| abstract | - Bestselling-but-bored playboy mystery writer who, after helping Kate Beckett and the NYPD find a killer basing his murders off his books, pulled strings to get himself attached to Beckett's unit, ostensibly to research a character based on her but really because he likes solving mysteries and is attracted to Beckett.
* Adult Child: Though this has been heavily played down in later seasons to the point where he's shown more as simply retaining the adventuring nature of youth rather than acting childish.
* Agent Mulder
* Amateur Sleuth
* Badass Bookworm: He is a writer after all.
* Berserk Button: You could feel the anger building once a twenty-something web tycoon told him he had mixed a 135-year-old scotch with root beer.
* Also trying to hurt Kate is a bad idea.
* Though it need not be said, his biggest button is Alexis.
* As Detective Slaughter (Adam Baldwin) discovered a little too late.
* Bumbling Dad: As often as this gets played straight, it gets subverted a few memorable times, most notably when Alexis is at a party with spiked punch, and her friend gets drunk, and he acts exactly as how every parent in the world would hope to.
* In short, when it matters he's the best dad in the world; when it doesn't, he's the best friend in the world. Which makes him the best dad in the world again.
* Camp Straight: Castle was called a metrosexual in "The Third Man," though he's a pretty mild example. He has a fine appreciation for good interior decorating and fashion.
* Character Development: He's a lot more mature and grown-up after working with the police than he was when the series began. This can especially be seen in "Tick, Tick, Tick...Boom", two episodes in which, like the pilot, someone was inspired by Castle's novels to commit murder. It has been explicitly stated that these episodes were meant to show the difference between Castle from Season 1 and Castle from Season 3. Unlike the premiere episode, "Flowers for Your Grave" in which Castle was quite flippant and arrogant about the entire situation, Castle is appropriately devastated at the idea that someone has once again died because of his books. In fact, Beckett has to talk him down from taking blame for the entire situation.
* Also: Castle starts off doing "volunteer homicide detective" work because he thinks it's cool and because he's got a shine on his "muse", and his flippant manner shows it. By "47 Seconds", Castle is working with the police because he honestly wants to make a difference in the lives of the victims and their families.
* The Charmer
* Chivalrous Pervert
* The Dandy
* Deadpan Snarker
* Genre Savvy: Justified. He's a writer.
* Grammar Nazi: See above.
* Green-Eyed Monster: It's clear for most of the series that he doesn't like it when other men grab Beckett's attention, and unlike her is none too subtle about it.
* Heroes Want Redheads: Played with in that quite a few of the women in Castle's lives are redheads (including his first ex-wife, his mother, and his daughter), but a succession of love interests shown since are not (Kyra Blaine, Ellie Monroe and of course Beckett are all brunettes, while his second ex-wife Gina is a blonde).
* Beckett started out very auburn. She reverted to brown once the series was established.
* Hot Dad: He isn't #9 on the New York Ledger's Most Eligible Bachelors list for nothing. (Though that is a drop from being #7 last year.)
* It's for a Book: It actually is, except when it isn't.
* I Will Wait for You: Long after their attraction to each other is clear, he's content to let her work through her issues and support her until she's ready
* Ladykiller in Love
* Man Child: Castle.
* Momma's Boy: Not a negative portrayal.
* Most Writers Are Writers
* Nice Guy
* Papa Wolf
* Screw the Rules, I Have Connections: A rare case of this trope being used for good.
* Screw the Rules, I Have Money: "Guess who has a date with a prostituuuute!" But as above, used for good.
* Supporting Protagonist: Despite being the focus of the show, Castle ticks about every other box on this list.
* UST: With Beckett.
* Wrong Genre Savvy: He's wrong far more often than he's right when it comes to his wild case theories, although he's on the mark far more often than either he or Beckett would expect. Often, though, it's pretty clear he's deliberately coming up with over-the-top or out there theories either because it would make a better story for him to write, it would be really awesome if true or to needle Beckett rather than because he sincerely believes the theory.
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