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NOTE: This article is about the TV series version of Dexter Morgan. You may be looking for Dexter Morgan from the comics/novels. |
“ | Tonight's the night. And it's going to happen again and again. Has to happen. | „ |
~ Dexter Morgan's catchphrase and his most famous quote. |
Dexter "Dex" Morgan, also dubbed as The Bay Harbor Butcher, is the titular main protagonist of the Dexter television franchise.
He is a forensic blood spatter analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department who also happens to moonlight as a vigilante serial killer. While mostly killing people who themselves are murderers, he is not above attempting on people who are unlucky or unwise enough to probe into his true identity. He is also the adoptive son of Harry and Doris Morgan and the adoptive brother of Harry Jr. and Debra Morgan.
He is portrayed by Michael C. Hall, who also portrayed Ken Castle in Gamer, The Bulgarian in Game Night, and voiced Toffee in Star vs. the Forces Of Evil. Maxwell Huckabee, Nicholas Vigneau, and Dominic Janes portrayed him as a child, while Devon Graye (who also played Axel Walker in The Flash) portrayed him as a teenager. In the prequel series Dexter: Original Sin, he is portrayed by Patrick Gibson, who also played Clancy Gray in The Darkest Minds.
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Personality[]
Dexter follows a set of rules taught to him by his foster father, Sgt. Harry Morgan, which Dexter calls "The Code of Harry": only kill people who are themselves killers; be sure a prospective victim is guilty before taking action; and meticulously dispose of evidence to avoid getting caught. This is due to an insatiable desire that he has to kill other people. However, throughout his "normal" day-to-day life, Dexter presents himself as an ordinary and fairly charming individual to avoid detection.
Dexter considers himself detached from humanity and often refers to "humans" as if he is not one himself. He finds children more interesting than adults and is particularly wrathful toward victims who prey on children. He is also obsessed with routines and rituals, and finds great satisfaction in formalistically killing his enemies. Moreover, he is very intelligent, observant, and intuitive, able to reconstitute any kind of crime scene, manipulate evidence to divert suspicions away from himself, and skillfully manipulate people.
Supplementing his forensic expertise, he has been portrayed as an excellent manipulator, practiced liar, cold reader, burglar, assassin, hunter, hand-to-hand combatant, actor, forger, and digital tracker—all necessary to maintain his double life and keep one step ahead of the very department in which he works. Dexter also demonstrated circumstantial knowledge on various other topics, including history, anthropology, psychology, philosophy, architecture, sociology, economics, religious lore, literature, art, law, and criminology. Despite his intelligence, he tends to misinterpret elements in his investigations, which can lead to disastrous mistakes. Moreover, while he demonstrates charisma and the ability to charm or influence others, Dexter still frequently exhibits lapses in emotional judgement and social awkwardness.
Despite dating and later marrying a woman named Rita (which, according to him, is part of his "disguise" as a normal person), Dexter claims he has no interest in romance. He functions as a stepfather and mentor to Rita's children, Cody and Astor, and he tries his best to be a good stepfather to them, especially after the death of their real father and his marriage to their mother. While Dexter initially believes he harbors no feelings for others, he gradually shows genuine concern for his family, colleagues, and loved ones throughout the series, and also shows some protective instincts towards innocents.
Biography[]
Background[]
Dexter was born Dexter Moser on February 1, 1971, to Laura Moser and a man who would later start using the alias Joseph Driscoll. He had an older brother named Brian Moser.
Unfortunately, Dexter's mother was a drug addict. This never affected her love for her boys, but it put her at high risk with certain parties. She met Detective Harry Morgan and began acting as his confidential informant in the Estrada cartel, trying to provide information that would help bring down the drug kingpin.
On October 3, 1973, Laura Moser, her sons Dexter and Brian, as well as three other drug users, were herded into the shipping container CBAN 348 9 by Estrada and his henchmen: Santos Jimenez and Welsh. It is believed that just Santos wielded the chainsaw, as the other two are often seen likely standing guard to prevent anyone from escaping.
The three unnamed victims were all slain by the chainsaw, leaving Laura Moser for last, begging them not to do this in front of her babies. She screamed and cried as they revved the chainsaw, turning then to give a final smile to Dexter. She said to close his eyes, not to look, and that she loved him before Santos finally cut into her, killing Laura in front of both of her sons with no remorse. Santos and his comrades fled the area while Dexter and Brian sat there for two entire days, sitting in blood that would forever change both boys. Brian, who was older, would always remember this experience, but Dexter was shut down emotionally and blocked the experience from his mind.
For the next 30 years, he wouldn't know how to be human anymore. A happy childhood ended in tragedy, creating two boys who would grow up to be serial killers. Only one of them, however, was given the means to control and focus these urges, thanks to the first man on the scene, Harry Morgan. Detective Morgan opened the shipping container door, startled by the absolute carnage inside. He spotted the two children and moved in to pick up the younger, Dexter. As Harry was picking up Dexter, he held on tightly to his brother's hand before it slipped from his grasp, and both boys called out to one another. Harry looked Brian in the eyes and saw (what Brian later claimed in his adult years) "a fucked up kid." Rather than taking him as well, he left the container while Brian screamed, "Please don't leave me, Dexter!".
Adoption[]
While Dexter was taken in at the age of 3, apparently he was never officially adopted until roughly the age of 7. His foster father, Harry Morgan, arrived one day while he was playing with his younger foster sister, Debra Morgan, to present him with a birth certificate that declared him a Morgan. Dexter looked at it with an expression of confusion, saying that he thought he was already a Morgan. Harry smiled and assured him that, to them, Dexter was always a Morgan, but now it's finally official.
First Signs of a Killer[]
Dexter's murderous urges began taking shape when he was ten, and it was Debra who saw it first but didn't realize it. Dexter had taken apart each of Deb's dolls and tried to tell her mother and father. Dexter begged her not to, and he promised to put them back together. She told him that he had to play with her to keep the secret, which Dexter did.
One day, while on the family boat, Harry Morgan asks his son if he is different. Dexter doesn't know what that means at first but learns soon that Harry found out about the neighbor's dog Buddy, who Dexter had buried along with several other small animals. Dexter tells his father that he was a "noisy little creep" who barked so much that it kept his ill adoptive mother, Doris Morgan, up all night. Harry looked at him and said there were a lot more bones there instead of just Buddy's. Harry then asks him if he ever wanted to kill something bigger than a dog, like a person, and Dexter agrees that he has, just no one in particular. When asked why he hasn't tried, Dexter says that he thought his father and mother wouldn't like it. Harry becomes a little teary-eyed and hugs his son, likely at this point wanting to shield him from ever needing to kill someone.
This would, of course, change later in his life, as he witnessed the loss of so much life and the freedom of murderers. Dexter, unfortunately, misinterprets the full meaning of blending in and focuses more on "fitting in," even if that means becoming a bully to a poor boy named Simon. During a soccer game, Dexter as well as several other boys steal the shirt Simon is wearing and play a game of "Keep Away" from him by tossing it between themselves while Simon attempts to grab it. Eventually, when the shirt is in Dexter's possession, Harry grabs Dexter's arm and asks what's going on. He tosses the shirt back to Simon so they can continue their game, and he asks Dexter what he is doing. Dexter replies by saying he is "fitting in." Harry sighs and says that he shouldn't be a bully, that it's wrong, and that people like himself remember bullies, a first step to a felony in his future. He then asks Dexter what he should do, and he replies by saying "Blend in," which means to be a team member, not a bully or a hero. He lets Dexter return to the game after this, smiling as he's proud that his son understood him this time.
Early Adulthood (Original Sin)[]
When Dexter was 21, Harry fell ill with coronary artery disease and was confined to a hospital. Harry spots a nurse named Mary, who kills people by overdosing them on morphine, whereby Harry gives Dexter his "permission" to kill her, which would turn out to be his first kill. Here he embedded several ritualistic qualities in his kills, which he would come to do again and again, such as the strapping of the victim to some sort of long and flat object and the covering of everything in sheets of plastic, but his trademark blood-slide collection would not begin here; only later would he start that particular ritual.
The Blood Slides[]
Many killers tend to keep trophies of their kills. In Dexter's case, he kept a rosewood blood slide box, containing blood slides of every person he killed in his normal, ritualized manner. He didn't collect a blood slide from every victim; this ritual first occurred when he killed his 8th victim, Alex Timmons.
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Post-Disappearance[]
As of 2012, Dexter has since fled his normal, blood splatter analysis/serial killer life in Miami, FL, and has relocated to Oregon to work as a lumberjack. Somewhere, a series of tree logs can be seen being hoarded onto large trucks, with lumberjacks and other workers in the area. One of these lumberjacks is the focus, finishing up his work and returning to his cabin. As he closes the door behind him and sits down, he stares out the window before facing forward. Behind his grown-out beard and flannel jacket is the face of the Bay Harbor Butcher, who closes his eyes for a moment and then opens them, looking at the camera. It's Dexter Morgan, alive and undisclosed.
Resurgence (New Blood)[]
After ten years since the final season of the first series, we discover that Dexter is living a completely new life. He lives in the little town of Iron Lake under the alias Jim Lindsay. With a regular job at a local game shop and a girlfriend who works for the Chief of Police, he appears to have his life under control—until his son, Harrison, arrives and throws everything on its head.
Dexter succumbs to his murderous inclinations after quitting for ten years. He kills the son of a local townsman, Matt Caldwell, after shooting a white deer on reserve grounds. Frustrated, Dexter brings him back to his place, where he stabs him. He dismembers his body and attempts to conceal all signs of the murder. Dexter even assists in the search for Matt the next day while attempting to hide the blood trail. He provides his house as a base for the search party sent out to find Matt.
As the series progresses, Kurt Caldwell realizes that Dexter murdered his son and wishes to exact revenge by killing Harrison, so he approaches him and manipulates him so that he can join his side and kill him at the appropriate time, but Dexter intervenes just as Kurt reveals his intention to kill Harrison. After that, he and his son capture Kurt, and Dexter murders him and tells his son that he killed hundreds of people, to which his son responds that he also saved thousands by his acts.
In the final episode, he kills officer Logan, an innocent guy, in order to protect his own freedom and meet his son; however, Harrison discovers that Dexter killed Logan, and Dexter then allows his son to shoot him in order to overcome his trauma.
Present (Original Sin)[]
A wounded Dexter is shuttled to Iron Lake in the back of a squad car for emergent surgery. After being resuscitated, Dexter reflects on his early career as a serial killer.
Crimes[]
Dexter has committed many crimes, besides murder. All of them have something to do with his status as a serial killer. Some of the crimes are:
- Breaking and entering/trespassing: Normally committed as part of his ritual.
- Stalking: Normally committed as part of his ritual.
- Arson: Burned everything in his storage unit the Shipping container, and the Santa Maria de Loreto church.
- Destruction of private property, public property, and vandalism: He breaks things that annoy him/cause problems with his killing ritual.
- Abduction/Kidnapping/Unlawful Imprisonment/Detainment: Normally committed on victims/threats to his disguise.
- Assault and battery: Normally committed on to-be victims.
- Unlawful possession of tranquilizers and other 'knock-out' drugs: Used for victims.
- Burglary/Theft/Identity Theft/Grand Theft Auto: Occasionally steals possessions of victims; steals a car to catch a killer he was after.
- Numerous counts of moving/stationary traffic violations/Hit-and-Run accidents: Normally committed when in pursuit of victims/people of interest.
- Jailbreak: After killing Sergeant Logan, he grabs the keys, opens his cell, and escapes from jail.
- Unlawful imprisonment: Dexter locks Doakes up in a cage at Jimenez's Cabin in the Everglades.
- Framing: He has had a lot of people wrongly blamed for actions he committed.
- Lying to Law Enforcement: He has lied to the authorities tons of times to cover his and other people's tracks.
- Animal cruelty: Dexter has abused, dismembered, mutilated, and killed a lot of animals in his life.
- Intimidation: He has treated people with threatening behavior.
- False Alarms: He has falsely pulled alarms used by the security and fire departments.
- Torture: He has tortured many people. Most of them are his victims.
- Mutilation: He has mutilated the majority of his victims and others.
- Blackmail: Dexter blackmailed Mitchell into giving him $50,000, or he'll tell people that Mitchell is a pedophile.
- Impersonation: He has made many impersonations.
- Misleading a Police Investigation: Dexter gives the Miami Tribune a 32-page manifesto to mislead them.
- Aiding and abetting: He covered for Hannah McKay, who was a fugitive wanted by the U.S. Marshals after escaping from custody.
- Reckless driving: He drove recklessly when he chased down Trinity and even hit a car.
- Illegal use of firearm: In the episode Nebraska, he used a gun he stole, and then he started shooting it in the street while driving.
- Pseudocide: He faked his death in the final episode of the main series.
- Evidence tampering: He tampered with evidence throughout the series; an example is when he changed the gun on his sister when she killed a criminal.
- Child abandonment: He abandons his child, Harrison, in the final episode of the series.
- Corpse desecration: Desecrated the corpses of nearly all of his victims.
- Property damage: he damaged many properties in the series, like the light projector of Rita's neighbor.
- Privacy violation: he violates the privacy of his victims or people who are close to him.
- Abuse of power/unlawful use of his police database access: he abused his power to get criminals backgrounds and actions to see if they fit the code so he could kill them.
- Death threats: he threatened multiple people that he would kill them by saying that they would see his dark side or the monster like Lila or Hannah's father.
- Sabotage: He sabotaged multiple investigations, like when he withheld information about Viktor Baskov's fingerprints so he could kill him and the Trinity case as a whole.
- Coercion: He was able to get enough evidence to make Miguel leave him alone.
- Fabrication: He made people think that Doakes was The Bay Harbor Butcher, and he killed Stan Beaudry and made him out to be Trinity while using his hammer.
- Psychological abuse: He traumatized Doakes when he killed and dismembered a person in front of him, and he is somewhat responsible for the psychological trauma that got inflicted on his sister when she found out that he is a serial killer.
- Criminal Conspiracy: He planned several crimes with Lumen, Miguel, and even his sister Debra.
- Harassment: He harasses multiple people throughout the series, even his sister in the beginning of the final season.
- Incitement: He encouraged Miguel to kill only people who fit the code, and they killed one person together, and he tried to make Zack learn the code and make him target criminals.
Abilities[]
- Peak Human Strength: He is capable of shattering necks with ease. pushed a guy through a thin wooden wall, broke a wall by slamming his body against it, and decapitated a guy with a meat cleaver. He stabbed Oliver in the neck with a pen, broke Paul's skull with a single hit of a pan, and lifted a man off the ground with practically one arm without struggling at all. Even when he was starting as a serial killer, Dexter had remarkable strength as he decapitated his second victim with a single strike of a machete.
- Peak Human Durability: He has survived vehicle accidents with minimal damage and a strong storm that destroyed his boat. Even in new blood. Despite his old age, he survived being flung out a window, falling on snow many feet away at great speeds; he was then wounded in the leg with a sniper gun and continued on.
- Peak Human Speed: He caught up to a slow-moving vehicle, was so fast that another group of men struggled to keep up with him, was able to disarm a guy before the guy could shoot him, was able to pick up a pitchfork and stab a man pointing a gun at him before the man could pull the trigger, and was also able to avoid gunshots, even when he was past his prime.
- Genius-level intelligence: He graduated from medical school at the top of his class and went on to acquire a degree in forensic science. His official education comprised classes in biology, anatomy, chemistry, and mathematics. He also exhibits extensive knowledge in history, anthropology, psychology, botany, philosophy, architecture, sociology, economics, religious lore, art, literature, law, and criminology. Dexter is well-versed in his specialty and is regarded as one of the best bloodstain pattern analysts around, and his interest in blood allows him to solve a wide range of criminal cases with ease. Dexter learned a variety of abilities in addition to his forensic expertise. He is a master manipulator, a skilled liar, a burglar, a marksman, a hunter and tracker, a hand-to-hand combatant, and an actor. a computer hacker and imposter. Dexter is the most accomplished serial killer in the series, responsible for hundreds of kills before being apprehended. He's also an excellent detective, able to solve complex crimes much faster than most police officers. He was also able to identify the Trinity Killer, something even Frank Lundy, a high-ranking and legendary FBI Special Agent famed for breaking seemingly impossible high-profile criminal cases, was unable to do.
- Master Combatant: High school students practiced advanced Jiu-Jitsu and Judo. Can easily defeat former military villains such as The Skinner and Doakes. Even as a new serial killer, Dexter could match stronger and bigger opponents.
- Stealth Mastery: Has broken into numerous residences, even when they were occupied. He often slips behind his victims and injects them with his M99.
- Weapon Mastery: He can target weak places with his knives and effortlessly defeat professional hitmen, random individuals, and crooks. He is also proven to be reasonably adept with guns.
Relationships[]
Family[]
- Laura Moser (biological mother; deceased)
- Joe Driscoll (biological father; deceased)
- Harry & Doris Morgan (adoptive parents; deceased)
- Brian Moser (biological brother; deceased)
- Debra Morgan (adoptive sister; deceased)
- Harry Morgan, Jr. (adoptive brother; deceased)
- Rita Morgan (wife; deceased)
- Harrison Morgan (son)
- Astor and Cody Bennett (stepchildren)
Victims[]
Dexter has not been entirely based in Miami, Florida. He has killed people as far away as Paris (boarding the same flight, stalking them to an apartment, killing them, then making a return flight back to the States), as well as killing a farmer in Nebraska. Dexter's victims are not entirely guilty, as at one point in his life he had killed an innocent man (the evidence all pointed towards him, convincing Dexter he was the murderer), and this destroyed Dexter on the inside despite having no sense of feelings or emotions.
Other instances are in self-defense and were not planned but rather spontaneous; some of these include the aforementioned farmer in Nebraska, a random redneck in a restroom, the sudden appearance of drug dealers at the wrong time and place, or even putting down a pedophile for taking photos of Dexter's stepchildren. A few of the killings were mercy killings (shutting off life support, spiking a family friend's pie in the hospital due to cancer at her request). Since Dexter had been an active serial killer in the years 1991-2012, he had killed as many as 135+ people (135 confirmed, but believed to be as many as 150).
Victims |
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On-Screen[]Season 1[]
Season 2[]
Season 3[]
Season 4[]
Season 5[]
Season 6[]
Season 7[]
Season 8[]
New Blood[]
Original Sin[]
Off-Screen/Early Cuts[]
Indirectly/By Proxy[]
Total Kills[]
|
Quotes[]
“ | Harry taught me that death isn't the end. It's the beginning of a chain reaction that will catch you if you're not careful. He taught me that none of us are who we appear to be on the outside. But we must maintain appearances to survive. But there was something Harry didn't teach me. Something he didn't know, couldn't possibly know. The willful taking of life represents the ultimate disconnect from humanity. It leaves you an outsider, forever looking in, searching for company to keep. | „ |
~ Dexter Morgan |
“ | I may still be a monster, but I'm an evolving monster. | „ |
~ Dexter in New Blood. |
“ | I really hate that name. | „ |
~ Dexter to Doakes, dismayed at his infamous title "The Bay Harbor Butcher." |
“ | Just following your orders | „ |
~ Dexter before attacking Doakes and capturing him. |
“ | Alright, you got me. I ordered some furniture from Thailand, I was waiting for it to be delivered- | „ |
~ Dexter obviously Lying to Doakes before he is punched and their brief confrontation. |
“ | Harry's first rule was don’t get emotionally involved. | „ |
~ Dexter knocking out Paul |
“ | 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 fake them all, faked them very well. That’s my burden. | „ |
~ Dexter about himself. |
“ | Dating is hard, especially for a serial killer | „ |
~ Dexter Morgan. |
“ | I’m not the monster he wants me to be, so I’m neither man or beast, I’m something new entirely, my own set of rules.. I’m Dexter… Boo! | „ |
~ Dexter burning Tony’s photo. |
“ | I’m the helpful Handyman, how evil can I be? | „ |
~ Dexter Morgan |
“ | Dexter: Well in that case, Sergeant, let me put this in the open for you: no matter what you try, no matter when, no matter how hard you work, I’ll always be a step ahead of you for one simple reason. Doakes: And what’s that? |
„ |
~ Dexter before head butting Doakes and framing the latter for his assault. |
“ | I live by my father’s law! | „ |
~ Dexter to Doakes before killing Jose Garza in front of and scarring the latter. |
“ | An alarm is going inside my lizard brain, the most primitive part that sends danger. Harry taught me to listen to mine. | „ |
~ Dexter to Debra in Buck the System |
“ | Trinity: You’re like a child! Dexter: A child with a big knife. |
„ |
~ Dexter to Arthur. |
“ | Arthur I never took pride in my work Dexter: Ta-Daa! |
„ |
~ Dexter taking Arthur’s blood sample |
“ | Those were the good old days. | „ |
~ Dexter in New Blood, seeing a podcast of his motto |
“ | Benny: I know you! Dexter: I’m the blood guy! |
„ |
~ Dexter preparing to kill Benny |
“ | Sometimes the system doesn’t work, killers fall though the cracks | „ |
~ Dexter to Debra about his vigilante ways. |
“ | I should’ve killed you when I had the chance | „ |
~ Dexter to Arthur Mitchell after saving his son by dragging him |
“ | You’re not gonna die as the tooth fairy, you’re gonna die as a sad old man | „ |
~ Dexter murdering the Tooth Fairy Killer |
“ | Arthur: You're gonna dream of a heaven you won’t see. Dexter: I don’t believe in Heaven. |
„ |
~ Dexter reflecting with Trinity about his actions. |
“ | I’ve never felt love, real love... Until now. | „ |
~ Dexter’s final thoughts before being shot by his own son Harrison |
Gallery[]
Dexter[]
Dexter: New Blood[]
Dexter: Original Sin[]
Trivia[]
- Dexter was top of his class in medical school before quitting and becoming a blood spatter analyst. Original Sin later shows that Dexter had been pre-med when he graduated and was offered an internship with Miami Metros forensics shortly after.
- Dexter is right-handed, as shown by how he holds pens, handles knives, holds syringes, and wears his watch on his wrist. However, when he plays golf, his stance and swing suggest that he is left-handed. There are two possible explanations for this: either his left hand just happens to be more dominant in this activity (it should be noted that there are many athletes in golf, baseball, and hockey who swing left despite being right-handed in all other activities), or he is ambidextrous (although this is uncommon).
- Dexter's character was possibly inspired by real-life vigilante serial killer Manuel Pardo. Pardo was an ex-Miami police officer who, in 1986, killed at least nine people. His victims were drug dealers. As trophies, he had photos instead of blood slides. Pardo was executed in 2012 by a lethal injection.
- However, he was more strongly inspired by Brazilian serial killer Pedro Rodrigues Filho, and the victims he killed were other criminals and prisoners alike, including his own abusive father. Unlike Pardo, Filho remained alive before he was murdered by assailaints in 2023.
- Dexter is an organ donor and has one of the rarest blood types, AB-negative.[1]
External Links[]
- Dexter Morgan on the Heroes Wiki
- Dexter Morgan on the Dexter Wiki
- Dexter Morgan on the Wikipedia