True Blood Season 3: Who Is Alcide Herveaux?

Welcome to the first in a series of features about the new characters coming to True Blood in season 3. We’ll be taking a look at these new characters using both information from casting calls and from the novels on which the show is based. Beware, spoilers ahead!

Who is Alcide Herveaux?

Fans of the Southern Vampire Mysteries, the novels on which True Blood is based, have been hotly anticipating the appearance of Alcide Herveaux almost from the beginning. The emails began in earnest shortly after season 2’s finale: “Who will play Alcide?” We now know that Joe Manganiello landed the role, but what do we know about the character himself?

We first meet Alcide in Club Dead, the third novel in the Southern Vampire Mysteries. Eric sends him to help Sookie, who is searching for Bill after he’s been kidnapped. Described as tall with thick, curly, black hair and green eyes, Alcide catches Sookie’s attention immediately. He’s a sturdy man, big as a boulder with biceps Sookie reckons she could do pull-ups on. She also notices that his mind is buzzing and “red”, cluing her in that Alcide is a full-blooded werewolf. He’s a member of the Long Tooth pack in Shreveport, along with his father. His sister, Janice,  is not a were in the books but her status on the show is as yet unknown. Alcide and his father, Jackson, own a surveying business in Shreveport called Herveaux and Son.

Although he and Sookie have instant chemistry, in the books, at least, the timing is never right for them to pursue a relationship. Sookie is searching for the kidnapped Bill, and Alcide has his own romantic troubles in the form of his on-again, off-again girlfriend, Debbie Pelt. (She’ll get her own post soon.) As Sookie is drawn further into the were world, Alcide serves as both a guide and a protector.

Alcide Herveaux in Brief

Sex: Male
Species: Werewolf
Age: Not stated but assumed to be late 20s/early 30s
Status: Single
Relatives: Father, Jackson and sister, Janice
Occupation: Co-owner of Herveaux and Son, a surveying company
Location: Shreveport, LA