 |
|
| Elena Gilbert | |
|---|---|
| Biographical information | |
| Born | |
| Turned |
2013 (aged 17) |
| Died |
13 December, 2013 (aged 17) |
| Marital status |
Single (formerly engaged) |
| Physical description | |
| Species |
|
| Gender |
Female |
| Hair colour |
Blonde |
| Eye colour |
Blue |
| Skin colour |
White |
| Family information | |
| Family members |
|
| Affiliation | |
| Turned by | |
| Victim | |
| Loyalty | |
| . | |
- "She wasn't a saint. She wasn't always sweet and good and honest and agreeable. But she was strong and loving and loyal to her friends, and in the end she did the most unselfish thing anybody could do."
- —Bonnie McCullough[src]
Elena Gilbert (b. August, 1996[1]) was the daughter of Mr. Gilbert and his wife, and elder sister to Margaret. The Guardians attempted to recruit her at a young age, which was unsuccessful and resulted in her parents' deaths.[2] Elena and Margaret's aunt, Judith, stepped in to take care of them.
Elena was reintroduced to the supernatural world thanks to her romantic relationship with Stefan Salvatore and later attraction to Damon, and was accidentally Changed by a jealous Katerina von Swartzschild. As a vampire, she was killed in a successful attempt at killing Katerina, and began the transformation into a Guardian. However, orders from Above forced the Guardians to restore her to life as a human,[3] with angelic powers that were later stripped from her.[4]
Biography
Pre-birth
- "The Guardian told us that there was a need for a new kind of Guardian. One who would be a mortal, on Earth, and who would possess special powers that she would need to maintain the balance between good and evil supernatural forces on Earth. Over the course of his visit, Elizabeth and Thomas, who were young and brilliant and good and deeply in love, and who had bright futures ahead of them, were chosen to be the parents of this mortal Guardian."
- —James Campbell[src]
Thomas Gilbert and Elizabeth Morrow were chosen by the Guardians to conceive a half-Guardian child, whom they would recruit when she was old enough[5] by killing her, where she would complete the transformation on the Other Side.[3]
Childhood
- "I was born here in Fell's Church. I've always lives in this house, always. This is my same old bedroom, with the scorch marks on the floorboards where Caroline and I tried to sneak cigarettes in 5th grade and nearly choked ourselves."
- —Elena[src]
Elena's board, displaying some of her awards.
Elena was born in August, 1996[1] to Thomas and Elizabeth Gilbert (née Morrow) in Fell's Church, Virginia.[6] The family lived in a house built by the Gilbert or Morrow family, moving in when Elena was a baby at the latest.[7]
At the age of about five, Elena befriended Caroline Forbes, who attended kindergarten at the same time.[8] The two often competed against each other good-naturedly.[8] Elena also befriended Sue Carson and Bonnie McCullough, as well as Meredith Sulez, a friend of Caroline's.
Elena would often play with Sue in the Carsons' front garden in the summer, but the two friends eventually drifted away from each other. At the age of ten or eleven, Elena and Caroline tried cigarettes in Elena's bedroom, almost choking themselves and burning the floor.[6]
Early high school years
Relationship with Stefan
As a vampire
Death
As a ghost
Resurrection
Physical appearance
Personality and traits
Relationships
Parents
Margaret Gilbert
A drawing Margaret drew for Elena.
Judith Maxwell
Stefan Salvatore
- "And she had been born to love Stefan; she knew that! Once, he'd been willing to marry her. Well, since then she'd been a vampire, a spirit, and a new incarnation dropped from the sky, and she could hope that one day he would be willing to marry the new Elena, too."
- —Elena's thoughts[src]
Damon Salvatore
Meredith Sulez
Bonnie McCullough
Caroline Forbes
Matt Honeycutt
Behind the scenes
The Hunters trilogy
In The Hunters trilogy, Elena's birth was planned by the Guardians, who planned on taking her when she was a teenager.[9] Their attempt at recruiting her failed, and resulted in her parents' deaths.[2] Elena and Margaret's aunt, Judith (who has inexplicably become Mrs. Gilbert's sister), became their legal guardian. It is later revealed, in Destiny Rising, that Mrs. Gilbert was a Guardian, and was also Katerina's mother.
Etymology
Appearances
- The Awakening (First appearance)
- The Struggle
- The Fury
- Dark Reunion
- The Return: Nightfall
- The Return: Shadow Souls
- The Return: Midnight
- The Hunters: Phantom
- The Hunters: Moonsong
- The Hunters: Destiny Rising
Notes and references
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 In Chapter 1 of The Return: Shadow Souls, which takes place in August, Elena says that she is eighteen years old. Based on Chapter 1 of Dark Reunion, Elena's birthday had not occurred between December 13, 1991 and June 21, 1992, nor was her birthday mentioned in The Return: Nightfall to have been the week after. Therefore, she must have been born in August.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Susurre: It was an operation gone sour. We only had to intersect with the Earth dimension for a few minutes. But, quite unexpectedly, your talent flared. You saw our air car. Instead of a crash with only one apparent casualty: you, your father turned to look and... (The Return: Midnight)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Ryannen: But you were well on your way to becoming a full Guardian when we had orders from Above to weave you into a new body so that you could take up your life as a human again. (The Return: Midnight)
- ↑ The Return: Midnight - Chapter 42
- ↑ The Hunters: Moonsong - Chapter 36
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 The Awakening - Chapter 1
- ↑ The Hunters: Phantom - Chapter 2
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 The Awakening - Chapter 2
- ↑ James Campbell: I couldn't believe that no one else in the Society saw the problem with raising a child to the cusp of adolescence and then giving her up forever [...] (The Hunters: Moonsong)