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Dexter's Serial Killer Profile

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Dexter's Serial Killer Profile - Dexter Wiki
Dexter's Serial Killer Profile - Dexter WikiDexter's Serial Killer Profile - Dexter WikiSerial Killer Profile

Everything you should know about Dexter (And what the cops shouldn't!)

***WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD!!!***

DEXTER'S CHILDHOOD
Dexter's Serial Killer Profile - Dexter Wiki
Family life: Dexter has no real clear memory of his biological family but was exceptionally close (In his own way) with his adoptive family The Morgans.

His family on both sides consist(ed) of:
Harry Morgan (Adoptive Father)
Doris Morgan (Adoptive Mother)
Debra Morgan (Adoptive Sister)
Joe Driscoll (Biological Father)
Laura Moser (Biological Mother)
Brian Moser (Older Biological Brother)

Psychology and development:

Possible roots for psychopathy: Dexter and Brian were trapped as children in a storage container located at the docks in Miami for two days. Sitting in a two inch deep bath of blood and surrounded by corpses (One of them was their mother). Her murder was something both brothers witnessed. They suffer irreparable psychological and emotional damage. The decapitation and mutilation of their mothers body seems to lend to Brian's obsession and to Dexter's method of body removal.

First signs of psychopathy:Harry realized Dexter had been killing neighborhood animals by discovering a mass grave site.


DEXTER'S TEEN YEARS

Dexter's Serial Killer Profile - Dexter Wiki
Learning The Code Of Harry: Throughout Dexter's teenage years Harry was Dexter's mentor. Harry would teach him the code, a set of rules constructed by Harry for Dexter in order for Dexter to control his urges by killing those who only deserved to die.

According to Harry: "It's not about vengeance, not about retaliation, or balancing the books -- it's about something deep inside."

Learn more about The Code of Harry


Dexter's First Kill:
Dexter's Serial Killer Profile - Dexter WikiDexter first started killing small animals when he was a young boy. As he grew into a teenager his urges became stronger. His first kill was a 45 Year old nurse, Mary, also known as the Angel of Death because she was slowly killing her patients with an overdose of Morphine. Mary was Harry's nurse while he was hospitalized for a heart attack. She administered his morphine and attempted to kill him by overdose. Harry realized what was happening and asked Dexter to 'stop her...before she hurt anyone else. Harry gave Dexter permission to use the lessons he was taught.

See the full list of Dexter's Victims
DEXTER'S ADULT YEARS

Dexter's Serial Killer Profile - Dexter WikiHow Dexter deals with his urges: The Code of Harry

Psychological motivation(s): To satisfy an inner voice he calls "The Dark Passenger"

Typical victim profile: Violent criminals who Dexter believes have escaped justice.

Psychological aftermath: Because of the things that happened when he was younger, his brain has grouped these thoughts of murder and labeled them with an image of the "dark passenger" inside his brain.

Kill souvenir(s):A medical slide with a small blood sample.

Life-changing moment(s):
  • Dexter kills his brother, Brian Moser, in the final episode of Season 1, Born Free
  • Dexter kills Santos Jimenez, The man who killed his mother, in Season 2, Episode 8, Morning Comes
  • Dexter discovers that Harry did not die from a heart attack, but committed suicide, and thinks it may be because Harry could not live with himself for making the code and encouraging Dexter to kill after walking into the garage after Dexter had killed Juan Rinez. Season 2, Episode 10, There's something about Harry

DEXTER'S RITUALS

Dexter's Serial Killer Profile - Dexter Wiki
  • Taking a blood sample from the victim with a scalpel for his slide collection.

  • Encasing his preferred room in plastic tarp so no evidence is left.
  • Using black plastic trash bags to dispose of victim remains overboard his boat called the slice of life.
TOOLS OF HIS TRADE

  • Rubber sheets
  • Plastic tarp
  • Etorphine hydrochloride or M99
  • Black leather gloves
  • Black plastic trash bags
  • Scalpel
  • Battery-powered mini-saw
  • Hypodermic needles
  • Plastic Wrap
  • Mundial Future Knives
  • Duct Tape
Dexter's Serial Killer Profile - Dexter Wiki
DEXTER POLL
DISSECTING DEXTER
Does Dexter want to get caught? (Provide evidence to support your case below.)
YES NO
  • Dexter as a hero would like to get caught, so he can feel accepted by everyone else, he would like a bit of credit for all the horrible people he's taken away



  • He follows Harry's Code, and part of that is not getting caught; remaining as normal as possible.
  • Dexter doesn't want to get caught because he enjoys killing and he thinks it "too soon" for it to end.



Dissecting Dexter: Dexter Trivia

The Official Diagnosis
Psychopathy has been assessed for decades using a diagnostic tool called the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), a clinical-rating scale devised by psychologist Robert D. Hare of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

Put Dexter on the couchThe PCL-R rating scale is designed to measure traits of psychopathic personality disorder. Subjects of investigation are interviewed and judged by whether any of 20 psychopathy-related traits apply to them.

PCL-R scores range from 0 to 40. Most people in the general population score no more than 5 on this test, but an estimated 1 percent score at least 30, the threshold for psychopathy.
Add evidence for the following traits for Dexter:
PCL-R PSYCHOPATHIC TRAIT
EVIDENCE OR CONTRADICTORY EVIDENCE OF TRAIT IN DEXTER
Glibness/superficial charm
  • Donuts everyday for the office
  • Playing along and returning flirting comments to a plethora of women, but not really meaning anything admittedly.
  • His playful and sarcastic responses to Doakes very real threat.
Grandiose sense of self-worth
  • As we can see from his ending statements from Season 1, he sees himself as a hero, not a murderer. (however, i agree)
  • In "Born Free," after Dexter and fellow officers visit the scene of the Ice Truck Killer's murder/apparent suicide, he has a vision of being the heroic object of a parade of people cheering for him and holding up signs.
  • Dexter often describes himself as "the only one" who can punish the serial killers he tracks, as an avenger.
  • Before Brian, he felt no one would ever understand him--after he killed Brian, again he felt alone.
Need for stimulation/proneness to boredom
  • He can't last for too long without being willed to commit another murder by his dark thoughts, the embodiment of "The Dark Passenger."
  • As a young boy he was fascinated by his fathers heart beating rapidly in response to surprise/fear. Dexter had never felt that much emotions or excitement and felt the need to risk his own life just to replicate the sensation.
  • The only thing that keeps him going is the thrill of the kill and his misguided morals that induce this need to kill
Pathological lying
  • On a daily basis since his first "lesson" with his father, Dexter has been lying to everyone he knows by pretending to respond with emotion or interest.
  • The fib he tells about where he got the heroin and then says that he is an addict--allowing her to believe that he is a narcotics addict--when int truth his addiction is worse than heroin.

Conning/manipulative
  • Getting case files from the file clerk by plying her with donuts.
  • He constantly manipulates Debra's investigations and theories, to avoid being implicated.
  • He tampers with evidence
  • He cons his victims as he stalks them (e.g. meeting up with Matt Chambers in a bar; going to sessions as a patient of Dr. Meridian.
  • His entire relationship with Rita is based on his desire to appear to be a normal person.
  • Running the garbage truck into the A/C for the temp morgue
Lack of remorse or guilt
  • "I'm not sorry." "Neither am I."
  • Dexter doesn't believe that what he is doing is actually wrong and so his intellect tells him that, even if he could feel guilt he would have no need to do so. He hides what he does not out of guilt but only, as he was trained, to not get caught so that he can continue.

Shallow affect
    • No emotion, always calm, doesn't get excited, doesn't cry.
    • Watches "Terms of Endearment", widely considered one of the most heart wrenching movies made without reacting in the least.
    • He has formed shallow "friendships" with his colleagues. (Here again I don't know how accurate this is - Dexter doesn't think that these relationships have much to them, however he does obviously take them into consideration and respects them.)
    • Lives life by a rigid code -- actions aren't motivated or coordinated by his own conscience, but by what he thinks is correct from his childhood learnings.


    Callous/lack of empathy
    • Dexter shows no remorse for his victims, simply because neither did they for theirs. Had they done so, Dex would have taken that into consideration before the stalk. He shows empathy for his victims' victims.
    • Dexter has no instinct or desire to comfort his own emotionally devastated sister just moments after saving her from being murdered by her boyfriend.


    Dexter's Serial Killer Profile - Dexter Wiki



    Latest page update: made by Microaire , Jun 13 2008, 8:51 AM EDT (about this update About This Update Microaire Edited by Microaire

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    SSMD23 Dexter the coward 8 Jun 4 2008, 9:36 PM EDT by ZizzyB23
    Thread started: Dec 5 2007, 8:11 PM EST  Watch
    Interesting that when Dexter kills, he uses a blitz attack and a incapacitating sedative on his victims. As a skilled martial artist, both the blitz attack and sedative are not necessary for him to kill. Only when his victim is bound, drugged, and therefore helpless will he kill. His complete control over his victim and the victim's complete powerlessness are part of his ritual. Despite his outward display of confidence, he needs his victims to be as helpless as he felt when his mother was murdered in order for him to kill. The mask that he is forced to wear in an attempt to feel normal makes him feel powerless and so long as Dexter feels powerless, he will continue to kill others in an attempt to regain his feeling of control over the world.
    35  out of 47 found this valuable. Do you?    
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    Morgaine Dexter's kill ensemble 3 Mar 22 2008, 1:33 PM EDT by Larain
    Morgaine
    Thread started: Nov 26 2007, 1:37 AM EST  Watch
    OK, maybe someone has already covered this, but does Dexter wear the same outfit when he kills? He always seems to have the same tight sand colored shirt and chinos on.

    Also, what did he have on over that, but under the apron when he killed Jimenez?
    10  out of 18 found this valuable. Do you?    
    Keyword tags: clothes Dexter ensemble kill M.O. methodology outfit profile
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    DexterM Dexter 0 Jan 28 2008, 9:40 AM EST by DexterM
    DexterM
    Thread started: Jan 28 2008, 9:40 AM EST  Watch
    dexter éprouve des choses quand il réalise que Harry lui a peut-être menti au sujet du code. Il éprouve également de la colère lorsqu'il subit le chantage de sa marraine. Ce sont des moments intimes dont il parle et le fait d'éprouver ces émotions contradictoires vis-à vis de harry ou de son frère biologique lui permet de passer outre et finalement de s'affranchir de cette relation infantile qu'il entretenait avec le code... Good luck to translate this but it was to hard for me to explain that in a good american language... Dexter Moser
    2  out of 10 found this valuable. Do you?    
    Keyword tags: c hall michael dexter dexter tv show hall michael showtime dexter
    terrytip "TOOLS OF HIS TRADE" 0 Jan 4 2008, 5:27 PM EST by terrytip
    terrytip
    Thread started: Jan 4 2008, 5:27 PM EST  Watch
    There is something wrong with the picture in this block. The "Blood Splatter Pattern" is all wrong. When I first looked at it, my eyes played tricks on me... It looked like a bloody grasshopper... What would Dexter say about the blood splatter?
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    Keyword tags: c hall michael dexter dexter tv show hall michael showtime dexter
    cr8tivemind Incorrect terminology 19 Nov 28 2007, 7:18 PM EST by Morgaine
    Thread started: Oct 8 2007, 12:16 AM EDT  Watch
    "Rituals" is an inappropriate and incorrect term. His use of black plastic bags to dispose of his victims, and covering the murder scene with tarp would be considered "method of operation." His collecting their blood for his collection would be considered a "signature."

    The differences being, of course, the "MO" being what he does in order to commit the crime and attempt to evade capture, while the "signature" being what he does to get fulfillment out of the crime.

    Other than being very basic, this is a good site. There's much more ... depth ... to the average psychopath than this site enumerates. :)
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