Hannibal Lecter

Hannibal Lecter is a male literary character who features in the Hannibal Lecter series.

Biography

Hannibal Lecter was a male human born on January 20th, 1933 as the son of a wealthy aristocrat named Count Lector and his wife Simonetta Lecter at his ancient castle in Vilnius, Lithuania.

It was said that he was traumatized as a child in Lithuania in 1944 when he witnessed his beloved sister, Mischa, being murdered and cannibalized by a group of deserting Lithuanian Hilfswillige. One of them came to claim that Lecter unwittingly ate his sister as well.

He came to be a psychoanalyst who was himself insane. Lecter did not attack his victims at random- he killed those he considered to be rude, and thought he was doing a public service in the process. His fourth victim was an extremely disturbed millionaire, Mason Verger. Verger was a patient of his, committed to him for molesting small boys. He invited Dr. Lecter to his home where Verger hung himself, and Lecter talked him into cutting his own face off with a piece of glass. Verger survived, but was permanently disfigured, and he swore vengeance against Lecter.

At some point, he came to be a member of Baltimore, Maryland's social elite, and a sitting member of the Baltimore Philharmonic Orchestra's Board of Directors.

Lecter was imprisoned after he killed and ate fourteen (known) people, earning the epithet "Hannibal the Cannibal." His talents were used by a young FBI criminal psychologist-in-training, Clarice Starling, to track down a similar killer years later. Lecter escaped while being held at a Washington police station, and killed two cops and a medic when he hijacked an ambulance. The fugitive was placed on the FBI's Top Ten Most Wanted List, but it hardly mattered since he had relocated to Rome.

Lecter took a job at a museum in Florence and was identified by a local official named Commander Pazzi. Pazzi learned that Verger had placed a large reward for the capture of Lecter, so he made plans to get to know him. After that, Pazzi planned to hand him over to Verger. At the same time, Clarice was assigned to track Lecter down.

After a few years, Lecter was placed on the Top Ten list once more. Upon learning this, Lecter sent Clarice a letter, saying he looked forward to the next game. Pazzi and two men who worked for Verger attempted to capture Lecter and lost their lives in the process. Lecter then decided to return to America and "come out of retirement," as well as pay a visit to Clarice, who had earned his affections. He called her on her cell phone and led her on a game of tag into a mall. In the midst of this, he was captured by people working for Verger, who took him to Verger's mansion. Verger told Lecter that he wanted him to suffer before he died, by feeding him to wild boars. Clarice rescued him and was shot in the process, but Verger was killed by his own doctor. Lecter gave the doctor permission to blame the crime on himself.

He took Clarice to the beach house of her boss, Paul Krendler (who had suspended her). He captured Krendler and prepared a dinner for the three of them, with the main course being Krendler's own brain, part of which he fed to its owner. Clarice called the police and Lecter knew they'd be there in a few minutes, but Clarice was unwilling to let him go and handcuffed them together. Lecter demanded the key, and when he realized Clarice would not give it to him, he cut off his own left hand with a cleaver and escaped. His current whereabouts are unknown.

Overview

Personality and attributes

In appearance, Hannibal Lecter was described as being a male human with a small and sleek form whose hands and arms had wiry strength. He gained notoriety for consuming his victims which earnt him the nickname of Hannibal the Cannibal.

He was noted for being highly intelligent and cultured with refined tastes and impeccable manners. He was deeply offended by rudeness and often killed people who exhibited bad manners. In fact, it was said that he preferred to eat the rude.

Hannibal claimed himself to be the 'Robin Hood of killers' where he killed the terminally rude.

Dr. Frederick Chilton came to classify Lecter as being a pure sociopath. Psychologist Will Graham said that Lecter was called a sociopath because authorities did not know what else to call him. He claimed that Hannibal had no remorse or guilt at all with him torturing animals as a child. Despite that, he did not exhibit any of the other criteria traditionally associated with sociopathy. Graham was asked how he would describe Lecter to which he said that Hannibal was a monster who believed was kept alive by society where he looked normal and that no one could tell his true nature. Clarice Starling said that there was no name that could be used to define Lecter and classify him.

Lecter and Graham came to develop a mutual hatred of one another.

Powers and abilities

He was noted for being deceptively strong and described as being as strong as an ant.

Notes

• Hannibal Lecter was created by Thomas Harris where he featured in the Hannibal Lecter universe.
• In the original novels, Lecter and Clarice ran off together and lived happily ever after.

In other media

Television

• In Hannibal, Hannibal Lecter appeared in the setting of the live-action television series where he was portrayed by actor Mads Mikkelsen.

Films

• In The Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal Lecter appeared in the setting of the 1991 live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Anthony Hopkins.

Appearances

• Red Dragon: (1981)
• Silence of the Lambs:

External Links

• Hannibal Wiki Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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