Elena/Elijah

From Fanlore
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Pairing
Pairing: Elena Gilbert/Elijah Mikaelson
Alternative name(s): Elejah, Elenijah
Gender category: het
Fandom: TVD
Canonical?: no
Prevalence: big during TVD seasons 2/3
Archives:
Other:
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

Elena/Elijah is a minor pairing in The Vampire Diaries (TV) fandom.

Canon

They first meet when Rose kidnaps Elena in order to gain their freedom by handing her over to Elijah for the intention of using her as a sacrifice.

They later make a deal to help each other destroy their common enemy, Elijah's brother, Klaus. During this time, Elena's actions and her willingness to put herself in harm's way to protect the people she loves earn her Elijah's respect and admiration. He sees a lot of the qualities he values in people in her. Despite both their betrayals to each other, they always choose to trust each other. They both care about each other as friends. They later reunite when Elena poses as Katherine, who was supposed to be meeting Elijah, and they share their first and only kiss.

Fandom

Due to almost instant popularity of Elijah and their peculiar dynamic, the ship became a very popular pairing among fans who didn't ship Elena with either of the Salvatore brothers.

The pairing was quite popular in season 2 and 3 of TVD but has lost some of its popularity over the years.

First meetings set the tone for the relationship. I love that this scene blatantly makes Elijah/Elena sexual. He leans in, Elena's standing frozen, terrified, and it looks as though he's about to kiss her. Elena looks as though she thinks he's about to kiss her too. It doesn't matter that this is a directorial trick: the point is that it was framed to look like that. Their chemistry could have been played in a number of different ways, and this is how the show chooses to do it. This is how it's going to play out.[1]

It's also an extremely popular background pairing in Klaroline fics.

Common Tropes and Storylines

  • Doppelgängers: Elijah's previous relationships with Elena's doppelgangers have led in introspective fics where Elijah focuses on how Elena differs from her twins. There are also works where Elena pretends to be Katherine, to trick Elijah, but she generally isn't successful. Some works can be alternate first meetings, where Elijah is intrigued by an Elena Gilbert who hasn't met him yet, because she looks like his former love. Even within All Human AUs, tropes such as mistaken identity and Elena impersonating Katherine can occur.
  • Time Travel: Works can involve Elena traveling back in time to meet a human Elijah, or Elijah traveling to the future and meeting Elena for the first time.
  • Soulmates: There are some Soulmate AU works in this pairing. Other fics portray these two as destined to be together, and in some cases their romance was prophesied.
  • Episode Related Fics: Works set during or after the episode Dangerous Liaisons are common. In some works Elena has a change of heart and tells Elijah about Esther's plan. In works set after this episode, Elena may be overcome with guilt and work with Elijah to save him and his siblings.
  • Vampire Elena: in many fics, Elijah helps a newly turned Elena adjust to vampire life. In fics featuring No Humanity Elena, Elijah often helps Elena turn her humanity back on.

Example Fanworks

Fanfic

Fanart

Fanvids

Meta

Archives and Communities

Other Fannish Resources

References