The Vampire Diaries

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 18th century. It follows the life of Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev), a teenage girl who has just lost both parents in a car accident, as she falls in love with a 162-year-old vampire named Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley). Their relationship becomes increasingly complicated as Stefan's mysterious older brother Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder) returns, with a plan to bring back their past love Katherine Pierce (also played by Dobrev), a vampire who looks exactly like Elena. Although Damon initially harbors a grudge against his brother for forcing him to become a vampire, he later reconciles with Stefan and falls in love with Elena, creating a love triangle among the three. Both brothers attempt to protect Elena as they face various villains and threats to their town, including Katherine. The brothers' history and the town's mythology are revealed through flashbacks as the series goes on.

Additional storylines revolve around the other inhabitants of the town, most notably Elena's younger brother Jeremy Gilbert (Steven R. McQueen) and aunt Jenna Sommers (Sara Canning), her best friends Bonnie Bennett (Kat Graham) and Caroline Forbes (Candice King), their mutual friends Matt Donovan (Zach Roerig) and Tyler Lockwood (Michael Trevino), Matt's older sister Vicki Donovan (Kayla Ewell), and their history teacher, vampire hunter Alaric Saltzman (Matthew Davis). The town's politics are orchestrated by descendants of the original founding families, all comprising a "Founders' Council." They guard the town mainly from vampires and other supernatural threats such as werewolves, witches, hybrids, and ghosts.

Ian Somerhalder, Nina Dobrev and Paul Wesley at PaleyFest 2014

• Nina Dobrev as Elena Gilbert (season 1–6; guest season 8),[6] a young orphan who falls in love with vampire Stefan Salvatore and later his brother, Damon, creating a love triangle. When Stefan shuts his humanity off after being blackmailed by Klaus, Damon is given the opportunity to grow closer to Elena. This results in her being further drawn into the supernatural world and results in her struggling to survive supernatural events in the town. Dobrev also portrays Elena's doppelgänger, Katerina Petrova also known as Katherine Pierce. Dobrev sporadically appeared in subsequent seasons and played a significant role in the fifth season. Dobrev also plays the progenitor of the Petrova doppelgängers, Silas's true love known as Amara, during the fifth season, whom he had sought in the afterlife for two thousand years. Dobrev also played another doppelgänger Tatia in The Originals season 2 episode "Red Door."[7] In the season 6 finale, Elena's life was tied to Bonnie's in such a way that as long as Bonnie is alive, Elena will remain asleep. Damon put Elena in a coffin and had her hidden in a warehouse in Brooklyn for the next 60 years or so while he waits for her to wake up. In the series finale, Elena's curse is broken, she reunites with Damon and they live a long and happy life together with her becoming a doctor.
• Paul Wesley as Stefan Salvatore,[8] 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. His role becomes more antagonistic, after being forced to turn his humanity off. Eventually, he returns to his good-hearted and caring self and reconciles with Elena, but the relationship doesn't last long. He becomes human again and marries Caroline in Season 8 and is killed afterwards in the series finale as he sacrifices himself to save Mystic Falls. Wesley also portrays his revealed doppelgänger, Silas (seasons 4–5), the world's first immortal being. Wesley also played another doppelgänger, Tom Avery, during the fifth season.
• Ian Somerhalder as Damon Salvatore,[9] Stefan's malevolent vampire brother. He is mostly thought of as selfish and manipulative, but later on begins to display a more caring side. Though his love for Elena is initially one-sided, she begins to develop feelings for him as they work together to save Stefan after he's given in to his Ripper side. They begin dating in season 4, and continue to date (with some breakups along the way) until Elena is put into her deep sleep at the end of season 6. Damon becomes extremely close with Stefan, but also has a close friendship with Bonnie, despite the fact that they hated each other for the first 5 seasons of the series. Throughout seasons 6 and 7, their relationship has developed into a deeper bond, with Damon later confirming Bonnie is his best friend.
• Steven R. McQueen as Jeremy Gilbert (seasons 1–6; guest season 8),[10] Elena's younger brother, later revealed to be her biological cousin. He later becomes a member of The Five, a vampire hunting group. Jeremy is killed in season 4 after Katherine throws him onto Silas, who drains his blood. He is resurrected by Bonnie Bennett, his love interest, in the season 4 finale.
• Sara Canning as Jenna Sommers (seasons 1–2; guest seasons 3, 5, 8),[11] Elena and Jeremy'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 as Bonnie Bennett,[12] Elena and Caroline's best friend and a very powerful witch. She has died numerous times but always found a way to return. She develops and controls her powers with the help of her grandmother, Sheila or "Grams", another witch in the family. She is often able to use her magic to help the group, and while she initially hates vampires, particularly Damon, she ends up warming up to them and becomes Damon's best friend after being stuck in a prison world with him for four months. Bonnie has lost and regained her ability to do magic multiple times throughout the show. She spent seasons 2 through 5 in an on-again, off-again relationship with Elena's brother Jeremy and later became involved with Enzo. In season 7, Bonnie faces the challenge of having received Rayna Cruz's hunters' curse, which puts all her vampire friends at risk.
• Candice King as Caroline Forbes,[13] Elena and Bonnie's best friend, who was insecure and often jealous of Elena at first, but after becoming a vampire in the second season becomes more caring and sympathetic. Neurotic but lovable, Caroline has been the love interest of many of the male characters. Initially serving as Damon's plaything in season 1, which she still hates him for, she has had serious relationships with Matt, Tyler, Alaric, and Stefan, and was long the subject of Klaus's adoration. Currently, she is raising twins with Alaric.
• Zach Roerig as Matt Donovan,[14] Vicki's younger brother and 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 second season. Matt wants no part in the supernatural events in his town and later is at odds with the vampires as he becomes a police officer and tries to protect the town from them. He becomes a sheriff in Season 8 and plans to run for mayor.
• Kayla Ewell as Vicki Donovan (season 1; recurring seasons 2–3, 5, 8), the drug-addicted older sister of Matt. She appears to be dating Tyler but is also interested in Jeremy. She is turned into a vampire by Damon and is killed by Stefan shortly after. Ewell left the show after the first season but has appeared as a guest in multiple seasons since.
• Michael Trevino as Tyler Lockwood (seasons 1–6; recurring seasons 7–8),[15] a werewolf later turned into a hybrid, Jeremy and Matt's best friend, and son of the mayor of Mystic Falls. His Lockwood family carry a lycanthropic trait, being descended from an ancient werewolf clan. 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, he is returned to being just a human. He reactivates his werewolf gene and leaves town at the end of season 6. He appears in a couple episodes of season 7, protecting Elena's coffin. He is killed by a possessed Damon in Season 8.
• Matt Davis as Alaric Saltzman (seasons 1–3, 6–8; recurring season 4–5),[16] 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 after in season 5, after he was resurrected.[17] His vampirism is stripped away by magic, turning him into a human again after being saved by Josette Laughlin (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe) and the two begin dating. Jo becomes pregnant and they plan to marry, but she is murdered by her brother Kai at their wedding. Jo's family of witches was able to transfer the babies to Caroline, who gives birth to their twins. Caroline and Alaric move to Dallas together and begin a relationship, but end it when Caroline decides to be with Stefan after his return at the end of season 7. He establishes a boarding school with Caroline for supernatural teens at the end of the series.
• Joseph Morgan[18] as Klaus Mikaelson (seasons 3–4, recurring season 2; guest seasons 5, 7), an Original Vampire who 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 falls in love with her. Morgan left the show after the fourth season when Klaus moved to New Orleans on his own family's spin-off, The Originals.
• Michael Malarkey[19] as Enzo St. John (seasons 6–8; 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 after finding out the truth about Maggie’s death and is later killed by Stefan, having his heart ripped out. He was resurrected in the season finale, and later becomes Bonnie's love interest before coming under the control of the monster in the vault at the end of season 7. He is killed by a possessed Stefan and watches over Bonnie in the afterlife in Season 8.

Initially, Kevin Williamson had little interest in developing the series, finding the premise too similar to Stephenie Meyer's successful novels, Twilight. However, at the urging of Julie Plec, he began to read the books. He started to become intrigued by the story: "I began to realize that it was a story about a small town, about that town's underbelly and about what lurks under the surface."[20] Williamson has stated the town's story will be the main focus of the series rather than high school.[21]

On February 6, 2009, Variety announced that The CW had green-lit the pilot for The Vampire Diaries with Williamson and Julie Plec set as the head writers and executive producers.[22] On May 19, 2009, the series was officially ordered for the 2009–2010 season.[23]

The pilot episode was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia. However, the rest of the seasons have been filmed in Covington, Georgia (which doubles as the show's fictional small town of Mystic Falls, Virginia) and various other communities around Greater Atlanta[24] to take advantage of local tax incentives. On the morning of May 10, 2012, a fire broke out in the building on Clark Street in Covington that was used as the setting for Mystic Grill on the show.[25]

The series was given a full 22-episode order on October 21, 2009, after strong ratings for the first half of the season. Now there is a spin-off called The Originals, that goes into depth about the original vampire family from The Vampire Diaries.[26] On February 16, 2010, The CW announced that it had renewed the show for a second season,[27] which premiered on September 9, 2010.[28] On April 26, 2011, The CW renewed the show for a third season.[29] The third season premiered on September 15, 2011.[30] The fourth season premiered on October 11, 2012. The CW renewed the show for a fifth season on February 11, 2013.[31] On February 13, 2014, The CW renewed the series for a sixth season.[32] On January 11, 2015, the CW renewed the series for a seventh season.

On April 6, 2015, lead actress Nina Dobrev confirmed that she and co-star Michael Trevino (who plays Tyler Lockwood) would be leaving the show after its sixth season. Dobrev returned to record a voiceover for the seventh-season finale and returned as a guest star in the series finale.[3] Trevino appeared as a guest star in season seven and returned for season 8.[33][34]

On March 11, 2016, The CW renewed the series for an eighth season,[35] but on July 23, 2016, announced that the eighth season, consisting of 16 episodes, would be the show's last.[5] The final season began airing on October 21, 2016 and ended March 10, 2017. President of The CW, Mark Pedowitz, said in an interview at the summer TCA's that The Vampire Diaries didn't receive an extra episode order for the second season at the request of Kevin Williamson. Kevin Williamson felt to do the best show possible; he would rather do 22 episodes. "I'd rather have a great 22 than a good 24 if Kevin couldn't do it," he explained.[36] The writers first met for the fifth season on April 15, 2013. Filming began on July 10, 2013, and finished on April 10, 2014. On July 23, 2016, it was announced that the show would end after a 16-episode eighth season.[37]

Season one was released on DVD in Regions 1, 2, and 4. Also, on Blu-ray in Regions A and B. Both United States versions include commentary by cast and crew members on selected episodes, deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes featurettes, webisodes, and a downloadable audiobook of L.J. Smith's The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening.[80] It was released on DVD in Region 2 on August 23, 2010.[81] Following that release, Region 1 began selling DVDs on August 31, 2010,[80] and Region 3 on September 1, 2010.[82] In Region A, it was released on Blu-ray on August 31, 2010.[83][84] Region B's releases varied; the United Kingdom on August 23, 2010,[85] Brazil on August 26, 2010,[86] and Australia on September 1, 2010.[87]

The Vampire Diaries Season 2 will be available on DVD and Blu-ray on August 30, 2011.[88] Region B's releases varied; the United Kingdom on August 22, 2011,[89] Brazil on August 25, 2011. The Vampire Diaries: Season 3 will be available on DVD and Blu-ray on September 11 and A and on September 5, 2012, for Regions 4 and B.[90][91][92] The Vampire Diaries: Season 4 is available on DVD and Blu-ray in A as of September 15, 2013.

In Japan, the fourth season was released in a special collection, including bonuses not available elsewhere. Included in the collection are an ankle bracelet, promotional image cards, and a booklet about the cast.[93]

Former president of entertainment at The CW, Dawn Ostroff, mentioned a spin-off idea in 2010 that she said could happen in a few years.[165] A spin-off was in development for the 2011 fall line-up, but due to Kevin Williamson's commitment to The Secret Circle, it was put on hold indefinitely.[166]

Logo of The Originals

On January 11, 2013, it was announced that a back-door pilot focused on The Originals, starring Joseph Morgan as Klaus titled The Originals would air on April 25 for a potential series pick-up for the 2013–2014 season.[167] This second spin-off attempt was carried out by Julie Plec with no involvement by Kevin Williamson.[168]

On April 26, 2013, The CW announced that The Originals had been ordered to the series premiere in the 2013–14 television season.[169] The Originals premiered on October 3, 2013.

Daniel Gillies as Elijah, Claire Holt as Rebekah, and Phoebe Tonkin as Hayley will also continue to play their characters, originally from The Vampire Diaries, in the new spin-off series.[170]

The Originals is about the Mikaelson siblings, who are the original family of vampires, and their take-over of the French Quarter of New Orleans. The show also involves Hayley and Klaus's daughter, Hope.

Producers reported that there would be a transition of the characters in both series. Claire Holt made a special cameo in The Vampire Diaries, in the episodes "I Know What You Did Last Summer"[171] and "500 Years of Solitude".[172] Michael Trevino made a special cameo on episodes of The Originals, "Bloodletting" and "The River In Reverse." Joseph Morgan, Daniel Gillies, and Claire Holt returned to The Vampire Diaries in a special cameo on the series' 100th episode "500 Years of Solitude". Nina Dobrev also appeared in the fifth episode of The Originals' second season, "Red Door," as Tatia.

At the Television Critics Association winter 2016 press tour, CW president Mark Pedowitz announced an official crossover between The Vampire Diaries and The Originals, where Stefan goes on the run and finds a haven in New Orleans where he runs into Klaus.[173]

In November 2014, a web series titled The Originals: The Awakening was released as the third show in the franchise. The series explores the character Kol Mikaelson and his relationships with his siblings. Flashing back to 1914, Kol is on a quest to ally with the witches of the French Quarter. Awakening gives answers to some questions about Kol's past, including the origins of his rivalry with his family and the unique backstory he has with the New Orleans witches. Each webisode is approximately two minutes long. The series concluded on December 8, 2014. To date, The Originals: The Awakening is the only web series in The Vampire Diaries universe.

On October 31, 2013, DC Comics launched a comic book series based on the TV show.[174]

• List of vampire television series
• Vampire film

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