William Erasmus "Bill" Compton is a fictional character from The Southern Vampire Mysteries/Sookie Stackhouse series by author Charlaine Harris. He is a vampire and is introduced in the first novel in the series, Dead Until Dark, and has appeared in all of the novels since. In the fifth season of the television adaption, Bill plays the role of the main antagonist.
Human life
In the book series, Bill was born on April 9, 1840. He lived in Bon Temps, Louisiana, and fought for the South during the Civil War. He was a married farmer with three children. In 1865, he was made a vampire by Lorena, with whom he had a long and stormy relationship. Later in the book series, Bill discovers that he is related to the Bellefleur family in Bon Temps and secretly provides them with funds to aid in the repair of their ancestral home. The Bellefleurs - who do not know he is the source of the income - initially warm to him before coming to dislike him, but he is still able to assist Portia Bellefleur during her murder investigation in Living Dead in Dallas. In Living Dead in Dallas Bill's middle name is given as Thomas, rather than Erasmus.
Work and position within vampire hierarchy
At the end of the first novel, Dead Until Dark, Bill is concerned about the power of Area Five sheriff Eric over him and Sookie. He decides to apply for that area's investigator position and he gets it. It was revealed that Bill works for Queen Sophie-Anne and she has sent him to Bon Temps to investigate Sookie Stackhouse's telepathic abilities. Bill is also the creator of a valuable database in which all the vampires in North America are listed along with their significant information. Vampires from other areas of the world, such as Peru, have also provided information for this database. The database itself has been controversial because of potential security issues and is only available for purchase to other vampires. While most older vampires have good memories, Bill's ability to recall precise details, faces and conversations is reputed to be exceptional, even among other long-lived supernaturals.
In True Blood, an HBO series based on the books, this character is played by Stephen Moyer, and first appeared in the BloodCopy.com video “Bon Temps Vampire speaks”, The storyline of Bill differs significantly from that in the novels. In season one, as a punishment for staking a vampire, Bill is forced to turn a teenage girl named Jessica Hamby into a vampire, thus creating his first and only progeny in the series. In season 3, Bill has his maker, Lorena, staked by Sookie. In desperate need of blood, Sookie slits her arm to feed him. However, he quickly overpowers her and nearly drains her to death before realizing his actions. After being kicked out into the sunlight by an enraged Tara, he learns that faerie blood temporarily makes vampires immune to the sun. In season 4, Bill is named the vampire king of Louisiana after staging a coup d'état against Queen Sophie Anne with the help of the Authority. In season 5, he and Eric Northman are arrested for the murder of Nan Flanigan. The two are brought to the Authority's underground base, where he eventually accepts the Book of Lilith. Bill is left competing with Salome for the vial of Lilith's blood, which he eventually wins by killing her. After drinking Lilith's blood, despite Eric and Sookie trying to convince him not to, Bill begins to bleed out and dies. Moments later, however, he is resurrected as a more powerful vampire, now having the strength of Lilith as well. While the extent of his new powers are not fully understood, it has been revealed in season 6 that he is impervious to staking, he no longer needs an invitation to enter a human home, and that he involuntarily has visions of the future. He is also able to command Warlow, Lilith's only known progeny and Sookie's love interest. After drinking Warlow's blood, Bill is able to walk in the sun. Using this power, he is able to kill Governor Truman Burrell and his guards in an effort to save Jessica. By the end of the series in Season 7, Bill has been infected with the Hep V virus. Instead of taking a cure, he is resigned to die, and eventually convinces Sookie to stake him as he lies in his Civil War grave, giving him the "true death".
