History Literature / RedDragon

* FreudianExcuse: Dolarhyde; as Will Graham notes, "As a child, my heart goes out to him. As an adult, he's irredeemable." Dolarhyde's grandmother was rather an abusive parent who subjected him to severe physical and emotional abuse; his adoptive family prior to his grandmother was just as cruel and abusive; and neither novel nor adaptations even ''touch'' on the AllOfTheOtherReindeer treatment he must have received from his peers and society at large, due to the combination of extreme ugliness and severe speech impediment.

** Dr. Bloom's first name is mentioned as Sidney in '' Manhunter'' instead of Alan

* AffablyEvil: Hannibal Lecter.

* TheChessmaster: Hannibal Lecter.

* HandOfDeath: [[spoiler:Ralph Mandy]].
* HannibalLecture: TropeNamer.
* HaveYouToldAnyoneElse: Hannibal Lecter to Graham, at the start of the 2002 film.
** Graham's response: [[GenreBlindness "No, I needed to see you first."]]

* ImAHumanitarian: Hannibal the Cannibal, of course.

* MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate: Lecter, of course.

* NotSoDifferentRemark: Lecter taunts Graham with this.
-->'''Lecter''': You want the scent? Smell yourself.

* PhotographicMemory: Graham, Lecter to an extent.

* SerialKiller: Perhaps the most famous literary/film examples.

* IAteWhat: That poor boardwoman...

In 2002, there was a new film adaptation of ''Red Dragon'', starring Creator/AnthonyHopkins and Creator/EdwardNorton, keeping the original name this time. Like ''Manhunter'', the 2002 film changes the story's setting to the mid-80's, though this time as a means of preserving continuity with the 1991 film adaptation of ''Literature/TheSilenceOfTheLambs'' (itself also given a contemporary setting). It was a moderate success, although some fans of ''Manhunter'' complained that a remake was unnecessary, but was ultimately far less controversial than the previous year’s ''Literature/{{Hannibal}}'' film adaptation. 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 goes into his backstory a bit, and reveals that he was actually a very skilled journalist who left his legitimate career for the Tattler when he realized that he'd never be given the respect and opportunities he deserved. It's implied that he plans to use the fame from helping catch the Tooth Fairy to give another try at a more prestigious career. He also has a girlfriend, Wendy, who despite being a prostitute has genuine affection for him.

** ConsultingAConvictedKiller: Lecter is consulted 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 himself hadn't already thought of- all he does is back up Will's opinions, though this is not so much due to lack of insight as it is Lecter deciding that helping out the [=FBI=] 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 live.

** ConsultingAConvictedKiller: Lecter is consulted 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 himself hadn't already thought of- all he does is back up Will's opinions, though this is not so much lack insight as Lecter deciding that helping out the [=FBI=] 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 live.

* SexierAlterEgo: Zig-Zagged. Dolarhyde believes the Red Dragon to be this but since it's all in his head it obviously doesn't change his harelip. However, in his efforts to "transform" he has taken up bodybuilding, which has made him very attractive to his female co-workers in spite of his face. Also, his transformation is what gave him the confidence to approach Reba and find his first genuine human affection.

* IdiotBall: Hannibal Lecter is possibly the most dangerous criminal in the world, and he's held under the tightest security imagineable. He's allowed to use a phone in return for co-operating, which he abuses to get Graham's home address. Lecter claimed he was calling his lawyer, and as insane as he is, he's still entitled to privacy for this communication. What was idiotic was giving him a phone that could call out at all, rather than having the lawyer call ''him'' on a phone with no dialing capacity.

* ImAHumanitarian: Hannibal the Cannibal, of course.

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Dolarhyde genuinely cares for Reba, altough he doesn't express well his love.

* CallForward: The movie ends with Hannibal being asked if he wants to see a [[Film/TheSilenceOfTheLambs female FBI inspector]] and ends with him saying: "What's her name?"

* BiggerBad: the (painting of the) Red Dragon. [[CaptainObvious It does not actually speak to Dolarhyde]] and tell him to go commit gruesome murders; however, Dolarhyde sees himself as being the Red Dragon's avatar. Most importantly, he has agency within that role: it might be possible for him to resist the Red Dragon's orders.

* AttackItsWeakPoint: Added into the climax of the film, which deviates a bit from the book. [[spoiler:Instead of just attacking straight out, Dolarhyde takes Josh hostage. Graham, having already read Dolarhyde's Big Book of Crazy and knowing his FreudianExcuse, begins to criticize his adoptive son with the same words that Francis's grandmother used to use on him. It's the last nail in the coffin for Dolarhyde, who is not "a freak, but a man with a freak on his back": ''he begins to [[NotSoDifferent sympathize with his own intended victim]],'' and throws Josh free so that he can fight the person he ''really'' hates. [[BatmanGambit Which was Graham's plan all along, of course.]]]]

* NotSoDifferent: Lecter taunts Graham with this.

** In a long-term variant, [[spoiler:in the end, Will is promised that the doctors will fix his face, and he wonders if he can keep Molly around as a "cheap shot" due to his condition, and he ultimately comforts himself with the uncaring eternity of nature. In the novel the reconstruction surgery apparently didn't work, he's likely divorced, and he's a drunk beach bum.]]

* AdaptationDyeJob : Dolarhyde is blond in the novel and first film adaptation. Creator/RalphFiennes has dark hair.

** Will Graham himself. His full name is given to be William. Not specified in the book.[[note]]And Will could just as well be short for Willard, Wilson or Wilbur.[[/note]]
** Similarly for Freddy Lounds, he is given the full name Frederick.

* AscendedExtra: Hannibal Lecter appears very briefly in the book, but then he becomes the BreakoutCharacter in ''The Silence of the Lambs'' and has a lot of screen time in the 2002 adaptation of ''Red Dragon.''
* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:Played with Freddy Lounds. Everything that the audience learns about his character displays him as a smug asshole, but the scene right before his death with him humiliated, begging helplessly for his life in fear, disgusted and horrified by Dolarhyde's "slideshow", and dying in a fashion that was extraordinarily painful and protracted, generates at least some sympathy for the poor man.]]

In 1981, ''Literature/BlackSunday'' author Thomas Harris released a very dark thriller novel 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 but insane psychiatrist Dr. Franchise/HannibalLecter. The two had previously forced each other into mutual retirement four years earlier, Graham by catching Lecter, and Lecter by nearly disemboweling Graham while trying to escape.

* SequelHook: The 2002 film features a scene set an unspecified amount of time after the events of the Tooth Fairy case, with Doctor Frederick Chilton telling Hannibal Lector that he has a visitor looking to investigate what the audience knows is the Buffalo Bill case. Lector then asks for her name, setting up ''Film/TheSilenceOfTheLambs'' as an ImmediateSequel.

* ShoutOut
** The suit Francis Dolarhyde wears in ''Red Dragon'' [[spoiler: when he goes to eat the original "Red Dragon" painting]] is an echo of Creator/WilliamPetersen's suit in ''Film/{{Manhunter}}''.
** At the end of ''Red Dragon'' [[spoiler: Hannibal is informed of [[SequelHook a young female FBI agent who wants to question him]].]]

!!This series provides examples of:

In 2002, there was a new film adaptation of ''Red Dragon'', starring Creator/AnthonyHopkins and Creator/EdwardNorton, keeping the original name this time. Like ''Manhunter'', the 2002 film changes the story's setting to the mid-80's, though this time as a means of preserving continuity with the 1991 film adaptation of ''Literature/TheSilenceOfTheLambs'' (itself also given a contemporary setting). 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 the ''Literature/{{Hannibal}}'' film adaptation. 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.

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:Played with Freddy Lounds. Everything that the audience learns about his character displays him as a smug asshole, but the scene right before his death with him humiliated, begging helplessly for his life in fear, disgusted and horrified by Dolarhyde's "slideshow", and dying in a fashion that was extraordinarily painful and protracted, generates at least some sympathy for the poor man. ]]

** Will's stepson is named Willy in the book. Changed to Josh to avoid confusion.

* ForensicDrama: [[DownplayedTrop Downplayed]] compared to ''Manhunter''.

* PetTheDog: Dolarhyde and Reba. Characters later suggest that ThePowerOfLove almost convinced him to HeelFaceTurn, sadly the "dragon" took total control, though Dolarhyde does still end up not killing Reba.

* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: [[spoiler:This saves Reba's life.]]

* GunsDoNotWorkThatWay: Glaser Safety Slugs are nowhere near the invincible manstopper described in the novel. ''Ninety Glasers had been fired at men so far. All ninety were instant one-shot stops. In eighty-nine of the cases immediate death resulted. One man survived, surprising the doctors.''

* InbredAndEvil: Graham suggests to sleazy tabloid reporter Freddy Lounds that the [[SerialKiller Tooth Fairy]] is the product of incest, as part of various other insults. This majorly pisses off the Tooth Fairy, [[spoiler:who subsequently murders Lounds.]]

* MaliciousSlander: employed by the ''good guys''. The FBI use a tabloid, ''The National Tattler'', to print [[InsistentTerminology libelous attacks]] on the Tooth Fairy in the hopes of luring him out.