The Originals

The Originals are the first existing (Julie Plec in an interview said that the Mikaelsons are not the original vampires, and season 4 will reveal more about them) vampires in the world. The Originals are the strongest and most powerful vampires on the planet. They possess little to no weaknesses, except a dagger combined with the ash of a White Oak Tree. The Original Family of vampires lived within the European area’s for many centuries. All together, there are only seven Original vampires: Mikael, Elijah, Finn, Niklaus, Kol, Rebekah and Alaric.

Early History
Born during the Middle Ages of Europe, at some point in their lives, the Original Family abandoned their homeland, soon after a severe virus known as the plague spread throughout their village and killed their first born son.

With the help of a powerful witch named Ayana, the family traveled to America where they settled in a beautiful unnamed hamlet. However, during their presence in the community, the Original mother, Esther, had an affair with a werewolf, of whom they shared a child- Klaus. After years of living in peace with the natives, the war between vampires and werewolves had not yet begun, until after the death of Esther’s youngest son, Henrik. After being convinced by her husband to perform a spell that would transform them into the first known vampires, Esther proceeded to do so. However, after Klaus’ transformation, he unknowingly activated his werewolf abilities, in the process, exposing Esther’s infidelity with a werewolf. After suppressing Klaus’ werewolf powers, by cursing him with a spell, Esther was later "killed" by Klaus, as punishment for her abandonment and betrayal.

Powers & Abilities

 * Super Strength - Original vampires are much stronger than other vampires, werewolves, non-original hybrids and humans. They are able to decapitate other species with a single chop and shatter windows and doors with small objects.


 * Super Speed - Original vampires are much faster than other vampires, werewolves, non-original hybrids and humans. They are able to stop other supernatural species in their tracks and run miles in mere minutes.


 * Super Senses -Original vampires have extremely keen senses of hearing, sight and smell that far exceed those of humans, regular vampires, werewolves and non-original hybrids.


 * Super Agility - Original vampires possess superhuman agility. They can move, jump, climb, and run incredibly fast without difficulty or exhaustion.


 * Super Healing - The injuries of Original vampires heal faster than those of other vampires, werewolves, non-original hybrids and humans. Original vampires also seem to heal much more quickly when exposed to vervain or wood.


 * Super Durability - Original vampires can take far more trauma than other vampires, werewolves, hybrids and humans can without much discomfort or injury. Wood seems to be ineffective at weakening them.


 * Mind Compulsion - Original vampires can compel the minds of humans, vampires, and non-original hybrids. They cannot however compel any non human or non vampire.


 * Immortality - Original vampires are nearly indestructible and do not age.


 * Dream Manipulation - Original vampires can control dreams and subconscious. The vampires can produce and modify dreams, bestow nightmares or lucid dreaming. Other effects of this ability is the distortion of reality and trapped in the dreams.


 * Emotional Control - Vampires have a limited degree of control over their own emotions, allowing them to switch off their humanity to make killing easier.

Weaknesses

 * White Oak Stake - Is the only physical weapon that can permanently kill an Original, It comes from an ancient white oak tree that existed during the time of the genesis of The Originals and which 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.


 * Magic - If a witch has enough magical power at their disposal, they can harm or even kill an original.


 * White Oak Ash Dagger - An enchanted silver dagger dipped in the ash of the white oak tree will kill an original but only as long as the dagger remains in their heart. They will however also kill any vampire that wields them.


 * Stakes - A wooden stake through the heart will incapacitate an original for a short period of time.


 * Sunlight - Sunlight will burn an original but cannot kill them. All members of the original family possess lapis lazuli rings to combat this.


 * Vervain - Vervain prevents compulsion by originals and burns them on touch. Originals will heal very quickly from vervain wounds however.


 * Uninvited Invitation - In order to enter any house owned by humans, they need to be invited by a person that officially lives there or the person of entitlement. Once invited the vampire cannot be uninvited. If a vampire lives in a house, other vampires can enter freely and if vampire is in the house without being invited in it will become disoriented and will begin to suffocate.


 * Desiccation - Being completely drained of blood or the heart stopping will cause an original vampire to desiccate like any other vampire, lose most of it's strength and any ability to move. This process can be replicated artificially by stopping a human's heart, a witch is capable of stopping the Original's one if a physical connection to the vampires heart is made and the users have ingested a witch's blood. It's unknown if an original would desiccate if their heart was torn out.

Members



 * Mikael: was an Original, who was once a wealthy landowner in a village in Eastern Europe. His child had died of Plague and a witch named Ayana knew a land where the inhabitants had great strength and speed and were healthy. Mikael and Esther decided to move to the New World. After moving to the New World, his wife bore six more children and his family was quite close, though he and Klaus didn't get along well. He was furious when he found out that Klaus was not his son. His wife had been unfaithful many years before. When he found out about her affair with a werewolf, he hunted down and killed Klaus' father and his entire family, not realizing that he was igniting a war between the two species which is still ongoing. He was later killed by Klaus with his own weapon.




 * Elijah Mikaelson: is the oldest sibling. Although he loved his younger brother Niklaus dearly, he became vengeful when Klaus hunted down and neutralized his family, and swore to take his revenge. Unfortunately, John Gilbert came to Mystic Falls with the white ash wood and the dagger. Elijah was neutralized by Elena. She later removed the dagger from his body and Elijah returned to fight against Klaus. In the last episode of the second season, Klaus betrayed Elijah by neutralizing him with the White Oak Ash Dagger. He was released later by Damon Salvatore and, with his help, he brought his siblings back to life when they attempted to take revenge on Niklaus.


 * FinnMD.jpgFinn Mikaelson: is Klaus' somewhat less evil brother and the Second Oldest sibling. He's in his late 20s-early 30's handsome, tall and physically imposing. Quiet but with a dark side. Elijah states that Finn has been neutralized for over 900 hundreds years. Elijah later removed the dagger from his body in the episode Bringing Out The Dead. He is willing to help his mother Esther destroy his hybrid half-brother Klaus and his other siblings, even if it means that he has to die himself. He is later killed by Matt Donovan with another White Oak Stake after the linking spell was undone. All of the vampires from his bloodline died along with him.




 * Niklaus Mikaelson: is an Hybrid, who is said to be the most hated and feared out of all the Originals and is the Third Oldest sibling. Katherine Pierce had ran from him over 500 years ago and now Klaus is after both Katherine and Elena. Klaus uses Alaric's body to educate himself on his new enemies (Stefan, Damon, Elena, Bonnie, Jeremy, etc.). He has the goal of creating more hybrids for the purpose of having a family or comrades. He keeps his family members with him at all times. He is taken off guard when Elijah resurrects his entire family and they proceed to have their revenge on him.




 * Kol Mikaelson: is the last original confirmed in the series. He is the Fourth Oldest sibling. Nothing is known about his past or the type of relationship with his parents and siblings. But it is said that Kol had a different kind of relationship with Klaus than Finn. In Homecoming, Stefan stole his coffin along with three other coffins (Esther, Elijah and Finn). Kol was un-daggered by Elijah in Bringing Out the Dead. He is said to have been daggered for over 100 years.




 * Rebekah Mikaelson: is a beautiful and free-spirited Original, and also a love interest of Stefan Salvatore. Also, she is the Youngest sibling of The Originals. In 1922 she and her brother Klaus were in Chicago where she briefly met Stefan, and soon fell in love with him. After a vampire hunter arrived in Chicago, Klaus wanted to escape but Rebekah, refusing to leave, was neutralized by him. After 90 years Klaus removed the dagger from Rebekah's body and revived her.


 * Alaric Saltzman: was an Original through species. He was created by Esther in order to kill the other Originals, ending the vampire species. She wanted him to be stronger and faster then the other Originals. Therefore, she made him invulnerable to the White Oak Alarics.PNG. However, not wanting to create another immortal being, she therefore tied his life to Elena Gilbert's. This was made so Alaric had one chance, one life to kill the Originals before his life ended with Elena's. He was only alive for about three to four days before his death. He tried to kill Klaus and was successful in destroying his body. However, he was unable to kill Rebekah before she managed to escape and kill Elena Gilbert, ending Alaric's life.

Trivia

 * Julie Plec announced that Season 3 would be the "Year of the Originals".


 * Alaric is a Original vampire through species, not through being one of the first vampires.


 * Julie Plec announced that Season 4 the possibility that other vampires would could have lived before the Mikaelsons.


 * Elijah was the first Original to appear in the series.


 * Rebekah is the only female Original and the youngest of the Originals.


 * The Originals were human vikings before they became vampires.


 * In the novels, The Originals are called "The Old Ones".


 * The origin of The Old Ones are not fully described in the novels, however, L.J Smith once stated that The Old Ones were never human, and that they are older than the pyramids.


 * Mikael and Finn are the only Originals to have been permanently killed.


 * Alaric is both the youngest Original and youngest male Original. However, as Alaric is an Original in species only, not family, Kol can still be considered the youngest male Original, and Rebekah can still be considered the youngest Original.


 * Mikael was the oldest Original, but after his death Elijah became the oldest living Original.


 * Klaus, Amy, Philippe, Adrienne, and James were five old vampires who were supposed to appear in the show, but they were removed and instead came the Original Family.


 * Officially Klaus was removed and appears Niklaus


 * Officially Amy was removed and appears Esther


 * Officially Phillipe was removed and appears Elijah


 * Officially Adrienne was removed and appears Rebekah


 * Officially James was removed and appears Finn


 * When an Original dies, all of the vampires created from his or her bloodline dies along with them.


 * This was established in The Murder of One when Finn was killed. Within an hour of his death, a vampire that Finn had turned (Sage), and a vampire she had turned (Troy) died too.


 * Alaric is the only Original that is not related to any of the other Originals in any way.


 * As of the Season Three finale, there are only four Originals left.