Top 10 Vampire Diaries Moments

Vampires, witches, love triangles, and drama—The Vampire Diaries has it all! Join MsMojo as we count down the Top 10 Moments from The Vampire Diaries.

For our countdown, we’re looking at the show’s most memorable moments, from surprising relationships to shocking plot twists, to all sorts of supernatural revelations in between. We’re focusing on the standout moments from the show’s seven seasons, but won’t be including anything specific from the spin-off show, The Originals.

Since Klaus set foot in Mystic Falls, he brought destruction and chaos to the town. Elena and crew thought it was bad with one Original around, but they had no idea how crazy it could get when the rest of the Mikaelson family showed up. The clan of Original vampires is some of the show’s best villains, and the arrival of Elijah, Rebekah, Kol, Finn, and Esther shook up the dynamics of show and injected a new level of mythology and drama. Never has there been such a dysfunctional, backstabbing family who are such fun to watch—so fun, that the ancient vampires got their own spin-off, The Originals, which premiered in 2013.

Katherine is easily the show’s best villain and one of the most delightfully wicked to watch. She’s always reveled in being a vampire, so Elena forcing her to take the cure to become human in the Season Four finale was utterly brilliant. The show is known for its unpredictable twists, and had the audience believing that Elena gave the cure to Stefan. Instead, Elena shoves the cure down Katherine’s throat after she tries to kill her. Turning Katherine into a human took her character into a new direction as we got to watch her struggle with her newfound humanity in Season Five.

The show may get crazy with all of its twists and turns, but it never fails to deliver the steamiest, most romantic moments. There was always sexual tension between Damon and Elena, but they finally act on it in toward the end of the show’s third season. When visiting Jeremy in Denver on a search for answers, Damon and Elena are forced to share a motel room, which of course, leads to a hot and heavy make-out session. Their kiss is fraught with Elena’s guilt over Stefan and her reluctance to get involved with bad-boy Damon, but in the moment, its undeniable that he’s the one she wants.

Katherine has never been afraid to shake things up and go after what she wants, and her return to Mystic Falls was no exception. After hearing stories about her all season, the audience finally sees Katherine for the first time in the Season One finale. We think it’s Elena who makes out with Damon on the front porch, but once she goes inside, she cuts off the fingers of John Gilbert, Elena’s uncle. John calls out “Katherine” and we finally realize that this is Elena’s doppelgänger, the girl who tore the Salvatore Brothers apart and who has been on the run for all her misdeeds.

The show is complex in its mythology, and it seemed like Elena and Katherine were the only set of doppelgängers. Of course, that wasn’t the case. In the Season Four finale, the gang believes that they have defeated the season’s big villain, Silas, one of the first immortal beings. In a shocking twist, we get the last minute reveal that not only is he still alive, but his true face is the same as Stefan’s. In one of the show’s best cliffhangers, Silas locks Stefan in a coffin and throws him into a river, leaving one of our heroes trapped.

This show knows how to wrench our hearts, and Damon revealing his love for Elena does just that. He spent the first season pretending to dislike her, but every now and then, we got a glimpse into his true feelings for her. He finally tells Elena he loves her after bringing back her vervain necklace. But in true Vampire Diaries style, Damon compels her to forget his confession and tells her to be with Stefan. The show proves its excellence when Elena becomes a vampire in Season Four, and all of her memories return to her, including this one.

Elena has lost a lot of people, but no one’s death hits her harder than when Silas kills Jeremy. Elena couldn’t deal with the guilt and grief over her brother’s death, so she asks Damon to turn off her humanity in order not to feel anymore. But instead of calming her down, her loss of humanity results in her pouring alcohol over her family home and setting it on fire. It’s one of the most chilling, emotional moments as she says goodbye to her brother and the memories of her entire family. We see just how much she lost, and how broken it left her.

Stefan and Elena propelled the show’s first season, and Elena finding out the truth about Stefan was the one of the first main mysteries. Watching the two characters dance around each other upped their romantic tension, and made Stefan’s struggle with being a vampire that much more real. When Elena declares love for Stefan, he finally lets her see him when his face is contorted from his vampirism. She doesn’t shy away from him, and the two of them fall into each other’s arms, making one of the show’s most swoon-worthy moments. This moment set off one of the show’s central relationships, and thrilled “Stelena” fans everywhere.

For most of Season Two, Klaus was after Elena, as he wanted to sacrifice her and drink her blood in order to break the ancient Sun Moon Curse. It turned out that the curse was completely made up, and in reality, it was the Hybrid curse that Klaus wanted to break. Eventually, Klaus captures Elena, along with Jules and Aunt Jenna, and ends up turning Jenna into a vampire just to kill her as part of the ritual. It was one of the most heartbreaking moments of the show, as Elena not only witnesses the death of her aunt, but Uncle John ends up sacrificing himself to bring back Elena; causing her to lose her only two guardians left in the same episode.

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

• Damon and Alaric Say Goodbye
• Alaric Becomes an Original Vampire
• Kill an Original, Kill Their Whole Vampire Line
• The Christmas Massacre
• Alaric Modifies Elena’s Memories of Damon
• Bonnie Tries to Kill Kai

Keeping Elena alive has always been the ultimate goal of the central characters. They may have kept her safe from Katherine and Klaus, but no one could have predicted that she would drown in a car crash when Matt's car tumbled off of Wickery Bridge in the Season Three finale. This pivotal moment is interwoven with flashbacks of the fatal car accident with her parents on that very same bridge, making it one of the show’s most memorable and striking sequences. Not only was Elena’s death and vampirism shocking, but it completely changed the course of the show, setting the tone for darker plots and new relationships in the seasons to follow.

Do you agree with our list? Which moment had you on the edge of your seat? For more can’t miss Top 10s published daily, be sure to subscribe to MsMojo.