List of ''The Vampire Diaries'' characters

Elena Gilbert

• Played by Nina Dobrev
• Starring seasons: 1–6
• Guest starring season: 8

Nina Dobrev

Elena Gilbert (based on Elena Gilbert from the novels) is the central character and the female lead of the series for the first six seasons. She is the biological daughter of John Gilbert and Isobel Flemming, and adopted daughter of Grayson and Miranda Gilbert. She has a younger adoptive brother named Jeremy Gilbert, who is later revealed to be her biological cousin. She has an adoptive aunt named Jenna Sommers who serves as her and Jeremy's legal guardian in the first two seasons of the series. She is the descendant and doppelgänger of Katherine Pierce.

In season one, surviving a car accident which killed her parents, Elena reluctantly returns to school for her junior year and begins dating a mysterious new student named Stefan Salvatore. It is later revealed that he is a 162-year-old vampire. Stefan's brother, Damon, also begins falling for Elena. After Stefan and Elena sleep together, she finds a picture of a woman named Katherine Pierce who looks exactly like her. Stefan reveals that this woman caused the brothers to feud 145 years ago, and turned them into vampires. He says that she was adopted and is actually a descendant of Katherine, and that he saved her the night of her parents' deaths. At the end of season one, Elena meets her birth mother, Isobel, who is now a vampire, and discovers that her uncle John, who she grew up hating, is her natural father.

In season two, she learns that she is a Petrova doppelgänger, exactly resembling Katherine Pierce, which means that she can be sacrificed to release Klaus' werewolf side. The sacrifice later takes place, but Elena is saved because John sacrificed himself for her after Bonnie magically enchants him. However, her Aunt Jenna is turned into a vampire and, as part of the sacrifice, is killed by Klaus, leaving Elena without a guardian. In the season two finale, while Damon is dying from a werewolf bite, she forgives him for forcing her to drink his blood and kisses him. Damon is cured by drinking Klaus' blood. However, in order to convince Klaus to give his blood to Damon, Stefan had to turn into his "Ripper" self and accompany Klaus.

In season three, Elena does everything in her power to make Stefan regain his humanity, which he switched off to satisfy, and tolerate, Klaus. She grows closer to Damon while working together to save Stefan and try to defeat Klaus, eventually sharing a kiss. She later admits to Stefan that she has feelings for Damon as well, but that she never stopped loving Stefan. It is eventually revealed that Elena met Damon the night of her parents' death, though he compelled her to forget. She eventually chooses Stefan in the season finale but before she can tell him, Elena drowns while having vampire blood in her system; she then awakens as a vampire in transition.

In season four, Elena must decide whether to die or to feed on human blood so she can fully transition into a vampire. After realizing Stefan's desperation to keep her alive, Elena completes her transition. She claims that choosing Stefan was the best choice she'd ever made. However, their relationship ends due to her heightened feelings for Damon. Damon later realizes there is a sire bond between them, complicating the truth behind their relationship. Damon makes Elena turn off her humanity to avoid her grief when Jeremy is killed searching for a cure for vampirism. Elena becomes ruthless without her emotions. When she turns on her emotions again, her sire bond to Damon has been broken, though she remains in love with him. During a confrontation with Katherine, Elena shoves the cure down Katherine's throat, forcing her to become human again.

In season five, Elena starts at Whitmore College after spending the summer with Damon. She is kidnapped and experimented on by Wes Maxfield, and learns that her father experimented on vampires. Later, when Katherine is about to die as a result of the past 500 years catching up with her, Katherine uses a spell to possess Elena. Elena's friends trap Katherine when they realize this. Stefan stabbed her with the Traveler dagger, but ghost Katherine reveals to Bonnie, shortly before trying to cross into the Other Side, that she had injected Dr. Maxfield's enhanced ripper-werewolf virus into Elena's body, infecting her. Elena's friends are eventually able to find an antidote. She loses trust in Damon, partly because he killed her friend Aaron, so they break up, but soon get back together. Once Markos and his Traveler army begin to take over Mystic Falls, Elena and company come up with a plan to neutralize the Travelers by killing them all at the same time, overpowering Bonnie – who is now the anchor to the Other Side – and creating a possible way out of the collapsing dimension. Elena and Damon cause an explosion at the Mystic Grill, killing themselves and most of the Travelers. She wakes up as a ghost and passes to the Other Side; Elena and many others are able to pass back to the land of the living afterwards, but the spell that allows this is broken before Damon passes back through, and Bonnie is stuck as the anchor, leaving those alive mourning the loss of Damon and Bonnie.

In season six, Elena begins medical school, unable to set foot in her hometown. She is unable to recover from Damon's death and lurks at the edges of Mystic Falls – preying on people, drinking their blood, and compelling them to forget. As spirit magic no longer works in Mystic Falls, her victims who cross into the town remember the ordeal, putting her identity as a vampire at risk. Elena begs Alaric to compel her to forget that she ever loved Damon, and he eventually succeeds. She is told of her former feelings for Damon soon afterwards, but doesn't want to go back to being unhappy again, and starts dating classmate Liam. After Damon comes back to life, Elena eventually decides to have the compulsion undone, but Alaric crosses into Mystic Falls and becomes human again. Elena is then left to face Damon and see if her feelings will return. Bonnie returns from the prison world with the cure to immortality which Elena takes, hoping to have family with Damon. However, in the season finale, Kai links Bonnie's life to Elena's, putting her in a magical sleep until Bonnie's dies.

In season eight, Elena appears in the final episode, appearing to Bonnie when her heart stops. However, Bonnie is brought back to life and Elena's body is then taken over by Katherine and trapped in the boiler room to die with the Hellfire. Stefan sacrifices his life to save Elena. They are briefly reunited so he can say goodbye. Bonnie eventually breaks Kai's spell on Elena and reunites her with Damon and her friends. Elena goes to medical school and marries Damon while continuing to write in her diary, thanking Stefan for saving her life in the pilot. She and Damon live long and happy human lives together before they die. In the afterlife, Elena finds peace by reuniting with Jenna, John and her parents.

Katherine Pierce

• Played by Nina Dobrev
• Starring seasons: 2 and 5
• Recurring seasons: 1, 3 and 4
• Guest starring season: 8

Nina Dobrev

Katherine Pierce, born Katerina Petrova (based on Katherine von Swartzschild from the novels), was part of a "Traveler" (or Romani) family, and was banished to England after bearing an illegitimate child. Upon meeting Klaus and Elijah, two of the original vampires, she learns that she is a Petrova doppelgänger – which means that she can be sacrificed to release Klaus' werewolf side. She tricked other vampires into turning her, thereby making her useless to Klaus, then spent 500 years running and hiding to escape his wrath. She arrives in Mystic Falls, where both Stefan and Damon Salvatore fall in love with her. She escapes the burning of vampires in the town, and gives the brothers her blood so that they both turn into vampires after being shot. Damon spends 145 years trying to free Katherine from a tomb, though she is not there when he opens it. In the last episode of season one, Katherine returns to Mystic Falls.

During season two, she tells Damon that she has always been in love with Stefan and never truly cared for Damon. It is later discovered that her real reason for returning is to appease Klaus by giving him the new doppelgänger, the moonstone, and a vampire, witch, and werewolf. Stefan and Damon lock her in the tomb when they realize her plan, and even when the spell trapping vampires in the tomb is broken, she is compelled by Elijah to stay in. Elijah temporarily dies and Katherine is freed, but chooses to help Stefan and Damon. When Klaus comes to Mystic Falls, he kidnaps her and tortures her in Alaric's apartment. He eventually releases her, but she keeps track of Klaus and Stefan's whereabouts. When she learns that a vampire hunter named Mikael is the key to killing Klaus, she finds and awakens him, but goes back into hiding when Mikael's plan fails.

Katherine returns in season four, allowing Jeremy to be killed by Silas so she can steal the cure. It is revealed that during her time away from Mystic Falls, she had begun a relationship with Elijah Mikaelson, having real feelings for him. She decides to give him the cure to prove that her love is real, though he eventually leaves her to be with his family in New Orleans. During a physical confrontation with Elena, Katherine is forced by Elena to drink the cure, leaving her human for the first time in 500 years.

During season five Katherine struggles with being human again. She learns that her long-lost daughter, Nadia, is a vampire in Mystic Falls. Silas drains Katherine of all of her blood, to get the cure, and Katherine returns to life. However, she rapidly descends into old age from the 500 years of her existence. She uses her Traveler heritage to transfer her consciousness into Elena's body as hers dies, eventually taking control of Elena's body and masquerading as Elena to win Stefan's affection. Stefan and Caroline learn her identity and Stefan stabs her with the Traveler's Knife, releasing Katherine's soul from Elena's body. However, Katherine had injected Elena's body with Dr. Wes Maxfield's experimental "Ripper Serum", to turn Elena into a vampire who feeds from other vampires along with werewolf venom. An unknown force denies Katherine access to the Other Side and she was left in a dark void.

It is later revealed that Katherine was sucked into Hell, where she became a feared presence over six years. Katherine made a bet with Kai Parker, that whoever won would replace Cade as the ruler of Hell. Katherine's manipulation resulted in Kai's imprisonment in a Spirit Rule and her ascension as the queen of Hell. She then escaped Hell and proceeded to taunt Stefan and Caroline on their wedding day. She manipulates Kelly and Vicki Donovan into doing her bidding, resulting in Kelly nearly killing Caroline's twins and Vicki ringing the bell. While everyone is distracted, Katherine steals Elena's body and traps it in the boiler room to ensure Elena dies in the Hellfire. Katherine then impersonates Elena to torture the brothers. They attempt to kill her, but she continues returning from Hell. Stefan then stays with Katherine to ensure that they both finally die in the Hellfire, destroying Hell. As Stefan went to Heaven alone, Katherine's spirit was destroyed along with hell, as it current ruler and she ceased to exist.

Stefan Salvatore

• Played by Paul Wesley and Sawyer Bell (young Stefan)
• Starring seasons: 1–8
• The Originals special guest starring season: 3

Paul Wesley

Stefan Salvatore (based on Stefan Salvatore from the novels) was born and raised in Mystic Falls to Giuseppe Salvatore and Lily Salvatore, who died when he was young. Stefan is the younger brother of Damon, and the two were best friends in life. However, this changed when the brothers fell in love with Katherine Pierce. Once Stefan discovered Katherine was a vampire, Stefan was both scared and repulsed by Katherine and vampirism in general. Katherine, however, compelled Stefan to not be afraid of her, to keep her secret, and to drink her vampire blood against his will.

In 1864, Stefan was turned into a vampire after being shot by his father, with Katherine's blood in his system, and accidentally killed his father. Damon, who turned into a vampire as well, promised Stefan an eternity of misery as he was angry that Stefan had forced him to turn and jealous that Katherine had also turned Stefan. A newborn vampire with uncontrollable bloodlust, Stefan became severely out of control (later known as the Ripper) and addicted to the blood, killing many people. However, Stefan was taught by a vampire named Alexia "Lexi" Branson, who later became Stefan's best friend or companion. After decades of absence from Mystic Falls, Stefan returned to visit his home and Zach. Stefan heard the Gilbert's car accident at Wickery Bridge and saved Elena, who he noticed looked exactly like Katherine.

Stefan and Elena begin a relationship and he reveals to her that he is a vampire. However, Damon returns to Mystic Falls and also falls in love with Elena. As the series progresses, Damon and Stefan rebuild their brotherly bonds. Stefan only drank animal blood in the beginning of the series, which left him weaker than other vampires. In season two, Stefan starts to take small amounts of Elena's blood each day to mitigate its effect on him and to increase his strength. When Katherine returns, it is discovered that she has always been in love with Stefan and not Damon; however, Stefan is in love with Elena and not interested in Katherine. Stefan starts to build a friendship with Caroline Forbes after she is turned into a vampire. After Klaus gives Stefan his blood to save Damon from a werewolf bite, Klaus turns Stefan into a Ripper again.

As an arrangement to save Damon, Stefan works for Klaus while trying to protect Elena by keeping Klaus away from Mystic Falls. Klaus later finds out Elena is alive and compels Stefan to kill her, making Stefan turn off his humanity when he resists. Stefan is later able to get his humanity back – seen when he saves Klaus' life to protect Damon – but pretends not to care about Elena. He later takes it upon himself to kill Klaus. He steals Klaus' family and tries using them as blackmail. When that fails Stefan threatens to turn Elena into a vampire if Klaus does not get his hybrids out of town; Klaus agrees at the last minute. Stefan and Elena get into a fight, but Elena chooses Stefan over Damon. Later, Elena and Matt are trapped underwater; Elena makes Stefan save Matt first and she drowns with vampire blood in her system.

During season four, Stefan's relationship with Elena is tested. He becomes fixated on finding the cure to vampirism for her, which results in Damon telling him that he can only love Elena as a human. Eventually, Stefan and Elena break up as a result of her feelings for Damon, which were amplified after being turned into a vampire. Stefan then forms a casual relationship with Rebekah (with whom he had a brief affair in the 1920s). After Elena eventually turns her humanity off as a result of her sire bond to Damon and Jeremy's death, Stefan and Damon attempt to find a way to force her to turn it back on. Eventually they do, but Elena remains in love with Damon and decides to be with him. Stefan is revealed to be the doppelgänger of Silas, who locks Stefan in a large metal safe and pushes it into the bottom of a lake.

Stefan is rescued by the witch Qetsiyah, who brainwashes him and he falls in love with Elena again. He later regains his memories and kills Silas. Suffering from PTSD, Stefan manages to recover with the help of Katherine. The two begin a sort of relationship before Katherine's body fails her. It is later revealed that Katherine took over Elena's body and attempts to seduce Stefan; he kills her after saying goodbye one last time. Julian (in Tyler's body) ripped out Stefan's heart, killing him and sending him to the disintegrating Other Side. He reunites with Lexie, who saves him from getting sucked into Hell. Stefan manages to return to the land of the living, though Damon and Bonnie apparently die in the process.

By season six, Stefan has left Mystic Falls to attempt to live a normal life with a new girlfriend. However, a visit from Caroline and Enzo results in Enzo killing his girlfriend. Stefan returns to Mystic Falls to kill Enzo, but stays after reuniting with Damon. He later helps Caroline get through her mother's cancer and develops romantic feelings for her.

In season seven, Stefan is reunited with his mother and decides to forgive her. It is revealed that Stefan had slept with Valerie, one of the Heretics, while he was human, resulting in her pregnancy. Valerie lost the baby after Julian beat her. Stefan kills Julian and later develops a relationship with Valerie that ends soon after the encounter with Rayna.

By season eight, Stefan had entered into a relationship (and later engagement) with Caroline while he searched for Damon. Stefan later gave himself up in servitude to Cade (alongside Damon) in order to save Caroline's twins. Stefan's humanity is shut off and he goes on a murderous rampage to deliver souls to Cade. He is later sent for Elena and kills Enzo, but Bonnie injects him with the cure, rendering him human. Stefan's guilt greatly impacts his relationship with Caroline and friendship with Bonnie. He later kills Cade to save Damon and Bonnie. He reunites with Caroline and works towards earning Bonnie's forgiveness. Stefan and Caroline use their 'wedding' to lure Katherine out, and are married when she fails to appear. After their marriage, Stefan and Damon search for Elena's body, taken by Katherine. Stefan and Bonnie then realize they can redirect the Hellfire at Katherine to destroy Hell, but someone must sacrifice themselves to ensure she's hit while in Hell. Stefan and Damon argue over who should do it, as Stefan wants to find redemption for his killings and to give Damon a chance at happiness. Damon compels the human Stefan to leave, but Stefan had been taking vervain. Stefan injected Damon with his blood, giving him the cure, then shoves a human Damon aside and sacrifices his life to kill Katherine and save Mystic Falls. Stefan reunites with Elena, getting to say goodbye, then goes to the afterlife. Years later, Stefan is reunited with Damon.

Damon Salvatore

• Played by Ian Somerhalder
• Starring seasons: 1–8

Ian Somerhalder

Damon Salvatore (based on Damon Salvatore from the novels) is a vampire, turned by Katherine Pierce one hundred and forty-five years prior to the beginning of the main storyline. He is the son of late Giuseppe Salvatore and the older brother of Stefan Salvatore. He is portrayed as a charming, handsome and snide person who loves tricking humans, and takes pleasure in feeding on them and killing them during the early episodes of the first season.

During the first season, Damon gradually becomes kinder to the other characters, showing brief moments of compassion such as erasing Jeremy's traumatic memory of vampires. Damon apologizes for turning Vicki Donovan into a vampire and admits it was wrong. Later, he admits to Elena he came to the town wanting to destroy it but actually found himself wanting to protect it. Damon and Elena begin to kiss passionately before getting interrupted – it is later revealed that it wasn't Elena he kissed, but Katherine Pierce.

In season two, Katherine tells Damon that she loved Stefan and never loved him. Elena later says something similar, leaving Damon heartbroken. He snaps Jeremy's neck (though Jeremy is wearing a ring which reverses damage done by supernatural creatures), incurring Elena's wrath. Bonnie declares hatred for Damon when she learns his blood turned Caroline Forbes into a vampire. After saving Elena and Stefan, Damon confesses his love for Elena but then compels her to forget his selfish words. Damon joins Rose to find out why the Originals are after Elena; they have sex, and Damon comforts Rose when she suffers a fatal werewolf bite. Elena and Damon then begin to mend fences, and Elena cares for Damon when he is bitten by Tyler at the end of the season. Expecting he will die, Elena gives him a kiss, but Damon is later cured by the blood of Klaus, the original hybrid.

In the third season, Damon helps Elena bring Stefan back to Mystic Falls. He is at first reluctant to involve Elena in the rescue attempts, and employs her guardian, Alaric Saltzman, in order to conceal that Elena is alive. Stefan's change in attitude causes a rift between Elena and Stefan while Damon and Elena grow closer. Elena's refusal to admit this incenses Damon, who reverts to previous uncaring and reckless behavior. This continues until, in a heated moment, Elena admits to loving both brothers. Elena chooses Stefan and Damon seems to accept this decision and his death by Alaric, but rushes to the hospital when he realizes Elena has died.

Damon starts season four at Elena's bedside after learning that she died with vampire blood in her system, and is transitioning. Damon tries to kill Rebekah with a White Oak Stake, but she overpowers him and escapes. Later, Damon uses Matt as bait to draw out the deputies and Pastor Young. After dispatching the deputies, Damon is about to kill Matt when stopped by a vampiric Elena. Damon makes Elena drink his blood when she seeks his help from a new vampire hunter, which leads to a fight with Stefan over what kind of vampire Elena will become.

Damon tasks Stefan with learning more about Connor, a vampire hunter, while Damon accompanies Elena to college to teach her how to hunt and erase memories from her victims. Damon declares that he loves Elena whether she's human or vampire, and they eventually begin a relationship, though it is complicated by a sire bond between them (his blood was used to turn her). Damon uses the sire bond to make Elena turn off her humanity to avoid the guilt of Jeremy's death. Later, Damon and Stefan force her to turn it back on, at which point the sire bond has broken. However, Elena remains in love with Damon and they continue their relationship.

In season six, Damon and Bonnie are trapped in a 1994 Prison World, which Damon initially believes is his own personal hell, as they continually relive a painful day from his past. While working with Bonnie to find a way back to Mystic Falls, and to take down Kai, Damon becomes friends with Bonnie. Eventually, Bonnie sends Damon back, leaving herself trapped with Kai. Damon tried to win Elena back, though she lost all her memories of their relationship. Damon is devastated when Liz dies. He reunites with Bonnie when she escapes the prison world with the cure for vampirism. Damon gave the cure to Elena – which undoes Alaric's compulsion – intending to take the cure himself so they can be together as humans. However, Kai casts a spell which puts Elena into a magical sleep until the time of Bonnie's death.

In season seven, Damon travels with Bonnie and Alaric and learns to live without Elena. He refuses to forgive his mother for past mistakes on her deathbed. The guilt takes a toll on Damon, and after Julian is killed, he decides to let himself desiccate in a coffin next to Elena, waiting out the years until Bonnie dies. He's later awakened by Stefan in order to help him fight Rayna.

By season eight, Damon and Enzo have gone missing. It is revealed that the two were taken by the siren Sybil, who forces them to go on various killing sprees. Despite Sybil's numerous attempts, Damon's love for Elena wins out. He later is forced into servitude for Cade; compelled to kill either Elena or Stefan, Damon instead kills himself with a piece of wood from Elena's coffin. His life is saved by Bonnie, and Stefan manages to kill Cade. In the series finale, Damon desperately searches for Elena's body, stolen by Katherine. Damon attempts to sacrifice his life to save Mystic Falls (and Elena) and kill Katherine with the Hellfire. However, Stefan injects Damon with the cure and takes his place. Damon and Elena marry and live a long and happy human life. Damon is then reunited with his brother in the afterlife.

Jeremy Gilbert

• Played by Steven R. McQueen
• Starring seasons: 1–6
• Special guest starring season: 8

Steven R. McQueen

Jeremy Gilbert (loosely based on Margaret Gilbert from the novels) is Elena Gilbert's younger brother, later revealed to be her biological cousin.

In the beginning of the series, Jeremy was emotionally damaged by the death of his parents and begins to use drugs. He was in love with Vicki Donovan, another drug user, causing a rivalry with her boyfriend, Tyler Lockwood. Vicki later breaks up with Tyler and starts a relationship with Jeremy. However, Jeremy witnesses Stefan kill Vicki (after Damon turned her into a vampire). At Elena's request, Damon makes Jeremy forget this, and Jeremy becomes more stable and stops using drugs. Jeremy then starts a relationship with a vampire named Anna, but John Gilbert, Jeremy’s uncle, kills Anna at the end of season one. Jeremy tries to become a vampire by overdosing while having Anna's blood in his system, but he fails. He was later given John's ring, which protects him from a death caused by anything supernatural. In season two, Jeremy falls in love with Bonnie Bennett and they start a relationship. Jeremy later loses both his aunt and uncle on the day of the sacrifice, leaving Elena and himself without a guardian. In the season two finale, Jeremy was accidentally shot to death by Sheriff Forbes, but Bonnie was able to bring him back.

However, bringing Jeremy back from the dead allowed him to see and communicate with the ghosts of his former girlfriends, Anna and Vicki, whenever he thinks about them. When the doorway to the Other Side was opened, Jeremy was able to physically interact with Anna. Bonnie finds out, resulting in their break-up. When Bonnie closes the doorway to the Other Side, Jeremy and Anna decide to let each other go. After Jeremy kills a hybrid and was almost killed by Klaus, Elena asks Damon to compel Jeremy into leaving Mystic Falls in order to live a normal life. However, after Klaus and the other Originals find out where Jeremy was, Elena takes Jeremy back home.

In season four, a vampire hunter, Connor, arrives in town, and only Jeremy can see his mysterious tattoos, later revealed to be a map to the cure for vampirism. When Connor is killed, Jeremy becomes part of The Five, a group of vampire hunters, and his 'hunter's mark' grows when he kills vampires. His urge to kill grows as well, and he attempts to murder Elena. Eventually, he finds a way to control this, and Damon trains him. After killing Kol, resulting in the death of his entire bloodline, Jeremy's mark completes, revealing a map to the cure. However, once he and Bonnie reach Silas, Katherine reveals herself and allows Silas to feed on Jeremy in order to awaken. She steals the cure, and Jeremy is killed when Silas snaps his neck. Elena then burns the Gilbert house, creating a cover story for his death. When Bonnie drops the veil to the Other Side, Jeremy's ghost returns, saving Elena from Kol. Bonnie performs a spell that allows Jeremy to stay alive. The spell, however, killed Bonnie in the process, though Jeremy can see her ghost.

In season five, Jeremy attempts to keep Bonnie's death a secret for her in order to preserve her friends' happiness. However, Jeremy eventually reveals the truth to his friends. Bonnie and Jeremy are reunited after she becomes the new anchor to the Other Side, though she sacrifices her life once more in the finale to save Elena, Stefan, Enzo, Tyler and Alaric. It was revealed that Jeremy's supernatural hunter status was inactive as a result of the anti-magic barrier around the town.

In season six, Jeremy has become a drunk after Bonnie's death, paying her cell phone bill just to hear her voicemail recording. After Kai absorbed the Travelers' spell around Mystic Falls, Jeremy regained his hunter abilities. Later, Jeremy came to the conclusion that it was time for him to move on with his life and leave for Santa Fe, New Mexico. While nearly all of his friends and family are under the impression that Jeremy is going to art school there, in reality, Jeremy has moved there to hunt vampires, with only Alaric, who planned to feed him leads, knowing Jeremy's true plans. Jeremy returns in the series finale, shown teaching gifted youngsters how to defend themselves against the supernatural at the Salvatore School.

Jenna Sommers

• Played by Sara Canning
• Starring seasons: 1–2
• Guest starring seasons: 3, 5 and 8

Sara Canning

Jenna Sommers (loosely based on Judith Maxwell from the novels) was Elena and Jeremy Gilbert's aunt. She was the sister of their mother, Miranda Sommers-Gilbert. After her sister and her sister's husband were killed in a car crash, she took over as Elena's and Jeremy's legal guardian and moved into the Gilbert family home. In the beginning, Jenna had trouble coping as an authority figure, having been a partying college student, but as the series progresses she becomes better at it. She begins dating news reporter Logan Fell, who had cheated on her in the past. However, Logan was turned into a vampire by Anna and then killed by history teacher Alaric Saltzman; Jenna was told that he had left town. She later begins a relationship with Alaric.

In season two, John Gilbert begins to cause trouble between Jenna and Alaric, and Jenna suspects that Alaric is not completely honest with her. When Isobel Flemming, Alaric's supposed dead wife, shows up at Jenna's door, Jenna becomes angry with Elena and Alaric – who then tell her everything about vampires. Jenna was later turned into a vampire by Klaus, to be used in the sacrifice to release his werewolf side. She attempts to kill Greta Martin, Klaus' witch, to stop the sacrifice and saves Elena, at which point Klaus stakes her to death.

In season three, Jenna is seen in the season finale, in flashbacks of the night Elena's parents' car went off Wickery Bridge. She is later seen as one of Katherine's hallucinations in season five. Jenna then appears in the series finale, where she and her family reunite with Elena as she passes.

Bonnie Bennett

• Played by Kat Graham
• Starring seasons: 1–8

Kat Graham

Bonnie Sheila Bennett (based on Bonnie McCullough from the novels) is Elena's best friend. From season seven, she becomes one of two female leads. She is good friends with Caroline Forbes. In the beginning of the series, Bonnie discovers that she is a witch born from a line of witches. Her grandmother, Sheila Bennett, helps her learn to use her powers. When her grandmother dies, Bonnie continues training and becomes more and more powerful. In the midst of season two, she starts a relationship with Jeremy Gilbert, Elena's younger brother. She later discovers, from warlock Luca Martin, that the only way to kill Klaus, the original vampire who wants to kill Elena, is for her to get the power of one-hundred dead witches. Once she does this, she pretends to be dead in a scheme of Damon's to trick Klaus. But when she brings Klaus to the brink of death, Elijah does not kill him, as planned, and carries Klaus away before Bonnie could react.

In the season two finale, Bonnie is able to save Jeremy from dying after she tells her dead ancestor Emily Bennett that she loves him. However, bringing Jeremy back from the dead allows him to see his dead ex-girlfriends. Bonnie later finds out that Jeremy kissed Anna when the doorway to the Other Side was temporarily opened, and she breaks up with him. Later on, Bonnie reconnects with her mother, Abby, who had abandoned her as a child, and who helps her to kill the original vampires. However, Abby is turned into a vampire by Damon and abandons Bonnie again. In the season three finale, Bonnie places Klaus' soul into Tyler's body, thus preventing him from being completely destroyed by Alaric and saving Tyler, Caroline, Damon, and Stefan from dying (as part of Klaus' bloodline). In the beginning of season four, Bonnie learns that there is a forbidden magic, but she is forced to use it to transfer Klaus back to his original body, as a result, angry spirits attack her grandmother's ghost.

Professor Atticus Shane mentors Bonnie in regaining her powers. However, unknown to her, this 'Art of Expression' draws magic from the spirits of a massacre. It is revealed that Bonnie is a key component to finding the cure, as she was a descendant of the witch who entombed Silas, and is the only one who can open the tomb. During the course of the fourth season, she becomes closer to Jeremy again, hinting at a possible reunion between the two. However, upon finding the cure, Jeremy is killed by Silas. Feeling unimaginable grief, Silas, posing as Shane, manipulates Bonnie into believing that she can bring him back from the dead, but only if she brings back every supernatural creature who has died. When Bonnie drops the veil to the Other Side, she is overpowered by Silas. Bonnie manages to petrify Silas. Afterwards, Bonnie is determined to bring Jeremy back to life, despite Sheila's warning. The spell ends up killing Bonnie, who awakens as a spirit. She eventually brings the veil back up, leaving Jeremy (who she resurrected) as the only one who can see her.

In season five, Bonnie is resurrected – but every supernatural who dies has to go through her to the afterlife, thus she feels the pain of their deaths. She and Damon are then trapped in another dimension together while the others think they are dead.

In season six, Bonnie and Damon develop a friendship and find out from a psychotic killer, Kai, that they can get home by using her magic. However, the plan backfires when Kai tries to kill Bonnie and she sacrifices herself for Damon, which sends him back home. Later, Kai also returns to the living world, leaving Bonnie all alone. Bonnie eventually manages to come home but has a more-violent disposition. She got revenge when she left Kai in a prison world but he returned, due to the Heretics. At the end of the season, she is linked to Elena through a spell Kai made that put Elena in a coma as long as Bonnie lives.

In season seven, Bonnie is more united with Damon and their relationship develops while she starts having feelings for Enzo. Her friendship with Damon ends because he left Bonnie while he desiccated himself in a coffin until Elena wakes, so Bonnie would never see him again. Three years later, she had romantic a relationship with Enzo. She discovers that the armory is looking for her so she hides with Enzo. They make a deal with Rayna, but she did not tell them that she was going to be the next huntress. When Bonnie woke up she tried to kill Damon, Enzo, and Caroline because Rayna marked them. She almost killed Enzo but Damon burned the last shaman in the armory so Bonnie was not the huntress anymore and saved Enzo. Finally, she forgave Damon.

By season eight, Enzo and Damon disappeared and Bonnie could not locate them, leaving her without two of the people she most cared about. Bonnie manages to rescue Damon and Enzo from Sybil's control using objects from the Armory, and resumes her relationship with Enzo. They plan for him to take the cure and live as humans together, but Stefan kills Enzo after his humanity shuts off. Bonnie injects him with the cure and her grief from Enzo's death causes her to unlock her psychic abilities. She manages to forgive Stefan and uses her power to see Enzo, but she breaks off the connection in order to channel her power into saving Caroline's twins. Inspired by her ancestors and Enzo, Bonnie gains new empowerment, saving Mystic Falls by redirecting Hellfire back to hell and destroying it along with Katherine. Her newfound strength allows her to break the spell over Elena and reunite with her best friend. Bonnie then fulfills her promise to Enzo to live her life, and leaves to travel the world as he watches over her.

Caroline Forbes

• Played by Candice King and Mckenna Grace (young Caroline)
• Starring seasons: 1–8
• The Originals special guest starring season: 5

Candice King

Caroline Elizabeth Forbes (based on Caroline Forbes from the novels) is Elena Gilbert and Bonnie Bennett's best friend. From season seven she becomes one of two female leads. Caroline is the daughter of the Sheriff of Mystic Falls, Liz Forbes, with whom she had a troubled relationship that develops into a more-loving relationship. Her father, Bill Forbes, left her and her mother after coming out as gay. In the beginning of the series, Caroline is shown as shallow, self-absorbed and envious of Elena. However, Caroline's character deepens and matures over the seasons. In season one, she was first attracted to Stefan but when he turns her down she pursues Damon. Damon used her in many ways, compelling her to forget much of it. During season one, she starts a relationship with Matt Donovan. At the end of season one, Caroline, Matt, and Tyler met an accident.

In season two, Caroline was fed Damon's blood to heal her injuries; however, Katherine kills her and Caroline feeds on a bag of human blood at the hospital, turning into a vampire. Stefan helps Caroline control her bloodlust and they build a friendship. Caroline also becomes closer to Elena. She discovers that she is not able to control her bloodlust when she is around Matt, and tricks him into breaking up with her in order to protect him. When Tyler Lockwood starts his werewolf transformations, Caroline helps him and he starts to develop romantic feelings for her. However, Caroline is in love with Matt and they get back together as soon as Tyler leaves town. Matt later finds out that Caroline is a vampire; feeling alienated and betrayed, he tells her mother. At first they don't accept her, but when they realize that Caroline has retained her humanity, they soften. However, Matt breaks up with her, due to his aversion of the supernatural since the vampire death of his sister, Vicki. When Tyler returns to Mystic Falls, he and Caroline become closer and in the season three premiere, they sleep together. However, Carol Lockwood finds out Caroline is a vampire and contacts her father, Bill Forbes. He thinks Caroline is a monster and tries to "fix" her through torture, but she is saved by her mother and Tyler. Bill and Caroline eventually make amends, and she is devastated when he is killed during season three. Klaus Mikaelson takes a liking to Caroline during this season and she refuses to be wooed by him, staying loyal to her friends despite her attraction to him.

In season four, Caroline helps Elena with her vampire transition. Her relationship with Tyler becomes strained with Klaus and the werewolf Hayley around. Caroline assumes something is going on between Hayley and Tyler, but Tyler denies it (which is the truth). During the plan to get the cure, Caroline and Tyler watch over Klaus, who is trapped in the Gilbert home by Bonnie. They learn there is only one dose for the cure. After a talk with Klaus, it is revealed that Caroline would never take the cure, preferring herself as a vampire. When the spell wears off, Klaus tells Tyler to run, because Klaus would kill him for tormenting and teasing him. Caroline doesn't want Tyler to go because she loves him but knows it is for the best. Caroline completes the Expression triangle by killing 12 witches in an attempt to save Bonnie, which opens up the gates to Other Side, letting all dead supernaturals loose in Mystic Falls. Caroline graduates high school with Bonnie, Matt, Stefan, and Elena, the ceremony interrupted by the 12 dead witches who make an attempt on Caroline's life. She is saved by Klaus, who she had invited to the graduation, and who says goodbye and that he intended to be her last love.

In season five, Caroline and Elena start college, both thinking Bonnie will come soon. Caroline assumes that Tyler will join them at Whitmore College. Outside a party, Caroline and Elena find their roommate Megan thrown from the second floor of a house with a bite mark on her neck, and realize there is another vampire at the college. Later, Caroline receives a message from Tyler that he can't return and they break-up when he refuses to give up his revenge upon Klaus. Klaus returns to Mystic Falls in an attempt to gloat over a dying Katherine, but is distracted by Caroline. She confesses her hidden desires for him, and they sleep together, Klaus vowing to never come back to Mystic Falls for her confession. Despite judgement from Tyler, Caroline refuses to feel guilty for her actions and builds a strange friendship with Enzo.

In season six, she realizes she has feelings for Stefan, despite his attempts to ignore her all summer. She looks for ways to break the Travelers' spell on Mystic Falls so that they can go home (this is later accomplished when Kai absorbs the magic). Caroline's mother, Liz, is diagnosed with cancer and Stefan attempts to comfort her. Caroline turns off her humanity as she can't deal with the pain of Liz dying. Stefan realizes that he has feelings for Caroline but is too late as her humanity is already off. Caroline asks for a year with no humanity where she promises to behave as long as they don't attempt to trigger her humanity before then. They do not leave her alone, angering Caroline and as revenge she kidnaps Stefan and Damon's niece, Sarah Salvatore, and blackmails Stefan to turn off his humanity. Stefan attempts to make Caroline lose control, and after numerous attempts he finally succeeds. Lily manages to trigger Stefan's humanity, and he becomes determined to get Caroline back to normal. He pretends to Caroline that his humanity is off and they get locked up together in a bed and breakfast in Grove Hill by Damon and Elena. Caroline eventually turns her humanity back on.

In season seven, Caroline and Stefan attempt to form a romantic relationship but his past with Valerie prevents this. She later discovers that the Gemini Coven had placed Alaric and Jo's twins inside her to protect them. She gives birth to two girls, Josie and Lizzie (named after Jo and her mother, Liz Forbes). Stefan decides to break-up with Caroline as he runs from the Hunter with Valerie. Caroline and Alaric move to Texas and become a family, where Caroline quickly steps into the motherly role.

By season eight, Caroline is co-parenting her children with Alaric and soon becomes engaged to Stefan. Their relationship again becomes complicated when Stefan is forced to serve Cade in order to protect Caroline's daughters. Caroline saves her kids and Alaric from the recently returned Kai and helps Alaric open a school for child witches. She and Stefan resume their engagement after he flips his switch back on, and the two stage a wedding in an attempt to draw out Katherine. Shortly after, Caroline is forced to say goodbye to Stefan when he sacrifices his life to save Elena and Damon. Caroline chooses to leave town with her daughters, though she and Stefan do get a bittersweet goodbye. Caroline and Alaric open a school for gifted supernatural children after receiving a large donation from Klaus, who praises her actions. It is implied from Alaric's voiceover that the donation is the "beginning of another story."

Matt Donovan

• Played by Zach Roerig
• Starring seasons: 1–8
• The Originals special guest starring season: 3

Zach Roerig

Matthew G. "Matt" Donovan (based on Matthew Honeycutt from the novels) is Elena Gilbert's childhood friend and ex-boyfriend. Vicki Donovan is Matt's older sister, who he takes care of as their troubled mother has left them. When Vicki dies, Matt is devastated. He is best friends with Tyler Lockwood. He is employed at the Mystic Grill as a busboy. Elena had broken up with Matt at beginning of the series, though Matt has feelings for her and wants to get back together, since Elena and Matt were each other's "first". However, he later starts a relationship with Caroline Forbes.

When Caroline is turned into a vampire in season two, she tricks Matt into breaking up with her, for she can't control her bloodlust around him. However, they later get back together. When Matt learns that Caroline is a vampire, he suspects she had something to do with Vicki's death. He asks her to make him forget, but he secretly has vervain in his system and only pretends to forget; this was a plan of Sheriff Forbes. However, Matt finds out that Caroline is still the same person and tells her about the plan. He then breaks up with her due to the fact that he has too much to handle with work and school and doesn't want to deal with the fact that Caroline is a vampire.

In season three, Matt learns that Jeremy is able to see Vicki's ghost; after he drowns himself and is saved by Bonnie, he is able to see and speak to Vicki as well. She tells him that with his help, the original witch can make her come back whenever she wants without needing Matt to think about her. After he helps her, Matt finds out that the original witch wants Vicki to kill Elena in return; with the help of Bonnie, Matt makes Vicki return to the Other Side and shuts her out of his thoughts.

In season four, Matt blames himself for Elena's vampire transformation – Damon also blames him and wants Matt dead. Matt holds a grudge against Rebekah for trying to kill him and causing Elena's transition. Matt later moves into the Gilbert house when Elena moves out, due to Jeremy's urge to kill her. However, Elena moves back in, only for Jeremy to be killed soon after. Matt is shown to be devastated by the loss of his friend. He later develops a relationship with Rebekah Mikaelson and leaves Mystic Falls after graduation to travel with her.

They part on good terms as she goes to New Orleans in season five. Another woman the two had encountered (and slept with) in Europe, Nadia, later appeared in Mystic Falls where she followed Matt. It is revealed that she is Nadia Petrova, and is searching for her mother, Katherine. Matt was possessed by a Traveler for a brief time and was involved with Nadia. Nadia later compelled him to forget that Elena was possessed by Katherine. After Nadia's death, Matt helps his friends deal with the destruction of the Other Side with the help of Liv and Luke Parker.

In season six, Matt helps Jeremy cope with the apparent death of Bonnie and the two attempt to kill Enzo. After Elena falls into a magical, coma-like slumber, Matt takes on more responsibility and eventually becomes the sheriff of Mystic Falls. During this time, Matt ejects all vampires from Mystic Falls.

In season seven, Matt falls in love with his partner, Penny Ares. A vampire makes Matt kill Penny, and he becomes hellbent on getting revenge on Stefan. However, after a series of events forces Matt to try and save Bonnie from being a bloodthirsty supernatural Huntress, Matt is exhausted of the war between humans and vampires; he decides to leave Mystic Falls and start a normal life.

In season eight, Matt is reunited with his long-lost father, Peter Maxwell, who had abandoned him and Vicki when they were children. Peter reveals that Matt's ancestors were the founders of Mystic Falls before the 'founding' families took it over. They had built a bell in the Clock Tower, that upon being hit twelve times by a Maxwell descendant, would unleash the Hellfire and kill everyone around it. Stefan compels Matt to ring the bell, but Damon manages to stop him on the eleventh ring. This inadvertently allows several individuals to escape Hell, including Matt's own mother and sister (and also Cade, Katherine and Kai). His mother and sister later go to work for Katherine in order to stay out of Hell: Kelly injures Peter before dying again and Vicki plans on ringing the bell. Matt tells Peter about Vicki; they all go up the clock tower and Matt watches Peter and Vicki reuniting and hugging. Matt and Peter later watch the tower erupt in flames after the twelfth ring of the bell. After Hell is destroyed, Matt continues to be sheriff and is about to run for mayor, where he's watched over by his sister and Tyler.

Vicki Donovan

• Played by Kayla Ewell
• Starring season: 1
• Recurring seasons: 2, 3, 5 and 8

Kayla Ewell

Vicki Donovan (loosely based on Vickie Bennett from the novels) was Matt Donovan's older sister. Vicki was a troubled drug-addict, taken care of by Matt as their mother had left them. In the beginning of the series, she was dating Tyler Lockwood. Vicki and Jeremy hooked-up a few times but Vicki didn't want people to find out, since Jeremy was younger than her. Later, acknowledging that she had feelings for Jeremy, Vicki breaks-up with Tyler and starts a relationship with Jeremy. She was later turned into a vampire by Damon. She was unable to control her bloodlust and when she attacked Jeremy, Stefan kills her. Stefan and Damon make it seem as if Vicki had left town. Her body is later found by Caroline Forbes, devastating Matt and Jeremy. Later, when Jeremy is brought back to life, he was able to see and communicate with Vicki, who asks for his help. Matt learns of this and engineers a near-death experience so he can also see Vicki. She tells him that with his help, the original witch can make sure she can come back whenever she wants. However, Matt later finds out that the original witch ordered Vicki to kill Elena in return; with the help of Bonnie, Matt makes Vicki return to the Other Side and shuts her out of his thoughts.

Vicki later returns in season five, to ask Jeremy and Bonnie to tell Matt to stop sleeping with Rebekah. She reappears on the Other Side when Liz Forbes kills Matt, and is later pulled away from the Other Side in a similar way to Katherine.

Vicki returns in season eight and appears in Damon's mind, when he has flashbacks of his attack upon her in the pilot episode. It is later revealed that Vicki managed to escape Hell alongside Katherine and her mother. Vicki went on a killing spree before going to the Mystic Falls Clock Tower to ring the bell and bring the hellfire to destroy Mystic Falls. Vicki is then reunited with her brother and father and completely breaks down. She had wanted to get out of the torturous Hell by ringing the bell for Katherine, but her family inspires her to become the person she always wanted to be. She goes through with their plan to save Mystic Falls and kill Katherine. Vicki then finds peace in the afterlife with Tyler, where they continue to watch over Matt.

Tyler Lockwood

• Played by Michael Trevino
• Starring seasons: 1–6
• Recurring seasons: 7–8
• The Originals special guest starring season: 1

Michael Trevino

Tyler Lockwood (based on Tyler Smallwood from the novels) is the son of Mayor Richard Lockwood and Carol Lockwood. He plays for the Mystic Falls High School football team and is best friends with Matt Donovan. Tyler does not have a good relationship with his father, who sometimes acts violently towards him. However, when his father dies, Tyler is shown to be genuinely upset. In the beginning of the series Tyler is an arrogant bully. He is dating Vicki Donovan, who breaks-up with him for Jeremy Gilbert, causing them to become rivals. Tyler is shown to have a short temper and in season two Tyler learns from his uncle, Mason Lockwood, that he acts this way due to the werewolf gene.

After Tyler accidentally kills Sarah, a classmate who was compelled by Katherine to provoke him, his fears come true as he has triggered the werewolf curse. Caroline Forbes, a young vampire, helps him prepare for his new life, and Tyler eventually falls in love with Caroline. A werewolf named Jules comes to town and tells Tyler that Caroline, Stefan and Damon are responsible for his uncle's death, making Tyler feel betrayed. After Caroline is captured by a group of werewolves and Tyler hesitates to come to her rescue, Caroline breaks off their friendship. Hurt by Caroline's decision and wishing to protect his friends, Tyler later leaves town with Jules. However, he returns when his mother is in the hospital and makes amends with Caroline, deciding to stay in Mystic Falls.

Tyler and Caroline's friendship deepens and in the season three premiere, they end up sleeping together. After his mother learns that Caroline is a vampire and kidnaps her as she is trying to sneak out, Tyler reveals that he is a werewolf by transforming in front of her. After he helps Sheriff Forbes rescue Caroline from her father, they begin an official relationship. Tyler is later turned into a hybrid by Klaus. Due to his transformation to a hybrid, he is sired to Klaus, and would do anything to protect Klaus as his master. When Tyler tells Caroline that he is okay with this, she breaks up with him. Tyler eventually realizes that the sire bond isn't in his favor, and breaks it by repeatedly turning into a werewolf. He and Caroline get back together, but in the season three finale, Bonnie places Klaus' spirit in Tyler's body in order to save his bloodline (which includes Katherine, Stefan, Abby, Damon, Caroline and Tyler himself). It is unknown what happened to Tyler's spirit during this time, or if he agreed to the plan. Klaus later forces Bonnie to return him to his original body; once the transfer is complete, Tyler regains control of his body.

Tyler, along with a new friend, Hayley, begin to secretly unsire all of Klaus' hybrids. However, on learning about this, Klaus murders them all, along with Tyler's mother. As a result, Tyler is eventually forced to leave town, knowing that Klaus will seek revenge upon him. He returns briefly for prom. Klaus later grants Caroline a graduation present, allowing Tyler to return to Mystic Falls.

Later, Tyler became possessed by Julian, a Traveler. After the Travelers used the Body Sealing Spell on Tyler, Julian gained permanent control of Tyler's body and due to Markos destroying the Traveler's Knife that was needed to remove Passengers, Julian could not be banished. Later, Julian was captured by the Travelers and they brought Julian to Mystic Falls, where they had cast a spell that can undo magic, including vampirism. Thus, when Julian entered Mystic Falls, he lost Tyler's vampirism and they both died, because vampirism was what kept them alive. Tyler ended up on the Other Side, but thanks to Bonnie and Damon's sacrifices, he was able to come back to life and he discovered that he was no longer a hybrid.

In season six, Tyler struggles to stay human, and develops a relationship with the witch Liv Parker. At the end of the season, Liv's brother Kai attacks and critically injures them both, and Liv convinces Tyler to kill her in order to trigger his curse and thereby heal. Tyler reluctantly agrees, knowing that she was going to die anyway. He manages to injure Kai and save Alaric's life. Tyler leaves Mystic Falls after saying goodbye to Elena.

Tyler returns in season seven in order to take Elena's coffin to protect her from the Heretics. He returns again in season eight and is killed by Damon. Tyler is seen in the series finale as having been reunited with Vicki, where the two find peace together and continue to watch over Matt.

Alaric Saltzman

• Played by Matt Davis
• Starring seasons: 1–3 and 6–8
• Recurring seasons: 4–5
• The Originals special guest starring seasons: 4–5
• Legacies starring seasons: 1–present

Matthew Davis

Alaric J. Saltzman, known as "Ric" (based on Alaric K. Saltzman from the novels), was the history teacher at Mystic Falls High School. Alaric originally comes to town to kill Damon, to avenge his wife. However, it was later revealed that his wife, Isobel Flemming, requested that Damon turn her into a vampire. Alaric then starts to become friends with Damon. Alaric owns a Gilbert Ring, which he obtained from Isobel, which prevents him from being killed by anything supernatural. However, John Gilbert later claims the ring. Alaric starts a relationship with Jenna Sommers. In the second season, Gilbert starts causing trouble between Jenna and Alaric, and Jenna leaves when she meets Isobel and knows Alaric has been keeping secrets from her. His body was later possessed by Klaus to gain the group's trust. Eventually Klaus releases Alaric, who gets back together with Jenna, but soon afterwards Klaus turns Jenna into a vampire and kills her for his sacrifice ritual, leaving Alaric heartbroken. In season three, Alaric moves in with Elena and Jeremy to take care of them, and represents the Gilbert family on the Founders' Council. He later starts dating council-member Meredith Fell, a local doctor.

It is later learned that Alaric was unknowingly killing people, due to the Gilbert ring giving him a vampire-hating alter ego, which was referred to as "The Darkness" or "Evil-aric". He was later turned into an Original vampire by Esther in order to kill Klaus with an indestructible White Oak stake. In the season three finale, he dies when Elena drowns because their lives had been linked by Esther. He appears to Jeremy as a ghost to say goodbye, stating that he will always be there for them, and later at his grave where he listens to Damon lament about his responsibilities.

Late in season four, Alaric's ghost appears to Damon when Bonnie partially drops the veil to the Other Side. In the season five finale, Alaric came back to life by passing through Bonnie.

Alaric is a regular in season six,^[2] having trouble adjusting to life as a vampire. He gets a job at Whitmore College as the occult studies professor. After Elena is unable to recover from Damon's death, she begs Alaric to compel her to forget that she ever loved Damon – which he can do as an enhanced Original. Alaric starts forming a relationship with Jo, a doctor at the college, but decides it would be best if they weren't together and attempts to compel her into thinking she didn't enjoy their time together; this fails to work as Jo is a witch. After Damon comes back to life, Alaric tries to convince Elena to allow him to undo the compulsion. Damon and Enzo are abducted by Tripp Cooke, who plans to kill them by driving them into Mystic Falls. Alaric and Stefan attempt to save them, but Alaric passes the border and begins to succumb to the injuries that caused his death until Jo arrives to keep him alive in a human state. This prevents him from reversing his compulsion on Elena. In season six, Alaric and Jo are married and expecting a baby. Jo is killed at their wedding and in season seven he attempts to resurrect her.

In season seven, it is revealed that the Gemini Coven placed Alaric and Jo's twins inside Caroline Forbes for protection. Caroline gives birth to the twins, named Josie and Lizzie (after Jo and Liz Forbes). They eventually move to Texas and become a family. Caroline and Alaric do not remain together as she begins a relationship with Stefan. In season eight, Alaric and Caroline co-parent their children, who've begun using magic. Alaric later turns the armory into a school for kids like his daughters, to teach them to control their powers. In the series finale, Alaric opens a school for gifted youngsters with Caroline in Stefan's name, where he and his daughters are watched over by Jo.

Enzo St. John

• Played by Michael Malarkey
• Starring seasons: 6–8
• Recurring seasons: 5

Michael Malarkey

Lorenzo "Enzo" St. John is a vampire formerly under the imprisonment of the Augustine society, where he was Damon's cellmate in the 1950s. He and Damon later revive their friendship while he searches for his lost lover, Maggie. Enzo shuts off his humanity after Damon reveals that he was the one who killed Maggie and then killed himself by having Stefan rip his heart out. He was resurrected in the season finale.

Enzo is a series regular in season six,^[3] helping Caroline discover a way to resurrect Damon and Bonnie. After they visit Stefan and learn that he had been lying about searching for a solution, Enzo kills Stefan's human girlfriend, Ivy. In response to this, Stefan later finds Enzo, incapacitates him, and turns him over to Tripp Cooke, a vampire hunter with a familial link to Mystic Falls. It is later revealed that Enzo had made Ivy drink his blood, and she became a vampire. Enzo won't reveal the names of other vampires, so Tripp plans to drive him and Damon into Mystic Falls to kill them, reuniting the two friends (in chains once again), who are narrowly saved by Stefan and Alaric.

In season seven, out of love for Lily, Enzo allies himself with the Heretics. Eventually, he begins working for The Armory due to his interest in his past and later to learn his family's purposes. Enzo hides Bonnie from the Armory as they need her to open a mysterious vault. He gives her pills to mute her magic and the two fall in love. Enzo pursues Damon into a vault in the Armory when discolored and long-clawed hands grab his face and pull him backward.

In season eight, Enzo falls under the control of the siren Sybil, killing many humans across the country with Damon. His love for Bonnie, however, prevents him from falling completely under Sybil's control. Bonnie rescues him and the two resume their relationship, eventually planning for Enzo to take the cure and buy a house together in New York. Enzo is murdered by Stefan (on Cade's orders), which causes Bonnie to unleash her psychic powers. She sees visions of Enzo but breaks their connection in order to channel her powers into saving Caroline's daughters. Enzo makes her promise to live her life and swears he will see her again before she lets him go. Enzo then makes Bonnie realize her strength, and continues to watch over her as she fulfills her promise by living her life as she happily travels the world.

Elizabeth Forbes

• Played by Marguerite MacIntyre
• Seasons: 1–6 and 8

Elizabeth "Liz" Forbes is the Sheriff of Mystic Falls and the mother of Caroline Forbes. Her husband, Bill Forbes, who was a member of the town's council, had left her for another man after revealing that he was gay. She is first introduced at a Founders Day party at Mayor Lockwood's house. There, she is shown to have a strained relationship with her daughter. However, she does care a lot for her well-being, which is shown when she arrests a bartender after Caroline gets drunk. She is revealed to be a member of the Founders' Council, a secret organization dedicated to protecting Mystic Falls from vampires. Liz becomes friends with Damon after he saves her from Lexi Branson, and is seen letting him know about the council's plans. In the season one finale, she is handcuffed by John Gilbert for disagreeing with his plan to use the town as bait to capture the tomb vampires. She is later saved by Carol Lockwood, but they are unable to save Mayor Lockwood, who is burned with the vampires. Liz then finds out that her daughter has been in a car crash and goes to the hospital, where she is comforted by Damon.

In season two, Carol accuses Liz of getting Mayor Lockwood killed. Liz is later informed by Mason Lockwood that Damon and Stefan are vampires, though she is skeptical, particularly regarding Damon. She tests him by slipping vervain into his drink and he reacts negatively to it. When Damon and Stefan assume Mason did it and attempt to take care of him in the woods, Liz ambushes and shoots the brothers and has them injected with vervain. Liz tortures Damon in an attempt to learn how he and Stefan can walk in the sun, but is interrupted when Elena appears, followed by Caroline, who kills the deputies. Liz is locked in the cellar at the Salvatore House so that the vervain can get out of her system and she can be compelled to forget everything. Liz asks Damon to keep Caroline away from her, but after a talk Liz eventually accepts Caroline being a vampire; Caroline decides to compel her and Liz loses her memory of the whole ordeal.

After Matt discovers the truth about vampires from Caroline, he tells Liz, who comes up with a plan to make Matt pretend to be compelled to forget, while he actually has vervain in his system. Liz then uses Matt to spy on Caroline, who she believes is a monster. Liz tries to capture and kill Damon, but accidentally shoots Jeremy instead. Believing she has killed Jeremy, she is shocked to discover that Bonnie is able to resurrect him. She finds out that Matt came clean to Caroline. After confessing that neither wanted to secretly live in fear of one another, Liz accepts her daughter for what she is. After Caroline is locked in a cellar by her father for being a vampire, Liz and Tyler come to her rescue. Liz assists her daughter and her friends throughout the series as their relationship continues to improve and she becomes closer friends with Damon, before it is revealed that she's dying from cancer in season six. Liz is seen in the series finale watching over Caroline.

Richard Lockwood

• Played by Robert Pralgo
• Season: 1

Richard Lockwood was Tyler Lockwood's father, the mayor of Mystic Falls and the head of the Founders' Council. He had a bad relationship with his son and acts very authoritative towards him. It seems that he thinks of Tyler as a disappointment and when Tyler gets into a fist-fight with Matt Donovan at a party, Richard tells him to never embarrass his family again. When Tyler gets into a fight with Jeremy, he takes them outside and tells them to fight rather than talk to solve their problems. He had an unhappy marriage with Carol Lockwood and they constantly fight; he also flirts with Pearl. Although he seems kind and amicable to the outside world, he was actually quite selfish. In the season one finale, during Founders Day, he helps John Gilbert execute his plan to kill the tomb vampires. However, it backfires when he is affected by the device that neutralizes the vampires, due to carrying the werewolf gene. The deputies believe him to be a vampire and lock him in the basement, where he was killed by one of the tomb vampires.

Carol Lockwood

• Played by Susan Walters
• Seasons: 1–4

Carol Lockwood was the wife (and later widow) of Mayor Richard Lockwood and the mother of Tyler Lockwood. She was a member of The Founders' Council and knows of the existence of vampires, but not of the existence of werewolves. Throughout season one, Carol was locked in a hostile relationship with her best friend. She acts as a bad influence on her son Tyler, with much of his negative behavior emerging as a direct result of her snobbish behavior and emotional outbursts. In the season finale she shows, for the first time, that she cares for Richard. After releasing Liz, they vainly try to save Richard from the burning basement.

Carol was shaken and upset by her husband's death and blames it on the deputies. Carol finds Tyler in his father's study thrashing the room in an angry tantrum; this behavior frightens her and she was further shaken after Mason Lockwood calms Tyler. Carol later informs Damon that she was replacing Richard as the mayor until the next election and asks him to lead the council, which he accepts. After Tyler has turned into a werewolf and runs away, she finds a note from Tyler. It was later revealed that Elijah, one of the original vampires, convinced Carol to stop taking vervain in order to compel her. When Elena frees Elijah, he compels Carol to let him take refuge in the Lockwood Mansion. Later, Carol was compelled to make a phone call to Tyler, saying that she was in the hospital and wanted him to come and visit; Maddox then uses his powers to push her off the stairs, and she is hospitalized.

In season three, Carol learns that Caroline Forbes is a vampire; after Caroline sleeps with Tyler in the Lockwood Mansion, Carol shoots her with vervain darts. Carol then calls Caroline's father, Bill Forbes, and tells him about her. The next day, Carol slips vervain in Tyler's coffee to test if he is a vampire, and is relieved that he isn't. However, Tyler discovers this and confronts his mother, who says Caroline a monster. Tyler then shows Carol that he is a werewolf, and Carol promises that she will make sure Caroline isn't hurt. However, when she later calls Bill, she was unable to persuade him to free Caroline. When the doorway to the Other Side was opened, the ghosts of the tomb vampires decide to take revenge on the founding families and attack Carol. Caroline comes to Carol's rescue and holds them until the doorway is closed.

In the ninth episode of season four, Carol was killed by Klaus as payback for Tyler's plan to kill him.

Sheila Bennett

• Played by Jasmine Guy
• Seasons: 1, 3–5 and 8

Jasmine Guy

Sheila Bennett was the grandmother of Bonnie Bennett and a very powerful witch. She died after overusing her magic to seal away the tomb vampires. She usually appears to Bonnie (as a spirit) to help guide her whenever she overuses magic or is having trouble with her powers. Sheila continues to appear throughout the series, ensuring Bonnie's (and indirectly Damon's) survival. She makes an appearance in the series finale to help Bonnie save Mystic Falls with the rest of the Bennet witches.

Emily Bennett

• Played by Bianca Lawson
• Seasons: 1, 2 and 5

Bianca Lawson

Emily Bennett was the handmaiden of Katherine Pierce in 1864 and a powerful witch. She was a direct descendant of one of the women accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Emily was an ancestor of Bonnie Bennett through Sheila Bennett. She was the one who gave Katherine, Pearl, Anna, Harper, Damon and Stefan the jewelry which enabled them to walk in the sun. Although she helped these vampires, she secretly fought against them, for she enchanted Jonathan Gilbert's inventions, including a device which could hurt vampires. When the vampires were rounded-up by the Founding Families, she and Damon made a bargain: Damon would protect Emily's descendants and Emily would use her grimoire to protect Katherine by entombing her with 26 other vampires under the old Fell's Church. Emily was later burned at the stake by the Founding Families and her possessions, including her grimoire, were taken and buried in Giuseppe Salvatore's grave. Damon rescued Emily's children when the townspeople came for her.

In season one, Emily possesses Bonnie in order to stop Damon from freeing Katherine from the tomb. In season two, Bonnie takes on the power of a hundred dead witches, including Emily, by performing a spell on the place where the witches were burned. Bonnie and Stefan later go there again to ask the witches if they know a cure for a werewolf bite (inflicted on Damon). Emily possesses Bonnie and tells Stefan there isn't a cure, but when Bonnie is herself again, she tells Stefan that Emily mentioned Klaus, whose blood turns out to be the cure for a werewolf bite. When Jeremy dies, Bonnie was able to save him with help of Emily after she tells Emily that she loves him.

Lexi Branson

• Played by Arielle Kebbel
• Seasons: 1–5 and 8

Arielle Kebbel

Alexia "Lexi" Branson was a vampire and Stefan's best friend and companion. She had known Stefan and his brother Damon for over a century. Damon killed her to make the town council think that she was the vampire terrorizing Mystic Falls. Lexi returned as a ghost to help save Stefan. She later choked Damon for killing her but let him go. She and Stefan stayed together for the most part drinking and later parting on good terms. Through flashbacks when Damon was killing people in New York as "Son of Sam", Stefan sent Lexi to help Damon. For about 6 months they hung out while Lexi would ask Damon about Katherine, trying to help him remember love. One night Damon claimed that he didn't love Katherine and that he had fallen for Lexi, and they had a night of wild sex; the next morning he locked her on a rooftop with the sun coming up as punishment for her spying. She came back for a scene at the end of the series finale, where Stefan hugs her.

Anna

• Played by Malese Jow
• Seasons: 1–3

Malese Jow

Annabelle "Anna" was a vampire who comes to Mystic Falls in order to free her mother from the tomb. She was in Mystic Falls in 1864 with her mother, Pearl, and wants to open the tomb to free her mother. Anna turned Noah and Ben McKittrick into vampires to make them help her save her mother, turned Logan Fell to get Honoria Fell's diaries, and befriended Jeremy Gilbert to obtain his ancestor's journal. Anna later kidnaps Elena and Bonnie in order to make Bonnie open the tomb, but they are saved by Stefan, who kills Ben in the process. After Bonnie opens the tomb for Damon to free Katherine, Anna succeeds in freeing her mother and bringing her back to life. Anna later reveals to Damon that she knew Katherine wasn't in the tomb, but needed him to believe it in order to free her mother.

Anna developed romantic feelings for Jeremy, who suspects that she was not human and tests it by forcing her to drink his blood. Anna confronts Jeremy over this, and refuses his requests to turn him into a vampire. She initially attempts to hide her involvement with Jeremy from Pearl, and Anna and Pearl eventually get into a fight. Anna agrees to turn Jeremy but learns his motive is to get over his first love, Vicki. After a short period of distance, they make up, both admitting to having used each other, but have fallen in love along the way. Anna enrolls in high school in order to spend time with Jeremy, and they begin a romantic relationship. Pearl is killed by Jeremy's uncle John Gilbert, devastating Anna, who is consoled by Jeremy.

On Founder's Day, Anna gives Jeremy a vial of her blood, telling him that if he drinks it he will die and become a vampire. She goes to the remaining tomb vampires, then reveals their plans to Damon – possibly to protect Jeremy. Damon warns her about the device; she is protecting Jeremy when John Gilbert sets it off, and was immediately incapacitated. A policeman finds her with Jeremy, injects her with vervain and takes her to the Gilbert building to be burned with other vampires, repeating the 1864 plan to eradicate their kind. When John Gilbert sees Anna lying in the building with the other vampires, he stakes her; her body is burned with the others. Damon sees this and later tells Jeremy how Anna died, regretting that he wasn't able to help. Jeremy questions whether it would be better to be a vampire and Damon admits it would be easier to turn the emotions off. Later, Jeremy drinks Anna's blood and takes all of Elena's sleeping pills.

In the season two finale, Anna and Vicki's spirits appear to Jeremy, after he was brought back to life by a spell of Bonnie's. In season three, Anna and Vicki appear more often to Jeremy, and Anna warns Jeremy not to trust Vicki, who asks Jeremy to help her come back to life. Later, Anna tells Jeremy that she was "on the other side". She tells Jeremy that she understands he had to move on with Bonnie. They later get in an argument when Anna warns Jeremy about the darkness, popping-up at an awkward time. Jeremy shuts Anna out, leaving her alone on the Other Side. When Jeremy tells Bonnie, she asks him to no longer talk to Anna and completely shut her out.

To make Anna reveal the location of Mikael, Katherine and Damon kidnap and begin hurting Jeremy. Anna and Jeremy seem to be talking again, working together to stop Vicki. Anna's re-appearances indicate that Jeremy is thinking about her, even when he's with Bonnie. When the doorway to the Other Side is opened, they are able to touch and secretly hang out. Elena sees them as they kiss, and Bonnie is influenced to close the doorway when she learns of this.

Elena continues to fight with Jeremy and Anna over their relationship. It is revealed that Anna stole a necklace which is the key to keeping the door open, in hopes of finding her mother. Crying, she tells Jeremy she didn't meant for anyone to get hurt and she just didn't want to be alone anymore. Jeremy consoles her, and she gives him the necklace, letting him know it is alright to let her go. Before the door is closed, Anna finds her mother and they make peace.

Isobel Flemming

• Played by Mia Kirshner
• Seasons: 1–2

Mia Kirshner

Isobel Flemming was Elena's birth mother and a descendant of Katherine Pierce. When Isobel was a teenager, she had a relationship with John Gilbert, by whom she later had a baby, Elena. When Isobel was pregnant, John brought her to his brother, Grayson Gilbert, who helped her through labor. After Elena's birth, a heartbroken Isobel gave her daughter to Grayson and his wife Miranda Gilbert. Isobel attended Duke University where she studied supernatural beings. Later in life, she met and married Alaric Saltzman. However, Isobel became obsessed with vampires and after being romantically involved with him, she asked Damon to turn her. She was assumed dead by the police and Alaric thought that she was killed by Damon after seeing them together.

In season one, Alaric comes to Mystic Falls to seek revenge on Damon, who admits that he killed Isobel, but that he also turned her into a vampire on her own request. Elena reaches out when she learns that Isobel is her biological mother, but Isobel avoids contact. Isobel later shows up at the Mystic Grill, greets Alaric, and threatens to kill everyone in town if she doesn't meet Elena. She is later visited by John in a loaned house, where she had two human minions, Cherie and Frank. It was revealed that Isobel, just like John, wants Jonathan's Gilbert's device – because Katherine, whom she seemingly befriended, wants all the tomb vampires dead. In season two, it was revealed that Isobel wants them dead in order to protect Elena from Klaus. She asks Elena to make Damon give her the device, threatening to hurt Matt and Jeremy. Elena convinces Damon to give her the device by saying that Bonnie can despell it. However, it is later revealed that Bonnie only pretended to despell it. Elena gives Isobel the device, saying that Damon gave it out of love for her. It was revealed that Isobel cares about Elena and they plot to use the device to kill all the tomb vampires and the Salvatore brothers in order to protect her. Before leaving town, Isobel compels Alaric to get over her and tells him that she realizes it was a mistake to become a vampire.

In season two, Isobel returns and introduces herself to Jenna Sommers as Elena's mother, but Elena refuses to invite her in and slams the door in her face. However, John invites her in the next day. Isobel asks Elena to join her at a place safe from Klaus, but Elena refuses. Isobel later tells Katherine that she made a deal with Klaus for Katherine's freedom, but she has to give Klaus the moonstone and the Petrova doppelgänger, Elena. Isobel tells Katherine to retrieve the moonstone from the Salvatore brothers. It was revealed that she asked John to break up Jenna and Alaric because she was jealous. Isobel then kidnaps Alaric and takes Elena to a graveyard where her parents placed a tombstone for her. It is revealed that Klaus compelled Isobel to devise a plan to capture Katherine and retrieve the moonstone, which was why she returned. Isobel tells Elena that as a human she dreamt of meeting her daughter, but instead Elena has only met the part of her that would betray her own flesh and blood. She then receives a message from Maddox to set Elena free and kill herself by taking off her necklace, exposing herself to sunlight and being burned to death.

John Gilbert

• Played by David Anders
• Seasons: 1, 2, 5 and 8

David Anders

Johnathan "John" Gilbert II was Grayson Gilbert's younger brother, Elena's biological father and Jeremy's uncle. In their youth, Grayson taught him about the vampires through the journals of their ancestor, Johnathan Gilbert. They inherited one ring each, which prevented them from being killed by supernatural forces. John had a crush on Isobel Flemming-Saltzman and sent her to Damon when she wanted to become a vampire. After her transformation, Isobel found John and they formed a partnership to obtain a mysterious invention created by Jonathan Gilbert.

John arrived in Mystic Falls for Founder's Day and was shown as a member of the Founders' Council. However, he knew Damon was a vampire, that there had been a tomb under the Fell's Church, and he knew about Katherine. He tried to intimidate Damon into helping him find the invention but Damon threatened to kill him and everyone in the Council. Alaric and Damon discovered John was watching the vampires who had been in the tomb. John confronts Pearl about her possession of the invention but Pearl had already given it to Damon. When Isobel returns to town, John obtains the invention, and it is revealed Isobel and John were working for Katherine and planning to kill the tomb vampires. Unofficially, their goal was to kill the Salvatore brothers and save Elena from suffering in a life filled with vampires. John was additionally responsible for staking Pearl. John's fingers (including one wearing the wring) are cut off by Katherine who stabs him, posing as Elena to gain access to the Gilbert house in the season one finale.

In the season two premiere, John was rushed to hospital and was confronted by Stefan and Elena about Katherine's attack on him. Stefan then tells John that Elena does not want him there and Stefan threatens to turn John into a vampire if he does not leave. John packs his bags and gives his ring to Jeremy, though it was not made clear whether he had actually left Mystic Falls. John later returns to Mystic Falls and tells Jenna that he was Elena's biological father. It was revealed that he and Isobel were working together to free Katherine. Elena had trouble believing and trusting John, especially after he invites Isobel into their house; Elena rejects them and leaves. Isobel kills John at a party at the Lockwood Mansion, but he was seen wearing his ring and was brought back to life hours later. Upon learning that Isobel had committed suicide, John comes to the conclusion that he's no longer wanted anywhere in Mystic Falls and prepares to leave. Elena asks him to stay as he's the only parent she had left. Later, he goes through with a spell to save Elena from turning into a vampire, at the cost of his own life. He leaves Elena his ring and a letter saying he would have loved her as a human or vampire.

Meredith Fell

• Played by Torrey DeVitto
• Seasons: 3–4

Torrey DeVitto

Dr. Meredith Fell is a local doctor and a member of the Founders' Council. She uses vampire blood to cure people and starts dating Alaric. She knows that Alaric is unknowingly killing people because of his ring and wants to help him.

April Young

• Played by Grace Phipps
• Seasons: 4

Grace Phipps

April Young is a girl from Elena and Jeremy's past; Elena used to babysit her. She returns to Mystic Falls for her father's memorial service. She is openly nice and befriends almost everyone. April becomes Rebekah's first real friend. She was unaware of the existence of supernatural creatures in Mystic Falls and was visibly frightened by Connor Jordan, who attacked her twice during his vampire hunts. When Rebekah disappears, April finds her and frees her by removing the dagger. She learns about the existence of vampires in Mystic Falls from Rebekah and helps her gain information from Elena, Stefan and Caroline about the cure for vampirism.

Liv Parker

• Played by Penelope Mitchell
• Seasons: 5–6

Penelope Mitchell

Olivia "Liv" Parker is a powerful and talented witch. She is in a coven – one which hates everything the Travelers stand for – that protects doppelgängers from the Travelers, especially Elena. She was a witch of the Gemini Coven and the twin sister of the late Luke Parker. Liv was the younger sister of Josette Parker, Malachai Parker, Joey Parker and three deceased unnamed siblings. She was the youngest daughter of Joshua Parker.

In season five, Liv was seen attending Whitmore College. She was introduced as an inexperienced witch and sought out Bonnie Bennett to help her. However, Liv and her brother were secretly sent by their coven to stop Markos and the Travelers. After Caroline Forbes snaps Luke's neck sending him to the Other Side, Liv was forced to perform a spell that allows the deceased to be resurrected. Luke was revived and, as Liv became weaker, he told her to stop the spell. The two then fled, leaving Damon and Bonnie trapped in the collapsing Other Side.

In season six, Liv continued attending college and had developed a romantic relationship in Tyler Lockwood. She carefully watched over Tyler, doing everything to make sure his werewolf gene didn't trigger. Liv and Luke are later reunited with their long-lost sister, Jo; they reveal that, as the twin children of the Gemini Coven's leader, they must merge their powers on their twenty-second birthday – the stronger of the two will become more powerful while the weaker will die. In the season six finale, Liv was killed by Tyler – at her request – so that he could trigger his werewolf gene in order to heal the wounds inflicted on him by Kai.

Luke Parker

• Played by Chris Brochu
• Seasons: 5–6

Lucas "Luke" Parker is a warlock and Liv's twin brother. He is protective of his sister and is in the same coven as her. He is openly gay. He is a younger brother of twins Josette and Malachai Parker, Joey Parker and three unnamed deceased siblings. He was the youngest son of Joshua Parker.

In season five, Luke was seen attending Whitmore College. He quickly found himself working with Elena and her friends in an effort to stop Markos and the Travelers. Luke's neck was snapped by Caroline Forbes in order to motivate Liv to cast a spell to resurrect him, Stefan and the rest of their deceased friends on the rapidly disintegrating Other Side. Liv eventually revived Luke, and when he saw how the spell was draining her of her life force, he used his magic to force her to stop the spell. The two then fled, leaving Damon and Bonnie trapped on the Other Side when it collapsed.

In season six, it was revealed that Luke felt bad for leaving Damon and Bonnie trapped on the Other Side, and started providing hallucinogenic herbs to Elena so she could communicate with Damon. Luke explained to the group about his family's dark past and how he would eventually have to merge with his twin, Liv. He completed the merge ceremony with Kai through a loophole because he didn't want to kill Liv, nor did he want Kai to do the same to Jo and take the leadership of their coven. He went into the ceremony believing that he could win, but he ended up losing the merge ceremony and his life essence was absorbed by Kai, along with his ability to possess magic (something Kai was not born with). An unintended side-effect of the merge was Kai absorbing Luke's personality traits, such as his compassion and empathy, which have tempered his own sociopathic personality.

Malachai Parker

• Played by Chris Wood
• Seasons: 6 and 8

Malachai "Kai" Parker is the twin brother of Josette, the older brother of Olivia, Lucas, Joey, and three other unnamed and deceased Parker siblings. He is a Siphoner, a witch born without the ability to generate his own magic but possessing a rare power that allows him to siphon and use magic from other sources. Because of this, Kai's parents and the rest of the Gemini Coven (excluding his siblings) treated him as an abomination, which eventually caused him to go insane and kill the siblings born to replace him. The coven then harnessed the power of a solar eclipse to trap him in a purgatory dimension, which kept him trapped in a snapshot of May 10, 1994 for 20 years.

Lillian Salvatore

• Played by Annie Wersching
• Seasons: 6–7

Annie Wersching

Lillian "Lily" Salvatore is the mother of Stefan and Damon Salvatore and the widow of the late Giuseppe Salvatore. It has been suggested that she was kinder than her husband, Giuseppe. When Lily was very sick with consumption, she was sent away by Giuseppe. An unknown nurse (who was assumed to have been a vampire) fed her vampire blood while she was in the tuberculosis ward in 1858. Lily died of consumption, triggering her transformation into a vampire. Realizing this, Lily faked her death and abandoned her family, protecting them from the threat she posed. When she fled to Europe, she succumbed to her bloodlust and became a Ripper vampire, slaughtering victims for blood in the most gruesome ways. Lily moved from city to city, killing many people, until she was encountered by the Gemini Coven in Manhattan. As a punishment for killing so many people, they trapped her in a prison world on October 31, 1903, where she was stuck for over a century.

Valerie Tulle

• Played by Elizabeth Blackmore (season 7) and Katie Lumpkin (season 6)
• Seasons: 6–7

Valerie is a witch-vampire hybrid, and a member of the Heretics. She had a short romance with Stefan in 1863, when she was human. Valerie shelters in Stefan's house after being disowned and nearly killed by her own family. Valerie later helps Alaric find his unborn twin daughters, who had been spelled into Caroline's vampire womb. Valerie and Stefan discover a desiccated Caroline and realize the talisman didn't work. Valerie gathers the remaining Heretics and together they perform a spell to attract the babies into being born. As others are forced to leave, Valerie stays behind, and Bonnie arrives to tell her of Beau's death. Bonnie and Valerie then perform a spell and the babies are born.

Valerie speaks to Stefan of a magical safehouse for supernatural travelers in New Orleans, though then loses contact with him and informs Bonnie about it. She works with Matt – despite their antagonistic relationship – to help Stefan escape from Rayna Cruz. Valerie informs Damon of the Armory's dark intentions. While Valerie and Stefan spend three years running from Rayna, they search for a magical herb to cloak Stefan's Hunter scar from Rayna's tracking abilities, and later begin a romantic relationship. Damon gets Valerie to reveal that she knew all along about a cure for Stefan's Hunter scar, but didn't want to lose Stefan to Damon or Caroline. Valerie is subdued by Damon before she can transfer the scar onto Damon, which buys Rayna enough time to stab Stefan with her sword and trap him in the Phoenix Stone. Valerie flees on an airplane, distressed about Stefan's entrapment.

Sybil

• Played by Nathalie Kelley
• Seasons: 7–8

Sybil is a siren and the servant of Arcadius, more commonly known as the Devil. Originally, she was a human psychic who was banished from her village because of her psychic abilities, and cast into the ocean only to wash up on a deserted island. There she met and connected with another young psychic named Seline. Tricked into partaking in cannibalism by Seline to avoid starvation, Sybil threw herself off a cliff once she learned the truth and was forcibly turned into a siren against her wishes by Arcadius and at Seline's behest. Granted immortality, beauty and youth in exchange for her service, Sybil must feast on the flesh of the wicked to keep herself beautiful and delivers to Arcadius the souls of the damned.

Seline

• Played by Kristen Gutoskie
• Seasons: 8

Seline is the other siren and servant of the Devil. Exiled to an island to die because of her psychic abilities, Seline chose to become a cannibal to avoid starvation and deceived her "sister-by-choice" Sybil into becoming a cannibal against her wishes. After her sister tried to take her own life once she learned the truth, Arcadius appeared before them and offered aide in exchange for their servitude. Seline accepted on both their behalf and entered into a deal with Cade. So long as they continued to serve Arcadius, he would grant them both immortality, beauty and youth. They would feast on the flesh to keep them beautiful and he'd reape the souls of the wicked.

Season one

• Zach Salvatore, portrayed by Chris William Martin, is Damon and Stefan's great-great-great-nephew, in the first five episodes of the series before being killed by Damon after Zach locked him in a cellar.^[4]
• Logan Fell, portrayed by Chris J. Johnson in season one, is a news reporter who has a short romantic relationship with Jenna, but is later killed by Damon. He returns as a vampire, having been fed blood by Anna, but is eventually killed by Alaric.
• Harper, portrayed by Sterling Sulieman in season one, is a kind-hearted vampire that escapes from the tomb when it is opened, but he is killed by John Gilbert.
• Kelly Donovan, portrayed by Melinda Clarke in season one, is the mother of Matt and Vicki Donovan, who returns to Mystic Falls and learns her daughter has died. After a long absence from the series, Kelly makes a brief return in season eight. She claims to have died 2 years prior to her appearance and was sent to hell; when Matt rings the Maxwell bell earlier in season eight he opened a door to hell and Katherine helped her and Vicki (Kelly's daughter and Matt's sister) escape in exchange for later help in destroying Mystic Falls. She almost kills Matt's father.

Season two

• Luka Martin, portrayed by Bryton James in season two, is a warlock who befriends Bonnie, but it is later found out that he and his father work for Elijah. He is burned to death by Damon's flamethrower when he tries to invisibly save Elijah.
• Jonas Martin, portrayed by Randy J. Goodwin in season two, is Luka's father. He is a warlock and is introduced as a friend of Elijah's who can help defeat Klaus in order to save his daughter.^[5] He is later killed by Stefan.^[6]
• Jules, portrayed by Michaela McManus in season two, is a werewolf who comes to town looking for answers regarding Mason's death.^[7] She helps Tyler deal with being a werewolf, but is later killed during the sacrifice.
• Andie Star, portrayed by Dawn Olivieri in season two and the first episode of season three, is a love-interest for Damon. He first uses her for feeding and sex, but later grows fond of her. She is killed by Stefan when he wants to prove to Damon that he is not worth saving.
• Maddox, portrayed by Gino Anthony Pesi at the end of season two, is a warlock who works for Klaus. He is shot by Matt in the back and killed by Damon.
• Dana, portrayed by Anna Enger, is a student at Mystic Falls High School who was compelled by Klaus (in Alaric's body) at the decade dance to tell Elena to save the last dance for him. She makes her second and final appearance on the show in season three, when Elena and all her classmates are at prank night and Klaus compels Stefan to kill both Dana and a student named Chad.

Season four

• Connor Jordan, portrayed by Todd Williams in season four, is a vampire hunter and one of "The Five", a group of supernatural vampire hunters. He comes to Mystic Falls to kill all the vampires there, but is killed by Elena. He later returns as a ghost trying to cure and kill Silas, but is stopped by the ghost of Alaric.
• Rudy Hopkins, portrayed by Rick Worthy in season four, is Bonnie's father and the town's new mayor, replacing Carol Lockwood. He is killed by Silas in the season five premiere.
• Galen Vaughn, portrayed by Charlie Bewley in season four, is a vampire hunter and one of "The Five". He attacks the group on the island to stop the waking of Silas, but gets stuck in a well and starves to death. He later returns as a ghost trying to cure and kill Silas, but is stopped by the ghost of Alaric.

Season five

• Silas, portrayed by Paul Wesley in the season four finale and season five, is the first immortal being on earth. After being awakened he tries to destroy the Other Side, then take the cure so he can be with his true love, Amara. He is eventually killed by Stefan.
• Jesse, portrayed by Kendrick Sampson in season five, is a student at Whitmore College who likes Caroline. He gets turned into a vampire who feeds on other vampires by Professor Maxfield, but is killed by Elena when he attacks Damon.
• Aaron Whitmore, portrayed by Shaun Sipos in season five, is a student at Whitmore College. Professor Maxfield became his legal guardian after Damon had killed his family. He is killed by Damon, after Katherine (in Elena's body) breaks up with him.
• Markos, portrayed by Raffi Barsoumian in season five, is the leader of the Travelers, who comes back from the dead. He wants to break the curse the witches put on the Travelers using Elena and Stefan's blood. Damon and Elena eventually kill him and all the remaining Travelers.

Season six

• Tripp Cooke, portrayed by Colin Ferguson in season six, is a vampire hunter and descendant of the Fell family.
• Ivy, portrayed by Emily C. Chang in season six, is first introduced as Stefan's human girlfriend who is later turned into a vampire after a visit from Enzo and Caroline. She is killed by Tripp who drove her and other vampires across the Mystic Falls border via the Traveler's spell.
• Liam Davis, portrayed by Marco James Marquez, is a medical student at Whitmore College who Elena briefly dates.
• Malcolm, portrayed by Kent Wagner in season six and by Justice Leak in season seven, is described as being Lily's favorite Heretic.
• Oscar Addams, portrayed by Wing Liu in season six and by Tim Kang in season seven, is a Heretic. Released from the 1903 Prison World by Kai, Oscar and five other Heretics are cloaked away (also by Kai). In season seven, Lily sends him on a mission to retrieve her one true love's body. Later, it is revealed he was sent by Lily to check on Damon during his time in the war. He is described as the fun or humorous Heretic.

Season seven

• Elizabeth "Lizzie" Saltzman, portrayed by Tierney Mumford, is a siphon, the twin sister of Josie and the daughter of Alaric Saltzman and Josette Laughlin.
• Josette "Josie" Saltzman, portrayed by Lily Rose Mumford, is a siphon, the twin sister of Lizzie and the daughter of Alaric Saltzman and Josette Laughlin.
• Alexandria "Alex" St. John, portrayed by Mouzam Makkar, is a distant cousin of Enzo and the former leader of the Armory. She is looking for a Bennett witch (particularly Bonnie) to undo a spell that has her sister, Yvette, trapped in the Armory's vault.