manipulative

Elena Gilbert is a strong-willed, often stubborn, and extremely loyal eighteen year old girl who lost her parents too young when she was just starting to find herself. This devastating freak accident shaped who she was from then on. When it comes to Elena, people always described her – she's the popular girl, she’s the girl that lost her parents, she’s the girl who’s dating Stefan, she’s the doppelganger - but in a lot of ways, she hasn’t had a chance to be Elena Gilbert. Yet, in truth, despite not being aware of it, she has a very strong sense of self.

Before her parents died, Elena was a popular, gregarious girl who was close to her family and the friends she'd made in grade school. She dated her childhood friend Matt Donovan and she had pride for the town she lived in, a small town in Virginia named Mystic Falls. There are pieces of this Elena that are constants. She still has an enthusiasm for life even if she has to fight through her own misgivings to get there and her friendship never waivers.

But, things like her aspirations to write and her will to cheerlead dissipate completely. In short, losing her parents changes her.

A huge part of Elena Gilbert’s personality has to do with loss. Not only has she lost her parents, before learning she’s adopted, but she loses her parental figure, her Aunt Jenna and both of her biological parents: Jonathon Gilbert and Isobel Flemming. This actually illustrates how strong she is because she keeps moving. She doesn’t give up and spend all day in bed. Instead, she gets up, greets the morning as best she can and she lives her life. Even if she has to remind herself to breathe in and out, she perseveres. Even when Klaus has hybrids crawling all over Mystic Falls she refuses to live her life trapped in her house. She goes out running. She goes to the Grill. Elena Gilbert lives her life in the face of adversity and loss.

Elena is fiercely loyal when it comes to her friends and family. She loves Jeremy with all her heart even after she realizes she's been adopted. She brow-beats him for doing drugs and pushes him to be the best that he can be. She wakes him up in the morning when he’s late to work. She worries about his well-being to the point of sending him out of town (which I’ll address in the paragraph below.) Other than Jeremy, Jenna is and was the most important person in her life. She was her connection to her mom. She respected and loved her. She worried about her. Elena doesn’t leave her friends behind and she isn’t the friend who backs away when they have a fight. She reaches out, or, she waits until they're ready and they come to her. She doesn’t push Caroline away after Katherine kills and turns her. She welcomes Bonnie with open arms when she comes out as a witch. Even after breaking up with Matt, she makes an effort to be friends. She hadn't broken up with him because she didn't love him as a person, but because she knew they'd dated because they both believed they should. (And Elena doesn't believe people should do things because they think they should.) She fights for her friends. She roots for them. She also protects and cares about family members of her friends. She’s there for Caroline when her dad decides against transitioning and he dies. She’s there for Matt after Vicki goes missing, and she accompanies Bonnie to meet her biological mom. She will be your port in the storm. Later in canon, after Elena and Stefan aren't in a relationship anymore, they successfully carry out a friendship free of judgment. There's a comfortable air of nostalgia and the feeling of trust that never goes away.

Whether they're on the outs for petty, teenaged reasons or more life-altering ones, Elena, Caroline, and Bonnie always find their way back to one another. They are her best friends, her constants, her soul mates in friendship.

Elena sees past the monster when it comes to vampires, werewolves, ghosts and everything in between. She sees people. She understands their story. She identifies with Rebekah, Klaus' sister and sympathizes with her when she says that Rebekah is just a girl who lost her parents too young and who loves blindly and recklessly. She is able to move past both the fact that Stefan and Damon (at different times) are vampires and the horrible things they've done to her and the ones she loves. Without listing the atrocities, she still sees the good in both brothers. She sees good in people and creatures. She trusts Elijah because of his idea of honor. She immediately sees past Caroline’s vampirism and sees her friend. She was not raised to hate vampires. They’re people who in most cases didn’t ask for the hand they were dealt in life: i.e. their deaths.

The Salvatore's are the two men in her life that "define her" for most of the series, but I say that very lightly.

It can be argued either way, how much Stefan and Damon mean to her at any given point in time. It's confirmed in later canon that she has deeper feelings for Damon than she ever lets on, but guilt from meeting Stefan first and having never "unfell" for him causes her to choose Stefan ultimately. Despite kidnapping her, feeding her his vampire blood and trying to drive her off of Wickery Bridge (the same bridge her parents died driving off), she chooses Stefan only a month or two later. Her relationship with Stefan moved very quickly, but as she said, he brought her back to life. She saw in him a kinship, a darkness she recognized. He wasn’t asking how she was. He didn’t know the Elena that was. He just knew this Elena. After working through this, their relationship deepens over the course of two seasons (a year.) Unlike Damon, Stefan lets her choose what she wants to do when it comes to threats against her. He talks to her. He hearsher. She loves him deeply. But, after losing him to Klaus – thanks to compulsion – she fears she may never get him back. Deep down, she always sees glimmers of the old Stefan. She still believes in him. The following episode, after his big move against Klaus, she’s digging wooden bullets out of his chest. In “Dangerous Liasons” she attempts to get through to him on her porch again. She will never give up when it comes to Stefan Salvatore. She convinces him to fight when he thinks he can't make it past his "Ripper" blood addiction. And, Elena admits to Matt Donovan, her ex, that part of the appeal that came from Stefan was that he wasn’t going to die. Stefan also admitted in Season 1 that he is the one who saved Elena from the accident with her parents. Stefan will always hold a place in her heart.

Sometimes, Elena Gilbert chooses to see the good in people but never loses sight of how dangerous they can be. This can be seen in how she deals with Damon Salvatore. Elena’s feelings for the elder Salvatore brother are complicated to say the least. Over time she has grown to truly trust him. But, she never loses sight of how reckless he can be – especially when he loses something. Time and again, throughout canon, Damon lashes out impulsively, often to hurt her. Damon has done horrible things. He used Caroline, he killed her brother (who was revived a second later thanks to the Gilbert ring), he shoved vampire blood down her throat – the ultimate wrong you could do to Elena - when he didn't want her to die by Klaus' hand. You see, Elena doesn’t want to be a vampire. The fact that he almost took that choice away from her means a lot. Damon is just – a connection she can’t seem to shake. There’s a chemistry there she can’t deny. One thing she knows is that he would never let anything happen to her, because of his love – and sometimes, this is a problem. He’d rather lock her up and throw away the key to keep her safe then let her deal with things. He literally does this when he asks Bonnie to perform a spell that keeps her inside her house to keep her safe. Elena is extremely capable, and yes, breakable but it’s her choice whether or not she is involved – especially because when it comes to Elena, she’s always involved if she can help it. Damon takes away her choices when he thinks it’s in her best interest.

In the second season, Elena learns that she's what witches and vampires call a doppelgänger. At her time in canon, she believes a doppelgänger is a mirror image of a person (in this case, Katerina Petrove/Katherine Pierce) born strictly to break Klaus' hybrid curse. Katherine terrorizes her friends and family for her own ends, and only reveals her plans when cornered indefinitely. She will never fully trust her ancestor, but she will begrudgingly work with her if need be. She's also been impersonated on multiple occasions by Katherine, and twice with her permission for the greater good. But she doesn't like it. Like Rebekah, she sympathizes with Katherine. She understands why she is the way she is. But, that doesn't make any of it okay.

Elena is sought out for two seasons, kidnapped, and bargained for… It takes away her agency and it’s another example of people trying to take Elena’s choices away. She gives herself up for Klaus’ ritual and dies. (Her birth father, Jonathan Gilbert links his life force with hers and instead of waking up a vampire (again, thanks to Damon), she wakes up human.) Klaus then seeks her out and learns that her blood is the key to creating hybrids. In truth, Elena and Katherine aren't the first doppelgängers. That honor goes to Tatia, but there are multiple women throughout history who are identical to Elena (and Stefan, but that's a longer story for a later season.) Suffice it to say, Elena being a doppelgänger has opened her world up to immense danger.

Elena is sweet and very generous when she can be, especially with her time when it comes to school and town events. She volunteers without blinking an eye, often helping the mayor and his wife, or her friends. She was raised doing that. She's polite, well spoken, and unlike Katherine she loves with all her heart. When she’s in, she is all in.

Because of her great losses, Elena has developed a bit of a guilt complex. Her parents died in the car crash but she didn't. Had she not been in this town, had she not existed, her family and friends would be safe. She’s the reason Klaus targeted Mystic Falls, targeted Stefan. (Technically, Katherine is, but she was still born.) She’s the reason Katherine has Jenna stab herself and why Caroline is a vampire. She blames herself for how dangerous the town of Mystic Falls has become for Jeremy. She even feels indirect guilt for Bonnie’s grandmother’s death because she dies after a spell cast for the Salvatore’s benefit. Despite feeling this guilt, she doesn’t dwell on her own problems. She never lets this guilt consume her. She may spend a night wallowing, or even a few minutes, but then she moves on. She isn’t all about her. Elena protects her friends. She lashes out at Damon when she thinks he’s abusing Caroline. She reaches out when she doesn’t talk to Caroline or Bonnie for a few weeks.

Alaric, her history teacher who had been dating her Aunt Jenna before she died, had taken the part of a surrogate father. She looks up to him, she jokes with him. He stays in the house with them, something she insists on. She also worries about him. He’s a notorious alcoholic and he too has dealt with a lot of loss. But, she also respects him. As mentioned below, she trains with him every few mornings. He helps her learn how to use the devices he creates (weapons against vampires.) But, as of this point in canon, Alaric's been used in yet another pawn against Klaus and her and she's lost him. Alaric will always be someone she cares deeply about.

When it comes to Matt Donovan, he'll always be her best friend. He means a lot to her. And she does love him. But, especially before he found out what Caroline was, when he was a human and human alone, she worked to keep him out of the vampire equation. Now that he's aware and has a mind of his own and is wrapped up in everything, she allows his taking part when it makes sense - i.e. taking Katherine to Klaus' homecoming party. Their friendship has never been stronger. She’s learning to lean on him again. As of her canon point, she plans on being driven out of town by Matt.

Despite the blood, the death, and the losses, Elena is able to let loose when she wants. She finds the fun. She goes dancing, she goes to the Mystic Grill. She's still a teenage girl. She has sleepovers, she parties, she has to find the good.

In a lot of ways, Elena hasn’t fully discovered who she is yet. She left the world she knew because she felt she didn’t belong after a tragedy and she hasn’t found it since. Instead, she’s been fighting for control of her own life. She's proving she isn't helpless. Breaking away from everything happening in Mystic Falls would be incredibly good for her. What does being Elena Gilbert even mean, anymore? When she finds her biological parents, it raises more questions than answers and she loses the both of them the year she meets them.

Elena, at her heart, is a survivor. She’s a fighter. She's strong. Where many girls would've buckled under the weight of what's happened, she hasn't. She doesn't let herself, both for her own benefit and her friend's. By the third season, in a lot of ways she has taken control of her life. She's making real attempts at stopping vampires and supernatural creatures control her. She reaches out. She makes deals. She is a person. And most of all, she isn’t a prize to be won.

Inventory:

(1) light weight purple sweater
(1) black camisole
(1) pair of skinny black jeans
(1) pair of black converse
(1) pair of silver earrings
(1) a dangly turquoise and silver chain necklace
(1) set of keys to the Gilbert household
(1) blackberry
(1) black watch

Abilities:

Elena has been shown to be decently proficient in light combat, as Alaric has spent offscreen (and briefly onscreen) time training her. These lessons ended regularly mid-season, but Elena manages to stay in shape. In "It Smells Like Teen Spirit," Elena proves her own stake by successfully launching three wooden stakes from her wrist by punching Stefan. Additionally, she works out with Damon and frequently running. Before the series starts, she was also an active cheerleader. Overall, Elena is an athletic person.

It's also mentioned how in high school, she took naturally to most things, which only means that she's a good student and what she learns, she conquers. She's proficient in high school level subjects and has a great grasp on the English language.

Finally, though Elena is human, she was also born a doppelganger which was the key to the ritual meant to break a curse on a vampire-werewolf hybrid named Klaus. After the curse is broken, her blood is the final ingredient needed for Klaus to make more vampire-werewolf hybrids like himself. Once a werewolf is in transition to becoming a vampire, drinking her blood solidifies the transition, or else they die a painful, bloody death. Because she's a doppelgänger, it's confirmed that Elena is a supernatural being. As killing Alaric, brings him back when only death by a supernatural being would.

Flaws:

People throughout the series, especially in the first season, joke about what Elena Gilbert won't let happen, because she's too nice, but she's perfectly capable of making wrong decisions, hurting the ones she loves, and betraying people when it's a matter of life and death and she sees no other choice.

Thanks to the Salvatore's, Elena Gilbert spends years keeping a lot of secrets. She lies about the Salvatore brothers being vampires. She keeps Caroline’s vampirism a secret. She lies to her aunt Jenna for nearly a year. She lies to Matt in order to save him from the pain of losing his sister. She lies to other people that she has feelings for Damon. And most of all, she lies to herself. All this lying is fueled by her need to protect everyone. She believes (sometimes foolishly) that they’ll be safer if they’re kept in the dark. This is illustrated all through the series. Though, this weighs on her, she believes it to be the best choice of action at the time. It's proven a few times that this isn't always the best course of action. While not proven, it's possible keeping Jenna in the dark left her vulnerable to being turned and that led to her death.

Truthfully, Klaus would have ensured someone had been turned and ready for the ritual, Jenna's number was the one who came up. But, Elena carries that guilt with her.

Attached to that, Elena tends to make huge, sometimes dangerous decisions without thinking or asking, usually because she believes it's for someone's own good. And, most of the time, they don’t pay off in the long run. She undaggers Elijah, an Original and Klaus' brother, on a whim because she believes he’ll be the best ally against Klaus. Elijah ends up saving his brother. She daggers Rebekah to keep her out of the plan to kill Mikael because she doesn't trust Rebekah to be an impartial sibling, as Elijah hadn't been. This factors into her betrayals, as well, because she attacks her after a very sweet moment the two share. She asks Damon to erase her brother, Jeremy’s, mind twice and the second time she sends him off to Denver to stay with distant relatives. The first time, he straightens out, does better academically and then discovers Elena’s journal and her lies. This causes a minor rift but because they’re brother and sister, they work through it. The second time, Bonnie has to come to terms with the decision and that causes friction between friends. Some of the time, these decisions she makes are strategic. She returns Rebekah to Klaus undaggered before dropping the bomb that Rebekah was aware that Klaus is the one who killed the Originals’ mother and knows that Klaus will simply dagger his sister again, preferring not to deal with her drama. (But mostly, not to face what he's done.) She makes a deal with Elijah regarding the sacrifice to keep her family and friends safe and so that Stefan will be freed from the tomb. She does this without consulting anyone. She won't hesitate to leave anyone out of a plan if it means they’re safe. And if she's left out, she sticks her nose in. When the gang bands together to take down Katherine in "Masquerade," she sneaks out. This ties into her stubborn streak. (This is ultimately a good thing because of a linking spell put on the both of them, but she doesn't sit idly by.)

Elena has her petty moments, because at the end of the day she's a teenage girl. In full view of Damon who believes he kissed her only days before, she kisses Stefan goodbye before embarking on a road trip. She's make the wrong comment that cuts someone to the core (usually Damon). As mentioned before, she stabs Stefan when his humanity is off, just get one good one in. Though, of her group of friends, Elena's always the one who forces everyone to become friends again, sometimes when they're not ready to be.

As far as she knows, there have been two doppelgangers before her, two women who look exactly like her. Tatia, a woman whose name we’ve only heard once, and Katerina Petrova/Katherine Pierce. Elena Gilbert is not Katherine Pierce. Sometimes, Elena can’t even tell where she ends and where not wanting to be Katherine Pierce begins. A lot of what she does stems from not wanting to be compared to a selfish, entitled vampire that wears her face. How much of what she does is Elena and how much is it not wanting to be Katherine? This is a large reason why she doesn't pursue something real with Damon, because Katherine loved them both, and as she's said multiple times, she's not Katherine. She works at not being Katherine. She tries not to play the Salvatore brothers against each other. Elena isn’t purposefully manipulative, but she does manipulate both brothers and even agrees that she strings them along at a certain point. She also draws a parallel to stringing Matt along junior year, something she did when she couldn't make up her mind with what she wanted. She plays on Damon’s feelings for her, especially when they go to Duke. She’s not blameless in Damon’s connection to her.

But, unlike Katherine, Elena isn’t narcissistic. She's the opposite. She's the selfless martyr who normally bargains her own life away. She volunteers herself for certain death. She threatens to slit her own throat to prove to vampire Alaric that Esther tied his life to hers.

Despite it all, Elena is not a pushover. She doesn’t take crap. She is headstrong and stubborn, sometimes to the point of her own detriment. Elena gives herself up as a sacrifice to Klaus in order to protect her family, her friends. She does this to keep them safe. She pushes her way into plans, refuses to stay behind when she doesn't think she should. She doggedly pursues Stefan, despite how dangerous it is. She even lies to Damon and goes to the Smoky Mountains.

SAMPLES
Action Log Sample: Elena on the TDM