"Jack the Ripper" had no modus operandi

Serial killers are almost always compulsive killers with very strong tendencies to commit their crimes in particular ways. The modus operandi of a killer is defined by the specific methods and behaviors exhibited during their murders, but Jack the Ripper had no apparent modus operandi. Instead of a single consistent pattern of killing, the Ripper murders were committed in a variety of different ways. The Ripper's first canonical victim, Polly Nichols, had her throat cut and her body wounded, but the next victim, Annie Chapman, was disemboweled. Catherine Eddowes was killed by a small incision to the throat, but the final victim, Mary Kelly, was savagely mutilated. No single method of killing links the Ripper's victims together, indicating that the "Ripper" was not a single individual.