Bill Compton of HBO's "True Blood" won't bite just anyone. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Unlike those of Angel and Edward Cullen, the whining, self-loathing days of Bill Compton are mercifully behind him. While the “True Blood” vamp certainly — spoiler spoiler spoiler — wallowed in guilt over being a monster, even to the point of threatening to stake himself, he got over it. His era of brooding martyrdom ended well before the synthetic vampire food known as Tru Blood hit the market. Since the series’ vampires can’t drink non-human blood, Bill didn’t have the option of living off of live animals or the byproducts of slaughter. His choices were to drink blood or to starve.

Now (at least according to the HBO series “True Blood,” since I haven’t read Charlaine Harris’ novels) Bill is a gentleman vampire with slightly archaic manners. He’s in love with Sookie Stackhouse, and their relationship, for the most part, takes on stereotypical gender roles. But it took two entire seasons of the show before anybody proposed to Sookie that she abandon her humanity to be with him forever. After “Twilight,” that’s a refreshing eternity.

The show’s premise seems to be that lots of vampires are, like Bill, coming out of the casket to join the mainstream. But with the exception of Bill’s 18-year-old vampire ward, most of the vampires we see are anything but mainstream. Most of them live on a spectrum that runs from seedy to monstrous, and they’re surviving off of blood taken, either willingly or unwillingly, from humans.  By comparison, Bill is intelligent, polite and refined.

So why isn’t he higher up on the list? It’s because he’s only mostly abstinent. Although he lives primarily off Tru Blood, he won’t hesitate to feed off people who threaten, molest or injure Sookie Stackhouse. Or prevent him from getting back to Sookie. Or are pawns of people preventing him from getting back to Sookie. Or are Sookie herself.

NEXT: No. 3 — Mainstreaming vampires, party of more than one.

Previously:
No. 5 — Angel and Edward Cullen (Tie)

Tru and not-so-tru blood at HowStuffWorks.com:
How Artificial Blood Works
How Blood Works
How to Remove Blood Stains