Criminal Minds/Characters: Difference between revisions

** [[Badass Beard]]: Only in "It Takes a Village". The fandom consensus seems to be that he should grow it back.

*** Apparently others associated with the show liked it, too: a brief clip of the [[Badass Beard]] is shown in the Season 7 opening credits.

** [[Badass in a Nice Suit]]

* [[Break the Cutie]]

* [[Hates Being Touched]]

* [[Heterosexual Life Partners]] / [[Ho Yay]]: Hotch and Rossi, who are the only two team members to regularly call each other by their first names and have been very close friends for over fifteen years.

* [[Hot Dad]]

* [[It's Personal]]: Any and all violence against children (especially physical child abuse) and cases that leave children without a father, not to mention his obsession with catching the Reaper. After the Reaper and the events of "100", we can add {{spoiler|unsubs torturing their victims over the phone, and unsubs who use knives and sexual sadism against their victims}}.

* [[The Profiler]]: Along with the rest of the team.

* [[The Stoic]]: Usually.

** In Season 7, he's largely gotten over Haley's death and has started dating. He now appears more often in casual clothing, smiles and laughs more, and everyone (especially Rossi) is absolutely delighted to see this.

* [[What Could Have Been]]: Before Thomas Gibson was cast, Hotch was originally written as a blonde-haired, blue-eyed Mormon.

=== David Rossi (Joe Mantegna) ===

* [[Amicably Divorced]]: Above and beyond this with first ex-wife Carolyn, implied to be this with his two other ex-wives as well.

* [[Agent Scully]]

* [[Badass Grandpa]]

* [[Break the Haughty]]: "Damaged" does a number on him in season three; "Epilogue" does a worse one in season seven.

** He's also seen playing video games with Ashley at the end of "Coda".

** Helps Hotch coach Jack's soccer team. It's really kind of adorable.

* [[Deadpan Snarker]]

* [[Famed in Story]]: When Manilow's not in town.

* [[It's Personal]]: The Galen case ("Damaged"), the Butcher case ("Remembrances of the Past"), idol worship/emulation, especially directed toward him ("Limelight", "Zoe's Reprise"), and religion ("Demonology", "Public Enemy").

* [[Jerkass]]: [[Writer on Board|Depending on the writer]]. Moreso in season three, but there have been episodes in season five where writers of various episodes have him lapsing back into his Jerkass-y ways.

* [[Large Ham]]: Can pull it off when needed, usually in the course of distracting the press (as seen in "The Performer" and "Painless").

* [[Lying to the Perp]]: Rossi's a master at this - see "Masterpiece" and "Reckoner" for particularly spectacular examples.

* [[Reasonable Authority Figure]]: Acts as the ''de facto'' leader when Hotch isn't around; especially when compared with [[Tyrant Takes the Helm|Erin Strauss]].

* [[Retired Badass]]: Before he returns to the Bureau. He's not so much retired anymore.

* [[Team Dad]]

* [[The Consigliere]]: Mostly to Hotch, but as of S5, to Morgan as well.

* [[Bald of Awesome]]

* [[Bald Black Leader Guy]]: Briefly in Season Five.

* [[Big Brother Instinct]]: He will put your head on a pike if you DARE to touch a single hair of his surrogate little brother Spencer Reid.

* [[Can't Act Perverted Toward a Love Interest]]: Averted and subverted with Garcia - she's not technically his "love interest" and he doesn't have a problem at all sexualizing her.

** Morgan himself in "Profiler, Profiled", when he is suspected of a series of murders in his old neighborhood.

* [[Dark and Troubled Past]]: Watch "Profiler, Profiled" and all of Morgan's issues with authority figures and sexual abuse make sense. Then take a look at "Big Sea" and "The Company" and get a look into how fractured the stalking and disappearance of his cousin Cindy caused the family to be.

* [[Disappeared Dad]]: First with his own father, and then with his ''father figure'', Gideon.

* [[Fan Wank]]: In an in-universe example, Reid has a tendency to bore his colleagues with rants about the specs of the [[Star Wars|Death Star]], whether [[Bill and Ted]] is a ripoff of ''[[Doctor Who]]'', and the nature and frequency of science errors in the original ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek the Original Series]]''.

* [[Geek Physiques]]: The skinny kind. Probably as a result of [[Forgets to Eat]].

* [[Genius' Sweet Tooth]]: If there's junk food around, Reid ''will'' find it.

* [[In-Series Nickname]]: "Spence" from JJ, "Kid" and "Pretty Boy" from Morgan, and countless ones from [[The Nicknamer|Garcia]], 'Gorgeous Grey Matter' being a notable example.

* [[Insufferable Genius]]: Unlike most versions, this comes not from arrogance (He's quite humble) but simply his habit of outshining others with his knowledge, making Them look bad by comparison (Which is very unintentional and simply a habit of his).

* [[I'm Taking Her Home with Me|I'm Taking Him Home With Me]]: He does tend to engender this type of response in some people.

* [[Mr. Fanservice]]

** Keeping with this: [[Nerds Are Sexy]]. Lila Archer (1x18 "Somebody's Watching"), Austin (4x9 "52 Pickup"), and various prostitutes (c.f. 2x22 "Legacy" and 4x7 "In Memoriam") seem to think so.

* [[Nerd Glasses]]: Wears these from time to time.

* [[Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant]]: The member of the team most likely to inform you of the Squickiest thing the unsub might do. Like eat human eyeballs.

{{quote|'''Reid''': I was able to differentiate between two distinct voices, two authors. I found various idiosyncratic words, phrases, punctuation and orthography within the blog. Entries consistent with each separate person, words like soda and pop. One guy uses dashes while the other guy uses ellipses. *chuckles*

'''Detective Linden''': ... where'd you find this kid?

[[File:Kirsten_vangsness_240_4129.jpg|frame]]

* [[Badass Boast]]: In a slightly nerdy way whenever she answers the phone to the team, for example she's announced herself "the fountain of all knowledge" on one occasion. Also see the quote under [[Beware the Nice Ones]], she could absolutely do that. There's also her CMOA at the end of "The Internet Is Forever".

{{quote|''"Girlfriend? Kevin, if you come within 100 feet of Agent Rossi, I will unleash an unrecoverable virus onto your personal computer system that will reduce your electronic world into something between a Commodore 64, and a block of government cheese... call me later!"''}}

* [[Big Beautiful Woman]]: Hell yeah.

* [[Can't Act Perverted Toward a Love Interest]]: Averted and subverted with Morgan - he's not her love interest and she sexualizes him plenty.

* [[Characterization Marches On]]: She's nearly unrecognizable to what she would later become in the pilot, in which she's a [[Deadpan Snarker]] who dresses like a stereotypical "working stiff" and who actually easily gives up trying to hack something.

** Mind you, she mentioned having a step-father, so both could be true at once.

* [[Doesn't Like Guns]]: In "Penelope", Morgan tries to give her one for protection.

* {{spoiler|[[Dead Little Sister|Dead Big Sister]]: "Risky Business" tells us JJ's older sister committed suicide when she was 11.}}

* [[Character Development]]: JJ's original role on the team was to manipulate the media (and through them the bad guys) as well as deal with people the team came into contact with. Starting at the end of season five her role noticeably expanded until her temporary departure part way through Season 6. As of Season 7's "Proof" she's out pounding the pavement with Reid as well checking out body dumps and talking profiler-speak to the locals with Rossi.

* [[Fair Cop]]

* [[Happily Married]]: In Season 3's "Lo-Fi", Will LaMontagne tells the team that he's asked JJ to marry him. They are shown living together during Season 7, with Will taking care of Henry while JJ is chasing a serial killer in Tornado Alley, but not officially married until the season 7 finale.

'''Reid''': Perhaps your lack of recognition stems from a disassociative fugue suffered in adolescence. Like, say, at a Siouxsie and the Banshees concert? }}

* {{spoiler|[[Near-Death Experience]]: Reveals in "Epilogue" that when she coded in the ambulance in "Lauren", all she felt was cold and darkness. Being a very lapsed Catholic, she says she desperately wants to change.}}

* [[One of Us]]: Reads comic books, makes ''[[Star Trek]]'' references, and digs Vonnegut.

* [[Parenthetical Swearing]]: Usually directed toward [[Tyrant Takes the Helm|Strauss]]. Only Prentiss can make the address "ma'am" sound like "fuck you, you soulless bitch".

** She also gives Hotch a rather icy "sir" in "Sex, Birth, Death" when he touches a raw nerve by accusing her of playing political games.

=== Ashley Seaver (Rachel Nichols) ===

[[File:624111_1295547964712_full_9533.jpg|frame]]

* [[Ascended Extra|Ascended Guest Star]]

* [[Broken Bird]]

* [[Emotionless Girl]]: Comes off as this at first.

* [[Expy]]: Ashley is ''very'' similar to Rebecca Locke from ''[[The Inside]]'', another young [[The Profiler|profiler]] played by Rachel Nichols. Substitute "{{spoiler|my daddy was a serial killer and I have issues}}" for "I was kidnapped by a serial killer and I have issues".

* [[Faux Action Girl]]

* [[Parental Issues]]: Hoo boy. {{spoiler|Daddy was a serial killer.}}

* [[Parental Substitute]]: Rossi is hers. Ironically, he captured her real father.

=== Detective Will LaMontagne (Josh Stewart) ===

* [[The Big Easy]]

* [[A Day in the Limelight]]: While "Hit" and "Run" don't focus entirely on him, he plays a huge role in the story and we learn a lot about him.

* [[Big Eater]]

* [[Butt Monkey]]: He is, after all, played by [[Trope Namer]] Nicholas "Xander Harris" Brendon.

* [[Geeky Turn On]]: ''"Oh, you are NOT seriously trying to backhack me!"''

* [[Non-Action Guy]]

* [[Bait and Switch Tyrant]]: She has the occasional, ''very rare'' [[Pet the Dog]] moment.

* [[Depending on the Writer]]: In her first appearances, she's trying to be a [[Manipulative Bastard|manipulative bitch]]. Then it look like she is [[Tyrant Takes the Helm|A Tyrant Taking The Helm.]] In her next appearance, she becomes a [[Bait and Switch Tyrant]] and gets a few [[Pet the Dog]] moments. Then, as of the current season, she's back to the [[Obstructive Bureaucrat]] boss who does things over the team's objections.

* [[Genre Savvy]]: In "It Takes a Village", she knows as soon as Emily asks for permission to {{spoiler|trade Ian Doyle for Declan}} that the BAU's already set the plan into motion.

* [[Iron Lady]]

* [[Conspiracy Theorist]]: Of the "government is watching me and my son works with fascists" variety.

* [[Cool Teacher]]: Was once a university professor, before the schizophrenia.

* [[The Schizophrenia Conspiracy]]

* [[Psycho Psychologist]]

* [[Super OCD]]: He's obsessive about cleanliness and order. Gideon exploits this flaw to trick him into confessing.

* [[Would Hurt a Child]]

* [[Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas]]: Subverted. While he kept his mother's body in a pristine apartment, and surrounded it with flowers, it's heavily implied that she was his first victim.

* [[Evil Genius]]

* [[Final Boss]]: Of Season 2.

* [[First-Name Basis]]: He always calls Gideon by his first name.

* [[Not So Stoic]]: The ever so brief look he gives when Gideon mentions they've learned who his mother is, and what his childhood was really like.

* [[Recurring Character]]: In Season 2

* [[Serial Killer]]: That goes without saying but Frank took it to a whole new level. He's killed ''166 people'' all over the United States for at least thirty years, though it should be noted he's nothing compared to Billy Flynn and a few [[Real Life]] [[Serial Killer|Serial Killers]].

* [[Smug Snake]]: The poster boy. He manages to make sitting in a cafe, drinking his coffee look arrogant.

* [[Son of a Whore]]

* [[Start of Darkness]]: "No Way Out II: The [[Incredibly Lame Pun|Evilution]] of Frank".

* [[Criminal Mind Games]]

* [[Crazy Prepared]]: His plan hinges largely on [[Improbably High IQ|Reid]] picking up on his verbal clues and the unusual pattern to his murders, and he knows that Reid alone is smart enough to do it because said pattern and clues are very unusual and rooted in advanced mathematics.

* [[Disproportionate Retribution]]: Murders several women just because they reminded him of the fiancee` who dumped him years ago. {{spoiler|And plans on killing the entire team to get back at Rossi...for exposing his brother as a [[Serial Killer]].}}

* {{spoiler|[[Engineered Public Confession]]}}

* [[Evil Genius]]

* [[Hannibal Lecture]]: Almost a whole episode of these, mostly directed at either Rossi or Reid.

* [[In the Blood]]: Firmly believes this. Rossi calls it "junk science" and thinks he's just looking for excuses.

* [[It's Personal]]: Blames Rossi for ruining his life...[[Insane Troll Logic|for capturing his Serial Killer older brother.]]

* [[Off on a Technicality]]: {{spoiler|1=Subverted. When he realises he has lost he tries to pull this off, since he disposed of all his bodies with sulphuric acid and, despite drawing attention to his own killings, the BAU had to simply guesstimate who they thought he might have killed by themselves, while the family he kidnapped never saw him and the team only saved them thanks to highly esoteric and very well hidden clues he left, that border on a [[Bat Deduction]] enough that he could plead lack of evidence. But circumstantial evidence along with his [[Engineered Public Confession]] are enough to put him away.}}

* [[Revenge by Proxy]]: {{spoiler|Wants to kill the rest of the team in order to hurt Rossi.}}

* [[Smug Snake]]

* [[Shut UP, Hannibal]]: Rossi gives him an ''epic'' and pretty nasty one at the end, even resulting in a [[Villainous Breakdown]].

* [[Freudian Excuse]]

* {{spoiler|[[Go Out with a Smile]]}}: More or less. She has finally managed to indirectly {{spoiler|destroy her father's career}} and is relieved to be with {{spoiler|Hotch}}, who she considers "the first man she'd met who didn't let her down".

* [[Kick the Dog]]: When she shot Trent Rabner, a childless widower who had always been faithful to his wife until the end.

* [[Monster Sob Story]]

=== Adam Jackson aka {{spoiler|Amanda}} (Jackson Rathbone) ===

* [[Bishonen]]: Notice that it plays an important role in his murders.

* {{spoiler|[[Dominatrix]]}}

* [[Mr. Fanservice]]

* [[Freudian Excuse]]

* {{spoiler|[[Knight Templar Big Brother]]: Amanda eventually buried Adam in an attempt to keep him from harm.}}

* {{spoiler|[[More Deadly Than the Male]]: It's Amanda doing the raping and killing, Adam doesn't know anything about it.}}

* [[Fate Worse Than Death]]: How Mason views his condition.

* [[Final Boss]]: Of Season 4.

* [[Genius Cripple]]: Mason

* [[Go Out with a Smile]]: Mason, who lies back and smiles before he is shot.

* [[I'm a Humanitarian]]: Sorta. Lucas doesn't really seem to mind eating pigs that he's fed a ton of people to.

* [[Kill the Poor]]: They prey on homeless people, prostitues and junkies on the premise that they're useless, and no one will miss them.

* [[Lack of Empathy]]: Mason has no empathy for those they've killed, saying that they should be grateful that they can become a part of something greater than themselves. Subverted with Lucas, who starts empathising with the last victim after the police show up to the farm and he's forced to spend time with her in his old childhood hideaway.

=== Billy Flynn, the Prince of Darkness ([[Tim Curry]]) ===

* [[A God Am I]]: "I decide who dies, but mostly, I decide who lives. I'm like... God."

* [[Boom! Headshot!]]: How most of his victims are killed.

* [[Dark Is Evil]]

* [[Sympathetic Murderer|Sympathetic Murderers]]

* [[The Dog Bites Back]]: Their ultimate motive is doing this to their fathers.

* {{spoiler|[[Together in Death]]}}

* [[Tropaholics Anonymous]]: Met via an AlAnon meeting. Ray is later seen attending a meeting... which he and Syd promptly shoot up after the organizer irritates Ray.

* [[Unholy Matrimony]]

* [[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds|Woobies, Destroyers of Worlds]]

=== Ian Doyle, Valhalla (Timothy V. Murphy) ===