How did Dexter Morgan’s childhood trauma influence his character?

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In the TV series Dexter, Dexter Morgan was traumatized as a child after witnessing his mother’s murder and being trapped in a shipping container with his mother’s body for several days, leading to violent behavior. His adoptive father, Harry Morgan, discovered Dexter’s violent tendencies and created a moral code for Dexter to channel his destructive urges toward killing only bad people.