| Bill Compton | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Bill Compton | |
| Aliases: | Vampire Bill [1] Billith [2] William Thomas Compton |
| Continuity: | True Blood |
| Notability: | Main character |
| Gender: | Male |
| Location: | Compton residence, Bon Temps, Louisiana |
| Known relatives: | Compton family |
| Status: | Deceased |
| Born: | April 9th, 1835 |
| Died: | 1865 [3] 2010 [4] |
| Introduction: | "Dead Until Dark" "Strange Love" |
| Final: | "Thank You" |
| Actor: | Stephen Moyer |
Bill Compton is a fictional vampire from "The Southern Vampire Mysteries" series of novels written by Charlaine Harris. The novels have been adapted into the popular HBO television series, True Blood, where the role of Bill Compton was played by actor Stephen Moyer.
Biography[]
Before the Bite[]
Bill Compton was born in the year 1835 in a small "hole in the road" town known as Bon Temps, Louisiana. His family lived in a large plantation house and his father owned two slaves; a house slave and a yard slave named Minas. When he was sixteen-years-old, he met Jonas Stackhouse, a family man who established a farmhouse across the fields from the Compton estate. [5]
As a young man, Bill married a woman named Sarah and had five children. At the age of thirty, he was enlisted in the United States army and served during the American Civil War. Following a battle, Bill was separated from his unit and found shelter with a woman named Lorena; a woman who professed to be a widow who occasionally helped out officers in time of need. After enjoying Lorena's hospitality, Bill learned that she was actually a vampire. Lorena attacked Bill and drank his blood to the point of death, at which point, he was reborn a vampire himself. Lorena was a cruel maker and brought Bill back to his home so he could have one last look at his family. [6]
Under the control of his maker, Bill spent the next several decades traveling the country with Lorena.
Mainstreaming[]
In the year 2006, a Japanese firm developed a synthetic blood substitute called Tru Blood. It provided vampires with all of the nourishment of human blood, enabling them the ability to sustain themselves without feeding from unwilling humans. This led to an event known as the Great Revelation, in which vampires across the globe "came out of the coffin" and revealed their existence to the modern world. Though many preferred the old methods, many other vampires welcomed the chance to live out in the open without fear of reprisal. This practice became known as "mainstreaming".
Bill began drinking Tru Blood, though he was sometimes forced to resort to his old feeding practices, preferring to feed off those he deemed evil. Sometimes he would travel into the town of Monroe and "glamor" a prostitute into letting him feed off of her.
Return to Bon Temps[]
In 2008, Bill learned that his last surviving descendant, Jesse Compton, had passed away, leaving behind the old family plantation house. It was Bill's hope that the pending Vampire Rights Amendment would pass, granting him property rights, but even though the estate had not legally reverted ownership back to him, he moved into the house anyway.
In the Spring of that year, he entered a local establishment called Merlotte's Bar and Grill. There he met a friendly waitress named Sookie Stackhouse. Unfortunately, he also met two disreputable patrons named Mack and Denise Rattray. The Rattrays were drug dealers who plied their trade by ambushing unsuspecting vampires and draining their blood for sale on the black market. Mack and Denise lured Bill outside where they were able to subdue him with a chain made of silver. They managed to acquire two vials of blood from his body and would have drained him dry had not Sookie come to his rescue. Sookie drove the Rattrays off and removed the silver chain from Bill's arms and legs. Although his old Southern pride disliked the idea of being saved by a woman, Bill was nonetheless grateful. It was then that he learned that his rescuer was a telepath - one who could read the minds of others. As it was however, her power did not appear to work on vampires. Bill and Sookie found themselves instantly attracted to one another.
Sookie returned home and told her grandmother, Adele Stackhouse, about meeting the vampire, but neglected to mention the unsavory business with the Rattrays. A progressive thinker, Adele was completely fascinated with the idea of vampires and wondered if he had lived during the Civil War. She asked Sookie to invite him over to the house so she could meet him. [7]
It was only a few nights later that Bill was able to repay his debt to Sookie for saving his life. The Rattrays had returned to Merlotte's to get revenge on Sookie and they ambushed her in the parking lot after she had gotten off from work. They likely would have killed her had Bill not arrived in time. He grabbed Mack and snapped his neck, then hurled Denise several yards through the air where she crashed to ground, dead. Sookie was in bad shape and Bill was forced to tear open his own wrist and feed her some of his blood. Sookie was reluctant at first, but the healing properties of vampire blood ultimately saved her life. When Bill introduced himself as "Bill the vampire", Sookie laughed at him, assuming that he would have a more vampiric name like Basil or Antoine. This was one of the few occasions when Bill actually felt embarrassed around a young woman.
Notes & Trivia[]
- In the novel Dead Until Dark, Bill was born in 1840 and was made a vampire in 1870.
- First vampire ever served at Merlotte's.
- Bill's favorite Tru Blood flavor is O-negative.
See also[]
External Links[]
References[]
- ↑ For some reason, many residents of Bon Temps referred to him as Vampire Bill, including Andy Bellefleur and Jason Stackhouse. It is interesting to note that no other vampire is ever identified in a similar manner.
- ↑ This was the nickname that Pam De Beaufort gave him after he was reborn with the power of Lilith.
- ↑ Human death. This was the year that Lorena Krasiki turned Bill into a vampire.
- ↑ Willingly suffers the True Death with the help of Sookie Stackhouse.
- ↑ "The First Taste"
- ↑ "Sparks Fly Out"
- ↑ "Strange Love"
