List of Dexter characters

This is a list of characters from the Jeff Lindsay novel series Dexter, consisting of Darkly Dreaming Dexter, Dearly Devoted Dexter, Dexter in the Dark, Dexter by Design, Dexter Is Delicious, Double Dexter, the Dexter graphic novel, Dexter's Final Cut, and Dexter Is Dead, the Showtime television series adaptation Dexter, and its revival seasons Dexter: New Blood, Dexter: Original Sin, and Dexter: Resurrection, the majority of which focus on the exploits of Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall), a forensic technician specializing in bloodstain pattern analysis for the fictional Miami Metro Police Department, who leads a secret parallel life as a vigilante serial killer, hunting down murderers who have not been adequately punished by the justice system due to corruption or legal technicalities.
Dexter "Dex" Morgan is the titular protagonist and narrator of the series. Dexter is a forensics expert and blood spatter analyst employed by the Miami Metro Police Department, but has a double life as a vigilante serial killer. As young boys, he and his older brother Brian witnessed the murder of their mother, Laura Moser and were left for two days in a shipping container filled with blood. The incident left them psychologically scarred. Soon afterwards, Dexter was adopted by Harry Morgan, who hoped to help repress his memory of the death of his mother. He soon realized that Dexter had an insatiable urge to kill that would begin to intensify. Harry, frustrated with the number of people who avoided justice, decided to train Dexter as a killer who would target and dispatch other murderers.
Dexter considers himself emotionally divorced from the rest of humanity; in his narration, he often refers to "humans" as if he is not one of them. He makes frequent references to an internal feeling of emptiness, leading to several attempts in his youth to "feel alive". He claims to have no feelings or conscience and that all of his emotional responses are part of a well-rehearsed act to conceal his true nature. In the Season 1 of the television series, he had no interest in romance or sex; this changed when he became involved with Lila in Season 2. He initially considered his relationship with Rita to be part of his disguise; however, by the end of the Season 4, Dexter had fully evolved into a family man and wished to rid himself of his self-titled "Dark Passenger".
There are chinks in Dexter's emotional armor; he acknowledges loyalty to family, particularly his now-deceased, adoptive father, stating "If I were capable of love, how I would have loved Harry", since Harry's death, Dexter's only family has been his sister, Debra Morgan, Harry's biological daughter. At the end of the first novel, Dexter admits that he could not hurt Debra or allow Brian to harm her because he is "fond of her".
Dexter likes children; the flip side of this affection is that Dexter is particularly wrathful when his victims prey on children. In the book Dearly Devoted Dexter, Dexter realized that Rita's son Cody was showing the same signs of sociopathy as Dexter had at that age, and looked forward to providing him with "guidance" similar to that which Harry provided him. Cody's perceived sociopathy has not been shown in the television series.
This also gives him a reason to continue his relationship with Rita, to whom (as of Dearly Devoted Dexter) he is engaged because of a misunderstanding. At the beginning of the third book, Dexter in the Dark, it is revealed that Cody is not the only one with dark impulses, as Astor too pressures Dexter to teach her, and Dexter comes to accept his role as a stepfather to both children very seriously; for example, while on a stakeout, he begins to wonder if Cody has brushed his teeth before going to bed and if Astor had set out her Easter dress for photo-day at her school. These thoughts distract him while he is waiting for an intended victim, which thoroughly annoys him. In the TV series, Dexter also takes a detour in his code of only killing murderers in order to dispose of a pedophile who is stalking Astor.
Animals do not like Dexter, which can cause noise problems when Dexter stalks a victim with pets. He is quoted as having once had a dog that barked and growled at Dexter until he was forced to get rid of it, and a turtle, which hid in its shell until it died of starvation rather than have to deal with Dexter.
Rita Bennett is Dexter's girlfriend and later wife. Rita is portrayed as a mother, who is slowly recovering from being physically abused by her ex-husband, Paul, and having difficulties maintaining a sexual relationship. Rita tentatively starts a relationship with Dexter, while remaining unaware of his extra-curricular activities. In season two, Rita's relationship with Dexter becomes troubled. After discovering that Dexter framed her ex-husband Paul with drug abuse, she suspects that Dexter owned the drugs himself. She pushes him into Narcotics Anonymous, but begins to suspect that he is having an affair with his sponsor, Lila, and breaks up with him. In anguish, Dexter turns to Lila, and consummates what had before been a platonic relationship. After Dexter lies to Lila about working late (he had gone to kill Jimenez), Lila breaks into Rita's house, afraid that they had rekindled their relationship. Angered, Dexter breaks up with her. His breakup with Lila, his love for Rita and her children, and his sincere regret over what he had done convinces Rita to start dating him again.
In season 3, Rita suddenly discovers that she is pregnant with Dexter's baby. Believing that being a parent is one of her main achievements, Rita decides to keep the baby, and leaves Dexter's role in the child's life entirely up to him. After much deliberation, Dexter decides (with Debra's help) that he will be there for the child and Rita accepts his marriage proposal. Rita loses her job when she is rude to a customer, but gets back on her feet by working as an assistant to Syl Prado.
After the baby, Harrison, is born, Rita and Dexter move into a house together in the suburbs. Rita begins to notice a pattern of lies from Dexter, including deceiving her about the concussion he suffered in the car accident and the ownership of his old apartment. Rita and Dexter then go to a marriage counselor, who allows them to sort out their problems and instigates peace between them. However, their neighbor, Elliot, begins to fall for Rita, kissing her and pointing out that Dexter is never home. Though she initially kisses him back, she quickly ends it before something begins.
Debra Morgan (known as Deborah Morgan in the book) is the younger non-biological sister of Dexter and biological child of Harry Morgan. Debra believed that she truly knew her father, but is unaware of the secrets he kept, especially concerning Dexter (whom she sees as a true brother). Inspired by their father's legendary police career, Debra joined the police and desperately yearned to become a homicide detective. Initially assigned to Vice, she was transferred to Homicide at the start of the first season. Being new to the job and very insecure, she largely relied on Dexter's expertise on murderers to solve difficult cases. Debra met Rudy Cooper, who unknown to her is the Ice Truck Killer using her to get close to Dexter. She falls in love with him, but is later kidnapped by him in order to be able to reveal himself to Dexter. She is bound to a table in the same manner that Dexter kills his victims, while Dexter and Brian discuss her fate. In the show, she is unconscious, but in Darkly Dreaming Dexter, she is awake and finds out that her brother is a killer. Debra is severely affected by Rudy's betrayal; she moves in with Dexter for fear of being alone.
Throughout the second season, Debra stays in her brother's apartment as she deals with the trauma of what happened, but leaves his apartment in a mess. Debra is a key member of the police task force in charge of finding the Bay Harbor Butcher, who is secretly Dexter. She falls for an older man, Frank Lundy, the FBI agent in charge of the case, all the while improving her ability on the job. By the end of Season 2, Debra has recovered from the trauma of the Ice Truck Killer, and is confident as an officer and determined to get her detective's shield.
In Season 3, Debra has had her hair cut to shoulder length, has "sworn off men, liquor and smokes" and is even more determined to get her silver detective's shield. She is working with a new partner, Detective Quinn, but has been approached by an Internal Affairs officer who tells her that her partner is being investigated as a dirty cop, but she refuses to help them. She was originally part of the team investigating the murder of Miguel Prado's brother, Oscar, but because of her lack of tact and people skills she was removed from the case by newly promoted Angel Batista; however, the case she had been assigned (the murder of a young woman) was eventually found to have been connected to the Skinner case, which she solved with the help of Anton, a C.I. whom she started dating after saving his life from the Skinner. Because of her success on the Skinner case, she was promoted to detective at the end of the season.
She is known to have a very foul mouth, and she hardly speaks a sentence without swearing. This has nearly gotten her into trouble, as she often speaks profanely to her superiors, only to realize a few seconds after. It finally got her into trouble in the third season, as a poorly timed public comment caused her to be kicked off the Freebo case. She is also known for being easily angered and frustrated by suspects. Though she is also frustrated at Dexter's inability to open up to her, she has defended him on more than one occasion.
A conversation between her and Dexter leads to her finding out that her father slept with one of his confidential informants. She investigates the files on Harry's informants and interviews some of them, hoping to find the one with whom Harry had an affair. One of the files is shown to be that of Laura Moser. Also during this time, her relationship with Anton had been breaking, especially now that he had secured a gig in the city instead of on a cruise ship. Also, Frank Lundy returns to Miami to hunt the Trinity Killer, and Debra once again becomes involved with Lundy. Soon, both she and Lundy are shot by an unknown assailant suspected to be the Vacation Murderers. In her hospital bed, she confesses to Anton that she slept with Lundy, prompting him to leave her. Lundy died, and she eventually concludes that the Trinity Killer must have been the shooter. As a result, Debra opens an investigation on the Trinity Killer. However, it is later determined that Trinity could not have been the shooter, since her wounds from the bullet were at a horizontal line, therefore someone of Masuka's height had to be the shooter. During a Thanksgiving dinner, Debra remembers a conversation she had with Christine Hill and realizes Hill has knowledge of the shooting that no one outside the police department should possess. This leads Debra to believe that she was the shooter. This is backed up later when it is revealed that Hill is the daughter of Trinity. Hill later confesses to Debra that she was the shooter, and proceeds to shoot herself in the head. Due to her solving the Lundy killing, Debra restarts her search for Harry's C.I. mistress, and finds out about Laura Moser, and the fact that Dexter and the Ice Truck Killer were brothers.
In the revival series, Dexter: New Blood, Debra, while still dead, has replaced Harry in Dexter's mind as his "Dark Passenger".
James Doakes is a sergeant serving as lead case investigator to Miami Metro PD's Homicide. Doakes had killer impulses which drove him to divorce his wife, confessing that if he had stayed with her any longer, he would have killed her.
Doakes instinctively hates Dexter and is the only person in Dexter's life who can see through his false persona of normalcy. Doakes suspects that Dexter is hiding a dark secret and has no reservations about cursing him to his face. Ultimately, Doakes realizes that Dexter is withholding vital information on the Ice Truck Killer case and his frustration drives Doakes to physically attack him, only for Dexter to expertly fight back. Doakes' friend LaGuerta tells him to back off, but Doakes begins stalking Dexter in secret.
Doakes temporarily ends his illicit pursuit when he finds Dexter at a Narcotics Anonymous meeting, supposedly for heroin addiction. Doakes erroneously believes Dexter's dark secret is that he is a drug addict whose addiction is caused by work-related stress, Doakes tells Dexter that he has seen many policemen led down the same path. Feeling sympathetic towards Dexter, Doakes briefly leaves him alone.
Doakes resumes the hunt when Debra innocently reveals that Dexter does not so much as smoke. On finding Doakes meddling in his past again, Dexter goads him into a seemingly unprovoked fight in front of the entire squad room. Doakes breaks into Dexter's apartment, and stumbles upon Dexter's blood slide collection box, and realizes that Dexter could be the Bay Harbor Butcher. He steals the slides to have them analyzed. Ironically, Doakes is by now the prime suspect in the case, thanks to Dexter's manipulation of the evidence.
Doakes attempts to apprehend Dexter himself in the Everglades, but Dexter gets the upper hand and locks him in Jimenez's cabin while deciding what to do next. Doakes tries to convince Dexter to turn himself in. Lila Tournay finds the cabin and blows it up by igniting propane tanks after finding out that Dexter is the Bay Harbor Butcher. Doakes' incinerated remains are found along with the dismembered body of Jose Garza, and so the case is closed, with the official conclusion that Doakes was the serial killer.
Lieutenant María LaGuerta is a tough, determined woman in command of the Homicide division. At the series' beginning, she had a sincere dislike for Debra which in later seasons has dissipated. In the first season, she made no secret of her attraction to Dexter, with whom she flirted constantly, to his discomfort. After the first season it is suggested that she sees him more as a good friend. At the end of the first season, she is removed from command.
She returns to her old job once the new lieutenant, Esmee Pascal, proves to be unstable (a state LaGuerta intentionally worsens by having an affair with Pascal's fiancé). When her friend and former partner and lover, James Doakes, becomes the prime suspect in the Bay Harbor Butcher case, she tries to clear his name. Doakes is found dead in a seemingly accidental explosion along with the body of drug dealer Jose Garza, and the case is closed. As she recovers from the trauma of Doakes' death, she leads an investigation into the murder of Oscar Prado, the brother of her ex-boyfriend, Miguel Prado. She also develops a close relationship with defense attorney Ellen Wolf, and is devastated when Wolf is found murdered. After Miguel's own murder (ostensibly at the hands of The Skinner, but in reality by Dexter), she wants to find admissible evidence to prove he killed Wolf, but Dexter is able to convince her that doing so would only hurt Miguel's family and the Cuban community, and that even then there is a high chance that nothing will be proved. Reluctantly, LaGuerta drops it.
At the start of Season 4, she is shown to be romantically involved with Angel. They keep their relationship hidden from the rest of the homicide department, aside from Dexter, who both Angel and LaGuerta confide in. Their relationship hits a roadblock when she tells their superiors about their relationship so that it cannot be used against them during a trial. The consequence of her disclosure is a threat of reassignment; either Angel or LaGuerta will have to move out of Homicide. Deciding that their jobs are integral parts of who they both are, the two decide to end their relationship, and sign affidavits to that effect. Staying away from each other does not prove easy and they begin having secret liaisons once more in order to circumvent a reprimand from higher up, and also as a result of their deepening feelings for one another, they secretly get married with Dexter as witness.
LaGuerta and Batista divorce in between Seasons 5 and 6.
In season 6, Captain Matthews is promoted to deputy chief and LaGuerta is promoted to fill Matthews' position. It was later disclosed that LaGuerta had blackmailed Matthews in order to become the captain. LaGuerta wanted to install Angel Batista, whom she can trust, to be the new lieutenant of homicide division, but as a payback to LaGuerta, Matthews appoints Debra Morgan to be the new lieutenant instead. Later in season 6, when Matthews was involved in a prostitute's overdose death, LaGuerta used Debra Morgan to keep the case alive and eventually leaked the information to the police chief, who forced Matthews to retire. It was implied LaGuerta would become the next deputy chief.
At the onset of Season 7, LaGuerta finds the blood slide of Travis Marshall at the scene of his death. Remembering that this is the M.O. of the Bay Harbor Butcher, she then launches an independent investigation as to whether the Butcher was still active and James Doakes was innocent.
In season 7's finale, LaGuerta finds out Dexter is the Bay Harbor Butcher, and arrests him. Dexter, anticipating LaGuerta's move, made it look as though she was framing him as the Butcher. LaGuerta then finds more evidence of Dexter and Debra's involvement in the death of Travis. She is eventually killed by Debra, with a shot to the chest, who finds her and Dexter in a shipping container as Dexter was trying to frame her for the murder of the killer of Dexter's mother, Hector Estrada.
Angel Batista is a detective in Miami Metro Police Department's Homicide Division. Batista is basically good-natured, with a dry sense of humor. He is also totally honest, at the request of his father on his deathbed, as well as Dexter's best friend. Angel is shown wearing a trilby hat almost all the time. After having an affair with another woman, he confesses his actions to his wife; she immediately ends their relationship, although it takes months for the painful separation to conclude.
Angel takes an interest in Lila and eventually ends up sleeping with her. Lila takes rohipnol and then files rape charges against Angel. During this period, Dexter admits that if he were "normal", he would want to be a man like Batista. Ultimately, the charges are dropped once Lila moves to Paris.
At the start of season 3, Batista is promoted to sergeant and made the department's new lead case investigator to replace the now-deceased Doakes. He risks his career by attempting to sleep with a hooker who turns out to be an undercover cop. After persistent advances, Angel begins a relationship with the other officer, Barbara Gianna.
By the start of Season 4, it appears that Angel and Barbara have amicably split, and he has a romantic involvement with LaGuerta, although this is kept hidden from those they work with. In "Hello, Dexter Morgan", they secretly get married with Dexter as witness. By season 5 their marriage has become common knowledge throughout the office.
Batista and LaGuerta divorce in between seasons 5 and 6.
In season 7, Batista buys a restaurant, and announces his retirement although in season 8 he still continues to work for the Miami Metro PD as a lieutenant.
Harrison "Harry" Morgan is Dexter's adoptive father. When alive, he was a homicide detective and highly respected member of the Miami Police Department. In the course of a high-stakes drug case, Harry began an illicit relationship with Laura Moser, Dexter's biological mother, to gather information and evidence on the drug lords in question. Laura was discovered and made an example of; she and three others were executed with chainsaws in a shipping container. Her sons, Brian and Dexter, were left in the container for two days until Harry and a police team recovered them. Harry adopted Dexter, while Brian was institutionalized.
At first, Harry attempted to manage Dexter's violent urges by only allowing him to kill animals, but he eventually came to the conclusion that Dexter's pathology could not be repressed, only controlled: Harry decided to train the boy as a vigilante, to hunt and kill murderers without leaving any clues. Dexter prized these lessons as a means to fulfill his desires with his father's approval, dubbing them the "Code of Harry". Harry's relationship with his biological daughter Debra, meanwhile, was more complicated. She craved her father's approval, but felt that he favored Dexter.
When Dexter was 19, Harry fell seriously ill and gave Dexter "permission" to kill Mary, one of his nurses, who was intentionally poisoning him with morphine. A year later when Juan Ryness, a pimp murdering prostitutes, was released due to a faulty search warrant, Harry lost his temper and told Dexter he was right in training him. When Dexter killed Ryness, Harry was horrified by the way Dexter proudly showed him the pimp's dismembered body. Harry committed suicide a few days later, by overdosing on his medication.
Vincent "Vince" Masuka is the Miami Metro Police lead forensics investigator and works alongside Dexter in the lab and at crime scenes. He often cracks jokes with explicit sexual innuendos to the rest of the team, and harbors decidedly unrequited feelings for Debra. He is portrayed as obsessed with sex, often making inappropriate comments with implied sexual meanings at crime scenes ending with his characteristic laughter. The kinkier the better - he is not shy about propositioning any woman he meets. He has been able to tone it down when the situation calls for it, such as when Angel was in hospital, as well as calming Debra down when Lundy returned. Detective Joey Quinn even confronted him about it, stating that his comments are why nobody likes to be around him, only for Vince to harshly brush him off. He seems to accept Joey's explanation when no one came to see his speech on his newly published work, for which he cleaned up his act and dressed formally, but soon returned to his former self. In the books, Dexter feels a kinship with him as, like him, he hides who he really is. In the novel as well as in the series, he sets up Dexter's bachelor party and kidnaps him to get him there (where, in the belief that he had been kidnapped by Ramon Prado, Dexter slugged Vince in the eye just as he opened the car trunk). He fell for the female party planner and they were in a relationship until the end of season 3. He is also shown to be greatly distraught after seeing Rita kiss another man, leading him to try to tell Dexter. In season 5, it is discovered that he has a giant tattoo of a dragon on his back.
In the novels, he is the closest thing Dexter has to a friend; Dexter senses that they are both pretending to be normal, albeit for completely different reasons. In Dearly Devoted Dexter Vince throws a large bachelor party for Dexter within a few hours of finding out about his engagement, and in Dexter in the Dark takes his role as best man so seriously that he calls in favors to hire Manny Borque, a famous caterer, for Dexter's wedding.
Joseph "Joey" Quinn is a detective who transferred to the Homicide division after being in Narcotics before Season 3. Quinn takes a liking to Debra Morgan, even giving her a C.I. to help with the Oscar Prado case. Quinn's past is unknown and even called into question, as Debra is pressured by Internal Affairs agent Yuki Amado to gather evidence against him. Quinn got the Internal Affairs case dropped, and later confessed to Debra that the real source of the Internal Affairs investigation was from the death of a former partner of his and Yuki's who had a crystal meth addiction. Quinn knew about the partner's addiction but tried to offer private help instead of informing his superiors. He is seen at Dexter's wedding, despite Debra's advice to Dexter against inviting him.
At the beginning of season 4, Quinn is infuriated when Dexter botches a case he worked on. Soon afterwards, Dexter sees Quinn stealing money from a crime scene, and Quinn attempts to buy Dexter's friendship with expensive football tickets, but Dexter gives them away to Masuka. Meanwhile, Quinn starts a relationship with Christine Hill, a seductive reporter who takes advantage of his access to police information. After a confidential police lead appears in one of Hill's articles, Lt. LaGuerta warns Quinn to be wary of any reporter who squeezes him for confidential information over pillow talk. Nonetheless, Quinn tells Hill about numerous police reports (supposedly "off the record"), and she uses this information to expose Frank Lundy's return to Miami. Quinn breaks up with Hill after the article about Lundy, but they soon make up. Though more careful about what he says around her, Quinn still defends Christine when Dexter tells her to leave Debra alone, as Hill claims to have wanted to do a "hero piece" on Debra. All of this leads to Quinn developing a confrontational relationship with Dexter. After Hill, revealed to be Trinity's daughter, shoots herself, he is clearly distraught.
In season 5, he strongly suspects Rita was really murdered by Dexter and not Trinity, because of subtle differences in MO and because Rita shared a kiss with the neighbor. He also believes that Dexter was the Kyle Butler that was hanging out with Arthur. He tracks down Trinity's son, hoping he can identify Dexter as Kyle, but he is stopped by the FBI and suspended by LaGuerta. Unable to continue, Quinn hires Stan Liddy to investigate Dexter. After a one-night stand with Debra, Quinn repeatedly tries to get her back into bed, eventually succeeding as the two begin to date, until Debra discovers that Quinn was suspended by LaGuerta for investigating Dexter, and not taking vacation days as he had said. Liddy begins to harass Quinn but Quinn does not wish to continue investigating Dexter because of his romantic feelings for his sister, Debra. Stan Liddy was killed by Dexter in self-defense. Quinn is the main suspect because there is blood on his shoe and numerous calls between his phone and Liddy. Dexter makes the blood evidence on Quinn's shoe go away and Quinn is once again a free man. Quinn thanks Dexter, who plays dumb and just says "For what? Just doing my job."
In season 7, Quinn falls for Nadia, a stripper who works at a club, The Fox Hole, operated by the Koshka Brotherhood, a Ukrainian mafia. He steals evidence that would have convicted Isaak Sirko in an attempt to win Nadia's freedom from Koshka control. After freeing her from her strip club job, Nadia runs away to Las Vegas leaving Quinn brokenhearted. In the season finale, he is seen having drinks with Angel Batista's sister.
In the finale season, Quinn lets Deb know of his returning feelings. They both resume the relationship; unfortunately, Deb does not survive her brutal attack. They were able to show their true feelings before the finale boat ride.
Jamie Batista is Angel Batista's much-younger sister. She moves to Miami to attend graduate school, and is hired by Dexter as Harrison's nanny shortly after. Her tendency to be in scantily-clad clothing in public leads to some issues with her brother, due to their age difference. In season 6, Dexter hires Jamie as a nanny for Harrison, who quickly grows to like her. Jamie regularly works long hours for Dexter, allowing him to continue his murders.
She had begun to build a relationship with Masuka's third intern, Louis Greene, a game developer. While Jamie attempts to get Batista to accept him, he attempts to scare him away when she is away at dinner. After Dexter mails Louis' secret video of Louis with a prostitute to Jamie, she breaks up with Louis.
In season 8, she begins a relationship with Joey Quinn. Despite trying to keep it a secret, her brother Angel finds out. Meanwhile, she attempts to set Dexter up with his neighbor Cassie, shortly before Cassie is murdered by Daniel Vogel. Jamie takes a brief break from working with Dexter, mourning the loss of her friend. Joey breaks it off with Jamie after he accepts that he has still not gotten over Debra, which infuriates Jamie.
Thomas "Tom" Matthews is a high-ranking Miami Metro PD police official who serves as its deputy chief. Previously, he served as commanding officer of Miami Metro PD Homicide Division and the immediate superior of Lieutenant María LaGuerta. Before this, he was a lieutenant himself, serving as the superior to Harry Morgan, as well as his best friend. When Harry committed suicide, seemingly disillusioned from witnessing too many failures in the justice system, Matthews used his influence to bury any indication of suicide as well as kept his promise to Harry to look after Dexter and Debra.
Matthews is portrayed as having flaws: nominal racism and serious political ambition, neither of which are ever shown in the novel series.
While having originally promoted LaGuerta, he frequently clashed with her, trying to keep her focused on hunting the Ice Truck Killer correctly. He later fails to take his own advice, as when Neil Perry was mistakenly arrested and Matthews received all the praise, he went so far as to attempt to bury any evidence to the contrary. Seeing the investigation was being jeopardized LaGuerta revealed that several mistakes during the Ice Truck Killer case had been made, landing Matthews into serious possible trouble. Due to the fact that he was friends with both the police commissioner and the review board, Matthews escaped punishment and, having been personally embarrassed and wanting vengeance, Matthews laid all the blame on LaGuerta and as such gained approval to install Esmee Pascal as the new lieutenant to supervise her. This proved temporary however after having seen Esmee publicly break down over personal issues; his confidence in LaGuerta's abilities restored, Matthews promoted her back to her former position.
Matthews' latest political effort, applying for the position of deputy chief, succeeded after Matthews used the fame of successfully ending the Bay Harbor Butcher case to propel himself to that position. Matthews did not appear in season 3, but re-appeared in season 4, having succeeded in being promoted to deputy chief, personally invested in the investigation surrounding Frank Lundy's death, and Debra's shooting. After LaGuerta and Batista reveal their relationship, he initially wants to transfer Batista out of Homicide to avoid complications during a trial. Eventually, LaGuerta and Angel both agree to end their relationship to continue working in Homicide; and while accepting this, Matthews warns them that there will be serious consequences if their relationship continues. After revealing a video of LaGuerta and Batista kissing, LaGuerta calls Tom out, asking if it was because of her gender or race that he seems to have a grudge against her. Matthews simply replies he has a grudge against her because of her arrogance. In order to circumvent a reprimand from higher up, and also as a result of their deepening feelings for one another, LaGuerta and Batista secretly get married with Dexter as witness.
In the sixth-season premiere, Matthews oddly has promoted LaGuerta to captain, which many characters note as unusual. After the ceremony, it is shown that LaGuerta had found a "little black book" of a brothel with Matthews' name in it, trading the evidence for her promotion. Accordingly, her promotion left the lieutenant position open, which LaGuerta attempted to secure for Batista. Matthews declares Debra a more suitable candidate, being young and famous after a shootout at a restaurant in which Debra and Quinn were involved was recorded and posted online. LaGuerta and Batista both believe that he did this in vengeance, though little was proven. His prostitute-hiring tendencies leads to a call girl dead from a heroin overdose which, while not his fault, led to LaGuerta attempting to cover up the no-fault crime scene, claiming the low clearance rate as unacceptable. Debra continues to search after a visit from the call girl's father, leading to her discovery of Matthews' involvement. LaGuerta used the information on Tom and betrayed him and had him forcibly retired by the board when she told them. Tom believed it to be Debra who sold him out but she stated she never would do that. Debra confronted LaGuerta for using such a low tactic, knowing full well she did it for her own personal gain. As such, LaGuerta will now take over Tom's position, possibly as Deputy Chief.
After much absence, Tom is finally brought back during LaGuerta's suspicion that Dexter is the Bay Harbor Butcher. He is seen on his boat drinking scotch, then greeting LaGuerta as she confides her suspicion that the BHB is alive and well. Tom doesn't believe her, stating the evidence was all against Doakes, but seems to show surprise after hearing a blood slide was found at Travis Marshall's church site. Though reluctant at first, Tom decides to help after discovering LaGuerta was the one who sold him out to the board and shows his anger despite LaGuerta stating he started it. He intends to help for his own reason which is to regain his 40-year pension despite LaGuerta's displeasure at the prospect.
As they dig into the case, they revisit the cabin Doakes died in and discover that Santos Jimenez had rented the cabin, prompting Tom to realize who he is. He reveals to LaGuerta that Jimenez is responsible for Dexter's mother's death and that Brian the Ice Truck Killer, is Dexter's brother. LaGuerta connects Jimenez's disappearance and Dexter's background and immediately starts to believe Dexter set Doakes up and he is the true BHB. Tom refuses to believe her and prevents LaGuerta from questioning him, stating he'll do it having known Dexter since he was a boy.
As Tom talks personally to Dexter, he confides how LaGuerta believes he is the butcher (though Dexter is able to see that Tom also suspects it in some way.) Dexter then tells him about a boat Doakes once had to lead him off the case which has Tom believe him. He tells LaGuerta about this and she doesn't believe him stating she would have known if Doakes had a boat. They find a tackle box from the old cabin with a key inside to a marina and, believing it to be Doakes's old boat spot, search the area and find several sheets of plastic, knives and one with degraded blood on it with Doakes's fingerprints on it. This causes Tom to immediately believe Dexter, but LaGuerta still believes otherwise stating Dexter could have planted it (which is actually true). Despite this, Tom tells Maria she should move on. She says she'll keep her word and give Tom his pension, and later Tom is visited by Dexter where the two make amends.
Harrison Morgan is the son of Dexter and Rita Morgan and the half-brother of Cody and Astor. Harrison first appears in season 4, crying in the car while Dexter tries to calm him down. His crying keeps Dexter constantly fatigued in the first part of Season 4 which in turn causes Dexter to make mistakes while practicing his "hobby". Dexter appears to care for him genuinely. At the end of Season 4, he is found by Dexter, crying in a pool of blood, much as Dexter had been found by Harry when he was three.
In season 5, Harrison is raised by Dexter, and is watched during the day, and sometimes night, by his Irish Catholic nanny, Sonya. It is a frequent concern of Dexter that there will be signs of a serial killer that will point to the baby following in his footsteps. This is seen when the baby inflicts harm on another child similar to how his father cuts his victims on the cheek, and when his repetition of the phrase "Bye-bye" sounds similar to "Die-die." to Dexter. A psychologist comforts Dexter with the knowledge that the baby appears to be fine.
By season 6, Harrison has grown old enough for Dexter to enroll him at Our Lady of the Gulf Preschool in the premiere. He now has a new nanny, Batista's sister Jamie, and does not seem to have endured any permanent psychological impact from his mother's death. He is often seen playing or being read to by Dexter, who calls him a "light" to his "darkness". Harrison undergoes an appendectomy in the fourth episode, causing Dexter to have a crisis of faith.
In season 7, Harrison is missing from a few episodes while he is staying with his half-siblings, Astor and Cody, in Orlando with their grandparents. Harrison appears to bond some with Dexter's then-girlfriend and fellow serial killer, Hannah McKay.
In season 8, Dexter plans to leave Miami with Harrison and start a new life with Hannah in Argentina. Harrison is last seen with Hannah at a cafe in Buenos Aires as she discovers the fate of Dexter. Jacob Elway, Debra's former boss, is the only living person in the finale who knows Harrison is alive and on the run with Hannah.
In Dexter: New Blood, Harrison is now a teenager and reunites with his father. Approximately 10 years after the original series' finale, Dexter has moved to the fictional small town of Iron Lake, New York, posing as Jim Lindsay, a local shopkeeper. He is in a relationship with Angela Bishop (Julia Jones), the town's chief of police, and has abstained from killing for almost a decade. Debra has replaced Harry in Dexter's mind as his "Dark Passenger", albeit one who advises him on ways not to kill. He "falls off the wagon", however, when he impulsively murders Matt Caldwell (Steve M. Roberts), an arrogant stockbroker who once killed five people and got away with it thanks to his family's wealth and political clout.
Caldwell is officially considered a missing person, and his father Kurt (Clancy Brown) begins nosing around the investigation. Dexter destroys the corpse and alters the crime scene to make it look like Matt left town after being injured. That night, he runs into Kurt, who drunkenly claims to have gotten a FaceTime message from his son. Unbeknownst to Dexter, Kurt is a serial killer who preys on runaway teenage girls, and is trying to get the search called off so the police won't find his victims' bodies.
At the same time, a now teenage Harrison (Jack Alcott) comes back into Dexter's life, having tracked him to Iron Lake. He says he lived in a series of foster homes after Hannah died of pancreatic cancer. Over Debra's objections, Dexter once again becomes a father to the boy, who quickly becomes a popular student and star of his school's wrestling team, and befriends Angela's adopted daughter, Audrey (Johnny Sequoyah). Harrison also causes Dexter to depart somewhat from his "code"; when Harrison nearly dies of a fentanyl overdose at a party, Dexter murders the drug dealer who sold him the pills by forcing him to ingest a lethal amount of the drug, having been interrupted before killing via his usual method, a stab wound to the chest.
Harrison is injured in a knife fight with another student, Ethan Williams (Christian Dell'Edera), whom he badly wounds. Harrison claims that Ethan told him he was planning a school shooting and stabbed him, and that he stabbed Ethan back in self-defense. When it is discovered that Ethan was indeed planning to kill several of his classmates, Harrison is hailed as a hero, but Dexter doubts his story. Using his training as a blood spatter analyst, Dexter reconstructs the fight and determines that Harrison stabbed Ethan unprovoked, and then inflicted a superficial stab wound upon himself to make it look like Ethan attacked him. Dexter searches Harrison's room and finds a bloody straight razor - the same kind of blade that Arthur Mitchell used to kill Rita - and realizes that his son has inherited his homicidal tendencies.
During a chance meeting with Angel Batista (now Captain of Miami Metro) at a police conference in New York City, Angela learns about Dexter Morgan's supposed death, and after some investigation discovers the true identity of "Jim Lindsay". Dexter tells her the truth about faking his death - while leaving out that he is a serial killer - but she breaks up with him regardless. This causes awkwardness between them after she catches Harrison in bed with Audrey.
Meanwhile, true crime podcaster Molly Park (Jamie Chung) arrives in town to do a story about the missing runaways in Iron Lake, and Dexter discovers that she did a series on the Bay Harbor Butcher. He becomes obsessed with finding out what she knows, especially after Harrison reveals that he learned the truth about Rita's death from her show. He spies on her talking to Kurt, who lies that his son is hiding out at the family cabin in order to lure her out there and kill her. He reluctantly saves her so he can get a closer look at what he correctly suspects to be Kurt's killing ground. Dexter grows alarmed as Kurt becomes a mentor to Harrison, especially after Kurt encourages the boy to break another student's arm during a wrestling match.
When Angela finds the mummified corpse of her friend Iris, who disappeared 25 years earlier, she asks Dexter to analyze the remains, and tells him that she suspects Kurt of killing her. Dexter leads her toward investigating Kurt as a serial killer in hopes that exposing his crimes will destroy his influence over Harrison. She arrests Kurt for Iris' murder, but Kurt surprises her by saying that his late father, Roger, committed the crime. (A flashback reveals that Kurt did indeed kill her, however.) When Kurt is released, he tries to intimidate Dexter by hinting that he knows he killed Matt, and Dexter realizes that he will have to kill Kurt to protect Harrison and himself.
Dexter arrives at Kurt's cabin just in time to save Harrison from Kurt, who runs off. He tells Harrison that they have the same "Dark Passenger", and for the first time truly bonds with his son. At first, Dexter tells Harrison that he merely "confronts" murderers to make them stop killing, but Harrison eventually figures out that Dexter kills his victims. Harrison reveals that he remembers seeing Mitchell kill Rita, and that he is filled with a violent rage all the time. He then says that Kurt deserves to die, and father and son set out to kill him.
Together, they find Kurt's victims, including Park, perfectly preserved and displayed in a bunker underneath his house. Dexter intentionally triggers an alarm to let Kurt know they found his hiding place. As intended, Kurt rushes back to his house, where Dexter incapacitates him and prepares a kill site in Kurt's own bunker. When Kurt claims that he "saved" his victims from lives of pain and suffering, Dexter kills him as Harrison watches, and resolves to teach him "the Code of Harry". They return to Dexter's cabin to find that Kurt had burned it down the night before. They stay with Angela and Audrey, now Harrison's girlfriend, and start to bond as a family - until Angela finds evidence, left by Kurt, exposing Dexter as Matt's murderer. She then sees a connection between that proof and new evidence uncovered by Park on the Bay Harbor Butcher case, and realizes that Dexter is the killer.
In the finale episode, "Sins of the Father", Angela arrests Dexter for Matt's murder. He flees the station after having contacted Harrison using the deputy Logan's phone.
He meets up with Harrison and tells his son to leave town with him. Harrison sees blood on Dexter's face, however, and figures out that he killed Logan, Harrison's wrestling coach who had been a friend and mentor to him. Horrified, Harrison says that Dexter's "code" is a lie he tells himself to justify the murders he enjoys committing, that Rita and Debra would be alive if not for him, and that whatever darkness is in him is Dexter's fault. Dexter reflects on all the innocent people in his life who have died because of him, and finally sees that he can never be the good man and father that he wants to be. He tells Harrison that the only way out for both of them is for Harrison to kill him. After a moment's hesitation, Harrison shoots Dexter in the chest with the hunting rifle Dexter gave him for Christmas. Dexter tells Harrison he "did good" as he succumbs to his wounds, and sees Debra holding his hand as he dies. Moments later, Angela arrives at the scene and allows Harrison to escape. Harrison leaves Iron Lake, and reads the goodbye letter Dexter wrote to Hannah 10 years earlier, telling her to "let me die so my son can live".
Angela Bishop is a small town, rural New York police chief and was Dexter's girlfriend. She is the adoptive mother of Audrey Bishop and a participant in the search for Matt Caldwell. Unlike James Doakes and Maria LaGuerta who met their ends while going after Dexter, Angela survives.
Audrey Bishop is the adoptive daughter of Angela Bishop. She is in an on-off relationship with Dexter's son Harrison.
Logan is a police officer in Iron Lake serving under Chief Angela Bishop. Logan was also close friends with Dexter, who he knew as 'Jim Lindsay', and took a mentorship role towards Harrison when he arrived in Iron Lake. After Dexter is arrested for the possibility of being the Bay Harbour Butcher as well as the murder of Matt Caldwell, Logan still hopes he is innocent. To escape from his cell, Dexter lures him over and slams his head against the bars, before putting him in a chokehold and demanding his keys. Realising Angela was right about him, Logan drew his gun and attempted to shoot Dexter: Dexter dodged the shot though, and snapped Logan's neck. He then stole his keys and escaped the cell and station. Logan was Dexter's final victim, as well as the final violation of the Code of Harry. Despite the blatant violation of the Code that was Logan's murder, Dexter showed absolutely no remorse or guilt, instead focused solely on escaping with Harrison.
Kurt Caldwell is the father of Matt Caldwell and owner of a truck stop diner. He is secretly a serial killer, primarily targeting women. After Matt is murdered by Dexter, Kurt rallies a search party, only to lie that Matt is still alive after the search threatens to expose his illegal activities. Kurt continues to investigate Matt's death on his own, eventually uncovering that Dexter is responsible for the murder. Kurt takes Harrison under his wing as a form of revenge, encouraging the boy's dark impulses and intending to kill him in front of Dexter. After an attempt on Harrison and Dexter's lives fail, Kurt attempts to murder them by setting Dexter's cabin on fire, only to realize his bunker has been infiltrated after receiving a notification on his phone from his security system. Kurt returns home, where he is killed and dismembered by Dexter. The bodies of his victims are later found by Angela-based on a tip from Dexter and she contacts the FBI and the State Police for help with dealing with them.
Kurt is based on serial killer Robert Hansen.
Astor Bennett is the daughter of Paul and Rita Bennett. When Paul returns home from prison, Astor, who remembers her father's abuse (and is in fact the one who called the police on Paul), is saddened but comes to love her father, who appears to have changed; she did, however, force Paul to promise that he would not hit Rita again. She has a good relationship with both Paul and Dexter, oblivious to the tension between the two men. At the end of the first season, Paul is back in prison and Rita tells him that he can either explain to Astor and Cody all the bad things he had done or never see them again.
During season two, Astor tries to maintain her relationship with Dexter even though he broke up with her mother. Dexter's love for Astor and Cody helps convince Rita to rekindle their relationship.
In season 3, Astor brings out a protective streak in Dexter, in that Dexter kills a pedophile who was targeting her. He also considers her and Cody his family; in the aforementioned episode, he refers to them as his "cubs", and later says that nobody hurts "his children". Astor is the maid of honor at Dexter and Rita's wedding.
In season 4, Astor starts acting out: being rude to both Dexter and her mother, being in a constantly angry mood, and flirting with an older boy. She and Dexter come to a peace after he promises to stop treating her like a child and admits that sometimes he is simply "dumb". Her attitude improves following this, though not by much. When he tries to become more involved with Astor's life, she often became hostile, at one point even asking "why do you hate me?" when he tried to suggest after school activities.
In season 5, Astor lashes out at Dexter in anger, blaming him for the death of their mother and for raising false hope that they could be a normal family. In episode 2, she and her brother move in with her grandparents in Orlando after her mother's death. In episode 9 of the season, Astor appears at Dexter and Rita's old home, to Dexter and Lumen's surprise, since Lumen was residing in the home at the time. She and her friend, Olivia, were drunk and Dexter allows her to stay there, wanting to patch things up with his stepdaughter. While initially uncooperative, when her friend's domestic abuse issues are brought to light, Dexter takes matters into his own hands and teaches Olivia's stepfather a lesson and drives him away. Astor thanks him for his support, having thought that he would not want to help, and invites him into their grandparents' house. By the end of season 5, Astor is ready to agree to spending the summer with Dexter.
Astor returns in season 7, episode 8, along with her brother Cody. It is revealed that she now smokes pot.
In the books, Astor and her brother Cody are two parts of a whole, with Cody performing killings and Astor acting as a sort of mentor who watches. Both she and her brother are kidnapped in Double Dexter, a sequel novel by Jeff Lindsay.
Cody Bennett is the son of Paul and Rita Bennett. Cody does not remember the abuse his mother suffered at the hands of his father, so, when Paul returns home from prison, he is overjoyed. He has a good relationship with both Paul and Dexter, oblivious to the tension between the two men.
During Season 2, Cody tries to maintain his relationship with Dexter, even though he broke up with their mother; he hides toys in his bag, forcing him to come to their home to return it, and asks Dexter to attend an oral report he makes in class. Dexter's love for Cody and Astor helps convince Rita to rekindle their relationship.
As Season 3 begins, Dexter's relationship with Cody has developed to such an extent that Cody asks him to be a speaker at his school for Parent's Day, while Dexter's presentation of himself as a blood-spatter specialist does not go well with the other kids, Cody tells him that it would have been worse if Dexter had not been there. He also considers Astor and Cody his family; he refers to them as his "cubs", and later says that nobody hurts "his children". Cody is the ring-bearer at Dexter and Rita's wedding.
Cody learns of his mother's death but does not show any hostility towards Dexter, even growing closer to him. But when Astor insists that she wants to leave Miami and live in Orlando with her grandparents, Dexter makes Cody go with his sister because he believes the bond between him and Astor is something he should preserve. In later episodes, Dexter notes that he is still talking with Cody. After Dexter dropped Astor off, he claims that Cody has gotten a foot taller since he last saw him.
Cody returned in season 7, episode 8, along with his sister Astor.
In the books, Astor and her brother Cody are two parts of a whole, with Cody performing killings and Astor acting as a sort of mentor who watches. Cody is able to sense Dexter's "Dark Passenger".
Doris Morgan is Debra's biological and Dexter's adoptive mother. She died of cancer when Debra was 16. Doris is seen briefly in two flashbacks in season 1, in one scene in a picture that is replicated by the Ice Truck Killer, and in the other urging her husband to contact Dexter's biological father for a blood transfusion, and again in another flashback in season 2, suggesting that Dexter be tested by a psychologist.
Laura Lynn Moser is Dexter and Brian's biological mother. She was involved in the drug trade and had a habit of painting her fingernails in different colors. She and three others were sawed into pieces in a shipping container as her two sons watched, causing their murderous urges. In the second season, it is revealed that Laura had an affair with Harry Morgan and was working as a police informant, trying to get evidence against Santos Jimenez's boss. She is not named in the books and no such revelation is made. Laura appears in season 3 during two of Dexter's visualizations of Harry. While Dexter is tracking a victim on a cruise, she sits with Harry as if they were vacationing together, much to Dexter's discomfort. In the season finale, she appeared, again with Harry, at Dexter's wedding appearing to be happy for her son. Her mugshot was also briefly seen on Debra's desk as she investigated her father's infidelity. When Debra's investigation of another informant (coincidentally the file before Laura's) leads her to discover her father having multiple affairs with informants, she angrily gives up on her search; Dexter takes this opportunity to shred Laura's file and her photo, but is unable to go through with the photo ("I can't let her be cut up again") and keeps the upper half in his desk. Despite Dexter's efforts, Debra and a former informant locate Laura's house, which ultimately links Dexter to Laura, and to Brian.
Brian Moser (alias Rudy "The Ice Truck Killer" Cooper), is Dexter's biological older brother and the main antagonist of the first season.
As children, both brothers witnessed the chainsaw murder of their mother, Laura, and afterward were left for two days with her body in a shipping container until the police found them. The memory lay buried in Dexter's subconscious for years until a therapist unknowingly reawakened the memory.
In the aftermath of the killings, Harry Morgan, the officer-on-scene, adopted Dexter, while Brian was left in the state's care. Brian believed that Morgan did not want anything to do with him because he saw him as a "fucked up kid". Brian suffered severe psychological trauma due to the experiences in the container and was left in a mental institution, where over time he became a violent psychopath, resulting in him also becoming a brutal murderer, even more dangerous than Dexter himself.
Upon being released, he went underground, refining his ability to kill and taking on the identity of a plumber he killed (Rudy Cooper) as an alias, all while searching for his brother. Eventually, Brian not only discovered Dexter's location and history upon being separated, but also discovered he was similarly "damaged"; upon learning this, Brian immediately plotted to reunite with Dexter for the purpose of killing people side by side.
Brian went to Miami, working as a prosthetist and murdering prostitutes as the "Ice Truck Killer". At some of his kills and at Dexter's apartment, Brian left clues to his and Dexter's past. Brian developed a relationship with Debra, Dexter's adoptive sister, while treating one of his own victims, Tony Tucci. As Debra fell in love with him, he used Debra as a means to get closer to Dexter. The week before Dexter was informed of the death of his biological father (Joseph Driscoll) and met Brian Moser for the first time, Brian disguised himself as a cable repair man and visited the house of the deceased man. At the end of the ninth episode of the first season, it was implied that Brian had murdered Joseph Driscoll while in disguise by injecting insulin. The body was cremated before Dexter could find any evidence of murder. Brian began slowly to show more of an interest in spending time with Dexter. When Brian talked to Dexter about possibly marrying Debra, he lied about a cut on his lip. He told Dexter it was a lab accident, but in reality he received the cut while attacking and nearly killing Angel Batista. This led Dexter to the realization that Brian was the Ice Truck Killer. Brian immediately kidnapped Debra, which led to the police suspecting his involvement in the Ice Truck Killer case.
After searching Brian's apartment, Dexter tracked him down at the site of their childhood home, where Dexter recalled that they were brothers. Brian told Dexter his history after their separation, and tried to convince Dexter to kill Debra in the same manner that he killed his victims. Dexter refused, leading to a fight between the two as the police arrived. Brian escaped the house and disappeared.
Brian later attempted to kill Debra when he thought she was staying at Dexter's apartment, but instead fell into a trap set by Dexter, who then brought him to the cooling room where Brian committed his murders. After a few choice words between them, a heartbroken Dexter slashed Brian's throat and drained his blood into a bucket, killing him in the same manner as Brian did his victims, but making it appear to the police that Brian killed himself.
Brian's death left Dexter extremely conflicted, to the point that he began making mistakes in his killing rituals. In early episodes of the second season, Brian appeared to Dexter as a visualizations and, in the end, Dexter learned he needed to let go of his feelings about his brother before he could move on with his life.
However, Brian returns as the dark side of Dexter after he avenges the murder of Brother Sam, becoming a darker advisor parallel to his father. After an escapade in Nebraska in which Dexter confronts a seemingly-murderous Jonah Mitchell, Dexter's adherence to the Code of Harry and Jonah's guilt lead to Dexter reaffirming his faith in his father, who returns at the end of the episode.
In Darkly Dreaming Dexter (unlike in the TV series), Brian does not use the name Rudy Cooper and does not get romantically involved with Debra. He is described as resembling Dexter so strongly that, upon seeing an image of Brian with dismembered corpses, Dexter and Debra are convinced that Dexter is the murderer; when they meet, Dexter notes that Brian is an inch or two taller, thicker through the shoulders and chest, and paler. He first meets Dexter face-to-face in a shipping container located in the same place as the one where their mother was murdered, with Debra tied up and ready for Dexter to kill. Rather than killing either Debra or Brian, Dexter lets him go, whereas he kills him in the TV series, recognizing that it is the only way to save his sister. Their professions differ as well; the books have Brian working with imports, while the series has him as a prosthetic surgeon. The age gap between Brian and Dexter is given as one year in the book and five years in the television series. In the books he is known as the Tamiami Slasher; in the show, he is known as the Ice Truck Killer. Brian returns in Dexter is Delicious after learning of the birth of Dexter's daughter. He introduces himself to Dexter's family, and he worked for the cannibalist coven that would later lure Dexter and Debra into a trap, later saving them from the cannibals.
Joseph "Joe" Driscoll was the biological father of Dexter. His exact relationship with Laura Moser is not made clear, nor is it specified whether he fathered Brian Moser as well. Joe claimed he got his spider web tattoo on his right elbow while serving in the Vietnam War, but Dexter notes it is actually a prison tattoo. When Laura was exposed and murdered for being involved with the police in their attempts to bring a drug cartel to justice, Joe went underground and resettled in Dade City, Florida working as an insurance adjuster. This was why "Joe" adopted an alias; his real name remains unknown. Dexter does not know or remember anything about Joe until he sees his tattoo on his corpse. He later finds out he is an expert bowler and recovered from his drug abuse.
Harry Morgan, Dexter's adopted father, was able to track Joe down, and convinced him to give a transfusion of his rare blood when Dexter was injured in an accident and needed surgery. Joe then received a handmade thank-you card which he kept for the rest of his life and Dexter find after his death. His will named Dexter as executor and sole heir.
Joe met his death at the age of 60, when Brian (now the Ice Truck Killer and going under the alias of "Rudy Cooper"), who knew it was the best way to reconnect with his long-lost brother, tracked Joe down and got access to his house while posing as a cable repairman. Brian was able to slip Joe a sedative, and then injected him with insulin, causing Joe to have a seizure and die of cardiac arrest.
When Dexter, Rita, Debra (Dexter's adoptive sister) and "Rudy" came to sort out Joe's house, Dexter took blood samples of himself and Joe and sent them to Vince Masuka to perform a DNA test, which came back as a match. Dexter suspected that Joe's apparent heart attack was actually murder. However, the body was cremated before Dexter could obtain proof, and thus he never found out what "Rudy" had done. Rudy and Dexter stole Joe's ashes and scattered them at Joe's local bowling alley.
Joe and Dexter, when compared, are shown to have great physical resemblance, and Dexter also inherited his father's bowling skill.
Gail Brandon is Rita's mother, Astor, Cody and Harrison's grandmother and Dexter's mother-in-law. Gail is a former public-school teacher who was fired by the school board due to "philosophical disagreements" (she disapproved of what she saw as the gradual acceptance of mediocrity in the way schools treated children and made her feelings well-known). She has extremely high standards, making her judgmental of her daughter and her grandchildren. After she arrives, she becomes suspicious of Dexter, claiming that he is hiding something. She distrusts Dexter, and believes him to be a drug addict, and believes Rita is repeating her mistake with Paul by getting involved with another addict. Near the end of Season 2, her attitude causes Rita to break off her ties with her mother and force her to leave her home and return to Michigan, not wanting her children to be exposed to her the way she was. In season 3, Gail refused to attend Dexter and Rita's wedding, claiming that because she had started teaching again she was too busy. She did, however, send a scathing card expressing her hope that Rita's third marriage would be "the charm", though Rita is hiding that fact in stating that her mother means the third child (it is also revealed that her surname, and therefore Rita's maiden name, is "Brandon").
Paul Bennett is Rita's abusive and manipulative ex-husband and the father of Astor and Cody. After his release from prison, to which he was sentenced for nearly beating Rita to death, he tries to rekindle a relationship with his children, though he still harbors disdain for Rita. Paul (correctly) suspects Dexter of framing him for the drug charge that sent him to his latest stint in jail. After a short while in a federal prison, he loses hope after failing to convince Rita of Dexter's plan to frame him. Rita later tells Dexter that he provoked a fight shortly thereafter with another inmate, who beat him to death with a pipe.
In the book series, Rita's ex-husband is mentioned but never makes an appearance (or is named) since he is dead before the events of the books. In the TV series, by contrast, Paul appears in the second half of the first season and in the first episode of the second season, and his interactions with Dexter lead to a key plot point. In the books, he beat Rita's children as well as beating and raping her; in the series he clearly loves his children, the two of them appearing ignorant of the full reasons why their parents split up, and his violent tendencies are directed only toward Rita, though she says that "she bore his abuse so they wouldn't have to", suggesting that he would have beaten them too. In the TV series, it is Astor who finally calls the police on Paul, while in the book series Rita does when he begins to beat Astor and Cody as well.
William "Bill" & Maura Bennett are Paul's parents, living in Orlando. They are quite the opposite of their son, providing love and comfort to both Rita and her kids after her separation from Paul. First appearing (played by unknown extras) in the season four finale, taking their grandchildren to Walt Disney World, they return to Miami in the season five premiere, only to learn of Rita's murder.
After Rita's funeral, as Astor decides she wants to live with her grandparents, rather than Dexter, Bill and Maura bring both their grandchildren with them back to Orlando. Although they are not Harrison's biological grandparents, they have shown love and have cared for him when Dexter needed them to.
The Camilla Figg of the books and television series differ significantly. In the books, Camilla Figg is a young member of the forensics team who has a crush on Dexter. She is later killed by Bernard Elan, who attempts to use her obsession with Dexter to make him suffer.
In the television series, Camilla is older than Dexter, and had a close relationship with his father. She was a records supervisor at the Miami Metro Police Station. She and her husband, Gene, were good friends with Harry Morgan and his wife. She also knew Dexter and Debra while they were children and was still very good friends with Dexter who often brought donuts to her workplace at the records room. She knew far more about Dexter's past than she let on to him and finally told him that, on Harry Morgan's orders, she destroyed the file of the crime scene where he had found the young Dexter to protect him. Near the end of the second season, she informs Dexter this will be her last year working as she is retiring. In season 3, it is revealed that she has terminal lung cancer just like her husband, who died one year earlier, as they were both smokers. On her deathbed, Figg reveals that she knew that the Ice Truck Killer was Dexter's brother as she read his report before destroying it. During her agony, she frequently asks Dexter to bring her the "perfect key lime pie" until he realizes it is meant as a euphemism for euthanasia. Dexter complies with her wishes, but before she dies he tells her that it was he who killed his brother. She surprises him by smiling and telling him that "it's good you did" right before she dies. She is the first victim of Dexter's who wanted to die by his hands as well as the first victim he felt he showed mercy towards.
Lieutenant Esmee Pascal is a Haitian American police officer who becomes well-respected (considered a "real up-and-comer" by Captain Matthews) after being shot in the line of duty but recovering. When LaGuerta oversteps her authority and embarrasses Captain Matthews with new developments in the Ice Truck Killer case, Matthews brings Pascal in to replace her. Pascal remains Lieutenant of the department well over a month after the end of the case, earning the trust of the police officers and friendship of LaGuerta, but soon begins to crack under pressure when she starts to experience personal problems with her fiancé Bertrand (portrayed by Kiko Ellsworth). She suspects him of cheating on little real evidence, which gradually casts doubt on her rationality. Her obsession becomes so strong that she uses department resources to investigate him, tracking his phone calls and having the forensics department do tests on his shirt (stating it had the smell of another woman on it). As a result of this, Captain Matthews becomes increasingly concerned that he had made the wrong decision in replacing LaGuerta with Pascal, but LaGuerta remains stalwart, apparently standing behind Pascal on principle of loyalty. Captain Matthews is impressed by LaGuerta, believing her to have abandoned her political scheming, and returns control of the Homicide Division to LaGuerta. It is later revealed that LaGuerta manipulated the whole incident, and was the one having an affair with Pascal's fiancé to try to get rid of Pascal and get her old job back.
Frances "Frank" Lundy was a high-ranking and illustrious FBI Special Agent, serving as one of their manhunters and the Bureau's top agent. He becomes one of the main antagonists of Season 2 after being recruited by Cpt. Matthews to lead the task force devoted to hunting the Bay Harbor Butcher.
Lundy was cool, calm, confident, and incredibly intelligent. He learned about the criminal mind, often finding the important case evidence the frustrated Miami PD normally overlooked. Lundy was legendary with police agencies due to him breaking impossible high-profile criminal cases (e.g. the real-life Green River Killer and the DC Sniper). On a personal level, he had a wife, who died due to cancer, and a daughter. He is fond of classical music. Lundy devotes 15 years of his career to hunting down the "Trinity Killer", tracking him and seeing him as the most elusive serial killer he has ever encountered, but cannot convince any of his colleagues that Trinity even exists.
During the hunt for the Bay Harbor Butcher, Lundy became dangerously close to finding out Dexter is the Butcher he is seeking, and at the same time becomes involved in a relationship with Debra, helping her get over her left-over chaotic emotions from her time as the prisoner of the Ice Truck Killer. In the end, Dexter outmaneuvers and frames Doakes as the Butcher, causing Lundy to lead the entire police force in a full-scale manhunt to find Doakes. After Doakes is killed in a seemingly accidental explosion, the case is considered closed and Lundy moves on to find another serial killer in Oregon.
Although Lundy retired from the FBI some time later, he continued his mission of hunting the Trinity Killer. After tracking him to Miami, Lundy, no longer possessing access to the full resources of the FBI, asked for Dexter's and Debra's help in pursuing the Trinity Killer. Eventually, Lundy began to close in on Trinity, going so far as to predict where and when the murders would occur, as well as identifying Arthur Mitchell (albeit unnamed) as a suspect. In the course of the investigation, Lundy and Debra rekindled their relationship, but shortly afterward, both Lundy and Debra were shot by an unseen gunman. Lundy bled out and died from his injuries. Dexter mourned Lundy's death, having seen him as a "worthy adversary" and feeling that he deserved a more fitting end. Debra, however, blamed herself for what happened.
In season 7, it is revealed that Lundy always doubted Doakes's culpability, and wrote about that in his notes. Eventually, Maria LaGuerta discovered them.
Gabriel Bosque is a writer who becomes Debra's first boyfriend after Rudy Cooper/Brian Moser. He first appeared in the episode "Waiting to Exhale" where he met Debra Morgan at a workout gym. Noticing that Debra was checking him out, he offered to help her start training with a punching bag. This did not bode well; while taping up her hands, Debra had a flashback of her abduction by Rudy Cooper. She quickly ran from the scene with little explanation. She apologizes a little later however and they start going out. She takes him back to Dexter's apartment where she handcuffs him to the bed on the grounds that the last person she slept with tried to kill her, and Dexter walks in on them by accident. She begins to wrongly become suspicious of Gabriel and goes as far as searching his belongings and checking his e-mails. She finds an e-mail concerning a story he has written called "The Ice Princess" and believes that he is writing a story about her and leaves him accusingly. She then finds out that he is trying to be a children's writer and apologizes. They go on several more dates but she breaks up with him due to her increasing attraction to Frank Lundy.
Lila West, who goes by the pseudonym Lila Tournay, is Dexter's Narcotics Anonymous sponsor and one of the main antagonists in season 2. Originally from England, she works as an artist, often using stolen items in her work. Dexter begins an affair with her after his breakup with Rita. She confesses to Dexter that she became sober after unintentionally killing her ex-boyfriend while high on meth. She is in fact a sociopath who hangs out in support groups in an attempt to feel emotions she is otherwise incapable of. She immediately sees through Dexter's "mask" and becomes obsessed with him, believing him to be her soulmate.
She sets her own loft on fire and helps Santos Jimenez attack Dexter, believing that she and Dexter are closest in times of crisis. When she breaks into Rita's house, afraid that Dexter might have gotten back together with her, Dexter immediately ends their relationship.
In retaliation, she seduces Angel Batista, has rough sex with him, and then accuses him of rape, having taken Rohypnol immediately after sex so it would look like Angel had drugged her. Enraged, Debra asks Lundy to run a background check, discovering Lila is working under an alias. A fingerprint analysis turns up Lila's real surname (West) and that she has been illegally living in the United States on an expired visa. Debra confronts her and demands that she leave the country or be deported. Lila, following Dexter and watching him on his boat with Rita, Astor, and Cody, breaks into his van, takes his GPS device and finds the address for Jimenez's cabin. Arriving at the cabin, she finds Doakes caged inside and, upon learning from him that Dexter is the Bay Harbor Butcher, decides to protect Dexter and ignites a propane tank inside the cabin, killing Doakes.
After finding evidence that Lila killed Doakes, Dexter has the justification he needs for killing Lila. Dexter gathers his tools in a bag and goes to Lila's apartment under the guise that they will leave town together. Dexter's plan is foiled when Debra shows up and Lila walks in on them. Lila leaves the apartment, taking Dexter's bag with her. Upon examination of the bag, Lila learns of Dexter's plan to kill her.
She abducts Astor and Cody and uses them to lure Dexter inside her loft, and sets it ablaze again. Dexter and the kids narrowly escape, and Lila flees Miami. While living in Paris, Lila checks her mail and discovers a postcard from Miami with Doakes' picture on the back. Dexter emerges from the shadows, injects Lila with a spinal epidural (so he can speak his peace to her while also ensuring that her death is painless), and lays her down on the couch. Lila pleads for her life and tells him that she killed Doakes for Dexter's sake. Dexter asks if she tried to kill Rita's children for his sake as well, thanks her for helping him embrace what he is, and then stabs her through the heart. He wraps her corpse in a plastic garment bag.
Lila is so far one of the few main antagonists who was not given an official nickname. However, she has been called a "vampire" by Debra as an insult, alluding to her skin, which, according to Debra, is "pale like a freaking corpse". Lila has a penchant for committing arson, especially in order to murder other people by locking them in the building that she is burning/exploding. Throughout the season she exhibits other psychopathic tendencies as well, including manipulating and taking advantage of Dexter and others. She was mentioned once by Rita and once by Vince in season 4. She and Hannah McKay were the only female main antagonists throughout the series.
Maxwell "Max" Adams was the FBI Deputy Director who pushes Lundy aside during the investigation of the Bay Harbor Butcher. He appeared in two episodes during the second season.
Francis is a friend of Debra, and the successor to Camilla Figg as the records supervisor of the Miami Metro Police Station. She first appears in the episode "The Dark Defender", and has appeared in a total of 7 episodes as of the season 5 finale.
Miguel Prado was a senior Assistant District Attorney, infamous for his harsh enforcement of the law, making him powerful, influential and popular with the regular police and citizens of Miami, and the main antagonist of Season 3 along with George King. He has a romantic history with Lt. LaGuerta and he comes from a well-connected family, about whom he cares greatly. As such, Prado takes it hard when his younger brother Oscar is found dead in the house of a drug-dealer nicknamed "Freebo", and even worse when it is found Oscar was a drug addict to whom Freebo sold and that Oscar was in Freebo's debt. Prado even goes as far as to learn the Code from Dexter, and is the third person to witness Dexter in a kill room after his father Harry and Sgt. James Doakes. With Dexter's guidance he would go on to kill a mob enforcer.
Later that same night, without Dexter's knowledge, Prado kills Ellen Wolf, a defense attorney who was trying to ruin his career by claiming some mistakes he made in his cases were "proof" of Prado's claimed "illicit prosecution tactics, which include witness tampering and deliberately ignoring evidence". Dexter was disappointed with Miguel's violation of the Code and digs up Wolf's body for the police to find to teach Prado a lesson. Prado seems to have learned his lesson after a talk with Dexter, but Dexter later begins to doubt the authenticity of Miguel's friendship when he learns Miguel used exactly the same language he used in a talk between them in a talk with Rita about trust. Dexter's suspicions are confirmed when he examines the shirt Miguel gave him after the murder of Freebo. The blood on the shirt is in fact cow blood, and Dexter realizes that Miguel has been manipulating him all along. After a game of one-upmanship with regard to Ellen Wolf's murder case, with Miguel threatening to expose Debra Morgan's relationship with the CI Anton and use his position as ADA to make trouble for Dexter, Dexter decides to kill Miguel using the MO (Modus Operandi) of a sought-for killer, just as LaGuerta discovers Miguel killed Ellen. When Miguel discovers that LaGuerta is investigating him, he plans to kill her. However, Dexter discovers what Miguel is planning, traps him at LaGuerta's house when Prado goes there to kill her, and kills Miguel by garroting him, but not before telling him that he killed his brother.
The entire city of Miami mourns the passing of Miguel Prado, a hero to all, and so the City Council votes to name the city's main freeway interchange after Miguel. This greatly upsets LaGuerta, who is ready to accuse Miguel of murdering Ellen Wolf. Dexter is able to convince her that doing so would only hurt Miguel's family and the Cuban Community, and there is a high chance that nothing could be proven, so she drops it.
It was later discovered through Miguel's brother, Ramon, that he also lied about the story of defending his family from their abusive father where it was, in fact, Ramon who did it. He stated that Miguel "always had to be in the spotlight" and that he had been covering up for Miguel for years.
Miguel is the first main antagonist to die before the last episode of a season.
Ramón Prado was one of the three Prado brothers, and was a county sheriff with the rank of lieutenant. He was married to Sara (portrayed by Paula Miranda), and the couple had one son, Carlos (portrayed by Aramis Knight) and a daughter in pre-school.
Ramón and Miguel were both devastated at Oscar's death, with Ramón steadily becoming more and more unstable with time, frustrated with the Miami Police Department's handling of the murder case. Initially, Ramón attempts to keep working, though he steadily slides into alcoholism. In an effort to help his brother, Miguel tries to convince Dexter to tell Ramón about Freebo's death, but is convinced otherwise when Ramón, with a little provoking from Dexter, attacks an innocent person in front of his brother. His increasing recklessness eventually drove him to the point of kidnapping and torturing one of Freebo's clients, which in turn got him arrested by Debra and Quinn. To avoid a prison sentence, Ramón, largely disgraced in the eyes of his Miami Metro PD colleagues, unwillingly accepted the offer from the police union of early retirement with benefits, and so surrendered his gun and badge.
After Miguel was seemingly killed by The Skinner (really Dexter to stop his murderous rampage), Ramón, desperate for someone to blame, went out of control. Having been taken on earlier as a bodyguard for Miguel against Dexter (whom he had always had a slight distrust of), and so was driven to hunt Dexter. Dexter tried to find Ramón without success, but instead Ramón showed up in a drunken rage at Dexter and Rita's rehearsal dinner, and pushed off Dexter's calm attempts at discussion. He instead drew his pistol and jammed it in Dexter's face, but was stopped and arrested by Batista and Debra.
Even though "Harry" recommended Dexter kill Ramón out of mercy, Dexter, instead, elected to speak to him while he languished in the county jail. Dexter's words made Ramón understand and face his own demons, and brought peace between them. The result was Ramón finally coming out with the source of all his pent-up anger, frustration and distrust: Miguel. All of his life, Ramón remained in his famous brother's shadow (and even helped to build it—such as knocking their abusive father down the stairs and letting Miguel take the credit), that, while Miguel had the appearance, charm, and even the intelligence, Ramón had the strength and spent his whole life holding Miguel's legend together. Now that Miguel was dead, Ramón let go of his harsh behaviors so as to not pass it on to his beloved son and daughter.
As one last favor from his famous brother, Ramón was released a matter of days later.
Anton Briggs is a pot-smoking guitarist who is a confidential informant (CI) for Detective Joey Quinn. Quinn helps Debra out by giving her Anton's information in hopes that he will help her find a lead to Freebo, to which he obliges. Debra continues to meet with Anton to help her find information about both Freebo and later The Skinner because of his connections. Debra becomes close to Anton and eventually develops a romantic relationship with him, which occasionally clouds her judgment. She also finds out that Anton is not officially a CI because Quinn was trying to do him a favor by keeping it off the books. The police end up using Anton as bait in a possible trap for The Skinner, but Debra objects. The Skinner kidnaps Anton and removes two strips of skin from his back before Debra and Quinn rescue him. After Debra finds out that her father cheated on her mother with a CI, she becomes wary of Anton and they eventually break up. At the end of Season 3, they get back together when Debra realizes (with the help of Dexter) that her father Harry would have been so proud of her for being a great cop and getting her detective shield, regardless of her relationship with Anton. At the start of Season 4, their relationship starts to move forward just as Lundy returns and admits he still has feelings for Debra. Debra, who had started to feel claustrophobic in her relationship with Anton, eventually realizes she returns Lundy's feelings and sleeps with him. This results in Anton and Debra breaking up and Debra leaving his place after she admitted she slept with Lundy to Anton. Anton visits Deb in the hospital, where she officially ends their relationship for good. He has not been seen since.
Yuki Amado is the Internal Affairs officer who was pressuring Debra Morgan to give her information on Joey Quinn, promising to help her become a detective in return. Debra does not agree to help, and becomes extremely irritated with Yuki's persistence. Yuki, pressured to move forward in her case on Quinn starts giving Debra orders as if she had agreed to help the case. After being confronted by Debra that Quinn told her that it was just a personal grudge of hers, she states that he is lying and is investigating him because of his alleged tendency to cut corners.
Sylvia "Syl" Prado is Miguel Prado's wife. She is a real-estate agent and becomes close friends with Rita, even hiring her as her assistant. Later, she confides in Rita that she suspects her husband is having an affair. After a miscommunication with Dexter, Rita believes that Prado is cheating on his wife with LaGuerta, which she later tells Syl when trying on bridal outfits. Due to bad timing, she sees her husband leaving LaGuerta's house and she believes he has been cheating on her all this time and forces him out of her house. Syl was devastated when Miguel was killed, apparently by The Skinner (really Dexter). She later appears in her role as a real estate agent to assist Dexter in selling his apartment.
Defense Attorney Ellen Wolf is Miguel Prado's main professional rival. Ellen believes Miguel, whom she derides as a "fascistic prosecutor," bends the rules to put innocent people in prison while Miguel believes Ellen helps guilty people get off. Miguel believes that people like Ellen are the root of the problem that Dexter tries to solve through killing. However, his opinion of her seems to change favorably when Wolf betrays her client, a murderer named Albert Chung. Later, after participating in one of Dexter's murders, Miguel realizes he's capable of cold-blooded killings himself, comes to Wolf's house alone and murders her. Wolf was a close friend of Lt. LaGuerta, who is devastated upon Wolf's death. LaGuerta sought to solve the crime, and in the end discovered Miguel's actions. She initially vowed to tear what life he left behind apart (Miguel had recently been killed by Dexter, although everyone thought it was the Skinner). However, Dexter makes her understand she would be hurting Prado's family, the local community who supported and admired him and the city at large, and there was no guarantee she would find anything. In the end, LaGuerta accepted Dexter's advice and closed the case, keeping Prado's actions a secret and saying goodbye to her friend.
George "The Skinner" King aka George Washington King, an alias for Jorge "El Fierro" Orozco, was the main antagonist of Season 3 along with Miguel Prado. Conscripted into the Nicaraguan army, later he rose to the rank of captain in the Contras, heading an interrogation unit. Orozco tortured and killed people for a living, earning the nickname "The Blade". His time in the army left him with a deep need for respect. Orozco left the army and moved to Miami, founding and becoming boss of his own tree-trimming company.
When Freebo, a petty criminal, disappeared (killed by Dexter) while in debt to Orozco, Orozco resolved to hunt him down and make him pay for his affront, though Dexter saw this as a transparent excuse for his own sociopathic needs. As Debra Morgan met with Freebo's old associates in an attempt to find him, Orozco trailed her, covertly watching their homes under the cover of trimming their trees, and eventually kidnapped each of them, tortured them for information and killed them, taking a patch of skin from each victim, for which he was dubbed "the Skinner".
Upon questioning, Orozco deflected attention to one of his violent employees; but when the employee learned Orozco was involved, he had a near-panic attack, causing the police to focus on Orozco. The police then set up Anton Briggs, a former confidential informant, as bait by making him seem to know where Freebo was. Orozco kidnapped and tortured Briggs, but Debra and Joey Quinn interrupted, saving Briggs's life and forcing Orozco to flee.
The man-hunt continued, escalating when Dexter framed Orozco for ADA Miguel Prado's death (in reality by his own hands), but Dexter was ultimately captured and abducted by Orozco, having been told by Prado that only Dexter knew where Freebo was. Orozco intended to torture and skin Dexter for information, but instead Dexter effectively stripped him of his control (by revealing the truth that Freebo was long dead), then broke free. In a brutal fist-fight, Dexter broke Orozco's neck, killing him. The police arrived, having tracked down Orozco's hideout, but Dexter avoided detection by dropping Orozco's body in front of one of the speeding squad cars, making it look as if the collision caused the death. Getting hit by the car skinned his face; Debra joked that "what goes around comes around".
Barbara Gianna, a detective with Miami Metro Police Department's Vice Division meets Sgt. Batista in season 3 and becomes his girlfriend. According to Vince Masuka, Gianna's a "Wikipedia of perv". She is attacked and beaten by a would-be "john", and Sgt. Batista has Dexter run her keys for blood and DNA. She meets him when she is working undercover as a hooker and he is a would-be client, and she is initially standoffish when, after she declines to arrest him, he later attempts to woo her. In the beginning of Season 4, it is revealed that they have broken up. Angel credits this to their "wanting different things".
Arthur Mitchell is the main antagonist of the fourth season. He is an unassuming suburbanite man who has been living a double life as one of America's most prolific and deadly serial killers, dubbed The Trinity Killer by FBI agent Frank Lundy.
Christine Hill was a Miami Tribune reporter who meets Joey Quinn at the scene of Lisa Bell's murder. She starts a relationship with Quinn, often seducing classified police information out of him, including the Vacation Shootings, and the return of Frank Lundy to Miami. The police use her to help catch the Vacation Murderers. It turns out that Christine is the daughter of Arthur Mitchell/Trinity, and is also the shooter of Frank Lundy and Debra. She also reveals that she saw Arthur commit one of his first murders, and she shot Lundy to prevent Arthur's arrest. The police find out the biological connection and arrest her. She did not confess, however, until Mitchell angrily tells her that he wishes she had never been born. Devastated, Hill calls Debra to her apartment and confesses to killing Lundy, begging for forgiveness, but an enraged Debra sobs at the news and then snarls that she will never forgive Hill and that Hill will rot in jail for the rest of her unloved, unwanted life. A completely broken Hill then pulls out a gun as Debra calls in officers to arrest her, and as Debra turns around, Hill sticks the gun into her mouth and shoots herself.
Elliot becomes the neighbor of Dexter and Rita, after they move next door following their wedding. Recently having separated from his wife, Kate (portrayed by Marisa Petroro), he's now a single father, and becomes friends with the Morgans, much to Dexter's annoyance. Elliot eventually develops a romantic interest in Rita. During Thanksgiving he shares a kiss with her, as witnessed by Masuka. When Dexter eventually finds out, he responds with knocking Elliot down.
After Rita's death, he is interviewed as a potential witness and suspect, but is cleared. When Dexter is packing up his house, Elliot apologizes to him for kissing Rita. Later, he meets Lumen Pierce while she is staying at Dexter and Rita's now-unoccupied house.
Sally Mitchell is married to Arthur Mitchell and is the mother of Jonah and Rebecca Mitchell. In "Dirty Harry" and "If I Had a Hammer" it appears she has an ideal family. The entire family presents as loving, a pillar of the community, church-goers, and involved in a project to build homes for the homeless. However, this is revealed in "Hungry Man" to be a facade; Arthur is very controlling and abusive. His wife, fearing her husband, perpetually puts on a cheery façade and is willing to let her daughter continue a perceived affair with Dexter as long as Arthur remains unaware. She is last seen in tears being taken out of her home by the police when they uncover that Arthur is Trinity.
Unable to accept the reality of her husband being a veteran serial killer, Sally begins blaming her children for the loss of their lives, hoping Arthur returns to "whisk her away". The blame shifting impacts Rebecca significantly, leading to her suicide, which in turn leads to Jonah beating his mother to death in retribution. Blood-splatter indicates that the murderer was someone of Trinity's height, making people believe that Trinity had found and killed them when, in reality, Jonah killed his mother standing on the stairs at the same height as his father.
Jonah Mitchell is the son and oldest child of Arthur and Sally. He is a member of JROTC, plays football and at one time played baseball for his high school, which he quit, angering his father greatly. Though at first they seem to have a great father/son relationship, it is soon revealed that his father is very domineering to him and physically abusive, going as far as to break his fingers for damaging Arthur's car (a white 1968 GT-500 Shelby Mustang convertible with a blue racing stripe). Jonah tells Dexter he always comes up with excuses to explain the injuries given by his father to the school, but due to the number of injuries, is running out of excuses. He later snaps during Thanksgiving dinner and destroys his father's awards as well as smashing Arthur's sister's urn, causing him to nearly kill Jonah by strangulation but he is saved by Dexter. When Dexter is trying to find a child Arthur kidnapped, Jonah goes on Arthur's computer, discovering his father had been looking up vacant houses (although he does not know Arthur's intent for doing so). In the season 4 finale, he is seen being taken out of his home by the police when they uncover that Arthur is Trinity.
In season 5, he is seen in a store where Quinn approaches him with a composite sketch of Kyle Butler which resembles Dexter. Before Jonah can give him an answer of whether the picture is Kyle Butler/Dexter or not, Quinn is taken into custody by an FBI agent in charge of guarding Jonah while in witness protection.
In season 6, he reappears in the episode "Nebraska" as the sole survivor of his family who has been reportedly murdered by the Trinity Killer. While Dexter suspects that Jonah was the perpetrator, with supporting evidence, Jonah's guilt emerges in a confrontation which shows that he killed his mother for instigating his sister's suicide. No longer truly fitting the Code of Harry, Dexter tells him to forgive himself and returns to Miami.
Rebecca Mitchell is the daughter of Arthur and Sally. Though she is a 15-year-old teenager, her bedroom resembles that of a young child. After running away once, Arthur now has locks on the outside of the door and on the windows. Arthur often calls her "Vera", the name of his deceased sister. When Dexter asks her about this and tries to console her, she asks him to take her away, saying she would do "anything", implying she will give him sexual favors to do so (which Dexter flatly refuses). Both Becca and her mother believe he will take Becca up on her offer, however, the latter hopes that Dexter will not allow Arthur to find out. She is last seen in tears being taken out of her home by the police when they uncover that Arthur is Trinity.
A year later, due to the unstable rantings of her mother, Rebecca commits suicide in a way similar to the second victim in her father's cycle of kills. This discovery prompts Dexter to investigate.
Lumen Pierce is first seen after witnessing Dexter kill Boyd Fowler, a serial killer who had been keeping her captive. Despite Lumen being a witness to the murder and a clear threat to Dexter, due to her not fitting Dexter's code by being innocent, he is morally obligated to keep her alive and locks her up in a secluded area to give himself time to decide what to do with her. At first, Lumen is petrified of Dexter, believing that he will kill her for being a witness to his crime. Despite Dexter's constant assurances that he will not kill her, Lumen refuses to trust him. After an escape attempt, she is once again captured by Dexter. Instead of imprisoning her again, Dexter shows Lumen the bodies of Boyd Fowler's previous victims, and assures her that, had he not killed Boyd, she would have been next. It is at this point that Lumen confides in Dexter and tells him that Boyd was not the only one who hurt her. It is ultimately revealed that she had been held captive for an unknown amount of time, during which she was repeatedly raped and tortured by a group of five men.
Her mentally scarring experience has left her with a desire for vengeance, and she attempts to enlist Dexter's help to hunt down and kill the remaining perpetrators. He is willing to do this for her, but suggests that she get on with her life and leave Miami. Upon breaking into her motel room, Dexter discovers that she has been attempting to track down the group of men who raped and tortured her. He learns that she has gone to kill a sex offender whom Dexter, having hunted him down earlier, knows to have been wearing a tracking anklet. He stops her in time and this leads Lumen to realize she does not possess the skills or experience to discover the identities of the men who tortured and raped her and kill them. However, finding herself unable to leave Miami, she shoots Dan Mendell, a man she suspects of being one of her abusers, due to recognizing his distinctive smell. When the man escapes after being shot once in the leg, Lumen calls Dexter, who helps track down the wounded criminal, albeit reluctantly, and cautions her about killing the wrong person. Protesting innocence at first, Mendell calls his co-conspirators on Lumen's cell phone, confirming her suspicion and prompting Dexter to kill him by snapping his neck. They later meet at Dexter's house, where Lumen reveals that his death brought her a sense of peace, stating that the only way she will be able to find that peace again is to kill all of her other abusers. Dexter recognizes this as being her own "dark passenger", and agrees to help her.
Lumen turns up at the crime scene where Boyd's stocked and preserved bodies have been discovered following a traffic crash, where she is spotted by Quinn, who asks Liddy to investigate her connection to Dexter. She identifies Cole Harmon, Jordan Chase's head of security, as one of her torturers, and manages to save Dexter from a surprise attack by Cole when Dexter attempts to gather information from Cole's house. Setting up base at the hotel where Jordan Chase is giving his seminar, Lumen assists Dexter in preparing for the kill. Cole spots her in the lobby and gives chase, with Dexter barely managing to save her from Cole. Unable to extract any information from Cole, she watches while Dexter kills him. They then dispose of the body by dumping it in the ocean from Dexter's boat, and Liddy is seen photographing them.
After the police uncover DVDs of the men torturing and raping female victims, Dexter switches Lumen's DVD with a blank DVD, which he scratches in order to avoid suspicion as to why it was blank. Lumen then acknowledges that she knows what a risk he is taking by being with her, and tells him that he has been her only way through the experience. Lumen proves instrumental in getting information from Emily Birch, the first victim of Chase's team and the only other known survivor. Tilden is Lumen's first kill, as Dexter allows her to make the killing blow at her request. The two then return to Dexter's apartment, where they have sex.
Lumen and Dexter begin to plan how they will capture Chase when they realize that they are being watched. Once Dexter determines that they are being watched by the police, he attempts to convince Lumen to leave Miami for her own safety. However, Lumen refuses to abandon him, and Dexter ultimately admits that he wants her to stay. After receiving a distressed call from Emily, who says Chase contacted and threatened her, Lumen goes to her house to reassure her, having been unable to contact Dexter. This was a trap meant for her and Dexter, however, and Jordan Chase murders Emily and takes Lumen back to Camp River Jordan, which he owns, and which is the location where each of the victims was originally raped and tortured. Dexter arrives at Emily's house to find that Lumen and Jordan have already left and he is able to tell that Lumen fought, albeit unsuccessfully, and swears that he will not lose her, too. Dexter finds the location of the camp and rescues Lumen, who finally kills Chase. After Lumen and Dexter dispose of Chase's body, she admits to Dexter that she did not think they would be able to pull it off, describing it as a miracle. The next morning, Lumen tearfully reveals to Dexter that her darkness has left and she no longer feels the need to kill. She tells Dexter that she does not want to leave, but has to, because he still feels the need to kill. Dexter ultimately understands, and tells her that she should not be sorry that her darkness has left her, promising her that he will carry her darkness as well as his own. Dexter is devastated by her departure, but swears that he will be thankful for what she gave him, and notes that Lumen is the only person whose life has been made better by discovering his secret "true" self (i.e., that he is a serial killer).
Cira Manzon is a young Hispanic police officer that gets assigned to the Santa Muerte murders investigation. Debra accepts her to the team mainly due to her knowledge of the neighborhood plagued by the Santa Muerte killings. She quickly proves competent and a valuable addition to the force, despite being somewhat of a rookie and having a hard time handling some of the more gruesome murder scenes. While she has no trouble getting acceptance from her new colleagues, her optimistic outlook makes her somewhat an odd bird at the Miami Metro PD.
When an attempt to arrest the Fuentes brothers at Club Mayan gets their informant killed because of LaGuerta's bad judgment call, LaGuerta plans to use Manzon as a scapegoat for having a sidearm on her during the botched sting operation, but Debra fiercely defends her by asking LaGuerta to "stick together" rather than pinning the blame on someone else. However, Manzon backs LaGuerta's version of the story, blaming the incident on Debra alone and thus betraying Debra's trust. Manzon is rewarded with a sudden transfer to the homicide division – leaving Debra, the enraged scapegoat, working in the dreary file room.
Jordan Chase (birth name Eugene Greer), is a highly intelligent and well known and highly regarded author, a motivational speaker, and the main antagonist of Season 5 along with Stan Liddy. His book Take It Now is an international bestseller, and Vince Masuka counts himself among Chase's most loyal fans. Alongside his books, Chase is also famous for his audiotapes and seminars, encouraging people to "take what they think they deserve". In private, Chase is actually a misogynistic, misanthropic, and cynical person who uses his words to encourage people to act out their frustrations. He was obese as a teenager, a fact which caused Dexter and Lumen to misidentify him in a picture of the 'Barrel Girl gang' as teenagers.
When Dexter and Lumen start tracking down the members of a secret circle of men responsible for the rape, torture and murder of several young women, they come to suspect that Chase is a part of it. They are eventually proven right, and that he is the driving force within the circle. Even though Chase never participated in any actual rape or killing, he cheered on and commanded his followers, watching and videotaping them as they brutally raped and tortured their victims, delighting in mocking and tormenting Lumen and the other victims.
Dexter approaches Chase, claiming to seek counseling for his grief over Rita's death, Chase eventually figures-out Dexter. He responds by sending a message, through Lumen, that not only does he know about Dexter's motive for having contacted him, but he is also aware of Lumen's identity as the circle's escaped victim. With this, he enters the police station giving his DNA voluntarily (as he never touched them, only commanding and cheering-on the others), and begins planning to destroy Dexter. He allows Emily Birch to identify the last attacker, Alex Tilden, knowing that Dexter and Lumen would execute him, planning to set them up to the police. However, they escape as they moved Alex to another house before killing him, with the police finding the house empty.
In another attempt to catch Dexter and Lumen, Chase has Emily call Lumen to convince her and Dexter to come to her house, planning to kill all three of them to cover his tracks. However, only Lumen shows up, which sends Jordan into a rage. While he is screaming at Lumen, Emily tries to defend her, and Chase kills her with a fireplace poker. There is an off-screen scuffle between Lumen and Jordan in which he stuffs her into the trunk of his car. He then drives her to an abandoned summer camp he owns outside of town (under the name Eugene Greer, presumably to avoid suspicion), which is the location each of the gang's victims (including Lumen) had been raped and tortured. Dexter eventually arrives, and is subdued by Chase. He takes Dexter into the basement where Lumen is, and inspects Dexter's kill tools. He notices one knife is missing, which Dexter hid and uses to stab Jordan in the foot and subdue him. As Chase is restrained, he mocks Dexter's belief that killing him will atone for failing Rita. He also takes credit for the new strength in Lumen, claiming that he allowed her to discover it. He then taunts her by reminding her of the pain she suffered the last time she was in the room, and an enraged Lumen stabs him in the heart. As he is dying, she tells him, "That's not just for me, that's for everyone you've hurt, even Emily".
Sonya becomes Harrison's nanny after Rita's death. In most of the episodes, she mainly takes care of the infant and offers her opinion of his development. She appears a warm and gentle woman, originating from Ireland, and a devoted Catholic. A former hospital nurse, Sonya explains that she was let go due to budget cuts, and therefore is more than happy to become Harrison's nanny. After some initial arguing over Dexter's parenting and tendency to, from Sonya's point-of-view, put his work before his son, she decides to quit working for him. Much thanks to Sonya's love for Harrison, Dexter is able to convince her to come back, and he begins to appreciate her religious insight even if he does not share it. During his final pursuit of Jordan Chase, Dexter arranges for Sonya to take Harrison to the Bennetts to be with his brother and sister for a while, in order to ensure that Harrison is not caught in the crossfire if Jordan tries to attack him directly. She does not appear in later seasons; Dexter has since hired Angel's sister as his nanny, but no explicit information is given about the reason for her dismissal.
Stanley "Stan" Liddy was a corrupt narcotics cop, under investigation by Internals Affairs detective Jim McCord, with help from LaGuerta and the main antagonist of Season 5 along with Jordan Chase. Quinn hires Liddy to look into Dexter's past. Liddy discovers Lumen and takes pictures of Dexter and Lumen disposing of Cole Harmon's body, though he is not sure what was in the bags. Liddy, assuming the bags to contain either drugs or a dead body, attempts to report to Quinn, but Quinn ends the investigation as his feelings for Debra now have become serious. Liddy refuses to stop, believing he has stumbled upon criminal activity that he can use to reintegrate himself in the police force. After Dexter realizes he's being watched, Liddy sets a trap in his van and manages to apprehend Dexter. Having phoned Quinn, ordering him to come to the van's location, Liddy attempts to force a confession out of Dexter in order to regain his (Liddy's) reputation and status as a police officer. However, Dexter manages to fight back and in a short struggle, kills Liddy with his own knife in self-defense. When Quinn arrives at the van, he tries calling Liddy and shortly walks away, but not before a drop of Liddy's blood drops onto his shoe. Dexter then disposes of Liddy's evidence. The police find Liddy's body, and Quinn is considered a suspect, due to Liddy frequently calling him and the blood on his shoe. Quinn refuses to say what the nature of their relationship was, likely to protect Debra. Realizing how much Quinn means to Debra, Dexter sabotages the blood test, making it appear that it was not Liddy's blood on Quinn's shoe, clearing him. Quinn later thanks Dexter for this, although Dexter pretends to not know what Quinn is talking about.
Brother Samuel "Sam" Wright is a born again Christian and a reformed criminal who runs an auto-body shop in Miami where he tries to extend his good luck to other ex-convicts by giving them a place to work. While Dexter is skeptical of his reformation, Brother Sam proves himself redeemed and Dexter befriends him, introducing him to Harrison.
At the end of the fifth episode, Brother Sam was shot in his garage by Nick, an ex-gang member who wished to return to the gang. On his deathbed, Sam tells an angry Dexter to forgive Nick for shooting him.
Travis Marshall is a researcher in artifacts, professionally a bible restorer who is tied to the Doomsday Killings (DDK, also standing for "Doomsday Killer") and the main antagonist of Season 6. He is in fact directly involved in these murders, with mentor Professor James Gellar passing on his legacy to his student, making him believe that every murder committed is justified. However, his empathic nature leads to him to come in conflict with Gellar's demands. Travis has a sister Lisa (Molly Parker), a teacher, who tells her students that he is a talented artist.
As the season progresses, particularly after his encounter with Dexter, Travis begins to feel guilty about the suffering of their victims despite Gellar's insistence that the victims are sinners and their deaths are necessary. When told to brand their "Whore of Babylon" he relents to her suffering and releases her, which leads to the police looking for an accomplice. He also leaves Gellar and returns to live with his sister, though Gellar continues to stalk him. When the police department begin researching possible accomplices, his sister answers Debra's house call. Dexter also attempts to recruit Travis before the police find him, which Travis refuses in fear of Gellar. Deciding he has waited long enough, Gellar brands Lisa as the Whore and kidnaps Travis, chaining him at their base. Dexter tracks down their headquarters, but Gellar escapes. Travis pledges allegiance to Dexter in vengeance.
Dexter stashes Travis away while he hunts for Gellar; Gellar somehow finds him and paints a message to repent on the bathroom wall, which Travis tells Dexter is a message to meet. On arrival, Gellar reprimands Travis and allows him to return, though he knocks him unconscious. When Dexter enters, he attempts to locate Gellar but instead finds Gellar's frozen long-dead body. Dexter concludes that Travis has been seeing hallucinations of Gellar and has a mental disorder. This is later confirmed when Travis's prescription for anti-psychotic medication is found in the church.
When faced with the body of Gellar, Travis resolves to "finish what they started", seeking new acolytes in the Dorseys to complete the tableau of "Wormwood", a poison gas attack. He also is determined to locate Holly Benson, the first Whore, and kills her. While hiding out with Beth Dorsey, Travis detains a lone Sergeant Batista, and sends Beth with Wormwood to attack Miami Metro, which Dexter narrowly averts.
While falling for a trap Dexter sets, the side-effects of the gas's components disorients Dexter which allows Travis to defeat him, completing his "Lake of Fire" tableau in the ocean.
In the season finale, Travis, believing Dexter to be dead, prepares for his final ascension into Heaven by completing the last of his tableaus during a solar eclipse. Hiding in Dexter's empty apartment, Travis learns of Harrison, and as the final sacrifice requires the death of an innocent, Travis kidnaps Harrison at his Catholic school's Sunday pageant and attempts to kill him atop the Miami Transcorp Building. In the midst of his ritual, Travis is halted by the reappearance of Dexter who proceeds to bargain his life for Harrison's. As Travis believes Dexter to be the embodiment of The Beast and values his death above all others, he agrees to release Harrison but not before demanding that Dexter inject himself with some of his tranquilizers to render himself unconscious. Unbeknownst to Travis, Dexter, having anticipated his demands, plays possum and manages to overpower DDK, knocking him out during their ensuing struggle. After dropping Harrison back home, Dexter brings Travis back to the abandoned church, and after a heated debate concerning the existence of God, Travis screams that it is not God's Will that he is to die by Dexter's hand, with Dexter concluding that things are exactly the way they are supposed to be. Dexter then stabs DDK in full view of his sister Debra, who had unknowing walked into the church at the exact moment Dexter murdered Travis.
At the beginning of Season 7, Debra and Dexter burn Travis' body to make it look like a suicide. By the end of season 7, Capt. LaGuerta uses the circumstances of Travis Marshall's death and the fact that she found his blood slide to conclude that Dexter is the Bay Harbor Butcher.
Professor James Gellar is a former religious studies teacher at the University of Tallahassee, erroneously fired for stealing an ancient Roman sword which belonged to John the Revelator. Gellar had since then gone underground and was unheard of until the Doomsday Killings. Gellar has a blog, which has a cult following; it is dedicated to explaining the End Time as described in the Book of Revelation. With time, Gellar became consumed in recreating these scenes with his apprentice, Travis Marshall, acting as the two witnesses. The first three killings are successful, but Gellar's callous treatment of his victims leads to Travis releasing their Whore and leaving him. Gellar continues to stalk Travis and his sister Lisa, and upon seeing her talk to Deb, he kills her in the playground as the Whore of Babylon, kidnapping Travis when he arrives. Chaining him in the headquarters, he berates him before branding him with an iron. Upon Dexter's arrival, Gellar is able to escape while observing Dexter.
Working alone, Gellar tracks down the devoutly atheist Professor Casey, whom he sees as a false prophet and disembowels to serve as the seven bowls; he uses Casey's hand to paint a message for Travis in blood. Travis tells Dexter that he posted on his blog telling him to meet, where an angry Gellar tells Travis to repent, before knocking him unconscious. As Dexter searches the church for clues, he discovers an opening that leads to a basement. In that basement, Dexter is shocked upon seeing Gellar's dead body in a freezer, concluding that Travis was acting alone the entire time. In reality, Travis was the one who stole the sword three years prior to the doomsday killings, incriminated Gellar and came up with the gruesome idea to act out the End of Days. Gellar called Travis on his delusions and advised him to seek professional help, but instead, Travis stabbed Gellar multiple times to "prove" their immortality. Refusing to grasp reality, Travis stored Gellar's body in the freezer, keeping him alive in his delusions, until Dexter's discovery forced Travis to accept Gellar's death and move on to find new disciples.
Michael "Mike" Anderson is hired by Deb as her replacement on the detective squad after she is promoted to lieutenant. Transferring in from Chicago, he initially causes friction by believing Debra is only pranking him when she introduces herself as lieutenant, which Debra dismisses to maintain her composure. He, however, begins to mesh well with the team, noting on Dexter's incredible deductive skill in bloodwork and leading the religious research division of the Doomsday Killings when he notes the religious significance of the "tableaux" as he dubs them.
He is murdered in the first episode of Season 7 by Viktor Baskov.
Ryan Chambers is a forensic intern and newcomer to the Forensics department in Miami Metro Homicide in season 6. She attends the university Vince Masuka teaches a class for in Forensic studies. Originally a fellow student, Peter, was chosen in favor for an internship with Vince, as he placed the highest test scores. However, later on when Omar Rivera's body was found, Peter faints at the scene, and Vince immediately replaced him with Ryan. She works alongside Vince Masuka during the Doomsday Killings acting as both his partner in the case and understudy, and slowly forms a relationship with him. Vince worked up the courage to ask her out on a date, and Ryan agreed.
Ryan has a fascination with the buried Ice Truck Killer case; Masuka eventually brought up the evidence from the investigation for her to look through as a sort of gift. She expressed her fascination with the case, having followed it since the details were made public. A mannequin arm left in the evidence box was later stolen by her and sold on the internet because she needed money for rent. The breach of trust led to Vince replacing her with Louis Greene, leaving Vince quite sore about it.
Louis Greene is the third intern in Miami Metro PD's forensics department, replacing Ryan. He is a computer genius, whose expertise leads to critical breaks in the Doomsday Killer case. Louis falls for Detective Batista's sister, Jamie, and reveals he is well off due to his side-gig of developing video games. Louis was developing a video game based on serial killers, and seeking Dexter's approval, showed him the game much to Dexter's disgust. He sends the Ice Truck Killer's hand to Dexter's home, and tries to destroy Dexter for discouraging his video game. Dexter warns him to leave his life, to which Louis refuses. Dexter gets him fired and broken up with by Jamie, leading Louis to attempt to sabotage Dexter's boat. In the process, he ends up getting killed in a mix up with Isaak Sirko.
Hannah McKay was a fifteen-year-old from Clopton, Alabama when her boyfriend Wayne Randall commenced a three-state killing spree. She spent six years in Juvenile detention after pleading guilty to being an accomplice. She claimed not to have actually committed any crimes and received immunity from prosecution after agreeing to testify against Randall.
She married a man in his 40s, but poisoned him when he was pressuring her to have an abortion, later claiming she wanted to have the child. She inherited her gardening business from her mentor, whom she is later suspected of poisoning with aconitum.
When Randall decides to reveal where the last of his victims were buried, Miami Metro Homicide wants a DNA sample from her. Dexter is assigned to get the sample and he seems quite infatuated with her, becoming uncharacteristically distracted in his work.
After Randall commits suicide, she assists in locating the remaining bodies. After uncovering the bodies of a couple Wayne killed, Dexter realizes Hannah's story isn't truthful. While on a date, Dexter takes Hannah to a closed Christmas-themed amusement park, where it turns out Dexter has a kill room set up. He prepares to kill Hannah, but cannot go through with it and releases her. They end up having sex in the kill room instead.
When Sal Price, an investigative true-crime writer who has written a book about Wayne Randall, wants to write a sequel about her, she agrees to an interview. She admits to stabbing the woman at the hotel. She poisons Price who later collapses and dies in Dexter's apartment. Furious over Sal's death, and knowing that Hannah had confessed to him, Debra calls Hannah in for questioning. Debra has very little proof against Hannah and instead baits her with information about a miscarriage. Dexter realizes that Hannah is showing sincere emotion - this isn't an act. Dexter later confronts Hannah at her home, telling her that Price's death was needless. Hannah is touched to learn of Dexter's deleting of Price's files. The two later sleep together.
Realizing that Hannah has gotten away with killing Price the next day and angry that she got away again, Debra Morgan called Dexter and asked him to kill her, surprising Dexter. He refused, trying to make it look like because there's no proof and because he can't do it, disappointing Debra. Hannah would later be visited by Debra who warns Hannah that she won't get away with this. As Hannah tries to apologize, Debra says she hasn't even begun to be sorry, worrying Hannah.
Hannah falls foul of Dexter by poisoning Debra. Hannah had tried to form a truce with Deb but she declined. She spiked Debra's drinking water causing her to pass out while driving. Dexter later gives Deb evidence to prove Hannah poisoned Price. Debra has Hannah arrested.
Dexter visits Hannah in prison. She admits she poisoned Debra because she tried to separate her from Dexter. Dexter tells her he had no choice but turn her in because he doesn't want anything happen to his sister. Hannah assures Dexter that she won't tell his secret when she goes to trial. Dexter and Hannah share a passionate kiss before Hannah bites Dexter's lip as a sort of revenge for everything that has happened. Before she stands trial, she is confronted by Debra Morgan. Hannah plans to plead "not guilty" and that she will confess her crimes when Deb confesses hers. Debra tells Hannah her conscience is clean, to which Hannah replied that she is lieutenant of Miami Metro Homicide but still knows about Dexter's secret and ask her how she can bring her to justice but not her brother. During Hannah's arraignment on murder charges, Arlene slips Hannah a substance that causes a seizure. Hannah is taken to the hospital and escapes. She leaves a black orchid on Dexter's doorstep.
In season 8, on a visit to his sister, Dexter and Debra both feel as if they have been drugged; just before he passes out, Dexter sees Hannah standing over him. When he later regains consciousness, Dexter begins investigating Hannah, and finds that she has changed her name and married Miles Castner (Julian Sands), a wealthy businessman. Dexter goes to see Hannah, who says that she had wanted him to kill Castner, but changed her mind after realizing she is still in love with Dexter. Castner warns him to stay away from Hannah, and has him beaten up. Dexter goes to Castner's boat to protect Hannah, but finds that she has already killed him. The two of them dispose of the body, and promise to watch out for each other. The two end up having sex and rekindling their relationship.
Hannah and Dexter make plans to flee to Argentina but with the forces closing in on them, Dexter sends her and his son Harrison onto Jacksonville and from there they fly to Buenos Aires. She later reads of Dexter's boat sinking due to a hurricane and assumes that Dexter had died. She becomes guardian of Harrison, practically adopting her "deceased" lover's (and killer accomplice) son.
In Dexter: New Blood, a teenage Harrison reveals to Dexter that Hannah had eventually died of cancer.
Isaak "Volk" Sirko nicknamed Volk which means Wolf in Ukrainian. He is a high-ranking member of the Koshka Brotherhood, a Ukrainian-based international crime syndicate with operations in Miami, and one of the main antagonists in season 7. After the disappearance of Viktor Baskov, one of Isaak's top subordinates and his lover, Isaak travels to Miami, accompanied by his bodyguard and right-hand man, Jurg Yeliashkevych, in order to investigate Viktor's vanishing. Upon realizing that Viktor was killed, he sets out to avenge him. His trail leads him to Dexter's boat, the Slice of Life, which Louis Greene was trying to sabotage. Louis tells Isaak that the boat belongs to Dexter Morgan, after which Isaak shoots him. Isaak begins to hunt Dexter, but Dexter becomes wise to it very quickly, and lures him into a bar owned by the Koshka Brotherhood's Colombian rivals, the Rojas Cartel. Three armed Colombians attack Isaak, but Isaak disposes of them. The evidence leads to Isaak being brought in by Miami Metro and later incarcerated.
Isaak is later released from prison after Joey Quinn, blackmailed by George Novikov, disposes of the DNA evidence linking Sirko to the murder of the three Colombians. Isaak continues to pursue Dexter, which begins to get in the way of the brotherhood's more profitable operations. George sends a hitman after Isaak, who is disposed of by Dexter. Now aware that he is no longer welcome in the Koshka Brotherhood, Isaak begins operating alone (with Jurg as his sole aide), with his only purpose left in life being to kill Dexter. Two of the Koshka Brotherhood's top hitmen, Oleg Mickic and Benjamin Caffrey, are sent to Miami to kill Isaak. Isaak decides to enlist Dexter's help in killing them, ensuring his cooperation by kidnapping his girlfriend, Hannah McKay.
Dexter eliminates Mickic at a shooting range. After a shootout with Caffrey on a freighter, Isaak is cornered by George Novikov, who shoots Isaak in the gut, but flees at the sight of Dexter. Knowing that his wound is fatal, Isaak asks Dexter to dispose of him in the same place where he disposed of Viktor's body. On the way to Isaak's final resting spot, Isaak and Dexter discuss how Dexter felt like he had no control over his life since he met Hannah. Isaak states that he felt the same way, detached from society and forced to hide a secret, until he met Viktor. With his final breath, Isaak tells Dexter that there is still hope for him.
Viktor Baskov was a member of the Koshka Brotherhood and the head of their operations in America. While in Miami, he killed Detective Mike Anderson after Anderson discovers a dead stripper in Baskov's trunk. He attempts to flee the country afterwards, but is intercepted at Miami International Airport by Dexter. He is Dexter's first kill in season 7. Viktor is Isaak Sirko's lover.
George Novikov is the manager of a strip joint, The Fox Hole, owned by the Koshka Brotherhood. Novikov puts pressure on a reluctant Quinn to destroy evidence against Isaak Sirko in a murder case by threatening Nadia's safety. He later informs the Brotherhood of Sirko's erratic behavior and continues to blackmail Quinn so his drugs shipment won't be intercepted by police. After the two assassins the brotherhood sent failed to get Sirko, George shoots him himself. He is killed by Quinn in the episode The Dark... Whatever after he physically assaults Nadia twice. Quinn has Nadia help him out by shooting him in the arm while the gun is in George's hand, so that the murder can be set up as self-defense, although Quinn's partner Batista quickly sees through the ruse.
Jurgen "Jurg" Yeliashkevych was a member of the Koshka Brotherhood. He was Isaak Sirko's bodyguard. Jurg accompanied Isaak to Miami while the latter was investigating the death of Viktor Baskov. Strong and silent, Jurg is highly loyal to Isaak, remaining loyal to him even when Isaak is removed from the Koshka Brotherhood. At this time, Jurg assisted Isaak in the kidnapping of Hannah McKay, in order to assure the cooperation of Dexter Morgan in killing Oleg Mickic and Benjamin Caffrey. However, while Jurg held Hannah at the home of Andres Rodriguez, the deceased boss of the Rojas Cartel, Hannah tried to poison Jurg in an attempt to escape. Although the poison was not fatal, it allowed Hannah to bash him over the head with a lamp, but not before he stabbed her in the stomach. Although Hannah's wound was non-fatal, Jurg was killed in the struggle.
Nadezhda, known by her stage name Nadia, is a Ukrainian dancer at a strip club linked to the Koshka Brotherhood, and also the same establishment that employed murdered dancer Kaja Soroka. When Miami Metro focuses its investigation into Det. Mike Anderson's murder on the club, she soon enters into a romantic relationship with Quinn. She is aware of and fears the criminal element that runs the club. By threatening Nadia's safety, George Novikov convinces a reluctant Quinn to destroy evidence against Isaak in a murder case. Nadia eventually flees Miami to get work in Las Vegas.
Jacob Elway is a former police officer who now owns a large private investigation company. He hires Deb after she quits the police force, on her conditions that she be able to choose the cases she pursues. He later becomes involved in tracking down fugitive Hannah McKay, realizing that Dexter and Deb are helping to hide her. In the series' finale, he is the only living person, apart from Hannah and Dexter, who knows that Dexter's son Harrison Morgan is alive and on the run with Hannah.
Dr. Evelyn Vogel is a neuro-psychiatrist specializing in psychopaths. She offers the Miami Metro Police help in tracking a serial killer, the "Brain Surgeon," who removes parts of his victims' brains. She knows intricate details of Dexter's lifestyle, revealing to him that she has drawings he made as a child which hint at his psychopathy. She is the co-architect of the Code that Harry taught Dexter, and is quite pleased at the fact that it successfully has kept Dexter alive and well. Dr. Vogel enlists Dexter's help in catching the Brain Surgeon, who has targeted her by leaving pieces of victim's brain at Vogel's house. She also works with Debra when she shows signs of PTSD after María LaGuerta's murder, but is murdered by her estranged son, Daniel / the Brain Surgeon.
Zachary "Zach" Hamilton is the son of an affluent Miami politician who is suspected of killing a woman. As a patient of Dr. Vogel, she suggests that Dexter teach Zach the "Code of Harry" to which Dexter is initially reluctant, but he realizes that Zach is just like him when he was younger. Zach ends up properly vetting, stalking, and killing a person who had killed before, making Dexter proud that the Code can be passed on — until Zach is killed by the Brain Surgeon.
Daniel Vogel is Dr. Vogel's estranged psychopathic son and the main antagonist of the final season. She sent him to a mental institution after he killed his brother, and he eventually faked his death and came to Miami under the alias Oliver Saxon, living as a building inspector. He became a serial killer known as the "Brain Surgeon"; he removed the anterior insular cortex (the part of the brain that controls empathy) from his victims' brains and left them on his mother's doorstep. Vogel asks Dexter to help her track the Brain Surgeon down, unaware of his identity. Dexter unknowingly meets him when Saxon begins dating Dexter's neighbor, Cassie Jolleston. After Saxon murders Jolleston and Dexter's apprentice Zach Hamilton, he realizes his identity. Saxon and Dr. Vogel reunite, but Vogel eventually decides to let Dexter kill him after seeing a videotape of Saxon murdering one of her patients. Saxon, aware of the plot, slits Vogel's throat, killing her in front of Dexter. Dexter later tracks him down and ties him to a makeshift kill table, but chooses to let Deb hand him over to the police. However, Saxon is freed by a marshall and shoots Deb. Saxon is later killed by Dexter with a pen to his carotid artery in a jail interrogation room.
Alongside the main characters and supporting characters, there are some members of the Miami Metro Police Department that appear on recurring basis through the series, but only as background characters. While the actors receive proper credit for their appearances, they do not have any influence on the storyline, and mainly operate in the background, assisting the other characters. These characters include Detective Angela "Angie" Miller (portrayed by Dana L. Wilson in the seventh and eighth seasons of the show), Technician Karen (portrayed by Mary Alyce Kania during the first four seasons), Detective Jacob "Jake" Simms (portrayed by Francisco Viana in the first, second and seventh seasons), Detective Ramos (portrayed by Pablo Soriano in season two and three) and Detective Weiss (portrayed by Eli Goodman during season two).
The first season is largely based upon the first book (Darkly Dreaming Dexter), but for the following books and seasons the stories develop separately. Thus (with few exceptions) the characters from the subsequent novels (Dearly Devoted Dexter, Dexter in the Dark, Dexter by Design and Dexter Is Delicious) do not appear in the television series, nor do the characters introduced in seasons 2–5 appear in the books.