Texas Chain Saw Massacre, The (1974)/Characters

Bearded man
The bearded man was a town local from Muerto County, Texas. In 1973, he was one of several people who came to a graveyard after reports began filing in about incidents of vandalism and grave robbing. He sat next to a cowboy while drinking a beer in the back of a pick-up truck. The cowboy spoke with Sally Hardesty about her grandfather's grave and directed her towards the County Sheriff.

Cowboy
The cowboy was a town local from Newt in Muerto County, Texas. In 1973, he was one of several people who came to a graveyard after reports began filing in about incidents of vandalism and grave robbing. He was seen in the early morning hours sitting in the back of a pick-up truck drinking beer with a bearded man. A young woman named Sally Hardesty approached him, inquiring as to whether the grave of her grandfather had been one of the ones that had been vandalized. The cowboy directed her to the County Sheriff, Rhesus Maldonado, who was standing nearby and told her that he would be able to confirm whether the grave had been dug up.

Drunk
The drunk was a town local from Newt in Muerto County, Texas. In 1973, he was one of several people who came to a graveyard after reports began filing in about incidents of vandalism and grave robbing. He was seen in the early morning hours sitting in a discarded vehicle tire with a bottle of whiskey in his hand. Babbling incoherently, he bragged about seeing things and possessing some sort of knowledge about things that nobody else talks about. After decrying the actions of those who laugh at him, the drunk muttered to himself, "There's them that laughs that knows better".

Hitchhiker
The Hitchhiker, officially known as Nubbins Sawyer, was a member of a family of serial murderers and cannibals. In 1973, Sawyer was responsible for robbing graves at the Muerto County Cemetery in Texas, re-arranging the remains of the deceased and propping them up in bizarre positions. The other members of his family discouraged this practice, as it drew too much attention to their more horrific activities.

Returning from one of his outings one morning, he was seen hitchhiking down the road when he was picked up by five youths driving by in their van. They decided to pick him up and learned that he worked at a nearby slaughterhouse. Sawyer made an impression on the invalid Franklin Hardesty, whom he spoke to at length. During their uncomfortable conversation, he borrowed Franklin's pocket knife and cut open his own hand. He then took a photograph of Franklin with his Polaroid camera and demanded $2.00 for the print. When they refused to pay for the picture, Sawyer placed it onto a piece of aluminum foil, spread some powder on it, then lit it on fire. The group pulled off to the side of the road and kicked Sawyer out. As he struggled with them, he withdrew his own straight razor and cut Franklin across the arm. The van pulled away, but Sawyer ran after it. He managed to smear a bloody hand across the side of the van, forming a bizarre symbol.

Later that evening, Sawyer returned to the family farmhouse. His older sibling, Drayton Sawyer, had come home with one of the youths, Sally Hardesty, tied up in a burlap sack. Drayton admonished Nubbin for his actions in the cemetery and beat him severely with a broken broom handle in the driveway.

Sally Hardesty was brought inside the farmhouse where she was tortured at length by Nubbins, Drayton and their psychotic little brother "Leatherface". Under the direction of Drayton, Nubbin ran upstairs to collect their aging grandfather and brought him to the dinner table. They cut Sally's finger open and fed her blood to the grandfather. Sally managed to escape and ran out of the house, but Nubbin chased after her. Hot on her heels, he slashed at Sally's back with his straight razor and followed her onto the highway. Sawyer was struck by an oncoming cattle truck and died instantly. His remains were collected by the family who held onto them for many years.

Ray Robbin
Ray Robbin was a radio broadcast announcer from Texas and was the one who broke the news about graveyard vandalism that took place in a cemetery outside of the rural town of Newt in Muerto County. He described the incident in detail, relaying information about a badly decomposed body wired to a monument as a grisly work of art. In addition, Robbin spoke of more than a dozen empty graves and several desecrated bodies where the heads or extremities were missing. County Sheriff, Rhesus Maldonado, present at the scene refused to supply any further details to the media.

Robbin continued to broadcast other news reports, almost all of which involved stories of violence. One story related to a mental hospital in downtown Atlanta, Georgia that had collapsed. Another story spoke about a murder in Gary, Indiana, where the bodies of a young man and four female children were discovered with their features carved away. The man's dimples had been removed. Another story had to do with a violent uprising along the Amazon in South America involving a government coup. A local story detailed the arrest of a young couple in Dallas, who had their month-old daughter chained up in the attic of a dilapidated house.

Rhesus Maldonado
Rhesus Maldonado was the County Sheriff of Muerto County. On August 18th, 1973, Sheriff Maldonado received a report in the early morning hours concerning incidents of vandalism taking place in a cemetery outside the rural town of Newt. Dozens of graves had been disinterred and bodies had been desecrated. Corpses were found with their heads and extremeties removed; some of which had been stolen, others propped up against monuments in a display of grisly artwork. Rhesus Maldonado refused to comment to the media any further on the matter save to say that no suspects had been identified as of yet.

Sally Hardesty and her invalid brother Franklin came to the cemetery to see if their grandfather's grave had been desecrated. A cowboy directed them towards Sheriff Maldonado, describing him as a heavy man with a flashlight.

Sally Hardesty
Sally Hardesty was the sister of Franklin Hardesty. She drove out with her brother and their three friends to Muerto County to make certain that their grandfather's grave had not been desecrated during a recent rash of grave robbing incidents. While passing through town they picked up a hitchhiker who turned out to be a crazed lunatic. Following a bit of uncomfortable unpleasantness, they kicked the man out of their vehicle and proceeded to their grandparents' old farmhouse. This idyllic summer afternoon soon turned into tragedy as one by one, all of Sally's friends were brutally murdered by a cannibalistic man known only as Leatherface. Sally watched in horror as her invalid brother Franklin was disemboweled by Leatherface's chainsaw. Leatherface chased Sally through the forests until she sought refuge inside a nearby gas station/bait shop. What she learned only moments later, was that the proprietor of the bait shop was related to both Leatherface and the strange hitchhiker they picked up earlier that morning. The old man clubbed Sally with a broom handle, tossed her into a gunny sack and threw her into his truck. He brought her back to the family's farmhouse where she was tied down to a dining room chair made from human remains. Each of the family members, including their ancient grandfather took turns battering Sally with a hammer. Finally however, she managed to wrangle free of her bonds and escape. Leatherface and the hitchhiker followed after her. The hitchhiker chased her out into the road, swiping at her back with his straight razor. Fortunately for Sally, an oncoming cattle truck struck the psychotic maniac, killing him. Leatherface continued to pursue her, but Sally managed to catch a ride in the back of a motorist's pick-up truck and get away.