the people have spoken and they desperately want hannibal lecter headcanons that are actually fact:
i want to preface my headcanon's with this;
if will graham is first and foremost a liar, hannibal lecter is first and foremost a narcissist. one who's primary motivations are his understanding of complex beauty and aesthetics and a desperation for control. hannibal lecter doesn't form his opinions, morals, and ethical beliefs based off of what society tells him but what individuals show him, or moreso how he perceives what people show him. and it is his own ego—and the fact that he has the intellect to prove it (aka his ability to manipulate people)—that leads him to believe that he is just in his actions.
which leads to my first couple of headcanons
1. hannibal and will kill for similar reasons. justice. though hannibal's sense of justice is rooted in his narcissism, in his perception of what is good and evil. which is less so, for hannibal, rooted in ethics and intentions, and moreso rooted in those things he considers beautiful and ugly. (technically so is will's but will doesn't believe he is a narcissist)
2. hannibal is far more likely to manipulate a woman than kill one and when he does kill a woman its different than why he kills a man.
3. there are three primary reasons hannibal eats people. they fall into the categories of: why hannibal ate his sister, why hannibal eats his victims, and why hannibal wants to eat will. They are all vastly different reasons.
3a. Hannibal wants to eat will multiple times throughout the show and for different reasons throughout. but he doesn't always want to eat will and by the time show ends he'd rather have will alive than eaten.
4. hannibal doesn't have a tv, but he does read about relevant tv shows in order to make easy conversation with people as needed.
4b. hannibal has a speaker system built into his house but he primarily uses a record player. the only real technology he uses regularly is his tablet.
5. the only 'modern' musician hannibal listens to regularly is aretha franklin. argue with your mama
6. hannibal doesn't shop at 'luxury' stores. all of his clothes are handmade, he has one specific tailor he goes to and only uses specific fabrics
6a. think about it this way, if you can find the 'luxury' store in an outlet mall, hannibal isn't shopping there.
6a. hannibal has sensitive skin. hence why he primarily wears silk.
6b. hannibal washes his own clothes and only used a dry cleaner if absolutely necessary. he would rather hand wash than trust another person with his clothes.
7. hannibal bottoms, not all of the time but with will absolutely. he, a man always in control, would absolutely yield it to the one person he trusts with his life and his death.
8. hannibal makes his own ice cream. but his favorite is from a random gelato place in florence that makes it homemade fresh daily.
9. hannibal detests nicknames, but will never call will anything but will. if thats because wills legal name is will or because will hates william, we may never know
10. hannibal rarely, if ever, reads fiction released after 1970. the last romance he read was pride & prejudice.
11. hannibal doesn't allow himself to hungry. ever.
12. hannibal doesn't just buy the most expensive thing. he does extensive research on what is the BEST thing, and that's what he buys.
13. hannibal is fully capable of feeling remorse, he just often chooses not to, as remorse doesn't benefit him.
13a. hannibal is not a psychopath, he has psychopathic tendencies, but hannibal–as i said earlier–is a narcissist. his narcissism looks like psychopathy, but he wouldn't fit all of the diagnostic criteria to be a psychopath. he doesn't kill because he can he does because he's curious what would happen. and is certain he won't get caught.
13b. hannibal understands and has too much empathy to be a psychopath. he doesn't fake his empathy, he just doesn't use it as a driving force for most of his actions towards other people.
- see: hannibal flipping a coin to decide whether or not to save bella. i don't think he didn't see that her death would hurt jack. or that his saving her would benefit him. i think he wanted to see what would happen. empathy be damned.
14. i think it shocked hannibal that he fell in love with will. and i think he didn't realize it was love until after he'd framed will.
15. this is more a will headcanon (of which there will be more should the people want them) than a hannibal one but hannibals stabbing will was an act of forgiveness and will accepted that forgiveness, accepted it as an act of apology, and forgave hannibal in that very moment.
15a. abigail was always meant to die, it was punishment to will and her life was always going to be a tool in wills becoming. just as much as will mourned her death in the moment, he too accepted this as a part of the continuation of his relationship with hannibal.
this is a list that will grow because i am inevitably a lil crazy about these guys. and also a will graham list will come if im bullied enough.
