Aaron Hotchner

Aaron Hotchner
Criminal Minds character
Thomas Gibson as Aaron Hotchner
First appearance	"Extreme Aggressor" 1x01, September 22, 2005
Last appearance	"Sick Day" 12x02, October 5, 2016
Created by	Jeff Davis
Portrayed by	Thomas Gibson
Information
Nickname(s)	Hotch
Occupation	FBI Special Agent
Title	FBI BAU Supervisory Special Agent FBI BAU Unit Chief FBI BAU Communications Liaison
Family	Sean Hotchner (brother)
Spouse(s)	Haley Brooks Hotchner (ex-wife, deceased) Beth Clemmons (ex-girlfriend)
Children	Jack Hotchner (son)

Aaron Hotchner is a fictional character from the CBS crime drama Criminal Minds, portrayed by Thomas Gibson. He is a Supervisory Special Agent and the unit chief of the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit, and has appeared from the series' pilot episode "Extreme Aggressor", which was originally broadcast on September 22, 2005.

Hotch begins the series married to his high school sweetheart Haley (Meredith Monroe). They have a son named Jack (Cade Owens), though they later separated over Hotch's dedication to his job. Meredith Monroe's character Haley was later killed in season five by serial killer George Foyet. Two years after Haley's death, he met triathlon runner Beth Clemmons, and had been in a relationship with her, until season ten when it is revealed he broke things off with her when she was offered a job in Hong Kong.

On August 12, 2016, CBS producers announced that Gibson had been dismissed from Criminal Minds following a physical altercation with one of the show's writers and that "creative details" regarding the character's departure would be announced at a later date. After appearing in the first two episodes of the 2016-2017 season, the Hotchner character was removed from the opening credits of subsequent episodes. At the start of the third episode, one character explained Hotch's absence by remarking that he was on TDY.

In episode 12.6 titled “Elliott’s Pond” it was revealed that Gibson’s character, Aaron Hotchner, was leaving his post as longtime head of the Behavioral Analysis Unit after Peter Lewis (aka Mr. Scratch) began stalking Hotch’s son, Jack. The two decided to enter the Witness Protection Program. The move would make it nearly impossible for Hotch to return to his field of work at the BAU, prompting him to resign from the position in effort to protect Jack.

A new BAU chief had to be named and Hotch personally requested Emily Prentiss (Paget Brewster), which in turn she eventually accepted.