Elena Gilbert

The main character of the show who is a teenage girl whose parents passed away in a car accident. After her parents passed, she and her younger brother were taken in by their Aunt Jenna. Elena then meets vampire brothers, Stefan and Damon, and gets thrown into a supernatural world. Because of this, she finds out she is also supernatural as she is the doppelganger of the Petrova bloodline. She subsequently has a romantic relationship with Stefan. At the end of the 3rd season, she becomes a vampire after she drowns with vampire blood in her system.

Stefan Salvatore

A vampire that was created by Katherine Pierce in 1864. He survives mainly on animal blood and chooses and less murderous way of life than most vampires. He is the on again off again romantic interest of Elena Gilbert and the object of Katherine Pierce’s affection. When Klaus comes to town, he makes a deal with Stefan in order to save Damon’s life. He offers to save Damon if Stefan will drink copious amounts of human blood and join Klaus as his alter ego, The Ripper. As a result of this, Stefan becomes murderous and leaves Mystic Falls with Klaus and essentially loses all of his humanity. Upon returning to Mystic Falls, he attempts to regain his humanity and win back Elena’s love.

Damon Salvatore

The elder vampire brother of Stefan Salvatore who also became a vampire in 1864 at the hands of Katherine Pierce. He begins as the more reckless murderous brother, but later develops feelings for Elena Gilbert which brings out his kinder self. He spent 150 years in love with Katherine Pierce to only find out she never loved him. He has a tendency to become incredibly dangerous when the people closest to him hurt him emotionally. When Stefan leaves town, Elena develops romantic feelings for Damon and ends up breaking his heart when she chooses to be with Stefan over him.

Jeremy Gilbert

The younger brother of Elena Gilbert. He has suffered great loss with family and friends. He has lost his parents, his aunt who was his guardian and 2 girlfriends to death. He is one of the only humans in the main cast. Jeremy obtained skill as being a medium who can communicate with deceased vampires after he is shot dead by the sheriff and revived with magic by Bonnie Bennett. Elena has Damon compel Jeremy to leave town to get away from the supernatural, so he moves to Denver for a short time. In Denver, it is discovered he has made friends with an original vampire and is immediately brought back to Mystic Falls.

Bonnie Bennett

Bonnie is a very powerful witch descendant of a long line of Bennett Witches. She is the best friend of Elena Gilbert. Bonnie does not enjoy being a part of the supernatural world as she despises vampires. Her mother abandoned her and her father when Bonnie was very young and she was mainly raised by her late grandmother. In an attempt to kill Klaus, Bonnie channels evil magic to stop a human heart. After she does this, she puts Klaus into Tyler Lockwood’s body without telling anyone to save all of her friends.

Caroline Forbes

Caroline is a self proclaimed neurotic control freak and close friend of Elena Gilbert. She is the head cheerleader, student council president and Miss Mystic Falls. Damon Salvatore gives her his blood after she suffers major injuries in a car accident. Katherine Pierce then kills Caroline so she becomes a vampire. Though she struggles at first, Caroline is strong and self sacrificial as a vampire to help her friends.

Tyler Lockwood

Tyler Lockwood is the son of the mayor and a jock. He discovers he has a werewolf gene after his father is killed and his Uncle Mason comes to stay with he and his mother. He finds out the way to trigger the werewolf gene is to kill a human being. After he accidentally kills a girl at a party, he becomes a werewolf. He is then the first successful hybrid vampire-werewolf Klaus is able to create. He is later sacrificed to house Klaus inside of his body.

Alaric Saltzman

As a History teacher and vampire hunter, Alaric moves to Mystic Falls after their history teacher is killed to try to find answers about his wife’s disappearance. Upon coming to Mystic Falls, he befriends the vampires and dates Elena’s aunt, Jenna. After Jenna is killed, he moves in with Elena and Jeremy as their guardian since they are still teenagers. He has a ring that protects him from super natural death, and after he is killed a number of times by the supernatural, he develops a murderous alter ego. Esther the witch turns Alaric into a vampire to make him stronger so he can completely rid the world of vampires. After killing 2 people and attempting to kill more, he is killed when Elena dies because her blood was used to create him.

Matt Donovan

One of the only non-supernatural beings on the show, Matt is the run of the mill high school football quarterback. He is also the ex-boyfriend of Elena Gilbert. After his sister dies, he teams up with the sheriff to find out that Caroline is a vampire. He later learns all about the supernatural world around him. When he is presented a chance to get Elena out of town and away from the Supernatural, he ends up driving off a bridge into a river and she ends up dying and becoming a vampire from this.

Katherine Pierce (Katarina Petrova)

The original doppelganger of the Petrova bloodline, Katherine turned herself into a vampire when she was being hunted by Klaus for her blood. In 1864, she moves to Mystic Falls and meets the Salvatore brothers. She convinces them both that she loves them and ends up turning them into vampires. She returns in present day looking for a moonstone to break the curse of the vampires and the werewolves. Katherine helps the others in a plot to kill Klaus and when it fails, she leaves town.

Klaus Mikaelson

Klaus is a member of the original family of vampires. He is not only a vampire, but his mother had an affair with someone with a werewolf gene and was impregnated with Klaus, so he is a hybrid vampire-werewolf. He comes to Mystic Falls in an attempt to find Elena, the doppelganger, in order to break the curse that prevents him from turning into a werewolf. When he is successful, he decides he wants to make an army of hybrids and goes on a search for werewolves in attempt to change them. Upon many failed attempts, Klaus finally realizes Elena’s blood is the key to successfully making hybrids. He tries on multiple occassions to drain her of blood or leave town with her, all unsuccessfully. Klaus is eventually staked, however, Bonnie puts a spell on him so he can take over Tyler’s body.

Elijah Mikaelson

Elijah is one of the members of the original family of vampires. He initially comes to Mystic Falls in an attempt to save Elena from his brother, Klaus and ends up building good relationships with all of the people there. When everyone plots a scheme to kill Klaus, Elijah goes back on his word to rip out his heart upon a promise that Klaus makes to reunite him with the rest of his family. After Klaus goes back on his word, Elijah joins forces with the Mystic Falls residents to kill Klaus once again. Upon failing to do so, he leaves Mystic Falls.

Rebekah Mikaelson

The only female member of the original vampire family. Upon arriving in Mystic Falls she quickly begins going to high school and joins the cheerleading squad in an attempt to get the high school experience she never had. Rebekah is very close with her brother, Klaus, and joins forces with him to try to take Elena away from Mystic Falls. Once she is informed that Klaus killed their mother, she abruptly switches sides and joins forces to kill him. When the plan fails, she leaves Mystic Falls.