Characters / True Blood Main Vampires

Bill

William Thomas "Bill" Compton

"Sookie, most of us, vampire, human or otherwise are capable of both good and evil. Often simultaneously."

Played By: Stephen Moyer

"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."

A vampire romantically involved with Sookie. Turned during the American Civil War against his will, Bill shows more compassion for human life than many other vampires. He is outwardly expressive of his emotions and holds onto memories of his past human life, behaviors that are unique amongst his vampiric peers.

Tropes

• Abusive Parents: Bill's treatment of his adopted daughter Jessica is.........not great. Initially, Bill resented having to make Jessica into a vampire because he was being punished for killing Longshadow, and he abandoned Jessica at Fangtasia for 2 weeks before Eric returned Jessica and told Bill to do his job as a maker. Bill for the most part treated Jessica like she was a burden, and never truly taught her how to control herself or feed on a human safely (which results in Jessica accidentally killing a trucker driver in season 2). It gets bad enough that when Bill decided to release her, Jessica had to beg him to be a proper maker to her. Even after this, he still kept secrets from her (several of which almost put her at risk), he dragged her into dangerous situations (which almost resulted in Jessica being killed on several occasions), and he barely had any idea what Jessica's emotional well-being was or what was going on in her life unless she spelled it out for him. It got worse in season 5 when Bill converted to the Sanguinistas, forced Jessica to relocate to the Authority with plans to convert her as well, bullied her into almost turning Jason into a vampire against his will, and straight up hit her when she stood up to him. Jessica even compared Bill's behavior to the way her human family acted towards her when she was growing up.
• Affably Evil: Interestingly, he's rather cold during his first few appearances before becoming more of a charmer. When he descends into religious fervor and becomes the Big Bad of Season 5, he's remarkably affable even as he commits atrocities. Though he does have moments where he slips into Faux Affably Evil.
• A God Am I: After drinking the real vial of Lilith's blood, which makes him more-or-less all-powerful. After being drained in Season 6, he loses his Lilith powers.
• Attempted Rape: According to Stephen Moyer (who plays Bill Compton) in a 2009 interview, this is what Bill tried to do to Sookie in the graveyard in season 1. It's even worse when you remember that Sookie was under the influence of Bill's blood, and that it's later revealed in season 3 that Bill allowed the Rattarays to beat Sookie to death precisely so he could drug her with his blood (which was a powerful aphrodisiac and a tracking device) and use that to manipulate her emotions and sexual feelings.
  Stephen Moyer: But when do you know it’s OK to crawl out of the mud and rape her [as Bill does in one scene]?
• Ax-Crazy: Drinking the blood of Lilith is just making him a tad bit crazy. He gets better in Season 6.
• Batman Gambit: Defeating Salome by giving her silver-tainted blood contained in Lilith's original vial, tricking her into thinking it was Lilith's. He correctly predicted her narcissism and eagerness overran her cautiousness, but if 2,000-year-old Salome hadn't, he had been in big trouble.
• Berserk Button: SOOKEH. "If Sookeh is hurt in any way because of you... I will not stop until I drive a stake through whatever semblance of of a heart you have left!" Jeez, Bill.
  • 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.
• Betty and Veronica: Bill is the Betty to Eric's Veronica for Sookie's Archie.
• Big Bad Duumvirate: Somewhat becomes this in Season 5 with Salome.
• Big Damn Heroes: Subverted in season one. Bill wakes up to discover Sookie is very near death. Despite it being midday, he decides to try and save her, but ends up a smoking pile of charcoal instead. He gets better, though.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: In late season five.
• The Chosen One: Believes himself to be this after seeing Lilith while having sex with Salome.
• Combat Pragmatist: How he manages to best more powerful vampires, using whatever he has at his disposal.
• The Comically Serious: While he has something of a sense of humor, he's just so dour-looking that he is just hilarious whenever he has to do anything mundane.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Being turned against his will on the night he was to return to his family from the civil war takes the cake.
• Deadpan Snarker: Is this after becoming vampire king of Louisiana. "Spellbound" is a good example:
  Bill: Ms. Fortenberry.
  Mrs. Fortenberry: Vampire Bill. Did you know that Beulah Carter was a vampire?
  Bill: Because all of us vampires know each other?
• Death by Adaptation: Bill catches Hep-V in the final season, and rather than slowly succumb to the disease, he asks Sookie to kill him. The books give him a much happier ending: while he still doesn't end up with Sookie, the two remain good friends and neighbors, and he has been promoted to Sheriff of his area.
• Disappeared Dad: Was one himself, having to abandon his wife and children upon being turned.
• Double Agent: For the Authority.
• The Dragon: To Salome in Season 5. He is also somewhat a Dragon with an Agenda.
• Faux Affably Evil: Bill can be charming on the surface, but the moment his authority is challenged/questioned or things don't go the way he wants them to, an uglier side to him comes out. A pretty horrific example of this comes in season 5 with Jessica: Contrast this scene here where he's being Affably Evil to this later scene when he's furious with her.
• Fake Nationality: Like a seemingly large number of older vampires adopted a number of identities over time including French and British.
• Final Boss: Of Season 5. Salome is the season’s main Big Bad, but her successful corruption of Bill causes his Face–Heel Turn, after which he out-gambits and kills her, ultimately becoming the season’s final threat in the end.
• Friendly Neighborhood Vampire: Subverted. Bill initially presents himself as this when he's first introduced. However, as the series continues and more about Bill is revealed, it becomes pretty obvious that this is an act at best. We know in season 1 that he had been a part of a nest of vampires who killed humans in brutal and sadistic ways, and he only left that nest because they made him look bad in front of Sookie and almost endangered his mission from Queen Sophie Anne. We also find out in season 3 that Bill works for Queen Sophie Anne as a procurer where he forced other humans into prostitution for her, and that he was planning to subject Sookie to this fate. Even in season 4 when Bill is revealed to be a double agent for the authority and later becomes king of Louisiana, there are hints that Bill was more interested in getting a position of power rather than actually caring about the cause. He finally sheds this in season 5 when he converts to the Sanguinistas (who advocate for the torture, rape, and enslavement of humans) and attempts to start a war between vampires and humans.
• The Fundamentalist: Becomes a Sanguinista after getting a taste of Lilith's blood.
• Gone Horribly Right: In season 4, the recently appointed King Bill attempts to get revenge on Eric for breaking up his relationship with Sookie by sending Eric to a meeting of Wiccans who are believed to be practicing necromancy. While Bill claims he's doing this to protect vampires (since necromancy can be used to control/enslave them), the reality is Bill wants Eric to be compromised (i.e. have a spell cast on him) so he can have a reason to have Eric executed. Needless to say, Eric ends up going to the meeting and gets a spell placed on him that erases all of his memories and gives Bill the opportunity he wanted. However, what Bill didn't count on is that said witch (Marnie) who cast the spell did so in a panic and ends up summoning a 400 year old angry spirit named Antonia who wants to exterminate vampires from the face of the Earth. When Antonia fully possesses Marnie's body with her permission, she begins a campaign against Bill and his kingdom. By the end of it, 4 out of 5 of Bill's sheriffs are dead, the Festival of Tolerance (which was a PR occasion to celebrate peaceful relationships between vampires and humans) ends in disaster, a bunch of vampires and humans either end up dead or seriously injured, and Bill ends the season on the run from the Authority because they blame him for the entire fiasco. The irony is Bill doesn't even execute Eric despite having the opportunity to do so, which means he brought this entire mess on himself for nothing.
• Hell-Bent for Leather: Sometimes Bill is seen wearing leather, mostly leather jackets.
• Honey Trap: For Sookie, sent by Queen Sophie-Anne.
• I Hate You Vampire Mom: To Lorena, as well as playing the role for a short while to Jessica, until they get better.
• In-Series Nickname: Hoyt Fortenberry refers to Bill as Vampire Bill.
• Invincible Villain: During most of Season 6. After drinking Warlow's blood, he can walk in sunlight. As if drinking Lilith's blood didn't give him enough powers such as complete immunity from stakes and telepathy. He loses all of these powers in the two final episodes.
• Klingon Promotion: Bill is made King of Louisiana by helping Nan Flanagan kill Sophie-Anne.
• Kryptonite-Proof Suit: After gorging on Sookie's blood, he temporarily gains the ability to tolerate sunlight.
• Large Ham: Bill may initially seem stoic and cold, but he has a weakness for dramatic flair.
• Like Father, Like Son: Bill resented Lorena, his maker, because of the kind of (vampire) lifestyle she wanted him to lead. When it's his time to turn Jessica, she resents him because of the kind of lifestyle he wants her to lead. That said, the audience is typically on Bill's side in both situations, as both Lorena and Jessica initially want the "It's All About Me" "A Million Is a Statistic" approach.
• Manipulative Bastard: Bill is very intelligent, and as such plays sides against each other.
• 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.
• Morality Pet: Subverted. Bill may occasionally demonstrate feelings for Sookie and Jessica, but that does not stop him from committing vile acts for selfish and petty reasons, or from dragging them into dangerous situations that almost get them killed. He even goes as far as to use Sookie and Jessica in the later seasons to further his own plans.
• More than Meets the Eye: Revealed to be an agent of Queen Sophie-Anne sent to determine if Sookie is a fairy. We later learn that he's The Mole for Nan Flanagan and the American Vampire League.
• Mr. Fanservice: Bill gets plenty of nude and sex scenes.
• My Death Is Just the Beginning: Drinking all of Lilith's blood apparently kills him. Then he's reborn as the reincarnation of Lilith.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Hero is a bit of a stretch here as Bill is going through his Start of Darkness, but his actions in season 5 in ordering the bombing of the True Blood factories and pushing the Sanguinista's agenda cause long term damage in the later seasons. Not only do humans declare war on vampires and any chance for vampires and humans to co-exist peacefully is destroyed, but it also allows the Governor of Louisiana to get his hands on one of the disabled factories to start producing True Blood under the pretense of trying to manage the crisis Bill and the Authority caused when in reality he's having the True Blood bottles infected with Hepititis V (which is a deadly disease that kills vampires). Basically, Bill is indirectly responsible for the spread of Hep V, and all the death and destruction that follows afterwards.
• Official Couple: With Sookie until the Season 3 finale.
• Papa Wolf: Don't lay a finger on Jessica or he'll make you regret it.
• Parental Substitute: To Jessica, as her maker.
• Pet the Dog: He does it fairly often, but especially notable is when Terry ambushes Bill with a hug at the Descendants of the Glorious Dead meeting and Bill hugs him back.
• People Puppets: One of his powers after drinking Lilith's blood seems to be the ability to grotesquely manipulate the limbs of others.
• 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...
• Sanity Slippage: In Season 5 as he slips into religious fervor.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: Bill was a First Lieutenant in the 28th Louisiana Infantry before he was turned during The American Civil War.
• Special Person, Normal Name: When they first meet, Sookie finds it odd that a vampire is just named "Bill". The townspeople who don't know him that well often refer to him as "Vampire Bill".
• The Stoic: At first.
  • Not So Stoic: He shows his emotions much more as we see more of him.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Got a A God Am I / The Chosen One complex from drinking way too much of Lilith's blood in Season 5.
• Vampire Monarch: Bill became the Vampire King of Louisiana.
• Vegetarian Vampire: Zigzagged. Occasionally, he drinks True Blood, but this does not stop him from feeding on (or killing) other humans when it's convenient for him. Completely averted in the second half of season 5 where he went on a killing spree high on Lilith's blood.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: His status as vampire king makes him this. He has to protect all vampires against any threat against their kind and eliminate it with any means necessary.
  • Defied in season 5: When Bill converts to the Sanguinistas, he begins a campaign with the rest of the Chancellors in the Authority to start a war with humans. To this end, he orders the bombing of the True Blood factories to force mainstreaming vampires to feed on humans, sanctions and participates in a human trafficking ring where humans are kept naked in cells to be fed on, raped, and disposed of, he orders a procreation mandate where vampires are expected to turn as many humans into newborn vamps as they can, and he plans to spread the Sanguinista religion far and wide. He also begins backstabbing his fellow Chancellors and former allies in order to further his own agenda. Then he finally reveals his true motive to Sookie: He sees Lilith as a way to free himself of guilt and absolve himself for all the horrible atrocities he's committed in his lifetime. He doesn't give a damn if the world burns as long as he gets that. This takes him out of Well-Intentioned Extremist territory and makes him more of a Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist.
• Would Hit a Girl: Multiple times.
  • He physically throws Diane across a room in season 1.
  • He smashes a TV over Lorena's head when they're at the Hotel Carmilla.
  • He grabs Jessica and throws her off of Hoyt when the two of them were kissing.
  • During season 3, he gets so angry with Lorena that he gets on top of her and twists her head 180 degrees. Word of God claims Bill's intention in that moment was "to turn anger into rape."
  • When Jessica stands up to Bill in season 5 after Bill becomes a Sanguinista, Bill straight up hits Jessica and sends her flying across the room.
  • In season 6, Bill uses telekenesis to break the bones of a blood prostitute before forcing all of the blood out of her mouth.

Tara

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

"Everyone who's ever been with me has ended up dead. It ain't a long list, but it's a bad one to be on."

Sookie Stackhouse's best friend since they were children. Tara grew up in a very abusive home with an alcoholic mother, and consequently finds it difficult to fit in with normal society or to trust people. She is adept at reading people and constantly distances herself from others by speaking her observations candidly and plainly. As a result, she has difficulty holding down a job until she becomes a bartender at Merlotte's.

Tropes

• Abusive Parents: Her mother is an alcoholic who brutally beat her as a child.
• Alone with the Psycho: With Franklin in season 3.
• Amazonian Beauty: She is broad-shouldered, muscular, and quite attractive.
• And Then John Was a Zombie: After being fatally shot by Debbie Pelt, Pam turns her into a vampire at Sookie and Lafayette's behest.
• Ascended Extra: In the novels she was Out of Focus a lot, but in the TV show she has a prominent role in most of the storylines.
• Back from the Dead: And into a vampire.
• Bad "Bad Acting": Averted. Tara is easily able to convince Elijah that she accidentally failed on turning Ginger. He believes her and ultimately ends up getting his head chopped off as a result of believing her.
• The Bartender: When she actually shows up to work.
• Better as Friends: Sam and Tara.
• Broken Bird: Tara's led a hard life, and it's taken its toll despite her tough exterior. After Eggs' death, she falls into depression and becomes suicidal.
• Butt-Monkey: Tara has had a rough, painful life. She was 'raised' by a severely abusive mother, had a crush on the biggest man-slut in town who still wouldn't sleep with her, gets used as a pawn by Maryann, her true love Eggs is killed by the man she'd had a crush on, she's abducted and raped by a vampire, has her life threatened repeatedly by Pam, gets killed, turned into a vampire which she bloody well hates, disowned by her Holier Than Thou abusive mother and ultimately dies with people barely mourning her (except for a brief moment in season 7 at Sookie's house).
• Came Back Wrong: Subverted. Sookie, Lafayette, and Pam were worried that Tara would come back brain-damaged due to getting shot in the head, but it seems she was simply adjusting to her first night as a vampire.
• Death by Adaptation: Twice. In the books she neither became a vampire nor got Killed Off for Real.
• Depraved Bisexual: She has many sexual relationships with men and, as of season 4, she gets a girlfriend. She even dates Pam after becoming a vampire.
• Disappeared Dad: Her father left in her childhood.
• Dropped a Bridge on Her: She dies offscreen in the first episode of season 7. Given she had spent six whole seasons trying and failing to find love, peace, happiness and general normality, it also felt a bit like Shoot the Shaggy Dog until her telling Lettie Mae to forgive herself in her Unfinished Business.
• Empowered Badass Normal: After being turned by Pam.
• Everything Is Racist: She plays this up to her advantage.
• Fatal Attractor: Everyone she hooks up with has their own issues, but whether they hold a candle to hers is up to you.
• Fate Worse than Death: She sees continuing life as a vampire as one of these, and told the people who did it to her that she'll never forgive them for it.
• Heroic Willpower: The only vampire shown in the show to have never killed a single innocent person. She almost attacks one girl but fights off the urge after seeing her own reflection, and she proceeds to satisfy her bloodlust by downing what appeared to be half a dozen cases of Tru Blood in one sitting. Keep in mind that Tru Blood is a drink that every single other vampire shown drinking it so far has considered revolting.
• Hollywood Exorcism: She and her mom both had one. Hers didn't quite stick.
• I Cannot Self-Terminate: After she tries to kill herself to get out of living as a vampire, Pam orders her not to do it again, which due to their sire bond makes her physically incapable of harming herself.
• Important Haircut: In season 3 finale. After a lot of bad things, she chops off her long locks and vows to make a change for herself.
• Interrupted Suicide: Several times. Once Lafayette saved her when she tried to overdose, another time when Pam went all "as your maker I command you" on her when she tried to fry herself.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Tara is rude and abrasive, but she's a loyal friend.
• Like Brother and Sister: Unfortunately for her, this is how Jason sees her.
• Mind-Control Eyes: When Maryann mind controls her, of course.
• No Bisexuals: As of season 4, Tara has a girlfriend. She even describes herself as "a lesbian now" despite her previous liasons with men. Though such change in orientation may be due to being raped.
• 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 Mêlée Revenge.
• Rape and Switch: Tara's coming out as a bisexual woman in the fourth season indirectly implies that she switched teams after getting raped. However, it was possibly implied that Tara just never tried women before, particularly where Sookie asks her why she never told her about liking girls before and she replies that she "didn't know".
• Twofer Token Minority: She's described as being one by somebody she went to high school with, following her transformation into a vampire. Even prior to this, she not only was the resident Black woman, but had come out as bisexual, before being the only Black female vampire.
• Unrequited Love: For Jason in Season 1, but then she met Eggs.

Eric

Eric Northman

"Tru Blood...it keeps you alive, but it will bore you to death."

Played By: Alexander Skarsgård

"Humans... honestly, Bill. I don't know what you see in them."

The Sheriff of Area 5, a vampire district in Louisiana. A Swedish Viking warrior in life, he is over 1,100 years old and is a powerful and wealthy member of the vampire community. He runs the vampire bar, Fangtasia, in Shreveport, and develops an interest in Sookie Stackhouse after discovering her unique ability to read minds.

Tropes

• Amnesiacs are Innocent: Subverted. Despite acting child-like when he gets amnesia, he is shown to be lethal, like when he kills and drains Claudine (Sookie's fairie Godmother), or when he rips the throat out of one of Antonia's followers and savagely drains another.
• Anti-Villain: Either Type I or Type III.
• Anti-Hero: Type IV.
• Ascended Extra: Was in much less of season 1 than later, missing about half and between Sookie and Bill and the serial killer mystery he wasn't very much of a focus until season 2 onwards.
• Badass Boast: He has plenty of moments of bragging.
  "Before you think of agreeing and meeting behind my back, know this: there is NO behind my back!"
• Badass Family: His "family" includes Godric, Pamela, Nora, Willa and Tara.
• Heartbroken Badass: Due to the deaths of his family, Godric and Nora.
• Batman Gambit: In Season 3 against Russell.
• Berserk Button: Hurting anyone he loves and cares about, especially his "family". Also, you better not criticize Godric in Eric's presence. Or compare him to Bill Compton. Even trying to hurt Sookie. In fact, when it comes to Eric, do not mess with his maker, his two progenies, or his vampiric sister and Sookie unless you have a death wish.
• Best Served Cold: It took over 1,000 years, but he finally killed Russell and avenged the death of his family.
• The Big Guy: At 6'4", he is the second tallest of the cast after 6'5" Alcide Herveaux.
• Bilingual Bonus: He speaks Swedish from time to time with Pam. Amnesiac!Eric takes it up a notch. He also speaks Russian with Estonian stripper Yvetta.
• Brother–Sister Incest: His relationship with his sister Nora is...interesting, to say the least.
  • Not Blood Siblings: It lessens the Squick factor. Kind of.
• The Charmer: Eric can certainly turn on the charm when he wants to. See his advert for Fangtasia.
  "Now the past year, there's been a lot of inflammatory talk from politicians warning their constituents not to trust vampires. But think about it for a second. Who would you rather trust? A vampire or a politician?"
• The Chessmaster: Is usually four or five moves ahead of everyone else.
• The Comically Serious: Not always, but he contrasts pretty well with some of the crazier characters. Probably the best example is after Bill tries to encase him in cement alongside Russel Edgington, he later shows up covered head-to-toe in cement, not acting any differently than he normally does.
• Cunning Linguist: On screen we've so far seen him speaking English, Swedish (of course), German and Russian.
• Deadpan Snarker: Eric is well known for his extremely dry putdowns.
• Despair Event Horizon: Averted. He sees the spirit of Lilith destroy the spirit of Godric and pretends to and joins Salome and Russell. The next episode he's plotting his escape with Nora.
• The Dragon: To Russell - actually Dragon with an Agenda. Becomes one to Antonia, though under mind control.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: Has his shoulder-length hair cut in the beginning of season 2 when it gets blood in it but also after that time he increased prominence as a character and he keeps it for the remainder of the series.
• Fake Defector: In Season 3 with Russell Edgington, and in Season 5 with the Authority.
• Flight: A rare case, since in this series vampires don't fly.
• Heel–Face Revolving Door: It's hard to tell who's side, if any, he's on. As of Season 5, he is a face. Not that it really is helping him.
• Hell-Bent for Leather: His choice of clothing usually involves a leather jacket.
• Hidden Depths: Sookie finds this out during the "Save Godric" arc.
• Horny Vikings: Flashbacks show his Viking father actually getting frustrated with his irresponsible philandering, and in the present he gets plenty of sex scenes.
• Icy Blue Eyes: A Viking vampire, who can also be something of an Ice King.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: At the end of "You Smell Like Dinner". Until "Burning Down the House".
• Limited Wardrobe: Basically always leather and black except when he loses his memory and borrows an outfit of Jason's.
• Morality Pet: Godric even after he is dead. Doubles up as his conscience.
• Mr. Fanservice: His numerous shirtless scenes show off quite the chiseled physique.
• Noble Demon: Till Season 3; now he is pretty much a good guy if a little rude.
• Not Quite Dead: Apparently burned by the sun in the season 6 finale after the jaywalking effects wear off, but turns out to have survived come season 7.
• Perma-Stubble: See the picture. Interestingly, disappears when he loses his memory. Likely an aesthetic choice by the writers to highlight his innocence.
• Pet the Dog: His interactions with Pam, especially during season 3. 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: Till Season 3, he was not a hugely nice guy, but the majority of his worst moments are a result of his responsibilities as Sheriff.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: After Nora's death. He takes down the entire Burrell Camp after gorging on Warlow, subsequently bursting in, killing Overlark and freeing the vampires.
• The Sheriff: Of Louisiana Area 5.
• Starcrossed Lovers: With Sookie.- Alan Ball said “it's fated!"
• Sophisticated as Hell: "My apologies, but we will not be fucking on this occasion."
  • Not So Stoic: Watch as he breaks down when he begs Godric to live.
• Taking You with Me: Has attempted this on Russell Edgington. It doesn't work.
• Thicker Than Water: Is very protective of his vampiric family: dad Godric, sister Nora, daughter's Pam and Willa and now granddaughter Tara.
• Vampires Own Night Clubs: He co-owns Fangtasia with his progeny, Pam.
• Villains Out Shopping: In Season 2, with Bill.
• 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. Also displays this trope toward Dr. Overlark and Steve Newlin after Nora dies from Hep-V. He kills both in retaliation.

Jessica

Jessica Hamby

"No more rules... I'm a vampire!"

Played By: Deborah Ann Woll

"So, who's good to eat around here?"

A young vampire "made" by Bill as a part of his punishment for murdering a fellow vampire. Having been raised in an overly strict Christian family, she relishes the freedom that comes with being a vampire, but her petulant attitude often tries Bill's patience.

Tropes

• Abusive Parents: Calls her old man out on this after becoming a vampire. Her father was deeply religious and oppressive.
• Accidental Murder: She kills a redneck trucker in the end of Season 2, which causes quite a bit of angst. And then in Season 6, she kills three of Andy Bellefleur's faerie daughters while out of control on a bloodlust, leading to a twitchy variation of a Heroic BSoD.
• Adaptation Expansion: See Canon Foreigner.
• The Atoner: For killing Andy Bellefleur's daughters. She's taken on the role of The Champion for the Sole Survivor, Adilyn.
• Badass Adorable: She's still a 17-year-old, very confused girl who just happens to have supernatural powers.
• Beta Couple: With Hoyt until Season 4.
• Black Bra and Panties: She absolutely 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.
• Blood Knight: Shows shades of this, particularly in Season 4 when she gets pissed off and just wants to kill something.
• Bratty Teenage Daughter: At first. Even Eric and Pam regard her as 'extremely annoying', but she gets better and becomes one of the most good-hearted and sensitive characters. She's also a teenager physically and is Jordan's daughter.
• Canon Foreigner: Didn't exist in the books, but Book!Pam and her share quite a few traits^note having been turned around 18 years old, being friendly, being Sookie's only vampiric friend.
• The Champion: For Adilyn Bellefleur, as part of her atonement.
• 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. Even as she grows more comfortable with her vampirism, she avoids killing humans.
• Heroic BSoD: She's twitchier than usual for this trope, but after killing three of Andy Bellefleur's daughters, she's clearly tormented by guilt.
• I Hate You, Vampire Dad: Her initial relationship with Bill, but it has since improved greatly despite some bumps in the road.
• Magical Girlfriend: Fits this trope wonderfully when she hooks up with Hoyt.
• Ms. Fanservice: While she's one of the few characters to not do full frontal nude scenes on the show, she has plenty of lingerie moments and dons a fantastic Little Red Riding Hood outfit for Halloween.
• My God, What Have I Done?: In Season 6 after she goes insane with bloodlust and kills Andy Bellefleur's half-faerie daughters.
• Nice Girl: Jessica is a sweet girl and one of the friendliest vampires on the show, putting genuine effort into trying to be good. However, occasionally her vampiric nature gets the better of her, like when she kills three of Andy's half-fae daughters.
• Odd Friendship: With Tara.
• Shipper on Deck: To Pam and Tara, gleefully declaring, 'I knew it!' when they kiss.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: With Hoyt.
• Statuesque Stunner: Her actress being 5'10".
• Took a Level in Badass: In Season 3, when Bill begins to train her more seriously. She kills a werewolf that was after her, and from then on she begins kicking ass with more frequency.

Pam

Pamela Swynford de Beaufort

"My mad face and my happy face are the same."

Played By: Kristin Bauer van Straten

"I am wearing a Wal-Mart sweatsuit for y'all. That's not demonstration of team spirit, I don't know what is."

A vampire made by Eric about a century ago. She is his loyal (albeit lazy) assistant and the bouncer at Fangtasia. Cynical and apparently devoid of feelings for anyone except Eric, she is often by his side.

Tropes

• Adaptation Distillation: She is very different from her book counterpart, who was turned at a somewhat younger age and is considerably nicer to humans. In the books, Sookie considers Pam her only real friend among the vampires.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: Eric describes her as loyal but extremely lazy.
• Chatty Hairdresser: Gives Eric a makeover early in season 2, and later gives a rather traumatic one to Sarah Newlin in season 7.
• Child Hater: She showed great disdain to Arlene's kids. Thankfully her job doesn't involve children.
• Deadpan Snarker: Part of the reason she's so beloved by the fandom is her utterly deadpan sense of very dark humour, which she exhibits at almost every turn.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: After turning Tara, she slowly learns to be a good mother figure.
• The Fashionista: She's quite concerned with what she's wearing, growing angry at having to wear a Wal-Mart sweater and ruining her new pumps.
• Good Is Not Nice: Despite being a total bitch, she's relatively benign.
• Hooker with a Heart of Gold: During her human life. It was more a heart of snark, but for Eric, that counts.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Acts like a bitch and is snarky as hell, but often surprises people by doing the right thing.
• 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, and dislikes thinking about her human life.
• Morality Pet: Eric for her, she for him. Later Tara, after Pam becomes her maker.
• Pragmatic Villainy: While Pam holds distain for True Blood and vampires who drink it, she recognizes it as a necessity for placating humans towards vampires. This is why she is furious with Nora in season 6 after the Authority ordered the bombings of the True Blood factories and destroyed any peaceful relationships between vampires and humans.
  Pam: We had fucking true blood to keep the peace! Now that True Blood is gone, vampires are screwed......You and your fucking Authority cronies fucked us!
• The Stoic: "My mad face and my happy face are the same."
  • Not So Stoic: The only time she shows a soft side is when something happens to Eric.
• Rescue Romance: Her love for Eric stems from when he saved her from being murdered back when she was human.
• Two-Faced: Thanks to Marnie's spell.
• Vampires Own Nightclubs: She's co-owner of Fangtasia with Eric.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Eric.

Steve

Rev. Steve Newlin

"I'm like a tree in the wind. I am just so happy to be included."

Played By: Michael McMillan

"I'm a gay, vampire-American!"

A recently turned vampire, and spokesman of the American Vampire League. The son of anti-vampire advocate Theodore Newlin, he initially continued his father's work after the murder of his entire family. He was a fanatic and a firm believer that vampires were 'ungodly creatures' who knew no 'humanity'. However, after becoming a vampire himself, he seems to relish his new undead status.

Newlin is first presented as somewhat of a well-spoken man with a friendly disposition that, while a little odd at times, is altogether cheerful. However, as the series progresses, we see that most of this is a front for his hatred for what happened to him and his family. He is shown to be unstable and unhinged beneath his amiable facade. As a vampire, this tendency seems even more pronounced.

Tropes

• Affably Evil: He's oddly entertaining, with his big smile and folksy mannerisms. Of course, he's also a remorseless murderer out for himself.
• Anguished Declaration of Love: For Jason Stackhouse.
• Beware the Silly Ones: Don't let his cheerful speeches and cutesy words fool you. He's really an angry, cowardly and vicious killer.
• 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.
• Camp Gay: After becoming a vampire.
• 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.
• Dark Mistress: To Russell.
• Dirty Coward: Is with Russell. Absolutely hauls ass once Russell dies, then cheerfully sells out Eric when threatened with a syringe.
• The Dragon: With Russell's very intense defection from the Authority, he appears to have joined with him, albeit in a far more low profile way, both of them seeking to find the faerie dimension.
• Domestic Abuse: Appears to mostly psychologically abuse his wife, rather than physically do so. This results in his wife cheating on him, and leads to a divorce.
• Dying Declaration of Love: "I LOVE YOU… JASON STACKHOOOOOUUUUUSE!"
• Fantastic Racism: He hates vampires, mostly on account of his family, including his father who was also a pastor being killed by them.
• He Who Fights Monsters: In Season 2. His desire to destroy vampires.
• Karmic Death: The former leader of the Fellowship of the Sun meets the True Death by sunlight.
• Karmic Transformation: He goes from a vampire-hating militant to the type of vampire he would've fought against.
• Les Collaborateurs: His new status in Camp Burrell.
• Mouth of Sauron: He was the "new Nan Flanagan" of the American Vampire League, until the Authority fell apart.
• Southern Gentleman: The fact that he's a Southern preacher invariably means he will also be this.
• Stalker with a Crush: To Jason.
  • Not so much now that he's gotten Russell's eye.
• Super Loser: Even after becoming a vampire, he's still a cowardly wimp.
• Transhuman Treachery: For an asshole who hated vampires he just immediately changed his mind after soon becoming one....

Nora

Nora Gainsborough

"Even the best of liars can be ended."

Played By: Lucy Griffiths

"And as we say in Surrey, sod the fuck off you cunting twat!"

A vampire who was made by Godric centuries ago. She is a former chancellor of the Vampire Authority, the only surviving member of the original council, as well as a defected member of the Sanguinistas. She is also the vampire "sister" of Eric Northman.

Tropes

• The Atoner: After turning away from the Sanguinista ideology, she seems genuinely remorseful of what she became, and she knows that she is one of those to blame for the humans fighting back against the vampires in Season 6.
• Brother–Sister Incest: Played with in regards to Eric. They refer to each other as "brother" and "sister" while having passionate sex. However, they are Not Blood Siblings, but siblings in the vampiric sense, having both been turned by Godric.
• Collateral Angst: She's killed off by the Hep V Virus in season 6 solely to create more pain for Eric, and to motivate him to destroy the vamp camps.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: Gets infected with Hepatitis V - which seems to be an extreme form of the previously established Hepatitis D. Despite Eric's best efforts, she just gets weaker and weaker until she finally disintegrates in a weeping Eric's arms.
• The Dragon: To Salome.
• Evil Brit: Played Straight for most of season 5 where she's an Ax-Crazy Sanguinista bent on enslaving the human race. She does eventually have a HeelRealization when Godric appears to her and warns her how destructive Lilith will be.
• The Fundamentalist: Big time. She is devoted to the Sanguinista cause, and genuinely believes that mainstreaming is an abomination and that Lilith will rise again.
• Go Out with a Smile: She accepts her death well, because it means she will be with Godric again.
• Heel–Face Turn: She eventually turns away from Salome and her fanaticism—ironically due to sharing the vision that was supposed to had broken down Eric's will.
• Informed Ability: According to Eric, Nora is suppose to be a political genius, and it's the reason Godric turned her and Salome later sponsored her promotion to Chancellor in the Authority. However, during her time at the Authority, we never really see why she's considered a good politician, and the choices she ends up making were not only idiotic, but also caused catastrophic damage for both humans and vampires. She spends the first half of season 5 locked in the Authority's dungeons after it's revealed she's a Sanguinista, and when she's finally released by Salome and put back on the council, she ends up going along with Bill's plan to bomb the true blood factories to force mainstreamers to feed on humans, and later orders vampires to start turning humans to create an army. Not only does this create an international crisis, but it ends up causing humans to turn hostlile against vampires, and later results in the Governor of Louisiana declaring martial law against vampires in the next season. What makes it egregious is that even after having a Heel–Face Turn, Nora acts surprised that humans reacted the way they did, which causes Pam to blast Nora for her stupidity.
• The Lancer: To Eric.
• The Mistress: She was one to Charles II of England while human.
• The Mole: For the Sanguinistas.
• My God, What Have I Done?: After her vision of Godric being torn to shreds by Lilith, she realizes how far she's fallen and later begs Eric for forgiveness when they're having sex.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: During her human life as a noble lady she tried to help victims of the Great London Plague, though she got infected in the process. However, it was her attitude that caught the attention of Eric, who then gave her to Godric to turn into a vampire.
• Sanity Slippage: Averted after the vision of Godric and Lilith.

Willa

Willa Burrell

Played By: Amelia Rose Blaire

The daughter of Louisiana Governor Truman Burrell. She has long clashed with her father over vampire rights and is eventually turned into a vampire in order to prove to the world that vampires aren't so evil.

Tropes

• Audience Surrogate: For the Eric fangirls, initially.
• Badass Family: Her "Vampire family" includes Godric, Eric, Pamela, Nora and Tara .
• Corrupt the Cutie: More like convert her into a vampire.
• Dating What Daddy Hates: She's very attracted to Eric, and eventually he turns her.
• Deadpan Snarker: Willa quips that her dad is still being overprotective even when she’s (un)dead.
• Morality Pet: Willa’s zealot of a father loves her, whether she's vampire or human, and tends to act a lot more relatable and compassionate around her than anyone else in the show.
• Ms. Fanservice: While she doesn't do full frontal nude scenes on the show, she does dress revealingly in the season 6 finale, where she wears a bikini top and short shorts while watching a volleyball game.
• Nice Girl: Supported vampire rights despite her father being the main advocate against them.
• Tooka Levelin Badass: She has her moments in Season 6 and definitely in season 7, when she helps fight Hep V Vampires.
• Tragic Monster: She was just a young girl caught in the crossfire between Eric and Truman. Things eventually settle down well for her.
• Virgin in a White Dress: She often appears dressed in white, to invoke the classic vampire-eats-a-virgin imagery.

Nan

Nan Flanagan

"I have proof. Scentific. People are far dumber than they realize."

Played By: Jessica Tuck

"Do you have any fucking idea of the PR mess you've made? And who has to fucking clean that up? Me, not you, me!"

A prominent vampire rights activist and key vampire spokesperson. Speaking on the behalf of the American Vampire League, she was often seen on television debating over the rights entitled to her species. Off-camera, she displayed a ruthless attitude and focused on pushing through the AVL's agenda. She was a figure of authority among vampires, being both a member and a representative of The Authority; she ranked higher than vampire monarchs and sheriffs, and had the power to execute, fire and appoint sheriffs and monarchs.

Tropes

• Berserk Button: As spokesperson for the AVL, it's Nan's job to bring good PR to the organization. Any vampires who cause problems for her or do something to endanger the AVL's reputation can expect to face her full wrath.
  Nan Flanagan: Do you have any fucking idea of the PR mess you've made?! And who fucking has to clean that shit up?! Me. Not you. Me. I should drain every one of you bastards!
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She's an articulate and polite speaker on television. In reality, she's angry at absolutely everyone within a few feet of her.
• The Dragon: To the Authority.
• Hypocrite: Champions True Blood and mainstreaming, but feeds on humans in secret. When she gets fired from her job at the AVL at the end of season 4, she has no issue joining up with a group of vampires who oppose the mainstreaming agenda, and even tries to convince Eric and Bill to join her. It shows that she never truly cared for mainstreaming at all.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Season 4 finale. Eric and Bill tag team it and leave Ms. Flanagan as a pile of goop.
• Lesbian Vampire: She's seen feeding on a very busty young woman, from the inner thigh. Supplementary material reveals she also had a lover named Beatrice during the Women's Suffrage Movement in the 1920s.
• Mouth of Sauron: Again to the Authority.
• Really 700 Years Old: Well, 816 to be accurate.
• You Have Failed Me: Season 4 finale. Do not insult Bill and Eric's girlfriend.

Lorena

Lorena Krasiki

"I may not be able to make you feel for me. But I will make you feel."

Played By: Mariana Klaveno

"I would just love to rip you open and wear your ribcage as a hat."

The vampire who "made" Bill. A lonely yet malevolent being, Lorena quickly became emotionally dependent on Bill. Through her influence he became a crazed killer and together they reveled in the torture of humans before draining them of their blood, often having sex as their victims bled to death watching. When Bill realized the monster he became he forced Lorena to release him and left her.

Tropes

• 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.
• The Dragon: Plays the role of Dragon to Russell's Big Bad in the third season.
• Freudian Excuse: How her maker treated her.
• Honey Trap: For her maker, István.
• I Hate You Vampire Mom: She being the hated vampire-mom who turned Bill. And she in turn hated her own maker.
• 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."
• Torture Cellar: Tortured Bill in Russell's cellar.
• Yandere: She is violently attached to Bill.

Violet

Violet Mazurski

Played By: Karolina Wydra

An intimidating yet mysterious vampire who is an inmate at Burrell's Camp.

Tropes

• All Take and No Give: Her sexual relationship with Jason is rather one-sided.
• Alpha Bitch: She is a sensual, swaggering woman who enjoys having both the respect and fear of her cell block.
• Berserk Button: Don't cheat on her...
• Black Bra and Panties: She wears a dark night-gown during two of her later erotic scenes with Jason. In one, she has black underwear on underneath it, in the other, she doesn't.
• Brother–Sister Incest: She half jokingly tells Adylin she used to have a lot of sex with her brother.
• Dark Action Girl: Violet is a ruthless and controlling vampire who is only ever on the heroes' side out of convenience or a desire to make Jason feel closer to her, but she's also a very skilled fighter who takes out scores of human bigots and Hep-V Vamps.
• Europeans Are Kinky: According to background information she was a born on Prussia (which is composed of today Germany, Poland, Lithuania and Kalingrad) and Jason's excuse for her behaviour is, "She's European". Then, of course, there's the "playroom" at her house, filled with numerous historic sex toys.
• Go Through Me: She shields Jason with her body when Warlow comes for Sookie.
• Immodest Orgasm: Often makes a lot of noise having sex with Jason.
• Innocently Insensitive: Violet does make a genuine effort to comfort Sookie about Bill being sick by talking about all of the lovers she's outlived, but it makes Sookie feel worse instead of better.
• In the Back: She was destroyed with a wooden bullet by Hoyt while she had her attention turned to Jason.
• It's All About Me: Sums up her attraction and possession to Jason.
• Jerkass: She's rather abrasive and doesn't suffer fools.
• Karmic Death: Violet was killed by Hoyt Fortenberry - who had unknowingly avenged his mother previously murdered by Violet.
• Motivated by Fear: She gets Adilyn to trigger her powers (which are mainly activated by stress) and transport a rescue party to the Faerie realm by making her Game Face and using her vampire super speed to get in Adilyn's face.
  Violet: HARNESS YOUR FUCKING POWER!
• Religious Vampire: She was turned during the Middle Ages and she still believes in Catholicism strongly, though she says the modern version of it is bullshit.
• Sex Goddess: In her final appearance, Violet rants about how, in eight hundred years, none of her lovers prior to Jason have ever wanted to give up having sex with her. Of course, based on the events of that episode, it's possible that at least some of them weren't as much enamored with Violet as they were scared of triggering her Woman Scorned tendencies.
  Violet: Do you realize that I've brought some of the most powerful men in history to their knees by casting a single glance? Helen of Troy, Cleopatra, they were shells. Beautiful to look at, but hollow once penetrated. But me? No one has ever wanted out once allowed in.
• Statuesque Stunner: She's rather tall and attractive.
• Villains Out Shopping: The season 6 finale shows that Violet is a decent volleyball player even though, up until recently, she could only come out at night and would have spent her nighttime hours preying on humans. She does take the opportunity to whack her rival Jessica with a particularly hard serve and pretend it was an accident, though.
• Yandere: For Jason Stackhouse.

James

James Kent

Played By: Luke Grimes & Nathan Parsons

A 60-year-old vampire imprisoned at the Burrell camp, who enters a relationship with Jessica and later Lafayette.

Tropes

• Expy: Of James Douglas Morrison, according to the producers.
• Honor Before Reason: James is very much attached to his sense of morality, even under threat of sunlight.
• Nice Guy: While not-being-a-rapist is hardly the qualifier for 'Nice Guy', he is generally a good-natured fellow who takes pity on Steve.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: He refuses to rape Jessica and loses a fang. Then he warns Steve Newlin about the contaminated Tru Blood, only for Steve to cowardly rat him out.
• The Tooth Hurts: Gets one of his fangs removed as punishment.

Eddie

Eddie Fournier

"Comes a point in life when you realize everything you know about yourself, it's all just conditioning."

Played By: Stephen Root

"It's the rare man who knows who he truly is. At least I accomplished that."

A vampire that supplies Lafayette with V during the first season. A middle-aged, overweight gay man, he became a vampire shortly after his marriage with his wife fell apart and he became dire for male attention. He believed becoming a vampire would spark the interest of gay males in him, but seems to spend most of his days at home watching television. He is under the illusion Lafayette is genuinely attracted to him, while Lafayette pretends to want Eddie in order to collect his blood.

Tropes

• Bound and Gagged: By Jason and Amy.
• Butt-Monkey: Got himself turned to attract male attention which didn't work, and subsequently taken advantage of by Lafayette, captured by Jason and Amy so they can harvest V from him. Jason later feels bad about what they did after getting to know Eddie, and tries to free him, but Amy stakes Eddie before that can happen.
• Friendly Neighborhood Vampires: One of the most genuinely decent and good-natured vampires ever seen on the show.
• Nice Guy: Out of all the vampires on the show, he's probably one of the nicest.

Roman

Roman Zimojic

"Fundamentalism is a dead end, and I won't fucking have it!"

Played By: Christopher Meloni

"This is about honor, instead of chaos! This is about mercy, instead of sadism. This is about balance. This is about peace."

A powerful and imposing vampire, Roman was the 500-year-old leader of the Vampire Authority, and, by extension the supreme ruler of all vampires on earth.

Roman is the visionary responsible for orchestrating the Great Revelation, and the movement that followed it.

He is a staunch believer in the righteousness of his cause, and is relentless in persecuting those who oppose him.

Tropes

• Anti-Villain: Type III
• The Atoner: Vampires, according to him, should be this to the rest of humanity. Unfortunately, no one else seems to agree...
• Badass in a Nice Suit: Except for his last appearance, he's always clad in a sharp business suit.
• Big Good: He is the one standing between ravenous vampires and humans. And unlike Nan Flanagan, he isn't a hypocrite who feeds on humans himself while preaching equality. Unfortunately, people under him don't seem to agree resulting in him staying the Big Good only till first 5 episodes of Season 5.
• Death Glare: Roman has an absolutely terrifying gaze.
• Good Is Not Nice: He's ruthless and brutal, but he does respect humans and values the idea of peace between races.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Out of his six handpicked fellow chancellors, only Dieter Braun and Rosalyn Harris turned out not to be Sanguinistas, and even Rosalyn does a Face–Heel Turn later when threatened with death by them.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: In his final moments, he revealed that he genuinely supported peace and equality between human and vampire.
• Knight Templar: He is so dedicated to the cause of mainstreaming that he will do everything in his power to elimiate the Sanguinistas, and he makes it clear he expects every vampire to get on board with his agenda:
  Roman (after killing a Sanguinista): Alert your constituents. There will be no more rebellions. No further opposition to our just cause. You will... fall in line. Am I understood?
• Large Ham: Roman is pretty pompous, always Suddenly Shouting when not using a hushed whisper.
• Rank Scales with Asskicking: Surprisingly averted. At 500, Roman is a lot younger and thus physically weaker than most of the other powerful vampires seen on the show, implying that he rose to his position through raw passion, Charisma and common sense to the point where his elders trusted him to run the show.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Gets one from Russell Edgington.
• Suddenly Shouting: As part of his Large Ham tendencies.
• Surprisingly Sudden Death: Did anyone see that coming?
• Utopia Justifies the Means: Roman firmly believes this. In a world of Russell Edgingtons, he's likely right.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Despite Christopher Meloni's star status, the hype surrounding his character and Roman is killed off early into the season.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Deconstructed. On the one hand, Roman's goals for obtaining peace with humans turn out to be a necessity as humans outnumber vampires and are developing technology that put vampires at a disadvantage. He is also correct when he mentions that vampires can no longer indulge in their savage behavior like they used to because it's setting them back and preventing them from evolving as a species. That's also including Roman's knowledge that humans are not going to put up with being mistreated by the vampires and will strike back if provoked too far, which is exactly what happens at the end of season 5. On the whole, his reasons for doing what he does are pretty understandable. There are two main problems though: The first is that Roman's methods for accomplishing his agenda are draconian in nature, and involve killing or punishing vampires who refuse to get on board with mainstreaming. The second is that he's basically trying to force an entire species of vampires to change their bigoted attitudes towards humans overnight, especially when they've spent centuries viewing humans as food or disposable commodities. It doesn't help that there are vampiric groups like the Sanguinistas who see it as their God-Given right to esnalve, farm, and rape humans for their pleasure. The result is that Roman has isolated many vampires who are unhappy with mainstreaming, and some are angry enough that they want him dead. It's implied that the reason Chancellors like Kibwe and Alexander turned out to be Sanguinistas is because they were growing disillusioned with mainstreaming and Roman's "my way or the highway" attitude. All of this results in a coup orchestrated by Salome (who is also a Sanguinista) where she uses Russell Edgington to assassinate Roman and take over the Authority in an attempt to return things to the way they were. Everything goes to hell after that.