Richard Castle

Richard Castle
Nathan Fillion as Richard Castle.
Castle
Portrayed by	Nathan Fillion
First appearance	"Flowers for your Grave" (1.01)
Created by	Andrew W. Marlowe
Profile
Aliases	"Rick" (nickname)
Occupation	Bestselling author[1]
Relationships Parents Martha Rodgers (mother) Spouse(s) Meredith Castle (ex-wife) Gina Cowell (ex-wife) Romances Kyra Blaine (ex-girlfriend) Children Alexis Castle (daughter)

Richard Edgar "Rick" Castle (born Richard Alexander Rodgers^[2]) is a fictional character portrayed by Nathan Fillion in the ABC crime series Castle.

Character

Family life

Castle is the father of Alexis Castle and the son of Martha Rodgers (who lives with him). Castle's birth name is Richard Alexander Rodgers, but he changed it to Richard Edgar Castle when he became a writer (Edgar in honor of Edgar Allan Poe).^[2] Fillion describes the family dynamic as unconventional because Castle is "mothered by his... daughter, [then]... turns around and mothers his own mother".^[3] As a child, he never knew who his father was—reasoning 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—and was looked after by a nanny who spent most of her time watching daytime television, with One Life to Live as the inspiration to write his first novel. He also claims to have been kicked out of all of New York's finer academic institutions at least once,^[4] and to have picked up speed reading while spending his days as a child in the New York Public Library.^[5]

Castle has been married and divorced twice. His first wife was Alexis' mother, Meredith, an impulsive, free-spirited actress. She and Richard occasionally meet for a sexual liaison, causing Richard to refer to her metaphorically as a "deep-fried twinkie" (something that is a treat on occasion, but to have it every day would kill you) when she contemplated moving back to New York. His second wife was Gina Cowell,^[6] his publisher, a role she continues after their divorce.^[7] Castle and Gina became involved again, briefly, when she spent a summer with him in the Hamptons supervising his second Nikki Heat novel, but they soon ended their relationship.

Castle has sole custody of his daughter, Alexis. As a result of his own experiences being raised by a nanny, he insisted on raising her himself, made easier by the fact that he works from his large loft apartment. Alexis is quite mature and responsible compared to her father, and in some sense parents him and herself. Richard takes great care to look after her well-being, but also behaves like a surrogate sibling in some ways.

Castle also plays regular poker games with fellow authors James Patterson, Stephen J. Cannell, Michael Connelly, and Dennis Lehane.

Writing career

Castle is an author of mystery fiction, with 26 bestsellers. His first novel, In a Hail of Bullets, won the Nom DePlume Society's Tom Straw Award for Mystery Literature.^[8] His most popular works are a series starring "Derrick Storm"; Gathering Storm, Unholy Storm, Storm's Last Stand, Storm Season, Storm Rising, Storm Warning, and Storm's Break and in the pilot episode, Castle attends a party for the release of the final book in the Storm series, Stormfall, which ends with the surprise death of Derrick Storm, Castle having become bored with the character. He later reads from the novel before a book-signing. Patterson and Cannell both disagree with the decision to kill off Storm, with Cannell commenting that he could have crippled Storm instead, so that he could revisit the character if he changed his mind. Castle's other books include Death of a Prom Queen, Flowers For Your Grave, Hell Hath No Fury, A Skull at Springtime, At Dusk We Die, When It Comes to Slaughter, and A Rose for Everafter.^[9] By his own admission, his early works—Death of a Prom Queen, Flowers For Your Grave, and Hell Hath No Fury—are of poor quality; he points to Hell Hath No Fury in particular, with its plotline of "angry Wiccans out for blood" as being a low point in his career.

After using his friendship with the Mayor to get partnered with NYPD detective Kate Beckett under the pretense of conducting research for a new character, Castle plans a new series of novels starring a new character, a detective based on Beckett. He soon names Beckett's literary alter-ego "Nikki Heat", much to her embarrassment.^[10] Beckett takes umbrage at the name, regarding it a "stripper name", and insists that Castle change it, despite his proposing the book titles Summer Heat, Heat Wave, and In Heat. Ultimately, he sticks with the name, and the first novel in the series, Heat Wave, is released to much critical acclaim, with talk in the third season of a movie adaptation. The title of his second Nikki Heat novel, Naked Heat, once again displeases Beckett.

It has been suggested that Castle's interest in death, murder, and the macabre may be the result of a childhood trauma. When Beckett confronts him about it, Castle avoids the question. However, as soon as he tells the story, he admits it is fictional and that it's "[his] job to make stuff up". Later, he admits to his daughter that one of the reasons he writes is to try to understand how criminals could do the things they do. He was under consideration for a deal to write three novels revolving around an unnamed British spy but rejected the offer, allegedly because his publisher wanted three more Nikki Heat novels and offered him more money, but secretly because accepting would have ended his collaboration with Beckett.

Real-world novels

As a promotion for the show, "Richard Castle's" book Heat Wave was released in hardcover by Hyperion on September 29, 2009 and debuted at #26 on The New York Times Best Seller list.^[11] In its fourth week on the list, Heat Wave broke into the top 10 as #6.^[1] Heat Wave was released in paperback on July 27, 2010 and debuted at #34 on The New York Times best seller Paperback Mass-Market list.^[12] The novel features a fictionalized version of the already fictional Richard Castle, named "Jameson Rook", who enters into a partnership with Heat that mirrors Castle's working relationship with Beckett. The second novel, Naked Heat, was released September 28, 2010, and debuted at #7 on The New York Times Best Seller list.^[13] As with Heat Wave, ABC released a series of early chapters of Naked Heat online.^[14] The third Nikki Heat novel, Heat Rises, was released on September 20, 2011.^[15] A graphic novel featuring Derrick Storm titled Deadly Storm, written by Brian Michael Bendis and Kelly Sue DeConnick, with art by Lan Medina, will be published by Marvel Comics on September 28, 2011.^{[16][dated info]}

Police consulting

In the pilot episode of the eponymous Castle, Castle is consulted by Detective Beckett of the NYPD when two victims are murdered in the style of two deaths portrayed in Castle's novels. Though Beckett wants Castle's access to the case limited, Castle repeatedly defies her instructions in order to see the handiwork of his copycat. Unsatisfied with what he considers a boring resolution to the case, Castle convinces Beckett to continue the investigation, and winds up discovering deeper layers to the crime; while the murders initially appeared to have been committed by the mentally ill client of a social worker who was one of the victims, Castle notes that the murderer did not duplicate the crimes exactly, eliminating the possibility that he was a deranged fan, realizing that the killer was actually the social worker's brother attempting to frame her client so that he could inherit his father's money after his death (his father suffering from terminal cancer). By the end of the pilot, Castle enters into a working relationship with Beckett under the pretense of conducting research for his new series of "Nikki Heat" novels.

This relationship is often strained by Castle's luck in personally encountering the suspects, and sneaking in behind breaching teams even after Beckett has ordered him to remain behind, his attempts to follow them once allowing a suspect a chance to escape (although in Castle's defense this was merely because his ex-wife called him on his cell phone during the stake-out rather than any mistakes on his part). Despite this, Castle's familiarity with numerous obscure subjects has allowed him to continue working with Detective Beckett on what are classified as "unusual" homicides, Castle often being able to provide further assistance and information about the current case due to his wide range of contacts assembled during his writing career—including a CIA agent who was actually willing to break Agency protocol by telling Castle and Beckett that their current victim was not a CIA agent despite Agency policy being to deny any requests about agent identification—and the research he has carried out during that time. Although he is a proficient marksman (a fact he keeps hidden until Beckett made a wager with him on the practice range), he works the cases wholly unarmed.

Although Beckett must often step in to stop him becoming carried away with his theories of what happened when they threaten to obscure the search for the facts—such as when he speculated that a surgeon had been killed for his involvement in an organ-smuggling ring before they discovered that he was wanted for plastic surgery he had performed for someone in witness protection—his writing career has given him a knack for noting minor details in the situations they investigate, such as when he noted that rent for a victim's apartment would have been paid for after her death. Although initially portrayed as relatively jocular and slightly immature about his role in investigations, such as having a bulletproof vest made up for himself that says "WRITER" rather than "POLICE" so he can participate in raids, Castle has demonstrated significant character depth as the series progresses. This was shown most keenly in "Sucker Punch", when, while attempting to catch the killer responsible for the death of Beckett's mother over a decade ago, Castle willingly donated $100,000 of his own money to set up a fake hit to try to lure the killer out so that he could be caught, subsequently offering to terminate his partnership with Beckett after she was forced to shoot the real killer (who was revealed to be a contract assassin who would not disclose the identity of the person who hired him) in order to save his life, although Beckett rejected the offer on the grounds that Castle made her hard job more fun.

In season 3's "Nikki Heat", Castle is upset when B-movie actress Natalie Rhodes is cast as Nikki, thinking she is not right for the role. When Rhodes comes onto a case to observe Beckett, Castle is further insulted that she has not read the actual book, he is considered unimportant to the film and Beckett likes having Natalie around. However, as the case goes on, Rhodes begins to copy Beckett's mannerisms and outfits, complete with brunette wig, annoying Beckett while Castle begins to like her more. At one point, Rhodes kisses Castle, making it clear she wants to sleep with him to feel the character more but Castle turns her down, telling Beckett that sleeping with the actress playing the fictional version of her is "way too meta".

In "KnockDown", Castle helps Beckett in catching her mother's killer. When Martha says that he has written 22 books before meeting Beckett but he did not have to go to police station everyday, Castle replied by saying that it is not about the books anymore. Castle and Beckett finally kiss as a ploy to distract a guard, though their reactions imply that they both felt something.

Since then, despite Beckett's relationship, they have begun spending increasing amounts of time together, with Castle even admitting he is jealous when Beckett agrees to help another writer with his book. In the final episode of Season 3, "Knockout", Castle finally admits his feelings to Beckett after she is shot while delivering a eulogy at Roy Montgomery's funeral after Montgomery sacrificed himself to atone for his role in the death of Beckett's mother, but she claims amnesia after she has recovered from the shooting, refusing the possibility of a relationship while her mother's real killer still walks free.

Novels by Richard Castle

Derrick Storm novels

• Gathering Storm
• A Calm Before The Storm
• Storm's Last Stand
• Storm Season
• Storm Rising
• Unholy Storm
• Storm Warning
• Storm's Break
• Storm Fall
• Storm Approaching
• Driving Storm
• Derrick Storm^[17]

Nikki Heat novels

• Heat Wave (ISBN 978-1-4013-2382-0)^[1][11]
• Naked Heat (ISBN 978-1-4013-2402-5)
• Heat Rises (ISBN 978-1-4013-2443-8)

Other novels

• In a Hail of Bullets (winner of the Nom DePlume Society's Tom Straw Award for Mystery Literature)^[8]
• Death of a Prom Queen
• Flowers For Your Grave
• Hell Hath No Fury
• A Skull at Springtime
• At Dusk We Die
• When It Comes to Slaughter
• A Rose for Everafter^[9]
• Dead Man's Chest
• Bullets and Bracelets
• Kissed and Killed
• One Bullet One Heart

Development

According to Fillion, the character's name "Rick Castle" was intended to sound "like you're saying 'Rich Asshole'", and executive producer Andrew W. Marlowe confirmed that "'it's certainly a way when you're yelling his name for it to sound a little bit like ...' a profanity."^{[citation needed]} The actor also describes Castle as "a bit of a douche"^[18] with "a bit of a Peter Pan syndrome" stemming from a lack of "real male adult role model[s] in his life."^[19]

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.^[20] On casting Fillion to fill the role, Marlowe described Castle as "the right vehicle for the right personality."^[21] He also acknowledged the similarity between the Castle/Beckett relationship and the Booth/Brennan relationship of Bones.^[22]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/books/bestseller/besthardfiction.html NY Times Bestseller #6 4th week
2. ^ ^{a b} episode "He's Dead, She's Dead"
3. ^ by BuzzSugar (March 27, 2010). "Nathan Fillion on Playing the Childlike Richard Castle". Buzzsugar.com. http://www.buzzsugar.com/2902493. Retrieved January 20, 2011. 
4. ^ "Hedge Fund Homeboys". Castle. ABC. 2009-03-23. No. 3, season 1.
5. ^ "A Chill Goes Through Her Veins". Castle. ABC. 2009-04-06. No. 5, season 1.
6. ^ "Listing - Castle on ABC". Thefutoncritic.com. March 9, 2009. http://www.thefutoncritic.com/listings.aspx?id=20090223abc02. Retrieved January 20, 2011. 
7. ^ "Flowers for Your Grave". Castle. ABC. 2009-03-09. No. 1, season 1.
8. ^ ^{a b} "'Heat Wave' cover". Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/dp/1401323820. Retrieved January 20, 2011. 
9. ^ ^{a b} "Making Book on 'Castle'". Toobworld.blogspot.com. March 11, 2009. http://toobworld.blogspot.com/2009/03/making-book-on-castle.html. Retrieved January 20, 2011. 
10. ^ "What's Alan Watching? Castle, 'Nanny McDead': To protect and serve, and to participate and annoy". Sepinwall.blogspot.com. March 17, 2009. http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2009/03/castle-nanny-mcdead-to-protect-and.html. Retrieved January 20, 2011. 
11. ^ ^{a b} Cowles, Gregory (October 18, 2009). "Hardcover Fiction". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/books/bestseller/besthardfiction.html. Retrieved May 22, 2010. 
12. ^ Dixler, Elsa (15 August 2010). "NY Times Bestseller Paperback Mass-Market #34". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/15/books/bestseller/bestpapermassfiction.html. Retrieved January 20, 2011. 
13. ^ Dixler, Elsa. "Best Sellers - The New York Times". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/17/books/bestseller/besthardfiction.html. Retrieved January 20, 2011. 
14. ^ "ABC.com - Castle - Naked Heat". Abc.go.com. http://abc.go.com/shows/castle/naked-heat. Retrieved January 20, 2011. 
15. ^ Bierly, Mandi (April 8, 2011). "'Heat Rises': Plot synopsis of Richard Castle's third Nikki Heat novel revealed -- EXCLUSIVE". Entertainment Weekly. http://shelf-life.ew.com/2011/04/08/heat-rises-castle-plot/. Retrieved August 14, 2011. 
16. ^ Wolk, Douglas (May 16, 2011). "Marvel Comics to Adapt (Imaginary) 'Castle' Novel". Time (magazine). http://techland.time.com/2011/05/16/marvel-comics-to-adapt-imaginary-castle-novel/. Retrieved August 14, 2011. 
17. ^ "Richard Castle's books". http://www.richardcastle.net/books. Retrieved April 11, 2011. 
18. ^ Tim Surette. "Castle{'}s Nathan Fillion on his new role: 'He's a douche.'". Tv.com. http://www.tv.com/story/12874.html?ref_story_id=12874&ref_type=1101&ref_name=story. Retrieved January 20, 2011. 
19. ^ Rothing, Hilary (March 9, 2009). "Nathan Fillion Talks Castle and a Little Itty Bit of Whedon". Tvblog.ugo.com. http://tvblog.ugo.com/index.php/tvblog/more/nathan_fillion_talks_castle_and_a_little_itty_bit_of_whedon/. Retrieved January 20, 2011. 
20. ^ "Fillion's bad boy charm makes him king of ABC's Castle". Thepost.ca. http://www.thepost.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1459161. Retrieved January 20, 2011. 
21. ^ King of the Castle^{[dead link]}
22. ^ "Owen-TV: Castle star the next Angela Lansbury?". Scrippsnews.com. http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/41444. Retrieved January 20, 2011. 

External links

• Official website
• Castle at the Internet Movie Database
• Castle at TV.com
• Heat Wave @ ABC.com
• Heat Wave @ Amazon.com