Mikaelson Family

The Mikaelson Family is the line of the first vampires in existence. All vampires are descended from them. They are significantly more powerful than any other vampire created since then. They were created by Esther, wife of Mikael. She is the one who also placed the Hybrid Curse on Niklaus.



History


The first members of this family were a man named Mikael and his wife Esther. They were wealthy landowners in an Eastern European village until they were devastated by a plague, which killed their only child at the time. They heard from a witch called Ayana that there was a land where everyone was healthy and strong — a land that happened to be the new world. Mikael and Esther traveled to this paradise with Ayana, where they settled in next to the constantly healthy folk — the werewolves — and lived peacefully. In the years to follow Esther bore six more children. Mikael often clashed with his son, Klaus. Things got even worse when Klaus and his brother Henrik snuck out to watch the werewolves transform one night and one of the beasts mauled Henrik to death.

The Originals are:

Kol,

Klaus,

Elijah,

Esther,

Mikael,

Aaron,

Henrik,

Rebekah,

Finn.

Grief-stricken, Mikael decided to search for a way to protect his family from the werewolves. Though the village witch refused to help him in fear of upsetting the balance of nature, Mikael soon found another witch who would help him – his wife, Esther. They devised something that would heighten and oppose the werewolves’ own abilities. Strength, agility, and speed. Esther drew on mystic symbols to create the spell. She used the Sun as the symbol for life and the white oak tree, one of nature's few eternal objects, as the source of immortality. In order to complete the ritual, Mikael had his children drink wine laced with blood of Tatia and then he thrust his sword through their chests. They awoke in transition, and on their father’s orders, drank human blood, completing their transformation. Nature, however fought back, and for every strength there was a weakness.

The sun that gave them life burned them, their thirst was insatiable, and their neighbors could close their homes to them. Vervain flowers that grew at the base of the white oak tree burned them and protected against compulsion. The white oak tree, which gave them immortality, could also destroy them. In the end, they burned the tree. When Klaus made his first kill, it triggered his werewolf gene. Mikael realized Klaus was the result of an affair Esther had with a werewolf villager. Mikael hunted down and killed Klaus's father and his entire family, igniting a war between vampires and werewolves that still exists to this day. Soon after becoming a vampire and discovering his werewolf bloodline, Esther cursed Klaus, forcing his werewolf side dormant. In retaliation, Klaus murdered his mother and framed Mikael for the act.

Original vampires can only be neutralized by taking a silver dagger dipped in the ash remains of the white oak tree and driving it through their hearts. However, Klaus is a hybrid, and since silver daggers do not affect him (werewolves heal when wounded by silver), the only way to kill Klaus is with a stake carved from the white oak tree. Mikael had carved one before it was burned down, causing Klaus to fear him.

After Esther's death, Elijah and Rebekah swore to stick to Niklaus always and forever''. ''However, Klaus started hunting down his siblings and daggered them. Finn was the first to be caught and he remained daggered for 900 years. Kol was found in the early 1900s and also neutralized. Rebekah would be neutralized after she fell in love with Stefan Salvatore and tried to leave Klaus for him. Having almost been found by Mikael a few moments earlier, Klaus felt disappointed by her and due to his emotions, which are magnified by both his werewolf side and vampire side which causes him to go into a rage or feeling deeply angered and upset very easily. He dragged his family's bodies around in coffins which he never left. However, Elijah was the only one to escape his wrath. Klaus lead Elijah to believe that he had dropped his siblings in the ocean so that they could never be found. For this, he swore revenge against Klaus.

Over the years, legend began to surround the originals as their story became lost to history: all knew that they were the first generation of vampires but knew next to nothing about them. Only one was actually known about at all: Klaus. He was believed, mistakenly, to be the oldest vampire in the world. Elijah was also known but none knew that he was Klaus's older brother, believing that he was Klaus's lackey and a lot less powerful which was partially true as they were both originals they had equal strength but Elijah was no mere minion of klaus. Elijah was however serving his own interests: namely, Klaus's destruction. Mikael was also known but no one knew he was an Original; he was infamously known for being the vampire who hunted vampires, whereas his true object was to hunt down and kill Klaus. He was feared by many, and known to be an ancient vampire. It is unknown if the others were known but vampires knew there were other Originals besides Klaus.

Members

 * Mikael: Mikael was an Original who was once a wealthy landowner in a village in Eastern Europe. He is the father of an unnamed child (assumed to be named Aaron), Elijah, Finn, Kol, Rebekah and Henrik and the stepfather of Niklaus. He was in his late 40's to early 50's, and was seen to be strong, controlling, domineering, strict, and authoritarian in nature. After moving to the New World, his wife bore seven children and his family was quite close, though he and Klaus didn't get along well at all, due to the fact that Klaus was not his son and was from a Werewolf Bloodline. His wife had been unfaithful many years before and when he found out about her affair, he hunted down and killed Klaus' father and his entire family, not realizing that he was igniting a war between species that rages to this day, the war between the vampires and the werewolves. Mikael was the one who asked Esther (wife) to turn the family into vampires. In the episode the Homecoming, he was later killed by Klaus with the only weapon that could use to kill or destroy an Original, the White Oak Stake. Mikeal is a vampire who hunts other vampires.


 * Esther: Esther is the Original Witch (witch of the Original Family), who was married to a wealthy landowner from Eastern Europe, Mikael. She is the mother of Elijah, Niklaus, Finn, Kol, Rebekah, Henrik, and one unnamed child (assumed to be named Aaron), who was her first born. She was in her mid to late 40's, beautiful, strong, powerful and fierce, like a lioness protecting her cubs. Esther is the one who turned her family into vampires by using a ritual that involved the sun and the White Oak Tree. She was also the one who placed the Hybrid Curse on Niklaus. It was assumed that Klaus ripped out her heart when she cursed him with the hybrid curse, thus killing her as she was not a vampire, but in the episode Bringing Out The Dead, it is revealed that Esther was in one of Klaus' coffins. We first meet Esther in Season 3, She tricks the rest of the family and pretends to be nice and care about them, until they find out she is really out to kill them all.


 * Elijah: Elijah is the second born child of Mikael and Esther, the younger brother of an unnamed child (assumed to be named Aaron), and the elder brother of Finn, Niklaus, Kol, Rebekah and Henrik. Elijah is described to be noble, honourable, moral and compassionate and this transcended into his immortal life. Although he loved his younger brother Niklaus dearly, he became vengeful when Klaus hunted down and neutralized his entire family, and swore to take his revenge. Unfortunately, John Gilbert came to Mystic Falls with the white ash wood and the dagger and Elijah was neutralized by Elena, though she later removed the dagger from his body. Elijah returned to fight against Klaus. In the last episode of the second season, Klaus betrayed Elijah, and was neutralized by Klaus yet again with the dagger and the white oak ash. Elijah returns at the end of season 3 for his dessicated brother, Klaus' body. He makes a deal with both Stefan and Elena to keep Klaus' body away from Elena during the course of Elena's human life and her future children's lives. Elijah makes this deal and wants Klaus' body because Klaus is his brother and 'they remain together'. When Elijah finds out from Rebekah that Klaus was killed by Alaric, Elijah is extremely devastated alongside Rebekah, however, after realizing that Niklaus was the progenator of Stefan, Damon, Katherine, Tyler, Caroline and Abby's vampire bloodline, he is wondering how they are all still alive after Nikaus' death. It is unknown to Elijah that the bloodline of Niklaus are still alive because Bonnie Bennett conducted a special spell for Klaus to possess Tyler Lockwood's body. When Elijah is about to Kill Klaus, Klaus says that he didn't bury his family at sea and he would take him to him, Klaus kinda keeps his promise but kills Elijah and puts him with the rest of there family.


 * Finn: Finn is the third born child of Mikael and Esther, the younger brother of an unnamed child (assumed to be named Aaron) and Elijah, and the elder brother of Niklaus, Kol, Rebekah and Henrik. Finn was in his late 20s-early 30's, handsome, tall and physically imposing. Quiet, calm, even tempered and introverted, but ashamed of what he and his siblings are, he was one of the most moral of the Originals, aside from Elijah. 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. Finn fell deeply in love with Sage and he later turned Sage into vampire. Finn was killed by Matt Donovan with the White Oak Stake after Stefan conducted a plan alongside Elena.


 * Niklaus: Niklaus (also known as Klaus) is the fourth born child of Esther, the stepson of Mikael, the younger half brother of an unnamed child (assumed to be named Aaron), Elijah and Finn, and the older half brother of Kol, Rebekah and Henrik. He is an Original/Hybrid who is said to be the most hated and feared of all the Originals. During his mortal life, Klaus is described as impulsive, reckless, careless, adventurous, and a risk-taker; a daredevil at heart. Katherine Pierce ran from him for over 500 years, as well as Rose and Trevor, and now Klaus is after both Katherine and Elena, the two Pertova Doppelganers. The reason why Klaus was after first Katherine and then Elena was because he needed the Petrova Doppelgangers in order to break his Hybrid curse. Klaus used Alaric's body to educate himself on his new enemies (Stefan, Damon, Elena, Bonnie, Jeremy, etc.). He succeeds in breaking the 1000 year curse that held his dormant werewolf gene in check, and he now wants to create his own race of hybrids that will make sure no one will dare challenge him ever again. After many attempts to kill Klaus, Stefan and Damon succeeded in defeating him via a desiccation spell by Bonnie through Stefan. Alaric Saltzman killed Niklaus in the final episode of Season 3 by staking him with a White Oak Stake. Klaus' spirit was resurrected in Tyler Lockwood's body through a spell conducted by Bonnie Bennett. The state or status of Klaus' original body is unknown.Niklaus(Klaus) is a hybrid a combination of a Vampire and a Werewolf. Klaus is the most feared of the originals, but every week we see a bit more humanity in him.


 * Kol: Kol is the fifth born child of Mikael and Esther, the younger brother of an unnamed child (assumed to be named Aaron), Elijah and Finn, the younger half brother of Niklaus, and the elder brother of Rebekah and Henrik. Kol is described as cocky, extroverted, charming, daring and outspoken. Nothing much is known about Kol's past or what type of relationship Kol had 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. His personality is that of an immature, cocky, spoiled teenager as he believes he is significantly much better than mortals. Kol is seen to constantly clash with Damon Salvatore and the two have repeatedly tried to kill each other and want each other dead. Kol was last seen in Denver, Colorado with Jeremy Gilbert, whom he pretended to befriend for his own personal reasons. His current whereabouts are unknown.


 * Rebekah: Rebekah is the sixth born child of Mikael and Esther, the younger sister of an unnamed child (assumed to be named Aaron), Elijah, and Finn, the younger half sister of Niklaus, and the older sister of Henrik. Rebekah is the only female Original sibling. Rebekah is described as beautiful, carefree, adventurous, and free-spirited. Rebekah is seen to have a very close, yet complicated relationship with her elder half brother, Niklaus, although Rebekah appears to have a good relationship with her elder brother Elijah. In 1922, she and her brother Niklaus were in Chicago where she briefly met Stefan Salvatore when Stefan was in his 'ripper' stage, and soon afterwards, she fell deeply in love with him. After a vampire hunter arrived in Chicago (which turned out to be her and Klaus' father, Mikael, who was posing a Chicago PD agent), Klaus wanted to escape immediately but Rebekah, refusing to leave Stefan behind, was neutralized by him. After 90 years, Niklaus removed the dagger from Rebekah's body and revived her. Her personality is that of someone who is insecure but is very vengeful and while she shows some humanity, Rebekah is sometimes as bad as Klaus. Rebekah is seen to have a strong weakness for Stefan Salvatore, reminiscing about her time with him during the 20's. But since Stefan appears to only have feelings for Elena, whom Rebekah loathes passionately, Rebekah substitutes Stefan's unrequited feelings for her by turning her sights on Tyler Lockwood, Matt Donovan and Damon Salvatore. Rebekah is devastated when she realizes that Klaus was killed by Alaric and to get revenge, she takes out her grief and anger by standing in the middle of the road, causing Matt and Elena to get in a car accident by driving off of Wickery Bridge, the same type of accident which occurred on May 23, 2009 with Elena and her parents. However, Matt survives the accident when he is saved by Stefan, but Elena, who sacrifices herself in order for Stefan to save Matt first, doesn't survive and drowns, completing her transformation into a vampire. Rebekah first starts school in episode 6 of season 3 It smells like teen spirit.


 * Henrik: Henrik was the last and seventh born child of Mikael and Esther, the younger brother of an unnamed child (assumed to be named Aaron), Elijah, Finn, Kol and Rebekah and the younger half brother of Niklaus. Henrik was the youngest sibling and child of the Original family. Henrik was killed after he and Klaus went to watch the men in the village transition from human to a werewolf. Because of this, Klaus during that time, had felt an extreme amount of guilt and responsiblilty for Henrik's death. Henrik's unexpected death caused Mikael to have the family turned into vampires, to prevent anymore of his children from dying.


 * Mikael and Esther's firstborn: This unnamed child (presumed to be a son named Aaron) is Mikael and Esther's first born child, the elder brother of Elijah, Finn, Kol, Rebekah and Henrik, and the elder half brother of Niklaus. It was said that the oldest Original sibling had died in Europe because of the plague. This death of their first born caused Esther and Mikael to move themselves and their children to a "mystical land" where a witch told them the inhabitants had increased strength and speed (werewolves).

Relatives Of The Original Family

 * Esther's Lover (Niklaus' Father): Esther's unnamed and unknown lover was the biological father of Nikaus. He (Esther's lover and Niklaus' father) was a werewolf, whom Esther had an affair with, and which Klaus was a product of. His name, portrayer and history are currently unknown.

Trivia

 * Klaus is the only member of the 'Old Ones' (on the TV series, they are known as the Originals) confirmed in the books, though Elena later meets an ancient vampire named Sage (who is male as opposed to the female version on the TV series) whom she believes to be a member of The Old Ones, but he says that he is not.


 * Rebekah says "No one in my family is to be trusted". These words are confirmed by the actions of Mikael, Esther, Elijah, Finn, Niklaus, Kol and Rebekah.


 * In the books, there is no Original Family, but Klaus is an 'Old One', which is a pure-blood vampire who was never human, who was born an immortal and who was significantly much older than the TV show version of him. It is stated that Klaus from the books was born during the time of when the Pyramids were built, which would have been approximately around 2500 B.C.


 * The members of the Mikaelson family all have either I or K in their name except Esther and their earliest and first born son, Aaron.


 * Mikael, Niklaus and Henrik all have I or K, the two oldest Original siblings Elijah and Finn both have I, and the two youngest Original siblings Kol and Rebekah both have K.


 * Coincidentally, all members of the Original family have a part to play in the making or the creation of vampires and vampirism.


 * If all of the Originals were to die, every turned vampire of each Original dies along with them, ending the vampire bloodline or the vampire species.


 * An unknown child, the oldest and first born child of Mikael and Esther (assumed to be named Aaron) died due to a plague in the Old World. Henrik, the youngest and last born child of Mikael and Esther, died in the New World.


 * It is possible that the Originals, exlcuding Niklaus and Mikael, were witches befrore they became vampires. This is yet to be confirmed by the writers of the show.


 * Elijah had assumed that Klaus had buried his neutralized family at sea where he cannot find them to undagger them, but Niklaus tells Elijah when Elijah attempts to kill him, that it wasn't true and that Klaus would take Elijah to them.


 * In Season 2, Rose states "Elijah may be dead, but this isn't over. The Originals, they'll come for her, they have to. They're doing it for him. Klaus." This shows that she was not aware that Originals cannot be killed by normal wood, nor that most of them had already been "killed" by Klaus.


 * Both Klaus in the novels and on the TV series takes a significant interest in Stefan Salvatore. Although on the TV series, Klaus sees Stefan as a brother and a best friend or companion, while in the books, Klaus is intrigued with Stefan due to Katherine's constant mentioning of him (and Damon) when Katherine had fled to him back in Germany after she had faked her death.