The new season of True Blood, premiering Sunday, June 26 at 9pm on HBO, gives the series a fresh start with witches as the new primary villain. We've already had vampires, werewolves and a maenad, but now the witches rule. And more importantly, the women get a chance to shine.

Season 3 of True Blood was all about the guys. The show added King Russell Edgington and his lover Talbot, hunky werewolf Alcide, Sam's brother Tommy, Lafayette's boyfriend Jesus and the sadistic vampire Franklin Mott to its cast. That's a lot of testosterone, but this year, it's completely different.

True Blood season 4 adds a number of new strong women to the show. In addition, Jessica Tuck (vampire rights advocate Nan Flanagan) and Lauren Bowles (witchy Merlotte's waitress Holly) have been promoted to series regulars, joining Anna Paquin (Sookie), Rutina Wesley (Tara), Deborah Ann Woll (Jessica), Carrie Preston (Arlene) and Kristin Bauer van Straten (Pam). Along with two new female series regulars, it helps to balance out the opening credits which now feature nine women and 10 men (yes, there are 19 main cast members).

Here's a helpful guide for five of the new female characters you'll meet in True Blood season 4.

Marnie (Fiona Shaw): A powerful witch, Marnie quickly establishes herself as the new big bad in Bon Temps.

Luna (Janina Gavankar): A shapeshifter who befriends Sam, there's more to her story and she has a very big secret that provides some game-changing information about the shifter world.

Portia (Courtney Ford): A lawyer and the head of the Bon Temps Chamber of Commerce, Portia (who is also Andy and Terry Belefleur's cousin) plays a big role in trying to bridge vampire-human relations following the fallout of Russell Edginton's media mishap of killing a reporter on live TV.

Katerina (Alexandra Breckinridge): A member of Marnie's Wiccan group, Katrina has some secrets of her own and becomes a key figure in the war between witches and vampires.

Naomi (Vedette Lim): A sexy cage fighter, Naomi has an unlikely connection to one of the resident's of Bon Temps.


Catch all of the new characters and more on the fourth season of True Blood starting Sunday, June 26 at 9pm on HBO.


(Image courtesy of HBO)