At sixteen he married Aude, his brother's widow, the couple had six children, but only three were living at the time of his turning, two boys and a girl.

It is revealed in the television series that the Vampire King of Mississippi murdered his entire family before stealing his father's Viking crown.

In the books, he was ambushed one night by a Roman vampire named Appius Livius Ocella and subsequently turned.

When Sookie sees him naked for the first time in Dead to the World, she thinks, “if there were an international butt competition, Eric would win, hands down – or cheeks up.”[3] In the TV series 'True Blood' he is tall with long blonde hair.

By the end of the first season, and a little bit into the second, Pam (his progeny) cuts his hair shorter than expected because he gets blood in it.

Sookie believes that, although Eric has created a modest, but thriving business empire and carved out a position of authority in the delicate vampire hierarchy, at heart he remains a born-Viking warrior, ready to leap into battle at any instant.

Eric is the most powerful vampire in Area Five of northern Louisiana: a territory that includes the small town of Bon Temps.

In the sixth novel, Definitely Dead, Eric mentions that he has paid a significant fine to the arbitrator for killing a former Fangtasia bartender, Long Shadow.

Sookie makes a conscious effort not to pry too hard into vampire affairs and Eric does nothing to encourage her learning much more than she already knows.

Eric was spared since he was the most practical of the Sheriffs and had one of the largest money makers, Bill Compton, living in his area and owing fealty to him.

As the last surviving sheriff of Louisiana, Eric pledges his allegiance to the new regime in order to protect those under him, a tactical move that highlights his capabilities both as a leader and a political survivor.

After accepting the new King, Felipe de Castro, he is then allowed to maintain control of his area and his followers when the other sheriffs of Louisiana and a number of their minions were all killed.

Despite his oath, however, Eric remains ever vigilant for opportunities to either further secure his position or free himself entirely from scrutiny of Felipe's Louisiana representative, Victor.

In the second book, there are several intimate moments: when he asks her to suck out a bullet in his chest that he took for her, and when Sookie invites him to an orgy they have to play the part.

In Dead and Gone, Eric sends Sookie a velvet parcel that he instructs her to give to him in front of King Felipe de Castro's representative, Victor Madden.

The king's representative reveals that the act of giving and receiving the knife means that Eric and Sookie are pledged to one another.

In Season 2 Godric commits suicide by exposing himself to sunlight, causing Eric to shed bloody vampire tears, however, in the novels he cries for the first time in book 9.

Eric's back story is more deeply explored in Season 3, as his youth and human life as a Viking prince was shown; his family was slaughtered in their castle by a pack of werewolves, under the command of the ancient vampire Russell Edgington.

Eric only spared Russell because he thought death would be too merciful for him; after knocking out one of his fangs, he buried the crippled vampire in silver chains and wet concrete, intending to let him starve in agony for 100 years but never die.

While Eric steers clear of the Sanguinista movement stirring in the authority and attempts to escape, Bill accepts the Book of Lilith and betrays him.

In Season 6, Eric finds his latest threat to be the humans, especially Governor Truman Burrell, who declares war on vampires.

In an effort to challenge the Governor's stance on vampires, Eric turns Willa Burrell, Truman's more open-minded daughter after noticing her selflessness of willingly dying for a cause similar to Nora.

Regardless, the Governor has them both placed in "Vamp Camp", where Eric is later forced to helplessly watch his sister, Nora, receive a lethal injection of "Hep V".

Eric uses Willa to escape the camp (promising to get her and Pam out), but she also demands he frees Jessica & Tara as well and takes Nora to the Lilith-enhanced Bill, but they are unable to save her.

Devastated by her death, Eric violently slaughters the humans running the concentration camp to seek revenge and free both his progenies, among others.

Notably, Eric spares Jason Stackhouse, though he kills the vampire Steve Newlin, stating "Every time I lost someone I loved, you were there."

In the finale, Warlow, the fairy-vampire hybrid whose blood made it possible for Eric and the other vampires to walk in the sun, is killed by Jason to save Sookie.

Eric and Pam soon learn that Newlin drank the antidote and it permeated her body, making Sarah a living antidote for Hep V. They are forced to work with Yakuza ninjas from the Yakanomo Corporation (the company which originally made True Blood) in order to find her, but neither party trusts the other.

In actuality, they are keeping Sarah chained in the basement at Fangtasia, and charging vampires small fortunes to feed on her, as she slowly goes insane.

In the television series, Pam slits her own wrists after Eric denies her request to be turned, forcing him to do it to save her life.