Elena Gilbert

Elena Gilbert is the female protagonist from the book series The Vampire Diaries, as well from the TV series with the same name. She is portrayed by Nina Dobrev.

Elena Gilbert is born on June 22, 1992 in Mystic Falls, Virginia to John Gilbert and Isobel Flemming while they were still in highschool. With the help of John's brother Grayson, Isobel and John flee town days later, leaving Grayson and his wife Miranda to adopt Elena as their own. A doctor, Grayson fakes a birth certificate so that it appeared Elena was his daughter with Miranda. The next year, Miranda and Grayson had a child of their own, Jeremy Gilbert. Elena dates her childhood friend Matt Donovan, who was her first love. On 23 May 2009, Elena is picked up by her mother and father after being stranded by attending a party. The three of them later end up in a car accident, with their car driving off the bridge. Stefan Salvatore finds them, and saves Elena, but it was too late to save Grayson and Miranda, who died. It remained unknown for months who saved Elena, and it was considered a miracle that she lived. Her relationship with Matt ended when they broke up.

Elena, still empty after losing her parents, begins to fit back into school. She meets a mysterious new student named Stefan Salvatore. They connect instantly, and begin dating. She meets his older and malevolent brother, Damon. After researching, Elena realizes Stefan was alive in 1953. It is later revealed that he is a 162-year old vampire. Damon also begins falling for Elena. After sleeping together, Elena finds a picture of a women named Katherine Pierce who looks exactly like her. Stefan reveals that it is the woman who made him and Damon feud 145 years ago, and the person who turned them into vampires. He also told her that he is the person that saved her the night of her parent's death. At the end of season one, Elena discovers that Grayson and Miranda weren't her parents, and that Isobel and her uncle John, who she grew up hating, were.

In season two, she learns that she is a Petrova Doppelgänger, having an appearance just like Katherine Pierce, which means that she has to be sacrificed to release Klaus' werewolf side. The sacrifice later happens, but Elena is saved, because John sacrificed himself for her after being put under a spell by Bonnie. However, her aunt Jenna is turned into a vampire and, as part of the sacrifice, is killed by Klaus, leaving Elena without a guardian. In the season two finale, while Damon is dying due to a werewolf bite, she forgives him for forcing her to drink his blood and kisses him with the thought that it might be Damon's last day, however Damon gets cured by drinking Klaus' blood.

In season three, Elena does everything in her power to make Stefan get his humanity back, which was turned off by Klaus. Meanwhile, she grows closer to Damon while working together on saving Stefan and trying to defeat Klaus, eventually even sharing a kiss. She later admits to Stefan that she has feelings for Damon as well but that she never stopped loving Stefan. While in Denver together, Elena kisses Damon, later telling him that she doesn't know how she feels about him. It is eventually revealed that Elena met Damon the night of her parent's death, though he compelled her to forget. She eventually chooses Stefan in the season finale but before she can tell him, Elena drowns while having vampire blood in her system. During the last moments of season three, she awakens as a vampire in transition.

In season four, Elena is faced with the tough decision of whether to die or to feed on human blood so she can fully transition into a vampire. Elena, after realizing Stefan's desperation to keep her alive, decides to complete her transition. Her relationship with Stefan ends, allowing her to begin a proper romance with Damon. Although, it is later revealed there is a sire bond between them.

Sometime later whilst searching for the cure for vampirism, Jeremy is killed by the immortal Silas. As a result, Damon used the sire bond to convince her to turn off her humanity, due to her incredible grief over losing her brother and the last remaining member of her family. Elena has since become ruthless without her emotions, though showed hints of fear when Bonnie almost killed her.