Red John is a fictional character and the leading antagonist on the CBS crime drama The Mentalist. He is a famous serial killer who began killing in 1998, and may have killed at least twenty eight (now around thirty) people in California, Nevada, and Mexico. Five years prior to the action of the first episode, he murdered the wife and the daughter of protagonist Patrick Jane (Simon Baker), making Jane his dedicated nemesis.

In the Season 3 finale, "Strawberries and Cream (Part 2)", Jane kills Red John. The man was portrayed by Emmy and Golden Globe Award -winning actor Bradley Whitford. However, after this "cliffhanger" episode, it was determined by Jane that the man he killed was not Red John after all in the Season Four premiere. Thoughts caused people to think that "Red John" will be one of the new principal characters in the next and last season, season five.

As part of his criminal signature, Red John draws a smiley face on the wall with the blood of the victim—always clockwise (except when it was portrayed in skywriting in "Red John's Footsteps"), using the three fingers of his rubber-gloved right hand.

Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Longer wavelengths just past this range are called infrared (below red) and cannot be seen by the naked eye although they can be sensed as heat. In some cultures, certain shades of red are used to symbolize anger or aggression.

It is the color of blood when it is exposed to sunlight. In western countries, it is most commonly referred to as a color of evil, love, and sometimes, though rarely, happiness.

The word red comes from the Old English rēad. The word can be further traced to the Proto-Germanic rauthaz and the Proto-Indo European root reudh-. In Sanskrit, the word rudhira means red or blood. In the English language, the word red is associated with the color of blood, certain flowers (e.g., roses), and ripe fruits (e.g., apples, cherries). Fire is also strongly connected, as is the sun and the sky at sunset. Healthy, light-skinned people are sometimes said to have a "ruddy" complexion (as opposed to appearing pale). After the rise of socialism in the mid-19th century, red was used to symbolize and describe revolutionary movements.

John is a common English name and surname:

John may also refer to:

Simon Baker (born 30 July 1969) is an Australian actor and director. Since 2008, he has starred as the lead role in the CBS television series The Mentalist as Patrick Jane.

Simon Baker was born to a high-school English teacher, Elizabeth Labberton, and a groundskeeper/mechanic, Barry Baker, on 30 July 1969, in Launceston, Tasmania. He was raised as a Roman Catholic. His parents divorced while he was still young. His mother later married Tom Denny, a butcher. Simon Baker also has a sister, currently a doctor in Australia, and three younger half brothers. By 1972, they had moved from Launceston to Ballina, New South Wales, hoping to secure better paying jobs. In 1986, he graduated from Ballina High School as Simon Baker-Denny, after completing his primary school education at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Primary School, also in Ballina.

Baker began acting on Australian television during the late 1980s using the name "Simon Denny". He first appeared in music video clips for Melissa Tkautz ("Read My Lips") and Australian dance outfit Euphoria ("Love You Right") in 1991 before appearing in the successful series E Street, Home and Away and Heartbreak High. As "Simon Baker Denny" he was a co-star of the David Croft/Jeremy Lloyd sitcom pilot, Which Way to the War, which was not developed into a series.

Robin Jessica Tunney (born June 19, 1972) is an American actress. She is best known for her lead roles in the movie The Craft and the Fox television series Prison Break and The Mentalist.

Tunney was born in Chicago, Illinois to a car salesman father, Patrick, and a bartender mother, Cathy. Tunney is Irish American; her father emigrated from Ireland and grew up in Orland Park, Illinois, a southwest suburb of Chicago. She was raised Roman Catholic, attended Carl Sandburg High School in Orland Park, and resided in Palos Heights, Illinois, also in the Chicago area. After graduating high school, she then studied Art at the Chicago Academy for the Arts. She is a cousin of Chicago Alderman Tom Tunney.

At the age of 19, Tunney moved to Los Angeles, California and obtained several recurring TV roles on Class of '96, Law & Order, Dream On, and Life Goes On. She gave her breakthrough performance as a suicidal teenager in Empire Records, and attracted further attention by playing a witch in The Craft. She shaved her head for Empire Records and had to wear a wig in The Craft.