Richard Castle

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 man (later revealed to be the father he never knew) handed him a copy of Ian Fleming's Casino Royale at the New York Public Library when he was ten years old. He also claims to have been kicked out of all of New York's finer academic institutions at least once, and to have picked up speed reading while spending his days as a child in the New York Public Library.

Castle has been married and divorced twice. His first wife was Alexis's mother, Meredith (Darby Stanchfield), an impulsive, free-spirited actress, and red-haired like her daughter. 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 (Monet Mazur), his publisher, a role she continues after their divorce. 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 shared with his mother. Alexis sometimes seems more mature and responsible than her father, parenting him. Richard takes great care of her, but also likes to play with her.

Castle also plays regular poker games with fellow authors James Patterson, Stephen J. Cannell, Michael Connelly, and Dennis Lehane. When Cannell died in 2010, a fictional mystery writer was invited by Castle to the game, but a seat was left empty in their friend's honor. He also mentions being friends with Jonathan Kellerman, Wes Craven, and Stephen King.

Writing career

Early episodes of the series had Castle voicing over the introductory credits beginning with Season 2.

There are two kinds of folks who sit around thinking how to kill people: Psychopaths, and mystery writers. I'm the kind that pays better. Who am I? I'm Rick Castle... Every writer needs inspiration, and I found mine." [Det. Kate Beckett as Nikki Heat] "And thanks to my friendship with the mayor, I get to be on her case... And together, we catch killers."

Castle is an author of mystery fiction, with 26 bestsellers. His first novel, In a Hail of Bullets, accrued at least 21 rejections before being accepted by a publisher (he keeps the first rejection letter he received framed on his office wall as motivation) and winning the Nom DePlume Society's Tom Straw Award for Mystery Literature. The books have made Castle wealthy; when Alexis is kidnapped he can pay a $3 million ransom. Castle has a large multi-floor Manhattan apartment, a beachfront house in the Hamptons, and luxury cars.

His most popular works are a series starring "Derrick Storm"; A Calm Before The 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 retired or crippled Storm instead, so that he could revisit the character if he changed his mind.

His 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. 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. 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 and financial success. Castle is offered a lucrative contract for three more Nikki Heat novels, with talk in the third season of a movie adaptation. The title of his second Nikki Heat novel, Naked Heat, once again displeases Beckett.

Police consulting

In the pilot episode of Castle, Castle is consulted by Detective Beckett of the NYPD when two victims are murdered in the style of two deaths portrayed in his novels, Hell Hath No Fury and Flowers for Your Grave respectively. 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. He realizes 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 often gives breakthroughs. His career yields many contacts, including a CIA agent willing to break Agency protocol by telling Castle and Beckett that their current victim was not a CIA agent.

Although he is a proficient marksman (secret until Beckett bets with him on the practice range), he works the cases wholly unarmed (with a few rare, isolated exceptions). While his status as a consultant generally allows him to participate in the 'fun' parts of detective work without worrying about the more tedious details such as paperwork, the team puts him in situations where the criminals request no police involvement, such as to drop off a ransom. Castle still requires official police authority to request information from various sources, and can only question witnesses under supervision.

Beckett often steps in to stop him becoming carried away with wild theories that threaten to obscure the facts. He once 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. Castle's 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 had been paid for after her death.

Private investigator

After being banned from the 12th Precinct (S07 E11), Castle completed online courses and became a fully licensed private investigator, hoping that he could still work with the department by conducting his own investigations rather than as part of theirs, but was informed that this planned loophole wouldn't work as he still wasn't allowed to directly come in contact with evidence. He continued to operate as a P.I., but soon found himself dissatisfied with the role, as he was mainly hired for minor cases or people viewing his new career as a 'gimmick' rather than a serious profession; one case saw him hired by someone who wanted him to act as a fake witness to her plans to fake her own death. However, after rescuing Beckett from his old nemesis the Triple Killer, Captain Gates eventually re-hired Castle as a consultant for the 12th precinct-'officially' designating it as community service for interfering in an active case-also reinstating him as Beckett's partner.

After Gates and Beckett are promoted so that Beckett is now captain of the 12th precinct, Castle re-opens Richard Castle Investigations (his private investigator's office) to allow him to take part in investigations due to Beckett's more deskbound role.

Literature

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 No. 26 on The New York Times Best Seller list. In its fourth week on the list, Heat Wave broke into the top 10 as No. 6. Heat Wave was released in paperback on July 27, 2010 and debuted at No. 34 on The New York Times best seller Paperback Mass-Market list. 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 No. 7 on The New York Times Best Seller list. As with Heat Wave, ABC released a series of early chapters of Naked Heat online. The third Nikki Heat novel, Heat Rises, was released on September 20, 2011. The fourth book in the series, Frozen Heat, was released on September 11, 2012. A graphic novel featuring Derrick Storm titled Deadly Storm, written by Brian Michael Bendis and Kelly Sue DeConnick, with art by Lan Medina, was published by Marvel Comics on September 28, 2011. Hyperion has also published three original Derrick Storm eBook novellas; A Brewing Storm was published in May 2012, A Raging Storm in July, and A Bloody Storm in August.

Derrick Storm

Fictional novels attributed to Richard Castle:

A Calm Before The Storm

Storm's Break

Storm Warning

Unholy Storm

Gathering Storm

Storm Rising

Driving Storm

Storm's Last Stand

Storm Fall

Storm Approaching

Graphic novel of earlier fictional novels:

Deadly Storm (September 28, 2011) (ISBN 978-0-7851-5327-6)

Storm Season (October 15, 2012) (ISBN 978-0-7851-6482-1)

A Calm Before Storm (July 16, 2013) (ISBN 978-0-7851-6818-8)

Unholy Storm (May 7, 2014) (ISBN 978-0-7851-9029-5)

Books featuring the return of Derrick Storm following the events of Storm Fall:

Derrick Storm trilogy; omnibus audio-book titled Storm Surge (ISBN 978-1-4013-2638-8), omnibus book titled Ultimate Storm (ISBN 978-1-7832-9186-1)

A Brewing Storm (May 1, 2012) (ISBN 978-1-4013-0466-9)

A Raging Storm (July 3, 2012) (ISBN 978-1-4013-0467-6)

A Bloody Storm (August 7, 2012) (ISBN 978-1-4013-0468-3)

Nikki Heat

Like Castle, the Nikki Heat novels are set in New York City. The title character, Nikki Heat, is based on Castle's partner, Kate Beckett. The first book, Heat Wave, was initially published on September 29, 2009. It reached the No. 6 spot in its fourth week on the New York Times bestseller list. The second book, Naked Heat, was released on September 28, 2010. It debuted at No. 7 on the Times list. The third book, Heat Rises, was released on September 20, 2011. It debuted on the Times list on October 9 at No. 1. The fourth book was released on September 11, 2012, and debuted at No. 7 on September 23. The fifth Nikki Heat novel, Deadly Heat, was released September 17, 2013, and debuted at No. 8 on the New York Times bestseller list.

Heat Wave (September 29, 2009) (ISBN 978-1-4013-2382-0)

Naked Heat (September 28, 2010) (ISBN 978-1-4013-2402-5)

Heat Rises (September 20, 2011) (ISBN 978-1-4013-2443-8)

Frozen Heat (September 11, 2012) (ISBN 978-14013-2444-5)

Deadly Heat (September 17, 2013) (ISBN 978-14013-2480-3)

Raging Heat (September 16, 2014) (ISBN 978-14013-2481-0)

Driving Heat (September 15, 2015) (ISBN 978-14013-2482-7)

High Heat (October 25, 2016) (ISBN 978-14847-8150-0)

Heat Storm (May 2, 2017) (ISBN 978-14847-8786-1)

Crashing Heat (Mar 12, 2019) (ISBN 978-1368040525)

Detective Nikki Heat is loosely based on NYPD detective Kate Beckett, with a similar backstory. Her decision to become a detective was motivated by the death of someone close to her – although Heat has a niece and siblings that Beckett lacks – and the first case she investigates is adapted from several real cases Castle helped Beckett solve. Heat is assisted by sometimes-lover journalist Jameson Rook, and colleagues, Detectives Raley and Ochoa. Originally a theater major at Northeastern University, Nikki switched her major to criminal justice after her mother's murder. She is a practitioner of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and often spars with Don, her Navy SEAL combat trainer-with-benefits until his murder in Frozen Heat. Nikki carries the NYPD-issue SIG-Sauer P226 DAO as her duty weapon (unlike Beckett, who uses the Glock 19). She lives at an apartment in the Gramercy Park neighborhood of Manhattan. At the end of Raging Heat, Rook proposes, and the two are married in the epilogue of Driving Heat by their friend and frequent poker buddy, Judge Horace Simpson. In Frozen Heat, Nikki learns that her murdered mother, Cynthia Heat (née Trope), was a CIA agent who worked as a piano tutor for the children of various foreign nationals, and that she was murdered because she had uncovered a terrorist plot. After ten years, Nikki was able to close the case and bring her mother's killer to justice. Although Nikki passes the Lieutenant's exam with flying colors in Heat Rises, she declines the promotion in order to remain a homicide detective. She is promoted to captain of the 20th Precinct in Raging Heat after the death of Captain Wallace Irons. Although she had a little bit of a rough start as Precinct Commander in Driving Heat, Nikki eventually finds her footing. It is mentioned in High Heat that Nikki has spent her entire career at the 20th, first as a rookie beat cop, then as a patrol sergeant, followed by detective and detective squad leader, and culminating in her current rank as captain. Nikki and Rook also made a cameo appearance in Richard Castle's Derrick Storm novel, Storm Front, where they interviewed Storm after he was detained by the NYPD for being in the room with a dead body. After the events of High Heat, Nikki is offered the position of Director of Homeland Security by Presidential candidate Senator Lindsy Gardner, a position she is highly encouraged to accept by the Commissioner and Zach Hamner. She also works alongside Derrick Storm to unravel the mystery of why her mother actually faked her own death in 1999.

Other fictional novels

In a Hail of Bullets (winner of the Nom DePlume Society's Tom Straw Award for Mystery Literature)

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

Dead Man's Chest

Bullets and Bracelets

Kissed and Killed

One Bullet, One Heart

"Mystery" of the Castle ghost writer

The ABC network was able to successfully conceal the true identity of the ghost-writer of the Castle book series throughout the eight years of the program's production from 2009 through 2016, allowing the mystery of the true identity of this individual to then remain as an intriguing part of the over-all "Castle myth". In 2010, the hint was dropped, when the "Nom de Plume Society", and the "Tom Straw Mystery Writer's Award", were apparently created to fete actor Nathan Fillion with said award; however, at that point in time, the general public remained unaware of the connection. The general mystery persisted regarding the ghost-writer's true identity, despite the fact that some then proposed the possibility that therefore Straw must be the true ghost-writer. The ghost-writer's name was only finally fully revealed after the series production was discontinued in 2016. It was then officially acknowledged that the Castle book series was indeed entirely written by a ghostwriter and that established screenwriter Tom Straw wrote the first seven.