Stefan Salvatore
Stefan Salvatore | |
| |
Portrayed by | Paul Wesley |
Sex | Male |
Born | 1847 |
Stefan Salvatore is seventeen years old in 1864. He has a great relationship with his older brother, Damon Salvatore, and gets along with their father, Giuseppe Salvatore. Stefan defends Damon to their father but Giuseppe has a clear preference for Stefan. When Katherine Pierce arrives, Stefan immediately takes a liking to her, and so does his brother. They compete for her affection, though it doesn't seem to affect their own relationship too much. Soon, Stefan falls in love with Katherine, but upon finding out she's a vampire, he has to be compelled to not be afraid of her.
When Mystic Falls discovers the vampires living there, they plan to kill them all. Damon asks Stefan not to say anything about Katherine and he agrees. However, he then tries to talk to his father about the possibility that vampires can be good, but all it does is tip Giuseppe off about Katherine. He spikes Stefan's drink with vervain so that when Katherine drinks from Stefan, she's affected. Katherine is taken and both Stefan and Damon are shot and killed by Giuseppe trying to save her. They both wake up in transition, and Stefan goes to see Giuseppe. He finds out that he's the one who killed them.
Stefan tells his father that he plans on letting himself die. However, Giuseppe tries to kill him and Stefan wounds him. Without thinking about it, Stefan tastes his father's blood, which completes the transition, and Giuseppe dies from the wound. Stefan brings Damon a girl to drink from, not wanting to be a vampire without his older brother. Despite wanting to let himself die, Damon is persuaded into completing the transition. Much to Stefan's chagrin, however, Damon vows to make Stefan's eternal life miserable due to what happened with Katherine. Stefan is told by Emily Bennett, Katherine's witch friend, that he has a pure heart and that it will be his curse as a vampire.
Stefan begins killing indiscriminately until he meets Lexi, who teaches him how to control himself and let his humanity in. He and Damon don't see each other again until 1912, when they both go back to Mystic Falls for the funeral of a relative. Stefan has been surviving on animal blood so as to not be tempted to hurt innocent people. After learning from Sage, Damon convinces Stefan to drink from a human. He can't stop, however, and ends up ripping her head off. Stefan flees and becomes known as a ripper, which means he literally tears victims apart, and then sometimes puts them back together.
In 1917, he slaughters an entire migrant village in Monterey. In the 1920s, Stefan heads to Chicago. It's there that he meets Klaus and Rebekah, two of the original vampires. He dates Rebekah while forming a brotherly bond with Klaus. Klaus is even impressed by Stefan's ability to torment people. One such example is Stefan compelling a man to drink the blood of his wife. He also has an apartment in the city, and inside is a secret compartment where Stefan writes down the names of his victims. When Mikael finds them, Klaus compels Stefan to forget about him and Rebekah. She loses her necklace while fleeing the club and Stefan finds and takes it.
Lexi finds him again and over the years, helps him like she did back in the 1860s. In 2009, Stefan returns to Mystic Falls. He saves a girl, Elena Gilbert from a car crash, unable to also save her parents. She looks exactly like Katherine, and Stefan spends a while watching. He also does research and finds out that Elena is adopted, but doesn't dig any further to find out if she's related to Katherine.
On the first day of school, Stefan runs into Elena outside of the boy's bathroom and then later on in the cemetery. They formally introduce each other but Stefan has to run off when he realizes that Elena is bleeding. That night he's introduced to Caroline Forbes and Bonnie Bennett. It's not long before Damon shows up. Damon taunts him about Elena until Stefan attacks him. However, because Damon drinks human blood, he's stronger than Stefan and easily overpowers him. Later, Stefan goes to Elena's and she invites him inside so that they can talk.
Stefan hears that Vicki told Matt Donovan that she was attacked by a vampire and compels her to think she was attacked by an animal. Damon reverses this, trying to blackmail Stefan into drinking human blood, but he refuses, and Damon compels her properly. Stefan does his best to keep his secret from Elena, but it becomes harder and harder. Stefan uses vervain on Damon to lock him up in the cellar, and makes dinner for Elena while telling her about the things he likes. She sees his reflection in the window when his face changes but he tries to play it off as nothing.
When Stefan gets home, he finds Damon gone. He prepares to go looking for him, but that's when Elena confronts him about being a vampire. Stefan begs her not to tell anyone, and to not be afraid of him. He tells he everything she wants to know. Stefan goes to find Vicki Donovan after Damon causes her to be in transition, meaning she's going to become a vampire if she drinks human blood. Stefan is shot by wooden bullets and Damon saves him. Later, Elena promises to keep Stefan's secret but says that she can't be with him. Stefan tries to help Vicki transition into being a vampire. Not only is her personality making it difficult, but he and Damon have different ideas of how to help.
At the Halloween dance at school, Stefan is forced to stake Vicki when she attacks Elena and Jeremy Gilbert. Elena wants him to compel Jeremy to forget but Stefan doesn't trust his own ability due to not feeding on humans, so Damon has to do it. Lexi shows up in town for Stefan's birthday and brightens his mood. He tells her all about Elena and she gives him advice. At the party that night, Stefan is forced to watch as Damon kills Lexi. He's deeply affected by this and Elena has to beg him not to kill Damon, not wanting Stefan to go down that road. Stefan stakes his brother, but not in the heart, because Damon recently saved him.
Stefan tells Elena about Emily Bennett and the necklace, and he tries to find out what Damon is really doing in Mystic Falls. After some bonding, he succeeds. Stefan is shocked to find out that Katherine is alive in the tomb under Fell's Church and that Damon wants to get her out. He then finds out via Emily that there are 26 other vampires in the tomb as well and that Damon is fine with releasing them as long as he gets Katherine back. After Emily destroys the necklace needed for the spell, Damon attacks Bonnie and Stefan saves her by interrupting and then feeding her his blood.
Stefan tells Elena that he's going to leave town. His plans are delayed when Logan Fell shows up as a vampire. He watches out for him while telling Elena about originally wanting to be a doctor so that he could help people. Stefan saves Caroline from Logan and gets her home. He goes back to the school and gets a ride home from Elena. After a brief conversation, they begin to kiss, and then they have sex. Afterward, Stefan goes to get some water and when he comes back, he finds Elena gone. He realizes that she's seen the picture of Katherine that he has. The next day, Stefan is highly concerned when he finds out that she's with Damon and not in Mystic Falls. He asks for Bonnie's help finding her but she's having trouble with her powers.
Stefan finds and saves Bonnie from the tomb, which gets him into the good grace of her grandmother, whom he once met when she was younger. When Elena gets home, Stefan tells her everything about the crash and about her being adopted. He and Damon go after the vampire that seems to now be stalking Elena, the same one she hit with her car. They kill him after getting information about the tomb. Stefan tells Damon that he'll help him get Katherine back as long as she and Damon leave town, but Stefan reveals to Elena that it's a lie. He also finds out why Alaric Saltzman is in town, and Stefan cautions him not to go after Damon so that he doesn't get himself killed.
Stefan and Elena get a hold of the grimoire, which is needed for the tomb spell. Damon figures it out, however, and threatens Elena's life in exchange for the grimoire. Stefan hands it over, not willing to risk Elena's life. He takes her home but he goes out of her room and when he comes back, she's gone. He begs Damon for help but doesn't receive any. Stefan figures out where Elena and Bonnie are being held and he rescues them. They then agree to open the tomb and get Katherine out. After killing Ben McKittrick and hearing Elena scream from inside the tomb, he rushes inside. He then grabs Damon before they're both stuck inside. For once, Stefan comforts Damon, realizing how hurt his brother must be to find that Katherine was never in the tomb in the first place.
Soon after, Stefan tries to get Damon to remember if he ever killed anyone named Isobel, though he doesn't say why. Isobel is, in fact, Elena's birth mother and Alaric's dead wife. When Stefan finds Alaric dead in the mansion, he's shocked when the teacher comes back to life, and they deduce that it's because of the ring he wears. Stefan promises Elena a normal day and they double date with Matt Donovan and Caroline. After, when Stefan and Damon are alone in the mansion, they're attacked by two tomb vampires. They kill one but the other gets away. Stefan is soon kidnapped by the tomb vampires and tortured. After being rescued, he drinks Elena's blood so that he can fight off Frederick. Later that night, Damon finds Stefan feasting on human blood bags.
Stefan continues having difficulty controlling his blood lust when he gets away from human blood. He supplements it with alcohol and reacts rashly to things. When Damon leaves out a glass of blood, Stefan can't resist taking a drink. He keeps drinking human blood but hides it from Elena, though she recognizes that he's acting differently--more laid back. Damon outs him to her and Stefan attacks a girl. He runs off when the others find him. When Elena confronts him at the mansion, Stefan tries to scare her off, but it doesn't work. She then injects him with vervain and Damon locks him in the cellar. Stefan is forced to think about the past and he tells Elena that he no longer wants to live because of the guilt he feels. Elena lets him out and he takes off his ring, intending to let himself burn when the sun comes up. However, Elena talks him out of it.
He apologizes to Damon for forcing him to transition, admitting to being selfish about it. Stefan just wanted to have his older brother with him. When he, Damon, and Elena meet in the town square to give Isobel the Gilbert device, she mentions Damon being in love with Elena. Stefan later tells Damon that history won't be repeating itself. Damon then tells him that John Gilbert is Elena's real father. Stefan relays the information to her. Stefan, with some help from Bonnie, saves Damon when the Gilbert device is used to take down the town's vampires. Stefan receives reassurance from Elena that he's the one she loves.
When he gets a call about from Elena, Stefan rushes over there and examines Jeremy, who's not in transition. Katherine attacks Stefan and then runs out when Damon and Elena get back. Stefan threatens John at the hospital and tells him to leave town. He talks to Katherine, trying to find out why she's back, but doesn't believe her when she says that she still loves him. Stefan also refuses to fight Damon for having thought he kissed Elena (it was Katherine), saying that they need to stick together now more than ever. And, although it pisses him off, Stefan is encouraged by Damon showing humanity by actually caring about someone. This makes it even more devastating when Damon snaps Jeremy's neck, though he comes back due to his newly acquired ring.
Stefan is annoyed at his brother when Damon goes on about something weird involving the Lockwoods. He becomes a believer when he arm wrestles Mason Lockwood and realizes how strong the guy is. Stefan then watches Mason do what seems to be impossible for a human during a fight. When it's revealed that Caroline is now a vampire thanks to Katherine, Stefan tries to help her realize that she can control her blood lust. Stefan continues to help Caroline, showing her how he goes about feeding on animals and telling her about a vampire's personality traits being heightened. Stefan stops Caroline after she bites Matt, and he saves her from a werewolf.
Stefan injects Katherine with vervain and gets her to tell him about the moonstone and what she knows about the Lockwoods. Stefan hates coming to terms with the fact that he really did love Katherine at one point. After a while, she also reveals that vervain doesn't hurt her anymore because she drinks a little everyday. Katherine tells him to break up with Elena. Stefan and Elena have a fake fight in front of Caroline, having figured out that Caroline is working for Katherine. Stefan tries to make peace with Mason but it doesn't work and both he and Damon are captured by Liz Forbes and two deputies. After they're rescued, Stefan decides that he needs to drink a little human blood each day to build up a tolerance to it.
Stefan finds out that Katherine is with Mason and he and Elena are able to get the moonstone. However, Stefan is devastated when Elena breaks up with him after Katherine compels Jenna Sommers to stab herself. Stefan and Damon come up with a plan to kill Katherine once and for all. Although it goes temporarily awry, they manage to lock Katherine away in the tomb. Stefan and Damon safe Elena after she's kidnapped by Rose. Rose then shows up at the mansion and tells Stefan that she can help them with Klaus, a vampire he's never heard of.
When he can't find Elena, he figures out that he's being distracted by Caroline. Stefan goes to the tomb and is upset about Elena trusting what Katherine is telling her. Later, Stefan, Bonnie, and Damon come up with a way to get the moonstone from Katherine. It goes wrong when Jeremy decides to step in and try to do it himself. Katherine bites Jeremy and Stefan rushes inside, helping him to safety. However, he becomes stuck in the tomb because Bonnie can't undo the seal. Stefan asks Damon to look after Elena.
While stuck in the tomb, Katherine forces him to dream about the two of them having sex, and then she continues trying to convince Stefan that she loves him. He tells her that if she wants to prove she can be trusted, she'll tell him something useful. Katherine says to start with Isobel if they're looking for Klaus. Elijah comes and lets Stefan out, but not Katherine. Stefan doesn't attempt to try to help her out. He takes a cue from her, however, and along with Damon, starts to drink a little vervain every day. Stefan then gets into contact with John Gilbert while trying to find Isobel.
Stefan tries to reason with Tyler after Tyler is told the truth by Jules. After they learn that Jules and her friend have Caroline, however, Stefan is forced to hand Tyler over. He and Damon fight against multiple werewolves and are helped out by Jonas Martin. Stefan takes Caroline home and asks how she's doing. Although she tells him that she's fine, he brings over Elena and Bonnie for support, which Caroline is obviously happy about. Stefan and Elena go out of town to her parents' lake house and spend time together. When attacked by Brady and Tyler, Stefan explains the situation to Tyler, who comes around. Stefan then kills Brady.
When he finds out that Elena is okay with dying to complete Elijah's plan, he becomes upset with her. Stefan then tells her more about his past when she finds one of Jonathan Gilbert's journals. When they find out that a vampire dies if they use a dagger against an Original, Stefan calls to warn Damon. They then learn that the dagger also has to stay in the Original's heart for them to stay "dead". When they dagger Elijah, they put him in the basement. Stefan gets help from Bonnie to try to join forces with Luka and Jonas. When Luka is killed by Damon during a spell, Stefan rushes to Jonas but Jonas knocks him out temporarily.
Stefan goes to get Elena from the Grill as Jonas attacks the place. He takes her home and then it's revealed that she's Katherine, and they kill Jonas. Stefan goes to the Lockwood mansion with Elena so she can accept something for Jenna and ends up getting stabbed by Katherine. Stefan and Damon sign over their mansion to Elena so that only vampires she invites in can come in. Elena, Damon, Stefan, Bonnie, and Alaric (as Klaus) devise a plan to deal with Klaus at the school dance that night. When Stefan finds out that Bonnie will die if she uses all the witch power, he tells Elena. The two of them rush to stop Bonnie but fail. When Damon reveals it was a plot, Stefan is upset about what Elena was put through, but Damon tells Stefan that doing that is necessary to keep her alive.
Stefan expresses his displeasure at Damon's relationship with Andie Star, and he's also not happy about Elena going off with Elijah, but he accepts it. Stefan goes over to help Jenna with Klaus and ends up having to reveal that he's a vampire. He then takes Jenna to the mansion and Elena explains things to her. Stefan is again unhappy about Elena going off to talk to Elijah but lets her do so, and stands up to Damon when he tries to stop Elena. Stefan starts an argument with Damon about him being in love with Elena. The two of them fight but are interrupted by Elijah and Elena. Stefan agrees to Elijah's terms and apologizes for helping kill him, but Damon refuses.
When Damon goes against the plan and feeds Elena his blood, Stefan fights him and ends up stabbed. Once he's healed, he takes Elena on a hike and explains more about being a vampire. He also eventually convinces her to reveal the truth--that she doesn't want to be a vampire. The two of them head back and Stefan reluctantly lets Elena go off with Klaus, then calls Damon to tell him what's going on. Stefan asks Elijah if he can be trusted, and then Stefan goes to try to take Jenna's place in the ritual. Klaus doesn't go for it and instead incapacitates him. At the end of the ritual, Damon helps him, and Stefan remains there while Bonnie attacks Klaus, wanting to see Klaus die. The plan fails as Elijah betrays them. At the funeral for Jenna, Damon tells Stefan that he was bitten by Tyler. Stefan promises that he'll find a way to save Damon even though there supposedly is no cure for a werewolf bite.
Stefan prevents Damon from killing himself and locks him in the basement, determined to save his brother. Stefan has Alaric come to watch over Alaric, and then he goes tell Elena what's going on so that she has the opportunity to say goodbye. With help from Bonnie, Stefan finds out that Klaus's blood is the cure to a werewolf bite, so he goes to see him. In order to get the cure, Klaus forces Stefan to drink a ton of human blood and promise to join him when he leaves Mystic Falls. Stefan obliges. For the next two months, the two of them search for werewolves so that Klaus can create more hybrids. Stefan tortures one until he goes back to Mystic Falls to send a message to Damon about not looking for him and Stefan--which he does by killing Andie.
After getting back to Klaus, Stefan goes out and calls Elena, but doesn't say a word as she reassures him that he'll make it through this. He and Klaus head elsewhere to find more werewolves. Creating hybrids fails, however, and while finding this out, Stefan saves Damon from one. Stefan tells him again to stop looking and to keep Elena in Mystic Falls so that Klaus won't know she's alive. Stefan is also bitten by one of the werewolves but Klaus cures him. Klaus brings Stefan to Chicago to get help from a witch regarding the hybrid issue. They go to Stefan's old apartment and he finds Elena there, but distracts Klaus so that he doesn't find her as well.
Stefan confronts Elena and tells her that he's not coming back and that he doesn't want to be with her. After undaggering Rebekah, Klaus compels Stefan to remember everything that Klaus compelled him to forget back in the 20s. Stefan notices Katherine in Chicago and goes to talk to her. She asks him what his plan is but he won't tell her. Later, Stefan is tortured by Gloria so she can find where the necklace is, but Katherine kills her. Stefan tries to charm Rebekah to get her to tell him who she and Klaus were running from in the 20s, but Rebekah calls him on it. Stefan is knocked out and when he comes to, they're back in Mystic Falls.
On senior prank night, Stefan is compelled by Klaus to attack Elena at a certain time. He's able to hold off a little on sheer will power due to his love for her, but only for a time. Klaus compels him to shut off his humanity, and Stefan feeds on Elena. He is then compelled to stay in Mystic Falls and look after Elena. Stefan appears not to not care about anything anymore, and has no problem with feeding on people. He sticks close to Elena in order to protect her, and catches her when she falls off of the bleachers. He's knocked out with vervain, but comes to and helps Elena escape from a fire. Later, Stefan tells her that she's pathetic for still having hope, and she stakes him in the stomach. When Lexi temporarily comes back, she tortures Stefan, trying to get him to feel something again, although he fights it as much as possible.
When Damon frees him, Stefan wonders what the catch is. Damon tells his brother that he simply needs to learn moderation, which is what Damon has always told Stefan. Mikael shows up and threatens Damon's life, which causes Stefan to find a loophole in Klaus's compulsion. Although Stefan says that it's because he wants to be free from Klaus, it's clear that it's also because he loves his brother even in his darkest state. In their plan to kill Klaus, Stefan seemingly betrays Damon by saving Klaus, but it's revealed that Stefan actually did it to save Damon's life.
Klaus frees Stefan from his compulsion. He then takes Katherine's advice to exact revenge upon Klaus. Stefan takes the coffins with Klaus's family in them and hides them, and then enlists Bonnie's help to keep them hidden. When Elena finds out that Klaus has tried to kill Jeremy to get his coffins back, she begs Stefan to give them back. Stefan, however, says that he doesn't care. All he wants is to make Klaus suffer. Stefan then tells Damon the truth about the night of the homecoming dance, and lets Damon in on the plan. Stefan then shows Bonnie that one of the coffins can't be opened, and he assumes it's the key to killing Klaus.
Stefan starts killing hybrids after telling Klaus to get them out of town if he wants his coffins back. Later, Stefan grabs Elena, feeds her his blood, and threatens to drive her off Wickory Bridge. This causes Klaus to agree to have the hybrids leave town. Stefan tries to convince Elena that he had to do it, but she wants nothing to do with him so he leaves her on the bridge. Stefan follows Elena and Bonnie to Abby Bennett's house, upset with Elena for lying to him. He's shot with wooden pellets and Elena has to dig them out, and while she's doing so, she confesses that she kissed Damon. This really gets to him, and he tells her that she's better than both him and Damon. Later, Stefan punches Damon because of it.
The two of them go to have dinner with Elijah and Klaus in order to strike up some type of truce, though Stefan has a really negative attitude about it. When they leave, they both confess to loving Elena. When Esther wants to meet Elena, Stefan agrees to it but Damon doesn't, so per Elena's request, Stefan snaps Damon's neck. He then tells Damon that he cares too much, but later confesses to Elena that he didn't mean it. Stefan also tells her that he can't let his humanity back in because it will hurt too much after all that he's done.
Stefan tells Damon that neither of them are good enough for Elena, especially not Damon. However, they work together to save her, and Damon does the deed of turning Abby into a vampire so that Stefan doesn't have to (so that Elena won't hate him), which seems to have a bit of an impact on how Stefan sees his brother. Stefan admits to not having had any human blood since the night on Wickory Bridge. The two of them then try to figure out who the killer in Mystic Falls is and they remember the events of 1912. Stefan suggests it might have been Sage back then.
Stefan is having withdrawal issues and Damon and Rebekah force him to drink human blood, with Damon trying to convince him that moderation is the key, not giving up human blood completely. Stefan wonders why Damon is so determined to help him this time around and Damon says that Stefan is the only one he has right now. They figure out that the killer is Alaric due to his ring. Stefan helps Elena search his apartment and they find a letter to Jeremy among other things. They rush back to Elena's house, where they find Meredith Fell severely wounded. Stefan manages to keep his blood lust in check long enough to give her some blood.
Stefan, Damon, and Alaric create stakes to kill the Originals and then meet up with the others to form plans. When Damon is kidnapped by Rebekah, Stefan refuses to stop the plan even though Elena wants to. Instead they continue on and end up killing Finn. When Sage shows up for revenge, she drops dead, and then Stefan goes to get Damon back by offering the remaining stakes. He lies about there being three less than there is but says he'll go get them. Stefan tells Elena that he's done with revenge and that he loves her, but he wants her to be honest about her feelings for Damon. He sends her and Damon to retrieve Jeremy so she can work out her feelings.
In the meantime, he stays and tries to get the location of the last stake out of Alaric. He's reluctant to attack Alaric but is forced to, and nearly kills him. He also admits to having to embrace his dark side instead of pretending it's not there. He goes to the decade dance with Elena but is then trapped inside with the other vampires. After they get out and Alaric decides not to complete his transition into being a vampire, Stefan comforts Elena. He, Damon, and Klaus are then forced to team up to try to kill Alaric. It goes wrong, however, and both Stefan and Damon end up incapacitated for a while. When they come to, they set their focus on Klaus instead because he's going to kill Elena, which will also kill Alaric.
Stefan is the one who grabs Klaus's heart so that Bonnie can perform the spell to desiccate him. He and Damon start driving Klaus's body to the ocean and Stefan says he'll leave town if Elena chooses to be with Damon. Damon does the same. Stefan heads back to help deal with Alaric, and when Elijah shows up, is in on the new plan. He kisses Elena just in case something goes wrong and he doesn't get the chance again. When he learns that Klaus has been killed, Stefan says goodbye to his brother in case they both die, and then tells the others. He's told by Rebekah that she's now going to kill Elena. Stefan rushes to Elena and finds her and Matt in his truck, underwater at Wickory Bridge.
Even though he wants to save Elena first, she makes him save Matt. When he comes back for her, it's too late. At the hospital, Stefan sits next to her dead body, clearly heartbroken.
Despite Stefan's ripper side, he's mostly known for his compassion and empathy for others, as well as the guilt that he feels regarding anything bad he's done. He'll do anything to save his brother and Elena.