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Matt Honeycutt (Full Name: Matthew "Matt" Honeycutt) is a main male character in The Vampire Diaries series. Matt was born March 14th 1974 in Fells Church, Virginia. He is the all American boy next door. He is the childhood friend, first love and ex-boyfriend of Elena Gilbert. Matt is the star athlete and quarterback of his high school's football team along with Tyler Smallwood, Dick Carter and Stefan Salvatore, who plays the position of wide receiver. Matt is close friends with both Meredith Sulez and Bonnie McCullough since childhood. His best friend is Stefan Salvatore, who is a centuries old vampire who reigns from Italy, and he and Stefan share a very close, strong bond and friendship despite Matt's obvious unresolved feelings for Elena. Although Matt is very close with Stefan, he strongly dislikes Stefan's older brother, Damon and they can never seem to get along or go without quarreling with each other. Stefan is always the one who happens to play peacemaker when it comes to Damon and Matt. Damon calls him "Mutt" instead of by his real name, Matt.

Physically, Matt is fresh, good-looking, and athletic. Matt is very tall with an athletic physique. He has blond short cropped hair and clear, light blue eyes (Stefan observes that his eyes are open and honest). During the summer prior to The Awakening, Matt helped out on his grandparents' farm, which gave him a tanned complexion. He's described as being an attractive, wholesome, all-American, boy-next-door type. Matt and Elena are best friends since childhood and they know absolutely everything about each other. Because they have been best friends since childhood, Matt understands Elena better than anybody and he is always looking out for her and has her best interests at heart.

Before Elena had met Stefan, Matt was the only boy in Elena's life who has had any kind of significant impact or influence on Elena's personal growth. Certainly, Elena still thinks that he's good-looking and of course, an amazingly nice guy, even after breaking up with him, and Bonnie has shown some interest in him, although Matt and Bonnie seem to have more of a platonic, brotherly/sisterly connection than a romantic connection.

Due to his family being poor and not having all that much money, he tends to wear older clothes, and Elena surmises at the beginning of The Awakening that his scuffed shoes must have been the same ones he had the previous year on account of not being able to afford new ones

While Matt is incredibly hurt and heartbroken at losing Elena to his vampire friend Stefan, he accepts it and wishes Stefan and Elena happiness. He continues to be very protective of Elena. At first, Matt was extremely jealous of Stefan and still pined for Elena, but he has shown some caring feelings for Bonnie. Matt helps Stefan escape the Haunted House on the night of the attack, but afterward begins to think that Stefan might have killed Mr. Tanner.

Later on in the series, the relationship between Stefan and Matt is closer to that of best friends. He is forgiving, loyal, trusting, empathetic, kind, caring, and he is described as the friendly boy-next-door type. Despite being captain of the school football team, Matt is about as far from a stereotypical jock as you can get. He's fiercely loyal, and likes to see the best in people and in situations, no matter how bad it may get. When it comes to the subject of love and relationships, he's quite mature, wise, old-fashioned and traditional for his age. Matt is quite romantic, although he is not nearly as passionate romantically as Stefan is. Despite being in love with Elena, he is able to not only let her go as a girlfriend, but he's also able to remain her close, supportive friend while not being bitter about his loss, coming to her aid several times (above and beyond the call of duty) in the story.

Even more surprisingly, he's able to become best friends with Stefan, who by all rights should be considered his rival in his love for Elena. He has faith in the basic goodness of people and mankind, and displays this several times during the course of the books, from sticking by Stefan despite damning evidence against him, to even managing to work out some motives for Damon's actions that prove him to be not quite as evil as he'd like people to believe. Indeed, the basic concept of vampires existing, while a shock, doesn't seem to bother him particularly. It's not the fact that Stefan is a vampire that sends him spiraling into extreme depression and denial in The Fury, but the fact that Stefan pretends to feel absolutely no remorse over attacking Tyler and his associates in the Quonset hut.

After the events of The Fury, Matt's faith in humanity and the world has been severely shaken, and he spends much of Dark Reunion in a previously uncharacteristic pessimistic, melancholic and defeated state. It takes a renewal of friendship and a deep heart-to-heart with his best friend Stefan for him to start to regain some of his earlier determination, optimism, and good humor. In The Hunters: Moonsong, after attending Dalcrest College, Matt receives a letter inviting him to join the Vitale Society.

Physical Appearance[]

Physically, Matt is described to be quite tall (6'0" to 6'3"). He has an athletic physique with broad shoulders and chest. He has light, flaxen short-cropped blond hair. Matt's eye color is described as a clear, light blue (Stefan observes that his eyes are open and honest). During the summer prior to The Awakening, Matt helped out on his grandparents' farm, which gave him a tanned complexion. He's described as being an attractive, wholesome, all-American, boy-next-door type and very trustworthy. Certainly Elena still thinks that he's handsome, even after breaking up with him, and Bonnie shows some definite interest in him. Due to his family being poor, he tends to wear older clothes, and Elena surmises at the beginning of The Awakening, that his scuffed shoes must have been the same ones he had the previous year on account of not being able to afford new ones.

A quote in The Awakening describes Matt's appearance: "He was good-looking. There was no doubt about that. Not in the stunning, almost disturbing way that―that some people were, but in a healthy American way. Matt Honeycutt was all-American. His blond hair was cropped short for the football season, and his skin was sun burnt from working outdoors on his grandparents' farm. His blue eyes were honest and straightforward."

Personality[]

Matt is a very kind, caring and good person by nature and he has strong morals, values and integrity. Personality wise, Matt is loyal, friendly, caring, understanding, helpful, forgiving, trustworthy, straightforward, dependable and he displays a sense of duty. He is described to be the friendly boy-next-door type. Although, despite his generally good traits and his even temperament, Matt can be jealous and envious. He can also be over protective over his friends (Meredith and Bonnie) and he is also quite strategic in his thinking.

While Matt is heartbroken at losing Elena to Stefan Salvatore, he accepts it over time. He continues to be very protective of Elena and looks out for her like the best friend that he is to her and always has been. Matt was extremely jealous of Stefan at first and still pines for Elena's affections, but over a period of time, he begins to show some feelings towards Bonnie McCullough, although Bonnie is also deeply and strongly attracted to Damon Salvatore, Stefan's dangerous elder brother. Matt displays his helpful attitude in throughout the series; he helps Stefan escape the Haunted House on the night of the attack, but afterward begins to think that Stefan might have killed Mr. Tanner. Later in the series, the relationship between Stefan and Matt is closer to that of best friends. Despite being the captain and the star quarterback of Robert E. Lee High School's football team, Matt is about as far from a stereotypical jock as you can get. He's fiercely loyal, and likes to see and believe the best in people. When it comes to the subject of love and relationships, he's quite old-fashioned and mature for his age.

Despite being deeply in love with first love and childhood friend Elena Gilbert, he is able to not only let her go as a girlfriend, but he's also able to remain her loyal, protective friend, while not being bitter about his loss, coming to her aid several times (above and beyond the call of duty) in the story. Even more surprisingly, he's able to become best friends with Stefan Salvatore, who by all rights should be considered his rival in his love for Elena. But after a while, Matt comes to realize that Stefan truly loves Elena and is willing to do everything and anything he can to protect her and keep her safe, so Matt gains a lot of trust in Stefan because of this. Matt also has a love for cars (especially classic cars), and admires the red Jaguar that Stefan had bought for Elena. He’s Stefan’s first – and only – human friend when Stefan first comes to Fell’s Church, and on several occasions goes out on a limb for his best friend, trusting his gut instincts that Stefan is a very good person who can be trusted and depended on.

He has faith in the basic goodness of people, and displays this several times during the course of the books, from sticking by his best friend Stefan, despite damning evidence against him, to even managing to work out some motives for Damon's actions that prove him to be not quite as evil as he'd like people to believe. Indeed, the basic concept of vampires existing, while a shock, doesn't seem to bother him particularly. It's not the fact that Stefan is a vampire that sends him spiraling into denial in The Fury, but the fact that Stefan pretends to feel no remorse over attacking Tyler Smallwood and his associates in the Quonset hut. After the events of The Fury, Matt's faith in humanity and the world has been severely shaken and disturbed, and he spends much of Dark Reunion in a previously uncharacteristic pessimistic and defeated state. It takes a renewal of friendship and a heart-to-heart with Stefan, for him to start to regain some of his earlier determination, faith and good humor.

Relationships[]

Stefan Salvatore[]

Stefan is Matt's very best friend. Matt originally befriends Stefan when Stefan first arrives at Robert E. Lee High School. Matt is also initially envious and jealous of Stefan because of Elena's strong and powerful connection with him and because Matt has unresolved feelings for Elena. Despite Matt's feelings, Matt proves to be very selfless and puts his feelings on the back burner and still becomes Stefan's friend and remains Elena's friend, despite the fact that she broke his heart. Matt eventually comes to accept Stefan and Elena's relationship and even becomes ultra supportive of him.

Elena Gilbert[]

Damon Salvatore[]

Bonnie McCullough[]

Random Facts[]

  • Quarterback for the Robert E. Lee High School football team.[1] He's referred to as 'another Joe Montana'.[2]
  • He rattles the change in his pocket when he's got something on his mind he wants to vocalize.[3]
  • Matt is said to be poor.
  • Wears a blue parka jacket.[4]
  • Owns an 'ancient' Ford Sedan.[5] Elena describes it as a 'clunking dinosaur of a car'. It has to be at least as old as Matt is as the last Sedan seems to have been manufactured in 1974.
  • He snores.[6]
  • He's given the 'Outstanding Male Athlete' award in the 1991 Founders' Day ceremony. [7]

[]

  1. p.43, The Awakening (The Awakening/The Struggle double volume print, 2007)
  2. p.90, The Awakening (The Awakening/The Struggle double volume print, 2007)
  3. p.42, The Awakening (The Awakening/The Struggle double volume print, 2007)
  4. p.270, The Struggle (The Awakening/The Struggle double volume print, 2007)
  5. p.262, The Struggle (The Awakening/The Struggle double volume print, 2007)
  6. p.379, The Struggle (The Awakening/The Struggle double volume print, 2007)
  7. p.461, The Struggle (The Awakening/The Struggle double volume print, 2007)
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