Criminal Minds is a hit crime drama. It follows FBI profilers tracking down dangerous criminals. Each episode brings a new case for the team. They also dive into personal lives and challenges of characters. Intense suspense, complex characters- this show keeps crime drama fans hooked. It’s a wild ride!

Meet the characters from Criminal Minds

Dr. Spencer Reid

Spencer is the brilliant, awkward brainiac who can rattle off obscure facts like a party trick and then immediately apologize for saying too much — bless him. He’s a human encyclopedia with a soft spot for kids, junk food binges (or is it that he forgets to eat for two days?), and those little nervous habits like rubbing his hands or carrying mints everywhere. There’s this perpetual adorable tension between “scientific wunderkind” and “actual cinnamon-roll disaster in social situations,” and it’s what makes him so easy to root for. Also, he cries at weird commercials sometimes and can beat you at chess while listing the taxonomy of fruit flies.

Penelope Garcia

Garcia is a technicolor explosion of glitter, code, and borderline illegal levels of enthusiasm — she decorates her desk like it’s a theme park and then hacks into a database with a confetti cannon in her head. She’s the team’s genius hacker and heart, loud and fiercely loyal, with a fondness for ridiculous nicknames and even more ridiculous headphones. She’ll talk about fonts and also somehow be the person who remembers everyone’s birthdays and gossip, which is both the cutest and most chaotic thing. Also, she claims to be fragile but will digitally disassemble an international cyber-criminal with a smile and a cupcake-loving grudge.

Jennifer Jareau

JJ is the glue — organized, empathetic, and annoyingly good at keeping everyone in line while making it look effortless (but she’s definitely counting things in her head). She’s equal parts compassion and competence: liaison, mom-figure, occasional action-hero, and the kind of person who’ll bring snacks and also an on-point debrief. She’s sensible about rules but will quietly break them for someone she believes in, which makes her quietly rebellious in the best way. And yes, she can rock a conference room and a messy donut on the run, sometimes in the same five-minute span.

David Rossi

Rossi is the old-school, storytelling profiler who chews scenery with a cigar in one hand and a well-practiced monologue in the other — he’s charming, blunt, and kind of a walking history lesson. He’s wise and theatrical, the guy who will quote literature or WWII anecdotes mid-investigation and then eat three desserts like it’s a strategy. Beneath the bravado is genuine warmth and a stubborn loyalty to the team, plus a robust appetite for dramatic entrances. Also, he’ll tell you he doesn’t cry at operas then cry at an awkward family slideshow, so pick your moments to challenge him.

Aaron Hotchner

Hotch is all discipline and quiet intensity — the stoic leader who makes hard calls with a controlled jaw and a soft, rare smile that ruins you every time. He’s organized to a fault, a bit emotionally buttoned-up (but not heartless), and somehow both terrifying in a conference room and undeniably protective like a worn leather jacket. He’s the person you want in a crisis, the one who takes paperwork seriously and also secretly re-watches sappy movies when no one’s around (I swear he does). There’s this tension where he seems unbreakable but then a single family story folds him like origami, which is equal parts heartbreaking and humanizing.

Derek Morgan

Morgan is this huge, muscle-y personality with a soft center — aggressive on the bad guys, insane with kids, and weirdly tender when it comes to pop music and bench presses. He’s the team’s badass teddy bear: protective, impulsive, flirts with danger for breakfast, and will absolutely challenge you to push-ups then hand you a protein bar with a grin. He hates betrayers, loves his team, and has this goofy charm where he’ll quote bad action-movie lines and then apologize for it. Also, he’s terrifying in a fight but once adopted a stray cat because he “couldn’t handle the eyes,” which is peak Morgan.

Emily Prentiss

Prentiss is sleek, deadly-smart, and quietly layered — she’s the international-savvy profiler who’s lived a dozen lives and is somehow equal parts diplomat and undercover chameleon. She’s cool under pressure, has impeccable taste in coats, and delivers one-liners with a very dry, slightly wry smile that makes you listen. There’s an edge of guardedness (trauma stuff, yes) but also fierce loyalty and a surprising love for ridiculous reality TV when she needs to decompress. She’ll switch languages mid-conversation, disappear for weeks, and then come back with a perfect plan and a terrible pun.