Turning Pages, Changing Channels

The Vampire Diaries: Dripping with Differences

**Spoilers Alert**

The CW’s The Vampire Diaries has won multiple People’s Choice, Teen’s Choice, Do Something, and Young Hollywood Awards in its five-season run.  The television series is based on the book series of the same name written by L.J. Smith.  The original books came out in the early to mid-nineties.  Since the television show gained acclaim, however, more books have been added to the series.  The show debuted in 2009, among the vampire craze caused, in part, by the Twilight franchise.  Though both series keep you on the edge of your seat by following Elena Gilbert into a world of supernatural love triangles and plots for revenge, the books and show have substantial differences. 

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Let’s start with the characters.  Both the show and the books portray Elena Gilbert as the town’s golden girl.  In the books, however, the phrase is a bit more literal; Elena is fair with blonde hair and blue eyes.  On the show, she has dark hair and eyes.  The casting of Stefan and Damon Salvatore, the vampire brothers in love with Elena, is more accurate to their descriptions in the book.  The cast of characters, in general, is different from the original set in the books.  On the show, Elena has a teenage brother, Jeremy, but, in the books, she has a toddler sister.  Elena also has three best friends in the books: Bonnie, who has a connection to the druids, Meredith, who seems to always keep her wits when facing a crisis, and Caroline, who eventually gives in to her dark side.  In the show, Bonnie is a descendent of the Salem witches and Caroline eventually becomes a vampire.  The role of Tyler, the local teenage werewolf, is also much larger in the television show than the books.  The role of the history teacher and vampire slayer, Alaric Saltzman, is also much different in each series.  In the books, he is a mentor and friend.  He helps the group of teenagers protect the town from several supernatural threats and, eventually, dates Elena’s friend, Meredith.  On the show, he plays the role of friend and mentor, but only for a limited time.  Eventually, he is turned into something supernatural, as well, and killed.

http://vampirediaries.wikia.com/wiki/Season_Four

In terms of plot, the show followed the books pretty closely in the beginning of the series.  It soon began to deviate, however.  New elements like the idea of The Original Vampires (who were present in the books, but not to this extent) came into play.  Hybrids—part vampire and part werewolf—are in the show but aren’t a part of the books at all.  Though Elena eventually becomes a vampire in both series, what follows in each is drastically different.  In the books, a series of events results in Elena’s death, but the television show has her sired to Damon Salvatore, meaning that Damon was the one who actually transformed her into a vampire.  One of the most essential plot elements is the love triangle between Elena and the Salvatore brothers, Stefan and Damon.  Though there are details that differ between the books and show, the essentials remain the same: Elena is with Stefan.  Damon doesn’t like that and causes chaos. Eventually, they team up and Damon and Elena begin to get along.  Feelings are placed into doubt and readers/watchers are kept on the edges of their seats. 

In short, if you’re looking for a vampire series to put Twilight out of your mind, read or watch The Vampire Diaries, but don’t expect the books and show to parallel each other.  

By Kaitlyn Coddington