Characterization
John Kubicke of BuddyTV described Booth as "charming, funny, a tad brutish but ultimately warm and caring". He is worldly-wise, socially at ease with people, very athletic, and apparently sexually confident with women. He often refers to himself as a jock, having played football and several other sports in high school and college. A signed picture of Bruins player Bobby Orr can be seen in the background behind his desk. Booth's grandfather (Hank Booth) gave Booth the nickname Booth 'Shrimp', because Seeley was a young child when Hank took Booth in, after Hank saw his grandson being beaten by his father.
On the job, Booth is characterized as an "action man" and once claimed that he would "rot behind a desk". Early in season 8, he was given an opportunity to earn a promotion to an administrative position but passed up the chance when he realized that he was better suited to and enjoyed the field rather than sitting behind a desk.
Booth is a fan of classic rock and arena rock music. He has expressed great affection for the group Foreigner and poked fun at Bones for her interest in world, rap, and hip hop music. He also likes the band Poco. In the season three finale, he listens to the hardcore punk/punkabilly band Social Distortion. In the Season 4 episode "Mayhem on the Cross" he mentions that his father thought that Black Flag and the Dead Kennedys sounded the same. Given the relatively underground nature of the California hardcore punk scene, of which Social Distortion, Black Flag and the Dead Kennedys were all seminal members, it is most likely that Booth's father would have heard these bands only if Booth himself had played their records.
It is revealed in the season three episode "The Mummy In The Maze" that Seeley suffers from coulrophobia. When traveling through a haunted house, Booth is frightened of an evil clown mannequin; Brennan is bewildered by his behavior and Booth feels ashamed when he purposely avoids walking by the mannequin. In season two ("The Girl in the Gator") when he shot a large plastic clown head on an ice cream truck, annoyed with the music. Booth wears a "COCKY" belt buckle in episodes following "The Boneless Bride in the River", which is absent in the first episode of season five after recovery from surgery. While not as noticeable as the red "Cocky" buckle, Booth wears a stylized eagle buckle throughout season one and the first part of season two. He also likes to wear colorful socks.
Booth states in "The Girl in the Gator" that Howard Epps was his fiftieth kill. However, Booth is not technically responsible for Epps death, so as of "The Man in the Cell" his official kill count is at 49. However, as of "The Mastodon in the Room", Booth's official kill count is at least 54, as he killed the serial killer dressed as a clown in "Mummy in the Maze" (50), Gormogon in "The Pain in the Heart" (51), a corrupt sheriff in "The Con Man in the Meth Lab" (52), a doctor in "Harbingers in a Fountain" (53) and a terrorist in "The Mastodon in the Room" (54).
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