Characters / True Blood Big Bads

René

René Lenier/Drew Marshall

"I ain't gonna hurt you, chère."

Played By: Michael Raymond-James

"No, you're the freak Cindy, you're the damn freak fucking freak fuck! Spread your legs for a dead man! Momma would roll over in her grave!"

A local resident of Bon Temps, thought to be a trusted ally and best friend to Jason Stackhouse and Hoyt Fortenberry, only to be revealed as the main antagonist for the First Season. Drew ends up being the serial killer responsible for the murders of several Fangbangers, an innocent bystander, a cat named Tina, and the multiple attempted murders of Sookie Stackhouse.

Even after Drew's real name is revealed, characters continue to occasionally refer to him as René.

Tropes

• Big Bad: Of Season 1.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: René/Drew actually appears to be the nicest, most affable guy in the supporting cast until The Reveal.
• Character Death: René is ultimately killed when Sookie decapitates him with a shovel.
• Cluster F-Bomb: Drops a massive one when Sookie is trying to get into his head. Adds in a couple of other stuff too.
• The Dog Was the Mastermind: Even watching Season 1 for the second time, you will see almost no foreshadowing that René is the killer. The most you get is a couple times when he asks Jason if his girlfriend ever slept with vampires, shortly before she's found dead. He comes across as a kind, loyal, romantic (towards Arlene), somewhat dorky Cajun. We find out this persona was very carefully constructed, right down to practicing a Cajun accent until he can fake it perfectly.
• Evil All Along: René is ultimately revealed to be the Serial Killer plaguing Bon Temps.
• False Friend: To Jason. He pretends to offer him good advice, but has no issue framing Jason for the murders he commits and is later shown happily driving off with Jason's truck after successfully Gaslighting Jason into believing he killed those women and turning himself over to the police. Karma comes back to bite Rene in the ass though.
• Fantastic Racism: He hates vampires, yeah, but what he really hates are "fang-bangers".
• Faux Affably Evil: Seemed like a nice guy at first.
• Hidden Villain: No one even suspected he was really the murderer until at least halfway through the season.
• Mask of Sanity: Doesn't slip for a moment to the point that even Sookie, who sometimes lacked the ability to shut thoughts out could never hear any of his (of the insane variety) until the very last minute.
• Off with His Head!: By Sookie, via a shovel.
• Ragin' Cajun: Subverted. He's not actually Cajun.
• Serial Killer: Nothing supernatural about him or his crimes. Still plenty evil, though.
• Starter Villain: René was the first Big Bad of the show.
• They Look Just Like Everyone Else!: He flew beneath the radar partially because he 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

Maryann Forrester

"Go, flourish and don't ever say 'no' to yourself."

Played By: Michelle Forbes

"Feeling sorry for things is just an excuse not to celebrate your own happiness."

A wealthy maenad, who initially presents herself as a social worker. Drawn to Bon Temps due to the potent energy she attributes to a ritual performed by a faux voodoo doctor, she takes an interest in Tara and has Tara move in with her. She is devoted to Dionysus and intends to find a suitable supernatural creature to kill in his honor, hoping to bring him to earth once again.

Tropes

• 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: She presents herself as a caring social worker who wants everyone to just let loose and have some fun. But, the reality is much worse....
• 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).
• Cloudcuckoolander: To those who don't know what she really is.

• 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.
• Faux Affably Evil: She is rather polite and friendly, provided other people submit to her whims. If not, out comes the mind manipulation.
• The Fundamentalist: She takes her devotion to Dionysus very seriously
• Hair-Trigger Temper: After her parties, she tends to get pretty bitchy and irritable.
• The Hedonist: Her entire philosophy of life is based around immediate gratification, usually in a pretty depraved way.
• 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: She cooks human ingredients into her food - especially hearts.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: How she meets her end by one of Sam's bull horns courtesy of his Animorphism.
• Manipulative Bitch: Especially with Tara. But, to all of Bon Tempes, as well.
• Mrs. Robinson: Being a 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.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Pulls this on Tara by informing her that she unknowingly summoned her during her season 1 exorcism.
• Ominous Greek Chanting: He inner monologue takes this form.
• Our Minotaurs Are Different: She worshipped the Horned God and she would also wear a bull mask during rituals, making her look like a minotaur.
• A Party, Also Known as an Orgy: She specialized in hosting this kind of party.
• Really 700 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.
• Shipper on Deck: She seems to be dangerously on deck for Tara and Eggs. She practically forces them to be together and loves seeing them as a pair. Oh, and she also made them have rough sex. A popular theory is that her real reason for taking Tara in was seeking out a mate for Eggs. She might even have been racially profiling...
• 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: She just laughs when Bill sinks his teeth into her.
• Villains Out Shopping: Half of her screentime involves her preparing for a party or the like.
• Voice of the Legion: When she calls upon the powers of Bacchus.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Maryann has no issue using people to further her own cause, and she will get rid of them the moment she no longer needs them. Both Miss Jeanette, Daphne, and Karl end up suffering this fate. She also was prepared to sacrifice all her possessed followers to Dionysus when Sookie destroyed her totem.
• Your Mind Makes It Real: It is impossible for her to die until she believes it is time for her to die. On the plus side, she is actively trying to accomplish this. On the minus side, she believes she will only die when she successfully calls Dionysus/Bacchus forth.

Russell

Russell Edgington

"Mine is the true face of vampires!"

Played By: Denis O'Hare

"Peace is for pussies!"

A 3000-year-old vampire, Russell is the vampire king of Mississippi. Though often gentle and polite, he is also shown to be wrathful, manipulative, and somewhat mentally unstable.

Tropes

• Affably Evil: He may be a monster, but he's a charming, diplomatic monster.
  • Faux Affably Evil: In Season 5.
• Arch-Enemy: For Eric. He still hates him even after a thousand years and after Talbot's death the feeling is mutual.

• Ax-Crazy: Following Talbot's death.
• Back for the Dead: Returns in Season 5, only to be die a true death at the hands of Eric in the finale.
• Badass Cape: Rockin' one in a flashback.
• Bad Boss: He tends to kill or bully his werewolf subjects.
• Big Bad: Of Season 3. He acts as a secondary antagonist in season 5.
• Black Cloak: Subverted, in another characters flashback 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 accurately describes his fight with Bill as "Robin trying to fight Superman barehanded." And in fact no one ever does defeat him in a fair fight, instead having to use some form of trickery to get the best of him; temporary sun-immunity in Season 3 and staking him while distracted in Season 5.

• Despair Event Horizon: Following the death of his lover.
• The Dragon: Subverted when Russell works for Salome in season 5. Salome sees Russell as this since she rescued him from being buried under concrete and uses him to kill Roman and convert the other Chancellors into becoming Sanguinistas. However, it's pretty clear that Russell is only playing along as long as he's entertained. When he becomes bored with the Sanguinista regime towards the end of season 5, he ditches them after giving Salome and the remaining Authority members a huge Reason You Suck speech.
• The Dreaded: Everyone is terrified of him, and rightly so. The news of his survival elicits an Oh, Crap! from the powerful Vampire Authority.
• Druid: In interviews Denis O'Hare has said that Russell was a Druid priest before becoming a vampire.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He loved Talbot, and goes insane after he's killed.
• Evil Overlord: He certainly wants to be this, and he's on his way.
• Fantastic Racism: Although he wants to unite supernaturals for the purposes of enslaving humanity, he often shows disdain for them. He treats werewolves as expendable, pathetic creatures even though they have been loyal to him for centuries. He also feels the same way about faeries in season 5, and plans to harvest them for their blood.
• Fate Worse than Death: Has been buried in concrete.
  • Sealed Evil in a Can: From which he's broken out of.
• I Have Many Names: As a vampire, he's taken many different names throughout his long life.
• I Love You, Vampire Son: Loves his vampire son (Talbot)
• The Juggernaut: No one is capable of fighting Russell, and every fight he takes part in ends in his favor. While Lilith is stronger (due to being a Monster Progenitor), Russell is always presented as a force of nature and he’s only defeated via trickery than brute force.
• 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?"

• Morality Chain: Talbot.
• Not Quite Dead: He's baaaa-ack.
• Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: Russell initially presents himself as meaning well to Eric and tells him that he wishes he could unite all the supernatural species to take down humans as he believes that humans are not fit to be stewards of the Earth. However, as the show continues, it becomes clear that Russell doesn't think much of other supernatural creatures beyond what they can do for him. He's bigoted towards the werewolves and only sees faeries as a disposable commodity for vampires to be able to walk in the sun. This attitude also expands towards vampires as he has no issue killing off members of his own kind if it's convenient for him. Also, for all his attempts to pass off his actions as well-intentioned, the truth is he's power-hungry and delights in the carnage he causes.
• Obfuscating Insanity: Acts crazy and like a bloodhound, which he is. But is always in control. Maybe because he is more powerful than any other vampire known in the show uptil now.
• Oh, Crap!: When he is killed by Eric.
• Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: An in-universe example. He normally has an accent like a typical Southern gentleman, but when Russell gets particularly angry he reverts back to his presumed original Druid accent.
• Pet the Dog: Sincerely cares about Talbot.
• Psycho for Hire: For the NEW authority. Like all psychos, he doesn't take much time to turn.
• Sanity Slippage: Talbot's death severed his already tenuous hold on sanity.
• Rage Breaking Point: Salome's threat to re-seal him beneath the ground after continuously chastising and restricting his "fun" was the final straw for him, culminating in him tossing her across the room and telling the entire Authority in no uncertain terms just what he thought of them.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: In perhaps his most iconic moment, he kills a newscaster live on TV to deliver a speech to humanity.
  "Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Russell Edgington, and I have been a vampire for nearly three-thousand years! Now, the American Vampire League wishes to perpetrate the notion that we are just like you, and, I suppose, in a few small ways we are. We're narcissists. We care only about getting what we want no matter what the cost, just like you. Global warming, perpetual war, toxic waste, child labor, torture, genocide... That's a small price to pay for your SUVs and your flat screen TVs, your blood diamonds, your... designer jeans, your absurd garish McMansions! Futile symbols of permanence to quell your... your quivering, spineless souls. But no, in the end, we... are... nothing... like you! We are... immortal! Because we drink the true blood! Blood that is living, organic, and human. Mmm! And that is the truth the AVL wishes to conceal from you, because let's face it, eating people is a tough sell these days, so they put on their friendly faces to pass their beloved VRA, but make no mistake: mine is the true face of vampires! Why... would we... seek... equal... rights? You... are not... our equals! We will eat you! After we eat your children! Now time for the weather. Tiffany?"
  • He delivered a short one to Sophie-Anne Leclerq during his "proposal," after she claimed that the IRS couldn't touch her because she was a vampire queen.
  "Please! I have known some of the finest queens who have ever lived. You, my dear girl, are no queen."
  • He also delivers another one to the Sanguinista's after getting fed up with them:
  Russell: Give me an excuse to kill the both of you. Or, hell, why not all of you? I am 3,000 years old! I am stronger than all of you combined! How long did you think I would be your lapdog? I offered you the opportunity to share in the greatest advancement in the history of our race, and the small-mindedness of your religion has literally kept you in the dark! You can have your Lilith. I will not be constrained by your God or anyone else's. I will have the sun!
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After Salome rejects his plan to hunt down the fae to harvest their blood and become daywalkers.
• 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.

Antonia Gavilán de Logroño

Antonia Gavilán de Logroño

"The only thing immortal is the human spirit."

Played By: Paola Turbay & Fiona Shaw

"I was trapped between worlds for four-hundred years. Lost and driven mad by my rage."

A powerful witch of the 17th Century. She manifests as a spirit to the witch Marnie Stonebrook.

• And I Must Scream: Despite having died, she spent 400 years as a spirit being driven insane by her rage at the injustices committed against her, and was unable to come back to the physical plane until she got in contact with Marnie. Later on, after she has a Heel Realization about how evil Marnie has become, she tries to leave her and Marnie forces her to stay via a binding spell.
• Anti-Villain: She's an angry spirit out for revenge against the vampires. At the same time though, she honestly believes her crusade is justified and that she's protecting humans and witches from being victimized by more vampires.
• Badass Boast: Her "Vampires are not immortal, the human spirit is!" speech:
  Antonia: We are no longer hidden. If we do nothing and wait, we shall be tortured, raped, murdered, eaten. But understand this: Vampires are not immortal. They're only harder to kill. And that is where our humanity is our great advantage, for our human spirits are immortal. I stand before you as living proof of this very fact. I have matched my human spirit against their emptiness, and I have won. Now I require your support, so we may do so again. Let us show these vampires the fury and power of the human spirit. We have waited 400 years for this!
  • She also gives this to Pam after cursing her:
  Antonia (in Spanish): Corrupt, unsanctified corpse that walks: Behold your true self!
• Big Bad: Shares this role with Marnie. Subverted in the last three episodes of season 4 when she has a change of heart after seeing how her crusade will hurt innocent people, and Marnie steps up as the Final Boss.
• Burn the Witch!: She was burnt at the stake by the Catholic Church, which the vampires had a hand in.
• The Dreaded: She's this to the vampires. Prior to season 4, she was one of the few witches who was successful in employing necromancy against the vampires and dragging them into the sun to burn. Her actions are still remembered hundreds of years later.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • While she's perfectly okay possessing vampires and using them as attack dogs, she refuses to let them drink human blood.
  • She's shown to be disgusted by rape, and especially by vampires who inflict that on their victims.
  • Despite how zealous she initially comes off in her crusade against the vampires, she doesn't like seeing innocent humans getting caught in the crossfires and suffering for it. When her attack on the Festival of Tolerance results in this, she is horrified and comes to realize she's become no better than the vampires who hurt her. This results in a Heel–Face Turn.
  • When Marnie callously kills Casey (one of the members of the coven) Antonia is disgusted with her, and finally comes to realize that Marnie is more evil and power-hungry than originally believed. Antonia declares their partnership over because of this, and Marnie does not take that well......
• Foil: She serves as one to Zaafira in season 5. Both of them are foreign witches (Antonia is from Spain whereas Zaafira is from Iraq). Both of them had injustices committed against them and people under their care (Antonia's coven and Zaafira's village). Both of them were killed brutally. Both of them come back as Vengeful Ghosts seeking retribution against the people they deem responsible. This is where the similarities end: Antonia targets vampires whereas Zaafira targets the American soldiers who massacred her village. Antonia prefers to draw upon her own magic (and the magic of her coven) whereas Zaafira uses a fire demon called "The Ifrit" to carry out her vengeance. And while Antonia eventually abandons her crusade when she realizes it will result in innocent humans dying and chooses to peacefully move on to the next life, Zaafira refuses to forgive the people who wronged her and demands that blood be paid for with blood.
• Freudian Excuse: She was originally a healer who turned to necromancy to save her village from disease. Despite not knowing about the existence of vampires or posing a threat to them at the time, they targeted her and imprisoned her in the catacombs along with other women where they tortured, raped, and fed upon them. This caused Antonia to snap, and when she was sentenced to be burned at the stake, she (along with her coven) cast a spell that dragged all vampires within a 20 mile radius into the sun as revenge (and as a way to expose vampires to the humans.) After she died, she spent 400 years in the afterlife being driven insane by her rage over the injustices done to her. When she finally returns as a Vengeful Ghost, she is NOT HAPPY.
• 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 vengeful spirit 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 feels this after witnessing the injured and dead people following the attack on the Festival of Tolerance. This causes her to realize she's become no better than the vampires who hurt her, and that her crusade (regardless of how well-intentioned it was) will result in innocent people dying.
• Pet the Dog:
  • After she fuses with Marnie and meets the coven for the first time, Antonia gives the witches there the option of leaving if they don't wish to join her. When several of them choose to leave, she tells the other witches to let them go without consequence.
  • She shows empathy for Tara's plight since she was also a rape victim of vampires, and can understand where Tara is coming from. Granted, Antonia also wanted Tara as an ally in her crusade against the vampires, but it doesn't cancel out her ability to empathize with Tara's situation.
• Rape as Backstory: Back when she was practicing necromancy in the 1600s, she was captured by vampires in Spain and taken into the catacombs of the Catholic church where she (and many other women) were tortured, fed upon, and raped repeatedly.
• She Who Fights Monsters: When Antonia bonds with Marnie, she plans to use her powers to exterminate vampires from the face of the Earth as revenge for what was done to her and her coven 400 years ago. For her, it doesn't matter whether the vampires are innocent or guilty because she sees them all as bloodthirsty and depraved monsters who don't deserve mercy. She eventually comes to realize how wrong this mentality is, and abandons her crusade later on.
• Tragic Villain: She was originally a kind and caring woman who worked as a healer and only turned to necromancy to save her village from fever. Despite not being a threat to vampires at the time, she was captured by them and taken to the catacombs to be tortured and raped repeatedly. The injustices and horrors she experienced caused Antonia to snap and summon the vampires into the sun both as revenge and as a way to expose them to the humans. After she died, she was left to wander in the spiritual plane for 400 years being driven mad by her rage. When she's summoned back to the physical world by Marnie and sees the vampires perpetrating the same injustices she witnessed in her previous life, she decides to take matters into her own hands and wage war against the vampires to exterminate them because she believes they are monsters who deserve to die. Given her experiences with vampires, it's easy to see how she became the vengeful spirit we see in season 4.
• Vengeful Ghost: She became this based on what the vampires did to her.
• Villain Has a Point:
  • Her hatred against the vampires non-withstanding, she correctly points out to Tara that vampires have spent centuries committing atrocities against humans while getting away with it.
  • When Bill asks Antonia to remove the spells she placed on Eric and Pam, Antonia points out that she put those spells on them in self-defense, which is true since both Eric and Pam were in the process of attempting to attack Marnie and the other witches, and are prepared to do so again. She also calls Bill out on his hypocrisy when he claims to be wiling to execute those who have harmed her, and yet still continues to let Eric and Pam live. There's also the unspoken fact that Bill was okay with Luis working under him as his sheriff in spite of the fact Luis raped and tortured Antonia 400 years ago and was prepared to do so again once Antonia possessed Marnie.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: As a vengeful spirit, she launches a crusade against vampires with plans to exterminate them because she honestly believes they are soulless, irredeemable monsters who rape, torture, drain, and kill without mercy, and that this will protect humans and witches from them. Considering what she endured at their hands in her past life, it's kind of understandable why she's developed this mentality.
• 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.

Marnie

Marnie Stonebrook

"No one lives forever, not even you!"

Played By: Fiona Shaw

"Fate brought us together to fight evil. Did you really think no one was gonna get hurt?"

A very powerful medium who served as a leader of a Wiccan coven at the Moon Goddess Emporium.

Tropes

• 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 4.
• Blood Magic: Occasionally seen cutting herself in an attempt to invoke Antonia.
• Boom, Headshot!: Delivered by Bill.
• 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.
• Character Death: She's shot in the head by Bill, and her spirit is later encouraged to move on by Adele.
• 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.
• Face Death with Dignity: She defiantly tells Bill "No one lives forever! Not even you!" right before Bill shoots her. This happens again when she's a spirit where she's convinced by Antonia and Gran to move on and abandon her crusade against the vampires.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: Marnie went from being a sad, timid old kook to a massive threat to vampires and humans alike. She derails vampire-human relations and is responsible for the deaths of Jesus Velasquez and many high-ranking vampires.
• The Fundamentalist: For her, those caught in the middle are not even Collateral Damage but Les Collaborateurs to vampires.
• 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.
• Inept Mage: Her powers are pretty hit-or-miss unless she's being possessed by Antonia.
• 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.
• 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.
• Necromancer: The reason the vampires see her as a threat—with the power to control the dead, she could potentially control them too.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: It's revealed that she is doing this when she is egging Antonia on to continue against the vampires and is not a naive witch and helpless victim of possession she came off as.
• 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.

• 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.
• Sympathetic Murderer: Subverted. She tries to paint herself as this when Antonia has second thoughts about continuing their crusade after innocent humans get killed at the Festival of Tolerance, but her reasons for attempting to kill others are more selfish and petty than she wants to admit. In reality, she doesn't care if she has to sacrifice other people as long as she gets the respect and fear from others that she's always wanted.
• 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.
• Villainous Breakdown: She starts to spiral out of control towards the end of season 4. First, she binds Antonia to her so she can't leave. Then she tries to murder Sookie when she breaks another one of her spells, and then becomes dismayed when Antonia breaks free from Marnie (which allows Bill to later kill her). It gets even worse after Marnie dies when she comes back as a vengeful spirit, murders Jesus (whom she once considered to be her friend and progeny) so she can obtain his magic, and attempts to have Eric and Bill burned to death out of revenge. When Antonia and Gran prevent Marnie from doing that (and force her to leave Lafayette), she completely breaks down and babbles about how she's been a freak for her whole life, how it isn't fair that her life got taken away from her, and begs Antonia and Gran to let her stay and continue her crusade against the vampires.
• 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.

Salome

Salomé Agrippa

"Vampires shall rightfully rule this earth."

Played By: Valentina Cervi

"We’ve become so jaded. We celebrate our own cynicism."

A 2,000+ year old vampire and The Guardian of the Authority. She was a world class seductress and fiercely intelligent, commonly known for her "dance of the Seven Veils".

Tropes

• As the Good Book Says...: She really likes the Vampire Bible.
• Badass Boast: "I saved you, Russell. I can put you back in the ground."
  • To which Russell reacts by slapping her across the room, which he can do, since he's a thousand years older than her.
• The Baroness
• Big Bad: Of Season 5. She's not the traditional Big Bad, in the sense that she never meets the protagonist at all, but it is her manipulations and actions that cause most of the seasons conflict and drive the seasons plot, such as: Turning the Authority dark, causing Bill to slowly slip into evil, bringing back Russell, and more. She is also the one who causes the Authority to become Sanguinstas. By the end of the season, Salome is replaced/joined in the role by Lilith.
• The Chosen One: She sees herself as this when Lilith appears to her in a vision.
• Cold-Blooded Torture: She does this to Eric when she's trying to get information on him about the Sanguinistas.
• The Dragon:
  • Subverted with her relationship to Roman. It seems like Salome is this for Roman (despite being 1500 years older than him) until it's revealed that Salome is a Sanguinista with her own agenda, and has no problem betraying Roman by using Russell to kill him.
  • Somewhat to Lilith. She's the leader of the Sanguinstas and the most devoted of the group. She does whatever Lilith tells her to do or whatever she believes Lilith wants her to do.
• Face Death with Dignity: Right before she dies, she congratulates Bill on his victory over her, telling him that "Lilith chose wisely."
• Fantastic Racism: It's fair to say that Salome considers humans to be inferior to vampires, and sees them as either food, slaves, or commodities for vampires to use. She also has a hatred for humans, and even tells Bill that the humans of her youth were far more savage than any vampire she's encountered.
• Fatal Flaw: Arrogance and her attitude as The Fundamentalist. She is utterly convinced of the dogma of Lilith and the righteousness of her cause that it results in her underestimating others. First she ends up alienating Russell who quickly grows bored of the Sanguinista regime and ditches it when Salome refuses to consider his idea of harvesting faeries for their blood (since faeries are considered an abomination in the Vampire Bible). While Salome thought Lilith's blood would be enough to corrupt Russell, she never considered the idea that faerie blood would have a more powerful sway over him. Then she's caught off guard when General Cavanaugh informs the Authority they've been preparing for years for a vampire attack on humans and have the weapons to wipe vampires off the face of the earth. Finally, she ends up getting outmaneuvered by Bill when she mistakenly believes Bill didn't drink Lilith's blood when he had the chance because he lacked faith and was scared of what would happen to him if he did. She then takes the Lilith blood and drinks it..........only to discover that Bill swapped the blood in the vial for his own blood laced with silver. This last act weakens Salome enough that Bill is able to kill her with ease.
• Freudian Excuse: Her human life was pretty miserable. When she was a girl, she was sent as a gift by her mother to her uncle, who proceeded to rape her while she was forced to demand John the Baptist's head in exchange for this. To make matters worse, she got demonized by the Bible as a seductress of men because of what happened. The way she describes her story to Bill, as well as her comments about the humans in her youth being more savage than any vampires she's known, makes it clear that she's still angry after all these years, and that she sees humans as worse than vampires because of her childhood. She declares that she wants to rewrite her own history, and she sees Lilith as her opportunity to do so.
  Salome: Thousands of years, Salome had meant nothing but a naked girl with a man's head in her lap. Now I will be linked to Lilith forever.
• Graceful Loser: Manages to congratulate Bill on being Lilith's 'wise choice', as he kills her.
• Historical Domain Character: She is the same Salome—aka the Daughter of Herodias—from The Bible.
• It's All About Me: Subtle, but she does like to be the focus of attention. When Russell suggests saying grace before eating, she quickly tries to jump in, clearly having assumed that he meant her. When Steve says the prayer, she is visiably irritated.
• Knight Templar: She sees it as her duty to enslave humans as a food source and lead vampires to becoming the rightful rulers of the world.
• Manipulative Bitch: She pretended to be on board with Roman's mainstreaming agenda for years, but was secretly a Sanguinista who always planned to overthrow him and launch a crusade against humans. She was also responsible for digging Russell out of the ground and using him to further her own plans and was responsible for converting Bill to the Sanguinista religion.
• Ms. Fanservice: Deliberately invoked. She uses her body as a weapon to seduce men. First Roman, and then Bill.
• The Fundamentalist: So much that when Russell tells the rest of the Chancellors to join him in hunting down the Fae so they can daywalk Salomé refuses because vampires are "of the night" and fairies an abomination. And when Bill tricks her into drinking blood laced with silver she recognizes Lilith's wisdom in choosing Bill over her.
• Mushroom Samba: While on Lilith's blood.
• Number Two: To Roman.

• Out-Gambitted: By Bill, leading to her being Killed Off for Real.
• Rape as Backstory: Salome reveals to Bill that when she was a girl, her mother wrapped Salome up in scarfs and sent her to her uncle to have his way with her. She ended up getting vilified as a seductress of men by the bible despite being a rape victim in that situation.

• Undying Loyalty: To Lilith.

• The Vamp: One of legend, at that.

Lilith

Lilith

Played By: Jessica Clark

Roman Zimojic: "The First. The Last. The Eternal."

The very first vampire made in God's image, Lilith is worshipped by a cult known as the Sanguinstas. Many believe Lilith to simply be a myth, however, she proves this to be untrue when she comes into the picture and begins manipulating the Vampire Authority in her favor.

Tropes

• Above Good and Evil: Makes these claims about herself, but other characters see through this.
• Big Bad: Of Season 5. While Salome starts out as the original Big Bad of the season, by the end it is Lilith's manipulating the plots through the acts of the Authority and she begins pitting them against one another by telling them each they are chosen.
• Disc-One Final Boss: For Season 6, while possessing Bill Compton.
• Fan Disservice: She's a naked female vampire who's often covered in blood.
• God of Evil: Is regarded as the "God" worshiped by vampire fanatics, who attempt to create a theocracy to her name.
• Greater-Scope Villain: For seasons 5 and 6. Whatever she is, it's clear she's not entirely a hallucination. Especially after she fuses with Bill at the end of season 5.
• Humanoid Abomination: After fusing with Bill at the end of season 5 when he drinks all of her blood.
• Kill It with Fire: How Warlow destroyed her originally. He finds her sleeping in a cave, and uses his faerie powers to blast open a hole in her resting place, allowing daylight to stream inside and burn her to death.
• Manipulative Bastard: In order to choose the best to lead her army, Lilith comes to three of the Authority members and tells them each they are chosen in order to pit them against each other. She is also the one responsible for most of their actions during season 5.
• Monster Progenitor: Assuming she's telling the truth, she was the first vampire to ever exist and all vampires are descended from her.
• The Unfought: Justified as she is already dead and her spirit is operating from the afterlife. At best she just disappears after her plans are ultimately foiled.
• Villain Has a Point: When Bill blames her for all the bad stuff that's happening in season 6, Lilith correctly points out that she did not force Bill to drink her blood, and that he willingly fought tooth-and-nail with Salome to become Lilith's chosen one. In other words, he is just as responsible for their current predicament as she is. It doesn't really help Bill's case that last season he was gleefully committing atrocities in Lilith's name with the intention of starting a war between vampires and humans.

Gov. Burrell

Governor Truman Burrell

"It's time for humans to bite back!"

Played By: Arliss Howard

A 'good ol' boy' politician with a bigoted vendetta against vampires. Governor Burrell is a politically savvy and perhaps overly ambitious man who tends to let his personal aspirations overshadow his humanity. Like virtually all right-wing conservative politicians, he sees vampires are monsters and does not see them as people despite knowing that they were once human.

Tropes

• Ambition Is Evil: According to his character description, although we don't see much of it. Burrell never seems to seek more power, he just wants to eliminate vampires.
• Big Bad Duumvirate: From the humans' side in Season 6 with Sarah Newlin.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Subverted. He initally loves his daughter Willa, but that does not stop him from committing her to the Vampire Concentration Camps once Eric turns her.
• Fantastic Racism: He's very much against vampires.
• Knight Templar: He's willing to die for his cause.
• Nightmare Fetishist: Gets excited at the prospect of Eric and Pam killing each other, and when Eric and Pam kill a camp guard instead he gets even more excited.
• Off with His Head!: He tells Bill that 'remove the head, two more will grow in it's place'. Bill removes the head.
• Only in It for the Money: His reason for the "government bailout" for the True Blood company. Ultimately averted, as his true goal is to spread True Blood laced with Hepatitis V.
• Rousing Speech: As seen in the promotional videos.
• Southern Gentleman: Part of his political image, but it isn't only that. He's a 'good ol' boy'.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: His methods may be extreme, but his loyalty appears to be to the people of Louisiana. It should be noted that all other vampires on the show (with one or two exceptions) have been depicted as ruthless at best.

Sarah

Sarah Newlin

"When God's message is this clear, I am a truly unstoppable woman."

Played By: Anna Camp

"Don't bullshit a bullshitter. I'm in politics now."

The wife of Rev. Steve Newlin. She claims to have originally supported vampire rights, but that she had an epiphany after her fangbanger sister disappeared. She argues with her husband frequently because he will not give her more of a leadership role in the Fellowship of the Sun. She has a strong attraction to Jason Stackhouse, and moves him from the Fellowship camp into her home so that she can be close to him.

Tropes

• As the Good Book Says...: Like her husband, she's quick to use Bible quotes to back up her political beliefs.
• Badass Normal: Manages to be a threat without having any supernatural capabilities
• Berserk Button: Hates being called ex-wife of Steve Newlin, but ironically keeps his last name.
• Big Bad: Of Season 6 and Season 7.
• Blonde Republican Sex Kitten: Until season 7, she always sported a classical squeaky-clean Fox News anchor getup to match her conservative views. Pam dyes it back to blonde.
• Bound and Gagged: She's briefly kept chained up in the basement of Fangtasia by Eric, Pam, and the Yakuza.
• The Bus Came Back: For Season 6. And again in Season 7.
• Cat Fight: Does everything in her power to stop Ms. Suzuki from exposing the Tru Blood operation, including killing her.
• The Chosen One: In Season 7 she has deluded herself out of all the horrible stuff she's done and believes herself the Messiah because her blood can cure Hep-V.
• Crisis of Faith: In Season 7
• Dragon Ascendant: After Burrell's death she plots to keep his death in secret and takes control of the vampire death camp.

• Dumb Blonde: Although she isn't exactly 'dumb' she's not particularly savvy or intelligent. When stopped in her tracks in a TV debate with Nan Flanagan, the best retort she can summon up is, 'I hate your hair'. Averted in Season 6, where she has since become very savvy, cunning, and quick to adapt.
• Dye or Die: She's sporting brown hair in season 7, presumably to shed herself from her misdeeds. Pam forcibly dyes it back.
• Fate Worse than Death: While Eric and Pam synthesized the Hep V cure, and mass produced it in New Blood, they kept Sarah around as essentially a cure laced prostitute. Once everyone leaves her alone in the basement of Fangtasia, a chat with her hallucinatory ex-husband reveals that what little remained of her sanity is essentially gone, leaving her as Pam and Eric's living blood bag for as long as they choose to keep her alive.
• Faux Affably Evil: In Season 6. She keeps the...
• Freudian Excuse: Her sister was killed by vampires when they were both crusading for vamp equal rights. Its a lie... her sister was turned into a vampire.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: While not a nobody per se, she didn't have much of a role in season two. Season 6 however...holy shit.
• God Is Good: Her whole reason for living.
• Groin Attack: Gives one to Jason, courtesy of a paintball gun. Later suffers one herself at the hands of the CEO of the True Blood Company in Season 6.
• Heel–Faith Turn: Subverted. As of season 7, she may have turned from Christian fundamentalism to Pseudo-Far-Eastern esotericism, but so far it seems she just exchanged one type of bigotry for another.
• I Have No Sister Keeps her vampire sister Amber quiet by paying her once a month, and ignores her, pretending she doesn't exist.

• Jerkass: In Season 6, where she's dumped the 'affable' part of being Faux Affably Evil.
• Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Initially, she appears reluctant to go through with keeping Sookie prisoner within the church. However, she doesn't feel bad enough to try and rescue her, and instead chooses to have sex with Jason to get back at Steve. Later seasons reveal that she was far worse than Steve could ever dream of being.
• Lady Macbeth: To Governor Truman Burrell. She encourages his prejudice, and it's heavily implied that the camp was her idea. In later episodes she additionally adapts the Trope Namer's insanity.
• Large Ham: "This is all part of God's plan, and GOD. IS. GOOD."
  • "NAMASTE!"
• Living MacGuffin: Her blood contains the only known cure for Hep-V
• Mission from God: She believes she's on one, and takes it to new levels in season 6. By Season 7 she believes she's the Messiah.
• Ms. Fanservice: Her introduction involves an extended fantasy sequence of her behaving seductively.
• My Parents Are Dead
• Neck Snap: Subverted. She tries to do this to Ms. Suzuki, but completely fails to pull it off.
• Need a Hand, or a Handjob?: She gives Jason a hand while he's in the bath.
• Offscreen Breakup: Between seasons, she and Steve get divorced due to a possible combination of her adultery, his homosexuality and/or vampirism, and basically the hollow disaster that their marriage is.
• Oh, Crap!: When the yakuza announce they are looking for her in episode 3 of season 7.
• Punny Name: When she goes into hiding and takes up yoga with a guru (and takes him up as well), she goes by the alias "Noomi" ("New me"); she rather painfully explains this to her sister, who strains her eyes from rolling them.
• Really Gets Around: First with Steve, then she moves to Jason, then to Governor Burrell, and then she's fucking her guru in season 7.
• Sanity Slippage: While she wasn't quite all right in Season 2, her monologue in front of Burrell's severed head in 6x07 or her violent killing of Ms. Suzuki after admitting she's "getting there" in 6x08 (including a prayer afterwards) makes one wonder how long it will take until she loses it completely.
  • In Season 7 she has lost it entirely, hallucinating her late husband, her late guru lover, Jason and the head of Truman Burrell.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After the Burrell camp falls apart.
• Shoe Slap: Kills Ms. Suzuki this way.
• Stepford Smiler: Her default personality
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: When instructing a pair of agents to dispose of Truman's body, she says she doesn't want to know how they do it, though she hears acid is very effective.
• That Woman Is Dead: By episode 5 of Season 7, she's shed her entire Sarah Newlin persona, and become Noomi, a Buddhist who has the antidote to cure Hep-V.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: In Season 6, she's become much more brutal and ruthless.
• Traumatic Haircut: Pam gives her one in season 7 before selling her into prostitution.
• The Vamp
• Villains Out Shopping: We hear nothing from her after she escapes from the Burrell camp, only for her to resurface at a guru's retreat practicing yoga in the third episode of season 7.
• You Can Run, but You Can't Hide: She runs to hide in a wine storage room when the yakuza come looking for her in season 7.
• Withholding the Cure: She's got the cure to Hep-V.