Even before The Vampire Diaries went on to become one of the most popular supernatural shows of the 21st century, it existed as a long-running book series. The author Lisa Jane Smith started publishing the series back in the early 1990s, and nowadays, it has multiple parts. Unsurprisingly, the books and the show are in many ways different.
Not only does the show take place later than the books but it also took some creative liberties with its main heroine, Elena Gilbert. Elena from the books is very different from the one portrayed by Nina Dobrev which had a significant impact on the show's overall form and story.
Elena Is Katherine's Sister, Not Her Doppelgänger
The mystery of why Elena and Katherine look so much alike was one of the major plot points of the show in its beginnings. It eventually turned out that Elena was, like Katherine, a Petrova doppelgänger. But in the books, they have a much closer bond - they're sisters.
Their mother, the immortal Elizabeth Morrow, gave birth to Katherine in the 15th century and to Elena in the 20th century. Neither of the sisters knew about the existence of the other before they met. What remains the same is that there was no love lost between them.
No Brother Jeremy
Elena and her brother (who later turns out to be her cousin) Jeremy don't always get along but they're still protective of each other. However, Jeremy is entirely the show's invention. In the books, Elena has a little sister named Margaret instead. At the beginning of the story, Margaret is just 4 years old, sweet and trusting and she looks very much like Elena.
Elena is fiercely protective of her, just like she is of Jeremy. What also didn't change is that Damon threatens to hurt Margaret at one point just like he threatened to hurt Jeremy (and eventually did).
Distance From Caroline
Bonnie might be Elena's best friend but she's also close with Caroline. That's despite the fact that Caroline can be quite competitive toward Elena but doesn't act the same way toward Bonnie. In the books, Caroline is more than just competitive, she acts downright hostile toward Elena.
For example, she steals her diary and threatens to read from it in front of a large crowd of people. Their relationship becomes better over time but they never grew as close as they are on the show.
Friendship With Meredith
Instead of Caroline and Bonnie, Elena's best friends in the books are Meredith and Bonnie. Meredith is a tall, beautiful and intelligent girl who attends the same high school as her friends and seems more down to Earth than them. Meredith also later turns out to be a vampire slayer and she dislikes vampires strongly.
The show never featured her as Elena's friend. Instead, it introduced the character of Meredith Fell, who was older than Elena, worked as a doctor, and briefly formed a relationship with Alaric. What remained the same is that this Meredith also didn't like vampires.
Katherine Is Responsible For Her Transformation
Elena eventually goes on to become a vampire both in the books and on the show. The reason for her transformation also remains the same. She drives a car off the bridge, falls into the river, and drowns but becomes a vampire thanks to the vampire blood in her system.
However, what differs is that in the books, Katherine is the one responsible for running Elena off the road. On the show, though, Rebekah is the culprit behind Elena's accident and she's later disappointed when Elena doesn't die but changes into a vampire instead.
She Sacrificed Her Life To Save Stefan And Damon
Katherine in the books managed to do what Katherine in the show never quite pulled off - killing Elena Gilbert. In the fourth book, Katherine endangers the brothers and Elena finally defeats her but she gives up her own life in the process.
This never happened on the show. Instead, when Elena died, it was Rebekah's doing, as said above. And it wasn't to save Stefan and Damon but to save her friend Matt instead.
Becoming An Angel
Throughout the first four books, multiple characters point out Elena's angel-like appearance. With her light hair and deep eyes, Elena does look a bit like angels are portrayed. So it's only appropriate that after she sacrifices her life for Stefan and Damon, she does become an angel-like being.
Elena returns to Earth and gets a new chance at life but she's different than she was before. The show, on the other hand, leaves out her angelic phase and instead sees Elena transformed into a vampire only.
Elena's Appearance
Elena's appearance changed dramatically on the show - something some fans of the books weren't happy with before the show aired. In the books, Elena has blonde hair and blue eyes. The creators also originally planned to cast an actress with these features.
However, when Nina Dobrev, who comes from Bulgaria, got the part of Elena, the show's creators decided to drop the idea of a blonde Elena and let Dobrev keep her natural dark hair and brown eyes instead.
Elena Is Much Less Sympathetic
Some people who watched the show disliked Elena but the fact is her personality is much worse in the books. Elena is fiercely loyal to her friends and smart in the books. However, she's also a bit of a spoiled princess, doesn't always treat people the best, can be arrogant, overtly fixed on her appearance, and also manipulates others.
In many ways, she's more like Caroline in the initial phases of the show than the Elena seen on the screen.
Elena's Diary Plays An Important Part In The Story
Finally, there's also the fact that Elena's diary plays a much more important part in the story of the books than it does on the show. Despite being called The Vampire Diaries, both Elena and Stefan only write their diaries in the first few episodes. That's also what brings them closer since when Elena finds out Stefan writes a diary, she also realizes they have something in common.
In the books, her diary is a major force in the story since Elena writes into it about Stefan being a vampire. And when Caroline steals Elena's diary and plans to read from it in front of the local people, Elena has to figure out a way to get the diary back from Caroline before it's too late.