‘The Vampire Diaries’: Here are all the reasons we stan Klaus Mikaelson
If The Vampire Diaries has taught us one thing, it’s that no one is completely a hero or a villain. Even these ruthless vampires — who may not think twice before ripping apart humans & sucking all blood from them — have a back story as to why they are the way that they are. What made them “switch off” their humanity? How do they keep their urges for human blood under control?
We also know that in the TVD universe, the longer you’ve been a vampire, the better you get at it. So there’s little argument as to why the most brutal vampires were The Originals. As such, the Mikaelson family was the one that started the whole riot & Klaus was an Original hybrid, which means he had traits of both a vampire as well as a werewolf.
As soon as he entered Mystic Falls in the second season, we knew things were going down. And they sure did. People died, more secrets were revealed, relationships impaired, trust broken, and new mystical objects chased. But when all’s said & done, Klaus was only trying to survive — and having to do that for eternity wasn’t going to be easy. Here are some reasons we felt for him.
The Originals family
Like mentioned before, the Mikaelson family had plenty of demons of their own — both literal and metaphorical — to deal with. They had bad blood amongst the siblings, shattered dreams, and scars of betrayal. As we saw in The Vampire Diaries were all — Finn, Elijah, Kol, Rebekah, and Klaus — just trying to find happiness. They’d all been hurt badly, at a young age, too.
For Rebekah, the cure to vampirism was the goal. For Klaus, with the powers of a hybrid, it was foolproof dominion. Elijah — the nobler one of the siblings with an ethics system of his own — had a mind of his own. But when all was said & done, the siblings loved each other & protected each other. Sure, the Mikaelson family was dysfunctional, but we’d rather have that than the delusion of a functional family.
Klaus & Caroline
Klaroline fans will attest to the compassionate side of Klaus that he showed, time and again, towards Caroline Forbes. Their relationship had the typical trajectory any epic love story has: they hated each other (to be fair, everyone hated Klaus). When Tyler bit Caroline under his sire bond, Klaus showed her kindness & healed her with his blood, bringing her back from the brink of death, very literally.
The reason this interaction changed everything for how we viewed Klaus went beyond just the healing part. Unlike, say, Damon, who would selfishly assume that she’d want to live, Klaus didn’t force his blood on her. Instead, he gave her a choice. He asked her if she wanted to keep living because we all know how lonely & tragic vampiristic existence can be at times. He healed her only when she agreed.
It was a rare display of empathy, but also a peek into the villain’s selfless love for Caroline. Towards the end of the show, he even donated millions for the school that Caroline set up for gifted children. And who can forget the epic words he said to her, “He’s your first love. I intend to be your last, however long it takes.”
—
For all that we’ve shared here, Klaus may not get excused for daggering his siblings, or chasing Katherine, or for that matter, just making life difficult for everyone around him. He certainly didn’t do anything to earn our forgiveness after taking Stefan on a bender, but he tried to reach salvation through little acts of compassion & courage, like checking in on Stefan for Caroline later in the series.
