List of Dexter characters
This is a list of characters from the Jeff Lindsay novel series Dexter, consisting of Darkly Dreaming Dexter, Dearly Devoted Dexter, Dexter in the Dark, Dexter by Design, Dexter Is Delicious, Double Dexter, the Dexter graphic novel, Dexter's Final Cut, and Dexter Is Dead, the Showtime television series adaptation Dexter, and its revival seasons Dexter: New Blood, Dexter: Original Sin, and Dexter: Resurrection, the majority of which focus on the exploits of Dexter Morgan, a forensic technician specializing in bloodstain pattern analysis for the fictional Miami Metro Police Department, who leads a secret parallel life as a vigilante serial killer, hunting down murderers who have not been adequately punished by the justice system due to corruption or legal technicalities.
Overview
Main cast
Recurring cast
Main characters
Dexter Morgan
Dexter considers himself emotionally divorced from the rest of humanity; in his narration, he often refers to "humans" as if he is not one of them. He makes frequent references to an internal feeling of emptiness, leading to several attempts in his youth to "feel alive". He claims to have no feelings or conscience and that all of his emotional responses are part of a well-rehearsed act to conceal his true nature. In the Season 1 of the television series, he had no interest in romance or sex; this changed when he became involved with Lila in Season 2. He initially considered his relationship with Rita to be part of his disguise; however, by the end of the Season 4, Dexter had fully evolved into a family man and wished to rid himself of his self-titled "Dark Passenger".There are chinks in Dexter's emotional armor; he acknowledges loyalty to family, particularly his now-deceased, adoptive father, stating "If I were capable of love, how I would have loved Harry", since Harry's death, Dexter's only family has been his sister, Debra Morgan, Harry's biological daughter. At the end of the first novel, Dexter admits that he could not hurt Debra or allow Brian to harm her because he is "fond of her".
Dexter likes children; the flip side of this affection is that Dexter is particularly wrathful when his victims prey on children. In the book Dearly Devoted Dexter, Dexter realized that Rita's son Cody was showing the same signs of sociopathy as Dexter had at that age, and looked forward to providing him with "guidance" similar to that which Harry provided him. Cody's perceived sociopathy has not been shown in the television series.
This also gives him a reason to continue his relationship with Rita, to whom he is engaged because of a misunderstanding. At the beginning of the third book, Dexter in the Dark, it is revealed that Cody is not the only one with dark impulses, as Astor too pressures Dexter to teach her, and Dexter comes to accept his role as a stepfather to both children very seriously; for example, while on a stakeout, he begins to wonder if Cody has brushed his teeth before going to bed and if Astor had set out her Easter dress for photo-day at her school. These thoughts distract him while he is waiting for an intended victim, which thoroughly annoys him. In the TV series, Dexter also takes a detour in his code of only killing murderers in order to dispose of a pedophile who is stalking Astor.
Animals do not like Dexter, which can cause noise problems when Dexter stalks a victim with pets. He is quoted as having once had a dog that barked and growled at Dexter until he was forced to get rid of it, and a turtle, which hid in its shell until it died of starvation rather than have to deal with Dexter.
Rita Bennett
Rita Bennett is Dexter's girlfriend and later wife. Rita is portrayed as a mother, who is slowly recovering from being physically abused by her ex-husband, Paul, and having difficulties maintaining a sexual relationship. Rita tentatively starts a relationship with Dexter, while remaining unaware of his extra-curricular activities. In season two, Rita's relationship with Dexter becomes troubled. After discovering that Dexter framed her ex-husband Paul with drug abuse, she suspects that Dexter owned the drugs himself. She pushes him into Narcotics Anonymous, but begins to suspect that he is having an affair with his sponsor, Lila, and breaks up with him. In anguish, Dexter turns to Lila, and consummates what had before been a platonic relationship. After Dexter lies to Lila about working late, Lila breaks into Rita's house, afraid that they had rekindled their relationship. Angered, Dexter breaks up with her. His breakup with Lila, his love for Rita and her children, and his sincere regret over what he had done convinces Rita to start dating him again.In season 3, Rita suddenly discovers that she is pregnant with Dexter's baby. Believing that being a parent is one of her main achievements, Rita decides to keep the baby, and leaves Dexter's role in the child's life entirely up to him. After much deliberation, Dexter decides that he will be there for the child and Rita accepts his marriage proposal. Rita loses her job when she is rude to a customer, but gets back on her feet by working as an assistant to Syl Prado.
After the baby, Harrison, is born, Rita and Dexter move into a house together in the suburbs. Rita begins to notice a pattern of lies from Dexter, including deceiving her about the concussion he suffered in the car accident and the ownership of his old apartment. Rita and Dexter then go to a marriage counselor, who allows them to sort out their problems and instigates peace between them. However, their neighbor, Elliot, begins to fall for Rita, kissing her and pointing out that Dexter is never home. Though she initially kisses him back, she quickly ends it before something begins.
Debra Morgan
Debra Morgan is the younger non-biological sister of Dexter and biological child of Harry Morgan. Debra believed that she truly knew her father, but is unaware of the secrets he kept, especially concerning Dexter. Inspired by their father's legendary police career, Debra joined the police and desperately yearned to become a homicide detective. Initially assigned to Vice, she was transferred to Homicide at the start of the first season. Being new to the job and very insecure, she largely relied on Dexter's expertise on murderers to solve difficult cases. Debra met Rudy Cooper, who unknown to her is the Ice Truck Killer using her to get close to Dexter. She falls in love with him, but is later kidnapped by him in order to be able to reveal himself to Dexter. She is bound to a table in the same manner that Dexter kills his victims, while Dexter and Brian discuss her fate. In the show, she is unconscious, but in Darkly Dreaming Dexter, she is awake and finds out that her brother is a killer. Debra is severely affected by Rudy's betrayal; she moves in with Dexter for fear of being alone.Throughout the second season, Debra stays in her brother's apartment as she deals with the trauma of what happened, but leaves his apartment in a mess. Debra is a key member of the police task force in charge of finding the Bay Harbor Butcher, who is secretly Dexter. She falls for an older man, Frank Lundy, the FBI agent in charge of the case, all the while improving her ability on the job. By the end of Season 2, Debra has recovered from the trauma of the Ice Truck Killer, and is confident as an officer and determined to get her detective's shield.
In Season 3, Debra has had her hair cut to shoulder length, has "sworn off men, liquor and smokes" and is even more determined to get her silver detective's shield. She is working with a new partner, Detective Quinn, but has been approached by an Internal Affairs officer who tells her that her partner is being investigated as a dirty cop, but she refuses to help them. She was originally part of the team investigating the murder of Miguel Prado's brother, Oscar, but because of her lack of tact and people skills she was removed from the case by newly promoted Angel Batista; however, the case she had been assigned was eventually found to have been connected to the Skinner case, which she solved with the help of Anton, a C.I. whom she started dating after saving his life from the Skinner. Because of her success on the Skinner case, she was promoted to detective at the end of the season.
She is known to have a very foul mouth, and she hardly speaks a sentence without swearing. This has nearly gotten her into trouble, as she often speaks profanely to her superiors, only to realize a few seconds after. It finally got her into trouble in the third season, as a poorly timed public comment caused her to be kicked off the Freebo case. She is also known for being easily angered and frustrated by suspects. Though she is also frustrated at Dexter's inability to open up to her, she has defended him on more than one occasion.
A conversation between her and Dexter leads to her finding out that her father slept with one of his confidential informants. She investigates the files on Harry's informants and interviews some of them, hoping to find the one with whom Harry had an affair. One of the files is shown to be that of Laura Moser. Also during this time, her relationship with Anton had been breaking, especially now that he had secured a gig in the city instead of on a cruise ship. Also, Frank Lundy returns to Miami to hunt the Trinity Killer, and Debra once again becomes involved with Lundy. Soon, both she and Lundy are shot by an unknown assailant suspected to be the Vacation Murderers. In her hospital bed, she confesses to Anton that she slept with Lundy, prompting him to leave her. Lundy died, and she eventually concludes that the Trinity Killer must have been the shooter. As a result, Debra opens an investigation on the Trinity Killer. However, it is later determined that Trinity could not have been the shooter, since her wounds from the bullet were at a horizontal line, therefore someone of Masuka's height had to be the shooter. During a Thanksgiving dinner, Debra remembers a conversation she had with Christine Hill and realizes Hill has knowledge of the shooting that no one outside the police department should possess. This leads Debra to believe that she was the shooter. This is backed up later when it is revealed that Hill is the daughter of Trinity. Hill later confesses to Debra that she was the shooter, and proceeds to shoot herself in the head. Due to her solving the Lundy killing, Debra restarts her search for Harry's C.I. mistress, and finds out about Laura Moser, and the fact that Dexter and the Ice Truck Killer were brothers.
In the revival series, Dexter: New Blood, Debra, while still dead, has replaced Harry in Dexter's mind as his "Dark Passenger".