Red Dragon is a psychological horror novel by American author Thomas Harris, first published in 1981. The plot follows former FBI profiler Will Graham, who comes out of retirement to find and apprehend an enigmatic serial killer nicknamed "the Tooth Fairy". The novel introduced the character Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer whom Graham reluctantly turns to for advice and with whom he has a dark past. The title refers to the figure from William Blake's painting The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed in Sun. The novel was adapted as a film, Manhunter, in 1986, which featured Brian Cox as Lecter (spelled "Lecktor" within the film). Directed by Michael Mann, the film received mixed reviews and fared poorly at the box office. It has since developed a cult following. After Harris wrote a sequel to the novel, The Silence of the Lambs (1988), itself turned into a highly successful film in 1991, Red Dragon found a new readership. A second sequel, Hannibal, was published in 1999 and adapted into a film in 2001. Both film sequels featured Anthony Hopkins in the role of Hannibal Lecter, for which he won an Oscar for Best Actor in 1991. Due to the success of the second and third films, Red Dragon was remade as a film directed by Brett Ratner in 2002, this time bearing the title of the original novel and with Hopkins playing Lecter. Elements of the novel also influenced the NBC television series Hannibal, while the plot was adapted as the second half of the series' third season. Plot In 1975, Will Graham, a brilliant profiler of the FBI, captured the serial killer Hannibal Lecter. However, Graham suffered serious injuries from the encounter and retired afterward. 5 years later, in 1980, a serial killer nicknamed "The Tooth Fairy" stalks and murders seemingly random families during sequential full moons. He first kills the Jacobi family in Birmingham, Alabama, then the Leeds family in Atlanta, Georgia. Two days after the Leeds murders, agent Jack Crawford, Graham's mentor, goes to Graham's Marathon, Florida residence and pleads for his assistance; Graham reluctantly agrees. After looking over the crime scenes with only minimal insight, Graham realizes he must visit Lecter and seek his help to capture "the Tooth Fairy." "The Tooth Fairy" is revealed (to the readers) to be the production chief of a St. Louis film processing firm