The Hitchhiker, Chop-Top's twin brother, states in the first film that their grandfather (Grandpa Sawyer) formerly worked in a slaughterhouse where he was highly esteemed for his ability to manually execute cattle at quick speeds.
The Sawyer family began killing people for meat to be used in their chili and barbecue, which was sold to the general public at Drayton's Gas Station/Restaurant.
A metal plate was grafted onto his skull at a VA hospital, earning him the name Chop-Top (or Plate-Head, as he was originally referred to in the script).
It is implied that this happened because of his habit of heating a wire coat hanger and picking pieces of skin from his scalp to eat, as he is seen doing throughout the film.
Once he is released from the VA hospital, Chop-Top rejoins his family, who are on the run from the authorities for the murders they've committed, and purchases an abandoned amusement park located in Dallas called "Texas Battle Land" using money he received from the government after being discharged from the military for his injury.
[5] In The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, Chop-Top first appears with his brother Bubba "Leatherface" Sawyer (Bill Johnson) attacking a pair of drunken motorists named Buzz and Rick on a bridge with their pick-up truck.
Stretch finds Chop-Top waiting on a couch in the station and enjoying some music and wearing a Sonny Bono wig to cover his plate.
When Chop-Top and his other brother Drayton (Jim Siedow) discover that Stretch is still alive after finding her in the family's home in an abandoned amusement park called the Texas Battle Land, the three brothers take her captive and decide to let the decrepit patriarch of the Sawyer family, Grandpa Sawyer (Ken Evert), kill her with help from Chop-Top.
Vanita is saved when protagonist Lieutenant "Lefty" Enright Hardesty (uncle to Sally and Franklin from the first film) (Dennis Hopper) bursts on to the scene and engages in a chainsaw duel with Leatherface.
During the celebration of the film's 31st anniversary, Moseley paid tribute to Chop-Top for kickstarting his career stating, "And finally to Choptop, who's with me every day, and without whom I might just be pumping your gas (at least in Oregon)!
[26] A statuette of Chop-Top has been released by Mezco Toyz; the figure is seven inches tall and has twelve points of articulation, and comes packaged with accessories such as alternate weapons and the puppet corpse.
A figure of Chop-Top has also been released by NECA, featuring his iconic coat hanger, hammer, Sonny Bono wig, lighter and razor.