History Characters / Hannibal

* BatmanGambit: In Season 2, Will starts to perform these. In ''Mukōzuke'', he plays on Freddie Lounds' obsession with him and offers her an exclusive interview as part of his plan to discover his secret admirer. He then plays on his admirer's affections by convincing him to [[spoiler: kill Hannibal.]]

Former homicide detective turned teacher, Will Graham is pulled into the dark world of criminal profiling by Jack Crawford to help catch some of the most demented serial killers known to man. Socially awkward, but brilliantly gifted, Graham navigates his way through the dark amalgam of haunting cases � guided by his FBI-appointed psychologist, Hannibal Lecter. Graham is constantly on guard against and fearful of being consumed by the darkness he confronts on each case.

* AmbiguousDisorder: He's directly asked if he falls somewhere on the autism spectrum and exhibits several characteristics commonly associated with Asperger's (e.g. difficulties in grasping social norms, inappropriately blunt remarks and trouble maintaining eye contact). Bryan Fuller has stated that "[With Asperger's] you can't read social cues.[[note]]This is misleading; people with Asperger�s can�t read them ''instinctively'', but can definitely learn how to do it, similarly to acquiring a second language or naturalising in a foreign culture. For more on the subject, read the UsefulNotes about UsefuelNotes/AspergersSyndrome.[[/note]] He has an empathy disorder where he reads too much and it overwhelms him." Expanded upon in ''Buffet Froid'' where Hannibal says that Will possesses an abnormally high number of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_neuron Mirror Neurons]].

** PayEvilUntoEvil: In Su-zakana, [[spoiler:he would have killed a particularly loathsome serial killer in cold blood if Hannibal hadn't stopped him.]]

* {{Expy}}: For Will Graham, of all people. The way she discovers the identity of the Chesapeake Ripper is the same way that Will Graham did in the novels.

* {{Expy}}: Clearly meant to be one of infamous RealLife SerialKiller Ed Gein, going by his hunting themes and desire to use all parts of his victims.

* {{Expy}}: Much of his character is a homage to Anthony Hopkins' portrayal of Hannibal Lecter. The name 'Gideon' is a reference to Hannibal's original name in the script for ''Silence of the Lambs'' before they knew they could use Hannibal's name due to rights issues.

* {{Expy}}: Between his method of abducting his victims, his value of their skin, and his similar name, he is very reminiscent of Jame Gumb.

* Expy: He’s a serial killer who occasionally slurs his speech with an obsession with an (alleged) serial killer already incarcerated and goes to kill someone under his direction. In other words, he seems to have been inspired by Francis Dolarhyde.
** However, despite some viewer speculation, it has been confirmed by WordOfGod that [[spoiler:Matthew is not ''the'' Red Dragon.]]

* {{Expy}}: He has similarities to the book character Benjamin Raspail, one of Hannibal's patients who he killed for being whiny and annoying.

[[caption-width-right:350:I protected them.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Judas had the decency to hang himself in shame at his betrayal.]]

* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: [[InvokedTrope Invokes]] this when offering vital information to Alana Bloom in exchange for her habitual courtesy.

* SerialKiller

** PayEvilUntoEvil: In Sa-zakana, [[spoiler:he would have killed a particularly loathsome serial killer in cold blood if Hannibal hadn't stopped him.]]

* YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame: At the end of Sa-zakana, Hannibal is openly delighted to see Will [[spoiler:ready to execute a serial killer in cold blood.]]

** Several times, he has touched Will Graham as though to reassure him after Will has done something to compromise his morals. In Trou Normand, he only rests a hand on Will's shoulder after Will decides not to [[spoiler:tell the FBI that Abigail Hobbs killed Nicholas Boyle]]; by Sa-zakana, when Will [[spoiler:tries to shoot a helpless serial killer whom he thought couldn't be prosecuted]], he cups his cheek with open delight.

* OffscreenVillainy: His kills are mistakenly attributed to another serial killer, a copycat. As is often the case with this show, the aftermath of his killings are shown over the actual deeds. It's quite a while before the audience witnesses him killing. There are even one or two fake-outs. [[spoiler:In ''Entrée'', when he strangled Miriam Lass, she wasn't killed in that moment; she lived long enough after that to leave her last message. Only in ''Fromage'' does it finally happen.]]

* TheChessmaster

* MadArtist: He executed several of his copycat killings in an artistic manner. [[spoiler:He also completes a human "mural" created by another artistically-inclined serial killer, by using the serial killer's body.]]

* TookALevelInJerkass: Halfway through season 2. She goes from being kindly, sympathetic, and very level-headed (if disillusioned) with Will to resenting him for [[spoiler: trying to kill Hannibal.]] After she [[spoiler: enters into a romantic relationship with Hannibal]], her screen time is basically split between her chiding Will or Jack for [[spoiler: Will getting off lightly over the attempted murder]], to her in bed with Hannibal lamenting about how much pain and grief Will's actions have caused the both of them. It doesn't help that [[DramaticIrony the audience knows Will is completely correct]] and that [[spoiler: Hannibal is just using Alana as part of a greater alibi.]]

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* ShirtlessScene: He has several in ''Mukōzuke'', such as when he's swimming, and later when [[spoiler:Matthew Brown torments him and nearly kills him while he's wearing nothing but swimming trunks.]]

->'''Played By:'''Katharine Isabelle

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** JerkWithAHeartOfGold: [[spoiler:When Beverly dies, he can barely hold back the tears. Even if he's somewhat prickly at times, he has a heart.]]

[[folder:Reccuring Characters]]

* [[GoOutWithASmile: Hannibal's explanation of the change to his mural seems to comfort him as he dies. Admittedly, he'd also just been administered a thoroughly lethal dose of heroin.]]

* MeaningfulHaircut: [[spoiler:After he's released from the asylum.]] His curls had been growing steadily longer and more wild, but are now cut shorter than they were originally, presenting a much less hapless face to the world (and to Hannibal).

* ComesGreatResponsibility: Despite how much his gift torments him, Graham feels this way with regards to it, explaining his need to sleep in victim Abigail Hobbs's hospital room night after night -- something Crawford questions, but Lecter understands. In episode 5, he realizes just how bad profiling and empathizing with serial killers is for him, despite all the good it does. He ultimately can't bring himself to leave the job, either.

* DeadPersonConversation: With barely any contact to the outside world (except Chilton, who's ''Chilton''), Will has taken to occasionally addressing shades of people he's lost, recalling what they said to him in life, especially in his mental river-space.

* MessyHair: It doesn't matter whether he's asleep, just woken up, wandering around semi-conscious in his underwear, dressed for teaching, or visiting someone; his hair is always the same mass of untamed curls. One suspects that if he does own a comb, it gets used on his dogs (who all have very well-maintained coats).
** Likewise, though he owns a hair dryer, we only see him using it to dry a dog after its bath.
** Not anymore - as of the end of Yakimono, he's sporting a quite neatly styled new 'do.

* Jerkass: {{Downplayed}}. He can be a bit of a jerk, especially to Will, but he's never nasty to the extent of Freddie Lounds.

* IncestSubtext: His obsession with killing and eating girls who look like Abigail in order to "keep some part of her inside" definitely crosses into this territory.

* AmbiguouslyGay: While he admits to having tried things while he was in a fraternity, he denies having any sexual feelings towards his friend, Tobias. Any feelings towards ''Hannibal'', on the other hand, are rather ambiguous.

* NoSocialSkills: He's lousy at reading people, says inappropriate or odd things, and doesn't seem to understand that stalking his therapist is unhealthy.

* AffectionateGestureToTheHead: A creepy variant. Hannibal has a habit of stroking people's faces, as if to comfort or caress them, right before or after doing something horrible to them. Sometimes you could pass it off as simple practical touching, such as the brief physical check-up (pulse, muscle tension, temperature) on Will when he has a seizure brought on by an illness ''that Hannibal knows about and Will doesn't''. Other times, it seems like genuinely trying to reassure them that what he will do/has done/is doing means he ''cares'' for them even while administering cruelty. Examples are [[spoiler:when he strokes Miriam's face in ''Entree'' as he chokes her, when he cradles Abigail's face moments before killing her, drugs Will and shoves a tube down his oesophagus to stuff a human ear into his stomach, touches Bella's face after aborting her suicide attempt, does something like ''embracing'' Beverly Katz before he strangles her, and gently strokes the nameless mural-maker while sewing him into his own mural before he dies]].

* {{Slimeball}}: He seems to consider himself charming, but his 'charm' is clumsy and overly-familar, to the point in Season 2 that he is clearly attempting to copy Hannibal's sense of style, having shaved his beard and altered his wardrobe to checked suits.