| This article is about the Netflix Series character. You may be looking for the book character. |
| “ | What if we confirm Hannah's stories about Bryce? What if we give the school their scapegoat? They have someone to blame, the Bakers have someone to charge with a crime, then whatever we did doesn't matter as much.... | ” |
| — suggesting they use Bryce as a scapegoat to escape punishment, in "Tape 6, Side B" | ||
Tyler Down is a main character in 13 Reasons Why. He is the subject of "Tape 2, Side B", where he was responsible for photographically stalking Hannah and spreading her and Courtney's kiss photo over the school. He is Liberty Highs' photographer and he is portrayed by Devin Druid.
Throughout the Series
Season 1
In the flashback, Tyler would always stand outside Hannah's window taking pictures of her. Hannah didn't know that it was Tyler, and so Courtney offered to help her catch the stalker. Tyler snapped a picture of Hannah and Courtney drunk and making out. However, Hannah killed two birds with one stone and Tyler's identity was exposed. The next day, he was confronted by Hannah and he supposedly gave her the pictures to dispose of. Tyler then asks if Hannah would want to hang out with him, but she declines, and so an angry Tyler group-texts the picture of the two making out to the whole school. To present time, everyone still had a copy of the picture on their computers.
Tyler was inside his house. His windows had some visible damage to it, and his dad asked him what was going on. He proceeded to tell him that he didn't know anything. After a while of prying, his father decided to leave him be. At school, he was confronted by Clay about the pictures and Tyler revealed that Tyler was in love with Hannah, and the fact that she didn't try to hide who she was. After Clay said that he wanted the pictures destroyed, Tyler gave him a picture of Clay and Hannah together, for his keeping. Later, a naked picture of Tyler was sent to the whole school by Clay, as a payback for what he did to Hannah. [1]
Season 2
Tyler is the first of the individuals called upon from Hannah's tapes to court. He relays the whole truth of his stalking of her. He states that he was attracted to her and met her when attempting to gather yearbook photos and being rebuffed she offered herself as a subject. Tyler helped Hannah access her locker and then asked her to model for a photo collage in the park to which she agreed.
Tyler eventually upset Hannah during the Justin Foley playground incident by offering to console her with a photoshoot. He then that night made his way to her house knowing it from the earlier pre-school party. He caught her sexting and captured his first illicit, unpermitted photo of her.[2]
Tyler befriended outcast punk student Cyrus in class through complimenting his drawings and drew a crush from his sister Mackenzie. Tyler and Cyrus proceeded to revenge prank those tied to the Hannah Baker suicide depending upon their honesty in court. School Captain Marcus was set up with an incriminating video and paint explosion whilst he and Cyrus vandalised his car, blackmailing him to turn against Bryce Walker.
Tyler went on a date at the Crestmont with Mackenzie, and they began kissing, before he abruptly excused himself. In the hallway, it is revealed he had prematurely ejaculated, and ran out as he was embarrassed. Tyler's friendship with Cyrus falls apart at an underground metal gig after he insults a persistent Mackenzie.
After posting photos of him and Cyrus vandalizing the school, he and Cyrus were in trouble. Cyrus got suspended and Tyler was sent to a program to help him control his anger. In "Bye", Tyler comes back to school, seeming quite happy and he seems to have, somewhat, let go, only to be cornered in the boys bathroom at Liberty High by Montgomery and two other boys, bashed in the face multiple times, drowned in a toilet bowl and brutally sodomized with the handle of a broomstick. The boys walk out leaving him half-naked and bleeding on the floor. This scene was likely implemented to show that men, and boys can be sexually assaulted too.
This was the final straw for Tyler and he decides to go through with his plan to commit a school shooting. Tyler gathers four guns (three handguns and a Assault Rifle) and heads to the school, where the Spring Fling dance is being held. At the dance, Mackenzie shows Cyrus a concerning text Tyler had sent her, Cyrus tells Clay and the other students. Clay advises everyone to lock the doors, stay inside, and not call the police, as he knows Tyler would get killed. Clay goes outside and talks Tyler down, while they hear sirens in the distance, he tells him he won't get out of it alive, but he doesn't want him to die. Tyler finally relents, Tony pulls up and shouts for him to get into the car. Clay takes the assault rifle, Tyler gets into Tony's car and they speed away before the police arrive. The season ends with Clay, Justin, and Jessica waiting outside the school.
Tyler's Mistake (Reason #4)
| Hannah's Reasons Navigation | |
| ← Previous "Alex Standall #3" |
Next → "Courtney Crimsen #5" |
Tyler is Hannah's fourth reason of why she committed suicide.
Tyler developed a crush on Hannah, however he was too shy to tell her his feelings in person and he then decided to begin stalking her and taking photos of her without her consent, which completely frightened her. Eventually, Courtney volunteered to help Hannah catch her stalker and they were eventually able to catch Tyler in the act of taking pictures, causing him to flee the scene. However before this occurred he was able to get a photo of Hannah and Courtney kissing, evidence of Courtney being a lesbian.
Hannah personally confronted Tyler at school and demanded the photos he took and all the negatives, which he gave to her. Tyler attempted to ask Hannah out but she just laughed and left. Out of spite, Tyler spread the photograph of Hannah and Courtney to the entire school, causing Courtney to turn her back on Hannah for a time. Despite this, nobody at school figured out that it was Hannah and Courtney in the photo, however Tyler's actions would eventually lead to Courtney betraying Hannah and destroying her reputation in order to hide the fact that she was in the photo alongside Hannah after Montgomery confronted her about the photo.
Physical Appearance
Tyler is tall, lanky, and pale. He has curly brown hair and dresses very simply, normally wearing jeans, a shirt, and a jacket. He carries a camera with him everywhere because of his duties with the yearbook.
Personality
Season 1
Tyler is shown to a socially awkward, uncaring, spiteful and selfish person. Being a dedicated photographer, he appears to not care at all about people's privacy and constantly stalks people and takes pictures behind their backs and as such is despised by a majority of the people at Liberty High. He was shown to have a crush on Hannah Baker though was too shy to tell her this in person, when he first saw her, he asked to do a photoshoot with her, after she asked him to take a picture of her, seeing that he asked a group of girls and they harshly rejected him, she gave him a chance because no one else seemed to, after the picture of her got sent around the school, Tyler unknowingly and accidentally said the wrong thing, she rejected him and he resorted to stalking her for days just to get photographs of her which completely frightened her.
After being caught by Hannah and Courtney and giving up the photos he took of them at her request, he finally told Hannah of his feelings though due to his actions was coldly rejected by her and out of spite he cruelly spread the photo of Hannah and Courtney kissing to the whole school which not only further ruined Hannah's already damaged reputation, but also destroyed her friendship with Courtney and led Courtney to betray Hannah and destroy her reputation even further just to save herself.
Tyler appears to show little remorse for what he did to Hannah and no doubt wants the tapes to be kept secret in order to protect himself from punishment. He is shown to be willing to resort to extreme measures to protect himself as it is he who suggests that he and the others on Hannah's list use Bryce as a scapegoat to minimize the damage on themselves as he views Bryce as being dangerous and that his actions are the worst, completely ignoring that he himself is guilty of crimes as well such as trespassing and invasion of a minor's privacy.
Due to his actions towards Hannah and Courtney, Tyler, like Hannah has become a victim of intense bullying and ridicule and as a result of Clay, humiliation on the same level as that suffered by Hannah. The others on Hannah's list even grant her request to throw rocks at his window for revenge of what he did, showing how much they hate him. By the end of the first season, Tyler is shown to have finally had enough of his torment and appears to be embarking on a violent, murderous path as he purchases an entire arsenal of weapons and also makes a hit list of all those on Hannah's tapes and those who have bullied him, possibly showing he wants to murder them all as revenge.
Season 2
In the second season, Tyler appears to be regretful of his actions, and appears to be trying to turn his life around. He tells the truth in court, and helps Alex in his recovery. He even makes friends with other outcasts, most notably Cyrus. However, the majority of the school still ostracize him, as the jocks still dislike him and Chloe refuses to let him photograph cheerleading practice, which the principal tells him he is no longer allowed to do. He also appears to have developed violent tendencies, as he keeps the guns he had in the trunk to shoot cans and bottles, and later a bird, invites Cyrus to do it with him, and even admits that it is easier to do if one imagines the target as someone they hate. His change is shown when he starts listening to heavy metal music, courtesy of Cyrus. It also appears that he is fearful of consequences from his authority figures, as when his parents confront him over shooting guns, he claims it was Cyrus' BB gun, and when they find out he bullied Marcus, he claims it was Cyrus' idea. He also abandons Clay after taking him to shoot guns when the cops start to show up. When Cyrus confronts him over abandoning Mackenzie on their date, he claims it felt weird because it was Cyrus' sister.
Over the course of the season, Tyler revenge pranks the people on Hannah's tapes with Cyrus' help depending on whether or not they tell the truth in court, but it is unclear whether he is doing this for Hannah or is simply releasing his frustrations on those he believes deserve to be bullied. This attitude of prioritizing himself eventually costs him his friendship with Cyrus, as he insults Mackenzie when she tries to console him over his premature ejaculation on their date, doing so to prevent Cyrus from finding out about it. After this, and others finding out about his date, he snaps and admits that he and Cyrus torched the field, by posting pictures of it on Facebook.
After coming back from a program to help him control his anger, Tyler appears to be fine. However, once Montgomery sodomizes him with a mop handle, he snaps and attempts to commit a school shooting, regardless of the consequences. However, Clay manages to talk him down, showing that Tyler is not completely gone yet.
Appearances
Season 1
Season 2
Quotes
Season 1
Season 2
| “ | Tyler: People tell lies about you and other people believe them. And it gets to the point where...the lies might as well be the truth. Dennis: And did people tell lies about Hannah Baker? Tyler:...Yes, they did. All the time... And, another girl I know [Jess]. She had something happen to her. She had to leave school for a while. While she was gone, the story got totally twisted. |
” |
| — Tyler on the bullying of Students at Liberty High, Jessica's rape and the allegations that got twisted by Bryce about him sexually assaulting her.[src] |
| “ | You hurt, worse, you feel, powerless. And I know some people don't want us to talk about what happened. But if we don't talk about it, it's never going to change. So it's important for everyone to understand how it all happened, the whole story; you know. Cause things at Liberty are as bad as they've ever been. And I don't wanna be afraid anymore. I don't wanna be afraid. | ” |
| — Tyler about Hannah's story and Liberty High at his testimony[src] |
| “ | This trial going forward, it affects the whole town. We all have to think about it all over again, how Hannah lived, and how she died. And how it changed all our lives. | ” |
| — Tyler on Hannah's trial, while testifying[src] |
| “ | Tyler: Did you just come here to look at the destruction that is my life, or...? Clay: No. I was wondering, do you ever, work with Polaroids? Tyler: Amateur hipster tripe. Clay: I'll take that as a no. Tyler: It's retro analogue bullshit. There's no negatives, what's the point? Hallucination Hannah: Unless that is the point. Clay: So no one can make a copy? Tyler: No, you can make a copy of anything, you just take a digital picture of it. But, yeah, you want one print to hold on to, take a Polaroid. |
” |
| — Tyler and Clay (with Hallucination Hannah) on the Polaroids.[src] |
| “ | Clay: Do you know these people? Tyler: Tommy Schuster. Erica, Charles, I think. I shot Tommy a few times for baseball. Clay: So, they go here? Tyler: They did. They were Seniors when we were Freshmen. Clay: Do you think he knew Scott Reed? Tyler: Don't all those troglodytes know each other? Why do you care? Clay: I'm not sure I do. |
” |
| — Clay asking Tyler about the subjects of the first Polaroid to see if there is a connection.[src] |
Trivia
- Tyler has said on multiple occasions that he has some extremely sensitive photos of many popular people at school.
- Tyler was preparing to commit a school shooting in "Tape 7, Side A", the last episode of the first season, evidence being his massive trunk containing several guns and large amounts of ammunition. In "Bye", the last episode of the second season he is pushed to the edge by a brutal sexual assault and attempts to commit a school shooting.
- Tyler was the only person to admit in his deposition video that there are tapes that Hannah recorded.
- Tyler is shown to be the most despised person on Hannah's list, more so than Bryce to a degree as they refuse to allow him to join in plans to silence Clay about the tapes and throw rocks at his window as Hannah told them to.
- There is a strong argument regarding his presence in the tapes in the original novel of 13 Reasons Why as Hannah had speculated Tyler was stalking her instead of confronting him as opposed to the television series where he is Hannah‘s stalker.
- In "Bye", Tyler is brutally sodomized by Montgomery. This makes both Bryce and Montgomery rapists.
- Him and Alex were the only two main characters who were 16 years old in the first season. The rest of the kids were between 17 to 18 years old.
- Tyler is the second youngest of the main characters.
Gallery
References
- ↑ Higgins, Thomas (writer) & Shaver, Helen (director) (March 31, 2017). "Tape 2, Side B". 13 Reasons Why. Season 1. Episode 4. Netflix.
- ↑ Yorkey, Brian (writer) & Araki, Gregg (director) (May 18, 2018). "The First Polaroid". 13 Reasons Why. Season 2. Episode 1.