The Original Family
| Synonyms: | The Originals, Original Vampires, The Mikaelsons, The Mikaelson Family |
| See also: | The Originals |
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The Original Family is a Vampire Diaries term referring to the family of Original Vampires, from which all vampires come from. Later in the show, the term has been shortened to The Originals. For a while that is what the fans were using when talking about the Original Family, but due to the fact that a spin-off of the same name was created, the term became misleading in conversations.
The notion of an original vampire was introduced in season two, with the introduction of Klaus Mikaelson.
Members of the Original Family cannot be killed with a simple wooden stake, they are stronger and faster and have the ability to compel vampires. To kill an Original Vampire, you need a special White Oak Stake; but you can incapacitate them by stabbing them through the heart with a magical silver dagger, dipped in the ashes of a White Oak.
If you kill an Original, his entire bloodline (all vampires created within that bloodline) dies with them. That fact has been used several times as an important plot point on The Vampire Diaries (with the death of Finn and Kol) and is a very important part of the main conflict on The Originals.
Members of the Original Family
Esther, despite the fact that she has never been a vampire, is considered a part of the Original Family. This is due to the fact that as a witch (In season 3 of Vampire Diaries, she was being referred to as The Original Witch), she turned her family into vampires.
Also members of the Mikaelson family, but not considered a part of The Original Family:
The Original Family in Fandom
The Original Family is almost always portrayed as close knit (with the exception of Mikael, who is always portrayed as the villain and as hated/feared by his children). Mikaelson siblings Elijah, Klaus, and Rebekah, due to their canonical oath of "Always and Forever" and usually the closest, with an immature and fun-loving Kol often added to the mix.
In fanfic, it is very rare to encounter works that focus on one of the members of The Mikaelson Family without as much as a mention of the others.
Mikaelsons are usually shows as wealthy and successful. A popular fanfic trope is to make them part of a criminal world.
Fanworks Examples
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |