Line #53 YMMV/AnitaBlake


1	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Anita is either an empowered woman in charge of her own destiny who protects those she cares for, or a whiney sadistic bitch who doesn't so much care for those she "loves" as she uses them for her own ends when she needs them and ignores them when she doesn't. Either way, she's a borderline sociopath who insists on making '''''everything''''' about her.
2	* BileFascination: Essentially the reason for the series' continued success after ''Narcissus in Chains'' was this, seeing that many will continually complain and yet continue to read them.
3	* BrokenBase: Many fans jumped the ship after ''Narcissus in Chains'', another bunch stayed around waiting for it to get better or just to enjoy hating it, while another segment of the fan population likes to read porn, and some people genuinely still enjoy the books.
4	* CompleteMonster: From the comic book adaptation of "The Laughing Corpse": [[WickedWitch Senora Dominga Salvador]] is a powerful [[HollywoodVoodoo voodoo]] priestess who has been [[YourSoulIsMine taking souls]] and forcing them back into their dead bodies to stop the process of rotting, but at the cost of leaving the souls [[AndIMustScream painfully aware of their situation]]. To [[ForScience prove her theory]], she explains to Anita how she returned the soul to a zombie, then took it out to leave it to rot, then put it back into the body to see if it will stop decaying. Not only does she use these zombies to make money in a prostitution ring, she also plans to sell her knowledge to the highest bidder.
5	* DesignatedHero: Anita, more and more as the books go on.
6	** She allows Olaf, a serial killer of humans, to run free because he's useful to her.
7	** At one point, she refuses life-or-death assistance to a werelion because he refused to have sex with her. While there were multiple lives on the line - Anita needed to feed the ardeur to pass energy to Richard anf Jean-Claude, and if Jean-Claude died a significant number of his vamps would never wake - this is still harsh when there were other options beside Joseph the werelion.
8	* DesignatedVillain: Asher in ''Kiss The Dead''. Yes, he fed off of Anita against her will, [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality but she has done the same thing to others numerous times.]] He's portrayed in a negative light because [[FelonyMisdemeanor he admits he wants a monogamous relationship]] [[IJustWantToBeLoved with someone, anyone, who loves him and prioritizes for who he is rather than his looks.]] Jean-Claude promptly banishes him.
9	** Not only that, he was once part of a menage a trois with Jean-Claude. Although he first showed up in revenge mode against JC (blaming him for their third's death), he finally accepted it, got over it, and then basically was told that his former lover was off-limits because his new girlfriend was too disgusted by bisexuality (at the time) for them to be together again. To a little bit, you have to feel for the guy.
10	* FanNickname:
11	** "Anita Blake: Vampire Humper" is well on its way to becoming one. Also "Doom Crotch"
12	** "Bitchard" is an apt nickname for Richard after ''Narcissus in Chains''.
13	** Micah is called [[BiggerIsBetterInBed "Tripod"]].
14	* HilariousInHindsight:
15	** At one point in ''Narcissus in Chains'', Anita is talking to Jean Claude about the effects of the ardeur and quips: "Please, tell me I'm not going to turn into Slutgirl." Depending upon your views, this quote either makes you want to laugh or cry hysterically.
16	** Also, the first book being called ''Guilty Pleasures'' seems strangely prophetic.
17	* HollywoodHomely
18	** Anita insists she is this because she isn't a tall willowy blonde, despite the depiction of her as a curly-haired Lara Croft. This mainly happens in later books; beforehand she mostly said she was just more muscular than current standards allow. However, as the books are first person POV and everyone that Anita voices this to thinks she's nuts, it's ''pretty clear'' this is meant to be Anita's view of herself, not necessarily accurate. We also know why, thanks to her backstory info. Laughingly, most of the time her given measurements don't make much sense; in earlier books, she claimed she was "too busty" for a size six (which is a women's size), so she had to fit into a seven (which is a ''junior's'' size) or eight (again, women's). Her bust has also increased, comically so.
19	** Asher is genuinely attractive, but used to be much ''more'' attractive before the holy water (think acid) scars on almost exactly half his body.
20	* HoYay: The fact that [[EveryoneIsBi every dude in this universe is bisexual]] doesn't hurt, but since Anita insists on chaining every dude to one-way monogamy with her, they all have to cast longing looks and rest heads on shoulders, because otherwise she'll dump them. This changes in the more recent novels, particularly around ''Danse Macabre'' where Anita suddenly finds two dudes having anal sex a massive turn on and is perfectly fine with group sex. Good thing changing sexual preferences is just like flipping a switch.
21	** There are hardly any women left in the series anymore, but Anita has bucketloads of Les Yay with the interchangeable Mother of All Darkness and Belle Morte. Both of whom, interestingly, look just like her.
22	* MoralEventHorizon: In the eyes of many readers, Anita crossed this when she had a man killed for [[NotGoodWithRejection refusing to sleep with her]]. Others think this happened earlier, during ''The Harlequin'', when Anita punishes the Rex leader of werelions for refusing to sleep with her.
23	* NeverLiveItDown: Hey, Anita, remember that time you [[VomitingCop threw up]] on a corpse at a crime scene?
24	* NightmareFuel: Every time Anita goes to a crime scene and finds all kinds of ripped-up corpses.
25	* NoYay: There's a scene in ''The Harlequin'' where Anita and Edward are [[ThereIsOnlyOneBed forced to share a bed.]] Normally, this would be pretty damn funny, but it comes across as forced, as if the author is trying to convince us there's nothing between them even though this has been established ad nauseum in the previous novels.
26	* TheScrappy: Micah. A large portion of the fanbase has bestowed the title on Richard--somewhere between ''The Killing Dance'' and ''Narcissus in Chains''. The reason is that his character was based on Hamilton's first husband. One divorce later and [[TookALevelInJerkAss suddenly Richard is an unbearable asshat.]]
27	* SeasonalRot: Many readers have this the opinion of ''Narcissus in Chains'' (book 10) onward. Other fans believe that book 15 ''The Harlequin'', was the downhill turning point, because it had the same general plot as ''Burnt Offerings'' (the all powerful vampire council threat comes to town). A common complaint about the later books is that Anita is increasingly a DesignatedHero prone to {{Wangst}} and the plots have devolved into [[RomanticPlotTumour Anita having relationship drama and/or explicit sex with her numerous lovers]], with the mysteries and criminal cases that were once the core aspect of the series getting comparatively little page-time.
28	* {{Squick}}: On oh-so many accounts.
29	** One of the most noticeable ones is when Anita [[spoiler: has sex with Jason in werewolf form in ''Incubus Dreams''. Anita recalls that Olaf, the psychotic killer from ''Obsidian Butterfly'' who also returned in ''The Harlequin'', allegedly masturbated in front of her with his hands covered in the blood of a dead vampire]]. Also when Anita gives [[spoiler: oral sex to a random poor guy as torture]] and then goes crawling toward the Big Bad with her [[spoiler: breasts hanging out covered in semen]].
30	** The constant descriptions of how the characters have sex as vampire and werecreature form, along with the IKEAErotica.
31	** Anita screwing a high school boy was bad enough on its own, but in ''Kiss The Dead'' it's revealed that she's been simultaneously acting as a ParentalSubstitute to him by attending PTA meetings.
32	** In ''Kiss The Dead'', Anita and one of her many lovers fall asleep while still positioned for intercourse. When they wake, his penis is glued inside her vagina due their body fluids adhering to the condom. '''''Gross.'''''
33	** It seems like the series goes out if its way to make her sex life as repulsive as possible. Think about it: sex done right involves sweat and other bodily fluids. Anita is constantly having sex, often with multiple men, in times and places where post-coital clean-up just isn't possible. At one point, she has sex in her office that stained the carpet and left her sopping wet to the knees and then went right back to work. Good grief, this woman must ''smell''.
34	* StrawmanHasAPoint: This series is full of this. Richard (the avatar of the author's ex-husband) frequently rants against the murder, rape, hypocrisy, greed, and general bad behavior of the protagonist, allegedly to show what a self-hating mess he is. The author is apparently unaware that he's the only one who makes any kind of logical, intelligent points about the heroine -- and she doesn't even dispute the things he says.
35	* TearJerker: The ending scene of ''Bloody Bones'' when [[spoiler: Serafina burns to death and Anita relives the death of her mother]] and Jason's reaction after confronting his father in ''Blood Noir''.
36	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Many fans and anti-fans would like to see more of Asher even though, after his introduction, he got sidelined for other members of Anita's harem. Part of this is his interesting backstory, visible bisexuality, and his willingness to argue with Anita. [[spoiler: Now he's been villainized and PutOnABus]].
37	* {{Wangst}}: Anita is the poster girl for this trope. Her backstory ''is'' pretty sad--dead mother, father remarried a somewhat cold woman, her fiancee dumped her [[Series/TheNanny in one of those crushing scenes]], and the first guy she seriously liked after him got murdered--but she seems to think that ''her'' problems are the worst that ever existed despite the fact that most of her harem have far worse lives than hers. Therefore, her constant whining comes across as major {{Wangst}} that gets worse with each book.
38	* TheWoobie:
39	** Asher. Poor guy has been disfigured, tortured and revenge-obsessed for centuries, and now that he's finally made up with his ex-lover, said ex-lover has pledged himself to one-way monogamy with someone else. To make matters worse, his only request is that he have someone to love him exclusively... and he doesn't get it. You just wanna hug him.
40	** The in-universe woobie, Nathaniel: Nathan basically has had nothing else to do but be people's boy toy sex toy and Nathan's such the super-sub he can't say no so everyone has to protect him from being taken advantage of by well... everyone. Nathaniel has been pimped out to people who sliced him up with no care for his survival--bad enough to nearly kill him, a shapeshifter. Plus, as mentioned above, mindfucked by the previous leader until he was incapable of saying no.
41	** Depending on the book, a lot of the male characters become this. Before Richard descends into JerkAss territory, he had a few moments, Jason becomes this a couple times, Philip definitely had his share of moments, so it really depends on the plot.

Context YMMV / AnitaBlake