Character Name

Also Known As

First Seen in

Character Description

Character Occupation

Character Race

Character Status

Character Associations and Ties

• As a preternatural expert she has a professional association with various law enforcement agencies. She mainly acts as a consultant to the St. Louis police, RPIT. (GP) However she is involved with cases outside of the STPD.
• She is a mentor to Larry Kirkland, a fellow animator and Vampire Executioner. Both of them work at Animators, Inc.(CotD)
• She is a Federal Marshall. (CS)
• Ronnie Sims is/was her best friend. (GP)
• She and Edward are 'soul-mates'. (OB)
• Anita is tied to almost every were group socially through the Coalition. She has direct connections to several of the other bigger groups: Wererats, swanmanes, Werehyenas. (BO, NiC)
• She is, metaphysically, part of two triumvirates (One with Jean-Claude and Richard in which Jean-Claude is the master; the other with Damian and Nathaniel -- she formed this one and is the master; she also has Jason as an animal to call as well as Crispin (white tiger), Domino (black tiger), and Cynric (blue tiger)).(tKD, ID, BN, ST)
• Her 'leopard' has a 'true mate' tie to Micah as Nimir-Ra to Nimir-Raj. She is Queen of the wereleopards. (BM, NiC)
• She has also shared her 'wolf' with Richard, true lupa to Ulfric. She is the protector/lupa of the werewolves, and she is also the Bolverk -- doer of evil deeds -- of the pack.(NiC)

Also seen in

Character Factoids General The books are told in first person perspective from Anita's POV. Anita is of mixed heritage: Her mother was Mexican and her father's family was German. Her name reflects this: Anita for the Latin aspect and Blake for the Caucasian side of her ancestry. Anita's powers of necromancy - an affinity for the dead - manifested during adolescence. Powers Animator - a zombie raiser. She can use an innate ability/power to raise the dead. She later discovers that this control can extend to all the dead. Anita developed the ardeur after Jean-Claude fed his ardeur through her while he was in jail. The ardeur has proven in later books to also manipulate the personalities of Anita and those around her, as well as to be addictive to some characters.

Discovered the ability to call the beasts of were-animals to the surface, forcing them to shift. (NiC) Can share her beast with a were causing them to shift. (ID, DM, BN, ST) Very old vampires can ‘smell’ like their animal to call to Anita. (TH) Harm from a distance—the ability to turn a person's aura against them, usually resulting in cuts in the skin of varying depths. Can 'borrow' powers from master vampires when they are used against her. (OB, ID, ST) Some times this is temporary and other times the power gained is permanent. Anita has copied, apparently permanently, Itzpapalotl's ability to drain the life energy from her victims and, if she chooses, to use that energy to heal another. Power to bind vampire and animal servants to her - though she has never done this deliberately.

Background After graduation, Anita was recruited by Bert Vaughn to join Animators, Inc. as a professional zombie animator. She was also trained by Manny Rodriguez and became a licensed vampire executioner. In FD, we learn that Anita met Edward while hunting a vampire that was killing children. In GP, we learn that the vampire that was responsible for her cross burn/brand on her left arm had killed over 23 people, and that she killed him. In GP, we learn that as a result of Valentine's earlier attack, she had to have extensive physical therapy to retain the full use of her left arm and it will always be just a little weak at the elbow. Anita can act as a focus between two or more animators allowing them to pool/combine their power to raise a zombie that would normally be beyond either individual. Prior to GP, she had only done it with her mentor, Manny Rodriguez. In GP, she combines her talent with Zachary to raise a one hundred plus year old zombie. In BB she and Larry combine to raise the ancient zombies in the disputed graveyard. In GP, she tells us that she has staked most of the vampires that she'd killed to that point. She doesn't throw-up at stakings anymore. And rarely at crime scenes.

• In GP, we are told that she has a stepmother, Judith, and a stepbrother, Josh. (This is a YAABI, as we later learn that Josh is her HALF brother.)
• Her mother died in a car crash when she was eight -- this loss devastated her. (BB)
• Anita's insistence that everyone use a seat belt when in her car is a result of this accident.
• She still remembers the smell of her mothers perfume: Hypnotique. (BB)
• Her father's mother, Grandmother Blake came to stay with them after her mother's death. She was very strict and very religious. Her teachings color many of Anita's beliefs. (?ref?)
• Her middle name is Katerine, taken from her father's favorite aunt.
  
• Her father remarried two years later to Judith, a blue-eyed blond. This felt like a betrayal to Anita and it made her, with her darker coloring, feel even more left out. (OB)
• She clashed with her stepmother, Judith, over her "unladylike" interests, independence, and necromancy. (BN)
  
• She has a stepsister Andria, and a half-brother Josh. (GP, tLuC, BN)
• When she was 13, her dog Jenny died. Anita raised it inadvertently three days later and woke to find the dog curled next to her in bed. (tLaC)
• Her father sent her off to her maternal grandmother, Grandma Flores, to learn to control the 'gift'. She was a vaudun priestess and after teaching Anita how to control her ability, she encouraged Anita to follow Christianity because she was afraid for her soul. (tLaC)
  
• Her family is devout Catholic, and she was raised in this faith. Unfortunately, the Pope excommunicated all animators, thus Anita is now Episcopalian. (GP)
• She was born and raised in a small farming town in Indiana. (BB)
• Her stepmother despairs of her ever getting married. (GP)
• Her stepsister, Andrea/Andria (tLuC, BN) is a lawyer and engaged to a lawyer. (BN)
• 
  

• Although Anita knows how to use several weapons, she is most efficient with guns.
• Anita has two main guns throughout most of the books. The Browning Hi-Power, a 9mm that weighs two pounds when fully loaded (13 rounds) with silver-plated bullets, and the Firestar, a compact 9mm with a 7 shot magazine. She wears the Browning in a shoulder holster and the Firestar in an inner pants holder.
• 
  
• Derringer and mini uzi from Edward in tKD.
  
• sawed off shotgun in GP.
  
• She gets a new gun in TH. It is a Browning BDM.
• She also ends up with a Heckler and Koch's MP5, Phosphorous grenades, Mossberg 590A1 Bantam shotgun with an urban sling, sawed off Ithica 37, and a Smith & Wesson's MP9c. (ST)
• 
  

• She knows how to use a knife and can throw well; she practices regularly.
• Machete (for animating and vamp hunting), 2/4 small knives for her 2 wrist sheaths, medium-sized knife for her hunting vest, and long knife/short sword in a spine sheath. All knives minus the machete have a higher than normal silver content. The machete is a magical item.
• 
  

• In GP, we are told that Anita has a weak/bad knee, and climbing many stairs can be a problem. The knee is mentioned again in CotD when she climbs more stairs behind Stephen.
• Anita's apartment in GP always looked depressingly white and cheerful in morning sunlight. The walls were the same vanilla ice cream white. The carpeting is a nice shade of grey, preferable to that dog poop brown that is more common. It was a roomy one-bedroom. It has a nice view of the park next door. Anita didn't care, Because she works nights, if she had a choice, there would be no windows. She gets by with heavy drapes that turn the brightest day to cool twilight.
  
• Anita receives a few professional journals. They are The Animator and Vampire Quarterly.
• In GP, we learn that Anita weighs 106 pounds (until BO when she gains four more); she has a small waist and is slender with muscular legs that she feels are too short. She can bench press 100 pounds. By ST, she can curl (at least once) 260 pounds.
  
• Anita's car in GP is a Chevy Nova. She still has that in tLaC.Later, she drives a Jeep.
  
• Anita is not a fan of hairy chested men. She much prefers them smooth and defined. (at the Freak Party in GP)
• Anita says grace before eating. (GP)
• She has a Bachelor of Science degree in preternatural Biology, with emphasis on the supernatural and a minor in Creatures of Legend. She attended University of California, Berkeley. (?ref?)
• While in college, her rich fiancee's parents convinced him to break their engagement because Anita's mother was Mexican. Hurt, Anita decided to forego additional sexual experiences until marriage.
  
• She is upset that no one protects the niece and nephew of John Burke at their father's funeral when their mother is hysterical and throws herself on the coffin. (tLaC)
  
• She is trained in judo,and kenpo.
  

• In college, Anita accidentally raised one of the college professors after he committed suicide. She awoke to find him in her room three nights later -- her roommate moved out the next day. (BM)
• Bert Vaughn recruited her directly out of college to be part of his 'animation for hire' business.
• She has specifically stipulated in her will that she is to be cremated so there is no chance of her coming back as a zombie. (multiple references Main one in tLaC)
• She had actually never been shot until The Laughing Corpse, before that she had only been beaten, stabbed, burned and bitten. (TLaC)
• She has numerous scars. The list in BO: On her right arm - two knife cuts, one old and one newer. On her left arm - a bullet wound on the upper arm, a cross shaped burn on the lower arm, slashes on the lower arm from a shapeshifted witch, scar mound at the bend from a vampire attack. On her lower back - Gabriel's claw marks. On her upper back - a stake scar. On her neck/collarbone - a mound of scars from a vampire attack. In NiC, she adds a large scar on her left shoulder and one on her abdomen just under her sternum. In TH she adds deep claw marks on her (right?) side from a weretiger attack. In BN, she received claw marks on her stomach from the inside out (courteous of Mommy Dark).
• Is known for loving her penguins (particularly Sigmund) and is teased for it by Zerbrowski.

• After a plane she was on hit an air-pocket and suddenly dropped a few thousand feet she became afraid of flying (BB).
• A diving accident is partly to blame for her claustrophobia, that and in BB she was locked in a coffin with a dead vampire. (BO)
• She is also afraid of sharp, pointy metal objects (i.e. syringe needles) (GP)
• We are told that she is 24 years old at the start of Guilty Pleasures. Her birthday is in April. This age is confirmed again in tLaC.
• Anita loves her coffee. She buys it at V.J.'s Tea&Spice shop on Ballas. (BO)
• On any bad day, Anita always has a cup of coffee with her. Anita also has an extensive collection of mugs. Many purchased with the specific intent to bug her boss Bert. (mentioned throughout)

• She doesn't drink alcohol, nor does she really approve of it. (GP)
• She started wearing a lot of black in her teenage years to piss off her stepmother and it just stuck with her through most of her life. (BN)
• Prior to becoming a Federal Marshal in CS, she was a licensed Vampire Executioner in the 'tri-state' area around St. Louis. This allowed her to follow a vampire across local state lines to execute a writ of execution. If the vamp went beyond this, a new execution order had to be granted.
• Federal Marshal status allows her to now enter any preternatural crime scene she so desires, or to follow a vampire or other non-human crime suspect across any state lines.
• 
  

• In college she fell in love and was engaged, but he broke the relationship off when his mother felt that she was too "Mexican" for his family. This betrayal is one of the reasons why she is so skittish about her relationships. (?ref?)
• In GP, she found Phillip very appealing.
  
• Briefly engaged to Richard Zeeman (he proposed in tLuC)
• Last count in DM there were 6 men she was 'dating': Jean-Claude, Richard, Micah, Asher, Nathaniel, and Damian. This does not include ardeur snacks: Jason (CS, DM, BN), Byron (ID), Requiem (ID & DM), London (DM), Auggie (DM), Rafael (TH), Donovan Reece (TH), Crispin (BN), Alex (BN), Domino (ST), Victor (ST), Hunter (ST), Cynric (ST).
• After TH she may or may not be dating Richard; he believes that she and her lovers are evil and refused to help her and Jean-Claude protect the others against the Harlequin.
• In TH she says that she has known Edward for seven years.
•