Asher (Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter)

Asher is a fictional character in Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series of novels. Asher is a Master Vampire, and the lover of Jean-Claude and Anita Blake.

Like Jean-Claude, Asher is fantastically handsome, having been selected for his beauty by Belle Morte, the vampire that made him. Anita describes his hair as the color of metallic gold and his eyes as the pale blue of a Siberian Husky. Although the left side of his face and body is angelically beautiful, his right side is hideously scarred; Asher has become an expert at using his hair, posture, and shadow to present only his left side to viewers until an opportune moment arises to reveal his scars, if desired.

In the epilogue to Burnt Offerings, Anita states that Asher intended to explore whether modern cosmetic surgery could help his scars. However, when this issue is mentioned in Cerulean Sins it only refers to Asher's ability in bed, which had been limited until a surgeon had removed the restricting scarred foreskin. No other cosmetic surgery or options is talked about and Anita says that touching the scars is like touching any other part of Asher. During a few different intimate times, she's made a point to kiss or caress the scarred side first, then the non-touched side.

Like many of the master vampires of Belle Morte's line, Asher's powers revolve around seduction. His powers are more intimate than those of Belle Morte and Jean-Claude, and seem to center around personal seduction.

Although Asher is Jean-Claude's second in command, his lack of offensive powers caused most vampires to classify him as less powerful than Jean-Claude's other master-level retainers, at least prior to the development of his newest powers.

As Asher explains in Danse Macabre, he is bisexual and deeply in love with Jean-Claude. Realizing that Jean-Claude, although bisexual, prefers women, Asher was able to form a stable relationship only with their mutual lover, Julianna. After arriving in St. Louis, Asher fell in love with both Jean-Claude and Anita, but feared that they could not love him fully, either because of his scars or because of their feelings for each other. Recently, he has accepted that both Jean-Claude and Anita love him for himself, although he is unwilling to be restricted to one-way monogamy with Anita, resulting in a longtime dalliance with Narcissus. (Many of Jean-Claude's vampires, and even Anita herself, assume that they have an affair but this relationship is denied by both of them. "The Harlequin" confirms that they are having sex, but "Blood Noir" rectifies this by stating that they are not sexually involved, Anita thinking that maybe she should let them be lovers if it doesn't freak her out too much)

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