Aaron Hotchner

Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner is currently the BAU's Chief Supervisory Special Agent, as of the retirment of Gideon.

Background
Hotch was a former profiler in the Seattle, WA field Office before transferring to Quantico. His struggles to maintain his family life have been an ongoing theme of the show.

On the Job
After a two-week suspension for releasing a serial killer, Hotch requested a transfer by Erin Strauss, who was pressuring him for such a request. This pleased his wife, until Agent Morgan begged Hotch to come help on a case in Milwaukee and while he was packing up his desk, Garcia handed him the case file and lied to him, telling him that his transfer was held up and that JJ wanted him to have the file. Hotch decided to stay with the BAU against his wife's wishes—when he returned to Virginia, his wife and son were gone. In episode 3x11 (Birthright) he was served with divorce papers as he was leaving the office; he is seen signing them in a later episode. In episode 3x01 (Doubt) it was revealed that Hotchner had previously worked as a prosecutor - more specifically, episode 3x19 (Tabula Rasa) indicated he had been with the District Attorney's office. In 1x08 (Natural Born Killer), when he is interrogating Vincent Perotta, Hotchner comments on the fact that it is logical for some abused children to become killers. Perrotta notes Hotch's use of the word "some"; Hotch responds only by saying: "And, some grow up to catch them." This comment seems to imply that Hotchner was also abused as a child. His hearing has been damaged as a result of the car explosion he was caught in at the beginning of Season 4. The doctor tells him that if he isn't careful he will go deaf, instead he goes on a case and a gun is fired near his ear which nearly makes him lose his hearing, episode 4x02 (The Angel Maker). In episode 4x04 (Paradise) he started to doubt himself when a suspect he interviewed turned out to be the Unsub.