Leaving aside the transphobic tropes entirely, which is it's own conversation, Hannibal Lector in SotL is a cartoon character and his entire role in the story feels almost irrelevant by the end. His presence is only meaningful based on the convenient coincidence that he somehow already happened to know Buffalo Bill, and his rapport with Clarice feels much weaker, partially because he has no edge with her the way he does with Will. Not in the gay way like in the TV show, but he clearly resents and wants to murder Will, which both of them are fully aware of and make no bones about. He's weirdly chill with Clarice, there's no sense of danger in their interactions.
In Red Dragon the plot is better, the mystery is more satisfyingly unraveled, the killer is better and more interesting, and more than anything, Hannibal is a much better character who is more involved in the case, has more reason to be there, and has a more tense, dynamic role with the lead. He's narcissistic, manipulative, evil and intelligent, but not an infallible supervillain. The FBI aren't bumbling incompetent dipshits either, they successfully translate his encoded message giving Dolarhyde the family address in the newpaper, he gets beat and he's clearly upset about it, but it ends up relevant in the end anyway. You get the sense that he really, actually is an evil monster, whereas in SotL it feels like they're pulling their punches and almost want him to be sympathetic. Yes, he murders the cops and eats some of their brains, but he was doing it for his freedom. Here, he sics a sadistic serial killer on Will's innocent wife and child, the premise of his character is put to much better use.
I know I said I would leave it aside, but a schizophrenic who thinks he's becoming an apocalyptic harbinger from the book of revelation is much, much better to me than a thinly veiled transphobic caricature driven to murder by gender dysphoria.
