Niklaus Mikaelson

Niklaus Mikaelson (Elder Futhark: ᚾᛁᚲᛚᚨᚢᛋ ᛗᛁᚲᚨᛖᛚᛋᛟᚾ) was the main character, antagonist/anti-hero of The Inner Circle. Klaus was an Original vampire and a werewolf, making him the Original Hybrid.

Klaus was the biological son of Ansel and Esther Mikaelson, the step-son of Mikael, and nephew of Dahlia. Klaus is the maternal younger half-brother of Freya, Finn, Elijah, and the maternal older half-brother of Kol, Rebekah and Henrik Mikaelson. Klaus was the uncle of Freya and Mathias' unborn son and Freya and Keelin's son, Nik. Klaus is the father of hope, whose mother is Hayley, and the adopted father of Marcel Gerard, an orphan boy he rescued and eventually turned into a vampire.

Klaus was first mentioned in the second season of The Vampire Diaries in Rose, during a conversation between Rose and Stefan Salvatore. Rose warns Stefan about the Original Vampires which led to Elena Gilbert believing Klaus was the oldest vampire in history. Elijah later mentions that Klaus is a recluse and trusts very few people, usually only in his inner circle.

For over a thousand years, Klaus had been trying to break a curse placed on him. He created the myth of the sun and moon curse in order to find the moonstone and the Petrova Doppelgänger, both of which were needed to break the actual curse. His goal was to liberate his werewolf side so he could sire his own super species of werewolf-vampire hybrids.

In 1492, he finally got the chance to break his curse when he met Katerina Petrova, the final piece necessary to break the curse. However, Katerina managed to foil his plan to use her in the sacrifice by turning into a vampire. For the next 500 years, Klaus searched for a way to break the curse without the doppelgänger, forcing generations of witches to help him. During his search for a way to break the curse, Klaus hunted down his family and neutralized them. He also hunted Katerina, who had escaped him and stolen his moonstone. However, it should also be noted that he was also on the run from his step-father, Mikael, as Klaus had an abusive childhood.

Besides his family, during the 1920's, Klaus formed a strong bond and brotherly relationship with Stefan. He then met with the vampire, Caroline Forbes, and starts to care about her, eventually falling in love with her and tried to win her love, and after a long time they were friends. In New Orleans, he had a father/son bond relationship with Marcel whom he works with in ruling New Orleans until Klaus discovered his treachery for bringing Mikael to New Orleans. They reformed their friendship when Marcel saved his daughter and they worked together to bring down their enemies. He also cared for the bartender Camille O'Connell, with whom he had fallen in love before her death.

Klaus was primarily a member of the Mikaelson Family, and a member of an unnamed Family of Werewolves. He was connected to the Labonair Family, a royal werewolf family via his daughter, and a member of the North East Atlantic Pack as well as an unnamed Witch Family.

Untriggered Werewolf-Witch Hybrid
While he was still an untriggered Werewolf-Witch hybrid, Klaus had a complicated life. He was close with his half-sister Rebekah, whom he affectionately called "Bekah", and with his half-brothers Elijah and Henrik. He also had a close relationship with his half-brother, Kol, but he did not get along at all with his half-brother, Finn, since childhood. However, he had a bad relationship with his overbearing step-father Mikael who was harder on him than any of his siblings. He was a victim of his step-father's physical and verbal abuse since childhood. Klaus even admitted to Rebekah that Mikael frightened him which made him constantly seek his approval without ever finding it. His mother Esther often tried to calm Mikael when he became angry with Klaus, but she never tried to stop him from humiliating or from physically/mentally abusing her son. Also as an untriggered werewolf, Klaus had the aggressive behavior of one, but he could not act on it due to his mother making him wear a magical necklace, created to weaken his strength and thus leaving him vulnerable to Mikael's abuse. These following reasons led him to resent both his parents and possibly to be jealous of his maternal half-siblings for having their approval. In the director's cut of the backdoor pilot of The Originals, Elijah pointed out that as an untriggered werewolf, Klaus was so full of love and life, and that all he ever wanted was to be loved in return, especially by his step-father. This belief that no one loved him and that he was doomed to be alone forever was the main factor that changed Klaus' personality.

Original Vampire-Original Hybrid
When Klaus was just in the early stages of being a hybrid, he slaughtered six villagers. Which afterwards, he was devastated and cried into Elijah's shoulder. After finding out that Mikael is not his biological father, he was shocked and betrayed. Klaus is continuously described as being cruel, sadistic, careless, paranoid, reckless, impulsive, short-tempered, aggressive, volatile, unpredictable, slightly unreasonable, narcissistic, manipulative, jealous, obsessive and competitive. Though he shows little to no regard for human life in general, Klaus feels guilt and remorse for most of his actions, he just does not show it, and he also has morals. Despite his negative traits, Klaus has shown to be very protective of his younger half-sister Rebekah, who stayed by his side for centuries, and he is not pure evil, he is just sadistic. Unbeknownst to any, Klaus was not the son of Mikael, but the son of an alpha werewolf named Ansel, in another village which made Klaus aggressive, violent and angry. When he became a vampire, all these emotions were heightened and Klaus' temper became worse than ever. Years of humiliation and physical/emotional abuses at Mikael's hands and Esther's indifference, coupled with her rejection of him as her son, led Klaus to kill his own mother in revenge and for betraying him. After this, Klaus shut off his humanity to any but his family, killing any who crossed his path. Vengeful and power-hungry, he will stop at nothing to achieve his ends and remove those who stand in his way. However, Klaus does not believe that death is a punishment as seen when he denies Katherine death, instead keeping her alive so that she will suffer for having betrayed him. He will also place usefulness before pleasure and keeps people alive when it suits his needs. He has also shown a penchant for working with witches which was mentioned by Katherine in Know Thy Enemy. Klaus also has a sense of honor and will not go back on his word although, he will always look for loopholes in the deals he makes.

In 1933, despite the fact that his werewolf side was dormant at the time, Klaus still held werewolves in high regard. When he discovered August Müller, a vampire, had been massacring innocent werewolves as well as spreading his beliefs about the purity of species, i.e. that vampires are the apex predators, Klaus ruthlessly killed August and his followers. Despite this, he would spare August's wife and children.

Klaus has also shown a sadistic side notably when he deals with humans or vampires who have crossed him, such as Elena, Damon and Katherine (his sadistic nature is often mistaken as psychotic) however, Klaus' hunger for power actually hides a deep fear of being alone which must stem from his step-father's treatment of him. He wants the hybrids so that he will not be the sole member of his race as Esther intended when she placed the curse on him. He also desires, beyond anything else, to be reunited with friends and family as shown by his desire to have Stefan, his one-time friend, and his family back at his side. According to Elijah, Klaus also uses his cruelty to hide his fear of being alone. He has shown to have a softer side when he is around Caroline, or a member of his family, but rarely shows it around other people. Caroline brings out Klaus' humanity. He also holds grudges against the people who try to kill him, or members of his family, and rarely lets it go. Klaus is self-preserving whenever he is in a situation where he could be killed permanently, he reveals information that keeps him from being killed, like when he told Elijah that he didn't bury their family at sea, or when he told Stefan and Damon he is the one who sired their bloodline. Klaus rarely gets made a fool out of and also doesn't like to be made a fool out of either. He is rarely caught off guard. Klaus is highly intelligent, calculating, thinks of contingencies, he (secretly) admits he makes mistakes and learns from them as well, he is always two steps ahead of his enemies. Klaus is not a very forgiving person; as he rarely forgives people in general. Despite him being the world's most physically powerful immortal supernatural being, he often pretends to be arrogant to mask his fear of being alone, he is not completely fearless, he is afraid of the White Oak Stake, because it is the only physical weapon that can permanently kill him, other than the white oak stake, Klaus is also afraid of becoming like his step-father, Mikael. Klaus has a sarcastic sense of humor and he is sarcastic even towards members of his own family. Despite his lust for power, Klaus still cares about the remaining members of his family. Despite being manipulative, he does not like being lied to or manipulated. He does not take being betrayed very well, especially if it is from a member of his family. He is not tolerant of people who disappoint him in general. He has very little tolerance for disloyalty, if any of his friends or members of his family have try to kill him, or betrayed him to his enemies who wants him dead, Klaus disowns them and no longer see them as his friends or family; like Esther, Finn, Rebekah and Marcel. Klaus is ruthless and brutal towards his enemies, as he rarely shows any of his enemies mercy. Also if anyone tries to hurt or kill a member of his family, most of them will not live to regret it.

Klaus can sometimes be cold and ill-mannered, he is also not above killing children, if they are a threat to him or his family, despite this Klaus dislikes people in general who mistreat or abuse their children; due to how he was mistreated and abuse by his step-father, Mikael. Due to the fact that he was betrayed by Esther, Klaus does not trust people in general, he only trust those who have proven themselves trustworthy to him. He wants people in general, to be loyal to him and respect him of their own free will, he does not like to compel people to be loyal to him against their free will, he only does this if he believes they are plotting against him or his family.

Like Elijah, Klaus can easily be provoked when disrespected, as he has no tolerance for those that disrespect him, like his best friend Marcel, who spoke down to him. Klaus retaliated by biting Marcel's best friend Thierry Vanchure, to teach his best friend a lesson, to never disrespect him again or there will be consequences. Although he puts up a tough demeanor, deep down Klaus cares about his family; he just has a lot of difficulty showing it. Initially, Klaus hated being a vampire, after he was turned into one, but he eventually accepted his vampire nature, although he revels/embraces both his werewolf and vampire natures, there is still some part of Klaus, that resents Mikael and Esther for turning him and his maternal half-siblings into vampires against their free will. He later admitted to Esther that he forgives her for turning them and prefers them as vampires.

During his time in New Orleans, Klaus has grown to genuinely care about his unborn child, and was deeply hurt/enraged when Elijah and Hayley falsely accused him of using her to sire more hybrids; that he violently bit Elijah in retaliation. Although, he does still maintain a twisted sense of humor about his child as he once referred to his child as "that" when discussion how to keep it and Hayley safe from Marcel. Klaus is also shown to be more mellow as he was shown to genuinely regret daggering Elijah and went out of his way to show how sorry he was, even going as far as to spare Agnes for trying to kill his unborn child just so Elijah could keep his word. It is possible that being in his former home, with his family, has caused his humanity to show more. Klaus has also shown to have matured greatly as he no longer uses the White Oak Dagger to put down his maternal half-siblings when he disagrees with them like before but instead settles things in a civil and sometimes violent matter. As the baby's birth approached, Klaus became more and more protective of both her and Hayley. He even had a nursery built right next to Hayley's bedroom so she could be near her baby. His undying love for the child is evident as he willingly sent the child away from the chaos in New Orleans so that she could grow up properly in the loving arms of her aunt Rebekah.

Even if he is cruel, we can see he still has a part of humanity which is shown when he's about to cry when he sees his dead half-brother (Kol), when he admits his love for Caroline or when Hayley is pregnant of their child and he's fighting for her safety. Unlike Elijah, Klaus is far less calm, composed, and strategic in battle. Despite his temper, Klaus is shown to be very keen as he was able to figure out that Hope would be sacrificed at the cemetery because it was where the Harvest and the Reaping took place as well as the location of the ancestral witches' burial place. Klaus does seem to care about Tyler to a degree. When he told Caroline he defeated Tyler, he left out the detail that Tyler tried to kill Hayley and his unborn child. This could be due to not wanting Caroline to hate Tyler, however, it is very likely that he just wanted to keep his child's existence a secret as much as possible, as Klaus has made many enemies over the years, (until his child is old enough to protect herself). Klaus also did mention after Stefan watched knowingly as he walked into a trap by his hybrids, he wanted to kill Stefan but he fought the urge to and mentioned it took three days to finally lose the urge to kill Stefan, when he could have ended it in an instant by killing Stefan. In Season Two of The Originals, Klaus is shown to have developed strong paternal instincts since the birth of Hope. One such case is his belief a parent who trades their child for anything deserves a punishment worse than death. Klaus has also mellowed great deal a since season one, so much so he, in an ironic twist of fate, restrained Elijah when he lost his temper when Finn threatened Rebekah (and unknowingly Hope) unlike before where he would just let the blood flow. Klaus' main concern is keeping his daughter safe now that she has returned home.

Klaus has also developed strong friendship instincts. One example was when he gave up an opportunity to kill Mikael when he threw Papa Tunde's Blade at Camille and chose to safe guard her life over killing Mikael. Although he is paranoid and mistrustful, these traits have proven to be correct on more then one occasion, like with his maternal half-sister Freya, who he does not trust to begin with, due to the fact that she resurrected his maternal half-brother Finn, and indirectly helped the latter find Hope. Since the birth of his daughter, Klaus has become far more mature, responsible and selfless, and far less reckless, impulsive and selfish, as Hope has brought out the best inside him. Despite this, he still can be, though to a far less extent; cruel, sadistic, vengeful, ruthless, manipulative and jealous as when he declared only he will decide what is the best way to protect his daughter, not his maternal half-siblings or Hayley, and Dahlia picked up the fact that he fears Hope will grow up to call her step-father Jackson "Daddy". Klaus is a brilliant strategist, and skilled in making people suffer, traits he inherited from his mother. however, unlike Esther, he never underestimated members of his family, or his enemies, he committed immoral acts; he killed Elijah's girlfriend Gia, and daggered him with Papa Tunde's Blade, compelled Marcel to kill Rebekah, (who is in the body of the late Eva Sinclair) if she tries to escape the compound, had Dahlia reactivate the Crescent Curse on the Crescent Wolf Pack and Hayley. All these actions of his was partly as revenge/punishment for betraying him/for trying to take his daughter away from him, and mainly to gain Dahlia's trust to take her down.

Klaus still has guilt and remorse for most of his actions, however, he still refuses to show it; but he only shows his remorseful nature towards Camille. He also still has morals and a sense of honor. By the end of the second season, Klaus no longer has a sensitive side; as he no longer cares about what people in general think about him, particularly his maternal half-siblings and Hayley, with the exception of Hope. In his new role as a parent, Klaus has gradually begun to reveal an unexpected aptitude towards the demands of fatherhood by placing his daughter's needs above his own. In the act of abdicating his rule over the French Quarter and handing the reigns of control back to Marcel for the sole purpose of focusing his attention on raising Hope, Klaus exhibits a phenomenal turn-around in his priorities and power-hungry nature as well as in embracing the advent of parenthood and the experience of a new, self-sacrificing love. As a member of the North East Atlantic Pack by blood, Klaus does not get along with any member of the Crescent Wolf Pack at all, for good reason, with the exception of Aiden and Hayley, until the latter betrayed him; by trying to take Hope away from him.

In Season Three, Klaus is warned of a prophecy by Lucien Castle (the first vampire he ever sired) that the remaining Original Vampires will fall in one year, he initially brushed it off, but realizes that Lucien may be right about the prophecy. He also realizes he has to become the ruthless hybrid he once was (prior to him fathering Hope), he joins forces with Elijah and Freya to try to stop the prophecy.

By the end of the third season, Klaus chooses to sacrifices himself to save the rest of his family, going to his trial, for the sins he has committed over the centuries, despite knowing the fact that the trial was nothing more than a joke as Marcel and his former sireline already found him guilty before he was put on trial, condemning him for his actions that he had committed, while he claims he did it in order to protect his family. Klaus condemns them saying they would do the same thing. Klaus is upset that his friendship and family bond with Marcel had ended, as he understands Marcel's anger and vengeance, however, (silently) he cannot make excuses for his ex-best friend's behavior, the look on Klaus' face moments before Marcel stabbed him with Papa Tunde's blade; clearly indicates that he plans to make Marcel suffer for his treachery against him and his half-siblings.

Even five years after his imprisonment, Klaus' personality has not changed much as Marcel had failed to break him emotionally. Initially, he did not want to be reunited with his daughter, as he was afraid that he would fail Hope as her father (as he did not want her to become like him) just like he did with Marcel, despite his best efforts. After some encouragement from Camille O'Connell, a manifestation of his subconsciousness in responses to the torture of the Tunde Blade, he overcame this fear.

When an entity known as The Hollow threatened his daughter's life, he reluctantly returned to New Orleans to deal with this threat once-and-for all, though he gained a disdain for New Orleans, due to the fact that it reminds him of all the horrible things that had happened to the people he cares and love for, such as Camille's death. Despite this, and in an effort to change for Hope, Klaus has become far more merciful. This is evident by the fact that he gave two of the Hollows' followers a choice; they could renounce their allegiance to their master, and leave New Orleans; or they can be killed where they stand, instead of killing them out right as he normally does when there is a threat to his family.

Prior to being rescued by his family from Marcel, Klaus has developed slight PTS (post traumatic stress) as he dislikes being locked up, even if it is for his own protection. Despite this, he shows no remorse for his actions in regards to others in the same aspect, such as with Marcel, knowing the feeling of being secluded for an extended period of time.

Physical Appearance
Klaus is an attractive man. His height is 5'11 (1.80 cm). Klaus possesses curled dirty-blond hair and dark blue eyes that contrasts with his pearl-white skin. His physical appearance is that of a man between 19-21, despite being over 1000 years old. As a vampire and a warrior (from the 10th century), he is well-built. Klaus possesses a delicate and yet masculine face, possibly due to the fact that he was a nobleman between the 11th and the 18th centurys.

Klaus' clothing style is quite casual, usually seen wearing shirts, jeans and jackets, although he can also use a more classic and refined outfit if the situation requires it (ex: the ritual of the moonstone; the Original ball thrown by Esther). He uses accessories, such as leather bracelets or necklaces as seen in most of his scenes on both shows.

Powers and Abilities
As an Original Vampire, later the Original Hybrid, Klaus is the second strongest of the Original Vampires, second only to his step-father. His Werewolf side has given him additional powers and advantages the others do not possess, making him the one of the most physically powerful immortal beings in the world. Although stronger than his maternal half-sibling due to his werewolf heritage, some of his siblings have been shown to be willing to fight with him with no fear, with Elijah actually able to do so on almost even terms, Elijah seems to have no difficulty trying to start and end fights with Klaus, usually having the upper hand on Klaus himself for a short period of time; before the latter turns the tables on Elijah. Klaus' step-father being notable for surpassing him and whom he initially feared greatly; made worse when Mikael had possessed the White Oak Stake.

Klaus' powers improve with the consumption of human blood, assuming his werewolf form or utilizing his lycanthropic enhancements and the full moon. In Live and Let Die, it is shown that Mikael was slightly stronger than Klaus, and it should be noted that Mikael was still affected with werewolf venom and Papa Tunde's Blade, therefore not even at full strength yet still demonstrated superior strength than his son. With the death of Mikael, Klaus was at the time the single most physically strongest being around, however, after Lucien and Marcel took the serum and become the Beasts, they had outmatched him in sheer power. Klaus currently remains the second strongest.

Even before Klaus became an Original Vampire, later the Original Hybrid, he was a fairly skilled swordsman, even though he rarely uses a sword, due to his supernatural powers, Klaus' swordsman skills have not diminished.

Klaus has shown to be an expert fighter even when unarmed; When Marcel's army took him on, despite being overwhelmed to begin with, he was able to fight them, almost evenly and overpowered most of them, through his fighting skills and original hybrid powers. In that single fight, he killed roughly twenty four non-original vampires single-handedly, showing his skills as a combatant even further. Klaus is far less calm, composed, and strategic in battle than Elijah but has a better mind for coming up with long term plans and back ups, being nearly always one step ahead of his enemies. Due to his long existence, Klaus has seen countless battles and is very experienced in battle. In Fire with Fire, Klaus was able to take out six evolved werewolves without any difficulty, when he faced off against Hayley and Jackson, although he had some difficulty taking them both on at the same time, he ultimately got the upper hand; overpowers and defeats them.

His supernatural attributes aside, Klaus' greatest asset is his sharp intellect. His penchant for strategies and forming contingencies way ahead of time, despite the fact that Elijah's penchant for strategies and forming contingencies surpasses his, Klaus has outsmarted Elijah on more than one occasion, Klaus is able to discern a great deal of whatever or whoever is presented to him after only a few keen observations, he was able to figure out that Hope would be sacrificed at the cemetery because it was where the Harvest and the Reaping took place as well as the location of the ancestral witches' burial place, He was able to deduce that his mother was possessing Cassie, he also came up with a plan, to make it look like he has turned against his maternal half-siblings and Hayley, after Elijah daggered him, and after Hayley tried to take his daughter Hope away from him, in order to gain Dahlia's trust to take her down. According to Dahlia, Klaus is arguably the most intelligent of his maternal half-siblings with Elijah occasionally rivaling him.

Weaknesses
Klaus has some of the typical weaknesses of an Original Vampire and a Werewolf.