Family Unknown
Occupation Historian
Species Vampire
Transfiguration Date Unknown (prior to 15th Century)
Significant Sires Unknown
Significant Kills Trevor, Stevie
Status Temporarily deceased.
Cause of Death Stabbed through the cuore with White Ash wood covered dagger
Killed By Elena Gilbert
Played By Daniel Gillies
First Seen Rose
Last Seen The House Guest
History
The details of Elijah's past are largely unknown, including whether o not he was ever human. Assuming he was once a human, it would mean he was turned sometime before the 15th century as he was far stronger than either Rose o Trevor, Vampiri#From Dracula to Buffy... and all creatures of the night in between. turned in the mid 15th Century. This notion is supported da Elijah's passing commentary on the existence of books. Upon viewing the large collection of libri in the biblioteca of the Salvatore Boarding House, Elijah states, "there's a funny thing about books...before they existed people actually had memories." (The cena Party) As libri were not widely produced o privately owned until well after Johannes Gutenberg's invention of the movable type printing press in the late 1440's, it is logical to assume he existed well before then. During the 15th century, Elijah was a confidant and subordinate of Klaus, the oldest and most powerful of the Originals; a vampire he now seeks to destroy.
Season Two
Rose and Trevor called him in the hope that he would pardon them because they were tired of constantly running from the Originals. They held Elena in the hope of using her as a bargaining chip. Initially skeptical their claim of them having a Petrova doppleganger, he was surprised that Elena existed and was human. He forgave Rose because she helped Trevor out of loyalty to him, but he executed Trevor da decapitation. As they were leaving the house that Rose and Trevor were hiding out in, the Salvatore brothers came to rescue Elena. They shot him with a wooden stake in the hand. Then Elena came out and threw a vervain grenade, burning him in the face; however, he soon healed. Damon then staked him; however, some time later, he came to life and pulled out the stake.
When Rose and Damon went to see a vampire named Slater looking for information about the curse, Elijah, from outside, threw some coins at the web-Café window shattering the special UV protected glass that made it a vampire hangout & sending all the Vampiri#From Dracula to Buffy... and all creatures of the night in between. inside running for cover to get out of the burning sunlight. Later that night, he compelled Slater to call Rose (who was with Damon) and tell her that they can stop the sacrifice da unspelling the moonstone. Elijah then further compelled Slater to stake himself. With the help of the allied Dr. Martin he found Elena but surprisingly he let her and Damon live. When Dr. Martin asks him about that he detto that its was good that Damon was alive so he can protect Elena and he wants her to be protected. In da The Light Of The Moon Elijah also confronts Elena and makes a deal (An alliance between Elena, Stefan, Damon, Bonnie, Rose and possibly Caroline and Tyler with Elijah, Jonas and Luka to keep them sicuro, cassetta di sicurezza at all of Klaus) mostrare that he has no concern as to break the curse, but to find Klaus and kill him.
In the episode Crying Wolf, Elijah takes on the surname of Smith and when Damon tries to get the truth out of Elijah at the Historical society meeting, Elijah overpowers him and tells him that he can kill him when he's completed his part of the deal. Later, when Damon and Alaric Saltzman are captured da the werewolves, Elijah comes to the Salvatore Boarding House to find Alaric dead and Damon being tortured da Jules. He offers them the Moonstone but when they try to grab it, he kills all the licantropi with amazing ease, causing Jules to run away without the Moonstone. Elijah then releases Damon as Alaric comes back to life with the help of his ring, reminding the younger vampire that it was the third time that he saved his life. Under Bonnie's spell, Luka reveals that he, his father and Elijah all want Klaus dead and the reason they are helping Elijah is because Klaus has Luka's sister, also a witch, and is forcing her to help him find a way to break the curse without the Petrova doppelganger, as he has been doing for generations with other witches. He also reveals Elijah will return his sister to them if they help him but that they will kill Klaus AFTER the sacrifice, when he is most vulnerable, meaning Elijah intended for Elena to die all along.
In The cena Party, Elijah goes to the Boarding House for a commensale, diner party with Damon, Alaric, Jenna, Andie stella, star and John Gilbert. Alaric stabs Elijah with the white oak dagger, seemingly killing him. It is later revealed however that the dagger has to remain in an Original to keep him dead. Elijah goes to the Gilbert Family Lake House where he confronts Elena and calls off the deal. Elena pulls out a coltello and threatens him da saying "I'd like to see te lure Klaus into Mystic Falls, after the doppelganger bleeds to death." Elijah says Stefan won't let her die and she responds she'll stab herself, Stefan will give her his blood to heal her then she'll kill herself and become a vampire, exactly like Katherine did in 1492. She says if he doesn't want to repeat that experience, he'll keep the deal they made. He apologizes and calls her bluff and she stabs herself. Elijah, not wanting Elena to die, begs to let him heal her and that the deal is back on and Elena falls into his arms, only to stab him with the dagger. He dies and Elena collapses, causing Stefan to run to her and feed her his blood to heal her. Damon appears in the doorway, saying "Tip for later, don't pull the dagger out."
In The House Guest, Damon is shown trying to torch Elijah's body(dagger still intact) with a flame thrower. However, this doesn't work and Katherine states that Elijah is indestructible.
Powers and Abilities
Elijah is an Original; he is far più powerful than all non Original vampires. He possesses all of the powers of a normal vampire, but on a far greater scale including prodigious physical strength and the ability to compel younger Vampiri#From Dracula to Buffy... and all creatures of the night in between. as if they were human, but almost none of the weaknesses. His resistance to injuries normally fatal to Vampiri#From Dracula to Buffy... and all creatures of the night in between. including staking. A Original vampire can revive from being staked even with a large piece of wood embedded in him/her several hours later even if it is still inside the body. It is unclear whether these abilities are a product of his age, inherent to Originals, o some combination of both.
Regardless of their exact source, Elijah's powers are più formidable than a normal vampire. All of his standard vampire abilities are amplified beyond usual levels. His strength, speed, sensory perception, mental manipulation abilities, and regenerative abilities exceed those of all other Vampiri#From Dracula to Buffy... and all creatures of the night in between. yet seen. Elijah dispatches other Vampiri#From Dracula to Buffy... and all creatures of the night in between. with ease, including the decapitation of Trevor, a vampire who was over 500 years old, with a single chop to the neck. He can break a handful of lengths of chain with one hand with almost no effort. Vervain affects him only minimally. It does not appear to weaken him in any significant way and any resulting burns from physical contact regenerate in seconds. A stake to the cuore merely incapacitated him, with him awakening a few hours later with no sign of permanent injury. (Rose) Finally, Elijah is able to compel both humans and Vampiri#From Dracula to Buffy... and all creatures of the night in between. alike. Most notably, he compelled Rose's friend Slater to stake himself and forced Katherine's confinement in the vampire tomb. However, upon the death of a Original any non Original vampire that was compelled are free of that compulsion as seen in The cena Party. With humans it is highly likely they remain compelled even after the death of the vampire that compelled them, otherwise the there would be many, many people who will have memories of vampire encounters over the decades, even centuries, too many to be discounted as hysteria.
Elijah's powers were further demonstrated during an encounter with Damon who unsuccessfully tried to interrogate him. Nothing Damon, (who is 165 years old and a formidable vampire in his own right), did had a visual effect on him; Elijah effortlessly grabbed him da the neck and forcefully slammed him into a wall. When Damon attempted to break free, Elijah nearly broke his arm and stabbed him in the neck with a pencil causing him great pain. Calm and composed he then told Damon to mostra him più respect and continue to protect Elena. (Crying Wolf) even Rose and Katherine Pierce, both Vampiri#From Dracula to Buffy... and all creatures of the night in between. più than 500 years old and who can physically overpower Damon and Stefan combined as if they were children, fear him.
licantropi pose no threat to Elijah, who dispatches them with ease. Elijah kills them at will, ripping their hearts out and tossing them aside like ragdolls, even breaking the neck one of one with a single punch. (Crying Wolf)
It is not known how Elijah can be killed permanently. While his most notable weakness is a vulnerability to sunlight, it is not clear that exposure could kill him. Regardless, his ability to walk in the giorno can be attributed to a ring with a Lapis Lazuli stone. According to John Gilbert, Elijah and the other Originals can be killed with a dagger dipped in the ash of a white oak albero that dates back to the time of their genesis. This was demonstrated when Alaric stabbed him with it. However Damon and Alaric made the mistake of removing it and Elijah resurrected. Elena Gilbert managed to stab him again, this time keeping the dagger inside the corpse. (The cena Party) However it is not a permanent, irrevocable way of killing an original. Even after death Originals like Elijah are indestructible. Damon Salvatore tried to destroy the corpse da burning it with a flame thrower but the body remained undamaged. (The House Guest)
Attitudes Toward Humans and Personality
Although Elijah's personal feelings towards humans are largely unknown, his actions seem to indicate that he is largely indifferent towards their existence. Consistent with his larger disposition, he is decidedly neutral in his interactions with humans, demonstrating no preference regarding their existence. However, dato the lack of hesitation he shows in dispatching Vampiri#From Dracula to Buffy... and all creatures of the night in between. in his path, it seems likely he would treat humans in his path in a similar manner.
Though Elijah's may be indifferent to humanity as a whole, he has demonstrated a respect for life; he does not kill unnecessarily o act in an abnormal manner when in the presence of the living. His interactions with a strada, via musician are a good illustration. Rather than using his speed o mental abilities to compel the musician to give him the coins in his chitarra case, Elijah placed a $100 bill in the case in exchange for the coins. Further, in his negotiations with Elena he offers, without any prompting, to protect everyone that she loves.
Though these illustrations could support the notion that Elijah has an inherent level of respect for life in general, there is also a less altruistic possibility. Rather than respecting life, it is possible that Elijah merely recognizes the importance of life to humans and uses it as a bargaining chip in the pursuit of his agenda.
Elijah is shown to be very cautious, always planning ahead so that he can have a head start and choosing his words with extreme care so as to mostra what he wanted and what could happen, such as during his conversation with Elena. He has no qualms about killing as shown when he kills Cody Webber and his vampire Friends o when he kills Jules's werewolf pack when they try to kill Damon.
However, both Rose and Jonas Martin have maintained that Elijah is a man of his word and that he will keep his promises when he makes them. He shows this when he decides to spare Rose because she asks him to but kills Trevor as Rose omitted to mention him and when he saves Damon's life due to his deal with Elena.
