Francis Dolarhyde

Francis Dolarhyde is a fictional character featured in Thomas Harris' novel Red Dragon. He is a serial killer nicknamed "The Tooth Fairy" due to his tendency to masticate his victims' bodies, the uncommon size and sharpness of his teeth and other apparent oral fixations.

Related Topics:
Fictional character - Thomas Harris - Novel - Red Dragon - Serial killer - Oral fixation

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Born out of wedlock with a harelip in 1936, Dolarhyde suffered severe emotional and physical abuse in a series of orphanages and from his sadistic grandmother. After her death, he was turned over to the care of his estranged mother and her husband (not Francis' father); he was also abused by this family. He developed multiple personality disorder, his other, violent personality manifesting itself as a monstrous being who Dolarhyde ultimately came to call the "Great Red Dragon", from a painting by William Blake entitled The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun.

Related Topics:
Harelip - 1936 - Abuse - Orphanage - Sadistic - Multiple personality disorder - William Blake

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Dolarhyde began his killing spree in 1978 by murdering two families within a month, both crimes being committed on or near a full moon. He believed that by killing people (or "transforming" them, as he called it) he could fully become the Dragon. FBI profiler Will Graham came out of early retirement to aid in his capture. Graham had previosuly captured Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a sociopathic psychiatrist, cannibal and serial killer, whom Dolarhyde idolized. Graham visited Lecter in the Chesapeake Mental Institute, hoping that the doctor would be able to help identify the Dragon, or at least assist in creating a psychological profile. Following this meeting, Lecter "helped" by sending Dolarhyde Graham's address in code. Dolarhyde was only foiled when FBI Director Jack Crawford intercepted the message in time to warn off Graham's family.

Related Topics:
1978 - Murder - Full moon - FBI - Profiler - Will Graham - Retirement - Hannibal Lecter - Sociopath - Psychiatrist - Cannibal - Jack Crawford

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Over the course of the novel, Dolarhyde fell in love with a blind woman named Reba McLane. Though at first her intimacy with Dolarhyde quelled his murderous impulses, her presence only infuriated the other part of Dolarhyde's psyche. Desperate now to retain control of himself and deny his violent urges, Dolarhyde flew to New York, where he devoured the original Blake watercolor, believing it would destroy The Dragon.

Related Topics:
Blind - Reba McLane - Psyche - New York - Watercolor

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The plan failed, however; if anything, Dolarhyde's ingestion of the painting only made the Dragon angrier. Dolarhyde killed McLane's former lover, and planned to kill her and himself by setting her house on fire. Dolarhyde relented at the last minute, however, and apparently shot himself. Fans have debated why Dolarhyde did this; some think this was the only way he could save McLane from his sinister alter ego.

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In a later conversation with McLane, Graham told her, "There was plenty wrong with Dolarhyde, but there's nothing wrong with you. You said he was kind and thoughtful to you. I believe it. That's what you brought out in him. At the end, he couldn't kill you and he couldn't watch you die. People who study this kind of thing say he was trying to stop. Why? Because you helped him. That probably saved some lives. You didn't draw a freak. You drew a man with a freak on his back."

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It turned out, however, that Dolarhyde was alive, having merely shot the corpse of one of his previous victims. Being blind, McLane was fooled. Dolarhyde later attacked Graham and stabbed him in the face, only for Graham's wife Molly to shoot and kill him.

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Dolarhyde has been twice portrayed in movie adaptations of Harris' novel: By Tom Noonan in 1986's Manhunter, and by Ralph Fiennes in 2002's Red Dragon. Noonan's depiction is often cited as more effective and realistic, though not as detailed and complex (and some say accurate to the novel) as Fiennes'.

Related Topics:
Movie - Tom Noonan - 1986 - Manhunter - Ralph Fiennes - 2002 - Red Dragon

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In the first movie, Graham kills Dolarhyde, while in the second, both he and his wife have a hand in Dolarhyde's death, with Graham firing the brunt of the shots in a crossfire with Dolarhyde, and his wife finishing him off as Dolarhyde rises back up, even with the bullet wounds.

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