OOC- background
THE BASICS
NAME: Dr. Anthony Valentine Hill
NICKNAMES: Tony
ALIASES USED: None
AGE: 41 (at the point I take him from)
BIRTHDAY: September 1, 1965
OCCUPATION: Clinical Psychologist/Criminal Profiler
FAMILY: Father, Edmund Arthur Blythe (never knew); Mother, Vanessa Hill (emotionally detached businesswoman, abusive); Grandmother (abusive; died while Tony was in university)
SIGNIFICANT OTHER: None
CLOSE FRIENDS: Detective Chief Inspector Carol Jordan (but this is up for debate at the moment with her leaving without telling him- additionally, she was probably more than a 'friend' to him but he never told her); Dr. Kate Lloyd (his friend and boss at the university- he stood in at a ceremony to renew wedding vows because her husband dies of a brain tumor just prior to the ceremony)
PERSONALITY: The best way to describe Tony's personality is to use the words of the man who portrays him on television, Robson Green-
"Tony's useless with women. I think he's useless with people to his own admission in one of the episodes. He said, 'Ya know, a lot of people have died because I didn't make people listen- because I couldn't make people listen.' But if you come across anybody who deals with this type of subject, ya know, you're on a train- 'What do you do?' 'Oh, I talk to serial killers.' 'Oh, I'm just going to the buffet.' Do you know what I mean? It's a conversation stopper."
"I think that's the quirk of the show- Tony is living on Jupiter or wherever it is. He's- he's completely left field. He goes against the tide in the way of thinking, ya know, and whether you believe him or not, I think, it's deeply interesting that in a scene he says, 'Ya know, the only evidence we have on this guy is we have no evidence and that's the only thing we can get him on- something that doesn't exist!'"
APPEARANCE: Tony isn't handsome in the traditional sense but there is something about him that draws people to him- makes him attractive. His dark brown hair is almost always very neatly combed and he is rarely seen out of professional or semi-professional clothing. However, he loathes ties and suit jackets and is always the first one in a room to loose both. He is most comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt or sweater but his work rarely allows him to dress casual. One of the first things that a person will notice about him are his piercing blue eyes. They are probably his most defining feature.
THE HISTORY
Dr. Anthony ‘Tony’ Hill is a clinical psychologist with a knack for getting into the minds of serial killers and their victims. He is fairly well known within the community of Bradfield [a fictional city in West Yorkshire, Northern England- the television series is filmed in Newcastle] where he previously resided as a talented individual in his line of work. He was a professor at the University of Bradfield (had lectured there for 12 years) when he was recruited by Bradfield CID during the hunt for a serial killer and continued there as a criminal profiler.
He enjoys video games such as Tomb Raider and obviously has some questionable social skills. Tony was born out of wedlock and was abused (both physically and mentally) by his mother, Vanessa Hill, and his grandmother when he was growing up. Tony never knew who his father was- his mother refused to talk about him. He suffers from insomnia and sexual dysfunction- both being possibly related to his chosen field of work, his personal history, and his early sexual experience. He is also dyspraxic. He has survived a brain tumor just prior to his friend and colleague Detective Chief Inspector Carol Jordan walking out of his life.
THE DETAILS
Tony's history lends itself to understanding victims and criminals. He has the ability to see the world from both angles. However, one truth about himself that Tony knows quite well is that he is not much different from the criminals he treats. He can get inside their minds and see the reasoning for their crimes. He can understand his patients which is the key to his success. However, he realizes that to understand his patients means that the same darkness that was in them was also in him. Everyone is capable of the horrors he has witnessed but few truly had it in them to commit the crime.
Tony knows that he has this in him and had circumstances been different he would have been the one seeing the psychologist in prison instead of the other way round. Still, it crouches in the shadows of his being, waiting for his resolve to weaken and allow for it to take control.
What makes Tony a brilliant and accomplished criminal profiler also makes him dangerous. The question is how much of a push it would take to bring that danger to life.
Tony pokes around in darkness on a daily basis and it had grown used to making this trek alone but then, one day, Carol Jordan came along. She was seeking help with a string of brutal murders and had read about Dr. Hill profiling years before in another case so she tracked him down. Tony helps her and is nearly killed in the process when he becomes the serial killer's next target. He survives but in order to do so he ends up killing the killer.
The story doesn't end there, though. When Tony is called on again by Carol he returns without hesitation. In Carol, Tony finds someone who wants to learn- to be taught what he knows and use it to helps prevent more from becoming victims. Carol was willing to stand by Tony and face the darkness with him. More than once, Tony is forced to chose between his work as a university professor and his work as a profiler with Carol. He makes the choice to be a profiler- to be with Carol. Together, they hunt down England's most dangerous criminals.
Tony and Carol were quite obviously in love but neither acted on it. Tony knew, or at least believed, that he could not manage a relationship. He leads on women without knowing it with his kindness and naivety but when confronted with a woman who wants a straight answer he is unable to admit his feelings.
Tony also feels inadequate as a man because of his sexual dysfunction and feels that he could not be a proper match for any woman so long as this condition persists. He avoids relationships out of shame and not wanting to disappoint a woman. Tony believes he is an unfit match for Carol and so he remains emotionally distant from her. He strongly believes this is for the best because he doesn't want to ever hurt her.
Carol left England for South Africa- a move she made without telling him and has made no attempt to contact him after- and he is left to deal with the guilt that she may of left because she needed a clean break. He fears Carol left because of him but this is a fear that lurks in the dark corners of his mind and he will keep it there at all costs.
In my mind, Carol left without telling Tony because she cared about him and knew those feelings would never be reciprocated. She left just after he nearly died of a brain tumor and this moved her so much that she came to the realization that she loved him and would be unable to move past that while she was still seeing him everyday at work. So- she up and left to save herself and avoid being talked out of it by Tony.
Tony's greatest weakness is the profound loneliness he feels without Carol and how he never told her how he truly felt. As a psychologist, Tony knows now that he had been and still is in love with her but he would never admit this to anyone else. It is doubtful that he will ever get past this and move on with his personal life.
INTERESTS: Psychology, Criminals, Tomb Raider, Video Games, Football (A.K.A. 'footie' or 'soccer'- favorite team, Bradfield Victoria)
GREATEST FEAR: Becoming that which he studies- a criminal
GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT: Helping Carol Jordan catch criminals
BIGGEST FAILURE/SELF DISAPPOINTMENT: Losing Carol Jordan
FLAWS: Tony is clueless when it comes to reading women. He is socially inept and off in a world of his own most of the time.
SPECIAL/UNIQUE TALENTS: Tony uses a sort of roleplay to understand both the killer and the victim. He talks to himself on a regular basis as well- this is how he works out patients/criminals and comes up with profiles. Additionally, he can speak German.
"...it's so easy for Tony to be 'Tony' and then 'THE KILLER!' Ya know it's a very, very thin line we're walking here and he said just have a normal conversation so it's Tony as the Killer and not Tony as a different person, if that makes sense. And I think that's the right way to approach it. So basically he comes across as a bit of a nutter..." -Robson Green
NAME: Dr. Anthony Valentine Hill
NICKNAMES: Tony
ALIASES USED: None
AGE: 41 (at the point I take him from)
BIRTHDAY: September 1, 1965
OCCUPATION: Clinical Psychologist/Criminal Profiler
FAMILY: Father, Edmund Arthur Blythe (never knew); Mother, Vanessa Hill (emotionally detached businesswoman, abusive); Grandmother (abusive; died while Tony was in university)
SIGNIFICANT OTHER: None
CLOSE FRIENDS: Detective Chief Inspector Carol Jordan (but this is up for debate at the moment with her leaving without telling him- additionally, she was probably more than a 'friend' to him but he never told her); Dr. Kate Lloyd (his friend and boss at the university- he stood in at a ceremony to renew wedding vows because her husband dies of a brain tumor just prior to the ceremony)
PERSONALITY: The best way to describe Tony's personality is to use the words of the man who portrays him on television, Robson Green-
"Tony's useless with women. I think he's useless with people to his own admission in one of the episodes. He said, 'Ya know, a lot of people have died because I didn't make people listen- because I couldn't make people listen.' But if you come across anybody who deals with this type of subject, ya know, you're on a train- 'What do you do?' 'Oh, I talk to serial killers.' 'Oh, I'm just going to the buffet.' Do you know what I mean? It's a conversation stopper."
"I think that's the quirk of the show- Tony is living on Jupiter or wherever it is. He's- he's completely left field. He goes against the tide in the way of thinking, ya know, and whether you believe him or not, I think, it's deeply interesting that in a scene he says, 'Ya know, the only evidence we have on this guy is we have no evidence and that's the only thing we can get him on- something that doesn't exist!'"
APPEARANCE: Tony isn't handsome in the traditional sense but there is something about him that draws people to him- makes him attractive. His dark brown hair is almost always very neatly combed and he is rarely seen out of professional or semi-professional clothing. However, he loathes ties and suit jackets and is always the first one in a room to loose both. He is most comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt or sweater but his work rarely allows him to dress casual. One of the first things that a person will notice about him are his piercing blue eyes. They are probably his most defining feature.
THE HISTORY
Dr. Anthony ‘Tony’ Hill is a clinical psychologist with a knack for getting into the minds of serial killers and their victims. He is fairly well known within the community of Bradfield [a fictional city in West Yorkshire, Northern England- the television series is filmed in Newcastle] where he previously resided as a talented individual in his line of work. He was a professor at the University of Bradfield (had lectured there for 12 years) when he was recruited by Bradfield CID during the hunt for a serial killer and continued there as a criminal profiler.
He enjoys video games such as Tomb Raider and obviously has some questionable social skills. Tony was born out of wedlock and was abused (both physically and mentally) by his mother, Vanessa Hill, and his grandmother when he was growing up. Tony never knew who his father was- his mother refused to talk about him. He suffers from insomnia and sexual dysfunction- both being possibly related to his chosen field of work, his personal history, and his early sexual experience. He is also dyspraxic. He has survived a brain tumor just prior to his friend and colleague Detective Chief Inspector Carol Jordan walking out of his life.
THE DETAILS
Tony's history lends itself to understanding victims and criminals. He has the ability to see the world from both angles. However, one truth about himself that Tony knows quite well is that he is not much different from the criminals he treats. He can get inside their minds and see the reasoning for their crimes. He can understand his patients which is the key to his success. However, he realizes that to understand his patients means that the same darkness that was in them was also in him. Everyone is capable of the horrors he has witnessed but few truly had it in them to commit the crime.
Tony knows that he has this in him and had circumstances been different he would have been the one seeing the psychologist in prison instead of the other way round. Still, it crouches in the shadows of his being, waiting for his resolve to weaken and allow for it to take control.
What makes Tony a brilliant and accomplished criminal profiler also makes him dangerous. The question is how much of a push it would take to bring that danger to life.
Tony pokes around in darkness on a daily basis and it had grown used to making this trek alone but then, one day, Carol Jordan came along. She was seeking help with a string of brutal murders and had read about Dr. Hill profiling years before in another case so she tracked him down. Tony helps her and is nearly killed in the process when he becomes the serial killer's next target. He survives but in order to do so he ends up killing the killer.
The story doesn't end there, though. When Tony is called on again by Carol he returns without hesitation. In Carol, Tony finds someone who wants to learn- to be taught what he knows and use it to helps prevent more from becoming victims. Carol was willing to stand by Tony and face the darkness with him. More than once, Tony is forced to chose between his work as a university professor and his work as a profiler with Carol. He makes the choice to be a profiler- to be with Carol. Together, they hunt down England's most dangerous criminals.
Tony and Carol were quite obviously in love but neither acted on it. Tony knew, or at least believed, that he could not manage a relationship. He leads on women without knowing it with his kindness and naivety but when confronted with a woman who wants a straight answer he is unable to admit his feelings.
Tony also feels inadequate as a man because of his sexual dysfunction and feels that he could not be a proper match for any woman so long as this condition persists. He avoids relationships out of shame and not wanting to disappoint a woman. Tony believes he is an unfit match for Carol and so he remains emotionally distant from her. He strongly believes this is for the best because he doesn't want to ever hurt her.
Carol left England for South Africa- a move she made without telling him and has made no attempt to contact him after- and he is left to deal with the guilt that she may of left because she needed a clean break. He fears Carol left because of him but this is a fear that lurks in the dark corners of his mind and he will keep it there at all costs.
In my mind, Carol left without telling Tony because she cared about him and knew those feelings would never be reciprocated. She left just after he nearly died of a brain tumor and this moved her so much that she came to the realization that she loved him and would be unable to move past that while she was still seeing him everyday at work. So- she up and left to save herself and avoid being talked out of it by Tony.
Tony's greatest weakness is the profound loneliness he feels without Carol and how he never told her how he truly felt. As a psychologist, Tony knows now that he had been and still is in love with her but he would never admit this to anyone else. It is doubtful that he will ever get past this and move on with his personal life.
INTERESTS: Psychology, Criminals, Tomb Raider, Video Games, Football (A.K.A. 'footie' or 'soccer'- favorite team, Bradfield Victoria)
GREATEST FEAR: Becoming that which he studies- a criminal
GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT: Helping Carol Jordan catch criminals
BIGGEST FAILURE/SELF DISAPPOINTMENT: Losing Carol Jordan
FLAWS: Tony is clueless when it comes to reading women. He is socially inept and off in a world of his own most of the time.
SPECIAL/UNIQUE TALENTS: Tony uses a sort of roleplay to understand both the killer and the victim. He talks to himself on a regular basis as well- this is how he works out patients/criminals and comes up with profiles. Additionally, he can speak German.
"...it's so easy for Tony to be 'Tony' and then 'THE KILLER!' Ya know it's a very, very thin line we're walking here and he said just have a normal conversation so it's Tony as the Killer and not Tony as a different person, if that makes sense. And I think that's the right way to approach it. So basically he comes across as a bit of a nutter..." -Robson Green