Will Graham (character)  Will Graham is a fictional character and protagonist of Thomas Harris' 1981 novel "Red Dragon". Graham is also the protagonist of two film adaptations of the novel, "Manhunter" (1986) and "Red Dragon" (2002), and the television series "Hannibal" (2013–2015), which adapted various parts of the " Hannibal Lecter" franchise. In "Red Dragon", Graham is introduced as an intellectually-gifted and highly-esteemed former FBI profiler, who has the ability to empathize with the mindset and mentality of both psychopaths and sociopaths, which adversely affects his own psyche. Graham is responsible for the capture of Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a forensic psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer who nearly kills Graham during their first encounter. The incident severely traumatizes Graham, who retires from the FBI. During the events of "Red Dragon", Graham reluctantly comes out of retirement to find and apprehend a serial killer known as "The Tooth Fairy", requiring him to confront and seek assistance from the incarcerated Lecter. Other than passing mentions in Harris' sequel "The Silence of the Lambs", Graham does not appear in any other book of the Lecter series. In the films "Manhunter" and "Red Dragon", he is portrayed by William Petersen and Edward Norton, respectively. In the television series "Hannibal", he is portrayed by Hugh Dancy. In his original appearance and its adaptations, 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 rivaling Lecter's. "Red Dragon" establishes Graham's backstory. He grew up poor in Louisiana, eventually moving to New Orleans, where he became a homicide detective. He leaves New Orleans to attend graduate school in forensic science at George Washington University. After attaining his degree, Graham goes to work for the FBI's crime lab. Following exceptional work both in the crime lab and in the field, Graham is given a post as teacher at the FBI Academy. During his career in the FBI, Graham is given the title of 'Special Investigator' while he is in the field.