Characters / True Blood Main Werebeasts

Sam

Sam Merlotte

"I spent my whole life either running away from people or pinning my hopes on somebody I can't have. I'm done with that."

Played By: Sam Trammell

"I need a live animal in order to shift. You know, as a model. Kinda like an imprint."

The owner of Merlotte's, where Sookie works. When Bill Compton becomes involved with Sookie, he openly disapproves of their relationship and, despite initial support of vampire rights, feels as though vampires and humans should be separate whether they're equals or not.

Tropes

• Abusive Parents: His biological parents.
• All Love Is Unrequited: His affection for Sookie.
• All Men Are Perverts: Before The Reveal that he's a shapeshifter, Sookie catches some of his thoughts, and they're usually about how good she smells or about her boobs. He's also seen rolling around in Dawn's bed and smelling the sheets after she's died. This seems marginally less weird in hindsight.
• Animorphism: His shapeshifting abilities are limited to animals, because humans are too complex.
• The Atoner: For his earliest criminal lifestyle which resulted in the death of his con-woman girlfriend.
• Benevolent Boss: He's very understanding of his employees' frequent need to take days off to deal with supernatural crises, possibly because he encounters his own share of them.
• Berserk Button: Stealing from him seems to be one. The two times it's happened, he's shot the offenders.
• Beware the Nice Ones: He's generally a nice guy to the people he cares about, but when he's angry, you do not want to be on his bad side.
• Big Brother Instinct: to Tommy. He's absolutely furious when he finds out that Joe Lee and Melinda have been putting him in dog fights, and takes Tommy under his wing. He eventually gets fed up with Tommy constantly antagonizing him and getting in trouble, and kicks him out in a drunken rage. Things go downhill from there.
• Boundand Gagged: Twice, first when he's prepared as a sacrifice in Maryann's wedding circa Season 2, and again in Season 5 when he's captured by the Authority.

• Calling the Old Man Out: Does this to his birth parents after discovering that they force his brother, who's also a shapeshifter, into dog fights.

• Dark and Troubled Past: Where to begin? His adoptive parents abandoned him the first time he shifted, so he spent his childhood on the streets. He used his shapeshifting to become a burglar and at one point he murdered his accomplice and her boyfriend when they stole from him.
• Dogged Nice Guy: Yes you may make the pun...
• Fantastic Racism: Doesn't like vampires and werewolves. More because of his attraction to Sookie than anything else.
  • As for his dislike of werewolves, we know he had some interactions with them during his time as a runaway, and considering that werewolves themselves seem to have a cultural Fantastic Racism for shifters, it's likely what contact he had with them was unpleasant.
• Flat-Earth Atheist: Doesn’t put much stock in religion and admits to not believing in Hell. Yet he lives in a world in which vampires, werewolves, witches, ghosts and maenads are all very real. It may be that he’s more of a Naytheist because he hasn’t very many positive experiences with the supernatural.
• Full-Frontal Assault: Against Bud Dearborne and his flunkies.
• Heroic BSoD: The stress of dealing with his birth family's drama led him to drinking and lashing out at his friends and customers.
• I Just Want to Be Normal: His adoptive parents abandoned him the first time they saw him change, and as a result he has spent most of his life hiding his shapeshifting out of shame.
• Mr. Fanservice: His shifting means that he's often naked.
• Nice Guy: Zig-Zagged. His relationship with Sookie falls into Dogged Nice Guy territory, and there are moments where he is an asshole (Luna notably calls him sexist at one point, and Holly even recommends Black Cohosh for his rage issues), but he is generous and does care for others.
• Parental Abandonment: His father was in prison, so his mother gave him up.
• Perma-Stubble: Seems to have about a week's growth of beard at all times.
• Two Lines, No Waiting: His plotlines in seasons three and four did not connect with the main story at all.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: Animorphism. He can change into any animal he has imprinted on, except humans.

Alcide

Alcide Herveaux

"It ain't a wolf/shifter thing. It's right and wrong."

Played By: Joe Manganiello

"What if our hearts can't be trusted and it's our brains we should be listening to?"

A werewolf who helps Sookie in finding Bill while Bill is held captive by Russell Edgington. He does this to relieve the debt his family owed to Eric Northman. Alcide is one of the few good werewolves introduced thus far.

Tropes

• Beware the Nice Ones: Alcide is a helpful, decent guy...but if you cross him, you'll meet a bad end as JD learned.
• The Big Guy:
  Marcus: You're about 6'6 and you're wider than a door.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: With Sookie (more than once), with Debbie, with Tommy...
• Composite Character: Come season 6, he's showing definite shades of both Book!Alcide and Quinn, a weretiger with which Sookie had a very happy relationship in the books. In the finale, it's shown he's taken Quinn's place at Sookie's side as her boyfriend.
• Dropped a Bridge on Him: Alcide is abruptly killed by a redneck nobody after 5 seasons in the show.

• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: To both Debbie and Sookie. Rikki is his tallest beau so far, but he still towers over her like he does most people.
• I'm a Humanitarian: After refusing in season 5, he adheres to Pack rule in season 6 and eats the corpse of the previous Packmaster, JD. He doesn't even shift to do so.
• Just Friends: With Sookie, receiving end.
• Killed Off for Real: In the final season.
• Meaningful Name: Comes from the Greek "Alcides", birth name of the hero of Classical Mythology better known as Hercules.
• Mr. Fanservice: To truly ridiculous levels.
• Nice Guy
• Official Couple: With Sookie at the end of Season 6.
• Relationship Upgrade: With Sookie at the end of season 6.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: He doesn't adhere to the usual rules of the pack, which is a big no-no considering how insular and tradition-based werewolves are. He follows his own moral compass, which has resulted in him being shunned by his own kind.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: A few times.
  • He finally gives up on Sookie when it became clear she wasn't about to stop chasing vampires, having pulled her out of a firefight after she accidentally got shot—saving her life—and didn't so much as get a "thank you" out of her because she was too busy having UST with Bill.
  • Again, when he sees Tommy getting beaten by his pack.
  • When Martha and JD eat Marcus.
  • When Rikki goes murderously insane and challenges him to a packmaster fight.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: After becoming packmaster, he becomes very aggressive and hot-tempered. He gets into a fight with Sam over Emma (which results in him beating Sam unconscious) and later tries to force Emma to become a part of the pack. He's also a Jerkass to his father when he rightfully calls out Alcide for his behavior.
• You Are Packmaster Now: After killing JD.

Luna

Luna Garza

"I just feel like if we are too cute and cheesy, that God is going to drop a brick on our heads."

Played By: Janina Gavankar

A shapeshifter in whom Sam takes a romantic interest. A member of one of Sam's evening shapeshifter gatherings, Luna reveals that she is a Skinwalker and can take the form of another human being. She is initially reluctant to start a relationship with Sam because her ex-husband, and father of her daughter, is a jealous werewolf, but finally decides she wants to be with him.

Tropes

• All Girls Want Bad Boys: She used to be married to Marcus. She lampshades this very trope.
• Blood from the Mouth: After changing into Steve Newlin.
• Died in Your Arms Tonight: Her last skinchanging episode didn't go too well.
• Forgotten Fallen Friend: Sam takes only a few days to get over her and hook up with Nicole, and even shorter to fall in love with Nicole.
• Full-Frontal Assault: Beats the living hell out of Sweetie Des-Arts aka The Dragon, all while completely naked.
• Gender Bender: Her skinchanging abilities have made her this on two occasions.
• Genre Savvy: See quote.
• Glamour Failure: Shifts back into herself in the middle of a speech she's giving as "Steve Newlin".
• Heroic Sacrifice: Skinchanging into Steve Newlin to out the Vampire Authority, on-air, knowing the cost it takes on her body.
• Hot Teacher: Teaches primary school.
• I Will Only Slow You Down: In the season six premiere. Unusually for this trope, she ends up dying.
• Mama Bear: For her own daughter Emma.
• Missing Mom: Her mother was a case of Death by Childbirth.
• Ms. Fanservice: Just like Sam, her shifting means that she's often naked.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: On Sweetie.
• Precision F-Strike: When she finds out that her daughter is a werewolf.
• This Is for Emphasis, Bitch!: Lays one on Sweetie Des-Arts.

• Voluntary Shapeshifting: Animorphism.

Tommy

Tommy Mickens

"There ain't no heaven, and hell's a dog fight."

Played By: Marshall Allman

The younger brother of Sam Merlotte and son of Melinda and Joe Lee Mickens.

Tropes

• Abusive Parents: His parents made him transform into a dog and win dogfights for money, which they blew on alcohol.
• Bed Trick: He does this to Luna in season 4 when he skinwalks into Sam and sleeps with her without Luna knowing who he really is. Needless to say, Sam is furious with Tommy when he finds out, and kicks him out of his life.
• Book Dumb: Is by no means stupid, but is severely undereducated due to his upbringing. He can't read when Sam first meets him, though Maxine eventually teaches him.
• The Cynic: He believes that everyone is only out for themselves, and he has severe trust issues. His parents have a lot to do with this outlook.
• Deadpan Snarker
• Gender Bender: He changed into Maxine in "Spellbound".
• Hot-Blooded: He definitely has a temper. One example: After he provokes Hoyt into punching him, he retaliates by shifting into a pit bull and mauling him. If Jessica hadn't thrown him off, he might have killed him.
• Jerkass: To the point where you wonder if he ever thinks through what his actions are going to cost him. Especially notable: When he shifts into Sam by accident, he uses it to fire Sookie, sleep with Sam's girlfriend, then kick her out of the house in a vicious manner. This is after he and Sam had just started mending bridges. Needless to say, when Sam finds out, those bridges get burned for good.
• Long-Lost Relative: Is Sam's younger brother.
• Self-Made Orphan: He kills his parents in self-defense after they try to capture him and put him back in the dogfighting circuit.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: Animorphism. Plus, he can turn into humans after accidentally killing his shapeshifter mother, though it's an extremely unpleasant process.

Crystal

Crystal Norris

"I'm big momma kitty now."

Played By: Lindsay Pulsipher

A werepanther living in the inbred commune of Hotshot who becomes involved with Jason after he sees her during a drug raid on Hotshot. She seems to be very attracted to him, but also informs him she has been promised to her half-brother and thus fiancé, Felton. Jason attempts to lure her away from Hotshot, unaware of her supernatural background, but Felton and her father get her to return every time.

Tropes

• Adaptational Villainy: While Crystal wasn't exactly a nice person in the books, she had little (if anything) to do with Jason's kidnapping and eventual transformation into a werepanther. Instead, it was Felton (her boyfrined/brother) who did all of that because of jealousy towards Jason. Her worst crime in the books was arguably cheating on Jason when they later got married. In the TV show, not only does she collaborate with Felton to kidnap Jason and bite him in the hopes of turning Jason into a werepanther against his will, but she also rapes Jason when he's unconscious and proceeds to have all the women of Hotshot rape him.

• Arranged Marriage: To her half brother.
• Axe-Crazy and Love Makes You Evil: in season 4, when she conspires with her family to kidnap and rape Jason in order to bring new blood into the family lines.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: At least in Jason's opinion, given current events.

• Brother–Sister Incest: Non-consensual on her part.

• Freudian Excuse: Defied. She did grow up in a community where incest, disease, inbreeding, and insanity were the norm, and she had an abusive family, but the show is pretty clear that it doesn't excuse what she did to Jason.
• Hate Sink: Pretty much becomes this in season 4 when she kidnaps Jason, bites him against his will, rapes him, and then has the other women of Hotshot rape him, and expresses no remorse for her actions. Any remaining sympathy for her character disappears after that, and she becomes downright despicable.
• Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: While there are a few instances that indicate she can care for other people (such as willingly going with Felton to save Jason and prevent Felton from killing any more werepanthers), she's ultimately a selfish individual with an It's All About Me attitude. Plus, what she did to Jason in season 4 after he honored her promise to her was unforgivable.
• Troubled, but Cute: Jason certainly thinks so.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: Into a Black Panther.

• Wrong Side of the Tracks: Her family is really poor and just plain bad people, and appear to live in this sort of area.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: We never find out what happened to Crystal and the other werepanthers after their failed attempt to turn Jason into a werepanther. Considering that they never show up again after season 4, it's implied that they vacated Hotshot out of fear that Jason might go to the cops and tell them what happened to him.

Rikki

Rikki Naylor

Played By: Kelly Overton

A werewolf and a member of Marcus Bozeman's pack up until his death.

Tropes

• Action Girl: She's the alpha female of the Shreveport pack.
• Alpha Bitch: Good god, she is this big time.
• Godiva Hair: In Turn! Turn! Turn! she's naked, but her hair covers her breasts and she's never shown from the waist up.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Majorly, always wearing a scowl and constantly on the verge of ripping everyone apart.
• Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: While she knows JD is a terrible pack master and has some standards, she is a selfish person who is only out for herself.
• The Lancer: To Alcide, in the beginning.
• Ms. Fanservice: She is a werewolf after all.
• Naked on Arrival: Her very first scene is coming out of her wolf form naked.
• Pet the Dog: Or rather the young werewolf. She pets Emma in her wolf form, but only to fool the police into thinking Emma was a puppy while hiding her. Other than that, she is not nice to Emma at all.
• Perpetual Frowner: A smile on Rikki is rarer than an eclipse.
• The Starscream: First to JD, then to Alcide later.
• Three-Way Sex: With Danielle and Alcide.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: It says a lot since she was already a jerk. Previously, she at least showed some hidden depths and had standards. In Season 6, she gets worse. Though it could have also been from the V she was forced to take by JD.
• Toplessness from the Back: In Turn! Turn! Turn! she's naked, but she's only shown from the back or with Godiva Hair.

Jackson

Jackson Herveaux

Played By: Robert Patrick

Alcide Herveaux's father and was a packmaster at one point a long time ago. Now he lives in a trailer home in Jackson, Mississippi.

Tropes

• Combat Pragmatist: Keeps V with him to fight rogue V-addicted werewolves. Encourages Alcide to drink it just to even the odds.

• Glass Eye: He has one, but it's unclear how it happened.
• Jaded Washout: He was once a prominent and respected Packmaster, but has since become an alcoholic, cynical recluse largely shunned by the werewolf community.
• The Mentor: To Alcide and Debbie.

• Retired Badass: In his first appearance.

• What the Hell, Hero?: He gives this speech to Alcide after the latter has spent most of season 6 behaving like a Jerkass.