Hancock

Biodata

Background / History

Hancock grew up in a happy household with both parents present. His family took him to church from childhood, although he became only an occasional churchgoer as an adult. He and Nick became close friends during their school years; Hancock later credits Nick with helping him handle school bullies and plan a future despite his poor grades 3 131 132.

After high school, Hancock barely gained admission to a community college before joining the Portland Police Bureau. He entered the force more than two years before Nick, and the two eventually spent just over a year as patrol partners. Hancock became a detective first; by Nick’s promotion, he had nearly six years of police experience and had spent almost a year in homicide. Inspector Renard reunited them as homicide partners when Nick joined the detectives’ office 3 8.

By this point, Hancock had already been divorced three times. His former wives were lawyers or psychologists, including Wendy, the psychologist assigned to Nick after his first fatal shooting. Hancock lived in a rented apartment only a block from Nick’s home 8 55.

Appearance

• Build and complexion: A large Black man with a relatively light, tan complexion 2 218.
• Face: Slightly resembles Eddie Murphy, with a large nose, thick lips, and small patches of facial hair above his upper lip and on his chin 2.
• Accessories: Likes wearing ear studs 19.
• Grooming: Pays close attention to cleanliness and body odor, carrying antiperspirant alongside his badge and gun 83.

Personality

Hancock is sociable, flirtatious, and fond of teasing Nick about women. He arranges Nick’s promotion celebration partly because Nick’s popularity will attract women from across the bureau and related departments. His romantic enthusiasm survives three failed marriages; much later, he confides that he may have fallen in love again with an elegant woman nearly old enough to be his mother 3 8 210.

Beneath his complaints about overtime and routine follow-up work, Hancock is a loyal friend. He worries about Nick’s mental health after a shooting, works overnight to identify an attacker who targeted Nick and Mary, and offers to take over Nick’s cases so he can spend time at the hospital. Nick explicitly considers him dependable when it comes to choosing sides 7 8 65 119 120 138.

His acceptance of the supernatural is difficult rather than immediate. After killing a Blutbad, he suffers nightmares and seeks help from his psychologist ex-wife while trying to explain what he witnessed as a hallucination. Learning that Wesen are real badly shakes him, but he refuses to abandon his partnership with Nick and asks for time to adjust 20 131 132.

Abilities & Skills

Police Investigation

Hancock is regarded as capable at police work and becomes a detective ahead of Nick. Their team later holds the highest case-clearance rate in the PPB 3 196.

• Evidence follow-up: Regularly obtains fingerprint results, laboratory findings, autopsy information, and other supporting records 11 119 134 211.
• Identity research: Identifies Horda’s multiple criminal identities with FBI assistance and discovers that an organ transporter is using the identity of a man who died in 2005 65 86.
• Interviewing: Questions witnesses and challenges suspects’ accounts, including pressing Roy Collins for corroboration of his whereabouts 81 134.
• Surveillance: Attaches a tracker beneath Billy Capra’s car and searches the inn for evidence of a repaired window 139 140.
• Evidentiary judgment: Recognizes that a suspect’s regenerated finger could undermine the physical evidence presented to a judge 218.

Firearms and Field Response

Hancock carries a police handgun and acts decisively when victims are in immediate danger, although Nick describes his usual marksmanship as mediocre 20.

• Shoots Robin Howell’s abductor twice from a prone position after being knocked out of the cabin 20.
• Fires through a farm building’s window to stop Levin from beginning surgery on a captive, then kills her armed assistant during the raid 94.
• Uses a small oxygen cylinder as an improvised projectile against Billy Capra, causing him to fall onto a spiked fence 142.

Knowledge of Wesen

Hancock remains an ordinary human after learning about Wesen; his new knowledge does not grant him Grimm perception 131 132.

• Can see Wesen forms when their owners deliberately reveal themselves, but cannot normally perceive the involuntary transformations visible to Grimms and other Wesen 132.
• Learns from Nick and Monroe about Wesen traits, including Goat Wesen methods of influencing desire 132 137.
• Initially conceals his knowledge from Renard at Nick’s request and maintains the appearance of an uninformed subordinate 138 211.
• Remains vulnerable to supernatural effects: Capra’s influence leaves him distracted, and the gas in Capra’s basement nearly incapacitates him 136 142.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Police badge and handgun — Regularly carried on duty; the handgun is used during the cabin confrontation and farm raid 20 83 94.
• Gray Mercury car — His inconspicuous vehicle, used when answering Nick’s call for backup at the cabin 19.
• Respirator with a small oxygen cylinder — Supplied by Nick for the Capra investigation. It helps Hancock escape the basement gas, and the cylinder becomes an improvised weapon 139 142.
• Vehicle tracker — Planted beneath Capra’s MG convertible during surveillance 139.

Relationships

• Nick Burkhardt — Longtime friend, former patrol partner, and homicide partner. Hancock trusts Nick’s judgment, while Nick supports him through his injuries and eventual introduction to the Wesen world 3 8 55 131 132.
• Inspector Renard — His commanding officer. Hancock becomes wary of Renard after learning his supernatural identity and initially keeps his own knowledge secret; Nick later presents Renard as an ally in handling Wesen affairs 132 138 211 212.
• Wendy — Psychologist and one of his three ex-wives. Despite his reluctance to see her, Hancock seeks her help after the traumatic cabin shooting 8 131.
• Harper Riley — Medical examiner with whom he has a past romantic entanglement. Hancock says her interest is in having a child, and Nick frequently teases him about their awkward relationship 80.
• Dahlia — Nick’s partner. Their first encounter ends with her pinning the injured Hancock to the floor after apparently mistaking him for a burglar 54.
• Monroe — Helps demonstrate the reality of Wesen by voluntarily transforming in front of Hancock and later explains Goat Wesen behavior 131 132 137.
• Labe — A Bear Wesen lawyer present when Nick reveals the supernatural world to Hancock. His voluntary transformation helps overturn Hancock’s previous understanding of their cases 131 132.
• Andrew Wu — Fellow officer and regular investigative colleague who assists with crime scenes, witnesses, and searches 14 118 121 218.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Forest Park Murders and Robin Howell’s Rescue

Hancock helps investigate the dismembered remains found in Forest Park and notices similarities to a recent Manson Falls case. During the search for missing six-year-old Robin Howell, he discovers her schoolbag beneath a spruce and reports the abduction scene to headquarters 10 11 14.

At the suspect’s cabin, Hancock initially doubts that the polite, apron-wearing host could be a killer. The man attacks the detectives and flees on all fours; Hancock shoots him before they can learn where Robin is hidden. Nick subsequently finds Robin in a concealed cellar 19 20.

Hancock suffers two broken ribs and takes critical incident leave after his first fatal shooting. The discovery of apparent human remains in the kitchen and several victims’ red coats establishes that he has killed a cannibalistic serial murderer. Although Robin’s rescue brings relief, the attacker’s inhuman behavior continues to trouble him afterward 20 21 131.

Recovery and the Attack on Mary

Still recovering, Hancock visits Nick after leaving the hospital and reminds him of his promise to provide meals. When another attacker later targets Nick and Mary, Hancock oversees the forensic follow-up while Nick goes to the hospital 54 55 62.

Working overnight with FBI assistance, Hancock identifies the dead attacker as Horda, a wanted criminal using several identities. He also researches the scythe’s inscription and translates it as “Grimm killer,” without yet understanding its significance 65.

Steven Bamford and the Organ-Harvesting Farm

Hancock and Nick investigate Steven Bamford, a homeless teenager who suffered severe blood loss before drowning. Their inquiries lead through Steven’s acquaintances and a free clinic to a wider operation involving harvested human organs 80 82 85 86.

During the farm raid, Hancock sees Levin preparing to operate on a captive and opens fire rather than wait. He provides covering fire while Nick and the ERT enter, then alerts Nick when Levin escapes through the back. Six captives are rescued, and the FBI takes over the multistate case 94.

Streetcar Murders and Adalind’s Protection

Hancock assists with the investigation of Serena Dembrooke’s death, following up on bee-venom testing and Professor Spinella. When Renard orders protection for Adalind Shade, Nick reveals to Hancock that she previously posed as a nurse and tried to kill Mary 118 119 121 122 126.

Hancock fears Nick may retaliate and urges him not to act while Adalind is under police protection. He handles her protection until Renard withdraws the detail, after which the partners are assigned a series of missing-women cases 126 128.

Learning About Wesen

After the food truck’s opening celebration, Hancock stays behind for Nick’s promised explanation of their strange cases. Seeing Monroe and Labe transform leaves him trembling and drinking heavily, but also confirms that his earlier experience at the cabin was real 128 131 132.

The following morning, he asks Nick how ordinary human sight differs from Grimm perception and voices concern about Renard. Despite his sleeplessness and shock, he rejects changing partners or leaving Portland and returns to investigative work 132.

Billy Capra’s Arrest

While investigating Faith Collins’s death, Hancock experiences Capra’s unsettling influence firsthand. He later plants a tracker on Capra’s car and finds evidence of a repaired window at the Thorn House inn 134 136 139 140.

Hancock discovers three women imprisoned in the basement and narrowly escapes the gas with his respirator. During Capra’s flight from Nick, Dean, and Sam, Hancock throws the oxygen cylinder at him, sending him onto the iron fence. Renard singles Hancock out for praise after the victims are rescued 142.

Fox Wesen Murders and the Massinger Investigation

Hancock investigates Frederick Calvert’s murder and observes that the untouched cash drawer makes an ordinary robbery unlikely. In a subsequent case involving a desiccated Fox Wesen corpse, he finds a severed finger that continues moving 199 200 207.

He obtains the stolen Rolex’s serial number and follows the evidence to the Massinger household. When Lina reveals that her bandaged finger has completely healed, Hancock accepts Nick’s explanation of regeneration but immediately identifies the legal problem: physical evidence linking her to the killings may now be challenged in court 211 218.