 |
"Mature Content!" Fishy Boopkins found something very brutal for those with a weak heart. This page has some content that includes a mature situation or subject and might be unsuitable for viewers who are children. If you're 18 years of age or above or are comfortable and fine with the material, you can view the page, otherwise just close this page and find another one.
|
| “ | Son, there are people out there who do very bad things. Terrible people. And the police can't catch them all. | „ |
| ~ Harry Morgan to his son. |
Harrison "Harry" Morgan is the overarching protagonist of the Dexter television franchise.
He's the adoptive father of protagonist Dexter Morgan and biological father of Debra Morgan. Harry is a Miami Metro Police detective who discovered young Dexter's homicidal tendencies after he witnessed Laura Moser's murder (his biological mother).
Rather than seeking traditional psychological help, Harry decided to channel Dexter's dark impulses by teaching him a strict moral code - known as "The Code" or "Harry's Code" - which dictates that Dexter should only kill other murderers who have escaped justice through the legal system. Throughout the original series, Harry appears primarily in flashbacks and as a manifestation of Dexter's conscience.
He is portrayed by James Remar in Dexter and Resurrection and Christian Slater in Original Sin.
His Good Ranking[]
His Heroic Deeds[]
- Harry is a highly respected detective Miami Metro's homicide department who had a long career of trying to solve murder cases. He is held in high regard by his colleagues, often considered a hero.
- Harry tried to bring down the very powerful and murderous drug lord Hector Estrada while using Laura Moser as an informant, being nearly successful.
- After Laura is killed, Harry rescues Dexter from the scene and vows to raise him beyond his trauma.
- Harry trains Dexter in how to become an effective vigilante killer by showing him police procedures, how to use firearms (notably through hunting practice), and specific ethical guidelines to only channel his urges to those who "deserve" it.
- Throughout the series, Dexter eliminates many heinous individuals (mainly serial killers) responsible for the deaths of dozens or even hundreds of people via Harry's code, saving many lives.
- Harry stopped Dexter from killing a boy who bullied him.
- Harry told Dexter to kill Nurse Mary, who had been injecting her victims with morphine overdoses and killing them.
- After Levi Reed avoids getting arrested for murdering a child, Harry tries to execute him himself.
- Harry gives Dexter permission to kill Tony Ferrer after Dexter showed him evidence that he was a murderer.
- Harry gave Dexter permission to kill Juan Ryness out of frustration over Ryness getting away with the murder of Julie Piotrowski.
- In Dexter's hallucinations, Harry serves as his strategic guide and moral compass to ensure that he protects his loved ones and doesn't screw up any calculations in his vigilante activities.
- Harry initially tried to stop Brian Moser from going on a vengeful killing spree as the "N.H.I. Killer" after recognizing him as an adult.
- Later, when Harry encounters Brian on a rooftop, he cannot bring himself to kill him and admits to having harmed him greatly.
- Harry kept his word to send a thank you letter to Dexter's biological father Joe Driscoll after Joe saved him with a blood transfusion.
- Harry cared about all of his family members and wanted to protect Dexter and Debra Morgan from harm.
- Harry is shown to have influenced Debra's decision to become a homicide detective, and using this inspiration she would also do several heroic acts, including trying to catch serial killers, and at one point, stopping a nightclub shooting.
- Harry felt incredibly remorseful for his actions in training Dexter and eventually realized that what he did was highly unethical when seeing Ryness be dismembered
- Harry has a code of honor in which he claims that taking another life must "serve a purpose - otherwise, it's just plain murder." He also expressed that he felt guilty about killing a man on the job, even when it was professionally necessary.
Why He Doesn't Stand Out?[]
- While he passes the baseline in a twisted way via eliminating many heinous individuals by training Dexter to become a vigilante, saving many lives, he still fails the admirable standards to Dexter himself; because he has done numerous heroic acts for selfless reasons that are unrelated to (and sometimes in spite of) Harry's code, such as stopping the Wormwood terrorist attack or killing Brian to protect Debra.
- Training Dexter to be a vigilante killer is a highly questionable, grey-zoned act to say the least that can be see as both a Goodness Zone and a Moral Event Horizon, as Harry is effectively responsible for 150+ murder victims that Dexter killed primarily to satisfy his bloodlust, and also the emotional manipulation and lives ruined by this as well.
- Harry's code inherently makes him very lethal, as he encourages Dexter to kill his victims rather than turning them in, making Harry a mass murderer by proxy.
- Although it is mainly due to Dexter himself, Harry has had lethal tendencies independent of him, such as when he when out of his way to suggest that Dexter kill Nurse Mary in particular, or when he tried to execute Levi Reed.
- He's an anti-hero who only trains Dexter out of fear and an an obligation to protect him specifically, rather than to enact "justice" or protect people for its own sake.
- The number one rule of the code is "Don't get caught," and Dexter’s survival can take precedence over the lives of innocent people if necessary.
- He is a poor husband/lover and father for multiple reasons:
- His raising of Dexter is highly problematic and borderline psychologically abusive, as he never puts him through proper therapy and insists throughout his childhood that he must shield himself from developing connections with other people, including his own sister Debra, due to him supposedly being inherently psychopathic. He also blocked out memories of his mother's death and the existence of his brother Brian Moser. He drilled it into his head that his urge to kill could never go away.
- This is implied throughout the series to have suppressed Dexter's empathetic qualities, capacity for a normal life, and effectively turned him into the monster he is as an adult.
- Because he is too focused on Dexter, Harry neglects Debra Morgan emotionally throughout most of her childhood, which is shown to have given her major insecurities in her adult life and causes her reckless behavior as a teenager.
- He accidentally left his own son, Harry Morgan, Jr., to drown in a pool because he was distracted by watching sports.
- He cheats on his wife Doris Morgan (while she was dying of cancer, no less) with Laura Moser and other confidential informants.
- He pressures Laura Moser into continuing as an informant for the Estrada cartel in spite of the fact that she frantically and consistently told him how fearful she was about losing her own life, or those of her sons. This proves correct in the end when she is executed by Estrada and his men, making Harry inadvertently responsible for her death.
- His raising of Dexter is highly problematic and borderline psychologically abusive, as he never puts him through proper therapy and insists throughout his childhood that he must shield himself from developing connections with other people, including his own sister Debra, due to him supposedly being inherently psychopathic. He also blocked out memories of his mother's death and the existence of his brother Brian Moser. He drilled it into his head that his urge to kill could never go away.
- Despite being a police officer, he violates the integrity of the position and commits many crimes:
- He unprofessionally sleeps with his confidential informations.
- He covers up the crimes of himself and Dexter via his status as a respected detective, such as his relationships with his CIs or instructing Dexter on how to clean up his murders.
- He hides the patient file of Brian Moser to prevent Maria LaGuerta from discovering it.
- Due to his arrogant treatment and dismissal of a witness, he botches the incrimination of Levi Reed, who ends up legally unpunished for murder.
- Infamously, when he rescues Dexter from his mother's death scene, he doesn't help Brian recover from his trauma under the assumption that he was "too far gone." He also mades no effort to ensure that he doesn't end up harming people.
- Later, Brian turns into an unrepentant serial killer with no "code" who murders prostitutes, all due to his horrible experience in the psychiatric ward and separation from Dexter.
- When Harry sees Dexter dismember Juan Ryness and feels disgusted, he kills himself rather than doing anything to make up for what he created; as such, he never redeems himself.
External Links[]
- Harry Morgan on the Villainous Benchmark Wiki
- Harry Morgan on the Heroes Wiki
- Harry Morgan on the Villains Wiki
- Harry Morgan on the Dexter Wiki