Rafe Hernandez – this Days of our Lives do-gooder never seems to be rewarded for his heroic efforts.
Who Is Rafe Hernandez?
Rafael Alejandro is the eldest child of Eduardo and Adriana Hernandez. His siblings are Dario, Arianna, and Gabriella “Gabi” Adriana Josephina, and Paige Larson (the daughter of Eduardo and his second wife, Eve Larson).
Occupation
Originally introduced as an agent working for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Rafe eventually joined the Salem Police Department and served as a detective, the temporary commander, and the Chief of Police.
Rafe also had a stint as a private investigator and he worked in that same position at the firm that he co-founded with Carrie Reed. His other endeavors included working for the ISA and managing Victor Kiriakis’s nightclub The Edge.
A (Thoroughly Complicated) Love Story
From the moment he laid eyes on Samantha “Sami” Gene Brady, Rafe was smitten – and completely exacerbated. She was supposed to be lying low in an FBI-sanctioned safe house and yet she was drugging her guard so she could sneak off and relieve her boredom.
When Rafe was assigned to act as her latest protector, he called her out on her myriad of schemes – and won both her ire and begrudging respect. A friendship developed, and Rafe agreed to help Sami cover up the fact that she was pregnant with EJ DiMera’s child.
The two continued to grow closer, and both were devastated when it appeared that Sami’s recently-delivered baby passed away. Luckily, Rafe was on hand to unravel a labyrinthine scheme that included a baby switch (courtesy of Nicole Walker) and multiple kidnappings.
Once mother and child were reunited, Rafe proposed marriage. And even though the two wed, their life together was troubled by continued interference from EJ, whom Sami alternately loved and loathed. In the end, the Hernandez marriage failed.
Lovers and Other “Friends”
Emily Hudson: Rafe and Emily were engaged to be married but she died on their wedding day after being involved in a car accident with Arianna.
Nicole Walker: Though their relationship was initially antagonistic, Rafe and Nicole eventually bonded – especially once she revealed that she was secretly carrying EJ’s child. Rafe offered to pose as the father but the scheme was eventually outed.
Carrie Brady: When Carrie finagled Rafe a position at her law firm, the two began to burn the midnight oil together. The excitement over solving a particularly frustrating case led to a kiss and the two eventually decided they wanted to pursue a relationship. However, Carrie’s discovery that she was pregnant with Austin’s baby halted their progress.
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Kate Roberts: It began as a drunken one night stand, but blossomed into something more. But the deck was stacked against them and they eventually called it quits.
Jordan Ridgeway: She helped him learn how to walk again and in the process, she healed his broken heart. But Kate’s continued interference coupled with the return of her much-loathed father and an attraction to Chad DiMera resulted in Jordan leaving town. Her subsequent return resulted in Rafe becoming the guardian of Jordan and Christian’s son, David.
Hope Brady: Rafe began to develop feelings for fellow SPD officer Hope Brady but he stepped aside when she, in turn, fell in love with and married Aiden Jennings – though it turned out she wed his murder-minded doppelganger!
Further impediments arose when a terminally ill Bo Brady returned to town and Hope shot (and seemingly) killed Stefano, the man she blamed for Bo’s death. Rafe helped her cover up the crime and frame career villain Andre DiMera for the deed.
Hope was eventually cleared of her misdeeds (thanks to a plan engineered by Steve Johnson and Shane Donovan) and she and Rafe eventually married. However, a happily ever after just wasn’t in the cards.
Enemies Among Us
EJ DiMera: This dastardly fiend used every dirty trick in the book to try and break up Rafe and Sami. He even worked with his father to kidnap and replace Rafe with a plastic surgery-altered criminal named Arnold Finegan!
Stefano DiMera: Stefano went along with EJ’s plan to switch out the real Detective Hernandez for the duplicate – and he even injected the man with a memory-erasing drug.
Years later, when Stefano learned of Rafe’s affair with Kate, he ordered a henchman – Detective Joe Bernardi – to remove the man’s genitalia with a straight razor!
Meredith Hudson: Rafe’s would-be sister-in-law arrived in town looking to exact revenge for the death of her sister. She held him captive inside her childhood home and eventually knocked him unconscious with a brick and dumped him into the Salem River!
Facts About Rafe Hernanzez
According to Rafe himself, he was a problem child, and as a result, he spent much of his youth at the Convent of the Holy Cross Orphanage.
Rafe was the detective tasked with arresting John Black (his step-father-in-law) on charges of embezzlement. Days of our Lives airs weekdays on NBC. Check your local listings for airtimes.
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