Mikael (The Vampire Diaries)

Mikael Mikaelson was the husband of Esther Mikaelson, father of Freya Mikaelson, Elijah Mikaelson, Rebekah Mikaelson, Kol Mikaelson, Finn Mikaelson and step-father of the Original Hybrid Niklaus Mikaelson, thus being the father and oldest of the Original Vampires and the strongest out of them all. He was therefore Hope Mikaelson's grandfather and Dahlia's brother-in-law.

Mikael was a recurring character on the third season of the Vampire Diaries and the first and second seasons of the Originals, appearing as an anti-hero on the former and an antagonist on the latter before willingly allowing Klaus to kill him to be able to strike down Dahlia, finding redemption for his crimes against his family, who he never stopped loving, even Klaus, despite having hunted them down for centuries.

History

Human Life

Mikael was a Viking warrior born in a village in the Kingdom of Norway. During a raid on a village, he met a witch named Esther, and the two fell in love. They married and were wealthy landowners. They tried to start a family but to no avail, as Esther believed she was cursed and went to her sister for help. Unknown to Mikael, Esther's sister Dahlia put a spell on her so she could have children but there would be sacrifices. They then started a family with the birth of their children Freya and Finn. He was a loving and caring father for both of his children, but his favorite was his beloved daughter. Mikael named his Viking sword Rathul, after the early morning sun. Its hilt was golden, like the color of Freya's hair. He had said it would remind him of her while he was in battle, and that she would be by his side no matter how far afield he traveled. Some time later, Esther was pregnant with their son Elijah. Years had passed, and the night before Mikael left for war, he christened his sword with goat's blood. When Freya awoke, he was no longer there as he had gone out to war. A plague hit Europe, and Esther claimed it killed Freya while Mikael was in battle; in reality, Freya was taken as the payment of a magical bargain Esther made with her sister Dahlia, to cure her of her infertility. Desperate to escape their homeland, Esther turned to her witch friend and mentor, Ayana, who told her of a land beyond the seas where the natives were all healthy and blessed with the gifts of speed and strength. At this point, Mikael became a more strict father, becoming more cruel in teaching his children to survive, so he would not lose anymore children like he thought he lost Freya. Mikael, Esther, Ayana and other (possibly Viking) settlers left Norway for the New World (later known as North America), settling in the area now known as Mystic Falls in the present day.

However, the New World wasn't as peaceful as the couple had expected, especially during the full moon, as their neighbors were werewolves. They lived in peace with their neighbors at first, hiding in caves during the wolves' transformations, during which time Mikael and Esther had more children: Niklaus, Kol, Rebekah and Henrik.

Once, as kids, Elijah took Niklaus into the woods to teach him how to hunt. Elijah encouraged his brother, stating that his aim was improving when he misses a shot at a doe. However, Mikael soon arrived and scolded Elijah for encouraging his brother, snatching the bow from Niklaus and stating that he wasn't man enough to hold a weapon. Niklaus tried to apologize, but Mikael saw him as a weakling and starts severely beating him, using the justification that his punishments would make Niklaus stronger. Elijah tried to stop his father from hurting his brother, but was scared off by Mikael, who stated that Elijah would be next if he intervened. He once beat Niklaus half to death as a boy because he was so sure that Niklaus had taken his blades, unaware that it was actually Rebekah who had taken them.

One day, Mikael caught Klaus carving chess pieces with his hunting knife, and Mikael whipped and beat Klaus half to death. Klaus was beaten so badly his siblings actually feared he would die. Elijah entered the room and tried to stop his father, but he pushed Elijah away and continued to punish Klaus until Rebekah eventually ran in with his sword and pointed it at him. Mikael became furious and grabbed his sword from her before leaving the room. Then, one night, Rebekah, who had enough of Mikael's abuse toward Klaus, took a knife with the intention of killing her father while he slept, but Elijah ultimately stopped her; however, he later admitted that he wished he had done the deed himself, wishing he could go back to that moment.

One day, while Elijah and Klaus were sparring, Mikael watched them. Mikael was enraged that Klaus was showing off and being foolish when the Vikings were fighting for their survival. Once they were done, he came to Elijah for his sword and then attacked Klaus and humiliated him in front of the village. He then wondered aloud how Klaus was able to remain alive due to his impulsive and foolish behavior. At some point, Niklaus challenged Mikael to a duel, which Mikael initially won. However, when Mikael cut Klaus' starling necklace (which was meant to weaken him to prevent him from triggering his werewolf curse), Klaus became so enraged that he attacked Mikael, Mikael was so furious that Klaus had gained the upper hand, that he impaled Klaus' shoulder with his sword and pinned him to a tree in his blind rage.

Curious about the werewolves' transformations, Klaus and Henrik went to spy on them one night during a full moon. Unfortunately, their presence was ultimately discovered by the werewolves, who were unable to control themselves and ended up mauling Henrik to death. Overwhelmed by the loss of another child, Mikael and Esther were desperate to cast a spell that would protect the family from more deaths. After Ayana refused to help them, citing the fact that the Spirits and Nature itself would not stand for such an imbalance, Mikael begged his wife Esther to do something using her powers as a witch. Esther obeyed Mikael's wishes and performed a variation of the Immortality Spell created by Qetsiyah, which involved calling upon the sun for life and the eternal white oak tree for immortality, and also added traits like super strength, super speed, fangs, and heightened senses that would all be superior to werewolf powers, so his family could fight back against the beasts that mauled his youngest son to death.

He then offered his children wine laced with the doppelgänger Tatia's enchanted blood (as revealed in Bringing Out The Dead) and killed them soon after by driving his sword through their hearts. The Spirits of Nature, in order to try to maintain the balance, turned nature against them; the sun became their enemy, the flowers that grew at the base of the white oak tree, vervain, caused them pain upon contact and prevented compulsion, and the white oak tree that granted them immortality became the one thing on earth that could take it away by killing them permanently. Mikael and his family later burned down the white oak tree to prevent it ever being used against them, but not before Mikael had secretly carved a stake as insurance in case one was needed for future use.

But, they soon learned with all this power came a terrible hunger, and none felt it more then Niklaus and Kol as shown in their life as vampires, with each having brought Mikael to their hiding places over the centuries, forcing the siblings to flee multiple times. Once Klaus had killed a human, Mikael and the rest of the family found out that he was actually a werewolf, born of an affair Esther had with a werewolf villager named Ansel. Upon seeing Klaus' first transformation as a true hybrid, Mikael stated, "He's a beast. An abomination!" Mikael realized that his wife was unfaithful to him and that Niklaus wasn't his son. Despite this, however, Mikael still did not want to kill Klaus, still seeing him as his son, but he convinced Esther to cast a spell to keep Klaus's werewolf side dormant. While Esther prepared the spell, Mikael tied Klaus up in chains, demanding that Elijah help him when he stood nearby and looked guilty. Despite Klaus' pleas for Elijah to help him, he ended up listening to his father and helping Mikael chain Klaus to a post. Mikael later went out into the village to hunt down and kill Ansel, Klaus' father, as well as his entire family, not realizing that he was igniting an inter-species war that rages on even in the present day. Klaus was furious with his mother for making his werewolf side dormant and seemed to murder her in revenge, putting the blame on Mikael. Klaus convinced his siblings that Mikael had murdered their mother, probably out of anger for her infidelity, and they all ran from their father, fleeing back to the Old World. Mikael knew the truth of Esther's murder and finally vowed to kill Klaus for ruining his family, though he continued to desire for the rest of his children to follow him.

Hunting Klaus

Over the next centuries, Mikael burned down half of Europe in his hunt for Klaus. Shortly after being turned, Elijah compelled Lucien Castle to believe he was Klaus, Tristan de Martel to believe he was Elijah, and Aurora de Martel to believe she was Rebekah, so that Mikael would hunt them in his children's place as a misdirection. This tactic worked until Elijah was daggered with his siblings by the Brotherhood of the Five in 1114, negating the compulsion. Mikael still hunted the three until he realized he was hunting imposters. Mikael moved on to his true target, Klaus, after a century of hunting the Trinity, who were using his children's identities.

In the 1200s, after Elijah had formed a society of vampires called the Strix, Mikael tracked them down and descended upon them with a small army of his own. He lay waste to The Strix while Elijah fled to protect his siblings, leaving the remnants of his vampire society to fend for themselves against Mikael.

In 1702, Mikael tracked his family down to Spain due to Kol's destructive antics. He killed Klaus's horse, Theo, putting its head on a pike before he burnt down the town in his hunt for his "bastard" step-son. His children managed to escape on a ship headed back to the New World, alluding Mikael for several more centuries.

In 1919, six months after Rebekah and Marcel used Genevieve to summon him, Mikael appeared in the streets of New Orleans. Mikael later appeared at Rousseau's, where he watched Marcel and Rebekah. Shortly after Rebekah left him at the bar, Marcel went for a drink, and Mikael, approached him. He talked of how lucky Marcel was and remarked that his girlfriend (Rebekah) looked like his wife. Mikael then revealed his true identity and admitted that he had been observing Marcel before informing him that he knew he would do anything to get out from under Klaus' wing, even if it meant calling the one man on earth who hates Klaus the most, Mikael the Destroyer. Mikael also admitted that he had burned countless other cities like New Orleans while hunting his children. Mikael promised Marcel that he would leave Rebekah unharmed, as she was always his favorite, but he wanted his sons' exact location so he could kill Klaus.

Later, Mikael went to see Elijah, and insisted that he just wanted to talk to him. Elijah was shocked and angry upon Mikael's return, and he reminded his father that he hunted him and his siblings for centuries, going so far as to burn half of Europe in his attempts to kill his family. Mikael corrected him by pointing out that he only ever hunted Klaus, and had no interest in killing his own children. He goes on to say that he was requesting Elijah's aid, though the meeting quickly became violent once Elijah refused him. Elijah replied that his father was a fool if he thought Elijah would betray his brother for anyone, even for his father. Mikael then reminded him of how his mother's affair led to Klaus' existence and Mikael's secret shame. He added, "Niklaus is an abomination. You do not talk to abominations. You do not reason with them, or try to change them. You ERASE THEM!" Mikael then shows him the white oak stake, which caused Elijah to start to fight him in order to stop him. However, Mikael quickly overpowered Elijah and stated that he either stands with his father or falls with Klaus. Once Elijah insisted that he was standing with his brother, Mikael stake him with a regular stake, leaving him incapacitated while Mikael left to go to the New Orleans Opera House.

Walking into the theater, Mikael seated himself behind Klaus and pointed the white oak stake at his back, right next to his heart, while Klaus sat, clearly horrified. Mikael mocked Klaus when he referred to Mikael as "Father," and told him that his werewolf father would be embarrassed to have him as a son, just like he was before he knew the truth about his parentage. Mikael then revealed that he intended to humiliate Klaus before he killed him, and stated that he planned on killing everyone who knew Klaus existed, to ensure that no one would miss him after he was dead.

Mikael then had the stage-hands open the curtains to the stage, revealing that he had killed Klaus' werewolf lover, Lana, as well as many of his friends, in addition to tying up Marcel next to them in a grotesque display. All the while, the audience was laughing hysterically, as Mikael had compelled them all to view the show as a comedy. Terrified, Klaus quickly rushed to the stage to help free Marcel, only to be stopped by Mikael, who threw him across the stage. Rebekah suddenly arrived and intervened, trying to free Marcel as well, but Mikael staked her with a regular stake and incapacitated her. Elijah, who had just recovered from his own staking, showed up just in time to help his siblings free, and he insisted that Marcel was as good as dead, as Mikael was feeding on him to replenish his strength. Mikael ultimately burned down the opera house.

Mikael hunted his children down to the streets of the French Quarter, he shouted at them that they needed to finish the last act of Le Grand Guignol, which he referred to as their "tale of sorrows." He insisted that their constant fleeing was pointless, as he would always find them no matter what, but the children ended up able to run after all because Elijah stayed behind to lead Mikael away from them while they fled to safety. Mikael went on to burn down much of the city of New Orleans and slaughtered more vampires, leaving Marcel as one of the few survivors of his wrath.

In 1922, Mikael had tracked Rebekah and Niklaus to Chicago, where they were regular customers at Gloria's Bar. As it was Prohibition at the time, Mikael infiltrated the Chicago police force and became the Police Chief, using the fact that Gloria was running a speakeasy as an excuse to send the police officers to shoot up the bar with wooden bullets in search of his children. However, when Mikael finally arrived in the aftermath of the gunfight, Klaus and Rebekah had already vanished. Mikael questioned many of the bar's patrons, including Stefan Salvatore, but since Stefan was compelled to forget that he ever knew Klaus and Rebekah, he was unable to be of any help to him. Mikael realized that Klaus had compelled away Stefan's memories and informed the officers that they were done there, and began his search anew to find where his children had fled next.

In 1990, Seventy years later in the early 1990s, Mikael came to Mystic Falls, which had been his home nearly a thousand years prior, in search of the third and final Petrova doppelgänger, Elena Gilbert, who was just a baby at the time. He knew that Klaus would eventually learn of the existence of the newest human doppelgänger and intended to kill her before she could be used by Klaus to break his Hybrid Curse. Despite the Founder's Council's best efforts to kill Mikael, they were unsuccessful, and Abby Bennett Wilson, Elena's mother Miranda's best friend, decided to use her powers as a witch to neutralize Mikael by tapping into dark magic to desiccate him. She lured him out of town to Charlotte, North Carolina, and once he was incapacitated, she entombed him in a cemetery there, where he laid dormant for nearly twenty years. However, tales of Mikael, the vampire who hunts vampires, were still told by many throughout the centuries, and Katherine Pierce even mentioned that she had heard stories of him from her best friend Pearl in the 1800s, which was why she was ultimately the person who tracked him down and released him with the intention of killing Klaus for good.

First Death

When Katherine opened his tomb, Mikael opened his eyes, though he was still too desiccated and chained up to move. Katherine spent most of her time trying to get Mikael to rise from his coffin by attempting to get him to feed. However, Mikael simply did not drink any of the blood she offered until Katherine finally found a mourner at the cemetery, bit into his neck, and let the blood drip into Mikael's open mouth. Upon feeding, Mikael's body returned to its natural, undesiccated state, but he became angry at Katherine for feeding him human blood, though he did not go into detail as to why that bothered him before he fell asleep again. Hours later, Mikael awoke again and apologized to Katherine for his behavior before revealing that he has abstained from drinking human blood for as long as he can remember. Katherine expressed her disappointment at Mikael, and assumed that Mikael didn't have the power to kill Klaus. However, Mikael insisted that he could indeed kill Klaus, and that he will as soon as he was freed from his chains. Katherine broke the chains binding him, and when Mikael rubbed at his stiff elbows, she remarked that if he drank human blood, he would feel much better. When Mikael informed her that he didn't feed on the living, Katherine became confused, until Mikael pulled her toward him and bit into her neck, much to her horror, drinking her blood until she fell unconscious.

Mikael came to Mystic Falls and met with Stefan and Damon at a bar, knowing exactly who they were without introduction because of his experience as a Vampire Hunter. Mikael asked Stefan a few questions about Klaus' plans and his current location, but Stefan could not answer them because Klaus had compelled him not to tell anyone his secrets. Damon was unimpressed by Mikael's interrogation and jokingly asked if this was the extent of his capabilities. As a ploy to get Stefan to give him answers, Mikael inserted his hand in Damon's chest and threatened to rip his heart out if Stefan didn't tell him something about what Klaus was doing. Stefan hesitated for a long moment, but he did eventually find a way around Klaus' compulsion by telling Mikael that he could lure Klaus back to town. Satisfied for the moment, Mikael removed his hand from Damon's chest, but before he left, he warned the brothers that if they went back on their word, he would drive a stake through their hearts as well as Klaus'.

Mikael helped Elena and the Salvatore Brothers to lure Klaus back to Mystic Falls so he could kill him for good. To do this, the gang needed Klaus to believe that Mikael had truly been neutralized, and their story needed to be as true as possible to limit the risk of Stefan's compulsion betraying their plans. Mikael began by instructing Elena to dagger him temporarily so Stefan wouldn't technically be lying when he told Klaus that Mikael tried to kill Elena, forcing her to dagger him to protect herself. Once he was reawakened, Rebekah was waiting beside him as she prepared for the Homecoming Dance. Knowing that Rebekah hated him, Mikael assured her that he never intended to kill her or Elijah-- he just wanted to kill Klaus because in revenge for killing Esther and Henrik's death. Rebekah argued that if Mikael was hunting Klaus, he was hunting her, and informed him that while she was well aware of what Klaus had done, including recently discovering that Klaus killed their mother, she still blamed Mikael for making Klaus into the person he was and for turning them into monsters in the first place.

Later at the Salvatore Boarding House, Mikael showed Damon the White Oak Stake he had carved prior to burning the ancient tree down, which is the only weapon that could permanently kill an Original. Damon asked him why he feeds on vampires. His reply was:"I had a hand in creating vampires, but the bloodlust was never my intention. Over the centuries, I've learned to feed from the predator, not the innocent."

When Stefan came into the room, Mikael viciously fed on Stefan until he passed out, as the two had made an earlier plan to incapacitate Stefan to ensure his compulsion wouldn't ruin the plan. Afterward, he and Damon left the house to head to the Lockwood Mansion to proceed with their plan. At the mansion, Mikael found himself surrounded by Klaus' hybrids, who were acting as bodyguards around the perimeter of the house. When Klaus answered the door to find Mikael on the porch, he told his step-father that his hybrids have been given orders to kill Mikael at his command. Mikael reminded him that the hybrids couldn't kill him, since he is immortal, but Klaus just replied, "But it will make a hell of a party game".

Mikael then grabbed "Elena" as a hostage (who, unbeknownst to both of them, was actually Katherine in disguise) and threatened to kill her if Klaus didn't come outside to face him, knowing that she was the key to Klaus creating more hybrids. Klaus called his bluff, so Mikael proved he was serious by stabbing "Elena" in the back with a knife. While Klaus was processing Elena's death, Damon appeared behind Klaus and stabbed him in the back with the white oak stake, though he missed Klaus' heart. As Damon was about to make the final blow, Stefan arrived (having been revived by Katherine earlier) and tackled him, knocking the stake out of his hands in the process. Klaus took advantage of everyone's distraction by grabbing the stake and driving it through Mikael's heart, and watched in shock as Mikael burst into flames and died, taking the only white oak stake with him.

Return and conflict with Klaus

As the Other Side began to collapse, Mikael, unwilling to go down willingly, haunted Klaus and Elijah in their dreams. He eventually decided to reach out to Davina so she could resurrect him, which she did only for her to put him into mystical subjugation. For months, Mikael barely kept his rage in control as Davina continued to plan to remove the sire link so her friends won't die if Mikael kills Klaus. Davina is trying to find a way to unlink Marcel and Josh from Klaus's sire line but she isn't able to do it. Mikael offers his help but she refuses it because she believes that he could trick her into a faulty spell just so he could get out early and kill Klaus. When Davina is attacked at Rousseau's by a group a of Moonlight ring wearing werewolves sent by Cassie, she uses her bracelet to summon Mikael from the attic. As the werewolves are about to kill Davina, Mikael arrives and starts to fight them, killing several with little to no difficulty. During the fight, Davina loses the bracelet controlling Mikael, setting him free. Having disposed of the wolves, he tries to kill Davina to stop her control over him but he is stopped by Elijah who throws him into a wall. As Elijah is surprised to see his father alive and well, Mikael tells him that, while he wanted to see Klaus first, he had unfinished business with Elijah as well. He overpowers his son and prepares to drive the White Oak Stake into his heart when Marcel recovers Davina's bracelet, allowing her to regain control over him. She then flees with Mikael. Davina took Mikael to her family's abandoned cabin to hide from Klaus and Elijah. While there, Mikael trained himself vigorously with a staff to force out the werewolf venom he had received from his recent brawl with the wolves. After chastising Davina for being unable to defend herself without her magic, she requested that he train her to be strong physically. Mikael did so, knocking her down and hurting her ankle but forcing her to get back on her feet, even though it would be a struggle. Once she did, he nodded and thought that perhaps she had learned something. When his son Kol, now in the body of a witch, was invited to the cabin by Davina and secretly searched the room with the white oak stake inside and found it, Mikael stopped him and confronted him. He threatened to kill him, not knowing it was his youngest son, but Kol told him he was a witch and would undo Davina's bracelet's spell, freeing Mikael, if he didn't harm him. When Klaus arrived at the cabin, having tracked them down, Mikael stood ready with the white oak stake. Klaus threw Mikael's staff through the cabin window, knocking Davina out. Mikael went to her and Kol where he ordered Kol to release him as promised. Kol performed a spell to take Mikael off his leash and it worked. Mikael went outside, to confront his son. The two most powerful of the Mikaelsons fought brutally. Though Klaus is able to compete with Mikael, the latter's overwhelming strength and skill proved too much. However, Klaus unveiled Papa Tunde's blade and stabbed Mikael. The blade burrowed into Mikael's body, incapacitating him and causing him an extreme amount of pain. Klaus then put Mikael in a trunk, sparing him so he'd suffer, but Mikael managed to pull the blade from his own chest, the only Original who was strong enough and had enough willpower to do so. Mikael abducted Camille, who Klaus had given the white oak stake, to use her as leverage. He explained that once he fed, he'd be back to full strength. They stumbled upon a Halloween party of unsuspecting civilians. Mikael compelled the attendance to give Klaus a message. Mikael brought Cami to an abandoned building where he explained that he didn't always hate Klaus. It was only after Klaus accidentally got Henrik killed, killed Esther, and turned his siblings against him, that Mikael hated Klaus, seeing his acts as betrayal. He then told her that instead of her counseling, he needed food. Despite having told her he wouldn't feed on her, he contemplated changing his mind since his wound from Papa Tunde's blade wasn't healing. Mikael fed briefly on Cami, leaving her alive but rejuvenating some of his strength though still weakened by Tunde's blade and the lingering venom. This time Klaus is able to best Mikael, only for Mikael to turn the tables by leveraging Cami to best Klaus. Klaus was briefly neutralized but didn't burst into flames like Originals are supposed to do when stabbed with white oak. Mikael was furious and confused by the turn of events, realizing someone was interfering with the stake's power. He found Davina and Kol performing a spell and attacked them to restore power to the weapon. He threw aside Kol and bit Davina before going back to Klaus's body to find Cami with the stake, threatening him. Marcel and Hayley arrived, using their combined strength to hold off Mikael. Klaus awoke and told Mikael that he was outnumbered. Mikael just laughed at Klaus, telling him to find him when he was prepared to fight his own battles. Mikael then fled, his destination unknown. Mikael had learned of Esther's resurrection of Ansel, hunting down werewolves in the woods to try and find Ansel's location. As he butchered a few wolves, he was met by Esther, who told him that he could stop trying to hunt down Ansel since Klaus had already killed him, noting that he may not be his blood, but Klaus had inherited Mikael's violent nature. Mikael, still furious with Esther for her betrayal, was enraged until she convinced him to help her by offering up Klaus, no longer believing he'd ever accept her offer to be put into a new body. Mikael agreed to her deal, and soon after helped their son Finn escape from his imprisonment in Klaus's compound. Mikael and Finn, united in their disdain for vampires and for their family, plotted to destroy all the vampires in New Orleans. Mikael stated that together, they would be successful in their crusade and Finn responded by telling him that he could really use a man of his strength. However, Finn forced Mikael to be his sacrifice in a spell so he could channel his power. The spell neutralized Mikael while his power was being channeled into Finn's own.

After having his connection to Mikael severed by his siblings, Finn expressed his intentions to his long lost sister Freya Mikaelson to return to the tomb where Mikael was being kept, so that he could once again begin channeling their father to regain the powers he was forced to relinquish. Freya took the opportunity to request that Finn allow her to take a few minutes with their father, and Finn tried to sway her against this, telling her that their father was no longer the man she remembered from when she was five years old. Despite this, he eventually relented and took Freya to Mikael, leaving them alone. Freya proceeded to revive her father with a spell and a drop of her blood. Mikael awakened and demanded to know who she was. When Freya tried to reveal that she was the daughter he lost so long ago, Mikael angrily attacked her, calling her a liar. However, Freya recounted memories from her childhood that only the two of them shared. Mikael was overwhelmed with emotion, slowly beginning to believe her. She revealed to him that she hadn't died but instead had been abducted by his sister in law, Dahlia. Near tears, he embraced his daughter and the two happily reunited. Later, Mikael was shown to be working with his daughter as werewolves came to the cemetery. Mikael killed one, still famished from his sleep, but Freya called him off before he could kill Aiden, sparing his life. Freya then tasked her father with procuring items needed to defeat Dahlia.

Mikael returned to New Orleans with the items to make a weapon against Dahlia; ash of the vikings who oppressed her, soil from her homeland, and the blood of who she loved the most: Freya. Klaus confronted Mikael and proposed the two fight Dahlia together. Both traded insults but decided to align together. With Davina's help, they bonded the ingredients to a knife, creating a weapon that can kill Dahlia. They chose to attack Dahlia head on with the weapon, being lead to the church knowing full well that it was a trap. When they confronted her, she unleashed mind-controlled acolytes of hers on them. Though they were a challenge, Mikael and Klaus slaughtered all of them until Dahlia stepped in herself, and used her magic to almost instantly desiccate the two Originals. Dahlia tortured them both for specific acts, especially Mikael for taking her sister from her. Freya, Elijah, and Rebekah arrived and when Dahlia started to hurt Freya, Mikael violently fought off his desiccation and stabbed Dahlia with a large piece of a wooden church pew. However, it didn't kill her and Dahlia destroyed the weapon they had created and escaped. Mikael has a reunion with his children at Klaus' home. Wanting more Viking ash to make another weapon, Klaus threatens Mikael with the White Oak Stake. Mikael was not surprised by the betrayal. Klaus questioned why Mikael fought for Freya who he barely knows anymore, and why he hated him even before he became a disappointment for Mikael. Mikael said solemnly that he did not know, and just did. Klaus offered him final words and Mikael took the chance to apologize to Freya and looked past Klaus, telling Freya that he loved her. Klaus then staked Mikael for a second and final time, executing his step-father without a fight. Mikael tried to reach for his step-son in his final moments, a small gesture of his one time affection. Mikael's corpse burned to ash, providing the Mikaelsons with more Viking ash to use against Dahlia.

Appearance

Mikael was a tall and middle-aged man with short dark blond hair, blue eyes and muscular build, exceeding the other Originals in terms of physical build goes. Like the other Originals, Mikael used to dress in an aristocratic manner, most reflecting his son, Elijah's attire. He wore dark suits over dress shirts.

Personality

Before Freya's apparent death, Mikael was a kind and loving husband as well as a good father, despite his father having roughly raised him. However, after the tragedy, Mikael became hostile, distant and cold and though Klaus's birth renewed Mikael's hope, he was never the same man as he once was as his later personality can be described calculating, meticulous, aggressive, bad tempered and prideful - which Hayley described as "being a dick". As a human, Mikael is characterized by his pride, valor, and devotion to the family, having bravely fought in the front lines to protect them. Though he became extremely strict and stern towards his children, he deeply loved all of his family and his attitude was to strengthen them and teach them to focus on becoming warriors are capable of living in the harsh world, though they came to view it as abuse and resented him but nevertheless they all still respected Mikael once. For all of Mikael's faults as a parent, he genuinely wished to make his children able to survive and cared for all of them. Even towards Klaus, as abusive and even nearly lethal Mikael's attitude was towards him, he still cared for Klaus enough to turn him along with his siblings.

After being turned into a vampire, the valor becomes anger, and pride in obsession. Even after discovering Klaus to be an "abomination" and a child fathered by someone else, Mikael still considered Klaus a part of the family and refused to kill him, but had his wife curse Klaus to make his werewolf side dormant, making him just like the rest of his siblings, an Original Vampire. However, once Klaus turned his children against him and murdered Esther, Mikael became hell-bent on killing Klaus. His hatred reached to a level where he became even more sadistic than Klaus himself was when dealing with his step-son: He wasn't content to kill Klaus until he has humiliated and psychologically tortured him, and then promised to undo everyone's memory of him, turning Klaus into nothing more than a ghost, utterly alone. However, Mikael never stopped loving his biological family, as he expressed pride for Elijah for holding on to his morality and virtue and refused to kill his son despite his staunch defending of Klaus. He still favored Rebekah, as he was willing to let her be with Marcel and was never shown to inflict lethal harm even when they fought. He was pleased to see Rebekah again and upon seeing her in her new body, asked with amusement on what mischief she had gotten herself into, indicating he was used to seeing Rebekah getting herself in trouble. He fought furiously for Freya, something that made Klaus jealous, as he had always wanted his step-father's love and approval. Mikael's protectiveness over Freya granted him the strength and determination to fight through his desiccation and be the only one to manage to land a hit on Dahlia. Mikael was even willing to work with Klaus to protect their loved ones, even having fun together, as Klaus showed how similar he was with Mikael. When questioned by Klaus on why he despised him as he was growing up, Mikael claimed not to know. Mikael allowed himself to be staked by Klaus even though he could have defeated and instead staked Klaus and as he died, he reached out for Klaus before burning, showing as hateful as he was, there was a part of him that still cared for Klaus. He also showed that while he failed to acknowledge his mistakes as a parent as a human, in the last moments of his life he was not above some regret and remorse over how he abused Klaus. Despite everything that had happened between them, this parental act was sufficient to have earned him acknowledgment and redemption from Rebekah and even Elijah as well as deep down affect Klaus, as Klaus's apparent callousness over Mikael's death lead to both of his siblings to believe Klaus has lost himself, not knowing Klaus did regret killing Mikael.

Mikael also still retained his morality and virtue: He admits freely to regretting creating vampires and the bloodlust that led to the death of so many and so feeds only on vampires to avoid killing innocents. Likewise, Mikael was capable of respecting those who can stand up to him, acknowledging people such as Davina and Camille when they show feats of strength or courage. Mikael while cold and aggressive is not devoid of emotions or positive traits but tends to conceal them or hides behind anger, once he is reunited with Freya, his favorite daughter whom he thought was dead, he was reduced to tears and embraces her.

Relationships

• Mikael and Esther: Though Esther was a victim of Mikael and his fellow Viking's raid, they fell in love and Esther left Dahlia to marry Mikael. Eventually Mikael and Esther had 7 children but at the cost of Dahlia taking their firstborn, Freya Mikaelson, as the price of the fertility spell which required the firstborns from all generations of Esther's bloodline be given to Dahlia. Esther told Mikael Freya died of plague, and the family decided to flee their home. It was known that Mikael alienated Esther out of grief and anger over Freya's death but in time they eventually got back together. While Esther tended to and cared for their children, Mikael strictly trained them to be able to fight so they can survive. Esther did not approve of the more brutal ways Mikael raised their children and would defend them if needed but she herself could not deny the necessity and allowed his less violent methods. Regardless of everything, all was well until their youngest child, Henrik was killed by a werewolf. Mikael begged Esther to find a way to protect the rest of their children. Esther then made a spell that made Mikael and their children Original Vampires. Mikael discovered that Esther had been unfaithful and had a son with another man, named Ansel, when Niklaus made his first human kill and activated his werewolf gene. Despite this revelation, Mikael still loved his wife and her death at Klaus's hands infuriated and made Mikael hate Klaus to the point of wanting him dead and forgotten. When they meet again, Mikael admitted to missing Esther but was enraged that she would bring back Ansel. However, he trusted Esther enough to ally with her.
• Mikael and Klaus: When Klaus was born, he was overjoyed, seeing a warrior's strength in Klaus's eyes, and even named him and it was his birth that gave Mikael hope for his family. However, Klaus's fun-seeking attitude earned him Mikael's ire. Mikael frequently abused and beat Klaus and forced him to focus more on training but nevertheless he did all that so his son would be able to survive and even though he was angry at Klaus for taking Henrik with him to watch the werewolves turn, which led to Henrik dying, he cared for Klaus enough to include him among the rest of his children to be turned into immortals. After all the children of Mikael and Esther turned into immortals, it was revealed that Klaus is not the son of Mikael. Although he was clearly furious, even after learning Klaus was not his son, Mikael still did not want to kill him and only had Esther suppress his wolf side. However, when Klaus killed Esther and turned his family against their father by framing Mikael for the murder of their mother, and the siblings ran away from Mikael, with Klaus's subsequent neutralization of his siblings only serving to add to Mikael's ire, Mikael hunted down Klaus for centuries, trying to destroy him until finally he was killed, and their relationship became antagonistic and hateful. Mikael is the only one who still has emotional control over Klaus, and not looking at the fact that they hate each other, they still look at each other as father and son, even after Klaus met Ansel, his biological father. He still considers Mikael as his only true father, despite not being biologically related, because only a father could inflict as much pain as Mikael did to Klaus, as well as the fact Mikael raised Klaus. Mikael and Klaus first worked together against Dahlia to save their daughters. They almost overcame Dahlia together, but she was too strong and destroyed their weapon to kill her. The alliance between Klaus and Mikael did not last partly because of Klaus' jealousy of Mikael's relationship with Freya, and mainly because Klaus could not forgive Mikael for what he did to him as a child. Before killing him, Klaus asked why Mikael was so cruel to him, and Mikael seemed to have forgotten why and just did, and this clearly saddened Klaus. Once Klaus staked Mikael, Mikael extended his hand toward Klaus' face as a sign of affection before his corpse burned to ash, giving Klaus a shocked expression as his step-father did not always hate him completely. This seemed to have affected Klaus, who finally showed some remorse and regret for killing his father despite shrugging it off.
• Mikael and Elijah: Unlike with Klaus, Mikael did not abuse Elijah nor was he too hard on his son, as Elijah had proven himself to have inherited Mikael's virtues, which made Mikael proud of his son. Even though Mikael threatened to beat Elijah if he defended Klaus, he was never shown to beat Elijah and just tossed him away at one point. Elijah both feared and respected his father and though angry for what he did to Klaus, still considered him his father, as he saved him from being killed by Rebekah and even obliged when Mikael asked for his help to chain Klaus to bind his Hybrid nature. Although Elijah had long since came to abandon this notion, only seeing his father as a dangerous enemy, Mikael continued to feel pride for his son and never wanted him dead. Instead of killing him, he only staked Elijah with normal wood and when Elijah fought him so Klaus and Rebekah can escape, the fact Elijah was able to remain alive showed that Mikael, despite most likely being victorious, did not kill his son. When Mikael died, Elijah took no pleasure in Mikael's death and sympathized with Freya and even appeared dismayed by Klaus's dismissal, showing that despite all that had happened, Elijah did still consider Mikael family at least enough to be slightly affected by his death, minimal as it is, and not relish in it.
• Mikael and Rebekah: Rebekah was perhaps the only one of Mikael's children, who did not suffer from Mikael's strictness, as she reminded him of Freya and was his favorite child. She was the only one who didn't become a warrior and Mikael even relented when she defended Klaus. Rebekah, however, resented Mikael for what he did to Klaus and even almost killed him in his sleep. As Mikael chased her and the others around the world, her fear of his power only grew but she at first sought to have him come to New Orleans so he can kill Klaus, seemingly assured he would leave her alone. Mikael did indeed promise that Marcel and Rebekah could be together but before he could deliver, as Mikael tortured Marcel to make Klaus respond, Mikael was forced to use non-lethal aggression on his daughter and she fled from him. When they meet again, Rebekah showed conflict at Mikael: She still hates him for turning her and the others into monsters but came to see him as being right to hunt Klaus. Mikael appeared dismayed by Rebekah's anger. When they meet for the last time, Mikael was amused by her anger and relieved to see her allright and easily recognized her in her new body. Rebekah did mourn Mikael for his death, showing she still acknowledges him to be her father, even getting angry at Klaus for killing him.
• Mikael and Henrik: Although Henrik feared, respected and resented Mikael just like the rest of his siblings, Mikael clearly loved his youngest son, being devastated by his death at the hands of wolves and blaming Klaus for it. After he had gained the power needed, Mikael personally killed all the wolves near the village to avenge the death of his son.
• Mikael and Kol: It was never revealed how close Mikael was with Kol, though despite Kol's mischevious personality, he never bore the full weight of Mikael's strict and angry ways. It can be assumed as such that Mikael tolerated Kol, likely as despite his ways that would be less pleasant to Mikael, he at least was still devoted to his training unlike Klaus and was not reckless. He clearly loved his son, having turned him along with the rest of his siblings into original vampires. Mikael most likely knew Kol was daggered by Klaus, which probably led to Mikael hating Klaus even more. Kol, meanwhile, appears to fear Mikael less than his siblings, as he was confident that Mikael would let him do whatever he want and stay at Spain while he pursues Klaus, but such feelings were loss in the face of a direct confrontation with Mikael, as in Kaleb's body, he was visibly terrified of Mikael.

Powers and Abilities

• Supreme Original Vampire Physiology: The first and oldest Vampire in existence, Mikael proved to be the most powerful Original Vampire to ever appear, his power vastly surpassing his children due to having been much more physically powerful than them since they were humans. Esther compared Alaric's power as an Enhanced Original to Mikael's own and whereas Alaric could only stalemate Klaus, Mikael had the power to overpower even Klaus, indicating his power exceeded the Enhanced Original Vampire. It was never revealed how he compares to Marcel Gerard and Lucien Castle as Upgraded Original Vampires, though he is likely superior to the former.
  • Super Strength: Colloquially known as "the vampire who hunts vampires" and feared by all who knew him, including even his children, and as the father of the Originals, due to his already surpassing human strength, Mikael had an extraordinary level of superhuman strength that vastly exceeded even his children, despite them also being Original vampires and could be deemed superior to even the strength of Enhanced Original Alaric and possibly a match for, if not, even greater than that of Upgraded Original Marcel. In Le Grand Guignol, he easily overpowered Elijah, Rebekah and Klaus and threw them across large distances with no effort and casually held the White Oak Stake threateningly towards Elijah despite the latter using all his strength and it was noted that even together they would be no match for Mikael's might. Even while having only fed on a little of Davina's blood, Mikael was able to kill an entire pack of werewolves armed with moonlight amulets with minimal difficulty in Alive and Kicking, and despite sustaining werewolf bites, still had the strength to swiftly overpower Elijah, sending him crashing into the counter with a backhand and steadily overpowering his attempts to hold it at bay. After having only partially healed from werewolf venom in Live and Let Die, Mikael proved to still be physically powerful enough to surpass Klaus with his raw strength, as he was able to easily go blow-to-blow with and eventually overpower Klaus, able to knock him down with ease and overpower him in their struggle for the White Oak Stake. Even after being further weakened by Papa Tunde's blade, Mikael could still physically fight Klaus, nearly pushing the white oak stake into Klaus' heart.
  • Superhuman Speed, Reflexes and Agility: Mikael's physical superiority over his children also extended to his stupendous superhuman speed, agility and reflexes, able to easily counter and overcome Elijah in combat with ease, as shown by how he casually reacted to and threw Elijah around in their first seen confrontation and effortlessly backhanded him in their last, and was even shown to be able to keep up with and outpace Klaus, the Original Hybrid, in hand-to-hand combat, as shown by how he consistently countered Klaus's attacks and landed his own while only being hit when caught surprise and swiftly tackling Klaus down before he could react, made even more impressive by how he had only partially recovered from werewolf venom by that point. Even after being further weakened from Papa Tunde's Blade, Mikael was still fast enough to be able to contend with Klaus, having speed him to a wall while holding the White Oak Stake against Klaus's heart and though he could not overwhelm him, managed to catch him off-guard just as he saved Cami to stake him.
  • Superhuman Durability and Endurance: Having mastered the ability to fight through immense amounts of pain since he was a child and with immense willpower, Mikael's astonishing, one-class level of superhuman durability and endurance was at a level not even Klaus as the Original Hybrid could match, despite his durability being the one thing he exceeds the other Originals to a commendable degree. When he fought Elijah, despite being weakened by werewolf venom, a punch from Elijah barely affected Mikael, who instantly retaliated, and after only partially recovering, he was able to withstand powerful physical blows from Klaus with little effect. Even after being further weakened by Papa Tunde's Blade, Mikael still had it in him to take punishing attacks from Klaus and subsequently brief pummeling from Marcel and Hayley still hardly being winded and affected, being quick to recover from the former two and rebounding from the latter in moments. In terms of endurance, Mikael's indomitable willpower and pain tolerance was so great that he was able to tolerate and fight through Werewolf Venom with ease and retain immense power, whereas Rebekah and Elijah was promptly knocked out by the bites, and even overcome Papa Tunde's Blade's immense pain to pull it out. Even while nearly desiccated, Mikael was still able to fight and wound Dahlia, whereas Klaus couldn't and had to be fed blood before he could resume.
• Combat Mastery: Mikael was always an incredibly skilled Viking warrior, having been able to single-handedly slaughter raiders and effectively train his children in the arts of combat, turning them into some of the deadliest warriors the world had ever seen, while still easily surpassing them in skill. Centuries of experience having only enhanced his combat skills, Mikael utilized many martial arts moves and counter attacks in his hand to hand fights, using his immense strength to compliment his style as a technical fighter. Though he scarcely needed to rely on his superior fighting prowess due to being able to easily outmatch his children with brute force alone, it was shown that Mikael was a superior fighter to Klaus, able to easily counter his attacks in a straight-out hand-to-hand fight and land his own before eventually overpowering him.
  • Master Swordsman: Mikael was an extremely skilled swordsman as a masterful Viking warrior, having used a sword to single-handedly take out raiders and was able to easily defeat Klaus, also an accomplished swordsman, in sword duels whenever they fought as a child. Mikael displayed his proficiency with blades using the White Oak Stake, having been able to easily nearly drive it to Elijah despite not even actually intending to kill him and effectively wield it against Klaus, the first fight having Mikael deftly manipulating the stake so well Klaus could barely defend himself from Mikael's assault and only knocked away the Stake when Mikael believed him beaten and the second fight ending with Mikael nearly staking Klaus before Klaus gained the upper hand: It should be noted on both situations, Mikael wasn't even at full power.
  • Master Archer: Mikael was an accomplished archer, a skill that he taught to his children as well, though he seemed to rely on swords and martial arts more.
• Intellectual Genius: Despite his rough and hot-tempered personality, Mikael has proven himself to be incredibly intelligent, having successfully chased his children, despite Klaus and Elijah's own profound intellect, for centuries.
  • Master Strategist: Mikael was an exceptional strategist and tactician, with a strong penchant for strategies and information-gathering, that surpassed even that of Klaus and Elijah, as he was able to successfully hunt them down and locate them no matter where they hid and force them to escape. Upon arriving at New Orleans, he came up with a successful plan to chase his children out of New Orleans rather quickly. Mikael also came up with a plan to lure Klaus back to Mystic Falls so he could kill him, tricking Klaus into believing he was neutralized, and would have succeeded in killing him had Katherine not intervened, which led to Mikael's death. Mikael later on managed to tactically outsmart and nearly kill Klaus again after his resurrection: He spared Kaleb so he could free him from Davina's control despite being tempted to kill him and even after being briefly neutralized, forced Klaus into a second fight by leveraging Cami and distracted him so he could recover more by compelling an entire local. He then managed to defeat Klaus by throwing Papa Tunde's Blade at Cami to make Klaus lower his guard, which only failed due to Davina and Kol's interference and Cami removing the Stake from Klaus in time.
  • Master Manipulator: Despite his dislike of doing so, Mikael has proven himself to be highly proficient in manipulating others: He successfully manipulated Stefan into defying the rules of his compulsion by nearly killing Damon and even managed to manipulate Klaus's desire to be rid of him to make him return to Mystic Falls by pretending to be neutralized. He easily manipulated Davina into resurrecting him so he could kill Klaus and ensure her friends safety.
  • Master Leader: Mikael also displayed great leadership skills, as he was known for having successfully led armies twice against his children in his hunt for them.

Trivia

• Mikael can be considered the most physically powerful being in the series and the one with the most combat skill, having trained his children and easily surpassed them, who were among the most lethal fighters ever seen as well.
  • Michael Narducci confirmed that Mikael is able to overpower his children so easily because he has always been stronger and more experienced in battle. Even Elijah who can compete with Klaus in his usual mood was easily overpowered by Mikael while Klaus, who was composing himself in the battle with Mikael while most likely calling upon his rage to enhance himself, could barely keep up with Mikael in a weakened state and barely overpowered him when he was weakened even further. It must be noted, though, that when Klaus was a regular Original, he couldn't even approach Mikael without getting easily tossed aside.
• Despite Dahlia claiming that Mikael's Viking blood inhibited his intelligence and others sometimes mocking Mikael for his temper making him sound unintelligent, this is far from true, as he had the intelligence needed to successfully hunt his children and force them to escape without any of them even trying to outsmart him and even Klaus and Elijah admitted anything they tried against Mikael was ultimately ineffective in ensuring permanent domain.
• Mikael is the only being feared by his family though the exact level of fear seemed to differ. Freya, however, is an exception.
  • Finn seemed to have no trouble working with Mikael, though he did acknowledge Mikael became a monster after Freya's death and rather than unleashing Mikael on Klaus and the others, he instead channeled Mikael, suggesting even Finn feared Mikael.
  • Rebekah was willing to summon Mikael to New Orleans and believed he would let her be with Marcel should he kill Klaus, which Mikael confirmed he would allow, though Rebekah ended up siding against Mikael.
  • Elijah seemed to be rather willing to fight his father directly and appeared to fear him the least, as apart from minute expressions of shock around his father, he immediately fought him without hesitation.
  • Klaus was so afraid of Mikael that hearing Mikael alone made Klaus sweat with fear and he ran from Mystic Falls even after becoming a Hybrid and having created his army. Klaus eventually overcame his fear of Mikael, able to approach Mikael rather easily and even insult him.
  • Kol seemed to believe Mikael would let him do what he wish as long as he remove himself from being affliated with Klaus, but Michael Narducci confirmed Kol was terrified of Mikael despite his bravado.
  • Esther also feared Mikael, to the point where she forbade Ansel from being there for Klaus knowing that Mikael would kill him for having an affair with her.
  • Even Dahlia also feared Mikael, despite being an immensely powerful witch, as despite resenting him, rather than having Esther tell Mikael the truth so he would come for her, she had Esther lie to Mikael. Even after she had become powerful enough to easily best him and Klaus, she took him more seriously than her nephew and opted to truly incapacitate him, which was well-deserved as he was able to injure Dahlia despite all she had put him through.