True Blood: Difference between revisions

 

 

 

True Blood is a [[Supernatural Soap Opera]] produced by HBO and set in an alternative universe where vampires not only exist, but have recently publicized themselves through an event commonly referred to as ''The Great Revelation'', and are now trying to coexist with humans. This has become possible with the invention of a special drink -- the eponymous TruBlood -- developed as a safe means to replace human blood.

* [[All of the Other Reindeer]]: In the first season, most folks are wigged out by Sookie's telepathy and rationalize it that she's crazy or mentally weak. If they won't rationalize it, they use it as a reason to be cruel to her. They are also somewhat wigged out by Bill and vampires in general.

* [[All Men Are Perverts]]: Except Hoyt, Terry and Alcide.

** Tara with {{spoiler|Franklin Mott outside Merlotte's}} after she thought {{spoiler|he was dead.}} Thankfully not alone for too long.

* [[The American Civil War]]: Bill's a veteran!

* [[Badass Crew]]: Bill, Eric, Pam, Jessica {{spoiler|and a flamethrower}}, [[Power Walk|power-walking]]. [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|It is as it sounds]].

* [[Bed Trick]]: When Tommy shifts into Sam, he doesn't seem too concerned about having sex with Luna, the woman Sam's been seeing.

* [[Beethoven Was an Alien Spy]]: Louis Pasteur - Vampire, and the one who led the effort to synthetize the eponymous TruBlood.

* [[Belligerent Sexual Tension]]: Come on, Bill and Eric. Even Sophie-Anne admits to Bill, "You two really should just fuck each other and get it over with. I could watch." Also counts as a [[Crowning Moment of Funny]].

* [[Black Best Friend]]: Tara.

* [[Black Eyes of Evil]]: "That's Maryann's ''energy inside'' of them!"

** Poor Jessica. She soon discovers that her hymen is going to keep regenerating no matter how many times she has sex. So every time will be like her rather painful (but later pleasurable) first time.

** Vampires in general have superhuman abilities, as well as [[Kryptonite Factor|KryptoniteFactors]]. And older, more powerful vampires become increasingly vulnerable to sunlight, a millennia-old vampireburns to ash within seconds of getting hit by sunlight.

** Being a medium can be useful, since you can talk to and listen to spirits. If you aren't able to keep them from possessing your body whenever the mood strikes them, however, it's much more of a curse than a blessing.

* [[Blonde Republican Sex Kitten]]: Sarah Newlin

* [[Body Horror]]: From Lorena's [[Fan Disservice|infamous]] Exorcist-esque sex scene to {{spoiler|the face of a cursed Pam being rotted away, to the point where she peels a lump of flesh off her cheek}}, not even mentioning all the usual creepy stuff happening in a setting filled with supernatural monsters...Safe to say sooner or later, something's bound to either [[Squick]] you out or scare the pants off you.

** In the books, Russell Edgington is described as a "gay Hugh Hefner" and is a rather laid-back vampire, although notably his people {{spoiler|attempted to kill Bubba, as they didn't realize that he really was Elvis.}} On the show? Holy. Shit. {{spoiler|He's a magnificent bastard with designs on taking over the vampire kingdom of Louisiana, with a pack of werewolves strung out on his 2,810-year-old blood as his bruisers.}}

** Calvin Norris in the books was the noble patriarch of a backwoods Southern family and had a normal and successful blue-collar job. On the show he is a violent, white trash meth dealer.

** Sookie indulges in taking matters into her own hands because of her power-related problem.

** When Jason takes the vial of V, he spends hours trying to make his problem go away and ends up having to get the blood drained, he even had a blister on his thumb he had been going so long.

** Eric and Kenya are not too bad, either.

** Talbot was well loved by fans for his snarky comments.

* [[Death By Origin Story]]: Eric's father, mother and little sister were all killed {{spoiler|at Russell's behest}}. Interestingly, subverted with Eric himself.

** The victims of the murders in season one, {{spoiler|except for Adele Stackhouse.}}

** {{spoiler|Talbot}} in Season 3. And killed with {{spoiler|a piece of ancient vampire erotica, no less.}}

* [[Dramatic Wind]]: "Lo, lo, Enorcheeeeeees..."

** Taken [[Up to Eleven]] during Antonia's spell {{spoiler|to force all vampires to Meet the Sun.}}

* [[Drop What You Are Doing]]: In S1 Jason drops a vase on walking in and discovering another of his fuckbuddies is dead.

** Pam in 4x03, upon hearing Sookie tell her that Eric {{spoiler|seems to have amnesia}}, drops the phone and is gone from the room leaving Sookie to call "...Pam?" over the now-abandoned phone.

** and lets not forget the oft mentioned runaway drug addict/long lost Stackhouse cousin Hadley, who eventually appears as a member of Sophie-Anne's court.

* [[Dumbass Has a Point]]: When Jason is being interrogated in connection to the murder of a woman he was videotaped having sex with. The tape shows the woman faking her death, Jason [[My God, What Have I Done?|freaking out]] and running away, and then the woman laughing once he's gone. When the cops suggest that he came back later and killed her for real, using the tape to fake his ''innocence'', his defense, which the cops accepted, was "I'm not that smart!"

* [[Dump Them All]]: {{spoiler|In the finale of True Blood season four, Sookie turns down all three of her love interests. In the case of Bill and Eric, it's a classic "I'm not picking either of you" ending to a Love Triangle. Alcide gets a gentler "sorry, but I don't feel that way about you" rejection. }}

* [[Emergency Transformation]]

* [[Emotion Eater]]: Maryann feeds on the lust, anger and pride generated by those around her.

* [[Fanservice Extra]]: Several, most notably [[Playboy]] Playmate Tiffany Taylor as the spectacularly gorgeous nude woman that Nan Flanagan is cavorting with in the back of a limo in Season 3.

* [[Fang Thpeak]]: Intensity varies by character. Jessica's bad for it.

** [[Fan Yay|Just the ladies?]]

* [[Fantastic Racism]]: Sam doesn't mind the idea that vampires can have rights; he just doesn't want them in his bar. He is actively insulted, though, if you call him {{spoiler|a werewolf}}.

* [[Five-Bad Band]]: Season 3

** [[Big Bad]]: Russell Edgington

*** Albeit the latter in a [[Fake Defector]]-y sort of way.

** [[The Brute]]: Coot, leader of Russell's werewolf [[Mooks]]

* [[Human Sacrifice]]: Well, not ''literally'' human. Attempted by Maryann with Sam Merlotte and by the Fellowship of the Sun with Eric.

* [[I Feel Guilty You Take It]]: Sookie gets a big inheritance—but A)she never liked that relative and B)she feels responsible for his death, {{spoiler|because Bill killed him after she told Bill her uncle hurt her}}. She gives the money to Jason, and [[Hilarity Ensues]].

* [[I Hate You, Vampire Dad]]: [[Played for Laughs]] with Bill and Jessica, who have a father-daughter dynamic.

** And for [[Nightmare Fuel]] with Bill and his creatrix. Season 3, Episode 3 anyone? * shudder*

** Sam towards the latter end of series 3 becomes this, in the shows attempts to give him and [[Darker and Edgier]] backstory

** Tara is loyal to Sookie, but in general she is a very unpleasant person.

* [[Kiss of the Vampire]]: Though by Sookie's reaction, the bite ''hurts'', she says the pain was only temporary.

* [[Klingon Promotion]]: {{spoiler|As of the season four premiere, Bill has killed Sophie Anne and is now king.}}

* [[Manic Pixie Dream Girl]]. From what we hear about Debbie's and Alcide's relationship, she was a pretty dark version of this trope back then. By the time we see them, though, she's dumped him and gone [[Axe Crazy|even crazier.]] Also Amy in season 1, who is introduced as this but turns out to be a {{spoiler|drug-crazed murderer.}}

* [[Manipulative Bitch]]: Maryann and Lorena.

* [[Meaningful Name]]:

** Maryann's surname is Forrester. Maenads live in the woods.

** Crystal. Guess what kind of drugs her pounce is involved with?

* [[Messianic Archetype]]: Godric. {{spoiler|He killed himself for his sins.}}

* [[Mistaken for Gay]]: A shop assistant sees Bill with Eric and comes to the wrong conclusion, somewhere at the start of season 2.

* [[Mistaken for Murderer]]: In season 1, 96% of Bon Temps was convinced that Jason Stackhouse was behind all the recent, mostly-sexual-related killings, including {{spoiler|the death of ''his own grandmother.''}}

** Eric's entire character is like this. Eric is actually an old and powerful vampire but does not have an interest in vampire politics or living extravagantly. This often leads to people making wrong assumptions about him which he is more than happy to subvert in a number of bloody ways. He is also very 'feudal' in his approach to loyalty which some might erronously construe as weakness and subservience.

* [[Morality Pet]]: Godric might be called that in regard to Eric.

** Fittingly, Eric is possibly the only person who makes Pam show a more emotional side.

** Talbot, for Russell.

* [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast]]: Anyone familiar with [[William Shakespeare]] or perhaps ''[[The Dresden Files]]'' should recognize that Sookie's in trouble the moment [[The Fair Folk|Mab]] introduces herself.

* [[Neck Lift]]: Pam does this to Tara in "Cold Grey Light Of Dawn".

** Bill just got in some of the action with voice mimicry and the apparent ability to float.

** And in season 3 we find out that {{spoiler|she's part fairy and her blood is sought after by vampires because drinking it allows them to be safely exposed to daylight}}.

** {{spoiler|The spirit of Marnie}} coming back to possess {{spoiler|Lafayette}}. Lafayette's reaction is priceless.

* [[Ominous Latin Chanting|Ominous Greek Chanting]]:

** All of the Maryann zombies are chanting the various names of Bacchus.

* [[The Omniscient Council of Vagueness]]: The Authority.

* [[Pet the Dog]]: Eric {{spoiler|crying over Godric killing himself}}. He also has some very tender moments with Pam in Season 3.

* [[Please Put Some Clothes On]]: Most of Bon Temps under Maryann's influence.

* [[Plucky Girl]]: Sookie [[Character Development|gradually develops into this]] over the course of the seasons, arguably taking the bravery part of the trope a bit too far.

* [[Police Are Useless]]: The show goes back and forth on this, but mostly the police are just completely outclassed when dealing with supernatural entities, and sometimes seem a bit clueless.

* [[Rape Tropes]]:

** [[Attempted Rape]]: Sookie is almost raped by {{spoiler|Gabe}} before {{spoiler|[[Badass|Godric]]}} intervenes. {{spoiler|By killing him.}} And again, in 3x03. This time she's rescued by Alcide.

*** Franklin and Tara -- in this case, Franklin is insane and has convinced himself completely the sex is consensual when Tara is only not fighting back because he's an insane vampire who can kill her without thinking about it.

*** And in Hotshot with Crystal, Jason, and the other females {{spoiler|wherein one bursts into tears when Jason fights her and tells her to get off him. She cries because it was the first time she'd ever had sex ''she'' enjoyed}}.

*** And in S4E6, in [[Flash Back]], we see Luis raped Antonia during the Inquisition.

{{quote| Tara: [[Crowning Moment of Funny|"Are you telling me you date raped Terry Bellefleur?"]]}}

** Also averted with Crystal and every nubile female in Hotshot, as they {{spoiler|line up for their turn with Jason, who is wounded, feverish, strapped to the bed and under the effects of iagra. He did NOT enjoy it}} and the scene is creepy as all hell.

* [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]]: Antonia wants to kill every single vampire in the world. Even [[Adorkable|amnesiac Eric]].

** Aka, the guy who set everything in motion when he attacked Marnie.

* [[Running Gag]]: Every time Ginger is there, she is guaranteed to scream.

* [[Sassy Black Woman]]: Tara.

* [[Scary Black Man]]: Duprez, one of the Vampire Sheriffs of Louisiana.

* [[Schmuck Bait]]: Lafayette warns Jason that if he's using vampire blood for sexual purposes to have one drop, two at the maximum, or things will get "intense, and ''not in a good way''". Jason, downs an entire ''vial'' and pays the price for it.

** {{spoiler|It takes him just over a year, but he does get out.}}

* [[Sequel Hook]]: Subtly done with Jesus and Holly revealing their magical abilities towards the end of season 3, implying that witches would be a significant factor in season 4.

*** Also, when Jason, while "confronting" a vampire in a training scenario breaks a nearby flagpole in half in order to get a wooden stake, another trainee angrily asks him if he thinks he's "some kinda Muslim Buffy with a dick". Doubles as a [[Crowning Moment of Funny]].

** [[Blade]]

** [[Dorothy Parker]], of all things.

** [[WWE]] a couple of times. When Jason's strength is temporarily enhanced by V, Arlene remarks that she watches ''[[WWE Smackdown|Friday Night SmackDown]]'' with Rene and that nobody on that show, strong as they are, had ever done anything like what Jason just did. In the second season, Hoyt's seen watching ''[[WWE Raw|Monday Night Raw]]''.

** He reappears at the tail end of the season 4 finale. Now he's a {{spoiler|creepy little ''vampire'' weirdo.}}

* [[Slap Slap Kiss]]: Literally. After eating Maryann's souffle, Tara and Eggs begin to physically assault each other before having sex on the living room floor.

* [[Sleazy Politician]]: Lafayette's client is not above doing V and having sex with men, but he opposes gay and vampire rights as a senator. Also Nan Flanagan: she lies when she says she survives solely on TruBlood.

** That and what the public sees is revealed to be totally fake when she questions Eric on behalf of the AVL. Actually, she's a huge ''bitch''.

** When Sam and Daphne describe how shifting feels, you get the feeling they're really just talking about having an orgasm.

* [[Southern Gothic]]

* [[Spirit Advisor]]: In the third season finale, {{spoiler|Godric}} is either that, or {{spoiler|Eric}} [[Hallucinations|hallucinates]] {{spoiler|him}}.

** Franklin is one of the most fully-realized examples of true stalker mentality in media. He's genuinely shocked and hurt that Tara thinks he tied her to a bed for any reason besides her own safety and is utterly convinced that she's in love with him no matter what her demeanor is.

* [[Stealth Insult]]:

* [[Suddenly Sexuality]]: Tara's a lesbian now. What?

** Could be a case of [[Rape and Switch]]

* [[Super Loser]]

* [[Supernatural Elite]]: The vampires operate on a feudal system. A Vampire King/Queen claims a territory and appoints sheriffs to administer it for him/her. Usually the most powerful and/or oldest vampire becomes the monarch, however, the position can be reached if a vampire is politically connected with the Authority who seem to be a governing council above the monarchies.

{{quote| Sookie: "I’m proposing that the two of you be mine."}}

* [[Take That]]: In Season 4, Bill delivers a ''delicious'' one when he discusses how Vampires have infiltrated and controlled powerful institutions throughout history, such as the Catholic Church in the 1600's, and in the modern day, Google and [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|Fox News.]] This moment also counts as a [[Crowning Moment of Funny]].

{{quote| Stephen: [[Take That|What's Twilight?]]}}

** Another ''Twilight'' Take That comes after Hoyt breaks up with Jessica. He throws a copy into a box of her possessions labeled "For you, monster."

* [[Time Skip]]: A small one at the end of the first season, with a couple of months passing between {{spoiler|Rene's death}} and the discovery of {{spoiler|Miss Jeannette's body.}} There's a second one between the end of season three and the start of season four, {{spoiler|with Sookie thinking she's only been in the fairy realm for a few minutes, when it's actually been over a year.}}

* [[Title Drop]]: "Tru Blood" is the blood substitute that vampires drink so they don't have to kill people. Russell Edgington delivers a Title Drop in exactly the opposite spirit (see [["The Reason You Suck" Speech]] above).

* [[Too Dumb to Live]]: Jason Stackhouse. Detective Andy. Tara (as of Season 2 and on).

** Sookie also runs in fourth place to this trope because she constantly runs into danger without a plan, and worse, without a weapon. See Season 3, episode 2 where she runs blindly into the woods to find a {{spoiler|werewolf}} who clearly intends to either kidnap or murder her ''and taunting him while she does so.'' [[Sarcasm Mode|Brilliant, Sookie.]]

* [[Trickster]]: Eric and Maryann.

* [[Trigger]]: Layfayette gets a blatant one after {{spoiler|getting out of the vampires' dungeon}}. Terry, Iraq vet, gets an implied one after finding his wife {{spoiler|covered in blood. Don't worry, she's okay.}}

{{quote| '''Sam:''' "I'm not the killer, I swear. I'm a shapeshifter."}}

* [[Twofer Token Minority]]: Lafayette is gay and black. Eddie is gay and a ''[[Fantastic Racism|vampire]]''. Jesus is a gay, Hispanic, and Wiccan.