Summary

• Dexter Morgan, a forensic blood spatter analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department, has a secret: he is a serial killer.
• However, he only kills other serial killers and follows a strict code of conduct, known as "Harry's Code," established by his adoptive father, Harry Morgan.
• Throughout the series, Dexter breaks Harry's Code and kills individuals who are not serial killers, often due to personal reasons or in moments of emotional distress.

Throughout Dexter, there were several occasions where the serial killer Dexter Morgan broke the Code of Harry, which guided him in his murderous ways. With an insatiable impulse to kill that Dexter called his “Dark enger,” the Code of Harry was given to him by his adoptive father as a way to put some good into the world while he carried out the murderous tendencies his childhood trauma had given him. The code had several dimensions, the most prominent of which were not to get caught and never to kill an innocent person.

However, whether through self-defense, mercy killings, or impulsive actions, Dexter broke from these rules several times and left a whole host of non-code killings in his wake. While the code was supposed to contain the darkest aspects of Dexter’s psychological issues, it seemed that when pushed into a corner or forced into action, Dexter could find ways to justify his actions outside of the perimeters of the Code of Harry. Throughout Dexter and the sequel series Dexter: New Blood, there were several incidents in which Dexter’s kills broke the Code of Harry.

12 Oscar Prado

Season 3, Episode 1, “Our Father”

It was three seasons before Dexter Morgon was finally forced to break the Code of Harry on Dexter. This came in a moment of self-defense when Dexter was trying to track down Freebo, the drug dealer who killed two college girls but got away with it because of a bad warrant. However, in his pursuit, Dexter instead encountered Oscar Prado, the drug-using brother of ADA Miguel Prado and Sheriff Ramon Prado.

In the process, Oscar attacked Dexter with a bayonet, and the two got into a physical altercation that led to Dexter murdering him in cold blood. As Dexter stabbed Oscar, he asked him, “Who are you?” and looked shocked at the potential that he had accidentally killed an innocent person. Dexter further investigated his victim and even attended his wake to try and determine whether or not he had killed somebody outside of the perimeters of Harry’s Code.

11 Nathan Marten

Season 3, Episode 3, “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”

Dexter Morgan’s second code-breaking kill was far more intentional than the first and came just two episodes later in Season 3 of Dexter. Rather than being an unfortunate accident that took place in a moment of self-defense, Dexter actually decided to break the code in order to kill Nathan Marten. While this man did meet the requirements of Harry’s Code, as a pedophile who was targeting Rita’s young daughter, Astor, Dexter felt compelled to do something.

Dexter immediately recognized that something was wrong with Nathan and paid close attention to his grocery store conversation with Astor. In his research, Dexter learned that Nathan was a sexual predator with a history of molesting a young girl, and as he continued to pursue Astor and ignore Dexter’s warning, he decided to go against his code and put an end to Nathan’s evil ways. As this kill was not part of the Code of Harry, Dexter did not prepare a kill room and stranged Nathan to death in his own home.

10 Camilla Figg

Season 3, Episode 7, “Easy As Pie”

While most of Dexter Morgan’s code-breaking kills were related to self-defense or finding another way to reconcile his victim's need to die, occasionally Dexter’s life-ending actions came from a place of comion. This was certainly the case for Camilla Figg, the records supervisor for Miami Metro who Dexter often brought sweet gifts like donuts. In return for Dexter’s gifts, Camilla often gave him access to classified records that he used to pursue his victims.

Camilla was revealed to be suffering from terminal lung cancer, and while Dexter visited her in the hospital, she asked for him to end her life. Dexter initially declined, and she apologized for even asking, letting him know she knew his brother was The Ice-Truck Killer and did not want to make him feel like a murderer himself. However, Dexter changed his mind and fed Camilla a poisoned piece of key lime pie, which ended her life.

9 Jonathan Farrow

Season 4, Episode 7, “Slack Time”

Even though the Code of Harry had very specific requirements of when Dexter Morgan could feel justified in murdering one of his victims, occasionally, he acted too fast and killed someone who did not meet the correct preconditions. This was the case of fashion and S&M photographer Jonathan Farrow, whom Dexter was convinced was responsible for some of his models' murders. Dexter was able to prove that Farrow had abused models while taking grotesque pictures of them and made the decision to murder him before getting definitive proof that he was the one responsible.

Dexter abducted Farrow, and despite the fact he insisted he never killed any of the women and had attacked them for artistic reasons, he still proceeded with the kill. After dismembering Farrow and dumping his body in the Gulf Stream, Dexter was later confronted with evidence that it was actually Farrow's assistant, Timothy Brand, who committed the murder.

8 Rankin

Season 5, Episode 1, “My Bad”

While the Code of Harry has always been Dexter Morgan’s way of keeping his murderous instincts in check, that’s not to say they don’t sometimes find a way to emerge unimpeded to the surface. This became even more prescient when Dexter was in the midst of a crisis following the murder of his wife Rita at the hands of the Trinity Killer in the Season 4 finale. In the aftermath of this, Dexter sought to start a new life and, in the process, took out his pain and frustration on a man named Rankin in a rundown waterside store bathroom.

Rankin was a rude customer who sought to use the store’s bathroom and insulted Dexter before going to the restroom. Despite it not fitting Harry’s Code, Dexter followed Rankin into the bathroom and murdered him with a grappling hook. This uncharacteristically impulsive kill from Dexter highlighted just how much Rita’s death affected him, as he had no time to research Rankin’s criminal history.

7 Norm

Season 6, Episode 7, “Nebraska”

The murder of Shady Lane Motel owner Norm was yet another impulsive kill that violated the Code of Harry from Dexter Morgan on Dexter. This came when Dexter stayed in Nebraska and sought to hunt down Jonah Mitchell. While Norm initially appeared as a helpful, albeit inquisitive, associate of Dexter’s, he quickly made the fatal mistake of trying to extort money from Dexter and backed him into a situation where his murderous impulses came to the forefront.

Norm stole Dexter’s knives from him and, believing that Dexter was rich, tried to sell them back to him for $10,000. However, at this point, Dexter was being haunted by visions of his deceased brother, The Ice Truck Killer Brian Moser, who represented Dexter’s urge to kill. At first, it appeared Brian grabbed a pitchfork to attack Norm, but it was quickly revealed to be Dexter, who had killed yet another victim outside of the Code of Harry.

6 Alberto

Season 6, Episode 12, “This Is the Way the World Ends”

Occasionally, Dexter Morgan was able to justify his kills that broke the Code of Harry through the belief that he doing them for the greater good. One example of this came in the Season 6 episode “This is the Way the World Ends” when Dexter and several others found themselves adrift in the ocean and pulled on deck by a group of Cuban migrants and their smuggler, Alberto. At first, Alberto appeared to be no threat, but this soon changed when he began to make demands upon those who had been saved.

Dexter reached a breaking point when he witnessed Alberto holding a gun to the head of a pregnant woman as he demanded everyone on board put their valuables in his hat. Without anything of value to give, the only thing Dexter could provide was a swift death as he grabbed a nearby boat hook and plunged it into Alberto’s stomach. Although this kill violated Harry’s Code, if Dexter had waited, there was a chance the pregnant woman could have been murdered by Alberto.

5 Clint McKay

Season 7, Episode 10, “The Dark... Whatever”

Clint McKay was the father of Hannah McKay and the only victim of Dexter’s who broke the Code of Harry to receive a ritualistic killing. A cruel and neglectful father, Clint was shown to be a liar, con man, blackmailer, and gambling addict who consistently disappointed his daughter while she held out hope that he could redeem himself as a decent father. When Clint pressured Hannah into giving him $20,000, Dexter decided to take matters into his own hands and put an end to her father’s cruel and manipulative ways.

Unusually for a kill that was committed outside of the code, Dexter wrapped Clint in plastic and told him that although he knew he did not need to kill him, he wanted to protect Hannah. Before being stabbed to death, Clint told Dexter, “You’ve got the devil inside you,” to which Dexter replied, “I think that’s just me.” As Dexter threw Clint’s body into the ocean, he mockingly said, “sink or swim, daddy,” in reference to the cruel way Clint had thrown Hannah into a pond when she was a child and did not know how to swim.

4 Andrew Briggs

Season 8, Episode 1, “A Beautiful Day”

Andrew Briggs was an armed robber who started a physical relationship with Debra Morgan in the Season 8 premiere of Dexter before he was killed by Dexter Morgan in an attack that violated the Code of Harry. Debra had initially planned to apprehend Andrew while working undercover as a private investigator but soon found herself enjoying his company as they took drugs and slept together. At this point, Debra was spiraling from her murder of María LaGuerta, and her impulsive actions came from a place of deep trauma.

Knowing Debra was getting herself into danger, Dexter tracked her down and learned that Briggs was due to be killed by a hitman named El Sapo. Once Dexter tried to warn her about this contract killing, Briggs and Dexter got into a fight, and when Briggs grabbed a knife, Dexter turned it on him and killed him with it. This was a self-defense killing from Dexter that went against the Code of Harry, as, although Briggs assaulted people before, there was no evidence he was a killer.

3 Debra Morgan

Season 8, Episode 12, “ the Monsters”

Perhaps the most shocking kill that broke the Code of Harry in the entirety of Dexter was the death of Debra Morgan. As Dexter’s adoptive sister, Debra was always one of the most important people in his life, and to think that it would ultimately be Dexter who was responsible for her death was almost unimaginable. However, Dexter killed Debra out of mercy as he turned her off life when she went into a vegetative state after she was shot trying to apprehend Oliver Saxton.

However, it could be debated that Debra’s death was actually permitted by the Code of Harry because Deb had killed the innocent Captain of Miami Metro Homicide, Maria LaGuerta. But since Dexter was an accomplice in that murder, it’s up for debate whether or not this mercy killing would have fit the code. As one of the most heartbreaking moments in all of Dexter, the death of Debra felt especially poignant, as she was one of the very few people for whom it seemed the sociopathic killer Dexter actually felt something real.