Alaric Saltzman

Won

Alaric J. "Ric" Saltzman is a vampire hunter, a former history teacher at Mystic Falls High School, and an Original Vampire through species, as an Enhanced Original, not by being one of the first vampires as the Mikaelson Family. He originally came to Mystic Falls to find the vampire that killed his wife, but learned that she voluntarily became a vampire and left him. He also learned that his wife had a child when she was a teenager, a daughter named Elena Gilbert, his student. Alaric began a romantic relationship with her adoptive aunt Jenna. Following Jenna's tragic death, he seemed to step into his step-father role to Elena and is a father figure to her brother, Jeremy. He is also Damon's best friend alongside Enzo, Damon even calling Alaric 'brother' on occasions.

Through overuse of the Gilbert Ring, Esther manipulated his spirit while he was on The Other Side before he would resurrect, and as a result he developed an alter ego, called The Darkness by Bonnie and Dark Alaric or Evil Alaric to others, that hated vampires and vampire sympathizers, killing members of the Mystic Falls Founder's Council who protected vampires. Alaric became an Enhanced Original Vampire through Esther's magic so he could kill her children with the last, and indestructible, White Oak Stake, to make the vampire species extinct before his death, his life having been linked to Elena's, leading Rebekah to kill her to stop Alaric. Alaric is now resurrected as his Original Vampire self, while his alter-ego appears to have gone away for good upon his resurrection.

As a vampire hunter he designed several different weapons to fight vampires which include vervain tranquilizers and arm vest stakes.

As a ghost, he watched over Damon, Jeremy, and Elena. In the last two episodes of the Fourth Season, his spirit was brought back into the world of the living (albeit confined within the Expression Triangle) where his presence proved crucial at off-setting the threat of the Hunters of the Five in their goal to kill Silas after curing him of his Immortality. His ghost is resurrected in Home, with the exceptions of Damon, Bonnie, and Lexi, from The Other Side before its destruction, being the last to cross over to the land of the living.

After being resurrected, he is now a college professor at Whitmore College.

Alaric is a non-biological relative of Elena Gilbert, Jeremy Gilbert, the Petrova Family and the Gilbert Family, due to being Elena's step-father through his marriage to Isobel.

Early life


The Saltzmans are descendants of German immigrants who arrived in Texas in 1755. He was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts. He mentions to Jenna Sommers that during high school, he wore eyeglasses and had a skin condition. While attending Duke University, he met and then married Isobel Flemming, a parapsychologist (it's revealed by Meredith that Isobel filed a restraining order against him twice) who had an interest in vampires, a topic he would regularly tease her about.

He said that she was "Like Mulder, except hotter, and a girl". At some point, Isobel gave him a ring and told him to always wear it. One night, he returned home late to find a vampire in his bedroom drinking Isobel's blood. Her body was never found and she was assumed to be dead. Alaric took over her research and found out about Mystic Falls and the rumors about vampires being alive in the town. He went there to find out the truth and discover what had happened to his wife.

He also created a number of anti-vampire weapons, so as to protect himself and others from them.

Throughout The Vampire Diaries Series

 * -|Season One=


 * -|Season Two=


 * -|Season Three=


 * -|Season Four=


 * -|Season Five=

In 500 Years of Solitude, Alaric appeared at the Boarding House where he was seen by Bonnie and Jeremy. When asked by Jeremy where he had been, Alaric said that he wouldn't leave Damon in charge without looking back to check in on everyone. After Damon raised his glass to Alaric, he smiles fondly and seems at peace as he looks at everyone he cares about.



Alaric returns in Home. His ghost assists Elena's, saying he will find Damon and get him to Bonnie, first helping Damon in saving Sheriff Forbes. As they meet up with Bonnie, she grabs Alaric first resurrecting him before the spell allowing the ghosts to pass through stops, leaving Damon trapped. Alaric is then seen comforting a distraught Elena and Jeremy over their losses.




 * -|Season Six=

Physical Appearance
Alaric is a handsome man with short, brown hair that is gelled on the top and has hazel eyes.

Human
When introduced, Alaric was a mysterious man who seemed outwardly warm and friendly both with his students, and with strangers. He was quick to give Jeremy a second chance, and immediately started to bond with Jenna. However, this facade showed a darker side, one tinged with guilt and grief. Namely, he carried the burden of the disappearance of his wife and a fierce dedication to discover what had happened to her. He proved to be an intelligent and talented vampire hunter, shown when he killed Logan Fell. However, he was also stubborn and dedicated to finding out what happened to his wife. Namely, he ignored Stefan's warnings to stay away from Damon and attacked him, which led to his first death.

His fixation on Isobel eventually came to pass when he learned of her transformation into a vampire and he managed to let her go, namely after she compelled him to do so, so that he could go along with his life. This allowed him to develop his relationship with Jenna.

Alaric started to warm up to the others and started to form a sort of partnership with Damon as they investigated what happened to Isobel and her connection to John Gilbert. This partnership eventually evolved into a particularly strong friendship, some even considering Damon to be Alaric's best friend, and Alaric as Damon's only friend.

However, after Jenna's death, Alaric was unhinged and started to fall into a state of depression when he was seen drinking away the pain. While he was portrayed as a moderate drinker before the incident, Jenna's death led him to develop a rather severe drinking problem with Meredith Fell calling him a borderline alcoholic. He tried to take care of Elena and Jeremy, but had difficulty living up to the task. This dark part of him was also emphasized due to the many times that he had died and came back to life. It also connected to his suppressed guilt at the way his life had taken and all the pain that had resulted from it which made him fall prey to the darkness within him and turned him into a serial killer.

Enhanced Original Vampire
After Alaric was turned into an Enhanced Original, his darker aspect took complete control, and although now a vampire, was determined to hunt down the Original family and end the existence of vampires, showing that that was all he cared about by agreeing to be desiccated after he had finished his work. His hatred of vampires and vampire sympathizers was just as potent as it had been during his fits of insanity, outing former friends to the Town Council to be hunted down. He also considered his real personality a disgrace, who had befriended the very things that had ruined his life and also was disgusted by ever having been friends with Damon.

Since returning from the Other Side, Alaric seemingly retains his original personality, coupled with his vampiric abilities. He was there for Elena as she grieved the loss of Damon and stood by the rest of the gang as Bonnie and Damon pass on.

Ghost
For unknown reasons, Alaric completely reverted to his original personality when he died. When Bonnie dropped the veil to the Other Side, Alaric retained his vampire powers as well as his personality as if his darker personality simply disappeared when he died. It is possible Esther used magic while encouraging his dark side when he would die with the ring, making it so that after he transitioned his dark side would have full control. As it could have been part of Esther's spell, then it makes sense that he regained his true personality upon death, which would break Esther's tampering with his mind.

Powers and Abilities
Alaric possesses all the standard powers and abilities of an Original Vampire. As an Enhanced Original, Alaric is stronger and faster than any non-original and original vampire and is one of the most powerful supernatural beings in the TVD/TO universe, possibly with the exception that Klaus may be equal in strength and speed due to his hybrid werewolf/original vampire nature.

Relationships
These are the relationships that Alaric has had during his life as a human and a vampire. He was dead during Season Four and most of Season Five due to Rebekah driving Matt and Elena off Wickery Bridge to save her own family from immediate death, he was buried at Mystic Falls Cemetery after his death but was brought back to life due to Damon and Bonnie's sacrifices.

Isobel Flemming
Isobel Flemming is Elena's birth mother and a descendant of Katherine. She is a vampire who was turned by Damon at her own request, and claims to be a messenger from Katherine. She was married to Alaric Saltzman, the history teacher at the high school, but left him when she became a vampire. She dated John Gilbert, Elena's biological father, in high school. Although Isobel tells Elena not to look for any redeeming qualities in her, she regrets that Elena has been drawn into the supernatural world and that Elena is involved with both Salvatore brothers. Because of her desire to keep Elena from staying involved with the Salvatore brothers, she tells John Gilbert to insure both Stefan and Damon are killed along with the tomb vampires and she agrees with John that this isn't the life they want for their daughter. Before she leaves Mystic Falls, she confronts Alaric, telling him she regrets her decision to become a vampire. Isobel than compels him to move on from her.

She returns in season two allegedly to help protect Elena from Klaus but she really was compelled by him to kidnap Alaric to use him as a host. In their final conversation she apologizes for everything she put him through and that she will always love him just before she was forced to let Maddox kidnap him for Klaus. Isobel was also responsible for breaking up Alaric and Jenna as she said to Katherine. It was she who asked John to poison their relationship about the truth surrounding her death. John, who wanted his ring back since Alaric had it, agreed to use this to blackmail Alaric out of his ring. She later commits suicide.

Damon Salvatore
"What difference does it make? In the end, when you lose somebody, every candle, every prayer is not going to make up for the fact that the only thing that you have left is a hole in your life where that somebody that you cared about used to be. And a rock with a birthdate carved into it that I’m pretty sure is wrong. So, thanks friend. Thanks for leaving me here to babysit."

- Damon's speech for Alaric in Memorial

Damon is Alaric's best friend. It started out antagonistic towards each other since Alaric knew that it had been Damon who had killed his wife but it later turned out that she wasn't dead and that she had, in fact, been turned into a vampire by Damon. From that point on, they have been shown as becoming closer as they first worked together to rescue Stefan from the tomb vampires' occupied house, then they often team up to fight the usual threats to the town. Alaric is the only one (other than Elena) to call Damon a friend. They are seen often drinking together; it's often seen that they do taunt each other as well though. Throughout the series, they become like brothers. Towards the end of season 3, Alaric was turned into an Original Vampire by Esther and fed on Bonnie Bennett to complete his transition and then took the White Oak Stake from Bonnie. Alaric died in Damon's arms in the Season 3 finale, moments after Elena's death causing Damon to break down having lost his first real best friend since he and Stefan became vampires. But when Alaric appears as a ghost we learn that he will always be watching over Damon. In season five, Damon sacrifices to save Alaric and the others before the Other Side is completely destroyed. Alaric mourns the loss of losing his best friend.

Jenna Sommers
Jenna was the love of Alaric's life. They fell for each other and always spent their free time with each other. He felt that her innocence is one of the things that needed to be protected and preserved. As their relationship continued to develop it later became strained after she discovers his wife, Isobel, was alive, and that he is a vampire hunter.

Tools and Weapons
As a proficient vampire hunter, Alaric used many weapons and tools to aid in his one man war. These weapons were kept in his apartment, car, and even at the school; always close-by and ready for use. He would often loan his vampire slaying weapons to his friends and allies when they were in need of them. As a form of protection against supernatural creatures, Isobel Flemming gift to Alaric a magic ring of resurrection.
 * Stakes - Alaric would primarily use stakes in combat, taking an element of surprise approach in his battles against deadly vampires like Logan Fell and Damon Salvatore.
 * Stake Launcher - Alaric used an air propelled stake launcher that he'd keep nearby at the school. When he first met Stefan, he tried to kill him with the help of this weapon.
 * Arm Cuff Stake - A hidden device under his sleeve which would allow you to either draw the stake from seemingly nowhere or if you punched an opponent with enough force, launch it forward. He taught Elena how to use this weapon effectively.
 * White Oak Stake - Once he had been turned into an Original vampire by Esther, who wanted him to hunt down the Originals, he used the white oak stake along with his new powers to try and make all vampires extinct.
 * Vervain Darts
 * Vervain Grenades
 * Wolfsbane Grenades
 * Gilbert Ring - Alaric always wore the Gilbert Ring that his wife Isobel had given him. It allowed him to be resurrected after being killed by a supernatural creature or by supernatural means, a very handy trinket for someone hunting vampires, though it did end up having some negative effects. Alaric's Gilbert Ring was used to melt and bind its protective magic to the last White Oak Stake, making it indestructible, and the ring is now no more.

Name

 * "Alaric" Gothic name meaning "ruler of all". Was the name of the king of the Visigoths who sacked Rome in 410 and might have precipitate the fall of Rome.

Trivia

 * Kevin Williamson originally wanted James Van Der Beek for the role of "Alaric". The two previously worked together for the first two seasons of "Dawson's Creek". James Van Der Beek is replaced by Blue Crush star Matthew Davis for the role as Alaric.
 * In the books his name was Alaric K. Saltzman. In the series "K" is not mentioned. Instead it's a J as seen on his tombstone.
 * In the books Alaric was much younger and was a researcher instead of a vampire hunter. He also had a relationship with Meredith Sulez and was never married or met Elena's aunt. In the series Alaric meets Meredith Fell and starts a relationship with her a while after Elena's aunt Jenna dies.
 * He is the only non-Gilbert, besides Matt Donovan in season 4, shown to use the Gilbert Ring.
 * He had relationships with two women (Isobel and Jenna ) who were both turned into vampires and died, and both are related to Elena Gilbert.
 * Alaric is techinally Elena's step-father as he married her mother Isobel Flemming.
 * Ironically, in the series, Alaric is a vampire hunter but in the books, Meredith says she is a vampire hunter.
 * Like Jeremy, he has been killed twice by Damon Salvatore.
 * Alaric is the first character to use a White Oak Ash Dagger on screen.
 * Logan Fell was the first vampire that Alaric killed.
 * Alaric has killed the most Original Vampires (while they were linked), with the exception of Mikael and Klaus.
 * He has most deaths in the series (8).
 * Season 1
 * Staked by Damon Salvatore (A Few Good Men)
 * Season 2
 * Stabbed by Stevie (Crying Wolf)
 * Season 3
 * Broken Neck by Damon Salvatore (Disturbing Behavior)
 * Hit by a car by Tony (The New Deal)
 * Stabbed by Elena Gilbert (Bringing Out The Dead)
 * Broken Neck by Klaus (Heart of Darkness)
 * Staked by Esther (Do Not Go Gentle)
 * Elena's death caused by Rebekah (The Departed)
 * Alaric has been killed by most species seen on the show.
 * Damon Salvatore, a vampire
 * Stevie, a werewolf
 * Tony, a hybrid
 * Elena Gilbert, a doppelgänger
 * Klaus, the Original Hybrid
 * Esther, a witch
 * Rebekah (indirectly), an Original Vampire
 * Alaric completed his transition by drinking the blood of a witch, just like Jenna.
 * He is the only Original not part of the Mikaelson Family.
 * He is the first Original to be destroyed without the use of a White Oak Stake.
 * Of all the Originals in the Original Vampire species, Alaric was considered the strongest and most determined while possessed by his Alter Ego, stopping at nothing to make vampires extinct.
 * Alaric was the third main character to die after Vicki and Jenna, but before Jeremy and Bonnie.
 * He is the first male main character to die.
 * He is the third main character to transition into a vampire before death, after Vicki and Jenna.
 * Alaric is the first Original to become a ghost, Kol being the second. Mikael was a ghost on the Other Side first, but made no on-screen appearances until appearing on TO.
 * Excluding Henrik and his unnamed older sibling, Alaric has killed every member of the Original Family at one point except for Mikael.
 * He is the only Original who's body didn't burn upon death.
 * He's the only Original who can't be killed by the White Oak Stake, thus implying a wooden stake wouldn't kill him or slow him down like the other Originals (Finn, Elijah, Kol, Rebekah, or Mikael). Klaus is also immune to normal stakes through the heart from his werewolf side, evidenced by his fight with Tyler Lockwood in the bayou.
 * Like normal vampires who die when the source of their bloodline dies Alaric did the same when Elena died but much faster.
 * Alaric was a lethal vampire hunter as a normal human, with only supernatural hunters such as The Five trumping his skills and weaponry.
 * Alaric is resurrected with many of the other deceased main characters in the Season Five finale before The Other Side is completely destroyed, being the last to cross back to the living.
 * He is the third Original Vampire to be resurrected, the first being Mikael and the second being Finn, (Only in spirit).
 * Alaric is the second Original to be fully resurrected in his Original Vampire body in TVD alongside Mikael in TO.
 * Alaric is still an Enhanced Original after his ressurection. Julie Plec has confirmed that his ability to adapt to life as a vampire will be a big part of Season Six.
 * It is unknown if Alaric's life is still linked to Elena's upon resurrection.
 * Alaric will compel himself a new teaching position outside of Mystic Falls at a local university.