Primordial Vampire

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The Primordials:


 * 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
 * distinction = *The first and most powerful vampires turned through a modified Immortality Spell meant as a protection against werewolves.}}

The

Primordial Vampires, or simply the Primordials, are a group of extremely powerful vampires that are known for being the first of their bloodlines, the progenitor to their respective bloodlines, and the first generation of vampires, which makes them the oldest, fastest, strongest, and most powerful vampires in the world. The term was initially introduced when Rose revealed their existence to Ellie, Jason and Damian, and primarily referred to the Mikaelson Family.

A number of characteristics differentiate an Original from the vampire bloodline that they begat, but the fundamental difference is that Originals became vampires through a spell. Unlike non-Original vampires, Original vampires are indestructible and cannot be killed by anything on earth aside from the Elder Oak Stake, a large enough source of magic, the conditions suitable to reverse the original spell, They also can only be temporarily neutralized by a Elder Oak Ash Dagger, one of the Cursed Stakes, or through various spells or rituals.

The creation of the Originals dates back to the turn of the 31st century B.C.E, after Ragnar — the patriarch of the Mikaelson Family — sought to transform his children into immortal beings superior to werewolves. Ragnar sought that his children would be stronger, faster, more agile than the wolves and would have fangs of their own. His motivation to undergo this transformation was a result of the death of his youngest son Evior Mikaelson, who was killed by a member of their neighboring village's werewolf pack during a full moon. When Ayana, Morgana’s mentor and best friend, refused to do the spell, Ragnar convinced his wife Morgana to do the spell instead in order to keep their children safe, ignoring the warnings of Ayana that doing so would unleash a plague upon the world.

History of the Term
The term was first used on The Vampire Diaries series when Rose revealed the existence of a few ancient and immensely powerful vampires while she and her friend Trevor held Ellie hostage in hopes of trading her to a Primordial named Erik in exchange for their freedom. When this plan failed and Damian and Jason had rescued Elllie,she rejoined them at the boarding house and spoke with fear of the Original vampire known as Klaus, from whom she had been running for half a millennium. She then reluctantly agreed to help Damon get in contact with people who might know how to find him, though they were largely unsuccessful in this endeavor.

The legend surrounding the Primordial Hybrid named Klaus remained pieced together by hearsay and shrouded in mystery until Erik, who was believed to be one of Klaus' foot soldiers, agreed to tell his story to Ellie after she removed the Elder Oak Ash Dagger from his heart in Klaus. He eventually revealed that he and Klaus are half-brothers, and referred to his family as "the Primordial family," explaining that it is from them that all vampires were created.

The rest of the Mikaelson family were introduced throughout Season Three: Veronica through Flashbacks in the 1920s and in present day when Klaus undaggered her in The End of the Affair; Ragnar and Morgana as Veronica recounted the vampire origin story to Ellie in Ordinary People; Viktor ,Ariana, Kaleb and Uhtred when Erik undaggered them in Bringing Out The Dead. When Veronica told the story of how their family became vampires, she revealed that their mother, Morgana had performed the spell that made them immortal, and referred to her as the "primordial witch."

This usage of the term "Primordial" makes it clear that it was initially only used as a self-referential way for the Original Vampire siblings to establish their status as a powerful, elite group - the foundation for all other vampires created from their blood.

Powers and Abilities
Due to the nature and purpose of the spell that created them, the Primordial Vampire's powers and abilities are the most advanced and by far superior to any other species with the exception of Immortals in mental strength. Veronica said herself that they are the strongest creatures in the world. It is unknown if Primordial Vampires grow stronger with age like non-Primordial vampires. These are their standard powers and abilities as the first generation of vampires.

Basic Powers

 * Super Strength: Original vampires are considerably much stronger than immortals, Supernatural Hunters, non-Original vampires, werewolves, evolved werewolves, non-Original werewolf-vampire hybrids and humans. With their bare hands, they are able to break stone and metal with their bare hands, to stop moving vehicles, or to send objects and people flying through the air. They can also apply this strength into combat as well, allowing them to easily overpower and restrain people, to break bones with one hand, and to injure or kill humans,They are able to decapitate other species with a single chop of their bare hands, shatter windows and doors with small objects, and single-handedly tear out the hearts of younger vampires and other creatures with little to no effort. Their strength has been used to break necks and spines, and break and move heavy objects. Their impact can send anyone flying. Their strength is also enough to rival that of their own kind. While Primordial Vampires are more powerful than werewolves in either form, transformed werewolves still rival enough of their strength to take down a Primordial Vampire in small groups as it was shown that four of them were capable of overwhelming Veronica (although she managed to kill half of them), while two took down Erik (these wolves were channeling the power of their werewolf forms through enchanted kyanite stones, and Erik was taken by surprise and briefly passed out from their venom). Vampires of 1000 years or more may present a slight challenge. However, given how Primordials seem to have the peak power of their condition, they currently remain the most powerful of their kind.
 * Super Speed: Primordial vampires are much faster than immortals, supernatural hunters, non-Primordial vampires, werewolves, evolved werewolves, non-Primordial werewolf-vampire hybrids and humans. They are able to stop other supernatural species in their tracks.They are able to move at levels of speed well above Mach 2.2, They are so fast that he could kill everyone in a police precinct in seconds, they can run miles in mere seconds and can easily catch up to any species of creature, supernatural or not. Their reflexes are similarly heightened. It is unknown if they grow faster with time.


 * Super Agility: Primordial vampires possess more superhuman agility, flexibility and dexterity than immortals, supernatural hunters, non-Primordial vampires, werewolves, evolved werewolves, non-Primordial werewolf-vampire hybrids and humans. They can move quickly, jump very high, climb and run incredibly fast without difficulty or exhaustion.
 * Super Senses: Primordial vampires have extremely keen senses of hearing, sight and smell that far exceed those of immortals, supernatural hunters, non-Primordial vampires, werewolves, evolved werewolves, non-Primordial werewolf-vampire hybrids and humans.
 * Super Durability: Primordial vampires can take far more trauma than supernatural hunters, non-Primordial vampires, werewolves, evolved werewolves, non-Primordial werewolf-vampire hybrids and humans can, without much discomfort or injury. No Primordial vampire has ever been dismembered throughout the series, implying that their durability may be close to invincibility. Wood seems to be ineffective at weakening them, though being stabbed in the heart with it will often incapacitate them for several minutes until they recover. Ordinary bullets, knives and blunt objects can hurt a Primordial vampire as seen with Uhtred, Kaleb and Zander. Veronica once stated to Chris that she never feels cold. When running from Ragnar, she also stated how her siblings and her ran through winter and autumn, sleet and snow.
 * Healing Factor: The injuries of Primordial vampires heal faster than those of supernatural hunters, non-Primordial vampires, werewolves, evolved werewolves, non-Primordial werewolf-vampire hybrids and humans. Primordial  vampires also seem to heal much more quickly when exposed to vervain or wood. They can heal/recover/regenerate from any and all injuries in a matter of seconds. Even a werewolf bite is no threat to them, it is only painful to them and will cause weakness and hallucinations as they are not wholly immune to the bite, but it wears off. Vervain-laced liquid has also been shown to weaken them, though they recover from the effects much more quickly. If they are stabbed with Papa Tunde's blade and its removed, the healing process becomes much slower due to the dark magic within it, this applies to werewolf venom as well. Ragnar still bore the scars of his attack for a day or so as he still had venom in his system. Human blood has also known to make the healing process faster.
 * Immortality: Primordial vampires are immortal. They do not physically age and are immune to all illnesses, toxins, poisons and human diseases or physical conditions. The only physical weapon that can bring permanent death to a Primordial is the Elder Oak Stake,
 * Enhanced Emotions: Primordial Vampires experience emotions more powerfully than humans. Emotions like love, joy, and happiness are intensified for vampires allowing them to live life more intensely. This ability allows the Primordial vampires to feel emotions at their peak regardless of their age. They have been shown experiencing emotions as powerfully today as they did 5,000 years ago.
 * Emotional Control: Primordial vampires have a limited degree of control over their own emotions. It has been stated that Emotional Control fades over time. It is unknown if the Primordial vampires still possess the ability to "switch off" their emotions completely.
 * Mind Compulsion: Primordial vampires can control and influence the thoughts, emotions, behavior, actions and memories of humans, non-Primordial vampires and non-primordial  werewolf-vampire hybrids. They cannot however compel witches, immortals, or werewolves/evolved werewolves.
 * Sire Bond: Although rare among them, Sire Bonds can be formed when a human is turned with the blood of the vampire whom they had strong human feelings for.
 * Telepathy: Primordial Vampires have the ability to enter the minds of others as long as theirs is stronger than them although, as Primordial vampires, they have one of the strongest minds in the world. Normally, this ability works in a tactile fashion and the vampire requires physical contact in order for it to work successfully. However, Erik has been shown to mentally communicate with others from a short distance sending distress calls and mental images. Zander and Erik has also been shown sharing their memories with others.
 * Telekinesis - Ability to control the movement of the environment.
 * Dream Manipulation: Primordial vampires can control dreams and subconscious. They can produce and modify dreams, bestow nightmares or lucid dreaming. Other effects of this ability is the ability to distort perceptions of reality and being able to trap someone in their dreams.
 * Illusions: Primordial Vampires have the power to trick the minds of others into seeing/feeling things that aren't actually happening.
 * Arcane Magic- primordial vampires have the Ability to cast spells and/or curses.
 * Conjuration - Primordial vampires have the Ability to conjure objects out of the blue.
 * Energy Blasts - Primordial vampires have the ability to create magical blasts to harm the enemies and the objects in the most effective way.
 * Pyrokinesis - Primordial vampires have the ability to conjure and control fire.
 * True Face: An Original Vampire's true face is the appearance they are hiding under their normal human face. When an Original Vampire's true face is revealed, the sclera of their eyes turns blood-red, dark veins appear under their eyes as the blood pumps forcefully through them, and their canine teeth extend into razor-sharp fangs. An Original Vampire's true face can be revealed whenever they wish, but it will appear against their will whenever they are aroused by the scent of blood, or are feeling intense emotions such as anger, lust, sadness, etc. An Original Vampire's fangs are extremely sharp which gives them the ability to tear into almost any substance (including and especially flesh) and tear off limbs. With the fangs come the darkened veins under the eyes as well.
 * True Face: An Original Vampire's true face is the appearance they are hiding under their normal human face. When an Original Vampire's true face is revealed, the sclera of their eyes turns blood-red, dark veins appear under their eyes as the blood pumps forcefully through them, and their canine teeth extend into razor-sharp fangs. An Original Vampire's true face can be revealed whenever they wish, but it will appear against their will whenever they are aroused by the scent of blood, or are feeling intense emotions such as anger, lust, sadness, etc. An Original Vampire's fangs are extremely sharp which gives them the ability to tear into almost any substance (including and especially flesh) and tear off limbs. With the fangs come the darkened veins under the eyes as well.

Uncommon Abilities
Elijah Mikaelson
 * -|Unique to Elijah=
 * Bloodlust Resistance: Unlike most vampires, Elijah has complete control of his blood lust, which he perfected over the years of being a vampire to the point that his vampire veins have not been shown often since he was introduced, even when he requested to speak to Davina despite being neutralized for three months and having his skin color become very darkened from lack of blood; as a result, he was able to talk to her without craving her blood. This was not always so however, as Elijah had accidentally killed someone not long after transitioning.

Mikael
 * -|Unique to Mikael=
 * Tolerance to Werewolf Bite: Although Mikael was bitten many times by werewolves, he could overcome his pain and hallucinations. Even having werewolf's venom in blood, he dominated a fight against Klaus in their first altercation and defeated him in a second duel when weakened further by Papa Tunde's blade; it should be noted that Klaus was forced to let his guard down, when Mikael threw Papa Tunde's Blade at Camille.
 * Tolerance to Papa Tunde's Blade: When Klaus used Papa Tunde's Blade against Mikael, he was neutralized, but only for minutes as he woke and removed blade from his chest with no aid, something that no other Original vampire could.

Niklaus Mikaelson
 * -|Unique to Klaus=


 * Shapeshifting/Transformation Control: Klaus has the ability to transform into his werewolf form at will. Elijah informs Klaus that he remained a werewolf for two days, even when the sun was up. Showing that Klaus can stay in werewolf form longer than a normal werewolf. As seen with Klaus when he bit Katherine, Klaus can transform partially, displaying his werewolf eyes and teeth.
 * Lycanthrope Enhancement: Klaus is capable of using his werewolf features to further supplement his powers. Klaus can grow werewolf claws and fangs even when he is still in his human form. Klaus can display both sets of vampire and werewolf fangs. His eyes also change into those of his werewolf form, presumably granting him better eyesight. Due to his werewolf heritage, Klaus' strength and speed are heightened further during a full moon and at its peak in his werewolf form.
 * Day Walking: As a werewolf-vampire hybrid, Klaus cannot be harmed by the sun and does not require a daylight ring.
 * Werewolf Bite Cure: Klaus' blood is the only cure for a normal werewolf or an non-Original werewolf-vampire hybrid bite, this ability seems to be unique only to Klaus.
 * Werewolf Bite: His venom will temporarily weaken an Original vampire and kill a non-Original vampire. As a Hybrid, Klaus' venom take effect quicker than a normal werewolf's venom.
 * Procreation: Klaus had a child with a werewolf due to a loophole (being born a werewolf who was turned into a vampire-werewolf hybrid by magic). This loophole has since been made impossible by witches, and will not happen again.
 * Immunity to Silver: Due to his werewolf heritage, magic bonded to silver doesn't affect Klaus. Weapons made of silver might wound him, but the wound heals at super-normal rates than regular wounds.

Alaric Saltzman
 * -|Unique to Alaric=


 * White Oak Stake Invulnerability: Alaric was made to have fewer weaknesses compared to the Original Vampires. He cannot be harmed by wooden weapons and consequently, any stake even the White Oak Stake or the White Oak Ash Daggers. His body is completely indestructible making decapitation or heart extraction impossible. Instead, Esther linked his life to the life of Elena as a weakness.

Lucien Castle & Marcel Gerard
 * -|Unique to Upgraded Originals=


 * Advanced Werewolf Venom: Due to having incorporated an advanced strain of venom into their bite from the seven strains of werewolf venom, a Beast can kill even an Original as demonstrated by Lucien who succeeded in killing Finn within a day of biting him.

Weaknesses
Even though the Original Vampires are the first and strongest vampires in the world, they themselves still have weaknesses. However, these weaknesses are fewer compared to non-Original vampires, and they recover faster from them. Original vampires are immune to most of the weakness of non-Original vampires.
 * Animal Blood: Animal blood weakens an Original's strength, but can ease their hunger better than no blood at all.
 * Broken Neck: Breaking an Original's neck will not kill them, but it will render them unconscious for several minutes to several hours.
 * The Cure: If an Original Vampire takes the cure, they will revert back to being mortal again. Once taken, the cure prevents them from being immortal again, causing the body to reject vampire blood.
 * Desiccation: Being completely drained of blood or the heart stopping will cause an Original vampire to desiccate like any other vampire, losing most of it's strength and any ability to move. The desiccated body of an Original vampire will appear as a corpse and can only start functioning again once they feed on blood. This process can be replicated artificially by a witch casting a desiccation spell. It's unknown if an Original vampire would desiccate if their heart was torn out; however, it seems that an Original vampire's body is indestructible, therefore it is possible their hearts cannot be extracted.
 * Invitation: In order to enter any house owned by humans, they need to be invited in by a person that officially lives there or the person of entitlement. Once invited, the invitation cannot be revoked. If an original vampire lives in a house, other vampires can enter freely and if an original vampire is in the house without being invited in, it will become disoriented and will begin to suffocate. If the ownership to a house changes while inside, an Original, like normal vampires, would likely become disoriented and pulled from the house against their will.
 * Magic: It is said that a witch with enough power can kill/dangerously affect a being as powerful as an Original Vampire, but would likely kill the witch unless the Original vampire was in a weakened state. Its later revealed to have some sort of truth as both Bonnie and Davina while being empowered by extremely potent sources of magic (the violent deaths of 100 witches and the power of the Harvest) were able to cripple Klaus almost to the point of bringing him close to death. Julie Plec reveals that the White Oak Stake is the only physical weapon in existence that can kill an Original vampire, but an extremely empowered witch could kill one with magic. Bonnie would have succeeded in killing Klaus had Elijah not saved him. Dahlia may have the power to kill the Original vampires, as one of the strongest witches to exist, something Esther and Freya believe she can do. Dahlia could effortlessly desiccate Mikael and Klaus at the same time, nearly killing them both with a portion of her magic potential, however she was later seen having to use the dust from the destroyed white oak stake to kill Elijah, Klaus, and Rebekah at the same time. Witches can also do spells that can seriously harm an original vampire. Minor spells have little effect. An example of a spell that can be used to effect an original is the spell with sage that can block a vampire's hearing. This is inclusive of mystical objects such as the Gilbert Device, Papa Tunde's Blade, Cursed Stake and Dark Objects. It is possible, but equally as unlikely that a Siphoner could siphon the magic from an original vampire.
 * Physical Trauma: While any physical trauma can slow an Original down, minor ones such as cuts and bruises, are essentially ineffective due to the healing factor of an Original vampire. More significant injuries along the lines of broken bones and organ damage can incapacitate one due to the combination of pain and lack of their bodies proper function. However, the most effective way to neutralize an Original, albeit temporarily, is to inflict injury normally fatal to a human such as breaking their neck or ripping out their heart. Minor physical injuries such as gunshots, stab wounds and broken bones will cause an Original Vampire pain and also slow them down. However, this is momentary as they will heal completely within seconds. It seems physical trauma can hurt them anywhere on the body (ex-eye gauging, drowning).
 * Poison: There have recently been various poisons shown invented by people such as Dr. Wes Maxfield and Aya that are capable of incapacitate or desiccate a vampire when administered. Klaus also used a poison to kill Tim that not even vampire blood could cure. Davina used a spell that made her blood toxic to Klaus, paralyzing and rendering him unconscious. It is unknown what effect any of these poisons would do if ingested by an original vampire.
 * Sunlight: Sunlight will burn an Original vampire, but cannot kill them. All members of the Original Family possess lapis lazuli rings to combat this. Klaus is not affected by sunlight due to being a werewolf-vampire hybrid.
 * Vervain: Vervain prevents Original vampires from compelling anyone who takes it and burns them on touch. Original vampires will heal very quickly from vervain wounds however.
 * Werewolf Bite: While a werewolf bite can't kill Original vampires, it weakens them and causes hallucinations. The effects are temporary and only lasts for a few hours. This will not affect Klaus as he is a werewolf-vampire hybrid. Mikael overcame the pain of the venom and fought through the effects rather than suffer and hallucinate. Lucien Castle has invented an advanced strain of venom with no known cure deriving from the seven strains of werewolf venom which has been infused in his bite as an Upgraded Original Vampire, otherwise known as a Beast. It is even fatal to Original vampires in a manner similar to that of a werewolf or hybrid bite on regular vampires although, working twice as fast and more painfully. It is so potent that not even the blood of Klaus or Hope Mikaelson can cure it. Lucien bit Finn Mikaelson, and Original Vampire, and Finn died permanently hours later. This is the first toxin that can kill an Original, and one of the only things to permanently kill an Original Vampire besides a White Oak Stake.
 * Wood: A wooden stake through the heart will desiccate an Original vampire and the Original vampire will appear as if they were dead, but will revive within a few hours. Klaus cannot be neutralized by wooden stakes, due to being a werewolf-vampire hybrid.
 * White Oak Ash Daggers: A group of enchanted silver daggers dipped in the ash of the white oak tree will neutralize an Original vampire when stabbed through the heart. If the dagger is removed, it must be dipped again in White Oak Ash to re-neutralize the Original vampire. Otherwise, it will have no effect and the Original vampire awaken within a few hours.

Unusual Weaknesses

 * Cancer: Although vampires cannot catch diseases and illnesses such as cancer, if a human has active cancer and is turned into a vampire, the effects of the cancer will increase. The regenerative properties of vampire blood will speed up the replication of cancer cells of and exceed normal stages of the condition. This was first proven when Caroline fed a terminal cancer patient vampire blood to test if it could cure cancer. When Jo ran tests on the patient after he was turned into a vampire, she referred to his tumors as "stage 10. It is unknown what would happen if a person with cancer is turned into an original vampire. The effects on an Original Vampire would be presumably the same as the rest of the species because they have the same healing powers.

Former Weaknesses

 * Doppelgänger Blood Magic: If blood from the last pair of doppelgängers are used in the Magic Purification Spell, all vampires' abilities will be stripped from them little by little and then they will be brought back to the last stage of their human life: Death. They will then relive the way they died when they transitioned into vampirism. Kai absorbed the magic purification spell and as such, it is no longer there.
 * White Oak Ash Dagger (Gold): A weapon that was forged by witches and modified by Kol Mikaelson as a way to subdue Niklaus Mikaelson since Silver Daggers have no affect on him. If dipped into the White Oak Tree ashes and then stabbed into the heart of Klaus, he will become desiccated and will remain that way as long as the dagger stays in place. As of Ashes to Ashes, Dahlia melted and destroyed the dagger.
 * The Phoenix Sword: The Phoenix Stone, when attached to the sword with which it is paired, has the power to kill the body of a vampire and trap their soul in a prison within the stone. This prison has been described as a hell dimension where time has no meaning and where the vampire souls inside it are emotionally tortured with horrifying images such as being forced to kill their loved ones. Though it is unknown if it can affect an original vampire. The blade along with its stone was destroyed by Nora and Mary Louise.
 * White Oak Stake: The only weapon on earth that can permanently kill an Original vampire, it comes from an ancient White Oak Tree that existed during the time of the genesis of The Original Vampires and was used as the source of their immortality. It was at first thought that the stake used to kill Mikael was the last White Oak wood that existed, but it was soon discovered by Rebekah and Klaus that there was a sapling of the original tree to replace the old; the wood of which was used to build the Wickery Bridge. Dahlia destroyed the stake in Ashes to Ashes, and it was revealed that an Original can slowly die by inhaling white oak ash or splinters. The white oak from the Wickery Bridges presumably exist in the Prison Worlds. However with the death of Kai the Gemini leader the prison worlds are destroyed because they are linked to the leader of the Gemini Coven. In Wild at Heart, it was revealed that the Wooden Knight Klaus carved as a child is made of white oak wood and it was fashioned into seven wooden bullets. The last bullet was destroyed in Lucien's spell to become an Upgraded Original Vampire. It is later revealed that Klaus secretly kept a white oak stake for decades in case he ever wanted to commit suicide, but he identified it as the last remaining white oak stake in existence. Klaus and Elijah later broke the stake in half and used the pieces to kill each other as part of Klaus' plan to destroy the Hollow for good.
 * Enchanted Thorns: Thorns, created by the Hollow, magically infused and grown in the ground laced with Marcel's blood, as an Upgraded Original Vampire. A single scratch from these thorns will kill an Original; as of Phantomesque, the rosebush and thorns have all been destroyed.

The Original Family

 * Mikael was a wealthy landowner in a village in Eastern Europe, as well as a Viking warrior from the Kingdom of Norway, before he and his family moved to the New World. They made their new home in what would eventually become Mystic Falls, and found themselves neighbors with a pack of werewolves. After their youngest son was killed by a werewolf and his wife Esther turned their remaining children into vampires, Klaus revealed his true paternity when, after his first kill as a vampire, he triggered his werewolf gene; revealing that Mikael was not his biological father. Furious, Mikael hunted down and killed Klaus' father and his entire family, not realizing that he was igniting a war between vampires and werewolves that persists to this day. After a lifetime of hunting Klaus, he was killed by Klaus with his own weapon. However, he was revived by the powerful witch Davina Claire and they plotted an attack on Klaus. Mikael seemed to be the strongest of all the Originals and is an exceptionally skilled fighter, being able to defeat his children and step-son. Klaus killed Mikael again, to procure Viking ash for a weapon against Dahlia, and for not receiving his love like Mikael's love for his first beloved daughter Freya.
 * Finn Mikaelson was the second oldest sibling (following Freya). He spent most of his immortal life daggered and is even more moral than Elijah, as well as self-loathing. Although he was willing to sacrifice himself and his siblings in order to rid the world of vampires, he showed a more relaxed side of himself while reconnecting with his lover, Sage. Before he had the chance to even consider the life he could now live, he was killed by Matt Donovan with a White Oak Stake. All of the vampires from his bloodline, including Sage, died within hours of his death. Thanks to his mother Esther, he possessed the body of Vincent along with his brother Kol who possessed Kaleb, however after a fair amount of time and an attempt on Hope's life, Freya sealed Finn's soul in her talisman, thus freeing Vincent. In An Old Friend Calls, it was revealed that Finn was freed from the talisman by the spell Davina used to revive Kol, and was an Original Vampire once again, however this was short term as he was killed by Lucien after being bitten by him and injected with a venom lethal to Originals.
 * Elijah Mikaelson was the third oldest sibling. He is handsome and sophisticated, with a highly developed sense of morality. Although he loved his younger brother Niklaus, he became vengeful when Klaus hunted down and neutralized his family, and swore to take his revenge. It wasn't until Klaus revealed that their siblings were safe that Elijah began to reconsider, though a few days later Klaus betrayed him by neutralizing him with the White Oak Ash Dagger. He was later released by Damon Salvatore and, with Damon's help, revived his siblings from their daggered sleep and stood up to Klaus before threatening to leave him. Still, after he and Rebekah thought Klaus was dead, they both mourned him, and to this day Elijah holds family above all else. In When The Saints Go Marching In, Klaus and Elijah kill each with the pieces of a White Oak Stake in order to destroy the Hollow for good, Elijah deciding to die alongside his brother.
 * Niklaus Mikaelson was a Hybrid, the Original Hybrid, to be precise, and the fourth oldest sibling. He is violent and megalomaniacal, though he tempers his aggression with an appreciation for fine art and worldly pursuits. His legend precedes him throughout the supernatural world as one of the most feared beings alive. Despite their tumultuous relationship, he remained closest to Elijah and Rebekah. His relationship with his brother Kol appeared much more strained, though manageable, but he saw fit to leave his brother Finn daggered in a box for 900 years. No matter how appallingly he treats his family, he still maintains that they are his to deal with, and anyone else who interferes would suffer the consequences. Once he broke the Hybrid Curse, his main objective was to create more hybrids, and thus he sought to keep the Petrova Doppelgänger Elena alive. In When The Saints Go Marching In, Klaus and Elijah kill each with the pieces of a White Oak Stake in order to destroy the Hollow for good, Elijah deciding to die alongside his brother.
 * Kol Mikaelson is the fifth oldest sibling. Much more of a wildcard than Elijah or Finn, he shares Klaus' affinity for violence and seems to quite enjoy inflicting pain on others. Klaus daggered him in the early 20th century for attempting to create a weapon to use against him, but Elijah revived him along with Finn and Rebekah. Not much is known about his long life; he is said to have made the Original family infamous early on, presumably through indiscriminate killing, and over the years he spent quite a lot of time in the company of witches, from whom he had learned about the legend of the immortal Silas. He was killed by Jeremy Gilbert and the death of his entire bloodline effectively completed the Hunter's Mark. He later made his return as Kaleb, along with his mother Esther and brother Finn who possessed Cassie (and later Lenore) and Vincent respectively. Eventually Kol attempted to help Davina free a group of Vampires that were taken by Finn. As consequence for Kol's betrayal, he was hexed by Finn, and later died. Davina consecrated the body of Kaleb, by doing so Kol (and presumably Kaleb) joined the Witch Ancestors of New Orleans. In A Streetcar Named Desire, Kol was successfully resurrected as an Original Vampire by Davina Claire.
 * Rebekah Mikaelson is the sixth sibling (being only older the Henrik) in the Original family and the second daughter of Mikael and Esther. Although she often appears to enjoy the perks of being a vampire along with her brother Klaus, left on her own she reveals a more delicate, human sensitivity beneath her tough façade. Of all the Original siblings, she alone has demonstrated an active desire to become human again. Her relationship with Klaus is complicated: she loves him unconditionally, but they are both quick to anger and Rebekah is usually the one that ends up hurt, often getting daggered for her defiance. Klaus left her daggered for 90 years before reviving her in his quest to create hybrids, and she has since rekindled a relationship with Stefan Salvatore, whom she had fallen in love with in the 1920s. Rebekah briefly possessed the body of a now deceased witch named Eva, in her quest to revive her late brother, Kol. Rebekah was returned to her original body when Aya killed her host body. After Rebekah easily defeated Aya and the Strix members she had brought with her, Aya staked Rebekah with a cursed weapon, the Cursed Stake, as a last resort, condemning her to insanity should the stake be removed, by turning her into a Ripper. Rebekah had Elijah dagger her so she would no longer be a liability or a threat.

Other Original Vampires
& Upgraded Original Vampire
 * Alaric Saltzman was an Original in the conceptual sense of the word, and was not related to the Mikaelson family. The witch Esther turned him into a vampire through a modified Immortality Spell with the sole purpose of hunting and killing her remaining children, thus ridding the world of vampires. She designed him to be immune to the White Oak Stake, making him invulnerable, thereby giving him an advantage over her children. However, not wanting to create another immortal being, she tied his life to that of Elena Gilbert, ensuring that Alaric would live only one lifetime, just long enough to kill Klaus, Elijah, Rebekah and Kol before Elena died a natural death. He is only a vampire for a few days before he died; Rebekah escaped him and killed Elena to end Alaric's life after he seemed to have killed Klaus. Later in Home, he was resurrected. It is unknown what weakness could have lead to his death upon resurrection, as Elena was no longer human but a vampire. He was either linked to her vampire life, or might be truly immortal. Alaric is no longer an Original Vampire anymore. He was pulled over the Mystic Falls no magic zone and the magic that made him an Enhanced Original Vampire was stripped from him, rendering him human, and briefly dying from the stab wound that turned him before being brought back by Jo's medical training.
 * Lucien Castle was the first vampire sired by Klaus over 1,000 years ago, and the first sired vampire in general. After having a century stolen from his life, where he believed he was Klaus Mikaelson due to Elijah compelling him to be a distraction for Mikael, he desired revenge on the Original Family and wanted to become superior. Lucien made Vincent Griffith cast the Immortality Spell in Mystic Falls through a reverse engineered version of Esther's spell, yet with alterations and he became the Beast, seemingly from the Prophecy, an upgraded original vampire. With his spell, he added werewolf venom to the ingredients, which infused him with a bite made of seven strains of werewolf toxin, capable of killing Original Vampires, such as Finn, without the need of a White Oak Stake. Lucien's serum also granted the user superior speed and strength over normal Originals, the source of this physical superiority is unknown though it is possible it is either due to the spell being reverse engineered or their previous vampirism being amplified. A desperate Freya Mikaelson was able to cast the Immortality Reversal Spell on Lucien, allowing Klaus to kill him.
 * Marcel Gerard became the last Beast and the true Beast of Prophecy by taking Lucien's second serum, one he intended for Aurora. Marcel became an Upgraded Original to get revenge on the Mikaelson Family, as they had sacrificed the life and soul of Davina Claire to stop Lucien. Marcel has since neutralized the Originals by biting Kol and Elijah, poisoning Freya, and daggering Klaus with Papa Tunde's Blade, taking back New Orleans from the Mikaelsons, once again becoming the king of the city. Despite the Mikaelsons finding cures to his bites and recovering, Marcel still remains the king in New Orleans and is still a superior Upgraded Original. Despite having the venom to kill the Originals, they now know of a means to cure his bite. Marcel nonetheless remains a more powerful adversary, but has since made a truce with the Mikaelsons. Despite Freya forging a dagger that can kill an Upgraded Original, made of her blood, Esther's binding magic, and Lucien's ashes, Marcel still allows them to stay in the city, and helps them in their battle against the Hollow, an ancient evil over 1500 years old, that is the most powerful witch spirit the vampires have ever faced.

Trivia

 * The slogan for The Vampire Diaries season three was slogan was "Year of the Originals".
 * Alaric is an Original vampire through species — possessing the same powers or even superior but even less weaknesses than other Originals — though he is not part of the Original family of vampires.
 * Also, the Beasts, Lucien Castle and Marcel Gerard, like Alaric before them, are the only other two types of Original vampires not part of the Mikaelson Family, with Lucien having been cured and killed, leaving Marcel as the last Upgraded Original.
 * In the novels, the Original vampires are called "The Old Ones".
 * The Original's have been called "The Old Ones" twice; once by Hayley Marshall in The Rager, upon meeting Klaus, and in Always and Forever, Davina Claire refers to the Originals as Old Ones.
 * When an Original vampire dies, all of the vampires created from their bloodline die along with them.
 * The Original vampires cannot be killed by the silver daggers, only temporarily neutralized for as long as the dagger remains intact. Although they hurt him when he is stabbed with them, Klaus is not affected by the dagger due to his werewolf-nature. The Gold Dagger, however, was created specifically to work on Klaus.
 * Michael Narducci states that Mikael's accentuated strength is due to human traits as a Viking warrior and his vampirism heightened it. Additionally, Mikael feeding on vampire blood is a specific preference of his and it doesn't make him any stronger than feeding on humans.
 * Despite being indestructible, Rebekah rhetorically asks Elijah "Do you ever want to just rip out [Klaus'] heart and see how long it takes to grow back?" in Savior. Her question is likely just an expression as the validity of it is questionable. The original means to kill Klaus in The Sun Also Rises, given unique circumstances, was in fact heart extraction. With Klaus being vulnerable during his werewolf transformation, weakened by Bonnie's magic, and on the brink of death, Elijah would have dealt the final blow by ripping out his heart. This, however, was never completed nor has heart extraction been performed on an Original vampire.