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[[folder: Elena Gilbert]]
!!!Elena Gilbert
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elena_gilbert.jpg]]
->'''Portrayed by:''' Creator/NinaDobrev

->''"I don't question why everyone tries so hard to save me. You shouldn't question why I try so hard to save everyone else."''
\\

Elena is a 17-year-old popular, beautiful human girl. She is the protagonist of the series. Elena reassesses her priorities following the death of her parents in a car crash of which she's the only survivor. Elena fatefully meets a handsome, mysterious new student, Stefan Salvatore, and she feels an instant and undeniable connection with him. After a period of time, Elena starts to realize that Stefan is in fact far from normal. Unbeknown to her, Elena is far from normal as well. As a Gilbert, she is a descendant of one of the town's Founding Families. She dies in "The Departed" before it's revealed that Meredith gave her vampire blood earlier in the night and she wakes in the transitional stage.
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* ActionGirl: When she becomes a vampire, she becomes tougher, stronger and has superhuman abilities. She is also a trained hunter because Alaric trained her in season three.
%% * ActionHeroine
* ActionSurvivor: She's far too likely to be a DistressedDamsel, but she is pretty competent while trying to defend herself. For example, when a strange vampire is trying to kill her, she stabs him with pencils - repeatedly - and then breaks a mop over her knee to try to stake him, and when a werewolf attacks her, she instantly sticks a knife into his gut. She's also adept at using her surroundings while trying to run away if pursued by a supernatural. This is magnified in Season 4 after she transitions into a vampire. She goes so far as to kill Connor to protect her brother.
* AdaptationalBackstoryChange: In the novels, Elena lost her parents in an accident when she was young. At the beginning of the series, the accident has only just occurred a few months back and she's still processing it.
* AdaptationDyeJob: Elena was blonde in the original books, but on the show, she is a brunette.
* AdaptationPersonalityChange: Elena is a regular NiceGirl at the beginning of the series, and a lot more pleasant than the AlphaBitch she started out as in novels.
* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Her relationships with Stefan (brooding, mysterious loner) and Damon (rebellious, wild bad boy).
* AllGuysWantCheerleaders: She is a cheerleader in the first season but she quits due to personal reasons. She's considered attractive and is actually a nice gal.
* AmicableExes:
** With Matt. They were a couple before the beginning of the series and they remain good friends after a bit of awkwardness.
** Initially {{subverted|trope}} with Stefan, who proclaims that he is 'done with her' after realizing she was in love with his brother. It's only in season 5 they move on from each other and [[BetterAsFriends renew their relationship as friends]].
%% * AnguishedDeclarationOfLove:
%% ** Many times with Stefan throughout the series. Especially in 4x01, when Elena is on the verge of death and she tells Stefan that she chose him because she loves him.
%%
%% This describes more DyingDeclarationOfLove. This example needs to explain the "anguish" part.
%%
%% ** Damon to Elena as well.
* BackForTheFinale: After being stuck into a ConvenientComa for season 7 and most of season 8, she comes back for the GrandFinale and gets her happy ending by turning back human and marrying Damon.
* BadassNormal: Elena as a regular human is capable of defending herself against all of the supernatural beings around her. Before she was turned into a vampire, she was a Badass Normal.
%% * BattleCouple: With Stefan, primarily in the earlier seasons.
%% * BelligerentSexualTension: Elena has this type of relationship with Damon. Throughout the series, Elena has shown to have a sexual attraction towards Damon, much to Elena's annoyance.
%% * BettyAndVeronica: She's the Archie for the Salvatore brothers (with Stefan as the "Betty" and Damon as the "Veronica"). The love triangle between Elena, Stefan and Damon is considered to be the main plot of the series.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: A very sweet and kind person but more than capable of putting you down if she's provoked. Hurt anyone of Elena's loved ones and watch her wrath.
* BigSisterInstinct: Towards Jeremy. Elena is seen to highly protective of Jeremy, even more so now considering that Jeremy is the only family that she really has left. She often lectures him, acting more like a mother figure to him from time to time.
* BirdsOfAFeather: With Stefan. It seems that Elena and Stefan have various things in common, most notably the fact that both Stefan and Elena like to write in journals and record their thoughts. This was emphasized in the Pilot episode.
* BlessedWithSuck: Elena is a {{doppelganger}} and therefore, because of it, she is the target of much danger. Elena's blood is special and is used for many spells and binding rituals, such as breaking Klaus' werewolf/hybrid curse and also, creating hybrids. So basically Elena is a human blood bag for vampires, witches, werewolves and hybrids. Being a doppelganger doesn't really give her any real benefits either, other than sometimes being immune to some sort of magic or spell.
* BornUnlucky: Elena is born a {{doppelganger}}, which means she's cursed with doom, pain, tragedy, and death. Because of her identity, many people she loves end up dying because of her. And the tragic or sad thing about it is that it's completely out of her control.
* BrainyBrunette: She's a pretty white girl with brown hair. She's smart, mature and a good student.
* BreakHisHeartToSaveHim: Elena did this with Stefan in season two by breaking up with Stefan in order to protect Stefan and her family and friends from Katherine Pierce.
* BreakTheCutie: Elena goes from a happy, normal girl next door (despite the loss of her parents) to a girl who suffers almost everyday on a daily basis. In the past year, she has gone through so much chaos in such a short amount of time.
* BrokenBird: Especially after her parents had died, Elena becomes cynical about life. She even admits that after the accident, she feels like she doesn't know how to live anymore. She's constantly losing loved ones, there is her {{doppelganger}} curse, being turned into a vampire etc.
* BrokenHero: Been through endless grief and tragedy, yet still manages to keep going regardless.
* BroodingBoyGentleGirl: Elena is the Gentle Girl to Stefan's Brooding Boy. In the beginning, Stefan is a brooding, mysterious loner who meets and falls for Elena, the sweet, gentle girl next door. Despite Stefan's ongoing angsting, especially about his guilt and his [[DarkAndTroubledPast dark, mysterious past]], Elena often makes Stefan smile and brings out a much lighter, playful side of Stefan.
* CameBackWrong: [[spoiler: After she was turned into a vampire, it was discovered that Elena is sired to Damon.]]
* CharacterTics: Elena tucks her hair behind her ear a lot.
%% * TheChick / TheHeart: Elena is the glue that holds everyone together.
* ChildhoodFriend: With Matt. They grew up together since childhood and [[ChildhoodFriendRomance eventually began dating in their teen years]]. They broke up, but still remained AmicableExes after that.
* ClassPrincess: Before her parent's death, she used to be the most popular girl at school, being attractive, fun, charismatic, a cheerleader and was an honor student that was on friendly terms with most of her peers. Post-accident she becomes too depressed to keep the same attitude and later gets too involved with the supernatural happenings around town to care much for school.
%% * ClingyJealousGirl:
%% ** Elena gets this way in regards to Stefan. First with Caroline, then with Katherine and then with Rebekah.
%% ** She also was this with Damon after he slept with Rebekah in season three.
* CoolBigSis: She's a cool older sister to Jeremy. She's very protective of her troubled younger brother.
* DatingCatwoman: With Damon. Many of her friends and family seem to disapprove of her romantic relationship with Damon, most notably Caroline.
%% * DeadpanSnarker: Not as much as other characters, but it's there.
* DesignatedVictim: Elena seems to be the victim of getting attacked, kidnapped, or hurt every single week.
%% * DestructiveRomance: With both of the Salvatores at various points in each relationship.
* DeusAngstMachina: It's a wonder the girl hasn't broken down yet, with all the tragedy she's experienced. Parents dead, discovered they're not really her parents, biological parents die, aunt and father-figure die, faces death on a daily basis, boyfriend went insane and homicidal, became a vampire, the list goes on and on and on. [[spoiler: And then she finally breaks down, flips her vampire switch and literally burns the whole house down in the wake of Jeremy's death.]] The angst, this girl cannot get enough.
* DisappearedDad: Her [[spoiler: adoptive]] father Grayson is deceased. [[spoiler: As well as her biological father, John]].
* DistressBall: Especially when she was a human, she was the one in trouble. Elena was always the target of supernatural beings, including vampires, werewolves, witches and Originals, which always put Elena in constant danger.
* DoomMagnet: The fact she's a Petrova {{doppelganger}} marks her as the target for all sorts of supernatural threats.
* {{Doppelganger}}: Elena is a Petrova doppelganger, a human woman that is born physically identical to the first female immortal, Amara, who broke the natural law that dictates that all living things must die, thus doppelgangers of her are naturally born every few centuries so they can "die in her place". This makes Elena's blood special for many magical purposes, although she's for most purposes the same as any other human.
* DoppelgangerReplacementLoveInterest: Elena became this to both Stefan and Damon, since they were both in love with Katherine who was Elena's {{doppelganger}}. Although they both eventually grew to love Elena much more than they did Katherine.
* DudeMagnet: Stefan and Damon are both in love with her, as was Matt in the first season.
* DyingDeclarationOfLove:
** Dying Damon declares his love to Elena in 2x22, going so far as to say he didn't regret any of his past choices, horrible as they were, because if he hadn't made them he would never have met her.
** She confesses her love to Stefan in 4x01. She tells Stefan as she is dying from not feeding on human blood during her transformation that she came back for Stefan because she loved him.
* EasilyForgiven: All of the characters seem to easily forgive Elena if she screws up or makes mistakes. Her mistakes are normally glossed over. (The same applies to most characters on the show, especially the vampires. Elena has certainly forgiven Stefan and Damon for a whole lot in the past 3+ seasons.)
%%* EternalLove: Now that Elena is a vampire, she can be in a relationship with Stefan for all eternity. In 4x01, Elena tells Stefan that she wants to be with him forever. [[spoiler: Apparently not, because in 4x06 it's all over.]]
* FamilyRelationshipSwitcheroo: She learns that her uncle is actually her biological father; she was born when he was a teenager, and after the mother left town, he gave his daughter to his much-older brother and his supposedly infertile wife to raise as their own child. This also makes her adopted brother her biological cousin.
* TheFashionista: Since turning into a vampire in season four, Elena is way more interested in fashionable and trendy clothing.
%% * FatalFlaw: Elena has a few flaws which include her hypocrisy and her indecisiveness. She can be a little bit self-aborbed as well, feeling that everything is her fault and is all about her. To be fair, though, almost everything that’s gone wrong in Mystic Falls on a supernatural level, from Stefan taking interest in her to Klaus coming to town, is because of her mystical heritage as the {{doppelganger}}, so most of the town's problems ''are'' about her.
%%
%% FatalFlaw should be one single most important problem. Please find specific tropes for indecisive characters. Trope Hypocrite is already listed.
%%
* TheFettered: Elena is one of the characters that is the primary moral compass of the show. She lives by a strong set of morals, ideals, values and beliefs and always believes in doing the right thing.
%% * FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: The Responsible to Jeremy's Foolish.
* FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire: Retains her kindness and compassion even after she turns and becomes a vampire.
* GirlNextDoor: Despite her popularity and beauty, Elena is the typical friendly, sweet "good girl" and she's easy to talk to.
* GoGetterGirl: Elena is highly active socially. She is scholarly, ambitious and hardworking. She is always involved in the extra school curricular activities and events.
* GoodIsNotSoft: Elena is generally nice and caring but it isn't a good idea to get on her bad side by hurting people she loves.
%%* GuileHeroine:
* GrandTheftMe: A significant story arc in season 5 involves Katherine using Traveler magic to escape her own dying body by stealing Elena's. Elena eventually regains control in the same season.
* HappilyAdopted: [[spoiler: Before her parents died. This is largely because she didn't even know she was adopted until after they were dead.]]
%% * HeartbrokenBadass: Elena has faced much grief, tragedy and pain in regards to her family, her love life and her personal life in general.
%% this fails to explain the badass part of the trope
* HeroicBSOD: Goes into severe denial when [[spoiler:Jeremy is killed off to the extent of not smelling the decomposition]], followed by a complete breakdown, followed by Damon making her turn off her emotions.
* TheHeroine: Elena is the main character of the series whose primary purpose is to save and protect everyone.
* HeroicSacrifice:
** Attempts this throughout season two. Elena is willing to sacrifice her life so that the majority of her family and friends don't have to die. Subverted when she uses the "sacrifice" to stab the bad guy and remove the need for her death.
** In the third season finale, Elena insists that Stefan rescue Matt while the two of them are drowning, mirroring how Elena's father insisted Stefan save Elena before the show began.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: She's extremely close to Bonnie and Caroline, and shares with them all aspects of her life, and their friendship only grew as the show went on.
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Elena isn't the best judge of character and she often always gives people the benefit of the doubt too much. Elena has been shown to be rather naive and trusting of people way too easily. Therefore, she always finds herself in trouble as a result.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Elena can be rather hypocritical sometimes. She condemns having her choice or free will taken away from her. Yet, she frequently asks Damon to compel Jeremy to forget things a few times. Also when Elena blasts Jeremy for being in love with ghost Anna, yet Elena is doing nothing but trying to get Stefan in non-humanity-mode to turn his humanity back. Elena even compares loving non-humanity!Stefan to loving a ghost, which is ironically what Jeremy was doing.
%% * ICanChangeMyBeloved:
%% ** In regards to Damon.
%% ** Also in regards to ripper!Stefan and non-humanity!Stefan in season three.
* TheIdealist: Mostly in the first season, Elena is a generally hopeful, optimistic individual who always believes in the best outcome possible. However, since then, Elena has become more cynical, which is to be expected considering all the tragedy that she has been through.
* IdenticalGranddaughter: Thanks to her being a {{doppelganger}}, she has this with Katherine, several generations removed. As well as her other {{doppelganger}}s, even further back.
%% * IDidWhatIHadToDo:
%% ** Erasing Jeremy's memory of Vicki being a vampire and of her death, and lying to everyone about it to protect them.
%% ** When she has Damon compel Jeremy to go to Denver, after witnessing him hacking off the head of a hybrid with no hesitation.
* IJustWantToBeNormal: Elena says this almost word-for-word to Stefan. Elena thinks she's normal but down the line, she discovers that she has a SecretLegacy of being a {{doppelganger}} and that she is tied to the supernatural. Elena tries to repeatedly run the other way and not face her true identity. Before she is turned into a vampire, she tells Stefan that she doesn't want to be a vampire, that she wants to get married, grow old, have children and grandchildren. She is very torn because she loves Stefan and Stefan is a vampire incapable of giving Elena all that she desires. Nonetheless, Stefan understands Elena not wanting to turn into a vampire, because he has always desired to be normal himself.
* InterspeciesRomance: Elena has this type of relationship with the Salvatore brothers, since they ares vampires and Elena is a human. [[spoiler: Elena later becomes a vampire, making things less complicated on that front.]]
* ItsAllAboutMe: Sometimes Elena thinks that everything good or bad that happens is because of her. She can come off self-absorbed at times. Most of the supernatural goings on have come about either directly or indirectly because she is the {{{doppelganger}}, so she is right to a degree.
* ItsAllMyFault: Elena often feels extremely guilty, feeling that she is responsible for every bad thing that has happened to her friends and family because she's a {{doppelganger}}.
-->'''Elena:''' It's not just me that's in danger, it's Caroline, it's Tyler and it's Bonnie. They are all part of breaking the curse. I can't blame anyone else anymore. Because it's not because you came into town, or because you and I fell in love. That's not why everyone I love is in danger. It's because of me, everything is because of ME!
%% * TheJinx
* TheKirk: Elena is this of the [[FreudianTrio main trio]] between herself (''TheKirk, Ego''), Stefan (''TheSpock, Superego'') and Damon (''TheMcCoy, Id''). Elena is stable, balanced and she is [[TheHeart the centre]] of the trio. She often [[TakeAThirdOption chooses between Stefan and Damon's side]].
%% ** Also within the trio of herself (''TheKirk, Ego''), Bonnie (''TheSpock, Superego''), and Caroline (''TheMcCoy, Id'').
* TheLeader: Out of the core group of girls, Elena seems to take the lead over Caroline or Bonnie. However, in the beginning, Caroline seemed to take the lead, especially in the cheerleading squad.
* LethalChef: {{Downplayed}}. "Friday Night Bites" establishes Elena can't cook at all, but she's not absurdly inept.
* LifeDrinker: Elena is a vampire since being turned at the end of season 3 and sustains on blood. She appears living but she's undead.
* LightFeminineAndDarkFeminine: Elena is the Light Feminine to Katherine's Dark Feminine. Elena and Katherine are both {{doppelganger}}s who share an uncanny physical appearance. Elena is the Light Feminine (good, moral) and Katherine is Dark Feminine (bad, immoral). Both share a common love and interest in Stefan and are often in competition with each other for his affections.
* LongHairIsFeminine: She's the most feminine of her ThreeAmigos group and has the longest hair.
%% * LoveEpiphany: With [[spoiler:Damon.]]
* LoveHurts: Elena's love life is nothing but heartbreak and confusion.
* LoveInterest: To the Salvatore brothers, being stuck in a LoveTriangle with them for most of the show. Ultimately, she ends up with Damon in the final seasons, with Stefan moving on with Caroline.
* LoveWillLeadYouBack: At the start of season 3, Elena refuses to go on without Stefan coming back into her life. Caroline mentions that since Stefan had left with Klaus, that Elena had stopped living and had let life pass her by. Elena spent much of season three trying to get Stefan back and get him to turn on his humanity again.
* MacGuffinSuperPerson: As the Petrova {{doppelganger}}, whose [[MacGuffin blood]] breaks the moonstone curse, she is actively sought after by the vampires.
%% * [[MainCharacters Main Character]]
%% * MayflyDecemberRomance: Is over a century and a half younger than both Stefan and Damon.
* MeetCute: With Stefan in the pilot episode. They meet each other for the first time outside of the men's washroom, which is kind of embarrassing on Elena's part considering she's actually the one coming out of the men's restroom.
* MementoMacGuffin: Elena's necklace, in which Stefan gave to her in 1x03. The necklace is often seen as a representation of Stefan and Elena's love. Aside from that, the amulet actually has many supernatural ties to it. The amulet is used as a talisman to connect to the Original Witch, Esther. The amulet is indestructible. The amulet also allowed Esther to use magic in the living world while she was still on the [[OffscreenAfterlife Other Side]]. It also contains a portion of Esther's magic.
* MissingMom: Her [[spoiler:adoptive]] mother Miranda is dead. [[spoiler: As is her biological mother Isobel who gave Elena up for adoption. Elena never knew about Isobel until later on in her life.]]
%% * MoralityChain: She is this to both Stefan and Damon but more Damon.
%% * MoralityPet: Elena is this for Damon. On occasions, Stefan, Alaric and lately Jeremy fulfill this function for Damon as well. She is this for Stefan as well, especially since the revelation that he can't love her as a vampire, since she no longer helps him forget what he is (which is one of the things he says to Lexi in season 1 as a reason he's in love with her).
* MsFanservice: Elena is very attractive and gets several scenes where she gets to show off skin for gratuitous reasons, such as {{Bathtub Scene}}s, {{Lingerie Scene}}s, {{Shower Scene}}s and [[AllGuysWantCheerleaders cheerleading scenes]]. She also gets to wear many fancy and fashionable dresses for all the constant events that happen in Mystic Fall.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Elena has committed some immoral acts (especially as a vampire) where she has been overwhelmed with guilt and appalled by her own actions. One example is in 4x05 when Elena kills Connor. She ends up consumed and overwhelmed with guilt, shocked that she actually killed a human being. Due to her inner guilt, Elena ends up being haunted afterwards by Ghost!Connor. Inn 4x04, Elena and Damon feed on endless humans at a party and she gives into her blood lust, not realizing what she is doing. Elena comes off of her blood high when she sees Bonnie looking at her concerned and Elena realizes her out-of-control actions. She then breaks down to Bonnie about how what she was doing was not her and that she doesn't want to be that person.
* MyMasterRightOrWrong: Elena when she was sired to Damon. When Elena was under the control of the sire bond, she would do what Damon told her to do, even if it was something that Elena wouldn't like or agree with. The purpose of the sire bond was for Elena to obey to what Damon wanted no matter what.
* NiceGirl: Elena is kind, compassionate, friendly and down to earth. She is the kind of person almost anyone would want to befriend.
* NonhumanLoverReveal: In 1x06, Elena discovers Stefan's deep dark secret when she starts to put the pieces together of all of the strange events that have happened in the town as well as to people around her: Stefan is a vampire. At first, Elena is completely scared and freaked when she discovers Stefan's revelation but eventually, she becomes more understanding of Stefan and his vampirism. Elena eventually comes around completely and accepts and loves Stefan as a vampire, despite being extremely hesitant at first after finding out his secret.
%% * NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent
* NotHerself: For most of Season 4 when she becomes a vampire. She can't keep any blood down (including animal blood, human blood from blood bags and even vampire blood); she became irrational, impulsive, moody and she had the serious urge to feed off of humans and kill; she killed someone for the first time (Connor); she hallucinated Ghost!Connor; she's tried to kill Jeremy a few times; she became suicidal and tried to kill herself and finally, [[spoiler: she's sired to Damon]]. And to add to that, in 4x15 she has her humanity switched off. Elena is most definitely NOT herself.
* OfficialCouple: With Stefan for the first 3 seasons and with Damon for the rest of the series.
%% * OfficialCoupleOrdealSyndrome: Her relationship with Stefan. There is NOTHING that Stefan and Elena have not been through.
%% * OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent: She was this before being involved in a lot of supernatural events and characters.
* ParentalAbandonment: Both her parents died before the beginning of the series
%% * PinballProtagonist
%% * PlatonicLifePartners: With Matt, her childhood friend and first love.
%% * PluckyGirl: Considering everything she has been through.
* ThePollyanna: Despite all of the hardships that Elena has gone through, losing family members and friends, losing the love of her life a few times, and all of her loved ones constantly being put in danger, Elena still manages to put on a happy face most of the time. She tries to remain as optimistic as possible.
* PutOnABus: After Creator/NinaDobrev left the show at the end of season 6, Elena is put in a coffin after a spell renders her into a ConvenientComa till whenever Bonnie dies. She does come BackForTheFinale in season 8 when Bonnie manages to break the spell.
* ProHumanTranshuman: After she is turned into a vampire, but Elena tries to uphold her humanity as much as possible.
* RedOniBlueOni: Elena is the Blue Oni to Caroline's Red Oni. Elena is more calm, cool, logical and Caroline is more impulsive, passionate and intense.
** ReincarnationRomance: Elena's relationship with Stefan. They are both the {{doppelganger}}s from the first immortals, Amara and Silas, who were also a couple.
%% * TheRedStringOfFate applies more to Stefan and Elena in the books.
%% * RescueRomance:
%% ** With Stefan. Four months before Elena met Stefan, Stefan had saved her life at the car accident at Wickery Bridge.
%% ** Elena and Damon have also saved each other’s lives several times over the course of the series.
%%
%% How did these events help them to develop their romance?
%%
* SecretLegacy: Elena is a Petrova {{doppelganger}}, which was completely unknown to her until Stefan and Damon walked into her life. The Gilbert family's past as vampire hunters was ''also'' completely unknown to her.
* SeenItAll: Elena, as a human, has seen everything that is supernatural and out of the ordinary. Therefore, Elena becomes completely unfazed by anything that is unusual. She's seen everything from vampires, witches, werewolves, and hybrids to the Original vampires.
%% * SelfSacrificeScheme: Elena had this in season two. [[TrueCompanions Her friends]] did not approve.
%% * SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: First with Matt, but mostly with Stefan.
%% * StarCrossedLovers: With Stefan.
* StepfordSmiler: Elena may be in pain deep down but she often covers it up with a smile.
* StrongFamilyResemblance: To Katherine. They are identical in physical appearance. This is because Elena is Katherine's doppelgänger and Elena is a descendent of Katherine.
%% * SuicideBySunlight: Elena attempted this in 4x06, but Damon saved her.
* SuperpowerLottery: Because of Elena's vampirism, she possesses standard vampire powers and abilities. 1) SuperSpeed: Elena can move and run much faster than that of a normal human. 2) SuperReflexes: Also known as super agility. Elena can react much faster and quicker to situations than that of a normal human. 3) SuperStrength: Elena is able to carry or lift heavier objects with much ease and little effort. 4) MindManipulation: Elena is able to control the mind of any human, influencing their thoughts and their actions in the process. The only way to prevent Elena from mind-influencing someone is for the human victim to have vervain on them. 5) HealingFactor: Elena can get stabbed, shot or wounded and she will heal immediately. 6) SuperSenses: All of Elena's senses, such as sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing have become clearer, stronger and heightened. She is able to see, smell and hear things from a greater distance than that of a normal human.
%% * SupportingLeader: Stefan often takes the lead in most plans or missions.
* TookALevelInBadass: Elena, slowly but surely. It starts in "Haunted" when [[spoiler:she goes after Vicki with a 2x4]], continues in "Unpleasantville" when she manages to hold off a vampire with just a few pencils long enough for Damon and Stefan to kill him, and becomes even more noticeable in "Let The Right One In" when she saves Stefan by staking Frederick with a vervain dart and momentarily incapacitating him and by offering Stefan some of her blood.
* TragicHeroine: Elena has gone through nothing but pain and endless hardships due to the fact that she was born to be doomed (due to her family history and her identity as a doppelgänger). She is probably one of the most tragic characters on the show ―definitely up there with Stefan).
%% * TraumaCongaLine: See DeusAngstMachina and DoomMagnet.
%% * {{Tsundere}}: Elena is a Type B in her interactions with Damon.
* UndyingLoyalty: To Damon. The major reason for this is because she is sired to Damon, so Elena automatically does everything that Damon asks of her, even if it isn't something she really wants to do deep down. Elena tells Stefan that ever since she turned, her feelings for Damon have magnified. This is possibly due to the sire bond between Damon and Elena. It should be mentioned that Damon gives several direct orders to Elena which she doesn’t follow through.
%% * UnexpectedInheritance: Elena (as well as Jeremy) had no financial troubles following the death of their parents.
* UnfazedEveryman: Elena between Season's 1 to 3 before she turns into a vampire in Season 4. Elena as a human is primarily surrounded by friends and family that are supernatural beings (vampires, werewolves, witches, etc.) with the exception of Matt. Elena has seen every supernatural being as a human that she became completely unfazed by any of it. Her love interests are vampires. Her friends/allies are various supernatural beings. Members of her family were supernatural beings (Katherine, [[spoiler:Isobel, Alaric and Jenna]] were/became vampires; [[spoiler:Jeremy is a medium/vampire hunter/Member of ''The Five'']]) She was sought after by the Originals (Klaus, Elijah, Rebekah, Kol, Finn, Mikael), whom are all vampires with the exception of Esther, who was the Original witch. Elena becomes even more unfazed by the supernatural beings around her when she discovers that she's actually a supernatural being called {{Doppelganger}} herself.
* UseYourHead: Elena does this several times throughout the series. In "All My Children", Rebekah grabs Elena from behind. Elena answers by smashing the back of her head into Rebekah's face. During Elena's wild party from "Bring It On", Caroline tries to restrain her hands, only for Elena to headbutt her in the forehead, forcing her to let go. She does it again, this time to Wes Maxfield in "Fifty Shades of Grayson". Wes stabbed a syringe into Elena's chest, but was distracted by Stefan's shouts, which gave her enough time to headbutt him out cold.
* WeirdnessMagnet: Vampires, werewolves, her best friend being a witch... The woman draws mysterious beings.
%% * WillTheyOrWontThey: Elena has this type of dynamic with Damon. [[spoiler: They do.]]
* ViralTransformation: At the end of season three when Elena dies with vampire blood in her system and turns into a vampire as a result.

!!!Elena With No Humanity
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elena_gilbert_no_humanity.png]]
During the late half of season 4, Damon has the sired Elena turn off her humanity in order to deal with Jeremy's death, which causes a massive shift in her personality.
----

* AlphaBitch: When she loses her humanity and goes back to school, she starts showing shades of this, with her loss of emotion making her much more rude and arrogant towards her school peers. Especially in "Bring it on" when she resumes being a cheerleader and even starts throwing WildTeenParty at her house.
* AntiVillain: Becomes an antagonist in this period, with her friends trying to prevent her from truly crossing a line and opposing them when they want to cure her.
* BecameTheirOwnAntithesis: In the first season, Elena frequently says that she doesn't want to be compared to Katherine. But now, with her becoming a vampire and having her humanity shut off completely, she has become more like Katherine and not just in the looks department, adopting many of Katherine's more shallow traits, such as her [[ProudBeauty vanity]], [[ShamelessFanserviceGirl lack of modesty]], [[EvilWearsBlack a fashion sense geared towards black]] and [[TheVamp tendency to use sex to get what she wants]].
* BrutalHonesty: When she turns off her humanity, she becomes very direct and blunt, without caring about other people's feelings and often hurting her friend with her new ItsAllAboutMe attitude.
* ClingyJealousGirl: Elena always has a bit of a jealous streak, but now it becomes extremely possessive. When Elena sees Stefan and Caroline dancing together in 4x16, Elena is obviously jealous, even though her humanity is shut off.
* EmotionlessGirl: During the late half of season 4, when Damon tells Elena to [[EmotionSuppression turn off her emotions]] and her humanity through the sire bond. He quickly comes to regret it when she turns it a {{Jerkass}}, but she regains her emotions by the end of the season.
* EmotionSuppression: In order to get over her grief about Jeremy's death, Damon has Elena turn off her humanity and suppress her emotions.
* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: In 4x17, she gets a new hairstyle to better illustrate the difference between her old self, sporting bangs and [[SkunkStripe bright red streaks in her hair]]. Elena keeps them until the next season until she's [[GrandTheftMe possessed by Katherine, who gets rid of them]].
* TheGadfly: While she's an EmotionlessGirl most of the time, sometimes she seems to do things purely to get a reaction out of people, for her own amusement.
* GoodGirlGoneBad: After Elena had her humanity switched off, Elena became much more rebellious and uncaring.
* HardDrinkingPartyGirl: She starts to enjoy partying and drinking hard.
* LackOfEmpathy: Elena without her humanity is cold, ruthless and uncaring. She can hurt others without feeling any guilt or remorse.
* FakeKillScare: How she ultimately regains her emotions. Matt and Damon hatch a plan where Matt ends up dying (while [[ResurrectionGambit secretly wearing the Gilbert Ring that will resurrect him]]) in order to shock Elena, thus making her humanity come back. It works.
* ShamelessFanserviceGirl: In this form Elena doesn't care for modesty in the slightest, stepping out of the shower naked and dripping wet in front of her friends or casually changing her clothes in front of them.
* TheTease: She seems to enjoy teasing people acting sexually aggressive towards Stefan, since she still senses he carries a torch for her. This includes paring nude in front of him or using him as a stretching stool to [[FlexibilityEqualsSexAbility flaunt her flexibility]].
* TookALevelInJerkass: After turning off her humanity she lacks basic empathy for even her friends and loved ones and simply starts doing whatever she likes.
* TheUnfettered: Elena without her humanity doesn't seem to care what she does, even if she is hurting others, very much like non-humanity Stefan in season three. She will do whatever she wants regardless and doesn't have any remorse for her out-of-control actions.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Stefan Salvatore]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/s4_003.jpg]]
->'''Portrayed by:''' Creator/PaulWesley

->''"I don't hurt people. I don't do that. I'm the good brother."''
\\

Stefan is a mysterious, handsome century-old immortal. He is a protagonist, and narrator of the series. Stefan is known to be the good vampire brother (between he and Damon) and is seen to be kind, caring, compassionate, heroic and selfless. Stefan tries to avoid drinking human blood due to the fact that he hates hurting or killing anyone (drinking human blood turns him into an insane, amoral "ripper", choosing to feed from the blood of animals instead. Stefan is weaker than most other vampires, in particular his elder brother Damon who has held a grudge against Stefan for over a century. Early in the series, Stefan fatefully meets and falls in love with Elena Gilbert. He develops a mutual romantic relationship with her while protecting her and her loved ones both from his own nature and other vampires. In the season two finale Stefan reverts back to his darker side, the Ripper, in order to save Damon from dying from a fatal werewolf bite. In exchange for the cure (which is Klaus' hybrid blood), he becomes a servant to TheBigBad, Klaus. Since season three onwards, Stefan has turned on his humanity and reverts back to his normal, humane self.
----

%% * ActionHero: Involved in the middle of all of the action in the series.
* ActualPacifist: Especially in season one. Stefan does not really like resorting to violence of any sort, but he will do so if necessary. Expect Stefan to angst afterwards though.
* AdaptationalNationality: Stefan and Damon were from Renaissance Italy in the books. In the series the Salvatore family is one of the town's founding families and the two brothers are now Italian Americans from the civil war era.
* TheAgeless: He's stopped aging since he turned into a vampire 200 years ago, and looks like someone around his twenties.
* AlliterativeName: His name is '''S'''tefan '''S'''alvatore. Stefan's first and last name begin with the same letter. Popular choice for heroes.
%% * AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Damon often thinks of Stefan this way.
%% * AnchoredShip: With Elena in Seasons 1 and 2.
%% * AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: To Elena.
%% * AntiHero: In Season 3 and Season 4. Type II or [[PragmaticHero Type III.]]
%% * AntiVillain: [[SlidingScaleOfAntiVillains Type III or IV]] in Season 3.
%% * TheAtoner
%% * BadassBiker: As of season four, it appears that Stefan's official vehicle of choice is his motorcycle.
%%
%% explain the badass part of the trope, too.
%%
%% * BadassBoast: Has his moments, especially when he is threatened or his loved ones are threatened. Not as much as Damon though.
%% * BadassBookworm: Stefan is known to be highly scholarly and academic. He often spends his time studying or researching and he has a passion for writing and literature. Stefan attended Ivy league schools such as Harvard.
%%
%% explain the badass part, too
%%
* BadassInDistress: Stefan gets himself into trouble at times and requires help from time to time, although he is still completely capable of fending for himself.
%% * BadassNickname: '''The RIPPAH'''.
* BadPowersGoodPeople: Since he is a vampire, Stefan is capable of using his abilities to be extremely destructive, but instead, he chooses to use his abilities to save and help others because of who he is.
%% * BattleCouple: With Elena, particularly in the earlier seasons.
* BeingEvilSucks: He always struggles to rid himself of his human blood addiction, because he ''really'' doesn't want to be a bad guy.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Stefan appears to be gentle, kind and compassionate, but he definitely has a tough and violent side when provoked. Stefan's overly protective towards anyone he deeply cares about, especially his love interest Elena, his vampire brother Damon, Elena's younger brother Jeremy, or friends Bonnie and Caroline.
%% * BettyAndVeronica: Stefan is involved in quite a few love triangles, the most notable one being the one between himself, Elena and Damon. Stefan is the Betty to Damon's Veronica for Elena's Archie.
%% ** The Betty to Damon's Veronica for Katherine's Archie.
%% ** The Archie to Elena's Betty and Katherine's Veronica.
%% ** The Archie to Elena's Betty and Rebekah's Veronica
%% ** In the very beginning, the Archie to Elena's Betty and Caroline's Veronica
%% ** The Veronica to Matt's Betty for Elena's Archie.
* BigBrotherInstinct: To Jeremy, Elena's younger troubled brother. Stefan is often protective of Jeremy and makes sure that he is safe.
* BigBrotherMentor:
** Primarily to Jeremy. Stefan is seen to be protective of Jeremy. He takes on a bit of a big brother role and mentor to Jeremy whenever Elena isn't present. In 2x01, Jeremy takes pills and drinks Anna's blood in order to become a vampire. Stefan tells Jeremy to snap out of this; that he (Jeremy) really doesn't want to do this because he would end up regretting it for the rest of his eternity-long life. Stefan frequently gives Jeremy advice, pep talks and even lectures from time to time.
** To Caroline at the beginning of season two. He teaches Caroline how to control herself on blood and how to keep her humanity.
* BigManOnCampus: Stefan is popular, athletic, a good student and [[ChickMagnet easily attracts the girls.]] Top bloke at his school.
* BirdsOfAFeather: With Elena. It seems that Elena and Stefan have various things in common, most notably the fact that like Elena, Stefan also writes a journal and records his thoughts.
* {{Bookworm}}: Stefan is highly knowledgable and well-read. He reads, studies and researches a lot.
* [[BreakHisHeartToSaveHim Break Her Heart To Save Her]]: Stefan breaks up with Elena or turns his back on her in order to protect her. This is especially evident in season three when Stefan leaves Mystic Falls with Klaus and becomes a Ripper in order to protect Elena and the rest of the town.
* BreakTheCutie: Stefan's an attractive, cute guy. Whenever he finds some sort of happiness, something is always out there to hurt Stefan and to make him suffer.
%% * BroodingBoyGentleGirl: Stefan is the Brooding Boy to Elena's Gentle Girl, primarily in season one.
%% * CainAndAbel: Stefan is the Abel to Damon's Cain. Their relationship is built from this trope.
%% * CaptainObvious:
%% -->'''Bonnie:''' What's going on?
%% --> '''Jeremy:''' We're gonna kill Katherine.
%% --> '''Stefan:''' I can explain.
%% --> '''Bonnie:''' Please.
%% --> '''Stefan:''' We're ...gonna kill Katherine.
* TheCharmer: Stefan is popular with women and can easily charm the ladies. He was quite the charmer and womanizer during his Ripper days. He attracts the ladies like a moth to a flame.
* CharacterTics:
** Stefan often tilts his head to the side when he's looking at or talking to someone.
** He often points his fingers when talking or trying to make a point.
* ChickMagnet: At the beginning of the series, all of the girls within the school found Stefan attractive, were drawn to him and wanted to gain his attention. Stefan has been the object of romantic or sexual interest for all of the major female characters of the series including Elena, Caroline, Bonnie, Katherine, Jenna, Callie, Rosalyn, and Rebekah.
* ChronicHeroSyndrome: Stefan feels the constant need to save others and if he doesn't end up saving people, he'll burden guilt.
* ClarkKenting: Especially in season one, Stefan keeps his identity as a vampire secret from everyone and tries to pass himself off as a new transfer student at Mystic Falls High.
* ClassicalAntiHero: Stefan fits this trope in season three after starting to recover from Ripperdom. Stefan's flaws, vulnerabilities and weaknesses are exposed and therefore, we as the audience discover that Stefan isn't the perfect IdealHero that he was in season one and two.
%% * CockFight: Against Damon over the affections of Katherine and Elena.
* ColdTurkeysAreEverywhere: Stefan has to resist the urge to drink human blood every day, as humans walk all around him.
%% * ColourCodedEyes: In the novels, Stefan's green eyes are heavily emphasized and mentioned.
%% * TheComicallySerious: Stefan has a very dry, sarcastic sense of humour.
* CoolBike: Stefan owns his own Harley motorcycle.
* CoolCar: Stefan drives a red 1963 Porsche 356B Karmann Coupe.
%% * CoolShades: Is seen wearing them sometimes, most notably in 1x19.
%% * CorruptTheCutie: What Klaus did to Stefan at the end of season two by reverting Stefan back into a Ripper.
%% * TheCorruptible: To Klaus.
%% * CulturedBadass: Stefan is well-read, loves writing, literature, music and art. He is highly sentimental and has a pile of journals and diaries in which he has written in over the course of his immortal life.
%%
%% explain the badass part of the trope, too
%%
* CursedWithAwesome: Stefan is a vampire with superhuman abilities. Although, Stefan actually sees it as [[BlessedWithSuck a curse more than anything]].
* {{Dandere}}: Stefan is generally shy but around the right people, he loosens up and is rather friendly and talkative.
%% * DarkAndTroubledPast: He has gone through some very dark phases in his immortal life and has a darker alter ego, known as the Ripper.
* DarkSide: Stefan has gone down the path of darkness a few times throughout his immortal life, like an on-and-off switch. He often recovers from it and gains his humanity and compassionate side again.
* TheDarkSideWillMakeYouForget: As the ripper, Stefan descends so far into darkness and into the blood lust that he mentions in one of his journals that he blacks out completely, forgetting how many people he's killed, how much human blood he's drank etc.
%% * DeadpanSnarker: He's usually stoic but his scenes with Damon are true SnarkToSnarkCombat.
* DealWithTheDevil: Stefan has done this many, many times with [[BigBad Klaus]]. He did this at the end of season two [[spoiler: when he sacrificed himself and his humanity and became the Ripper in exchange for his hybrid blood to cure Damon's fatal werewolf bite. Stefan did this again in season four, when he made a secret deal to work with Klaus to find a cure for Elena to become human again.]]
* DeclarationOfProtection: Stefan's existence basically revolves around protecting Elena and keeping her safe at all times.
* DespairEventHorizon: There have been times throughout Stefan's immortal life where he has descended so far into darkness that he had given up hope and shut off his humanity. In season 3, Stefan shuts off his humanity after suffering much guilt from being the Ripper. Being a Ripper again changes Stefan as a person and turns him from an IdealHero to an AntiHero. Stefan is a walking tragedy.
* {{Determinator}}: Stefan is an extremely determined individual and he NEVER gives up. Whenever he has a mission, plan, agenda or goal in sight or in mind, he will do anything and everything to accomplish it. An example of this is [[spoiler: Stefan doing everything in his power to find the cure for Elena to become human again, going as far as to make a deal with Klaus and making Jeremy stake vampires so that 'The Five' mark on Jeremy's hand grows. Stefan's primary motivation behind trying to find the cure for Elena to become human is a combination of guilt (from not saving her instead of Matt at the end of season 3) and realizing how much Elena has changed as an individual as a vampire (Elena's erratic behaviour, depression, suicidal tendencies, mood swings, etc).]]
* DeusAngstMachina: Stefan is almost always angsting about something. It is normally about something that he feels guilty about.
* {{Deuteragonist}}: To Elena's [[TheProtagonist protagonist]]. Stefan is the second most important character of the series after Elena.
* DoomMagnet: Pain, trouble, darkness and despair seem to follow Stefan wherever he goes. He seems to attract it all of the time, probably more than any other character in the series.
* TheDragon: In season 3, Stefan is basically Klaus' second in command when he works with him and helps him to create an army of Hybrids.
* DragonWithAnAgenda: Stefan is the Dragon to Klaus, but he sure has very different motives than his master Klaus. While Klaus wants to kill Elena and take her blood in order to create more Hybrids, Stefan's goal is to protect her and the entire town of Mystic Falls, especially from Klaus.
%% * TheDreaded: Non-Humanity!Stefan aka '''The Rippah'''.
* DrivenToSuicide: In 1x20 "Blood Brothers", Stefan wants to end it all because of his extreme guilt. He attempts to do so by [[SuicideBySunlight taking off his daylight ring]].
* DrunkOnTheDarkSide: Especially as a ripper. Once he becomes a ripper, he loses all control and gets drunk on the power of feeding on human blood.
* DynamicCharacter: Since the start of the series, Stefan has gone through the most changes and ups and downs.
* EasilyForgiven: Since Stefan is often viewed as a more moral character of the show, many of his immoral or morally questionable deeds and acts are brushed aside. Elena is especially very forgiving of Stefan. After Stefan had nearly driven Elena off of Wickery Bridge (y'know, where her parents died and she almost died, so a traumatic location to begin with) and terrorized her in 3x11, Elena immediately forgave Stefan in the next episode after Stefan apologized and realized the error of his ways.
* EmotionSuppression: In "The Reckoning", Klaus compels Stefan to shut off his humanity and his emotions. It lasts only a couple of episodes with him being a huge {{Jerkass}}.
* EnemyWithin: Stefan's dark side or his alter ego: The Ripper. It's the evil version of him.
%% * EternalLove: With Elena. Apparently. [[spoiler:Not so much as of Season Four.]]
* EveryoneCanSeeIt: Stefan and Elena just belong together. Almost all of the characters on the show can see or have commented on Stefan and Elena's undying love for each other. Klaus tells Damon about Stefan and Elena's love for each other: "Crazy or not, that kind of love never dies." Or Caroline tells Elena: "Stefan is your epic love." and even: "Stefan is your soulmate!" There is Lexi telling Elena about her love and relationship with Stefan: "When it's real, you can't walk away." Other characters on the show have noticed and commented on Stefan and Elena's love and devotion to each other, such as Damon, Katherine, Klaus, and Rebekah. Various characters ship them. Such characters include Klaus, Caroline, Bonnie, Matt, Lexi, Jeremy, Jenna, etc. The producers of the series, Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec have both referred to Stefan and Elena as being the true epic love story of the show. Kevin Williamson has repeatedly referred to Stefan and Elena as soul mates. He also suggests that although the plot is about a love triangle (between Elena, Stefan and Damon), the series revolves around Stefan and Elena's love story and that their relationship is the central plot and "anchor" of the show.
* FaceHeelTurn: Stefan turns into the Ripper (the darker side of himself) by sacrificing himself to Klaus in order to get the blood to cure Damon's werewolf bite. Stefan then went from being a good guy to the AntiHero. This happens because [[TheCorrupter Klaus]] forces Stefan to become the Ripper by drinking tons of human blood bags.
* FallenHero: Stefan doesn't start out as a villain, he becomes one because of a heroic deed. Stefan fits the classical trope of IdealHero before he turns off his humanity and becomes a Ripper at the end of season two. Stefan becomes this tragic figure because he committed a HeroicSacrifice. Back in 1864, Stefan is consumed with guilt for betraying Damon and accidentally killing his father, he shuts off his humanity and gives into his vampirism. This is when the Ripper gets born.
* FatalAttractor: Stefan seems to attract some women who are completely crazy and vengeful, e.g. Katherine and Rebekah.
* FatalFlaw: His addictive personality and inability to control his addiction and urges to/for human blood.
* TheFettered: When Stefan is his normal, human self, he is one of the most moral characters on the show. He lives by a strong set of morals, ideals, values and beliefs and always believes in doing the right thing as much as possible.
-->''"We choose our own path. Our values and our actions, they define who we are."'' - Stefan to Vickie in 1x07
%% * FireAndIceLoveTriangle: Stefan and Damon fit this trope. Stefan is the Fire, who is warm, kind, compassionate, caring and loving and Damon is the Ice, who is uncaring, arrogant, cold, unsympathetic and impulsive.
* {{Foil}}: To Damon. Stefan's overall the "good brother" (TheHero) to Damon's "bad brother" (the AntiHero or outright Villain).
* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: Stefan is the Responsible Sibling to Damon's Foolish Sibling. They are vampire brothers and Stefan is more practical, serious and responsible, while Damon is more impulsive, irresponsible and careless.
* FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire: He's not a "dangerous" vampire and is willing to protect people against the supernatural.
* FriendsWithBenefits: In episode 4x11 starts to have this arrangement with Rebekah. Stefan and Rebekah sleep together without any attachments or romantic feelings involved.
%% * GenreSavvy: Stefan is one of the most aware characters, as he always seems to have an idea of what is going on around him.
%% * GoodIsNotNice: Especially as non-humanity!Stefan.
* GoodIsNotSoft: Stefan is generally nice, polite and kind, but DO NOT get on his bad side. You will regret it.
* MagneticHero: Stefan seems to have a magnetic quality that draws people to him; he has the ability to persuade people to hear his point of view and without the influence of mind compulsion.
* MyGreatestFailure: Blames himself for not saving Elena at the end of season three. Stefan ends up regretting it when Elena turns into a vampire.
%% * GuileHero: Stefan is this but he is an ActionHero as well.
%% * GuiltComplex: Stefan suffers from a major case of this. He feels guilty for things that are his fault and for things that aren't his fault.
%% LIST CONCRETE EXAMPLES. Why does he feel guilty? What does he feel guilty about?
%%
%%* HeartbrokenBadass / BadassAngster
%% * HeelFaceTurn: Towards the end of season three.
%% * HellBentForLeather: Stefan is seen wearing leather jackets from time to time.
%% And what does that signify?
* HeroicBSOD:
** Stefan "shuts down" when he discovers that his vampire brother Damon is dying of a fatal werewolf bite at the end of season two. Due to Stefan's desperation to save his brother, he becomes his worst enemy, the Ripper.
** This happens again at the end of season three, when he saves Matt instead of Elena and Elena dies by drowning. Stefan is overwhelmed with shock and grief, adding to his guilt, causing him to emotionally crumble.
* HorrifyingHero: Stefan may be a hero, but he's also a vampire and that can be very scary.
* HumbleHero: Stefan saves lives and his heroic by nature, but he isn't cocky about his heroism.
%% * HurtingHero: Oh boy, Stefan never catches a break.
%% * HeroAntagonist: Stefan fits this trope in season three as the Ripper. Although he was doing many morally questionable things, he was doing them for the greater good.
%% * HeroicSpirit: He has it.
* HeroicResolve: Stefan appears defeated and actually succumbs to being Klaus' second in command. He tells Klaus that he doesn't care about Elena anymore and that she means nothing to him (which is a lie). However, when Klaus attacks Elena and attempts to kill her, Stefan becomes enraged, becomes a resolved hero again, and attacks Klaus angrily..
* HeroicSacrifice: Stefan sacrifices himself and his good, heroic self to Klaus in order to save Damon's life and protect the entire town of Mystic Falls from Klaus.
* HeroicSelfDeprecation: Despite saving and helping others and making sacrifices for other people, Stefan is incredibly guilt-ridden and self-loathing.
* HeroicWillpower: Stefan fights the dark side of him and his addiction to human blood in order to maintain his humanity and not hurt anyone.
%% * HeterosexualLifePartners: With Damon during his human life and with Klaus during the 20's.
%% * HiddenBadass: Only in the very beginning.
* HorrorHunger: Stefan suffers from a major case of this. He is addicted to human blood and goes crazy when he has too much of it.
%% * {{Hunk}}
* HunterOfHisOwnKind: Stefan is a vampire. In the first season, many of Stefan's kills are vampires.
* ICantDance: Stefan just hates dancing because he doesn't think he's good at it. But in reality, he's not that bad.
* IAmAMonster: Stefan frequently thinks he's a monster. He's not wrong though, as he's a vampire.
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: At the end of season two, Stefan sacrifices himself to the villain Klaus and becomes a Ripper in order to save his brother Damon from dying from a fatal werewolf bite.
* IHateYouVampireDad: Stefan hates Katherine who is his as well as Damon's maker. Although Katherine is still in love with Stefan and plans on waiting for him forever, Stefan hates her and wants nothing to do with her.
* IJustWantToBeNormal: Stefan hates being a vampire and has mentioned that he misses being human. Part of the reason why Stefan wants to be normal is because of his dark side (he's forced to become a Ripper) and also his lack of control when it comes to human blood. Stefan tells Rebekah in 4x04 that he desires to be human again; to have a family with Elena, grow old with Elena, die with Elena and be buried with Elena. That if he found the cure and had the opportunity to take it and become human, he would do it without question.
* ILetGwenStacyDie: At the end of season three, Stefan fails to save Elena when he makes the decision to save Matt over Elena from drowning because Elena tells Stefan to do so. Elena dies and becomes a vampire. This only contributed to Stefan's never-ending guilt.
* ImNotAHeroIm: He reacts this way when someone tells him he's a hero. Stefan views himself as a monster, or a predator meant to hurt people. But on the contrary, Stefan is a heroic, selfless, brave yet tragic individual who despite what he is - a vampire - makes endless heroic sacrifices to save, protect and help people, especially those he loves.
* InterspeciesRomance: Stefan is a century old immortal (vampire) and Elena is an eighteen year old mortal human. This later changes when Elena is turned into a vampire and therefore is no longer human.
* ItsAllMyFault: Stefan constantly blames himself for every bad thing that happens. Stefan especially blames himself for Damon going bad, for Damon killing people and descending into villainy. Stefan blames himself for Elena becoming a vampire, being sired and having her humanity shut off.
* ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies: Stefan commits his entire immortal life into protecting and saving Elena and keeping her safe. He sometimes distances himself from Elena in order to protect her due to the fact that he is a vampire with a dark past, and therefore, has much darkness, enemies, and danger follows him around.
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Stefan will do anything and everything to make Elena happy, even if he has to give her up.
* IWasQuiteAFashionVictim: According to Damon, the 90's grunge look was not a good look on Stefan.
%% * {{Jerkass}}: Oh boy, as the Ripper definitely.
* JekyllAndHyde: Two distinct sides of Stefan's personality: Stefan the Hero and Stefan the Ripper. One side of him is more dark, sinister and crazy (Hyde aka Stefan the Rippah) and the other side is kind, heroic and gentle (Jekyll aka Stefan the Hero). Human blood is normally the trigger for the "Hyde" side of Stefan to come breaking through.
* KnightInShiningArmor: Stefan is heroic, saves the day, fights the bad guys, knows how to charm the ladies, has a strong sense of nobleness and honour and is chivalrous towards the opposite sex. Stefan especially fits this trope in regards to [[DamselInDistress Elena]] as he is always saving and protecting her.
%% * LackOfEmpathy: As the ripper. He shuts off his humanity completely.
%% * TheLeader: Stefan is a combination of Type I and Type II.
* LifeDrinker: Stefan is a a vampire who is capable of living forever and never physically ages. Although he physically looks 17, he is actually 165 years old. He cannot die under normal human circumstances. Stefan feeds on blood.
%% * LivingEmotionalCrutch: Stefan is this to both Elena AND Damon.
%% * LoveInterest: Stefan is Elena's main love interest of the series. Aside from Elena, Stefan has also been a love interest to Katherine and Rebekah.
* LoveTriangle: Stefan is in a love triangle with Elena and Damon, with Stefan being in love with Elena, Elena being in love with Stefan, Damon being in love with Elena and Elena having feelings/attraction for Damon.
%% ** Stefan was also in a similar love triangle back in 1864 with Katherine and Damon.
%% * LovableJock: Primarily in season one when Stefan was playing the position of wide receiver on the high school football team. He was the opposite of Tyler, who was a JerkJock.
* LoveMartyr: With Damon, although not in a romantic sense. Despite Damon being an antagonistic and even intolerable individual to most people, Stefan still can't stop loving and caring about his brother and saving him repeatedly.
* ManipulativeBastard: As the ripper. Stefan is ultra cold, sociopathic, and cunning as the ripper. He has no regard for anyone else.
* MartyrWithoutACause: Out of all of the characters in the series, Stefan fits the role of martyr more than anyone, even Elena. He constantly offers himself up to be sacrificed in the place of others (i.e. offering himself as the vampire to be sacrificed instead of Elena's Aunt Jenna) or puts himself in the most dangerous situations in order to protect others from getting hurt or killed (i.e. offering himself up to Klaus in order to save Damon, protect Elena and the entire town of Mystic Falls).
%% * TheMasqueradeWillKillYourDatingLife: Especially in season 1, when Elena discovered that Stefan was a vampire.
* MeaningfulName: Stefan is named after the very first Christian martyr, St. Stephen. Stefan is the classic example of a martyr. The name also means "Crown". Other meanings for Stefan include "Garland" and "Wreath" or "Crowned with Martyrdom" or "Honour". His last name Salvatore means ''Saviour'' in Italian. Very fitting for the hero of the show.
* MeetCute: With Elena in the first episode. He unexpectedly meets her outside of the men's washroom. She was the one coming out of it. Awkward.
* MessianicArchetype: Stefan is often portrayed as a highly good, selfless, altruistic, moral and noble character on the show, but especially in the novels. In the books, Stefan is named after the very first Christian martyr, ''St. Stephen'' and he is a highly religious person and is a young man of faith (he practiced Catholicism). On the show, Damon mocks Stefan's noble and heroic qualities, even sarcastically referring to Stefan as probably the most noble, heroic superhero ever Superman.
* MissingMom: Stefan's mother died when he was a young child.
* MisunderstoodLonerWithAHeartOfGold: In the beginning, he came off as a creepy loner who didn't get along with people, but still had a moral compass. He gets more social as the series went on.
* MoralDissonance: Stefan can be a Ripper, kill or harm people, yet almost all of the characters easily forgive him for it. However, if Damon kills someone or hurts others, many of the characters have a tendency to hold a grudge against him for a very long time like Caroline, Bonnie, Jeremy and even Elena at one point. All of them still view Damon in a very negative light and have yet to fully forgive him, yet Stefan was a Ripper, committing immoral acts for months and none of the characters really noticed. As soon as Stefan turns on his humanity and goes back to being human Stefan, everyone forgives him and accepts him back into the inner circle.
* MoralityPet: Stefan has a gift of serving as a moral compass to several vampires, mostly due to him having a lot of experience given his own dark past as a ripper.
** For Katherine. Katherine has always had a soft spot for Stefan and he's one of the few people she actually looks out for, despite her ItsAllAboutMe attitude to life.
** In the beginning of Season 2, for Caroline. After Caroline is turned into a vampire, Caroline learns to not turn off her humanity and stays human because of Stefan's influence. Caroline retains her compassion mainly because of Stefan's help.
** For Elena in season 4 after she turns into a vampire. Deep down, Stefan will always have a special influence on Elena, even though Elena is sired to Damon and she fights her vampirism urges and her thirst to kill primarily for Stefan.
** For Klaus. Villainous Klaus has a soft spot for Stefan and his friendship/brotherhood. Because of Klaus' desire to have Stefan's friendship, Klaus often becomes a much softer person.
** Damon. Stefan is the one person on the show who has a tendency to keep Damon's recklessness, impulsiveness and hedonistic tendencies in check.
%% ** For Rebekah. Rebekah is still in love with Stefan. She becomes a much softer person when she is around him or in his presence.
* MrFanservice: Stefan has had multiple {{shirtless scene}}s, showcasing his buff, muscular body, especially his abs. This is a real treat for the female viewing audience.
* MyGrandsonMyself: In season 1, he pretended to be the descendants of "the original Stefan Salvatore" from Mystic Falls' founding families. However, when Elena discovers that both Stefan Salvatores are identical, she realizes the truth.
* MyGreatestFailure: Stefan feels guilty for not saving Elena from drowning at the end of season three and instead, saving Matt. He follows Elena's request to save Matt which results in Elena's death and her transformation into a vampire. This action haunts Stefan and adds to his [[GuiltComplex guilty conscience]].
* MysteriousProtector: After Elena and her family get into a car accident at Wickery Bridge, Stefan hears it and saves Elena's life. After saving her, Stefan flees the scene and watches her from afar for four months to look out for her and make sure she's safe. At first, he watches her to be sure she's not Katherine.
* {{Narrator}}: Stefan is the storyteller of the series. He is the one narrating and telling the story of ''The Vampire Diaries'' and all of the events that occurred or have lead up to the events of the present.
* NewTransferStudent: In the pilot episode, Stefan compels the secretary to enroll him in Mystic Falls High, so that he can pose as a new high school student. He attempts to get to know Elena.
* NiceGuy: Stefan is generally nice, kind, compassionate, caring and an empathetic person by nature. But when [[JerkAss he is the Rippah]], it's a totally different story. More like a totally different person.
* NobleMaleRoguishMale: Stefan is the Noble Male to Damon's Roguish Male. While Stefan is more noble and diplomatic in how he approaches things, Damon is much more impulsive, reckless and more prone to violence.
* NonhumanLoverReveal: Elena unexpectedly meets Stefan and feels an instant connection with him in season one. However, Stefan is hiding a deep, dark secret: he is a century old vampire. As Stefan and Elena fall harder for each other, Elena eventually discovers that Stefan is a vampire.
* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Stefan speaks as a normal modern-day American person. He could have lost it from his travels and just adapt his speech pattern over the years. It doesn't explain his lack of accent in 1864. The trope EternalEnglish might explain it, though.
* NotHimself:
** In season one when he is having serious issues with his blood addiction.
** Whenever Stefan reverts to blood-addicted, non-humanity Ripper-mode. Most notably in season three.
* OfficialCouple: Stefan and Elena are the main canon romantic pairing of the series for the first few seasons, until they break up and she and Damon become the new official couple.
* ParentalFavoritism: Stefan was strongly favoured over Damon by his parents, especially his father Giuseppe. Giuseppe saw Stefan as a responsible and dutiful son.
* PerpetualFrowner: Lampshaded by both Damon and Caroline. Stefan is very broody, therefore, he doesn't always smile all that much. Though he ''is'' able to smile on occasion.
* PopCulturedBadass: Stefan is a fan of literature, especially literature by Creator/FScottFitzgerald and especially his masterpiece, ''Literature/TheGreatGatsby'', he loves the TV show ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' and ''Series/ILoveLucy'' is his all-time favourite show (loving cup episodes are the best). He's a huge fan of Creator/MartinScorsese and his favourite movie is ''Film/TaxiDriver'' In terms of pop music, his range is very broad. He is a fan of Music/BobDylan, Music/JimiHendrix, Patsy Cline, Music/WillieNelson, Music/KanyeWest and even Music/MileyCyrus.
* ThePowerOfLove: Stefan is able to fight Klaus' compulsion THREE TIMES just so that he doesn't hurt Elena. It's possible only because of his deep love for Elena.
* PragmaticHero: Stefan may be a hero who has strong morals and good intentions, but at the same time, he is willing to do morally questionable actions in order to achieve his goals.
* ProHumanTranshuman: Stefan is turned into a vampire in 1864. Despite what he is, he does everything he can to maintain a part of humanity, especially by fighting his blood lust and succumbing to the darker side of himself (the Ripper).
* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: Since Stefan is the narrator of the story, his feelings, thoughts and priorities will often dictate the course of the plot. However Stefan views each character whom he is telling about, they will be viewed by the audience in the same way.
* ProtagonistJourneyToVillain: Originally at the beginning of the series, Stefan starts off as an IdealHero with good intentions. However, in season three, he loses his morals and descends into villainy when he becomes the Ripper. Later on in the series, he becomes the complete opposite of who he was at the start of the series. Quite the TragicHero.
* {{Protectorate}}: Stefan's overly protective towards anyone he deeply cares about, especially his love interest Elena, his vampire brother Damon, Elena's younger brother Jeremy, or friends Bonnie and Caroline and eventually come to feel responsible for protecting the town of Mystic Falls in general and everyone who lives in it.
* RedemptionQuest: After Stefan falls into darkness, he starts to regain his humanity and heroic side again towards the middle of season 3. Stefan turning on his humanity again is a way that Stefan seeks redemption for him succumbing to his dark side.
* RedOniBlueOni: Stefan is the Blue Oni (logical, calm, cool, composed) to Damon's Red Oni (impulsive, reckless, hot-headed, passionate).
* ReincarnationRomance: Stefan and Elena share this type of romance. This is due to the fact that Stefan and Elena are {{doppelganger}}s from the first two immortals, who were lovers. As such they're soulmates for eternity and therefore have shared "past lives" together. This trope is based on Stefan/Elena's relationship in the novel series; they are bound together by a [[RedStringOfFate silver cord]].
* RejectionAffection: Katherine is deeply in love with Stefan who makes it clear he wants nothing to do with her. That doesn't stop Katherine from insisting she will have him again.
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: He was turned into a vampire when he was 17 and has been stuck like that for around 200 years.
* ReluctantWarrior: He's an ActualPacifist and he doesn't enjoy fighting but if he has to, he will.
* RescueRomance: Stefan saves Elena from the car accident which kills her parents months before fatefully meeting her and falling in love with her.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: After Katherine is seemingly killed, he attacks and kills several of the original founders of Mystic Falls in rage as his revenge.
* RomanticVampireBoy: He's a vampire in a romantic relationship with Elena, the show's protagonist.
* SamaritanSyndrome: Stefan always has the constant need to help others, especially those in need.
%% * SecondLove: Stefan is this to Elena. This is because Elena's first love is Matt Donovan.
* SecretIdentity: Stefan keeps his identity as a vampire a secret from the general public (especially during the first season).
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Stefan is the Sensitive Guy (kind, compassionate, empathetic, gentle) to Damon's Manly Man (aggressive, passionate, impulsive, strong).
* SexGod: Katherine and Elena have both admitted that Stefan is extremely good in bed, even by [[VampiresAreSexGods vampire standards]].
* ShadowArchetype: Stefan has a shadow or alter ego of himself that he absolutely hates: the Ripper. This side of him represents everything that Stefan is the opposite of in term of his inner 'Self'.
%% * ShirtlessScene: Stefan gets plenty of these. Nobody is complaining, seriously.
* SiblingRivalry: Stefan has had a sibling rivalry with his brother Damon going back to their human years. It seemed to have heated up after Stefan and Damon met Katherine.
* SiblingTeam: With Damon frequently. They join forces, generally when Elena's life is at stake or when it's in Damon's interests.
* SiblingTriangle: Stefan is in a love triangle with Elena and his brother, Damon. They both feel attracted to her and she feels attraction to both as well, though she much prefers the nicer brother Stefan.
* SiblingYinYang: With Damon. In terms of personality, he and Damon are polar opposites in terms of personality, outlook, values, goals and beliefs. Stefan and Damon are often referred to as the "good brother" and the "bad brother" respectively.
* TheSmartGuy: Stefan is known to be highly intelligent and book smart. He attended ivy league schools all over the country, such as Harvard, for example. He was an aspiring doctor before he was turned into a vampire against his will. He worked a few lucrative jobs but had to leave when it became apparent he isn't ageing.
* TheSnarkKnight: As the Ripper, Stefan is extremely sarcastic and snarky. Nobody can out snark him, not even Damon.
* SpikyHair: Stefan's hair is always gelled and spiked a certain way. Damon referred to Stefan's spiked hair as a 'hero hairdo'.
%%
%% * SociopathicHero: Ripper!Stefan is the embodiment of this trope. Stefan fit this trope in season 3 when Klaus compelled him to shut off his humanity, resulting in him having a [[LackOfEmpathy zero empathy, humanity or compassion]].
%%
%% more context is needed; shutting off his humanity is mentioned in too many tropes already and it is fairly vague for this trope
%%
* TheSpock: Stefan is this of the [[FreudianTrio main trio]] between himself (''TheSpock, Superego''), Elena (''TheKirk, Ego'') and Damon (''TheMcCoy, Id''). Stefan is intelligent, serious, stoic, practical, and reasonable. He is the one who thinks before he acts and is the logical voice of the trio.
* StalkingIsLove: Follows Elena around for months and digs up all kinds of information on her before introducing himself. Though he does have a ''reason'' for doing this other than creepiness. He wants to make sure Elena isn't Katherine, his maker. The two young women look identical.
* TheStoic: Stefan goes through a lot of pain yet he masks it with a calm facade and demeanour. Lampshaded in 2x03 "Bad Moon Rising":
-->'''Caroline:''' Why are you looking at him with your serious vampire look?\\
'''Stefan:''' My wha... my serious vampire look?\\
'''Caroline:''' Umhm... I mean it’s different from your worried vampire look. Neither of which stray too far from your "Hey, it’s Tuesday" look.
* StarCrossedLovers: Stefan and Elena. Like Romeo and Juliet, Stefan and Elena suffer from many issues, obstacles and struggles (mostly external, but also internal or personal) that try to keep the two apart. Things try to tear them apart and keep the two from being together. But despite the odds, they often overcome whatever obstacle they face and always seem to come back together, often stronger than before.
%% * StraightMan: Especially in his comedic scenes with Damon.
%% * StraightManAndWiseGuy: Stefan is the Straight Man to Damon's Wise Guy. Stefan is more serious and stoic and Damon is more openly humorous, snarky and sarcastic.
%% This needs more context and reads like a misuse.
%%
%% * TheStrategist: Stefan is one of the most strategic and calculating people on the show.
%% How? This needs details.
%%
%% * SugarAndIcePersonality: Stefan is Type I.
* SuperpowerLottery: Stefan is a vampire, therefore, he possesses superhuman abilities. 1) SuperSpeed: He can move and run much faster than a normal human. 2) SuperReflexes: Also known as super agility. Stefan can react much faster and quicker to situations. 3) SuperStrength: Stefan is able to carry or lift heavier objects with much ease and little effort. 4) MindManipulation: He's able to control the mind of any human and influence their thoughts and their actions in the process. The only way to prevent Stefan from mind influencing someone is for the human victim to have vervain on them. 5) HealingFactor: Stefan can get stabbed, shot or wounded and he will heal immediately. 6) SuperSenses: All of Stefan's senses, such as sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing have become clearer, stronger and heightened. He is able to see, smell and hear things from a greater distance than people.
* SuicideBySunlight: Sunlight is lethal to vampires. Stefan attempts to kill himself in sunlight in episode 1x20 "Blood Brothers", but Elena stops him.
%% * SupportingLeader: Stefan can be seen as the supporting leader to Elena. Although, more often than not, Stefan is normally the one that takes the lead in all of the missions, plans. He is involved right in the middle of the action more so than Elena.
* SupportingProtagonist: Elena is the protagonist of the series while Stefan is the second most important character. The story generally centres around Stefan and Elena.
* SympatheticMurderBackstory: In the beginning, Stefan comes off as kind, caring and humane. However, he harbours a deep dark secret. He used to be a Ripper that killed people. Stefan expresses extreme guilt and remorse for his actions from that time. He often gains sympathy because when he killed people, he gave into his blood lust. That means he really had no control over what he was doing and was sort of unaware of his actions.
* TallDarkAndHandsome: He's a very tall guy with dark colouring and one of the most handsome guys on the series.
* TerrorHero: Stefan in Season 3 is a hero who targets the fear of villains. In 3x11, Stefan plays on Klaus' fear of turning Elena into a vampire by feeding her his blood, so that Klaus wouldn't be able to make any more hybrids. At the same time, Stefan is also committing a heroic act, getting Klaus to get his hybrids out of Mystic Falls.
* ThouShaltNotKill: When Stefan has his humanity in check, Stefan believes that killing shouldn't be the first option to everything.
%% * TokenEvilTeammate: in season three, after his FaceHeelTurn.
%% * TookALevelInBadass: In season 3, as the anti-hero and as the Ripper.
%% * TookALevelInJerkass: Oh boy, also combined with LackOfEmpathy due to Klaus compelling him to shut off his humanity.
* TragicHero: Despite Stefan's heroism, his good intentions and his selflessness, Stefan hardly receives anything positive in return. Instead, Stefan ends up suffering the most despite his good deeds and good intentions.
%% * TragicVillain / TragicMonster: In season three as the Ripper.
* TranquilFury: When Stefan gets angry, he's still rather calm and stoic, especially in comparison to Damon, who often lashes out.
* TraumaCongaLine: From his blood addiction issues, to him battling with the dark side of himself (the Ripper), to his never ending guilt, to self-loathing as a vampire, Stefan can never seem to catch a break. He is always the one getting kicked around. As if Stefan didn't just recover from being a blood-addicted, compelled-by-Klaus, humanity-turned-off Ripper, he loses Elena (who happens to sired to Damon) to his brother, Damon. He doesn't even seem to be having much luck in the romance department; something that Stefan has always had at least a little bit of luck.
%%
%% This is too vague. More explanation is needed.
%%
%% * TroubledButCute: With his background as a vampire and DarkAndTroubledPast.
* TheUnfettered: Stefan fits this trope when he is the Ripper. As the Ripper, Stefan loses his humanity and when he sets a goal or has an agenda, he doesn't care who it hurts and he doesn't think about the detrimental consequences of his actions.
* UnwantedHarem: There are many female characters who are in love with Stefan or fall under his charm: Caroline, Katherine and Rebekah. Too bad that he doesn't reciprocate any of their feelings and has his eyes set on only one girl: Elena.
* UnresolvedSexualTension: With Katherine. He hates her, but there is some passion. Stefan and Katherine haven't gotten their desire to have hate-sex out of their systems yet.
* VegetarianVampire: There are periods of time when Stefan chooses to live off the blood of animals instead of humans. In season 2 however he drinks human blood in order to curb his blood addiction and control himself.
* ViralTransformation: His transformation physically changed him from human to vampire and it was done via by vampire blood. Stefan became a vampire in 1864 he "died" from being shot in the chest and after Katherine fed him her own vampire blood.
* VitriolicBestBuds: With Damon. Stefan may be angry with Damon or wary of his brother most of the time, but he'll allow no one else to touch him.
* WalkingDisasterArea: Doom and gloom seem to follow Stefan around wherever he goes.
* WarmBloodbagsAreEverywhere: Stefan is noted as having a problem with blood addiction. His use of animal blood, while most non-homicidal vampires steal from blood banks, is because he's afraid of relapse. Later on he carefully starts drinking human blood again, because using only animal blood makes him weaker. In the season 2 finale Klaus makes him drink bag after bag of human blood until his addiction resurfaces and he turns into a "Ripper", an extreme version of a vampire that is definitely not a FriendlyNeighbourhoodVampire.
* WeakButSkilled: While Stefan is noticeably weaker in strength because of his animal blood diet, he is still rather skilled and capable of defending himself whenever necessary.
%% * WellDoneSonGuy
%% * WhatTheHellHero: Elena is extremely traumatized and shocked that Stefan would commit such a horrible act. The audience was also completely shocked by Stefan's actions, appalled that Stefan would really go that far and act so ruthlessly.
%%
%% Does she tell him off?
%%
* WorkingWithTheEx: Stefan offers to be partners with Rebekah and work with her on the quest to find the cure. This is sure to rekindle some old feelings between the two of them.
%% * WorthLivingFor: For Elena.
* YoungestChildWins: Stefan has always been strongly favoured over his older brother Damon by almost everyone.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Damon Salvatore]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/damon_salvatore.jpg]]
->'''Portrayed by:''' Creator/IanSomerhalder

->''"It's cool not growing old. I like being the eternal stud."''
\\

Damon is Stefan's malevolent, dangerous and impulsive older brother. He is the anti-hero and the antagonist (especially in season one) of the series. He is most certainly ''not'' a Friendly Neighbourhood Vampire. He long ago swore to make Stefan's life "an eternity of misery". At first, he kills a lot of people in Mystic Falls, but later moderates his behaviour for a number of reasons but he remains dangerous. When he wants to, Damon can be charming and hilarious... but also cruel and capricious, and capable of killing on a whim. For the first season, Damon is the series' Antagonist, but has reverted his status to help Stefan and protect Elena.
----

* AdaptationalNationality: Stefan and Damon were from Renaissance Italy in the books. In the series the Salvatore family is one of the town's founding families and the two brothers are now Italian Americans from the civil war era.
* TheAgeless: He's stopped aging since he turned into a vampire 200 years ago, and looks like someone around his mid-twenties.
* AlwaysSecondBest: Damon always feels this way when it comes to his brother Stefan. Growing up, Stefan was the favourite son and was well respected by the town of Mystic Falls. Stefan got a lot of female attention, especially from the girls whom Damon was in love with, including Katherine and Elena. The favoritism towards Stefan since humanhood has made Damon always feel like he is incompetent and second best, living in the shadows of his brother.
* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Damon, being TheCasanova, is extremely popular with girls. However, it turns out the girls he really falls in love with (Katherine and Elena) prefer his nice brother Stefan over him.
* AllLoveIsUnrequited: He loves Elena, but she doesn't love him back. He also loves Katherine who doesn't love him back either. They both have it bad for his brother Stefan.
* AloofBigBrother: Damon isn't as warm and compassionate as his brother Stefan. He's rather emotionless, sinister, cold and doesn't show his true feelings all that much.
%% * AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: To Elena at the Originals' Ball. However, Elena tells Damon that the fact that he loves her is a problem for her. Ouch.
%%
%% Why is the original declaration anguished? It must be distinguished from a Love Confession.
%%
* ArbitrarySkepticism: Despite being a vampire and knowing about that other supernatural beings like witches are real, his kneejerk reaction is that werewolves aren't real when they become relevant in season 2.
* BadassBoast: Damon often brags that he can kick anyone's ass whenever he wants.
* BeautyIsBad: Damon is a jerk most of the time but he's also ''so'' good-looking that no one truly hates him and he's forgiven many things.
* BeingGoodSucks: According to him. This is why Damon doesn't bother following the rules and he doesn't much think about the concept of morality.
%%* BettyAndVeronica: The Veronica to Stefan's Betty for Elena's Archie.
* BigBrotherInstinct: He may enjoy screwing with Stefan, but he's the only one allowed to do so, as the tomb vampires painfully learn.
%% * BlackSheep: Of his family.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: At times he genuinely doesn't seem to comprehend that Elena might be upset because he murdered someone she didn't even know. Even when he [[spoiler:attempts to kill Jeremy]], he seems to class it as bad because it made Elena upset, not because he understands that it is morally wrong. It's because he has the mindset of a vampire. A vampire is a predator, so really stuff that's considered morally questionable like drinking blood and snapping necks is part of their nature, and Damon feels that you need to embrace it and get enjoyment out of it or you will never adapt. It's what he preaches in trying to help Elena transition when she is turned into a vampire.
%% * BoisterousBruiser: Damon is extroverted, fun-loving, careless and doesn't take anything seriously.
%% Does he love to fight? Boisterous Bruiser is supposed to be a loud, strong fighter.
%%
%% * BromanticFoil: To Stefan of course. Damon is portrayed as a rival for the male lead, Stefan.
* BrutalHonesty: Damon is blunt and often speaks whatever is on his mind, not caring if it will offend the person he's talking to or not.
* ByronicHero: Damon hates most of the characters around him, has great panache, is very cynical, certainly has a DarkAndTroubledPast, is [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor sometimes]] redeemable by [[ThePowerOfLove his love]] for Elena and to top it all of, he is a vampire.
* TheCasanova: Especially when doing his 'flirty eye thing'. He's had romantic involvement with Katherine, Caroline, Rose, Mary, Charlotte, Elena - just to name a few!
* CharacterDevelopment: Though he'll beat the shit out of people for pointing it out, Damon seems way better now rather than the ruthless villain he was in the beginning of his journey.
* CockFight: He has been in a SiblingTriangle with Stefan twice over the affections of Katherine and Elena, and he's always the one to pick a physical fight with Stefan over it due to his [[AlwaysSecondBest insecurities]].
%% * ControlFreak: Damon has a very controlling nature towards everyone he encounters, especially Elena.
%% How does this manifest?
%%
%% * TheCynic: Damon is definitely a cynical person by nature.
* DeadpanSnarker: Damon tends to be ''extremely'' snarky and sarcastic. He always has the best humorous quotes and provides several funny moments even in a show like this.
* DependingOnTheWriter: Is Damon a guy who's had a really tough life and just happens to be humanity's natural predator, does he only present a soft side to manipulate people, or are [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampires so unlike humans]] that it's impossible to determine his motivations? It can vary from episode to episode.
%% * DestructiveRomance: With Elena and Katherine.
%% * EvilIsPetty: Damon's "evil monster" persona would be a lot more threatening if he didn't throw a temper tantrum when someone doesn't do exactly what he wants.
%% Please list a concrete example of him being evil and petty.
%%
* FamilialFoe: Damon has spent about seventy years seeking revenge on the family of a MadScientist who experimented on him, sparing a survivor in each generation to give birth to a new generation of Whitfields for him to kill.
%% * FatalFlaw: Damon has many flaws. These include his impulsiveness, his selfishness, his carelessness, his lack of morality, and his pride.
%% FatalFlaw is one most important flaw and central issue. Find specific tropes.
%%
%% * FoolForLove: First for Katherine, and now, for Elena.
* ForgotAboutHisPowers: His abilities to extend his influence and senses via a tame raven and making a fog appear to confuse his victims seem to have been written completely out of the show. While Damon himself kills the raven out of a desperate need of blood, the fog thing is just sort of forgotten, and is never brought up again.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: For the first few seasons, when he hanged around with the main characters despite nobody truly liking him, and some (like Caroline) outright despising him. As the show went on and he became a better person, he began to have better relations with everyone.
%% * ForTheEvulz: The motivation for most of his actions (in season 1 especially) though it is just a facade.
* FullyEmbracedFiend: Unlike his brother, Stefan, who hates being a vampire, Damon embraces being a vampire and feeding on innocent humans. Feasting on humans is like a party or celebration for him.
* GagPenis: {{Implied|Trope}} given Elena, Andi and Bonnie's impressed ReactionShot when they see him naked.
* HeartbrokenBadass: Despite his tough badass vampire exterior, Damon is a heartbroken man on the inside. First, Katherine tells him that she never really loved him; that she had always loved Stefan, despite the fact that Damon spent over a century waiting for Katherine to come back to him. And then Elena tells him that it would always be Stefan that she loves, despite the fact that she does care about Damon.
* TheHedonist: He [[FullyEmbracedFiend fully embraced all the perks of vampire life]] and enjoys partying, living in luxury, and to have [[ReallyGetsAround a lot of sex]].
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: Starts on the villainous side. Every time they start him on a redemptive arc, he turns around and does something evil when he doesn't get his way. By season four, he is definitely {{Face}}.
* HeelFaceTurn: Originally the Antagonist and the TokenEvilTeammate, but later reverts his status and helps his brother Stefan and protects Elena.
* HellBentForLeather: Damon is always seen sporting a black leather jacket. It is practically his trademark. Appropriate for a badass vampire.
%% * HeterosexualLifePartners: Becomes this with Alaric.
%% * HopelessSuitor: Damon doesn't have that much luck with romance and women in the way that Stefan does.
* HotBlooded: Extremely impulsive, hot-tempered and never thinks about consequences.
* IHateYouVampireDad: Complicated because the vampire conversion process being... [[OurVampiresAreDifferent is somewhat complex]]. Both Katherine and his brother Stefan were involved in his turning. Damon loves Katherine dearly, but hates Stefan; he actually chose to die instead of completing the conversion, but Stefan talked him out of it and created the monster Damon we know today. It's only been touched on briefly, but all signs are that Damon ''deeply'' resents the whole affair. Then Katherine gets back and says that Damon is only a byproduct of her obsession with Stefan...
* IcyBlueEyes: He's a dangerous vampire and his steely blue eyes give him a very piercing stare.
* LifeDrinker: Damon is an immortal vampire, capable of living forever without physically ageing. Although he physically looks 24, he is 171 years old. He lives off blood.
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: To Elena when he tells her he loves her, then compels her to forget it so it won't ruin her relationship with his little brother.
%% * {{Jerkass}}: Most of the time. He's capable of showing affection and caring though.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Damon ''is'' an ass, but he's capable of showing affection and caring. He displays his softer side to Elena Stefan, Rose, Alaric, and Jeremy, though.
-->'''Damon:''' When people see good, they expect good. And I don't want to have to live up to anyone's expectations.
%% * JokerImmunity
* KickTheDog: His horrible treatment of Jeremy which includes threatening him and taunting him after snapping his neck and his abuse of Caroline whom he turns into a slave and treats like dirt for fun. He never even pretends to be remorseful about either.
* LadykillerInLove: He's TheCasanova who enjoys casual sex and seducing women, but always saved his heart for Katherine for most of his life. When she rejected him, his love eventually transferred over to Elena.
%% * TheLancer: Damon is this to Stefan's [[TheHero Hero]].
* LovableRogue: He breaks the law and costumes all the time but he is charming enough for the audience to root for him.
%% * LoveHurts: For Katherine and then for Elena.
* LoveMakesYouCrazy: Almost all of Damon's insane or out there actions have been either over Katherine or Elena's sake. With Katherine, it was a case of LoveMakesYouEvil (all his evil schemes in season 1 to have Katherine freed from her tomb) while with Elena it's a case of LoveRedeems (all the times he risked his life for Elena or her friend's sake over the course of the series).
%% * MayflyDecemberRomance:
%% ** Katherine was 400 years older than him.
%% ** Damon's a century and a half older than Elena.
* TheMcCoy: Damon is this of the [[FreudianTrio main trio]] between himself (''TheMcCoy, Id''), Stefan (''TheSpock, Superego'') and Elena (''TheKirk, Ego''). Damon is the overly emotional one of the trio. He is more impulsive, hot-headed, dangerous, selfish and reckless.
* MoralMyopia: He can do whatever he wants to anyone with no conscience. But even the slightest offence committed against him is treated as unforgivable.
* MrFanservice: Enjoys wearing low-neck shirts and [[ShirtlessScene walking around shirtless]].
* MurderIsTheBestSolution: A bad case. The number of their current, potential, and former allies that Damon has killed or tried to kill for very little reason is quite staggering, and greatly exceeds the number of definite enemies he's killed. He has killed more people than anyone in the show, even the villains.
* TheNicknamer: Damon often comes up with nicknames for many of the characters. Examples include his nicknames for Caroline (Blondie, Vampire Barbie), Rebekah (Barbie Klaus), Elena (Buffy, Warior Princess, Scaredy Cat, etc.), Stefan (Shady Stefan, Saint Stefan, Stefan the Hero, Superman etc.), Bonnie (Witchy, Judgy), Vanessa (Hottie), Matt (Busboy, Quarterback), Professor Shane (Professor Creepy) and much more.
* NoSenseOfPersonalSpace: Damon ''loves'' to unnerve people by getting in their face.
* PsychopathicManchild: He is cunning, clever, charismatic and badass as well as self-obsessed, irresponsible, petty, and cruel.
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: He was turned into a vampire when he was 17 and has been stuck like that for around 200 years.
* ReallyGetsAround: Damon is willing to screw every single chick that he encounters. Hell, he has slept with almost every single female character that has occurred on the show with the exception of Bonnie: they include Caroline, Rose, Rebekah, Andie, Bree, and later Elena who resisted him before; and the list goes.
* RebelliousSpirit: Damon prefers to live by his own rules.
%% * RomanticRunnerUp: Twice, towards Katherine and Elena, both times to Stefan. [[spoiler: Though as of season four's "We All Go A Little Mad Sometimes", Elena is debatable, due to her ending things with Stefan because of her feelings for Damon.]]
%% * RomanticVampireBoy
* SadClown: Often uses sarcasm and humour to cover up his inner pain and sorrow.
* SiblingRivalry: Stefan and Damon had a rivalry before they met Katherine or Elena. Katherine and Elena only helped to intensify it because both women prefer Stefan and Damon is understandably jealous.
* SiblingTeam: Damon occasionally teams up with his brother Stefan, usually to save Elena.
* SiblingYinYang: He is the polar opposite of Stefan in terms of personality, outlook, values, morality and beliefs.
%% * SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids: Towards Stefan.
%% * SmugSmiler: Quite often.
%% * SociopathicHero: When the mood strikes him.
%% * StalkerWithACrush: Towards Elena.
%% * StraightManAndWiseGuy: The Wise Guy to Stefan's Straight Man.
* SuperpowerLottery: Damon is a vampire, therefore, he possesses superhuman abilities. They include SuperSpeed (he can move much faster than normals), SuperReflexes (he can react much faster and quicker than people), SuperStrength (he's able to carry or lift heavy objects with ease), MindManipulation (he can control the mind of any human, influencing their thoughts and their actions; the only way to prevent Damon from mind influencing someone is for the human victim to have vervain on them), HealingFactor (he can get stabbed, shot or wounded and he will heal immediately), and SuperSenses (Damon's sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing have become clearer, stronger and heightened).
* TallDarkAndHandsome: Like Stefan, he's dark-haired and dark-skinned and he's one of the most handsome guys of the series.
* TallDarkAndSnarky: He's a tall brunette know for his sarcastic quips.
* TokenEvilTeammate: Especially in season 1, Damon is always the most amoral of the main characters and only ever does the right thing to please Stefan and/or Elena. CharacterDevelopment kicks in on later seasons and he gets more of a moral compass.
* TroubledAbuser: Damon is known to be abusive towards people in general. This can be because during Damon's human years, when Damon was younger, he was physically and emotionally abused by his father Giuseppe.
%% * TroubledButCute: While Stefan, Jeremy and Tyler qualify as well, Damon is easily the best example of this trope.
* TheUnfavourite: His father heavily favoured Stefan over him and actually abused poor Damon.
-->'''Giuseppe Salvatore:''' All I have from you is disappointment.
* TheUnfettered: Damon lacks a guilty conscience and most definitely lacks morals. He doesn't care if he hurts others, as long as he gets what he wants.
* VampiresAreSexGods: Out of all the characters in the show, he's the one that uses his vampire powers for sex and seduction. {{Justified|Trope}} since his vampire EvilMentor Sage was a [[TheHedonist henonist]] and a SexGoddess who specialized in seducing her prey and [[KissOfTheVampire giving them pleasure while she feed]], as that cause far less trouble than dead bodies.
* ViralTransformation: Damon became a vampire by drinking Katherine's blood and dying after being shot in the chest.
%% * VitriolicBestBuds: With both Alaric Saltzman and his brother, Stefan. Although Damon has tense relationships with both Alaric and Stefan, he still considers both of them to be his only companions.
%% * WalkingShirtlessScene: Especially in Season Three.
* WorfEffect: He tends be get beaten up a lot by older vampires or other supernatural beings, to show how much of a treat they are.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Bonnie Bennett]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bonnie_bennet.jpg]]
->'''Portrayed by:''' Creator/KatGraham

->''"You saw what I was able to do tonight. I know who I am now. If Damon spills one drop of human blood, I'll take him down.''"
\\

Bonnie is Elena's best friend, who is a bubbly, optimistic, carefree, spirited girl. Although her best friend is Elena, she is also very close friends with Caroline. Bonnie begins the series haunted by strange visions. She soon discovers that she is a witch, like her grandmother before her, but finds herself torn between her loyalty to Elena and her desire to protect the town of Mystic Falls from the vampires.
----
* ActionGirl: Bonnie is actually the first of the female good characters to [[TookALevelInBadass Take a Level In Badass in becoming a supernatural being]] as she discovers her magical powers and can fight on her own, such as against Klaus in Season 2.
* AdaptationDyeJob: She was a redhead in the books. In the series, she's dark-haired and portrayed by a black actress.
* AdaptationNameChange: Bonnie's last name is [=McCullough=] in the novels.
* AlliterativeName: Her name is Bonnie Bennett. Her first and last name begin with the same letter: '''B'''.
%%* BadassUnintentional
%% * BettyAndVeronica: The Archie to Jeremy's Betty and Luka's Veronica in season two, the Archie to Jeremy's Betty and Jamie's Veronica, and the Betty to Anna's Veronica for Jeremy's Archie.
* BestFriend: She's Elena best friend and closest [[TheConfidant confidant]], being the only person Elena trusts completely.
* BlessedWithSuck: She's a witch, but apart from mind-whammying Damon, using any of her other powers mainly seems to cause her to lose consciousness. Even when she gets better at it, her witch powers still make her a target for all sorts of supernatural threats.
* BrokenBird: Bonnie fit this trope after Bonnie's Grams died in season one. She became more cynical, distant, and withdrawn, even pushing Elena and all of her friends away.
* ButNotTooBlack: Katerina Graham, the actress playing Bonnie Bennett, is only slightly darker than Caucasian Nina Dobrev who portrays Elena Gilbert. She also has green eyes and predominantly Caucasoid facial features.
* ChasteHeroine: Until season 5, Bonnie was a virgin and of the three main female leads, is the least sexually active and cares about hooking up the least.
* CursedWithAwesome: Bonnie is a witch with extraordinary powers and abilities, although initially, she is overwhelmed by her powers and doesn't want anything to do with witchcraft or being a witch.
%% * CuteWitch
* {{Determinator}}: Bonnie is the most determined character on the show. When she sets herself a goal, she will never give up. She displays this determined behaviour in regards to her friends and family and she will do everything to keep them safe, even if she puts her life in danger.
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:While trapped in the prison world, Bonnie contemplated killing herself out of fear she would never be reunited with her friends]].
* EthnicMagician: Bonnie is a witch of non-European descent and the only black girl among the main characters.
* ExtraordinarilyEmpoweredGirl: She's a witch with extraordinary magical powers. However, just because she's magically powerful doesn't mean that she isn't emotionally vulnerable. She is a normal teenager after all.
* FlirtyStepsiblings: Bonnie has a romance with her step or adopted brother, Jamie in season three.
%%* {{Foil}}: Bonnie is this to Elena, the heroine. Bonnie is seen as a sidekick to Elena.
%% * GirlNextDoor: Similarly to her best friend Elena.
* GoGetterGirl: Bonnie is the epitome of a multi-tasker. She goes to school as a high school student, but also takes care of the problems of everyone else and she protects the town of Mystic Falls.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: She's best friends with Elena and Caroline since their childhood as they have a sisterly bond.
%% * HotWitch: She definitely qualifies as being a very attractive teenager.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Bonnie gets mad at Caroline for being a vampire, when she is the reason Caroline is a vampire. She A: refused to dispel the device which caused the accident, B: Urged Damon to give her his blood to heal her, and C. Told Katherine about said deed. She also gets upset at Caroline for killing someone when not dispelling the device killed Mayor Lockwood.
%% * HypercompetentSidekick: To everyone. Bonnie is always there to help whenever her friends need her.
%% * IJustWantToBeNormal: At first, but eventually learns to enjoy her powers and the good she can do with them.
%% * LittleMissBadass
%% * LoveTriangle: In season two, between her, Luka and Jeremy.
%% * LoveInterest: To Jeremy in season two and three, to Jamie in season three, and possibly [[spoiler: to Professor Atticus Shane in season four.]]
* MindManipulation: Happens to her in season four. First, she's manipulated into practicing an extremely ''dark'' and dangerous form of magic by Professor Shane. [[spoiler: Then, he hypnotizes her so that when she loses control of her powers, he's the only one who can get her under control. In 4x15, she's unknowingly being manipulated by Silas, who appears to her as Professor Shane, into 'lifting the veil between this side and the other side,' i.e resurrecting every single supernatural creature that has ever died.]]
* NiceGirl: She's a kind girl and kind friend. She's extremely loyal, selfless and known for having many heroic tendencies as well, namely, being repeatedly ready to sacrifice herself for her friends.
%% * OutOfFocus: In season 4.
%% * PluckyGirl: Bonnie is highly determined and brave, even through all of the tragedy and issues that she has faced.
* PragmaticHero: Although Bonnie has good and moral intentions, she will do some morally questionable things for the greater good. In season three, Bonnie preserves Klaus in Tyler's body in order to keep all of her vampire friends and family from dying (they are all dead, but dying-dying and being killed-off-for-real).
* PsychicNosebleed: Bonnie often suffers from nosebleeds when she over-exerts herself during spells and magic.
* RaceLift: Bonnie was originally a redhead of Scottish descent in the novel series. She's African-American in the show.
* RaisedByGrandparents: [[ParentalAbandonment Her mother left home when she was just 5 years old]] and her father was [[ParentalNeglect frequently absent]], so she ended up being raised by her grandmother.
* TheReliableOne: She's usually the one character turn to when they have a problem, either needing her advice for life problems or her magical expertise for supernatural problems.
* SassyBlackWoman: She's strong, outspoken and defends her opinion fiercely.
* TheSmartGirl: Bonnie is always resourceful, uses her magical powers to help everyone and generally serves as the HypercompetentSidekick.
* TheSpock: Bonnie is this within the [[FreudianTrio trio]] of herself (''TheSpock, Superego''), Elena (''TheKirk, Ego'') and Caroline (''TheMcCoy, Id''). Bonnie is practical, reasonable, smart, and logical. She is the brains of the trio.
* SquishyWizard: Bonnie packs a great deal of magical firepower but has the durability of a normal human.
%% * SupportingLeader: Especially in season two.
* TokenBlackFriend: She's white girl Elena's BestFriend and she's black. Elena is the protagonist.
* TokenMinority: The only black character among white characters.
%% * TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Tomboy to Caroline's Girly Girl.
* TookALevelInBadass: Starts the series as a helpless girl, but as she learns to control her powers, she quickly becomes the strongest member of the main cast.
%% * TrueCompanions: With Elena and Caroline.
* VitriolicBestBuds: Her and Damon's relationship is at first antagonistic but over time they do become more friendly towards each other, especially in the final three seasons. This still doesn't stop them arguing and snarking at each other.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Jeremy Gilbert]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/s4_007.jpg]]
->'''Portrayed by:''' Creator/StevenRMcQueen

->''"Why does everyone keep dying on me?''"
\\

Elena's little brother took their parents' death poorly, falling into self-destruction and drug abuse. He also fell in love with the troubled and older GirlNextDoor, Vicki Donovan. He's far from stupid, and Elena's desperate attempts to protect him from the vampires only make him suspicious and he starts to distrust her.
----

%% * ActionHero: Took on this role as a vampire hunter.
%% * ActionSurvivor: Just like his sister Elena.
* AdaptationDyeJob: In addition to being aged up to teenager and turned into a guy, Jeremy is also turned into a brunette like Elena.
%% * AnnoyingYoungerSibling: To Elena of course.
* AgeLift: The character in the book is significantly younger. He's a teenager on the show. Elena in the book had a little sister.
* BackFromTheDead: Twice, Jeremy has died and came back to life. The second time he came back to life, he became a medium, which is a human that sees dead people, spirits and ghosts.
%%* BadassAdorable
* BadassNormal: He's a human among vampires and other supernatural creatures, but he shoots a hybrid in the back with a crossbow then decapitates him without flinching. Jeremy is also a vampire hunter and [[spoiler: part of The Five of vampire hunters.]]
%% * BettyAndVeronica: The Betty to Luka's Veronica for Bonnie's Archie. The Archie to Bonnie's Betty and Anna's Veronica.
* BrilliantButLazy: He almost never studies, but he's far from stupid. He also seems to have a knack for history and is a very good artist.
%% * ButtMonkey: If something absolutely horrible is going to happen, there is a very good chance it will be to him.
%% * CartwrightCurse: Lampshaded: ''"You know I don't have the best of luck with girlfriends."''
%% * DeadpanSnarker: He has his moments. Its usually the only way he stays sane.
* DespairEventHorizon: After [[spoiler: Anna]] is killed, he attempts to kill himself in order to turn into a vampire and thus turn off his emotions.
* DisneyDeath: This apparent death happens to Jeremy frequently.
** In the season two premiere, Jeremy comes back from the dead after Damon snaps his neck. His magical Gilbert ring saves him.
** In the season two finale, Jeremy is shot and dies, but after Bonnie pleads with the witch spirits, Jeremy comes back to life though he doesn't come back normal. He becomes a medium, a person who sees spirits and ghosts.
* DoomMagnet: Lampshaded in one of the very first episodes. He seems to lose everyone he cares about.
-->'''Jeremy:''' Why does everyone have to die on me?
* DrivenToSuicide: In the season one finale. He is so depressed that he ends up taking an entire bottle of pills after drinking Anna's blood, so that he can become a vampire and take his inner pain away.
%% * FatalAttractor: His love life is... messed-up to say the least.
%% * FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: The Foolish to Elena's Responsible.
* GenderFlip: Elena has a little sister in the books named Margaret, but instead is a male character on the show, Jeremy.
* HeadphonesEqualIsolation: Jeremy often listens to music with headphones when he tries to avoid or ignore Elena from lecturing or harassing him.
%% * HotBlooded: In the first season, he's perfectly willing to tell off Tyler for his treatment of Vicki despite Tyler's bullying and threats.
%% * HulkingOut: Subverted. In 4x12, Jeremy "hulks out" when he screams loud and rips off his shirt, revealing his pronounced muscles and of course, the growing mark or tattoo on his body as a result of killing Kol (plus thousands of vampires of Kol's lineage).
%% Really subversion? Also, why does he go into the unstoppable rage mode?
%%
* ISeeDeadPeople: He is a medium who can see spirits. It seems to be a side-effect from him coming BackFromTheDead at the end of season two.
%% * KilledOffForReal: In "Down The Rabbit Hole".
%% * LonersAreFreaks: Some have this perception of him in early episodes, but it disappears when his angst does.
%% * LoveMakesYouDumb: Especially in 02x10.
%% * MrFanservice: Is rather ripped for being so young
* NeckSnap:
** In 2x01, Damon snaps Jeremy's neck in a fit of rage after Elena rejected him. Luckily, Jeremy is still wearing his Gilbert magic ring and doesn't die.
** In 4x14, Silas snaps his neck. [[spoiler: This time it's permanent and he's dead for real.]]
* ParentalAbandonment: Both his parents died before the beginning of the series. He's still a teenager.
%% * PutOnABus: For a couple of episodes in season 3.
%% * SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Sensitive Guy to Tyler's Manly Man.
* StalkerWithACrush: He falls for Vicki Donovan in the first episodes and starts stalking her in the name of love. According to Vicki, Jeremy has been obsessed with her for a long time, even when Elena and Matt (Jeremy's sister and Vicki's brother, respectively) were dating.
* TheStoner: He's a drug dealer and uses the drugs himself.
%% * TraumaCongaLine: See ButtMonkey, CartwrightCurse, DoomMagnet and FatalAttractor.
%% NO. This trope must be explained.
%%
* TroubledButCute: He's a troubled teen whose parents died and who takes and deals drugs and whose sister is a magnet for vampires and other supernatural beings. Many girls find him cute, including Vicki, Anna, Bonnie.
* VampireHunter: Jeremy is destined to be a vampire hunter. It gets revealed in season four that Jeremy is a member of The Five hunters. A group of hunters who have been hunting vampires since the 11th century. Connor Jordan is also a member of The Five.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Caroline Forbes]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/caroline_forbes.jpg]]
->'''Portrayed by:''' Creator/CandiceAccola

->''"So you're saying now I'm an insecure, neurotic control freak... on crack?''"
\\

Caroline is Elena and Bonnie's [[WithAFriendAndAStranger ''other'' friend]] (and uncomfortably aware of this). She is a young, bubbly, spunky, shallow human turned vampire. Caroline is a similarly rich and privileged young woman. She is a descendant of the founding families through her mother, Sheriff Liz Forbes, but the importance of her mother's job means that Caroline often feels neglected, leading to a troubled relationship between the two of them. Desperately insecure and somewhat resentful of existing in Elena's shadow, things get even worse for Caroline when the attractive older man who catches her eye turns out to be Damon Salvatore, who uses her as a minion/sex-toy/blood-bank. After she is freed from his control, she starts dating Elena's ex, Matt - which isn't especially good for her inferiority complex. Caroline eventually falls in love with Tyler Lockwood and the two develop a romantic relationship. However, although Caroline loves Tyler, she does display an attraction towards, Klaus Mikaelson, an Original hybrid. Caroline is also very close with Stefan and she is often seen as Lexi 2.0 for Stefan. In the second season, she is turned into a vampire by Katherine, and actually manages to settle comfortably into this "undead life" despite the difficulties.
----
* ActionGirl: After she turned into a vampire, she becomes the most active female combatant in the cast.
%% * ActionSurvivor: Before she was turned into a vampire.
* AdaptationDyeJob: In the novel series, Caroline has auburn red hair but on the show, Caroline is a blonde.
* AdaptationalNiceGuy: In the novel series, Caroline is an AlphaBitch whose relationship with Elena is much more antagonistic. In the show, she has shades of being an AlphaBitch in season one, but quickly develops and becomes one of the nicest characters.
* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Has a tendency for falling for dangerous men, like Damon, Tyler and Klaus.
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Felt this way about Elena in season one, as she considered herself to be in Elena's shadow, due to Elena always getting all the attention from people.
* AmicableExes: She and her ex Matt are on good terms.
%% * AnchoredShip: With both Matt and Tyler throughout the seasons.
* BackFromTheDead: Katherine kills her, but since she still has Damon's blood in her system, she turns into a vampire and becomes immortal.
* BadassAdorable: She's the lovable, ditzy, blonde girl... who has been able to kick vampire Damon's ass.
%% * BeastAndBeauty: Caroline is the Beauty to Klaus' Beast.
%% * BeautyBrainsAndBrawn: Caroline is the Brawn to Elena's Beauty and Bonnie's Brains.
%% * BettyAndVeronica: The Archie to Matt's Betty and Tyler's Veronica. Also, the Archie to Tyler's Betty and Klaus' Veronica.
* TheBigGirl: Caroline is tall and is constantly having her strength played up. She is constantly out-muscling other characters, lifting them out of wells, even lifting a heavy stone door requiring both brothers in another scene. Even her ethics have become more Chewbacca-like, with a valuing of courage and loyalty to friends rather than the more complex Hero and Heart ethics of Stefen and Elena.
%% * BookDumb: While not the best in terms of book smarts, she's actually very capable and conscientious.
%% * BrainlessBeauty: Mostly in season one.
%% * BreakTheCutie: Sweet ''Jesus'' .
%% * BrokenBird: Especially in season two after she was turned into a vampire.
%% * BrutalHonesty: At times.
%% * ButtMonkey: Quite often. It seems like when someone is getting tortured, 75% of the time it's Caroline.
%% * CatchPhrase: "Seriously?"
* CharacterDevelopment: She has become more interesting and tolerable since she is turned. Her vampire "life" suits her.
%% * ClingyJealousGirl: More so, ever since she became a vampire.
* CursedWithAwesome: She adapted fairly well to being a vampire, after she got a handle on her urges, and fully embraces becoming a FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire.
%% * DeadpanSnarker: The second biggest one, after Damon.
* DefrostingIceQueen: In season one she was somewhat shallow and self-absorbed, but after enduring hell through Damon and Katherine, she ended up becoming more humble and nice.
* DisappearedDad: Caroline's father Bill abandoned his family (her and her mom Liz) when Caroline was younger. He's actually gay. He reveals himself in season 3.
%% * TheDitz: Caroline can be quite ditzy at times but in an endearing way.
* DudeMagnet: Biggest one on the show. Matt, Tyler, Klaus, Stefan, and Alaric fall in love with her. She also used to date Damon in season 1, has a boyfriend named Jesse in a few episodes, and Enzo flirts with her in his early appearances.
* DyingDeclarationOfLove: [[spoiler: While she's dying at the time, she declares Klaus' feelings for ''her'' instead of the other way around, which affects him so much that he heals her from the werewolf bite he inflicted on her.]]
%% * TheFashionista
%% * FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire
* GenkiGirl: Caroline is energetic and bubbly.
%% * GirlNextDoor: Mostly before she was turned into a vampire.
* GirlyBruiser: The most feminine of the three girls and also physically the strongest.
%% * GirlyGirl: Caroline is ultra-feminine and girly. She is probably the most girly girl between herself, Elena and Bonnie.
%% What makes her so?
%%
* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: She has blond hair and she's very goodhearted.
%% * HeartbrokenBadass: Oh boy, Caroline has faced a lot of heartbreak in regards to her love life.
* IHateYouVampireDad: It is Damon's blood that turned her. Not that he meant to, but she already had very good reasons to hate him, given he raped her and tried to kill her several times in season 1. She never quite gets over her dislike for him.
%% * IJustWantToBeSpecial: In season one.
* TheLeader: Caroline is the leader or captain of the Mystic Falls High cheerleading squad (The Lady Timberwolves).
* LifeDrinker: Caroline is a vampire, a living dead person. She feeds on blood.
%% * LightFeminineAndDarkFeminine: The light to Rebekah's dark. Rebekah is pretty much her EvilCounterpart.
%% * LovableAlphaBitch: Blonde, pretty, popular, ditzy but nice enough.
%% Who is she bitchy to? Who is she nice to?
%%
* LoveInterest: Villainous Klaus is romantically interested in her.
%% ** To Matt and Tyler.
%% * MayflyDecemberRomance: With Klaus, who is 1000+ years old.
* TheMcCoy: Caroline is this within the [[FreudianTrio trio]] of herself (''TheMcCoy, Id''), Bonnie (''TheSpock, Superego''), and Elena (''TheKirk, Ego''). Caroline is more emotional, impulsive, energetic and hot-headed than Elena and Bonnie.
%% * MoralityPet: She's this for Klaus.
%% * MotorMouth: At times.
%% * NaiveEverygirl: In season one, but she gets more mature later on.
%% * NiceGirl
%% * NotGrowingUpSucks: Comes to this realization on her 18th birthday
%% * OvershadowedByAwesome: When around Elena.
%% * PlatonicLifePartners: With Stefan.
* ThePollyanna: Caroline is one of the most optimistic characters on the show, with her life motto being "Be Positive!".
* ReallyGetsAround: Caroline is very boy crazy and goes for any guy that pays attention to her, especially in season one.
%% * RejectionAffection: Klaus is undeterred by Caroline's abhorrence for him.
%% * SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl: With Matt in season one with Matt as the Savvy Guy to Caroline's Energetic Girl.
* ShipperOnDeck: Caroline ships Stefan and Elena and she's the biggest "Stelena". She often advocates for their relationship whenever she can, especially if Stefan and Elena break up or face issues in their relationship. She always says things to Elena about how Stefan is her epic love, how they're cute together, that he's her soulmate and so on.
%% * StagesOfMonsterGrief: Stage One (Denial) perfectly played in season 2, episode 2, "Brave New World."
%% * SugarAndIcePersonality
%% * TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Girly Girl to Bonnie's Tomboy.
* TookALevelInBadass: Upgraded to vampire in the beginning of season 2 and it seems to agree with her as she's kicking the crap out of the resident hunky werewolf dude by punting him ten feet into a tree after kneeing him in the vitals. Moments later she's saving the day by chomping on the local [[RedShirts deputies']] necks in front of her mother. As her mother is the sheriff and a prominent member on the local anti-vampire committee it probably won't end well. At least there's always handy vampire mind control to set things right again because StatusQuoisGod .
%% * TrueCompanions: With Stefan, Elena and Bonnie.
%% * {{Tsundere}}: Particularly in early episodes.
%% * VampireWerewolfLoveTriangle:
%% ** Becomes a center of one between Matt and Tyler.
%% ** And a weird version in Season 3 and 4 with Tyler and Klaus who are both vampire and werewolf
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Matt Donovan]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/matt_donovan.jpg]]
->'''Portrayed by:''' Creator/ZachRoerig

->''"I get it, this is your life now. But you know what my life is, Caroline? My life is an absentee mom, and a bunch of bills to pay, and school, and a job, and it sucks sometimes, but it's my life and I think that I just want to live it without all this.''"
\\

Matt is Elena's childhood friend and first love. Matt was willing to give Elena space after the death of her parents, hoping that the two might eventually get back together. Naturally, he was somewhat upset when Elena then fell for Stefan... but was able work past it, befriending his 'love rival' and eventually beginning a new relationship with Caroline. Perhaps the reason for his mature outlook is that he had to grow up fast - unlike most of the other characters, Matt isn't the descendant of an ancient family, but from the wrong side of the tracks; from an early age, he had to look after his irresponsible alcoholic mother, Kelly and stoner big sister, Vicki.
----

* AdaptationNameChange: Matt's last name is Honeycutt in the books.
* AlcoholicParent: His mother Kelly drinks and is very irresponsible and erratic. He has to look after her.
* AmicableExes: He and Elena break up. He's willing to give Elena space after the death of her parents, but he hopes they might get back together. He manages to be friends with her.
%% ** With Caroline, but he's still a good friend for them.
%% * BadassNormal: He has his moments.
%% * BetterAsFriends: from Elena's perspective, though he doesn't agree.
%% * BettyAndVeronica: The Betty to Tyler's Veronica for Caroline's Archie.
* BigBrotherInstinct: He is rather protective of Jeremy who is Elena's younger brother.
* BigLittleBrother: Due to his [[DisappearedDad father's absences]] and his [[ParentalNeglect neglectful mother]], when his older sister Vicki started to fall apart, Matt had to step up and became a big brother figure to her, despite being younger.
%% * ButtMonkey: Things just seem to conspire against him.
* DisappearedDad: His father is completely out of the picture for the majority of the show, although they are reunited in the last season.
%% * DoggedNiceGuy: To Elena.
* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: The Responsible to Vicki's Foolish. Vicki is his older sister, but he's way more mature and level-headed than her. He's the reliable one, while Vicki is a stoner.
* TheGenericGuy: Unlike everyone else, he doesn't seem to have any interesting trait, or character development or particular storyline. He's just the TokenHuman NiceGuy.
* GenreSavvy: He's the one who points out that they live in a town full of supernaturals, so anyone who has knowledge of anything in that area is 'creepy until proven otherwise' and that Atticus Shane is not to be trusted. It helps that [[spoiler: he investigates the explosion that took out the Council, and discovered that Pastor Young was constantly in touch with Atticus, calling him ''ten times'' on the day of the explosion.]]
%% * HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Matt is blond and good-hearted.
%% * HeterosexualLifePartners: With Tyler, at first.
%% * InnocentBlueEyes
%% --> '''Katherine:''' His eyes are so blue!
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Despite being very jealous of Stefan and his relationship with Elena, he tries to become friends with him and really tries to reconcile with the fact.
* LovableJock: He's the quarterback of the Mystic Falls High School football team, but, unlike Tyler, he's not a JerkJock but a nice and considerate guy.
* TheMole: Although Caroline believes she removed his memories of the supernatural at his own request in "Know Thy Enemy", he is on vervain (antidote) at the time, and he starts working with Sheriff Forbes as a spy.
%% * NiceGuy: Through and through.
* TheNicknamer: Has a habit of calling people by the first syllable of their names, and so Jeremy becomes "Jer", Caroline becomes "Car", Bonnie becomes "Bon", Tyler becomes "Ty", Vickie becomes "Vick" etc.
%% * NonActionGuy: Being the TokenHuman.
%% * OnlySaneMan: In his family. And in the entire main cast, really.
* ParentalAbandonment: His alcoholic mother eventually leaves him and his sister alone and nothing is known about his father.
* PlatonicLifePartners: Seems to become this with Elena. They're certainly still very close friends despite the breakup.
%% * SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Sensitive Guy to Tyler's Manly Man.
* TokenHuman: The only cast member with no supernatural elements or special abilities.
%% * UnfazedEveryman: His main function in the series.
* UnluckyChildhoodFriend: To Elena, his ChildhoodFriend and former girlfriend. He still pines for her, but she has her eyes for another one.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Tyler Lockwood]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tyler_lockwood.jpg]]
->'''Portrayed by:''' Creator/MichaelTrevino

->''"I have no one else to tell. I'm sorry about earlier. It's just, I'm alone with this. What's gonna happen to me? I'm gonna turn on the next full moon, and I won't be able to stop it. I'm scared.''"
\\

Matt's best friend, though the two couldn't be more different - Tyler seems to be nothing more than a JerkJock, and the son of the town's Mayor. But his parents are [[FreudianExcuse very unpleasant people]]... and Tyler has actually inherited more from his father than just womanizing ways and a hair-trigger temper... The Lockwood bloodline are actually potential werewolves, and following Katherine's plan in the second season Tyler becomes a full werewolf himself.
----

* AbusiveParents: His father was violently abusive towards him.
* AdaptationNameChange: His last name is Smallwood in the books. [[UnfortunateNames It's easy to see why this was changed for the show]].
%% * BettyAndVeronica: The Veronica to Matt's Betty for Caroline's Archie. Later the Betty to Klaus' Veronica, always for Caroline's Archie.
* CharacterDevelopment: He is an annoying bully and a JerkJock in season 1 but develops into a JerkWithAHeartOfGold who really cares about Caroline.
* DirtyCoward: He's good with threats but when Jeremy actually challenges him to a fight, he backs away.
* FreudianExcuse: He's not a nice guy, but his father is a womanizing, abusive jerk who forces him to fight Jeremy "like a man".
%% * HairTriggerTemper: Justified, it's a side-effect of his latent lycanthropy.
* HiddenDepths: He's quite a good artist. Jeremy compliments him on his artistic skills.
%% * HotBlooded: Again, it's due to his werewolf gene.
%% * HeterosexualLifePartners: With Matt, at first.
%% * LifeDrinker: Tyler is a half vampire hybrid who will live forever and will never age as a living dead person. He lives off...
%% * IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: To Caroline.
%% * JerkJock: But then [[CharacterDevelopment evolves]] into a JerkWithAHeartOfGold.
%% * TheLeader: Eventually to the other hybrids
* MagicPants: Tries to invoke it. Tyler removes his shirt before his transformation but keeps his pants on, in the hope that [[LampshadeHanging "it's like the hulk where I get to keep my pants".]] [[spoiler: It's not]].
* MrFanservice: Winds up naked after transforming back on several occasions.
%% * MyMasterRightOrWrong: Sired to Klaus will do this to you.
%% * OurWerewolvesAreDifferent
%% * PainfulTransformation: He tries to turn into a werewolf many times in order to no longer feel thankful for Klaus for taking the pain of his transition away.
* ParentalAbandonment: Both his parents are dead. Considering how horrible they were -- good riddance, especially his father.
%% * PutOnABus: Leaves mid-way through S2, but then returns for the last couple of episodes.
%% ** TheBusCameBack
%% * RomanticFalseLead: To Vicki, in early season 1.
%% * SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Manly Man to both Matt and Jeremy's Sensitive Guys.
%% * StarCrossedLovers: With Caroline.
%% * TheStoner: At first, but less than Vicki or Jeremy.
%%* TookALevelInBadass: Just like about everyone in the show.
%% * TroubledButCute
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Alaric Saltzman]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/alaric_saltzman.jpg]]
->'''Portrayed by:''' Creator/MattDavis

->''"I was a little too distracted by my dead vampire wife to ask any questions."''
\\

Alaric is the replacement history teacher after [[SadistTeacher Mr. Tanner]] was killed by [[TheCoronerDothProtestTooMuch a mountain lion]], Alaric is much friendlier. But he's not without secrets - he came to Mystic Falls to hunt vampires, in particular the one that killed his wife. He finds rather more than he planned to... but settles into working with the heroes to protect the town from supernatural threats.
----
* ActuallyNotAVampire: When he's introduced there are several hints that he knows about the paranormal world, with several hints that he's a vampire, but he turns out to actually be a vampire ''hunter''.
* AdultsAreUseless: {{Subverted|Trope}}. He's one of the only adult figures in the show that is actually able to help the main cast deal with their supernatural problems. He ends up becoming a ParentalSubstitute to Elena and Jeremy after Jenna's death and overall being a TeamDad to the rest of the cast.
%% * TheAlcoholic: After Jenna's death.
%% * AxCrazy: His alter ego is a SerialKiller.
* BadassNormal: History teacher by day, vampire hunter by night. Skilled one at that.
%% * BigBad: The last episodes in season 3, after his FaceHeelTurn.
%% * ButtMonkey: At times but he always bounces back.
%% * CameBackWrong: Developed a psycho killer alter-ego because of this.
* CharacterDeath: In the season three finale, he dies when Elena drowns, for their [[{{Synchronization}} lives have been linked by Esther.
* CoolTeacher: He's a replacement for a history SadistTeacher. Unlike him, he's a very likable person and actually takes time to help his students.
%% * DarkSide: His alter ego.
%% * DeadpanSnarker: Particularly in his interactions with Damon.
%% * FaceHeelTurn: Makes a true one after being turned into a vampire.
%% * GoodThingYouCanHeal: His ring protects him from being killed by supernaturals. Damon once kills him solely for this purpose.
%% This needs more explanation.
%%
%% * GrandTheftMe: Ends up on the receiving end of this.
%% * HeterosexualLifePartners: Becomes this with Damon.
%% * HotTeacher
%% * TheLancer: To Damon, particularly in season 3 after Stefan's FaceHeelTurn.
* LoveHurts: Alaric hasn't had much luck when it comes to love. First, his wife dies and becomes a vampire. Then his big love Jenna dies.
%% * NiceGuy: His alter ego aside, he's a very friendly good-natured person.
%% * OddFriendship: With Damon.
%% * ParentalSubstitute: Looks to become this to Elena and Jeremy after [[spoiler: Jenna's death]]. Well technically, he is [[spoiler: Elena's stepfather]] due to his marriage to Isobel.
%% * PermaStubble
%% * ReasonableAuthorityFigure: As a teacher, and a father figure to Elena and Jeremy.
* RedHerring: When he is first introduced, there are many exceedingly obvious hints that he is a vampire and it looks like he has been behind recent murders. His true identity as a vampire hunter is revealed when he kills the vampire that was actually behind those killings.
%% * SerialKiller: During his blackouts.
* TeamDad: Being the only adult, he often serves as a father figure to those high school vampire supernatural kids, especially to not-supernatural vampire-hunter-to-be Jeremy.
%% * TookALevelInBadass: Pre-series, after losing his wife.
* TheUnpronounceable: Alaric Saltzman seems to be a mouthful. He himself humorously says his name is difficult to pronounce. Most people just call him Rick.
* VampireHunter: Alaric's side job apart from being a history teacher is vampire hunting.
%% * VitriolicBestBuds: With Damon Salvatore. Damon may have killed him and turned his wife into a vampire, but they have this weird friendship going on that even the writers love.
* YouKilledMyFather: ''You Killed My Wife.'' He originally comes to town to kill Damon Salvatore because he believes that Damon killed his wife.
[[/folder]]
----

[[Characters/TheVampireDiaries Click here to return to the character page.]]

* LovableAlphaBitch: Before her parent's death, she used to be the most popular girl at school, being attractive, fun, charismatic, a cheerleader and was an honor student that was on friendly terms with most of her peers. Post-accident she becomes too depressed to keep the same attitude and later gets too involved with the supernatural happenings around town to care much for school.

[[folder: Vicki Donovan]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vicki_donovan_2.png]]
->'''Portrayed by:''' Creator/KaylaEwell

->''"Don't start with the little twelve-steps thing. School councilor has been down that road, it doesn`t work for me."''

Matt's older sister and Jeremy's first girlfriend, Vicki is a compulsive drug user who gets high to avoid her crappy life. She is turned by Damon on a whim.

* AdaptationOriginConnection: Her book counterpart Vickie Bennett wasn't related to Matt, while show Vickie is his older sister.
%% * AllMenArePerverts: As she believes.
* AnyoneCanDie: Was the first major character in the show to die, via a NeckSnap by Damon. Even after she came BackFromTheDead as a vampire, it didn't last and she got KilledOffForReal.
%% * BrokenBird
* BrutalHonesty: She has a very blunt personality and likes peaking whatever is on her mind, without consideration for other people's feelings.
%% * TheBusCameBack: As a ghost.
* ChildishOlderSibling: Although Vicki is the older sibling, Matt is the responsible one and often reprimands Vicki for her consistent recklessness and tries his best to look out for her.
* ColdTurkeysAreEverywhere: After she is turned, everyone around her suddenly looks like a walking blood bag. According to Stefan, this is usual for a new vampire.
* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: The Foolish to Matt's Responsible. Vicki is reckless and self-centered and has a major problem with addiction.
* FreudianExcuse: Her attitude comes from her awful family situation, with her DisappearedDad and [[ParentalNeglect neglectful mother]].
* GoodBadGirl: Although Vickie has a good heart, she's still a major rebel who likes partying, drugs and sex.
* HorrorHunger: Vicki feels like this all the time as a newborn vampire. Stefan tells Elena Vicki's past as a drug addict makes this much worse for her than other new vampires. When she tastes Jeremy's blood she turns berserk and Stefan is forced to kill her.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: She often acts like a {{Jerkass}} to most people, including her LoveInterest Jeremy and brother Matt. Deep down she does genuinely care about them, but is too selfish and irresponsible for it to show.
* KilledOffForReal: Stefan has to stake and kill Vampire Vickie in order to protect Elena and Jeremy from her uncontrollable blood lust.
* MsFanservice: She [[LingerieScene dances around in her undies]] under Damon's compulsion.
* ReallyGetsAround: According to Tyler, Vicki is very promiscuous around school and is pissed off when she refuses to sleep with him.
* SacrificialLion: As a MidSeasonTwist, Vicki gets killed off to prove the point that {{anyone can die}}. She's Matt's sister and the first character turned into a vampire onscreen, and the center of a prominent secondary {{love triangle}} between Jeremy and Tyler.
* TheStoner: Along with Jeremy, she is a major drug addict, with the majority of her scenes having her stoned.
* WeHardlyKnewYe: Despite being a major character (Matt's sister and involved in a LoveTriangle between Jeremy and Tyler) she dies after seven episodes. PlayedWith in that she does become a recurring character who appears as a ghost in almost every season.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Tyler Lockwood]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tyler_lockwood.jpg]]
->'''Portrayed by:''' Creator/MichaelTrevino

->''"I have no one else to tell. I'm sorry about earlier. It's just, I'm alone with this. What's gonna happen to me? I'm gonna turn on the next full moon, and I won't be able to stop it. I'm scared.''"
\\

Matt's best friend, though the two couldn't be more different - Tyler seems to be nothing more than a JerkJock, and the son of the town's Mayor. But his parents are [[FreudianExcuse very unpleasant people]]... and Tyler has actually inherited more from his father than just womanizing ways and a hair-trigger temper... The Lockwood bloodline are actually potential werewolves, and following Katherine's plan in the second season Tyler becomes a full werewolf himself.
----

[[folder: Jenna Sommers]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jenna_gilbert.jpg]]

->'''Portrayed by:''' Creator/SaraCanning

->''"I've become my worst nightmare. The authority figure."''

In a better world, Jenna could have been an awesome cool aunt to Elena and Jeremy. With the tragic death of her sister and brother-in-law, however, she has to step up into the role of guardian for the two of them but she's not really suited for it. Still, she tries... and at least she gets a nice love interest in the form of Alaric, following the second mysterious disappearance of Logan "Scum" Fell. She is turned into a vampire and then sacrificed by Klaus.

* AdultsAreUseless: Despite being the adult figure in Elena and Jeremy's life, she doesn't seem to have much luck in parenting them, and obviously can help them even less when supernatural things start happening.
* AdaptationNameChange: In the books, Elena's aunt's name is Judith Maxwell (nee Gilbert). On the show, she's Jenna Sommers.
%% * CoolBigSis: Fills this role much better than the one of "responsible parent".
%% * DeadpanSnarker: Has her moments.
* LifeDrinker: Jenna is turned into a vampire at the end of Season 2 who lives on blood. She gains the ability to live forever without aging.
* KilledOffForReal: She ends up being turned into a vampire and later gets killed by Klaus while attempting to throw a wrench into Klaus' plans.
* OlderThanTheyLook: She's Elena and Jeremy's aunt and a generation older than them, but she looks like Elena's peer.
* OutOfFocus: She's quickly demoted to a PlotDevice for [[spoiler: [[MustBeInvited inviting vampires into the Gilbert house or getting compelled by them]] until she is eventually killed off in season 2.]]
* ParentalSubstitute: After her sister and brother-in-law are killed in a car crash, she becomes Elena and Jeremy's legal guardian.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Alaric Saltzman]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/alaric_saltzman.jpg]]
->'''Portrayed by:''' Creator/MattDavis

->''"I was a little too distracted by my dead vampire wife to ask any questions."''
\\

Alaric is the replacement history teacher after [[SadistTeacher Mr. Tanner]] was killed by [[TheCoronerDothProtestTooMuch a mountain lion]], Alaric is much friendlier. But he's not without secrets - he came to Mystic Falls to hunt vampires, in particular the one that killed his wife. He finds rather more than he planned to... but settles into working with the heroes to protect the town from supernatural threats.
----

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/TropeElena_19351_2820.jpg]]

* ActionSurvivor: She's far too likely to be a DistressedDamsel, but she is pretty competent while trying to defend herself. For example, when a strange vampire is trying to kill her, she stabs him with pencils - repeatedly - and then breaks a mop over her knee to try to stake him, and when a werewolf attacks her, she instantly sticks a knife into his gut. She's also adept at using her surroundings while trying to run away if pursued by a supernatural.

%% * AlphaBitch: She definitely shows shades of this without her humanity. Most notably as a cheerleader in 4x16.
%% * AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Caroline feels this way about her.

** With Matt. They were a couple before beginning of the series and they remain good friends.
** Subverted with Stefan, who proclaims that he is 'done with her' after realizing she was in love with his brother. (Which shouldn't have surprised him, considering the fact that he called her out on being in love with Damon before she became a vampire.)

%% * AntiVillain: Anti-Villainess: Elena with her humanity off as of 4x16.
%% ** Elena is currently [[SlidingScaleOfAntiVillains Type II]].

* BecameTheirOwnAntithesis: In the first season, Elena frequently says that she doesn't want to be compared to Katherine. But now, with her becoming a vampire and having her humanity shut off completely, she has become more like Katherine and not just in the looks department.

* BlessedWithSuck: Elena is the doppelgänger and therefore, because of it, she is the target of much danger. Elena's blood is special and is used for many spells and binding rituals, such as breaking Klaus' werewolf/hybrid curse and also, creating hybrids. So basically Elena is a human blood bag for vampires, witches, werewolves and hybrids.
* BornUnlucky: Elena is born a doppelganger, which means she's cursed with doom, pain, tragedy, and death. Because of her identity, many people she loves end up dying because of her. And the tragic or sad thing about it is that it's completely out of her control.

* BrokenBird: Especially after her parents had died, Elena becomes cynical about life. She even admits that after the accident, she feels like she doesn't know how to live anymore. She's constantly losing loved ones, there is her doppelganger curse, being turned into a vampire etc.
* [[BrokenHero Broken Heroine]]: Been through endless grief and tragedy, yet still manages to keep going regardless.

* ChildhoodFriendRomance: With Matt. They grew up together since childhood and eventually began dating in their teen years.

%% * DoomMagnet: See DeusAngstMachina.
%% * {{Doppelganger}}: Elena is the doppelganger of both Katherine Pierce and Tatia; she is the good counterpart to Katherine's EvilCounterpart.
%%
%% This example could use explanation of how doppelgangers work in this universe.
%%
%% * DoppelgangerReplacementLoveInterest: Elena is this to both Stefan and Damon, since they were both in love with Katherine who is Elena's doppelganger. And possibly Elijah, for Tatia.
%%
%% If you fix this example, fix also example indentation.
%%

%% * EmotionlessGirl: [[spoiler: When Damon told Elena to turn off her emotions and her humanity through the sire bond.]]
* EmotionSuppression: [[spoiler: In 4x15, when Damon told Elena to turn off her humanity off and to suppress her emotions.]]
* EternalLove: Now that Elena is a vampire, she can be in a relationship with Stefan for all eternity. In 4x01, Elena tells Stefan that she wants to be with him forever. [[spoiler: Apparently not, because in 4x06 it's all over.]]
%% * ExpositoryHairstyleChange: [[spoiler: In 4x17, Elena gets a new hairstyle.]]
* TheFashionista: Since turning into a vampire in season four, Elena in way more interested in fashionable and trendy clothing.
%% * FatalFlaw: Elena has a few flaws which include her hypocrisy and her indecisiveness. She can be a little bit self-aborbed as well, feeling that everything is her fault and is all about her. To be fair, though, almost everything that’s gone wrong in Mystic Falls on a supernatural level, from Stefan taking interest in her to Klaus coming to town, is because of her mystical heritage as the doppelganger, so most of the town's problems ''are'' about her.

* GoodGirlGoneBad: After Elena had her humanity switched off, Elena became much more rebellious and uncaring.
%% * GoodIsNotNice: Especially as non-humanity!Elena.

* GreenEyedMonster: Elena has a bit of a jealous streak. When Elena sees Stefan and Caroline dancing together in 4x16, Elena is obviously jealous, even though her humanity is shut off.
%% * [[GuileHero Guile Heroine]]

* HardDrinkingPartyGirl: Elena without her humanity seems to enjoy partying and drinking.

* [[TheHero The Heroine]]: Elena is the main character of the series whose primary purpose is to save and protect everyone.
* HeroicSacrifice: Attempts this throughout season two. Elena is willing to sacrifice her life so that the majority of her family and friends don't have to die.
%% ** [[spoiler: She does this in 3x22 when she tells Stefan to save Matt first.]]
%% * HeterosexualLifePartners: With Bonnie and Caroline.

%% * [[IdenticalGrandson Identical Granddaughter]]: Thanks to her dopplegangerness, she has this with Katherine, several generations removed. And Tatia, even further back.

* IJustWantToBeNormal: Elena says this almost word-for-word to Stefan. Elena thinks she's normal but down the line, she discovers that she has a secret legacy of being a doppelganger and that she is tied to the supernatural. Elena tries to repeatedly run the other way and not face her true identity. Before she is turned into a vampire, she tells Stefan that she doesn't want to be a vampire, that she wants to get married, grow old, have children and grandchildren. She is very torn because she loves Stefan and Stefan is a vampire incapable of giving Elena all that she desires. Nonetheless, Stefan understands Elena not wanting to turn into a vampire, because he has always desired to be normal himself.
* InterspeciesRomance: Elena has this type of relationship with Stefan, since Stefan is a vampire and Elena is a human. [[spoiler: Elena later becomes a vampire, and she and Stefan break up.]]
* ItsAllAboutMe: Sometimes Elena thinks that everything good or bad that happens is because of her. She can come off self-absorbed at times. Most of the supernatural goings on have come about either directly or indirectly because she is the doppelganger, so she is right to a degree.
* ItsAllMyFault: Elena often feels extremely guilty, feeling that she is responsible for every bad thing that has happened to her friends and family because she's a doppelganger.

* LackOfEmpathy: Elena without her humanity is cold, ruthless and uncaring. She can hurt others without feelings any guilt or remorse.
* TheLeader: Out of the core group of girls, Elena seems to take the lead than Caroline or Bonnie. However, in the beginning, Caroline seemed to take the lead, especially in the cheerleading squad.

* LightFeminineAndDarkFeminine: Elena is the Light Feminine to Katherine's Dark Feminine. Elena and Katherine are both doppelgangers who share an uncanny physical appearance. Elena is the Light Feminine (good, moral) and Katherine is Dark Feminine (bad, immoral). Both share a common love and interest in Stefan and are often in competition with each other for his affections.
%% * LongHairIsFeminine

%% * LoveInterest:
%% ** Primarily to Stefan. Elena is the main love interest of Stefan.
%% ** As of season four, to Damon.
%%
%% Is it flirting only? UST? Do they date?
%%

* MacGuffinSuperPerson: As the doppelganger, whose [[MacGuffin blood]] breaks the moonstone curse, she is actively sought after by the vampires.

* ManipulativeBitch: Elena with her humanity off. She is cold, manipulative and cunning.

%% * MoralityPet: Elena is this for Damon. On occasions Stefan, Alaric and lately Jeremy fulfill this function for Damon as well. She is this for Stefan as well, especially since the revelation that he can't love her as a vampire, since she no longer helps him forget what he is (which is one of the things he says to Lexi in season 1 as a reason he's in love with her).
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Elena has committed some immoral acts (especially as a vampire) where she has been overwhelmed with guilt and appalled by her own actions. One example is in 4x05 when Elena kills Connor. She ends up consumed and overwhelmed with guilt, shocked that she actually killed a human being. Due to her inner guilt, Elena ends up being haunted afterwards by Ghost!Connor. Inn 4x04, Elena and Damon feed on endless humans at a party and she gives into her blood lust, not realizing what she is doing. Elena comes off of her blood high when she sees Bonnie looking at her concerned and Elena realizes her out of control actions. She then breaks down to Bonnie about how what she was doing was not her and that she doesn't want to be that person.
* MyMasterRightOrWrong: Elena when she was sired to Damon. When Elena was under control of the sire bond, she would do what Damon told her to do, even if it was something that Elena wouldn't like or agree with. The purpose of the sire bond was for Elena to obey to what Damon wanted no matter what.

* [[NotHimself Not Herself]]: For most of Season 4 when she becomes a vampire. She can't keep any blood down (including animal blood, human blood from blood bags and even vampire blood); she became irrational, impulsive, moody and she had the serious urge to feed off of humans and kill; she killed someone for the first time (Connor); she hallucinated Ghost!Connor; she's tried to kill Jeremy a few times; she became suicidal and tried to kill herself and finally, [[spoiler: she's sired to Damon]]. And to add to that, in 4x15 she has her humanity switched off. Elena is most definitely NOT herself.
* OfficialCouple: As far as romance goes, Elena belongs to Stefan for most of the series and their love is the most important one. [[spoiler:However, Elena and Stefan break up in "We All Go A Little Mad Sometimes" due to Elena confessing that she loves Damon.]]

* ProHumanTranshuman: She is turned into a vampire, but Elena tries to uphold her humanity as much as possible.

%% * ReincarnationRomance: Elena's relationship with Stefan.
%% * The RedStringOfFate applies more to Stefan and Elena in the books.

%% * SecretLegacy: Elena is a doppelganger. She is the doppelgänger of Katherine Pierce.

%% * TheStoic: As Non-Humanity!Elena.

* SuperpowerLottery: Because of Elena's vampirism, she possesses standard vampire powers and abilities. 1) SuperSpeed: Elena can move and run much faster than that of a normal human. 2) SuperReflexes: Also known as super agility. Elena can react much faster and quicker to situations than that of a normal human. 3) SuperStrength: Elena is able to carry or lift heavier objects with much ease and little effort. 4) MindManipulation: Elena is able to control the mind of any human, influencing their thoughts and their actions in the process. The only way to prevent Elena from mind influencing someone is for the human victim to have vervain on them. 5) HealingFactor: Elena can get stabbed, shot or wounded and she will heal immediately. 6) SuperSenses: All of Elena's senses, such as sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing have become clearer, stronger and heightened. She is able to see, smell and hear things from a greater distance than that of a normal human.

%% * TookALevelInJerkass: [[spoiler: After turning off her humanity]].
* [[TragicHero Tragic Heroine]]: Elena has gone through nothing but pain and endless hardships due to the fact that she was born to be doomed (due to her family history and her identity as a doppelgänger). She is probably one of the most tragic characters on the show ―definitely up there with Stefan).

* TheUnfettered: [[spoiler: Elena without her humanity doesn't seem to care what she does, even if she is hurting others, very much like non-humanity Stefan in season three. She will do whatever she wants regardless and doesn't have any remorse for her out of control actions.]]

[[/folder]]


[[folder: Stefan Salvatore]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/TropeStefan_89.jpg]]

->'''Portrayed by:''' Creator/PaulWesley

->''"I don't hurt people. I don't do that. I'm the good brother."''
\\

Stefan is a mysterious, handsome century old immortal. He is a protagonist, and narrator of the series. Stefan is known to be the good vampire brother (between he and Damon) and is seen to be kind, caring, compassionate, heroic and selfless. Stefan tries to avoid drinking human blood due to the fact that he hates hurting or killing anyone (drinking human blood turns him into an insane, amoral "ripper", choosing to feed from the blood of animals instead. Stefan is weaker than most other vampires, in particular his elder brother Damon who has held a grudge against Stefan for over a century. Early in the series, Stefan fatefully meets and falls in love with Elena Gilbert. He develops a mutual romantic relationship with her while protecting her and her loved ones both from his own nature and other vampires. In the season two finale Stefan reverts back to his darker side, the Ripper, in order to save Damon from dying from a fatal werewolf bite. In exchange for the cure (which is Klaus' hybrid blood), he becomes a servant to TheBigBad, Klaus. Since season three onwards, Stefan has turned on his humanity and reverts back to his normal, humane self.

%% * MisunderstoodLonerWithAHeartOfGold: In the beginning.

%% * MoralityPet:
%% ** For Katherine. Katherine has always had a soft spot for Stefan. Stefan seems to bring out the humanity in Katherine; he brings out the much more human, softer side of her.
%% ** In the beginning of Season 2, for Caroline. After Caroline is turned into a vampire, Caroline learns to not turn off her humanity and stays human because of Stefan's influence. Caroline retains her compassion mainly because of Stefan's help.
%% ** Elena in season 4. Deep down, Stefan will always have a special influence on Elena, even though Elena is sired to Damon. Also, Elena fights her vampirism and her thirst to kill primarily for Stefan.
%% ** For Klaus. Villainous Klaus has a soft spot for Stefan and his friendship/brotherhood. Because of Klaus' desire to have Stefan's friendship, Klaus often becomes a much softer person.
%% ** Damon. Stefan is the one person on the show who has a tendency to keep Damon's recklessness and impulsiveness in check.

%%
%% Morality Pets make villains more human. The examples need to explain who is the villain and how is Stefan making them appear nice.
%%
* MrFanservice: Stefan has had multiple shirtless scenes, showcasing his buff, muscular body, especially his abs. This is a real treat for the female viewing audience.

* {{Narrator}}: Stefan is the story-teller of the series. He is the one narrating and telling the story of ''The Vampire Diaries'' and all of the events that occurred or have lead up to the events of the present.
* NewTransferStudent: In the pilot episode, Stefan compels the secretary to enrol him in Mystic Falls High, so that he can pose as a new high school student. He attempts to get to know Elena.

* OfficialCouple: Stefan is in this type of relationship with Elena. Stefan and Elena are the main canon romantic pairing of the series. Usually, the series revolve around this particular couple.
%% * PapaWolf: Stefan's overly protective towards anyone he deeply cares about, especially his love interest Elena, his vampire brother Damon, Elena's younger brother Jeremy, or friends Bonnie and Caroline.
%% Papa Wolf is for fathers. Misuse? Or does he view his friends as his children?
%%
%% * ParentalAbandonment: Stefan's mother died when he was a young child.
%% What of his father?
%%

* PopCulturedBadass: Stefan is a fan of literature, especially literature by Creator/FScottFitzgerald and especially his masterpiece, ''Literature/TheGreatGatsby'', he loves the TV show ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' and ''Series/ILoveLucy'' is his all time favourite show (loving cup episodes are the best). He's a huge fan of Creator/MartinScorsese and his favourite movie is ''Film/TaxiDriver'' In terms of pop music, his range is very broad. He is a fan of Music/BobDylan, Music/JimiHendrix, Patsy Cline, Music/WillieNelson, Music/KanyeWest and even Music/MileyCyrus.

* {{Protectorate}}: Protects the town of Mystic Falls and everyone who lives in it.

%% * ReincarnationRomance: Stefan and Elena share this type of romance. This is due to the fact that Stefan and Elena are soulmates for eternity and therefore have shared "past lives" together. This trope is based of of Stefan/Elena's relationship in the novel series; they are bound together by a [[RedStringOfFate silver cord]].
%%
%% How does reincarnation work for vampires who do not die and are undead forever?
%%

-->'''Caroline:''' Why are you looking at him with your serious vampire look?
-->'''Stefan:''' My wha... my serious vampire look?
-->'''Caroline:''' Umhm... I mean it’s different from your worried vampire look. Neither of which stray too far from your "Hey, it’s Tuesday" look.

%% * YoungestChildWins: Stefan has always been strongly favoured over Damon by almost everyone.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/TropeDamon_4351.jpg]]

* AlwaysSecondBest: Damon always feels this way when it comes to his brother Stefan. Growing up, Stefan was the favourite son and was well respected by the town of Mystic Falls. Stefan got a lot of female attention, especially from the girls whom Damon was in love with, including Katherine and Elena. The favouritism towards Stefan since humanhood has made Damon always feel like he is incompetent and second best, living in the shadows of his brother.

* AnythingThatMoves: Damon is willing to screw every single chick that he encounters. Hell, he has slept with almost every single female character that has occurred on the show with the exception of Bonnie: they include Caroline, Rose, Rebekah, Andie, Bree, and later Elena who resisted him before; and the list goes.

%% * BettyAndVeronica: The Veronica to Stefan's Betty for Elena's Archie.

* BrutalHonesty: Damon's bluntness often gets him into a lot of trouble.
%% More context would be nice.
%%

* CharacterDevelopment: Though he'll beat the shit out of pepple for pointing it out, Damon seems way better now rather than the ruthless villain he was in the beginning of his journey.
%% * CockFight: With Stefan over the affections of Katherine and Elena.

* DeadpanSnarker: Damon tends to be ''extremely'' snarky and sarcastic.

* ForgotAboutHisPowers: His abilities to extent his influence and senses via a tame raven and making a fog appear to confuse his victims seem to have been written completely out of the show. While Damon himself kills the raven out of a desperate need of blood, the fog thing is just sort of forgotten, and is never brought up again.
%% * TheFriendNobodyLikes

%% * HeartbrokenBadass: Damon repeatedly gets heartbroken. First, Katherine tells him that she never really loved him; that she had always loved Stefan, despite the fact that Damon spent over a century waiting for Katherine to come back to him. And then Elena tells him that it would always be Stefan that she loves, despite the fact that she does care about Damon.
%% The badass part needs to be explained as well.
%%

%% * LadykillerInLove: After Katherine, he became TheCasanova... until he met Elena, that is.

%% * LoveMakesYouCrazy: Damon has acted psychotically over both Katherine and Elena.
%% HOW? Concrete examples?
%%
%% * LoveMakesYouEvil: His love for Katherine.
%% * LoveRedeems: ... And his love for Elena.

* MrFanservice: Enjoys wearing low neck shirts and walking around shirtless.

%% * PluckyComicRelief: Damon always has the best humorous quotes and provides several funny moments even in a show like this.
%%
%% Please explain how such a villain and dangerous antagonist can act as a comic relief.
%%

%% * TallDarkAndSnarky: Oh ''so so'' much.
%% * TokenEvilTeammate: Especially in season 1.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/TropeBonnie_2535.jpg]]

* ActionGirl: Bonnie is actually the first of the female good characters to [[TookALevelInBadass Take a Level In Badass in becoming a supernatural being]] as she discovers her magical powers and can fight on her own ( against Klaus in Season 2).

* BlessedWithSuck: In Season 1. She's a witch, but apart from mind-whammying Damon, using any of her other powers mainly seem to cause her to loose consciousness. Either that or they don't work.

* [[ChasteHero Chaste Heroine]]: Until season 5, Bonnie was a virgin and of the three main female leads, is the least sexually active.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Bonnie gets mad at Caroline for being a vampire, when she is the reason Caroline is a vampire. She A: refused to dispel the device which caused the accident, B: Urged Damon to give her his blood to heal her, and C. Told Katherine about said deed. She also gets upset at Caroline for killing someone when when not dispelling the device killed Mayor Lockwood.

* MindManipulation: Happens to her in season four. First, she's manipulated into practising an extremely ''dark'' and dangerous form of magic by Professor Shane. [[spoiler: Then, he hypnotizes her so that when she loses control of her powers, he's the only one who can get her under control. In 4x15, she's unknowingly being manipulated by Silas, who appears to her as Professor Shane, into 'lifting the veil between this side and the other side,' i.e resurrecting every single supernatural creature that has ever died.]]

* [[PragmaticHero Pragmatic Heroine]]: Although Bonnie has good and moral intentions, she will do some morally questionable things for the greater good. In season three, Bonnie preserves Klaus in Tyler's body in order to keep all of her vampire friends and family from dying (they are all dead, but dying-dying and being killed-off-for-real).
* PsychicNosebleed: Bonnie often suffers from nosebleeds when she over exerts herself during spells and magic.

%% * TheReliableOne: See TheSmartGirl and HypercompetentSidekick.

* SquishyWizard: Bonnie packs a great deal of magical fire power but has the durability of a normal human.

* TokenBlackFriend: She's white girl Elena's best friend and she's black. Elena is the protagonist.

%%* TookALevelInBadass

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/TropeJeremy_7128.jpg]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/TropeCaroline_6551.jpg]]

%% * ActionGirl: After she turned into a vampire.

* AdaptationalNiceGuy: In the novel series, Caroline is an AlphaBitch whose relationship with Elena is much more antagonistic. In the show, she is one of the nicest characters.
%% * AllGirlsWantBadBoys: With Damon, Tyler and Klaus.
%% * AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Felt this way about Elena in season one.

%% * DefrostingIceQueen: She matures from her shallow, self-absorbed self of the first episodes.

%% * GirlyGirl: Caroline is ultra feminine and girly. She is probably the most girly girl between herself, Elena and Bonnie.

%% * IHateYouVampireDad: It is Damon's blood that turned her. Not that he meant to, but she already had very good reasons to hate him.

%% * ThePollyanna: Caroline is one of the most optimistic characters on the show.

* ShipperOnDeck: Caroline ships Stefan and Elena and she's the biggest "Stelena". She often advocates for the their relationship whenever she can, especially if Stefan and Elena break up or face issues in their relationship. She always says things to Elena about how Stefan is her epic love, how they're cute together, that he's her soulmate and so on.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/TropeMatt_6302.jpg]]

* DisappearedDad: His father is completely out of the picture and viewers know nothing about him.

* TheGenericGuy: Unlike everyone else, he doesn't seem to have any interesting trait, or character development or particular story-line. He's just the TokenHuman NiceGuy.

* UnluckyChildhoodFriend: To Elena, his childhood friend and former girlfriend. He still pines for her, but she has her eyes for another one.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/TropeVicki_4207.jpg]]

%% * FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: The Foolish to Matt's Responsible.
%% * FreudianExcuse: Her family situation.
%% * GoodBadGirl: Although Vickie has a good heart, she's still a rebel as well. She's a bit reckless and wild. This gets emphasized after she is turned into a vampire.
* LifeDrinker: Vickie is a vampire that feeds on blood. She's capable of living forever and can't die under normal circumstances.
* {{Jerkass}}: Jeremy seems to be the only person who genuinely likes her and she is pretty horrible to everyone, including to Jeremy.
%% * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: She does genuinely care about Matt and Jeremy, but is too selfish and irresponsible for it to show.
%% * KilledOffForReal: The first big death in a long line of many.
%% Exaplain how she dies.
%%
* MsFanservice: She dances around in her undies under Damon's compulsion
%% * ReallyGetsAround: According to Tyler.
* SacrificialLion: Stefan has to stake and kill Vickie in order to protect Elena and Jeremy from Vickie killing the both of them.
* MidSeasonTwist: To prove the point that anyone can die, Vicki gets killed off. She's Matt's sister and the first character turned into a vampire onscreen, and the center of a prominent secondary love triangle between Jeremy and Tyler.
%% * TheStoner: Along with Jeremy.
* WeHardlyKnewYe: Despite being a major character (Matt's sister and involved in a LoveTriangle between Jeremy and Tyler) she dies after seven episodes.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/TropeTyler_3219.jpg]]

->'''Portrayed by:''' Michael Trevino

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/TropeJenna_9181.jpg]]

%% * AdultsAreUseless: Made very, very clear in the first season finale.

* LifeDrinker: Jenna is turned into a vampire at the end of Season 2 who lives on blood. She gains the ability to live forever without ageing.

* OutOfFocus: She's quickly demoted to a PlotDevice for [[spoiler: inviting vampires into the Gilbert house or getting compelled by them.]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/TropeAlaric_1585.jpg]]

->'''Portrayed by:''' Matt Davis

Alaric is the replacement history teacher after [[SadistTeacher Mr Tanner]] was killed by [[TheCoronerDothProtestTooMuch a mountain lion]], Alaric is much friendlier. But he's not without secrets - he came to Mystic Falls to hunt vampires, in particular the one that killed his wife. He finds rather more than he planned to... but settles into working with the heroes to protect the town from supernatural threats.

%% * AdultsAreUseless: Subverted. His role is very important in Elena and the other's life.
%% Explain the subversion part. What is the bait-and-switch moment?
%%
%% * ActuallyNotAVampire: In his first few episodes there are hints dropped that he is a vampire.
%% What kind of hints?
%%

%% * AxCrazy: His alter ego is a serial killer.

* CoolTeacher: He's a replacement for a history SadistTeacher. Unlike him he's a very likable person.

%% * KilledOffForReal: In the season three finale, he dies when Elena drowns, for their lives have been linked by Esther.
%% Is he dead-dead for good?
%%

Caroline is Elena and Bonnie's [[PowerTrio ''other'' friend]] (and uncomfortably aware of this). She is a young, bubbly, spunky, shallow human turned vampire. Caroline is a similarly rich and privileged young woman. She is a descendant of the founding families through her mother, Sheriff Liz Forbes, but the importance of her mother's job means that Caroline often feels neglected, leading to a troubled relationship between the two of them. Desperately insecure and somewhat resentful of existing in Elena's shadow, things get even worse for Caroline when the attractive older man who catches her eye turns out to be Damon Salvatore, who uses her as a minion/sex-toy/blood-bank. After she is freed from his control, she starts dating Elena's ex, Matt - which isn't especially good for her inferiority complex. Caroline eventually falls in love with Tyler Lockwood and the two develop a romantic relationship. However, although Caroline loves Tyler, she does display an attraction towards, Klaus Mikaelson, an Original hybrid. Caroline is also very close with Stefan and she is often seen as Lexi 2.0 for Stefan. In the second season, she is turned into a vampire by Katherine, and actually manages to settle comfortably into this "undead life" despite the difficulties.

* TheChewToy: From his blood addiction issues, to him battling with the dark side of himself (the Ripper), to his never ending guilt, to self-loathing as a vampire, Stefan can never seem to catch a break. He is always the one getting kicked around. As if Stefan didn't just recover from being a blood-addicted, compelled-by-Klaus, humanity-turned-off Ripper, he loses Elena (who happens to sired to Damon) to his brother, Damon. He doesn't even seem to be having much luck in the romance department; something that Stefan has always had at least a little bit of luck.

%% * TraumaCongaLine: Stefan has been through so many issues that it appears to be endless. He Stefan never seems to catch a break.

%% * ButtMonkey / TheChewToy: Quite often. It seems like when someone is getting tortured, 75% of the time it's Caroline.

->'''Portrayed by:''' Candice Accola

* ActionGirl: Bonnie is actually the first of the female good characters to [[TookALevelInBadass Take a Level In Badass become a supernatural being]] as she discovers her magical powers and can fight on her own ( against Klaus in Season 2).

* [[ChasteHero Chaste Heroine]]: Bonnie is still a virgin.

* RaceLift: Bonnie was originally a redhead of Scottish descent in the novel series. She's African-American.

* AdaptationNameChange: His last name is Smallwood in the books. ]]UnfortunateNames It's easy to see why this was changed for the show]].

%% * ActionGirl: Bonnie is actually the first of the female good characters to [[TookALevelInBadass Take a Level In Badass]] and become a real Action Girl.

* ExtraordinarilyEmpoweredGirl: She's a witch with extraordinary magical powers. However, just because she's physically powerful doesn't mean that she isn't emotionally vulnerable. She is a normal teenager after all.

%% * HeterosexualLifePartners: She's best friends with Elena and Caroline.
%% More context is needed. How close are they? How did they meet?
%%

->'''Portrayed by:''' Zach Roerig

->'''Portrayed by:''' Sara Canning

->'''Portrayed by:''' Nina Dobrev

->'''Portrayed by:''' Paul Wesley

->'''Portrayed by:''' Ian Somerhalder

->'''Portrayed by:''' Kat Graham

->'''Portrayed by:''' Steven R. [=McQueen=]

->'''Portrayed by:''' Kayla Ewell

* DudeMagnet: Nearly every male character is attracted or has been drawn to Elena, including Stefan, Damon, Elijah, and Matt. Subjective in the case of Elijah, since it may have simply been interest at her resemblance to Tatia, the love he shared with his brother Klaus.

%% * DumbBlonde: Subverted, she appears to be this at first, but she's actually very capable and conscientious.

* MonsterSobStory: In season three, as the Ripper. Although Stefan is monstrous, villainous and shuts off his humanity, the audience can't help but feel sorry for him and feel sympathetic. He has his free will taken away from him, is forced to become the darkest part of himself (the Ripper), and he can't feel any pain or guilt. He loses the love of his life Elena because he gives away his freedom in order to save his dying brother. Sob-sob.

Bonnie is Elena's [[BlackBestFriend best friend]], who is a bubbly, optimistic, carefree, spirited girl. Although her best friend is Elena, she is also very close friends with Caroline. Bonnie begins the series haunted by strange visions. She soon discovers that she is a witch, like her grandmother before her, but finds herself torn between her loyalty to Elena and her desire to protect the town of Mystic Falls from the vampires.

* BlackBestFriend: She's white girl Elena's best friend and she's black. Elena is the protagonist.

%% * {{Adorkable}}: She's sensitive, talkative and has a really bad habit of saying the wrong thing.
%% ...and this makes her a cute dork how exactly? Who does find her geeky-cute in-universe would be more important for this trope?
%%

* {{Foil}}: To Damon. Stefan's overall the "good brother" (TheHero) to Damon's "bad brother" (the AntiHero or outright {{Villain}}).

* {{Protagonist}}: She's the main character. Elena (along with Stefan and Damon) is the central character of the story as the story is focused on her journey and her life.

%% * {{Kuudere}}: Stefan is Type I.

%% * GreenEyes: In the novels, Stefan's green eyes are heavily emphasized and mentioned.

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/TropeElena_19351_2820.jpg

Elena is a 17-year-old popular, beautiful human girl. She is the main protagonist and heroine of the series. Elena reassessed her priorities following the death of her parents in a car crash of which she was the only survivor. Elena fatefully meets a handsome, mysterious new student, Stefan Salvatore and feels an instant and undeniable connection with him. After a period of time, Elena starts to realize that Stefan is in fact far from normal. [[spoiler: Unbeknown to her, Elena is far from normal as well.]] As a Gilbert, she is a descendant of one of the town's Founding Families. She [[spoiler: dies]] in "The Departed" before it was revealed that [[spoiler: Meredith had given her vampire blood earlier in the night and she wakes in the transitional stage.]]

* ActionGirl / ActionHeroine: Now that she is a vampire, she definitely classifies as this. She is tougher, stronger and has superhuman abilities. Not to mention that she is also a trained hunter because Alaric trained her in season three.
* ActionSurvivor: While not really an ActionGirl (she's far too likely to be a DistressedDamsel), she is pretty competent while trying to defend herself. For example, when a strange vampire is trying to kill her, she stabs him with pencils - repeatedly - and then breaks a mop over her knee to try to stake him, and when a werewolf attacks her, she instantly sticks a knife into his gut. She's also adept at using her surroundings while trying to run away if pursued by a supernatural.

* AlphaBitch: She definitely shows shades of this without her humanity. Most notably as a cheerleader in 4x16.
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Caroline feels this way about her.
* AmicableExes: With Matt. They were a couple before beginning of the series, now they are still good friends.
** Subverted with Stefan, who proclaimed that he was 'done with her' after realizing she was in love with his brother. (Which shouldn't have surprised him, considering the fact that he called her out on being in love with Damon [[spoiler: before she became a vampire]].)
* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: Many times with Stefan throughout the series. Especially in 4x01, when Elena is on the verge of death and she tells Stefan that she chose him because she loves him. Damon to Elena as well.
* [[AntiVillain Anti-Villainess]]: Elena with her humanity off as of 4x16.
** Elena is currently [[SlidingScaleOfAntiVillains Type II]].
* BadassNormal: Before she was turned into a vampire, Elena was capable as a regular human of defending herself against all of the supernatural beings around her.
* BattleCouple: With Stefan, primarily in the earlier seasons.

* BelligerentSexualTension: Elena has this type of relationship with Damon. Throughout the series, Elena has shown to have a sexual attraction towards Damon, much to Elena's annoyance.
* BerserkButton: Hurt any one of Elena's loved ones and watch her wrath.
* BettyAndVeronica: She's the Archie for the Salvatore brothers (with Stefan as the "Betty" and Damon as the "Veronica"). The love triangle between Elena, Stefan and Damon is considered to be the main plot of the series.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: A very sweet and kind person but more than capable of putting you down if You provoke her.
* BigSisterInstinct[=/=]MamaBear: Towards Jeremy. Elena is seen to highly protective of Jeremy, even more so now considering that Jeremy is the only family that she really has left. She often lectures him, acting more like a mother figure to him from time to time.

* BlessedWithSuck: Elena is the doppelgänger and therefore, because of it, she is the target of much danger. Elena's blood is special and is used for many spells and binding rituals, such as breaking Klaus' werewolf/hybrid curse and also, creating hybrids. So basically, for vampires, witches, werewolves and hybrids, Elena is a human blood bag.
* BornUnlucky / TheJinx: Elena is born a doppelganger, which means she's cursed with doom, pain, tragedy, and death. Because of her identity, many people she loves end up dying because of her. And the tragic or sad thing about it is that it's completely out of her control. See DoomMagnet.
* BrainyBrunette: She's smart, mature and a good student.

* BrokenBird: Especially after her parents had died. Elena became cynical about life. She even admitted that after the accident, she felt like she didn't know how to live anymore.
** Also including all of the countless tragedies that Elena goes through such as constantly losing loved ones, her doppelganger curse, etc.

* BroodingBoyGentleGirl: Elena is the Gentle Girl to Stefan's Brooding Boy.
** In the beginning, Stefan is a brooding, mysterious loner who meets and falls for Elena, the sweet, gentle girl next door. Despite Stefan's ongoing angsting, especially about his guilt and his [[DarkAndTroubledPast dark, mysterious past]], Elena often makes Stefan smile and brings out a much lighter, playful side of Stefan.

* TheCheerleader: Played straight. She was a cheerleader in the first season but she quit due to personal reasons. Although, Elena would be considered to be a nice cheerleader. She did not fit the typical personality of a classic cheerleader. In other words, Elena isn't an AlphaBitch or QueenBee.
** She's set to return to it in "Bring It On".
* TheChick / TheHeart: Elena is the glue that holds everyone together.

* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: A rather heroic version of this. She '''literally''' stabs [[spoiler: Rebekah]] in the back in "Homecoming". Justified in the case of what happened with Elijah but [[spoiler: Rebekah]] is not happy about it
* ClingyJealousGirl: Elena gets this way in regards to Stefan. First with Caroline, then with Katherine and then with Rebekah.
** She also was this with Damon after he slept with Rebekah in season three.
* CoolBigSis / BigSisterInstinct: She's very protective of her troubled younger brother Jeremy.

* DeadpanSnarker: Not as much as other characters, but it's there.
* DesignatedVictim: Elena seems to be the victim of getting attacked, kidnapped, or hurt every single week. She's definitely up there with Caroline. (And Damon, considering how often he gets tortured on-screen.)
* DestructiveRomance: With both of the Salvatores at various points in each relationship.
* DeusAngstMachina: It's a wonder the girl hasn't broken down yet, with all the tragedy she's experienced. [[spoiler: Parents dead, discovered they're not really her parents, biological parents die, aunt and father-figure die, faces death on a daily basis, boyfriend went insane and homicidal, became a vampire, the list goes on and on and on.]]
** [[spoiler: And then she finally breaks down, flips her vampire switch and literally burns the whole house down in the wake of Jeremy's death.]] The angst, this girl cannot get enough.

* DistressBall: Especially when she was a human. Elena was always the target of supernatural beings, including vampires, werewolves, witches and Originals, which always put Elena in constant danger.
* DistressedDamsel: Although not as often as you could expect, and often [[JustifiedTrope justified]].
* DoomMagnet: See DeusAngstMachina.
* {{Doppelganger}}: Elena is the doppelganger of both Katherine Pierce and Tatia; she is the good counterpart to Katherine's EvilCounterpart.
* DoppelgangerReplacementLoveInterest: Elena is this to both Stefan and Damon, since they were both in love with Katherine who is Elena's doppelganger. And possibly Elijah, for Tatia.
* DudeMagnet: Nearly every male character is attracted or has been drawn to Elena, including Stefan, Damon, Elijah, and Matt. Subjective in the case of Elijah, since it may have simply been interest at her resemblance to Tatia, the love he shared with his brother Klaus. None of the other male characters show much interest in Elena romantically.
* DyingDeclarationOfLove: To Stefan in 4x01. She tells Stefan as she is dying from not feeding on human blood during her transformation, that she came back for Stefan because she loved him.
** Damon gave this to Elena in 2x22, going so far as to say he didn't regret any of his past choices, horrible as they were, because if he hadn't made them he would never have met her.
* EasilyForgiven: All of the characters seem to easily forgive Elena if she screws up or makes mistakes. Her mistakes are normally glossed over rather easily.
** The same applies to most characters on the show, especially the vampires. Elena has certainly forgiven Stefan and Damon for a whole lot in the past 3+ seasons.
* EmotionlessGirl / IceQueen: As of 4x15, [[spoiler: when Damon told Elena to turn off her emotions and her humanity through the sire bond.]]
* EmotionSuppression: [[spoiler: As of 4x15, when Damon told Elena to turn her humanity off.]]
* EternalLove: Now that Elena [[spoiler: is a vampire, she can be in a relationship with Stefan for an eternity. In 4x01, Elena told Stefan that she wanted to be with Stefan forever.]]
** [[spoiler: Apparently not, as of 4x06]]
* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: [[spoiler: As of 4x17, Elena has a new hairstyle.]]
* FakeAmerican: She is played by Nina Dobrev, who is Bulgarian-Canadian.
* TheFashionista: Since turning into a vampire in season four, Elena has appeared to be more into fashionable and trendy clothing.
* FatalFlaw: Elena has a few flaws which include her hypocrisy and her indecisiveness. She can be a little bit self-aborbed as well, feeling that everything is her fault and is all about her. To be fair, though, almost everything that’s gone wrong in Mystic Falls on a supernatural level, from Stefan taking interest in her to Klaus coming to town, is because of her mystical heritage as the doppelganger, so most of the town’s problems ‘’are’’ about her.

* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: The Responsible to Jeremy's Foolish.
* [[spoiler:FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire: Retains her kindness and compassion even after she turns.]]
* GirlNextDoor: Despite her popularity, Elena is the typical friendly, sweet "good girl" and it's easy to talk with her.

* GoodIsNotNice: Especially as non-humanity!Elena.

* GreenEyedMonster: Elena has a bit of a jealous streak.
** Most recent example is when Elena saw Stefan and Caroline dancing together in 4x16, Elena was obviously jealous, even when her humanity is shut off.
* [[GuileHero Guile Heroine]]
* [[spoiler:HappilyAdopted: Before her parents died. This is largely because she didn't even know she was adopted until after they were dead.]]

* HeartbrokenBadass: Elena has faced much grief, tragedy and pain in regards to her family, her love life and her personal life in general.
* HeroicBSOD: Goes into severe denial when [[spoiler:Jeremy is KilledOffForReal to the extent of not smelling the decomposition]], followed by a complete breakdown, followed by [[spoiler:Damon making her turn off her emotions.]]
* [[TheHero The Heroine]]: Elena is the main character of the series whose primary purpose is to save and protect everyone. Also see {{Protagonist}} and [[MainCharacters Main Character]].
* HeroicSacrifice: Attempts this throughout season two. Elena was willing to sacrifice her life so that the majority of her family and friends didn't have to die. [[spoiler: She does this in 3x22 when she tells Stefan to save Matt first.]]
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Bonnie and Caroline.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Elena can be rather hypocritical sometimes. Elena condemns having her choice or free will taken away from her. Yet, she frequently asked Damon to compel Jeremy to forget things a few times.
** Also when Elena blasted Jeremy for being in love with Ghost!Anna, yet Elena was doing nothing but trying to get Non-Humanity!Stefan to turn his humanity back.
*** Elena even compared loving non-humanity!Stefan to loving a ghost, which was ironically what Jeremy was doing.
* ICanChangeMyBeloved: In regards to Damon.
** Also in regards to ripper!Stefan and non-humanity!Stefan in season three.
* TheIdealist: Mostly in the first season. Elena was a generally hopeful, optimistic individual who always believed in the best outcome possible. However, since then, Elena has become more cynical, which is to be expected considering all the tragedy that she has been through.
** Even when things got bad, Elena was still quite hopeful.
* [[IdenticalGrandson Identical Granddaughter]]: Thanks to her dopplegangerness, she has this with Katherine, several generations removed. And Tatia, even further back.
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Erasing Jeremy's memory of Vicki being a vampire and of her death, and lying to everyone about it to protect them. Also when she has Damon compel Jeremy to go to Denver, after witnessing him hacking off the head of a hybrid with no hesitation.
* [[IJustWantToBeNormal I Just Want To Be Normal / Reluctant Heroine]]: Says this almost word-for-word to Stefan. Elena thinks she's normal but down the line, she discovers that she has a secret legacy of being a doppelganger and that she is tied to the supernatural. Elena tries to repeatedly run the other way and not face her true identity. Before Elena was turned into a vampire, Elena had told Stefan that she doesn't want to be a vampire, that she wanted to get married, grow old, have children and grandchildren. But Elena is so torn because she loves Stefan and Stefan is a vampire incapable of giving Elena all that she desires. Nonetheless, Stefan understands Elena not wanting to turn into a vampire, because Stefan has always desired to be normal himself.
* [[spoiler:{{Immortality}}: Elena is a vampire since she was turned at the end of season 3.]]
** Elena is Type V: TheUndead. Although Elena seems like she is "alive", she is actually dead but she's living.
** Elena is Type X: Vampiric, a LifeDrinker
* InterspeciesRomance: Elena had this type of relationship with Stefan, since Stefan was a vampire and Elena was a human. However, since season three, [[spoiler: Elena is now a vampire, and she and Stefan have broken up.]]
* ItsAllAboutMe: Sometimes Elena thinks that everything good or bad that happens is because of her. She can come off self-absorbed at times.
** Somewhat justified, as most of the supernatural goings on have come about either directly or indirectly because she is the doppelganger.
* ItsAllMyFault: Elena often feels extremely guilty, feeling that she is responsible for every bad thing that has happened to her friends and family due to who she is and her being a doppelganger.
-->'''Elena to Stefan in 2x9:''' It's not just me that's in danger, it's Caroline, it's Tyler and it's Bonnie. They are all part of breaking the curse. I can't blame anyone else anymore. Because it's not because you came into town, or because you and I fell in love. That's not why everyone I love is in danger. It's because of me, everything is because of ME!

** Also within the trio of herself (''TheKirk, Ego''), Bonnie (''TheSpock, Superego''), and Caroline (''TheMcCoy, Id'').

* LongHairIsFeminine
* LoveEpiphany: With [[spoiler:Damon.]]

* LoveInterest: Primarily to Stefan. Elena is the main love interest of Stefan.
** As of season four, to Damon.

* [[MainCharacters Main Character]]

* MayflyDecemberRomance: Is over a century and a half younger than both Stefan and Damon.
* MeetCute: With Stefan in the Pilot episode. They meet each other for the first time outside of the men's washroom, which is kind of embarrassing on Elena's part considering she's actually coming out of the men's washroom.
* MementoMacGuffin: Elena's necklace, in which Stefan gave to her in 1x03. The necklace is often seen as a representation of Stefan and Elena's love. Aside from that, the amulet actually has many supernatural ties to it:
** The amulet is used as a talisman to connect to the Original Witch, Esther.
** The amulet is indestructible. To some fans, the fact that the amulet couldn't be destroyed when Bonnie through it into the fire and cast a spell, was a representation of Stefan and Elena's undying love.
** The amulet also allowed Esther to use magic in the living world while she was still on the [[OffscreenAfterlife Other Side]].
** The amulet also contains a portion of Esther's magic.
* MissingMom: Her [[spoiler:adoptive]] mother Miranda is dead. [[spoiler: As is her biological mother Isobel]]
** [[spoiler:Elena's biological mother Isobel gave Elena up for adoption. Elena never knew about Isobel until later on in her life.]]
* MoralityChain: She is this to both Stefan and Damon but more Damon.
* MoralityPet: Elena is this for Damon. On occasions Stefan, Alaric and lately Jeremy fulfill this function for Damon as well. She is this for Stefan as well, especially since the revelation that he can't love her as a vampire, since she no longer helps him forget what he is (which is one of the things he says to Lexi in season 1 as a reason he's in love with her).
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Elena has committed some immoral acts (especially recently as a vampire) where she has been overwhelmed with guilt and appalled by her own actions. One example is in 4x05, [[spoiler: when Elena kills Connor. She ends up consumed and overwhelmed with guilt, shocked that she actually killed a human being. Due to her inner guilt, Elena ends up being haunted afterwards by Ghost!Connor.]] Another example is in 4x04, [[spoiler: when Elena and Damon feed on endless humans at a party and she gives into her blood lust, not realizing what she is doing. Elena comes off of her blood high when she sees Bonnie looking at her concerned and Elena realizes her out of control actions. She then breaks down to Bonnie about how what she was doing was not her and that she doesn't want to be that person.]]

* NiceGirl: Elena is kind, compassionate, friendly and down to earth. She is the kind of person anyone would want to befriend.
* NonhumanLoverReveal: In 1x06, Elena discovers Stefan's deep dark secret when she starts to put the pieces together of all of the strange events that have happened recently to the town as well as to people around her: Stefan is a vampire. At first, Elena is completely scared and freaked when she discovers Stefan's revelation but eventually, she becomes more understanding of Stefan and his vampirism. Elena eventually comes around completely and accepts and loves Stefan as a vampire, despite being extremely hesitant at first after finding out his secret.

* [[NotHimself Not Herself]]: Basically for most of Season 4 as a vampire. She couldn't keep any blood down (including animal blood, human blood from blood bags and even vampire blood); she became irrational, impulsive, moody and she had the serious urge to feed off of humans and kill; she killed someone for the first time (Connor); she hallucinated Ghost!Connor; she's tried to kill Jeremy a few times; she became suicidal and tried to kill herself and finally, [[spoiler: she's sired to Damon]]. Elena is most definitely NOT herself.
** And to add to that, as of 4x15, she now has her humanity switched off.
* OfficialCouple: With Stefan for most of the series. However, [[spoiler: Elena and Stefan recently broke up in "We All Go A Little Mad Sometimes" due to Elena confessing that she loves Damon.]]
* OfficialCoupleOrdealSyndrome: her relationship with Stefan. There is NOTHING that Stefan and Elena have not been through.
* OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent: She was this before being involved in a lot of supernatural events and characters.

* PlatonicLifePartners: With Matt, her childhood friend and first love.
* PluckyGirl: Considering everything she has been through.

* ProHumanTranshuman: Is a vampire, but Elena tries to uphold her humanity as much as possible.
* {{Protagonist}}: She's the main character. Elena (along with Stefan and Damon) is the central character of the story as the story centers around her journey and her life.

* ReincarnationRomance / RedStringOfFate: Elena's relationship with Stefan.
** The RedStringOfFate applies more to Stefan and Elena in the books.
* RescueRomance: With Stefan. Four months before Elena met Stefan, Stefan had saved her life at the car accident at Wickery Bridge.
** Elena and Damon have also saved each other’s lives several times over the course of the series.
* SecretLegacy: Elena is a doppelganger. She is the doppelgänger of Katherine Pierce.

* SelfSacrificeScheme: Elena had this in season two. [[TrueCompanions Her friends]] did not approve.
* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: First with Matt, but mostly with Stefan.
* StarCrossedLovers: With Stefan.
* StepfordSmiler: Elena may be in pain but she often covers it up with a smile.
* TheStoic: As Non-Humanity!Elena.

* SuicideBySunlight: Elena attempted this in 4x06, but Damon saved her.
* SugarAndIcePersonality: Humanity!Elena versus non-humanity!Elena. Elena with her humanity is warm, empathetic, kind and caring but Elena without her humanity is ruthless, cold, unkind, selfish and uncaring.
* SuperpowerLottery: Because of Elena's vampirism, she possesses standard vampire powers and abilities.
** SuperSpeed: Elena can move and run much faster than that of a normal human.
** SuperReflexes: Also known as super agility. Elena can react much faster and quicker to situations than that of a normal human.
** SuperStrength: Elena is able to carry or lift heavier objects with much ease and little effort.
** MindManipulation: Elena is able to control the mind of any human, influencing their thoughts and their actions in the process. The only way to prevent Elena from mind influencing someone is for the human victim to have vervain on them.
** HealingFactor: Elena can get stabbed, shot or wounded and she will heal immediately.
** SuperSenses: All of Elena's senses, such as sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing have become clearer, stronger and heightened. She is able to see, smell and hear things from a greater distance than that of a normal human.
* SupportingLeader: Stefan often takes the lead in most plans or missions.

* TookALevelInJerkass: [[spoiler: After turning off her humanity]].

* TraumaCongaLine: See DeusAngstMachina and DoomMagnet.
* {{Tsundere}}: Elena is a Type B in her interactions with Damon.
* UndyingLoyalty: To Damon. The major reason for this is because [[spoiler: she is sired to Damon. Because of this, Elena automatically does everything that Damon asks of her, even if it isn't something she really wants to do deep down.]]
** Elena told Stefan that ever since she turned, her feelings for Damon have magnified. This is [[spoiler:possibly due to the sire bond between Damon and Elena.]]
** Elena couldn't keep any of the blood that she was drinking (animal blood, human blood from blood bags, vampire blood) down during the beginning of her transformation because Damon had told her that she could only drink human blood straight from the vein.
** Damon had told Elena to kill Connor if she had ever come in contact with him. Elena ends up killing Connor because Damon had commanded her to do so.
** It should be mentioned that Damon gave several direct orders to Elena which she didn’t follow through with:
* UnexpectedInheritance: Elena (as well as Jeremy) had no financial troubles following the death of their parents.
* UnfazedEveryman: Elena between Season's 1 to 3 before she was turned into a vampire in Season 4. Elena as a human was primarily surrounded by friends and family that were supernatural beings (vampires, werewolves, witches, etc) with the exception of Matt. Elena has seen every supernatural being as a human that she became completely unfazed by any of it.
** Her love interests are vampires.
** Her friends/allies are various supernatural beings.
** Members of her family were supernatural beings (Katherine, [[spoiler:Isobel, Alaric and Jenna]] were/became vampires; [[spoiler:Jeremy is a medium/vampire hunter/Member of ''The Five'']])
** She was sought after by the Originals (Klaus, Elijah, Rebekah, Kol, Finn, Mikael), whom are all vampires with the exception of Esther, who was the Original witch.
** Elena becomes even more unfazed by the supernatural beings around her when she discovers that she's actually a [[{{Doppelganger}} supernatural being]] herself.
* TheUnfettered: [[spoiler: Elena without her humanity doesn't seem to care what she does, even if she is hurting others, very much like non!humanity!Stefan in season three. She will do whatever she wants regardless and doesn't have any remorse for her out of control actions.]]
* WeirdnessMagnet: Vampires, werewolves, her best friend being a witch...
* WillTheyOrWontThey: Elena has this type of dynamic with Damon.
** [[spoiler: They do.]]
* ViralTransformation: At the end of season three when [[spoiler: Elena dies with vampire blood in her system and turns into a vampire as a result.]]

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/TropeStefan_89.jpg

Stefan is a mysterious, handsome century old immortal. He is a protagonist, and narrator of the series. Stefan is known to be the good vampire brother (between he and Damon) and is seen to be kind, caring, compassionate, heroic and selfless. Stefan tries to avoid drinking human blood due to the fact that he hates hurting or killing anyone ([[spoiler: Not to mention drinking human blood turns him into an insane, amoral "ripper"]], choosing to feed from the blood of animals instead. As a result, Stefan is weaker than most other vampires, in particular, his elder brother Damon, who has bared a grudge against Stefan for over a century. Early in the series, Stefan fatefully meets and falls in love with Elena Gilbert. He develops a mutual romantic relationship with her while protecting her and her loved ones both from his own nature and other vampires. As of the season two finale [[spoiler: Stefan reverted back to his darker side, the Ripper, in order to save Damon from dying from a fatal werewolf bite. In exchange for the cure (which is Klaus' hybrid blood), he became a servant to TheBigBad, Klaus.]] Since season three onwards, [[spoiler: Stefan has turned on his humanity and reverted back to his normal, humane self.]]

* ActionHero: Involved in the middle of all of the action in the series.

* AlliterativeName: Stefan's first and last name begin and end with the same letter: '''S'''.
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Damon often thinks of Stefan this way.
* AnchoredShip: With Elena in Seasons 1 and 2.
* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: To Elena.
* AntiHero: In Season 3 and arguably Season 4.
** Type II or [[PragmaticHero Type III.]]
* AntiVillain: [[SlidingScaleOfAntiVillains Type III or IV]] in Season 3.
* TheAtoner
* BadassBiker: As of season four, it appears that Stefan's official vehicle of choice is his motorcycle. See CoolBike.
* BadassBoast: Has his moments, especially when he is threatened or his loved ones are threatened. Not as much as Damon though.
* BadassBookworm: Stefan is known to be highly scholarly and academic. He often spends his time studying or researching and he has a passion for writing and literature. Stefan attended ivy league schools such as Harvard.

* BadassNickname: '''The RIPPAH'''.

* BattleCouple: With Elena, particularly in the earlier seasons.

* BerserkButton: If you want to get on Stefan's bad side, trying hurting Elena, Caroline, Damon or anyone he loves and cares about.
-->''"Hurt her again and you're '''dead'''."'' - Stefan about Caroline to Jules in 2x13
* BewareTheNiceOnes: [[spoiler: especially when they go all Ripper]]
* BettyAndVeronica: Stefan is involved in quite a few love triangles, the most notable and recent one being the one between himself, Elena and Damon. Stefan is the Betty to Damon's Veronica for Elena's Archie.
** The Betty to Damon's Veronica for Katherine's Archie.
** The Archie to Elena's Betty and Katherine's Veronica.
** The Archie to Elena's Betty and Rebekah's Veronica
** In the very beginning, the Archie to Elena's Betty and Caroline's Veronica
** The Veronica to Matt's Betty for Elena's Archie.
* BigBrotherInstinct: To Jeremy. Stefan is often protective of Jeremy and makes sure that he is safe.

** Primarily to Jeremy. Stefan is seen to be protective of Jeremy. He takes on a bit of a big brother role and mentor to Jeremy whenever Elena isn't present. An example of this is in 2x01, after Jeremy had taken pills and drank Anna's blood in attempts to become a vampire. Stefan told Jeremy to snap out of this; that he (Jeremy) really didn't want to do this because he (Jeremy) would end up regretting it for the rest of his life. Stefan also frequently gives Jeremy advice, pep talks and even lectures from time to time.
** To Caroline at the beginning of season two. He taught Caroline how to control herself on blood and keep her humanity.
* BigManOnCampus / TheAce: Stefan is popular, athletic, a good student and [[ChickMagnet easily attracts the girls.]]
* BirdsOfAFeather: With Elena. It seems that Elena and Stefan have various things in common, most notably the fact that like Elena, Stefan also writes in a journal and records his thoughts.

* [[BreakHisHeartToSaveHim Break Her Heart To Save Her]]: Stefan occasionally does this to Elena throughout the series. Stefan breaks up with Elena or turns his back on her in order to protect Elena. This is especially evident in season three when Stefan leaves Mystic Falls with Klaus and becomes a Ripper in order to protect Elena and the rest of the town.
* BreakTheCutie: Whenever Stefan finds some sort of happiness, something is always out there to hurt Stefan and to make him suffer.
* BroodingBoyGentleGirl: Stefan is the Brooding Boy to Elena's Gentle Girl, primarily in season one.
* ButtMonkey / TheChewToy: From his blood addiction issues, to him battling with the dark side of himself (the Ripper), to his never ending guilt, to self-loathing as a vampire, Stefan can never seem to catch a break. He is always the one getting kicked around. As if Stefan didn't just recover from being a blood-addicted, compelled-by-Klaus, humanity-turned-off Ripper, he loses Elena (who happens to sired to Damon) to his brother, Damon. He doesn't even seem to be having much luck in the romance department; something that Stefan has always had at least a little bit of luck.
* CaptainObvious:
-->'''Bonnie:''' "What's going on?"
--> '''Jeremy:''' "We're gonna kill Katherine."
--> '''Stefan:''' "I can explain."
--> '''Bonnie:''' "Please."
--> '''Stefan:''' "We're ...gonna kill Katherine."
* TheCasanova / TheCharmer: Stefan is popular with women and can easily charm the ladies. He was quite the charmer and womanizer during his Ripper days. He attracted the ladies like a moth to a flame. Most of his victims seemed to be women.
* CharacterTics: Stefan often tilts his head to the side when he's looking at or talking to someone.
** Also seems to point his fingers when talking or trying to make a point.
* ChickMagnet: At the beginning of the series, all of the girls within the school found Stefan attractive, were drawn to him and wanted to gain his attention. Stefan has been the object of romantic interest for all of the major female characters of the series including Elena, Caroline, Bonnie, Katherine, Jenna, Callie, Rosalyn, and Rebekah.
* ClarkKenting: Especially in season one. Stefan kept his identity as a vampire as secret from everyone and tried to pass himself off as a new transfer student at Mystic Falls High.
* CockFight: Against Damon over the affections of Katherine and Elena.

* TheComicallySerious: Stefan has a very dry, sarcastic sense of humour.

* CoolShades: Is seen wearing them sometimes, most notably in 1x19.
* CorruptTheCutie: What Klaus did to Stefan at the end of season two by reverting Stefan back into a Ripper.
* TheCorruptible: To Klaus.
* CulturedBadass: Stefan is well-read, loves writing, literature, music and art. He is highly sentimental and has a pile of journals and diaries in which he has written in over the course of his immortal life

* DarkAndTroubledPast: He has gone through some very dark phases in his immortal life and has a darker alter ego, known as the Ripper.
* DarkSide: Stefan has went down the path of darkness a few times throughout his immortal life, like an on and off switch. Although, he often recovers from it and gains his humanity and compassionate side again.
* TheDarkSideWillMakeYouForget: As the ripper. Stefan descends so far into darkness and into the bloodlust, that he even mentions in one of his journals that he blacks out completely, forgetting how many people he's killed, how much human blood he's drank, etc.
* DeadpanSnarker: He's usually stoic but his scenes with Damon are true SnarkToSnarkCombat.

* DespairEventHorizon: There have been times throughout Stefan's immortal life where he has descended so far into darkness that he had given up hope and shut off his humanity. A prime example of this is evident in season 3 when Stefan shut off his humanity after suffering much guilt from being the Ripper. Being a Ripper again changed Stefan as a person and turned Stefan from an IdealHero to an AntiHero and even an AntiVillain. Case in point, Stefan is a walking tragedy.

* {{Deuteragonist}}: To Elena's [[TheProtagonist protagonist]]. Stefan is [[TheHero hero]] and Elena is the main character. He is the second most important character of the series after Elena.

* TheDragon: In season 3, Stefan was basically Klaus' second in command. when he worked with him and helped him to create an army of Hybrids.
** DragonWithAnAgenda: Stefan may have been TheDragon to Klaus, but he sure had very different motives than his master, Klaus. While Klaus wanted to kill Elena and take her blood in order to create more Hybrids, Stefan was protecting Elena and the entire town of Mystic Falls from Klaus.
* TheDreaded: Non-Humanity!Stefan aka '''The Rippah'''.
* DrivenToSuicide: In 1x20 ''Blood Brothers'', Stefan wanted to end it all because of his [[GuiltComplex extreme guilt]]. He attempted to do so by [[SuicideBySunlight taking off his daylight ring]].

* DynamicCharacter: Since the start of the series, Stefan has gone through the most changes and ups and downs on a characterization basis.

* EmotionSuppression: In "The Reckoning", Klaus compels Stefan to shut of his humanity and his emotions.
** Lasts only a couple of with him being a huge {{Jerkass}}.
* EnemyWithin: Stefan's dark side or alter ego: The Ripper.
* EternalLove: With Elena. Apparently. [[spoiler:Not so much as of Season Four.]]
* EveryoneCanSeeIt: Stefan has this type of relationship with Elena. Almost all of the characters on the show can see or have commented on Stefan and Elena's undying love for each other. An example of this would be Klaus telling Damon referring to Stefan and Elena's love for each other: "Crazy or not, that kind of love never dies". A second example is when Caroline told Elena: "Stefan is your epic love". A third example is Lexi telling Elena referring to her love and relationship with Stefan: "When it's real, you can't walk away". Other characters on the show have noticed and commented on Stefan and Elena's love and devotion to each other, such as Damon, Katherine, Klaus, and Rebekah. Various characters on the show have also been shown to be Stelena supporters or shippers. Such characters include Klaus, Caroline, Bonnie, Matt, Lexi, Jeremy, Jenna, etc. The producers of the series, Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec have both referred to Stefan and Elena as being the true epic love story of the show. Kevin Williamson has repeatedly referred to Stefan and Elena as soul mates. He also suggests that although the plot is about a love triangle (between Elena, Stefan and Damon), the series revolves around Stefan and Elena's love story and that their relationship is the central plot and "anchor" of the show.
--> '''Caroline to Elena:''' "Stefan is your epic love.''
--> '''Lexi to Elena:''' "When it's real, you can't walk away."
--> '''Klaus to Damon:''' "Crazy or not, that kind of love never dies."
--> '''Klaus to Stefan and Elena:''' "Now this is fascinating. The only thing stronger than your craving for blood is your love for this one girl."
--> '''Matt to Stefan:''' "You guys are good together. I wasn't so sure before, but Elena is happy."
--> '''Rebekah to Stefan:''' "I envy the love you have for each other."
--> '''Damon to Elena:''' Stefan. It's always going to be...Stefan."
--> '''Caroline to Elena:''' "Stefan is your soulmate!"
--> '''Caroline to Stefan:''' "You and her [Elena]? EPIC."
--> '''Jeremy to Stefan:''' "I'm glad that you guys are back together."
--> '''Rose to Jeremy:''' "Stefan is different. His love is pure and he will always be good for her."
--> '''Stefan to Damon:''' "I guess he found something to live for."
--> '''Klaus to Damon:''' "Al I see is Stefan and Elena."
* FaceHeelTurn: Stefan turned into the Ripper (the darker side of himself) by sacrificing himself to Klaus in order to get the blood to cure Damon's werewolf bite. Stefan then went from being TheHero to the AntiHero.
** This happened because [[TheCorrupter Klaus]] forced Stefan to become the Ripper by drinking tons of human blood bags.
* FatalAttractor: Stefan seems to attract some women who are completely crazy and vengeful. Katherine and Rebekah anyone?

* FireAndIceLoveTriangle: Stefan and Damon fit this trope. Stefan is the Fire, who is warm, kind, compassionate, caring and loving and Damon is the Ice, who is uncaring, arrogant, cold, unsympathetic and impulsive.
* {{Foil}}: To Damon. Stefan's overall the "good brother" (TheHero) to Damon's "bad brother" (The AntiHero/ {{Villain}}). More specifically:
** CainAndAbel: Stefan is the Abel to Damon's Cain. Their relationship is built from this trope.
** FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: Stefan is the Responsible Sibling to Damon's Foolish Sibling. Stefan is more practical, serious and responsible, while Damon is more impulsive, irresponsible and careless.
** NobleMaleRoguishMale: Stefan is the Noble Male to Damon's Roguish Male. While Stefan is more noble and diplomatic in how he approaches things, Damon is much more impulsive, reckless and more prone to violence.
** RedOniBlueOni: Stefan is the Blue Oni (logical, calm, cool, composed) to Damon's Red Oni (impulsive, reckless, hot-headed, passionate).
** SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Stefan is the Sensitive Guy (kind, compassionate, empathetic, gentle) to Damon's Manly Man (aggressive, passionate, impulsive, strong).
** StraightManAndWiseGuy: Stefan is the Straight Man to Damon's Wise Guy. Stefan is more serious and stoic and Damon is more openly humorous, snarky and sarcastic.
** SiblingRivalry: Stefan has had a sibling rivalry going back to their human years. It seemed to have heated up after Stefan and Damon met Katherine.
** SiblingYinYang: Stefan are polar opposites in terms of personality, outlook, values, goals and beliefs. Stefan and Damon are often referred to as the "good brother" and the "bad brother" respectively.
* FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire: He's not a "dangerous" vampire.
* FriendsWithBenefits: As of 4x11, with Rebekah. Stefan and Rebekah sleep together without any attachments or feelings involved.
* GenreSavvy: Stefan is one of the most aware characters, as he always seems to have an idea of what is going on around him.
* GoodIsNotNice: Especially as non-humanity!Stefan.

* MyGreatestFailure: Not saving Elena at the end of season three. Stefan ends up regretting it when Elena turns into a vampire.
* GreenEyes
** In the novels, Stefan's green eyes are heavily emphasized and mentioned.
* GuileHero: Stefan is this but he is an ActionHero as well.
* GuiltComplex: Stefan suffers from a major case of this. He feels guilty for things that are his fault and for things that aren't his fault.

* HeelFaceTurn: Towards the end of season three.
* HellBentForLeather: Stefan is seen wearing leather jackets from time to time.
* TheHero: Elena is the main protagonist, but she's too much of TheChick and the DamselInDistress while Stefan is more of the classic ActionHero, involved in all the heroic scenes.
** ClassicalAntiHero: Stefan fits this trope in season three after starting to recover from Ripperdom. Stefan's flaws, vulnerabilities and weaknesses are exposed and therefore, we as the audience discover that Stefan isn't the perfect IdealHero that he was in season one and two.
** FallenHero: Stefan used to fit the classical trope of IdealHero before he turned off his humanity and became a Ripper at the end of season two. Stefan became this tragic figure because he had made a HeroicSacrifice. Stefan didn't start out as a villain, he became one because of a heroic deed. Another example of this is back in 1864, when Stefan was consumed with guilt for betraying Damon and accidentally killing his father, he shut off his humanity and gave into his vampirism. This was when the Ripper was born.
** HorrifyingHero: Stefan may be a hero, but he's also a vampire. Despite Stefan saving the day, he can make people run the other way.
** HumbleHero: Stefan saves lives and his heroic by nature, but he isn't cocky about his sense of heroism.
** MagneticHero: Stefan seems to have a magnetic quality that draws people to him; he has the ability to persuade people to hear his point of view and without the influence of mind compulsion.
** PragmaticHero: Stefan may be a hero who has strong morals and good intentions, but at the same time, he is willing to do morally questionable actions in order to achieve his goals.
** SociopathicHero: Ripper!Stefan is the embodiment of this trope. Stefan fit this trope in season 3 when Klaus compelled him to shut off his humanity, resulting in him having a [[LackOfEmpathy zero empathy, humanity or compassion]].
** TragicHero: Despite Stefan's heroism, his good intentions and his selflessness, Stefan hardly receives anything positive in return. Instead, Stefan ends up suffering the most despite his good deeds and good intentions. Case in point, Stefan is the embodiment of a walking tragedy.
** HurtingHero: Oh boy, Stefan never catches a break.
** HeroAntagonist: Stefan fits this trope in season three as the Ripper. Although he was doing many morally questionable things, he was doing them for the greater good.
* HeroInsurance: Stefan could become the Ripper, shut of his humanity, kill tons of people and he will still be referred to as heroic as soon as he reverts back to heroic, noble, compassionate Stefan.
* HeroicSpirit: He has it.
** ChronicHeroSyndrome: Stefan suffers from this trope, which means that he feels the constant need to save others and if he doesn't end up saving people, he'll burden guilt.
** HeroicBSOD: This happened to Stefan when he discovered that Damon was dying of a fatal werewolf bite at the end of season two. Due to Stefan's desperation to save his brother, he became his worst enemy, the Ripper. This happened again at the end of season three, when he saved Matt instead of Elena and Elena died by drowning. Stefan was overwhelmed with shock and grief, adding to his guilt, causing him to emotionally crumble a little bit.
** HeroicResolve: In 3x05, Stefan had appeared defeated and had succumbed to being Klaus' second in command. He had told Klaus that he didn't care about Elena anymore and that she meant nothing to him (which was a lie). However, when Klaus attacked Elena by attempting to kill her, Stefan became very enraged and attacked Klaus angrily.
** HeroicSacrifice: Stefan committed this in season three, when Stefan sacrificed himself to Klaus in order to save Damon's life and protect the entire town of Mystic Falls from Klaus.
** HeroicSelfDeprecation: Despite saving and helping others and making sacrifices for other people, Stefan is incredibly guilt-ridden and self-loathing.
** HeroicWillpower: Stefan fights the dark side of him and his addiction to human blood in order to maintain his humanity and not hurt anyone.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Damon during his human life and with Klaus during the 20's.
* HiddenBadass: Only in the very beginning.
* HiddenDepths: Stefan appears to be gentle, kind and compassionate, but he definitely has a tough and violent side when provoked.
** Also has serious blood addiction issues.
* HorrorHunger: Stefan suffers from a major case of this. He is addicted to human blood and goes crazy when he has to much of it.
* {{Hunk}}
* HunterOfHisOwnKind: In the first season, many of Stefan's kills were vampires.

* IAmAMonster: Stefan frequently thinks this about himself due to him being a vampire.
* [[IceQueen Ice King]]: Especially as the ripper. He becomes completely devoid of feeling any emotion. As the ripper, he reverts to a cold, careless, sociopathic and unsympathetic person.
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: At the end of season two, Stefan [[spoiler: sacrificed himself to the villain [[BigBad Klaus]] and became a Ripper in order to save his brother Damon from dying from a fatal werewolf bite.]]
* IHateYouVampireDad: Towards Katherine. Katherine is Stefan's maker (as well as Damon's). Although Katherine is still in love with Stefan and plans on waiting for him forever, Stefan hates her and wants nothing to do with her.
* ILetGwenStacyDie: At the end of season three, [[spoiler: Stefan failed to save Elena when he made the decision to save Matt over Elena from drowning because Elena had told Stefan to do so. Because of this, Elena died and became a vampire due to Stefan choosing to save Matt before Elena. This only contributed to Stefan's neverending guilt.]]
* ImNotAHeroIm: Stefan views himself as a monster, or a predator meant to hurt people. But on the contrary, Stefan is a heroic, selfless, brave yet tragic individual, that despite what and who he is (which is a vampire), makes endless heroic sacrifices to save, protect and help people, especially those he loves.
* {{Immortality}}: Stefan is a a vampire who is capable of living forever and never physically aging. Although he physically looks 17, he is actually 165 years old. He also cannot die under normal human circumstances.
** Stefan is Type V: TheUndead. He is a living dead person.
** Stefan is Type X: Vampiric, LifeDrinker
* InterspeciesRomance: Stefan is a century old immortal (vampire) and Elena is an eighteen year old mortal human. Now, this has changed since Elena has recently turned into a vampire and therefore is no longer human.
* [[IJustWantToBeNormal I Just Want To Be Normal / Reluctant Hero]]: Stefan hates being a vampire and has mentioned that he misses being human again. Part of the reason why Stefan wants to be normal is because of his dark side (the Ripper) and also, his lack of control when it comes to human blood. Stefan told Rebekah in 4x04 that he desired to be human again; to have a family with Elena, grow old with Elena, die with Elena and be buried with Elena. That if he found the cure and had the opportunity to take it and become human, he would do it without question.
* ItsAllMyFault: Stefan constantly blames himself for every bad thing that happens. Stefan especially blames himself for Damon going bad, for Damon killing people and descending into villainhood.
** Stefan blames himself for Elena becoming a vampire, being sired and having her humanity shut off.
* ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies: Stefan fits this trope in regards to Elena. Stefan commits his entire immortal life into protecting and saving Elena and keeping her safe. Stefan sometimes distances himself from Elena in order to protect her due to the fact that he is a vampire with a dark past, and therefore, has much darkness, enemies and danger that follows him around.