Tv_Series: The Vampire Diaries

The vampire brothers Damon and Stefan Salvatore, eternal adolescents, having been leading "normal" lives, hiding their bloodthirsty condition, for centuries, moving on before their non-aging is noticed. They are back in the Virginia town where they became vampires. Stefan is noble, denying himself blood to avoid killing, and tries to control his evil brother Damon, who promised to Stefan an eternity of misery. Stefan falls in love with schoolgirl Elena, who has an uncanny resemblance to the Salvatore brothers old love, Katherine; and whose best friend Bonnie, is a witch.

This article is about the television series. For the book series, see The Vampire Diaries (novel series). For the unrelated film, see Vampire Diary.

The Vampire Diaries is an American supernatural drama television series developed by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, based on the popular book series of the same name written by L. J. Smith. The series premiered on The CW on September 10, 2009.

The series takes place in Mystic Falls, Virginia, a fictional small town haunted and surrounded by supernatural beings such as vampires, werewolves and witches. The narrative of the series follows the protagonist Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) as she falls in love with vampire Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley). As the series progresses, Elena finds herself drawn to Stefan's brother Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder), resulting in a horrible series of events. As the narrative develops in the course of the series, the focal point shifts on the mysterious past of the town involving Elena's malevolent doppelgänger Katerina Petrova. Katerina was the love of both Damon and Stefan Salvatore many years ago. Her return, along with the family of Original Vampires, have all led to many plots against Elena and Mystic Falls.

The pilot episode attracted the largest audience for The CW of any series premiere since the network began in 2006.The first season averaged 3.60 million viewers, and following seasons have maintained an audience of over 2 million viewers.It remains the most-watched series on the network. The series initially received mixed reviews, but critics agreed as the first season progressed that the show improved. Subsequent seasons have premiered to more positive critical reception. The show has received numerous award nominations, winning four People's Choice Award and many Teen Choice Awards.

On February 11, 2013, The CW renewed the series for a fifth season.On April 26, 2013, The CW has officially announced that the spin-off The Originals, which focuses on the Original family, has been ordered to series and began airing during the 2013–14 American television season. The fifth season premiered on October 3, 2013, followed by the series premiere of The Originals. On February 13, 2014, The CW renewed the series for a sixth season.

On January 11, 2015, the CW renewed the series for a seventh season.On April 6, 2015, lead actress Nina Dobrev confirmed via Instagram that she would be leaving the show after its sixth season.

Series overview

The series follows the life of Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev), a teenage girl who falls deeply in love with a 162-year-old vampire named Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley). Their relationship becomes increasingly complicated as Stefan's vicious, malevolent and mysterious older brother Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder) returns with a plan to wreak havoc on the town, seeking revenge against his younger brother for turning him into a vampire against his will. Because Elena resembles their past love Katherine Pierce, Damon also begins to fall in love with Elena. It is revealed that Elena is a descendant of Katherine, who eventually returns with plans against the trio. Elena undergoes many hardships and deaths of close family members and loved ones throughout her high school experience.
The series is set in the fictional town of Mystic Falls, Virginia, a town charged with supernatural history since its settlement of migrants from New England in the late 19th century. Additional story lines revolve around the other inhabitants of the town, most notably Elena's younger brother Jeremy Gilbert (Steven R. McQueen), her best friends Bonnie Bennett (Kat Graham) and Caroline Forbes (Candice Accola), and their mutual friends Tyler Lockwood (Michael Trevino) and Matt Donovan (Zach Roerig). The town's politics are orchestrated by descendants of the original founding families, all comprising a "Founders' Council." The founding families of Mystic Falls includes the Salvatores, the Gilberts, the Fells, the Forbes, and the Lockwoods. They guard the town mainly from vampires, although there are many more supernatural threats such as werewolves, witches, originals, hybrids,travelers and ghosts.

Cast and characters

Main article: List of The Vampire Diaries characters

Nina Dobrev portrays Elena Gilbert (seasons 1–6), the main protagonist, whom the series follows as she falls in love with Stefan and later falls for his brother, Damon Salvatore, creating a love triangle. This results in her being drawn into the supernatural world with the show following her struggles in surviving supernatural events in the town. Dobrev also portrays Elena's doppelgänger, Katherine Pierce also known as Katerina Petrova, she is a very sassy and persuasive beautiful young girl who has taken her eye onto Stefan Salvatore who also found herself in a love triangle with him and Damon Salvatore. She then starts growing real feelings for an Original. Katherine sporadically appeared in subsequent seasons and played a significant role in the fifth season. Dobrev has also played a third doppelgänger, Silas' true love known as Amara during the fifth season, whom he sought in the afterlife for two thousand years. Dobrev also played the Original Doppelgänger Tatia in The Originals season 2 episode "Red Door." In the season 6 finale, Elena's life was tied to Bonnie's in such a way that as long Bonnie is alive Elena will remain asleep. Damon put Elena in a coffin and hid her in the Salvatore family tomb for the next 60 years or so - to let Bonnie live her life - and will wait to reunite with her.
Paul Wesley portrays Stefan Salvatore (Seasons 1- present), a good-hearted and affectionate vampire and the complete opposite of his older brother, Damon Salvatore. Later in the series, Stefan reverts to his old ways as a Ripper to save Damon from a werewolf bite and his role becomes more antagonistic. Eventually, he returns to his good-hearted and caring self. He also portrays his revealed doppelgänger, Silas (Seasons 4–5), the world's first immortal being who's over 2,000 years old and the main antagonist of the fourth season and the secondary antagonist of the fifth season. By the season 6 finale, Stefan realizes his affection to Caroline and tells her about his feelings.
Ian Somerhalder portrays Damon Salvatore (Seasons 1- present), the malevolent vampire brother who initially served as the show's anti-hero. He is mostly thought of as selfish and manipulative, but later on in the series, he begins to display a more caring side. After his brother Stefan returns to his old ways, he becomes the more admired brother. Throughout this period he and Elena begin to develop a complicated relationship that eventually evolves into something more. They begin dating after the season 4 finale.
Steven R. McQueen portrays Jeremy Gilbert (seasons 1–6),Elena's younger brother, later revealed to be her biological cousin and a member of The Five, a vampire hunter. Jeremy is killed in Season 4 after being thrown onto Silas by Katherine and getting attacked by Silas while trying to get the cure. He is resurrected by Bonnie Bennett in the season 4 finale. He is Bonnie Bennet's love interest and is heartbroken when she is trapped in the Prison World, so much so that he leaves town.
Sara Canning portrays Jenna Sommers (seasons 1–2; guest in seasons 3 and 5), Jeremy and Elena's aunt and legal guardian. Canning left the show after season two when Jenna was killed after being turned into a vampire and used for Klaus' ritual.
Kat Graham portrays Bonnie Bennett (Seasons 1-present), Elena and Caroline's best friend and a very powerful witch, who died resurrecting Jeremy Gilbert in the season 4 finale. Graham continues in the same capacity as a series regular on the show; her character was a ghost for a period of time. Her character has been brought back to life by becoming the new anchor to the afterlife and was later used as a passageway for Markos to return to the land of the living. Alaric, Tyler, Elena, Stefan, and Luke all use her for the same purpose. In the sixth season, Bonnie is stuck with Damon and Kai in the 1994 Prison World since the Other Side was destroyed. Later, Bonnie finally escapes the Prison World and gets back to Mystic Falls. She is the love interest of Elena's brother, Jeremy Gilbert. They first date in season 2 after undeniable attraction, and have had an on-again/off-again relationship throughout the series, yet have stayed in love.
Candice Accola portrays Caroline Forbes (Seasons 1-present), Bonnie and Elena's best friend, who was an insecure and her occasional rival with Elena at first, but becomes a vampire in the second season making her more mature as a person. In season two, Caroline and Tyler have a relationship that develops in season three and ends in season five. In season six, Caroline has mutual feelings to Stefan but the two cannot end up together because of a chain of tragic events, such as the death of Caroline's mother and her own humanity switching off shortly after that.
Zach Roerig portrays Matt Donovan (Seasons 1-present), Elena's childhood friend and ex-boyfriend, who became romantically involved with Caroline in Season 1. They remain good friends even after breaking up during the third season.
Kayla Ewell portrays Vicki Donovan (season 1; recurring in seasons 2–3, 5), the drug-addicted sister of Matt. She appears to be dating Tyler but is more interested in Jeremy. She is turned into a vampire by Damon and shortly gets killed by Stefan. Ewell left the show after the first season but appears as a guest thereafter.
Michael Trevino portrays Tyler Lockwood (seasons 1–6; guest onward), a werewolf later turned into a hybrid, Jeremy and Matt's best friend, and son of the mayor of Mystic Falls; male members of his family have been shown to carry a lycanthropic trait. His uncle Mason was also a werewolf, who was killed by Damon in season two. He was turned into the first successful hybrid by Klaus. In the Season 5 finale, the passenger inside his body is killed after having had the vampirism revert so he died as a werewolf and was resurrected as such later in the episode.
Matt Davis portrays Alaric Saltzman (seasons 1–3, 6–present; recurring, season 1, 4–5), a history teacher, vampire hunter, and love interest for Jenna. Davis left the show at the end of season three after Alaric was killed. His character returned as a regular in Season 6.
Joseph Morgan portrays Original Vampire Klaus Mikaelson (seasons 3–4; recurring, seasons 2 and 5), the main antagonist of the second and third season. He begins to build an army of new "hybrids," which are half vampire and half werewolf. During Season 3, Klaus began to develop feelings for Caroline and later fell in love with her. Morgan left the show after the fourth season when Klaus moved onto his own spin-off, The Originals.
Michael Malarkey portrays Enzo St. John (seasons 6–present; recurring, season 5), a vampire formerly under the imprisonment of the Augustine society. He was Damon Salvatore's cellmate back in the 1950s when the latter was captured by the Augustines. He and Damon revived their friendship as he searched for his lost lover, Maggie. In the episode "Man on Fire," Enzo shut off his humanity and then Stefan Salvatore ripped out his heart. He was resurrected in the season finale.