True Blood/Characters
Main Characters
Sookie Stackhouse
"I didn't have any say about being normal. We're born the way were are."
Played By: Anna Paquin
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Her love interests are Bill and Eric. Sam never was, even before his anger issues, neither is Alcide.
- A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Read - Poor Sookie often views her unique attribute as a curse.
- Apologises a Lot
- Dude Magnet: At least of supernatural kind. It's one of her powers.
- Even the Girls Want Her: Judging by Pam's words.
- Hey It's That Girl: It's Rogue!
- Half-Human Hybrid: She's part fairy.
- I Just Want to Be Normal
- Mean Character, Nice Actor / Took The Bad Role Seriously: Variant; many people who watch the show are impressed with Anna Paquin's acting ability even while they want to bash Sookie's head in with a rock.
- New Powers as the Plot Demands: The aformentioned force-field powers.
- Official Couple: With Bill until season 3 finale.
- Plucky Girl
- Too Dumb to Live: Acts really stupid regularly, but survives thanks to Plot Armor.
- Vampire-Werewolf Love Triangle: In the beginning, with Bill and Sam (not werewolf, but close enough). More recently it's developed to...
- Unwanted Harem: Two vampires, a shapeshifter, and a werewolf.
William "Bill" Compton
"Vampires have often found it advantageous to maintain a hidden presence in humanity's most powerful institutions and in the 1600's, that was the Catholic Church and today, as you all know, it's Google and Fox News."
Played By:Stephen Moyer
- Anti-Hero: Type III
- Badass: Not as much so as other characters, but he's a vampire, it's kind of impossible to be a non-badass vampire.
- Berserk Button: SOOKIEEE
- Also threaten any vampire in his kingdom. Then heaven help you as not even the Authority, will stop him coming after you and yours with an assortment of firepower and a RPG for good measure.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Originally seemed like a quiet vampire who wanted to mainstream. later revealed to be an agent of the Queen of Louisiana sent to seduce Sookie . Not only that he was actually a Double Agent working for the Authority the whole time.
- Character Development: Spent first three seasons with Sookie as his top piority. In season four ends up a King. Spends more time focusing on protecting his people from a threat from a ticked of Witch and bonding with his daughter. His home also got an upgrade.
- Deadpan Snarker: Is this after becoming vampire king of Louisiana."Spellbound" is a good example:
Bill:Ms Fortenberry
Mrs Fortenberry:Vampire Bill
Mrs Fortenberry:Did you know that Beulah Carter was a vampire?
Bill:Because all of us vampires know each other?
- The Comically Serious: While he has something of a sense of humor, he's just so dour looking that he is just hilarious when ever he has to do anything mundane.
- Fake American
- Fan Nickname: "Beel" is popular, due to the hokey accents on the show.
- Friendly Neighborhood Vampire: Subverted. He may look like one in the beginning, but in truth, he isn't that different from many other vampires.
- His friendly status was confirmed somewhat in Season four when it is revealed that Bill was part of a movement in the Eighties to promote mainstreaming. Joining the Authority as he belived that it was not necessary to kill humans when feeding and sought a better way. Of course being a vampire he still can be quite ruthless when he has a goal and still manages to kill humans if he thinks they are a threat or hurt those he loves.
- I Hate You Vampire Mom: To Lorena, as well as playing the role for a short while to Jessica, until they get better.
- Honey Trap
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: In season four he allows Eric to return back to Snookie even if it means she will take him as her lover. He even brings silver to chain him down to prevent Eric from walking into the sun.
- Kryptonite-Proof Suit: After gorging on Sookie's blood, he temporarily gains the ability to tolerate sunlight.
- Large Ham
- Love Makes You Dumb
- Maker Wolf
- Mistaken for Gay: When he goes shopping for clothes for Jessica and Eric shows up, the store clerk who has been hitting on him the whole time backs off in an "Oh, I see," way.
- Of course this was because of a conversation he was having with Eric.
- More Than Meets the Eye: Revealed to be an agent of Queen Sophie-Anne sent to determine if Sookie is a fairy.
- And in Season 4 We learn he was The Mole for Nan Flanagan and the American Vampire League.
- Official Couple: With Sookie until season 3 finale.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: As the new King in Town he really does seem quite reasonable in comparison to more flighty Sophie-Anne and unbalanced Russell. That being said he takes his duties seriously and will enforce the rules firmly..
- The Reveal: In season 4 he's now the vampire king of Louisiana.
- The Stoic
- Took a Level in Badass: From season three upwards he tends to be more hands on in his problem solving from betraying Eric to staking vampires in his way or beating to a pulp Werewolves. In season four he manages to kill Queen Sophie Ann and earning himself a crown. By bringing automatic weaponry to a fight to the death while she did not ...
- Vegetarian Vampire: Only snacks on True Blood or Sookie. Or the occassional human if the need arises.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: His status as vampire king makes him this,he have to protect all vampires against any threat against their kind and eleminate it with Any means necessary.
Eric Northman
"Tru Blood...it keeps you alive, but it will bore you to death."
Played By: Alexander Skarsgard
- Adorkable: It's almost impossible to not fall for the cheesy grin of a man who's just eaten your fairy godmother.
- Anti-Hero: Type V > Type IV
- Badass
- Bi the Way
- Bilingual Bonus: He speaks Swedish from time to time with Pam. Amnesiac!Eric takes it Up to Eleven.
- He also speaks Russian with Estonian stripper Yvetta.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Didn't have that many scenes in season 1. Fast foward to Season 3...
- The Comically Serious
- Cunning Linguist
- Deadpan Snarker
- Defrosting Ice Sheriff after his amnesia is cured. Good God he could out-brood Angel.
- The Dragon: To Russell - actually Dragon with an Agenda. Becomes one to Antonia, though under mind control.
- Fake Defector: In season 3.
- Heel Face Revolving Door: It's very hard to tell who's side, if any, he's on.
- Hidden Heart of Gold
- Hidden Depths: Sookie finds this out during the "Save Godric" arc.
- Horny Viking
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: At the end of "You smell like dinner". Until "Burning Down the House".
- Mean Character, Nice Actor
- Not So Stoic: Watch as he breaks down when he begs Godric to live.
- Perma-Stubble: See the picture. Interestingly, disappears when he loses his memory.
- Pet the Dog: His interactions with Pam, especially during season three. Also, taking Jessica under his wing and getting her on her feet when she was first turned and Bill was too busy angsting.
- Psychopathic Manchild: After his memory is erased.
- Punch Clock Villain: Not a hugely nice guy, but the majority of his worst moments are a result of his responsibilities as Sheriff.
- The Big Guy: At 6'4",He is the second tallest of the cast after 6'5" Alcide Herveaux
- The Sheriff: Of Louisiana Area 5
- The Stoic
- Taking You with Me: Has attempted this on Russell Edgington. It doesn't work.
- Vampires Own Nightclubs
- Villains Out Shopping: In season 2.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With his child, Pam. "You know I love you more when you're cold and heartless."
- You Killed My Father: Well, Russell did.
Tara Thornton
"Race may not be the hot-button issue it once was, but it's still a button you can push on people."
Played By: Rutina Wesley
- Abusive Parents: Her mother is an alcoholic.
- Alone with the Psycho: With Franklin in season 3.
- Amazonian Beauty: She is rather broad-shouldered and muscular, and quite attractive.
- Angry Black Woman and Sassy Black Woman.
- The Bartender: When she actually shows up to work.
- Better as Friends: Sam and Tara.
- Black Best Friend
- Bi the Way: In season 4.
- Blood Sisters: Tara and Sookie, due to their family troubles, consider each other to be like sisters.
- Broken Bird: Especially after Eggs is killed
- Fatal Attractor: Everyone she hooks up with has their own issues, but whether they hold a candle to hers is up to you.
- Hollywood Exorcism: She and her mom both had one. Hers didn't quite stick.
- Interrupted Suicide
- Important Haircut: In season 3 finale.
- Lesyay: As of the beginning of season 4.
- Killed Off for Real: Killed by Debbie with a shotgun blast to the back of the head.
- Till Word of God or next season confirms it that is too soon to tell
- Like Brother and Sister: Unfortunately for her, this is how Jason sees her.
- Love Hurts
- Mind Control Eyes: When Mary Ann mind controls her, of course.
- Pay Evil Unto Evil: Let's say Tara definitely gets Franklin back for all the crap he did to her She freaking clubbed him and caved his head in. You might almost call it Extreme Melee Revenge.
- Too Dumb to Live: Definitely has moments of this
- Took a Level in Badass: More like took an entire prestige class progression in it.
- Unrequited Love: For Jason in season 1, but then she met Eggs.
- Unlucky Childhood Friend: Again, to Jason.
Sam Merlotte
Played By: Sam Trammell
- Animorphism: His shapeshifting abilities are limited to animals, because humans are too complex.
- Beware the Nice Ones: He's generally a nice guy to the people he cares about, but when he's angry, you do not want to be on his bad side.
- Big Brother Instinct
- Calling the Old Man Out: Does this to his birth parents after discovering that they force his brother who's also a shapeshifter into dog fights.
- The Danza: Albeit coincidentally.
- Dark and Troubled Past
- Dogged Nice Guy: Yes you may make the pun...
- Fantastic Racism: Doesn't like vampires and were-creatures. More because of His attraction to Sookie than anything else
- Heroic BSOD: The stress of dealing with his birth family's drama led him to drinking and lashing out at his friends and customers.
- Homoerotic Dream: He had a quite steamy one with Bill.
- I Just Want to Be Normal
- Nice Guy
- Parental Abandonment
- Two Lines, No Waiting: His plotlines in seasons three and four did not connect with the main story at all.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting
Lafayette Reynolds
Played By: Nelsen Ellis
- Ascended Extra: In the first season he had a much smaller role, and by the third his is one of the main stories.
- The Aggressive Drug Dealer: He's not really that aggressive, but just don't get on his bad side.
- Badass
- Beta Couple: Starting in season 4 with Jesus.
- Blessed with Suck: Congratulations Lafayette ! You have just discovered that your body has more supernatural energy that a whole Witch circle combined and you can see and channel spirits. Of course this also means that said spirits can also take over your body without as much as a please . And go on wacky fun adventures like kidnapping and engaging in tense hostage situations...
- Deadpan Snarker
- Mr. Fanservice
- Fan Nickname: "Lala" and "Laffy"
- Homoerotic Dream: Allegedly with Eric. It wouldn't be a problem if he didn't hate/fear Eric.
- Magical Negro: One of the wisest and kindest characters on the show and hinted to have some kind of supernatural sense, but also very egoist and, of course a drug dealer.
- Magical Queer
- Sassy Black Gay
- Spared by the Adaptation: In the novels he died early on.
- Stereotype Gay
- All Gays Are Promiscuous
- Camp Gay: In the novels definitely, in the TV series he seems to be a mixture of this and...
- Hard Gay: All those muscles ain't just for picking up guys. I'm sure that's a plus, though.
- Twofer Token Minority: Gay man of color.
Jason Stackhouse
Played By: Ryan Kwanten
- The Ace: He's not really one, but to The Fellowship of the Sun he definitely is.
- Always Someone Better: To Luke, the fanatical Soldier of the Sun.
- Brainless Beauty
- Big Brother Instinct: Really to any woman, one of his better points.
- Cartwright Curse: Every woman he had slept with onscreen in the first season died.
- Chew Toy
- Chick Magnet
- Casanova
- Clear My Name: Mistaken for Murderer in season 1.
- Digging Yourself Deeper: When he admitted to Hoyt that he slept with Jessica (albeit after Jess and Hoyt broke up), Hoyt heartbreakingly asks, "How?" Jason, being Jason, responded by listing all the positions they had sex in. Hoyt promptly punches him in the face before clarifying what he meant.
- Dumb Blonde
- Mr. Fanservice
- Genius Bruiser
- Homoerotic Dream: A rather tame (and short) one with Eddie in the second season.
- Another one in season 4 when he began to fantasize about Jessica after drinking her blood; sometime during the dream, though, Jessica becomes Hoyt.
- I Just Want to Be Special: He's actually disappointed when it turned out that he wouldn't turn into a werepanther after all, following his ordeal in Hotshot.
- Improbable Aiming Skills
- Jerkass: In the early episodes mainly.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold
- Rape Is Okay When Its Female On Male: He seems to think this way. In one of the graphic novels, Jason reveals that he had an affair with one of his teachers in high school. While Sookie and Tara are horrified that an older woman took sexual advantage of him, Jason himself was more upset that the teacher's son--a close friend of his at the time--caught them, destroying the friendship.
- Averted in Season 4, where he's horrifyingly gang-raped by the women of Hotshot.
- Writer Alan Ball seemed to play it straight, implying that Jason's gangrape was some kind of comeuppance due to his years of womanizing. Needless to say, this drew sharp criticism.
- Really Gets Around
- Too Dumb to Live: It runs in the family. Although with Jason, it's played for laughs.
- Took a Level in Badass: After being trained by the Fellowship of the Sun and becoming a cop. He's still often too stupid to really put it to good use, though.
- Unknown Rival: Luke. Not that Jason wasn't really aware with it he just didn't play along.
Jessica Hamby
Played By: Deborah Ann Woll
- Abusive Parents: calls her old man out on this after becoming a vampire.
- And as a vampire she has to deal with Bill who swerves between neglecting her and inflicting his self-loathing on her.
- Accidental Murder: Kills a redneck in the end of season 2, which causes quite a bit of angst.
- Adaptation Expansion: See Canon Foreigner
- Beta Couple: With Hoyt, naturally.
- Black Bra and Panties: She rocks them in Jason's V induced fantasy of her.
- Blessed with Suck: Because she was a virgin when turned, her hymen keeps regenerating no matter how many times she has sex, meaning every time she does it hurts like the first time.
- Bratty Vampire Daughter: But she gets better.
- Canon Foreigner : Didn't exist in the books, but Book!Pam and her share quite a few traits[1]
- Dawson Casting: Her actress is about nine years older than Jessica was when turned into a vampire.
- made worse by the fact she is stuck at 17.
- Friendly Neighborhood Vampire: She may have difficulty controlling her vampiric impulses at times, especially within her first few months of being turned, but the descriptor of "friendly" definitely fits, and Jess is easily worlds more well-intentioned than most of the other vampires on the show. Though this might be fading away as she grows more comfortable with her vampirism towards the end of the fourth season.
- Have You Tried Not Being a Monster?
- Heroes Want Redheads: At least Hoyt does.
- I Hate You, Vampire Dad: Her initial relationship with Bill
- Magical Girlfriend: Fits this trope wonderfully when she hooks up with Hoyt
- Ms. Fanservice
- My God, What Have I Done?: At the beginning of season 2.
- Single Vampire Seeks Good Man
- Star-Crossed Lovers: With Hoyt.
- Took a Level in Badass: In season 3.
Pam Swynford de Beaufort
Played By: Kristen Bauer
- Adaptation Distillation: She is very different from her book counterpart, who has been turned younger and is described as the friendlier vampire Sookie knows.
- Badass: Witness her snark while being tortured by the Magister.
- Bi the Way
- Child-Hater: She showed great disdain to Arlene's kids. Thankfully her job doesn't involve children.
- Deadpan Snarker
- The Fashionista
- Lesbian Vampire: She may be Bi, but she's way more interested in women than men.
- Living Forever Is Awesome: Pam loves being a vampire.
- Morality Pet: Eric for her, she for him.
- Not So Stoic: The only time she shows a soft side is when something happens to Eric.
- Two-Faced: thanks to Marnie's spell.
- Vampires Own Nightclubs
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With Eric.
- Woman in Black: Most of her outfits.
Alcide Herveaux
Played By: Joe Manganiello
Marcus: You're about 6'6 and you're wider than a door
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: with Sookie (more than once), with Debbie, with Tommy...
- Just Friends: with Sookie, receiving end.
- Nice Guy
- Our Werewolves Are Different
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: to both Debbie and Sookie
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: He finally gives up on Sookie when it became clear she wasn't about to stop chasing vampires, having pulled her out of a firefight after she accidentally got shot--saving her life--and didn't so much as get a "thank you" out of her because she was too busy having UST with Bill.
- Again, when he sees Tommy getting beaten by his pack.
Villains
Rene Lenier
Played By: Michael Raymond-James
- Affably Evil: Seemed like a nice guy at first.
- American Accents: Cajun. A fake one, anyway.
- Big Bad: of Season 1.
- Bastard in Sheeps Clothing
- Dangerously Genre Savvy: Knows Sookie is a telepath and is able to hide his darkest thoughts from her. Even after his facade is exposed and she's trying to hide from him, is able to project the thought, "I'll go look for her in the woods" while creeping up on her actual hiding place (not in the woods).
- Hidden Villain: No one even suspected he was really the murderer until at least halfway through the season.
- Fantastic Racism: He hates vampires, yeah, but what he really hates are "fang-bangers".
- Ragin Cajun: Subverted. He's not actually Cajun.
- Serial Killer: Nothing supernatural about him or his crimes. Still plenty evil, though.
- So I Married an Axe Murderer: Where he's the Axe Murderer who almost married Arlene.
- They Look Just Like Everyone Else: Doesn't especially look like a murderer.
- Was It All a Lie?: Averted. For some reason, no one bothered to wonder later. They were probably all too creeped out.
Maryann Forrester
Played By: Michelle Forbes
- Affably Evil
- Alien Blood: Because she's not even remotely human.
- Big Bad: of Season 2.
- Big Eater: Even though she didn't need to feed on normal food she would consume copious amount of tropical fruit and other delicacies.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing
- Black Blood: Oh yes, she definitely has black blood.
- Bloody Murder: She didn't use it as a weapon, but her black blood was highly poisonous to vampires (and probably to humans too).
- Bridezilla
- Cloudcuckoolander: To those who don't know what she really is.
- Death by Irony
- Death Seeker: All maenads.
- Emotion Control: Aside from feeding on them.
- Emotion Eater: She fed on strong displays of emotions like anger, desire, hunger and et cetera.
- The Fundamentalist: She takes her devotion to Dionysus very seriously
- The Hedonist
- Hey It's That Girl!: Nice to see you Admiral Cain.
- Also known for playing Ro Laren on Star Trek: The Next Generation.
- Hoist By Her Own Petard: Her blind faith in her religion led to her death.
- Humanoid Abomination: Possibly. According to Daphne, Maryann has been alive as long as there's been an Earth to walk on and has been known, or may be the same, as the Biblical demon Lilith, who brought forth all evil into the world. Others have known her as the ancient goddesses Gaia and Isis. And we know that her black blood is poisonous to vampires and she is resistant to nearly all normal and supernatural means of attack (i.e. bullets, vampires, Sookie's powers).
- I'm a Humanitarian
- A Load of Bull: She worshipped the Horned God and she would also wear a bull mask during rituals, making her look like a minotaur.
- Manipulative Bitch
- Mrs. Robinson: Being an hedonist she, probably, doesn't limit herself to young males, but did "deflower" Sam when he was 17. He was a bit scared of her though.
- Ominous Greek Chanting
- A Party - Also Known as an Orgy: She specialized in hosting this kind of parties.
- Really Seven Hundred Years Old: Her age is never addressed, but all Maenads are ancient. If Daphne is to be believed she has been alive for as long as there was an Earth to walk on. The only thing we know for sure is that she's really Older Than She Looks.
- Religion of Evil: Leads one.
- Shout-Out: In the first episode of season 2, Maryann explains to Tara and Eggs a painting that depicts the god Pan mating with a human mistress. This is likely a Shout-Out to Arthur Machen's horror novella The Great God Pan, where the outwardly beautiful and charming villainess Helen Vaughan is revealed to be a Humanoid Abomination, namely a daughter of the god Pan and a human woman. It feels safe to say that the character of Maryann Forrester takes a good deal of inspiration from Helen Vaughan.
- Supreme Chef: Either Tara and Eggs were high on her Emotion Control or her Hunter's Souffle was heavenly exquisite.
- Too Kinky to Torture
- Villains Out Shopping
- Voice of the Legion: When she calls upon the powers of Bacchus.
- Who Wants to Live Forever?
- Woman in White: On the second season finale when she was ready to marry her god.
Rev. Steve Newlin
Played By: Michael McMillan
- Big Bad Wannabe: He manages to be a significant threat, but most of his villainous accomplishments against the vampires he hates are lucky shots or just plain given to him. Compared to the other Big Bads of the show, he's pathetic.
- Bus Crash: Died offscreen between seasons 3 and 4.
- Not yet proven, he could simply be hiding. Given The Fellowship of the Sun's past tactics, faking his death would not be that much of a stretch.
- Okay, technically, he did die but he got better. Or turned into a vampire, if you consider that better.
- Not yet proven, he could simply be hiding. Given The Fellowship of the Sun's past tactics, faking his death would not be that much of a stretch.
- Church Militant of a Corrupt Church: The Fellowship of the Sun, who want to eradicate all Vampires and don't particularly like anyone who associates with them either.
- Domestic Abuser: Appears to mostly psychologically abuse it wife, rather than physically do so. This results in his wife cheating on him, and leads to a divorce.
- Fantastic Racism: He hates vampires, mostly on account of his family, including his father who was also a pastor being killed by them.
- Foe Yay / Ho Yay: With Jason, oh so much.
- He Who Fights Monsters
- Karmic Transformation
- Sinister Minister
- Southern Gentleman: The fact that he's a Southern Preacher invariably means he will also be this.
- You Fail Logic Forever: See above.
Lorena Krasiki
Played By: Mariana Klaveno
- Abduction Is Love: Both when she initially turned Bill and in the present.
- Abnormal Limb Rotation Range: Happens in said sex scene mentioned below.
- All Love Is Unrequited: She loves Bill but he sure as heck don't love her.
- Ax Crazy
- The Dragon: Plays the role of Dragon to Russel's Big Bad in the third season.
- Honey Trap: For her maker.
- I Hate You Vampire Mom: She being the hated vampire-mom who turned Bill. And she in turn hated her own maker.
- I'm a Humanitarian
- Living Forever Is Awesome
- Love Makes You Crazy: She's crazy about Bill since he left her, and just crazy in general. And...
- Love Makes You Evil: Though she may have already been that way.
- Too Kinky to Torture: When Bill twists her neck 180º during sex, her response is "I love you, Bill."
- Ms. Fanservice: Well, at least off-screen she looks a lot better. See the IMDB entry for Mariana Klaveno.
- Torture Cellar: Tortured Bill in Russel's cellar.
Debbie Pelt
Played By: Brit Morgan
- Ax Crazy: Attacks Sookie twice in Season 3 and 4.
- Beware the Nice Ones: During the gap between seasons 3 and 4, Debbie stops taking V. She instead becomes a vastly different, and actually kind person.
- Boom! Headshot!: To Tara
- Cat Fight: With Sookie in Season 3
- Click. "Hello.": Of the shotgun kind
- Coup De Grace: When Debbie attacks Sookie in the Season 4 finale, Tara jumps in the line of fire, and takes a bullet to the head. In a rage, Sookie wrestles Debbie to the ground, and rips the shotgun from her, and aims it right under her chin, amongst Debbie's cries for mercy. It doesn't work.
- Fan Disservice: Well, on the show anyway.
- Gun Struggle: Between Debbie and Sookie. Guess who wins?
- If I Can't Have You
- Love Makes You Crazy: Debbie is this trope.
- Love Makes You Evil: Upon seeing Alcide assist Sookie, Debbie goes batshit for the rest of season 4.
- Ms. Fanservice: Again, better off-screen (see Brit Morgan's IMDB entry).
- Murder the Hypotenuse: Sookie
- Psycho Ex-Girlfriend: Um...duh
- Sacred Hospitality: Beginning of season 4
Debbie: (to Sookie) Would you like a Vienna Sausage?
- Taking the Bullet: Debbie's shotgun fires and hits Tara, who tried pushing Sookie out of the way.
- This Is for Emphasis, Bitch: During the season 3 catfight between Sookie and Debbie, this little exchange occurs:
Sookie: Get out of my house, bitch!
Debbie: Fuck you!
- Tsundere
- Villains Want Mercy: Debbie begs Sookie for this after trying to kill Sookie with a shotgun, only failing because Tara pushes her out of the way getting shot in the process. Sookie does not give it to her and returns the favor instead.
- Violently Protective Girlfriend
- Yandere: Holy hell...
- Your Cheating Heart
Franklin Mott
Played By: James Frain
- Abduction Is Love: Kidnaps and imprisons Tara "to protect her".
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: And he is serious bad.
- Axe Crazy
- Bastard Boyfriend: Both emotionally and physically abusive to Tara, though the physical parts are mostly inadvertent.
- Bloodless Carnage: Very much averted.
- British Accents: He's got one.
- Clingy Jealous Boy
- Even Bad Men Love Their Girlfriends
- Debatable as to whether he 'loved' Tara, since he was...y'know...batshit insane.
- Evil Brit
- He's Just Hiding: As it turns out, he wasn't really dead the first time.
- Laser-Guided Karma: He gets what he has coming to him. Twice.
- Left for Dead
- Living Forever Is Awesome: Believes this so much that he wants Tara to join him in being a vampire.
- Losing Your Head: Gets it smashed in by Tara
- Morality Pet: Tara, but he's so crazy that it doesn't actually make his behavior any less evil.
- Neck Lift: To Tara. He's really pissed about being betrayed and left for dead.
- Not Quite Dead: The first time, but is later Killed Off for Real, unless something really exceptional happens.
- Psycho for Hire
- Oh Crap: What everyone was thinking when they realized just how insane he actually was.
- Stalker with a Crush: Towards Tara.
Russell Edgington
Played By: Denis O'Hare
- Affably Evil: He may be a monster, but he's a charming, diplomatic monster.
- Berserk Button: the death of his lover
- Big Bad: of Season 3.
- Black Cloak: Subverted, in another characters flash back Russell is shown wearing a Druid style brown cloak.
- Cradle of Loneliness: Does two grisly variants after the death of Talbot.
- Curb Stomp Battle: Usually any battle against him, being that he's the oldest vampire introduced so far. The main page accuratly describes his fight with Bill as "Robin trying to fight Superman barehanded."
- The Dandy
- Druid: In interviews Denis O'hare has said that Russell was a Druid priest before becoming a vampire.
- Equal Opportunity Evil: Served by vampires as well as werewolves despite the Fantastic Racism between the two species. Would like to unite all supernaturals against humans
- Evil Overlord: He certainly wants to be this
- Fate Worse Than Death: Has been buried in concrete.
- Sealed Evil in a Can
- He got better
- Sealed Evil in a Can
- I Love You, Vampire Son: Loves his vampire son (Talbot)
- Knight of Cerebus: While this series is not light hearted, his actions have the potential for far reaching consequences.
- Large Ham: "Now time for the weather. Tiffany?"
- Not Quite Dead: He's baaack.
- Pet the Dog: Sincerely cares about Talbot.
- Social Darwinist: He makes the subjugation of humans sound down right logical.
- Southern Gentleman: Not really, but very convincingly acts like one to fit into his role as King of Mississippi.
- Utopia Justifies the Means: Honestly believes that vampires being in charge would be the best thing for the world in general.
- Villainous Breakdown: When Eric kills Talbot.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: One possible interpretation of the character. Russell believes that humans are not fit to be stewards of the earth so they should step down from their position as the dominant species and let vampires run things.
- Could be seen as a variation of Gaia's Vengeance.
- Yaoi Guys: With Talbot.
Cooter
Played By: Grant Bowler
- All Bikers Are Hells Angels: Leader of the Fuck You Crew a Biker Gang/Werewolf pack loyal to Russell.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Why Debbie left Alcide for him.
- Van Dyke of Evil
- The Brute: To Russell's Big Bad.
- Evil Counterpart: To Alcide
- Fantastic Drug: Addicted to "V" (vampire blood)
- Killed Off for Real
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: Werewolf
Felton Norris
Played By: James Harvey Ward
- Abduction Is Love
- Arranged Marriage: Had one with Crystal and wants to keep it that way.
- Brother-Sister Incest
- Crazy Jealous Guy
- Fantastic Drug: Is addicted to "V"
- If I Can't Have You
- Killed Off for Real
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: Werepanther
Marnie Stonebrook
Played By: Fiona Shaw
- All of the Other Reindeer: Was treated as a freak for much of her life due to her status as a spirit medium.
- Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: She peacefully passes on into the afterlife after Antonia and Adele convince her to abandon her quest for revenge against the vampires. This makes her the first (and so far, only) season villain to have a happy ending.
- Berserk Button: Being bullied and threatened by others. It seems those years of feeling like an outcast and a misfit eventually ate away at her psyche; she's homicidal and vengeful toward anyone who attacks her.
- Big Bad: Of season four.
- Blood Magic: Occasionally seen cutting herself in an attempt to invoke Antonia.
- Bullying a Dragon: Sort of. The vampires attacked her because her practices meant she had the potential to one day act against them. And since being oppressed is her berserk button, that's exactly what made her snap and start her genocidal crusade against them in the first place.
- Demonic Possession: Subverted. While Antonia was possessing her at first, it eventually became more of a melding of consciousness before culminating in Marnie actually binding Antonia and gaining full control of her powers. Also, after her death, Marnie possesses Lafayette.
- From Nobody to Nightmare
- The Fundamentalist: For her, those caught in the middle are not even Collateral Damage but Les Collaborateurs to vampires.
- Hey, It's That Guy!: Ironically, Fiona Shaw is perhaps best known for playing Harry Potter's magic-hating aunt Petunia.
- I Just Want to Have Friends: The reason she talked to the dead was because they were her only friends. She was shunned by other people all her life because of her powers.
- I See Dead People: Her most consistent ability when she's not possessed. Apparently, constantly hearing the voices of the dead contributed to her neurotic mental state.
- Informed Loner: She claimed to be a lifelong outcast despite leading a coven that loved her (until she she started going off the deep end) and considered Holly and Jesus personal friends.
- Inept Mage: Her powers are pretty hit-or-miss unless she's being possessed by Antonia.
- Necromancer: The reason the vampires see her as a threat--with the power to control the dead, she could potentially control them too.
- The Power of the Sun: The magical barrier she erects around her shop harnesses the power of the sun, killing any vampire that touches it.
- Powers Via Possession
- Soul Power
- Sympathetic Murderer: The show doesn't paint her murderous actions in a positive light, but the motive behind them is treated much more tragically.
- Start of Darkness: While it's hinted that she was a bit mentally unstable all along, she bears no nefarious intentions until after the vampires antagonize her and Antonia shows her visions of the witches' persecution during the Inquisition.
- Sympathy for the Devil: Sookie tries to win her over by telling her that she understands how it feels to be ostracized and picked on. This seems to reach Marnie, until Bill challenges her to come out by calling her a coward. In the finale, she is also portrayed in a very sympathetic light as Antonia and Adele convince her to abandon her quest for revenge so she can be at peace.
- Too Dumb to Live: Her downfall can be traced directly to her not knowing what "cauterize" means. As in, Jesus and Lafayette grabbed a few vials of herbs saying they were going to "cauterize" the wounds of the girl Marnie stabbed, even though it simply means burning a wound to seal it.
- Wicca: Although many of her practices go against some of Wicca's fundamental ethics.
- Willing Channeler: She allows Antonia to possess her in order to protect herself and her coven from the vampires.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: It's implied at various points throughout the season and finally stated in "Soul of Fire" that Marnie is acting out because she perceives herself as everyone's punching bag and is using Antonia's power as a means to lash out and assert herself. This hardly justifies her actions, but it at least makes them somewhat more understandable. There's also the fact that she was originally just a lonely old woman, who turned to necromancy because she couldn't find meaningful relationships among the living. If the vampires had just left her alone, she would never have become their enemy, but instead they attacked her based on the possibility that she might one day pose a threat to them.
Antonia Gavilán de Logroño
Played By: Paola Turbay & Fiona Shaw
- And I Must Scream : When Marnie forces her to stay. Believe it or not, Jesus saves her.
- Big Bad: Shares this role with Marnie.
- Bilingual Bonus: She speaks in archaic Spanish.
- Burn the Witch!: She was burnt at the stake by the Catholic Church, which the vampires had a hand in.
- Even Evil Has Standards: She refuses to make innocents (read: humans) suffer
- Ghostly Goals: Revenge against the vampires for her torture, rape and murder.
- Heel Face Turn: In the last episode of season 4, she saves Bill and Eric from being burned alive by Marnie. Her justification is that (1) she realized that violence only spawns more violence, (2) Marnie is insane, and (3) she would rather pass on peacefully to the afterlife than remain as a wraith for all eternity.
- The Medic: When she was alive, she primarily used her magic to heal the sick in her village, and worked as a midwife.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Antonia after witnessing the injured and dead people following the attack on the Festival of Tolerance.
- Necromancer
- New Powers as the Plot Demands: In the flashback scenes of her death, she can't manage to fight off a small group of vampires. Then, in the present, she wipes Eric's mind. Then she mind controls a vampire. Then several vampires. Now she can apparently teleport and set up nearly impenetrable force fields as well.
- Rape as Drama
- She Who Fights Monsters
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Her hatred of vampires is entirely justified, considering the rape and torture she endured at their hands.
- The Witch Behind the Witch: Subverted. It seemed this way at first, but when Antonia started getting second thoughts after what happened at the festival, it was Marnie who convinced her to stay.
Marcus Bozeman
Played By: Dan Buran
- Backstab Backfire
- Crazy Jealous Guy: He's Luna's ex-husband.
- Foil: to Alcide
- Killed Off for Real: Courtesy of Alcide.
- Informed Ability: The closest he ever comes to using his powers onscreen is when his eyes briefly flash while angry.
- Love Makes You Crazy
- Love Makes You Evil
- Names to Run Away From Really Fast
- Our Werewolves Are Different
Other Humans
Sheriff Bud Dearborne
Played By: William Sanderson
- By-The-Book Cop
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: He retires from being the sheriff and is never seen again. Odd as it was made apparent he wasn't going to be leaving town any time soon.
- Clueless Detective: Though usually just because he doesn't understand the full scope of the situation.
- Was more inclined than Andy to think the serial killing of fang bangers was the work of vampires despite the fact that none of the killings resembled vampire attacks.
- Cynical Mentor: To Andy Bellefleur in the first season though eventually gives up on it because he's getting too old for this.
- Genre Savvy: Or at least demonstraits it on a few occasions.
- "Everytime I solve one murder another one pops up, it's like crab grass!"
- Hey, It's That Guy!: Sherrif Larry should have appointed his brother Daryl and his other brother Daryl deputies.
- Noble Bigot with a Badge: In Season 1, came across as nicer and more reasonable than Andy.
- Only Sane Man: Is the only person who actually seems to notice the unusually frequency with which murders occur in Bon Temps.
- Reasonable Authority Figure
- The Sheriff: Literally
Hoyt Fortynberry
Played By: Jim Parrack
- Adorkable
- Ascended Extra
- The Big Guy: One of the tallest of the cast. This is deconstructed a little bit; he had a massive growth spurt in middle school that left him so unbalanced, he had to walk with a cane for months.
- Butt Monkey: Growing steadily into one.
- Boy Meets Ghoul: Is dating Vampire-girl Jessica.
- Calling The Old Woman Out: When he told his mother off for disapproving of his relationship with Jessica, after Maxine cancelled his cell phone service and made it look like he dumped Jess.
- Evil Matriarch: His mother. No, seriously.
- Heroes Want Redheads
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: The 6"5" Hoyt briefly dates 5"0" Summer,nearly a Foot and a half shorter
- Love Martyr
- Love Triangle: With Summer and Jessica. Except he actually hates Summer. And now with Jessica and Jason.
- Man Child: At least up until he moves out of his mothers house to live with Jessica.
- My Beloved Smother
- Nice Guy: He really is nice.
- Only Sane Man
Sheriff Andy Bellefleur
Played By: Chris Bauer
- By-The-Book Cop
- Bad Cop, Incompetent Cop: Though it seems to fluctuate by varying degrees.
- Butt Monkey: In season 2 and 4 especially.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass
- Cynical Mentor: To Jason. He really doesn't want to take Jason under his wing, but he sees the advantage to having a young, really athletic guy to run down all the crazies showing up in Bon Temps lately. That and he just feels bad for him.
- Clueless Detective: Though sometimes (surprisingly) not.
- Fantastic Drug: As of Season 4 is addicted to "V"
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He really is just trying to do his job and help people despite all the crap he put Jason through.
- My Beloved Smother: Well, Grandsmother.
- Not Now, Kiddo: Tries to do this with Jason but it never seems to work. Jason just annoys him anyways.
- Only Sane Man: In the whole freaking town!
- Properly Paranoid: Often looks insane just because he's one of the few people who actually know what's going on.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: From time to time though not at all so far in season 4.
Terry Bellefleur
Played By: Todd Lowe
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Usually seems to have difficulty just functioning but, when the situation calls for it, shows that he is one of the most competent characters in the supporting cast.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Calling Sam out, actually, for transforming into a Jerkass
- Does this repeatedly with to his cousin Andy.
- Cloudcuckoolander: A rather laid-back but definite example, seen by others as such due to being a...
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: He got back from Iraq.
- The Dog: Often, when the writers want to get the point across that a charcter is being a complete Jerkass, they do so by having that character be mean to Terry.
- Heartwarming Moments: Because he's pretty much the only person on the show who has nothing but good intentions 100% of the time, he provides a lot of these.
- Even when being mind controlled by Maryanne, he still remembered that Arlene is his "Special Lady" and went out of his way to keep her from getting hurt.
- Nice Guy
- Properly Paranoid: He often has a vague suspicion that something is wrong when something really is wrong, only to be falsely reasured that everything is ok by someone who knows for a fact that there's a problem but wishes conceal said problem.
- On more than one occasion he's been the first person to notice a problem.
Arlene Bellefleur (nee Fowler)
Played By: Carrie Preston
- Fiery Redhead
- Fatal Attractor: Her last Love interest was a Serial Killer and we don't know about her ex-husbands but they must be exes for a reason.
- Fetus Terrible: She's pregnant with Rene's baby and thinks Rene's evil is In the Blood. It Gets Worse after the baby is born.
- Happily Married: Arlene and Terry, in the fourth season.
- So I Married an Axe Murderer: Almost. She was engaged to Rene before The Reveal.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: She's a divorced mom with two kids who just can't seem to catch a break.
Lettie Mae Thornton
Played By: Adina Porter
- Abusive Parent
- Alcoholic Parent
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Granted, we see the bitch first. But as soon as her 'demon' is gone, she's going to church in fancy hats and looking down on her daughter...whom she mercilessly abused.
- Clap Your Hands If You Believe
- The Fundamentalist
- It's All About Me
- Holier Than Thou
- Hot for Preacher
- Never My Fault
Amy Burley
Played By: Lizzy Caplan
- Death Is Dramatic: Her death is pretty important to the plot, is it give evidence for Jason as the murderer
- Functional Addict: At first, then we really see how far she's willing to go to fulfill her addiction.
- Fantastic Drug: She's addicted to "V" or Vampire Blood.
- Granola Girl
- Ivy League for Everyone: She went to the really fancy-shmancy Wellesley College.
- Mysterious Past: We really have no idea why she was hanging around Bon Temps in the first place, or if anything she said about her past was true.
- The Sociopath: She exhibits all the symptoms.
Sarah Newlin
Played By: Anna Camp
- Blonde Republican Sex Kitten
- Dumb Blonde
- Freudian Excuse: Her sister was killed by vampires when they were both crusading for vamp equal rights.
- Yamato Nadeshiko
Jesus Velasquez
Played By: Kevin Alejandro
- Beta Couple: With Lafayette
- Blood Magic
- Bury Your Gays: He's Killed Off for Real in the fourth season finale, though it's implied that he might be hanging around as a ghost in the fifth.
- Ethnic Magician: He was trained as a witch by his grandfather.
- Hospital Hottie: He's a nurse working at the psychiatric center where Lafayette's mom lives. And he's hot.
- Meaningful Name: Blood magic or no blood magic, he's one of the few members of the cast who is consistently kind, loving, and compassionate. He then allows himself to be sacrificed in the hopes that doing so will keep a then-possessed Lafayette from being harmed. And then he returns as a spirit, still just as full of love and compassion as ever.
- Sexy Mentor: He is trying to get Lafayette to use his powers as a medium.
- Invisible to Gaydar: You wouldn't know he's gay unless he's making out with Lafayette.
- Twofer Token Minority: Actually a threefer, being gay, Latino, and Wiccan.
"Eggs" Benedict Talley
Played By: Mechad Brooks
- Brainwashed and Crazy
- Dark and Troubled Past
- The Dragon: For Maryann
- Mind Control Eyes
- My God, What Have I Done?: He's horrified when he discovers that Maryanne used him to do her dirty work, even though everyone--even the police--insist that he isn't a killer and was acting under her mind control.
- Mysterious Past
- Suicide by Cop
- Nice Guy
Other Vampires
Godric
Played By: Allan Hyde
- The Atoner
- Blood Knight: Appears to have been something like this in the past, considering he turned Eric after seeing his magnificent fighting abilities.
- Blood on These Hands: He's a vampire, so this is kind of hard to avoid, but he apparently had a realization at some point and now feels bad about killing humans.
- I Love You, Vampire Son: Genuinely cared for Eric.
- I Hate You, Vampire Dad: Completely averted.
- Friendly Neighborhood Vampire: Is trying to be this.
- Martyr Without a Cause
- The Messiah: Preaches love and forgiveness, willingly gives up his life to prove his point, and afterwards appears to his disciple surrounded by light to preach more love and forgiveness. In short, he is almost a Vampire Jesus.
- Really Two Thousand Years Old: Looks like a teenager.
- Self-Sacrifice Scheme: Got caught by the Fellowship of the Sun on purpose. You might even call it a Stupid Sacrifice.
- The Sheriff: Of Texas Area 9.
- Technical Pacifist
- Weakened by the Light: Killed by it actually. And on purpose.
- Who Wants to Live Forever?: Not Godric.
Queen Sophie-Ann Leclerq
Played By: Evan Rachel Wood
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing
- Bunny Ears Queen: Nan Flanagan may hate her guts, but she proves to be quite knowledgeable, seeing as she identified Maryann as a maenad and Sookie as a fairy.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: Arguably, in the second episode of season 4.
- Fiery Redhead
- Het Is Ew / Lesbian Vampire: Claims to be Bi, but she's hasn't had sex with men since the Eisenhower administration.
- Really Seven Hundred Years Old
- Shipper on Deck: She sees Foe Yay between Bill & Eric, and gives this advice to Bill: "All this alpha-male posturing. Why don't the two of you just fuck each other and get it over with? I could watch".
- Yaoi Fangirl: See the above quote.
Talbot
Played By: Theo Alexander
- Camp Gay: Good God, Talbot, could you be anymore gay?.
- Deadpan Snarker: Is most loved by fans of the show for the cutting, sarcastic insults he levels at those around him.
- Politically-Incorrect Villain: Refers to Tara as a 'dusky little blood-beast'.
- I'm a Humanitarian: Seems dead set on treating blood as though it were human food.
- Morality Pet
- Trophy Wife
- Uke: In a way. He may complain about the decisions Russell makes, but ultimately is submissive to him.
Magnus, the Magister
Played By: Zeljko Ivanek
- Badass Boast: "Do you question my authority? I am the Magister. I was trained in the Inquisition and I am the adjudicator for every vampire territory in North America! As the humans say - the humans that you love more than your own kind - back your shit down!"
- Bald of Evil
- Deadpan Snarker
- Hey, It's That Guy!
- Knight Templar: Was actually trained during the Spanish Inquisition.
- Large Ham: "Come out! Come out! Wherever you are!"
- Undying Loyalty: To the Authority.
- Smug Snake
- Torture Technician
Nan Flanagan
Played By: Jessica Tuck
- The Baroness
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing
- The Dragon: To the Authority
- Friendly Neighborhood Vampire/Good Is Not Nice: Personality-wise, she's kind of a bitch, but she's still one of the most benign vampires on the show; she's strongly against killing humans for food and is one of the main supporters of the Vampire Rights Amendment.
- Killed Off for Real: Season 4 finale. Eric and Bill tag team it and leave Ms. Flanagan as a pile of goop.
- Lesbian Vampire
- Mouth of Sauron: Again to the Authority
- Really Seven Hundred Years Old: Well, 816 to be accurate.
- Woman in Black: In private. In her public appearances She's the Woman in Pink.
- You Have Failed Me...: Season 4 finale. Do not insult Bill's girlfriend.
Other Non-Humans
Crystal Norris
Played By: Lindsay Pulsipher
- Abusive Parents and Bastard Boyfriend
- Arranged Marriage: To her half brother.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: At least in Jasons opinion, given current events.
- Informed Attractiveness: Jason falls in love with her at first sight due to her supposed beauty. She's probably the least attractive of most of the female cast.
- Rape Is Love: She ties Jason to a bed and has him raped by all of the women in Hotshot including herself, supposedly because she's such a loving Mama Bear and desires to be matriarch. She even understresses this when Felton dies, but Jason just thinks she's a crazy bitch when he escapes.
- Troubled but Cute: Jason certainly thinks so.
- Wrong Side of the Tracks: Her family is really poor and just plain bad people, and appear to live in this sort of area.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: Into a Black Panther.
Tommy Mickens
Played By: Marshall Allman
- Abusive Parents: His parents made him transform into a dog and win dogfights for money, which they blew on alcohol.
- Dawson Casting: Actor Marshall Allman is in his late 20's.
- Gender Bender: He changed into Maxine in "Spellbound".
- Jerkass: Not that we blame him, but come on man, have some common sense!
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: Animorphism. Plus, he can turn into humans after accidentally killing his shapeshifter mother, though it's an extremely unpleasant process.
- Long-Lost Relative: Is Sam's younger brother.
- Redemption Equals Death
- Self-Made Orphan
Luna Garza
Played By: Janina Gavankar
- Ms. Fanservice: Not that it stands out so much in this show...
- Hot Mom
- Spicy Latina
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: Animorphism.
Maurella
Played By: Kristina Anapau
- Foreshadowing: Will probably be far more relevant in Season five
- Magical Girlfriend: to Andy
- Meet Cute: with Andy. Except she is faking innocence.
- ↑ having been turned around 18 years old, being friendly, being Sookie's only vampire friend