Patrick Jane (The Mentalist) Characterization

Patrick Jane in The Mentalist is man who is brilliant, playful and often cocky. He has a lack of boundaries, and often disregards protocol. Before he joined the CBI, he was a minor celebrity. He obtained his minor celebrity status by pretending to be a psychic. This brought him both a large amount of money (enough to buy a house in Malibu). In an interview, Jane said that Red John was an “ugly, tormented little man, a lonely soul, sad, very sad.” This prompted Red John to murder Jane’s wife and daughter. Jane felt he had to avenge his wife and daughter by killing Red John. His desire to avenge his family was his motivation to join the CBI (California Bureau of Investigation). He is valued because of his ability to use his tricks and mind games to close cases and his is also considered to be one of the finest detectives in California. 

On the surface, he is very playful and happy person. This is not just simple-minded happiness, it is his conscious decision to be happy and live positively. Though he is a very happy person on the surface, he is very sad about the loss of his family on the inside. One of the quotes I’ll use to prove my point is from Kimball Cho (one of Jane’s fellow CBI agents) "Don't take this the wrong way but the death of Jane's family made him a better person.”  His conscious decision to be happy is what made him who he is.