The Reaper (Criminal Minds)

"You should have made the deal."

- Foyet aka The Reaper, before shooting Hotch.

George Foyet, aka "The Reaper", is one of the few recurring serial killers in Criminal Minds, and one of the major enemies of the BAU unit. He is the main antagonist of season 4 and the first half of season 5 and a minor hero as a hallucination in season 9.

He was portrayed by C. Thomas Howell, who also voiced Professor Zoom in "Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox".

Early Life
Foyet was born to an abusive father and cowardly mother, constantly under his father's aimless rage while his mother could do nothing but watch, afraid of her own fate. His fractured mind then formulated a severe aversion of couples in general, even to the point of sexism, and after growing up, his hatred became a compulsive desire to kill.

Ten years before the events of Season 4 episode "Omnivore", FBI Agent Aaron Hotchner and a detective named Shaunessy were tracking down the Reaper to stop his spree. However, once Shaunessy finally found the killer, he made a deal with him to stop hunting each other down, causing the Reaper to go unactive.

Modus Operandi
The Reaper usually assaults couples in highways, killing both man and woman. However, as the BAU tracks him down more and more, his methods become more and more brutal, targeting several people at once, until he finally sets his aim on Agent Hotchner's ex-wife and son.

Tracking down the Reaper
Hotchner and his team return to Boston to find out that Shaunessy is dying, which will break the Reaper's deal. This of course happens as he starts killing again, leaving a single survivor behind, revealed to be George Foyet himself. The team offers him protection from the killer, but he refuses to leave Boston. Hours later, Hotch receives a call from the Reaper, who proposes the same deal he made before, but the agent refuses. Angered, the Reaper steps into a coach bus and kills everyone on board, leaving Foyet's three addresses written in blood on the windows. Agent Morgan goes to the latest address to try and rescue George, but is knocked out by the Reaper, who steals his identity and leaves behind a bullet to taunt the team.

Rivalry with Aaron Hotchner
The team's analyst, Penelope Garcia, crosses references between Foyet and the Reaper, which connects the two and finally allows the team to declare them as the same person. In the meantime, a True Crime reporter interviews Foyet, who holds him a gunpoint once he says the Reaper was found dead. The BAU traces the reporter's cell phone to Foyet's apartment and manages to arrest him, only for him to escape prison by faking a blood loss and getting to the infirmary, escaping through there.

At the Season 4 episode "...And Back", the Reaper surprises Hotchner at his house and promptly shoots him off-screen as the episode ends. In Season 5, Hotchner is rushed to the hospital, although under Agent Derek Morgan's name, an attempt by the Reaper to legally declare Hotchner dead. Flashbacks reveal that the Reaper actually shot the wall next to Hotch and beat him in a struggle, proceeding to stab him 9 times in total to severely hurt him, but also keeping him alive to go after his family. The BAU immediately places Hotchner's ex-wife Haley and his son Jack under US Marshall Service protection.

Final attack and death
The final clash with the Reaper comes in Season 5's episode "100". The team traces down one of the Reaper's aliases, Peter Rhea, and find his apartment empty, although loaded with empty gun briefcases. They go to the home of the Marshal in charge of Haley's protection, but find him on the floor, mortally wounded. As Hotch follows him in an ambulance, the marshal tells him that Foyet took his cell phone and called Haley, posing as a Marshal to trick her into meeting him, telling her that Hotch was killed and they need to relocate, tricking her into going to her own house with her son. Hotch rushes there while Foyet has Haley calling him on the phone, Penelope hacking into the frequency so the others can also hear it. Hotch tells his son, in code, to hide in a hope chest until he gets home, and bids farewell to his wife before Foyet shoots her before everyone's ears. Finally getting to his home, Hotch finds Haley's body on her bedroom, and Foyet behind a curtain, immediately firing at him. However, after he falls, he sees he's wearing a bulletproof vest. Foyet counterattacks, and a fight ensues between the two. The Reaper threatens to kill Hotch's son once he kills him, but Hotch manages to get the upper hand and pin Foyet down, and despite his claims of surrender, Hotch brutally beats him several times as flashbacks go through his mind. The other agents arrive and finally pull Hotch away from the already-dead killer, telling him that "it's over".

Personality
George Foyet is an erratic serial killer, not outside of the usual pattern, but still pretty unique. He is overly narcissistic and cruel, showing absolutely no remorse on his killings, and also takes deep joy in the suffering of others.

Trivia

 * He is one of the few recurring killers in the series.
 * He is considered the show's most hated character.