- "Dolph had pissed somebody off, or he wouldn't have been here. But Dolph, being Dolph, was determined to do the best job he could. He was like a force of nature. He didn't yell, he was just there, and things got done because of it."
- —Anita Blake[src]
Rudolph Storr, known as Dolph, is a career police officer who was assigned to lead St. Louis' Regional Preternatural Investigation Team (RPIT) after the passing of Addison v. Clark, investigating supernatural-related crimes. We meet him for the first time in the very first novel.
Description[]
Dolph is 6' 8" and is built like a wrestler, with close cropped black hair leaving his ears bare. He has a brisk striding walk. He doesn't yell, nor does he say good-bye on the phone.
He is taciturn and businesslike, dedicated to doing his job, whatever it is and however unplesant, to the best of his ability. He is loyal to his friends, and has a teasing sense of humor, at least with those he likes.[1]
Trivia[]
- doesn't smoke (Burnt Offerings)
History[]
Since his assignment to RPIT was hardly considered a prestigious one, it seems likely that Dolph irritated some of his superiors, but he does not show any resentment towards his current position, determined to do the job to the best of his abilities. Early in Dolph's command, RPIT added Anita as a supernatural consultant; Dolph recognized his own knowledge gaps in regards to vampires and other monsters, and, as diligent in learning as he is in teaching, at each case, Dolph ever-present notebook at the ready, questions Anita thoroughly on the supernatural clues she uncovers.[1]
Doplh has a wife named Lucille and two sons: Paul (younger), who is an engineer and married but can't have children, and Darrin (older), a lawyer who is in love with a vampire and wants to marry her. Because of this Dolph and his wife are grieving over the prospect that they will never have grandchildren.
Prior to the series and throughout the earlier books, Dolph was a friend and mentor to Anita. Later, Dolph and Anita's relationship has become strained, in part because Anita no longer believes that all vampires and shapeshifters are monsters, but Dolph still does, leading to his distrust over Anita's increasingly close relationships with the various vampire and lycanthrope communities in St. Louis.
In the later books of the series, Dolph's personal problems and conflict with Anita appear to come to a head. This occurs because Dolph is afraid that his son will decide to join the Church of Eternal Life to stay with his vampire girlfriend. Dolph manhandles Anita at a crime scene, attempts to have Jason Schuyler locked up in a secured facility simply for being a werewolf, and is temporarily relieved of duty. Although Dolph is now back on duty, he and Anita are approaching their relationship carefully. He lets Zerbrowski to handle the majority of Anita's interactions with R.P.I.T. business.