Jon Ryan Schaffer (born March 15, 1968) is an American heavy metal musician. He is best known as the rhythm guitarist and last remaining original member of the Florida-based heavy metal band Iced Earth, which he formed in 1985 under the name "Purgatory". He also sings in his side project Sons of Liberty and plays guitar for Demons and Wizards, his collaboration with Blind Guardian frontman Hansi Kürsch.
Schaffer was originally introduced to rock music at the age of three. His older sister introduced Jon to bands such as Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Alice Cooper and Blue Öyster Cult. In 1979, at the age of eleven, Schaffer attended a Kiss concert with his father. Since then, he has said that this was the moment when he realized what he wanted to do for a living.
Schaffer went to a Lutheran school for five years, during which he developed a lot of anger and rebellion, due to the abusive nature of the pastors. On one occasion, one of the pastors shoved a bar of soap down Schaffer's throat, because the pastor felt threatened due to his refusal to submit, after he could not answer Schaffer's questions about evolution versus creationism. According to Schaffer, this did have an effect on him forming a band, so that he could "prove these people wrong".