Original Vampires (''The Vampire Diaries'')

The Original vampires, in the universe of The Vampire Diaries and The Originals, are a family of vampires from which all current vampires descend, as well as being the most powerful and indestructible of their kind. In Autumn 1001 AD,^[1] after the death of her youngest son Henrik at the hands of werewolves, the powerful witch Esther performed an occult blood ritual in order to protect her five remaining children—(Finn, Elijah, Niklaus, Kol, and Rebekah)—and her husband, Mikael. The ritual transformed her family into the first vampires.

Family history

The family comes from 10th century Viking-era^[2] Europe, from the Kingdom of Norway where a young witch named Esther and her sister Dahlia were captured by Viking raiders. They were the only survivors and were kept alive so Dahlia could aid them by using her witchcraft. Esther was allowed to live freely. She turned her back on her magical heritage to marry Mikael, a wealthy landowner and powerful Viking warrior. She and her sister Dahlia, who since childhood had been her best friend, had sworn an oath to protect each other always and forever. They used to hum the song of the starlings together. Dahlia was distraught that Esther would rather lay with their captors than escape with her, as she lived like a slave. A year later Esther discovers she is barren, and her desire for children ended in failure. Desperate, Esther turned for help to her sister. Dahlia performed the ritual at a high price, and Esther became fertile. She gave birth to a daughter named Freya, who was quickly followed by a boy named Finn. By the time they left the Old World for the New World, Esther was pregnant with their third child, a boy named Elijah. Mikael was a good husband and a doting father, who adored his children but especially loved his daughter Freya. However, during Esther's third pregnancy and while Mikael was away, Dahlia came to collect her price; the first child of the first generation, just as Esther had promised. She had also promised that she would give up every first child for every generation to come. Dahlia took Freya, and Esther lied to Mikael, telling him their daughter died of the plague and that she burned the body to stop its spread.

Not wanting to lose any other children to Dahlia, Mikael and Esther, along with Finn, unborn Elijah, and Esther's friend and mentor Ayana, left Europe for the Americas, where several Viking colonies already existed. There, they settled in a village on the location of the future town of Mystic Falls in Virginia. Their neighbours were powerful werewolf warriors, and they quickly became a part of the society. Mikael became a fierce warrior who helped the werewolves in battle while Ayana became the village healer and taught Esther how to use her magic. Esther quickly became a very powerful witch, even considered by some as being the most powerful of her time. However, the loss of Freya had badly hurt Mikael, and he grew distant from his wife. Eventually, Esther took a liking to the young werewolf leader of the village, Ansel. The two begun an affair, as Mikael still neglected Esther. Esther eventually became pregnant with Ansel's child; and, realizing what Mikael would do to them if he ever found out, she returned to her husband. When she gave birth to a third boy, Niklaus, it renewed his hope for a family. Three more children would be born to Mikael and Esther; two sons, Kol and Henrik, and a daughter, Rebekah. However, Mikael had become harsher as a result of Freya's loss. While he loved his children he wanted them to be fierce warriors, and his children came to fear him. To prevent Mikael from finding out her wedlock son's nature, Esther gave Klaus a cursed pendant, which weakened him and prevented him from triggering his curse. This led him to be viewed badly by Mikael, and he suffered the brunt of his violence. Esther also forbade Ansel from seeing their son; but the werewolf remained close, knowing that Klaus would one day trigger his curse and need him. Despite Mikael's contempt for Klaus, the family was a close one. When Klaus was abused Esther taught him to hum a song, sung by the starlings she'd brought to the new world long ago, the song that her sister Dahlia and she used to hum.

However, the family's happiness came to an end when Klaus and Henrik, fascinated by the werewolves, snuck out of the caves to see them turn on the full moon, which was forbidden by their village's laws. Henrik was killed by the turned wolves. Desperate to protect their remaining children but refusing to run again, Mikael and Esther planned to use magic to prevent them from being hurt. Mikael had Esther turn him and their children into beings faster and stronger than werewolves, with their own fangs to attack, and heightened senses, and unable to be truly killed. Esther, upon her husband's request, called on the power of the sun for life, and the ancient white oak tree for immortality to make her children stronger and immortal while also using the magically spelled blood of a doppelganger to allow them to be reborn as a powerful new species. Mikael and his five remaining children turned while Esther remained a witch. However, for every new strength, a weakness plagued them, the sun that granted life would burn them and keep them inside until dark, vervain that grew on the white oak tree could burn them and prevent mind compulsion, while neighbors who had once invited them into their homes could now keep them out unless they are invited, and wood from the white oak tree is the one thing that can take their immortal lives away, by killing them. The worst of the weaknesses was the terrible hunger for blood (as the thing that had made them vampires, it was the thing they craved above all else). They had become the first of the vampire. In their hunger, they massacred half of their village. When Klaus made his first human kill, he triggered his werewolf curse, revealing his mother's infidelity. In his rage, Mikael slaughtered half the village before killing Ansel himself. He then forced his wife to suppress Klaus's werewolf side by using the blood of the doppelganger. Furious at his mother's betrayal, Klaus killed her and blamed his step-father for her death. Mikael fled from their village in his rage, followed by Finn and Kol. After burying their mother, Elijah, Klaus and Rebekah also left their hometown.

Despite originating in 10th century pre-Christianized Norway, most members of the family (all but Freya, Finn, Kol, and Henrik) carry non-Scandinavian names. The rest, apart from Niklaus, carry biblical Hebrew names: Mikael, Esther, Elijah, and Rebekah. The name Mikaelson, or any variants, would likely be anachronistic in 10th century Norway.

Members of the Mikaelson (Original) Family

Mikael

Mikael is the patriarch of the Mikaelson family. He is portrayed by Sebastian Roché.

Mikael was searching for Klaus and the rest of his family for a thousand years.^[3] He desired to kill Klaus, in order to get revenge for the murder of his wife and him being framed for it. He always had a bad relationship with Klaus, but caring enough to save him by turning him into a vampire but otherwise being hard on him when he was growing up. Unlike the rest of children who fell inline, Klaus was the black sheep of the family and acted differently, this was because he was the product of an affair Klaus' mother had with a werewolf. As such, Mikael was condescending, cold and abusive towards Klaus for no apparent reason, though Mikael tried to justify this by claiming he was trying to toughen Klaus up. This treatment contributed greatly to Klaus' narcissism, hunger for power, paranoia and psychosis.

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

Klaus eventually killed Mikael using the white oak stake after being saved by Stefan.

When the Original Vampires throw a ball in order to introduce themselves to the Mystic Falls community, they use the last name "Mikaelson", as a tribute to the patriarch.^[4] Ironically, Klaus also refers to himself as Mikaelson, despite his deep resentment of Mikael.

Mikael's ghost appears in New Orleans and convinces Davina to resurrect him, which is successful but found himself bound to Davina via a mystical bracelet or at least until Kol Mikaelson released him while Davina was knocked out.

Mikael is the oldest of the Original Family and considered the strongest and most powerful vampire in existence, although after Klaus breaks the sun and moon curse and became a hybrid it is likely that margin was somewhat narrowed, given they faced each other twice after that and Klaus prevails in the first encounter and gains the upper hand in the second only to be thwarted in an attempt to save Camille.

Klaus kills Mikael a second time in a surprise attempt to use his Viking ashes for a spell to defeat his Aunt Dahlia.

Esther

Esther is the matriarch of the Mikaelson family. She is portrayed by a British actress Alice Evans in The Vampire Diaries and was played by Natalie Dreyfuss in The Originals while possessing Cassie's body. She was played by Sonja Sohn while possessing Lenore's body. She was stuck in Lenore's body as a vampire.

She was not a vampire, but was a powerful witch. She was the apprentice of a very powerful Bennett witch, Ayanna, during her first years in the New World. Esther was responsible for turning her family into vampires. She did so by summoning life from the sun and immortality from a white oak tree, then making them drink the blood of Tatia, one of Amara's doppelgängers, before having Mikael kill them.

She was referred to as "The Original Witch",^[5] though she was not the first witch in the world. This was a reference to the fact that she was the witch who was a part of the Original Family.

Esther was murdered by Klaus in the early 11th century, because she used her powers, and those of some other fellow witches, to suppress his werewolf abilities and bind them to the moonstone through the use of a curse, and for making him the target of Mikael's hatred through her affair. Esther comes back to life in the 21st century, when she was awakened by Bonnie and Abby Bennett. Esther tries to kill all of her vampire children, whom she now believes to be abominations after seeing the violence that they embody. She obtains the help of her son Finn, who becomes willing to be sacrificed in order to end the pain that his siblings bring to the world. Esther also seeks the help of Bonnie Bennett and her mother Abby (descendants of the powerful ancient witch Ayanna) by channeling them and their bloodline, in order to gain more power to perform the spell that will kill her children. However, Esther's son Elijah finds out about the plan, and teams up with his siblings to force the Salvatore brothers to prevent his mother from killing the family by kidnapping Elena and threatening to kill her if the Salvatores do not stop Esther's endeavors. Damon ends up turning Bonnie's mother into a vampire, which ends her witch abilities and thus destroys the spell. Esther then flees from Mystic Falls to avoid her family.

In the season three episode, "Heart of Darkness", Esther returns to Mystic Falls. She tells Rebekah that she was dying, and wanted to see her daughter one last time; however, she had ulterior motives for returning. She grabs Rebekah's hands, and performs a spell in order to switch bodies with Rebekah, using her as a cover for safety. Esther was desperate to stay safe from Klaus and her other Original Vampire children who want her dead after learning of her plans to kill them all and ending the vampire race. After she returns to her own body, she was killed by Alaric's normal self, but not before she successfully performs the ritual on his dark side, and her body was put back into its coffin by Klaus.

Esther's remains are consecrated in New Orleans and as a result, she becomes a New Orleans witch, a witch that has or can use the collective power of all the dead New Orleans witches. She eventually becomes the leader of the Ancestors, the spirits of the dead witches who give their power to the living witches.

Freya Mikaelson

She is portrayed by an American-Canadian actress Riley Voelkel.

Mikael and Esther's firstborn child was a daughter. It was originally believed that she died in Europe at a very young age as the result of a plague that had struck their homeland. In reality, Esther's sister Dahlia took the child (and all firstborns from Esther's bloodline) as the price for the magic used to allow Esther to bear children. Esther lies to Mikael, and Freya's supposed death is what caused Mikael and Esther to move to a village in a "mystical land" far away in the New World, which was later called Mystic Falls.

Dahlia took Freya and taught her many of her secrets and, over the years, she became a very powerful witch. Eventually, Dahlia cast a spell on both of them which would provide them with "the next best thing" to immortality: they would slumber for one hundred years before waking for a year of aging. Eventually, Freya escaped from Dahlia, later telling her brothers, Klaus and Elijah, that it hadn't been easy and that she had lost something in the process. Freya hid from Dahlia's wrath and, eventually, ended up in New Orleans where she wanted to meet her family. Invited to a party thrown by her brothers and her sister as her brother Kol's date, she witnessed Klaus daggering Kol. As his date, she was imprisoned in a cottage which had become an asylum for mad witches since Klaus had a spell placed on it which prevented witches from leaving. Once inside the asylum, Freya returned to her slumber, remaining as such for a hundred years.

As her slumber came to an end, Freya discovered that her sister, Rebekah, had been imprisoned in the asylum when her spirit was placed in a witch body by a vengeful Kol. Pretending to be another inmate, she finally met her sister properly, admiring her bravery when she stood up to the Kindred witches who ran the asylum. Later, when Rebekah planned to draw on Freya (not knowing she was her sister) to break the spell on the asylum, the Kindred tried to stop her but Freya arrived and easily dispatched the Kindred with her magic before breaking the spell that contained the witches. Revealing her true identity to Rebekah, she told her that she would soon come to see their brothers. The first of them she met was her brother Finn, whom she had been close to as a child. Revealing what had happened to her after the kidnapping, Freya also learnt that her younger brother, Klaus, had fathered a daughter, something that would draw Dahlia once she found out. Helping Finn to kill Hope, she cast a spell to protect her brother for his upcoming confrontation with Elijah, who was protecting Hope. She later brought Finn back thanks to her spell when he was killed by Elijah. She also told him that, once Hope started doing magic, Dahlia would sense it and come for what was hers.

Sometime afterwards, once Finn was strong enough, Freya asked him to take her to Mikael, their father, who Finn had been using as a sacrificial power source in his battle with their brothers. Although Mikael was sceptical at first, he eventually recognized his long-lost daughter, and father and daughter happily reunited. Telling Mikael about the truth behind her disappearance and the threat posed by Dahlia, Freya then met with her brothers Klaus and Elijah, who had confronted Finn in the City of the Dead. Removing Finn's spirit from his host and placing him in her pendant, Freya told her brothers that Hope had nothing to fear from her or from Finn now that he was neutralized. She then told them that they needed to ally if they wanted to stop Dahlia, who was far more powerful than any witch they had ever come across. Although Klaus refused her help, especially when he learnt of her alliance with Mikael, Elijah was willing to hear her out and even ally with her but he told her that he did not trust her. Freya hoped that she would be able to one day win her younger brother's trust.

Freya is one of the most powerful witches to ever walk the earth, along with Dahlia, her niece Hope and her mother Esther. However, Hope's power seems even greater than Freya's and Esther's, as she is capable of accomplishing feats even Esther and Freya could not. Even Rebekah, whose knowledge of magic was quite limited, knew that Freya was far more powerful than any other witch she had encountered. Freya knew and mastered a vast number of spells and could accomplish them at a greater degree than other witches; namely, she could locate someone despite them being protected by a cloaking spell. She could also use her magic in a fight, something that not even a Harvest witch like Davina can do.

Finn Mikaelson

He is portrayed by a British actor Casper Zafer and was played by American actor Yusuf Gatewood while possessing Vincent Griffith's body.

Finn is Mikael and Esther's second born child and was the oldest living Mikaelson family member (he was also the only person to know the truth of Freya's "death," as he was there), until his elder sister Freya woke up. He is shown to be even more noble and moral than Elijah, but is more distant to his siblings since he views them as monsters. Finn once had a loving relationship with his siblings, but that changed after they became vampires, and after seeing how they acted he emotionally distanced himself. He still cared about them enough that he stayed with them but held a judgemental attitude towards them, especially Niklaus, whose relationship with Finn became hostile. This made Klaus decide to leave the White Oak Ash Dagger in Finn after The Brotherhood of the Five attacked them. However 900 years later, after Elijah un-daggered him, he conspired with Esther to link all the remaining Original Vampires so they could all be destroyed.^[6]

Finn was responsible for turning the 900-year-old vampire, Sage, with whom he is in love.^[7] Sage and Finn reunite shortly before his death.

He is killed in the season 3 episode "The Murder of One", when Stefan, Elena and Matt kill him, thinking that it will kill all of the Originals due to their "linked" status.^[8] However, Klaus manages to force Bonnie into unlinking the siblings moments before Finn is killed. It is revealed through Finn's death that when an Original dies, all vampires of his or her bloodline die as well.^[8]

As was revealed in the season finale of The Originals, Finn returns along with his mother Esther and brother Kol in another body of a male witch named Vincent.

Elijah Mikaelson

He is portrayed by New Zealand actor Daniel Gillies

Elijah first appears in episode eight of season two, entitled "Rose". Elijah is brought into the circle by two vampires named Rose and Trevor. They make a deal to be allowed immunity from Elijah and the Originals if they hand over Elena Gilbert, the new Petrova doppelgänger. It is later revealed that Rose and Trevor were the vampires who failed to keep Katerina Petrova (Katherine Pierce) alive for Klaus to sacrifice in the ritual required to become a vampire/werewolf Hybrid. They were subsequently hunted by Klaus and Elijah for centuries.

Elijah had feelings for Katerina in 1492 (perhaps due to her resemblance to Tatia, a former doppelgänger he was in love with), and tried to save her from Klaus; however, she did not trust Elijah and chose to flee. Later, he would punish her for her betrayal by compelling her to stay in a tomb until he said otherwise.

Elena is rescued by the Salvatore brothers not long after Elijah kills Trevor, who had betrayed Elijah in the past by helping Katerina escape. The Salvatores attack Elijah and succeed in staking him; however, he comes back to life at the end of the episode because he is an Original Vampire who can not be killed by any wooden stake. Only wood from the ancient White Oak Tree, which his family burned when they became vampires, can kill Originals. Elijah then works with a witch to locate Elena.

The witch is able to locate her, so he goes to Mystic Falls to confront her, where he ends up saving her from a group of vampires who also wanted to take Elena. It is revealed that those vampires wanted to hand her over to Klaus. When Elijah discovers this, he makes peace with Elena and her friends, because he wants to use Elena as bait to draw out Klaus and kill him. He thus makes a deal with Elena that if she helps him kill Klaus, he will leave her family and her friends alone and keep them safe. However, he intends for Elena to be successfully sacrificed, as once Klaus breaks the curse and starts transforming, he will be left vulnerable enough to be killed. During a series of events, Elijah is temporarily "killed" when Elena stabs him with a mystical dagger that can kill an Original when dipped in ash from the White Oak Tree.

When Klaus comes to town, Elena un-daggers Elijah because she needs his help, and he then reveals to her his family's history, and the fact that Klaus killed the rest of his siblings. Elijah thus at first tries to help Elena and her friends kill Klaus, but ends up saving him instead in the Season 2 finale episode, because Klaus promises to take Elijah to their family (Elijah had assumed Klaus had hidden their "dead" bodies deep in the ocean) if Elijah spares him. In season two's finale however, it is revealed that Klaus double-crossed Elijah once again, and daggered him to keep him close to him, like the rest of his daggered siblings.

Damon undaggers Elijah later in season 3 to help him find a way to kill Klaus. When Elijah awakes, he undaggers the rest of his siblings who were located in similar coffins in the same room. They begin to plot their revenge against Klaus; however, before they can make their move, their mother Esther, thought to be dead, reappears and convinces the siblings to be a family again [which later turns out to be a front for her true motives; she wants to link her children's lives together and kill one of them to kill the rest, rendering vampires extinct].

After Elijah foils his mother's plans to kill him and his siblings, he leaves Mystic Falls a tortured soul, ashamed of his own barbaric actions and those of his family's. He is shown to be one of the most sophisticated and peaceful of the Original siblings, alongside his older brother Finn. He is the most compromising regarding Elena and her friends. Elijah and Elena develop a sort of understanding, and Elena comes to be fond of Elijah's company. She thus feels especially betrayed when earlier Elijah threatened to allow Rebekah to kill Elena if the Salvatore brothers are not able to stop Esther Mikaelson from killing the Original Family. However, in the 18th episode of season 3, Elena professes that she hopes that her vampire friends are descended from Elijah's bloodline, so that he can be spared. Elijah returns to town in the season three finale episode, "The Departed", in order to make a deal with Elena and her friends. Elijah proposes that he be allowed to take Klaus's desiccated (by witch Bonnie and help from the Salvatores and Tyler) body with him and his siblings and leave town, and in exchange, he would make sure that Klaus would not be resurrected within Elena's lifetime or even that of her children, stating: "perhaps that will teach him some manners". However, Klaus is staked, and Elijah and Rebekah believe him to be dead, even though Klaus actually possessed Tyler Lockwood's body and lives on.

In season four, Elijah reappears as Katherine's lover, and is making a deal with Katherine for her to be granted her freedom from Klaus in exchange for the cure for immortality, which Klaus wants to give to Silas, the world's first and most dangerous immortal being, to avoid Silas' psychic torture. Elijah refuses Klaus the cure for Rebekah to take before Silas re-claims it, denying Katherine's freedom. Elijah breaks up with Katherine when he learns Klaus has fathered a child and returns to New Orleans to keep Klaus' unborn baby safe and help his brother.

He follows his brother Klaus to New Orleans and finds out that Hayley is pregnant with Klaus' child. He begins to have feelings for Hayley and throughout 'The Originals' the two make their feelings for each other clear. When Esther returns, she reveals the truth about how Elijah's first love, Tatia, was killed, proving it was in fact himself who had fed on her when they had newly been vampires. During one of Finn's spells Elijah is trapped in a room with animal heads which represent each brother of the family. To escape, Elijah discovers you must ruin the representation of each other, thus causing him to share with Klaus that he killed Tatia. When Klaus proves he is capable of forgiveness the spell is broken and they are free.

Niklaus Mikaelson

Niklaus Mikaelson (more commonly called Klaus) is physically the most powerful immortal supernatural being in The Vampire Diaries and The Originals universe. He is shown to be cruel, sadistic and ruthless, yet finds love in Caroline Forbes. He is portrayed by British actor Joseph Morgan. After the Original couple moved to the Americas, Klaus's mother had an affair with a member of the neighboring werewolf tribe. Klaus was born as a result. The mother's infidelity was later revealed. His illegitimate birth as well as his perceived weaknesses made him the target of his step-father's ruthless hatred, emotional neglect and abuse, and contempt.

When Esther turned the family into vampires, Klaus's blood-lust became particularly strong and he transitioned into a hybrid after his first kill, due to his werewolf gene. However, Esther later bound his werewolf powers to the moonstone, due to her believing that his hybrid status made him an abomination. In order to obtain his werewolf abilities, Klaus had to perform a ritual in which a werewolf, a vampire and a Petrova doppelgänger had to be sacrificed. Klaus first hunted Katerina Petrova, later known as Katherine Pierce, who was from the line of supernatural Petrova doppelgängers. In order to avoid being sacrificed by Klaus and allowing him to gain his werewolf powers, Katerina drinks the blood of a vampire and then kills herself in order to transition into a vampire. She then becomes useless to Klaus because his ritual requires a human doppelgänger. Katherine subsequently spends centuries on the run from Klaus, who is enraged at her actions. As a result, Klaus kills her entire family and continues to hunt her obsessively.

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

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

At one point, Klaus blackmails Stefan into helping him create more hybrids, by threatening to kill his brother Damon. Klaus forces Stefan to return to his old, deadly ways, and returns Stefan to the Salvatores' former sociopathic persona, known as "The Ripper".^[9] When Klaus discovers that he needs Elena's blood to create his hybrid army, he sends Stefan back to Mystic Falls to keep an eye on her, but also forces Stefan to turn off his emotions (an ability that all vampires have). Tyler Lockwood ends up becoming Klaus' first successful hybridized victim.

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

Klaus' humanity (emotions) is rarely shown. His affection for Caroline Forbes represents a more human side to Klaus, such as when he invites her to his family's ball, sending her a gown to wear. Glimpses of his humanity can also be seen in regard to his half-siblings, such as when he saves his half-sister's life when Kol was about to stab her with the white oak stake, in spite of the fact that he had previously disowned her and the two were at odds, or when he became infuriated over his half-brother Kol's death. There are also small instances when it's revealed how deeply he cares for his unborn child, and even the child's mother Hayley.

In the season three episode, "Before Sunset", Klaus is temporarily "killed" by the Salvatores and Tyler Lockwood.^[10] He tries to kill Elena by draining her of all her blood in order to kill two birds with one stone; (1) have a supply of her blood with which to create a hybrid army, (2) kill the vampire form of the vampire-hating Alaric Saltzman, who desires to kill Klaus and all other vampires and whose life is tied to Elena's by the witch Esther. Subsequently, Elena's friends neutralize Klaus in order to protect her. Instead of staking him, which could potentially kill them all (see "Mythology" section), the Salavatore brothers use Bonnie's magic and a dark spell to stop Klaus' heart, which "desiccates"^[10] him and leaves him immobile and starved of blood, and thus in a seemingly "dead" state. A similar spell was performed on Klaus's step-father, Mikael, by Bonnie's mother, Abby Bennett.^[10] In the season three finale episode "The Departed", Klaus is staked in his coffin by the vampire form of Alaric Saltzman and subsequently, his body burns to ashes, (see "Mythology" section). However, Klaus lives on by switching bodies with Tyler Lockwood, through a spell which Bonnie Bennett performs.^[11]

In "Bring It On" Klaus sleeps with Hayley Marshall and provides her with information in regards to her family, because he noticed a crescent moon shaped birthmark on her shoulder.

In "The Originals", the backdoor pilot for the spin-off show, Klaus is told by a group of witches who are blackmailing him, that Hayley is carrying his child. They threaten to kill the child and Hayley if he doesn't. Klaus decides he wants this child. So he vows to protect Hayley and their unborn child, whatever it takes.

In "500 Years of Solitude", Klaus returns to Mystic Falls when he hears that Katerina Petrova is on her death bed. At first, he came back to gloat over her corpse, but when Caroline asks him not to, he obeys. Later, he asks Caroline for her confession about her feelings for him, and the two have a one-night stand in the forest, after which he promises to leave and never return. Caroline does not come back until late at night.

As the Original Vampire-Werewolf Hybrid, Klaus is the strongest of the original vampires, despite not being the eldest, he grows stronger and faster with age due to his vampirism and when he is using his lycanthrope enhancement, also increase in strength when enraged; due to his werewolf side.

In Klaus's confrontations against the-then Enhanced Original Vampire Alaric Saltzman, his step-father Mikael, and the Upgraded Original Vampires Lucien Castle and Marcel Gerard respectively, the latters' are apparently proven to be physically stronger than Klaus, however, it should be noted in each of these confrontations, the Original Hybrid never truly used his full strength, as his physical attributes (such as strength and speed) are at their peaks when he is fully transformed into his werewolf form.

Although stronger than his Original Vampire maternal half-siblings due to his werewolf heritage, some of his half-siblings have been shown to be able to fight with him almost equal terms; not enough to actually defeat Klaus, as the latter always quickly turns the tables on his half-siblings in the end.

His supernatural and physical attributes aside, Klaus' greatest asset is his sharp intellect. His penchant for strategies and forming contingencies way ahead of time and surpasses Elijah's penchant for strategies and forming contingencies; as he has outsmarted Elijah on several occasions and rarely is outsmarted by the latter. According to Dahlia, Klaus is the most intelligent of his maternal half-siblings.

Kol Mikaelson

Kol is the youngest surviving son of the Original Family, since the death of his younger brother Henrik and the second youngest child still living, being older than Rebekah. He is portrayed by Australian actor Nathaniel Buzolic and was played by British actor Daniel Sharman while possessing Kaleb's body.

He tries to kill Matt Donovan for entertainment during the Originals' family ball, but is stopped by Damon Salvatore.^[12]

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

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

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

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

Kol returned in the season four episode "The Walking Dead", along with several deceased characters as ghosts, longing for revenge against their killers and the residents of Mystic Falls. He clashes once more Matt Donovan, wounding him by throwing a glass bottle at his shoulder and taunting his sister, angered at her brief grieving period, before proceeding to attack Elena, grieving for her brother at his grave. His neck is snapped by Stefan before he managed to kill Elena, however appears in the next episode, "Graduation", threatening Bonnie into completely destroying the veil so he could return to life. Bonnie plays along with his plan, however deceives him by luring him into a trap, so he can't cause any more harm until the veil is returned.

Kol later appears to Matt Donovan while Matt is temporarily trapped on the Other Side. After Matt witnesses his sister Vicky being sucked into oblivion, Kol reveals that the Other Side is unraveling, slowly taking one spirit after the other. Soon, every spirit of the supernatural kind will be gone. Kol begs Matt for his help, before he, too, will be swept away. However, upon awaking, Matt doesn't remember. Soon, the Other Side completely disintegrates, and Kol's fate is left unknown.

Some time later in season 2 of The Originals, a young man named Kaleb appears in New Orleans, flirting with the young but powerful witch Davina Claire. He later meets up with Cassie and Vincent, two witches whose bodies have been taken over by Esther and Finn. It's revealed that Kaleb is actually Kol, having taken possession of a body as well. Kol continues his relationship with Davina Claire, originally because his mother told him to but develops feelings for her. He chooses to side with Davina over his mother Esther who he helps stop along with his siblings. However, this leads to his brother Finn casting a spell on him which eventually kills him, leaving Davina heartbroken. In season 3 Davina works to resurrect Kol which she succeeds in doing by aligning herself with the Strix to get the power she needed.

Rebekah Mikaelson

Rebekah is currently the youngest member of the original family since Henrik died over a thousand years ago. She is portrayed by Australian actress Claire Holt and was played British actress Maisie Richardson-Sellers while possessing Eva Sinclair's body.

She and her living siblings, Elijah, Finn, Klaus and Kol were turned into vampires by their parents, Esther and Mikael Mikaelson. Their father slipped human blood into their wine then stabbed them all. Then, their mother who is an original witch, performed a spell using white oak ash for eternal life. When they woke, their father forced them to drink human blood. The intention of turning them into vampires was so that they could survive in their village and be stronger and faster and even more vigilant than the werewolves, who killed their youngest brother. However, the great hunger and lust for blood was a bad effect that their parents didn't plan on. Vervain, a plant by the white oak tree burned them, as did sunlight, which caused them to be forced to wear daylight rings or necklaces. The only thing that can really kill an Original is a stake made of the actual white oak tree used to turn them, while a dagger dipped in the ash of the white oak can place them in a deathlike trance until the dagger is pulled out.

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

She had a romantic interest in Stefan Salvatore during their encounters in the early 1920s.^[13] During that time period, Klaus and Rebekah are once again forced to go on the run after the arrival of their vengeful father Mikael. Consequently, Rebekah professes an interest to stop running and desires to live a stable life with Stefan by her side. Klaus forces her to choose between himself and Stefan. She chooses the latter, leading Klaus to dagger her. He brings her back to life shortly thereafter, in order to obtain her necklace, which was originally Esther's. The same necklace is gifted to Elena by Stefan during the series first season. Rebekah and Klaus thus head to Mystic Falls. Rebekah develops a deep hatred and envy of Elena, and continually tries to hurt, kill, and emotionally distress her, until her brother makes her stop. Later on, Rebekah tries to be Elena's friend and helps with her and her friends' plan to kill Klaus once she found out he killed her mother, but is betrayed, once again daggered by Elena, to simplify the Salvatores' plans of killing Klaus. In season three, Klaus makes Elena reveal Rebekah's location, and takes her body with him. She is eventually un-daggered by Elijah.

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

Rebekah is shown to be lonely and insecure, though she hides this by being cruel and violent. This is demonstrated quite well through her sexual rendezvouses with Damon Salvatore, an enemy of her family, and the subsequent torture she makes him endure after being betrayed and used by him.^[8]

Her mother Esther comes back and tells Rebekah and her siblings she wants them to unite and become a family again. However, she really came to kill them all by linking them with a spell that would cause each sibling to die only by killing one of them. Klaus forces Bonnie to undo the spell but Elena and the Salvatores and others kill Finn, Rebekah's brother.

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

Rebekah supposedly leaves Mystic Falls in the season three episode "Before Sunset", in order to avoid the vampiric version of Alaric Saltzman, who wants to kill her and all other vampires.^[10] However, she then returns to Mystic Falls after witnessing the supposed "death" of her brother. Grief-stricken, she decides to kill Elena, therefore killing Alaric and taking away the last threat to her and her family therefore saving her family. She causes both Elena and Matt Donovan to drive off of the Wickery Bridge and into the lake to drown, and Elena dies, along with Alaric. However, Elena had vampire blood in her system, something Rebekah was unaware of.

In season four, Rebekah is yet again daggered by Klaus, after he believes she will be an obstacle in finding The Cure. However, she is then un-daggered by April Young, and sets upon finding it herself. After developing a 'no strings attached' relationship with Stefan, she reveals she wants to be human, feeling miserable as a vampire.

In season two of The Originals, after Klaus's child is born she returns to New Orleans and is named the caretaker of Klaus's child. She promises to get a strong witch to protect her and her niece from Esther, who wants to kill the baby In season 3 Rebekah makes a return

Henrik Mikaelson

Henrik was the child of Esther and Mikael. He was killed by werewolves a thousand years ago, before the family had been turned into vampires.^[14] He is portrayed by Devon Allowitz in season three.

His death created a war between the werewolf clan and his own family, causing his mother to turn the family into vampires, so they could defend themselves against the lycanthropic beasts.

Hope Mikaelson

She is portrayed by Alexandria and Victoria Collins, in Rebirth, then later Blake and Charlie, Summer Fontana in Season 4 and Danielle Rose Russell in Season 5.

Hope is the daughter of Klaus and the former-werewolf Hayley Marshall. Hope is the result of a one-night stand between her parents, and after her birth her family agreed to fake her death to protect her from all those who wish her harm. Klaus, after promising to get Hope back one day, gives her to the only person he can trust to protect and raise his daughter: his sister, Rebekah. Hope is returned to her parents later in Season 2.

Hope is extremely powerful who, apart from being a vampire-werewolf hybrid, is also a witch of the Mikaelson bloodline which is one of the most powerful witch lineages in the TVD Universe. Moreover, her vampire side is that of an original, making her almost invincible and more powerful than average vampires and her werewolf side is that of an alpha, through Hayley, making her royalty among the werewolves, the Princess of the Crescent pack and probably even next-in-line to lead the pack.

It is important to note that, due to the way in which Hayley became a hybrid, she is not linked to any of the Originals. As such, if the Originals were to be destroyed, hence wiping out all vampires, Hayley would be the only vampire left on Earth. It is unknown what would happen to any vampires she sires if she is destroyed, though given the nature of her transformation, it is possible that they would survive.

Dahlia

She is portrayed by Australian actress Claudia Black.

The sister of Esther, and first-born witch of that generation of their family, Dahlia is one of the most powerful witches in history, far more than that of her sister, already regarded as one of the most powerful. Dahlia was taken, along with Esther from her homeland, which was destroyed by the Vikings who locked her away as a slave to do magic whilst allowing Esther to roam freely. When Ester decides to marry one of their captors instead of escape with her sister and best friend, Dahlia becomes a hate-filled woman. Years later Esther discovers she is infertile and in desperation seeks out her sister. Dahlia agrees to perform a ritual that will give her fertility, if Esther agrees to give her the first-born child of every generation, all of whom, like Dahlia, would possess immense magical power. Esther obliges and Dahlia comments that she would be able to help herself if Esther hadn't given up magic. Years later Dahlia contacts her sister wishing to collect her fee, 5-year old Freya Mikaelson. Esther, upset, begs her sister not to take her daughter, and swears to grow in power until she is more powerful than Dahlia, claiming she did not know the love of a parent to a child when she made the deal. Dahlia commands Esther to tell Mikael that their daughter died from the bubonic plague and her body was burned.

Described by Freya as the most powerful witch she has ever seen, Dahlia first gained her enhanced powers by linking her magic to the magic possessed by her then five-year-old niece Freya. Once Freya reached adulthood, Dahlia then cast a spell that allows them both to gain pseudo-immortality by leap-frogging through time; the women were put into a magically-induced sleep for nearly a century, only to awaken for one single year of life and aging with all of the magic they accrued over their hundred-year-long slumber, before they would once again return to their sleep after the year had passed.

Dahlia's understanding of magic after so many years of study is extensive enough that she was able to create her own form of connective magic in the 10th century. She also has the ability to sense the magic of other witches, especially those of the first-born children of her and her sister Esther's bloodline, as the first-born witches of their lineage possess devastating amounts of power. According to Freya, Dahlia aims to be truly immortal without having to sleep for centuries, and she will not hesitate to come and claim the first-born Mikaelson witches to achieve this goal, even if it means destroying anyone who stands in her way.

Mythology and powers

Being the oldest and most powerful vampires, the Original Vampires are stronger and faster than all normal vampires, though it is implied they do not get stronger with age due to being created at the zenith of vampiric physical prowess. (Alaric was just as strong, if not stronger, than the other Original Vampires despite being a day old. So too was Lucien, strong enough to kill Finn). It is possible that the spell used to make an Original Vampires, gives them the peak powers of vampirism. Also, werewolves prove little to no challenge for them, though they can be challenging in their wolf form (where they are at their strongest) as a pack of four can defeat an Original Vampire (Rebekah) and two human form werewolves with moonrings (which allows them to use the full power of their condition) overpowered Elijah. Also, Original Vampires are somewhat immune to werewolf venom, which is fatal to normal vampires but it still affects Original Vampires, though they only experience weakness and hallucinations. Original Vampires have the power to "compel" or hypnotize ordinary vampires in addition to humans, though they cannot compel each other.^[15]

Nothing can kill an Original Vampire, except for a heart-aimed stake made only of the ancient white oak tree or the immense power of a very powerful witch, though channeling that much power will also kill the witch. If an Original Vampire is stabbed by a white oak stake, he or she will die and burn to ashes. Using a silver dagger dipped in the ashes of the white oak tree will cause the Original Vampires to be neutralized as long as the dagger remains within them; however, that type of dagger would not work on Klaus due to his hybrid nature, and only a pure white oak stake could kill him. However, Davina and Kol had created a gold dagger with the ability to subdue Klaus. Other stakes temporarily disable Original Vampires, but they recuperate in hours. This was demonstrated when Elijah pulled out the wooden stake that Damon had plunged into his chest when attempting to rescue Elena from Rose and Trevor.^[16]

When an Original Vampire dies, all of the vampires from his or her bloodline die as well.^[8] This is demonstrated when Damon, Stefan, Elena and Matt kill Finn, resulting in the deaths of Sage and Troy, (Finn had sired Sage and Sage had sired Troy, thus creating a blood line).^[8] Thus, if all Original Vampires were to be killed, the entire vampire species would be rendered extinct, since all the vampires in the world are descended from the Original Vampires. However, in season 3 of the Originals, Klaus and his sireline are unlinked, meaning that if Klaus were to die, his sireline would continue to live on. It is unknown if any new Vampires that Klaus sired would be linked to him, or if they would also be unlinked, it is also unknown if Klaus' sireline can be relinked to him again.

However, it is necessary for the Original Vampire's spirit to cross the veil, in order for his or her bloodline to follow suit. In the season three finale episode "The Departed", Klaus manages to switch bodies with Tyler Lockwood before being staked and lives on; thus, even though his body supposedly burnt to ashes, none of his bloodline is affected.^[11]

In season four it was revealed that the spell Esther used to create the Original Vampires is a variation of the spell Qetsiyah, the ancestor of her friend Ayana, used to create the immortality elixir.

Klaus, the Original hybrid, was fertile due to his werewolf nature and thus impregnates Hayley, giving him a daughter named Hope. She has only shown witch powers and presumably would be a werewolf if she killed anyone, but her blood can create hybrids sired to her. She has created a new sire line by turning her mother. While initially it was unknown if her death would result in the death of her "descendants" like for any other original vampires, Hayley was later described as an "Unsired Vampire", meaning that any hybrid or vampire that Hope sires would continue to live on if she were to be killed.

TV series

On January 11, 2013, it was announced that a back-door pilot focused on the Originals, starring Joseph Morgan as Klaus titled The Originals would air April 25 for a potential series pick-up for the 2013-2014 season.^[17] This second spin-off attempt is carried out by Julie Plec. There is no involvement by Kevin Williamson.^[18]

In February 2013, it was announced that Daniella Pineda was cast as the witch Sophie for episode 4x20 of The Vampire Diaries. This episode serves as a backdoor-pilot for the spin-off series, revolving around the Originals and taking place in the French Quarter of New Orleans. She was a regular cast member for first thirteen episodes of the series.

On February 11, 2013 it was announced that Leah Pipes was cast as the human Camille. Although there has been talk of a love triangle between Elijah and Klaus with this bartender/college student, there isn't any evidence to support this. However the character was in a small love triangle for couple episodes, but isn't anymore.

See also

• List of The Vampire Diaries characters

References