‘The Vampire Diaries’: Fans Wanted Elena to Get With 1 Original Vampire
In recent years, The Vampire Diaries went from a topical experiment based on a book into a television universe rivaled only by those with comic book origins. Starting as a standard teen drama with a vampire twist, the show built upon the mythology established by its source material and made itself into something unique. However, as the mythology has grown, some fans wish that the writers had discovered the chemistry between certain cast members sooner.
Who was Elena Gilbert?
According to Fandom, when The Vampire Diaries premiered, Nina Dobrev’s Elena Gilbert was a recently orphaned teenager trying to guide her way through high school. However, when she fell in love with a mysterious new student named Stefan Salvatore, everything changed. From there, she learned about Stefan’s vampiric past and learned about her own mysterious origin as a doppelganger.
Like other modern vampire tales, everything that followed added layers and historical context, including flashbacks that showed Elena’s predecessors getting along with Elijah and the other vampires that she was now entangled with. However, these flashbacks had many wondering why the makers didn’t capitalize on this chemistry sooner.
An imposter among us
While Elena was the star of Vampire Diaries, Dobrev got to stretch her acting chops throughout the series. When the show went back in time to the mid-1900s, Dobrev got to play a different character, Katherine, who may have looked and sounded just like Elena but offered something different. Dobrev loved playing multiple roles in the series.
“We meet Katherine for the first time in the period piece times, and that was really fun to shoot and also a really fun character introduction to make. I loved playing that role, and I love doing period pieces and going back in time. It was really a real treat,” Dobrev said, according to CinemaBlend.
Elijah, the 1,000-year-old vampire who plays a major role throughout the series run, met several doppelgangers just like Elena, including Katherine. However, when the series traveled back, fans got to see what kind of chemistry Dobrev had with Daniel Gillies’ character. However, while the show is off the air and Dobrev is onto other things beyond the boundless Vampire universe, many fans wish they saw Elena and Elijah how he and Kathryn were in the 1860s.
Why are some ‘Vampire Diaries’ fans shipping Elena and Elijah?
Fans on Reddit took to the forums to speak about their unpopular opinions and unfulfilled desires of the show. Many of these had to do with the interpersonal, intervampire, and interspecies relationships between the characters. However, after many saw Dobrev and Gillies chemistry in the flashback scenes, some wanted to see this play out in the modern timeline, too.
U/AndreaXtina kicked it off, stating that while Elijah had his heart on one of Dobrev’s other characters, they wished he would have gone after her modern doppelganger. “Elijah belonged with Katherine. I think he just had good chemistry with Nina because I always low-key wanted Elijah and Elena to hook up.”
This kicked off an argument about the merits of such a relationship. Elijah had an occasional heart of gold, but he also allowed some heinous behavior, especially regarding his brother, Klaus. However, other fans noted that this reason alone could forge a bond with other women like Katherine and Elena. Whatever the case may be, Elijah was killed off later in the series, and after Elena’s death, Dore’s doppelgängers are yet to reappear.
However, the type of discourse this still breeds on the internet shows why The Vampire Diaries remains popular through spinoffs and nostalgia. The Elena and Elijah relationship never worked out, but if recent years have taught us anything, it’s never giving up. After all, death and cancellation are temporary in a television world like Vampire Diaries.
