Will Graham

Graham is an FBI profiler responsible for the capture of serial killer Hannibal Lecter, and later assigned to capture serial killer Francis Dolarhyde. Graham is depicted as being intellectually gifted, skilled in criminology, and possessing extraordinary empathy. His empathy manifests as the ability to assume the point of view of criminals and psychopaths so he can vividly construct the mentality and motives of such individuals, even with limited data. This level of insight makes him adept at tracking down violent criminals, but also leaves him extremely disturbed; he fears that he understands psychopaths because he is one himself. He also has an eidetic memory to rival Dr. Lecter's. Will is a very complex and profound individual. He describes himself as being on the autism spectrum and has difficulty interacting socially. He has chosen teaching on the basis that interaction with people in the profession is kept to a minimum. Will avoids eye contact with most of the people he dialogues with, explaining that "the eyes are distracting: they can tell you a lot, but they don't give you the whole picture," so he avoids eye contact unnecessarily. Hannibal explains when they first meet that Will is a very empathic person who has difficulty abstracting from reality; he has associations in his head that frighten him, resulting in an unstable mental state. Also, Graham does not like to be touched. Will has difficulty making friends; those around him may find his behavior awkward or even cold. In reality, interacting with people makes him uncomfortable because of his ability to easily and acutely sense and interpret another person's feelings and motives. Hannibal describes this as an "incredible gift of empathy," "pure empathy." While this makes him a brilliant profiler and an invaluable asset to the FBI, it also fuels his dark thoughts, which begin to surface more and more with Hannibal and his psychotherapy techniques.

Will has a unique psychological ability that he calls "