"If you want to feel close to God, sometimes you gotta make the journey."
Charles Hankel was the domineering and abusive father of serial killer Tobias Hankel. After his death, he would appear in flashbacks and as an alternate personality of Tobias in Season Two of Criminal Minds.
Background
When his wife left him for another man, Charles' already unstable condition presumably worsened, and he soon descended into a religious fanaticism. Charles would severely physically abuse his son, Tobias, constantly spouting scripture and taught him that evil must always be punished. Whenever he abused Tobias, he used the Bible as a punishment guide. Charles once burned a cross into Tobias' forehead with a red hot poker for not following "the path of the Lord", and even once almost drowned him during a "baptism" in the bathtub. When he became painfully ill, he ordered a reluctant Tobias to kill him. In August 2006, Tobias finally succumbed to Charles' orders, killed him as an act of mercy, and placed his body in a walk-in freezer under the family house.
Season Two
The Big Game (Part 1)
After Charles' death, Tobias began to take on his personality, as well as a third personality named Raphael which caused him to begin his serial killings. The Raphael personality, who was based on an avenging angel with no human emotions, presumably because in the Bible Tobias was visited by the angel Raphael, would take over Tobias' mind and kill anyone who dared to commit a sin, and Tobias himself was clearly powerless to stop him from doing this. The Charles personality, clearly just as disturbed as the real Charles Hankel, apparently agreed with what the Raphael personality was doing and occasionally beat Tobias up (technically beating himself up, though Tobias was the one who felt it) whenever he dared to argue with what Raphael had done. After Reid and JJ arrive at the Hankel house, Tobias flees, and Charles, angry at him for not standing and fighting, begins to beat him up, (again, technically beating himself up) while Reid listens from a distance. When Reid is distracted by the sound of JJ shooting Tobias' dogs dead, Charles punches him and takes his gun, and orders Tobias to shoot him. Tobias refuses, and Raphael takes over and apparently decides to keep Reid alive so that he can force him to choose his next victims.
Revelations (Part 2)
Later, Reid sees the Charles personality, who takes offense to being stared at. He then gets angry when Reid tries to manipulate him and even more angry when Reid lies to him and denies it, as lying is a sin. Charles then tortures Reid just as the real Charles Hankel had once tortured Tobias in retribution. Later, Raphael gets frustrated at Reid which causes the Charles personality to take over again. Charles angrily beats Reid and shoves him to the floor, accidentally rendering him unconscious. After Tobias revived Reid via CPR and drugged him to ease the pain Charles had caused him, Charles hears Reid mumbling in his sleep while dreaming about his mother, who Reid had condemned to a mental institution due to her schizophrenia. Since this was a sin, Raphael sentences him to death, drags him outside and forces him to dig his own grave.
However, the BAU arrive and when Reid realizes they are there, he pretends to be too weak to keep digging, angering Raphael and causing the Charles personality to take over again. Charles grabs the shovel, dropping his gun, and starts digging Reid's grave for him. When the BAU arrive, Charles is distracted and Reid seizes the opportunity to grab his gun. Charles, again, apparently not aware that he and Raphael are the same person, tells Reid that there is one bullet in the gun, but all three are "shot" anyway. Charles and Raphael are killed instantly: Tobias just has time to thank Reid for killing them before he too, dies.
Known Victims
- Tobias Hankel (his son; physically abused severely)
Appearances
- Season Two
- "The Big Game" (via flashbacks)
- "Revelations" (via flashbacks; corpse shown)