Content Warning: The following article contains discussions of extreme violence and sexual assault.

Between the finale of Vampire Academy. With so much uncertainty in the air, it only makes sense that fans would turn back to the show that started it all.

While virtually every character died a few times, fans might want to focus on a character who pretty much survived everything that came her way, as Caroline Forbes was never taken down for long. While Caroline stayed alive (or at least undead) for the majority of the show, she endured being kidnaped and tortured in seasons three and four, but there was always a convenient excuse for why she didn't die. Caroline had the ultimate plot armor in The Vampire Diaries, surviving numerous incidents that should have killed her.

Surviving Being A Double Agent

Katherine staring down Caroline in The Vampire Diaries.

After turning her into a vampire, Katherine held Caroline's new life over her head, forcing her to do her bidding. As she told Caroline, "I've already killed you once, I can easily do it again." Luckily for Caroline, Stefan and Elena figured out what was happening and tried to keep her safe.

That being said, it's remarkable that Caroline gets out of that situation alive. Katherine has repeatedly proven that she is happy to kill to keep her secrets safe. It's only the fact that Stefan and Damon managed to trap Katherine that keeps Caroline from being eliminated when she was no longer of use.

Giving Birth To The Twins

Alaric and a pregnant Caroline smiling in The Vampire Diaries

Pregnancy is an inherently dangerous process, but Caroline's was worse than most. As the twins came closer to term, they started siphoning Caroline's vampire magic and then prevented the doctors from performing a C-section. While that Vampire Diaries saga was a plot hole, it provided a serious threat to Caroline.

The solution came through the Heretics making the outside world more magical, which didn't make much sense. More confusingly, the twins never drained Caroline of her vampire magic after they were born. If fans accept that the twins functioned as magical parasites, there shouldn't have been a way for Caroline to have and then raise them without getting drained to death along the way.

Being Damon's Plaything

Caroline and Damon arm in arm in The Vampire Diaries

Many of the most disturbing things Damon did in the entire series happened in season 1 when he treated Caroline as a living blood bag. She was completely under his control, and he used her for blood, information, and sex. When she's no longer of use to him, he tears into her, and she only survives because Stefan added vervain to her drink.

The time it takes for a vampire to kill someone is inconsistent, but with how viciously Damon bit into her, it certainly seemed like he was going to kill her. However, their connection helped him escape later on, so the writers needed her to survive the incident. Had Damon killed her, though, it would have been even stronger proof that he was season 1's main villain.

Tortured By Werewolves

Caroline painting in The Vampire Diaries.

While Stefan tried to get Tyler to understand that vampires and werewolves don't have to be enemies, werewolves Jules and Brady kidnaped and tortured Caroline in an attempt to get him back. This torture included putting a wooden bullet in her head, as well as some of the more sadistic uses of wooden bullets and vervain in the show.

The werewolves planned to kill Caroline, and getting the rest of the vampires there was more of a trap than a fair exchange. Brady was eager to kill Caroline, and while fans were happy to see her survive, it undermined Brady's character for him to let her go.

Tortured By Alaric

Caroline and Alaric in The Vampire Diaries

When Alaric became an Original and got taken over by the Darkness, he used Caroline as bait to get to Elena and Klaus. That in itself only required abducting, but he seemed to take a lot of pleasure in torturing her, driving pencils through her hands and using a vervain-soaked gag to poison her.

This version of Alaric was extremely violent, and his goal was to get rid of all vampires, not just Klaus. So it's reasonable to expect that he actually did plan on killing Caroline. However, he was stopped by Elena in one of her most heroic moments, who threw vervain at him and set Caroline free. However, Caroline's escape seems like lazy writing, given Alaric had more than enough power to keep her there until he was done with her, regardless of Elena's actions.

Tortured By Hybrids

Caroline crying in Tyler's lap in The Vampire Diaries

The hybrids wanted a chance to get back at Klaus, and the easiest way to do that was by hurting someone that he was known to care for. Hybrids Kim and Adrian captured Caroline and systematically broke her bones before attempting to stake her.

However, the torture scene seemed like it was drawn out just to give her a chance to escape. They weren't trying to lure Klaus there; they just wanted to hurt him. In the end, Tyler becoming the Alpha seemed completely contrived because they could have (and should have) killed Caroline many times over before that could happen.

When Tyler Crashed The Car

Tyler says he's sired to Caroline in The Vampire Diaries.

Caroline had her closest brush with death just before she was turned into a vampire. She had been in a car that Tyler was driving when the Gilbert device went off. Thanks to his werewolf heritage, he was impacted and crashed the car, which led to Caroline suffering severe internal bleeding.

Her survival was definitely in question at the end of season 1, and it could have gone either way. In the end, Damon gave Caroline his blood to heal her. Had she been a less important character going into season 2, though, she likely would have died as a way of punishing Bonnie for letting the device go off.

The Wedding Massacre

Kai Parker grinning evilly with left open palm up and facing the audience in The Vampire Diaries

As a Vampire Diaries villain who outsmarted the heroes, Kai Parker is willing to kill anybody who gets in his way. More than that, he enjoys killing and torturing as a pastime. Yet in his darkest moment, when he murders his sister, curses Elena and Bonnie, and kills every other member of their coven, he leaves Stefan and Caroline alive.

While he may have expected Stefan to suffer without Elena, he had no future plans for Caroline that would justify snapping her neck instead of staking her. Kai had no particular affection for Caroline, so the only reason she got out of that wedding alive is that the writers wanted her to, not because it made sense for the characters.

Bitten By Klaus

Caroline lays dying on the couch in The Vampire Diaries.

After Tyler launched his vendetta against Klaus, Klaus decided to punish him by biting Caroline and leaving her to die. This decision never made much sense, given how much he cared for her, but Klaus is known for lashing out. Given the depth of his hatred for Tyler, Caroline should have died.

While it made sense for Klaus to save her from her first werewolf bite, as he used it as leverage against Liz, she only survived this bite because he felt bad when she itted she saw good in him. This may have been an important scene for the Klaroline relationship, but it was just a way for the writers to pretend they were going to hurt Caroline just to undo it all by the end of the episode—a classic case of plot armor.

Tortured By Her Father

Caroline crying and being absolutely crushed emotionally.

In one of the all-time worst moments in The Vampire Diaries, Caroline gets tortured by her father for being a vampire. He uses vervain against her, which is mostly harmless in the long-run, but then repeatedly exposes her to sunlight, believing that by torturing her, he can train the vampire out of her.

In addition to the mental turmoil of this moment, Caroline absolutely should have died. The length of time in the sun that it takes to die is inconsistent across the franchise, but Isobel took about 15 seconds from start to finish. In The Originals, it took Hayley less than five. While it's unknown exactly how long Caroline was exposed to it, it certainly seemed to be long enough that, were it convenient for the plot, she'd have already died.

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