Consistent Characterization


One of the biggest weaknesses of TVD for me is that the character's decisions/actions are often inconsistent. If it drives the plot forward or solves a narrative dilemma (or helps bolster Delena/Damon in some way), the characters will act completely OOC without much explanation. This has made character growth really hard, which is why we're seeing the same crap SLs play out over and over again and no one learns from their mistakes. If the show was true to who the characters were in the first 2 seasons of the show, how do you think they would have ended up?

My thoughts:

Bonnie: Bonnie's slide from strong, intelligent, powerful witch into powerless, pathetic martyr makes the least narrative sense for me. She would have started to be at odds with her friends around s3&4 and she would have sought out other witches to help her strengthen her powers. Eventually she would have gone dark, or become drunk with power. Even before Kai came along, I always thought she would have had a relationship with another witch and explore her dark side. Bonnie would have become a nemesis to the vampires as well. I think she ultimately would have rejoined the group, but not without some sacrifice on their part.

Elena:I think Elena would have ended up with a non vamp. I do think her evolution from being a selfless angel into a self absorbed, weak woman was realistic. After being told the world revolves around you so many times, you begin to think it does. I think she and Damon would have had a passionate love affair, with her exploring her dark side, but ultiamtely deciding she wants a life away from vampires.

Matt: Matt would have long ago turned on his vampire friends and become a nemesis to them. It would have been an internal struggle for him, but he would have likely gone against them and (probably) ended up dead.

Damon: He would have risen to his full villain potential and ultimately been killed.

Stefan: Stefan would have martyred himself for his friends/brother a long time ago. The guilt of being a ripper would have been too much for him.

Caroline: I think she ended up about where I expected. But Steroline would have never happened.

What do you guys think?

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I also believe that Elena would've wound up with a human.

With Caroline, it's hard to say. I guess I can agree with you, it would be very close to her current situation, minus the children. I do believe Steroline would've happened, but may not have have been long term.

Damon? I don't know. He could have grown, properly, but it wouldn't be the disjointed mess he is right now, or like you said, if he would've stayed on his initial path he probably would've ended up dead. Once upon a time I felt he had a lot of potential.

I totally agree with about Matt. He either would've turned against them or completely turned his back on them.

Stefan is one I have a strong feeling would've completely sacrificed himself for either Damon or Elena. I couldn't picture a future with him being alive.

Tyler, I could see becoming a pack leader, that's where I thought his storyline was headed.

Jeremy may have would up an artist and completely sever ties to his old life minus Elena.

I agree about Bonnie. Her turn would've come in season 3. She should've sought out other Witches (Lucy included) to strengthen her magic and to potentially learn more about herself and her family, these Witches getting in her ear about how shes not appreciated and that would be a way to sway her. I could see Bonnie coming back into the fold to help fight off Silas or whichever big bad they needed help with. And yes, I would rather she be paired with a Witch, like marriage paired. The closest we came to that was Luka.



My ass may be dumb, but I ain't no dumbass...

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Damon? I don't know. He could have grown, properly, but it wouldn't be the disjointed mess he is right now, or like you said, if he would've stayed on his initial path he probably would've ended up dead. Once upon a time I felt he had a lot of potential.


Yeah, I had a hard time with Damon. It could have been done really well, if they had gone for redemption or if they had gone straight bad boy/villain. But he's sort of in the middle and yeah, it doesn't work.

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Agreed about Bonnie, Elena, and kind of Caroline.

Matt could've hated vampires but definitley have gotten over it and be developed into something that isn't boring and cliche' which is what he mostly has been.

I actually thought (and wanted) Stefan to kill himself in Season 5 to stop The Anti-Magic spell, but instead they made him look and get bested by someone who barely knew how to work a Hybrids body.

Damon could've been developed, they just did it wrong. Really wrong, instead of changing him with the narrative, they changed the narrative for him. It's just bad.

Jeremy's doing what he should be but I want to see it on screen.

Tyler should be commanding a pack of wolves but he was killed for shock value.

Alaric should've never had kids honestly, set up a spin off with him running The Armory along with Enzo, where they help clear out Supernatural town of particular danger.

Caroline I guess should've been a little more grown, I mean they ended up making her sleep with Klaus, and then blaming Tyler for blaming her, which IMO is one of the of top 5 WTFs they've ever pulled.

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Caroline I guess should've been a little more grown, I mean they ended up making her sleep with Klaus, and then blaming Tyler for blaming her, which IMO is one of the of top 5 WTFs they've ever pulled.


Yes--more grown up. I think my issue with Steroline is that it does make her seem immature, last season I liked her a lot more.

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Yeah, I stopped liking Steroline when Caroline acted like a scorned schoolgirl because Stefan didn't like her back, then turned her humanity off for it and then blamed him for running away to keep her children safe even though he asked her to come with him.

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Totally agreed!

Like, who couldn't understand Tyler's anger? That's one I will never understand.


My ass may be dumb, but I ain't no dumbass...

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To this day I don't understand why he had to feel sorry in any way. It's also not like he stalked and reminded her everyday what happened. He just wasn't extra friendly when she was around. Which I think he was entitled to at least.

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I think creating The Originals spinoff messed with a lot of things, particularly Caroline's storyline. It was obvious (at least to me) that they were building a slow burn relationship between her and Klaus that was abruptly stopped when they decided to do the spin off. I guess they had them sleep together so they could still put them together if the spinoff wasn't successful, but since it was, it was just left as a wtf moment in Caroline's development.

Steroline just seemed forced from the beginning. It just seemed like they didn't know what to do with Caroline and Stefan after Tyler and Klaus left and Damon and Elena got together, so they put them together.

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I think Matt and Bonnie were both totally wasted as characters. They should've stopped trying to fit them into romantic pairings and just teamed them up (as friends), who were looking for a way to rid Mystic Falls of vampires. Even if they stayed friends with the Salvatores, they still should have discovered some way to channel the cure into all of their friends and perhaps even more vamps.

Caroline should have died earlier on. I know she's everyone's favourite because she's the nice, grounded one, but she stopped being relevant very early on - to the point where I feel like they pulled a Smalliville and turned her into Lana, what with her character constantly being tortured and "believing" in the many loves of her life, all who failed to be worth believing in. The Sheriff still being alive makes more sense to me.

Damon and Stefan should've stopped being in love with Elena and cut ties with the doppelganger line for good, and then worked on their brotherly love and issues. Then maybe this whole "I want to be a better man...for Elena" gag wouldn't make me throw up in my mouth so much.

Elena should've been alone. Abandoned by her friends, dumped by her two male worshippers, she should have finally had to stand on her own two feet. And she should've finally been happy.

Tyler, Jeremy and Rebekah should've been working together to advocate for peace between humans, werewolves and vampires. Tyler as the werewolves' leader, Rebekah on behalf of the originals and Jeremy as a spokesperson for the Hunters' Guild or whatever lol. Alaric could've worked at the Armory, so that they could pop in for information every now and then or so he could send it to them secretly.

Enzo's cool but not really needed. Still felt like things were unresolved between Bonnie and Jeremy tbh.



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