Aaron Hotchner
| Character | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner |
| Occupation: | FBI Special Agent, BAU Section Chief FBI BAU Supervisory Special Agent (Seasons 1-12) |
| Relationships: | Sean Hotchner (brother) Jack Hotchner (son) Haley Brooks (ex-wife, deceased) |
| Fandom: | Criminal Minds |
| Other: | Played by actor Thomas Gibson |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Aaron Hotchner is a character on Criminal Minds, an American television show that debuted on September 22, 2005.
He was supervisor of an FBI team of profilers solving serial murder cases. However, the character eventually joined the witness protection program with his son after being a recurring target of several criminals; and his subsequent whereabouts are unknown.
A Short (Canon) History + Additional Facts about his activity in Fanfiction
Aaron Hotchner (known as Hotch) was born November 2, 1971 and has one sibling, Sean Hotchner, whom he is estranged from as a result of little contact between them in their youth. Before he joined the BAU he was a prosecutor, having earned his degree of Juris Doctor at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., in 1990. He later worked in the F.B.I. field office in Seattle, Washington, before transferring to Quantico where he worked up until the events of "The Storm" when Hotch is arrested by the Department of Justice for terrorist threats. It is revealed to be the work of serial killer Peter Lewis (a.k.a. Mr. Scratch) to cause enough of a distraction to allow him and twelve other serial killers to break out of prison. Hotch and his son, Jack Hotchner, are put into protective custody until Mr. Scratch is caught; but ultimately he decides to retire so as to be a better father to his son.
In general, Hotchner is depicted as a hard-working, humorless, no-nonsense agent who rarely smiles or acts out in anger; his aloof demeanor and composure tend to be mistaken for a complete lack of emotion. He takes great care to avoid antagonizing witnesses, local law enforcement and suspects unless he believes provoking them will cause them to reveal information, occasionally chastising his teammates for needlessly flippant or hostile behavior.
In "Natural Born Killer", Hotchner speaks to a serial killer, Vincent Perotta (Patrick Kilpatrick), and discusses the physical abuse Perotta suffered as a child at the hands of his father. Perotta claimed that everyone who is abused as a child becomes a serial killer, with Hotchner correcting him by saying that "some people grow up to become serial killers". When Perotta notices the correction, he asks what the use of "some" means. Hotchner replies, "and some people grow up to catch them". From his explanation to Perotta earlier, it is implied that Hotchner's father was abusive.[1]
Some quick research has found that fanfiction about Aaron Hotchner can be found as early as 2006 on Fanfiction.Net and 2007 on Archive Of Our Own.
Aaron Hotchner by Thomas Gibson
Gibson characterized Hotchner as having "moments of levity", but continued:
"Unfortunately, he has a very, very, probably-dusty-it's-so-dry sense of humor. It's pretty dark. It's pretty bone dry. We all need a little levity, but I wouldn't necessarily look for him to break into song and dance. I think Hotch feels there's a lot at stake all the time."
Prior to the departure of Jason Gideon (Mandy Patinkin) from the series, Gibson described Gideon and Hotchner as "an old married couple", deeming them father figures to the rest of the BAU and professional peers to one another[2]. Of Hotch's relationship with the rest of the BAU team, Gibson commented:
I think they all know he is dedicated to doing the job. I think he understands how to negotiate both his responsibilities to the team and his own responsibilities to the job and put aside some of the things that might be sources of conflict within the time. When you spend that much time with people you're going to have conflict, and he's aware of that... There's also a kind of detachment that has to be there for you to do this job acceptably, but at the same time there's a very engaged quality to the work where you have to dedicate yourself to the idea that you're putting yourself in these criminals' shoes, because that's how they're effective at doing it.
Before Gibson was cast in the role, the character was originally envisioned as a "blonde haired, blue-eyed Mormon".[3]
Common Pairings
The most common pairing of Criminal Minds fans for Aaron Hotchner is him with his subordinate Doctor Spencer Reid. The ship with no defined name is known and researched as Aaron Hotchner/Spencer Reid, or Spencner, Heid, Hotchreid and Profiler Husbands, the latter being a recent Tumblr nomination by barbaratwilightpotter[4]. To a lesser extent there are some loyal fans of Aaron Hotchner/Derek Morgan, Aaron Hotchner/Emily Prentiss, Aaron Hotchner/Jason Gideon and Aaron Hotchner/Haley Brooks, the latter outnumbered like te threesome Aaron/Derek/Spencer.
Fanon and Common Tropes in Fanworks
Hotch is often portrayed as Stoic and Serious - even when he's joking which is a trait pulled directly from the show. In addition (Tall, Dark, and Handsome) is used often along with the ever so trusty Workaholic.
Example Fanworks
Fanfic
- Cuddles Always Help by dontshootmespence (Fluff Reader fic)
- A Horse Named Rabbit by Deejaymil (Western AU with smut)
Fanart
- Criminal minds- Aaron Hotchner[1] by krings2. An example of Aaron Hotchner fanart.
Vids
- Aaron Hotchner - Monsters[2] by cckia27. Shows some insight as to Aaron Hotchner's character.
Other Fanworks
OOAK Aaron Hotchner Omnivore [3] by AaronHaley4ever
Archives and Communities
Links and Resources
References
- ^ Aaron Hotchner on Wikipedia
- ^ Garfinkel, Jacki (April 19, 2007). "Thomas Gibson Profiles Aaron Hotchner on Criminal Minds". Media Village. Archived from the original on 2008-01-16. Retrieved 2009-11-05.
- ^ Criminal Minds Season One - "Extreme Aggressor" Commentary (DVD). United States: Paramount. November 28, 2006.
- ^ what is the name of my ship? | Accessed: May 3, 2021