Summary
- The Vampire Diaries universe features a complex range of vampires, with various branches and power levels.
- Characters like Caroline Forbes and Elena possess impressive skills and can hold their own against original vampires.
- The Original vampires, including Elijah and Klaus, are among the most powerful in the universe due to their hybrid status and unique abilities.
There may be no dearth of vampires in The Vampire Diaries universe, but the range sure is complex, and the strongest vampire in The Vampire Diaries universe has impressive skills. There are a few branches of supernatural understanding that need to be grasped before anyone can begin to understand how vampirism works in the TVD universe and how it all began. Though the Originals were pegged as the most powerful vampires when they were first introduced, it became quite evident that they could be overpowered by certain people with unparalleled strength. Then there are hybrids, upgraded originals, doppelgängers, and even a tribrid.
While The Vampire Diaries introduced its own mythology surrounding supernatural creatures, The Originals and Legacies expanded those stories for audiences. The two spinoff series introduced whole new backstories for some of the vampire lineages. With the conclusion of Legacies in 2022, however, the vampire stories in this universe have officially come to an end. Fans will likely continue to debate the power levels of different vampires for many years, but the most powerful vampire in The Vampire Diaries universe is one that can truly stand on their own.
Caroline Forbes
Caroline Forbes goes through a lot over the course of the original Vampire Diaries show. When she first becomes a vampire, like most vampires, she has trouble controlling her basic instincts, but she very quickly adjusts to life as a vampire. Caroline’s power largely comes from her intense control of herself, which is impressive.
She might not be the strongest vampire in The Vampire Diaries, but she knows to surround herself with powerful allies, and she, surprisingly, holds her own against original vampires more than once.
Elena
Elena was quite formidable as a newborn vampire because not only was she the descendant of a doppelganger, but she had also received some combat training and honed her fighting skills in The Vampire Diaries thanks to Alaric's instruction. Elena went into being a vampire with a lot of knowledge that most vampires don't have right away.
It helped that she wasn't a clueless newborn, was aware of her situation, and was ready for the changes to her body, so barring some minor hiccups during the first days of her transition (her body rejected vampire blood as well as animal blood), Elena seemed to cope well with her change. If Elena hadn't chosen to become a human, she could have evolved into a really powerful vampire.
Stefan
It has been implied in The Vampire Diaries that Stefan didn’t entirely acquire the strength of a vampire who’s as old as him, as he refused to drink human blood. Of course, Stefan’s Ripper episode saw him survive on human blood almost exclusively, but irrespective of his diet, Stefan had an intimidating range of skill sets.
He was unusually gifted when it came to resisting compulsion since he could trick Klaus who was an Original. He could also manipulate dreams and had telepathic abilities. Not to mention super agility and excellent combat skills that he had mastered over decades.
Damon
In the pilot of TVD, it was suggested that Damon could turn into a crow or a dog, and could even manifest fog. Later on, in the show, his powers are more logically explained, but he's stronger than Stefan as he's on a steady human blood diet and is thus physically more intimidating than his brother.
He also has telepathic abilities that he often uses to communicate with Elena and some instances suggest that he was more agile and alert than Stefan because he was quick to act on a threat. In fact, until bigger threats are introduced in the series, Damon is one of the strongest vampires in The Vampire Diaries in the early episodes.
Lexi
Lexi has some impressive strength and speed as a vampire since she's been around for a few hundred years when she is introduced in The Vampire Diaries. She doesn't, however, just have the usual vampire strengths. She's also incredibly skilled at getting into someone's mind. Lexi can actually make people see and feel things that aren't there, something she does to Stefan occasionally just to mess with him. That's a skill that's only seen displayed as adeptly by Silas.
Lexi even retains some of the skills she's learned as a vampire, like being able to get Stefan out of his Ripper state, as a ghost. That's not something often seen in the franchise, making Lexi one of the strongest vampires in The Vampire Diaries universe.
Tristan and Aurora
Tristan and Aurora are some of the first sired vampires to ever exist. The original family of vampires created Tristan and Aurora. While Aurora was the first vampire turned by Rebekah, her brother Tristan was the first vampire turned by Elijah - in the year 1002.
With over 1,000 years of experience as vampires, even if most of that time was spent locked away and suffering, the two really know how to use their skills. Even though Aurora’s mind is fractured from everything that she’s endured, she manages to go up against Klaus and Hope multiple times, being smart enough to flee when she sees that she isn’t strong enough to beat them. While Aurora really seems to be the stronger fighter of the siblings, Tristan was able to control Aurora for much of their time together, making him even more powerful.
Finn
Of the Originals in The Vampire Diaries universe, Finn is the least seen of the Mikaelsons. He spends most of his undead life daggered and in a coffin because he’s the sibling that Klaus has the least favorable relationship with. Because of that, he doesn’t have as much experience fighting as a vampire or living as a vampire as his siblings do. He might be the oldest male sibling of the family, and he did receive sword training from their father, but using a sword as a human is very different from using a vampire’s super strength and speed.
Finn and Kol have about the same level of raw strength, and they could probably fight to a stalemate, but Finn couldn’t outmatch his other siblings in one-on-one combat - or any other supernatural being with similar levels of strength. He did show an aptitude for witchcraft, but it wasn’t something he trained in before becoming a vampire.
Kol
Though Kol isn’t as active in The Vampire Diaries universe as some of his other siblings, he doesn’t spend as much of his very long life daggered and held in a coffin as Finn does. As a result, he’s better versed in his abilities like sword fighting and hand-to-hand combat.
Kol is also extremely adept at magical skills even when he temporarily loses his Original Vampire abilities while his soul is in the body of a witch. Of his siblings, who all come from a magical bloodline, Kol is definitely the one who takes to magic the easiest, quickly mastering spells and curses with ease. He actually would have been better at witchcraft than using his vampire skills.
The Heretics
When The Vampire Diaries first began, it didn’t seem like anyone could be more than one supernatural being at a time. Witches and vampires were separate creatures. Witches, however, could become vampires, and even still maintain a link to their magic in death.
That’s true of the Heretics, a coven of witches who were all turned by the mother of Damon and Stefan Salvatore. In life, they all had the ability to siphon magic from other sources, which is what seemingly allowed them to maintain the use of magic in death.
Lizzie
Technically, Lizzie Saltzman is a Heretic because she’s a witch (one of the last remaining of the Gemini Coven) who becomes a vampire in Legacies. She is, however, much more powerful than the average Heretic, and not just because new vampires tend to be incredibly strong as they adjust to their power level.
Lizzie’s magical abilities mean that she’s able to siphon magic from others around her, which means she’s now able to siphon magic from her sire - Hope - the only tribrid in existence who is a witch, vampire, and werewolf. Lizzie is the only known vampire to overcome her sire bond by sheer force of will in a short amount of time. She also has almost complete control over her abilities after first being turned, something that can take some vampires years to do.
