| Mike Royce | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Vital Statistics | |
| Gender | Male |
| Status | Deceased |
| Cause of death | Shot by Russell Ganz |
| Occupation | Former Bounty Hunter Former Police and Training Officer |
| Character Information | |
| Appearances | "Under the Gun" "To Love and Die in L.A." |
| Portrayed by | Jason Beghe |
Mike Royce is a character portrayed by Jason Beghe in the ABC crime series Castle.
Royce was Kate Beckett's former NYPD partner and training officer after she left the academy. While they worked together, Kate apparently had an embarrassing experience involving a karaoke stakeout, but Royce had an equally embarrassing experience involving a monkey.
Another experience involved Royce disarming a man holding him hostage when the criminal was distracted by Kate 'offering' to show him her breasts if he dropped the gun.
Kate stated at one point that she was actually in love with Royce, because he was the first person she had met who really understood her drive to find her mother's killer. This may, however, have been a ruse to keep Royce on the line long enough to get a call trace.
He became a bounty hunter after leaving the force, but Beckett was forced to arrest him when it was discovered that he was involved in a 'treasure hunt' for a collection of stolen gems. He was a suspect at one point in the killing of Deon Carver.
Royce had participated in the arrest for the original perpetrators of the heist, and learned that the hunt for the treasure had resumed when his current bounty, a bail-jumper named Random Pierce, was revealed to be the cellmate of one of the participants.
Royce spent time with Beckett just to get a chance to see the map before he was arrested at the grave where the treasure was apparently buried. (Under the Gun)
After he got out, he lost his bounty hunter license and relocated to Los Angeles, where he ended up lodging in Gene Simmons' guest house after helping the rock star out of some unspecified trouble.
He eventually went into business as a 'trouble-shooter', helping people deal with problems. He was eventually killed by industrial thief Russell Ganz after Ganz used Royce's latest client to steal a new type of dissolving bullet from a military manufacturing facility.
Royce's last words were to inform Ganz that he had no idea of the hell he was about to bring down on himself. Beckett and Castle subsequently tracked down and captured Ganz.
Royce was found with a note on his person that he had written for Beckett, the note apologising for his past mistake and encouraging Kate to explore her relationship with Castle. (To Love and Die in L.A.)
Trivia
Mike Royce has the distinction of being the first of two characters to be persons of interest in two completely independent cases; the other is Beau Randolph, who, like Beau, was a suspect in the first case he was affiliated with and the victim in the second.