Stefan Salvatore

Stefan Salvatore was a main male protagonists of The Inner Circle. Stefan was a 183-year-old cured vampire and the distant descendant and doppelgänger of Silas. Stefan was born and raised in the supernatural town of Mystic Falls, Virginia and came of age during the time of the Civil War. Stefan was the youngest child of Giuseppe Salvatore and Lillian Salvatore. He had an older brother, Damon Salvatore, who is also a cured vampire and whom he shared a strained relationship with, stemming from the appearance of Katherine Pierce in which they fought over whilst human.

During the years following his transition, despite the help from close friend Lexi Branson, Stefan has constantly battled with his bloodlust, and during the 1900's after "falling off the wagon" due to Damon's unhealthy influence, he widely became known as the Ripper of Monterey due to his inability to control his blood thirst. For a brief time, Stefan was romantically involved with the Original, Rebekah Mikaelson, and shared a close friendship with her brother, Niklaus.

After many years away, Stefan returned to his hometown of Mystic Falls to visit his distant nephew, Zach. Stefan then saw Elena Gilbert for the first time while rescuing her after her parents' car drove off Wickery Bridge. After finding her personal records and observing her from afar, Stefan determined that Elena was definitely not Katherine. Still, he was strongly intrigued by her and decided to pose as a new transfer student at Mystic Falls High School to get to know her. They were instantly drawn to each other and they immediately bond, beginning a romantic relationship shortly afterwards. However, despite them becoming romantically involved, various and numerous obstacles begin to come between the two, making Stefan and Elena struggle and fight to be together. They grow distance after Elena's transition, and later break up, due to Elena's heightened feelings for Damon. He later discovered that this is due to the creation of a sire bond between Elena and Damon after Elena's transition to a vampire. He then embarked on a journey to Nova Scotia with Elena, Shane, Damon, Bonnie, Jeremy, and Rebekah to seek the the cure that can help break the sire bond.

At the end of the fourth season, Stefan ends up heartbroken when the sire bond is broken and Elena still decided to choose Damon over him. Stefan decides to leave town and start over elsewhere. However, Stefan ends up being confronted by Silas, finally revealing his true form and locks him in a safe underwater.

Throughout the fifth season, Stefan loses his memories due to Qetsiyah's attempt at incapacitating Silas and suffering effects due to Silas' confrontation, he slowly finds closure with Katherine as she helps him overcome his demons. Being a doppelgänger, Stefan's blood is used for a spell by The Travelers in order to resurrect their leader, Markos. During this time, he begins to grow close to Elena again and they are able to form a close friendship. As things begin to spiral out of control, Stefan was unexpectedly killed by Julian, a Traveler warlock, while trying to protect Caroline, but he was resurrected after Damon, Caroline and Elena's plan to bring him back from The Other Side is a success. However after Damon fails to return, he is left devastated at the loss of his brother as the Other Side collapses. Following this, Stefan moved away from Mystic Falls and had tried to start over and move on from the loss, pain and tragedy. Unfortunately for Stefan, he ended up being dragged back to Mystic Falls due to unexpected drama.

During the eighth season, Stefan worked for Cade, the Devil. To keep both him and Damon out of Hell, he fliped his humanity switch off. While a ripper again, he attempted to murder Elena in her coffin, ripping out Enzo's heart, killing him as he was in his way. He then attacks Bonnie before going after Elena, only for Bonnie to use the Cure, taken from Elena's blood, on Stefan in revenge and self-defense. Stefan faints from being cured of his vampirism.

Stefan's life has been fraught with constant change and various complications: from falling in love and being with Elena to mending his complicated relationship with Damon; from sacrificing his freedom for his brother's life to growing apart from Elena after her transition to a vampire, and suffering the guilt that came from making a split-second decision that resulted in Elena becoming a vampire.

He is best friends with Lexi Branson until her death (now reunited in death), and eventually became best friends and married to Caroline Forbes. He was also close friends with Bonnie Bennett and his ex-girlfriend, Elena Gilbert.

Throughout the series, outside forces threaten those he loved and what he most desired: a normal, human life.

Stefan was a member of the Salvatore Family.

Human/Doppelgänger
As a human, Stefan was compassionate, kind, noble, honorable, intelligent, athletic, responsible, academic, dutiful, and a gentleman. He was definitely seen as the 'Golden Boy' and he had the admiration and respect of the entire town of Mystic Falls and most of all, of his father Giuseppe. Stefan was also seen to be ambitious and studious and he desired to become a doctor during his human life and this was his profession or career of choice before he was turned into a vampire against his will. In his human years, when it came to love and romance, Stefan was liked, admired by and popular with women. He was seen to be chivalrous, gallant, romantic, well-mannered, courteous and polite, traits which made Katherine Pierce fall deeply for the younger Salvatore.

In regards to Katherine, Stefan was much harder to get and challenging unlike Damon, who persistently chased and pursued Katherine as much as possible. Unlike Damon, Stefan had a very close relationship with his father Giuseppe and Stefan was Giuseppe's favorite son. Stefan was also close with his mother, before she had died when he was 10 years old. Before turning into a vampire in 1864, Stefan was seen to be happy, optimistic, light-hearted, playful, mischievous and naive. He was also seen as athletic, dutiful, respectful, intelligent, scholarly, noble, chivalrous and even-tempered. Stefan was very close to his older brother Damon growing up. Although Stefan was very popular and had many male friends during his human life, Stefan always considered Damon to be his best friend and companion. Stefan was also a bit idealistic when it came to love and romance, even naive at times. This is evident in Stefan when he very quickly and easily became infatuated and fell in love with Katherine Pierce, which is evidence of his youthfulness, naivety and simplicity as a regular teenage human. Although Stefan was only 17 years old, he displayed maturity, responsibility and had a wisdom beyond his years. Because of this, Stefan always seemed to be much older than his actual age.

Present Time -2017- (2nd Time)

After Bonnie injected the Cure into him while he attempted to kill her, Stefan was reverted back to his human self. As a human again. he was overwhelmed by his guilt of all the horrible things he had done while a servant to Arcadius without his humanity, most recently killing Enzo. He attempted to make things right with Bonnie though he claimed he'd have to live with the guilt and he'd spend the rest of his life trying to make it right with her, starting with killing Arcardius. In the end, he redeemed his actions by passing along the cure within him to Damon and making the ultimate sacrifice to ensure Katherine, the new ruler of Hell, would be in Hell when Bonnie redirected hellfire to destroy Hell.

Vampire
As a vampire, Stefan's personality became increasingly complex. Much of Stefan's personality as a human transcended into his vampire personality, although his basic human traits became significantly more heightened. Although Stefan became increasingly darker by nature due to his vampire nature, he still retained the same basic personality traits that he had as a human. As a vampire, Stefan was described as mysterious, brooding, inscrutable, intense, kind, caring, empathetic, compassionate, loving, affectionate, heroic, noble, selfless, brave, intelligent, protective, and loyal. On the dark side, Stefan can be incredibly self loathing, self-destructive, addictive, guilt ridden, martyring, unpredictable, melancholic, self-righteous, naive, secretive and judgmental. Since he turned in 1864, Stefan had always had trouble controlling his blood lust, that has often become a major problem for him throughout the course of his immortal life.

Because of his blood addiction, Stefan was a certified "blood-a-holic" (which is a term coined from alcoholic by Caroline). When Stefan consumes copious amounts of human blood, his entire attitude seems to change. When Stefan gives into his blood lust, Stefan was unstable, volatile, unpredictable, rash, reckless, careless and can become highly destructive. The "ripper" side of him usually causes him to push people away and become emotionally cold, withdrawn and distant. When Stefan lets his blood lust take over, (this was because unlike his older brother Damon, Stefan never learned how to control, his thirst for human blood), he often shuts off his humanity and his emotions to block out his suffering, guilt and pain. After he was newly transformed into a vampire, Stefan was seen to be extremely dependent towards Damon. This was not the case when Stefan was a human. When Stefan was a human, although he and Damon were very close, Stefan always had an independent personality. Stefan's dependence on Damon due to his newborn vampire-ism and heightened emotions was example by a time right after he transitioned and then persuaded an unwilling Damon to complete his own transformation into a vampire.

Although Stefan was initially optimistic and happy that he and Damon were going to spend eternity together, Damon had shattered Stefan's optimism and hopes when Damon told Stefan he promised him a lifetime of misery. Over a century later, in the episode Rose, Stefan apologizes to Damon for betraying him and admits that he was selfish by getting Damon to complete his transition. That he did not want to be alone because he just wanted his brother by his side forever. There was a large part of Stefan and who he is deep down in his core that cares deeply and strongly for his own humanity as well as humankind. Stefan had a strong respect for humans and a strong regard for human life. Because of this, Stefan often feels immense guilt and remorse if he hurts, harms or kills a human. As the powerful witch Emily Bennett had once told him after Stefan had transitioned into a vampire, Stefan's heart was pure and good. This was what had caused most the self-loathing and brooding which had become deeply associated with Stefan's personality.

When Stefan was at his best, he was extremely caring, loving, helpful, understanding, selfless, empathetic, and compassionate. He did not like to see others suffering or in any kind of pain, whether it be physical, emotional, spiritual or mental. Stefan can be very wise and comforting to others and people can always depend on Stefan. Stefan likes to give advice, help people, and comfort others who need comforting and support. Stefan was always willing to lend a helping hand when it is needed most and he will put the needs of others before his own. He was always willing to save people, especially those who need saving the most at a particular time. He was the kind of person who tries to protect and save everyone at the same time. Stefan was also highly honorable, noble, brave, courageous, altruistic, and selfless, especially when it comes to the people he loves and cares about.

One of the most heroic, selfless acts Stefan has ever committed is to give up his entire life in Mystic Falls, including his values, morals, and his devotion to his own humanity in order to save the life of his beloved brother (Damon) when he was dying from a fatal werewolf bite. When it seems appropriate, Stefan can be very fun-loving, upbeat and humorous. He was particularly practical, charming, playful, mischievous and humorous around his close friends (such as Lexi or Caroline, for example) or people who he knows. He can sometimes be somewhat sarcastic or display a dry, sarcastic wit. His best friend Lexi often brought out the more fun, light-hearted, playful side of Stefan's personality. Stefan was usually one to shy away from dancing, because he thinks that he was a bad dancer, but admits that he was much more enthusiastic about it when he was drunk or under the influence of alcohol.

Stefan was charismatic, charming, passionate and deeply romantic and because of this, he is highly magnetic to and popular with the opposite sex. He had a very selfless, idealistic approach to love. Stefan was known to be respectful, polite, courteous, and chivalrous towards women. Because of this, Stefan had always been popular, admired and loved by the opposite sex or women since his human life. He almost always respects women's (namely Elena) choices and decisions, even if he doesn't agree with them. This is especially shown with Elena, but also with Caroline and Bonnie in particular. His deep, strong love for Elena Gilbert has highlighted how his values and outlook on life have significantly changed since he was human and how deep, affectionate, understanding and loving he can truly be. Elena's own compassion and kindness are very important to Stefan. He was often very tender, loving and gentle towards Elena but he was also extremely passionate about her. Stefan had also proven many times, that values such as respect, honesty and trust are very important to him when it comes to romance, love and relationships. Stefan often emphasizes the importance of free will, freedom, liberty, choice and respecting one's decisions.

Physical Appearance
Physically, Stefan was described to be classically handsome and athletic, with a brooding, mysterious and intense aura. Stefan had a pale complexion, broad forehead, strong bone structure (angular jawline), deep-set, forest green eyes, a straight nose and a well-formed mouth. He had straight, short, dark blonde hair which is often gelled or spiked. Stefan also had straight teeth with a heartwarming smile. Stefan is of slightly above average height, about 5'11", and he has a lean, flat-muscled and athletic physique. In regards to his clothing and fashion sense, Stefan was generally trendy and casual.

He was often seen wearing darker colors such as black, grey and dark blue, although sometimes he wears lighter colors. Stefan had also been seen wearing plaid shirts in lighter tones from time to time. He was often seen wearing t-shirts, shirts or sweaters of darker colors and in various styles (such as short-sleeved, round-necked and v-necked shirts). Stefan was a casual, yet trendy dresser and he always looks neat, clean and well put together. He often wears dark or black jeans with a belt with black, leather boots with a buckle. On occasion, Stefan will sometimes wear black leather jackets and dark sunglasses, which give him a mysterious and rebellious aura. Stefan will wear more formal clothing, such as suits and tuxedos, if he was either attending a formal gathering/event or a special occasion.

Stefan had a tattoo of a rose on his right shoulder. However, the origin of the tattoo, its significance and when Stefan got the tattoo was all unknown. He also wears a large, silver lapis lazuli daylight ring on the middle finger of his right hand in order for him to walk around in the sunlight. On his lapis lazuli stone bears the Salvatore family crest with the letter "S" for the first letter of his first name. During his human years in the 1860s, Stefan's sense of style was "Victorian" and old-fashioned. In the 1864 flashbacks, Stefan was often seen wearing long pants, overalls made of denim with suspenders with a shirt underneath, dress shirts (often white in color), dress coats, vests (of various colors), trousers (normally in beige), waistcoats, and cravats with laced-leather boots (often beige in color). Stefan's hair was styled much differently; flatter and much longer in length with a part in the side.

Although Stefan was only a 17 year old teenager, Stefan appeared to look much older than his actual age because of the fashion at the time. It was assumed that Stefan's sense of fashion changed with the times. Damon mentions to Stefan in the Pilot after 15 years of not seeing each other, that the 90s "grunge" look did not suit Stefan, implying that Stefan went through a grunge phase in terms of his personality, attitude and his sense of style.

Powers and Abilities
Stefan possessed all the standard powers and abilities of a non-Original vampire. Stefan has shown himself to be an experienced fighter, able to subdue his enemies easily. As a vampire over 170 years old, this makes Stefan one of the oldest vampires shown throughout the series. Although his age allows him to best younger vampires, Stefan is highly inferior to vampires such as Katherine and Anna.

As a ripper Stefan is prone to losing control when drinking human blood, making him stronger and emotionally unstable — even to the point where Damon, an older vampire, feared him. As a ripper, Stefan once wiped out a whole village in Monterey, earning himself the title 'The Ripper of Monterey' to which even Klaus was impressed.

Stefan, unlike many other vampires, has shown the ability to resist the effects of compulsion when it comes to matters regarding Elena Gilbert, much like his brother. Much to others dismay, Stefan can become dangerous when emotionally unstable as seen in Best Served Cold, Stefan was able to fight on par, and best Julian a vampire over 475 years old, to the point where it was likely Stefan would of killed him if it weren't for the intervention of Lily.

Due to his lack of human blood consumption over the centuries, Stefan had become inferior to his brother Damon. In Pilot, Stefan and Damon engaged in a spar upon Damon's return to Mystic Falls. Damon stated himself that Stefan gave up the fight against him when he stopped drinking human blood. Despite this, Stefan has engaged in fights with Damon numerous times since, sometimes besting him easily.

Unlike other vampires, Stefan had also shown the ability to enhance his use of dream manipulation. While most vampires are only able to cast a dream upon someone, Stefan has shown the ability to go beneath 'the surface' and interact with the subconscious manipulation of Sybil.

Furthermore, during his time working for Arcadius, he was temporarily granted the ability to return from death, even matters regarding a stake to the heart. This was an ability he shared with Damon, and was thought to be achieved through Cade's intervention post-death. Following Cade's death and Stefan's humanity, he lost this ability along with his vampric abilities and enhancements.

Human
Stefan had all the typical weaknesses of a human/doppelgänger.

Vampire
Stefan had the typical weaknesses of a non-Original vampire.