Dexter Character Profile: Dexter Morgan

To his friends and family, Dexter Morgan is a somewhat straight-laced blood spatter analyst at Miami Metro’s homicide division. However, behind the scenes, Dexter is a cold blooded killer who satisfies his need by hunting down uncaught murderers, hacking them up and disposing of them along the ocean floor.

In daylight, Dexter’s the guy who arrives at work with a box of doughnuts for his colleagues. He works diligently, but doesn’t draw undue attention to himself. He very successfully fakes his relationships with others, but sometimes drops the ball by not showing emotion when he probably should.

At night, Dexter stalks his prey armed with a syringe full of horse tranquillizers and an assortment of razor-sharp cutting tools. Using his access to police resources, Dexter identifies unsolved crimes and uses his skills to track down killers and administer his own brand of justice.

Family

The only living member of Dexter’s family is his adoptive sister, Debra Morgan. Debra’s a hard-nut cop, but relies on him for advice and support. However, because Debra works for homicide, she is potentially Dexter’s biggest adversary and he works hard to hide his dark side from her.

Harry Morgan is Dexter’s adoptive father. He discovered Dexter at age three at the scene of his mother’s brutal execution. Recognizing that Dexter’s trauma had damaged him forever, Harry taught him a ‘code’ that would allow him to live normally, but also satisfy the overwhelming urges to kill.

Laura Moser was Dexter’s mother. Involved with some shady drug peddling types, Laura was taken to a shipping container at Miami docks where she was butchered by chainsaw in front of her two young boys. That’s right, I said two young boys.

Brian Moser (aka Rudy/The Ice Truck Killer) is Dexter’s forgotten biological brother. He tracks Dexter down and leaves a variety of clever clues that lead Dexter to discovering his true identity. Unfortunately, he also proposes to and then tries to kill Dexter’s sister Debra.

Girlfriend

Dexter’s romantic entanglements don’t fare too well, as he doesn’t have the ability to feel love for the people around him. But his girlfriend, Rita Bennett, is different. Recently liberated from an abusive husband, she’s an emotional wreck and the last thing she wants is a sexual relationship.

This arrangement suits Dexter, because he feels his relationships end at the point where sex becomes involved, because there is no ‘next level’ he can take things to. And the seemingly normal relationship with Rita is another thing which makes Dexter himself seem normal.

Colleagues

The majority of Dexter’s colleagues at Miami have absolutely no idea that he’s a serial killer. It’s the best example of ‘hiding in plain sight’ that you’ll ever come across.

Angel Batista is a big hearted Detective who describes himself as Dexter’s best friend, something which Dexter has other ideas about. Vincent Masuka is his filthy-mouthed colleague in forensics, while Lt Maria LaGuerta appears to have a crush on Dexter. Early on in the series she appears to be quite suggestive with him although he’s typically oblivious to her advances.

I’ve saved the best for last Sgt James Doakes: one intense, take-no-shit cop, and the only person in homicide who recognises that Dexter is not all he pretends to be. Openly calling him ‘freak’, ‘psycho’ and an assortment of other endearing terms, Doakes is the biggest threat to Dexter’s secret.

Kill Methods

Dexter’s preferred method of dispatching his victims is to sneak up behind them and administer a tranquillizer drug that knocks them out. While the victim is unconscious, Dexter prepares the kill room, creating a plastic-coated lab in which to work.

The victim is then stripped naked and strapped to a table with what appears to be cling film or some kind of plastic wrap. When the victim regains consciousness, he will make a short scalpel incision near their right cheekbone and take a sample of their blood as a trophy (he keeps these in a box in the air conditioning vent at home).

Sometimes, Dexter surrounds the kill room with photographs of the person’s victims. He usually has a brief, chillingly calm conversation with his victim before starting to work. After the kill, Dexter dissects the body and takes it away from the kill room in black plastic bags. He takes it to his boat, sails out to the bay and drops the weighted sacks into the water where they settle in a crack in the ocean floor.

Although Dexter is compulsive in his kill routine, he can quickly adapt when threatened and has been known to improvise kills whenever the situation goes against him.