Summary

• Both Supernatural and The Vampire Diaries feature a wide array of supernatural creatures, keeping the shows fresh and new.
• The concept of doppelgängers is significant in both shows, with TVD attributing more importance to their existence based on balancing the universe.
• Featured in both shows are central sibling relationships with a protective older brother dynamic, as well as themes of resurrection and characters willingly reviving each other.

The Vampire Diaries are among the most popular fantasy shows ever released on The CW, and considering they overlapped, both shows shared some striking similarities. The CW is a network which consistently creates content geared at young adults, with superhero DC shows, and supernatural dramas dominating the channel. In 2005, just a year before The CW was officially incorporated, Supernatural became a hit success in its first season.

As the series progressed, the channel looked ahead to what could possibly take the show's place after it finished, and in 2009, The Vampire Diaries began airing on the same network. However, both shows continued to be successful, and Supernatural kept getting renewed, with the cast willingly choosing to return, and it ultimately outlived The Vampire Diaries as its final episode aired in 2020. TVD ended a few years earlier, after a respectable eight seasons, with both shows establishing their own fanbases despite their many similarities.

10 A Wide Array Of Supernatural Beings

Supernatural and TVD share some foundational similarities, such as the common themes and genres, being aimed at similar audiences, and creating stories about two brothers who fight other forces of evil to keep the supernatural world separate from the world of the living. However, beyond the surface level similarities, there is a lot more that connects the two shows. For example, the fact that both shows rely on a wide array of supernatural creatures to keep the show fresh and new.

Supernatural sees Sam and Dean Winchester hunt down the forces of evil wherever they may be. On their travels, they fight against ghouls, ghosts, demons, angels, vampires, werewolves and every other type of creature. On the other hand, TVD also focuses on a story specifically about vampires, but it also includes witches, werewolves, ghosts, and other mystical beings. The story may slightly alter the approach to these creatures, but both are in prominent roles.

Supernatural is available to stream on Netflix.

9 Vampire's Deadly Weakness

Supernatural and The Vampire Diaries both include very similar plot devices for weakening vampires: dead man's blood and vervain. Vervain is a plant that is often tied to supernatural myths, specifically due to its mystic ability to repel evil forces, but The Vampire Diaries takes the lore further and makes vervain poisonous for vampires, and able to burn their skin on .

Vervain serves a very similar narrative function to dead man's blood in Supernatural and, name aside, works in an almost identical way. Dead man's blood is poisonous to vampires in Supernatural and often injected, just like vervain is in The Vampire Diaries. Both shows require a "kryptonite" vampire repellant, and while Supernatural's version comes from the veins of a corpse and The Vampire Diaries' comes from nature, the two anti-vamp substances share more than a ing resemblance when employed in episodes.

The Vampire Diaries is available to stream on Max and Peacock.

8 Deep Rooted Magical/Mystical History

In Supernatural, the lore of hunters extends way back through families. However, while this knowledge is invaluable for many hunters and ed down through their families, there is another ancient organization with better and more extensive records, the Men of Letters. When this organization formally began is unknown, but the rich history of magic and mysticism was well known and documented by individuals in Supernatural.

Neither show proposes that these creatures and evil forces are new, but the protagonists are simply facing ancient forces that have been fought back for generations.

In TVD, the history works somewhat differently, considering the vampires take center stage in the show, and there are some original vampires who are introduced that have a lineage which connects them to all other vampires. In both shows, the history of these creatures is well known, and ed down by various methods. Neither show proposes that these creatures and evil forces are new, but the protagonists are simply facing ancient forces that have been fought back for generations.

7 The Protagonists Switching Sides

Another commonality between both shows is the fluidity with which the central characters switch sides. While there is nearly always an inciting event, such as Sam's demon blood, Dean having the Mark of Cain, or Stefan switching off his humanity, outside influences cause them to fight against their own family and friends. While characters occasionally switching to an opposing side can be common in TV, both shows employ this concept several times over within their shows.

There is no doubt that this adds to the drama and overall excitement and intrigue for both Supernatural and TVD, but it also occasionally becomes stale. The more these characters switch back and forth, the less it means to the audience, as the reality is, they will soon switch back again, and the plot was hollow. However, the conflict that it raises between brothers, Damon and Stefan, and Sam and Dean, is intriguing.

6 Purgatory

TVD has a special place where dead supernatural beings are sent after their life ends. The Other Side is another dimension, which acts as a waiting room for the beings to be moved on and sorted, but more often than not, the creatures who appear there, stay there. The Other Side provides a go between that is not quite the afterlife, which promises eternal peace, but also much more quiet and isolating than life.

Supernatural would refer to the same phenomenon as Purgatory. Dean spends time in this alternate dimension after dying, and he spends some time fighting side by side with a vampire before eventually finding his way back to Earth. However, in both shows, this waiting room between life and eternity is a partition between worlds intended for supernatural creatures, or those who do not have a soul.

5 Doppelgänger

Doppelgängers are an important part of both shows, as they both feature prominently in certain episodes. However, TVD attributes greater significance and importance to what a doppelgänger actually is. TVD explains that doppelgängers are copies of supernatural beings that appear in order to balance the universe, as some supernatural creatures, such as vampires, never die.

In Supernatural, doppelgängers are simply shape-shifting creatures, or leviathans who have the ability to take on the form of a person and mimic them exactly. While these two types of doppelgänger function in competely different ways, they are present in both shows. Indicating that once again, both shows share a surprising number of details in common.

4 Couples Destined To Be Together

Within the world of TVD, the relationship between Elena and Stefan was a rocky relationship that remained plagued by their stark differences, and Stefan's complicated past. However, as fate would have it, they are destined to be together, as both are doppelgänger copies of two beings that were the original immortals, Silas and Amara. Despite their predetermined connection, Stefan and Elena find their happiness elsewhere.

Supernatural features a similarly predetermined couple in John Winchester and Mary Campbell. Their lives were connected by forces beyond their control in an effort to ensure that their sons, Sam and Dean, would one day be born. In the show, God, who also goes by the name Chuck, is heavily involved in the lives of the Winchester boys, and he comes to Earth to live a life where he writes and publishes their stories as popular novels.

3 A Protective Older Brother

Damon and Stefan Salvatore are central figures in TVD, who are also biological brothers, with Damon as the older of the pair. Throughout the series, Damon has a change of heart from being the antagonist, to an anti-hero, and eventually a fully fledged hero. However, along the way, he always displays a soft spot for his younger brother and a desire to keep him safe from harm. If Stefan is in trouble, Damon rushes in to save him, but while Stefan returns the affections, Damon takes on more responsibility as the older sibling.

Similarly, Dean Winchester is the older brother to Sam, and while the pair open up the series butting heads, they eventually become inseparable. However, there are several occasions where one of the Winchester's is killed, and it is down to their living brother to rescue them. The pair do this back and forth on numerous occasions, but ultimately, Dean takes the responsibility as the older brother to lay down his life for his brother, and gives Sam a future he could never have for himself.

2 Resurrection

Going on from the point of the Winchesters choosing to actively revive each other, this also highlights another commonality between the two shows. Supernatural frequently features characters being killed, and then revived soon after. Most of the time, this happens with either Sam or Dean resurrecting their fallen brother through Herculean efforts, and usually at great cost. However, the brothers don't consider the cost, only the outcome when it comes to bringing the other back.

In TVD, the same thing happens with characters choosing to recklessly put their desires ahead of the consequences when it means helping people they love. The biggest example of this in TVD comes when Bonnie brings back Jeremy from the dead. In both shows, the actions are reckless, and can have major implications, but they do so anyway.

1 The Precious Car (- Damon's car/Dean's car)

One of the most iconic characters in all of Supernatural is Dean's Chevy Impala, aka, Baby.

One of the most iconic characters in all of Supernatural is Dean's Chevy Impala, aka, Baby. While the car is not a real person, they are a major part of the team, and Dean's one true love throughout the entire series. This car is more than just a vehicle, but its a connection to Dean's dad, and their means to complete their work.

TVD also features a very special relationship between a man and a car with Damon and his Chevy Camero. While the emotional connection is not quite as strong as Dean and Baby's, Damon is also sporting a vintage American muscle car, and the vehicle is shown to be significant to him as he takes care of it, and has it fixed up as a gift. But, the car is just one small detail that appears in both Supernatural and The Vampire Diaries that links the shows together.