Hannibal Lecter

Hannibal Tetralogy character
Hannibal Lecter
Birth name	Hannibal Lecter (VIII)
Titles	Count Hannibal Lecter VIII Hannibal Lecter M.D.
Aliases	Lloyd Wyman "Dr. Fell"
Nickname	"Hannibal the Cannibal"
Gender	Male
Race	Caucasian
Birth	1933 (Actual) 1938 (Documented)
Ancestry	Lithuanian (Paternal) Italian (Maternal)
Relatives	Count Lecter (Father) Simonetta Sforza (Mother) Mischa Lecter (Sister) Robert Lecter (Uncle) Lady Murasaki (Aunt and guardian)
M.O.	Organized serial murder, Revenge Cannibalism, Torture
Occupation(s)	Surgeon, Psychiatrist, Culinary Artist, Artist, Library Curator
Current status:	At large
Portrayed by:	Manhunter Brian Cox The Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal, & Red Dragon Anthony Hopkins Hannibal Rising Gaspard Ulliel, Aaron Thomas

Hannibal Lecter is a fictional character in a series of novels by author Thomas Harris. Lecter is introduced in the 1981 thriller novel Red Dragon as a brilliant psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer. Lecter's role in the novel is minor, but in the sequel, The Silence of the Lambs, he becomes one of two primary antagonists. In the third novel, Hannibal, Lecter becomes the main character. His role as protagonist continues into the fourth novel, Hannibal Rising, which explores his childhood and development into a serial killer. Lecter's character also appears in all four film adaptations. The first film (Manhunter, 1986) was loosely based on Red Dragon, and features Brian Cox as Lecter, inexplicably misnamed as "Lektor". In 2002, a second film adaptation of Red Dragon was made under the original title, featuring Anthony Hopkins, who had previously portrayed Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal. Hopkins' Academy Award-winning portrayal of the character in The Silence of the Lambs in 1991 had made Hannibal Lecter a cultural icon.

Lecter (as portrayed by Hopkins) has been named by The American Film Institute to be the most memorable villain in film history.

Character origin and development

Harris has never explained where he got inspiration for Hannibal Lecter, but in a documentary for Hannibal Rising, Lecter's early murders were said by the filmmakers to be based on murders that Harris had covered when he was a crime scene reporter in the 1960s.

In 1992, Harris also paid a visit to the ongoing trials of Pietro Pacciani, who was suspected of being the serial killer nicknamed the "Monster of Florence". Parts of the killer's modus operandi were used as reference for the novel Hannibal.

Appearance

Hannibal Lecter is described in the novels as being small and sleek, and with wiry strength in his arms. In Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs, Lecter's left hand has the condition called mid ray duplication polydactyly, or his left hand has an extra digit; a duplicated middle finger. In Hannibal, he has since had his extra digit removed, while Hannibal Rising makes no mention of this physical abnormality.

Lecter's eyes are shade of maroon, and reflect the light in "pinpoints of red". He is also said to have small white teeth and dark hair.

Fictional character biography

The following account of the character's biography is based strictly on the novel series. All date contradictions are purported to be by Lecter himself, with the dates in Hannibal Rising purporting to be the correct ones.

Ancestry

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Hannibal Lecter with his sister Mischa in the film Hannibal Rising.

Hannibal Rising reveals that Hannibal Lecter is the eighth generation descendant of the warlord "Hannibal the Grim" who defeated the Teutonic Order at the Battle of Grunwald (1410). Lecter's mother, Madame Simonetta Sforza, is descended from both the Visconti and Sforza families who separately ruled Milan for a total of 250 years.

In Hannibal, it is suggested that Lecter is also descended from Giuliano Bevisangue ("Bevisangue" means "Blood-Drinker"), a feared and ruthless figure in 12th-century Tuscany, and from the Machiavelli bloodline. In the book Hannibal, Lecter himself pursues this subject to determine from the records of the Capponi Library if there is any true connection to Bevisangue, but he is unable to answer the question. Hannibal also asserts that Lecter is a distant cousin of the artist Balthus.

The Making of The Monster

Lecter's childhood is first referenced in Hannibal, but is fully detailed in Hannibal Rising.

Hannibal Lecter is born on January 20, 1933, to a wealthy, aristocratic Lithuanian family.

After the death of his parents in World War II, eight-year-old Hannibal and his younger sister Mischa are held against their will by a group of looters during the severe winter of 1944. Unable to find food, the looters resort to cannibalism, and choose Mischa to be consumed. Lecter is severely traumatized by his sister's death, and the incident haunts him for the rest of his life. This destroyed his faith in God, and shaped him into the "monster" that is later depicted in the series.

Lecter, orphaned, lives in his former home which has been converted into an orphanage. Haunted by nightmares of his sister's death, he gets into violent altercations with the other orphans and cannot stop screaming at night, and so is forced to live in the cellar. He then escapes and flees to live in France with his uncle, Sir Robert Lecter, and his aunt, Lady Murasaki. Lecter commits his first murder as a teenager, beheading a butcher who insults his aunt. Lady Murasaki fears Lecter will try to kill the men who murdered Mischa, and tries to dissuade him. Lecter will not listen, however, determined to avenge his sister.

Avenging Mischa grows into an obsession, and he relentlessly hunts the murderers; he then systematically butchers them all, cannibalizing their bodies. When he confronts the gang's ringleader, Vladis Grutas, he learns to his horror that the men had fed him Mischa's remains in a broth. Upon learning what Lecter has done, Lady Murasaki disowns him. With all his loved ones gone, Lecter leaves Europe for the United States, having earlier been accepted to Johns Hopkins University.

The Chesapeake Ripper

In the series' timeline, he next appears in Red Dragon, having established a psychiatric practice in Baltimore, Maryland, and become a celebrated figure in the city's most prominent social circles. Lecter had also worked as an emergency room physician in Baltimore.

Lecter kills nine more people in Baltimore, and is nicknamed "The Chesapeake Ripper". Two of his victims figure in later novels: Hannibal introduces Mason Verger, a billionaire pedophile who survives Lecter's assault, but is left a hideously disfigured quadriplegic; and Silence of the Lambs introduces Benjamin Raspail, an untalented flautist whose lover, Jame Gumb, becomes the serial killer "Buffalo Bill", the novel's secondary villain.

Ironically, Lecter corresponds with FBI Agent Will Graham on the murders he himself commits. Graham consults Lecter one night, and suddenly realizes the doctor is the killer he seeks after seeing the antique medical diagram "Wound Man" in Lecter's office; Graham remembers that one of the victims was found in the exact position. When Graham attempts to call the police, Lecter stabs and nearly disembowels him.

Lecter is found not guilty by reason of insanity and sentenced to nine consecutive life terms in the Baltimore Hospital for the Criminally Insane. He is nicknamed "Hannibal the Cannibal" in the National Tattler, a lurid tabloid that covers his trial.

Incarceration

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Hannibal Lecter in the film Silence of the Lambs.

As detailed in Red Dragon, Lecter is a model prisoner until July 8, 1976, when he attacks a nurse, dislocating her jaw and eating her tongue and one of her eyes. During the assault, Lecter's pulse doesn't go above 85 beats per minute.

Because of his unusual brain wave patterns and history of violence, he is branded a "pure sociopath"; Graham mentions, however, that Lecter does not really fit any psychological profile, and so is labelled a sociopath for lack of a more appropriate term. Lecter refuses to submit to any standard psychological testing, folding questionnaires into origami and reciting a recipe for nacho dip under the influence of sodium amytal.

Red Dragon introduces Lecter's keepers in the asylum: administrator Frederick Chilton, whom Lecter despises and considers his nemesis; and guard Barney Matthews, who treats Lecter with courtesy, and enjoys a mutual respect.

In the novel, Graham briefly consults Lecter in an investigation of a serial killer dubbed "The Tooth Fairy". Unknown to Graham, Lecter starts a correspondance with the killer, Francis Dolarhyde, and gives him Graham's home address in code. As a result, Dolarhyde is killed and Graham is permanently disfigured.

In Silence of the Lambs, Lecter assists FBI trainee Clarice Starling in capturing "Buffalo Bill". In exchange for his help (given as vague, riddling clues) Lecter demands personal information about Starling's painful childhood. The two grow to respect each other, and it is implied that Lecter forms a romantic attachment to her. When "Multiple" Miggs, the prisoner in cell adjacent to Lecter's, throws his semen into her face, Lecter "finds this discourtesy unspeakably ugly" and punishes Miggs by manipulating him into committing suicide.

Toward the end of the investigation, Lecter gives Starling a final clue: "This man covets, and how do we begin to covet? We covet what we see everyday." This helps Starling deduce that the killer knew one of his victims personally, and uses this to find "Buffalo Bill" in time to save the woman he had kidnapped, killing him in the ensuing struggle. Lecter escapes, killing two guards, a staff of paramedics and a tourist whose identity he steals. He performs plastic surgery upon himself, and escapes to Europe, leaving Starling a note congratulating her on facing her personal demons.

Winning Clarice

Lecter next appears in Hannibal, set seven years later, living in Florence, Italy, under the alias "Dr. Fell". There, he is the curator of the prestigious Capponi Library (having murdered the position's previous occupant). He reads in an American newspaper that Starling, now a full-fledged FBI agent, has been blamed for a botched drug raid and is in danger of losing her job. He sends her a hand-written note of encouragement, reigniting the manhunt.

He learns that a corrupt detective named Pazzi has informed Verger of his whereabouts. He kills Pazzi, and flees to the U.S. to stalk Starling, albeit without homicidal intentions. He is kidnapped by Verger's men after Starling's corrupt boss, Paul Krendler, uses her as bait. Starling attempts to rescue Lecter from Verger's sadistic grasp, only to be wounded in the ensuing gunfight. Lecter rescues her and convinces Verger's sister Margot — a former patient whom Mason had raped — to kill her brother.

Over the next few months, Lecter holds Starling in captivity and uses a variety of mind-altering drugs and psychological conditioning techniques to sublimate her personality and transform her into a surrogate for his sister Mischa. Starling's personality remains intact, however, and she mocks his attempts to break her spirit. She then offers Lecter her breasts, and the two become lovers. Lecter kidnaps and lobotomizes Krendler, and the two dine on his still-living brain. They then flee to Argentina to live in the lap of luxury. Barney Matthews glimpses them together while on vacation in Buenos Aires.

Film portrayal

Lecter has been portrayed by four different actors in the films, but the most referenced actor is British actor Sir Anthony Hopkins, who portrayed the character in three of the five films. Hopkins's portrayal of the character in the Silence of the Lambs won him an Academy Award in 1992, even though his screentime in the film as Lecter only spans just under 17 minutes. It still stands as the shortest lead role to ever win an Academy Award. Hopkins claimed that he drew inspiration for his portrayal of Lecter from HAL-9000, the villainous computer from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Hopkins was not the first actor to portray Lecter. Brian Cox portrayed Hannibal "Lecktor" in the 1986 film Manhunter. Cox said his characterization was inspired by Scottish serial killer Peter Manuel.

Gaspard Ulliel portrays Lecter as a young man in the 2007 film Hannibal Rising. Ulliel stated that he based his portrayal off of Hopkins' and mixed it with his own style.

Aaron Thomas portrays Lecter as a child in Hannibal Rising.

External links

• Information about Hannibal Lecter, with a strong central focus on Manhunter (1986)
• Manhunter (1986) at IMDb
• The Silence of the Lambs (1991) at IMDb
• Hannibal (2001) at IMDb
• Red Dragon (2002) at IMDb
• Hannibal Rising (2007) at IMDb
• Crime Library profile of Lecter
• Hannotations
• German fanpage with downloads
• The Hannibal Lecter Studiolo
• The Hannibal Lecter Studiolo Forum