Richard Edgar "Rick" Castle (born Richard Alexander Rodgers) is a fictional character on the ABC crime series Castle. He is portrayed by Nathan Fillion. The name Richard Castle is also used as a pseudonym under which a set of real books about the characters Derrick Storm and Nikki Heat, based on the books mentioned in the television series, are written. These books have achieved success, becoming New York Times bestsellers. Actor Nathan Fillion appears as the face of Richard Castle on the books and on the official website, and participates in book signings. The Castle book series was actually written/ ghost-written by screenwriter Tom Straw. Creation and development According to Fillion, the character's name "Rick Castle" was noted by the show creator as sounding like "Rich Asshole" and says that this reflects his character. He describes Castle as being "a bit of a douche" with a Peter Pan syndrome stemming from a lack of a "real male adult role model in his life". Andrew Marlowe explained that he designed Castle's character as one that presents a "storytelling point of view" as a counterpoint to Beckett's evidence-based police work. On casting Fillion to fill the role, Marlowe described Castle as "the right vehicle for the right personality". He also acknowledged the similarity between the Castle/Beckett relationship and the Booth/Brennan relationship of Bones. Character overview Family life Castle is the father of Alexis Castle and the son of Martha Rodgers, both of whom live with him. His father is a CIA operative who has used the aliases "Jackson Hunt" and "Anderson Cross". Castle's birth name is Richard Alexander Rodgers; he uses Richard Edgar Castle as his nom de plume, (Edgar in honor of Edgar Allan Poe, though he still considers Alexander his middle name). Fillion describes the family dynamic as unconventional because "Castle is very much mothered by his 15-year-old daughter, and at the same time he turns around and mothers his own mother." As a child, he never knew who his father was. He reasoned that he never missed having a father as he never had anything to miss, and it allowed him to imagine that his father could be anyone he wished. He was looked after by a nanny who spent most of her time watching daytime television. One Life to Live was the inspiration to write his first novel. He was further inspired to become a writer when a