At the start of The Vampire Diaries, Stefan returns to Mystic Falls and despite the serious nature of the show, it was meme-worthy from the start. His uncontrollable attraction to Elena, as he stated in his monologue at the start of the supernatural drama is even worth a laugh. The younger Salvatore was the fulcrum of the TVD universe, whose romance with Elena and enmity with his brother set things in motion in magical Mystic Falls.
He was one of the most nuanced heroes on the show, and even though he died in the original series, he left an indelible mark on all the subsequent TVD spin-offs that followed. His fantastic journey through the show can be mapped through memes.
Stefan's Inner Ripper
Source: Reddit
Poor Stefan changed a fair bit during the show, but his least desirable evolution was when he turned into the Ripper version of himself. He would continuously lose his senses, forget that he was a comionate being, and kill rampantly with little fear of any consequences.
Hunger and bloodlust ruled Stefan's actions when he turned into a Ripper, and whether his fans like it or not, it was a big part of his personality. It made him do many regrettable things.
Stefan's Other Love Triangle
The iconic Damon, Elena, and Stefan love triangle was not the only one that the younger Salvatore was entangled in. His friendship with Klaus, and relationship with Caroline also became complicated, but not in the way that one would expect.
Stefan and Klaus weren't fighting over Caroline, even though both of them loved her very much. Instead, it was Klaus and Caroline who were vying for Stefan's attentions — Klaus loved his killer streak that he had seen in the Prohibition era, and Caroline was in love with him since she first met him in the hallway of Mystic Falls High School.
Stelena, Interrupted
Source: Twitter
The wars between Stelena and Delena shippers can get vicious, but the fact remains that Stefan and Elena fell in love with each other first. They were also a great couple: their habits and values matched, as did their dreams in life. Stefan was a good partner who never forced her to do what she didn't want to, but none of that really mattered in the end.
Just like the Titanic analogy here, Damon's charm entered the picture like a fatal iceberg and destroyed the ship that was Stelena. Poor Stefan lost the love of his life to him.
Stefan's Vegetarian Diet
Source: Twitter
In the early seasons of The Vampire Diaries, Stefan's defining feature was his animal diet, which meant he only fed on small creatures to satiate his bloodlust. His intentions behind this were pure because he didn't want to hurt people, but going against his nature also affected him adversely.
Therefore, at least for a short while, the only living beings who had to be afraid of Stefan were bunnies and any little mammals. Soon after, he adopted a human blood diet.
Stefan's Doppelgängers
As if Elena's doppelgängers weren't enough, The Vampire Diaries soon revealed that Stefan was also the other half of Elena's doppelgängers, since they both originated from Silas and Amara, the first immortal beings. Stefan's lookalikes were all hugely different from each other, ranging from deadly to goofy.
Silas was absolutely lethal and unpredictable, whereas Stefan was more balanced between good and evil. He tried his best to be a better person, which clashed with his vampirism. His third shadow self, Tom Avery, was a genuinely nice guy who became a paramedic to help people. He was trusting and sweet, which made him an instant target.
Stefan's Time In The Vault
There were many turning points in Stefan's life which shaped his future, but his time in the vault affected his psyche permanently. He was the first time find out that he was Silas' shadow self, who then locked him in a vault and dropped him into the quarry to drown and return to life again, indefinitely.
The most painful part of this story was that none of Stefan's friends, especially his ex-lover Elena, bothered to check up on him all summer as he lay dying. The fact that he lived through it was extremely scary and showed how shockingly little his friends cared about him during that specific time of his life. It is indeed one of the saddest things to ever happen to Stefan.
Stefan's Brotherly Banter
Nothing was more important to Stefan than Damon and that even includes Elena. They had their rough patches and their ups and downs, but at the end of the day, they always protected each other in a heartbeat. Still, fans will always question Stefan's parting words, that Damon was the better man than him.
Stefan had always strived to be better, do the right thing, and improve his shortcomings. Damon only showed kindness because he wanted Elena to love him the way she did Stefan. So, even though the Salvatore brothers were the core relationship here, Stefan would be the better man in everyone's eyes forever.