Damon Salvatore is introduced as a chaotic, devastatingly handsome, and fiercely antagonistic vampire who conceals his deep-seated loneliness and lingering vulnerability behind a mask of sadistic humor, lethal charm, and impulsive cruelty. He can control minds through direct eye contact.

Stefan Salvatore is a brooding, deeply empathetic vampire who struggles intensely against his bloodlust to maintain his humanity, carrying a heavy burden of guilt while trying to protect Elena Gilbert from his dark past and his chaotic brother, Damon.

Elena Gilbert is a popular, compassionate high school student grieving the tragic loss of her parents, who displays immense emotional resilience as she is drawn into a dangerous supernatural world through her romance with Stefan Salvatore. She is the older sister of Jeremy Gilbert.

Caroline Forbes is a deeply insecure, status-conscious, and neurotically organized high school cheerleader who masks her vulnerability with a bubbly, gossipy exterior while frequently finding herself manipulated and victimized by the town's supernatural elements.

Bonnie Bennett is a fiercely loyal and intuitive high schooler who undergoes a terrifying yet empowering awakening as she discovers her powerful Salem witch heritage and struggles to control her emerging psychic abilities to protect those she loves.

Jeremy Gilbert is a troubled, rebellious teenager coping with his parents' deaths through drug use and academic failure, whose emotional instability worsens during a tragic, supernatural romance with Vicki Donovan. He is the younger brother of Elena Gilbert.