Anita Blake by. Brett Booth Courtesy of Marvel Comics
Before Buffy the Vampire Slayer was created, there was Anita Blake. The Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series by Laurell K. Hamilton focuses on a fierce heroine that provides an excellent example of a modern day, action-oriented Female Hero. She is also considered as Monster-Fighter, and, throughout the twenty-three books of the series, Anita’s character grows to encompass more paradigms, such as Righteous Avenger and Antihero.
In an alternate world, Anita Blake exists in a reality where nightmares and supernatural creatures are real and powerful. Anita is called an animator, which means she has the talent to raise the dead, and she does this as a job for Animators Inc; however, she is also a vampire executioner in a time when vampires have been legalized as U.S. citizens. Whenever a vampire (or other preternatural entity) breaks the law or murders humans, she steps in to deal with them in a way that usually involves her skill with knives, guns, or martial arts.
Anita typifies the modern independent, action-oriented Female Hero because she often is involved in situations where she must fight not only vampires, but also werewolves, wereleopards, zombies, voodoo priestesses, witches, demons, lamias, and even other humans. Much like Buffy, she fights a variety of monsters and beats them consistently, which easily classifies her as a Monster-Fighter.
Anita is a dynamic character that grows and changes as the series progresses. Her dark and often dangerous line of work affects that change and contributes to her status as an Antihero. She often has to break rules in order to save others, and she also has to compromise her morals (more than once) to rescue individuals she cares for. For example, in book number eight, titled Blue Moon[1] by Laurell K. Hamilton, Anita’s personal strength is tested when she is confronted by a man who informs her that her boyfriend’s mother and brother have been kidnapped and tortured. The man even happily admits to have taken part in the torture. To find out their location and to extract revenge, Anita breaks her moral code and tortures the man until he reveals their location. Ultimately, she saves the day, but not without experiencing some doubt and concern after reflecting on the price of saving them. However, her willingness to avenge her boyfriend’s mother and brother is not uncommon for Anita, which classifies her as a Righteous Avenger.
[1]Hamilton, Laurell K.. Blue Moon. New York City: Jove, 2002. Print.
Epic Heroism for the 21st Century: a Multimedia Web Resource 