The Vampire Diaries Characters Ranked

There's a cold heart buried beneath

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I’ve been binging The Vampire Diaries and it’s way better than I was expecting. Great jumpscares, great cliffhangers, great worldbuilding, hilariously clever dialogue, amazing soundtrack, and sophisticated storytelling. It gets you to feel compassion for monsters surprisingly quickly, because most of these monsters are compelling characters. This ranking is not so much about "How much do I personally like this character,” although there is definitely some of that, but more so, "How well do I think this character is written?" which tends to mean more complexity and conflict.

1. Damon
   Damon is psychopathic and machiavellian and homicidal, but underneath his dgaf attitude, he’s also a good-hearted simp. He numbed himself to his humanity because he was tired of caring about people who didn’t care about him—mainly his dad and Katherine. He didn’t want to feel guilt anymore and he didn’t want to feel pain, so now he lives without guilt or remorse. He’s psycho, but he’s loyal to the very short list of people whom he actually cares about. What makes Damon different is that he’s willing to be the bad guy and he does what needs to be done because he really doesn’t care about what anyone thinks about him, except Elena of course :) He’s got quick wit and humor and is remarkably crafty. He gets credit for never letting Katherine seduce or manipulate him ever again after his limerence dissipates. tbh, Damon should be hated because he never really atoned for all of his murders, but that’s why he’s such a good character—it’s shocking how likable he is despite how psycho he is. Damon felt that no one ever chose him in his life, but he didn’t realize that his brother had always been choosing him all along.

   

   

   Whoever wrote this show… my God, it’s so good.

2. Stefan
   While Damon is homicidal, Stefan is more suicidal. He’s broody and serious. He feels the weight of his sin and it constantly pervades his subconscious. Stelena was a better “epic love” than Delena, even though Delena was really good and more fun. Stefan was a pretty 1-dimensional typical “perfect boyfriend” during most of season 1, but things got really good when they made him a blood junkie. Adding this complexity to his character gave more legitimacy to his “perfect boyfriend” side. Two moments that make Stefan greater than a typical good guy are:
   1) He agrees to go on a ripper-bender with Klaus in order to save Damon
   2) He honors Elena’s choice to have him save Matt instead of her, letting her die.
   Stefan is constantly plagued by guilt and that makes his addiction problems even worse. He has top-tier perfect boyfriend one-liners and also highly values every life, although the poor bunnies would beg to differ. Damon’s misery was caused by him being unable to let go of Katherine while Stefan’s misery is caused by him being unable to let go of Damon. The main difference between Stefan and Damon is that Stefan fights his impulses and is willing to suffer in order to do the right thing.

   Even in death, your heart is pure, Stefan. I sense that about you. That will be your curse. — Emily Bennett

3. Katherine

   A survivor, a master-manipulator, and ruthless killer. Katherine gets #3 for being fun, sassy, and for being great at getting what she wants. She’s responsible for most of the chaos in the show. She ruins everyone else’s plans so that she can survive. Under the hood, she pities herself, and to be fair, she has been running from a maniac for 500 years, but she’s just as self-absorbed as Klaus.

   I cried at this scene:

4. Caroline
   I love Elena more than Caroline, but as a character, she’s better than Elena. Caroline grew up into a strong woman after being turned. She’s very insecure, but she learned how to manage her emotions and be reasonable. Her control freakiness is insane, but she’s a loyal friend and a great person and a wonderful mom too.

   I cry every time I watch this scene.

5. Elijah
   An idealist. He wants to believe in love and honor. He never gives up on people, especially his family. He holds himself to a high standard and respects everyone—mortal or immortal.

   Over the course of my long life, I have come to believe that we are bound forever to those with whom we share blood. And while we may not choose our family, that bond can be our greatest strength or our deepest regret. This unfortunate truth has haunted me for as long as I can recall.

6. Elena

   Her character is so important, because she’s selfless and her capacity for acceptance and forgiveness is so great that it’s understandable why Stefan and Damon love her so much. This high school girl really is so special that 160 year old vampires know she’s worth everything. For Stefan, she never gave up on him, and for Damon, she believed in his humanity when no one else ever had. Elijah instantly recognizes her heart and says, “Your compassion is a gift, Elena, carry it with you.” The world needs more people like Elena.

7. Rebekah

   Rebekah has a shell of being a bad bitch, but under the shell, she’s just a little girl who wants to go to prom and get married and start a family. Her family sucks and her fiancé stabbed her. I’m hoping she gets a happy ending, despite all of the bad things she’s done. I teared watching her cry after Elena told her who really killed her mother.

   I learned that she’s a girl that lost her mom too young and she loves blindly and recklessly even if it consumes her. — Elena

8. Matt
   Matt is highly underrated. Matt is a solid friend to everyone and he does the right thing. He’s humble and respectful. Matt doesn’t get enough credit for holding onto his integrity throughout the series and accepting death over becoming a monster. He’s able to make an impact even though he’s just a human fighting against OP witches and werewolves. For instance, he drowned himself in order to talk to Vicki on The Other Side, just for a chance to save Elena. Most of all, he’s so high on the list because he’s really good at crying.

9. Anna
   Has been alone for 150 years and just wants to see her mom again. Things get complicated after she falls for Jeremy. She eventually does the right thing and gives the necklace back to Jeremy, meaning she has to say bye-bye forever.

10. Klaus
    Klaus is irredeemable, but he gets bonus points because his art is good and his gifts are good. Klaus represents those wicked people who wish they could change, but they can’t. Klaus’ behavior is understandable when you learn his backstory, but he’s SO self-absorbed that even his backstory doesn’t justify his choices. His psyche is pretty messed up and he can’t change even though sometimes, he wishes he could. He is self-aware, but just can’t help himself.

11. Connor Jordan
    Bad-ass mother*****

12. Alaric
    Wants to kill Damon, but eventually becomes Damon’s drinking buddy. Has a tragic story, but stayed a good guy and did his best. He’s always conflicted between being a violent drunk and trying to live a simple life. Tragedy follows and he’s stuck in a cycle… kind of feels like he’s cursed.

13. Bonnie
    Bonnie is loyal and honest and in touch with her emotions. I felt she gained her powers way too fast though and could do virtually anything. She comes in at the end of every arc to save the day and I wish they nerfed her more. Bonnie is selfless though and really sweet and she has spunk and a lot of fight in her. She is willing to die for her friends and even sent Damon back without her in S6 so that he and Elena could be happy. The best thing about Bonnie is that she always does what is right even if that means dying. It was sad how she had to go through so much suffering and was always the one who was getting hurt at the expense of others.

    Someone like you, with all that fire, passion and loyalty, you deserve much, much better than that. — Enzo

14. Valerie Tulle

    Stefan’s first love. She stole his heart from the moment they met and that’s not the only thing she took from him ;) Valerie’s story reminds us that bad things happen to good people.

15. Lexi

    A true friend. Knows that being a good friend means telling people truth that they don’t want to hear and putting them through suffering for their own good.

16. Bill Forbes
    A man of principle. Doesn’t take the easy way out by becoming a vampire, but stays true to his beliefs and says goodbye. He was willing to change his mind about his daughter.

17. Liz Forbes
    Willing to make sacrifices, very responsible. Always valued human life and eventually vampires too.

18. Enzo

    Loyal, strong, smart, romantic, funny, suave, and he plays guitar! The way he loved Bonnie was amazing!

    I was an orphan, abused, abandoned. Spent the better part of my life tortured by a man who stripped me of my identity—a century like that, you harden your heart and your mind until you are made of stone. All those years, I kept a secret from the world—a shred of faith. See, I never believed that life, the universe, a higher power, whatever you want to call it would allow me to suffer so much and then die without knowing true love. It’d just be too cruel. And when I met you, my faith was rewarded.

19. Rayna Cruz

    Family's the very reason this is my nature. My father envisioned a world without vampires. I will not rest until I see his vision through.

20. Lily Salvatore

    Had 2 abusive partners. She was an imperfect mom, but tried to love her kids as best as she could.

21. Rose
    One of the few people that Damon actually cared about. She was a good person, despite having a terrible life.

22. Mason Lockwood
    He’s a good guy, chill and funny. Love his light-heartedness and loyalty to Tyler. His downfall, like so many others, was being unable to resist the manipulation of Katherine.

    I don’t need revenge, Damon. I need redemption.

23. Kol
    Psycho, but fun and cool. His accent is cool too.

24. Jeremy
    Emo boy. Beware of dating him. You’ll end up on The Other Side.

25. Grams
    Strong and won’t put up with BS. Notice the contrast between how she treats Stefan and Damon and rightfully so. Mature people don’t judge people based on their race, but rather based on the quality of their character.

26. Kai

    At first, he wasn’t that compelling. They went overboard on the “psycho” personality imo. Also, I don’t understand why he revealed his true character immediately to deceive Bonnie and Damon in the 1994 prison world. Post-merge Kai is interesting.

27. Mary Louise and Nora

    This burn was crazzzy

    There is no life without you — Nora Hildegard

28. Zach Salvatore

29. John Gilbert
    A douche, but was trying to do the right thing. Trades his life for Elena’s. Writes a pretty heartwarming farewell letter. Listen to it here:

30. Giuseppe Salvatore
    Shot his own kids. That’s pretty cold.

31. Marcel
    He rose to the top and runs New Orleans by controlling all 4 races.

32. Pearl

33. Vicki

34. Jenna

35. Nadia
    Was sad how she was looking for her mom for so long and her mom sucked

36. Tyler

37. Finn

38. Carol Lockwood

39. Silas
    I didn’t like how they made him Stefan’s doppelganger, especially after revealing his horror face at the end of season 4. The psychic stuff was interesting, but his character felt kind of fake because he always was sharing his plans

40. Sybil

    The monster in the vault (and then in the bath) was supposed to be something different. It was at first, but then they just turned it into another psychic person. It would have been hard to make a season revolve around a monster, but it felt inconsistent because there was this monster with claws that could drag people, but then it turned out to be a woman with a backstory? Didn’t really make sense.

41. Isobel

42. Mikael

43. Freya

44. Seline

45. Shane

46. Cade

    His character felt inconsistent with who he was before he died. Also way too OP for just a psychic guy who died. His motivations and overdramatic speech was kind of lame. I also didn’t really understand how psychic energy could bring people back to life when they had extensive physical damage.

47. Liam

48. Qetsiyah