Mulling on. I do think people tend to characterize hannibal as low emotion but I’d argue it’s actually the polar opposite, I think he’s an extremely emotionally driven high sensitivity character. It’s just. Not always the emotional responses that are socially acceptable. I think he is also extremely good at repression, compartmentalization, and forms of disassociation that are the learned skills of someone with the emotional skin of a third degree burn victim.
That being said, I think one area of emotion he is almost completely numb that helps him operate the way he does, is he has almost no fear. In his own ways he does have empathy, regret, guilt, etc although not nearly as often as he should, but the part of his brain/emotions that feels fear is often completely non existent.
I think that’s very much an effect of extreme trauma. The worst happens, what is there left to fear? You’ve already seen hell and survived. You’re living on borrowed time and have defied death and god, you might as well do whatever you want. What could you possibly fear after that.
This makes an interesting contrast to will, who is introduced to us as being almost entirely fear. It is his number one driving force. It’s hard to narrow down the things Hannibal saw in him right away, but I do think that it’s interesting that a man who has conquered his fear through suffering and feels he is better for it meets a man who is driven by and in shackles of fear, and wonders if he is put through the worst so there is nothing left to fear, what beautiful thing will be there when the shackles are gone?