Character Summary
Human Life
Eric is portayed in the books as being somewhat arrogant, but having a true joie de vivre, In the easly books, little was revealed about his past. In the ninth book, Dead and Gone, Eric reveals details about his human life as a Viking. He was deemed a man at the age of twelve. At sixteen he married Aude, his brother's widow. The couple had six children, but only three were living at the time of his turning, two boys and a girl. Aude and their sixth child died of a fever shortly after the birth when Eric was in his early twenties. He was made by a Roman vampire named Appius Livius Ocella in the books. In the show, he was made a vampire by Godric.
Work and Position Within the Vampire Hierarchy
In the book series, Eric is the most powerful vampire in Area Five, a territory that includes the small town of Bon Temps in Northern Louisiana. Eric serves as Sheriff of that area and owns a vampire bar in Shreveport called Fangtasia that serves as his headquarters as well. He runs the bar with the help of his vampire offspring Pam and a few others. Eric takes his responsibilities and role within the vampire hierarchy very seriously. In the sixth novel, Definitely Dead, Eric mentions that he has paid a significant fine to the arbitrator for killing a former Fangtasia bartender, Long Shadow. This demonstrates that he did not hide his crime as killing another vampire is a "serious thing."
When the state of Louisiana was in disarray after the results of Hurricane Katrina, and after the Queen of Louisiana, Eric's hierarch, was crippled in an explosion and eventually killed by the vampires of Nevada under Felipe de Castro's order, as last surviving sheriff of Louisiana Eric pledges his allegiance to the new regime in order to protect those under him. He is, then, allowed to maintain control of his area and his followers, when the other sheriffs of Louisiana and a number of their minions were all killed. Under the new regime, Eric has spent a significant amount of time acclimatizing himself to his new overlords.
Eric is portayed in the books as being somewhat arrogant, but having a true joie de vivre, In the easly books, little was revealed about his past. In the ninth book, Dead and Gone, Eric reveals details about his human life as a Viking. He was deemed a man at the age of twelve. At sixteen he married Aude, his brother's widow. The couple had six children, but only three were living at the time of his turning, two boys and a girl. Aude and their sixth child died of a fever shortly after the birth when Eric was in his early twenties. He was made by a Roman vampire named Appius Livius Ocella in the books. In the show, he was made a vampire by Godric.
Work and Position Within the Vampire Hierarchy
In the book series, Eric is the most powerful vampire in Area Five, a territory that includes the small town of Bon Temps in Northern Louisiana. Eric serves as Sheriff of that area and owns a vampire bar in Shreveport called Fangtasia that serves as his headquarters as well. He runs the bar with the help of his vampire offspring Pam and a few others. Eric takes his responsibilities and role within the vampire hierarchy very seriously. In the sixth novel, Definitely Dead, Eric mentions that he has paid a significant fine to the arbitrator for killing a former Fangtasia bartender, Long Shadow. This demonstrates that he did not hide his crime as killing another vampire is a "serious thing."
When the state of Louisiana was in disarray after the results of Hurricane Katrina, and after the Queen of Louisiana, Eric's hierarch, was crippled in an explosion and eventually killed by the vampires of Nevada under Felipe de Castro's order, as last surviving sheriff of Louisiana Eric pledges his allegiance to the new regime in order to protect those under him. He is, then, allowed to maintain control of his area and his followers, when the other sheriffs of Louisiana and a number of their minions were all killed. Under the new regime, Eric has spent a significant amount of time acclimatizing himself to his new overlords.