Main Characters

Main Characters
The main characters of 'Criminal Minds' are a group of diverse and original people who work very well together. They are all members of the Behavioural Analysis Unit of the FBI. They use a tool call 'psychological profiling' to solve crimes and catch criminals. They think by themselves but they function as a whole — one extremely effective crime-solving team of FBI agents.

They may be great crime-solvers, but they also know each other better than anything, and not just because they have the ability to profile each other. They are each others' closest friends and the first that they go to when they are having problems. Many don't even have social lives or familial lives outside of work, so who can they depend upon except each other? They are all extremely effective and intelligent on their own but, by the technique of them working in a team, they can gain a greater perspective on one situation than they could gain on their own.

By studying the behaviour of criminals, they can identify them, predict their future actions and find out their mentality. They use characteristics and trademarks to discover their patterns and their victim type, also called their 'victimology'. Theses people are profilers. As one minor character in episode two (1x0.2 Compulsion) of the show said, "You're one of those FBI guys. Um, like a profiler, right? Like, one look at a crime scene, you can tell what kind of shampoo a killer uses?" They can't tell this unless there is some trace of the shampoo at the scene, of course. This is an overstatement, but the theory is still the same. By studying the criminal's behavioural patterns and ticks, they can decipher their inner riddle and issues, and help solve the crime.

This great crime-solving technique would not be possible, of course, without the FBI agents who utilise it — the behavioural analysts of the Behavioural Analysis Unit of the FBI.

Current Team Members
SSA Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner — Thomas Gibson

SSA Derek Morgan — Shemar Moore

SSA Dr. Spencer Reid — Matthew Grey Gubler

SSA David Rossi — Joe Mantegna

SSA Emily Prentiss — Paget Brewster

Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia — Kirsten Vangsness

SSA Jennifer "JJ" Jareau — A.J Cook

Former Team Members
SSA Jason Gideon — Mandy Patinkin

SSA Elle Greenaway — Lola Glaudini

SSA Jordan Todd — Meta Golding