Dexter: A Non-Traditional Hero

Among the thousands of TV shows that are available to us, what makes certain shows have more of an appeal to the human audience? Shows of this nature have something that is mesmerizing, something we can not take our eyes off. Something that is so bizarre we must continue to watch it because we acquire devotion to the characters life. In the hit series Dexter, a man named Dexter Morgan is a Miami blood splatter analysts but, as dawn approaches he becomes a vigilante who seeks to murder atrocious people that have gotten away with horrendous crimes. By this nature he is a non-traditional hero because he kills and goes behind the law. Dexter’s main objective is to kill, but in order to achieve this goal he does other anti-hero notions as well. For the purpose of this essay I will only be looking at season 4 of Dexter because this is when he is most like an anti-hero.
The ultimate reason Dexter is a non-traditional hero is because he eliminates enemy characters who have committed murder to other people with no justified reasoning behind it. As the protagonist of the show people would expect him to follow the law and allow the criminal justice system to handle these individuals. However, since Dexter

has seen the system fail an innumerable amount of times, he decides to take matters into his own hands. Since these men and women are able to walk freely after doing something evil Dexter goes after them with the intention of killing them.
The first notion of Dexter being an anti-hero is that he uses his job to help him act discreetly. Working for the Miami police he has access to peoples whereabouts and background history. When he goes after his targets he uses the information without the correct warrants and uses this information freely. He obtains it illegally but does it for a good cause. This determines that he is an anti-hero because once again he is breaking the law but for the overall good of society. Looking at this is very interesting because it seems that Dexter Morgan has a code. A code that can not be clearly defined but, he does have limits to what is right and wrong. What he determines is right and wrong is a mystery to the audience.
The next notion as to why he is an anti-hero is he has a wife and two step-children. At the beginning you think this is because he has genuine feelings for this women named Rita. However, we later find out that his family dynamic is only for one purpose. That purpose being a disguise and cover up for his alibi if he forever reason got caught killing someone. This is a critical part as to why he is an anti-hero. Sure Dexter has the intention of ridding this world of pure evil but at the cost of making someones whole life feel like it is something real. Rita the wife has no idea it is all a mask and that she is being manipulated into Dexters web of lies and killings.
The final notion that makes Dexter a non-traditional hero is that he withholds information from the authorities.

If Dexter has intel on the whereabouts of a killer but the police are also tracking them Dexter will withhold the information. This is not the quality of a typical hero because as the good guys they know that the police has the final say in matters. If they don’t receive all the information they need innocent people can get harmed. This is exactly what happens int the show. The conclusion being that Dexter is an anti-hero because he puts innocent people at risk in order to decimate malicious mortals. After seeing these notions we can establish that Dexter is an anti-hero but, why do we as the audience still root for him and think he is in the end a good

soul?
After finishing the fourth season of Dexter I can say that I do not admire Dexter Morgan. The reason being is that the end result of the season is the his wife Rita dies because he withholds information from the police and gets his wife involved without knowing. He essentially uses her as bait to snatch his next recipient. Putting innocent lives at risk so you can bypass the law and having casualties on your hands is not something that can be forgiven. For this reason I can’t admire Dexter because he thinks his intentions have no consequences. And even after he sees the innocent get harmed he continues to kill despite the consequences. This shows a lack of compassion and empathy and I think it is very hard for anyone to admire someone without these traits. Furthermore, Dexter gives no attention to the kids and uses them for his own benefit. When a child is supposed to be loved and cared for it is impossible to admire someone who uses them for personal gain. This is exactly what Dexter does and is why he represents the scum of the earth.
In spite of what was said above I do firmly believe that society as a whole likes non-traditional heroes more than regular heroes. The reason being is that all of our pre-teen lives we watched the same thing over and over again. It is nice to see something that is not normal. Because we all want to be heroes but in our mind heroes don’t make mistakes. They will always do the right thing. However, with anti-heroes they can make mistakes and still be good. This is more relatable to all of us humans because we all make mistakes. It shows that we can be the hero in the story even if we have some evil sides. This definitely buys into the fact that we like dark heroes more.
Dark heroes are actually a lot different than anti-heroes. But society as a whole still prefers them. These types of heroes are ones that are just plain evil. They have no intention of being good but we love them because they are either portrayed as very good looking or make us feel bad for them. Most teenagers want to be rebellious and choose to side with the dark hero because they like the idea of not fitting the model there parents expect them to be. This is why the dark hero is preferred amongst society. So we can see that the main distinction between dark heroes and anti-heroes is a code. Do these non-traditional heroes have a code that they live and kill by? If they do that means they are an anti-hero if they do it for pure vengeance they would be described as a dark hero. Overall, I believe that Dexter is an anti-hero that has some appeal for people who watch this show. However, personally I don’t admire him because he is selfish and that is the least admirable trait I can see in a person.