The Vampire Diaries is an American supernatural drama television series developed by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, based on the popular book series of the same name written by L. J. Smith. The series premiered on The CW on September 10, 2009 and concluded on March 10, 2017, airing 171 episodes over eight seasons.

The pilot episode attracted the largest audience for The CW of any series premiere since the network began in 2006. The first season averaged 3.60 million viewers. It was the most-watched series on the network before being supplanted by Arrow. The show has received numerous award nominations, winning four People's Choice Award and many Teen Choice Awards.

On April 26, 2013, The CW officially announced that the spin-off The Originals, which focuses on the Original family of vampires, had been ordered to series, and the show began airing during the 2013–14 American television season.

On April 6, 2015, lead actress Nina Dobrev confirmed via Instagram that she and co-star Michael Trevino (who plays Tyler Lockwood) would be leaving the show after its sixth season. Dobrev returned to record a voiceover for the seventh season finale. Trevino appeared as a guest star in season seven and returned for season 8. On March 11, 2016, The CW renewed the series for an eighth season, but on July 23, 2016, announced that the eighth season, which would have 16 episodes, would be the show's last. The final season began airing on October 21, 2016.

Series overview

The series is set in the fictional town of Mystic Falls, Virginia, a town charged with supernatural history since its settlement of migrants from New England in the late 19th century. It follows the life of Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev), a teenage girl who has just lost both parents in a car accident, as she falls in love with a 162-year-old vampire named Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley). Their relationship becomes increasingly complicated as Stefan's mysterious older brother Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder) returns, with a plan to bring back their past lover Katherine Pierce, a vampire who looks exactly like Elena. Although Damon is initially the villain and harbors a grudge against his brother for forcing him to become a vampire, he later reconciles with Stefan and falls in love with Elena, creating a love triangle among the three. Both brothers protect Elena as they face various villains and threats to their town, including Katherine. The brothers' history and the town's mythology are revealed through flashbacks as the series goes on.

Additional story lines revolve around the other inhabitants of the town, most notably Elena's younger brother Jeremy Gilbert (Steven R. McQueen), her best friends Bonnie Bennett, (Kat Graham), and Caroline Forbes (Candice King), their mutual friends Tyler Lockwood (Michael Trevino), and Matt Donovan (Zach Roerig), and their history teacher, vampire hunter Alaric Saltzman (Matthew Davis). The town's politics are orchestrated by descendants of the original founding families, all comprising a "Founders' Council." The founding families of Mystic Falls includes the Salvatores, the Gilberts, the Fells, the Forbes, and the Lockwoods. They guard the town mainly from vampires, although there are many more supernatural threats such as werewolves, witches, hybrids, ghosts and many more.

Cast and characters

• Nina Dobrev as Elena Gilbert (seasons 1–6; uncredited voiceover season 7; guest season 8), whom the series follows as she falls in love with Stefan, and later leaves him after leading everyone to believe he was her true love, for his brother, Damon Salvatore, creating a love triangle. This results in her being drawn into the supernatural world, with the show following her struggles in surviving supernatural events in the town. Dobrev also portrays Elena's doppelgänger, Katerina Petrova also known as Katherine Pierce. Katherine sporadically appeared in subsequent seasons and played a significant role in the fifth season. Dobrev has also played the Original doppelgänger, Silas' true love known as Amara during the fifth season, whom he sought in the afterlife for two thousand years. Dobrev also played another Doppelgänger Tatia in The Originals season 2 episode "Red Door." In the season 6 finale, Elena's life was tied to Bonnie's in such a way that as long as Bonnie is alive Elena will remain asleep. Damon put Elena in a coffin and had Tyler hide her in a warehouse in Brooklyn for the next 60 years or so while he waits to reunite with her.

• Paul Wesley as Stefan Salvatore, a good-hearted and affectionate vampire and the complete opposite of his older brother, Damon Salvatore. Later in the series, Stefan reverts to his old ways as a Ripper to save Damon from a werewolf bite and his role becomes more antagonistic, especially after he is forced to turn his humanity off. Eventually, he returns to his good-hearted and caring self and reconciles with Elena, but the relationship doesn't last long. He is killed in the series finale as he sacrifices himself for Mystic Falls. Wesley also portrays his revealed doppelgänger, Silas (seasons 4–5), the world's first immortal being. Wesley also played another doppelgänger, Tom Avery, during the fifth season.

• Ian Somerhalder as Damon Salvatore, the malevolent vampire brother who initially served as the show's anti-hero. He is mostly thought of as selfish and manipulative, but later on in the series, he begins to display a more caring side. Though his love for Elena is initially one-sided, she begins to develop feelings for him as they work together to save Stefan after he's given in to his ripper side. They begin dating in season 4, and continue to date (with some breakups along the way) until Elena is put into her deep sleep at the end of season 6. Damon is extremely close with Stefan, but also has a close relationship with Bonnie, despite the fact that they hated each other for the first 5 seasons of the series. Throughout seasons 6 and 7, their relationship has developed into a deeper bond, with Damon later confirming Bonnie is his best friend.

• Steven R. McQueen as Jeremy Gilbert (seasons 1–6; special appearance season 8), Elena's younger brother, later revealed to be her biological cousin and a member of The Five, a vampire hunter. Jeremy is killed in season 4 after Katherine throws him onto Silas, who drains his blood. He is resurrected by Bonnie Bennett, his love interest, in the season 4 finale. He leaves town numerous times during the show, and has only come back once since his exit mid season 6, to say goodbye to Elena.

• Sara Canning as Jenna Sommers (seasons 1–2; guest seasons 3, 5; special appearance season 8), Jeremy and Elena's aunt and legal guardian. Canning left the show after season two when Jenna was killed after being turned into a vampire and used for Klaus' ritual.

• Kat Graham as Bonnie Bennett, Elena and Caroline's best friend and a very powerful witch, who has died numerous times during the show but always returned. She is often able to use her magic to help the group, and while she initially hates vampires, particularly Damon, she ends up warming up to them and becomes Damon's best friend after being stuck in a prison world with him for months. Bonnie has lost and regained her ability to do magic multiple times throughout the show. She spent seasons 1–4 in an on-again, off-again relationship with Elena's brother Jeremy and later became involved with Enzo.

• Candice King as Caroline Forbes, Bonnie and Elena's best friend, who was insecure and often jealous of Elena at first, but after becoming a vampire in the second season comes into her own. Neurotic but lovable, Caroline has been the love interest of many of the male characters. Initially serving as Damon's plaything in season 1, which she still hates him for, she has had serious relationships with Matt, Tyler, Alaric, and Stefan, and was long the subject of Klaus's adoration. Currently, she is raising twins with Alaric.

• Zach Roerig as Matt Donovan, Elena's childhood friend and ex-boyfriend, who became romantically involved with Caroline in season 1. They remain good friends even after breaking up during the third season. Matt wants no part in the supernatural events in his town and later is at odds with the vampires as he becomes a police officer and tries to protect the town from them.

• Kayla Ewell as Vicki Donovan (season 1; recurring seasons 2–3, 5; guest season 8), the drug-addicted sister of Matt. She appears to be dating Tyler but is more interested in Jeremy. She is turned into a vampire by Damon and is killed by Stefan shortly after. Ewell left the show after the first season but has appeared as a guest in multiple seasons since.

• Michael Trevino as Tyler Lockwood (seasons 1–6; guest season 7; special appearance season 8), a werewolf later turned into a hybrid, Jeremy and Matt's best friend, and son of the mayor of Mystic Falls; male members of his family have been shown to carry a lycanthropic trait. His uncle Mason was also a werewolf, who was killed by Damon in season two. He was turned into the first successful hybrid by Klaus. In the season 5 finale, he is returned to being just a werewolf. He leaves town at the end of season 6, though he appears in a couple episodes of season 7, protecting Elena's coffin.

• Matt Davis as Alaric Saltzman (seasons 1–3, 6–8; recurring season 4–5), a history teacher, vampire hunter, and love interest for Jenna. Davis left the show at the end of season three after Alaric was killed. His character returned as a regular in season 6, after he was resurrected. Alaric is able to return to being a human with the help of Josette Laughlin (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe) and the two begin dating. Jo becomes pregnant and they plan to marry, but she is murdered by Kai at their wedding. Jo's family of witches was able to transfer the babies to Caroline, however, so she gives birth to their twins, and Caroline and Alaric move to Dallas together. They begin a relationship, but end it when Caroline decides to be with Stefan after his return at the end of season 7.

• Joseph Morgan as Original Vampire Klaus Mikaelson (recurring season 2, seasons 3–4; special guest seasons 5, 7). He begins to build an army of new "hybrids," which are half vampire and half werewolf. During season 3, Klaus began to develop feelings for Caroline and falls in love with her. Morgan left the show after the fourth season when Klaus moved on to his own spin-off, The Originals.

• Michael Malarkey as Enzo St. John (seasons 6–8; recurring season 5), a vampire formerly under the imprisonment of the Augustine society. He was Damon Salvatore's cellmate back in the 1950s when the latter was captured by the Augustines. He and Damon revived their friendship as he searched for his lost lover, Maggie. In the episode "Man on Fire," Enzo shut off his humanity and then Stefan Salvatore ripped out his heart. He was resurrected in the season finale, and later becomes Bonnie's love interest before coming under the control of the monster in the vault at the end of season 7.