| Sookie Stackhouse | |
|---|---|
| True Blood character | |
Anna Paquin as Sookie Stackhouse |
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| First appearance | Novel: Dead Until Dark Television: "Strange Love" (episode 1.01) |
| Created by | Charlaine Harris |
| Portrayed by | Anna Paquin |
| Information | |
| Nickname(s) | Sookie |
| Species | Human (fairy ancestry) |
| Gender | Female |
| Occupation | Barmaid/waitress |
| Family | Jason Stackhouse (older brother) Adele Hale Stackhouse (grandmother) Niall Brigant (great-grandfather) Fintan Brigant (grandfather) |
| Spouse(s) | Eric Northman (vampire husband) |
| Relatives | Dermot Brigant (great-uncle) Claudine and Claude Crane (both half cousins once removed) Hadley (cousin) Hunter Savoy (cousin once removed) |
| Nationality | American |
Sookie Stackhouse is the fictional protagonist and narrating voice of Charlaine Harris' The Southern Vampire Mysteries and the television adaptation, HBO's True Blood. The name Sookie rhymes with hooky, as in to "play hooky".
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Sookie Stackhouse is a telepathic barmaid from Louisiana and about twenty-five years old at the beginning of the Southern Vampire Mysteries series.
Orphaned at the age of seven after her parents died in a flash flood, Sookie and her brother Jason were raised by their paternal grandmother, Adele. Growing up, and in the earlier books, Sookie experiences her telepathy as a "disability" that isolates her from other people. As well as the loss of her parents, Sookie's childhood was marred by the fact that she was molested by a great-uncle.
Sookie has a cousin named Hadley, with whom she was close in their early years. Other family that play an important role in who Sookie is as a character are her fairy great-grandfather, Niall Brigant, her fairy cousins, Claudine, Claude, and Claudette, and her uncle Dermot. Sookie discovers, after Hadley dies, that the latter had a son, and therefore she has a young first cousin once-removed about whom she did not know.
For much of her story, Sookie lives alone in her rather isolated house, which she inherited from her grandmother when she was twenty-five, but at times shares it with others, including two witches, Amelia Broadway and Octavia Fant, her cousin Claude and her uncle Dermot; on the television show, Tara Thornton is Sookie's housemate for a time. In addition to being a barmaid at Merlotte's, a local bar owned by Sam Merlotte, Sookie is occasionally hired as a telepath by her supernatural acquaintances.
In her free time, Sookie reads, suntans, watches television, and occasionally attends the local high school football games. She is an active library patron and works on expanding her vocabulary by using a Word-of-the-Day calendar.
Although Sookie is not new to dating, she is new to sex, romance, and serious relationships when we first meet her in Dead Until Dark. As a telepath, human relations have often proved overwhelming to her since she is not always able to shield her mind from other people's thoughts. When she meets the vampire Bill Compton, she finds someone whose mind is unreadable enough to allow her to relax completely in his company.
Sookie's telepathic abilities started to manifest when she was quite young. Corbett and Michelle Stackhouse initially considered Sookie to be mentally ill and in her hometown of Bon Temps, many people believe that Sookie is mentally unstable; the origins of her telepathic ability are not clear. Ever since elementary school, Sookie has been having trouble keeping her mind shut to the thoughts that surround her. This has gotten her in trouble with her teachers, psychiatrists, and once or twice, her parents.
Sookie says that people's thoughts are not formed in complete sentences, but rather in minimal words and images. She describes some people as "broadcasters", meaning that their minds are fairly easy to read. Besides using telepathy to read minds, she can also communicate with other telepaths and use her power to perplex people (e.g. Rene Lenier). According to Sookie, both physical and eye contact make an individual's mind easier to read, humans are easier to read than other beings, and impressions is the most she can get from most supernatural beings (unless the individual is intentionally broadcasting). Vampires are believed to be impossible for Sookie to read, which is why she begins dating Bill, but she secretly gets occasional glimpses from them also.
It is believed that Sookie's telepathic abilities make her immune against supernatural powers of mental manipulation, such as the vampires' glamouring ability and the maenads' madness infection.
Bill Compton introduces Sookie to the complexities of vampire society in the United States. This leads to many difficulties for Sookie, and many critical moments of doubt about their relationship. His infidelity with his maker Lorena in Club Dead shakes Sookie's confidence in their relationship, and she breaks things off. The final blow to their romantic relationship comes with Bill's revelation that he was ordered by the Queen of Louisiana to put himself in Sookie's way (and seduce her, if necessary) so that Sookie's gift could be harnessed for the queen's own use.[1]
Sam Merlotte is Sookie's boss and a true shape-shifter who can turn into any animal, although his favorite is a border collie named Dean. Sookie and Sam kiss more than once, but Sookie is worried about the effect a romance would have on their business relationship, which is important to her because he's the only boss she hasn't had to quit on after reading his mind. There is an attraction there, but so far they have been nothing but extra supportive friends for one another.
Eric Northman is the vampire sheriff of Louisiana Area 5. Sookie and Eric first meet when Bill takes her to Eric's club in Shreveport. In Dead to the World, Eric is rendered amnesiac by a witch's spell that both removed his memory and compelled him to seek out his "heart's desire". After finding him running half naked towards her house in the middle of the night, Sookie takes Eric home and hides him for a number of days. During his period of memory loss, Sookie and Eric become romantically and sexually involved but when the curse is removed, he forgets their time together. Their relationship becomes complicated, with Eric knowing intuitively that a shift had occurred between them but having no recall of it. However, things aren't so complicated that Sookie does not feel free to see other people (see John Quinn). In From Dead to Worse, Eric recalls the events that occurred while he was under the witch's spell, and in Dead and Gone, Eric tricks her into a vampire marriage to him for her protection from the new King of Louisiana who is both aware of Sookie's talents, and of her importance to Eric. They consummate the marriage, their first sexual encounter since the events of Dead to the World. In Dead in the Family, Sookie and Eric finally admit their love for each other and are together as a couple.
Alcide Herveaux is a werewolf who is first introduced to Sookie when the vampire Eric Northman sends Alcide to help Sookie find Bill. Alcide is a wonderful guy who is hung up on a woman who is just terrible for him, Debbie, a were-lynx. Sookie likes him as well, but there are unresolved issues between her Bill and Eric during the time of their acquaintance. Alcide's complicated relationship with Debbie also proves problematic. They flirt with the possibilities for a while, but then go their separate romantic ways. Circumstances keep them in contact, but the contact is strictly professional.
John Quinn is a were-tiger. Quinn and Sookie meet during the events of Dead as a Doornail, but they don't begin to form a romantic relationship until they meet again in Definitely Dead. Their relationship is full of chemistry, but his job and other circumstances prevent them from establishing a firm foundation. After he does not contact her for months, Sookie breaks up with him in an emotional confrontation. Quinn has a long association with the vampires of Nevada, and in particular the King of Louisiana Felipe de Castro, to whom he is indebted.
In the HBO series True Blood, loosely based on The Southern Vampire Mysteries, Sookie is portrayed by Academy Award-winning actress Anna Paquin.[2] Anna has appeared in every episode so far in the series. See also List of True Blood episodes.
In the first season of True Blood, Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) is introduced as a waitress working at her local establishment Merlotte's Bar and Grille. It is quickly unveiled that Sookie is a telepath, capable of involuntarily hearing the minds of everyone around her which leaves her constantly trying to block out these thoughts and act normal. From the night of the opening episode, we can deduce that Sookie is a kind, honest if slightly prudish individual who is friends with many of the bar staff. The staff includes the bar owner Sam Merlotte (Sam Trammell), who harbors a romantic interest in her, fellow waitresses Arlene Fowler (Carrie Preston) and Dawn Green (Lynn Collins), Sookie's best friend, the sassy and troubled newly appointed bartender Tara Thornton and resident cooks Terry Bellefleur (Todd Lowe) and Lafayette Reynolds (Nelsan Ellis), the latter the flamboyantly gay cousin of Tara. In the opening episode, we are also introduced to Sookie's promiscuous brother Jason (Ryan Kwanten) and his best friends Hoyt Fortenberry (Jim Parrack) and René Lenier (Michael Raymond-James), the latter who is dating Arlene. On this night, Sookie meets Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer), the first vampire to visit Bon Temps since vampires 'came out of the coffin' two years prior to the show's story. After Bill is nearly killed by human drug dealers and drainers of vampire blood (which is used as a narcotic by humans in both the books and the show), Mac and Denise Rattray, Bill is saved by Sookie. Bill quickly deduces that Sookie is more than human and Sookie discovers that she cannot hear Bill's thoughts.
Sookie returns home after work, to her country house on the outskirts of Bon Temps, which she shares with her grandmother Adele Hale Stackhouse (Lois Smith), and excitedly tells her about meeting her first ever vampire. Adele, better known to Sookie as Gran, responds just as enthusiastically and wonders aloud if Bill could attend her Descendants Of The Glorious Dead meeting, a club held in remembrance of those who died in the Civil War, something Bill may have fought in. Sookie informs Gran that she'll ask Bill next time she sees him.
The following night, the Rattrays come for revenge on Sookie, attacking her outside Merlotte's after work. They would have beaten her to death, but Bill intervenes. He kills the Rattrays and saves her life, but Sookie is badly injured so Bill gives her his blood which is capable of magically healing her. After she is healed, she begins to have erotic dreams about Bill as well as numerous other side effects such as increased libido, and heightened senses. It is later revealed in the series that this is one of many side effects of drinking vampire blood.
Sookie and Bill continue to get to know one another, inviting him around to her house. Gran is delighted for Sookie and has a liberal stance towards vampires but Jason and Tara are also present and disapprove of Bill, having mixed feelings towards vampires. Sookie and Bill then go for a walk and Sookie reveals her family background to Bill. She tells Bill how her parents, Corbett and Michelle, were worried when a young Sookie was able to hear their thoughts. She goes on to say that her parents later died in a flash flood when she was seven years old, and how her grandmother looked after her and Jason through their childhood and adolescence. Sookie also reveals that she's never had a boyfriend because being able to hear human thoughts can be distracting and hurtful to her self-esteem as well as a turn off for guys. In return, Bill answers Sookie's questions on the truths and falsehoods of vampire traits and functions and reveals that vampires are able to glamor humans, a form of hypnotism that is held by eye contact with a human. Sookie asks Bill to try glamoring her. After some persistence, Bill agrees and attempts to glamor her. This has no effect on Sookie which leaves Bill unsettled because to his knowledge, all humans are capable of being glamored.
The next night, she goes to Bill's house in order to give him the phone numbers of some vampire friendly contractors and is confronted by three rogue vampires, Malcolm, Liam and Diane. The vampires terrorize her and try to bite her until Bill states that Sookie is his human partner and out of respect, the other vampires are forbidden by vampire law and rules to touch her. After this attack, Sookie is frightened and worries about her safety, and she decides not to speak to Bill any more. When she tells her Gran about her decision, her Gran points out that Sookie is not angry at Bill but is instead afraid because for the first time in Sookie's life, Sookie cannot tell what someone thinks of her. Sookie and Bill then become friends. It is also implied in this conversation that Sookie's grandfather and Adele's husband, Earl possessed telepathic powers like Sookie.
When Sookie is asked by Sam to go around to Dawn's house and check if she's okay, having failed to turn up for work on time, Sookie enters Dawn's home and finds her lying on the bed, dead from strangulation. Jason turns up shortly after and suspicion rises about him killing Dawn, as well as previous murdered conquest Maudette Pickens. After being quizzed by Sheriff Bud Dearborne (William Sanderson) and Detective Andy Bellefleur (Chris Bauer), Sookie discovers that Jason had spent the night with Dawn before she died and they had an argument before her body was found. This was the second woman Jason was involved with that was murdered and it appears that the killer is trying to frame her brother for murder. It is also found that both women were involved with vampires and this may be a vampire hate crime.
With some pleading from Gran, Sookie agrees to listen in on peoples thoughts although it causes her to lose concentration on other tasks and the killer would have to be thinking of killing his or her victim at a time when Sookie's listening in. Having no luck at finding the killer, Sookie asks Bill to take her to the vampire bar Fangtasia, in nearby Shreveport to see if any of the vampires were aware of any suspicious activity involving the two murdered women.
Sookie and Bill arrive at Fangtasia where they meet powerful bar owner Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgård) and his progeny Pam (Kristin Bauer Van Strasen). Bill explains that vampires have their own Government separate from humans as well as trying to fit into human Government. Eric is Sheriff of vampire district Area Five in Louisiana and is over one-thousand-years old. Eric takes an immediate interest in Sookie, which heightens when he discovers Sookie's telepathy, promising to meet her again. While it looks like Sookie and Bill's relationship will be repaired, Bill's vampiric nature and Sookie's fear of the unknown strain their relationship again.
Sam Merlotte, taking advantage of his romantic interest in Sookie, takes charge of the tension in her relationship with Bill by asking Sookie out on a date. He takes her to the Descendants of the Glorious Dead meeting at the Bon Temps Church, and then out for pie where he kisses her. After Sam yells at her for dating a vampire, Sookie takes a cab home, arriving home later than planned. When stepping into the house, she sees blood on the kitchen floor. Sookie then turns on the light and sees her Gran dead in the kitchen, the victim of a violent knife attack. Bill arrives in time to comfort her and Sam follows shortly after him, a situation that causes tension for all three of them.
Grieving for her grandmother, Sookie is unable to keep the thoughts of others out of her head, forcing her to hear how the whole town thinks that its her fault her Gran died, and how they think Bill killed her. Tara and Lafayette are here to comfort her in this time of grief. In a conversation between herself and Tara, it is acknowledged that Sookie has a cousin named Hadley but Sookie is unaware of where she is, because she got hooked on drugs, escaped a rehab clinic and disappeared. Having just found out about his grandmother's death, Jason storms into Sookie's room and slaps her on the face, blaming her for Gran's death. Tara throws him out and his relationship is fractured, both with Sookie and with Tara. After her grandmother's funeral, a vulnerable Sookie seeks Bill out for comfort and the two have sex for the first time, causing Sookie to lose her virginity to him. Following their sex session, Sookie gets into a bathtub with Bill and admits that her grand-uncle Bartlett used to sexually abuse her as a child.
After their first night together, Sookie feels more able to cope with the loss of her grandmother. The rest of the town is not happy with Sookie, however, and she 'hears' them calling her "whore" and "fangbanger" (humans who are known for their promiscuous and obsessional nature with vampires). She is also still angry and upset with her brother, Jason, who feels guilty over his treatment of Sookie. While she is working at Merlotte's that night, the vampires Liam, Malcolm and Diane visit Sookie knowing Bill will sense her fear and come running. He does, and they take Bill with them, leaving behind a distraught and worried Sookie. After spending all night worrying about Bill, Sookie's worst fear is realized when four bodies, all unidentifiable, are pulled out of the other vampires' new nest that was burned to the ground, but Sookie finds relief when she discovers that Bill survived the fire because he abandoned the other three vampires and slept underground in Bon Temps graveyard. It is revealed that the fourth body belonged to a human teenager Neil Jones (Kevin McHale), a fangbanger and employee of Mike Spencer (John Billingsley), the coroner and funeral home director.
Some time later, Bill is instructed by Eric to bring Sookie around to Fangtasia so she can use her telepathic powers to help him out. Bill is obliged to follow Eric's orders as he is obliged to listen to his Sheriff and superior vampire. Sookie reluctantly agrees and the two drive to Fangtasia. Here, Sookie finds out that she has to listen in on the minds of humans, who Eric suspects of embezzling money from the club. With her telepathy, Sookie discovers through human Ginger's (Tara Buck) mind that it was vampire bartender Longshadow, embezzling the money. Longshadow who was present at the meeting, leaps on Sookie in rage but Bill manages to stake him before he attacks Sookie.
In order to pay for killing an older vampire, Bill tells Sookie that he must go away and be trialed by the American Vampire League although he promises Sookie, he will only get a slap on the wrist. Sookie brings home a stray collie and lets it sleep on her bed. She wakes up in the middle of the night and finds a naked Sam lying beside her. Screaming and accusing Sam of being her grandmother's killer, Sam assures Sookie that he is not a killer but a shapeshifter instead, capable of transforming into any animal he imprints on. Sam also informs Sookie that werewolves exist too but neither shifter nor Were are ready to reveal themselves to society like the vampires are.
Sookie and Sam grow closer after this, investigating further into the murders and sharing a kiss. Unfortunately, Bill walks in on it and starts a fight with Sam. Sookie orders both men to get of her house.
Near the end of Season One, Sookie discovers that her friend and work colleague Arlene Fowler's (Carrie Preston) fiancé René Lenier (Michael Raymond-James) is really Drew Marshall, the man behind all of the murders that have been happening in Bon Temps including Sookie's grandmother and the three women her brother Jason was involved with. Drew once again tries to kill Sookie, but with Sam's help, she manages to defeat and kill him by decapitating him with a shovel.
Sookie repairs her relationship with Bill and returns to work. One night, Sookie, Tara and Sam are working at Merlotte's, trying to convince a drunken Andy to go home. When Andy slurs that he's not drunk and tries to go out to his car, he opens it and a limp foot falls out of it. Sookie and Tara scream at the horror of seeing a dead body and the first season ends.
Season two is centered around the mayhem caused in Bon Temps by Maryann, a maenad posing as a human. Maryann develops a bond with Tara and eventually develops complete control over the Bon Temps residents.
After another disagreement between Bill and Sookie, the latter is attacked in the forest by a creature with a bull's head and claws. Bill tries to save her, but he isn't able to heal her injures so he brings her to Fangtasia and asks Eric for help. Here a dwarf doctor uses an elixir to release the poison in her blood and save her life.
While Bon Temps is in a state of chaos thanks to Maryann, Sookie, Bill, and Jessica travel to Dallas, Texas on behalf of Eric in an effort to find his missing maker, Godric. Their search leads to anti-vampire church, The Fellowship of the Sun. After being imprisoned by church officials, Sookie sends a telepathic S.O.S to Barry, who delivers her message to Bill, a message that is overheard by Eric. Sookie finds Godric in the basement of the church where she is being held and this is where Eric finds them both. They try to escape, but their plan goes sour, and Godric ends up having to be the one to get them out. He leaves with them as well, but not so that he can be free. After watching the emotional goodbye between Godric and Eric, Sookie stays with Godric on the roof of her hotel while he waits to "meet the sun", which is a form of vampire suicide.
During her time in Dallas, Sookie makes a blood bond with Eric after he saves her from a stray bullet.Eric tricks her into drinking his blood. This infuriates Bill because he knows that the bond will allow Eric to sense Sookie's emotions and that Sookie will now find herself sexually attracted to Eric. Sookie begins to experience erotic dreams involving Eric, a side effect of having drunk his blood, and relays this fact to Lafayette upon her return to Bon Temps.
Also upon her return to Bon Temps, Sookie finally gets to see the effect the Maenad has made on the town. People are not themselves and her own house has been made into a ritual site for the sacrifice of Sam Merlotte. Although they have met before, it is at her house that Sookie finally confronts Maryann head-on, an incident which reveals another aspect of Sookie's abilities. After this confrontation, Sookie and Bill leave the house and call Lafayette. Hearing that Tara has been losing herself to Maryann's darkness, Sookie and Bill head over to Lafayette's house to find out from Tara what has really been happening in Bon Temps during their absence. The ordeal with Tara eventually results in Sookie's return to her besieged home, which is where she is when the final showdown with Maryann takes place.
The season ends on a cliffhanger. Bill takes Sookie out for a private dinner and proposes to her. Shocked and not knowing how to respond, she leaves the room to think. While deciding that she does indeed want to marry him, Bill is ambushed from behind by someone using a silver chain. Sookie comes out to find Bill gone and the dining room in shambles.
Bill is kidnapped by werewolves employed by Russell Edgington, the Vampire King of Mississippi. Bill breaks up with Sookie over the phone, after telling her he had sex with his maker, Lorena. Sookie still goes after him. She develops a relationship with Alcide Herveaux, her werewolf bodyguard, assigned by Eric to keep her safe. In Sookie's attempt to find Bill, she pushes Alcide into going to his ex's (Debbie Pelt) engagement party. At the party, Russell shows up and performs a ceremony in which he brands Debbie, and feeds the werewolf audience his blood. Later, after Russell joins the list of vampires with a special interest in her, Sookie is abducted from Alcide's apartment and imprisoned in Russell's mansion.
With the help of Tara and Alcide and his van, Sookie is eventually able to free Bill and escape back to Louisiana. On their way, Bill attacks and drains Sookie almost to the point of death. Tara throws him out of the van into direct sunlight and for a few minutes, he finds himself immune to the exposure. At the hospital, Sookie has what appears to be a dream in which she is warned to not to allow Bill to "take her light." Bill arrives, and revives her with an infusion of his own blood. Healed, Sookie then breaks up with Bill.
Hadley comes to Bon Temps with a message from Eric, warning that Russell and his werewolves are coming and that Sookie should not trust Bill. Russell and his werewolves do indeed attack Sookie at her house, and Bill and Jessica come to Sookie's aid. The three of them rid themselves of the weres. Russell leaves to check on Talbot when he senses that he's been killed (by Eric). Sookie reluctantly reconciles with Bill.
Sookie decides to live at Jason's house for a while and it is while she is living there that it is revealed to her by Bill that she is part fae. Eric shows up to tell Sookie that he is leaving, and she has a dream about him where he tells her, "Don't trust Bill. And that's not my blood talking, it's your survival instinct." Sookie goes to Fangtasia to find out why Eric won't be around anymore, and to ask him why she cannot trust Bill. He tells her, "If I meet the true death, without at least kissing you Sookie Stackhouse, that would have been my biggest regret." She replies, "Why does it sound like you're saying goodbye to me?" He finalizes it with, "Because I am." Eric begins to kiss her and she eventually succumbs and embraces him. Later, due to being urged by Pam to use Sookie in any way possible if it meant survival, Eric reluctantly imprisons Sookie in the basement of Fangtasia.
Bill arrives at Fangtasia and is confronted by Pam. Yvetta, a Fangtasia dancer, releases Sookie. Sookie and Bill drive away from the bar, but they are stopped by Russell and Eric who coerce the pair to return to Fangtasia. Once inside, Eric and Bill convince Russell that Sookie is part fairy and that her blood allows vampires to walk in the sun. Both Eric and Russell drink from her, and then Eric goes outside. Watching him on the security cameras, Russell, without realising that the effect is for a short time, sees that Eric is indeed walking in the sun. He goes outside as well, only to be captured by Eric and bound to his wrist.
Bill, again feeds Sookie his blood. When she wakes, she is told by Pam that Eric is outside dying, so she goes to save him. She allows Eric to drink her blood. He then asks Sookie to bring Russell inside. They imprison him with silver until nightfall (because it is daytime they are unable to do anything further). Later on that same night, Sookie learns the real reason for Bill's appearance in her life-That Bill let the Rattray's beat Sookie to within an inch of her life so he could feed her his blood, and that the Vampire Queen of Louisiana sent Bill to procure Sookie for her own use. Sookie banishes Bill from her home and her life. She also reprimands Eric. Feeling heartbroken and betrayed, she cries over her Gran's grave. Claudine and other fairies appear and ask her to come with them to the Fae Realm. Sookie and Claudine clasp increasingly glowing hands, and with a flash, Sookie disappears.
Sookie is transported to the plane of the fairies and encounters Barry the Bellboy from Season 2. Sookie is also reunited with her long-lost grandfather Earl Stackhouse who has been missing for 20 years. Sookie notices the strange adoration other recently arrived faerie hybrids have over Lumieres, or light fruit. As she is catching up with her grandfather, she sees the beautiful landscape around her disintegrate into horror. She mentally urges Earl that they have to leave because this is a trap. Of course, everyone around them has heard this as well, and Sookie is approached by Mab, Queen of the Faeries. Mab insists that the human world was the trap, and that Sookie should really try a Lumiere. Sookie angrily refuses and Mab tells of how they are a dying race who were driven onto this plane by vampires. Mab also mentions how Bill was able to breach their world through Sookie's blood and that they must protect their race and that they "have sown too many seeds with humans and now it is time to harvest". Sookie is horrified with the revelation that the faeries are kidnapping people. Mab forcibly tries to have Sookie eat the light fruit, but Sookie is able to use her fairy light to force Mab back and disintegrate the illusion around them. They end up being in a barren wasteland, and the faeries have turned into monstrous creatures. Sookie and Earl run and as an ensuing battle rages around them, they are helped by some rogue fairies which include Claude, the brother of Claudine. Claude urges Sookie to jump into a gaping chasm which is the portal back to Earth. Mab warns her not to listen to Claude and as she closes the portal, Earl jumps and pulls Sookie down with him. Sookie and Earl manage to come back to the Bon Temps Cemetery. Earl wishes to see the graves of Adele and Sookie's parents one last time and gives Sookie his pocket watch to give to Jason. He then dies, turning into dust as old age catches up with him after being away from Earth (and not aging in the Faerie Realm due to the light fruit) for so long. Sookie sits in front of her Gran's grave, sobbing over the loss of yet another beloved family member.
Sookie discovers shortly after that since time moves differently in the Faerie world, what felt like half an hour for her, was the equivalent of 12 and half months on Earth. Since everyone assumed she had died, Jason sold her house to an unknown buyer, who had the house repaired and modernized, though still much like her Gran kept it. At the end of the first episode Eric suddenly appears in her house and reveals to be her new landlord and that she is now "his". Sookie is extremely upset over this and demands that Eric leave her house. Eric proceeds to tell her that "your blood tastes like freedom...like sunshine in a pretty blonde bottle" and she will need protection from other vampires who are bound to notice her Fae blood, and Eric is willing to provide such protection. Sookie, not convinced says she is willing to take her chances. Eric then tells her he bought the house because he cares for her. Eric assures her that she'll come around eventually, but Sookie painfully reminds him she can never be with Eric. Eric counters this with the fact that he knows her and that there are two Sookie Stackhouses, one that clings to the idea of being only a human, and the other which is coming to grips with her faerie side.
Sookie, unnerved over the fact that Eric has bought her home and can come and go as he pleases, goes to Bill for assistance. Bill was named the new King of Louisiana by the Authority. Sookie is surprised by this revelation, but asks Bill to help her in any way he can.
The next day, Sookie is surprised by Tara, after a quick hallucination of Queen Mab and other faeries coming after her. She tells Tara that Eric has bought her house after finding a new door and microwave in her kitchen along with a note. Sookie also finds an antique armoire in her side room which ends up being a cubby Eric has built under her home. Angry over the fact he would have to gall to build a room for himself in her house, Sookie visits Fangtasia and tries to convince Pam to get her maker to back off and leave Sookie alone. Pams tells Sookie she wouldn't side with Sookie over her maker, and that Sookie should consider his offer because he is handsome, rich, and it would be better to be drained by him than another. Pam also tells Sookie that Eric really does care for her. As Sookie drives back home that night, she finds a disheveled, shirtless Eric walking down the road, a dazed look in his eyes. Sookie calls out to him, but Eric says he doesn't know her and continues to walk before catching her scent and asking why she smells so good. Sookie, irritated by what she feels is a ridiculous question coming from Eric, says he knows perfectly well, why she smells the way she smells. Eric's fangs descend and he attempts to attack her, but she runs away. Eric catches up to her, and Sookie punches him, breaking his nose. He reacts indignantly, but Sookie replies that it'll heal in five minutes because he is a vampire.Eric says he knows what he is, but cannot remember who he is. Sookie is skeptical at first, but becomes sympathetic as it becomes clear that Eric has lost his memory and agrees to help him on the condition that he does not touch her or bite her. After bringing Eric home, Sookie calls Pam for help with Eric. She washes his feet and Eric remarks on how beautiful she is and asks "what are you?" Pam bursts through the door looking panicked and pleads with Sookie to hide and protect Eric from the witches who erased his memory. Sookie, unwilling to become embroiled in supernatural affairs once again, says she'll go to Bill. Pam threatens to rip Sookie to pieces, and an amnesiac Eric shoves Pam across the room and demands that she be nice to Sookie. Pam tells of how she is convinced Bill sent Eric after the Shreveport witch coven, knowing it was trap, so that Bill can have an excuse to have Eric executed. Sookie agrees to hide Eric, but demands payment from Pam for babysitting him. Sookie leads a hesitant Eric into the armoire cubby. Eric once again asks what Sookie is, to which she replies that she is very tired with everyone asking her that question.
Sookie visits Alcide, who has moved to Shreveport, to ask him if he can look after Eric for her. Sookie is shocked to see newly sober Debbie walk in with refreshments and makes a hasty exit. Alcide runs after her after comforting Debbie over the fact that Sookie will forgive and warm up to her eventually. Alcide tells Sookie he was afraid she wouldn't come if he mentioned he was back together with Debbie, but she says that Debbie looks really healthy and that she is happy for Alcide. She comes home that night with Tru Blood for Eric, but finds he has left his cubby and is nowhere to be found. Worried, she stay up waiting for him until she sees a dazzling flash of light outside. It turns out to be Claudine, who has come to take Sookie back to Faery with her. Sookie refuses, but Claudine is insistent that the fae are her true family and she is not safe here. Sookie muses out loud about how she thought the Queen had already closed all the portals. Claudine asks her once again, telling Sookie to come with her and that it is not a request. Eric appears out of nowhere, and drains Claudine, who explodes into a cloud of sparkling lights and ash. Sookie scolds Eric for killing her fairy godmother and Eric sheepishly apologizes.
Sookie, worried that other fairies may appear, urges Eric inside the house, but Eric collapses. Sookie prods him, and he gets up acting lightheaded and intoxicated. He demands more faerie blood and is about to drink from Sookie,but when she is frightened Eric assures her that he would never harm her. Sookie urges him into the house again, but Eric acts strangely playful and pinches her butt before speeding around, challenging her to catch him. Sookie realizes that he is drunk off the faerie blood and attempts to bring him inside before it becomes dawn, but he runs into the forest. Sookie calls Alcide for help in tracking him down in werewolf form the next day, explaining that Eric can daywalk with the faerie blood, but also acts "drunk as a skunk". They find him happily splashing around in a lake, proclaiming he is the sea god Ægir, and Sookie is his sea goddess Rán and that she should join him in swimming in the sunlight. Sookie and Alcide are taken aback and Sookie tries to reason with Eric, saying that there are alligators in the water. Eric proclaims he will kill all the "sea monsters" and Alcide shifts back into his human form, remarking on Eric's strange new behavior. Eric goes from blissful to over-protective, angrily demanding that Alcide stay away from Sookie. The two bicker with each other, and Sookie scolds them both for being such babies. Eric starts to burn and Sookie quickly urges him home after wrapping him in a blanket. Once in the safety of his cubby Sookie says she has human things to take care of and leaves. Alcide confronts her over how crazy it is, keeping Eric Northman in her house, and that she must have a death wish. Sookie accuses him of still being with Debbie, who was a drug addict and attempted murderer. The two realize they have reached an impasse and forgive each other. Alcide assures her that he is always on her side and is simply worried over her safety.
Later in the evening, Sookie goes to Eric's cubby, remarking on how quiet he has been and that it isn't like him. Eric says it is and that he is depressed over the fact that he can never swim in the sunlight again or see the sunlight shining in Sookie's hair.. Sookie tries to comfort him as best she can but he says that he is not a child and that she must find him weak and like the old Eric better. Eric then says that if she kisses him, he promises to be happy. Sookie is amused but hesitant. Right before they get closer to one another, Eric cautions that there is someone at her door. Sookie opens the door to find Bill, who says that her home is the only place Eric owns, that his guards have not searched for the missing sheriff yet. Sookie flatly refuses, and when he tries to forcefully enter, she reminds him that she has never lied to him. Guilty, Bill says that she is right and leaves.
The character Sookie Stackhouse appears in the following novels and short stories (novels are numbered and short stories are bulleted):
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