Written by L. J. Smith (also the author of The Secret Circle and Night World), The Vampire Diaries novel series centres on the life of Elena Gilbert and her relationship with two Italian vampire brothers, Stefan and Damon Salvatore. At the very beginning, Elena is still suffering from losing both her parents in a car crash she managed to survive. Her world is turned upside down by the arrival of a new student, Stefan Salvatore, to their sleepy little town of Fells Church. Elena Gilbert is a beautiful, popular, teenage, human girl who grew up in the small town of Fells Church, Virginia alongside her best friends since childhood Bonnie, Meredith, Matt, and Caroline. When Elena unexpectedly meets handsome, brooding, intense, and mysterious Stefan, who is a centuries old immortal, her life dramatically changes forever. Stefan struggles to resist his strong connection with Elena out of fear that his dark secret and his tragic, painful past will be too much for Elena to handle. Stefan suffers from immense guilt due to the circumstances surrounding his mysterious past and also, is fearful of the threat that his elder, malevolent and dangerous brother, Damon poses to anyone whom Stefan gets close to. Elena eventually falls for the Salvatore brothers as she faces many threats and dangers that face her and the town in which she lives in.
The books in the series include:
- The Awakening (1991)
- The Struggle (1991)
- The Fury (1991)
- Dark Reunion (1991)
- The Return: Nightfall (2009)
- The Return: Shadow Souls (2010)
- The Return: Midnight (2011)
- The Hunters: Phantom (2011)
- The Hunters: Moonsong (2012)
- The Hunters: Destiny Rising (2012)
- The Salvation: Unseen (2013)
- The Salvation: Unspoken (2013)
- The Salvation: Unmasked (2014)
The series has been adapted for the screen in the form of a television show on the CW, albeit with some significant changes. See The Vampire Diaries for the show version of the series. The books have a Character Sheet featuring the main characters, vampire characters, werewolf characters, and supporting characters.
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Shared Tropes
- Action Girl: Basically all of the female characters in the series such as Elena, Bonnie, Caroline, etc.
- Action Hero: Stefan primarily. He is the hero of the show who is involved in the middle of all of the action.
- Action Survivor: Matt. He is one of the few characters who is human and has no superhuman abilities.
- Elena as a human.
- Adaptation Dye-Job: Elena and Katherine were both originally blondes in the books. They are brunettes on the show.
- Caroline is a red head in the book series, but is blonde on the show.
- Bonnie is originally a pale-skinned, redhead in the books, but she is African-American with black hair and dark skin on the show.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: The female characters, including Elena, Bonnie, and Caroline all seem to be attracted to a mysterious, brooding loner (Stefan) and a dark, charming, rebellious bad boy (Damon).
- Alliterative Name: Stefan. His first and last name both begin with the same letter: S.
- All Love Is Unrequited: Damon was in love with both Katherine and Elena, but both prefer Stefan over him.
- Always Second Best: Damon. He has always been everyone's second choice, since most people prefer his brother Stefan over him. That includes int he romance department.
- Always Someone Better: Damon feels this way about Stefan.
- Also Caroline about Elena.
- Amicable Exes: Elena and Matt. They are still friends who look out for each other after they broke up.
- Anchored Ship: Stefan and Elena, primarily on the show.
- Anguished Declaration of Love: Many times between Stefan and Elena.
- A few times between Damon and Elena.
- Anti-Hero: Damon's role within both the book and show series. Damon originally starts off as a villain and antagonist but progressively changes as the series goes on.
- The Atoner: Stefan, mostly due to his dark and tragic past.
- Ax-Crazy: Klaus and Katherine. Both are the villains of the series.
- Badass Boast: Klaus. There is never a time when he is not bragging.
- Damon could also classify as well.
- Badass Bookworm: Stefan. He is highly intelligent, scholarly and academic....and he can also kick ass.
- Also Alaric. He is knowledgable and well-read. Not to mention that he is also a vampire hunter.
- Badass Normal: Alaric, Meredith, Matt, etc.
- The Baroness: Katherine.
- Battle Couple: Stefan and Elena in both the books and on the show.
- Beauty Is Bad: Damon of course. He is so handsome but his personality is rather intolerable.
- Because Destiny Says So: Stefan and Elena.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Damon and Elena have a peculiar relationship filled with plenty of sexual tension.
- Beta Couple: Tyler and Caroline in both the show and in the books.
- Better as Friends: Elena decides this about her and Matt. Elena breaks up with Matt in the books, feeling that there was something missing in their relationship. Elena breaks up with Matt on the show because she had to deal with the unexpected death of her parents alone.
- Betty and Veronica: Elena, Stefan and Damon are in a love triangle, which is one of the major plots of the series, both books and show. Elena (Archie) must choose between her kind, caring, heroic soulmate Stefan (Betty) or dangerous, dark, unpredictable Damon (Veronica).
- In the books, Elena chooses Stefan as her final choice.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Stefan and Bonnie. They may be nice, caring and compassionate but don't mess with them and the people they care about.
- On the show, Elena. She is nice but don't harm anyone she cares about.
- Big Bad: Klaus. He is sociopathic, dangerous, murderous and deadly.
- Katherine could count as well.
- Big Brother Instinct: "Big Brother and Sister Instinct". Five words: "Get away from my brother." Even though Stefan and Damon don't see eye to eye, Damon sometimes shows a rather protective streak towards his younger brother.
- Big Damn Heroes
- Birds of a Feather: Stefan and Elena on the show. Both are compassionate, selfless, and caring and have various different tastes, hobbies and interests in common.
- Damon and Elena in the books are more alike than Stefan and Elena. Both are vain, selfish, headstrong and passionate.
- Blessed with Suck: All of the vampires. They possess superhuman abilities but they are cursed with the desire for blood.
- Bookworm: Stefan. He is highly scholarly and academic.
- Boy Meets Girl: Stefan and Elena. Stefan meets Elena, Elena meets Stefan, they fall in love and the rest is history.
- Boy Next Door: Matt. He is a genuinely nice and friendly guy.
- Break the Cutie: Various different characters who are put through much tragedy and pain, including Elena, Stefan, Bonnie, Caroline, etc.
- Broken Hero: Stefan. He is endured a lot of pain and tragedy yet still seems to hold it together.
- Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Stefan is the Brooding Boy to Elena's Gentle Girl. Stefan is mysterious, brooding, and a loner and Elena is generally optimistic, sociable and cheerful.
- Fits the show version of Stefan and Elena much better than the books.
- Broken Bird: Elena. She has been through much pain and tragedy at a young age, especially the tragedy of losing both of her parents.
- Cain and Abel: Stefan and Damon. Damon, the Cain, has always loathed his younger brother, Stefan, the Abel. Most of it has to do with jealousy and competition between the two brothers. Also, their personalities fit the Cain and Abel trope. Damon (the Cain) is selfish, jealous, impulsive, dangerous and violent, and Stefan (the Abel) is kind, compassionate, empathetic, selfless and pure of heart.
- Came Back Wrong: In both the novels and on the show, when Elena dies and comes back a vampire, she's sired to Damon.
- Cannot Spit It Out: Stefan kept his secret of being a vampire from Elena in the beginning.
- The Casanova: Damon. He is a certified womanizer.
- Celibate Heroine: Bonnie. She is still a virgin in the books and on the show.
- Chick Magnet: Stefan. Never has a shortage of girls looking his way.
- Childhood Friend Romance: Matt and Elena. They grew up together and dated in high school.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: Stefan. He feels the constant need to save everyone.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Elena in the books and on the show, especially in regards to Stefan.
- Clueless Chick-Magnet: Stefan. Stefan in both the show and in the books attracted so much female attention when he first arrived at school but he was completely oblivious to all of the attention and brushed all of the girls off.
- Cock Fight: Stefan and Damon over the affections of first Katherine and then Elena.
- Cool Big Sis: Elena. To Margaret in the books and Jeremy on the show.
- Cool Teacher: Alaric Saltzman. He's young, intelligent, good looking and he's a badass vampire hunter aside from being the school's history teacher.
- Corrupt the Cutie: Klaus, Katherine and Damon have all done this Stefan.
- Cursed with Awesome: Stefan, Damon, Bonnie, Elena and all other supernatural beings who possess special superhuman powers or abilities.
- Cute Witch: Bonnie. She is an attractive teenage girl.
- Damsel in Distress: Elena, although she is capable of saving herself when she has to.
- Deadpan Snarker: Various characters have the humorous moments including Elena, Stefan, Damon and Caroline.
- Destructive Romance: All the romantic relationships have a destructive element to them, but the one that qualifies the most is Damon and Elena. On the show, Damon is quite abusive towards Elena. In the novels, Damon is obsessed with Elena to epically dangerous proportions.
- Determinator: Various characters including Elena, Stefan, Bonnie, Damon, etc.
- Deuteragonist: Stefan. While Elena is the protagonist, Stefan is the second protagonist of the series. He is the most important character in the story after Elena.
- The Dutiful Son: Stefan. Part of the reason why Stefan was the favoured child with Giuseppe was because Stefan was a dutiful, responsible, obedient son.
- Everyone Looks Sexier if French: Stefan and Damon Salvatore, of course. In the books, they hail from Italy. On the show, they are American-born but are of Italian descent on their paternal side.
- Evil Counterpart: Katherine to Elena. While Elena is generally kind, caring and empathetic, Katherine is selfish, vengeful, manipulative and crazy. Not to mention that physically, they are the spitting image of one another.
- The Fashionista: Caroline. She is trendy and loves fashion.
- Katherine as well.
- Fate Drives Us Together: Stefan and Elena.
- Femme Fatale: Katherine. She uses her seductive wiles to lure in men.
- Fire and Ice Love Triangle: Stefan and Damon's triangle with Elena. Stefan is the Fire to Damon's Ice.
- First Love: Matt for Elena in both the books and the show. They were childhood friends who began a romance during their high school years.
- Foil: Damon to Stefan.
- Katherine to Elena.
- Forgotten First Meeting: In the novels, Damon and Bonnie. Damon compelled Bonnie to forget their first meeting after he saved her life.
- On the show, Damon and Elena. Damon compelled Elena after they met.
- Friendly Neighborhood Vampire: Stefan. He is as a vampire who is kind, caring, empathetic, compassionate and has a hold onto his humanity. Stefan chooses to live on an animal blood diet. In the books, he abstains from drinking human blood at all costs, with the exception of sharing blood with Elena during intimate moments. On the show, Stefan has spent most of his vampire days living on an animal blood diet, although he does have very severe issues with blood addiction and controlling himself on human blood.
- When Stefan loses control on human blood, he becomes a darker version of himself called the Ripper. Stefan isn't so friendly when he loses control and shuts his humanity off.
- Genre Savvy: Stefan. Seems to be one of the most aware characters.
- Matt also has is moments as well.
- Alaric could classify as well.
- Meredith in the novels.
- Girl Next Door: Elena, Bonnie, Caroline, Meredith (in the books).
- Happily Adopted: Elena. She was taken in by her aunt after he parents tragically died.
- Margaret in the novels and Jeremy on the show.
- The Heart: Elena. She not only the heroine and protagonist but is also the person who brings everyone together..
- Heel–Face Turn: Damon. He goes from a very sadistic, dark, selfish, immoral character to someone who learns to be more compassionate, understanding and capable of affection.
- Hell-Bent for Leather: Stefan and Damon. Both brothers have a penchant for wearing leather, mostly black leather jackets.
- The Heroine: "The Heroine and Hero" in this case. Stefan and Elena are the protectorates of everyone within the story, with Stefan also protecting Elena. Also, he's the main male character of the series while Elena is the main female one.
- Hero Protagonist: Elena. She is both the heroine, the person who saves and protects everyone, and the protagonist, the person whom the story centres or focuses on.
- High School: The setting for The Vampire Diaries.
- High-School Sweethearts: Matt and Elena. They developed a romance in high school.
- Hopeless Suitor: Damon. He never gets the girl and the girls always seem to choose his brother Stefan over him. Damon does not have much luck in the romance department.
- Hot-Blooded: Damon. He is passionate, reckless and impulsive.
- Hot Teacher: Alaric, of course. He is young, cool, smart and attractive.
- Ice Queen: Katherine. She is cold, selfish and icy.
- Immortality: All of the vampires within the book and show series, such as Stefan, Damon, Katherine, Klaus, Elena, etc.
- Interspecies Romance: Stefan and Elena. Stefan is a vampire and Elena is a human.
- Subverted on the show. Elena is now a vampire.
- I Can Change My Beloved: Elena in regards to both of the Salvatore brothers.
- I Just Want to Be Normal: Stefan. He hates being a vampire and yearns to be human again.
- Elena also has moments of this in the novels and on the show.
- It's All About Me: Klaus. He is extremely selfish and only cares about his power, his goal and his agenda.
- Damon. He is highly selfish and self-absorbed. However, unlike Klaus, Damon can be capable of doing things for others, although it is not very common.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Stefan always wants the best for Elena and wants her to be happy, even if it's not with him.
- Ladykiller in Love: Damon, of course. He's a player and a womanizer but he has his eyes set on Elena.
- The Leader: Stefan. He often takes the lead in plans and missions.
- Stefan is a mixture of Type I, Type II and Type IV.
- Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: Elena is the Light to Katherine's Dark. Elena is the kinder, caring and compassionate counterpart to Katherine, who is selfish, sinister and manipulative.
- Love at First Sight: Stefan and Elena. Both felt an indescribable, immediate connection with each other.
- Love Makes You Crazy: And evil. Katherine is this in regards to the Salvatore brothers. Because of the Salvatore brothers intense rivalry over her, Katherine turned to Klaus after the tragedy that happened with the Salvatore brothers and herself. She became corrupted by Klaus and became a selfish, sociopathic and evil person.
- Love Epiphany: Elena eventually realizes that she has feelings for Damon.
- Love Hungry: Damon. In both the books and on the show, Damon is seen to rather desperate for love and affection.
- Love Hurts: Primarily Stefan and Elena on the show, but any couple who has been together fits.
- In the books, Stefan and Elena oh so much.
- Damon and Elena could fit too, although not as much as Stefan and Elena.
- Magnetic Hero: Stefan. He has always been popular, well-liked and respected since his human life. He has the ability to charm others and persuade people to listen to him without the use of mind control. Not to mention that many people find Stefan likeable.
- Manipulative Bastard: Klaus. He is cunning, calculating and sociopathic.
- Damon, especially in the novels.
- Manipulative Bitch: Katherine oh so much. She is sociopathic, cunning and always has an agenda.
- Martyr Without a Cause: Stefan. He is always willing to sacrifice himself for others.
- Elena as well. She wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice herself in order to protect the people she loves.
- Bonnie could also classify as well. She often puts her life in the line of fire for everyone.
- The Masquerade Will Kill Your Dating Life: Stefan and Elena. This is because Stefan kept his identity as a vampire a secret from Elena.
- Mayfly–December Romance: Elena's romance with Stefan. On the show, Stefan is a century old immortal and Elena is a seventeen year old human. Although Elena is no longer human, she is a vampire. In the books, there is an even bigger age gap between Stefan and Elena with Stefan being a five century old immortal and Elena being a seventeen year old human.
- Elena's romance with Damon could also qualify as well.
- Meaningful Name: The last name Salvatore means "Savior" in Italian.
- Stefan is named after the very first Christian martyr, St. Stephen. The name Stefan means "crowned with martyrdom". Ironically, Stefan is the biggest martyr in the series.
- Messianic Archetype: Stefan. In both the novels and on the show, Stefan is depicted as a heroic, noble and selfless saviour and protector. He is named after the first Christian martyr (St. Stephen).
- Not to mention that his last name means "Savior" in Italian.
- Narrator: Stefan and Elena are the main narrators of the story. The series is primarily from both of their point of views.
- On the show, Stefan is the main narrator of the series. The story is solely told from his point of view.
- Nephewism: Elena and her younger brother Jeremy (younger sister Margaret in the books) both live with their aunt (Aunt Judith in the books, Aunt Jenna on the show). Their parents died in a tragic car accident (relatively recently before the events of the show; in the books, it's more distant when Elena was younger and Margaret was just a baby).
- New Transfer Student: Stefan in the books and on the show.
- Nice Girl: Bonnie. On the show, Elena.
- Nice Guy: Stefan and Matt.
- Noble Male, Roguish Male: Stefan and Damon. Stefan is the Noble to Damon's Roguish. Stefan is more thoughtful and diplomatic in his approach, while Damon is more impulsive and aggressive.
- Non-Human Lover Reveal: Stefan when he reveals to Elena that he is a vampire.
- Official Couple: Stefan and Elena are THE COUPLE of the entire series as they are the main romantic pairing. They are the core of the series as the story and series centres around them and their love story.
- Official Couple Ordeal Syndrome: Stefan and Elena. There is nothing that these two have not been through. Name it, and they have been through it.
- Opposites Attract: Damon and Elena on the show. They have vastly different personalities, values, outlooks and beliefs.
- Stefan and Elena in the novels. Although they are more complimentary opposites attract. Stefan is brunet, Elena is blonde. Stefan is shy, Elena is outgoing. Stefan is humble, Elena is vain. Stefan is selfless, Elena is selfish. Stefan is an introverted loner, Elena is an extroverted social butterfly.
- Ordinary High-School Student: Elena, Matt, Bonnie, Caroline, Tyler, Jeremy, Meredith (in the books). This all changes when all of the characters start to develop their own individual identities.
- Our Vampires Are Different: Even between the books and TV series.
- In general:
- While garlic is not fatal or harmful to vampires, another traditional anti-vampire herb called vervain is. It acts as both a natural poison to vampires, and a protecting agent for humans. (Vampires are capable of building up a resistance similar to humans with poison or drugs.)
- Vampires can run around in the day if a witch spells a piece of jewelry made from lapiz lazuli for them to prevent them from burning.
- The book vampires obey the following baseline rules: They are immortal, don't age, must feed on blood (including Vegetarian Vampires), and sire new vampires using the blood exchange method. They have super speed and strength, instant healing (on the show, the book version is much more downplayed), and (according to at least one vampire) cannot have children.
- They also have all three classic fatal weaknesses: sunlight (absent magical protection), wooden stakes, and decapitation, as well as a weakness towards fire. In addition, they cannot enter a home uninvited, can mentally control humans, erase memories, and in the novels, can shapeshift and control animals. (The early episodes implied that Damon was doing something like this with crows, but that has been mostly dropped.)
- The TV version do not have most of the traditional non-fatal weaknesses or telltales: garlic, holy water, crosses, and running water have no effect on them. They have reflections and appear on camera, don't appear abnormally pale, though they display telltale fangs, and bloodshot eyes when feeding. Vampires in the novels are affected by these traditional weaknesses, to varying degrees — the more human blood a vampire drinks, the more these things affect them. However, in the TV series the oldest (and thus strongest) vampires are capable of surviving even fatal weaknesses like wooden stakes, and can compel or hypnotize other vampires.
- In general:
- Paranormal Romance: All of the supernatural romantic pairings in the book series and the show series classify as this.
- Parental Abandonment: Elena's parents died in a car crash in which she managed to survive.
- All of the characters have some sort of issue with their parents.
- Parental Favoritism: In the show and books, Stefan was the strongly favoured son of their father, Giuseppe.
- Platonic Life-Partners: Elena and Matt. They are childhood friends who grew up together.
- Pro-Human Transhuman: Stefan. Even though he is a vampire, he still tries to retain his humanity as much as possible.
- On the show, Elena as a vampire. She still retains her compassion and empathy even after she turned. In the books, Elena retained her humanity as a vampire as well, refusing to kill innocent people.
- Promotion to Parent: Elena's aunt, (Judith in the novels, Jenna on the show) after her parents are killed.
- The Protagonist: Elena is the central figure of the story. The series revolves around her life and journey.
- Psycho Ex-Girlfriend: Katherine. She is vengeful, manipulative, cunning, ruthless and she is obsessed with Stefan.
- Psychopathic Manchild: Klaus and Damon. Both are reckless, ruthless, sociopathic yet somewhat immature at the same time.
- Rebellious Spirit: Damon. He lives by his own rules and refuses to listen to authority.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Stefan and Damon. Stefan is the Blue to Damon's Red. Stefan is logical and calm, Damon is impulsive and passionate.
- Reincarnation Romance: Stefan and Elena's relationship. They are soul mates whose destinies are intertwined for eternity.
- Rescue Romance: Stefan and Elena. In the books, Stefan saves Elena from being raped by Tyler. On the show, Stefan saves Elena's life at a car accident scene.
- Romantic False Lead: Damon. He seems to serve as an obstacle for the main romantic couple (Stefan/Elena).
- Second Love: Stefan for Elena in the novel and on the show. Elena's first love was Matt.
- Elena for Stefan in the novels. Stefan's first love was Katherine.
- Secret Identity: Stefan in the beginning. He kept his secret as a vampire from others and tried to pass himself off as a regular high school student.
- Sibling Rivalry: Stefan and Damon in both the books and on the show. In the books, Damon has always been jealous of Stefan since child because of favouritism towards Stefan. On the show, Stefan and Damon were best friends before Katherine Pierce came between them, changing the relationship between the Salvatore brothers forever. The rivalry only got more intense when both brothers end up competing over Elena Gilbert, Katherine's doppelganger.
- Sibling Triangle: Stefan, Katherine, Damon is the very first love triangle with Stefan, Elena and Damon being the second love triangle. Looks like history just cannot stop repeating itself when it comes to the Salvatore brothers falling for the same women. Especially the same women who happen to be the physical spitting image of each other.
- Sibling Yin-Yang:
- Damon and Stefan are polar opposites. They have vastly differing personalities and temperaments.
- Also, in the show, Elena and Jeremy, and Matt and Vickie.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Elena with first Matt and then Stefan.
- The Smart Guy: Stefan. He is intelligent, academic and scholarly.
- The Sociopath: Klaus oh so much.
- Damon could qualify as well, especially in the novels.
- Katherine as well.
- Stalker with a Crush: Damon in the books and on the show as well. In the books, Damon stalks Elena while she is in crow form. This makes Elena really scared and uncomfortable. On the show, Damon stalks Elena using a crow to follow her (a crow that he can control with his mental powers) and also creates fog when she is alone in the cemetery writing in her diary.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Stefan and Elena. There is always something ...or someone trying to keep the two apart.
- The Stoic: Stefan. He is calm, cool and collected. He rarely if ever loses his cool, unless you really provoke him.
- Strong Family Resemblance: On the show and in the books, Katherine and Elena. This is because on the show, Elena is the doppelgänger of Katherine. In the novels, Katherine is Elena's long lost sister. They share the same mother, who was a Guardian.
- Supporting Protagonist: Stefan. He is the second protagonist of the series with Elena being the main protagonist.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Stefan and Damon, of course. They are both sinfully handsome, with dark hair. And they are both of Italian origins.
- Tall, Dark, and Snarky: Damon. He has a sarcastic personality. Much of his sarcasm is often used as a defence mechanism used in order to keep people at a distance.
- Tragic Bromance: Stefan and Damon oh so much. They have such an up and down and chaotic relationship.
- Tragic Romance: Stefan and Elena, in both the novels and the show.
- Tritagonist: Damon. The third most important character after Stefan and Elena.
- Tsundere: Elena. Type B on the show.
- In the novels, Elena is Type A.
- Unlucky Childhood Friend: Matt, to Elena. They have been friends since childhood. Matt was Elena's first love and serious boyfriend.
- The Vamp: Katherine. Uses her charm and seductive wiles in order to get what she wants.
- Vampire Fiction: The series is based off of vampire mythology.
- Vampire Hunter: Alaric. Aside from being the history teacher, he also hunts vampires on the side.
- Vampire Monarch: Klaus. He is the at the top of the vampire hierarchy. He is an Old One (in the books)/Original (on the show), meaning that many vampires in existence are created from his bloodline.
- Vegetarian Vampire: Stefan again. He is not as Veggie recently: In order to fight Katherine and other vampires more powerful than himself he now does drink human blood from blood bank bangs. He also obeys Klaus' orders to drink directly and savagely from humans.
- Villainous Crush: Damon for Elena in both the books and on the show.
- Katherine for Stefan in both the novels and on the show.
- Viral Transformation: All of the vampires in both the books and the show.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Stefan and Damon.
- Will They or Won't They?: Damon and Elena in both the books and on the show.
- In the beginning, Stefan and Elena in the novels.
- Yandere: Katherine for Stefan. She is obsessed with him to psychotically dangerous proportions.
- Damon for Elena, especially in the books. He is unhealthily obsessed with her.
- Youngest Child Wins: Stefan. He has always been favoured over Damon by everyone and was the respected, popular son.
Book-Specific Tropes
- Action Girl: Almost all of the female characters in the series, including Elena (who is a powerful Guardian), Bonnie (who is a strong, powerful psychic witch), and Meredith (who is a badass vampire slayer).
- Our Angels Are Different: The Guardian and angel species in the series. They include Elena, Margaret, Katherine, Elizabeth (Elena, Katherine and Margaret's birth mother).
- The angels in the book series are kind, benevolent and spiritual beings whom were created by the human souls that are accepted into Heaven.
- Angels in the series are classified as divine beings of nature, especially to those angels who serve Supreme Being of love, life, strength and power.
- The origins of the angels in the series haven't been really explained. However, it is known that the vast majority of the angel race has been around since the time of the times of the Old Ones as well as the Phantoms.
- There is also a theory that angelic beings have been around since the very beginning of life or time.
- The angels have various powers and abilities. These include:
- Super-Senses: The angels have learned to control their own senses of hearing, sight, and smell;
- Telepathy: Angels can communicate non-verbally by using their mental senses;
- Time Manipulation: Angels have the ability to go back in time;
- Wings Of Power: Angels and Guardians possess several different wings which each have different powers;
- Sacred Blood: Elena's blood is the ultimate weapon which can be used to destroy all evil creatures and beings on Earth. Her blood is also the only elixir that can kill Old Ones for good as well as prevent their resurrection.
- Alpha Bitch: Caroline. She is competitive, catty, jealous, conceited, manipulative and selfish. She will do anything and everything to get what she wants, even if it means backstabbing people.
- Elena started off as vain, selfish, spoiled and vain girl who was only concerned with popularity and status. Eventually, after meeting Stefan, she becomes more of a likeable individual.
- Angelic Beauty:
- Elena. She is described to have the appearance of an angel. This is because Elena is actually an angel.
- Margaret. She has a similar physical appearance to her elder sister Elena.
- Asian Fox Spirit: Shinichi and Misao. Both are kitsune, which are fox spirits.
- Attempted Rape: Tyler tries to rape Elena in the first book. Stefan saves her.
- Attention Whore: Caroline. She loves to be the centre of attention at all times.
- Badass Adorable: Bonnie, most definitely. She's petite, she's sweet, she's ditzy, but she is also a really powerful psychic who is a powerhouse.
- Badass Bookworm: Stefan. He is highly intelligent, academic, scholarly and ambitious.
- Badass Damsel: Elena. She is a damsel but at the same time, she is highly capable of taking care of herself and even her loved ones whenever she has to. Meaning she doesn't always need a man to save her.
- Badass Normal: Meredith, Matt and Alaric. All of them are human with no supernatural abilities yet they are highly capable and strong individuals who can defend themselves.
- Backstabbing the Alpha Bitch: How Caroline sees her feud with Elena.
- Beast and Beauty: Stefan and Elena with Stefan as the Beast to Elena's Beauty.
- Also Tyler and Caroline with Tyler as the Beast to Caroline's Beauty.
- The Beautiful Elite: Jessalyn. She is rich, wealthy and beautiful.
- Katherine before her Face–Heel Turn.
- Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: Elena, Meredith and Bonnie, with Elena as the Beauty, Meredith as the Brains and Bonnie as the Brawn.
- Beauty Is Bad: Damon, of course. He is very handsome with sharp, angular features. Too bad his personality is sociopathic.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Between Damon and Elena, much to Elena's annoyance. Even though Elena is strongly in love with Stefan, she has always been sexually attracted to Damon.
- Big Good: Stefan, who is the most noble, moral and heroic character in the books.
- Bonnie could also count as well.
- The Big Guy: Tyler. He is very tall and towers over Stefan.
- Zander. He towers over Bonnie, who is very petite.
- Matt is quite tall and only a little bit shorter than Tyler.
- Big Man on Campus: Stefan.
- Big Sister Instinct: Elena to Margaret. She is highly protective of her much younger sister.
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: In the books we had Elena (Blonde), Meredith (Brunette), and Bonnie (Redhead). In the TV show, Elena is brunette, Bonnie has black hair and is African American. Meredith doesn't exist as of yet.
- These Hands Have Killed: Damon. He has committed some very immoral acts, including the killing and slaughtering of innocent humans over the centuries.
- Blue Blood: Stefan and Damon. Both are from a wealthy, aristocratic family.
- Boisterous Bruiser: Matt. He is outgoing, friendly and approachable.
- Zander as well.
- Book Dumb: Bonnie. She is not a scholarly person.
- Bookworm: Stefan and Meredith.
- Brainy Brunette: Meredith. She is the brains of the core group. She is logical, practical and highly intelligent.
- Break the Cutie/Corrupt the Cutie: Implied to have been what Klaus did to Katherine during his 'training'.Klaus: "What was even stranger was that she never got over you, Salvatore. You especially. She was always drawing unflattering comparisons between us. I tried to beat some sense into her, but it never really worked. Maybe I should have just killed her myself, I don't know. But by then I'd gotten used to having her around. She never was the brightest. But she was good to look at, and she knew how to have fun. I showed her that, how to enjoy the killing. Eventually her brain turned a little, but so what? It wasn't her brains I was keeping her for. "
- The Brute: Tyler. He is brash and aggressive in nature. Most of this has to do with the fact that he is a werewolf.
- Byronic Hero: Damon. But Stefan could classify as well. Damon is a dark, immoral and cynical character who is rebellious by nature. He is seen as an outcast within society, even during his human years. Stefan isn't a dark, immoral character, but he is incredibly brooding, mysterious and he is a loner. Stefan also suffers from guilt because of his actions from his tragic past. Not to mention that Stefan spent almost 400 years living in the shadows and darkness, feeling like he wouldn't be accepted by humans and society at large because of who and what he is.
- Cain and Abel: Damon and Stefan, of course. Damon, the older brother, is Cain and Stefan, the younger brother, is Abel. Similar to Cain, Damon has always been jealous of his younger brother. He has loathed him since their human years. Similar to Abel, Stefan was the good, noble (and favoured) son, who had a good, pure heart and Damon, like Cain, was intensely jealous of Stefan due to this reason. There are many reasons as to why Damon hates Stefan; some of them include:
- Damon believing that Stefan was responsible for the death of their mother, who had died a few years after giving birth to Stefan;
- Damon being jealous of Stefan because he was the favourite son;
- Stefan being the good, moral, obedient son who is pure of heart. Damon was seen as the opposite; a coward of a son who was rebellious, selfish, irresponsible and unsympathetic.
- Due to Damon's jealousy towards Stefan, Damon never stopped to make Stefan's life a living hell as much as possible.
- Similar to Cain, Damon ended up killing his brother by stabbing him in the heart with a sword, dooming Stefan to immortality and darkness for eternity.
- Celibate Hero: Stefan wasn't romantically involved with anyone for almost 500 years. He didn't fall in love with anyone else after the tragic loss of his first beloved Katherine, believing that he would never love anyone else every again. Until he met Elena and his entire view on love completely changed forever.
- The Corrupter: Klaus.
- Katherine could count as well.
- Cheerful Child: Margaret.
- The Chessmaster: Klaus. He is highly strategic and calculating.
- Damon could also classify as well. He always has an agenda or goal of some sort.
- The Chosen One: Elena. She is destined to be an Earth Guardian who fights and destroys all evil forces. Not to mention that she is the sole Guardian who has the ability to kill Old Ones with her blood.
- Childhood Friend Romance: Matt and Elena. They grew up together and started dating in high school. Matt was Elena's first love.
- Chivalric Romance: Stefan and Katherine during the Renaissance period.
- Class Representative: Elena. She is the head of the Senior Welcoming Committee.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Elena. She gets jealous of any female that looks Stefan's way, most notably Caroline in the beginning.
- Also Caroline. She was intensely jealous of Elena, when Stefan fell in love with her.
- Katherine. She was intensely jealous of Stefan falling for Elena due to the fact that Katherine is obsessed with Stefan. Because of this, she tortured Elena, Stefan and Damon and tried to kill them.
- Cloud Cuckoolander: Bonnie. She is ditzy and often seems to have her head in the clouds.
- The Comically Serious: Meredith. She has a very dry sense of humour.
- Constantly Curious: Margaret. She is always curious about everything and wants to know what goes on around her.
- Alaric. He is a teacher after all and he is always out seeking the truth about things, especially mysteries.
- Cool Old Lady: Mrs. Theophilia Flowers. She is very friendly, kind and helpful towards everyone.
- Lady Ulma.
- Courtly Love: Stefan and Katherine during the Renaissance.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Damon oh so much. He is an intensely jealous person and has always loathed Stefan due to his jealousy.
- Cultured Badass: Stefan, but Damon as well. Stefan is cultured, sophisticated and a gentlemen who is incredibly polite and chivalrous. He is highly knowledgable about the finer things in life such as food, drink, art, music, literature, considering that he comes from the time of the Renaissance period.
- Cute Bruiser: Bonnie. She is adorable and rather strong at the same time.
- Cute Clumsy Girl: Bonnie.
- The Cutie: Bonnie. She is adorable and loveable.
- Margaret.
- Dating Catwoman: Elena and Damon. Many of Elena's friends cannot understand why Elena associates herself with Damon.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Elena. After she meets and falls in love with Stefan, she goes from a selfish, vain, cold, icy and proud teenage girl to a kinder, compassionate, selfless and caring person.
- Did Not Get the Girl: Damon. In the final book of the series, Elena choose Stefan over Damon as her final choice.
- The Ditz: Bonnie. She is a highly capable individual and can actually be quite smart. But she gives off the impression that she is rather childish, shallow and not that intelligent.
- The Dulcinea Effect: Only after a few short months of Stefan meeting Elena, Stefan realized that he is willing to die for Elena and that she is the only reason for his existence.
- Dumb Muscle: Tyler. He is a jock but it appears that he isn't the sharpest tool in the shed.
- Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Both Stefan and Damon. Both are very pale with very dark hair.
- Eternal Love: Stefan and Elena. Both are immortal beings whose destinies are connected for eternity.
- Everyone Loves Blondes: Elena. She is popular, beautiful and is desired by the opposite sex.
- Fallen Princess: Elena. She went from being Fells Church's 'Golden Girl' and Homecoming Queen to someone who went through nothing but doom, gloom, loss and tragedy.
- Fetishized Abuser: Elena before she met Stefan. Elena used boys as trophies and prizes in order to boost her vanity and self-esteem.
- Fiery Redhead: Caroline and Jessalyn. Both are sarcastic, opinionated and passionate.
- Fire and Ice Love Triangle: Stefan and Damon's love triangle with Elena. Stefan is the Fire (warm, kind, compassionate, romantic) and Damon is the Ice (cold, arrogant, vain, impulsive).
- Four-Girl Ensemble: Before the series began, Elena, Bonnie, Meredith and Caroline.
- Freudian Trio:
- Stefan, Elena and Damon:
- Elena, Meredith and Bonnie:
- Genki Girl: Bonnie. She is bubbly and energetic.
- Girly Bruiser: Bonnie. She is girly, sweet, adorable and she is also powerful, tough and strong.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Damon. He is very envious and jealous by nature.
- Elena definitely has a strong jealous streak as well, especially when it pertains to Stefan and him getting female attention.
- Stefan has his moments of envy and jealousy as well but not as much as Damon and Elena.
- Hair of Gold: Elena and Matt. Both are blond haired and have good hearts.
- Half-Human Hybrid: Elena. She is half angel (on her mother's side) and half human (on her father's side).
- Margaret is also half angel and half human.
- Half-Identical Twins: Shinichi and Misao.
- Happily Ever After: For Stefan and Elena. Elena chooses Stefan as her one and final choice in the final book.
- The Heart: Elena. She is the centre of the series. She brings everyone together for a common purpose.
- The Hecate Sisters: Elena, Meredith and Bonnie with Elena as the Maiden, Bonnie as the Matron, and Meredith as the Crone.
- The Hero: More like "The Hero and Heroine".
- Stefan is the main male character of the books. Also the romantic lead for the heroine (Elena') and the protectorate of everyone within the story, including Elena.
- Elena is the main female character and protagonist of the books. She is the love interest for the hero (Stefan) and the protectorate of everyone within the story, alongside Stefan.
- Heroes Prefer Swords: Stefan during his human life. He often engaged in sword fighting.
- Damon could qualify as well.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: Stefan and Matt. They form a strong bond and friendship in the first book. Matt makes Stefan as a new student feel welcome and comfortable. Matt also makes a valiant effort to defend Stefan against Tyler.
- Also, Elena, Bonnie and Meredith. They have all been best friends since childhood.
- Hot-Blooded: Damon. He is passionate and has a quick temper.
- Elena. She is feisty, passionate and headstrong.
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Zander is the Huge Guy to Bonnie's Tiny Girl.
- Ice King: Damon. He is cold, arrogant, and ruthless.
- Icy Blue Eyes: Klaus. His eyes are described to be electric blue.
- Zander. His eyes are a very light, piercing blue.
- Immortality: The vampires, including Stefan, Damon, Klaus, Katherine and Elena at one point in the series.
- Elena is also an immortal being now that she had drank some of the special water from the Fountain of Eternal Life and Youth. This gives her the power to live as an immortal alongside her immortal soulmate, Stefan.
- Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Stefan. He is described to be pure of heart.
- Bonnie could also classify as well.
- The Ingenue: Bonnie. She is innocent and naive.
- Katherine before she was corrupted by Klaus under his influence.
- Innocent Blue Eyes: Elena. Her eyes are a lapis lazuli blue with flecks of gold.
- Matt. He has clear, honest light blue eyes, according to Stefan.
- Katherine. Her eyes are a deep blue, the colour of sapphires or blue jewels.
- Margaret. Her eye colour is different from Elena's. She has light blue eyes.
- Inter-Class Romance: Stefan and Elena: Stefan is from a wealthy, noble family and Elena is from an average, middle class family.
- It Sucks to Be the Chosen One: Elena in regards to how she feels about her destiny as a Guardian. Elena sometimes wishes that she could just be the regular human girl she was before discovering her identity as an angel and her destiny as an Earth Guardian.
- It's All About Me: Subverted with Elena. Although Elena started the series off as a very selfish, vain, proud and spoiled person, she eventually became a much more enlightened, selfless, compassionate and caring person who is willing to make heroic sacrifices and protect those she loves.
- Jerk Jock: Tyler. He is cocky, arrogant, and mean-spirited. Stefan and Matt are the opposite of Tyler, with them being Lovable Jock's.
- Kiss of the Vampire:
- Stefan and Elena share blood during times of intimacy.
- Damon and Elena have also shared blood but not as much as Stefan and Elena.
- Knight In Shining Armour: Stefan in his human years during the Renaissance period.
- Lady and Knight: Stefan and Katherine during the Renaissance period with Stefan as the Knight to Katherine's Lady.
- The Leader: Stefan. He often takes the lead in most situations that require leadership. He often leads the core group into missions, plans and battles.
- Stefan is a combination of Type I, Type II and Type IV.
- Living Emotional Crutch: Elena is this for Stefan and her friends.
- Damon is this for Stefan.
- Long-Lost Relative: Katherine to Elena and Margaret. In the final book of the series, it was revealed that Katherine shares the same birth mother (Elizabeth) as Elena and Margaret, indicating that Katherine is Elena (and Margaret's long lost half-sister. This is the reason why Elena and Katherine have a strong physical resemblance.
- Lovable Jock: Stefan and Matt. They are athletes but are nice and likeable. They are the opposite of Tyler, who is a Jerk Jock.
- Mama Bear: Elena, over her loved ones.
- Messianic Archetype: Elena. She is an Earth Guardian destined to protect Earth from evil or dark forces.
- Morality Chain: Elena and Bonnie for Damon. Although, Bonnie has the strongest influence on Damon. Bonnie brings out the much kinder, protective and caring side of Damon.
- Morality Pet: Bonnie for Damon. She prevents Damon from committing many immoral deeds. She brings out Damon's humanity without any effort whatsoever.
- Noble Male, Roguish Male: Stefan and Damon with Stefan as the Noble to Damon's Roguish. Stefan is more diplomatic, while Damon is more aggressive.
- Oblivious to Love: Stefan. Elena had fallen hard for Stefan at first sight, but Stefan completely avoided Elena in the very beginning.
- Ojou: Katherine before her Face–Heel Turn. She was delicate, lady like, fragile and polite.
- Also Lady Ulma.
- Jessalyn could count as well.
- One True Love: Stefan and Elena, who are destined lovers who are connected by a silver cord.
- Opposites Attract: Stefan and Elena. Stefan is shy, introverted, brooding and a loner. Elena is outgoing, extroverted, optimistic and popular.
- Our Werewolves Are Different: Tyler, of course.
- Papa Wolf: Damon towards Bonnie. He is highly protective of her. If anyone harms or hurts Bonnie, Damon will attack and hurt that person to make sure that they pay.
- Plucky Comic Relief: Bonnie. She is always saying something humorous and is often the one to break the tension with humorous comments.
- Plucky Girl: Bonnie. She is always optimistic about everything, even when things look bad.
- Elena could qualify as well. Despite all of the tragedy and pain she has gone through, she managed to be hopeful and keep going.
- The Power of Love: Stefan and Elena. Elena's love for Stefan has completely transformed her from a selfish, vain, cold and aloof person to a significantly enlightened, kind, compassionate and loving person.
- In The Fury, Elena's love for Stefan was so strong and powerful, that it managed to break through the "sire bond" that she had after being turned into a vampire (this is because when Elena had turned, she had more of Damon's vampire blood in her system, which made her believe that she was in love with Damon instead of Stefan).
- Preppy Name: Stefan and Damon Salvatore.
- Katherine von Schwarzschild.
- Jessalyn D'Aubigne.
- Pretty Boy: Stefan. Stefan has very fine facial features and is described to be inhumanly beautiful.
- Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Stefan and Damon. Both brothers have jet black hair with very pale white skin.
- Reincarnation Romance: Stefan and Elena. They are destined lovers and soul mates whose souls are eternally intertwined for eternity.
- Red String of Fate: Also known in the book series as the Soulmate Principle. While falling asleep into a lucid dream and having an out of body experience in Shadow Souls, Elena realizes that she shares the silver cord with Stefan, which binds their souls heart to heart. Elena uses this special silver cord, which links Stefan and Elena's souls together, to travel to him in order to see him in the prison in the Dark Dimension.
- The Reliable One: Meredith. She is the most practical and logical of the core group.
- The Rival: Caroline to Elena. Caroline and Elena have always been in heavy competition in terms of popularity and status.
- School Idol: Stefan. He is popular, athletic, smart and has the girls falling at his feet.
- Sheltered Aristocrat: Stefan. Damon has said that Stefan has spent his life amongst books, literature, art and paintings and doesn't know the reality of the outside world. Damon has also said that Stefan is much to tied up in family, friends, education, duty and responsibility.
- Ship Tease: Damon and Bonnie (also known by the readers as Bamon). They had a relationship which took place in the books, however, their connection was completely retconned when Bonnie ended up with a werewolf named Zander and Damon ended up single at the vey end of the series. This, of course, upset the Bamon shippers.
- Shrinking Violet: Stefan is very shy, introverted and quiet in the beginning. He eventually opens up and becomes more relaxed and outgoing around others later on.
- Sibling Triangle: Elena is torn between two brothers, Stefan and Damon.
- Katherine, Stefan and Damon count as well.
- Significant Green-Eyed Redhead: Caroline. She has auburn red hair and catlike green eyes.
- Also, Jessalyn, who also has red hair and green eyes.
- Teacher/Student Romance: Meredith. She developed a huge crush on the history teacher, Alaric.
- The Smart Girl: Meredith. She is practical, smart and logical. She is the brains of the trio between herself, Elena and Bonnie.
- The Smart Guy: Stefan. He is very intelligent, scholarly, academic and ambitious.
- So Beautiful, It's a Curse: Elena. She is described to be extremely beautiful physically. No boy has been able to resist her (with the exception of Stefan in the beginning).
- Spoiled Brat: Caroline and Tyler. They both have status and get everything that they want.
- Spoiled Sweet: Elena.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Stefan and Elena. Something or someone always comes between the two of them.
- Supernatural Gold Eyes: Sage and Shinichi. Both have golden coloured eyes.
- Supporting Leader: Elena. Stefan normally takes the lead in plans and missions.
- Teacher/Student Romance: Alaric and Meredith. Alaric is Meredith's history teacher.
- Technicolor Eyes: Stefan. His eyes are described to be colour of green summer leaves, emeralds and malachite.
- Caroline. She has catlike green eyes.
- Jessalyn.
- Teen Genius: Meredith. She has a very high IQ and is highly intellectual, intelligent and scholarly.
- Stefan could also count as well considering as a human, he was described to be extremely intelligent, sharp and scholarly.
- The Three Faces of Eve: Elena, Meredith and Bonnie. Elena is The Seductress (vain, desirable, popular), Meredith is The Wife (logical, intelligent), and Bonnie is The Child (naive, sweet).
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Meredith is the Tomboy to Bonnie's Girly Girl.
- Vampires Are Rich: Jessalyn. She is wealthy and a princess.
- Vein-o-Vision: Elena after turning into a vampire.
- Violently Protective Girlfriend: Elena. If you so much as touch or harm Stefan in any way, she will kick your ass big time.
- Waif-Fu: Bonnie. She is very petite, powerful and strong.
