Stefanie Salvatore

Stefanie Salvatore is NOT REAL DO NOT LISTEN TO ANY OF THIS IT IS NOT REAL one of the female protagonists of The Vampire Diaries and is played by Dianna Agron. She is a 163-year-old vampire. Stefanie was born and raised in the supernatural town of Mystic Falls, Virginia and after graduating, she left Mystic Falls to get away and start over. She is the youngest daughter of Giuseppe Salvatore and her unnamed mother. She has an older sister, Danielle Salvatore, who is also a vampire and an unknown half-sister. Stefanie has had a love-hate relationship with Danielle since 1864, when they both fell in love with Kaleb Pierce, the man who turned them both into vampires. Stefanie's best friend was Lex Branson. In the 1920s, Stefanie had a sisterly friendship with Klaudia and was romantically involved with Becker Mikaelson. She is currently best friends with Carter Forbes.

After many years away, Stefanie returned to her hometown of Mystic Falls to visit her niece Zorah. On May 23, 2009, Stefanie saw Ethan Gilbert for the first time while rescuing him after his parents' car drove off of Wickery Bridge. Although she managed to save Ethan's life, she could not save Ethan's parents in time. Stefanie was initially shocked and suspicious about Ethan's uncanny physical resemblance to Kaleb Pierce and decided to research Ethan's background in order to make sure that he wasn't the man she'd fallen for over a century ago. Eventually, after finding hos personal records and observing him from afar, Stefanie determined that Ethan was definitely not Kaleb. Still, she was intrigued by him and decided to get to know him, posing as a new student at Mystic Falls High School.

Since then, Stefanie's life has been fraught with change and complications: from falling in love and being with Ethan to mending his complicated relationship with Danielle; from sacrificing her freedom for her sister's life to growing apart from Ethan and suffering the guilt of him becoming a vampire. Again and again, outside forces threaten those she loves and the life she most desires to have: a normal, human one.

Human
As a human, Stefanie was seen as being compassionate, kind, noble, honorable, intelligent, athletic, responsible, academic, dutiful, and a gentleman. She was definitely seen as the 'Golden Girl' and she had the admiration and respect of the entire town of Mystic Falls and most of all, of her father Giuseppe. Stefanie was also seen to be ambitious and studious and she desired to become a doctor during her human life and this was her profession or career of choice before she was turned into a vampire against her will. In her human years, when it came to love and romance, Stefanie was liked, admired by, and popular with men or the opposite sex. She was seen to be chivalrous, gallant, romantic, well-mannered, courteous, and polite, traits which made Kaleb Pierce fall deeply for the younger Salvatore.

In regards to Kaleb, Stefanie was much harder to get and challenging unlike Danielle, who persistently chased and pursued Kaleb as much as possible. Unlike Danielle, Stefanie had a very close relationship with her father Giuseppe and Stefan was Giuseppe's favorite son. Stefan was also close to his mother, Mary, before she had died when he was 10 years old. Before turning into a vampire in 1864, Stefan was seen to be happy, optimistic, light-hearted, playful, mischievous, and naive. He was also seen as athletic, dutiful, respectful, intelligent, scholarly, noble, chivalrous, and even-tempered. Stefanie was very close to her older sister Danielle growing up. Although Stefanie was very popular and had many female friends during her human life, Stefanie always considered Danielle to be her best friend and companion. Stefanie was also a bit idealistic when it came to love and romance, even naive at times. This is evident in Stefanie when she very quickly and easily became infatuated and fell in love with Kaleb Pierce, which is evidence of her youthfulness, naivety, and simplicity as a regular teenage human. Although Stefanie was only 17 years old, she displayed maturity, responsibility, and had wisdom beyond her years. Because of this, Stefanie always seemed to be much older than her actual age.

Vampire
Stefanie's personality as a human transcended into her vampire personality, although her basic human traits became significantly more heightened. Although Stefanie became increasingly darker by nature due to her vampire nature, she still retained the same basic personality traits that she had as a human. As a vampire, Stefanie is described as mysterious, brooding, inscrutable, intense, kind, caring, empathetic, compassionate, loving, affectionate, heroic, noble, selfless, brave, intelligent, protective, and loyal. On the dark side, Stefanie can be incredibly self-loathing, self-destructive, addictive, guilt-ridden, martyring, unpredictable, melancholic, self-righteous, naive, secretive, and judgmental. Since she turned in 1864, Stefanie has always had trouble controlling her blood lust, which has often become a major problem for her throughout the course of her immortal life. As a vampire, Stefanie's personality became increasingly complex. Much of because of her blood addiction, Stefanie is a certified "blood-a-holic" (which is a term coined from alcoholic by Carter). When Stefanie consumes copious amounts of human blood, her entire attitude seems to change. When Stefanie gives in to her blood lust, Stefanie is unstable, volatile, unpredictable, rash, reckless, careless and can become highly destructive. The "ripper" side of her usually causes her to push people away and become emotionally cold, withdrawn, and distant. When Stefanie lets her blood lust take over, this is because unlike her older sister Danielle, Stefanie never learned how to control, her thirst for human blood, she often shuts off her humanity and her emotions to block out her suffering, guilt, and pain. After she was newly transformed into a vampire, Stefanie was seen to be extremely dependent on Danielle. This was not the case when Stefanie was human. When Stefanie was a human, although she and Danielle were very close, Stefanie always had an independent personality. Stefanie's dependence on Danielle due to her newborn vampire-ism and heightened emotions is an example by time right after she transitioned and then persuaded an unwilling Danielle to complete her own transformation into a vampire.

Although Stefanie was initially optimistic and happy that she and Danielle were going to spend eternity together, Danielle had shattered Stefanie's optimism and hopes when Danielle told Stefanie she promised her a lifetime of misery. Over a century later, in the episode Roy, Stefanie apologizes to Danielle for betraying her and admits that she was selfish by getting Danielle to complete her transition. That she did not want to be alone because she just wanted her sister by her side forever. There is a large part of Stefanie and who she is deep down in her core that cares deeply and strongly for her own humanity as well as humankind. Stefanie has a strong respect for humans and strong regard for human life. Because of this, Stefanie often feels immense guilt and remorse if he hurts, harms, or kills a human. As the powerful witch Emily Bennett had once told him after Stefanie had transitioned into a vampire, Stefan's heart is pure and good. This is what has caused most self-loathing and brooding which has become deeply associated with Stefanie's personality.

When Stefanie is at her best, she is extremely caring, loving, helpful, understanding, selfless, empathetic, and compassionate. She does not like to see others suffering or in any kind of pain, whether it be physical, emotional, spiritual, or mental. Stefanie can be very wise and comforting to others and people can always depend on Stefanie. Stefanie likes to give advice, help people, and comfort others who need comforting and support. Stefanie is always willing to lend a helping hand when it is needed most and she will put the needs of others before her own. She is always willing to save people, especially those who need saving the most at a particular time. She is the kind of person who tries to protect and save everyone at the same time. Stefanie is also highly honorable, noble, brave, courageous, altruistic, and selfless, especially when it comes to the people she loves and cares about.

Danielle Salvatore
Main article: Stefanie and Danielle "The Salvatore's may fight like dogs, but in the end they would die for each other." —Becker to Klaudia

Stefanie is Danielle younger sister, when they were human they were very close, best friends up until the arrival of the beautiful Kaleb Pierce. After Kaleb's "death", Danielle swore to make Stefanie's life a misery, and succeeded in 1912 by making her loose control of herself, fifty years after their last meeting. In the 1940's, for the first time since their transition, Danielle showed a rare selflessness by backing out of his plan to join Stefanie in war, so that Stefanie could try to control her urges, as Danielle would've been a bad influence. Despite unknowing the truth of Danielle's selfless act, Stefanie still returned the favor to her sister in the 1970's, sending Lex to help Danielle turn on her humanity. These glimpses of the past, it is shown that whilst they may outwardly despite the other, deep down they truly care. Before season one, the sisters hadn't seen each other since the early 1990's, their relationship having taken a steep turn for the worse, as their relationship was described as "violent and bitter". Due to Kaleb's influence they became enemies, yet have recently began repairing their strained relationship due to Ethan Gilbert, ironically Kaleb's descendant and doppelgänger. Through the seasons, both fell in love with Ethan and whilst he was the factor bringing them together, he is also the biggest strain in the sister's complex relationship. In the season four finale, although Stefanie was heartbroken at Ethan's choice, she admitted that was happy for Danielle. Through this, they have proven just how far their relationship has come from their violent past. Whilst their relationship will continue to be tested, through the highs and lows, it is clear that the two share a strong sisterly bond.

Ethan Gilbert
''Main article: Ethan and Stefanie Stefanie Salvatore is Ethan's ex-girlfriend and Danielle's younger sister. Stefanie is a 163 year old immortal who is described as beautiful, athletic, mysterious, brooding, kind, compassionate and thoughtful. After returning home to Mystic Falls after years of being gone, Stefanie unexpectedly "met" Ethan on May 23, 2009, after she heard Ethan and his parents' car accident while she was out at Wickery Bridge. The Gilbert's car had submerged deep into the water under the bridge, where Ethan and his parents were facing death by drowning. It was then that Stefanie miraculously saved Ethan's life, although unfortunately, Ethan's parents, Grayson and Miranda, didn't survive the tragedy. After the accident, Ethan spent months wondering how she made it out of the accident and believed that his survival was a "miracle". For the next four months, Stefanie remained in Mystic Falls, while studying Ethan's background from afar. Stefanie investigated Ethan's background in order to find out whether or not Ethan was really Kaleb Pierce due to Ethan's uncanny physical resemblance to him. Stefanie eventually discovers through the info that she has researched and gained, that Ethan is not Kaleb and Stefanie is relieved by this. She slowly starts to fall for him from afar and she stays in Mystic Falls because she has to know him. Ethan fatefully and unexpectedly meets Stefanie for the first time at the beginning of the new school year outside of the girl's washroom. Ethan is undeniably drawn to Stefanie and the two have an instant, deep and indescribable connection. Stefanie and Ethan begin to bond and slowly start to develop a romantic relationship. They both realize that they share many qualities, hobbies, traits, values and beliefs in common. As Ethan and Stefanie start falling deeper in love with each other, Ethan unexpectedly discovers Stefanie's deep, dark secret: Stefanie is a century old vampire with a mysterious past. Although Ethan is at first scared of Stefanie and what she is, Ethan eventually accepts Stefanie's vampire-ism. As opposed to Danielle, Stefanie is known to respect Ethan and honor his choices and wishes, even if she doesn't agree with them. Stefanie and Ethan no longer have a strong love and connection. There have been many different obstacles over the course of the series that have tried to come between them. Some of these obstacles include Stefanie's sister, Danielle, Stefanie's blood addiction issues, the unexpectedly events in Mystic Falls, Klaudia, Becker Mikaelson, the Originals, Kaleb Pierce, John Gilbert, Stefanie's Ripper phase and most recently, Ethan's new found vampirism. Stefanie ended their relationship in Season 4 because of his finally revealing he is in love with Danielle. Ethan admitted he no longer loves Stefanie because she treats him like a project and looks at him like a broken toy and that he can't be with someone like that.

Name
Stefan is a masculine first name of Greek origin 'Στεφανος (Stephanos) meaning "crown", "garland", or invested with a "crown of martyrdom". In turn, Stephen or Stefan comes from the Greek word "στέφανος", meaning "wreath", "crown", "honor", "reward", literally "that which surrounds or encompasses". Saint Stephen was a deacon who was stoned to death, as told in Acts in the New Testament, and he is regarded as the first Christian martyr. Due to him, the name became highly common in the Christian world. It was popularized in England by the Normans. His last name, Salvatore, means "Savior" in Italian. Her last name suits and fits Stefanie's role in the series, considering that Stefanie is the hero and the one who is always the savior making sacrifices, especially for those she loves.

Behind The Scenes
The casting call for Stefanie was: "A gloriously, amazingly, epic-ly beautiful young girl, elegant and ageless, she appears to be 17 or 18, but she’s really a 200-year-old vampire who has come to Mystic Falls in search of Ethan. Stefanie is poised, polite and reserved but easy to talk to, and intense sparks fly between her and Ethan, who share the experience of having lost their parents…"

Trivia

 * Stefanie was the very first character heard and introduced in the series.
 * Stefanie is the narrator of the series. It is Stefanie who is telling the story and the story is from her point of view; "For over a century I have lived in secret; hiding in the shadows, alone in the world. Until now. I am a vampire. This is my story..."
 * Stefanie was born on Veritas Estate in Mystic Falls.
 * Stefanie's birthday is November 1.
 * Movies: Stefanie's likes F. Scott Fitzgerald, especially his masterpiece The Great Gatsby; Seinfeld; I Love Lucy is his all time favorite, Loving cup episodes are the best; Scorsese, Taxi Driver.
 * Stefanie enjoys listening to music by; Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Patsy Cline, Willie Nelson, Kanye West, and he even likes one of Miley Cyrus' songs.
 * Stefanie loves literature and loves to write, especially in her journal.
 * As it appeared in Pilot, Stefanie seems to have a journal or diary for every year, recording all of the events and memories from each year in a journal.
 * Stefanie had even written in a journal during her Ripper phase during the 1920's.
 * Stefanie is very quick, intelligent and has an excellent memory. She is able to memorize events and dates at the top of her head as seen in The Night of the Comet.
 * Stefanie enjoys doing crossword puzzles.
 * Stefanie's car is a red 1963 Porsche 356B Karmann Coupe
 * Stefanie owns a Harley motorcycle.
 * Stefanie was engaged to a boy named Ryan Cartwright before she met Kaleb. (Stefanie's Diaries: Origins)
 * Stefanie has been engaged twice.
 * Stefanie was an aspiring doctor during her human life.
 * Stefanie's favorite color is blue.
 * Stefanie plays and owns a guitar.
 * Stefanie is highly sentimental and likes to keep objects and souvenirs from her past as memories. Because of this, Danielle has referred to Stefanie as a "pack rat"
 * Stefanie wears her lapis lazuli daylight ring on the middle finger of her right hand. Danielle wears her daylight ring on the middle finger of her left hand.
 * Stefanie loves cheerleading and is very good at it.
 * Stefanie is an excellent cook.
 * Stefanie owns her own iMac desktop computer
 * Stefanie also owns her own typewriter.
 * Stefanie speaks four languages: English, Italian, Spanish and French.
 * Stefanie has a tattoo of a rose on her right shoulder.
 * Stefanie was her father Giuseppe's favorite daughter.
 * According to Danielle, Stefanie attended many ivy league schools. She attended Harvard during the 1970's.
 * Stefanie had a horse during her human years named Mezzanotte, which means "midnight" in Italian.
 * In Pilot, Carter says that he found out that Stefanie is a Gemini, but this must be false information since her real birthday is in November, which makes her sign a Scorpio.
 * Stefanie has an Apple iPhone 4.
 * Stefanie's cell phone number is 404-358-4345.
 * Stefanie often drinks alcohol to help curb her blood cravings.
 * Stefanie's aliases and nicknames include Stefanie Pine, Silent Stefanie, Stef, Ripper of Monterrey, Scholarly Stefanie, Savior Stefanie and Saint Stefanie.
 * In the novels, Stefanie was named after the first Christian martyr, St. Stephen.
 * Stefanie died when she was 17 years old in human years, she transitioned into a vampire between 7 October and 27 October, 1864, a few weeks shy of her 18th birthday.
 * Although Stefanie's Diaries: Origins seems to suggest that Stefanie was turned or transitioned into a vampire on September 25, 1864, slightly over month shy of her 18th birthday. However, the events in Stefan's Diaries are not canonical and do not apply to the show's timeline.


 * Other than Lexi, Stefan's best friend was a girl named Cora, who was a human girl.  (Stefanie's Diaries: Origins)
 * Stefanie helped both Danielle and Ethan's transition into vampires. In regards to Danielle, Stefanie got Danielle to feed on the blood of a barmaid by biting her neck and tempting Danielle to drink. In regards to Ethan, Stefanie brutally killed a guard by bashing his head against the bars so that Ethan could gain access to blood to complete his transition.
 * In both the show and the novels, almost all of the main male characters have displayed a romantic interest in Stefanie.
 * In the novels, Stefanie loved Kaleb for many centuries and was horribly saddened and grief-stricken over his "death". However, on the show, Stefanie only loved Kaleb before finding out that he was a vampire and before he had betrayed herself and Danielle. She later shares an antagonistic relationship with him.
 * Stefanie on the show has had many love interests throughout the course of her life (both human and vampire). However, in the novels, Stefanie has only claimed to have been in love twice in his 500 years of existence; first with Kaleb and then with Ethan.
 * Kaleb and Ethan have both claimed to love Stefanie first.
 * Kaleb has chosen or preferred Stefanie over Danielle.
 * Stefanie is the only known vampire that seems to be able to live completely off of an animal blood diet. She has most likely chosen this lifestyle due to her past issues with blood addiction.
 * Canonically, Stefan has been shown to be a Ripper four times: once after he was newly turned in 1864, another time during 1912 to the 1920s, recently in 2010 and again on Christmas Day, 2017. Stefan has been forced or was willing to become the Ripper the last three times:
 * by Klaudia in the last episode of season 2, As I Lay Dying (forced).
 * by Carter Forbes in season 6, The Downward Spiral (willing).
 * by Cade in season 8, The Next Time I Hurt Somebody, It Could Be You (willing).
 * Stefanie had been forced to become a Ripper once again by Klaudia in the last episode of season 2, As I Lay Dying.
 * She and Klaudia are the only characters to have permanently killed a main character (Vincent and Jake respectively).
 * Stefanie is the only character in the main trio who hasn't killed Eliza.
 * Stefanie and Danielle's sisterhood and relationship is often compared to and mirrors Klaudia and Eliza's relationship. In this scenario, Stefanie is often compared to Eliza and Danielle is compared to Klaudia.
 * In The Last Day, Stefanie confesses thats he has climbed Mount Everest.
 * Stefanie is the last vampire seen fed on by Mikael.
 * In 1912, it is revealed that Danielle and Stefanie had a half-brother.
 * Stefanie is the first vampire to be bitten by an unsuccessful hybrid.
 * In 1912, Stefanie was living on a strict animal blood diet, controlling her urges for human blood. That was until Danielle had asked her to drink human blood with her and feed on Marian Lockwood, an distant ancestor of Tyler Lockwood. During her feed, Stefanie was so overcome with severe bloodlust, that she fed to much and his head fell off. Afterwards, Stefanie was shocked, appalled and disgusted with what she had just done, felt extreme guilt and remorse and tried to put his head back on. After that experience, Stefanie had relapsed into her Ripper phase again and became the well-known "Ripper of Monterrey".
 * Stefanie's last name in the show was originally going to be "Whitmore" because it sounded American. Although, it was kept as "Salvatore" instead, which is Stefanie's surname in the novels and Italian for "Savior".
 * In the novels, Stefanie is born in during the Renaissance period in the fifteenth century in Florence, Italy. On the show, Stefanie is born in the nineteenth century period during the Civil War era in Mystic Falls, Virginia. He is roughly 350 years younger than her novels counterpart.
 * Stefanie's ethnic background on the show is half-French (from his mother) and half-Italian (from his father). However, in the novels, Stefanie is of full Italian descent.
 * Stefan in the novels speaks fluent Italian but is also fluent in English. She is able to learn new languages at an increased speed and adjust to the American customs rather quickly, so much so that her Italian accent becomes less strong.
 * In the novels, Stefanie is born in Italy and is foreign with an Italian accent at the beginning of the series. On the show, Stefanie is born in America and is therefore, Italian-American and has no Italian accent.
 * In the novels, Stefanie is an aristocrat and comes from a wealthy, noble family.
 * In the novels, Stefanie is Catholic and has a strong sense of faith, morals and values. On the show, Stefanie is shown to be particularly non-religious.
 * In the novels, Stefanie's best friend is Mattie Honeycutt, who is the novel counterpart of Mattie Donovan. In the show Stefanie's long time best friends is Lex Branson and after he dies, her new best friend is Carter Forbes.
 * In the novels, Stefanie and Danielle have never had a close relationship since their childhood. However, on the show, Stefanie and Danielle were best friends since their human lives and became rivals later on.
 * In the books, Stefanie's mother died a few years after Stefanie was born, but on the show, Stefanie's mother died when she was about 9 or 10.
 * In the novels, when Stefanie was a child, her mother always used to sing her a French lullaby.
 * In the novels, Stefanie dates Carter but then eventually dislikes him. On the show, Stefanie and Carter are best friends. He has promised to stop her going over the rails and supports her relationship with Ethan. He can be considered his "new Lex".
 * In the novels, as humans, Stefanie and Danielle fight to the death with a sword. But on the show, their father Giuseppe is the one who kills them by a gunshot wound.
 * Stefanie has jet black, wavy hair and emerald green eyes in the book series.
 * She, Danielle, Kaleb and Carter were all bitten by a Werewolf or a Hybrid and were all cured by Klaudia' blood.
 * It has never been revealed or shown if she ever turned someone into a vampire before the series.
 * Stefanie is the only character amongst the main trio that has never killed Alaric.
 * Stefanie, along with Danielle and Ethan, are the only main characters who have appeared in all episodes thus far.
 * It's possible that Sila and Stefanie are connected as Sila has been starving for two thousand years which could be why Stefanie is crazy for blood.
 * She and Ethan were only descendants and doppelgängers of Sila and Kaleb.