Dead as a Doornail characters

Appears from the start

A telepathic waitress at Merlotte's bar in Bon Temps, Louisiana, living alone in her grandmother's house and no longer able to pretend she is outside the supernatural world. She is carrying a killing nobody else knows about, a brother who has been forced into a shape he did not choose, and a growing reputation among vampires and shapeshifters as a human worth using. She is stubborn about doing right by the people she considers hers.

Appears from the start

Sookie's brother, a Bon Temps road crew supervisor who was kidnapped and bitten repeatedly by a werepanther the previous winter. Because he was made rather than born, his change is partial and painful: he becomes a hybrid of man and cat rather than a true panther. He faces his first full moon with his sister as his only company, and he is looking for someone to blame.

Appears from the start

A young woman from the closed werepanther community of Hotshot who is seeing Jason Stackhouse. Her family is not pleased about the connection, and she is caught between them and him.

First appears in chapter 2

Sookie's boss, the owner of Merlotte's and a shapeshifter. He is shot in the leg outside his own bar early in the book, which puts him on crutches and leaves Sookie effectively running the place.

First appears in chapter 2

A short-order cook newly hired at Merlotte's. She has worked kitchens in small towns all over the region, never staying long anywhere, and she is friendly enough without being anybody's friend.

First appears in chapter 2

Sookie's friend from school, who runs a dress shop in Bon Temps. Her arrangement with a wealthy Mississippi vampire has been handed on to someone else without her consent, and she is frightened, bruised and unwilling to explain.

First appears in chapter 3

Sookie's former lover, the vampire who lives across the cemetery from her, returned from his travels in South America. He wants her back and she does not want him, and their dealings are civil, frequent and uncomfortable.

First appears in chapter 3

The head of the Hotshot werepanther community and a road crew foreman, a steady, courteous man who has made no secret of wanting to marry Sookie. He is among those shot by the sniper working the area.

First appears in chapter 4

The thousand-year-old vampire sheriff of the area, restored to himself after the witches' curse and, as far as anyone can tell, with no memory of the weeks he spent hidden in Sookie's house. He lends Merlotte's a bartender while Sam is laid up, and he keeps finding reasons to have Sookie where he can see her.

First appears in chapter 4

A small, red-haired English vampire lent to Merlotte's by Eric to tend bar while Sam recovers. Elaborately courteous, he wears an eyepatch, tells stories of a piratical life at sea, and is popular with the customers.

First appears in chapter 4

The leader of the Shreveport werewolf pack, a retired air force officer who has run pack business with military discipline. His death leaves the packmaster's place open at the worst possible time.

First appears in chapter 5

The Shreveport werewolf who has twice been Sookie's ally, now backing his father's claim to lead the pack. He asks Sookie to serve as an impartial witness at the contest, which puts her in the middle of pack politics she has no standing in.

First appears in chapter 5

Alcide's father, who runs the family surveying company and considers himself the natural successor as packmaster. Proud, aging and heavily in debt from gambling, he is not as strong a candidate as his son believes.

First appears in chapter 5

A Shreveport motorcycle dealer and werewolf, the other candidate for packmaster. Ordinary-looking and widely liked among the pack's rank and file, he wants the position badly.

First appears in chapter 6

A vampire who has taken over Tara Thornton's arrangement from her previous protector. He is small, cruel and territorial, he answers to a powerful vampire elsewhere, and he treats Tara as property to be damaged as he likes.

First appears in chapter 6

A private investigator hired, with his wife Lily, by the Pelt family of Jackson to find out what became of their daughter Debbie. He is thorough, polite and hard to lie to, and he does not believe Sookie's account of the last time she saw her.

First appears in chapter 8

The tall, beautiful woman who appeared at Sookie's side during the fight with the witches and would not say what she was. She continues to turn up when Sookie is in danger, cheerfully unhelpful about her own nature, and admits only that looking after Sookie is a duty of hers.