation. He is portrayed by Joe Unger.

Alfredo Sawyer

Another brother of Leatherface, he appears to be highly demented and perverted and suffers from a speech impediment and heterochromia. He wears a tattered jumpsuit and drives an old pickup truck. Alfredo is also seen kissing a decapitated head, which implies that he has engaged in necrophilia. At the same time he kisses the head, he mentions that he had a girl in Tupelo, but that she had to "go down below", implying that Alfredo has murdered women outside the state of Texas. He often rants and complains about having to clean up for his family, which includes tossing body parts into the bogs and swamps surrounding his family's home, he also bickers with his brother Tex, who explains that after Alfredo lost his job at the local slaughterhouse, he became insane. In one of his bizarre rants, Alfredo refers to his brother Leatherface as "stupid fuck-face". Alfredo also runs the Last Chance Gas Station, which he apparently inherited from his eldest brother Drayton, after his death in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. In Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, Alfredo serves as the film's antagonist and is killed when, attacking Michelle with a sledgehammer in his pickup truck, she grabs his shotgun lying on the truck's floor and blasts him, his last words being "What are the chances a brainless bitch like you knows how to use that thing?". It is revealed by his brother Tex, that Alfredo worked at the slaughterhouse, but like the rest of his family, he lost his job and went insane. The Leatherface comics depict Alfredo - drawn with an eye patch for unexplained reasons - as even more perverted, insane and dangerous than his film counterpart. Alfredo is killed in the comics' final issue, being forced underwater and drowned by Michelle.[12] Alfredo appears similar in character to his brothers Nubbins and Chop Top, whom he was based on. Also in the Leatherface comics, Alfredo references his brother Chop Top, as Chop Top's famous line "Lick my plate!" is seen spray painted on Alfredo's gas station. He is portrayed by Tom Everett.

Anne Sawyer

The mother of Leatherface and the rest of the Sawyer brothers, Anne is a bitter, aged woman who uses a wheelchair full-time and also has an electronic voice box, possibly from a tracheotomy. When Benny begins to blast the families' house with an automatic rifle, Anne dies after taking several shots to the chest as Tech watches on in horror. Anne's role is expanded upon in the Leatherface comics, which depict her as a stereotypical kindly old woman, capable of speaking under her own power and is also shown to be more dangerous than in the film. She's never referred to by name in the film, being called simply "Mama," instead. Mama meets her demise in the comics when her face is smashed in by Benny, who she was holding at gun point, using his automatic rifle.[12] In the film, Anne mentions that she neutered herself and Grandfather. She is portrayed by Miriam Byrd-Nethery.

Babi Sawyer

Babi is Leatherface's daughter, apparently conceived from the rape of one of his victims. She carries around a dead infant as a doll, which she refers to as "Sally" (a possible reference to Sally Hardesty). In both the rated and unrated versions, her fate is unrevealed. In an alternate ending, she's seen at the end in the back of the Sheriff's car, probably arrested, however, her hands weren't cuffed. In the comics based on the film, no reference is made to Babi being Leatherface's child, with her appearing to be just another one of his relatives, possibly Leatherface, Tex, Tink, and Alfredo's younger sister. She is portrayed by Jennifer Banko.

Vilmer Slaughter

Vilmer Slaughter features as a fictional character and main antagonist in the 1994 film Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation: actor Matthew McConaughey portrays him.[13]

The series presents Vilmer as a rage-filled, psychopathic sadist and head of a family of serial killers, which includes two brothers: the excitable Walter Slaughter and the chainsaw-wielding transvestite known only as Leather (who is never addressed as Leatherface in the film). Vilmer is accompanied by his lover Darla, a married woman who, while independently minded, often suffers abuse at Vilmer's discretion. Vilmer and his family live in an old dilapidated farmhouse. Vilmer drives around in an unidentified rural Texas town in his tow truck hunting down fresh victims to bring back to his house. He wears a custom-built mechanical leg brace made from a hodgepodge of hoses, metal rods and electrical devices. He operates the brace's locomotive controls with several television remote controls, which he keeps tucked away inside of his pants pocket. The nature of Vilmer's leg injury is never revealed, but according to Walter, he has been shot and run over several times throughout his life.[13] The leg brace itself can be used as a weapon, as it is very powerful, though his main weapon is a Buck knife. Vilmer is seen to share several common traits with his other crazed siblings, besides the general insanity that runs in his family. Vilmer practices self mutilation like his brothers the Hitchhiker and Chop Top, and Vilmer, like brother Tech/Tinker, and Chop Top for that matter, uses a truck to terrorize people and has an unnatural, man-made, metallic accessory on his body (in this case it's Vilmer's robotic leg, like Chop Top's metal plate and Tech's hook hand). Vilmer's mother Mama and his brother Leatherface also have unnatural accessories in the third film, Mama is a full-time wheelchair user and has an electrical voice box, Leatherface has a metal knee brace on, to presumably help his leg injury from the first film. Whether or not these traits were intentional or accidental has never truly been elaborated on, though they likely are somewhat intentional, as Vilmer was originally set to be the Hitchhiker, but when Edwin Neal turned down the role, the character became Vilmer. Vilmer also works for a shady powerful group called the Order of the Illuminati, which according to Darla, conducts numerous political assassinations, including the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Vilmer is killed by a low flying plane while he and Leather chase after a victim.

Walter Edward "W.E." Slaughter

Walter Edward Slaughter appeared in Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation. He was portrayed by Joe Stevens.[13] He is referenced in the 1990 film Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, but under a different name, W.E. Sawyer, and was said to have been the only living member, if any, of his family to have been caught and brought to justice, and died in the gas chamber as his execution in 1981, being the only proof that the mad cannibal family Sally Hardesty "babbled a mad tale" about was real. His 1981 death is ignored, and his last name is different in Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation.

In the 1994 film Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, a character named Walter Edward Slaughter appears as a main antagonist. A relative of the Slaughter family, Walter, like them, is an agent for a powerful shady government organization who has the family forcibly employed for the purpose of terrorizing society. His fate in the film is left ambiguous, as his head is bashed with a hammer by the increasingly unstable Vilmer Slaughter and he does not appear again, leading to the possibility the attack could have killed him, or at least incapacitated him.[13]

Despite his somewhat stereotypical redneck appearance and general insanity, Walter Edward Slaughter (who is nicknamed W.E. by Vilmer and Darla) is depicted as being fairly educated and highly cultured, continually quoting famous historical figures and works of literature, even while torturing people. He often bickers with Vilmer's wife Darla, stating that before she entered the family, it was Walter who "put things together", referring to the murders. Walter appears to own a gas station/country store and an old pickup truck. Walter also favors a cattle prod while torturing people, and his brother Leatherface for that matter. During dinner, Walter is seen talking to his mute Grandfather about the decline of family values.

According to the original 1974 film's art director Robert A. Burns on the audio commentary for the special edition DVD, that the gas station/barbeque stand owned by Jim Siedow's character the Old Man, was named "W.E. Slaughter's" by Tobe Hooper & Kim Henkel as a joke. The sign is bearly visible in the original film as it is seen only in long shots and no close ups.

Darla Slaughter

Vilmer's apparent girlfriend who appears in Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation. She routinely suffers abuse and domestic violence at Vilmer's hands. Darla is one of the more sane members of the Slaughter family. She works as a local real estate agent with her office inside a small trailer near her home and frequently contacts Vilmer and his brother Walter over the telephone to tip them off as well as assist them with tracking down and capturing or killing would-be victims that pass by her office. She appears highly disgruntled under Rothman and Vilmer's control and is hinted at once having a normal life, making references to another husband living elsewhere.[13] She also informs a group of teens (her family would later capture) that she had breast implants. After Walter 'W.E.' Slaughter comes to her office to assist her in kidnapping a fleeing hostage named Jenny, Darla admits to owning a gun. In the movie, Darla also speculates that her lover Vilmer is from outer space and that either Vilmer or his employers has implanted a device in her head which will kill her. Darla is also the one who explains the Sawyers' backstory to their captive Jenny, telling her that the family belong to a secret group, which has been assassinating people for hundreds of years, including John F. Kennedy. She is portrayed by Tonie Perensky.

Bear Sawyer

Bear Sawyer appears in the opening scene of Texas Chainsaw 3D, portrayed by David Bell. He stands with a shotgun alongside Boss Sawyer inside the Sawyer house when Sheriff Hooper arrives. He agrees with Boss' suggestion that they should just give Jedidiah (Leatherface) to the sheriff. He even comments that Leatherface is retarded. He is burned to death by the residents of Newt led by Burt Hartman, along with other relatives in the house.

Boss Sawyer

A member of the Sawyer family who appears in the beginning of Texas Chainsaw 3D portrayed by Gunnar Hansen, who portrayed Leatherface in the first film. Boss sits inside the Sawyer house with a shotgun when Sheriff Hooper arrives to arrest Leatherface. Boss tries to convince Drayton that they should just give up Leatherface. When Drayton argues that he is family, Boss retorts that Leatherface is "simple" and not right "for a Sawyer." Drayton gives in, and Boss yells out to Hooper that they are bringing him out and asks that "Jed gets a good lawyer." Before they can bring out Jedidiah, however, residents of Newt led by Burt Hartman arrive and burn the Sawyer house to the ground, killing Boss and other relatives.

Verna Carson-Sawyer

Verna Carson Sawyer is the mother of Loretta Sawyer and grandmother of Edith Rose Sawyer aka Heather Miller. She is portrayed by Marilyn Burns, who also portrayed heroine Sally Hardesty in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

Loretta Sissy Sawyer

Loretta Sawyer is the birth mother of Edith Rose Sawyer/Heather Miller. She is portrayed by Dodie L. Brown in Texas Chainsaw 3D.

Heather Miller/Edith Rose Sawyer

Heather Miller is the main protagonist in Texas Chainsaw 3D and also the long lost cousin of Jed Sawyer / Leatherface. She is portrayed by Alexandra Daddario. On August 19, 1973, she is shown as a baby when the townspeople of Newt, Texas led by Burt Hartman against the sheriff's horror shoot out the house killing nearly all the Sawyers and burn down their house with a Molotov cocktail. Killing all but "Leatherface", Loretta Sawyer and her illegitimate baby (Edith Sawyer) who managed to sneak out, Loretta shot and dying is found by one of the townspeople who takes baby Edith for his own and immediately kills Loretta with a kick to the head.

Verna dies, leaving her vast estate to Edith Sawyer, now "Heather Miller" who she tracked down years before but decided would be safer away from Newt, Texas. Heather, angry at her abusive adoptive parents, decides to go to Newt with her friends and discover her history. Heather enters the mansion and starts looking around, until Leatherface comes out and kills her friends. He chases Heather all the way to a carnival.

She is captured by Burt Hartman (now the mayor) and used as bait for Leatherface. When he finds her, he discovers Heather is his cousin thanks to a mark on her chest in the shape of the Sawyer family's symbol and immediately tries to save her from Burt Hartman's vendetta. He is caught and beaten brutally by Burt Hartman and Ollie (another one of the men that killed his family). Heather decides that Leatherface is her best chance of survival and saves him. After Hartman's death they walk back home where Heather reads the letter left by Verna stating the mansion and all the money is hers and warning her about the danger of being a Sawyer and that downstairs lives her only surviving relative "Jed". It also says to take care of him and that he will protect her. She decides to stay by going down to the cellar and taking Jed's tray to make him dinner.

In a post credits scene, Heather's abusive adoptive parents, come to the house in an attempt to weasel her inheritance. They wait by the door until Leatherface comes out with his chainsaw to kill them.

The Hewitt Family

Thomas Brown Hewitt / Leatherface

In the remake series, Leatherface is named Thomas and lives with his adoptive family, the murderous Hewitts, he is portrayed by Andrew Bryniarski. In this series his family never refers to him as Leatherface, but by his real name. He is also seen taking off his skin masks, which never happened in the original series. His face is revealed to be disfigured by a facial disease. His remake family, the Hewitts, includes his mother Luda Mae, his uncle Monty, his older brother/"uncle" Sheriff Hoyt, and three other members, whose roles have never been explained, like his apparent sister Henrietta, the Tea Lady, a morbidly obese, older woman obsessed with tea, who lives with Henrietta in a small trailer on the Hewitt property and a possible nephew named Jedidiah, a little boy who does not take part in his family's evil exploits. In this series, Leatherface is more of a sadistic serial killer who wants revenge on teenagers than a baby-like retarded man under his family's control, which the original series portrayed him as. Leatherface/Thomas and his family use torture murder and cannibalism as their modus operandi. The Hewitts also live in a different home than the Sawyers, who lived on a farm, whereas the Hewitts live on an old plantation. Also, the young children and babies taken from victims are kept by Henrietta and the Tea Lady, who raise them up as Hewitts. In the comics based on this series by Wildstorm, Leatherface has two more cousins, the demented Ezekial "Zeke" Hewitt and his simple minded, childlike brother Shiloh Hewitt. In The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, Leatherface's first known murder is that of his abusive boss, however this murder is different from others he will later commit, as this murder was a crime of passion, but it is Leatherface's psychotic brother/uncle Sheriff Hoyt who later introduces Leatherface and the rest of his family to the art of murder, which according to the end of Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, claims the lives of thirty-three people. Unlike the first four films he is not shown as a cross dresser.

The Butcher

An unnamed character (simply called "The Butcher") similar to the Hitchhiker in both mannerisms and appearance appears in the one-shot comic book The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Cut! by Wildstorm, which takes place in the remake continuity of the films. A member of the Hewitt family and brother to Leatherface and an unnamed, Drayton Sawyer-esque character (simply called "The Cook"), the Hitchhiker look-alike utilizes a sledge hammer and bolt stunner as his weapons. In the comic, the character terrorizes and murders two members of a group of teenagers seeking to make an amateur film about the Hewitt family murders, and near the end of it, aids his siblings in slaughtering the film project's director in a manner similar to livestock.[18]

Sheriff Hoyt / Charlie Hewitt Jr.

Charlton "Charlie" Hewitt, Jr., a.k.a. Sheriff Winston Hoyt appears as Leatherface's foster brother in the 2003 remake of the 1974 film The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and its prequel The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning. He is portrayed by Golden Globe nominee Ronald Lee Ermey.

A POW during the Korean War, Charlie Hewitt is forced into cannibalism to survive, as rations are extremely scarce. Each week, someone has to be killed and eaten. Charlie apparently grows to like the taste of human flesh and later introduces the grisly practice to his family, the Hewitts, who also start to like the taste of human meat.[19]

Charlie, armed with a shotgun, shoots and kills the local sheriff, Winston Hoyt at point-blank range during the sheriff's attempt to apprehend his adopted brother, Thomas for murdering his boss at the meat factory. Charlie then takes on the identity of the murdered sheriff, who was the last member of law enforcement left in Travis County, as evidenced by his immediate statement: "Shit. I just killed the whole fuckin' sheriff's department." He uses this new identity to lure teenagers off the road where they meet Leatherface and his family to be killed and eaten.[19] As he guides his family's killing spree, Charlie/Hoyt himself becomes a serial killer and begins to use torture murder as he and his family capture victims they have hatred for. Hoyt is arguably one of the driving forces behind Leatherface's cannibalism and murders, assuring Thomas that the butchery of human beings is no different from the slaughterhouse: "Meat is meat, and bone is bone". Later, Hoyt is present during Leatherface's first chainsaw murder, urging him to go forward and cheering him on at the same time.[19] A gruff, perverse, foul mouthed, mean-spirited bully, who often uses false arrest and police brutality (usually with his police baton) on young adults, whom Hoyt hates and looks at as dope smoking, hippy protesters, Hoyt not only makes no effort to conceal his contempt for everyone around him, he seems to revel in it. For example, when he is called to investigate the suicide of a young girl in the first film, he leers at the corpse and cracks jokes about his predilection for "copping a feel" on dead female bodies.[8] He's killed in the remake when the only survivor, Erin runs him over repeatedly in his own police car while escaping from the Hewitts. Hoyt, like the rest of his relatives, has a sick sense of family pride and a strong hatred of outsiders. Apparently, either due to the complicated relationship between Hoyt and Leatherface, or the fact that Hoyt does not accept him as a "true" brother because of them not being biologically related, Hoyt views Leatherface as his nephew rather than his brother. In the Texas Chainsaw Massacre comics, Hoyt refers to himself as "Uncle Charlie" and encourages a young Leatherface's murderous impulses, "Uncle" Charlie even shoots and kills a bully who Leatherface recently attacked and was skinning/flaying alive, after the bully assaulted Leatherface earlier at a swimming hole. Father Charlie's only criticism being that Thomas needs to "learn how to fix 'em proper", Charlie then takes the body and dumps it in a lake. In the prequel, Hoyt refers to Leatherface as his nephew, as does the real sheriff, though both Hoyt and Leatherface view Luda Mae as their mother, and Monty as their uncle. Also, it is revealed in the deleted and additional scenes with audio commentary on the prequel, that Hoyt was supposed to be the Uncle figure in Leatherface's life. Charlie/Hoyt is apparently named after his father, as his mother Luda Mae refers to him as "Junior", and his father, Charlie Sr., is implied at being a farmer, as Hoyt quotes him as saying that "if you want to be a good farmer, you have to keep your livestock clean, a clean goat is a happy goat".

Hoyt also appears in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre comics and is the main character in the comic "Hoyt by himself" which reveals more about his time in the war revealing that during a mission he was captured by a man named Sergeant Chow (the main villain of the book) Chow locks Hewitt up in a POW camp and feeds him the remains of several dead prisoners there, causing his addiction to human meat, one day Hewitt kills Chow with the bone of one of the prisoners he ate before using his shotgun to escape the camp, he goes defunct and returns home to the Hewitt house where he convinces his family who are too poor to buy any food to commit to homicidal cannibalism. In Avatar Press' The Texas Chainsaw Massacre comics, set between the events of the first film and The Beginning, Hoyt regularly appeared, most often having unwary travellers venture to the Hewitt home where he and family would butcher them. Hoyt is depicted as exceedingly sadistic in the comics, regularly mocking and torturing victims to the point of mutilating them, justifying his actions under a "they got what they deserved"-esque pretense, as shown when he forces an escaped convict and drug dealer to snort cleaning chemicals. Of note, the Avatar Press comics have Hoyt referred to by the name Junior by his family. In the Wildstorm comics, a character very similar to Hoyt appears, he is named "Hank" and is a murderous slaughterhouse worker. When a cameraman and newswoman came to interview him and other butchers about the murderers, he gave them a graphic tour of the slaughterhouse, showing them various animals being killed and how the meat was rendered. Later, when one of their crew went missing, the two went back inside only for Hank to reappear and attack them. After knocking them both out with a cattle-prod, Hank proceeded to torture and ultimately murder the cameraman in the same exact way that the animals were prepared (by slitting the throat and letting the blood drain, and then tossing him into a vat of scalding hot water before 'rendering' the meat) while the newswoman watched. The newswoman managed to escape, with Hank in hot pursuit. He was stopped dead in his tracks by FBI Agent Baines, the uncle of Pepper (one of Leatherface's victims from the remake film). Believing Hank to be responsible for his niece's death, Baines managed to find a stray chainsaw and engaged the slaughterman in a chainsaw duel. Although Baines was wounded by Hank's weapon, Baines gained the upper hand and managed to dismember and ultimately kill Hank. Although Hank is never identified as Hoyt, he did bear a strong resemblance to the character leading some to believe that he was in fact the sheriff from the remake films. When artist Wes Craig was asked, he responded by saying while he wouldn't confirm whether or not Hank was Hoyt, that the similarity between the two characters was indeed intentional. " I don't really want to say if that was Hoyt or not, it might have been him, might have been his twin, who knows (okay I know but I'm not telling). But yes it was supposed to look like Hoyt. " said Craig.

The Cook

A character very similar to Drayton Sawyer, in both appearance and mannerisms, appears in the Wildstorm comics continuation of the remake series, though his specialty is not chili, but ribs. He is referred to as The Cook (real name unknown), and is one of the modern members of the Hewitt family. He lives in the Hewitt household in Travis County with Leatherface and an unnamed butcher. As his title suggests, he specializes in food preparation and often attends the annual "Meatfest" event. At Meatfest, the Cook offers guests a sampling of his "Texas beef ribs", which are presumably made from people, not cattle. In the comic "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Cut!", which took place in 2007, the Cook met an amateur film maker named Mike who wanted to make a movie based on the famous Hewitt murders of 1974. The Cook invited Mike and his three colleagues to the Hewitt house though they were unaware that he was actually one of the cannibal family members. The Cook's family members, the Butcher and Leatherface killed the four film enthusiasts whereupon they were taken into the family slaughter room. The Cook was last seen attending Meatfest '08, once again serving up his special ribs.

Luda Mae Hewitt

Luda Mae Hewitt appeared in the 2003 remake and its prequel, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning. She was portrayed by Marietta Marich. She is the head of the Hewitt family and the main antagonist of the remake continuity.

Luda Mae Hewitt is the matriarch of the Hewitt family and the mother of Sheriff Hoyt. She found the young baby who would later become Leatherface abandoned in a dumpster, and took him in to raise him as her son, naming him Thomas Brown Hewitt.[19]

Luda Mae runs a local butcher shop in Texas, selling meat from the people her son Hoyt captures and her adoptive son Thomas kills and cuts up, and is the first member of Leatherface's family that the teenaged protagonists meet in the first film. Unlike in the original 1974 film, in which Leatherface's family was somewhat abusive to him, Luda Mae is fiercely protective of him. Part of her hatred towards the teenagers is due to the abuse that her deformed, mute, intellectually disabled son suffered as a child at the hands of bullies.[20] On the commentary for the DVD release the writers revealed a cut plotline that, prior to the prequel's continuity, involved Leatherface's abusive father locking him in a woodshack for three years. Once her husband dies, Luda Mae vows that she had stood by long enough and decides to look after her son and take responsibility for his shortcomings.[21] Though Luda Mae states that she "never had a little girl", she appears very close to the character of Henrietta, leading to the possibility that she is her mother, or at the very least related. She also appears very close to the obese character of the Tea Lady. Like the other members of her clan, Luda Mae has a deranged sense of family pride.

Marich has commented that "Luda Mae is the matriarch of what I like to call the 'killer brood'. I always make up a personal history of characters I play, so I suspect that Luda Mae was a homeless young woman who had to make her own way during the Depression. When she finds Thomas, she takes him home, even though he's disfigured and hideously ugly, and protects him as much as possible from the cruel people he encounters and the world at large. That's her main purpose, and the only reason Luda Mae sticks around".[22] In the prequel, she, with the rest of the Hewitt family, are discovered to be cannibals, something only implied in the first film.[19] Like the mother of real killer Ed Gein (whom Thomas is based on), Luda Mae appears to have religious fanatic beliefs, which are seen when the Hewitts inform a captive that their murders are redemption for the victims' sins, and when Luda Mae demands that Hoyt say grace before every meal. Luda Mae is also seen still wearing her wedding ring.

Luda Mae is a prominent character in Wildstorm Comics's continuation of the movies. With the family exposed after the events of the first film, the comics finds the Hewitt family living in a series of tunnels in the sewers of Travis County. In the comics Luda Mae has become, perhaps in light of Sheriff Hoyt's death, more of a leader figure to the family than she was in the films. She exhibits more depravity as well (at one point snapping a victim's neck to prepare dinner) but still believes what she does is necessary for her family's survival, and that outsiders don't understand what she's been through and have no right to judge her.

Luda Mae also appears in the one-shot The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: About a Boy. Taking place in Leatherface's teenage years, the story has a concerned teacher named Mr. Hanson meeting with Luda Mae. Hanson tells her about evidence of Thomas' various problems, such as disturbing drawings in his notebooks and skins made from animals he has caught and killed himself. Throughout the conversation, Luda Mae remains apathetic, stating that "There's nothing wrong with my boy". When the frustrated teacher threatens to contact the city about Thomas, Luda Mae retaliates, bashing in the teacher's head with a shovel and killing him, once again proclaiming that there was nothing wrong with her son.[23]

Henrietta Hewitt

The apparent daughter of the Tea Lady, though her exact relationship to the Hewitt Family is unknown. Prior to the events of the 1973 Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Henrietta lived in a trailer with her corpulent tea-drinking mother (name unknown) not far from the Hewitt residence. In the 2003 movie Henrietta adopted/stole an infant from a woman who committed suicide, but the child was later rescued by Erin Hardesty. Henrietta appears as a sickly, homely girl in a dirty house coat and slippers. In the Wildstorm comics, Henrietta along with her mother the Tea Lady, drugged and raped FBI agent Henkel. It was her hope that Henkel would leave her pregnant. Henrietta is present when a grenade explodes in her family's secret hideout. She is not present in the novelization of the 2003 remake, but instead her character has been replaced by the Tea Lady, whose name is revealed to be Henrietta. She is portrayed by Heather Kafka.

Monty Hewitt

Monty Hewitt is Luda Mae Hewitt's brother and the uncle of Leatherface and Sheriff Hoyt. He is featured in the 2003 remake and its prequel. Monty is portrayed by Terrence Evans in both movies.

Monty Hewitt (also known as Old Monty) appears as a bitter, lecherous old man with two amputated legs, who permanently uses a wheelchair. After Sheriff Hoyt kills a biker's girlfriend, the biker seeks revenge on the Hewitts and attacks Monty by shooting him in the leg with a .357 magnum. As a bit of impromptu "surgery", Hoyt orders Leatherface to remove the wounded leg with his chainsaw. Leatherface accidentally nicks Monty's second leg, so Hoyt tells him to remove that as well to lower the risk of infection, and for "balance".[19] Before his accident, Monty worked as a tow truck driver, which is seen in the prequel.

Old Monty has an unnamed pet dog and is the third member of Leatherface's family to meet the stranded teenagers in the first film who eventually become Leatherface's victims (the first being Luda Mae and the second being Jedidiah Hewitt) and he is the one to first summon the killer by repeatedly tapping his cane against the floor.[8] His exact role in the family is still unclear, with various people on the film speculating that he is either Luda Mae's husband or brother (or both), though Luda Mae and her children act like it is her brother. In The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006) Monty shows he has hardly any interest in killing innocent people and also claims he wants nothing to do with it. Yet later on Monty seems to have become a lot more bitter and hateful towards outsiders.[22] It is also implied in the films and comics, that over time Monty became more of a sexual predator/paraphiliac as his family's killing spree began to increase. In the novelization of the 2003 remake, Old Monty is presented as Thomas Hewitt's father and Luda Mae's husband, the nature of his leg injury is also different from the one shown in the 2006 prequel, in the novel, a young Leatherface chops his abusive father's legs off with a cleaver, however it states in the novel that Monty sees his son's actions as the proudest moment of his raising of the boy.

In The Texas Chainsaw Massacre comics by Avatar Press, set between the events of the remake and prequel, Monty appears as a prominent character; the Avatar Press comics depict Monty as somewhat more depraved and vicious then the films, with the 2006 miniseries The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Grind having him strangle a girl to death and later attempt to rape the girl's foster sister, who escapes by punching Monty in the head repeatedly after freeing herself from the restraints he has her in.[24]

Jedidiah Hewitt

The youngest and most sane member of the murderous Hewitt family. Jedidiah is also the grandson of Luda Mae Hewitt and the brother of Leatherface/Thomas Hewitt. He is also Sheriff Hoyt's son. Though he was witness to the atrocities committed by his elder family members, Jedidiah had yet to develop the sense of depraved family pride that governed the actions of his kindred. In the 2003 film Jedidiah helps Erin and Morgan escape the Hewitt's home. His one known act of violence was in the Wildstorm comics, when in defense of his grandmother, Jedidiah stabbed FBI agent Hooper through the chest, then split his head open with a meat cleaver after the agent tried to arrest Luda Mae and the rest of Jedidiah's family. It is stated on the audio commentary for the remake that Jedidiah was supposed to be the child of one of the Hewitts' victims. This may be supported by the fact that he does not appear in the prequel, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, although this could simply be a result of his age, as he appears quite young even at the time of the first film, and the prequel is set during the Vietnam War. In the novelization of the remake, Leatherface murders his nephew with his chainsaw after Jedidiah helps Erin escape the family. This was omitted from the film since it was considered to be too violent. He is portrayed by David Dorfman.

Tea Lady Hewitt

The most mysterious member of the Hewitt clan. She is Luda Mae's younger sister. Almost nothing is known about her, including her real name. The Tea Lady (so named due to her fondness, and seeming obsession with tea) lived in a trailer with her daughter Henrietta not far from the Hewitt household. The Tea Lady is morbidly obese and is often seen sitting down, although she is able to walk. In 1973, the Tea Lady had a brief encounter with Erin Hardesty, which ended with the two women drink spiking the girl with drugged tea. The Tea Lady also has a good relationship with the Hewitts, Henrietta and Luda Mae are very close friends, leading to the possibility that they are related. In the Wildstorm comics, the Tea Lady appears more deranged than she was in the movies. The Wildstorm comics also portray the Tea Lady as suffering from a type of dementia, as she is seemingly unaware of the actions of those around her. Though she bears witness to the Hewitt family's macabre actions, she neither condones nor condemns them. Along with Henrietta, the Tea Lady drugged and raped FBI Agent Henkel. The Tea Lady was also present when a hand grenade belonging to another federal agent named Baines exploded in the Hewitt's secret underground grotto. The Tea Lady was very close to the blast, but it remains unknown whether or not she survived the explosion. In the novelization of the 2003 remake, the Tea Lady is named Henrietta and lives by herself, she is also presented as Leatherface's older sister. She is portrayed by Kathy Lamkin.

Shiloh Hewitt

Shiloh Hewitt is the brother to Ezekiel "Zeke" Hewitt and a cousin to Leatherface. He appears in the Wildstorm Comics as a distant member of the family. He also appears to be mentally deficient, possibly due to inbreeding. He and his brother try to capture victims with his cousins, and also steal a vehicle that Leatherface hides in. He and Zeke later are present when the FBI infiltrates the Hewitt Family's hideout beneath the sewers. During the fight, a grenade is thrown at him and his brother and he throws himself on it, blowing him to shreds.

Zeke Hewitt

Ezekiel "Zeke" Hewitt is the brother of Shiloh and a cousin to Leatherface. He appears in the Wildstorm Comics as a distant member of the family. He is smarter than his brother, but still lacks sanity. He is a cannibal and very vicious to the victims of his family. With his brother, Zeke kidnaps several victims and drives a truck that Leatherface hides in. During the infiltration by the FBI, Zeke is killed by a grenade that his brother tried to cover.

Adam Hewitt

Adam is Henrietta's husband and cousin, though dead, he is the mentioned in the Wildstorm Comic "Cain and Abel" as the father of her sons, Cain Hewitt, Jr. and Abel Hewitt, Jr. There is no mention to how he died, only that he would have loved to meet his children.

Cal Hewitt

Cal Hewitt is the uncle to Cain and Abel Hewitt, and a cousin to Leatherface. He is shown in the comic, "Cain and Abel" helping Abel Hewitt, Jr. hunt and kill Humans for their meat. He is shown to be vicious and remorseless, even going so far as to rape a victim in front of his nephew. He is later killed by the police.

Cain Hewitt-Warner

The twin brother to Abel Hewitt, Jr. and a nephew/cousin to Leatherface. He appears in the comics "Cain and Abel" being the son of Henrietta and Adam Hewitt. In the comics, Henrietta left to find food for her children, but was caught in some trouble and she lost him. He was found and adopted by a normal family who renamed him Cain Warner. However, as he grew, he had a type of shared feeling with his twin brother, when hunting and doing other things. He eventually grew up to become a police officer, but after finding out who his family were and that he had a brother, he rejoined the family.

Abel Hewitt, Jr.

Abel was the twin brother to Cain Hewitt-Warner, the son of Henrietta Hewitt, and a nephew/cousin to Leatherface. He appears in the comics "Cain and Abel" being the son of Henrietta and Adam Hewitt. In the comics, Henrietta left to find food for her children, but was caught in some trouble and she lost Cain. Abel grew up with a shared feeling with his brother, especially during hunting. He was taught how to become a killer by his uncle Cal Hewitt. Eventually, he was found by his brother to be hiding out with the family and convinced him to rejoin the family. He later had a child with his cousin and named him Cain Hewitt III.

Clem Hewitt

Clem Hewitt is an older member of the Hewitt Family, possibly another son of Luda-Mae Hewitt. He appears in the Wildstorm Comics.

Lyle Hewitt

Lyle is a member of the Hewitt Family and a cousin to Leatherface. He appears in the Wildstorm Comics.

Victims

Notes

  1. "Leatherface and Texas Chainsaw Massacre". Thunder Mall. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  2. 1 2 "Ed Gein - The Texas Chainsaw Massacre - The True Story". Chasing the Frog. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  3. Foster, Richard (March 27, 2001). "Call Him Mr. Leatherface". Richmond.com. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  4. Gregory, David (Director and Writer) (2000). Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Shocking Truth (Documentary). Blue Underground.
  5. "Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III Review". Joblo.com. Retrieved 2008-09-06.
  6. "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 4". Joblo. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  7. Parcellin, Chris (October 31, 2000). "Return of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre". FilmThreat. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Tobe Hooper (Director) (1974). The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (DVD). United States: Bryanston Distributing Company.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Tobe Hooper (Director) (1986). The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (DVD). United States: Cannon Films Inc.
  10. 1 2 Nancy Collins (w), Steve Montano (i). "Goin' South" Jason vs. Leatherface 1 (1995), Topps Comics
  11. 1 2 Nancy Collins (w), Steve Montano (i). "A Day in the Life..." Jason vs. Leatherface 2 (1995), Topps Comics
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Jeff Burr (Director) (1990). Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (DVD). United States: New Line Cinema.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Kim Henkel (Director) (1994). Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (DVD). United States: Columbia Pictures.
  14. Mort Castle (w). "Reach Out of the Darkness" Leatherface 3: 21/1 (October 1991), Northstar Comics
  15. Nancy Collins (w). "A Day in the Life..." Jason vs. Leatherface 2: 29/All (November 1995), Topps Comics
  16. 1 2 3 Gregory, David (Director and Writer) (2000). Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Shocking Truth (Documentary). Blue Underground.
  17. Mort Castle (w). "Leatherface" Leatherface 1 (May 1991), Northstar Comics
  18. Will Pfeifer (w). The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Cut! 1 (2007), Wildstorm
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Jonathan Liebesman (Director) (2006). The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (DVD). United States: New Line Cinema.
  20. Marcus Nispel (Director) (2003). The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (DVD). United States: New Line Cinema.
  21. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre commentary
  22. 1 2 "The art of writing and making films: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning". The Writing Studio. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  23. Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (w), Joel Gomez (p), Troy Hobbs (i). "About a Boy" The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 1 (2007-07-18), Wildstorm
  24. Brian Pulido (w), Daniel HDR (p), Bob Koya, Elvis Moura and Newton Barbosa (i). The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Grind 3 (June 2006), Avatar Press
  25. Nispel, Marcus (Director) (2003-10-17). The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (DVD). New Line Cinema.
  26. Liebesman, Jonathan (Director) (2006-10-06). The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (DVD). New Line Cinema.

References

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