Matthew "Matt" G. Donovan is a main character on The Vampire Diaries and a guest character in the third season of The Originals and first season of Legacies. He is the son of Kelly Donovan and Peter Maxwell. He had an older sister Vicki Donovan, who was turned into a vampire, and was later killed because she was unable to control her blood lust. Matt is also the ex-boyfriend of Alexandria Gilbert, Caroline Forbes, and Rebekah Mikaelson and former fiancé of Penny Ares.
He was born and raised in the town of Mystic Falls. After the death of Alexandria's parents, Alexandria broke up with Matt because she lost interest in him. Despite the way they broke up, Matt still cares about Alexandria deeply and they've tried to managed to maintain a good friendship. At the beginning of the series, Matt struggles with his sister, Vicki, because she was a drug user, but then she tragically dies. Later on he begins dating Caroline Forbes, and encourages her to become a more caring, kind and selfless young woman. However, Caroline soon breaks up with him after her transition into a vampire - in order to protect him.
Upon learning about the existence of supernatural creatures, he begins to distance himself from the Mystic Falls Gang. Eventually he starts to help his friends defeat their enemies and protect their hometown, and he fixes his friendship with Caroline. Later he becomes a Medium for a short while like Jeremy Gilbert, although he could only see his sister's ghost. He began a brief relationship with Rebekah Mikaelson, and went to Europe with her at the end of Season Four, but they ended things before she left Mystic Falls.
In Season Five, he was possessed by a Traveler for a brief time, and was also involved with Nadia Petrova, Katherine's daughter. Nadia later compelled him to forget that Elena was possessed by Katherine. After Nadia's death, Matt helps his friends deal with the destruction of The Other Side, assisted by the witch twins - Olivia and Lucas Parker.
Later on, he decided to become a deputy in Mystic Falls Police Department, and a vampire hunter.
When Elena Gilbert falls into a magical, coma-like slumber after Kai Parker links her to Bonnie Bennett, Matt is forced to step up his game and eventually becomes the sheriff of Mystic Falls. During this time, Matt kicks out all vampires from the newly-human populated Mystic Falls.
He later falls in love with his partner, Penny Ares. After Penny's death, Matt is determined to get revenge on the vampire who made Matt impulsively, but accidentally kill Penny. However, after a series of events that forces Matt to try and save Bonnie from being a bloodthirsty Supernatural Huntress, Matt is done fighting the war between humans and vampires. Matt decides to leave Mystic Falls and start a normal life outside the world of vampires.
After Matt left town, he went to look for his estranged father, Peter, and told him nothing of the supernatural creatures he dealt with for the last seven years of his life in Mystic Falls. He later returned to Mystic Falls and reunited with the spirits of his mother and sister, stopping them from helping Katherine destroy Mystic Falls. He took back the position of sheriff and became well-respected, thinking of running for mayor one day which he eventually became.
He is best friends with Jeremy Gilbert, Tyler Lockwood, Elena Gilbert, Alexandria Gilbert, and Bonnie Bennett. He is also close friends with Caroline Forbes.
Matt is a member of the Donovan Family.