Red John

"Tiger, Tiger burning bright in the forests of the night. What immortal hand and I could frame that fearful symmetry."

- Red John

Sheriff Thomas Mccallister aka "Red John" is the main villain in the TV show ''The Mentalist. ''He is the serial killer in the show that the CBI has been looking for for years. The bloody smiley face is his insignia showing the victim's families and friends that he was there.

Beginning
After the main character Patrick Jane talked bad about Red John in a show, he killed his wife and his daughter as revenge. Now, Jane chases him because of that and believes he can help the CBI lead to his capture.

Fake Red John
In the final episode of Season 3, Red John was believed to be revealed. Jane met him in a food court, planning to find out if CBI director Gale Bertram is Red John's accomplice. However, it is revealed that the accomplice was Craig O'Loughlin. Jane asked Lisbon to phone the number that's seen in the contact list, cause it might be Red John's, then she should tell him what he said. While she does like she is told, Jane watches a man near to him who gets a call, says something and hangs up. Then Lisbon phones Jane, telling him Red John said the same thing.

Jane takes a seat at the table of the man who might be Red John. The man, who is called Timothy Carter, says that he is Red John. He also tells Jane that he wants to quit killing and tells him to stop hunting him, instead he should enjoy life. When Red John wants to leave, Jane asks him how he knows that he's truly Red John. Carter describes how Jane's wife and daughter smelled, then he's shot by Jane.

In the second episode of Season 4, it is revealed that he was an impostor send by Red John, because Red John's blind girlfriend Rosalind Harker who only knows Red John as "Roy" says that he's not Roy.

Relationship to the San Joaquin Killer
Red John was once rivaled by another serial killer called San Joaquin Killer. After James Panzer, the man who was behind the SJK, said that compared to the murders of the SJK, Red John's an amateur, he gets killed by Red John.

Identity Revealed
Red John is revealed to be Thomas McAllister. In the final showdown, Jane choked McAllister to death, ending his grisly rampage once and for all.

Quotes
"If there's one thing I can't tolerate, it's cheap imitations of my work."

- Red John

"As you well know, Patrick, there is no hell. When I die, I won't be punished. But if you really did have a change of heart, what if you and I were friends? Imagine the life we could lead. It's a higher path, Patrick. A nobler existence."

- Red John to Patrick Jane

"But fair is fair, Patrick. You've changed the game, so there's new rules now. Eileen Turner is the first of many. I'm going to start killing again. Often. Until you catch me... Or I catch you."

- Red John's message to Patrick Jane read by Lorelei Martins