Dexter Morgan

About

Dexter is a cunning man who hides his darker side well working as a forensic blood analyst

Personality

When Dexter was three years old, he and his brother Brian, who would later become a serial killer himself, witnessed their mother being murdered by a drug dealer with a chainsaw. From an early age, Dexter began killing and dismembering animals. His adoptive father, Harry (a homicide detective), realized that Dexter had the potential to become a serial killer. After attempts to curb Dexter's violent tendencies failed, Harry concluded that Dexter's urge to kill could not be suppressed—only channeled. Making the best of a difficult situation, Harry decided to train Dexter as a vigilante, to hunt and kill only other murderers (arguably making society safer). To avoid arrest, Dexter follows a set of rules known as the Code of Harry. The irony of Dexter's life is that he worked closely and amicably with homicide detectives and forensic specialists. Dexter himself, as a blood spatter analyst, collected, processed, and analyzed evidence for the Miami Metro Police Department. He often used his access to police databases or tampered with evidence for his own purposes. Dexter typically disposes of his victims by dismembering them, placing the parts into black trash bags, and dropping the bags from his fishing boat into the ocean. Scuba divers discovered the bodies of eighteen of his victims. Due to the location where the bodies were found and the fact that they were cut into pieces, the media dubbed the unknown killer "The Bay Harbor Butcher"—a nickname Dexter despises. To maintain a normal appearance, Dexter dated and later married Rita, with whom he had a son named Harrison. His attempts to balance his family and professional life ended in tragedy when he discovered that Rita had been murdered by Arthur Mitchell, the prolific "Trinity" serial killer, whom Dexter had killed before making this discovery. Dexter appeared genuinely devastated by Rita's death. He flashed back to his own childhood trauma before picking up Harrison and carrying him away, just as Harry had done with Dexter. Dexter is a tall, handsome Caucasian man in his mid-30s with auburn hair and a few beauty marks. His hair length varies slightly throughout the series. It is shortest in Season One and longest in Seasons Two, Three, and Four. Dexter usually sports a "five o'clock shadow" beard, although in the title sequence ("Morning Routine") from Episode Two onward, he is shown shaving his neck—with a drop of blood falling into the sink. Depending on Dexter's age and the actor portraying him, his eye color changes between brown, hazel, blue, and green. Dexter, both in the novels and the television series, favors the Cuban style of khakis or light-colored linen trousers, along with rayon or linen guayabera-style shirts. He also wears polo shirts, t-shirts, jeans, athletic pants, and shorts. For work, he typically wears a collared, button-down shirt and often a lab coat. Boat shoes are his preferred footwear. **Hunting Outfit** When stalking a target, Dexter wears a military-inspired green (the manufacturer calls it "Army Green") four-button Henley. He also wears brown cargo pants and boots resembling WWII paratrooper jump boots. To avoid leaving fingerprints, Dexter uses latex gloves or black leather tactical gloves. Dexter no longer wears his hunting outfit during *New Blood* or *Resurrection*, typically opting for his normal clothes instead during this period. **Kill Attire** Dexter's kill attire consists of coveralls and a dark-colored bib apron, likely made of thick vinyl. He usually wears a plastic face shield when using power tools. He also wears sleeve guards, shoe covers, disposable gloves, and waterproof boots that match his apron. This suggests he has his own personal protective equipment (PPE). Often, it appears as if he wears his hunting outfit beneath his PPE. At times, he has to improvise. **Forensic Apparel** When processing crime scenes in his lab or working at bloody murder scenes ("Seeing Red"), Dexter wears disposable clothing. This includes coveralls with a hood, gloves, shoe covers (sometimes boots), face shields, masks, and goggles. It should be noted that some of these items are the same as or similar to his kill attire. **Personality** **Dexter and His Mask** *Behind Dexter's Mask* "My name is Dexter. Dexter Morgan. I don't know what made me the way I am, but whatever it was left a... hollow place inside. People fake a lot of human interactions, but I feel like I fake them all, and I fake them very well. And that's my burden, I guess." ~Dexter Morgan ("Dexter") One of Dexter's most important traits is his need for control—over himself and others. Despite frequently feeling the urge to kill, Dexter displays an incredible amount of self-control. To survive, it is crucial that he restrain his dark impulses and adhere to the Code. Additionally, he is highly organized in all aspects of his life. He keeps his home clean and tidy, writes meticulous lab reports, and carefully plans most of his kills. Dexter openly refers to himself as a "control freak." Another trait of Dexter is his sense of superiority. Because he follows a code, he believes he holds higher moral values than the killers he targets. He justifies his actions as "taking out the trash." On one occasion, Dexter even admitted to Hector Estrada, his mother's killer, that he had never killed for ordinary reasons, and he framed his adherence to the Code and his killings as vigilante justice when explaining his motives and dark urges to his son Harrison. However, during his final conversation with Harrison, Dexter realized he could no longer consider himself morally superior to other killers, as he himself now fit the Code and was just another murderer. Dexter can be charming, but he is cunning and a practiced liar. In most cases, viewers should trust his thoughts more than his words to others. Even Hannah called Dexter a "master manipulator." By the time of *New Blood*, where he had been living under an alias and had faked his death for nearly a decade, Dexter was shown to be even more skilled at manipulating others and acting human. Although he used to seem annoyed by small talk and social interactions in the past, he demonstrated greater skill and ease in doing so during this period. Even then, Dexter's facade would occasionally slip, and he would sometimes show the same confusion about others as he had in the past. Often, he engages in pre-murder conversations with his victims. With them, he can share the truth about who he is, knowing they will take his secret to their watery graves. As Dexter himself noted, during his final conversation with Doakes, he only truly got to be himself and open up to those who were on his table.

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