Families are complicated. Being together for more than a lifetime certainly doesn’t make it any easier. Stefan and Damon have a lot of problems in the 145 years they spend since becoming vampires, and they have more hurdles to overcome when they reunite in Mystic Falls. The Salvatore brothers have many problems starting when Katherine came into their lives in 1864, and it takes decades for their relationship to look better. But while Damon and Stefan may have been the original struggling family The diary of vampiresthey are not the only siblings bickering or family to solve critical problems.
The Mikaelson siblings are even more dysfunctional than the Salvatore brothers. They have been around for over a thousand years and have had centuries to team up, betray, fight, get back together and kill each other. Although Elijah and Klaus reveal a preview of the Mikaelson drama, things get much more exciting when Rebekah, Kol and Finn wake up and Esther and Mikael join the party. Even Caroline, Elena and Jeremy have their fair share of drama in Mystic Falls. In legacies, Family troubles also continue as Hope faces off against her father’s enemies and Josie and Lizzie face the Gemini Coven Merge.
10 Elena kept secrets from Jeremy and Jenna
One of Elena’s biggest problems is how her desperation to keep Jeremy and Jenna safe leads her to make decisions for them and leave them in the dark about the supernatural. Jeremy’s discovery that Vicki had become a vampire is shocking, but at least he has answers about what happened to her and knows that she died when Stefan staked her. However, Jeremy grieving for another lost lover results in Elena asking Damon to erase Jeremy’s memory, disregarding how Jeremy would feel about it.
As for Jenna, Elena decided that no information was the best course of action. She ignored that Jenna, knowing the truth, might have made her safer, as she would have been prepared. Elena never even warns Jenna that her birth mother is still around and married to Alaric.
9 Caroline’s parents rejected and tortured her
When Liz first finds out that Caroline is a vampire, she doesn’t support her in the least. She believes her daughter is gone and a soulless creature lives in her place. Although Liz eventually came to and understood that Caroline was still there, she caused her daughter a lot of pain before she got there. Bill’s reaction was much more violent. He captured Caroline and physically tortured her for being a vampire, as if his methods could change her. Instead, he only gave her a traumatic experience and memories.
8 Stefan and Damon’s eternity of misery
Damon heeds his threat to bring Stefan an eternity of misery over the decades. While they don’t always fight in flashbacks, none of their encounters end well. Their reunion in Mystic Falls helps them work together for a greater cause, helping to heal their relationship. Still, Damon and Stefan have big problems. Damon has no problem ruining his brother’s relationship with Elena. Meanwhile, Stefan could never fail to help Damon, even when it dragged him down.
7 Klaus Daggers are siblings
Perhaps one of the worst portrayals of his inability to trust was Klaus choosing to kill his siblings. Whenever his siblings disappointed Klaus, or he felt he had been betrayed, Klaus would leap for the dagger, which meant leaving his family in coffins for decades, or in Finn’s case, centuries. Klaus’ actions steal time from his siblings and cause them to resent him for daggering them as often as he does. Klaus doesn’t have what it takes to let his siblings go, even for the sake of a healthier relationship, and he puts them in boxes out of fear.
6 Esther, Mikael and Finn try to kill the others
Esther and Finn are against vampirism and want to right the wrongs of the past. But to do that usually means attempting to kill the rest of the Mikaelsons, which always fails. In The originals, Esther plots to place her children in the bodies of witches to rob them of their immortality. Finn actually kills Kol and happily complies with his mother’s requests to harm the rest of the family. Over the centuries, Mikael had searched and hunted Klaus, wanting to get rid of the boy who had killed Esther and had never been his biological son.
5 Giuseppe and Lily Salvatore are horrible parents
Giuseppe Salvatore is a terrible father. He is harsh and abusive to the boys, and one of the spearheads of the anti-vampire movement. He even kills his sons for being Katherine’s allies. The first moment that proves Stefan’s Ripper instincts is when he kills his father and can’t stop drinking his blood. Lily Salvatore isn’t the best mom either, becoming a vampire and never trying to mend a relationship with the sons she left behind. Instead, Lily creates a new family and even battles Damon and Stefan when they reunite after she and the heretics get out of the prison world.
4 Kai tried to kill Lizzie and Josie
To prevent the next generation of Gemini witches from growing up and eventually taking on the role of Coven Leader, Kai tried to kill them. The first attempt took place when Jo was still pregnant and failed when Jo died, and the twins were magically placed in Caroline. His second attempt came when the girls were young. On legacies, Kai tried for the third time after spending the day with Josie. He joins forces with Alyssa to have her destroy his link to the Prison World, which would kill everyone in it, even Lizzie and Josie.
3 The Gemini Coven Fusion
Whatever show it is, the Gemini Coven Merge is a great way to showcase a dysfunctional and messy family dynamic. In The diary of vampires, it is revealed that Kai killed almost all of his family, except his twin brother, to assume the position of Coven Leader. The more emotional side of what it would mean is portrayed by Liv and Luke, who don’t want to lose each other. In legacies, Lizzie and Josie face the emotional fallout of learning that only one can live to be twenty-two years old. During the Dark Josie arc, she sets up a technicality against Lizzie early on.
2 Hope inherits her father’s enemies
As if it wasn’t bad enough that Klaus made thousands of years worth of enemies, when he died, Hope inherited them. although legacies doesn’t spend all of his time showing Hope facing off against her father’s remaining rivals, the fourth season does explore the complicated dynamic between Hope and Aurora. Aurora had loved and hated Klaus, and because of the time she was growing up, she had never had a proper mental health exam. Aurora doesn’t have to be an enemy, but her desire to return to Klaus results in Aurora temporarily waging war against Hope.
1 Rebekah calls Michael
Perhaps one of the most notable examples of betrayal in the Mikaelson family was when Rebekah and Marcel brought Mikael to New Orleans. Rebekah and Marcel wanted to be happy together and never imagined that Klaus would back down and let their relationship blossom. Rebekah and Marcel bring Mikael to New Orleans to give himself a chance at happiness, to force Klaus to flee. However, it does not work in their favor. Klaus doesn’t have to run alone from the house he built. The town itself goes up in flames and Rebekah is forced to run with Klaus when she thinks Neville is dead.