Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner is the former unit chief of Quantico's Behavioral Analysis Unit , the direct superior of all special agents, and the team's Media Liaison Officer since Jennifer Jareau 's promotion to Supervisory Special Agent; the latter was a job that he shared with Penelope Garcia.
He officially resigned from both positions in Season Twelve after being put into witness protection due to his son, Jack Hotchner being actively stalked by Peter Lewis , aka, Mr. At his suggestion, his position was taken over by his friend and former colleague Emily Prentiss.
After the death of Scratch in Season Thirteen , they left witness protection but Hotch opted not to return to the BAU in order to be a full-time father. Hotch was born on November 2, Hotch stated that his reason for joining the BAU was because he felt that, as a prosecutor, it was too late for him to do anything, but by joining the BAU, he has a chance to stop killers sooner. His struggles to maintain his family life have been an ongoing theme of the show.
In the episode " Natural Born Killer ", Vincent Perotta questions Hotch as to the meaning of " some people [from extremely abusive and violent households] grow up to become killers. In the episode " Ashes and Dust ", Hotch's father was revealed to have died from lung cancer, though an earlier episode, " The Tribe ", states that he died of a heart attack at the age of Hotch's personality has changed very little over the course of the show.
He has always been extremely serious, determined, and focused on his leadership of the team, never seeming to waver or lose sight of the task ahead, barely allowing his dry wit and humor to appear. However, the events surrounding George Foyet 's final appearance did cause him to become temporarily single-minded and obsessive to the point where he would appoint Morgan as Unit Chief for a short period of time.
