The Vampire Diaries (novel series): Difference between revisions

The Vampire Diaries
	The Vampire Diaries: The Return: Midnight
	The Awakening; The Struggle; The Fury; Dark Reunion; The Return: Nightfall; The Return: Shadow Souls; The Return: Midnight; The Hunters: Phantom; The Hunters: Moonsong; The Hunters: Destiny Rising
Author	Created By L. J. Smith (ghostwritten by Clare)
Language	English
Genre	Horror,; Fantasy,; Romance,; Young-adult fiction
Publisher	Harper Paperbacks
Published	September 1991–1992; February 2009 – October 2012
Media type	Print (hardcover, paperback), eBook

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The Vampire Diaries was a young adult vampire horror series of novels created by L. J. Smith. The story centers on Elena Gilbert, a young high school girl who finds herself eventually torn between two vampire brothers, Stefan and Damon Salvatore. The series was originally a trilogy published in 1991, but pressure from readers led Smith to write a fourth volume, Dark Reunion, which was released the following year in 1992. The entire series revolves around Stefan and Elena as the two main protagonists. The first three novels in the original series: The Awakening, The Struggle, and The Fury all feature Stefan Salvatore and Elena Gilbert as the narrators of the series. The first three novels in the original series are both from Stefan and Elena's point of view, but the last book in the original series, Dark Reunion, is from Bonnie McCullough's viewpoint.

After taking a long hiatus from writing Smith announced a new spin off trilogy in 2007 entitled The Vampire Diaries: The Return which featured Damon as the protagonist. The first installment of The Return trilogy, Nightfall, was released on February 10, 2009. Shadow Souls, the second book of The Return trilogy, was released on March 16, 2010. The third and final book of The Return trilogy, Midnight, was released on March 15, 2011.

The trilogy after The Return trilogy, The Hunters, will be written by a ghostwriter. The trilogy goes back to featuring Stefan and Elena as the narrators and main protagonists. Smith signed a "work for hire" contract back when she had written the original Vampire Diaries novel trilogy, which means Alloy owns the copyrights to the series. Many speculations have been made to why Smith was fired, but no official statement has been made by author or publisher. Smith had originally intended to call the books in The Hunters trilogy Phantom, Evensong and Eternity, but she retained the name Eternity and will be writing a book unrelated to the series called Eternity: A Vampire Love Story. The title of the third book in The Hunters trilogy is Destiny Rising, according to GoodReads.com.

The new trilogy of The Hunters will focus mainly on Stefan and Elena, their life in college and all the events surrounding it. Phantom was released on October 25, 2011. Moonsong was released on March 13, 2012. Destiny Rising, the final book of The Hunters trilogy and also, the final book of the entire series, was released on October 23, 2012.

A television series, which is loosely based on the book series (The first three novels in the original series as well as Dark Reunion), premiered on September 10, 2009, on The CW.^[1]

Plot Summary

The Awakening

The first book starts with Elena Gilbert, a beautiful, popular high school student in the small town of Fells Church, Virginia and her friends: Bonnie McCullough, Meredith Sulez, Matt Honeycutt, and Caroline Forbes. Elena breaks up with her boyfriend and best friend, Matt, when school starts and Matt at first thinks this is because Elena likes Stefan. Matt and Elena were described to be the golden couple; he was tall, athletic, blond and popular, but she realized she loved him as a brother. Just as with all of her previous relationships she felt as if she was always yearning for something more. As their senior year begins, Elena meets a new student from Italy, Stefan Salvatore, to whom she is instantly drawn. What Elena doesn't know is Stefan's deep secret; Stefan is a centuries old vampire. In the beginning Stefan repeatedly rejects Elena's advances as she looks exactly like his first love, a vampire named Katherine. Stefan's resistance is met with Elena's determination, and she eventually discovers his secret. As Elena and Stefan fall deeply and passionately in love, strange attacks begin to happen in the town of Fells Church while a dark stranger appears to Elena. He is eventually revealed to be Stefan's older brother, Damon, who had followed Stefan to Fells Church. Stefan tells Elena that in Renaissance Italy, the brothers both fell in love with the young vampire named Katherine. They fought for her love and in the end they ended up killing each other and both brothers became vampires when Katherine killed herself. Stefan disappears and Elena goes to look for him by calling to Damon, his brother, in the forest.

The Struggle

Picking up where The Awakening left off, Elena confronts Damon about Stefan's disappearance. When Elena rejects his romantic advances and remains loyal to Stefan and her love for him, he refuses to help her find Stefan. Bonnie, who is believed to have the psychic powers, uses magic to track down Stefan. The girls and Matt discover Stefan trapped in a well, close to death. After they rescue him, Elena gives him her blood to speed his recovery. Because of the common belief that he has attacked area residents, Stefan still faces hostility in the town. As Founder's Day approaches, Elena learns that Caroline Forbes has robbed her diary, whose contents can be read as evidence that Stefan is a violent criminal. Bonnie, Meredith and Elena break into Caroline's house to search for the diary but fail to find it. Damon offers to help Elena's cause - if she gives him her blood. Elena initially refuses, but she gives in when Damon threatens to feed off her little sister, Margaret, instead. Damon and Elena do a blood exchange. Soon after, Elena tells Stefan about the missing diary. Stefan tells Elena, that even if Caroline reveals the contents of Elena's diary to the whole town, because of his love for her, he will stay. On Founder's Day, when Caroline prepares to read the diary in public, Elena learns that Damon has switched Elena's diary for Caroline's. Damon accepts Elena's thanks, but his satisfaction turns to anger when he hears about her engagement to Stefan. Aunt Judith is also displeased. Frustrated by their reactions, Elena storms off in her car and soon detects something malevolent about the weather. She tries to cross running water, as she thinks this will keep her safe. As she drives over a bridge, it breaks, and Elena drives into the water. She then drowns.

The Fury

The third book deals with Elena's turning and adjustment to having become a vampire, as well as her confusion at loving both brothers. Stefan finds Elena dead at Wickery Bridge, and believes that the force that was chasing Elena was Damon. They fight, and in the middle of it, Elena awakens, and impulsively, unknowingly attacks Stefan, as Damon had given Elena more of his blood in the exchange and as such viewed Stefan as a threat to her creator. They stop the fight, Stefan is extremely crushed, devastated and broken-hearted, presuming that her attack on him meant she loved Damon more and hated him, and Damon tries to clear everything up, being very nice and rational to Elena. Still caring and deeply concerned for Elena whether she loved him or not, Stefan persuaded his best friend Matt to feed Elena his blood to help her control her blood lust, leaving Matt in complete shock because of what she had become, as well from discovering Stefan had almost killed Tyler Smallwood and his buddies, leaving Caroline un-harmed. Damon left Elena in the attic of Robert E. Lee's history teacher for her safety and she awoke days later to stumble across her own funeral reception. After reading her diary, Elena's memories returned clearly and she was extremely happy, overjoyed and relieved when Stefan forgave her. But the Other Power was taking control of the animals in Fell's Church, driving many to dispose of their pets. Elena persuades the brothers to work together to stop this powerful force. While having to stay out of the way of the town's new vampire hunter (the new teacher, Alaric Saltzman), Stefan, Damon, Elena and her friends search for the source of the dark presence that has overtaken the town and which they also suspect to be behind Elena's death. They find the answer in Honoria Fell's tomb, and it turns out to be Katherine, who in fact did not die centuries before as the brothers had thought. Instead, she had faked her death, having her maid bring ashes from the kitchen, lay them out on her dress, and put her lapis lazuli ring on top, while she had another forged, making it looked as if she had killed herself. Since then, Stefan has lived with the guilt of her death, while Katherine has spent that time seething with anger. She decides to take revenge, and is envious of Elena for robbing both brothers' love. Katherine reveals that she is the one who attacked Vicki and ran Elena off the bridge. They are all tortured brutally, and Elena ends this by knocking Katherine into the light of the tomb. She is unsuccessful at getting herself out of the sunshine fast enough and dies, saying that she wants both brothers' word that they would take care of one another because Damon is often misunderstood, and she wants the fraternal rivalry to end, also telling Stefan that she loved him, and that she did not want this to happen, causing pain for him as Katherine had.

Dark Reunion

As a psychic, Bonnie has dreams of Elena in the Other world. But the dreams turn frightening, which causes the death of one of their friends. A source of power has infiltrated Fell's Church, putting its inhabitants in danger. Meredith, Matt, and Bonnie use a summoning spell to call for Stefan and Damon. Bonnie takes the leading role as she writes in the diary. She also finds a possible romance with Matt Honeycutt. After performing research, Stefan realizes Tyler Smallwood is a werewolf. They lure Tyler into the graveyard and find out that Klaus, the vampire who turned Katherine, is the killer. The four find out from Meredith's mad grandfather that the only thing that can weaken Klaus is White Ash wood. Klaus makes a deal with Stefan to come with him. Although Stefan warns Bonnie, Meredith, and Matt not to follow, they do. They see Stefan with a branch of White Ash wood, and Bonnie realizes it's a trap. There is a fight at the old Francher place deep in the Old Wood. They are losing the fight, and Stefan is on the brink of death. Damon appears and stakes Klaus. However, Klaus is not hurt badly, and he attacks Damon. Bonnie screams for Elena, who appears as a glowing mist along with the spirits of Civil War soldiers that had fought and died in Fell's Church. They charge Klaus and carry him away. Elena almost leaves forever and then is granted another chance to come back to life.

The Return: Nightfall

Picking up one week after Elena was brought back to life, she is in a childlike state and cannot read, write or speak, except with mental pictures. Caroline awakes early every morning to talk with a reflection of herself in the mirror, as Damon observes. He feels a sting at his neck, but asks Caroline to invite him in. He is about to drain her of blood but realizes something is influencing him. Stefan allows Bonnie, Meredith, and Caroline to visit Elena, who kisses Caroline on the lips to identify her. This upsets Caroline, who is ordered to leave. It is revealed that Mrs. Flowers is a witch and her mother died at the turn of the 20th century. Meredith, Bonnie, and Matt crash into a tree, which grows larger and larger, trapping them inside their car. Bonnie calls Damon for help and he saves her. Stefan saves Matt and Meredith, while Damon heals Bonnie. Elena wakes up one morning back to normal. She and Stefan invite everyone for a picnic, where they agree that malach, evil parasitic creatures, have infested the Old Wood and are under someone's control. A kitsune, a fox-spirit from Japan who calls himself the "Hell Shinichi," appears. He and his sister Misao want the town of Fell's Church.Stefan disappears. Damon makes a deal with Shinichi to let them destroy the town, but let him and "his girls" get out safely. Shinichi makes the malach inside Damon (that entered him though the sting he felt earlier) grow. More malach also enter. The young girls of the town is acting strangely. Meredith and Bonnie find Caroline scuttling like a lizard. Elena uses "Wings of Purification" to heal Damon from the malach. She also uses the "Wings of Redemption" and "Wings of Remembrance" to help Damon regain the memories when he was possessed.

The Return: Shadow Souls

Damon, with Elena and Matt, follows Stefan into the Dark Dimension to set him free from the prison he has been tricked into. When Matt sees Elena and Damon getting too close, he turns back and sends Bonnie and Meredith to inform Elena about what is happening back home. Bonnie and Meredith join Elena as all three are forced to enter as the property of Damon. Elena and Damon exchange blood many times throughout this book and grow closer and sharing a few passionate kisses. Stefan is imprisoned, and only Elena can free him by finding the hidden halves of the kitsune key to his cell. Back home, Matt is hiding from the law and trying to fight the evil kitsune who are destroying their community. He enlists the help of the local doctor and her nephew, the boarding house owner, and Isobel's grandmother, who was once a priestess, to keep their home together. Elena and Damon go to Stefan's prison and free him. Elena then feeds him her blood. As they leave, a good kitsune gives Elena a bouquet for Stefan. Damon's curiosity gets the better of him, and the flower turns him human with one spell. Stefan and Damon wish that they could switch places with one another: Stefan as a human, and Damon as a vampire.

The Return: Midnight

Damon is now human. He uses Misao's star ball to reopen the gate to the Dark Dimension and takes Bonnie with him by accident. Damon is then turned back into a vampire by Princess Jessalyn. Bonnie is arrested as a runaway slave and taken to an auction house to be sold. Shinichi buys Bonnie to extract information about Misao's star ball. Since the group has drained Power out of it, Misao is dying. Shinichi throws Bonnie out of a window, but Damon saves her. Meanwhile, in Fell's Church, Matt is arrested for assaulting Caroline, and Stefan, Elena, and Mrs. Flowers go to court to get him out. They bring in Saber, a hell hound Sage left to protect them. Caroline changes into a werewolf at the sight of him. The officials at the court turn into werewolves as well. When Matt is free, Stefan and Elena go into the Dark Dimension and find their friends. The four then travel to the Nether World in search of the largest star ball ever made in hopes that it will save their town. Sage is the guardian of the Gate where the treasures are, including the star ball. He lets the group visit one of the seven gateways. During the journey, Shinichi and Misao die, and Mrs. Flowers changes into a younger version of herself. Meredith discovers that she has a twin brother named Cristian, and Klaus took him when they were three years old. She also tells the group that she is a hunter-slayer and a new type of vampire with small fangs. The kitsune are working for Inari, Isobel's grandmother. She is the most powerful Kitsune in the world, and the star ball is hers. In the Nether World, on the smallest moon, the group finds the star ball in a tree. Damon is killed when the tree stakes him in the heart while he saves Bonnie from falling to her death. Elena uses her "Wings Of Destruction" to destroy the tree and star ball, killing Inari. Sage tells them that maybe the Celestial Court can reverse the damage did in Fell's Church. There the leader of the blonde Guardians reveal that Elena was originally destined to become a guardian. The Celestial Court agrees to reverse what was done in Fell's Church and erase the memories of what happened there. Elena can go home as if she never died, and Stefan will be accepted as her boyfriend. Vicki Bennett, Sue Carson, and Mr. Tanner get their lives back, but nothing can be done for Damon. Angered, Elena begins to unleash her wings of destruction, but a soldier named Lenea stops her. The Three Guardians of the Celestial Courts decide that Elena is unfit to wield the wings, so they clip them. Elena's wings and telepathy (with everyone but Stefan) are lost, and she is practically fully human again. The book ends on the Nether World's smallest moon. It is raining from the tree Elena destroyed, and liquid drips onto a body that thinks of two girls: Elena and Bonnie. It says if he can remember who he is, he can live again, and a name comes: Damon.

The Hunters: Phantom

The group explores the restored Fell's Church, but they are still sad that Damon has died. Elena is reunited with her family, which has hired Caleb Smallwood to work on their yard. He says that he is Tyler's cousin and that he has been staying with Tyler's parents since Tyler "ran away." As the friends leave to pick up Alaric and his friend, Dr. Celia Connor, at the train station, a rose that had appeared at Elena's doorstep cuts Bonnie. The blood pouring out of it spells "Celia" on her arm. At the train station, Celia is almost killed when her scarf gets caught in the train door, but Stefan saves her by ripping the scarf. The shreds spell "Meredith." Meanwhile, on the Dark Moon, Damon crawls out of the mountains of liquified ash. Sage finds him, helps Damon remember who he is, and lets him use the Mystical Elevator to return to Fell's Church. Up to this point, Damon has appeared to Elena in dreams. Elena sees him in her room one night, and he tells her that the energy from Inari's Star Ball gave him life. Elena goes to the cemetery to visit her parents and sees Caleb, who has also lost his parents. Stefan shows up and throws Caleb against a tombstone out of envy that he might like Elena. He says that he discovered evidence that Caleb is evil. Later, Bonnie knocks down Mrs. Flowers' knitting, which spells "Bonnie" on the ground. She tries to do a spell to contact Damon, but ends in a coma after being overcome by darkness. Now Elena knows that Damon is alive. When Elena tells Damon, he investigates by letting the darkness take him. His consciousness ends on the Dark Moon. Stefan takes Elena to the Smallwoods' shed, and they see that Caleb had collected many photos and newspapers about them. They detail both realities - of the events that actually happened and everyone's fabricated memories. Stefan and Elena conclude that the Guardians just changed these, but Caleb can see some of them for what they really are because he is supernatural. He is descended from werewolves and possesses some witchcraft abilities. Stefan and Elena go shopping, but Elena sees people from high school and becomes envious that they have the normal lives. Darkness overtakes her, and she passes out after Stefan notices a shopkeeper's hair flowing in the shape of the name "Matt." Stefan takes Meredith and Matt to the Smallwoods' house to confront Caleb. Matt passes out after he thinks about Tyler's popularity. Caleb says that he deduced that the group of friends was behind his contradicting memories and gave Elena the rose, hoping to get closer to her so that he could find out where Tyler went. At the boarding house, Mrs. Flowers says she believes that a phantom that is feeding off envy may be the culprit. They perform a spell to summon the phantom. Meanwhile, Elena meets Bonnie in the land of the flowers that can hold special spells. Matt also arrives, and Elena tells them to look for the way out, which they find. They see Sage in the nexus room and run to the Dark Moon, where Damon is battling a misty blue figure. They all start fighting it, and suddenly they end in the garage of the boarding house. Damon says that the creature is the original phantom, which is much more powerful than an ordinary phantom. The original phantoms were trapped on the Dark Moon by the guardians, but Elena destroyed their prison, and the phantom of envy followed them to Fell's Church. The phantom tells everyone why they should be envious of others, pitting Stefan and Damon against one another in a brutal fight. As the rest of the group admits their jealousies and casts them away, weakening the phantom, Elena makes the brothers reconcile. Damon throws a candle at the phantom, setting it on fire, and Elena reaches into the creature's core and pulls out the rose inside, destroying the phantom. Damon gives Elena his blood to heal her burns as the fire department arrives to put out the fire. Everyone then looks forward to the future.

The Hunters: Moonsong

Elena is upset by the fact that she is leaving home for college. She says goodbye to her family and leaves with Stefan and Damon for college. She thinks about how Stefan compelled the admissions office into giving her, Bonnie and Meredith the best dorm as well as a separate dorm room for himself. He also compels them into allowing Meredith and Matt into the school; the latter on a football scholarship. Meredith had originally been agreed to Harvard and Matt agreed to a top football school but both had decided to go to Dalcrest College alongside Elena, Bonnie and Stefan to protect Fell's Church should any danger arise. Matt however, felt too guilty to accept a luxurious dorms like the girls, as he had already taken a scholarship meant for somebody else. Damon rents an apartment in the city preferring not to go back to college. As the school year begins, Elena worries about destroying the brothers new found friendship and brotherhood and becoming like Katherine. However, eventually she decides to take a break from both of them so she can sort out her feelings. During the first week of college, Bonnie meets a boy while in a bookshop named Zander. She immediately falls for him and later that week, arranges a date with him. She gets really close to him and his friends. Meredith begins training with a fellow student named Samantha. Matt is invited to join a special fraternity called the Vitale Society. While all this occurs, murders and disappearances within the school begin. The gang fear it may be supernaturally related and so they all investigate. As they investigate, Meredith learns her new friend Samantha is a fellow hunter slayer. Thrilled, they begin to patrol together in order to help each other to develop their skills. Meredith shows time and time again, that she is much more skilled than Samantha. Matt's roommate eventually becomes a victim and Meredith thinks she sees Bonnie's new boyfriend Zander running away while she chases the murderer of another student. Meredith and Elena voice their concerns about Zander, causing Bonnie to leave furiously- After accusing them of envy over her new romance, while Alaric is back in Fell's Church and Elena is separated with Stefan. Bonnie leaves to live with Zander. Damon continues to pursue Elena despite her asking for space and he saves Elena's life from a speeding car. They are caught kissing by Stefan. Furious, Stefan tells Elena that he doesn't want to be with her anymore and then leaves devastated, but not before cutting ties with Damon again. Due to this, Elena decides to start something with Damon. Matt continues in his strive to be a Vitale pledge. As he goes on, he falls for a fellow pledge, Chloe. However, once he gains the courage to ask her out, she is revealed to be the leader of his society's girlfriend "Ethan". Matt is disappointed but continues to be her friend. He feels as though he can finally move on from Elena and even has some negative thoughts about her. When his roommate dies, he begins to spend less time with the group. He completes all the necessary tasks required to join the Vitale society during initiation night. Meredith's friend Samantha is found dead, in her room, having been viciously murdered. Meredith takes it hard and although Bonnie, Matt and Stefan are less involved in the group, she, Elena and Damon continue to investigate more thoroughly. Elena meantime, meets a new professor who reveals he was a friend of her parents who had actually met at Dalcrest College. He doesn't reveal everything he knows about the murders and when Elena pushes him, he caves and tells the group everything. The Vitale society used to be a school society, but has turned into what resembles a cult. He also tells Elena that when it was a school society, he and her parents were a part of it. One day, a Guardian came to them. He gave off such peace and power, they believed him to be an angel. Elena notes that they are definitely not angels after thinking about everything they did. However, he tells Elena that the Guardian said that they needed someone to have a daughter who would change the balance among good and evil in the world and would have amazing powers. He also revealed that the Guardians would take her at age 12. Elena reveals that she had powers but that the Guardians stripped them from her. She ponders over getting her powers back and that she did not know that Guardians could be male but cannot help feeling upset that her parents raised her to be taken. The professor reveals however that when the time came, they could not do it and called him as he had some skill in sorcery. However, they died a few days later and Elena was kept safe so he never could do anything. Elena wonders what is going on but leaves and keeps it from Damon. Bonnie is told by Zander that he is a werewolf and knowing that to become a werewolf, you must kill somebody, she flees. Stefan figures out that Matt's new group is evil and has very bad intentions after talking to both Damon and Elena about their recent discoveries but can only manage to save Matt from the revealed vampire group. He warns the rest of the gang who come together to help. The leader of the group "Ethan" reveals to Stefan that one of Klaus' descendants turned him and that he plans to resurrect him at the equinox. He needs the blood of his descendants however which is where Stefan and Damon come in. As the gang arrive, Damon permits only Meredith and a stubborn Elena to help in the fight. Things go well until Meredith is caught off guard and Damon is outnumbered. However, they manage to win the fight but not before Ethan gets a vial of Damon's blood. However, Meredith kills him before he can do anything. Also, everyone in the gang feels like best friends again and everyone once again feels at home with one another. As the gang leave and prepare to hunt and kill the newly turned pledges and their minders, Bonnie returns to Zander now knowing he was not the campus killer. Zander reveals himself as an original werewolf. At first, Bonnie believes this to mean he is really old. However, Zander reveals this just means that he is directly descended from the cavemen who naturally possessed the werewolf gene and did not inherit it from a bite or from being passed down from a family member who had been bitten. He also says that this gives him the power to stop turning on full moons and if he is skilled enough to turn when not on a full moon. He also says that the High Wolf Council sent him to college to investigate as the college was on ley lines making it a supernatural hotspot and that he and his friends have been trying to stop the Vitale society. Bonnie reveals she knows its on ley lines and that he need not worry as they had taken down most of the members and her friends were on their way to finish the rest off. Zander is very surprised and asks for an explanation off Bonnie. She reveals mostly everything but leaves out about the Guardians and Dark Dimension so as not to confuse him. In the epilogue, it is revealed that Meredith missed Ethan's heart and he is still alive with both of the Salvatore's blood and can complete the ritual as expected the equinox unknown to Elena and her friends.

The Hunters: Destiny Rising

In this volume Damon has been killing again.This is a problem. Also Ethan has resurrected Klaus who has resurrected Katherine and changed Meredith's brother, Cristian. Also the guardians come for Elena and present her with a task that may just change her life. Stefan helps Elena through this but even then through everything that's happening they stick together.

Story Arcs

''The Vampire Diaries arc"
- "The Awakening" (Vol 1, Book 1)
- "The Struggle" (Vol 2, Book 2)
- "The Fury" (Vol 3, Book 3)
- "Dark Reunion" (Vol 4, Book 4)
''The Return arc"
- "The Return: Nightfall" (Vol 1, Book 5)
- "The Return: Shadow Souls" (Vol 2, Book 6)
- "The Return: Midnight" (Vol 3, Book 7)
''The Hunters arc"
- "The Hunters: Phantom" (Vol 1, Book 8)
- "The Hunters: Moonsong" (Vol 2, Book 9)
- "The Hunters: Destiny Rising" (Vol 3, Book 10)

Adaptations

Television series

On February 6, 2009, Variety announced that The CW Television Network greenlit the pilot for a television series entitled The Vampire Diaries with Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec set as the writers and executive producers.^[2] On May 19, 2009, the pilot was officially ordered to series for the 2009-2010 season.^[3]

Many changes were made when adapting the novel series to a television format. One major change was in Elena's appearance. In the books, Elena is portrayed to have pale skin, long blonde hair reaching almost to her waist, and dark blue eyes the color of lapis lazuli. However, in the television series, Elena is played by Nina Dobrev, who has olive skin, long and straight brown hair, and brown eyes. This angered many fans of the original novels. Elena is the daughter of John Gilbert and Isobel Flemming on the television series, but was raised by Grayson and Miranda Gilbert, her biological uncle and aunt. Isobel gave up Elena for adoption because she was a teen mother.

The character of Bonnie has both a physical appearance and name change (from Bonnie McCullough in the books to Bonnie Bennett in the TV series), trading her red curls and pale skin for the features of half Liberian and half Russian Katerina Graham. In the novels, Bonnie is a psychic with strong psychic abilities and powers due to her ancestors being druids. On the series, Bonnie is a witch because her ancestors were Salem witches. Additionally, in the TV series, Bonnie's ancestor Emily Bennett was a servant of Katherine and helped to protect her.

Caroline Forbes has a big personality change. In the books, she is nasty and manipulative and always plotting ways to bring Elena down. In the television series, she is Elena's self-involved, oblivious friend who is really much deeper than she seems. She also has an appearance change, from a bronzed, green-eyed girl with auburn hair to the blonde, blue-eyed pale description given to Elena in the book series. In the second season of the television series, Caroline is changed into a vampire by Katherine. Caroline is played by Candice Accola.

One of Elena's best friends in the novels is Meredith Sulez, but she doesn't appear in the TV series until Season 3 as new character Meredith Fell, played by Torrey DeVitto. TV Meredith, while sharing some personality traits with the book version of the character, is rewritten as a young doctor and love interest for Alaric with some supernatural secrets of her own.^[4]

In the books, Elena has a four-year-old sister named Margaret, but in the TV series, she has a fifteen-year-old brother named Jeremy. Jeremy is actually her biological cousin, as she finds out at the end of the first season of the show.

The novel character, Matt Honeycutt becomes Matt Donovan in the TV series and Vicki Bennett becomes Matt's sister. In the books, Matt has no siblings.

Tyler Smallwood also gets a name change, to Tyler Lockwood, although the character of Tyler remains a werewolf in both the book series and the TV series. On the show is Tyler is turned into a half-vampire half-werewolf hybrid in season three by Original hybrid, Klaus Mikaelson.

In the books, Klaus is not a hybrid and does not carry a hybrid gene, but is one of the "Old Ones", an original vampire. On the TV series, he is the most powerful of the original family, which includes his half-siblings Rebekah, Elijah, Finn, and Kol.

Katherine is German in the novels, but is from Bulgaria like Nina Dobrev on the TV series, who used her fluency with the language to shoot flashback scenes. Katherine is either called Katherine Pierce or Katerina Petrova on the TV series. She stages her death at points in both the novel and the television series. In the television series, she burned in a fire when she was locked in a church with the rest of the vampires in Mystic Falls—later Elena, Stefan, and Damon find out that she charmed her way out of being locked in the church. In the books, she staged her death in Florence by taking off her protective daylight ring off and burning in the sun—when Katherine returns they discover that when she took her ring off she had something else on to protect her from the sun.

In the books, after Elena's parents, Thomas and Elizabeth, died in a fatal car accident, her Aunt Judith Gilbert (her father's sister) came to look after her and her younger sister Margaret, but in the TV series, Elena and Jeremy's Aunt Jenna (who is the younger sister of Elena's adoptive and Jeremy's biological mother, Miranda) looks after them. Aunt Judith has a fiance named Robert in the novels, but she is single in the TV series until she begins dating Alaric Saltzman.

Also in the books, Alaric Saltzman is 22 years old and Meredith Sulez's boyfriend and later, her fiance; but in the TV series, he is significantly older (early to mid 30s), he was married to Elena's biological mother, Isobel Flemming, and he had a romantic relationship with Jenna Sommers, Elena's adoptive aunt. Isobel, in the book The Return: Nightfall, is an Asian girl who lives with her grandmother and her younger sister. In the TV series, Isobel left Alaric to seek out Damon in order to seduce him into turning her into a vampire.

The character of Sage, first introduced in the Return arc, is an older vampire fond of speaking Franglais and helps Damon when he's in a bind. On the television series, Sage is introduced in season three as a red-headed woman who was the lover of Original vampire Finn. She helped Damon learn to be a more efficient hunter.

In the novels, the Salvatore brothers are born in Florence, Italy, while on the TV show, they are born in Mystic Falls, Virginia. Stefan was renting a room at a boarding house in the book, while in the TV series, the Salvatores own the boarding home since the brothers are originally from Mystic Falls, Virginia. Mystic Falls takes the place of Fell's Church as the scene of the action in the television series. Damon and Stefan in the novels were both born in the 1400s, while Damon and Stefan on the TV show were born during the 1800s. Stefan is 17 years old when he dies and turns into a vampire and Damon is 22 (later retconned to be 24) when he dies and becomes a vampire. In the book, it is said that the brothers fought to the death, but in the TV series they were shot by their father, Giuseppe, because he discovered them trying to save Katherine from being imprisoned inside the church.

Awards


Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result
2010	The Vampire Diaries	Favorite Book	Nominated

References

^ "THE CW NETWORK ANNOUNCES FALL PREMIERE DATES". The Futon Critic.
^ Michael Schneider (February 5, 2009). "CW picks up 'Vampire Diaries' pilot". Variety.
^ Nellie Andreeva. "CW picks up 'Melrose Place,' 'Vampire Diaries'". The Hollywood Reporter. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help) ^{[dead link]}
^ http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2012/01/the-vampire-diaries-meet-dr-meredith-fell-torrey-devitto-brings-a-book-character-to-life.html

[1] "THE CW NETWORK ANNOUNCES FALL PREMIERE DATES". The Futon Critic.

[Schneider-2] Michael Schneider (February 5, 2009). "CW picks up 'Vampire Diaries' pilot". Variety.

[Andreeva-3] Nellie Andreeva. "CW picks up 'Melrose Place,' 'Vampire Diaries'". The Hollywood Reporter. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help) ^{[dead link]}

[4] ttp://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2012/01/the-vampire-diaries-meet-dr-meredith-fell-torrey-devitto-brings-a-book-character-to-life.html

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 #*"The Hunters: Moonsong" (Vol 2, Book 9)
 #*"The Hunters: Destiny Rising" (Vol 3, Book 10)
-==Characters==
-• '''Elena Gilbert:''' Elena is the book series' heroine, main protagonist (opposite Stefan), and the female lead character (except Dark Reunion, which features Bonnie McCullough as the protagonist).
-Elena was born 5 July 1974 in Fells Church, Virginia to Thomas Gilbert and Elizabeth Gilbert (née Morrow), who were tragically killed in a car accident years back. Elena is seventeen at the beginning of the very first book, and she is the most beautiful, popular girl at Robert E. Lee High School (mainly called the Queen). Physically, Elena is extremely beautiful, drop dead gorgeous and she is every boy's dream. She has an 'angelic' physical appearance. Elena has a thick, long, straight pale golden hair, which reaches just above her waist and is so fair in color, it almost seems to shimmer in the sunlight like gold. Elena has an unusual, unique eye color of blue, which is described to be the same color of [[lapis lazuli]] stone (which is the stone vampires use to protect themselves from sunlight) with flecks of gold (but have also been described to be the color of violets). She has a fair, pale, and creamy skin (compared to the color of swans, alabaster or porcelain) with light, pink rosy cheeks. Elena is of average height for a teenage girl and she is described to have a slender, gorgeous body. According to Stefan, Elena is about a good handspan taller than Katherine.
-Although Elena has a strong physical resemblance to Katherine, there are slight physical differences among the two girls. While Katherine has lighter, silvery eyebrows and eyelashes, Elena's brows and lashes are darker blonde. Katherine is described to have extremely long (it pools and trails behind her on the floor) darker blonde curly-ish hair while Elena has pale gold blonde straight hair.
-Elena sees herself as beautiful, therefore, she is quite proud and vain. Elena is extremely shocked and hurt when Stefan, the new boy whom she is instantly, indescribably drawn to, does not pay any attention to her in the beginning of the series, but Stefan avoided her for other personal reasons which were unknown to Elena at the time. Personality wise, Elena is described to be popular, beautiful, confident and ambitious. In terms of general personality traits and characteristics, Elena is described as being popular, outgoing, confident, smart, opinionated, idealistic, feisty, sociable, fearless, loving, caring, passionate, devoted, commanding, encouraging, protective, determined, strong, brave and loyal. However, on the downside, Elena can also be selfish, self-centered, entitled, proud, obstinate, stubborn, promiscuous, indecisive, aggressive, vain, headstrong, childish, spoiled, needy, clingy, demanding, conceited, attention seeking and boastful.
-Elena's best friends since childhood are Bonnie McCullough and Meredith Sulez, but she was once also best friends with Caroline Forbes, who eventually turned into an enemy after Elena fell deeply in love with Stefan, when Stefan reciprocated her feelings and began a relationship with him. Before the series began, Elena had many issues and troubles in regards to the opposite sex, love and romance. Elena's first love is her childhood friend, Matt Honeycutt. Unlike all the other boyfriends and boys Elena has dated, Elena genuinely loves and cares about Matt and doesn't see him the same she does other boys. Although Elena loves and cares for Matt, she feels like she loves him in more of a platonic, brotherly or friendship way. Elena's life changes forever when she unexpectedly and fatefully meets a mysterious, foreign boy from Italy, Stefan Salvatore, who is secretly centuries old immortal. Elena is immediately, intensely and indescribably drawn to Stefan when she first sees him and she is deeply, passionately and strongly in love with him.
-It was revealed in the book Shadow Souls, that Stefan is Elena's destined true love and true soulmate due to the 'Soulmate Principle', which is a silver cord or thread (described to be the color of moonlight) binding, linking or connecting the souls of destined, true soul mates from heart-to-heart or soul-to-soul.
-Elena has a younger four-year-old sister named Margaret, and she and her sister lives with her legal guardian Aunt Judith Gilbert (her father's sister) and Uncle Robert Maxwell. Although Elena is deeply in love with Stefan, she later also develops feelings for Damon, Stefan's older brother. Throughout the series she has to face hard challenges, such as becoming a vampire unwillingly, truly dying to save both Stefan and Damon, then coming back to life as a guardian angel, traveling to the Dark Dimension (in order to save Stefan), facing kitsune, and fighting a phantom.
-Elena greatly resembles a vampire, Katherine, and worries that she will become like her and that Stefan and Damon are drawn to her because she strongly resembles Katherine. But the differences are that Elena is a brave, strong, courageous girl and will fight for her friends and not herself. As the series progresses, she is willing to put her life at risk and do anything to help and protect the people she loves and cares about. Elena has endured much loss, grief, pain and tragedy in her very young teenage life; mostly due to the loss of her parents in a tragic, fatal car accident. Elena dies twice throughout the course of the series, first dying and changing into a vampire, and then dying as a vampire after killing Katherine to protect Stefan and Damon from Katherine torturing and killing them all.
-Elena then comes back in Dark Reunion as a spirit of the afterlife and returns in Nightfall a supernatural human with angelic powers and abilities. In Midnight, she is turned back into a regular human girl and begins attending college with her love Stefan and her friends Bonnie, Matt, and Meredith. Elena is half human and half angel/Guardian. Elena finds out she is born to be a Guardian but becomes an Earth Guardian with Andres, a young man from South America a few years older than her, who is also an Earth Guardian.
-Elena is saddened when Damon resorts back to his old, dark and immoral behaviour and starts to kill again because she choose Stefan. Andres helps Elena get a little power. Klaus tries to kill Elena over and over again but fails. Klaus finally drinks from Elena and dies. It is revealed that Elena is the one Guardian that can kill the Old Ones because of her special blood. Elena then gains all her powers and is able to live forever on Earth as an Earth Guardian with Stefan. Elena then finds out her mother, Elizabeth, was an Earth Guardian and had another daughter named Katherine, who is really Elena's half sister and was the young, beautiful vampire that both Stefan and Damon had fallen in love with back in the 15th century. Elena finds out that her Aunt Judith isn't her real aunt and instead, was really her mother's best friend, whom she entrusted to be the legal guardian of both Elena and Katherine. After discovering her real background, Katherine and Elena become more understanding and tolerant of each other.
-Elena finally chooses Stefan to be her eternal life partner and mate. In order for Elena to live forever and spend an eternity with Stefan, Elena drinks some of the special water from the Fountain of Eternal Life and Youth. Stefan and Elena happily reunite and end up together.
-• ''' Stefan Salvatore:''' Stefan is the book series' hero, second protagonist (opposite Elena), and male lead character. Stefan is Damon's moral, benevolent younger brother. He was born on 5 November 1474 in Florence, Italy to Conti Di Giuseppe Salvatore and his unnamed mother, who died a few years after Stefan's birth due to an illness. Stefan is a five hundred plus year old immortal born during the time of The Renaissance, who was one of the Salvatore brothers that fell deeply in love with a young beautiful German girl who was a vampire, Katherine Von Schwarzschild, during his human life and before he was transformed into a vampire when he was a seventeen-year-old human boy. During his human life, Stefan was a noble, aristocratic young man who lived by a strict code of morals, values, ethics and code of honor. Stefan strongly believed in nobility, duty, responsibility, justice and doing the right thing as much as possible. In his human years, Stefan was seen to be deeply sentimental and he was shown to care about family, friends, memories, duty, his ambitions and studies, responsibility and serving his duty to his hometown of Florence. Between he and Damon, Stefan was the favored child with everyone, especially his father Giuseppe, mostly because Stefan was seen by everyone as a good, noble, obedient, and ideal son. Stefan was Giuseppe's favorite son and held Stefan at high regard and respect because he was obedient, dutiful, studious, noble and responsible. Physically, Stefan is extremely gorgeous and inhumanely beautiful with classically handsome fine facial features which are youthful, boyish and fresh in appearance. He has a straight classical nose, full perfectly shaped lips, and high cheekbones which are sculptors dream. Stefan has the thick, soft, dark brown wavy-ish hair, intense, captivating and piercing green eyes, which are described to be the color of emeralds, malachite or summer oak leaves and very pale, clear skin. He is taller than Damon with a lean, flat-muscled body with long legs, and lithe, hard muscles in his arms and chest. Stefan is said to strongly physically resemble Damon due to family relation; this is noticed by both Elena and Bonnie. Stefan wears a heavy silver ring with a large, round lapis lazuli stone (given to him by Katherine) on the middle finger of his right hand in order for him to walk in the sunlight. Personality wise, Stefan is described as brooding, mysterious, complex, inscrutable and intense. In regards to his personality traits and characteristics, Stefan is the complete and total opposite of his brother Damon. Stefan is described to be pure of heart; compassionate, empathetic, kind, altruistic, selfless, moral, noble, brave, courageous, gallant, loyal and protective. However, on the downside, Stefan can also be depressive, martyring, guilt-ridden, isolated, self-pitying, too selfless, naive, self-loathing and stubborn. As opposed to his elder brother Damon, Stefan deeply, strongly cares about humankind and has a very strong regard for human life. Because of this, Stefan has never killed any humans during his immortal life and therefore, does not drink human blood under any circumstances and lives on a strict animal blood diet (although throughout the series, he does eventually give in to his 'no human blood ever' rule and drinks Elena's blood during times of intimacy). Although Stefan is very kind, compassionate, calm and gentle by nature, Stefan has a quick temper when provoked and can be menacing, intimidating and scary if you try to cross him, manipulate him or harm the people that he loves and cares about in any way. Stefan is stoically loyal and fiercely protective. Not much is known of Stefan's back story or of what Stefan had been doing between the period of the time when Stefan was transformed into a vampire back in his home of Florence and the time he came to Fells Church, but it could be presumed that Stefan was living in the shadows while saving or protecting humans who were ever in any harm or danger. Although Stefan had lived in secret and in the shadows, Stefan yearned to live amongst humankind, desiring to relive his humanity, the humanity that he had lost against his will many centuries ago. Stefan is also a strong romantic at heart; he is very chivalrous, gallant, well-mannered and polite towards the opposite sex and he loves very intensely, deeply and passionately. Stefan is at first seen to be shy, quiet and reserved, however, eventually he opens up to the humans around him and makes good, solid and lasting friendships and acquaintances. When Stefan lets his guard down, he is practical, charming, pleasant, friendly and likeable and also possesses a dry wit and sense of humor. Stefan arrives in Fells Church to start a new life and live amongst humans and enrolls as a high school student at Robert E. Lee High School to blend in like a regular 17 year old human. It is there, where Stefan unexpectedly, fatefully and inevitably meets Elena Gilbert. He is intensely, immediately and indescribably drawn to her. He fell for her at first sight, but because Elena bears a striking resemblance to his past and first love, Katherine, he repeatedly tries to avoid her at all costs during the beginning of the series, feeling that their uncanny physical resemblance brings up painful, sorrowful memories of his dark past. Later in the series, Stefan eventually lets his walls crumble and falls in even deeper and more passionate love with Elena. However, although Stefan falls for Elena, and Elena reciprocates his love just as strongly and passionately, his elder and malevolent brother, Damon, follows him to Fells Church to make torture him and make his life chaos. Damon repeatedly makes threats and attempts to try to rob Elena away from him out of revenge, anger and envy against him. In regards to romance, Stefan has only been in love twice. His first love was Katherine, who was a beautiful, young vampire that he fell in love with during his human years. When Katherine tragically "dies", Stefan is extremely devastated and heartbroken, more so than Damon. Stefan ends up consumed with guilt because of Katherine's death, feeling that her death was his fault. After Katherine's "death, Stefan grew lonely, desolate, and hopeless in regards to love. He believed that he would never find love again and that he would never love anyone else the way he loved Katherine. Stefan spent centuries in the shadows consumed with sorrow, guilt and grief over her the tragedy of losing his first beloved. But that all changed when Stefan is drawn to the small town of Fells Church. Stefan fatefully and unexpectedly meets Elena Gilbert, a beautiful, young, popular human girl who bears a striking physical resemblance to his long lost love that ended in tragedy (Katherine). Stefan feels an intense, immediate and indescribable connection and attraction to her. Because Elena bears a strong physical resemblance to Stefan's first love, Katherine, Stefan makes it his number one goal to ignore Elena and avoid her at all costs. Stefan does this because seeing Elena reminds him of Katherine and brings up painful memories from his dark past. Elena is strongly hurt that Stefan ignores her and wonders why Stefan "hates" her so much. Eventually, after some struggles, Stefan finally lets his walls crumble and he falls deeply, intensely and passionately in love with Elena. Stefan will do anything and everything to protect Elena and keep her safe from harm, even if he has to harm or kill his violent, impulsive and dangerous brother, Damon, who has made it his life's goal to torture Stefan by trying to persuade Elena to choose him over Stefan out of revenge. In Shadow Souls, it was revealed that Elena is Stefan's destined true love and soulmate due to the 'Soulmate Principle'. Stefan develops strong friendships with Bonnie McCullough and Meredith Sulez. He is seen to be fiercely protective and caring towards both of them. Stefan becomes best friends with Matt Honeycutt, Elena's childhood friend and first love, in The Awakening. Stefan and Matt played on the high school football team together, with Matt playing the position of quarterback and Stefan playing the position of wide receiver.  At first, Matt is intensely envious and jealous of Stefan when he realizes that Elena is undeniably drawn to Stefan. At first, Matt was envious of Stefan because of his good looks, sophistication, cultured background, athleticism, intelligence, and his ability to attract the opposite sex. Matt also felt threatened by Stefan and was jealous of the fact that Elena was suddenly giving Stefan all of her undivided attention, along with all of the other girls in Fells Church. Although Matt is still in love with Elena when Stefan develops a romantic relationship with her, Matt eventually comes to accept Stefan and Elena and supports them in being together; he does this because Stefan is his best friend and he believes that at his core, Stefan is a good person, despite being a vampire. Throughout the course of the series, Stefan has been strewn out of Fells Church, mostly out of his control (and mostly, by Damon's influence), causing him and Elena to repeatedly become separated from each other against their will. Due to all the unexpected, unusual events surrounding both Stefan and Elena, they have both have had to overcome many obstacles, trials and tribulations and their strong love for each other has been tested repeatedly throughout the series. Because of this, it has caused Stefan to leave Elena's well-being and life in the hands of his impulsive, immoral and dangerous brother, Damon. Though Stefan and Damon do not see eye to eye, Stefan still deeply loves his elder brother and strongly believes that Damon has an inner humanity deep inside him, despite Damon's constant of committing amoral acts. In regards to Damon, Stefan has a rather complicated and even strained relationship with his elder brother, ever since childhood. Damon has deeply, strongly loathed or hated his brother ever since they were children, and Stefan could never understand why Damon always hated him so much. Stefan believes that the deep hatred that Damon harbored against him had to do with the untimely death of their mother due to Stefan's birth. Stefan revealed that Damon was quite close to her, considering that Damon was the first-born child of the family and that as soon as Stefan was born, both Giuseppe and their mother gave more attention and love to the younger Salvatore, which resulted in the change of dynamics within the Salvatore family. Stefan does not have much memory of his mother, because she died a few years after he was born, but it is said that his and Damon's mother was the complete opposite of Giuseppe in terms of personality and temperament. She was said to possess a similar temperament to Stefan; calm, gentle, kind, caring and protective but also, she was rather fragile, weak and vulnerable in regards to physical health. Stefan is the opposite of Damon in regards to outlook, values, ethics and beliefs, which makes Stefan extremely polar opposite to Damon in all these aspects. While Damon has no problem with killing many innocent humans for their blood to gain Power, Stefan is strongly opposed to taking innocent human life and has never believed that killing innocent people for their life force (blood) is worth it to be powerful and gain Power. Whereas Damon is strongly drawn to the dangerous, wild, dark side of life and living in the shadows of darkness, Stefan enjoys life amidst the sunlight amongst the comfort of family, friends and humans. Although Stefan doesn't drink human blood, Stefan still possesses the standard vampire abilities such as immortality, super speed, super strength, agility, enhanced senses (sight, hearing, taste, touch, smell), telepathy, and mind compulsion. Stefan also has the unique ability of being able to read individuals minds. If Stefan consumes enough human blood, Stefan would gain enough Power to manipulate the weather (create storms, rain, thunder, lightning, wind, fog, etc.) and shape shift into an animal, in which Stefan did after he drank enough human blood and turned into a falcon in The Struggle. Stefan is attending college with his love Elena and his friends Bonnie, Matt and Meredith. Stefan helps in the fight to kill Klaus and succeeds. Stefan and Elena finally reunite after much chaos, pain, struggles and obstacles. Elena finally chooses Stefan over Damon to be her eternal life partner. In order for Elena to spend forever, an eternity with Stefan, she drinks some of the water from the Fountain of Eternal Life and Youth. Stefan and Elena happily reunite.
-• '''Damon Salvatore:''' Damon is the novel series' anti hero and main antagonist. Damon is Stefan's immoral, malevolent elder brother. He was born 31 October 1469 in Florence, Italy to Conti Di Giuseppe Salvatore and his unnamed mother, who died due to an illness that had weakened her a few years after Stefan's birth. Damon is a five hundred plus year old immortal who was born during the period of The Renaissance. He, along with his younger brother Stefan, fell in love with a young German girl who was a vampire, Katherine Von Schwarzschild during his human life and before he was transformed into a vampire in his early twenties. Physically, Damon is described to be extremely gorgeous with handsome features, high cheekbones, and a cruel mouth. He has straight, fine, black hair, black eyes the color of the midnight sky, and very pale complexion. Damon is said to strongly physically resemble his younger brother Stefan due to family relation. This is noticed both by Elena and Bonnie. Although Stefan and Damon have a strong resemblance to one another, there are slight physical differences between him and Stefan (Stefan has the thick, wavy-ish hair, Damon fine straight hair and Stefan has green eyes, Damon has black eyes). Damon, like Stefan, wears a silver ring with a large lapis lazuli stone on the middle finger of his left hand to protect him from the sunlight. During his human years, Damon was described to be rebellious, disobedient, delinquent, troublesome, insubordinate, self-centred, proud, arrogant, reckless, careless, impulsive, irresponsible, envious, competitive, adventurous. However, Damon did possess seduction and poise of that of a proud aristocrat. He had little to no respect for authority and duty; the complete opposite of Stefan. Damon made and lived by his own rules, refusing to listen to or follow authority and stand up to the concepts of duty and responsibility. Damon preferred living adventure, wildness, and danger; seeking out pure self-pleasure above all, even family and duty to Florence. Damon engaged in various activities that involved danger and living on the edge such as gambling, drinking, jousting, sword fighting, womanizing and hunting and hawking. Due to Damon's rebelliousness and wild lifestyle, he was seen as strongly irresponsible and a "ne'er do well" coward by most of the entire town of Florence, including his own father Giuseppe, who has always expressed resentment and extremely disappointment in Damon and whom Damon never had a good relationship with since childhood. Personality wise, Damon is the complete and total opposite of his younger brother Stefan. In terms of general personality traits and characteristics, Damon is described to be cold, sinister, sadistic, impulsive, selfish, prideful, arrogant, vain, envious, controlling, manipulative, powerful, dangerous, reckless, unkind, uncaring, cold-hearted, ruthless and unsympathetic. However, Damon is also capable of being loyal, determined, passionate, protective (especially where Bonnie is concerned) and capable of affection with only a very select few of people. Normally Damon is rather self-contained and emotionless, however, Damon seems to possess a quick, violent temper and lash outwardly towards others in extreme fury and anger, very much like his father Giuseppe. This is probably one reason why Giuseppe and Damon clashed so severely during Damon's childhood and human life. Damon strongly despises humans and he has little to no regard for human life. He is guiltless and remorseless and has little to no problem with killing and torturing many innocent humans or taking human life mainly for their blood supply. It was revealed that after Damon had transformed into a vampire, Damon had joined one of the Free Companies which included ruthless mercenaries, that involved robbing and plundering. Damon had wandered all across the world; fighting, torturing and killing many innocent humans along the many centuries to rob their life essence (blood) for gain in Power. Damon did this to gain a significant amount of Power so that he could be much stronger than that of Stefan to torture him. Stefan, as opposed to Damon, has never killed any humans or drank human blood during his immortal life and had lived off a strict animal blood diet, which caused Stefan to be weaker in his Power. Damon also has little to no problem with threatening and intimidating small children, such as Elena's younger sister, Margaret. Damon likes to manipulate and torture humans for his own personal pleasure and he is highly sadistic in nature. He is shorter and stockier than Stefan but more powerful since he feeds off human blood straight from the vein. Damon enjoys toying with, torturing and tormenting his younger brother Stefan and making him feel weak and vulnerable. In regards to romance, Damon has been shown to have deep feelings for Elena and spends most of the series trying to pursue her and steal her away from Stefan out of jealousy and revenge against him. Damon desires to make Elena his Princess of Darkness, offer her the gift of immortality and live in the darkness and shadows for eternity together. However, Elena has repeatedly rejected Damon's wishes and advances, resulting in an angry, jealous and resentful Damon. Elena eventually reciprocates Damon's feelings, however, Elena still chooses her soulmate Stefan over him time and time again. Aside from Elena, Damon also has strong feelings for Bonnie. He is seen to be strongly protective of her and he is always there for her whenever she needs help. Bonnie is known to be Damon's "soft spot" and she seems to bring out the more human side of Damon, much more than Elena ever did or could. Despite Damon's feelings for Bonnie, Damon always paid more attention to Elena due to being obsessed with possessing her. During his human life, Damon was always in the shadows of his younger brother Stefan. Between he and Stefan, Stefan was the favoured child with everyone, including Damon and Stefan's parents, especially their father, Giuseppe. Damon never got along with his father since childhood and had a rather strained relationship with him, the complete opposite of Stefan, who Giuseppe strongly favoured. It was revealed in the series that when Damon and Stefan were young children after their mother had passed away, Giuseppe would often get into raging, intense and heated arguments and fights with a young Damon, normally when Giuseppe was also rather drunk. During the intense, heated fights between Giuseppe and Damon, Giuseppe would physically beat and abuse Damon. It was also revealed that during the fights between Giuseppe and Damon, Stefan would often step between Giuseppe and Damon while they were fighting, to prevent the argument from escalating and to stop Giuseppe from beating and abusing Damon. Because of this, Stefan has always been given the role of peacemaker within the family, especially after their mother died. Due to Stefan always being the chosen one, preferred one or the favourite amongst everyone, and Stefan constantly being given attention, love, and respect since their human lives, there was always a lot of anger, hatred, revenge and jealousy towards Stefan from Damon since childhood. Because of Damon's jealousy, anger and envy towards his brother, Damon made it his life's goal both as a mortal and immortal to mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically torment Stefan as much as possible, including threatening to kill Stefan on multiple occasions. Damon has deeply, strongly loathed Stefan since childhood, not just out of jealousy towards Stefan but because he thinks that Stefan is to blame and is responsible for the death of their mother, who was weakened and fell very ill after she gave birth to Stefan and never recovered afterwards. Because of this, Stefan has always felt responsible and has felt extremely guilty about his mother's death, thinking that he is to blame, even though it was not Stefan's fault. Although Stefan doesn't have much memory of his mother before she died, it was said that Damon was quite close to her and she was the complete opposite of Giuseppe in terms of temperament and personality; she was said to possess a warm, kind, compassionate and caring personality, similar to that of Stefan. Although Damon repeatedly admits to passionately loathing his younger brother Stefan since childhood, it has been evident throughout the course of the series that Damon does in fact want to be 'worthy' of Stefan eventually. Damon is living within the town of Fells Church alongside Stefan, who is attending college with Elena, Zander, Bonnie, Meredith and Matt. Damon is upset that Elena choose Stefan. Because of this, Damon becomes the old Damon again and begins to kill. Damon tells everyone that he is done with them and wants no part with their lives anymore. Damon watches over the only two people he cares about, Stefan and Elena. Elena and Stefan try to help Damon from succumbing deeper into darkness, but they don't initially succeed. Finally, Elena and Damon make a deal with the Guardians to save and preserve his life. In the end, Damon is back to normal. Damon tells Elena that they will always be good friends, will always be inlove with her and that he understands that Elena will always love and choose Stefan no matter what. Damon tells Elena that he is ready to move on and live his immortal life as an adventurer.
-• '''Bonnie McCullough:''' Bonnie is a main female character of the book series. She was born 8 September 1974 in Fells Church, Virginia. She is the best friend of Elena Gilbert and Meredith Sulez. She also used to be close friends with Caroline Forbes since childhood, alongside Elena and Meredith, but became distant from her as they got older due to personal reasons. Bonnie is a powerful psychic witch who is descended from Celtic Druids. She eventually develops strong, deep feelings for Damon, and the two have a deep, unusual and unbreakable bond between one another, physically and emotionally. Damon has also has been shown to display deep feelings for Bonnie. Damon is always seen to be extremely protective of her, especially whenever she is in trouble. He even goes so far as to sacrifice himself for her and cried when he found out she'd been kidnapped. Damon is seen to be gentle and tender towards Bonnie and she seems to bring out the more 'human' side of Damon. Bonnie is of Scottish-American descent. She has the one older sister called Mary who is three or four years older and is a nurse. It's also hinted that she may have another older sister but it was never confirmed. Physically, Bonnie is described to be petite (about 4'7" to 4'11" in height) and has large, childlike brown eyes with long, heavy, black eyelashes and strawberry-red hair that she had permed at the very start of the books but is naturally straight. She has the white, pale skin that Damon describes as translucent. Her physique is described to be somewhat underdeveloped and because of this, Damon often refers to Bonnie as a 'woman-child'. She is considered classically beautiful but has yet to grow into herself. Personality wise, Bonnie is described as bubbly, optimistic, cheerful, kind, caring, selfless, brave, loyal and protective. She is sometimes considered to be the weakest member of the group because she is the most emotional and compassionate out of everyone, but she is always willing to help and to protect her friends and loved ones in any way that she can, regardless of the danger. This proves how brave she in dangerous situations, despite everyone around her thinking differently and believing that she is not capable of protecting herself because of her childlike looks. Bonnie has always been considered second and third compared to Elena and Meredith, but because she is not an envious person by nature it doesn't normally affect her or bother her. Because of her personality, Bonnie can also be taken for granted by most people including her friends, especially in regards to her empathy and ability of giving to others without asking for anything in return. In general, Bonnie is sweet, enthusiastic, unselfish, kind and humble, in retrospect, she is the complete the opposite of Damon. She is also powerful and helps the group many times. Bonnie doesn't like her psychic powers because when she over uses them, she sometimes falls unconscious, faints or blacks out but when asked by Honoria Fell, she decides to keep them and she tries to use them as well as her late Grandma in Scotland had used them. Bonnie is terrified of her strong abilities and powers and what she is capable of doing with them, fearing that her powers might control her rather than the other way around. Bonnie tends to pass out after her visions and has yet to show any real usage of her power. Later in the story she develops a connection with Matt, but her connection with him are more platonic and brotherly in nature. Bonnie talks about the prophecy in which her grandmother told her that she would die young and be young and beautiful in her grave. Bonnie is attending college with her friends Elena, Stefan, Meredith and Matt. At college, Bonnie meets an original werewolf named Zander in the book Moonsong, who has told her that he loves her. Both Zander and Elena have shown a dislike towards one another, due to a strong lack of trust between the two. Zander and Bonnie develop a stronger romantic connection and relationship and the two end up happy together.
-• '''Meredith Sulez:''' Meredith is a main female character of the book series. She was born 6 June 1974 in Fells Church, Virginia, although ever since childhood, Meredith always celebrated her birthday a week before her actual birth date which was May 31. Meredith is best friends with both Elena Gilbert and Bonnie McCullough since the first grade, and she is also close friends with Matt Honeycutt and Stefan Salvatore. Meredith used to be friends with Caroline Forbes alongside Elena and Bonnie, but eventually grew apart due to personal reasons. Meredith does not care for Stefan's elder brother, Damon Salvatore and she is one character who's not impressed by him or enamored by his charms whatsoever. She is Latina in descent and physically, she is tall, with an olive complexion, dark brown eyes, heavy black lashes, and thick, loose black hair. According to Elena, she never wears make-up because she doesn't need any. She is described as elegant, graceful, and beautiful. She has a very wry personality, often making keen observations or comments in a dry tone. She is normally very cool and unflappable, intelligent, intellectual, calm under pressure, and extremely competent. Meredith is extremely cynical when it comes to vampires. When Stefan first arrives at school, Meredith, along with every other girl in the school, finds Stefan strongly attractive. She later falls in love with Alaric Saltzman, the school's young and new history teacher, and has a long-distance relationship with him as he studies abroad in Russia. She is the only human female character in the novels who seems to be completely unfazed by Damon in some way and is the only person Damon admits to being afraid of. In ''The Vampire Diaries: The Return Vol. 3: Midnight'', it is revealed that Meredith has a twin brother named Cristian Sulez. On Meredith and Cristian's third birthday, Klaus, the Original vampire, influenced Meredith to drink Cristian's blood. Then he kidnapped Cristian and fed him blood, slowly turning him into a vampire. Although it is not explained how, Cristian grew into an 18 year old even though he is a vampire. Since Cristian was four, Klaus has sent Meredith's parents, Nando and Gabriela Sulez, pictures of Cristian. Before Klaus kidnapped Cristian, he instructed Meredith's parents to feed Meredith a tablespoon of animal blood every week or she would die. This has resulted in Meredith's canines being like "kitten teeth" although she is not a vampire. Both her parents and at least one grandmother are alive. Meredith's mother used to be close friends with Caroline Forbes' mother a long time before the start of the series. Meredith's grandfather currently resides in a mental institution in West Virginia. After the attack, Meredith's grandfather became a source of deep shame for the family. In ''Dark Reunion'', Bonnie says that Meredith's parents "considered her grandfather's condition such a blot that they never allowed him to be mentioned to outsiders." In ''The Return: Midnight'', she is revealed to be a vampire hunter and has been keeping it a secret all her life.
-• '''Matthew "Matt" Honeycutt:''' Matt is a male supporting character of the book series. Matt was born and raised in Fells Church, Virginia. He is Elena's childhood friend, ex-boyfriend and first love. Matt is the typical human 18-year-old 'All-American' boy-next-door, who was the high school star quarterback on the schools football team. He was on the high school football team with Tyler Smallwood and Stefan Salvatore, who played the position of wide receiver. Matt is good looking, very tall and athletic, with short, cropped blond hair and clear, honest blue eyes. Due to his family's poverty, he tends to wear older clothes. Personality wise, Matt is described as practical, friendly, kind, loyal, understanding, supportive and protective. While Matt is heartbroken at losing Elena to Stefan, he eventually accepts it. In the beginning, Matt is extremely envious of Stefan and still pines for Elena, but he shows some feelings for Bonnie, although his connection with Bonnie is more platonic or brotherly in nature. Later in the series, the relationship between Stefan and Matt is closer to that of best friends or companions. Matt, however, strongly dislikes Stefan's elder brother, Damon and they frequently fight throughout the course of the series. He is fiercely loyal and likes to see the best in people. After the events of The Fury, Matt's faith in humanity and the world was severely shaken, and he spends much of Dark Reunion in a pessimistic and defeated state. It takes a renewal of friendship and a deep heart-to-heart with his best friend, Stefan for him to regain some of his earlier determination, optimism and good humor. Matt is attending college with his friends Elena, Stefan, Bonnie and Meredith.
-• '''Caroline Forbes:''' Caroline is a female supporting character of the book series. She is described as being attractive in a model-esque way, tall, curvaceous, and bronzed. She has the thick, wavy, auburn hair and catlike, slanted, bright green eyes. She frequently wears skimpy clothing that emphasizes her assets and shows off her bronzed complexion. Caroline's personality is difficult to ascertain, as readers mostly see her being adversarial to Elena. Caroline has a younger brother named Daniel. Her father joins a lynching party to stake Stefan and/or shoot him with wooden bullets. Elena notes that she and Caroline used to be the best of friends, though they developed a rivalry for social status. Caroline also used to be friends with Bonnie McCullough and Meredith Sulez. Over the summer, while Elena was in France, Caroline turned on her, and when Elena returns on the first day of school, she is met with a cold reception. Originally, Caroline wanted Stefan for herself but Elena was indescribably and strongly drawn to him. This caused the rivalry between Caroline and Elena to heat up intensely. From what is displayed of Caroline's personality in the books, she is extremely competitive, manipulative, cunning, selfish, shallow, and self-centered. She takes social slights very personally and seems to value status above most other things. After Elena's second and then-final death, Caroline seems to have a change of heart; she rejoins her old friends, Bonnie and Meredith, and stops speaking ill of Elena. Caroline eventually gets involved in a relationship with Tyler Smallwood. In ''The Return: Nightfall'', it is revealed that Caroline is pregnant with Tyler's unborn twins but Tyler does not know this. At first, it was suspected that Matt Honeycutt was the father of Caroline's unborn children, but it is confirmed that Tyler is the real father. Because Tyler is a werewolf, the babies are hybrids, being half human, half werewolf. Therefore, both unborn children are carrying the werewolf gene and could possibly change into werewolves in the future.
-•  '''Alaric K. Saltzman:''' Alaric is a male supporting character of the book series. He is the new, young, attractive history teacher at Robert E. Lee High School who was suspected of being a vampire hunter when he was in fact studying vampires. He is an experimental psychologist from Duke University, specializing in the research of psychic powers. His research took a sideways step when he discovered the victim of a vampire. He focused his research on vampire victims. Alaric is good-looking, with an athletic build, hazel eyes, and sandy brown hair. He has a boyish smile, and he is not much older than the students in his class. In The Fury, Elena assesses him to be two or three years older than she is, which is 22 or 23 years old at the most. In Dark Reunion, Bonnie believes that Alaric is about 22. Despite trying to appear as a fearsome vampire hunter and killer, he is not a violent, hateful person and cannot stand to see innocents hurt. He denies being a vampire hunter when Damon accuses him of being one. Once it is established that Stefan is not the killer plaguing Fell's Church, Alaric is concerned for Stefan's safety on learning he has gone to meet with Caroline Forbes, where he will be ambushed. He is highly sociable and is able to function very well as a host. Alaric falls in love with Meredith Sulez and has a long-distance relationship with her while he goes abroad to further his studies. Alaric is good at power-seeking and has the high material goals. He develops a romantic relationship with Meredith on the sly. While they do not have any romantic scenes together in the books, nor are they as outwardly affectionate as Stefan and Elena, there are implications that the relationship is serious. The reason for their secrecy may be the inappropriate nature of a student/teacher relationship, even though Alaric only went to Fell's Church to research vampires and used teaching as a cover. Alaric is an Aquarius, and he is from Charlottesville, Virginia.
-===Vampire Characters===
-•  '''Katherine Von Schwartzschild:''' Katherine was the young and beautiful a vampire whom Stefan and Damon fell in love with during the Italian Renaissance 500 years ago. She was born in Germany to Baron Von Schwartzchild, a German human man, and Elizabeth Morrow, who was an Earth Guardian. She strongly resembles Elena  (due to family relation) with long, golden blonde hair and eyes the color of lapis lazuli (deep, dark blue). She was very fragile when she was young and her last illness was terminal. Her maid Gudren sought out a vampire named Klaus to turn Katherine into a vampire. As a vampire, Katherine is much stronger than she was as a human, but the sun still weakens her. She wears a small, silver lapis lazuli ring, made by her maid Gudren, to protect herself from burning in the sun. Katherine arrives in Florence, Italy where her father took her in order for her to recover after he illness. It was there when Katherine meets and falls in love with Stefan Salvatore, the younger Salvatore brother. Over a period of time, after Stefan and Katherine spend much time together, Stefan and Katherine's fathers begin to discuss the prospects of a possible marriage. However, this prospect is cut when Stefan's elder brother, Damon comes home from university. Damon, in an attempt to get revenge against his brother out of hatred and envy, tries to seduce Katherine as much as possible and tries to steal her from Stefan. Katherine eventually develops feelings for Damon, resulting in a competition between the two brothers for Katherine's affections. Katherine turns both Stefan and Damon into vampires so that all three can be happily together forever. When Stefan and Damon argue and tell Katherine that she must choose between them, Katherine attempts to get the brothers to reconcile by fooling them into believing she had committed suicide. Blaming the other for Katherine's death, Stefan and Damon fight to the death by sword, thus completing their transformations into vampires. Both Damon and Stefan feel immense guilt over having caused Katherine's "death." In ''The Fury'', it is revealed that Katherine is the Other Power who attacked some of the people of Fell's Church. After Stefan and Damon killed each other, Katherine fled to Germany, where Klaus found her. Katherine grew powerful and sadistic over the centuries partly due to Klaus' influence. She can shape shift into a white tiger, kitten, owl, and she can manipulate the weather. She boasts about being the strongest of all due to killing many humans and vampires. She lured Stefan and Damon to Fell's Church to punish them for not reconciling after she faked her death. Katherine tries to kill Stefan, Elena and Damon. Katherine was especially envious of Elena for Stefan falling deeply in love with her. Katherine dies when Elena shoves her into a shaft of light and removes her protective necklace. It was revealed in The Fury that although Katherine loved both brothers, she reveals that she had always loved Stefan more than Damon. Katherine is reborn by Klaus (in The Hunters:Destiny Rising) and she becomes more caring and less selfish. It is revealed Elizabeth, who is Elena's mother and who was an Earth Guardian, is also her birth mother and is the half sister of Elena. Katherine was supposed to be a Guardian as well when she was 12 years of age, but she became fragile and very ill so the Guardians did not want her. Katherine finds out when she was dead, and did not tell Elena. Elena finds out and questions Katherine of whether or not she knew about Elena and her background. At the end of the series, Elena and Katherine appear to become more tolerant and understanding towards each other.
-• '''Klaus:''' Klaus is a pureblood vampire, one of the 'Old Ones' who has never been a human, and he existed long ago before the pyramids were built, which was 2500 B.C. According to him, he fought in the Trojan war and helped cause the downfall of the Roman Empire. In the late 15th century, he lived in a village in Germany, where the people thought that he was the devil himself. Klaus is Nordic in appearance, with electric blue eyes and short, close-cropped, platinum blond hair. He is described as being handsome although his features are often contorted in madness. He wears a dusty long tan coat. Personality-wise, Klaus is extremely deranged, and the line between his evil and his madnesss are very blurry. When pressed, he is deadly serious and reminds everyone about his unfathomable old age, but usually he seems unnaturally chipper, and his evil deeds during ''Dark Reunion'' are tinged with irony. He refers to everyone as "sport." He writes "Goodnight, sweetheart" on Vickie's mirror after brutally murdering her and leaving the same song playing in her room. He nearly kills Stefan with the white ash wood spear that was intended for him. His mood changes from cheerful and amused to enraged in seconds. Despite his seemingly erratic and scattered personality, he appears to be a patient and methodical killer capable of elaborate plans. One day, a maid begged for his help to save her dying mistress, Katherine von Swartzschild. Klaus turned her into a vampire and instructed her on how to be malevolent and despotic. Centuries later, Katherine thought that she killed him, but Klaus arrives in Fell's Church, where he helps Tyler become a werewolf. After that, he uses Tyler and his own enhanced vampire powers to play with the Salvatore brothers and their human friends. He murders Sue Carson, a friend of Bonnie and Meredith, and Vickie Bennett in an extremely violent manner. He offers Damon a truce if he will keep out of his way whiles he violently kills Stefan. Klaus also kidnaps Caroline Forbes and holds her hostage as bait to get Stefan to fight him. In the final showdown, all the weapons used against him fail. Stefan bravely faces Klaus in an attempt to battle him and defeat him to protect the people he cares about and the town of Fells Church. However, despite Stefan's bravery, Klaus about almost kills Stefan and also, nearly kills Damon as well until there is an intervention from Elena's spirit, leading an army of Civil War ghosts. The ghosts carry a screaming Klaus away, and his current whereabouts (and state of being) are unknown. Klaus is reborn by Ethan Crane. Klaus awakens all the vampires he turned that are dead and creates an army. Klaus promises to kill Elena and all her friends for revenge. Klaus tries to kill Elena over and over again but fails. When Klaus drinks Elena's blood, he dies for good. It is revealed that Elena is the one that can kill the Old Ones by letting them drink her blood.
-•  '''Sage''': Sage is a vampire, presumed to be an Old One by Elena, although it is never proven. He is described as being helpful, benevolent and good-hearted. In 'The Return' trilogy, they encounter him and he is a good character. Sage helps Bonnie, Elena, Stefan, and Damon throughout these books. The four soon start to trust him and consider him their friend and ally in the battle.
-===Human Characters===
-• '''Judith Sommers (née Gilbert):''' Judith is Elena's aunt and legal guardian. She is the sister of Elena and Margaret's father. She moved in with Elena and her baby sister Margaret right after the death of the girls' parents. She always looks vaguely flustered. She has a thin, mild face and flyaway red hair pushed back untidily. She is engaged to and later marries Robert Maxwell, though she briefly broke the engagement after Elena's death, thinking it was best for Margaret. She is deeply caring and one of the last people Elena talks to before dying the first time.It is reviled that Judith isn't Elena's or Margaret's aunt, she was a good friend of Elena's mother only, despite having been called "Miss Gilbert" in ''The Struggle'' and ''Dark Reunion''.
-• '''Margaret Gilbert:''' Elena's much younger sister, who is four years old. Elena considers her to be very innocent and secretly talks to her as a vampire after her death, saying that it is not yet her time to rejoin her deceased parents. She has the platinum white-blond hair, fair, pink skin with peachy cheeks, and very light blue eyes. Margaret is generally cheerful, upbeat and optimistic, and she is empathetic enough to offer Elena Halloween candy when her older sister seems distressed. She likes animals well enough to adopt a kitten, though it turns out to be Katherine von Swartzschild in animal form. Due to her age, she gives little to no evidence of understanding the activities and concerns of her older sister or the other characters. She perceives Elena's death as her older sister's having gone to be with their parents. Her parents died when she was around one year old, so she has little memory of them. It is unknown how she spends her time or if she has any friends, as the reader only sees her with Elena or Aunt Judith.
-• '''Vickie Bennett:''' Vickie was an acquaintance of Elena, Matt, Meredith and Bonnie, but she was never particularly a part of their inner circle. Physically, she was small with light brown hair and dark brown eyes. She was at the cemetery with Elena when they left the homecoming dance. She had stayed there in the church with Dick Carter, Tyler Lockwoods's best friend. She was attacked by Katherine, and that caused her to go insane and she accused Elena of it. Then she is accused of killing Sue because she relapsed after her death and she was the only one present. After her transition away from the "fast crowd," her involvement is considered unlikely. When Bonnie and Meredith go to her house, she catatonically says that the murderer said she is next. She is left under the protection of Damon but is later murdered by Klaus.
-• '''Lady Ulma:''' Once a rich maiden living happily with her family in the Dark Dimension. Her family was killed by a demon she refused to marry. She then becomes a slave to Old Drohnze but is later rescued by Elena and Damon.
-===Werewolf Characters===
-• '''Tyler Lockwood:''' Tyler Lockwood  is a 18-year-old direct descendant of the Lockwood's that were present at the founding of Fell's Church. Tyler is the stereotypical "jock" type; he is very tall, broad, husky and muscular with jet black hair, olive  skin and very dark eyes. He is described as handsome and attractive, although he is rather fleshy. Tyler has fleshy hands and significantly large teeth. Tyler is much taller than Stefan and at least twice as broad. Tyler's family, the Lockwoods', is one founding family of Fell's Church; there appears to be some deep-seated resentment on the part of the Smallwoods over the history of the town's creation. Tyler seems to think that his family is more responsible for the founding than the Fell family, after which the town is named. In the first book, Tyler takes Elena to the graveyard, where she sees his grandfather's grave. Tyler tries to force himself on Elena, but Stefan saves her. Tyler has been antagonistic towards Stefan and Elena ever since. He is later revealed to be a werewolf/vampire. Tyler was turned to a hybrid by an original, Niklaus.; it was dormant until he knew how to begin the werewolf gene. Tyler eventually develops a relationship with Caroline Forbes. He is the father of Caroline's unborn babies at the end of ''The Return: Nightfall.'' Tyler has a cousin named Caleb Lockwood, who appears in Phantom. Tyler has a very crazy, and unliked uncle named Mason Lockwood.
-===Witch Characters===
-• '''Theophilia Flowers:''' Mrs. Flowers is the owner of the boarding house where Stefan lives. They once thought she was just a crazy old woman. During ''The Return: Nightfall'', she is revealed to be a witch like Bonnie and helps the friends search for Elena in the woods. Mrs. Flowers is said to be over 100 years old. She has grey hair and a smiling face with bright black eyes. She seems to suspect what Stefan is and makes knowing references about things lurking in the woods and jokes about Stefan flying off the roof. It is possible that she has the psychic premonitions. In ''The Return: Nightfall'', Mrs. Flowers reveals to Elena that she became a nurse when she was younger. She then states that she is a witch and has known about Stefan all along. She tells Elena that she has a "soft spot" for him and has decided to help Elena find Stefan, who has gone missing. She helps to cure Matt. Mrs. Flowers is educated in the usage of herbs. She tells Bonnie and Meredith that she used to be a medium or vaudeville and her mother died in 1901.
-===Kitsune Characters===
-*'''Inari''': A powerful and ancient kitsune whom Shinichi and Misao serve.
-• '''Shinichi:''' Shinichi is a magical fox spirit called a "Kitsune" from Japan. At first, he appeared as a dark and mysterious person, who offered a partnership to Damon to destroy Fell's Church. With the help of Damon, Stefan is lured away from the town with the promise of becoming a human again. Shinichi begins to feel for Elena, soon Shinichi falls deeply in love with Elena and becomes obsessed with her. Shinich and his twin sister, Misao, used terrible tentacled creatures called Malach to make Damon one of his pawns. The malach entered his body and took him over from the inside, corrupting his body and his soul, bringing him under Shinichi's will. Shinichi made Damon torture Elena and kidnap her, making her believe that Stefan wanted her to be under Damon's care, while he and Misao spread the malach like a virus among the citizens of Fall's Church. In his human form, Shinichi looks like a young and beautiful Asian boy with pitch black hair, red all around the tips and golden eyes. In his real fox form, he has more than six tails and black and red fur. His personality is twisted and evil. Shinichi begins to make moves on Elena.
-•  '''Misao:''' Misao is Shinichi's twin sister. In the beginning of Nightfall, she appeared in Caroline's mirror in her brother's form, and used her bad feelings for Elena to making them sign a contract, which enabled Caroline to get her revenge on Elena and Stefan. Misao possessed Caroline with malach and used her to spread the virus-like creatures in the town, mostly among the young girls. Under their influence, the girls did terrible things to themselves, like home-made piercings and offering sex to the older boys. Although they are brother and sister, Misao has a passionate and sexual attachment to Shinichi, and they share a kiss in the scene where they lure Bonnie, Meredith, Matt, Alaric and Mrs. Flowers into the woods. In her human form, Misao looks like a pretty young Asian girl with long black hair, scarlet all around the tips, and black eyes, while in her fox form she has more than six tails and black and scarlet fur. Her personality is spoiled and arrogant.
 ==Adaptations==