The Profiler: Difference between revisions

 

{{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 ==

* 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.

 

* 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 ==

* 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.

 

== Live-Action TV ==

* 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 ==

 

* 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.

* 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]].)

 

* [[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 ==

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Cops and Detectives]]

[[Category:Crime and Punishment Tropes]]

[[Category:Seekers]]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Profiler, The}}