Original Vampire

Notice: This article uses content directly taken from the Original Vampire article at the Vampire Diaries Wiki, and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License.

The Original Vampires, or simply the Originals, are a group of extremely powerful vampires that are known for being the first of their bloodlines, the progenitor to their respective bloodlines, and the first generation of vampires, which makes them the oldest, fastest, strongest, and most powerful vampires in the world. The term was initially introduced when Rose revealed their existence to Elena, Alex, Stefan, and Damon, and primarily referred to the Mikaelson Family. The term's use, however, has expanded as the spell that created the Originals has been modified twice over and two additional types of "Original" vampires have been created; the Enhanced and Upgraded Original vampires.

A number of characteristics differentiate an Original from the vampire bloodline that they begat, but the fundamental difference is that Originals became vampires through a spell. Unlike non-Original vampires, Original vampires are indestructible and cannot be killed by anything on earth aside from the White Oak Stake, a large enough source of magic, the conditions suitable to reverse the original spell, or by the advanced venom of the Upgraded Original vampire. They also can only be temporarily neutralized by a White Oak Ash Dagger, one of the Cursed Stakes, or through various spells or rituals.

The Originals were created around the turn of the 11th century, when Mikael, the father of the Originals, wanted to find a way through magic to make himself and his remaining children immortal, as well as to make them superior to werewolves in speed, strength, fangs of their own, and heightened senses. His motivation to undergo this transformation was a result of the death of his youngest son Henrik Mikaelson, who was killed by a member of their neighboring village's werewolf pack during a full moon. When Ayana, his family's witch ally and Esther's mentor, refused to do the spell, Mikael convinced his wife Esther to do the spell instead in order to keep their children safe, ignoring the warnings of Ayana that doing so would unleash a plague upon the world.

Powers and Abilities[]

Due to the nature and purpose of the spell that created them, the Original Vampire's powers and abilities are the most advanced and by far superior to any other species with the exception of Immortals in mental strength. Rebekah said herself that they are the strongest creatures in the world. This is no longer the case as when Lucien Castle was upgraded he proved to be able to overwhelm both Finn and Elijah with ease. It is unknown if Original Vampires grow stronger with age like non-Original vampires. These are their standard powers and abilities as the first generation of vampires.

Basic Powers[]

Super Strength: Original vampires are considerably much stronger than immortals, Supernatural Hunters, non-Original vampires, werewolves, evolved werewolves, non-Original werewolf-vampire hybrids and humans. They are able to decapitate other species with a single chop of their bare hands, shatter windows and doors with small objects, and single-handedly tear out the hearts of younger vampires and other creatures with little to no effort. Their strength has been used to break necks and spines, and break and move heavy objects. Their impact can send anyone flying. Their strength is also enough to rival that of their own kind. While Original Vampires are more powerful than werewolves in either form, transformed werewolves still rival enough of their strength to take down an Original Vampire in small groups as it was shown that four of them were capable of overwhelming Rebekah (although she managed to kill half of them), while two took down Elijah (these wolves were channeling the power of their werewolf forms through enchanted kyanite stones, and Elijah was taken by surprise and briefly passed out from their venom). Vampires of 900 years or more may present a slight challenge. However, given how Originals seem to have the peak power of their condition, they currently remain the most powerful of their kind. Lucien was much stronger than any of the Originals while an Upgraded Original, and with him dead and Marcel now the only remaining Upgraded Original, he is now stronger than them physically as well, though possibly not to the extent that Lucien was.
Super Speed: Original vampires are much faster than immortals, supernatural hunters, non-Original vampires, werewolves, evolved werewolves, non-Original werewolf-vampire hybrids and humans. They are able to stop other supernatural species in their tracks, run miles in mere minutes and can easily catch up to any species of creature, supernatural or not. Their reflexes are similarly heightened. It is unknown if they grow faster with time. Lucien was shown to be incredibly fast, more so than an Original.
Super Agility: Original vampires possess more superhuman agility, flexibility and dexterity than immortals, supernatural hunters, non-Original vampires, werewolves, evolved werewolves, non-Original werewolf-vampire hybrids and humans. They can move quickly, jump very high, climb and run incredibly fast without difficulty or exhaustion.
Super Senses: Original vampires have extremely keen senses of hearing, sight and smell that far exceed those of immortals, supernatural hunters, non-Original vampires, werewolves, evolved werewolves, non-Original werewolf-vampire hybrids and humans.
Super Durability: Original vampires can take far more trauma than supernatural hunters, non-Original vampires, werewolves, evolved werewolves, non-original werewolf-vampire hybrids and humans can, without much discomfort or injury. No Original vampire has ever been dismembered throughout the series, implying that their durability may be close to invincibility. Wood seems to be ineffective at weakening them, though being stabbed in the heart with it will often incapacitate them for several minutes until they recover. Ordinary bullets, knives and blunt objects can hurt an Original vampire as seen with Finn, Kol and Klaus. Rebekah once stated to Matt that she never feels cold. When running from Mikael, she also stated how her siblings and her ran through winter and autumn, sleet and snow.
Healing Factor: The injuries of Original vampires heal faster than those of supernatural hunters, non-Original vampires, werewolves, evolved werewolves, non-original werewolf-vampire hybrids and humans. Original vampires also seem to heal much more quickly when exposed to vervain or wood. They can heal/recover/regenerate from any and all injuries in a matter of seconds. Even a werewolf bite is no threat to them, it is only painful to them and will cause weakness and hallucinations as they are not wholly immune to the bite, but it wears off. Vervain-laced liquid has also been shown to weaken them, though they recover from the effects much more quickly. If they are stabbed with Papa Tunde's blade and its removed, the healing process becomes much slower due to the dark magic within it, this applies to werewolf venom as well. Mikael still bore the scars of his attack for a day or so as he still had venom in his system. Human blood has also known to make the healing process faster.
Immortality: Original vampires are immortal. They do not physically age and are immune to all illnesses, toxins, poisons and human diseases or physical conditions. The only physical weapon that can bring permanent death to an Original is the White Oak Stake, and the only other substance being poisons from the advanced strain of werewolf toxin contained in the bite of an Upgraded Original Vampire, as well as the similar toxin from the enchanted thorns grown by The Hollow from an Upgraded Original's blood.
Enhanced Emotions: Original Vampires experience emotions more powerfully than humans. Emotions like love, joy, and happiness are intensified for vampires allowing them to live life more intensely. This ability allows the original vampires to feel emotions at their peak regardless of their age. They have been shown experiencing emotions as powerfully today as they did 1,000 years ago.
Emotional Control: Original vampires have a limited degree of control over their own emotions. It has been stated that Emotional Control fades over time. It is unknown if the Original vampires still possess the ability to "switch off" their emotions completely.
Mind Compulsion: Original vampires can control and influence the thoughts, emotions, behavior, actions and memories of humans, non-Original vampires and non-original werewolf-vampire hybrids. They cannot however compel witches, immortals, or werewolves/evolved werewolves.
Sire Bond: Although rare among them, Sire Bonds can be formed when a human is turned with the blood of the vampire whom they had strong human feelings for.
Telepathy: Original Vampires have the ability to enter the minds of others as long as theirs is stronger than them although, as Original vampires, they have one of the strongest minds in the world. Normally, this ability works in a tactile fashion and the vampire requires physical contact in order for it to work successfully. However, Elijah has been shown to mentally communicate with others from a short distance sending distress calls and mental images. Klaus and Elijah has also been shown sharing their memories with others.
Dream Manipulation: Original vampires can control dreams and subconscious. They can produce and modify dreams, bestow nightmares or lucid dreaming. Other effects of this ability is the ability to distort perceptions of reality and being able to trap someone in their dreams.
Illusions: Original Vampires have the power to trick the minds of others into seeing/feeling things that aren't actually happening.
True Face: An Original Vampire's true face is the appearance they are hiding under their normal human face. When an Original Vampire's true face is revealed, the sclera of their eyes turns blood-red, dark veins appear under their eyes as the blood pumps forcefully through them, and their canine teeth extend into razor-sharp fangs. An Original Vampire's true face can be revealed whenever they wish, but it will appear against their will whenever they are aroused by the scent of blood, or are feeling intense emotions such as anger, lust, sadness, etc. An Original Vampire's fangs are extremely sharp which gives them the ability to tear into almost any substance (including and especially flesh) and tear off limbs. With the fangs come the darkened veins under the eyes as well.

Uncommon Abilities[]

Unique to Elijah Mikaelson[]

Bloodlust Resistance: Unlike most vampires, Elijah has complete control of his blood lust, which he perfected over the years of being a vampire to the point that his vampire veins have not been shown often since he was introduced, even when he requested to speak to Davina despite being neutralized for three months and having his skin color become very darkened from lack of blood; as a result, he was able to talk to her without craving her blood. This was not always so however, as Elijah had accidentally killed someone not long after transitioning.

Unique to Mikael[]

Tolerance to Werewolf Bite: Although Mikael was bitten many times by werewolves, he could overcome his pain and hallucinations. Even having werewolf's venom in blood, he dominated a fight against Klaus in their first altercation and defeated him in a second duel when weakened further by Papa Tunde's blade; it should be noted that Klaus was forced to let his guard down, when Mikael threw Papa Tunde's Blade at Alex.
Tolerance to Papa Tunde's Blade: When Klaus used Papa Tunde's Blade against Mikael, he was neutralized, but only for minutes as he woke and removed blade from his chest with no aid, something that no other Original vampire could.

Unique to Niklaus Mikaelson[]

Main Article: Hybrid

Shapeshifting/Transformation Control: Klaus has the ability to transform into his werewolf form at will. Elijah informs Klaus that he remained a werewolf for two days, even when the sun was up. Showing that Klaus can stay in werewolf form longer than a normal werewolf. As seen with Klaus when he bit Katherine, Klaus can transform partially, displaying his werewolf eyes and teeth.
Lycanthrope Enhancement: Klaus is capable of using his werewolf features to further supplement his powers. Klaus can grow werewolf claws and fangs even when he is still in his human form. Klaus can display both sets of vampire and werewolf fangs. His eyes also change into those of his werewolf form, presumably granting him better eyesight. Due to his werewolf heritage, Klaus' strength and speed are heightened further during a full moon and at its peak in his werewolf form.
Day Walking: As a werewolf-vampire hybrid, Klaus cannot be harmed by the sun and does not require a daylight ring.
Werewolf Bite Cure: Klaus' blood is the only cure for a normal werewolf or an non-Original werewolf-vampire hybrid bite, this ability seems to be unique only to Klaus.
Werewolf Bite: His venom will temporarily weaken an Original vampire and kill a non-Original vampire. As a Hybrid, Klaus' venom take effect quicker than a normal werewolf's venom.
Procreation: Klaus had a child with a werewolf due to a loophole (being born a werewolf who was turned into a vampire-werewolf hybrid by magic). This loophole has since been made impossible by witches, and will not happen again.
Immunity to Silver: Due to his werewolf heritage, magic bonded to silver doesn't affect Klaus. Weapons made of silver might wound him, but the wound heals at super-normal rates than regular wounds.

Unique To Alaric Saltzman[]

Main Article: Enhanced Original Vampire

White Oak Stake Invulnerability: Alaric was made to have fewer weaknesses compared to the Original Vampires. He cannot be harmed by wooden weapons and consequently, any stake even the White Oak Stake or the White Oak Ash Daggers. His body is completely indestructible making decapitation or heart extraction impossible. Instead, Esther linked his life to the life of Elena as a weakness.

Unique to Upgraded Originals[]

Main Article: Upgraded Original Vampire

Advanced Werewolf Venom: Due to having incorporated an advanced strain of venom into their bite from the seven strains of werewolf venom, a Beast can kill even an Original as demonstrated by Lucien who succeeded in killing Finn within a day of biting him.

Weaknesses[]

Even though the Original Vampires are the first and strongest vampires in the world, they themselves still have weaknesses. However, these weaknesses are fewer compared to non-Original vampires, and they recover faster from them. Original vampires are immune to most of the weakness of non-Original vampires.

Animal Blood: Animal blood weakens an Original's strength, but can ease their hunger better than no blood at all.

Broken Neck: Breaking an Original's neck will not kill them, but it will render them unconscious for several minutes to several hours.
The Cure: If an Original Vampire takes the cure, they will revert back to being mortal again. Once taken, the cure prevents them from being immortal again, causing the body to reject vampire blood.
Desiccation: Being completely drained of blood or the heart stopping will cause an Original vampire to desiccate like any other vampire, losing most of it's strength and any ability to move. The desiccated body of an Original vampire will appear as a corpse and can only start functioning again once they feed on blood. This process can be replicated artificially by a witch casting a desiccation spell. It's unknown if an Original vampire would desiccate if their heart was torn out; however, it seems that an Original vampire's body is indestructible, therefore it is possible their hearts cannot be extracted.
Invitation: In order to enter any house owned by humans, they need to be invited in by a person that officially lives there or the person of entitlement. Once invited, the invitation cannot be revoked. If an original vampire lives in a house, other vampires can enter freely and if an original vampire is in the house without being invited in, it will become disoriented and will begin to suffocate. If the ownership to a house changes while inside, an Original, like normal vampires, would likely become disoriented and pulled from the house against their will.
Magic: It is said that a witch with enough power can kill/dangerously affect a being as powerful as an Original Vampire, but would likely kill the witch unless the Original vampire was in a weakened state. Its later revealed to have some sort of truth as both Bonnie and Davina while being empowered by extremely potent sources of magic (the violent deaths of 100 witches and the power of the Harvest) were able to cripple Klaus almost to the point of bringing him close to death. Julie Plec reveals that the White Oak Stake is the only physical weapon in existence that can kill an Original vampire, but an extremely empowered witch could kill one with magic. Bonnie would have succeeded in killing Klaus had Elijah not saved him. Dahlia may have the power to kill the Original vampires, as one of the strongest witches to exist, something Esther and Freya believe she can do. Dahlia could effortlessly desiccate Mikael and Klaus at the same time, nearly killing them both with a portion of her magic potential, however she was later seen having to use the dust from the destroyed white oak stake to kill Elijah, Klaus, and Rebekah at the same time. Witches can also do spells that can seriously harm an original vampire. Minor spells have little effect. An example of a spell that can be used to effect an original is the spell with sage that can block a vampire's hearing. This is inclusive of mystical objects such as the Gilbert Device, Papa Tunde's Blade, Cursed Stake and Dark Objects. It is possible, but equally as unlikely that a Siphoner could siphon the magic from an original vampire.
Physical Trauma: While any physical trauma can slow an Original down, minor ones such as cuts and bruises, are essentially ineffective due to the healing factor of an Original vampire. More significant injuries along the lines of broken bones and organ damage can incapacitate one due to the combination of pain and lack of their bodies proper function. However, the most effective way to neutralize an Original, albeit temporarily, is to inflict injury normally fatal to a human such as breaking their neck or ripping out their heart. Minor physical injuries such as gunshots, stab wounds and broken bones will cause an Original Vampire pain and also slow them down. However, this is momentary as they will heal completely within seconds. It seems physical trauma can hurt them anywhere on the body (ex-eye gauging, drowning).
Poison: There have recently been various poisons shown invented by people such as Dr. Wes Maxfield and Aya that are capable of incapacitate or desiccate a vampire when administered. Klaus also used a poison to kill Tim that not even vampire blood could cure. Davina used a spell that made her blood toxic to Klaus, paralyzing and rendering him unconscious. It is unknown what effect any of these poisons would do if ingested by an original vampire.
Sunlight: Sunlight will burn an Original vampire, but cannot kill them. All members of the Original Family possess lapis lazuli rings to combat this. Klaus is not affected by sunlight due to being a werewolf-vampire hybrid.
Vervain: Vervain prevents Original vampires from compelling anyone who takes it and burns them on touch. Original vampires will heal very quickly from vervain wounds however.
Werewolf Bite: While a werewolf bite can't kill Original vampires, it weakens them and causes hallucinations. The effects are temporary and only lasts for a few hours. This will not affect Klaus as he is a werewolf-vampire hybrid. Mikael overcame the pain of the venom and fought through the effects rather than suffer and hallucinate. Lucien Castle has invented an advanced strain of venom with no known cure deriving from the seven strains of werewolf venom which has been infused in his bite as an Upgraded Original Vampire, otherwise known as a Beast. It is even fatal to Original vampires in a manner similar to that of a werewolf or hybrid bite on regular vampires although, working twice as fast and more painfully. It is so potent that not even the blood of Klaus or Hope Mikaelson can cure it. Lucien bit Finn Mikaelson, and Original Vampire, and Finn died permanently hours later. This is the first toxin that can kill an Original, and one of the only things to permanently kill an Original Vampire besides a White Oak Stake.
Wood: A wooden stake through the heart will desiccate an Original vampire and the Original vampire will appear as if they were dead, but will revive within a few hours. Klaus cannot be neutralized by wooden stakes, due to being a werewolf-vampire hybrid.
White Oak Ash Daggers: A group of enchanted silver daggers dipped in the ash of the white oak tree will neutralize an Original vampire when stabbed through the heart. If the dagger is removed, it must be dipped again in White Oak Ash to re-neutralize the Original vampire. Otherwise, it will have no effect and the Original vampire awaken within a few hours.

Unusual Weaknesses[]

Cancer: Although vampires cannot catch diseases and illnesses such as cancer, if a human has active cancer and is turned into a vampire, the effects of the cancer will increase. The regenerative properties of vampire blood will speed up the replication of cancer cells of and exceed normal stages of the condition. This was first proven when Caroline fed a terminal cancer patient vampire blood to test if it could cure cancer. When Jo ran tests on the patient after he was turned into a vampire, she referred to his tumors as "stage 10. It is unknown what would happen if a person with cancer is turned into an original vampire. The effects on an Original Vampire would be presumably the same as the rest of the species because they have the same healing powers.

Former Weaknesses[]

Doppelgänger Blood Magic: If blood from the last pair of doppelgängers are used in the Magic Purification Spell, all vampires' abilities will be stripped from them little by little and then they will be brought back to the last stage of their human life: Death. They will then relive the way they died when they transitioned into vampirism. Kai absorbed the magic purification spell and as such, it is no longer there.
White Oak Ash Dagger (Gold): A weapon that was forged by witches and modified by Kol Mikaelson as a way to subdue Niklaus Mikaelson since Silver Daggers have no affect on him. If dipped into the White Oak Tree ashes and then stabbed into the heart of Klaus, he will become desiccated and will remain that way as long as the dagger stays in place. As of Ashes to Ashes, Dahlia melted and destroyed the dagger.
The Phoenix Sword: The Phoenix Stone, when attached to the sword with which it is paired, has the power to kill the body of a vampire and trap their soul in a prison within the stone. This prison has been described as a hell dimension where time has no meaning and where the vampire souls inside it are emotionally tortured with horrifying images such as being forced to kill their loved ones. Though it is unknown if it can affect an original vampire. The blade along with its stone was destroyed by Nora and Mary Louise.

White Oak Stake: The only weapon on earth that can permanently kill an Original vampire, it comes from an ancient White Oak Tree that existed during the time of the genesis of The Original Vampires and was used as the source of their immortality. It was at first thought that the stake used to kill Mikael was the last White Oak wood that existed, but it was soon discovered by Rebekah and Klaus that there was a sapling of the original tree to replace the old; the wood of which was used to build the Wickery Bridge. Dahlia destroyed the stake in Ashes to Ashes, and it was revealed that an Original can slowly die by inhaling white oak ash or splinters. The white oak from the Wickery Bridges presumably exist in the Prison Worlds. However with the death of Kai the Gemini leader the prison worlds are destroyed because they are linked to the leader of the Gemini Coven. In Wild at Heart, it was revealed that the Wooden Knight Klaus carved as a child is made of white oak wood and it was fashioned into seven wooden bullets. The last bullet was destroyed in Lucien's spell to become an Upgraded Original Vampire. It is later revealed that Klaus secretly kept a white oak stake for decades in case he ever wanted to commit suicide, but he identified it as the last remaining white oak stake in existence. Klaus and Elijah later broke the stake in half and used the pieces to kill each other as part of Klaus' plan to destroy the Hollow for good.
Enchanted Thorns: Thorns, created by the Hollow, magically infused and grown in the ground laced with Marcel's blood, as an Upgraded Original Vampire. A single scratch from these thorns will kill an Original; as of Phantomesque, the rosebush and thorns have all been destroyed.