This representation of the serial killer has evolved substantially since its introduction into fiction.
Now, they are regarded as three-dimensional characters, with reasons behind their action, instead of monstrous beings whose only plan is to cause havoc for the thrill of it. Studies made to understand serial killers better have also helped us in establishing patterns to build tropes and personalities for fictional serial killers. Their shared many traits have thus been used to create archetypes and tropes that would translate easily for entertainment purposes. To further break the modern representation down, the components of the modern serial killer trope consist of the types of serial killers, as well as their physical and personal traits.
First of all, there are four main categories of motives that serial killers are places under. The four categories are: visionary, mission-oriented, hedonistic and power/control. Although there are four main classifications, there are a couple more sub-categories and one’s motives may sometimes display overlapping between all the categories.
The visionary killer is one who suffers from hallucinations and/or delusions that encourage them to carry out the act. Often times, they may believe that they are doing so for some kind of higher power or force, such as God, Satan or the voices inside their head. An example of one such killer is Norman Bates in Bates Motel. Norman has a very close, almost Oedipal relationship with his mother, and