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| NOTE: This page only covers Brian Moser from the television franchise. For his novel series counterpart, see: Brian Moser (novels). |
| “ | Brian: You remember, now? Dexter: Biney… Brian: You always had trouble saying Brian. Dexter: I have a brother. Brian: A real brother. None of this foster bullsh-t. We're blood brothers, through birth and death. |
„ |
| ~ Brian revealing his true identity to Dexter.
|
| “ | You can't be a killer and a hero. IT DOESN'T WORK THAT WAY! | „ |
| ~ Brian Moser to Dexter. |
| “ | You're the one that needs setting free, little brother. Your life is a lie, you'll never be what you w-- | „ |
| ~ Brian's last words before Dexter slits his throat
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Brian Moser, also known as the Ice Truck Killer or by his false alias Rudy Cooper, is the secondary antagonist of the Dexter television franchise.
He is the biological older brother of protagonist Dexter Morgan. Alongside Dexter, he witnessed the live dismemberment of his mother Laura Moser when he was a child. Unlike Dexter, who was adopted by officer Harry Morgan and taught to channel his resulting homicidal tendencies according to a moral code, Brian grew up neglected in the foster care system, leading him to become an unrestrained serial killer.
In the first season of Dexter, Brian methodically commits a series of murders while leaving cryptic clues specifically designed to draw Dexter's attention, ultimately seeking to reconnect with his estranged brother via dating his adoptive sister Debra Morgan and have him forgo Harry's code.
In his live action portrayal, he was portrayed by Christian Camargo (who also played Dracula in Penny Dreadful, Mr. Aunspach in Student Body, and Henry Tibbs in the Mentalist), and Brandon Killham and Xander Mateo as a child. In Original Sin, he was portrayed by Roby Attal.
Quick Answers
Who is Brian Moser in relation to the main character of Dexter?
What alias does Brian Moser use in the Dexter series?
How does Brian Moser relate to the Ice Truck Killer in Dexter?
Who are the actors who portrayed Brian Moser in the Dexter TV series?
Personality[]
| “ | Brian: Who am I? Dexter: A killer without reason or regret. You're free. |
„ |
| ~ Dexter describing Rudy's personality |
Before the tragic death of his mother, the flashbacks shown throughout Season 1 demonstrate Brian as a fairly normal and typical boy. He takes a protective role over his brother Dexter and also shares a close bond with both him and their mother. However, any sense of normalcy in Brian's personality was soon removed after the brutal death of his mother, which he witnessed alongside Dexter. As a result of this event, Brian was forever changed, becoming a sociopath with no regard for human life, as well as developing an almost primal urge and instinct to murder others, not unlike his brother.
Despite this, Brian differs from his brother in multiple ways. Most notably, Brian, who was not raised with any form of moral code, kills indiscriminately and does not have any moralistic intent with his killings beyond satisfying his own urges. He later claims Dexter's use of Harry's code is him living a lie. He shows zero care for anyone alive other than Dexter, notably mocking Debra's love for him after she discovers his true identity, and jokingly thanking a man he killed for "lending him his car." In addition, Brian is considerably more egotistic and narcissistic than his brother. He views the two of them as having been "born free" of all that's human due to their shared trauma, and takes great pride in his work as a serial killer. He is seemingly insulted when the police think that Neil Perry is the actual Ice Truck Killer, and later tells Debra that he feels disappointed about letting mint wrappers be found at one of his crime scenes, claiming that his mistakes haunt him.
Brian is also much less socially awkward and gauche than his brother. Brian presents himself as an exceptionally charming and charismatic man in his day-to-day cover life, though only superficially. It's enough to woo over Debra as her false lover, Rudy Cooper, and pretend to be nothing more than a young bingo enthusiast as he reels in Barb Plimpton. The flirtatious Toni Tucci even claims he's "stealing his thunder" in attracting Debra, calling him "pretty boy." His apparently kind and endearing personality makes the revelation that he was actually a terrible serial killer hit especially hard for Debra, and allowed him to stalk Dexter right under the noses of seasoned police officers, with whom he worked alongside as a "friend."
Despite his evil, Brian can also be viewed as somewhat lonely. His desire to reunite with Dexter and make him more like himself, whilst in some part motivated by his promise to his mother to protect Dexter, is also somewhat motivated by Dexter being seemingly the only person who truly understands him. He admits to feeling the same sense of isolation and otherness, and his refusal to let Debra live and mockery of Harry's code is in part driven by a refusal to acknowledge how twisted he is, claiming furiously that Dexter cannot be both a hero and a killer.
Another difference from his brother is their method of murder. While Dexter finds comfort in the sight of blood, claiming it helps to keep him calm, Brian instead drains his victims of their blood and presents their dismembered body parts as presents for the police to find. It is also shown that he has a massive interest in missing appendages, being turned on by a prostitute with an amputated arm and finding career work as a prosthetist.
Biography[]
Dexter[]
| “ | Brian: Dexter. Hi. Dexter: Hey. Debra: Surprise! I know you can't ask for my help, but it's my duty to, you know, help, while you deal with old wounds. Jesus, whatever, I'm here. Dexter: So it appears. Debra: And this is Rudy. Dexter: Hey. Brian: I've waited a long time to meet you. |
„ |
| ~ Brian speaking to his brother for the first time in 30 years. |
Brian is Dexter Morgan's older brother. When he was seven and Dexter was three, they both saw their mother, Laura Moser, murdered and dismembered by drug dealers working for Hector Estrada with a chainsaw, who then left the boys sitting in a pool of their mother's blood for two days inside a shipping container. They were both irreparably traumatized by the incident and essentially transformed into sociopaths with insatiable urges to kill. Dexter was adopted by Harry Morgan, the detective who found them, while Brian was left in the foster care system.
As an adult, he began murdering prostitutes, draining their bodies of blood, dismembering them, and freezing their severed body parts in refrigerated trucks; this earned him the nickname "The Ice Truck Killer." He also murdered his biological father, Joe Driscoll, who was also Dexter's biological father. During his rampage, he learned that Dexter was also a serial killer, and he set out to find him.
Stealing the alias of one of his past victims, he posed as a very charismatic and charming prosthetist named Rudy Cooper, maintaining appearances among colleagues at Miami Metro Homicide. Brian started stalking Dexter and putting doll parts related to his crime scenes in Dexter's apartment. He started dating Dexter's adoptive sister, Debra Morgan, in order to get closer to him. When Detective Angel Batista started to catch on to him, he stabbed the detective in the back, but not fatally.
Brian kidnapped Debra during after falsely proposing to her, intending for Dexter and himself to kill her together as some sort of family reunion while arguing she's not his "real sister." After a long conversation about what Dexter should do, Brian tried to kill Debra, and Dexter attacked him. The police showed up at the hideout, but Brian was able to escape. He showed up later that night at Dexter's apartment intending to kill Debra, but Dexter drugged him, tied him to a table, and slit his throat reluctantly to protect Debra, staging his death to look like a suicide.
He later appeared as a manifestation of Dexter's "dark passenger," advising him on how to kill, replacing Harry Morgan due to Dexter's darkness taking hold. Brian encourages Dexter to kill without the code holding him back, at one point killing Norm, a hotel manager who was holding Dexter at gunpoint, although the gun was likely out of bullets. After a confrontation with Jonah Mitchell, Dexter re-embraces his code and runs Brian over, causing him to vanish and Harry to reappear.
Original Sin[]
A younger Brain Moser appeared in the prequel Original Sin, fifteen years prior to the first season. He approached Dexter in a diner and asks to sit down with him. Dexter politely turned him down, saying he has friends about to join him. Brian said it isn't a problem and leaves, not elaborating further about his true identity and relationship with Dexter.
Flashbacks of an even younger Brian show that he always had disturbing habits, such as pulling the tails off lizards. He also displayed manipulative behavior, such as keeping a toy out of Dexter's reach. After Laura's death, young Brian was shown to be a very traumatized and violent, more so than Dexter, even attempting to suffocate Debra as child. This led Harry to believe he couldn't be taken into their home.
The series expands on Brian's experience in foster care. He endured continuous abuse from multiple families before being transferred to a psychiatric facility. He remained there until age 21, with authorities falsely promising he would be reunited with his brother. During this time, Raul Martinez, whom Brian believed genuinely cared for him, was actually exploiting him by selling his drugs while receiving payments from a security guard. When Brian discovered this and confronted Raul for lying, he was forcibly removed and left alone in an empty room.
After being released from the hospital, Brian revealed to his therapist Paul Petrie that all his apparent progress over the years was motivated solely by the hope of seeing Dexter again. When Paul informed him that Dexter would be psychologically harmful to him and that a reunion was impossible, Brian killed him; thus making him Brian's first victim. Brian then becomes "The NHI Killer" (NHI meaning "No Human Involved"), targeting marginalized individuals as he tried to work out a modus operandi. He killed Martinez, and Blake Kersten and Felix Woodard, former foster brothers who had tormented Brian. Later, he dismembered Barb Plimpton to death with a chainsaw for revenge over separating him from Dexter when they were kids, as well as her repeated insistence that they'd find him a family that was "a better fit."
Harry, having discovered Brian's identity as the NHI Killer, confronted him on a rooftop. Harry pleaded with Brian to leave Dexter alone due to the danger Brian poses to his brother's current life, and that Brian may hate him for "good reasons" but Dexter should not reunite. Brian was resentful and ultimately knocked Harry unconscious, but he still left him with a note written in blood that said, "You're right." He continued to stalk Dexter from a distance in isolation.
Resurrection[]
Brian appears in a flashback to his death as Dexter reminisces with one of the Gemini Killers before killing the man. Dexter wonders what life would've been like if he and Brian had found each other earlier in life and were able to kill together.
Brian's kill table is a part of Leon Prater's trophy collection, representing the Ice Truck Killer in the vault of serial killer trophies. Prater later straps Angel Batista to the table for Dexter to kill, but Dexter cuts him free instead.
After Angel's death, Dexter experiences a hallucination of Brian; characteristically, Brian tells him off for expecting to be able to keep Angel alive and even be a legitimate friend while also being a killer. Brian says he butchered two opportunities to live out his true self: with Brian when he was alive, and with Prater's club. However, Dexter claims he's glad to have killed Brian.
Dexter: The Game[]
Although Brian does not directly appear in the video game, the second level, Dear Dexter, revolves around the department investigating two murders carried out by an unknown individual in which the bodies were drained of all blood - the Ice Truck Killer's M.O. Dexter figures out that the killer used an ice truck to transport his victims, further indicating that the perpetrator is Brian. Presumably, he suffers the same fate as his TV show counterpart after the events of the game.
Relationships[]
Family[]
- Joe Driscoll † (father)
- Laura Moser † (mother)
- Dexter Morgan (younger brother)
- Harry Morgan † (foster father)
- Doris Morgan † (foster mother)
- Debra Morgan † (foster sister)
- Harrison Morgan (nephew)
Enemies[]
- Debra Morgan † (attempted victim)
- Harry Morgan †
Victims[]
| Victims killed by Brian Moser |
|---|
Original Sin[]
Dexter[]
Total[]
|
Abilities[]
- Genius-level intelligence: Brian is a master manipulator and was able to hide who he truly was from Dexter and even James Doakes, who was known for being able to tell if someone is crazy and was able to do the same to Dexter. He was able to evade the entire police department and even briefly framed someone else by forcing him to place the body parts for him by staying out of view from the cameras and pointing a gun at him from there. He successfully killed a man and stole his identity to keep his past a secret. He picked the locks in Dexter's apartment, and is able to completely drain the blood from his victims, which even Dexter said surpassed his own set of skills. Brian is also a skilled prosthetist, being able to make prosthetics very quickly and skillfully. Dexter even complimented his craftsmanship and said "Your work's so good you even fooled yourself."
- Peak human strength: He managed to restrain Dexter without difficulty, and strangled Blake so hard that he cracked his trachea, killing him. He easily carries his victims over his shoulder, and his main method of knocking people out is restraining them and choking them out; he restrained and choked out Debra with little-to-no effort and easily overpowered Raul while younger. He fractured Paul's skull in three hits, easily knocked out Harry in a single blow, and easily knocked out Barbara. He also managed to shatter a small window as a kid without difficulty.
- Peak human speed: He's shown to be comparable to Dexter in terms of speed, as he escaped from a house before the police caught him. He presumably disappeared from the abandoned hospital before Dexter could reach him and blitzed Harry while he was aiming at his head with a gun. He easily attacked his therapist and Barbara before they could react.
- Combat proficiency: Even though Brian never had prior combat training, he demonstrated some skill in combat, he could easily disarm Harry, a police officer, of his gun while younger and was able to hold his own and outright defeat his younger brother in a quick fight by restraining him in a headlock, even though he is skilled in advanced jiu-jitsu and judo.
- Stealth mastery: He managed to stalk Dexter for over 15 years. He broke into Dexter's apartment. He snuck up on Batista. He snuck behind Dexter in order to inject him with his own M99. He escaped from a house circled by police without being caught.
- Weapon mastery: He can wield knives with decent skill. He can use firearms with high proficiency; this was shown when he shot Raul directly in the forehead.
Quotes[]
| “ | Anyone sitting here? | „ |
| ~ Brian Moser to Dexter in Original Sin. |
| “ | You promised me you wouldn't separate me and Dexter. But you did. So, now… I'm gonna separate you! | „ |
| ~ Brian, before brutally killing Barb Plimpton with a chainsaw. |
| “ | Is that why you threw me away? So you wouldn't have to tell your son the truth? That you fucked his mom, forced her to snitch, and sent her off to the cartel to get chainsawed to pieces in front of him. And what about the fact that you buried his only surviving sibling so deep in the system… 'cause then you'd have him all to yourself. | „ |
| ~ Brian Moser confronting Harry in Original Sin. |
| “ | Barbie, be patient. One day we'll share a cold one. | „ |
| ~ Brian answering Dexter's message in Craiglist. |
| “ | I don't often make mistakes, but when I do, they haunt me. [...] You know the one thing I've been dying to ask you? How did you not know who I was? You're a cop. [...] I think a real cop would, um, at least have a sense that she was in the presence of the person she was hunting. | „ |
| ~ Brian revealing himself to Deb. |
| “ | You're trapped in a lie, little brother, the same lie they tried forcing me into. Doctors, therapists, group leaders—the family they were… When Harry found me, all he saw was a fucked-up kid. They all did, so they locked me up. I know what you've gone through all these years—the isolation, the otherness, the hunger that's never satisfied. But you're not alone, anymore, Dexter. You can be yourself with me - your real, genuine self. It takes the breath away, doesn't it? | „ |
| ~ Brian, trying to convince Dexter to join him and become "free." |
| “ | Hey, little brother. Miss me? | „ |
| ~ Brian greeting Dexter as the representation of his "Dark Passenger". |
| “ | Brian: Oops. You did it again. That's what happens when you try to be someone you're not. Dexter: I told Angel to go home. Brian: Batista couldn't go home. He spent 20 years thinking you were his best friend, then another 10 mourning your death. Only to find out you're a murderous psychopath. And you never actually felt anything for him. Dexter: Then why does his death hurt so much? Brian: Because you're still listening to your fake dad, instead of your actual brother. Your blood. I offered you a life with someone who actually understands you, and you killed me. AND, you got a second chance with Prater's little club, and you fucked that one up too. And for what? For people like Batista? Your so-called friend? Whose dying words were, by the way, "fuck you"? Dexter: I'm glad I killed you when I had the chance. |
„ |
| ~ Brian's ghost taunting Dexter after the death of Batista. |
| “ | Good luck. If I had the Bay Harbor Butcher locked in a room full of weapons, I wouldn't open that door for months. So, unless you want to start carving up some Batista sashimi, you're gonna die in here. And your shriveled, emaciated corpse will be Prater's greatest trophy yet. | „ |
| ~ Brian's final taunt to Dexter. |
Gallery[]
Images[]
Dexter[]
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Original Sin[]
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- Director Michael Cuesta advocated for casting Jeremy Renner as the the Ice Truck Killer, and while the showrunners were enthusiastic about the idea, Renner hesitated due to having previously portrayed real-life serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer in the biographical film Dahmer. Ultimately, scheduling conflicts with the horror film 28 Weeks Later made his participation impossible.[1]
- Brian's mother, Laura Moser, painted her fingernails in five different colors. Brian's fascination with this led him to paint the fingernails of his female victims in the same manner, using distinct colors. He painted the nails of a prosthetic hand, a doll's hand, and frozen fingertips, leaving these as clues for Dexter.
- Brian appears to be ambidextrous based on his actions across episodes. In "Shrink Wrap," he uses his computer mouse with his left hand, but in the following episode "Father Knows Best," he mimics playing air guitar in a right-handed manner.
- As a child, Dexter called Brian "Biney" because he struggled to pronounce his brother's actual name correctly.
- In "Nebraska," Dexter's dark side takes the form of Brian, who appears to interact physically with the environment by eating, disposing of body parts in the ocean, and stabbing someone with a pitchfork.
- Brian holds the distinction of being the first person Dexter killed without collecting a blood slide sample, excluding victims from before Dexter began his trophy collection ritual, as Dexter himself says to Brian "You're not a trophy."
- Brian stands as the sole antagonist in the series who shares a familial connection with Dexter.
- He remains the only serial killer character to appear in both the Dexter novel series and the television adaptation. The TV series references him in every season through dialogue from either Dexter or Debra Morgan, with the exception of season eight, which instead includes a visual reference through a Miami Chills ice box in the series finale.
- Brian serves as a dark reflection to Dexter, as he represents what Dexter could've been without Harry's Code.
- At age 7, Brian is the youngest attempted murderer in the franchise, having tried to suffocate Debra as a baby.
References[]
External Links[]
- Brian Moser on the Dexter Wiki
