‘The Vampire Diaries’: How Did Alaric Become a Teacher With a Violent Criminal History?
Alaric Saltzman — one of the main characters in The Vampire Diaries — was a vampire hunter that became a history teacher in Mystic Falls. He eventually served as headmaster of the Salvatore School, as seen in Legacies. But by the time he entered Elena Gilbert’s orbit, Alaric had already racked up a criminal record. So how did he get a teaching job at a public school with such a violent history?
In ‘The Vampire Diaries’ Season 1 Alaric Saltzman comes to Mystic Falls to kill Damon
The Vampire Diaries‘ first season sets up the love triangle between Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) and vampire brothers Damon (Ian Somerhalder) and Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley). And it also introduces Alaric Saltzman (Matthew Davis) as a key player in their supernatural story.
Elena’s journey begins as a high school teen who loses her parents in a tragic accident. She finds comfort in her friends and her aunt and interim guardian, Jenna (Sara Canning).
Alaric comes to Mystic Falls to hunt down Damon for killing his wife Isobel (Mia Kirshner). He and Jenna begin dating. And Alaric soon learns that Isobel was also Elena’s biological mother.
After Alaric discovers that Damon only turned Isobel into a vampire at her request. So he decides not to kill him. And after Jenna and Isobel are killed, he starts teaching history at Mystic Falls High, while he trains Elena how to fight and kill vampires.
Alaric Saltzman becomes a teacher in ‘The Vampire Diaries’ despite his criminal history
In The Vampire Diaries Season 3, Meredith Fell (Torrey DeVitto) accuses Alaric of being a serial killer. And after she gets him jailed, she does a background check on him and discovers he has a violent criminal past which includes assault charges. Looking back, some fans have questioned how Alaric was given a teaching job in Mystic Falls, Virginia with a violent record when that’s something the state wouldn’t normally allow.
“I’m watching [The Vampire Diaries] for the first time and reached the point in season 3 where Alaric’s extensive criminal record is revealed,” a Reddit fan wrote. “Multiple assault charges and restraining orders. How is this guy a teacher? You can’t have a teaching license with violent criminal convictions.”
But there are some discrepancies — or perhaps unknown factors — in Alaric’s backstory. As one fan pointed out, in season 1, Alaric’s background check came back clean. And so it isn’t clear whether those assault charges were missed or just written in later for the story.
“In season one, Damon had Sheriff Forbes look into Alaric,” the Redditor wrote. “She said nothing came up aside from his missing wife Isobel. Cut to season 3 when Meredith Fell pulls his record and finds 3 (!!) bar fight charges and a restraining order against him filed by his former wife Isobel.”
Alaric Saltzman may have gotten the teaching gig because of supernatural reasons
The Vampire Diaries is not at all based on reality. So anything that seems irrational is likely attached to some sort of supernatural reasoning.
As far as Alaric getting a teaching job with a criminal record, there are a few possible explanations. One potential explanation is that he used some sort of magical means to manipulate or erase his record. It is also possible that Alaric was able to fabricate a clean record. However, this would be difficult to do as the criminal record would likely be stored in a national database.
Another explanation is that the town’s Founding Families or the school board in Mystic Falls was aware of Alaric’s criminal record. And they overlooked it not only because of his intentions but also because they figured he knew how to keep students safe from any supernatural threats.
