Criminal Minds

Premise

Episodes

Characters

Main

• Jason Gideon, FBI Senior Supervisory Special Agent and formerly BAU Unit chief.
• Aaron Hotchner, FBI Supervisory Special Agent and Unit Chief of the BAU, previously an agent in the Seattle field office.
• Elle Greenaway, FBI Supervisory Special Agent.
• Derek Morgan, FBI Supervisory Special Agent and former Chicago Police officer. Morgan is a confident, assertive, and often hot-tempered character. He was raised by his mother Fran along with his two sisters, Sarah Morgan and Desiree Benita, after the death of his police officer father right in front of him. Derek was a troubled Chicago youth headed for juvenile delinquency. He was rescued and mentored by Carl Buford, who turned out to be a sexual predator who molested Derek and other young boys; he was eventually arrested for murder. After developing an interest in football, Derek attended Northwestern University on a scholarship. After a football injury left him unable to play, he joined the Chicago Police Department's bomb squad and later joined the FBI and the BAU. He has an emotionally intimate but platonic relationship with technical analyst Penelope Garcia; the two have a unique shorthand and banter. In the season 7 premiere, Derek shows utter hatred toward Ian Doyle for killing SSA Emily Prentiss, but when Emily returns alive, he has mixed feelings. In season 11, Derek is kidnapped and tortured by the father of Giuseppe Montolo, a hitman whom Derek put away and who later died while in custody. Derek escapes and when he learns his girlfriend Savannah is pregnant, he realizes that he does not want to put his family through something like this again. Derek leaves the BAU in the episode "A Beautiful Disaster" to care for his now-wife and newborn son.
• Dr. Spencer Reid, FBI Supervisory Special Agent

• Jennifer "JJ" Jareau, FBI Supervisory Special Agent and former BAU communications liaison.
• Penelope Garcia, BAU technical analyst and BAU communications liaison.
• Emily Prentiss, supervisory special agent and BAU Unit Chief
• David Rossi, senior supervisory special agent with an Italian background. Rossi is a highly experienced profiler who once worked the BAU in its origins, then took early retirement in 1997 to write books and go on lecture tours about criminal analysis, until volunteering to return shortly after SSA Jason Gideon's departure in 2007. He has been married three times and is quite wealthy because of his successful writing career. In the episode "From Childhood's Hour", David reconnects with his first wife, Carolyn Baker, who has shocking news for him. It is revealed that she came to him because she was diagnosed with ALS and wants David to assist in her suicide. In the next episode, Carolyn dies after taking a drug overdose. It is also revealed in this episode that David had a son who died at birth. In the season 8 episode "The Fallen", it is revealed that David was a Marine in Vietnam. The season 7 finale reveals SSA David Rossi may be having a secret relationship with Section Chief Erin Strauss; this was discovered when technical analyst Penelope Garcia and SSA Dr. Spencer Reid spot them both leaving a hotel. In the last season 8 episode we see their relationship has been known to the entire team. The episode is an emotional one for SSA David Rossi since Unit Chief Erin Strauss is murdered by The Replicator. She was taken from her hotel room, where he had planned to meet her that night, drugged and put on the streets of New York disoriented for Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner to find her. The episode's last scene is SSA David Rossi eulogizing her to the team after her funeral, at a gathering at his home. In season 10 we learn that David has a daughter from his second wife. Since then, he is shown to have a strong relationship with his daughter, son-in-law, and grandson, even approving of her husband's Italian heritage. In season 11 Rossi reunites with his second wife, and they give their relationship a second chance.
• Ashley Seaver, FBI cadet and special agent.
• Alex Blake, FBI linguistics expert, supervisory special agent, and professor at Georgetown University.
• Kate Callahan, former FBI undercover agent and supervisory special agent.
• Tara Lewis, forensic psychologist and supervisory special agent.
• Luke Alvez, fugitive task force agent and supervisory special agent.
• Stephen Walker, supervisory special agent
• Matt Simmons, supervisory special agent, and former member of the International Response Team.
• Tyler Green, special agent.
• Elias Voit

  Recurring

• Erin Strauss, an assistant director and the BAU Unit Chief's direct superior. While her FBI experience was primarily in administration, SSA Derek Morgan remarked on her masterly marksmanship after observing her at a firing range. In early episodes, Strauss appeared only concerned with herself and appearances within the Bureau, going so far as to force SSA Jennifer Jareau to accept a promotion to the Pentagon in the episode "JJ". Further character development revealed her alcohol abuse. After being confronted by Morgan and Hotchner, Strauss accepts help and achieves sobriety. In the season 8 finale, The Replicator breaks into Strauss's hotel room in New York, drugs her, and forces her—at gunpoint—to drink alcohol from her room's minibar. Hotchner finds her on a bench near the hotel, where Strauss dies in his arms. Her death is avenged when Rossi traps the Replicator in an exploding house. Fittingly, Strauss's sobriety helps defeat the Replicator as Rossi uses her sobriety chip to escape the Replicator's trap and taunts him with it. After attending her funeral, the members of the BAU gather in a still-emotional Rossi's backyard, reminisce, and toast her memory. Showrunner Erica Messer chose to kill Strauss off because she felt that the character had come full circle since she was first introduced.
• Haley Hotchner is Agent Aaron Hotchner's wife and the mother of his only son, Jack Hotchner, born in late 2005. The couple's marriage was troubled, and she walked out on him. She later appeared with divorce papers, and he accepted reluctantly so as not to cause any trouble for his son with the divorce. In the episode "100", Haley and Jack were captured by a killer known as "The Reaper"; though Jack was saved, Haley was shot and died before Aaron could save her. Aaron later beat The Reaper to death. In the episode "Route 66", Hotch collapses from internal bleeding and dreams about Haley. She tells him that he should stop blaming himself for her death and to make sure Jack knows that he can talk about his mother's death. Haley leaves Hotch by telling him that he and Beth have a good relationship and he shouldn't mess it up by not telling her how he feels.
• Jessica Brooks, is Agent Aaron Hotchner's sister-in-law, Jack's aunt, and Haley's sister.
• Jordan Todd is SSA Jennifer Jareau's handpicked replacement to serve as the BAU's media director during Jennifer's maternity leave, from late 2008 through early 2009. Jordan had formerly served in the FBI counterterrorism division, but follows Jennifer for only one day of shadowing before Jennifer goes into labor. Jordan seemed to get along well with most of the team, even flirting platonically with SSA Derek Morgan. She is especially close with SSA David Rossi, who is seen to counsel her while they are on cases. However, Jordan has clashed several times with Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner. She eventually leaves when she decides she can't handle the stress that comes with her job.
• Diana Reid, the mother of BAU team member Dr. Spencer Reid. Like her son, she has a high IQ. She was once a university professor of literature, but has schizophrenia and is hospitalized in a Las Vegas sanitarium, where Spencer committed her when he was 18. Her husband, William Reid, left prior to her diagnosis because of his inability to cope with her illness, and he could not deal with protecting her after she witnessed a murder. She is functional when on her medication, but frequently lapses into regression to her university career. Diana spent much time reading aloud to Spencer while he was growing up, and he continues to write her a letter every day. She is proud of her son but disapproves of the FBI, as it is a government-run organization; she refers to his colleagues as "fascists". She seems to be showing signs of improvement in later episodes, when Reid states that she went on a supervised field trip to the Grand Canyon without feeling the need to notify him. However, she did not forget him, with Reid later receiving a postcard and a gift from her.
• William LaMontagne Jr. is SSA Jennifer Jareau's husband and the father of Jennifer's sons, Henry and Michael. Will and Jennifer met while she was working a case in his hometown. As of early season 4, Will had moved to Virginia and is a stay-at-home dad for Henry until he became a detective for the Metropolitan Police Department as shown in the season 7 finale. It is also stated that the couple had made a deal that in a life-threatening situation, they would do everything so that one of them could live to look after Henry. Jennifer accepted his marriage proposal and they were married officially; however, when their son was born, they exchanged rings with insets of Henry's birthstone, citrine. He is seen briefly in the 100th episode getting medicine for Henry with Jennifer, as well as the episode "The Slave of Duty", accompanying Jennifer and the team at Haley Hotchner's funeral. In the season 7 finale, Will works alongside JJ to stop the bank robbers and is eventually taken hostage. Afterward, they agree to get married and unknowingly attend a surprise wedding ceremony thrown by Rossi and Will.
• Kevin Lynch first appears in the episode "Penelope", in which he is required to search Penelope Garcia's computer to learn who shot her. Kevin sends the team live video alerting that the unsub is in the BAU headquarters. He is intensely impressed by Penelope's computer skills, and the feeling is mutual. At the end of the episode, Penelope is introduced to Kevin, and the two become romantically involved. In the episode "I Love You, Tommy Brown", Kevin proposes to Penelope, but she turns him down, saying that "things are going too fast", and ultimately the couple break up.
• Mateo Cruz takes over from the late Erin Strauss as the new BAU section chief in season 9. He has a past working relationship with JJ. It was revealed in "200" that the two had worked on a task force together in the Middle East. He was the only person to know of her pregnancy and miscarriage during her time on the task force. In the same episode, they are both kidnapped by Tivon Askari, who was a traitor within the task force. They are both physically and mentally tortured into giving the access codes given to them during the mission. He is shocked to discover that Michael Hastings, one of the men with whom they had worked on the task force, was the mastermind behind the plan and threatened to rape JJ to give him the access codes. He gives in and is later stabbed by Askari, who is quickly killed by Hotch. Cruz is taken to the hospital following the incident and is believed to be alive. Several episodes later, he reappears in the season 9 finale, "Angels" and "Demons", when he asks the team to investigate a case brought to him by his friend Peter Coleman, the sheriff of Briscoe County, Texas. They first arrive to investigate a series of murders involving prostitutes, but as they investigate, the team soon finds that they are caught in a ring of corrupt deputies—ironically the only officer not involved being Sheriff Coleman—and find their lives in danger. After a fatal shootout with the corrupt, drug-peddling Preacher Mills, Sheriff Coleman is killed, Morgan is wounded, and Reid is critically wounded and hospitalized as a result. Distraught by this turn of events, Cruz travels to Texas with Garcia to help the team investigate and apprehend the ring leader, Deputy Owen McGregor. He is not seen again until late in season 10 when he needs the BAU to help the FBI's international team, led by Jack Garrett, to catch an unsub who has kidnapped a family while on vacation in Barbados. The case is especially critical because this unsub has eluded both the domestic and international BAU teams by killing a family in Aruba, then in Florida one year later. This episode was the backdoor pilot for the upcoming spinoff, titled Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders. He has not been seen since.
• Savannah Morgan is Derek Morgan's wife. She works as a doctor at Bethesda General Hospital. Savannah first appeared in Season 9's "The Return", and it is presumed that Morgan and Savannah started dating prior to Season 9 and first met after she approached him when he was depressed over a case that ended badly. Before they started dating, they used to be neighbors. She was introduced to the show because Shemar Moore, the actor who portrays Morgan, requested that his character get a romantic partner.
• Joy Struthers is Rossi's daughter from his short-lived second marriage to French diplomat Hayden Montgomery. When they divorced, Hayden didn't tell him she was pregnant, and Joy thought her father was her mother's second husband, who finally told her the truth before dying from cancer. In the episode, "Fate", Joy seeks Rossi out and they're getting to know each other. Joy is a reporter and true-crime writer and is married. She has a two-year-old son named Kai.
• Kristy Simmons is Matt Simmons' wife, and the mother of his four children.