Original Vampires (The Vampire Diaries)

The Original Vampires, known as "The Originals", are the world's first and most dangerous vampires in the fictional universe of The Vampire Diaries. They were created through an occult blood ritual performed by their powerful witch mother, Esther. She turned her husband, Mikael, and her five children, (Finn, Elijah, Niklaus, Rebekah, and Kol) into vampires in the ancient times, in order to protect them from werewolves.

Family History

The Original Family comes from 10th century Viking era Europe. They traveled to the Americas in order to escape a plague that had overcome their area and had also killed their son.

Members of the Original Family

Mikael

Mikael is the patriarch of the Original Family. He is portrayed by Sebastian Roché.

Mikael was searching for Klaus and the rest of his family for a thousand years. He desired to kill Klaus, in order to get revenge for his wife's infidelity. He also never liked Klaus, as he found him reckless, immature, and violent.

Mikael was imprisoned in a tomb by Bonnie's mother Abby, when he came to Mystic Falls looking for Elena when she was a small child. He wanted to kill the Petrova Doppelganger in order to prevent Klaus from creating a hybrid army. Katherine awoke him in order to get information on how to kill Klaus.

Klaus eventually killed Mikael in a bizarre series of events that were supposed to have resulted in the death of Klaus himself.

When the Originals throw a ball in order to introduce themselves to the Mystic Falls community, they use the last name "Mikaelson", as a tribute to the patriarch.

Esther

Esther is the matriarch of the Original Family. She is portrayed by Alice Evans.

She is not a vampire, but is a powerful witch. She was the apprentice of the world's most powerful witch, Ayanna, during her first years in America. Esther is responsible for turning her family into vampires. She did so by summoning life from the sun and immortality from a White Oak tree, then making them drink the blood of Tatia Petrova, the original Petrova, before having Mikael kill them.

She is referred to as "The Original Witch", though she was not the first witch in the world. This is a reference to the fact that she was the witch who was a part of the Original Family.

Esther was murdered by Klaus in the 10th century, because she used her powers [and those of some other fellow witches] to suppress his werewolf abilities and bind them to the moonstone (by using a curse), and for making him the target of Mikael's hatred through her affair. Esther comes back to life during season 3 of the show, when she is awakened by Bonnie and Abby Bennett. Esther tries to kill all of her vampire children, whom she now believes to be abominations after seeing the violence that they embody. She obtains the help of her son Finn, who becomes willing to be sacrificed in order to end the pain that his siblings bring to the world. Esther also seeks the help of Bonnie Bennett and her mother Abby (descendants of the powerful ancient witch Ayanna) by channeling them and their blood line, in order to gain more power to perform the spell that will kill her children. However, Esther's son Elijah finds out about the plan, and teams up with his siblings to force the Salvatore brothers to prevent his mother from [...] the family by kidnapping Elena and threatening to kill her if the Salvatores do not stop Esther's endeavours. Damon ends up turning Bonnie's mother into a vampire, which ends her witch abilities and thus destroys the spell. Esther then flees from Mystic Falls to avoid her family.

In the season three episode, "Heart of Darkness", Esther returns to Mystic Falls. She tells Rebekah that she is dying, and wanted to see her daughter one last time; however, she has ulterior motives for returning. She grabs Rebekah's hands, and then performs a spell in order to switch bodies with Rebekah. She uses Rebekah as a cover for safety, (in order to stay safe from Klaus and her other Original children who want her dead after learning of her plans to kill them all), in order to carry out her scheme of convincing the dark alter ego of Alaric Saltzman to be turned into a vampire by her, so that he can gain strength and kill all of her Original children, and subsequently end the vampire race. After she returns to her own body, she is killed by Alaric's normal self, (but not before she successfully performs the ritual on his dark side), and her body is put back into its coffin by Klaus.

Elijah

Elijah is the oldest son of the Original Family after Finn. He is portrayed by New Zealand actor Daniel Gillies.

Elijah first appears in episode eight of season two, entitled "Rose". Elijah is brought into the Vampire Diaries circle by two vampires named Rose and Trevor. They make a deal to be allowed immunity from Elijah and the Originals, if they hand over Elena Gilbert, the new Petrova doppelganger. It is later revealed that Rose and Trevor were the vampires who failed to keep Katerina Petrova (Katherine Pierce) alive for Klaus to sacrifice in the ritual required to release his werewolf abilities. They were subsequently hunted by Klaus and Elijah for centuries. Elijah was in love with Katerina in 1492 and tried to save her from Klaus; however, she did not trust Elijah and chose to flee, which broke his heart. Therefore, he chose to punish her by compelling her to stay in a tomb.

Elena is rescued by the Salvatore brothers not long after Elijah kills Trevor, who had betrayed Elijah in the past by helping Katerina escape. The Salvatores attack Elijah and succeed in staking him; however, he comes back to life at the end of the episode. Elijah then works with a witch to locate Elena. The witch is able to locate her, so he goes to Mystic Falls to confront her, where he ends up saving her from a group of vampires who also wanted to take Elena. It is revealed that those vampires wanted to hand her over to Klaus. When Elijah discovers this, he makes peace with Elena and her friends, because he wants to use Elena as bait to draw out Klaus and kill him. He thus makes a deal with Elena that if she helps him kill Klaus, he will leave her friends alone. However, he intends for Elena to be successfully sacrificed as once Klaus breaks the curse and starts transforming, he will be left vulnerable enough to be killed. During a series of events, Elijah is "killed" when Alaric stabs him with the dagger that can kill an Original.

When Klaus comes to town, Elena un-daggers Elijah, and he then reveals to her his family's history and the fact that Klaus killed the rest of his siblings. Elijah thus at first tries to help Elena and her friends kill Klaus, but ends up saving him instead in the Season 2 finale episode, because Klaus promises to take Elijah to their family if Elijah spares him. In season three, however, it is revealed that Klaus double-crossed Elijah once again, and daggered him.

In season three, Stefan, Elena, Bonnie, and Damon work together to undagger all of Klaus's family, because they believe that one or all of them can help kill Klaus. Elijah is thus released once more and frees his siblings and they proceed to seek their revenge on Klaus; however, before they can make their move, Esther reappears and convinces the siblings to be a family again [which later turns out to be a front for her true motives]. After Elijah foils his mother's plans to kill him and his siblings, he leaves Mystic Falls a tortured soul, ashamed of his own barbaric actions and those of his family's.

He is shown to be one of the most sophisticated and peaceful of the Original siblings, alongside Finn. He is the most compromising regarding Elena and her friends. Elijah and Elena develop a sort of understanding during the series, and Elena comes to be fond of Elijah's company. She thus feels especially betrayed when Elijah threatens to allow Rebekah to kill Elena if the Salvatore brothers are not able to stop Esther Mikaelson from [...] the Original Family. However, in the 18th episode of season 3, Elena professes that she hopes that her vampire friends are descended from Elijah's bloodline, so that he can be spared.

Elijah returns to town in the season three finale episode, "The Departed", in order to make a deal with Elena and her friends. Elijah proposes that he be allowed to take Klaus's desiccated body with him and his siblings and leave town, and in exchange, he would make sure that Klaus would not be resurrected within Elena's lifetime or even that of her children. However, Klaus is staked, and Elijah and Rebekah believe him to be dead, even though Klaus actually switched bodies with Tyler Lockwood and lives on; thus, even though his body burns to ashes, none of his bloodline are affected. The same episode confirms that Klaus was the one who created the bloodlines of Rose, Katherine, the Salvatores, Caroline, Tyler, and Abby Bennett.

Finn

Finn was the second oldest son of the Original Family. He is portrayed by Casper Zafer.

Unlike most of his siblings, he is seemingly morally sound. He wishes to put an end to the evil and pain that his siblings have created. Thus, Finn agrees with his mother Esther's viewpoint, that he and all of his siblings are abominations. His mother regrets creating them all and wants to kill them. Finn tries to help her do this by offering to be a sacrifice and letting his mother kill him, which would result in the deaths of all of his siblings because they become linked through a spell that his mother performs.

Finn was responsible for turning the 900-year-old vampire Sage, with whom he is in love. Sage and Finn reunite shortly before his death.

He is killed in the season 3 episode "The [...] of One", when Stefan, Elena and Matt kill him, thinking that it will kill all of the Originals due to their "linked" status. However, Klaus manages to force Bonnie into unlinking the siblings moments before Finn is killed. It is revealed through Finn's death that when an Original dies, all vampires of his or her bloodline die as well.

Niklaus

Niklaus, known as Klaus, is a son of the Original Family. Klaus is younger than Elijah and Finn. He is portrayed by English actor Joseph Morgan. He is the series' de facto main antagonist from Season 2 to Season 4.

Klaus is one of the most dangerous characters on The Vampire Diaries. He is shown to be sadistic and sociopathic.

After the Original couple moved to the Americas, Klaus's mother had an affair with a member of the neighboring werewolf tribe. Niklaus was born as a result. The mother's infidelity was later revealed.

After Esther turned the family into vampires, Klaus became a hybrid after his first kill due to his werewolf gene, However, his werewolf powers were bound to the moonstone by a band of witches, including his own mother, because his hybrid status made him an "abomination" in their eyes. In order to obtain his werewolf abilities, Klaus had to perform a ritual in which a werewolf, a vampire and a Petrova doppelgänger had to be sacrificed. Klaus first hunted Katerina Petrova (later known as Katherine Pierce), who was from the line of supernatural Petrova doppelgängers. In order to avoid being sacrificed by Klaus and allowing him to gain infinite power, Katerina drinks the blood of a vampire and then kills herself in order to transform into a vampire. She then becomes useless to Klaus because his ritual requires a human doppelganger. Katherine subsequently spends centuries on the run from Klaus, who is enraged at her actions. As a result, Klaus kills her entire family.

Continuing his quest to release his werewolf abilities, Klaus compels Isobel Saltzman to locate the latest Petrova doppelganger, Elena Gilbert, (Isobel's daughter). Klaus is then able to perform the ritual. He sacrifices Tyler Lockwood's friend Jules, who is a werewolf. He also turns Jenna Sommers into a vampire and kills her. Finally, Klaus drains Elena of blood (though she lives thanks to a sacrifice made by her biological father, John Gilbert) and thus completes the ritual and becomes a fully functional vampire-werewolf hybrid.

A major plot line of the show is Klaus's quest to create a hybrid army. Klaus can only sire other hybrids by using the blood of the supernatural Petrova doppelganger, Elena Gilbert. Thus, he is often a threat to Elena and is a major kill target for the Salvatore brothers.

At one point, Klaus blackmails Stefan into helping him create more hybrids, by threatening to kill Damon. Klaus forces Stefan to return to his old, deadly ways, and returns Stefan to the Salvatore's former sociopathic persona, known as "The Ripper". When Klaus discovers that he needs Elena's blood to create his hybrid army, he sends Stefan back to Mystic Falls to keep an eye on her, but also forces Stefan to turn off his humanity (an ability that vampires have on the show). Tyler Lockwood ends up becoming Klaus's first hybridized victim.

It is also revealed that Klaus murdered his own mother, because she suppressed his werewolf powers through a curse, and because he blames her for making him the target of Mikael's hatred by her conception of him through an affair. When his sister Rebekah learns of this, she initially has a falling out with Klaus. However, when Elena's friends release Klaus's family from their coffins, Rebekah forgives Klaus, though only after their mother convinces them that she wants them to reunite as a family.

Klaus's humanity is shown very rarely. His affection for Caroline Forbes represents a more human side to the sociopathic vampire. He invites her to his family's ball and sends her a gown to wear to it.

In the season 3 episode, "Before Sunset", Klaus is temporarily "killed" by the Salvatores and Tyler Lockwood. He tries to kill Elena by draining her of all her blood in order to kill two birds with one stone: (1) have a supply of her blood with which to create a hybrid army, (2) kill the vampire form of the vampire-hating Alaric Saltzman, who desires to kill Klaus and all other vampires and whose life is tied to Elena's by the witch Esther. Subsequently, Elena's friends neutralize Klaus in order to protect her. Instead of staking him, which could potentially kill them all (see "Mythology" section), the Salavatore brothers use Bonnie's magic and a dark spell to stop Klaus's heart, which "desiccates" him and leaves him immobile and starved of blood, and thus in a seemingly "dead" state. A similar spell was performed on Klaus's father, Mikael, by Bonnie's mother, Abby Bennett.

In the season three finale episode "The Departed", Klaus is staked in his coffin by the vampire form of Alaric Saltzman, and subsequently, his body burns to ashes, (see "Mythology" section). However, Klaus lives on by switching bodies with Tyler Lockwood, through a spell which Bonnie Bennett performs.

Kol

Kol is the youngest son of the Original Family, since the death of his younger brother Henrik and the second youngest child still living, being older than Rebekah. He is portrayed by Australian actor Nathaniel Buzolic.

He tries to kill Matt Donovan for entertainment during the Originals' family ball, but is stopped by Damon Salvatore.

In the season 3 episode, "Heart of Darkness", Kol appears in Denver, Colorado, where Elena and Damon had sent Jeremy, to get him away from Mystic Falls and protect his life.[11] He threatens to hurt Jeremy, in order to prevent Elena and Damon from trying to find out the history of Damon's blood line, (if they managed to do so, they might find out that Elena's friends are not descended from Kol, which would allow them to kill him—see "Mythology" section). Damon drives a baseball bat through Kol's body in order to debilitate him so that he, Elena, and Jeremy can escape. Kol later appears at the house of Mary Porter, the vampire who sired Rose.[11] Kol kills Mary, so that she is not able to tell Elena and Damon about the history of her bloodline, which could lead them to find out which Original vampire Damon, Stefan, Caroline, Tyler, and Abby Bennett are descended from, (Mary sired Rose, Katherine Pierce forced Rose to sire her, and Katherine later sired Damon and Stefan; Damon sired Caroline, Abby, and Elena).

In season 4, Kol returns to aid Rebekah in finding the rumored "cure" for vampirism. He tortures Professor Shane, who supposedly knows how to get the cure. When Kol realizes that Shane plans to release Silas, the first and most dangerous immortal being of all time, Kol stabs Shane through the torso with a wooden object, [...] him. However, Bonnie is able to save Shane's life through an "expression", or dark magic spell.

Kol compels Damon to kill Jeremy so that they cannot find Silas, but Stefan locks Damon away so that he cannot. Elena and Jeremy decide to try and kill Kol because he is trying to stop them from getting the cure. Since Jeremy needs to kill vampires to complete the map to the cure, they conclude that if they kill Kol, which also kills his whole line of vampires, the map will be complete.

Elena lures Kol into the house and waits for Jeremy to bring Bonnie, but he does not make it in time. Elena and Jeremy are talking later when Kol appears, storms into the house and tries to cut off Jeremy's hunting arm. Elena corners him and showers him in water mixed with vervain. Jeremy stabs Kol with the white oak stake and he dies. Meanwhile Klaus is standing furious in the doorway, unable to help his brother because he has not been invited inside Elena's home. He vows to avenge his brothers death, swearing to kill Jeremy, Elena and anyone else involved.

Rebekah

Rebekah is the only daughter of the Original Family. She is currently the youngest member of the original family since Henrik died over a thousand years ago. She is portrayed by Australian actress Claire Holt.

Rebekah shares a deep BOND with her brother Klaus, and was the only family member that remained loyal to him throughout his vicious behavior. Klaus thus kept her by his side, while he kept the rest of his family staked and stored away in boxes for hundreds of years.

She had a romantic interest in Stefan Salvatore during their encounters in the early 1920s. During that time period, Klaus and Rebekah are once again forced to go on the run after the arrival of their vengeful father Mikael. Consequently, Rebekah professes an interest to stop running and desires to live a stable life with Stefan by her side. Klaus subsequently forces her to choose between himself and Stefan. She chooses the latter, leading Klaus to dagger her. He brings her back to life during the period in which the show takes place, in order to obtain her necklace (which is originally Esther's). The same necklace is gifted to Elena by Stefan during the series first season. Rebekah and Klaus thus head to Mystic Falls. Rebekah develops a deep hatred and envy of Elena, and continually tries to hurt, kill, and emotionally distress her, until her brother makes her stop. Later on, Rebekah is once again daggered by Elena, to simplify the Salvatores' plans of [...] Klaus. In season three, Klaus makes Elena reveal Rebekah's location, and takes her body with him. She is eventually undaggered by Elijah.

During her time in Mystic Falls, Rebekah enrolls at the local high school, much to the disgust of Elena and her friends. There, she at first makes romantic advances towards Tyler Lockwood, Caroline Forbes's boyfriend. She later develops a fondness for Matt Donovan, and invites him to her family's ball.

Rebekah is shown to be lonely and insecure, though she hides this by being cruel and violent. This is demonstrated quite well through her [...] rendezvouses with Damon Salvatore, an enemy of her family, and the subsequent torture she makes him endure upon being betrayed by him.

Rebekah's body is temporarily taken over by her witch mother, Esther, through a spell which Esther performs. She invades Rebekah's body in order to be able to go unnoticed while scheming to kill all of her Original children, (who are out for her blood, ever since they discovered that she tried to kill them by a blood-linking spell at the family ball). Esther later leaves Rebekah's body and stakes her; however, Klaus restores Rebekah to full vitality by removing the stake.

Rebekah supposedly leaves Mystic Falls in the season 3 episode "Before Sunset", in order to avoid the vampiric version of Alaric Saltzman, who wants to kill her and all other vampires. However, she then returns to Mystic Falls after witnessing the supposed "death" of her brother. Grief-stricken, she decides to kill Elena, therefore [...] Alaric and taking away the last threat to her and her family. She causes both Elena and Matt Donovan to drive off of the Wickery Bridge and into the lake to drown, and Elena dies, along with Alaric. However, Elena had vampire blood in her system, something Rebekah was unaware of.

Henrik

Henrik was the youngest child of the Original Family. He is portrayed by Devon Allowitz.

Henrik was killed by werewolves a thousand year ago before the Family had been turned into vampires. His death created a war between the werewolf clan and his own family, causing his mother to turn the family into vampires, so they could defend themselves against the lycanthropic beasts.

Aaron

He was the oldest of the siblings who died because of a plague that hit Esther's and Mikael's homeland.

Mythology

Being the oldest and most powerful, Originals are stronger and faster than all non-Original vampires. Also, werewolves prove little to no challenge for them, even in their wolf form (where they are at their strongest). Originals have the power to "compel" or hypnotize non-Original vampires in addition to humans, though they cannot compel each other.

Nothing can kill an Original Vampire, except for a heart-aimed stake made only of the ancient White Oak tree. If an Original is stabbed in that way, he or she will die and burn to ashes. Using a silver dagger dipped in the ashes of the White Oak tree will cause the Original to be neutralized as long as the dagger remains within them; however, that type of dagger would not work on Klaus due to his hybrid nature, and only a pure White Oak stake could kill him. Other stakes temporarily disable Originals, but they recuperate in moments, (as demonstrated through Elijah pulling out the wooden stake that Damon plunges into his chest when he attempts to rescue Elena from Rose and Trevor).

When an Original dies, all of the vampires from his or her blood line die as well. This is demonstrated when Damon, Stefan, Elena, and Matt kill Finn, resulting in the deaths of Sage and Troy, (Finn had sired Sage and Sage had sired Troy, thus creating a blood line). Thus, if all Originals were to be killed, the entire vampire species would be rendered extinct, since all the vampires in the world are descended from the Originals.

However, it is necessary for the Original's spirit to die, in order for his or her bloodline to follow suit. In the season three finale episode "The Departed", Klaus manages to switch bodies with Tyler Lockwood before being staked and lives on; thus, even though his body supposedly burnt to ashes, none of his bloodline are affected.

TV Series

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

In February 2013, it was announced that Daniella Pineda was cast as the witch Sophie for episode 4x20 of the CW's hitseries The Vampire Diaries. This episode serves as a backdoor-pilot for a possible spin-off series, revolving around the Originals and taking place in the French Quarter of New Orleans. If the series gets picked up for the 2013-2014 season, she'd be a regular cast member.

See also

• List of The Vampire Diaries characters