Buffalo Bill (character)
Buffalo Bill is a male literary character who features in Hannibal Lecter.
Contents |
Biography
Jame Gumb was born October 25th, 1949, somewhere in California. His unusual first name resulted in a misspelling on his birth certificate, originally supposed to be called James. Having failed in her acting career, his prostitute mother fell into an alcoholic decline, leaving him to be placed in a unsatisfactory foster home at age 2. At age 10, his grandparents retrieved him from the foster home and took him back to their home in Sacramento, where he murdered them impulsively in front of barricading police at age 12. As a result, he was sentenced to six years in Tulare Vocational Rehabilitation, where he was taught how to be a tailor. Following his release, Gumb worked off the books in at least two restaurants, and sporadically in the clothing business. While beginning work in a Baltimore curio store, he met and began a questionable romantic relationship with a local orchestra flutist, Benjamin Raspail, who financially supported him for some time. The curio store later fired Gumb for some unspecified reason. In anger he killed a bag woman, and managed to intercept a suitcase from his former employer. In his hotel room, crying, he opened up the suitcase. Finding dead butterfies, he searched for possible valueables. A live butterfly flew out of the case, leading to an epiphany for Gumb. He also worked in a clothing store called Mr Hide Inc. Raspail later ended his relationship with Gumb in favor of a Norwegian sailor named Klaus. Gumb murdered Klaus out of envy, and created an apron from his skin. He took Klaus' decapitated head and inserted a moth in his throat, then placed it within a jar, which he stashed within a car in an impound warehouse owned by Raspail. Believing himself to be transsexual, Gumb began applications for sex reassignment surgery and applied to schools such as Johns Hopkins. However, all of his applications were declined. The hospitals' vetting process deemed Gumb too psychologically disturbed and not fitting the profile of a true transsexual. Their background checks also uncovered his real name and his criminal record, which he had lied about. Gumb violently assaulted a doctor at Johns Hopkins after being rejected.
In early 1975, he was introduced to Dr. Hannibal Lecter through Raspail and had just one session. According to Raspail, Gumb would attack gay men. Lecter himself would end up being placed under arrest for his own killing spree including Raspail as his ninth victim. Despite only meeting Gumb in person once, Lecter had been told a lot about him by Raspail in their therapy sessions. After Gumb had finished consulting with Dr. Lecter, he started up as a tailor in Belvedere, Ohio. Sometime in 1982 he met an overweight woman, Fredrica Bimmel, whose skin struck his attention. Gumb had then conceived the idea that if he could not become female by legal means, he could make himself into a woman through fashioning together a woman suit made from the skins of real women. He had then set up to take over a property in the town with a large under basement area, where he could hold his victims, starting with Bimmel. Fortunately, in stalking Bimmel, Gumb came to discover that Bimmel's employer, Mrs. Lippman, who was a local, appropriated a house with an old basement that contained many rooms and a large dry well. Before his 'Buffalo Bill murders', he kidnapped and hunted young women and killed them, creating “tableaux” and locking them away. Sometime during this period he acquired a poodle who he named Precious. Mrs. Lippman died on a holiday in Florida whilst with Gumb. Gumb inherited everything from Mrs Lippman. Using the alias John Grant, he took over the house. He then abducted Bimmel and kept her prisoner in the well. Despite this, they had a strong friendship, even sending notes to each other. Bimmel became the first victim in the “Buffalo Bill” murders.
Overview
Personality and attributes
Powers and abilities
Notes
- Buffalo Bill was created by Thomas Harris where he featured in the setting of the Hannibal Lecter universe.
In other media
Television
Films
Appearances
- The Silence of the Lambs:
External Links
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