Will Graham

Will Graham is a fictional Federal agent and the main character from the 1986 suspense thriller Manhunter. He was played by actor William Petersen. The character was re-imagined in the 2002 film Red Dragon, which is both a remake as well as an adaptation of the Thomas Harris novel of the same name. In this film, Will Graham was played by actor Edward Norton.

Biography
Will Graham worked as profiler for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Graham had a special intuitive gift for being able to see inside the psyche of a killer, literally displacing his own consciousness into the killer's mindset. This made him an invaluable asset to the bureau's Behavioral Sciences division and he became the golden boy for department head Jack Crawford.

Will Graham often consulted with a psychiatrist named Doctor Hannibal Lecter, and together, their insights helped to apprehend several notable serial murderers such as Garret Hobbs. The one string of murders that truly stumped Will Graham however, took place in the Baltimore area and involved an individual that the tabloids dubbed, "The Chesapeake Ripper". Both Graham and Lecter were stumped, until Will determined that the Chesapeake Ripper wasn't just keeping trophies from his victims - he was eating them. It was only through sheer luck, that Will discovered evidence identifying Lecter himself as the Chesapeake Ripper. The two fought and dealt each other serious near-fatal injuries.

Lecter was incarcerated and Graham spent a long time recuperating. After he was healed, he retired from the F.B.I. and moved to Florida with his family. Years later, his handler Jack Crawford coaxed him into helping the bureau work on another string of murders, which were attributed to a killer called "The Tooth Fairy". In order to make any substantial headway, Will had to once again seek advice from his former colleague, Doctor Lecter. Eventually, Will discovered the identity of the Tooth Fairy as a man named Francis Dolarhyde. After doggedly pursuing him, a confrontation between the two led to Dolarhyde's apparent suicide. However, this was just a ruse, and Francis tracked Will back to his home in Florida. The two fought each other once again, with each delivering gunshot injuries to the other. It was Will's wife Molly who saved the day by shooting Dolarhyde in the head.

Notes & Trivia



 * Another version of Will Graham appeared on the television series Hannibal. On the show, Will Graham was played by actor Hugh Dancy.