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Elena Gilbert

Age

  • August 6, 1974 (Age 18)

Gender

  • Female

Hair Color

  • Light Blonde

Eye Color

  • Lapis Lazuli Blue

Species

  • Human/Angel Hybrid (Originally/Currently)
  • Vampire (Klaus' Bloodline) (Formerly)
  • Ghost (Formerly)
  • Earth Guardian (Formerly)

Family

  • Thomas Gilbert † (Father)
  • Elizabeth Gilbert † (Mother)
  • Robert Maxwell (Paternal Uncle Through Marriage)
  • Judith Gilbert-Maxwell (Legal Guardian/Paternal Aunt)
  • Margaret Gilbert (Younger Sister)
  • Breanna † (Cousin)
  • Paternal Grandfather †
  • Paternal Grandmother †
  • Stefan Salvatore (Fiancé)

Soulmate

Powers

  • Superhuman Senses, Super Speed, Telepathy, Influence, Weather Control, Elemental Manipulation, Animal Control, Healing, Immortality, Shapeshifting, Super-Strength and Illusion

First Appearance

  • The Awakening

Elena Gilbert is the heroine, the protagonist, the main character and the female lead character of The Vampire Diaries series. Her ultimate soulmate and true love is centuries old vampire, Stefan Salvatore. Stefan's elder, dangerous and malevolent vampire brother who follows him to Fell's Church is Damon Salvatore. Elena is the oldest child born to Thomas Gilbert and Elizabeth Gilbert. She was born August 6th, 1974 in Fell's Church, Virginia, U.S.A. Elena starts off the series as being the most beautiful, popular girl at Robert E. Lee High School. Although she is very beautiful and popular, Elena initially comes off as very cold, standoffish, proud, vain, selfish, headstrong and spoiled.

Upon first meeting Stefan, Elena feels an immediate, powerful, strong, indescribable and intense connection and attraction to him that she cannot describe in words. She is deeply, passionately, and strongly in love with Stefan, but she also finds herself drawn to his immoral and dangerous older brother, Damon. Elena has endured much pain and tragedy in her young lifetime. Both of her parents died in a fatal car crash when she was younger, and she is raised by her Aunt Judith. Elena is very beautiful, and because of this, she s able to have any boy she wants. All the boys in Fell's Church want her, and all the girls in Fells Church want to be like her. Elena has a younger four year old sister named Margaret.

At first, Stefan avoids Elena because of her strong resemblance to his ex vampire-girlfriend Katherine and also because of the intense attraction they have for each other. Damon also becomes interested in Elena because of her physical resemblance to Katherine. Elena is very caring and willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to keep her loved ones safe. Elena appears in all the books and is the main protagonist. She is best friends with Bonnie McCullough, a kind, caring, selfless, empathetic, bubbly, charming and perky redhead who is a strong psychic with witch ancestry, and Meredith Sulez, an insightful, serious, intelligent and practical brunette who always gives wise advice. Elena used to be friends with Caroline Forbes, but when school starts again, Caroline becomes Elena's rival. When Stefan Salvatore enrolls at the school, Elena feels strongly and intensely drawn to him and promises to herself that she will have him, "even if it kills them both." Caroline also takes an interest in Stefan, causing the rivalry between her and Elena to heat up intensely. Caroline says to Elena that she might be losing her popularity, and status as "Queen Of The School."

Caroline gets a date with Stefan at the homecoming dance, and Elena tries to get Stefan to dance with her before Caroline foils her plans, coming back and saying that Elena looks "so pretty", and asks Elena if she minds that Caroline will be dancing with Stefan. However, in the end, Elena is the one who receives Stefan's affections and the two eventually (but quickly) fall deeply, intensely and strongly in love with each other.

Although Stefan and Elena always find absolute happiness, contentedness and bliss with each other, Elena's relationship with Stefan has been rather tumultuous and chaotic throughout the course of the series. Most of this is due to Stefan's tortured, dark and mysterious past and him keeping his centuries old dark secret of being a vampire from Elena. Aside from both of Stefan and Elena's personal issues and struggles, many different and various obstacles often try to keep Stefan and Elena from being together, one of those obstacles being Stefan's elder dangerous brother, Damon. Elena has a highly complicated relationship with Damon. Damon has repeatedly tried to make advances at Elena, but she repeatedly rejects Damon's wishes and advances and has remained stoically loyal to her strong and deep love for Stefan. This strongly angers Damon and he often reacts in jealousy and rage as a result.

Appearance[]

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Physically, Elena is extremely beautiful. Her eyes are blue with flecks of gold in them. Elena's eyes have also been described as being the color violet, especially when Elena wears her homecoming dress that brings out the violet in her eyes. Elena is described as having a gorgeous body. She is fairly slim and average height for a teenage girl. Elena's skin is described as being like a magnolia flowers, swans and alabaster (according to Stefan); very pale and white. Elena does not tan easily and can get sunburned. Elena's skin is so white that blue veins are visible all over her body.

Elena has long, straight blonde hair. It is a soft, pale gold, and the texture is silky and smooth. While Elena's hair is long, it is no where near as long as Katherine's hair, which spills on the floor and trails behind Katherine. Elena is described as being between 5'3" to 5'6" in height, and taller than Katherine by "a good hand span." (according to Stefan). Elena is taller than Bonnie, who is very petite in height, but shorter than Meredith, who is quite tall.

Because of all the boys in Fell's Church wanting her, and all of the girls in Fell's Church wanting to be like her, Elena does exhibit a bit of vanity and narcissistic qualities and she does use her beauty and physical appearance to get anything she desires and wants. Elena strongly resembles her love interest Stefan's ex-girlfriend who was a vampire named Katherine, although there are a few differences in physical appearance, according to Stefan. Katherine's eyes are much bluer than Elena's (described to be a deep, jewel blue) and her hair is much, much longer than Elena's. Katherine's hair is said to be a few shades darker and her eyebrows and eyelashes are described to be silvery white in coloring, while Elena's eyebrows and lashes are a darker blonde in coloring. There are repeated references in the series stating that Elena looks like an angel, or is very "angelic" in appearance.

Personality[]

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Personality wise, Elena is described as a complex personality, who transforms from an "Ice Queen," or "Ice Princess," to a significantly much more selfless and kinder person. Elena can be stubborn sometimes, like Stefan. Elena loves her friends and family verAugustch, and would be willing to die for them. Bonnie comments in Elena's diary, after Elena dies, that Elena did the most unselfish thing anybody could do. While Elena starts off as shallow, icy, selfish, vain, headstrong and spoiled, even having used most of her past boyfriends as prizes and trophies in order to boost her ego and self-esteem (except for Matt Honeycutt), she becomes significantly a much kinder and warmer person.

Most of this significant change within Elena's personality has to do with her unexpectedly meeting Stefan Salvatore. Elena's life changes forever upon meeting Stefan. Elena feels a deep, intense, passionate and indescribable attraction and connection with Stefan, although she finds herself drawn to his dangerous, unpredictable brother Damon. In fact, that is why Elena finds herself drawn to Damon.

Elena generally has a good personality, is strong, capable and tough and even though she has endured much pain and tragedy in her young life, has managed to stay as positive and optimistic as possible. Although Elena is popular and has many friends and acquaintances, Elena is deeply and painfully lonely at the very beginning of the series. She deeply and strongly yearned for something that she couldn't describe and felt empty most of the time. This emptiness was immediately filled after meeting Stefan. Elena loves her Aunt Judith and her younger sister, Margaret and will do anything to protect them and keep them safe. However, the one person whom she loves more then anything and would do absolutely anything for is Stefan. Elena's heart and soul belong strictly to Stefan, although the heart Damon desires most is Elena's. Elena is naturally stubborn, obstinate and distressed. Elena is a deep and passionate individual, and she loves deeply, intensely and passionately, especially where Stefan is concerned. In the book, The Vampire Diaries: The Return: Midnight (2011), Stefan says that Elena has 'Love-itis' because 'she loves too many people, and she wants them all to be happy'.

Relationships[]

Stefan Salvatore[]

Stefan Salvatore is Elena's ultimate soulmate and love interest of the series. The two have had a very complex, tumultuous and chaotic relationship throughout the course of the series. Most of this is due to the many and various personal issues in which both Stefan and Elena have faced in their lives and also, many outside obstacles that try to keep them from being together.

At first, Stefan repeatedly avoids Elena because of her strong resemblance to his ex vampire-girlfriend Katherine, which brings up painful memories. Although Stefan repeatedly tries to avoid Elena at all costs due to her resemblance to his past love from his dark past, but eventually succumbs to his intense feelings and attraction for Elena and falls in love with her. Because Elena has a strong desire for Stefan, she breaks up with Matt at the beginning of the school year. Elena promises to herself that she will have Stefan at all costs and under any circumstances, "even if it kills them both."

Elena tries to connect with Stefan mentally, emotionally and physically, but he repeatedly withdraws from her and avoids her at all costs and becomes very distant towards her. This deeply hurts Elena and makes her all the more determined to be with Stefan. At the homecoming dance, Elena takes off with Tyler Smallwood, his friend Dick Carter and Dick's date Vickie Bennett, to prove that she doesn't care after Caroline comes back and reveals that she is Stefan's date. When a drunken Tyler kisses Elena, Stefan comes to her rescue and beats up Tyler, taking Elena to his house.

The two eventually fall in love, but one day Elena discovers a shocking dark secret: Stefan is a vampire who is 500+ years old. She runs to his house and finds him on the roof with blood smeared on his lips after feeding on a bird. Frightened and shocked, she falls off the roof but Stefan catches her and she remains unharmed. Throughout the series, the two go through much chaos, pain and torture together, but their love for each other is what keeps them together. Their love story continues in the next Vampire Diaries trilogy. Elena, Stefan, Bonnie and Meredith will all attend college.

Damon Salvatore []

Elena and Damon first meet when he shows up at Bonnie's supper. Elena almost succumbs to Damon's compulsion and nearly kisses Damon, but at the last minute pulls away and stays loyal to Stefan. However, the two have a deep connection and she finds herself drawn to Damon, possibly because he is dangerous and unpredictable. Damon desires Elena's heart more than anything and he has made it his mission to make Elena his. Because of this, Damon has become obliged with winning over Elena from his little brother, Stefan. Damon wants Elena to join alongside him in the shadows as a vampire and be his Princess Of Darkness. In, "The Struggle," he explains to Elena that by the end of winter, she will have joined him and she will be his. Soon after Damon leaves, Elena feels snowflakes, as it is the beginning of winter.

When Stefan is trapped in the Dark Dimension in "Dark Reunion," Elena gives to Damon the love she would to Stefan. He tries to kiss her but she resists. In the book "The Return Shadow Souls", Elena and Damon set off to find Stefan in the Dark Dimension, while sharing romantic moments together, and eventually kissing. Although, Elena has a strong connection with Damon, she will always love Stefan due to the 'soulmate principle' shared between her and Stefan.

Bonnie McCullough[]

Bonnie is a bubbly, charming, witty and kindhearted redhead who is a powerful psychic with supposed witch ancestry. Bonnie and Elena share a very close, deep and solid friendship. Bonnie is Elena's best friend and they have been best friends since the first grade. Elena's other very close friend is Meredith. Bonnie has helped Elena through a lot and she has been highly supportive of Elena throughout all of her issues, struggles and tragedies. Bonnie is the one Elena often turns to for emotional support and comfort. Aside from Damon being attracted to Elena, Damon also develops feelings for Bonnie and he is very protective of her. Damon thinks of Elena and Bonnie as "his girls", and though he cares deeply for Bonnie, he gives Elena more attention due to his strong attraction to her. Bonnie is a psychic, and has dreams of Elena in the other world at the beginning of the book, Dark Reunion, after Elena dies in The Fury. The two are extremely close, and are very best friends. Bonnie helps Elena find Stefan in "The Struggle," and they find him trapped in the bottom of a well, close to death.

Meredith Sulez[]

Meredith and Elena are very close friends, as Elena is with Bonnie. Meredith is the other best friend of Elena. Meredith has been through everything with Elena. The two share a close friendship. Elena and Meredith have been through a lot ever since Stefan became Elena's boyfriend but eventually befriends and trusts Stefan. Meredith is wary of Damon at first but gains trust and he believes her to be a very skilled person. Meredith believes that Damon is taking advantage of Elena, emotionally, and warns both Elena and Bonnie that he dangerous.

Appearances[]

  • The Return: Nightfall
  • The Return: Shadow Souls
  • The Return: Midnight
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