Richard Alaric Zeeman is a fictional character in the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series of novels by Laurell K. Hamilton.
[1] However, it could be interpreted as a reference to the last letter of the alphabet, Z (with "Zeeman" as "Z-man"), perhaps to highlight that the educated, compassionate, and naive Richard is the "last" person one would expect to be a powerful Ulfric.
His general werewolf abilities include superhuman strength, speed, endurance, healing, agility, and senses (able to smell the emotional state of humans and night vision), but to levels far superior to those of modern werewolves.
He has the power to conceal his nature from Anita, and lifts weights and studies martial arts in an effort to be able to engage in pack fights without using deadly force.
Prior to his first appearance, (Circus of the Damned), Richard Zeeman grew up in a loving family - tall, dark, handsome, and a truly nice person.
A student in preternatural biology, Richard's life changed forever when he became a werewolf as a result of a bad dose of lycanthropy vaccine which, as revealed in Circus of the Damned, he received in college.
Although Richard invited Anita to share in the pack's experience through their triumvirate connection, she refused and fled to Jean-Claude.
Over the next several novels, Richard displayed increasingly erratic behavior, alternately accepting his relationships with Anita and Jean-Claude and chafing against them, attempting to convert his pack into a human style democracy and ruling it by violence and fear, and seeking a long-term romantic relationship with Anita while sleeping with every lycanthrope and human woman that will have him.
In Incubus Dreams, Richard learns that part of the reason for his erratic behavior is that he has been channelling Anita's almost bottomless rage through their spiritual connection.
In Blood Noir Anita is successfully able to take back the rage that belonged to her, but that Richard had inherited through creating the triumvirate.
Circus of the Damned, The Lunatic Cafe, Bloody Bones, The Killing Dance, Burnt Offerings, Blue Moon, Narcissus in Chains, Incubus Dreams, Danse Macabre, The Harlequin, Blood Noir, Bullet, Jason, Slay