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Top 10 Vampire Diaries Deaths

Whether out of spite, fear, or love, many of these deaths had fans shocked by the sheer brutality of the show's writers.

By WatchMojoPublished 5 years ago 6 min read
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You’d think everyone on a vampire show would have eternal life… but where’s the fun in that? Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’ll be counting down the "Top 10 Vampire Diaries Deaths."

For this list, we’ve picked the 10 deaths that were the most shocking, affected the characters the most, and moved the plot forward, so we’re not talking about the show’s many random casualties. And because we’re talking death, expect plenty of spoilers.

Perhaps one of the most unexpected deaths, Vicki’s proved early on that the show doesn’t play when it comes to raising the stakes—vampire pun intended. Vicki was Matt’s sister, and in a love triangle with Jeremy and Tyler, so it seemed like she would be one of the show’s central characters. But in a shocking twist, she was turned into a vampire by Damon to get back at Stefan. As a vampire, she was prone to erratic behavior and let her bloodlust drive her. Stefan killed her to protect Elena and Jeremy, leaving everyone reeling in the aftermath. She was the first prominent character killed, and she’ll forever be remembered for her brief but impactful time on the show.

As a villain, Kai was one of our favorites. Brought onto the show in the sixth season, Kai was a Siphoner who irked Bonnie and Damon with his sinister quips and unpredictable behavior. At times, he was annoying to the audience as well; but just as we were getting used to him, Damon decapitates him in the season six finale. His death was quick and brutal, fitting for the guy who wreaked havoc and made Elena a mystical Sleeping Beauty. He may be gone, but his actions and their consequences loom over the show.

This death threw us for a loop since Aunt Jenna was the last parental figure to Elena and Jeremy. Before the show’s start, they lost their parents in a car accident; and since then, Jenna had been taking care of the siblings. Her proximity and love for Elena proved to make her an easy target for Klaus, who turned her into a vampire for his sacrifice ritual and killed her in front of Elena. Her death was equally heartbreaking since she had finally made up with Alaric, and the two seemed to have a happy future in store.

As Elena’s BFF and the show’s resident witch, Bonnie’s life is threatened more times than we can count. Bonnie’s given up and lost a lot due to her connection to Elena, and nothing was more painful for her than when she lost Grams after she was weakened by doing a spell in Season One. Bonnie’s own death was eerily similar after she was warned by a ghost version of Grams to be careful about straining her magic. But Bonnie didn’t listen as she tried to bring Jeremy back to life using an expression spell. It proved to be too much, and our beloved teen witch died. Like a lot of deaths on the show, it wasn’t permanent, but it was upsetting nonetheless.

Time and time again, the show has shown us that being a parent may be the most dangerous job in Mystic Falls. Carol was Tyler’s mom and the Mayor of Mystic Falls, which meant that she was one of the only humans who knew about the vampire activity in town. Her knowledge didn’t help her, since Klaus was out for revenge against Tyler and the hybrids he felt betrayed him. In one of the show’s most iconic sequences, Klaus drowns her in the town fountain as an angelic version of “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” played in the background. Her death left Tyler as one of the show’s many orphans.

We all remember Season One Caroline as a stuck-up, social-climbing cheerleader who was more of a frenemy than friend to Elena. But the writers found a way to flip all of that on its head when Katherine smothered her to death with a pillow while she was in a hospital bed. It was a particularly badass move on Katherine’s part, since she made it clear she did it to get back at the Salvatore brothers. Of course, she didn’t really die since she had vampire blood in her system, but our shock made us forget it for a moment. Point one for Katherine, since this Season Two death completely changed Caroline’s personality, as well as how much viewers would grow to like her later in the show.

If there is one good thing to know about Elena Gilbert, it’s how much her baby bro means to her. As her only living relative, Jeremy’s life is often at stake, and many characters go out of their way to protect him. But in Season Four, Elena’s worst nightmare came to fruition when Katherine, who was pretending to be Elena, used his blood to feed and wake up Silas. In the process, his neck was broken and he died. His death had a drastic affect on Elena, later causing her to turn off her humanity and burn down her childhood home.

Say what you want about Katherine Pierce, but every time she was on-screen, that girl made sure you were watching her. Katherine always showed up to mock the main characters, and she would often scheme to get what she wanted. In her last season, Katherine went through a lot since she was turned back into a human and she reconnected with her long-lost daughter. But Katherine was still Katherine in her final moments, as she injected herself with the vampire ripper virus, as a final “eff you” to Elena. Stefan stabs her with the Traveler dagger to send her to the Other Side, but in a shocking twist, Katherine is sucked into thin air. Wherever she is, we bet she’s wreaking havoc.

Poor, beautiful Alaric. He started off as just a teacher and supporting character on the show, but over time grew to be the heart of the show in many ways. As a Hunter with a magical Gilbert ring, his life was threatened and he died a lot on the show. But in the Season Three finale, his death was finally final since his life force was tied to Elena by the Original Witch Esther; so, when Elena went off the bridge, Alaric died, too. His death was especially upsetting due to his close friendship with Damon and his fierce loyalty to Elena and Jeremy. Like we’ve mentioned, though, a lot of these deaths aren’t permanent; and it may have taken longer than most characters for Alaric to make his return, but we’re just happy that Damon has his drinking buddy back.

Before we unveil our number one pick, here are some honorable mentions:

  • Lexi Branson
  • Anna Zhu
  • Sheriff Forbes
  • Rose
  • Uncle John Gilbert
  • Mikael Mikaelson

Killing a main character isn’t a decision to make lightly, but Elena’s death propelled the show into new, exciting territory. Up until that point, every character’s goal seemed to be to protect Elena and her humanity. However, when the car she and Matt were in drove off the Wickery Bridge, she forced Stefan to save Matt’s life first, and died as a result. It was everything a good death on this show should be: shocking, poignant, and one of the most emotional scenes of the series, as it also includes flashbacks of the fatal car accident with her parents on that very same bridge. She comes back as a vampire at the beginning of Season Four, but her death allowed her, as well as the show as a whole, to develop and grow in a new direction.

Do you agree with our list? Which death upset you most? For more heartbreaking Top 10s published daily, be sure to subscribe to MsMojo.

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