History Literature / RedDragon

* ManipulativeBastard: Hannibal Lecter; arguably also Chilton, with his manipulations being wildly outclassed by Lecter's.

* GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex: Reba and Dolarhyde. Of course, D is the AxCrazy {{serial killer}} of the story, so this is either subverted, or invoked deliberately to make D more sympathetic.

* ThereAreNoTherapists: Utterly subverted, since Lecter is imprisoned in a psychiatric institution and has been visited by a number of shrinks. Of course, since he's a psychiatrist himself, this rarely works out right.

* ShownTheirWork: The manner in which Graham deals with Lecter is very in line with proper protocol with investigative questioning. When Lecter asks probing questions to Graham, he either ignores him, or provides the smallest amount of information necessary to keep Lecter talking. This is to make sure that Lecter can't get inside Graham's head.

** ConsultingAConvictedKiller: Lecter is consluted less because he is a killer and more because he is an excellent profiler in his own right. Even so, he doesn't really tell Will anything Will hasn't already thought of- all he does is back up Will's opinions, though this is not so much due to lack insight as Lecter deciding that helping Will out is less fun than pitting Will and the Tooth Fairy against each other. Lecters only real contribution to the plot is taunting Will and telling Dolarhyde where Will and his family lives.
** TheProfiler: Will is given three weeks to profile and catch the Tooth Fairy, and he fails; that the killer doesn't slaughter another family is down to the issues the killer is going through in his personal life, not anything Graham did. While Will does offer genuine insight into what the Tooth Fairy is like and why he is doing this, he cannot deduce what specific delusion is driving him and is clueless as to what "Red Dragon" means to him. In the end Dolarhyde is found by hard detective work as much as anything else. Though Graham is a highly skilled and near-legendary [=FBI=] profiler, he has only caught two {{Serial Killer}}s in his entire career by the start of this movie, and both cases put him in hospital, with the first for a mental breakdown brought on by the stress of the case and Graham killing the perpetrator.

* TheOtherDarrin: Pretty much everyone at some point.

In 2002, there was a new film adaptation of ''Red Dragon'', starring Creator/AnthonyHopkins and Creator/EdwardNorton and keeping the original name this time. It was a moderate success, although some fans of ''Manhunter'' complained that a remake was unnecessary, though others were just happy to see something that didn't suck as bad as ''Hannibal''. The film also included the focus on the Red Dragon's psychological torments, which was all but ignored in ''Manhunter'', and features an ending more faithful to the book's. The book also serves as the basis for the television series ''Series/{{Hannibal}}'', which stars Hugh Dancy as Graham and Mads Mikkelsen as Lecter; though showrunner Creator/BryanFuller says they will adapt the events of the novel itself at some point, the show is presently a {{Prequel}}, and does not maintain continuity with the Hopkins/Foster movies.

** TheProfiler: Will is given three weeks to profile and catch the Tooth Fairy, and he fails; that the killer doesn't slaughter another family is down to the issues the killer is going through in his personal life, not anything Graham did. While Will does offer genuine insight into what the Tooth Fairy is like and why he is doing this, he cannot deduce what specific delusion is driving him and is clueless as to what "Red Dragon" means to him. In the end Dolarhyde is found by hard detective work as much as anything else. Though Graham is a highly skilled and near-legendary [=FBI=] profiler, he has only caught two {{Serial Killer}}s in his entire career by the start of this movie, and both cases put him in hospital, the first for a mental breakdown brought on by teh stress of the case and Graham killing the perpetrator.

In 2002, there was a new film adaptation of ''Red Dragon'', starring Creator/AnthonyHopkins and Creator/EdwardNorton and keeping the original name this time. It was a moderate success, although some fans of ''Manhunter'' complained that a remake was unnecessary, though others were just happy to see something that didn't suck as bad as ''Hannibal''. The film also included the focus on the Red Dragon's psychological torments, which was all but ignored in ''Manhunter'', and features an ending more faithful to the book's. The book also serves as the basis for the television series ''Series/{{Hannibal}}'', which stars Hugh Dancy as Graham and Mads Mikkelsen as Lecter; though showrunner Creator/BryanFuller says they will adapt the events of the novel itself at some point, the show is presently a {{Prequel}}, and does not (and is not trying to) maintain continuity with the Hopkins/Foster movies.

The novel was well-regarded for its unyielding gothic tone and the unnerving detail and care Harris put into the psychological dysfunctions of villain Francis Dolarhyde. The book was made into the movie ''Film/{{Manhunter}}'' in 1986, starring William Petersen (yes, [[{{Series/CSI}} that one]]) as Graham and Brian Cox as Hannibal "Lecktor".

In 2002, there was a new film adaptation of ''Red Dragon'', starring Creator/AnthonyHopkins and Creator/EdwardNorton and keeping the original name this time. It was a moderate success, although some fans of ''Manhunter'' complained that a remake was unnecessary, though others were just happy to see something that didn't suck as bad as ''Hannibal''. The film also included the focus on the Red Dragon's psychological torments, which was all but ignored in ''Manhunter'', and features an ending more faithful to the book's.

** TheProfiler: Will is given three weeks to profile and catch the Tooth Fairy, and he fails; that the killer doesn't slaughter another family is down to the issues the killer is going through in his personal life, not anything Graham did. While Will does offer genuine insight into what the Tooth Fairy is like and why he is doing this, he cannot deduce what specific delusion is driving him and is clueless as to what "Red Dragon" means to him. In the end Dolarhyde is found by hard etective work as much as anything else. Though Graham is a highly skilled and near-legendary [=FBI=] profiler, he has only caught two {{Serial Killer}}s in his entire career by the start of this movie, and both cases put him in hospital, the first for a mental breakdown brought on by teh stress of the case and Graham killing the perpetrator.

** ConsultingAConvictedKiler: Lecter is consluted less because he is a killer and more because he is an excellent profiler in his own right. Even so, he doesn't really tell Will anything Will hasn't already thought of- all he does is back up Will's opinions, though this is not so much due to lack insight as Lecter deciding that helping Will out is less fun than pitting Will and the Tooth Fairy against each other. Lecters only real contribution to the plot is taunting Will and telling Dolarhyde where Will and his family lives.

In 1981 Thomas Harris released a very dark thriller called ''Red Dragon'', about a gifted FBI profiler named Will Graham, who comes out of retirement to assist in the investigation of a {{Serial Killer}} known as "The Tooth Fairy" (for his habit of leaving bite marks on his victims). Throughout the novel, Graham reluctantly [[ConsultingAConvictedKiller seeks help from another serial killer]], the brilliant if amoral psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter. The two had previously forced each other into mutual retirement, Graham by catching Lecter, and Lecter by nearly disemboweling Graham while trying to escape.

* ThereAreNoTherapists: Utterly subverted, since Lecter is imprisoned in a psychiatric institution and has been visited by a number of shrinks. Of course, since he's a psychiatrist himself, this [[HoistByHisOwnPetard rarely works out right]].

In 2002, there was a new film adaptation of ''Red Dragon'', starring Creator/AnthonyHopkins and EdwardNorton and keeping the original name this time. It was a moderate success, although some fans of ''Manhunter'' complained that a remake was unnecessary, though others were just happy to see something that didn't suck as bad as ''Hannibal''. The film also included the focus on the Red Dragon's psychological torments, which was all but ignored in ''Manhunter'', and features an ending more faithful to the book's.

* AntagonistTitle: An indirect example. "Red Dragon" is actually a shorthand for the painting "The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed In Sun" that figures into the plot. Francis Dolarhyde, the villain, believes himself to be representative of it, stating "[[IAmTheNoun I am the Great Red Dragon]]" and "[[IAmTheNoun I am the Dragon]]" at several points.

* AdaptationDistillation: Both film adaptations. ''Manhunter'' only briefly references the painting, ignores Lecter's cannibalism, while the 2002 film has a greater focus on the Lecter/Graham relationship.

* AdaptationDistillation: Both film adaptations. ''Manhunter'' removes all references to the painting, as well as Lecter's cannibalism, while the 2002 film has a greater focus on the Lecter/Graham relationship.

* TheEighties / OnlyInMiami: ''Manhunter'' was displaced to a mostly South Florida setting, and the film itself is very stylized around Eighties South Florida. No surprise, since [[MiamiVice Michael Mann]] co-wrote and directed it.

* AntagonistTitle: An indirect example. "Red Dragon" is actually a shorthand for the painting "The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed In Sun" that figures into the plot. Francis Dolarhyde, the villain, believes himself to be representative of it, stating "I am the Great Red Dragon" and "I am the Dragon" at several points.

* TwoferTokenMinority: Reba, blind and female. Also invoked by a line of dialogue in the book, which is now on the trope's quote page.

* ToKnowHimIMustBecomeHim: Basically how Will Graham catches serial killers - he's able to get into their mindset, to empathize with them, to an extent that disturbs him.

* GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex: Reba and Dolarhyde. Of course, D was the AxCrazy {{serial killer}} of the story, so this is either subverted, or invoked deliberately to make D more sympathetic.

* AdaptationDistillation: The 2002 film.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/red_dragon.jpg

In 2002, there was a new film adaptation of ''Red Dragon'', starring Anthony Hopkins and Edward Norton and keeping the original name this time. It was a moderate success, although some fans of ''Manhunter'' complained that a remake was unnecessary, though others were just happy to see something that didn't suck as bad as ''Hannibal''. The film also included the focus on the Red Dragon's psychological torments, which was all but ignored in ''Manhunter'', and features an ending more faithful to the book's.

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