The fundamental differences between Bill Compton and Eric Northman:
Eric didn’t allow two psychopathic V-addicts to beat the shit out of Sookie so he could pretend to be a hero and use the situation to drug her with his blood and manipulate her into falling in love with him. Bill did.
Eric didn’t spend 3 seasons gaslighting Sookie into believing that he was a wonderful boyfriend who would protect her. Bill did.
Eric wasn’t the one who consistently kept secrets from Sookie for self-serving reasons and then tried to pretend he was doing it to protect her. Bill did.
Eric wasn’t the one who tried to force himself on Sookie in a graveyard days after he had her beaten to death and put her under the influence of his blood. That was all Bill.
Eric isn’t the one who tried to start a civil war between vampires and humans for extremely selfish reasons. Bill did.
Eric isn’t the one who cared about getting credit for saving the vampires from the concentration camps in season 6. Bill did, and even wrote a book about it because he had to have the limelight on him.
Bill is the one who tried to target Jason (Sookie’s brother) on several different occasions, including bullying Jessica into trying to turn Jason into a vampire without his consent, and later siccing the Authority guards on Jason to kill him. By contrast, Eric helped save Jason’s life on THREE different occasions, and two of those were AFTER Sookie broke up with him.
Bill is the one who has to convince everyone that he’s a wonderful person. Eric doesn’t care how he’s perceived.
Bill always has to find someone or something to blame for how he acts. Eric is able to own up to his behavior without having to justify it.
Bill is the one who left Tara to be raped to death by Franklin at Russell’s mansion despite having an opportunity to save her. Eric is the one who told Nora to treat Tara like she’s family.
Bill is the one who kept murdering people as he climbed the ladder of power. Eric was content with just being sheriff, and looked at the Authority and AVL with contempt.
Eric is the one who actually listened to Sookie and let her make her own decisions. Bill is the one who kept insisting he knew what was best for Sookie, and that attitude did not change by the end of the show.
Eric had integrity. Bill did not.
To conclude, there is a reason Eric is seen as the better man than Bill Compton. There’s also a reason why Bill is hated and has continued to age poorly. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out why.