Quinn, John (tiger): Widely recognized and respected in the supernatural world, weretiger Quinn is known not only for being a partner in Special Events, the supernatural offshoot of a national event-planning company, but also for his past. After attacking the humans that captured his mother in tiger form and raped her after she shifted back to human, a teenage Quinn was forced to ask the local vampire nest for help cleaning up the scene and so became indebted to them. He worked off his debt by fighting in the pits for three years. The fact that he is one of the few to survive this brutal sport makes him something of a star among the supes.

Quinn attends Colonel Flood’s funeral in preparation for his upcoming job refereeing the Long Tooth packmaster contest between Jackson Herveaux and Patrick Furnan. He notices Sookie, first with Alcide at the funeral and then with Claudine and Claude at the contest. When she steps forward to accuse Furnan of cheating, Quinn listens to her claims and concurs, sending the pack into a vote on whether to disqualify Furnan. He asks Sookie to try to read the two Weres again just before the final test, and when she is scratched by an apparatus, he licks the blood from her leg and promises that she will see him again. Indeed, he walks into Merlotte’s one night and asks Sookie for a private conversation about both business and pleasure. She agrees, and he follows her to her house, where he first asks her out and then informs her that Queen Sophie-Anne Leclerq is requesting her services at the vampire summit, trumping Eric’s prior request.

Quinn takes Sookie to the Strand Theatre to see The Producers, and they are attacked by bitten Weres in the parking lot after the show. After filing police reports, he takes Sookie to Hair of the Dog, a shifter bar in the area, where he informs Alcide Herveaux and owner Amanda Whatley that they were attacked and that he expects the local pack to investigate. He next sees Sookie in New Orleans after she has to break their second date to accompany Mr. Cataliades to settle Hadley’s estate. While Quinn is helping her pack up Hadley’s apartment, they are kidnapped by Weres hired by the Pelts, who are convinced that Sookie knows what happened to Debbie. They escape their captors and turn the tables on the Pelts with the help of Eric and Rasul.