The Originals
In the Vampire Diaries, "the originals" are the start of the vampire species.
In the show vampire diaries, "the originals" origin story is explained which takes place in 1001 A.D. Before the original family became vampires, they were humans, but their mother was "the original" witch (Esther) and after losing some of her children she created a spell using doppelganger blood and turned the rest of her children into the very first vampires.
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The originals are not the same as vampires. Unlike vampires they are immortal and cannot be killed.
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Their only weakness is ash or wood from the white oak tree (which they destroyed) because it was used in the spell to create them.
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They are also stronger and have the ability to compel other vampires.
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In most mythology stories about vampires, it states that vampires can't walk in the sun and in the vampire diaries the sun will catch them on fire so they can't walk in the sun but Esther, created a spell and created "daylight rings" so that her children could walk in the sun without it causing any harm.
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They can "cut off" their humanity switch.
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Heightened senses especially hearing, run very fast, and can jump abnormally high.
Niklaus (Klaus)
Mikaelson
Klaus Mikaelson is one of the original vampires but not only is he a vampire he is a werewolf as well. The werewolf "curse" is "activated" when a person with the werewolf gene takes someone's life whether on accident or purpose. When Klaus became a vampire his werewolf curse was activated due to obvious reasons. None of the other siblings share the wolf gene because Klaus has a different father from the rest of the siblings. Klaus's mother put a spell on Klaus to suppress his werewolf side, but Klaus eventually broke the spell.
Klaus was always portrayed as vicious and "evil", and people feared him deeply. He wanted power and wanted people to fear him, but he would do anything to protect his family. Later in the serious Klaus has a daughter with a wolf (Haley Marshall) and their daughter ends up being the first "tribrid" which is a vampire, wolf, and witch. It wasn't really involved in the vampire diaries, but this was a very creative way to add to the myth that is already going on.
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Since Klaus was a vampire and a werewolf, he was technically a hybrid, and he was the first hybrid to exist.
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Hybrids can turn at will; they don't need a full moon.
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The bite of a hybrid is lethal to vampires and the only cure for it is Klaus's blood.
Rebekah Mikaelson
Rebekah is one of the siblings and is also one of the original vampires. She has always been very loyal to her brother Klaus because he fears being alone, but she was always mistreated. Even though she was a vampire and portrayed as sometimes heartless and she longed for was love and her brother Elijahs approval and love. The one thing she wanted was to just simply be human again so that she could start over and have a family of her own.
Elijah Mikaelson
Elijah is one of the siblings and is one of the original vampires as well. He is known as the loyal, honest, and noble brother. Most people fear Klaus, but Elijah is the level-headed brother, and he doesn't give his "word" lightly. However, he is still a vampire and can sometimes be portrayed to be just as vicious as his brother, Klaus.
Freya Mikaelson
Freya is actually one of the more interesting siblings, she is the first born Mikaelson. She wasn't really in the vampire diaries, but she was in the originals. I mentioned before that Esther (their mom) had suffered the loss of 2 children and Freya was the first child she lost. Esther made a deal with her sister Dalia to cast a spell to help her have children because she was struggling to get pregnant. In exchange for the spell Esther made a deal with Dalia that she would be able to have her first-born child and the first-born child of her children kid's. Freya was taken by Dalia and Esther told the rest of her children that she had passed away, but she later came back, and the rest of the siblings discovered the truth.
Freya had already been taken by Dalia when Esther turned the rest of her children into vampires, so Freya is not a vampire. However, she is the first-born original witch.
Being the first-born original witch gave Freya immense power and at times she could not control it. She also was immortal due to a spell Dalia put on her.
Kol Mikaelson
Kol was portrayed as the most selfish Mikaelson sibling. He was also the most blood hungry sibling other than Klaus and his character did a really good job at portraying what a vampire really is in mythology.
Finn Mikaelson
Finn wasn't really in the show as much as the other siblings were. But when he was in the show his character was portrayed as someone who hated being a vampire, he resented it and wanted nothing more than to be free of it. He also wasn't to close with his siblings, and he didn't agree with their manipulative, selfish, and vicious acts.