The Vampire Diaries: 5 Things About Vampires It Got Right (& 5 Things It Got Wrong) – Screen Rant

The Vampire Diaries might be an edgy teen drama, but what does it take from real vampire lore, and what ideas were their own?

At it's heart, The Vampire Diaries is mostly a teen drama with a hearty serving of supernatural suspense on the side. But the show wouldn't be what it is without the element of the supernatural, and as anyone might expect, the centerpiece of TVD's supernatural world is vampires.

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Vampires are a mythological creature that have existed in legends for centuries all across the globe, and the facets of these mystical creatures vary from culture to culture and era to era. But what does The Vampire Diaries borrow from these real-world legends, and what did they make up all on their own?

Although it's a concept that tends to go by different names, this idea that vampires can somehow mentally influence human beings and bend them to their will is a pretty common one.

Compulsion may be a relatively recent addition to vampire lore, but it has been an idea that has been presented in vampire fiction for well over a century at this point.

The idea that vampires who are older tend to be stronger is not an idea that is exclusive to The Vampire Diaries, andit is an interesting plot point that clearly lends itself to more dramatic tension between characters that would be nearly indestructible in human terms.

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However, there isn't really any traditional vampire mythology to back this idea up, so it's likely more of a plot device than anything.

The legends surrounding vampires are so old, so common, and so varied between different countries and regions that it's hard to really narrow down what counts as "right" or "wrong". However one of the most universal ideas behind vampires in history is that they are exceptionally hard to kill.

That makes some sense, considering the fact that they're actually supposed to be dead already, but the durability of vampires in fiction tends to vary from story to story.

Again, since thereare so many different pieces of vampire lore that have popped up at different places or different times, the kinds of weapons that can harm these magical beings are varied.

But one thing that is an essential component of the mythology of The Vampire Diaries that seems to have no basis in actual vampire mythology is that vervain (more commonly known as verbena) can do some serious damage to these fanged creatures.

The fact that many of the vampires on The Vampire Diaries can walk in the sun is accompanied by a huge caveat, which is that they need enchanted jewelry made of lapis lazuli in order to do so, otherwise they'd burn in the sun.

However, this concept of a vampire being burned by sunlight is a relatively new idea, and traditionally vampires could walk in the sunlight but just preferred to be more active at night.

It's pretty clear that the writers of The Vampire Diaries wanted to create a plot device that would create a lot of drama between the characters, and thus the concept of the sire bond was born.

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Because while there are precedents for the idea of an intrinsic connection between the maker of a vampire and that vampire, the concept of an emotional bond that makes the sired vampire into little more than a mental slave is exclusive to TVD.

It's interesting to see how vampire lore can vary from culture to culture, but that there are particular elements of the mythology that seem to be extremely common threads between these disparate myths.

And one of the most common and prominent ideas is that vampires can be killed by a stake through the heart. Nearly every piece of fiction that includes vampires includes this particular weakness, and The Vampire Diaries is no exception.

The Mikaelson family was undoubtedly one of the most interesting antagonists that were ever introduced into the series, and the idea that there is an original family from which all vampires are born is definitely a compelling one.

However, there isn't much real life vampire lore to back that up. In most vampire myths and legends, vampires are simply created by some magical or unnatural process, something as simple as even burying a body the wrong way can make someone into a vampire according to some legends.

Another one of the quirkier pieces of vampire myth that seems to be an extremely common element of any modern day vampire fiction is the idea that in order to come into anyone's home, a vampire has to be invited in.

It is no different for The Vampire Diaries, and like most vampire legends agree, once a vampire has been invited in, they can always re-enter.

The most obvious aspect of TVD mythology that doesn't seem to have any connection to actual vampire mythology is the idea of the "humanity switch".

In the world of The Vampire Diaries, vampires can essentially choose to have their emotions "on", or they can turn them "off", making them into completely unempathetic, emotionless monsters.

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The Vampire Diaries: 5 Things About Vampires It Got Right (& 5 Things It Got Wrong) - Screen Rant

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero