Leatherface is without doubt the main villain of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre films, and is a six foot, severely mentally retarded and disturbed individual who likes to wield a chainsaw. Whilst his character name is unknown, his older brother 'Chop Top' refers to him as 'Bubba.' In the original film Leatherface is never seen without one of his human flesh masks on, the reason being either disfigurement or psychological issues. he differs from other movie killers in that he is not so much sadistic and evil, he is mentally retarded and most of the time he only does what his brothers tell him to do. The people he kills and later makes into barbeque,  are sold by his much older brother Drayton sawyer. Aside from Leatherface and Drayton, the sawyer clan includes his two brothers Nubbin and Chop Top (Edward and William), as well as grandpa and grandma.

It is said that much of Leatherface character was based in Killer Ed Gein, who also wore the skin of the victims and of corpses. Edward Theodore Gein was born on the 27h August 1906 and was one of the most notorious killers in U.S. history. the particularly bizarre and morbid nature of his crimes shocked the world, and whilst Gein is only officially linked to two murders it is believed that he killed many others. Police investigating the disappearance of a store clerk in 1957 suspected Gein, and upon entering a shed on his property they made their first horrific discovery of the night-the store clerks corpse. She had been decapitated, and was hanging upside down by the ankles and had been split down the torso like a deer. The mutilations had been performed post mortem, and she had been killed with a close range blast from a .22 caliber rifle. When searching the house authorities found:

• Several heads acting as bedposts in the bedroom
• Skin used to make lampshades and upholster chair seats
• Skullcaps made in soup bowls
• A human heart
• A face mask made out of real facial skin found in a paper bag
• A necklace of human lips
• A waistcoat, called a mammary vest, made up of a vagina and breasts stitched together
• other items fashioned from the parts of human bodies, including a belt made from nipples

Above all, Gein's most infamous creation was an entire wardrobe fabricated of human skin consisting of leggings, a gutted torso and an array of tanned, dead skin maths that looked leathery and almost mummified.