Updated on December 21, 2023, by Ajay Aravind: There have been several vampire-themed TV shows in recent years, but there's no doubt that The Vampire Diarieshas done a lot for the genre. In fact, the series universe now includes two spin-off shows, as well as a range of novels and comic books. Given the importance of the vampire characters, we've updated this list with some more relevant information.
In The Vampire Diaries Season 3, Episode 5, "The Reckoning," the original vampire Niklaus Mikaelson compelled Stefan Salvatore to turn off his humanity.
Gilbert "safe" for Klaus’ plan to create hybrids with her blood, he reverted back to his early Ripper days, not caring for anything or anyone.
In fact, Elena Gilbert was more than happy to do some blood-binging in broad daylight. Elena changed her appearance and her new persona deteriorated to the point that she attacked Bonnie and tried to kill Caroline Forbes. Pushing Damon and Stefan to break Matt Donovan’s neck forced her to feel again.
Damon Salvatore (portrayed by Ian Somerhalder) was tortured by Dr. Whitmore as part of the Augustine Society, which had experimented on vampires since 1953. It was Enzo’s friendship that helped Damon hold on to his humanity. When he had the opportunity to flee in 1958, Damon tried to escape with Enzo but failed because the bars of his cage were soaked in vervain.
He knew that to save himself, he had to stop caring about his friend — and so he turned off his humanity and left Enzo to die.
With no guilt remaining, Damon led a reckless life for years, during which time he unknowingly killed Maggie James, Enzo’s one true love.
The first time Lorenzo "Enzo" St. John (Michael Malarkey) turns off his humanity is when he learns Damon has killed Maggie. She had attacked Damon with the intention to subdue him and then take him back to Augustine. With his humanity off, he not only beheaded her with his bare hand, but he also staged her body to look like Stefan had killed her.
Enzo shuts down his humanity to stop caring about Maggie’s death and to stop hating Damon.
In , Episode 14, "Stay," Elizabeth Forbes died of a rare cancer, despite her daughter's attempt to cure her with vampire blood. Unable to cope with the pain, Caroline (Candice King, who returned in the spinoff Legacies) flipped her humanity switch before Stefan could tell her he loved her.
Without her humanity, Caroline didn’t care what others thought and kept herself busy with shopping, partying, and drinking. However, she was still in full control of her blood lust, knowing that a string of bodies would put the police on her trail.
