Orphaned at age three, when he witnessed his mother's brutal murder with a chainsaw, Dexter (Michael C. Hall) was adopted by Miami police officer Harry Morgan (James Remar). Recognizing the boy's trauma and the subsequent development of his sociopathic tendencies, Harry manipulated Dexter to channel his gruesome bloodlust into vigilantism, killing only heinous criminals who slip through the criminal justice system. To cover his prolific trail of homicides, Dexter gains employment as a forensic analyst, specializing in blood spatter pattern analysis, with the Miami Metro Police Department. Dexter is extremely cautious and circumspect; he wears gloves and uses plastic-wrapped "kill rooms", carves up the corpses, and disposes of them in the Atlantic Ocean's Gulf Stream to reduce his chances of detection. Dexter juggles his two personas, recognizing each as a distinct part of himself that must cohesively work as one. He depends on their interaction, as a means of survival and normality. Although his homicidal tendencies are deeply unflinching, as he originally claims (via narration), throughout the series he strives to feel (and in some cases does feel) normal emotions and maintains his appearance as a socially responsible human being.

Dexter: Early Cuts

Dexter: Early Cuts is an animated web series that premiered on October 25, 2009.[68] Hall reprises his role as the voice of Dexter.[69]

KTV Media International Bullseye Art produced and animated the webisodes, working closely with Showtime for sound editing, Interspectacular for direction, and illustrators Kyle Baker, Ty Templeton, Andrés Vera Martínez, and Devin Lawson for creating distinctive illustrations. The webisodes are animated in 2.5D style, where flat two-dimensional illustrations are brought to life in three-dimensional space. The first season was created and written by Dexter producer/writer Lauren Gussis. She was nominated for a Webby for her writing in the first season.

The first web series precedes the narrative of the show and revolves around Dexter hunting down the three victims that he mentions in the sixth episode of season one, "Return to Sender". Each victim's story is split into four two-minute chapters.

A second season of the web series titled Dexter: Early Cuts: Dark Echo, one story in six chapters, premiered on October 25, 2010. It was written by Tim Schlattmann and illustrated by Bill Sienkiewicz and David Mack. The story begins immediately following Dexter's adoptive father Harry's death.[70][71]

Season 3 centers around Dexter's first encounter with a pair of killers. Each story is told in several two to three-minute chapters.

Album soundtrack

In August 2007, the album soundtrack entitled Dexter: Music from the Showtime Original Series was released featuring music from the television series. The album was produced by Showtime and distributed by Milan Records. The digital download version offers five additional bonus tracks from the show's first two seasons.

Comic book

Marvel Comics released a Dexter limited series in July 2013. The comic books are written by creator Jeff Lindsay and drawn by Dalihbor Talajic.[72][73] Another limited series, called Dexter: Down Under, was published in 2014.

Home media releases

Games

On September 13, 2009, Icarus Studios released a video game based on the events of season one, for the iPhone platform, via the iTunes app store. The game was released for the iPad on October 15, 2010, and for PCs on February 15, 2011. The cast and crew of Dexter were very supportive, with some of the cast providing full voice work for the game, including Hall. The game has received many positive reviews, including an 8/10 from IGN.^{[citation needed]} No additional content for the game has been released or announced as planned; plans to release the game on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 seem to have been canceled, as no recent information regarding the expansion of the game onto these platforms has been given and both consoles have been discontinued.

In July 2010, Showtime launched Dexter Game On during Comic-Con. The promotion relied on community involvement, part of which required participants to use the SCVNGR applications available for the Android, iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch platforms to complete treks around the five cities where the game was available. The final trek led to a kill room, where the Infinity Killer had recently claimed a victim. A link was found in the room to a (fake) company called Sleep Superbly, which began an extensive Showtime-maintained alternate reality game that continued until Dexter's season-five premiere.[82] The alternate reality game involves players working cooperatively to help catch the Infinity Killer and identify his victims; several other characters help. During the game, players communicate with the Infinity Killer, among many others. The game spans Craigslist, Facebook, Twitter, and countless unique sites created for the game. Players can even call phone numbers. The characters and companies are controlled by real people, adding an extra layer of realism and the ability for intelligent conversation. To maintain a realistic feeling in the game, Showtime does not put its name or advertisements on most sites or pages created for the game.^{[citation needed]}

In September 2010, the Toronto-based company, GDC-GameDevCo Ltd., released a Dexter board game.[83]

On August 13, 2015, the hidden object mobile game Dexter: Hidden Darkness[84] was released for all iOS devices, with the announcement that Android support would be available soon. Players, acting as Dexter Morgan, solve crimes and hunt down killers to "feed" the dark passenger.

Merchandise

In February 2010, EMCE Toys announced plans to release action figures based on the series.[85]

In March 2010, Dark Horse Comics released a seven-inch bust of Dexter Morgan, as part of its Last Toys on the Left series.[86] In April 2010, it released a bobblehead doll based on the show character, the Trinity Killer.[87]

A variety of merchandise items is available from Showtime including an apron, bin bags, blood slide beverage coasters and key rings, drinking glasses, mugs, pens made to look like syringes of blood, posters, and T-shirts.[88]

In June 2021 Flashback announced a highly detailed 1⁄6th scale figure of Dexter Morgan.

Prop sales

In January 2014, in partnership with Hollywood Props, Dexter Corner created an auction site and sold hundreds of original props used in the series; part of the auction's proceeds were donated to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.[89][90][91] Showtime has also offered a limited selection of props for sale.[92]

Dexter Morgan works for the Miami-Dade Police Department as a forensic blood spatter analyst. In his spare time, he is a vigilante serial killer who targets murderers, rapists, child molesters and other undesirables he believes the legal system has failed to stop. Dexter's murders are directed by an inner voice he refers to as "The Dark Passenger", prodding Dexter to satisfy his homicidal urges on a regular basis. When accomplished, the voice is placated for a while, but always, eventually returns.

Flashbacks reveal that Dexter's foster father, an esteemed police detective named Harry Morgan, recognized early on that he was a violent psychopath with an innate need to kill, and taught him how to kill people who had gotten away with horrific crimes as a way to channel his homicidal urges in a "positive" direction. Harry also taught the boy to be a careful and meticulous killer, to leave no clues, and to be absolutely sure that his victims were guilty before killing them. Dexter calls these rules "The Code of Harry."

Dexter succeeds in managing his double life until he investigates the "Tamiami Slasher," who has murdered three prostitutes. His adoptive sister, Deborah, who is also on the force and wants to be promoted to Homicide—and knowing that her brother has eerie "hunches"—asks him for help in solving the case. Because of his moral code, Dexter helps Deborah. Yet, he feels a compelling pull to the killer, due to similar desires. After a lucid dream, Dexter drives around Miami and spots a refrigerated truck. When he follows the truck, the killer throws a severed head in his car.

The killer begins sending messages to Dexter, who finds the crimes fascinating. Dexter is torn between helping Deborah and allowing the killer to continue his spree. Meanwhile, due to his strange dreams, Dexter wants to kill somebody, so he follows a man whom he suspects of raping and killing five teenage girls and kills him after confirming his guilt. The Tamiami Slasher kidnaps Deborah and brings Dexter to the scene, revealing that his sister is being held in the same shipping container that Dexter's biological mother, Laura, was held in. The killer is Dexter's biological brother, Brian, who was separated from Dexter after their mother's murder at the hands of a drug dealer. As Deborah's spiteful colleague, Migdia LaGuerta, arrives on the scene, Brian is disappointed that Dexter refuses to kill Deborah. Dexter allows Brian to kill LaGuerta and helps him escape, out of a sense of familial loyalty. In the epilogue, Dexter stands at LaGuerta's funeral and feels sad, but cannot bring himself to cry.