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The Profiler: Difference between revisions
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Profiling is a real discipline within criminology, and it really does sometimes seem like magic, but in the real world, accurate profiling is one of the hardest things in all of criminal science, and almost never produces a particularly specific result. In fact, at least one study has shown that profilers are no better at picking out guilty suspects than any random intelligent person.
Real-life profilers try to stress that profiling will never be a replacement for old-fashioned police work, and their work is better used as a tool to exclude suspects who don't fit the profile as opposed to fingering the guilty party by describing them to a "T" right down to the color of his/her shoes. It doesn't help that the very first profiler—Dr. James Brussel, an eminent psychologist who consulted on the New York City "[[Mad Bomber]]" case in the 1950s -- ''did'' correctly predict what kind of suit the bomber would be wearing when arrested (and [https://web.archive.org/web/20121029110919/http://www.gladwell.com/2007/2007_11_12_a_profile.html almost nothing else]).<ref>Note also that Brussel's profile had been made public, so it's possible that the bomber's choice of clothing had been unconsciously influenced by it.</ref>
Naturally, the public hasn't listened for the most part. Thus Profilers in TV-land are far more effecient, accurate and almost ''never'' wrong.
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{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* Snow, preternaturally so, in Tista.
* In [[Death Note]]. L performs a remarkable feat of profiling early in the series, but credits it to his ability to recognize a personality similar to his own. His sketch of the {{spoiler|Second Kira is less complete, and he's completely beaten to the punch on the Third, though it's implied that he could've done better if he weren't so depressed and distracted}}. To be fair, they are all using a supernatural method of murder, which makes them much harder to predict or track down.
== Comic Books ==
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* In ''[[Bookhunter]]'', "ALA's top profiler" shows up briefly, and identifies the book thief as a loner... and as a childhood bed-wetter with a speech impediment. The readers never find out how accurate or inaccurate this profile actually is.
== Film ==
* Paul Giamatti's character in ''Shoot 'em Up'' is a Profiler. Criminal retired pussy with a gun profiles, but still a profiler.
* Will Graham in ''Manhunter'' and its remake, ''Red Dragon''. This is the man who captured Hannibal Lecter.
** Of course we would be remiss if we didn't mention [[Red Dragon|the original novel]]. It's so much easier to get into a character's head that way.
* Both played straight and [[Inverted Trope|inverted]] in ''Mindhunters'' - every person on the island is a profiler, and the murderer seems to know his victims quite well, enabling some particularly karmic deaths for the flawed criminologists.
== Literature ==
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* Cassie Maddox, secondary main character of Tana French's ''In the Woods'', is a murder-squad detective who is unofficially consulted as a profiler by the rest of the squad because she studied a bit of psychology in college. Despite her lack of training, her observations help pinpoint an important aspect of the killer's psychology.
* [[Amateur Sleuth]] example: [[Agatha Christie|Hercule Poirot's]] personal favourite method of solving murders is the use of "the psychology". Even more so than order, method and the little grey cells. ''Cards on the Table'' provides a good example of this.
* ''[[Sherlock Holmes]]'' is always profiling both clients and adversaries, usually based on tiny details he observes with the [[Sherlock Scan]].
== Live-Action TV ==
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* Most of the team in ''[[Flashpoint (TV series)|Flashpoint]]'' fit this to an extent, though Parker is the most proficient and is the best at doing it.
* Pathologist Ducky Mallard in ''[[NCIS]]'' adds profiling to his extensive list of other talents in later seasons.
== Tabletop Games ==
* ''[[Hunter: The Vigil]]'' features the Vanguard Serial Crimes Unit, a division of the FBI dedicated to tracking down [[Slasher
== Video Games ==
* Norman Jayden from ''[[Heavy Rain]]'' fits this trope to a T. {{spoiler|He even gets his initial profile right.}}
* [[Metal Gear|Psycho Mantis]] took it up a notch in his backstory by being a criminologist ''psychic''. Unfortunately he looked into a few too many evil minds and it turned him psychopathic himself.
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* Francis York Morgan of ''[[Deadly Premonition]]'' does this often, which is shown as him digging around for sufficient evidence, at which point a mini-movie of the scene plays in his head as a [[Eureka Moment]].
* One of these does quite well during his first and last appearance in ''[[The Unspeakable Vault of Doom]]''. He determines that a [[Serial Killer]] is old, but physically strong and mentally sharp, a [[I'm a Humanitarian|habitual cannibal]] and [[A God Am I|self-considered god]], and wants his victims to worship him. However, he believes the killer forces his victims to write out a particular phrase, and fails to realize that this phrase ''[[Speak of the Devil|summons]]'' the killer (who is, in fact, [[Cthulhu Mythos|Cthulhu]].)
== Web Original ==
▲== Web Originals ==
* [[Shadow Unit]]: the majority of the main cast.
== Western Animation ==
* Frank Bishop from ''[[Fillmore!]]'', a retired profiler brought on to find a serial shredder.
== Real Life ==
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]▼
[[Category:Cops and Detectives]]
[[Category:Crime and Punishment Tropes]]
[[Category:Seekers]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Profiler, The}}
▲[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
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