James "Jimmy" McNulty

James "Jimmy" McNulty is the main protagonist in the HBO series The Wire. McNulty is a detective in the Baltimore Police Department. On many occasions he has proven himself to be a talented and determined detective, however, he is disliked by many of his superiors because of his arrogant demeanor, disdain for authority, and disrespect for the chain of command. When off the job, he has frequent problems involving alimony, alcoholism, child support, and womanizing. McNulty is nonetheless a clever, resourceful police officer, and is central to many of the successful high-end drug investigations that take place within the series.
He is portrayed by English actor Dominic West.
==Personality==
==Biography==
=== Background ===
=== Season 1 ===
In the opening scene of the show, McNulty investigates the murder of Snot Boogie, a craps player. A witness tells him that Snot Boogie had a habit of stealing money from the craps pot at the end of the night, and the craps shooters had finally gotten fed up and killed him. When McNulty asks why they kept letting him play even though they know he'd steal from them, the witness tells McNulty that "this is America, man" setting the stage for the show's themes.
The next day, he observes the murder trial of mid-level drug dealer D'Angelo Barksdale, in which the prosecution's key witness abruptly recants her testimony. McNulty notices that Barksdale second-in-command Stringer Bell is also present in the courtroom and, suspecting that Stringer intimidated the witnesses, informs the judge that D'Angelo is a member of the Barksdale Organization, which the police are currently not investigating, and, according to McNulty, had gotten away with ten murders in the prior year. In turn, Judge Phelan pressures the Baltimore Police Department to investigate the Barksdale Organization.
Major William Rawls, infuriated that McNulty put the BPD's clearance rates in jeopardy, berates McNulty for violating the chain of command and orders him to produce a briefing on the Barksdale Organization the following morning. 
=== Season 2 ===
=== Season 3 ===
=== Season 4 ===
=== Season 5 ===
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