Leatherface is the main antagonist of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
film franchise. Leatherface is loosely inspired by notorious serial murderer Ed Gein who made masks and suits from bodies he exhumed from his local cemetery.
As the title would suggest, Leatherface's preferred weapon of
choice is a gas powered chainsaw which he uses to butcher victims. Leatherface also uses a
hammer to dispatch victims.
In the original film series, Leatherface's real name is Bubba
Sawyer, the mentally handicapped chainsaw wielding member of a cannibal family.
Bubba wears different masks due to an inability to express emotion or a personality. It is shown in the first film that Leatherface is actually afraid of his victims and is killing out of a deranged form of self defense.
The remake series re-imagined the character as Thomas Hewitt, a man who was born with a
skin disorder that greatly disfigured his face. This version of Leatherface downplays the sympathetic side of the original character and moves him into more traditional slasher
villain territory.