Elena Gilbert
Played by Nina Dobrev
17-year-old Elena Gilbert and her parents were in a car crash, roughly four months before the series begins. Elena was the only survivor. Because of this, she is portrayed as melancholic and slightly withdrawn from the social scene, of which she was previously active in. In the beginning of the series, she also has to deal with her brother Jeremy's drug addictions. After their parents' death, their aunt Jenna moves in to take care of them.
Elena has a habit of writing in her diary. It is revealed that before the series begins, she and Matt Donovan were a couple and broke up, but the two remain good friends. On her first day in a new school year, she meets Stefan Salvatore, with whom she falls in love, despite him being a vampire. They go through a rough patch when Elena discovers that she is the splitting image of Katherine, whom Stefan and his brother Damon were previously in love with, but Stefan and Elena manage to work things out.
It
is revealed in the show that Elena is not, in fact, the Gilberts'
biological daughter. She was in fact adopted, and her biological parents
are shockingly revealed in the final two episodes. She is also unsure
if she loves either Stefan or Damon and who she really wants to be with.
In an episode in season 3, Elena dies in the car after it drives off of the Wickery Bridge. As requested by Elena, Stefan saves Matt first but it is too late for Elena so she ends up as a vampire due to blood taken from Damon that night.
Played by Paul Wesley
Stefan Salvatore, Damon's younger brother, was turned into a vampire by Katherine in 1864. Unlike other vampires (including his brother), he drinks animal blood instead of human blood. Stefan is often mysterious and sad, except for when he is around Lexi or when he consumes human blood.
It is revealed that before he was turned, he and Damon got along very well, but both were in love with Katherine. When Stefan tried to reason with his father to spare the vampires because not all were evil, his actions indirectly led their father to discover that Katherine was a vampire, and she was consequently entombed in Fell's Church, or so everyone was led to believe. Since then, Stefan has been haunted by Damon, who refuses to forgive him for what he did. Stefan tries his hardest to protect the people he loves from Damon, going as far as to poison Damon with vervain and imprison him to prevent him from killing.
Damon Salvatore
Played by Ian Somerhalder
Damon Salvatore is Stefan's older brother. While Stefan was Compelled by Katherine to drink her blood, Damon was not, and did it willingly. Damon blames Stefan for Katherine's supposed entombment, and has never forgiven him for it. He is obsessed with Katherine, even after Anna tells him that she didn't care about him. He is ruthless and a little psychotic, hunting mercilessly. After he escapes from being imprisoned by Stefan, he turns Vicki into a vampire. He also infiltrates the Founders Council, gaining their trust to protect himself and Stefan.
While
Damon is completely uncaring and unfeeling, as the series progresses,
his actions reflect an increasing concern for others (and for Elena in
particular), even if Damon will not admit it. For instance, he alters
Jeremy's memory of Vicki upon Elena's request. Damon and Elena's
friendship gets stronger throughout the series, and Isobel reveals to
Elena that Damon loves her and would do anything for her. His humanity
is shown in the finale when he tells Jeremy about Anna's death, because
he wants to "do the right thing". He is in love with Elena and wants her to choose either Stefan or him.
Katherine Pierce
Played by Nina Dobrev
A
vampire that both Damon and Stefan were in love with, whom Elena
closely resembles. Both brothers thought she was entombed in Fell's
Church with the rest of the vampires, but a church guard let her go, so
she was never in the tomb. Despite being free, never once did she try to
contact Damon, who has always been in love with her. It
is revealed that she gave birth to a baby girl through wedlock which
resulted in her baby being taken away from her. She also stole the
moonstone from Klaus which is why she's been running away from him. Her
family was killed by Klaus as revenge. Elijah and Klaus both liked
Katherine at one point.
Bonnie Bennett
Played by Katerina Graham
Bonnie
Bennett, Elena and Caroline's best friend. She is descended from the
Salem witches, and her ancestress Emily Bennett was Katherine's
handmaiden.
Jeremy Gilbert
Played by Steven R. McQueen
Jeremy
Gilbert is Elena's younger brother. He has the ability to connect to ghosts ever since he came back alive after dying. It has been revealed in the recent episodes that the Gilbert blood is of vampire hunters hence, Jeremy has the ability to become a vampire hunter. In order for a cure to make Elena human again, Jeremy needs to become a vampire hunter.
Caroline Forbes
Played by Candice Accola
Caroline
Forbes is Elena and Bonnie's best friend. A vampire. Currently [was? is?] Tyler's girlfriend.
Matt Donovan
Played by Zach Roerig
Matt
Donovan is Tyler Lockwood's best friend, Elena's ex-boyfriend and
Vicki's older brother. He also dated Caroline.
Tyler Lockwood
Played by Michael Trevino
Being the Mayor's son is hard, though Tyler Lockwood doesn't admit it. Instead, he presents a tough, indifferent exterior. Tyler dated Vicki Donovan, who broke up with him after realizing that he was embarrassed to introduce her to his parents. Tyler was then changed into a hybrid by Klaus but he managed to break the sire bond between them. He and Caroline are currently dating.Klaus
Played by Joseph Morgan
Klaus
is the vengeful vampire who wants Elena since her blood is what enables
him to make hybrids. Now he has entered Tyler's body after his body was
staked.
Rebekah
Played by Claire Holt
Rebekah is Klaus's sister. An Orginal vampire whom once loved Stefan. A broken lonely soul who tries to come off as tough. She hates Klaus because he killed their mother. For a while, she was interested in Tyler.
He is portrayed as very handsome; pale, with wavy, dark, brown hair, fine features, and deep oak green eyes. He is not imposingly tall, but he is taller than his brother Damon. However, Stefan is the weaker brother due to the fact that he chooses not to drink human blood. He lives off animal blood, which lessens his Powers. His powers include being able to read at increased speed. He is in love with Elena and is willing to do anything he can to protect her, even if it means killing his own brother.
One of Elena's best friends, she is a small girl with deep brown eyes, a heart-shaped face, curly red hair and pinkish, peachy skin. Bonnie is a witch who is overwhelmed by her powers, and attempts to repress the true extent of them without much success. She begins to develop feelings for Damon, though she also feels an attraction to Matt Honeycutt. (Matt is still in love with Elena.) Bonnie is often said to resemble a kitten'cute, small, and relatively harmless, though she has strong psychic powers. Damon thinks of her as 'his little bird' often. Bonnie can be expansive and visionary but can be damsel-in-distress like.
Judith Gilbert
She is Elena's aunt. She moved in with Elena and her baby sister Margaret right after the death of the girls' parents. She is the sort of woman who always looked vaguely flustered; she had a thin, mild face and flyaway red hair pushed back untidily. She is engaged to, and later married to, Robert, though she briefly broke the engagement after Elena's death, thinking it was the best for Margaret. She is caring and one of the last people Elena talks to before dying the first time.
She is small with light brown hair and dark brown eyes. She was attacked early in the series and that caused her to go insane. She is left under the protection of Damon by his brother Stefan, but is later violently murdered by Klaus
She is Elena's much younger sister, who is 4 years old. Elena considers her to be very innocent, and even secretly talks to her as a vampire after her death, saying that it is not yet her time to rejoin her deceased parents. She has platinum blond hair, pink, peachy skin and light blue eyes
She is the owner of the boarding house where Stefan lives. They once thought her to just be a crazy old woman, but she is revealed to be a witch like Bonnie and helps the friends search for Elena in the woods.
Sage