Dexter is a white male (with a tan) in his early 40's with light brown hair and green eyes. He's seen as an attractive man with a perfected face, with his hair altering based on the passage of time (it was at its shortest during Seasons 1 and 2, growing longer throughout Seasons 3 through 5). There are also a few beauty marks here and there.&nbsp In Season 6 his hair has shortened and Dexter appears a bit more "tired" looking than usual...with each episode comparing the current Dexter to how he was in earlier Seasons, it may be something that the real life Michael C. Hall is having to deal with in his remission.

His body

Dexter is extremely fit. Just between his body and arm on his left side is a long scar, that he received as a child...as well as another scar on the shoulder of his right arm. Dexter maintains routine exercise, though only shown periodically through the series he can be seen jogging on treadmills, using stationary bikes, and various other activities. Keeping himself in shape is important for two reasons: one, to maintain his face personality for everyone around him as an everyday guy. Two, to enable him to overpower most of his victims which are otherwise weaker than himself. He has to do a lot of dragging, lifting, and even body part moving in his other work so it's necessary to have a structured athletic physique, especially if he needs to chase someone (think Lumen Pierce or Lance Robinson).

His normal clothes

Dexter, both in the novels and on the television show, is partial to the Cuban style of either khakis or light-colored linen trousers and either Rayon or linen guayabera, or (Mexican Wedding Shirt). In later seasons of the television series, he made the switch to the simple t-shirt being his prefered top.

His hunting clothes

Dexter wears a military-inspired green (the manufacturer simply calls it "Army Green") colored 4-button henley manufactured by American Apparel. He also wears brown cargo pants and something similar to WWII paratrooper jump boots.

The true kill clothes consists of a dark-colored apron, probably made of some thick material such as rubber. He also wears dark gloves that match this, suggesting that he has his own pair of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) to use at his disposal, as well as a visor to protect himself from the blood. At most times, it appears that he wears his Hunting Clothes underneath his PPE but may trade in for other items.

A few times he has had to improvise, one of the most infamous is when he wore a yellow "Natural Born Griller" apron with yellow dish-gloves and just whatever shirt he had on at the time. He even wore (if only temporarily) the Mascot Panther Head for his high school during his stalked kill at his own high school reunion, if just to complete the effect.

At the start of the series when he killed Jamie Jaworski, Dexter wrapped his head in shrink wrap but left his mouth and eyes visible. The television series left the reason for this unclear, leaving it open to debate. It could have been symbolic "bondage" as Jaworski raped his victims violently. However, the scene is consistent with the same kill in the first Dexter book, Darkly Dreaming Dexter. The book explains that though the victim was researched and selected as normal for Dexter, the kill itself at the construction site was on impulse. Dexter experienced an urge to kill that was so strong it overpowered his otherwise careful and calculating methods. The plastic wrap was what he found on hand to use in place of his visor. Dexter had to leave Jaworski's body behind when the police suddenly arrived at the scene. This suggests a vulnerability on Dexter's part subjecting him to getting caught that has been stressed more in the books than in the television series.

Starting in season 5, Dexter is not shown wearing the visor.

"My name is Dexter. Dexter Morgan. I don't know what made me the way I am, but whatever it was left a...hollow place inside. People fake a lot of human interactions but I feel like I've faked them all and I fake them very well. And that's my burden, I guess."

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. Dexter makes frequent references to an internal feeling of emptiness, leading to many youthful attempts to "feel alive" (this was used more in the shows than the books). Dexter 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. He has no interest in romance or sex and he considers his relationship with Rita to be part of his "disguise." In the show he shows considerably more attachment and fondness for Rita than in the books. For example, in the first season he is afraid to have sex with her because he might lose her as a result; in the books he seems to view her more as a pet.

There are kinks in Dexter's emotional armor, however, He acknowledges loyalty to family, particularly his dead adoptive father: "If I were capable of love, how I would have loved Harry." Since Harry's death, Dexter's only family is his sister, Debra Morgan, Harry's biological daughter. At the end of the first novel, Dexter admits that he cannot hurt Debra (and in an episode comically repeats in his head "I will not kill my sister" as she leaves his apartment a complete disaster when living with him) or allow Brian to harm her because he is "fond of her." He also appears to care more for Rita than he admits.

Dexter likes children, finding them to be much more interesting than their parents. The flip side of this affection is that Dexter is particularly wrathful when his victims prey on children. In Dearly Devoted Dexter, Dexter realizes that Rita's son Cody is showing the same signs of sociopathology as Dexter himself did at that age, and looks forward to providing the boy with "guidance" similar to that which Harry provided him; in his way, he sees Cody as his own son.

This also gives him a reason to continue his relationship with Rita who, as of Dearly Devoted Dexter, he is engaged to because of a misunderstanding. In the beginning of the third book, it has been shown that Cody is not the only one with dark impulses, as both children pressure Dexter to teach them. Dexter has come to accept his role as stepfather to both children very seriously in Dexter in the Dark, albeit in his typical fashion. For example, while on a stakeout, he begins to wonder if Cody had brushed his teeth before 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.

Animals don't like Dexter, which can cause noise problems when Dexter stalks a victim who has pets. He is quoted as having a next door neighbor with a dog who barks and growls at Dexter until he is forced to get rid of it, and a turtle, which hides in its shell until it dies of starvation rather than have to deal with Dexter. Cats on the other hand, as hunters themselves and creatures loyal only to themselves, are unfazed by him. Mary the Nurse's cat is an example.

Dexter's personality is ever-changing, now adopting a somewhat uncertain and almost "Code-less" lifestyle. His evidence has been left behind, due to some important events which had sometimes put him in dangerous situations at times. Harry has appeared a lot less frequently, almost vanishing completely after the fourth episode in Season 5. Instead he spends his time thinking to himself and about Lumen...whom he is beginning to trust enough to allow her into his life with his son and now to allow her to kill with him. Even Miguel Prado did not know as much about Dexter that Lumen is delving into, thus suggesting he fully trusts her (at least more than Miguel) and is easily willing to allow her to build a kill room with him. Dexter displays his ultimate trust in Lumen by allowing her to kill Alex Tilden.

Dexter's favorite sport is hockey, which he was introduced to by Rita, who had season tickets to the Panthers. He believes he likes it because they play in a cool chilly arena, in addition to the frantic homicidal mayhem on ice with blades and fighting sticks. He is rather not impressed by golf, but would watch it if it were played in the cool chilly arena.^[1]

Religious points of view

"If I believed in God; if I believed in Sin, this is the place where I would be sucked straight to Hell. If I believed in Hell..."

Dexter as far as religion goes, doesn't understand it. He personally never has believed in a higher power, apart from the guidance from his father Harry Morgan and throughout the seasons he's hinted at his religious preference as being mostly atheist. It's not that he has any problem with those that follow religion, it's just that he doesn't actually believe in their existence and as Season Six rolls around, he clarifies that his belief was mainly in Science. However, with the recent events popping up more and more of his faith in something else has been tested. The season's focus on religion has put him in an awkward position, meeting various characters from Brother Sam to Travis Marshall and all the followers of different beliefs in Christianity as a whole. He seeks to pass religion on to Harrison his son but has no real experience with it himself.

Dexter's faith has been tested on multiple occasions yet he never really calls out to a spiritual deity for assistance. He mostly finds it in himself to get out of situations, because these are things that are left within his hands to fix. The problem is when he is faced with something that cannot be fixed by his own intervention, such as his son Harrison being put into surgery for a burst appendix. In two instances in this situation Dexter actually prayed to God, as he was on the verge of a breakdown at a snack machine for his son to make it through promising he'd do whatever to make sure he would be alright. Then after news of his son's successful recovery, he said "Thank God" which Brother Sam caught onto. He plays it off after this point but it could be that part of Dexter is becoming a believer, especially with the miracle of his son's recovery.

Recent events brings religion into Dexter's life, confronting various individuals with their own outlook on spirituality. Seeing that he needs something structured to pass on to his child, he pursues religion...encounters those who know little to nothing about it such as Joe Walker, those that are so obsessed with it that they're willing to kill such as Professor Gellar, a man trapped between his beliefs and his own personality in Travis Marshall and finally a man who found God but stays a normal functional man in Brother Sam.

Relationship with his son

Dexter's most important relationship now is with his son, Harrison Morgan. Having grown up within a life of killing those that deserve it, Dexter has decided that he wishes to not pass this on to his child and adopts showing him only the "human" side that everyone else is experiencing. Dexter hasn't convinced himself yet that the human side he still views as a mask in reality is closer to what he truly is: the fact of being human. Once a man who faked every emotion down to a simple smile, he has evolved into someone who cares for his family and friends while accepting the responsibility of caring for his child as a single parent. In this light, he doesn't realize that a majority of who he is now is in fact a regular guy with just a dark secret, rather than faking to be a regular guy who is actually just a very dark monster.

Prior to Harrison's birth, Dexter gave little thought to children other than taking care of Rita's and being their friend. As time passed and he grew more in other areas, he found himself caring deeply for both Cody and Astor and they looked at him as their new father figure with Paul Bennett now deceased himself. After fixing his relationship with Rita, he soon finds out about her pregnancy and his reaction throughout the season are mixed. Originally hopeful that something would happen to the baby during a complication with the pregnancy, new faith in the child formed towards the end of the Season and ultimately he accepted that his child would come into the world.

Once Harrison was born, Dexter stepped up to his duty as a father and watched over him in trade with his wife Rita. While the focus now was how Dexter would survive for the years to come with his new family and sought the answers in Arthur Mitchell, there was some insight into his relationship with baby Harrison. Mostly he fed him bottles, watched over him and played with him though he mostly remained in the background or as a subtle plot device for humor until the very end where Rita was found murdered and Harrison sat out in her blood, crying his eyes out. Dexter lost the ability to stand and went to the floor, scooping up Harrison as he dealt with the tragedy of Rita's death as well as finding his own son in the exact same position he had been in his early years.

Following Rita's murder, Dexter was heavily concerned with whether or not Harrison would evolve like he did. In that sense, would the tragedy create a Dark Passenger of Harrison's that would make him kill and several signs throughout Season Five illustrated this from removing a dolls head, disturbing looks and even words such as "die die". He however proved himself a capable parent in handling his life while also playing father to just Harrison (as Astor and Cody went to stay with their grandparents) and had the nanny Sonya watch over him in times where Dexter had to take care of his own Dark Passenger. So far, it appears that Harrison was far too young for any of this to effect him and rather he'd grow up a normal healthy boy.

Recently Dexter's spent a year playing father while also dealing with numerous victims, his previous Nanny has vanished and in her place the younger Jamie Batista to watch over him. Dexter now intends to focus passing something structured onto Harrison and seeks learning about religion, meeting many characters that can help him understand it better. Unfortunately Harrison's appendix ruptures and his life is put on the line, leaving Dexter the most vulnerable he's ever been. He sits in worry though thanks to his conversation with Brother Sam, he is kept occupied and even asks God for assistance in his child's recovery. Thankfully Harrison ends up just fine and as happy as a two year old can be.

His Dark Passenger

Perhaps the most important aspect of Dexter is his Dark Passenger, which is a psychological manifestation of his inner thinking and what represents his urge to kill. The need to kill is stemmed from watching his own mother Laura Moser chainsawed into pieces in front of him and his brother Brian Moser when they were young. Since then, something inside of him "changed"...he needs to kill and if he doesn't kill for a duration of time his life becomes unstable, the rest of his personality representing what could be similar to "withdrawal syndrome".

Code of Harry

His father Harry Morgan realized this in his son and helped channel it, to both protect Dexter from ever being caught and to forge him into sort of a weapon for personal justice. Due to this, the Code of Harry was established which allows Dexter to blend in, choose the right victims and most importantly...not get caught.

The code's rules are many however the number one rule in all situations is "Don't Get Caught" and that's why all the other rules are in place. According to Harry, if he is caught chances are he will be executed likely through an electric chair so the code is required to keep Dexter out of that situation. The other rules of the code include never taking the life of an innocent and being certain of their guilt...Harry intended that Dexter never harm a good person and to focus it simply on the bad people in the world.

To date, Dexter has accepted the Code in one fashion or the other...he morphed it into his own Code by allowing various exceptions but sticking to a principal of never harming an innocent life due to his moral understanding that they don't deserve it.

The Urge

The urge itself is strong and needs to be satisfied nearly monthly if frequent kills are not made in between. Somewhat like an immense hunger Dexter craves a hunt searching for worthy prey to place on his table and everything is needed to truly satisfy the "passenger".

When Dexter has caught his prey, his personality is allowed to flow freely with the only people he can truly be honest with: those on his table. He's often energetic in these encounters, smiling and laughing while questioning his prey's morals and why the do what they do. Dexter originally believes that he cares little for the people around him but as he has developed as a character, the acts caused by his criminals are very personal...he appears to downright hate the evil in killers that target the innocent (especially children) and takes great pride in wiping them clean from the earth.

His Dark Passenger however would feel satisfied with an innocent or anyone else, so much that due to Dexter's psychological delusions he begins to imagine his deceased brother Brian Moser as a true representation of his more inhuman feelings. Brian doesn't care who it is, he just wants a kill...so much that it forgoes the essentials to the code such as being certain of his victim and whether or not they're innocent.^[2]

According to Brian in this phase, the true reason Dexter kills his victims isn't to wipe clean the evil from humanity but to watch the light go out of their eyes^[3]. Basically, when a person is on the verge of death their eyes begin to fade in color as they reach death and this is often referred to as the "light going out". This truth is evidenced in multiple victims where he stares into their eyes as he stabs them and since Brian is a representation at this point of Dexter's internal feelings, he truly does have a love for watching that light vanish. Thanks to Dexter's personality however it is only channeled on the guilty but the most recent kill that can be attributed to watching the light vanish is Alberto, when he was stabbed with a harpoon Dexter takes a moment to stare directly into his face where the light would vanish and then tosses him overboard.^[4]

Dexter is the only character in the show whose thoughts can be heard by the viewer.

Dexter often talks in his head, sharing with the audience his point of view as a serial killer while pretending to be normal to the exterior. His comments usually include personal philosophy, dark humor and killing plans. It should be noted that, unlike the past narration in the books, Dexter narrates at the present tense in the show. This means that he is telling only what he is living at the moment, and cannot predict what is going to happen next. His narrating also does not focus on secondary characters (as Deb, Angel or Quinn) as he is not aware of their private lives' details.

On a few occasions, Dexter broke the fourth wall and talked directly to the audience. In the first episode he mentally introduces himself. In the season six opening, when a young woman is shown in his apartment, he (mentally again) comments "it's not what you think".

In earlier seasons, Dexter had more of a comical style to the way he referred to various situations.

See Main Article:Dexter Morgan Early Life

Childhood as Dexter Moser

Dexter was born Dexter Moser on February 1st, 1971^[5], only a couple years after Brian Moser by parents Laura Moser and Joseph Driscoll. He lived most of his infantile life with his elder brother at the address 1235 Mangrove Drive in Miami, Florida, confirmed via two arrest records for his mother in 1969 and then in 1971 for drug possession. Dexter lived primarily at this address, however he did spend some of his time with his father, Joe Driscoll, at the address 5570 (unknown street) in Dade City, Florida. It's unknown the exact relationship between Joe and his other son Brian, but considering the turnout over 30 years later it would be suggested that it was strained.

Unfortunately Dexter's mother was a drug addict (likely entering the trade when her boyfriend at the time, Joe Driscoll, returned from the Vietnam War and started becoming an addict himself), this never affected her love for her boys but it put her at high risk with certain parties. She met Detective Harry Morgan and began acting as his informant in the Estrada cartel, trying to provide intel that would help bring down the drug kingpin.

On Wednesday October 3rd, 1973 Laura Moser, her two sons Dexter and Brian, as well as three other drug users were hurdled into the shipping container CBAN 348 9 by Estrada's henchmen: Santos Jimenez, Lipsey and Welsh. It is believed that just Santos wielded the chainsaw, as the other two are often seen likely standing there to prevent anyone from escaping.

The three unnamed victims were all slain by the chainsaw, leaving Laura Moser for last begging them not to do this in front of her baby. She screamed and cried as they revved the chainsaw, turning then to give a final smile to Dexter. She said to close his eyes, not to look and that she loved him before Santos finally cut into her, killing Laura in front of both of her sons with no remorse.

Santos and his comrades fled the area while Dexter and Brian sat there, for two entire days sitting in blood that would forever change both boys. Brian, who was older, would always remember this experience but Dexter was shut down emotionally for the next 30 years he wouldn't know how to be human anymore. A happy childhood ended in tragedy, to create two boys who would grow up to be serial killers. Only one of them, however, was given the means to control and focus these urges thanks to the first man on scene, Harry Morgan.

Detective Morgan opened the shipping container door, startled by the absolute carnage inside. He spotted the two children however and moved in to pick up the younger, Dexter. As Harry was picking up Dexter, he held on tightly to his brother's hand before it slipped from his grasp and both boys called out to one another. Harry looked Brian in the eyes and saw (what Brian later claimed in his adult years) "a fucked up kid", rather than taking him as well he left the container while Brian screamed "please don't leave me Dexter!".

Adoption

While Dexter was taken in at the age of 3, apparently he wasn't officially adopted until roughly the age of 7. His foster father Harry Morgan arrived one day while he was playing with his younger foster sister Debra Morgan to present him with a birth certificate that declared him a Morgan. Dexter looked at it with an expression of confusion, saying that he thought he was already a Morgan. Harry smiled and assured him that to them, Dexter was always a Morgan but now it's finally official.

Abdomen Injury

Dexter injures himself later on when trying to go after Debra's ball that she lost. As Dexter climbs a fence to get the ball, a dog chased after him and forced Dexter to fall on a rod-iron post thus causing a large cut in on the side of his abdomen (which can be seen as a scar on the adult Dexter Morgan, something that Cody Bennett asks about). He's rushed to the emergency room where his pressure is dropping fast from 80 and is in a serious condition. Debra stands on distraught and worried for her brother, while Harry goes to talk with the doctor on how they can fix this. The doctor says there is a problem with the blood type, as he has internal bleeding they need donation from his very rare type in order to help save his life and this leads Doris to arguing with Harry on a way to help his son. Harry seems evasive at first, because that means tracking down Joe Driscoll but for the sake of his boy, he ultimately decides to track him down. Dexter watches on, remembering this moment as it would become important later in life for a realization his true biological parents.

Harry successfully tracks down Joe and in hearing of his son's life-threatening situation, offers his blood so that Dexter may survive. A successful transfusion shows Dexter recovering from surgery, confused on where he was only to hear a doctor say that someone was generous enough to provide what he needed. Harry stands on and asks to speak with his son, saying that he'll be just fine. Dexter asks if he will be and Harry says (which is ironic in the end) "Would I lie to you?".

First sign of a killer

One day while on the family boat, Harry Morgan asks his son if he's different. Dexter doesn't know what that means at first, but learns soon that Harry found out about the neighbor's dog Buddy, who Dexter had buried along with several other small animals. Dexter tells his father that he was a "noisy little creep" who barked so much that it kept his ill mother Doris Morgan up all night. Harry looked at him and said there were a lot more bones there instead of just Buddy's, something that Dexter looks down at the boat's floor feeling ashamed. Harry then asks him if he ever wanted to kill something bigger than a dog, like a person and Dexter agrees that he has just no one in particular. When asked why he hasn't tried, Dexter says that he thought his father and mother wouldn't like it. Harry becomes a little teary eyed and hugs his son, likely at this point in time wanting to shield him from ever needing to kill someone. This would of course change later in his life as he witnessed the loss of so much life and the freedom of murderers...

Dexter unfortunately misinterprets the full meaning of blending in and focuses more on "fitting in", even if that means becoming a bully to a poor boy named Simon. During a soccer game, Dexter as well as several other boys steal the shirt Simon is wearing and plays a game of "Keep Away" from him by tossing it between themselves while Simon attempts to grab it. Eventually when the shirt is in Dexter's possession, Harry grabs Dexter's arm and asks what's going on. He tosses the shirt back to Simon so they can continue their game and he asks Dexter what he was doing, Dexter replies by saying he was "fitting in". Harry sighs and says that he shouldn't be a bully, that it's wrong and that people like himself remember bullies...a first step to felony in his future. He then asks Dexter what he should do and he replies by saying "blend in", which means to be a team member not a bully, not a hero. He lets Dexter return to the game after this, smiling as he's proud that his son understood him this time.

Early Adulthood

When Dexter was 21, Harry fell ill of coronary artery disease and was confined to a hospital in which Harry spots a nurse, called Mary, who kills people by overdosing them on morphine, whereby Harry gives Dexter his "permission" to kill her which would turn out to be his first kill. Here he embedded several ritualistic qualities to his kills which he would come to do again and again, such as the strapping of the victim to some sort of long and flat object, and the covering of everything in sheets of plastic, but his trademark blood-slide collection would not begin here, only later would he start that particular ritual.

Since then Dexter has killed at least 67 people including Mary, Juan Rinez, Alex Timmons, Gene Marshall and Cindy Landon.

Lawyer: "Please state your name and occupation."
Dexter: "My name is Dexter Morgan and I'm a forensics specialist in blood-spatter analysis for the Miami Metro Police Department."
Lawyer: "And how long have you been doing blood-spatter analysis, Mr. Morgan?"
Dexter: "Almost 12 years."
Lawyer: "You've been involved in quite a few cases then?"
Dexter: "Two Thousand One Hundred and Three".
Lawyer: *Chuckle* "Give or take..."
Dexter: "No. Two Thousand One Hundred and Three."
Lawyer: "Then it's safe to say that blood is your life?"
Dexter: "Safe to say."

Dexter Morgan has over 17 years (12 prior to 2006, 17 as of 2011) involved in blood-spatter analysis with Miami Metro Homicide. Unlike a majority of his fellow coworkers within Miami Metro Homicide, Dexter hasn't seen much advancement in his field. Granted, he is the only known blood-spatter analyst in the department while the people he works closest with, such as Vince Masuka, cover the remainder of forensics. However, Dexter has a precise knowledge of his work field and thanks to his interest in blood, this makes him that more efficient in always making sure he solves the case correctly. To Dexter, "the blood doesn't lie".

That is, unless, persons involved in the case fly into his radar and match the code. If any such suspect fits, he may tamper with evidence to insure they go free for the sake of him claiming their life. In one such instance, to help his sister Debra Morgan, Dexter tampered with evidence to insure that Joey Quinn didn't take the fall for Stan Liddy's death.

In addition to his many years in service, he has gained popularity from both the unfortunate tragedy of his wife's death and the line of work he's invested in. Particularly, characters such as Jordan Chase even knew about him and became interested almost immediately while most of Dexter's classmates from 1991 were amazed by his "cool job". Unfortunately this made "Sports Store owner" Joe Walker a bit jealous, due to all the attention Dexter was soaking up and began enjoying.

Information within this plot section is the general, main events occurring within each season. For more a more detailed look at each Season, refer to the tabs at the top of the page

Season One

At the start of Season 1, it is obvious that Dexter has settled into a steady life of ritualistic killing doubled with his life as a forensics blood spatter analyst. He is seen by his colleagues as a quirky lab geek and only one man, Sgt. James Doakes suspects him of being anything other than this. He maintains emotionless relationships in order to fit in with society and is constantly hunting for serial killers to satisfy his sadistic need to kill. At the start of the season, Brian, his long forgotten brother starts to send him friendly clues in the guise of messages as a form of friendly competition between them. He leaves puzzles in order to maybe trigger Dexter's memory of his past, such as the prostitutes with painted fingernails in homage to Laura Moser's habit and a room filled with blood, to remind him of his "birthplace". During which, Brian befriends Debra in order to get close to him under the name of Rudy Cooper.

Meanwhile, Dexter struggles to keep his relationship with Rita sex-free, because he believes that if he has sex with her, she will feel his emotional dysfunctions and he starts to grow fond of her and doesn't want to blow it. Later, during a therapy session with Emmett Meridian (a future victim), he is put into a state of calm, wherein he remembers a small part of his past, seeing an image of a boy in blood. He becomes emotional and is able to sleep with Rita because of this, which makes the relationship more intimate. Come the end of the season, their relationship is very nearly normal.

Later on, Brian leaves a room filled with the blood of prostitutes in order to remind him of his dark past and it opens up several memories of him in blood and later researches it and discovers that it was his mother whose blood he was in and that he not only has a brother but that his brother was with him during the massacre of his mother. But after he abducts his sister and tries to murder her he is forced to kill him for "the safety of his sister". He is very nearly heartbroken by this because he has killed the one person who truly saw him for what he was and didn't turn away from him.

Season Two

38 days have passed since the death of his brother, and he cannot kill because Doakes has been stalking him.

Dexter becomes distracted after the death of his brother and loses his ability to kill momentarily at the start of the season. He realizes that this is because he needs to say goodbye to his brother and move on. From this point Dexter starts to become more in contact with his emotions, but still, by no means, emotionally adept. Debra, traumatized by her ordeal with the Ice Truck Killer, moves in with Dexter, much to his annoyance and hinders his killing even further. Also, his bodies are found and every person in his station start searching for the elusive "Bay Harbor Butcher", which is Dexter.

His relationship with Rita starts to become very shaky and he is forced to admit (falsely) that he is a heroin addict in order to cover for his being a serial killer and he starts going to Narcotics Anonymous programs for her as part of his cover. When he starts dating his sponsor, Lila Tournay, the relationship ends and from Lila he learns how to pleasure a woman and interact with them. He eventually ends up killing her for her murder of James Doakes and other murders from arson. Dexter frames Doakes for his crimes, escapes the justice system and gets back with Rita at the end of the season.

At the very end of the season he decides to begin his own code and to try new methods, different to Harry's original idea.

Inability to Kill

At the start of Season 2 Dexter' still hasn't fully recovered from his brothers death and shares his apartment with his sister Debra. Dexter is being stalked by Doakes, who believes that Dexter is somehow connected to the Ice Truck Killer. That's why Dexter is unable to kill somebody and spends his time doing various other activities, like going bowling with Masuka and Batista, which he is seen doing during first minutes of show. Dexter really wishes to kill somebody and when he sees that Doakes, who has been stalking him, has left he uses this opportunity. Dexter goes to blind voodoo priest, named Jimmy and attempts to kill him but finds he is unable to do so and simply lets him go. Dexter then returns to his home. Dexter begins to feel cursed thinking that he can't do anything right anymore.

Next morning Dexter arrives at a crime scene still frustrated about last night. There he sees that apparently a gang member has been killed. His mother who is also present at the crime scene runs to her son and says few words in Spanish to Dexter. Batista says that she said that her son was killed by someone named Little Chino and that she wants Dexter to kill him like a dog. Dexter sees this as a challenge, a "mountain to climb," to get over his performance issues. After Chino comes to the police station Dexter is sure that he will be his next victim. Dexter manages to convince Doakes that he will be playing bowling all night and makes him leave while in reality he plans to kill Little Chino. Dexter stalks Chino to a tattoo parlor where he kidnaps him and takes him to Jimmy's shop. Dexter then ties him to the same table where he had tied Jimmy and takes blood sample from him, but Chino suddenly awakes and manages to break the plastic wrap and escape, leaving Dexter frustrated.

Season Three

Rita discovers she is pregnant, informing Dexter that she will keep the baby and raise him with or without his help. He ends up proposing marriage to Rita, which she accepts.

While stalking a murderous drug dealer, "Freebo", Dexter stumbles upon a fight between Freebo and another man, whom he is forced to kill in self defense. This victim turns out to be Oscar Prado, brother of Miguel Prado (Jimmy Smits) a prominent assistant district attorney and old flame of Lt. LaGuerta. Miguel comes to confide in and trust Dexter after he helps assist with the case.

Eventually, Dexter tracks down Freebo and kills him, but as he leaves he encounters Miguel, who has followed a lead to Freebo's location. Dexter tells Miguel he had discovered Freebo and killed him in self defense, but instead of reprimanding him, Miguel thanks him and offers to help him cover up the crime. As Dexter and Miguel cooperate to conceal Freebo's true demise from everyone else, the duo end up becoming close friends, as do Rita and Miguel's wife, Sylvia.

Dexter later kills a murderer Miguel had complained about before. Miguel admitted mentioning the man on purpose to test if Dexter would go after him, but instead of arresting him, he praises Dexter for killing another criminal and offers his aid in the future. Trying to discourage Miguel, Dexter proposes a risky operation to free an infamous Aryan Brotherhood leader from prison in order to kill him. Miguel agrees with the idea and the plan succeeds, but Dexter still performs the kill on his own. Dexter starts to recognize Miguel as his first and only true friend, to the point of inviting him to be his best man at his wedding.

While the MPD investigate a serial killer, "The Skinner", who skins his victims alive, Miguel and Dexter's partnership takes a new step when Miguel offers to be the one to kill their next target. With some reluctance, Dexter agrees, only watching as Miguel kills without hesitation. The next day, Ellen Wolf, a ruthless defense attorney and old courtroom adversary of Miguel's, goes missing, and Dexter discovers that Miguel has killed her alone using the code Dexter taught him. Dexter also learns that Miguel has been manipulating him since the beginning to learn his secrets, having never trusted him at all.

The police investigate the death of Ellen Wolf and capture The Skinner. Meanwhile Dexter and Miguel race to have leverage over one another. Dexter realizes that Miguel cannot be allowed to run loose any longer, at which point Dexter decides to kill him and make it look like The Skinner did it. Meanwhile, Miguel uses his position to help The Skinner escape police custody in return for his agreeing to kill Dexter.

Miguel discovers that LaGuerta was investigating him and decides to kill her, but Dexter discovers Miguel's plot and captures him. Before killing Miguel, Dexter confesses to him that he was the one who killed Oscar.

Dexter successfully frames the Skinner for Miguel's murder, but Miguel's other brother, Ramon, becomes suspicious of Dexter. After pointing a gun at Dexter during a dinner with Rita, he is taken into custody. During a visit to him in jail, Dexter helps Ramon put his demons to rest without revealing what he or Miguel really did together.

On the night before his wedding, Dexter is captured by The Skinner, but breaks free by taking advantage of a moment when the Skinner is distracted, shattering his hand in the process. After a short but vicious fight, Dexter snaps The Skinner's neck and make it look like suicide by throwing his body before a moving police car. Dexter gets his broken hand put in a cast and attends his wedding.

Season Four

In season four, Dexter and Rita are married and have a child together, Harrison. The season follows Dexter's attempt to adapt to married life in suburbia while searching for a serial killer dubbed "The Trinity Killer," who has been killing in cycles of three for nearly 30 years. After he predicted Trinity's third kill, Dexter attempted to crash Trinity's murder. Even though Dexter was unsuccessful in his attempted kill, he identifies Arthur Mitchell as Trinity by following him home, where he discovers Trinity has a wife and two children. Intrigued by Trinity's ability to blend into society while continuing to kill for so long, Dexter puts off his decision to kill him and instead tries to befriend him. They later meet at a the church where Arthur preaches, with Dexter under the alias "Kyle Butler." Dexter slowly gains Arthur's trust while hoping to learn some of Trinity's secrets for maintaining his dual-life.

As time passes, Dexter learns that Trinity's "normal" home life is not as perfect as it appears on the outside, with his wife and children emotionally and physically abused into obedience. While ignoring several chances to kill Trinity, Dexter attempts to prod him for information causing severe emotional reactions from him, which lead Mitchell's daily life and their relationship to become highly unstable. In a heated moment, Dexter reveals his motives to kill Arthur but is interrupted before he can do anything. Trinity is able to discover Dexter's real identity and confronts him at the station. Trinity threatens to destroy Dexter's life if he doesn't leave him alone and attempts to flee the city. The following day, however, Dexter is able to catch up with Trinity and kill him. When Dexter goes home to get his bag for his honeymoon with Rita, he finds her dead in the bathtub, the last victim of Trinity. Season 4 end with Dexter carrying a blood-covered Harrison out of the bathroom with a distraught look on his face.

Season Five

In Season 5, Dexter is still in shock from Rita's death. He continues to kill people and struggles to accept the fact that professionals have told him that Harrison is going to be perfectly normal.

Dexter begins to hunt a Boyd Fowler (A man who responds to reports of roadkill and cleans up after it). He befriended Boyd and after a short while killed him unbeknownst to Dexter, Boyd had been holding a young woman prisoner and she witnessed Boyd's murder. Dexter tried to persuade her that he would not hurt her but she refused to believe him and broke free. Dexter chased her through the woods and she came out onto a road while trying to get someone to pick her up. A car stopped but it was occupied by a few teenage boys, remembering her imprisonment she turns down the offer of a ride thus allowing Dexter to re-capture her.

Dexter brings her to the site of where Boyd had been disposing of his victims and shows her exactly what he saved her from. Insisting for her to trust him, he even handed her a knife (which she promptly cut his arm with but patched up afterwards) and she allowed herself to confide in him her troubles. Lumen had been raped by a Group of men, unsure of the exact number and was bent on revenge for what they did to her. Throughout the following days Dexter tries to convince her that going down this path will not end well for her but she insists on following it regardless, going so far as to nearly kill an innocent man named Robert Brunner because he happened to be a rapist that associated himself with Boyd Fowler but it's uncertain whether or not he actually took place in any of the rapes.

After this mishap, Dexter believes he convinced her to head back home from where she originally lived and leaves her at the airport trusting in this. Little does he know that during his next attempted kill on Lance Robinson that Lumen is still in town...and has gone after another man she believes to have attacked her. Now dealing with his potential next kill trapped in his van and Lumen's mess, he races to the scene to help her deal with the man she apparently killed...only to find him missing. The two search the area, bickering over why she did this again but she claims up and down that he is in fact one of the men due to a distinct smell that he carries. Little does Dexter know that his sister Debra Morgan is on the way with the police to investigate the possible homicide that took place and that means he has less time to operate. They eventually find the man, named Dan Mendell and as Dexter battles to control Lumen's intense hatred for the man...he learns the truth that Dan is in fact one of the rapists due to a phone call he makes to possibly Cole Harmon. Dexter, having heard enough, snaps Dan's neck and helps her clean the area of blood and prints...now ready to get his van so they can move the body. As he does this, Lance Robinson (the man he had trapped in the back of his van shrink-wrapped) bursts out and makes a run for it. Dexter gives a quick pursuit, unknowingly heading straight for his sister and the other officers. He manages to catch and choke the life out of Lance just before he reaches the corner that they're at, quickly disposing of his body in a unique fashion. Switching fast to his work attire, he comes out of the building where Dan was killed to show them what he managed to find...Dexter had set it up that Lance and Dan killed themselves, which thanks to Vince Masuka's "autoerotic mummification" theory...secures Dexter from being caught yet again.

It does not take long for the rest of The Group to arise...one of their top members, Cole Harmon, heads to the swamp to secure the remaining bodies of the women and dispose of them properly...only to end up in an accident by a drunk driver. Quickly fleeing the scene, the bodies are discovered and Dexter is brought to the scene to investigate...wanting to find these men before his forensic team does. When the truck is associated to inspirational speaker Jordan Chase, both he and Cole arrive at the Miami Metro Police Department to answer questions. Dexter gets a chance to meet and snap a photograph of each man, only one of them is recognized by Lumen (that being Cole) and Dexter prepares his next kill. Both he and Lumen arrive at one of Chase's conventions, with Dexter sitting in and watching Cole during a seminar it is not long before Chase notices him and has Cole retrieve him. Dexter meets Chase once more and learns of his interest in the Trinity Case (which lead to his wife's murder), somewhat blindsiding Dexter in their brief re-encounter. Dexter later prepares to kill Cole that night but fails to do so when he discovers a lady friend enjoying an sexual encounter with him...so he postpones the kill for the next day. Preparing a plan to grab Cole at an elevator, he waits in at a seminar once again as Cole departs for his rounds. As he is about to leave Chase calls him up to the stage, shocking Dexter and pulls him into the spotlight...to discuss his grief over his wife's murder.

Dexter, now for the first time put in the open about his emotions and despair, stands on the stage expressing how he felt losing her...and Chase watches on, with a smile and intense interest in his story. While this is going on, Cole manages to spot Lumen and chases her through the hotel..eventually getting to their conjoining rooms. As she locks the door, feeling as if she's safe once again...he bursts through from his own room and tackles her to the floor. Dexter, who took the first opportunity to get off stage, makes his way after Cole and manages to save Lumen's life before the life is choked out of her. He prepares the kill, attempting to discover the identities of the remaining members but receives nothing...allowing Lumen to watch on as he snuffs the life out of Cole with his blade. Just before leaving the seminar with body parts in tow, Dexter encounters Chase one last time and hears a signature line that pinpoints his interest on the man..."tick tick tick, that's the sound of your life running out"...though in this case it has to do with finding opportunity...in Lumen's case, it actually meant her time was drastically short before they intended to kill her.

Now with Chase in his sights, Dexter begins meeting him regularly to find some sort of evidence of how he's connected to the rape of Lumen and the other girls. He finds an interesting angle in a blood vial that Chase wears around his neck and only removes when he goes to shower after a workout, intending to get a sample upon their next meeting. Meanwhile his stepdaughter Astor Bennett suddenly returns to Miami at her mother's old house, meeting Lumen in a surprising turn of events. Dexter arrives on scene and questions what's going on, to learn that his daughter has pretty much turned into a rebellious teen drinking and cussing. Acting as a stern father would, he scolds her to a degree but nevertheless cares for her now...it becomes very complicated with Lumen in Dexter's life, as Astor views this as a terrible thing to have a woman like her around (especially after little Harrison says "Mama" when in reality he meant the toy he was holding). It's not long before Astor's friends father, Barry Kurt arrives on scene, resulting in a conflict first because Dexter thinks he kidnapped them...and then later after Dexter learns that Barry is in fact an abusive father that hurt his daughter's friend multiple times. Enraged, Dexter arranges a meeting in an ally to discuss something...but showing just how human he is, Dexter beats up Barry in a way that only Dexter can - by going after someone's kidneys and liver, winning the fight in less than 10 concentrated hits that made Barry absolutely helpless and in a way, probably in some of the worst pain he's ever felt. Dexter then demands that he leaves his girlfriend (being the friend's mother) and disappear from their lives forever, otherwise things won't turn out so pretty their next encounter (likely resulting in Dexter killing him, he's already killed a pedophile who was stalking Astor...so a dangerous man like Barry would be no problem for him).

He then drives his daughter home, finally telling her that he loved her...where she finally understands his true feelings and comes more to accept him as his father. He comes inside to meet up with Cody again and lets them be as he returns to Miami, where the other events start taking their toll (during the Barry incident, he also received the blood sample from the vile that Jordan had...and found out it relates to Emily Birch, but Jordan now knew of Dexter's involvement...and calls Lumen up, leaving her terrified). They investigate this angle in Emily Birch, finding out about Eugene Greer (his real name) in the process and relation to their next target...Alex Tilden. Dexter allows Lumen to kill this man, showing that she is capable of assisting him in his murders...and Dexter starts to believe in having a partner again (since Miguel). But things are becoming heated...Stan Liddy has been following Dexter and has witnessed a few things that finally make him act, kidnapping Dexter while Lumen visits Emily as part of Jordan Chase's trap. The confrontation with Liddy ends in his death, as per self defense and he is nearly discovered by Joey Quinn who Dexter at this point really doesn't want to have to kill as well to protect himself (likely for his sister's sake). Quinn leaves (not before having a drop of Liddy's blood hit his shoe) and Dexter runs to where Lumen was at, only to discover a now dead Emily Birch (who Jordan killed out of frustration) and a missing Lumen, is giving up a fight. Dexter...now fueled with an intense rage, readies himself for a final conflict to save Lumen and kill Chase.

Dexter races home, calling Chase who is also on the road heading to his camp ground. The two discuss what he wants and tries to bargain some way to set her free, but Jordan simply laughs and tells him there's nothing he can do...he ends the call and Dexter reaches home, grabbing up his kill tools only to be caught by his family arriving for Harrison's birthday. The toll of everything that's happening is clear in Dexter's expression, he's exhausted...worried, truly fearing what might happen to Lumen...but he spends his time for a short while with his family only to be called away once more to the scene of Stan Liddy. This distraction, while frustrating, has to be investigated to insure that nothing happens to him. Unfortunately Quinn is suddenly the prime suspect, something that Dexter doesn't have time to deal with at the moment and makes his way to Jordan's camp..only to fall into a trap where he's caught and thrown down the stairs.

Preparing to kill them both, he lectures them...observing the kill tools in fascination only to see that one is missing. Dexter who has freed himself uses one of his weapons to stab Chase in the foot and he and Lumen work together to knock him out, strapping him to the table and that is where Lumen gets the final kill after Jordan's smug confession. Debra, who has been following the vigilante killings of these men, arrives on scene and while conflicting with herself...holds her own brother at gunpoint through a plastic sheet (thus unable to see him). She tells them how beautiful it is, what they have together...and while crying, she decides to let them both go...providing them both enough time to escape with Jordan's body. Some time after she and her brother discuss what might happen to Quinn and feeling that he has to do this for his sister, he tampers with the evidence thus clearing Quinn's name. Finally, after disposing of Chase, Dexter learns from Lumen that her urge to kill and virtually, her Dark Passenger, has vanished forever...and they promptly break up...with Dexter truly upset as she decides to go her separate way from him. Near the end, a party for Harrison is held and he meets with Astor again...with her asking if helping Lumen was a way to cope with her mother's death and he agreed, feeling he did help her in the end...and Quinn thanks him for helping clear his name. As the season closes out, Dexter looks towards the camera...now vowing to move on from both Rita and Lumen forever, he blows out the candle...saying that "Wishes are for children".

Season Six

Spoiler warning: This article contains key plots and information. Read at your own risk.

About a year later, Harrison is old enough to walk and Dexter has begun searching for a preschool, though his atheism conflicts with the largely-religious preschools that he applies for. Receiving less-than-insightful interpretations from either Batista or one of his victims, he finds a greater understanding through Brother Sam (Mos Def), an ex-con and murderer whom Dexter once considered killing, who has since become a born-again Christian who counsels other ex-cons. Dexter initially sees Brother Sam's religious conversion as a scam, but Brother Sam proves himself a truly changed man, even helping Dexter through a crisis when Harrison undergoes an appendectomy.

However, things go awry when Brother Sam is shot dead in his garage. Dexter realizes that a friend of Sam's, Nick, is responsible, and swears revenge. Sam forgives Nick on his deathbed and implores Dexter to also forgive him; in the name of his friend, Dexter considers this path of forgiveness over retribution. Nick initially appears remorseful over the shooting, but that proves to be an act; after Sam refuses to press charges on his deathbed, Nick brags about what he did. An enraged Dexter drowns Nick in the surf, reawakening in him the presence of his dead brother, Brian, who begins to guide him in much the same way that Harry's presence once had.

Dexters brother Brian becomes Dexter's new "conscience" in contrast to Harry for a short period of time. He convinces him to go after Arthur Mitchell's son Jonah, who appears to have also become a killer. Dexter adheres to his father's code, however, causing a schism between his personalities. Dexter finally catches Jonah with the intent of killing him, but relents when he sees that Jonah feels guilty about failing to protect his sister, committed suicide by killing herself in a blood bath, similar to how her father killed his victims. When Jonah and his mother discover his sister, the mother blames the children from their fathers short comings. Jonah becomes enraged and kills his mother. Learning this new information, Dexter then rejects his brother, and reaffirms himself to the "Code of Harry", leaving Jonah alive to 'Forgive himself'.

In the meantime, Dexter begins investigating "The Doomsday Killer", a serial killer who models his crimes after the Book of Revelation. He soon finds that the murders are being committed by two people: a fanatically religious college professor named Professor James Gellar (Edward James Olmos) and his protegé, Travis Marshall (Colin Hanks). Dexter tracks Marshall down, but balks at killing him, believing that Marshall has a conscience and is simply being led down the wrong path; Dexter then resolves to save Marshall from his dark passenger.

After the death of Travis' sister, Dexter follows Travis to the old church and discovers Gellar's body in a freezer, concluding that Travis was acting alone all that time, with Gellar acting out a dissociative identity. Being forced to accept Gellar's death, Travis begins to target Dexter, managing to capture him and enact The Lake of Fire. Dexter manages to escape and is rescued by a fishing boat carrying illegal immigrants bound for Florida. Travis kidnaps Harrison to sacrifice him as the "lamb of God" during the eclipse, but Dexter manages to rescue Harrison and takes Travis to the old church. Debra walks into the church, only to see Dexter plunge the knife into Travis, and they look at each other with horror.

Dexter is not Dexter because he spends his day in a laboratory analyzing blood slides. He is a serial killer that actively hunts targets that fit his desires, specifically matching what he calls the Code of Harry. Dexter prepares for each kill by locating a target that fits the code (specifically, someone who has committed murder and has shown little to no remorse for it, a sinner by society's eyes), where he'll then research the potential victim until finding evidence linking them to some crime in their past (or something Dexter's currently investigating that has to do with him or someone close to him).

When he confirms that his kill is legit, he'll create a Kill Room to commit the act that he calls "The Ritual", which in short involves him killing his victim in one of various fashions. The room is wrapped entirely in sheet-wrap and plastic, with a table (or object that can be used as one) set in the center while pictures and/or other items are left situated on the walls in clear view around the table (typically they represent past victims or potential victims of his target). The entire reason the room is wrapped up like this is to prevent blood and trace DNA evidence from being left at any specific area and the mementos kept from the targets victims are to show them the monster they are before he takes their lives away.

With the room ready, Dexter tracks his target and injects them with M99 (an animal tranquilizer) in safety away from crowds...unless he is not given any sort of choice and is forced to improvise. If he cannot use M99, Dexter is known to incorporate knockout procedures caused by either a sleeper-hold or physically beating his target over the head with a blow capable of rendering them unconscious. The victim is then transported via his vehicle (or the target's vehicle, unless the victim is caught at the kill room site itself) to the Kill Room, where they're stripped naked (on most occasions, sometimes Dexter makes exceptions either due to time or perhaps he has other plans with the body) and strapped to the table via plastic wrap and in some cases, thick sheets of duct tape.

Dexter awakens his target, explaining to them their crimes and has a deep moment of personal "release" with each victim. Dexter demonstrates a lot of personality during the rituals, with some people he shows off a sense of deep relief to finally capturing them or perhaps the kill is meant to return him to his routine...while other victims he'll show anger, on various levels. If it is a person he truly cannot stand, he will yell at them and question their actions while violently jabbing his finger in between their eyebrows...holding it there for pressure before removing it and going for a weapon. In some cases, such as Jordan Chase, he'll even apply pressure to the victims eyes before moving back...though he doesn't do enough damage to render them incapable of seeing. Only a few targets has he shown remorse for, specifically the first three Season antagonists (which progressively went from pure remorse, remorse and relief, then mostly anger with a bit of remorse in losing a friend) while the fourth and fifth antagonists felt like a justice to both himself and the world.

In the midst of this conversation, he'll almost always cut a line on their right or left cheek (typically the left) to draw blood...which is then placed in a blood slide for his collection. Dexter did this for sport for most of the first few seasons, but either due to sudden changes in his plans or otherwise...he has almost stopped taking the slides altogether (except in Boyd, Cole and Alex Tilden's case...though Boyd was stored in a "petri dish", probably because he did not possess a blood slide on him at the time).

Finally...after speaking with the victim and either getting their admitted guilt or otherwise, Dexter will end their lives. He does this in a variety of ways which can include a power saw to the neck, decapitation by a clever or choking by wire. Most recently, he has become accustomed to a almost religious form of sacrifice by stabbing each of his victims in the chest with some sort of blade...almost abandoning his older methods of execution. However, by stabbing each victim in the chest...this allows Dexter to feel their life slip away just beneath his blade and ultimately has more of an emotional effect on him than the previous methods...which felt exterior, almost like shooting someone from a distance.

With the victim dead, Dexter will proceed to dismember their body (usually cutting limbs in two pieces and leaving the torso either completely intact or partially intact, the head always being separate). He'll place each part in a black, heavy duty trash bag along with the plastic wrap covered in blood from his slaughter. After the entire kill room has been packed up in the black trash bags, Dexter moves the bags into his car (or the victims car), where he'll proceed to take them out to a harbor where his boat (Slice of Life) is kept. Dexter will take the bags out to sea, dropping them in a specific location each time (originally in Bay Harbor for the first season and before, he moves to a different location that moves the body parts upstream through a river current). On some rare occasions, Dexter will dispose of the body parts in other ways such as by alligator or in a swamp.

Apart from his ritual killings, Dexter has made many on-site killings that were either of the moment or necessary. These include strangling, death by gunshot, stabbings, neck breaking and otherwise. Most of these victims are discovered by police due to the fact that Dexter took no pro-visionary action to dispose of their body...and instead improvises a plan to protect himself and get rid of the evidence (via the police).

Despite how Stan Liddy describes him as "squeaky clean on paper," Dexter has committed many crimes, besides murder. All of them have something to do with his status as a serial killer. Some of the crimes are:

• Breaking and Entering/Trespassing - normally committed as part of his ritual
• Stalking/Unlawful use of his Police database access - normally committed as part of his ritual
• Arson - Burnt everything in his storage unit/Shipping container
• Destruction of private property - breaks things that annoy him/cause problems with his kill ritual
• Abduction/Unlawful Imprisonment/Detainment - normally committed on victims/threats to his disguise
• Assault and Battery - normally committed on to-be victims
• Unlawful possession of tranquilizers and other 'knock-out' drugs - used for victims
• Interfering with police investigations/Tampering with evidence - normally done to cover his/someone close to him's footsteps; uses aliases regularly
• Burglary/Grand Theft Auto - occasionally steals possessions of victims; stole a car to pursue Jordan Chase
• Numerous counts of moving/stationary traffic violations/Hit-and-Run accidents - normally committed when in pursuit of victims/people of interest

Dexter has appeared in every episode in the series thus far, as he is the title (as well as main) character, it is unlikely for him to not have a physical appearance.

Season One

• Dexter
• Crocodile
• Popping Cherry
• Let's Give the Boy a Hand
• Love American Style
• Return to Sender
• Circle of Friends
• Shrink Wrap
• Father Knows Best
• Seeing Red
• Truth Be Told
• Born Free

Season Two

• It's Alive!
• Waiting to Exhale
• An Inconvenient Lie
• See-Through
• The Dark Defender
• Dex, Lies & Videotape
• That Night, a Forest Grew
• Morning Comes
• Resistance is Futile
• There's Something About Harry
• Left Turn Ahead
• The British Invasion

Season Three

• Our Father
• Finding Freebo
• The Lion Sleeps Tonight
• All in the Family
• Turning Biminese
• Sì Se Puede
• Easy as Pie
• The Damage A Man Can Do
• About Last Night
• Go Your Own Way
• I Had a Dream
• Do You Take Dexter Morgan?

Season Four

• Living the Dream
• Remains to Be Seen
• Blinded by the Light
• Dex Takes a Holiday
• Dirty Harry
• If I Had a Hammer
• Slack Tide
• Road Kill
• Hungry Man
• Lost Boys
• Hello, Dexter Morgan
• The Getaway

Season Five

• My Bad
• Hello Bandit
• Practically Perfect
• Beauty and the Beast
• First Blood
• Everything is Illumenated
• Circle Us
• Take It!
• Teenage Wasteland
• In the Beginning
• Hop a Freighter
• The Big One

Season Six

• Those Kinds of Things
• Once Upon a Time...
• Smokey and the Bandit
• A Horse of a Different Color
• The Angel of Death
• Just Let Go
• Nebraska
• Sins of Omission
• Get Gellar
• Ricochet Rabbit
• Talk to the Hand
• This is the Way the World Ends

• Dexter is an Organ Donor
• Dexter's exact age is speculative. Because of the change in authority given throughout the seasons, he was originally three years old in 1973 which would have made his birthdate as early as 1969 and as late as 1971. Recently his high school reunion was for the class of 91 and given that Dexter's intelligence (as well as Harry's role in his life) it is very unlikely that Dexter failed at least three years of high school before graduation. Because of this "blunder" by the writers, Dexter's age can be anywhere from 37-42.
• Dexter amuses himself with puns about his serial killing, at significant risk to himself. He bought animal tranquilizers using the name Patrick Bateman, the serial killer from American Psycho. His boat (purchased in the Early Cuts short series) is called Slice of Life.
• Dexter takes virtually no countermeasures against leaving digital trails and electronic evidence. He frequently takes phone calls at or near the site of a kill. He also performs searches on potential victims and associates using his work computer.
  • In Season 2, He didn't know that Doakes attacted GPS to his boat "Slice of Life" to tracked him down to Santos Jimenez's Everglades cabin, which leaded him to finally discovered tthat Dexter is BHB in red hand. He also left Rita's GPS device in her minivan, which allowed Lila to track down Santos's cabin and discover an imprisoned Sergeant Doakes as well as Dexter's secret life as a serial killer.
  • In Season 3, at least some of these searches are logged; Miguel Prado discovers that Dexter searched for info on his brother Oscar Prado, and later that Maria LaGuerta searched for info on him as well.
  • In Season 5, at abandoned warehouse, when Dexter and Lumen went to call in other room, Dan Mendell called to someone in The Group and Dexter overheard it. He known that Dan's actually one of The Group's member, so he kill him. Anyway, he didn't care about which number Dan called. If he did, he might discover Cole Harmon as The grupo's members more faster.
• The young Dexter was played by Dominic Janes, while a teenaged Dexter is played by Devon Graye.
• In preparation for his kills, he wears his trademark pants and long sleeve shirt. These clothes stay the same during all six seasons.
• Dexter used to skate.
• Dexter's blood Type is AB-.
• Dexter's father's surname, Driscoll, and his mother's surname, Moser, indicate that he is of Irish and German descent.
• Dexter is very skilled in jiu jitsu and other grappling techniques. He manages to subdue James Doakes and Jorge Orozco, despite having injuries (A gunshot wound with Doakes and a broken hand with Orozco).
• At the end of each season, he usually ends up killing someone important to him. He also changes his way to kill them.
  • Season 1 : Brian Moser; Used Brian's own ritual to kill him, and mourned his death.
  • Season 2 : Lila West; Used anesthetics to make her death painless.
  • Season 3 : Miguel Prado; Killed him with a wire.
  • Season 4 : Arthur Mitchell; Killed him with his old fashion trains, his favorite song, and with a Hammer which formed part of Arthur Mitchell's own ritual.
  • Season 5 : Jordan Chase; Though Dexter does not actually kill Jordan himself, he does assist Lumen in the murder. Jordan appears to be strapped to the table with improvised materials rather than the traditional wrap. However, wrap is still used to hide the room (and their faces) when Deb appears.
  • Season 6 : Travis Marshall; Earlier in the season, Dexter had been seen helping Travis and even forming a friendly bond with him and attempting to rescue him from Professor Gellar. When he learns that Travis is responsible for the DDK Murders he kills him in his church.

• In Season 3, Episode 7, Easy as Pie, Dexter is shown golfing with Prado. Dexter's stance and swing suggests that he is left handed. Yet, in the same episode, Dexter is obviously right handed by the way that he handles the syringe, the way he feeds Camilla, and even down to the wrist he wears his watch on. Also, in other episodes, Dexter uses his right hand during "play time." It is also possible that Dexter is ambidextrous, and has the ability to use both hands equally. However, this is uncommon. There are many athletes in golf, baseball and hockey, who swing from the left side despite being a right handed person in everything else.
  • At shown in Season 1, Brain Moser, Dexter's brother, is also implied that he's also ambidextrous. He is seen using computer's mouse by left hand, and later he is seen playing air guitar by right hand. Maybe this is a DNA trait in Dexter's biological famliy.