Gretchen was made a vampire by Jean-Claude almost 200 years ago. Pale, with wavy blond hair falling near to her waist, Gretchen is hopelessly in love with Jean-Claude in every sense of the word, and erroneously sees Anita as the primary obstacle to his love. Although she "has not used that name in 100 years", Gretchen was originally named Gretel, and Jean-Claude still at times calls her by that name. A master vampire, she has strong mental powers, a resistance to silver, and the power of flight.
In The Lunatic Cafe, Gretchen attacks Anita, and as punishment, Jean-Claude reduces her to a skeletal state (withdrawing her animating force, as her creator) and confines her to her coffin for almost three years. In Narcissus In Chains, Anita learns that Gretchen is still confined and forces Jean-Claude to free her. However, Gretchen still hates Anita for coming between her and Jean-Claude, and in Cerulean Sins, Anita states that Gretchen's confinement has driven her "even crazier" than she was before.