The Fascinating World of The Vampire Diaries Cure

The Mythical Cure for Vampirism

Despite vampirism initially believed to be permanent, the iconic CW series introduced a solution, leading to questions about who takes the cure in The Vampire Diaries. Over the years and through its end with season 8, The Vampire Diaries expanded its characters to include various supernatural creatures, and the series developed a complex (albeit sometimes convoluted) canon.

Qetsiyah and Stefan talking in The Vampire Diaries

One integral component was the Cure for vampirism, which became a significant plot driver more than once. The Cure, long thought to be a myth, was revealed to be very real in The Vampire Diaries season 4.

Damon (Ian Somerhalder) and Elena (Nina Dobrev) from the Vampire Diaries kissing

Even beyond the fourth season, however, the Cure continued to pop up and impact the plot throughout the following seasons. Understandably, giving up one's vampirism and thus one's immortality and supernatural powers is a big deal. That didn't stop some characters in The Vampire Diaries from wanting to take it, however, yearning for a human life.

Damon (Ian Somerhalder) and Elena (Nina Dobrev) from the Vampire Diaries talking

Other vampires saw it as a weapon, a means to get rid of a powerful threat, or to be used as a bargaining chip. Whatever the intent of using the Cure, those who did use it were profoundly changed in The Vampire Diaries.

Damon (Ian Somerhalder) and Elena (Nina Dobrev) from the Vampire Diaries talking

The Origin and Potency of the Cure

The Vampire Diaries Cure was very old, created by the powerful witch Qetsiyah, Bonnie Bennett's ancestor, thousands of years before the events of the show to punish her immortal lover, Silas, for betraying her with another woman.

Elena Leaning Her Head on Damon in The Vampire Diaries

There have been multiple cures for vampirism between The Vampire Diaries and The Originals, but the original Cure for immortality and vampirism created by Qetsiyah for Silas is the most potent and the most well-known. Technically, Silas wasn't a vampire but the world's first immortal, but, as the immortality of vampires operates in the same way, the Cure still works on them.

Damon and Elena At A Halloween Party

The first person to get the Cure in The Vampire Diaries was Katherine Pierce, who loved being a vampire and received the Cure against her will. During a brutal showdown with Katherine, Elena was forced to shove the vampire Cure down Katherine's throat to save herself.

The Vampire Diaries' Katherine Pierce holding a book

Elena Gilbert, the person who most wanted to be human, took the Cure in season 6. Unlike Katherine, Elena wouldn't be affected by having the Cure removed from her blood as she'd only been a vampire for a short time.

Nina Dobrev as Elena Gilbert The Vampire Diaries in front of a sign for Elena Salvatore, M.D.

The Impact and Legacy of the Cure

By the series finale of The Vampire Diaries, both Nina Dobrev's Elena and Ian Somerhalder's Damon were human, living a happy, married life. The series somewhat glossed over the details with more of an 'And they lived happily ever after...' approach, but there are a few things that were confirmed, whether in the finale or later in the spinoff shows.

Stefan seated and listening in The Vampire Diaries episode Memory Lane

The finale also revealed in a flash-forward one last way in which Damon and Elena's Mystic Falls humanity played out in their old age. In the future, when Elena dies, she finds peace in the afterlife with her deceased loved ones, including her adoptive parents Grayson and Miranda, her aunt Jenna, and her biological father John. Damon, who had feared for so long that he'd be trapped in Purgatory or go to Hell, also found peace in the afterlife after dying of old age, reuniting with Stefan.

Paul Wesley as Stefan in The Vampire Diaries.

The Vampire Diaries' final season played a little loose with the canon of the vampire Cure, and episode 11, 'You Made a Choice to Be Good,' introduced new and inconsistent information about the Cure. The rules regarding the Cure in The Vampire Diaries were fluid, depending on what suited the storyline.

Stefan talking to someone in The Vampire Diaries

The show is very different from the books. The original Cure is only enough for one person in the TV series, while in the book series multiple vampires can be cured from the same dose. In the books, the vampire Cure is also not an elixir or pulled from someone's blood and instead resides in a rose.

Paul Wesley as Stefan Salvatore Wearing a Tank Top in The Vampire Diaries