History Characters / HannibalLecterLiterature

A serial who eats his victims. Before his capture, he was a respected forensic psychiatrist. After his incarceration, he is consulted by FBI agents Will Graham and Clarice Starling to help them find other serial killers.

Characters from the film/book series by Thomas Harris focused on serial killer Hannibal Lecter. For the Creator/{{NBC}} TV Series, go to Characters/{{Hannibal}}

* AGodAmI: Indirectly. He believes that God has never done anything worse than he's done, and therefore anyone who acts with God's random ruthlessness might as well be considered God in their own right.
** During his conversation with Will Graham in ''Red Dragon'', he reveals this to be the root of his pathology.
** In ''Hannibal'' (film version), there is a recurring theme of comparing Hannibal to Jesus, complete with a CrucifiedHeroShot and PietaPlagiarism. The comparison, however, is not favorable: Hannibal compares Commandatore Pazzi to Judas for betraying him for avarice, and, by extension, himself to Jesus, forgetting that he well, ''eats people''.

* FailedASpotCheck: As Clarice's ThresholdGuardian, Chilton goes through all of the hospital's security measures concerning Lecter, specifically banning pencils and pens from Lecter's cell. [[spoiler:The reason Lecter escapes is because Chilton has left his own pen in the cell.]]
%%* ItsAllAboutMe

* NeverMyFault: Is [[spoiler:Hannibal's escape]] Chilton's fault for moving him to a less secure facility solely to steal the credit for stopping Buffalo Bill, not to mention carelessly leaving his pen in his cell? No, he somehow blames Clarice for it.

* KnifeNut: Hardly ever kills people without a knife around.

* AwesomeMcCoolname: For all his crimes, you can't deny "Dolarhyde" is a pretty awesome sounding surname.

* FreudianExcuse: It's implied that Margot works so hard to become strong and physically powerful to compensate for her helplessness when she was abused as a child. ([[UnfortunateImplications In a less-sympathetic example]], the book also hints that [[RapeAndSwitch she became a lesbian after being raped by Mason]] and now DoesNotLikeMen for the same reason.)

* NeverMyFault: Is [[spoiler: Hannibal's escape]] his fault for moving him to a less secure facility solely to steal the credit for stopping Buffalo Bill? No, he somehow blames Clarice for it.

* FreudianExcuse: Initially this notion was [[DefiedTrope defied]] by Lecter himself, saying that nothing happened to him but instead ''he'' happened. Thanks to [[BelatedBackstory retconning]], we learn [[spoiler: his sister was eaten by [[ThoseWackyNazis Nazi]] [[ImAHumanitarian Cannibals]] when he was a child.]] As executed, it made everything else about Lecter mention by others (like Doemling) mesh better (and completed the FailureKnight analogy hinted at since the previous book), but the extension of it into a full story makes Lecter’s initial characterization as pure evil somewhat more ambiguous, as a few passages in ''Hannibal'' imply he [[spoiler:resented his sister]] and [[spoiler:was actually inspired by her murder, feeling awe at the extent that evil can reach]].

* BelatedBackstory: First appeared in 1981, but his backstory wasn't given until 2006, 25 years later.

* LackOfEmpathy: This is invoked, subverted ''and'' played straight. As stated in his ItIsDehumanizing entry, he refers to his victims as "it" to try and distance himself from them as much as he can. However, the minute he's forced to see them as human, he will start to choke back on tears and lash out angrily. This doesn't stop him from skinning women, however.

%%* LackOfEmpathy

** In ''Hannibal'' (film version), there is a recurring theme of comparing Hannibal to Jesus, complete with a CrucifiedHeroShot and PietaPlagiarism. The comparison, however, is not favorable: Hannibal compares Commandatore Pazzi to Judas for betraying him for avarice, and, by extension, himself to Jesus,well, ''eats people''.

** In ''Hannibal'' (film version), there is a recurring theme of comparing Hannibal to Jesus, complete with a CrucifiedHeroShot and PietaPlagiarism. The comparison, however, is not favorable: Hannibal compares Commandatore Pazzi to Judas for betraying him for avarice, and, by extension, himself to Jesus, forgetting that Judas decided to betray Jesus only after he said in Gethsemane (a ''soup kitchen'', no less), ‘There will always be poor people, but only one of me,’ and that he himself, well, ''eats people''.

* BlackBestFriend: Probably the only staff member at the Baltimore Hospital whom Lecter was on consistently good terms with.

* HollywoodAtheist: ''Hannibal Rising'' depicts him as one, saying during a funeral service for his sister that he's glad that (he believes) there is no God or afterlife because he thinks CessationOfExistance is a better fate than being "made to kiss God's ass forever".

%%* CulturedBadass

%%* HannibalLecture: [[TropeNamers Trope Namer]].
* HooksAndCrooks: His favorite knife is a harpy, a knife shaped like a talon.
%%* ImAHumanitarian

* HeelFaceDoorSlam: He attempts to placate the Red Dragon aspect of his personality by eating the William Blake drawing.
Unfortunately it's not enough, and the Dragon comes back with a vengeance.

* BrokenAce: His work for the FBI caused him a great deal of physical and psychological trauma and when we last hear of him he's been reduced to a disfigured drunk.

* TheProfiler: Famed in his department for being able to ascertain the psychological state of the criminal. Played a bit more realistically than some examples--his profiling isn't enough to catch Dolarhyde, and most of his successes on screen are more about luck or police work than his empathetic talents.

* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: Will Graham was a veteran agent brought out of retirement with a personal history with Lechter. Clarice is a trainee on her first assignment. Whereas Lechter hates Will, he likes Clarice a lot.
* {{Determinator}}: Played with; in the novels, Clarice comes from one of the historically poorest areas in the United States and loses her father and given up for adoption by her mother and later relatives. Despite this Clarice becomes a college graduate and FBI agent. In Hannibal she nearly gives up when her career nearly sacrificed until the letter from Hannibal Lecter renews her determination and re-opens the Lecter investigation. [[spoiler:Her determination and stubbornness helps her retain her personality at the end of Hannibal the novel.]]
* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:She ends up becoming Lecter's lover by the end of the series, though only in the novels, in the film series, she stays a heroine throughout]].

* KnightInSourArmor: Starts off an idealistic young agent, but gradually grows disillusioned with the system and finally goes rogue when she's thrown under a bus after doing everything right.

* TheCassandra: Much of his warnings especially for Clarice not to give into Hannibal's questions about her personal life, are ignored.

* AssholeVictim: Krendler goes out of his way to destroy Clarice not only because of the Buffalo Bill case (which she solved without his help) but over her rejecting his advances (twice). Then he colluded with Verger to use her to lure Lecter into the boar trap.

* BrainFood: Paul Krendler has his feed to him by Hannibal.

* DisproportionateRetribution: He make's Starling's life a living hell for not only grand-slamming the Buffalo Bill case, but also he made [[NoodleIncident a pass at Clarice which she rejected.]] Twice.

* BelatedBackstory: First appeared in 1981 but his backstory wasn't given until 2006, 25 years later.
* BerserkButton: Just try to insult or harm Clarice Starling (or children), and see how long you last. Remember what happened to Miggs, Chilton, and Krendler? Yeah, that's right. In his own words: "Discourtesy is unspeakably ugly to me." Being an asshole is a good way to get you in Lecter's bad book. In ''Red Dragon'' he feels that Will Graham has insulted him in their meeting so he unleashes Dolarhyde on his family.

* CombatPragmatist: He [[spoiler: bites a guard on the face, then pepper sprays him, then bludgeons the guard's friend to death with a truncheon -- friend who is unarmed, and has his hands handcuffed to the cage bars.]] Then listens to Music/JohannSebastianBach's ''The Goldberg Variations'', recorded by Glenn Gould in 1955.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Is genuinely disgusted with Mason, Chilton and Krendler. This is a major part of his character. He may be a murderer, a sadist and bit of an ass, but he can't stand exceptional rudeness or discourtesy.

* NotSoStoic: After Miggs throws his semen at Clarice, Lecter bellows down the hall at her. In the novel, Clarice comments on how rare it is to see him agitated. (It later turns out that he's so offended by Migg's "rudeness" that Lecter convinces the man to kill himself. That night. From two cells away.)

* BrokenPedestal: Is a great admirer of Dr. Lecter but is disappointed by Lecter's response to his note. [[spoiler:He feels that by giving him Graham's home address]] Lecter is implying that it is possible for him to be harmed by Graham and Dolarhyde determines that Lecter understands him little more than the rest of society.

* HeelFaceDoorSlam: He attempts to placate the Red Dragon aspect of his personality by eating the William Blake drawing, but unfortunately it's not enough and the Dragon comes back with a vengeance.

* PetTheDog: As noted by Crawford and Graham, he only knocks out Paula Harper despite it being far easier for him to just bump her off.

* TragicMonster: A victim of abuse and bullying as a child. Throughout the book, and in particular during his relationship with Rita, there are brief moments where we see the kind of man he might have been...until the Dragon takes over.

* KindheartedCatLover: Genuinely loves his pet poodle to the point where he all but has a breakdown when Catherine holds her prisoner and his willing to sacrifice the skin and hair he covets so much to ensure her safety.

* TheDogBitesBack: [[spoiler:Margot Verger takes very messy revenge on her brother Mason, who had sexually abused her when she was younger, and manages to make sure that her family will have access to the family's fortune by getting his sperm so she can impregnate her girlfriend with a blood-related heir]]

* ArmouredClosetGay: Implied; he accuses Hannibal and Starling of being gay based on little to no evidence, then has some bizarre and oddly specific nightmare in which he's about to have sex with Clairese, but he [[TheLoinsSleepTonight can't get an erection]] so she calls him a queer repeatedly.

* DisproportionateRetribution: He make's Starling's life a living hell for not only grandslamming the Buffalo Bill case, but also he made [[NoodleIncident a pass at Clarice which she rejected.]] Twice.

** In ''Hannibal'' (film version), there is a recurring theme of comparing Hannibal to Jesus, complete with a CrucifiedHeroShot and PietaPlagiarism. The comparison, however, is not favourable: Hannibal compares Commandatore Pazzi to Judas for betraying him for avarice, and, by extension, himself to Jesus, forgetting that Judas decided to betray Jesus only after he said in Gethsemane (a ''soup kitchen'', no less), ‘There will always be poor people, but only one of me,’ and that he himself, well, ''eats people''.

* AxCrazy: A particularly [[WickedCultured civilised]] example.

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Lecter's personal ethics are bizarre. Murder, torture, cannibalism and mutilation are fine, but sexual assault and rudeness are punishable by death. What Lecter considers to be rude behaviour is unclear as he himself insults, ignores and talks down to people. And murder could be seen as being pretty rude as well. Furthermore, his definition of evil is to defy the rules of society and he made the deliberate choice to be evil by rejecting societal norms.

* CardCarryingVillain: Much moreso in the book than the movie. Dr. Lecter does not live in an obvious delusional fantasy (as Jame Gumb and Francis Dolarhyde do) and he rejects his FreudianExcuse (the death and consumption of his young sister). He derides psychology and behavioural sciences. He corrects Starling when she labels him as "destructive," telling her that he is most definitely evil.

* HooksAndCrooks: His favourite knife is a harpy, a knife shaped like a talon.

* WickedCultured: His ''pathology'' is centred around this trope, as he eats (and serves) his victims as exquisite meals, apparently to prove how much better he is than them; or, in Starling's words, "show his disdain for those who exacerbate him" (or, sometimes, to perform a "public service"). Apart from this, and a more general love of fine dining and drink, he enjoys classical music, is a highly talented artist, and has sufficient knowledge of Dante, the Renaissance and Renaissance literature to get a temp job as a library curator at a Florentine museum, and impress the board enough to nearly make it permanent.

* HeelFaceDoorSlam: He attempts to placate the Red Dragon aspect of his personality by eating the William Blake drawing, but unfortunately it's not enough and the Dragon comes back with a vengence.

* VillainousBreakdown: Dolarhyde is pretty feeling good about his Becoming until he meets Reba and realizes it's possible for people to like him as a man without the whole "Red Dragon" thing. This causes his mind to split in two and he becomes even ''more'' unstable. Instead of being the identity he is becoming The Dragon is now a spiritual being who can move freely through space and physically harm people. He starts [[TalkingToThemself yelling to himself]] uncontrollably and having emotional outburts. In the end [[spoiler:[[SplitPersonalityTakeover The Dragon wins and kills the Dolarhyde identity.]]]]

* AntiVillain: [[SlidingScaleofAntiVillains Type I]] - Although this depends largely on personal interpretation. His targets are usually people who are impolite, or those he feels in some way that their death would be a service to the population at large. But he is not above killing those who would try to capture him, prevent him from escaping capture, and, when trying to secure a job in Florence, killing the man who's job he intends to take. His murders are exceptionally vicious, especially his "wound man" killing. That said, he is not without sympathetic qualities, and is a gracious, courteous host, unless you get on his bad side.

* WickedCultured: His ''pathology'' is centred around this trope, as he eats (and serves) his victims as exquisite meals, apparently to prove how much better he is than them; or, in Starling's words, "show his disdain for those who exacerbate him" (or, sometimes, to perform a "public service"). Apart from this, and a more general love of fine dining and drink, he enjoys classical music, is a highly talented artist, and has sufficient knowledge of Dante, the Rennaisance and Renaissance literature to get a temp job as a library curator at a Florentine museum, and impress the board enough to nearly make it permanent.

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Evolves from a FlatCharacter in ''Silence of the Lambs'' to Clarice's nemesis and [[spoiler:eventual meal]] in ''Hannibal''.