John Doe

John Doe is the main antagonist of the 1995 dark psychological mystery-thriller film Se7en. He is a serial killer bent on savagely punishing those who have committed the seven deadly sins and bring attention to evil in a world that he claims is apathetic.


 * Gluttony: Forcing an obese man to eat himself to death. It is mentioned that a person cannot physically eat themselves to death in one sitting, so Doe eventually deals a heavy blow to the man's stomach, causing the lining to burst, thus killing him. His decomposing body is found in the kitchen of his house at a table lying face down in a bowl of pasta. The word "GLUTTONY" is written on the wall behind his refrigerator.
 * Greed: Arranging a fatal bloodletting of wealthy attorney Eli Gould, who has made a living defending rapists and murderers. The victim dies of blood loss after he is forced to cut away a pound of flesh in payment for the greed he has shown and the lies he has told. His body is found next to the word "GREED" written in blood on the carpet of his office.
 * Sloth: Handcuffing drug dealing pedophile Theodore Victor Allen to his own bed for an entire year, keeping him alive while his body wastes away by injecting him with copious amounts of drugs and medications. The stench of putrefaction was hidden by dozens upon dozens of pine tree air fresheners, and he was forced to wear a gag in his mouth to prevent him from calling for help. When police break into his apartment (believing him to be the killer as his fingerprints were discovered at Eli Gould's office), they instead discover Victor in such a state of decomposition and rot that everyone is shocked when he comes back to life. He has multiple bedsores and his hand was cut off by John Doe to plant fingerprints in Eli Gould's office. He is rushed to hospital, where the examining doctor discovers that the experience has completely destroyed his mind and that he chewed off his own tongue in an attempt to commit suicide. He dies of shock later that night. The word "SLOTH" is written on the wall above his bed.
 * Lust: Kidnapping a married customer at a sex club, and forcing him at gunpoint to wear a bladed strap-on and simultaneously rape and kill a prostitute by butchering her internally. She is found chained to a bed, legs spread open and her internal organs mutilated. The word "LUST" is written on the door of the club.
 * Pride: Mutilating the face of model Rachel Shade - at one point cutting off her nose "to spite her face" and forcing her to choose between calling for help and living with disfigurement, or committing suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills. She chooses to die rather than live without her former beauty. She is found dead in her upscale flat. The word "PRIDE" is written in her own blood on the wall above her bed.

Mills and Somerset eventually track Doe to his apartment, unaware that Doe is out at the time. Doe then comes down the corridor and sees the two detectives at his front door, prompting him to fire upon them. Mills chases Doe out of the building but Doe catches him off guard and aims a gun at the side of his head. Mills is unable to identify the killer as his face is shrouded in darkness, but Doe leaves him alive and disappears.

Later, when Mills and Somerset return to the police station, Doe appears to them (having got blood all over his arms and shirt) and intentionally allows himself to be arrested. The police are baffled as to why Doe would hand himself in when he is two murders away from completing his "masterpiece", but through his lawyer, Doe informs them that there are two more bodies hidden away. He then states that he will show them where the bodies are as long as Mills and Somerset are the only two to accompany him, otherwise he will plead insanity. The detectives agree and Doe directs them in their police car to the location of the bodies. Throughout the journey, Mills desperately and aggressively attempts to understand Doe's reasons for his actions, with Doe calmly stating that God told him to reveal to mankind what an awful and tragic place the world has become.

They arrive in a remote desert area in the middle of nowhere and a delivery van steadily approaches them, alarming Somerset. As he halts the van in its tracks, the driver claims that Doe paid him $500 with instructions to arrive at this location at this precise time to deliver a box. While Somerset looks at the box curiously, unsure whether he should open it or not, Doe tells Mills that he admires him. Though Mills initially ignores this, Doe soon reveals that he also admired Mills' wife Tracy, finally getting his attention. As Mills listens in horror, Doe reveals was envious of his normal life (representing the sixth sin Envy) and went to visit Mills' wife Tracy, before implying that he may have raped her. Afterwards, he decapitated her, and Somerset is horrified to find that the box contains Tracy's severed head. Somerset then realizes that Doe is planning to have himself killed by the hands of Mills (in order to fully complete the seventh and final sin Wrath) to complete his work. Somerset rushes back to Mills in an attempt to prevent him from killing Doe, knowing that is exactly what he wants, but Doe provokes Mills further by telling him that Tracy was pregnant, as she had been keeping it a secret from him. Doe then closes his eyes, awaiting the inevitable punishment for his crimes as Mills (unable to contain his fury of distress over the loss of his wife and potential child) shoots him in the head, killing him, before shooting his corpse multiple times, despite Somerset's objections. Despite Doe's death, his plan still succeeds since his masterful manipulation had prompted Mills to complete the seventh sin. Mills later becomes nearly catatonic and is placed under arrest for the murder of Doe, much to Somerset's discomfort.