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.
Overview Main cast = Main cast (credited) = Recurring cast (3+) = Guest cast (1-2) Character Dexter Original Sin Resurrection 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 Dexter Morgan colspan="9" colspan="2" Rita Bennett colspan="4" colspan="8" Debra Morgan colspan="9" colspan="2" James Doakes colspan="2" colspan="4" colspan="3" María LaGuerta colspan="7" colspan="2" colspan="2" Angel Batista colspan="8" colspan="2" Harry Morgan colspan="8" colspan="2" Vince Masuka colspan="7" Joey Quinn colspan="2" colspan="5" colspan="2" Jamie Batista colspan="5" colspan="2" colspan="4" Tom Matthews colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="4" colspan="2" colspan="5" colspan="2" Angela Bishop colspan="8" colspan="3" Audrey Bishop colspan="8" colspan="3" Logan colspan="8" colspan="3" Kurt Caldwell colspan="8" colspan="3" Bobby Watt colspan="9" colspan="2" Aaron Spencer colspan="9" colspan="2" Charlotte "Charley" Brown colspan="10" colspan="2" Blessing Kamara colspan="10" colspan="2" Claudette Wallace colspan="10" colspan="2" Melvin Oliva colspan="10" colspan="2" Elsa Rivera colspan="10" colspan="2" Leon Prater colspan="10" Don Framt colspan="11" Owen Stark colspan="11" Captain Mixon colspan="11" Fiona Mixon colspan="11"
Recurring cast = Recurring cast (3+) = Guest cast (1-2) = Co-Starring Character Dexter seasons Original Sin Resurrection 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 Astor Bennett colspan="5" colspan="5" Cody Bennett colspan="4" colspan="5" Brian Moser colspan="3" colspan="3" colspan="9" colspan="2" Paul Bennett colspan="10" Laura Moser colspan="2" colspan="6" colspan="2" Esmee Pascal colspan="10" Frank Lundy colspan="8" Gabriel Bosque colspan="10" Lila West colspan="10" Gail Brandon colspan="10" Miguel Prado colspan="2" colspan="6" Anton Briggs colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="8" Yuki Amado colspan="2" colspan="9" Ramón Prado colspan="2" colspan="9" Syl Prado colspan="2" colspan="4" colspan="4" Ellen Wolf colspan="2" colspan="9" George King colspan="2" colspan="9" Barbara Gianna colspan="2" colspan="9" Arthur Mitchell colspan="3" colspan="4" Christine Hill colspan="3" colspan="8" Elliot Larson colspan="3" colspan="2" colspan="7" Sally Mitchell colspan="3" colspan="8" Jonah Mitchell colspan="3" colspan="2" colspan="6" RebeccaMitchell colspan="3" colspan="6" Maura Bennett colspan="4" colspan="7" Bill Bennett colspan="4" colspan="7" Cira Manzon colspan="4" colspan="7" Jordan Chase colspan="4" colspan="7" Lumen Pierce colspan="4" colspan="7" Sonya colspan="4" colspan="7" Stan Liddy colspan="4" colspan="7" Travis Marshall colspan="5" colspan="6" James Gellar colspan="5" colspan="6" Ryan Chambers colspan="5" colspan="6" Brother Sam colspan="5" colspan="6" Mike Anderson colspan="5" colspan="5" Louis Greene colspan="5" colspan="2" colspan="5" Isaak Sirko colspan="6" colspan="5" George Novikov colspan="6" colspan="5" Nadia colspan="6" colspan="5" Hannah McKay colspan="6" colspan="2" colspan="4" Evelyn Vogel colspan="7" colspan="4" Jacob Elway colspan="7" colspan="4" Zach Hamilton colspan="7" colspan="4" Daniel Vogel / Oliver Saxon colspan="7" colspan="4" Max Clayton colspan="7" colspan="4" Matt Caldwell colspan="8" colspan="3" Edward Olsen colspan="8" colspan="3" Teddy Reed colspan="8" Esther colspan="8" colspan="3" Fred Jr. colspan="8" colspan="3" Tess colspan="8" colspan="3" Abraham Brown colspan="8" colspan="3" Molly Park colspan="8" colspan="3" Elric colspan="8" colspan="3" Tanya Martin colspan="9" colspan="2" Camilla Figg colspan="3" colspan="6" colspan="2" Doris Morgan colspan="2" colspan="4" colspan="2" colspan="2" Sofia Rivera colspan="9" colspan="2" Clark Sanders colspan="9" colspan="2" Tony Ferrer colspan="9" colspan="2" Hector Estrada colspan="9" colspan="2" Santos Jimenez colspan="9" colspan="2" Mad Dog colspan="9" colspan="2" Gio colspan="9" colspan="2" Becca Spencer colspan="9" colspan="2" Nicky Spencer colspan="9" colspan="2" Stefan Pike colspan="10" Lance Thomas colspan="10" Constance Kamara colspan="10" Joy Kamara colspan="10" Albert "Al" Walker colspan="10" Mia Lapierre colspan="10" Gigi colspan="10" Gareth Pike rowspan="2" colspan="10" rowspan="2" rowspan="2" Gareth's twin brother Ronald "Red" Schmidt colspan="10" Ryan Foster colspan="10" Prudence Kamara colspan="10" Dante Rivera colspan="10" Shauna colspan="10" Mildred Brown colspan="10" Eric Tabach colspan="10"
Main characters Introduced in the main series
Dexter Morgan
Dominic Janes (preteen Dexter) Devon Graye (teenage Dexter) Patrick Gibson (Original Sin)
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 beginning of season 1 of the television series, he has no interest in romance or sex; this changes after his psychological breakthrough with Emmett Meridian. He initially considers his relationship with Rita to be part of his disguise; however, by the end of season 4, Dexter has fully evolved into a family man and wishes to rid himself of his self-titled "Dark Passenger".
After his wife, Rita's, death in the season 4 finale, however, he is shocked, growing worse in multiple ways. He becomes emotionally paralyzed and breaks the code on multiple occasions.
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 realizes that Rita's son Cody is 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 is not present 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 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
Julie Benz (seasons 1–4; guest season 5)
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 resolve 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 kisses him back, she ends it before something begins.
Debra Morgan
Jennifer Carpenter Haley King (teenage Debra) Laura Marano (young Debra) Molly Brown (Original Sin)
Debra Morgan (known as Deborah Morgan in the books) 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 insecure, she largely relied on Dexter's expertise on murderers to solve difficult cases. Debra met Rudy Cooper, who unbeknownst 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 discovers that her brother is a killer. Debra is severely affected by Rudy's betrayal; she moves in with Dexter for fear of being alone.