Isobel Flemming

Isobel Flemming was the wife of Alaric Saltzman and the biological mother of Elena Gilbert. She was good friends with her ancestor Katherine Pierce, a vampire she often conspired with. When Isobel was still in high school, she met John Gilbert and became pregnant with Elena. Isobel absconded a few days after Elena's birth, and soon after, John's brother Grayson and his wife Miranda adopted Elena. Many years later, Isobel met Alaric Saltzman. At first, she did not like him and even had a restraining order against him, but later she changed her mind and they eventually got married. While Isobel was still married to Alaric, she became obsessed with paranormal research. She met a vampire, Damon Salvatore, who turned her into a vampire at her request.
After being compelled by Klaus, she committed suicide by walking into the sun while her daughter Elena watched.
Isobel was a member of the Petrova Family and a former relative of the Saltzman Family due to her marriage with Alaric. She was also a relative to the Gilbert Family, as she was Elena's biological mother.
==Early History==
Isobel Flemming was born on October 17, 1975. She was raised in a small town near Mystic Falls and spent much time there when she was young. As a teenager, she met John Gilbert and the two began dating. Although John ended up falling in love with Isobel, she did not reciprocate his feelings. Shortly thereafter, Isobel becomes pregnant by John. After John tells Isobel about vampires, it sparks her curiosity and she dedicates her life's work to supernatural research.
Isobel was sixteen at the time and had run away from home. John brought her to his brother's office for the delivery and he delivered a baby girl. Isobel was heartbroken to give up her daughter but did so anyway, knowing that she would have a better life with Grayson and his wife, Miranda. They named her Elena. Isobel would always dream that she would one day be able to meet her daughter and tell her who she was.
Isobel later attended Duke University, where she studied folklore and parapsychology. She also met Alaric Saltzman during this time and they eventually married, while he accepted she wanted no children. Isobel later earned her degree and started teaching at Duke. Isobel's devotion to her work led Vanessa to go into folklore full-time.
Isobel soon became an expert researcher and started to study many aspects of supernatural lore such as vampires and werewolves. She discovered the existence of the Sun and the Moon Curse.
Isobel was later killed and turned by Damon Salvatore after seeking him out and sleeping with him. When it became clear that the police weren't gonna find her body her parents mourned her with a grave stone assuming her death to be May 4, 2007. Sometime later, she met Katherine Pierce and they became close and genuine friends.
==Throughout The Vampire Diaries Series==
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==Personality==
She views humans at the most a means to an end to her, as a source of food, entertainment (including sexual), puppets to be robbed of their free will using them as "muscle" against other humans if she wishes not to condescend to do it herself. She has no compassion, even colder than Damon and has no compunction in programming a human as a messenger boy and having him kill himself after the message is delivered. She feels absolutely no guilt in killing and feeding, voluntarily "turning off" any such evidence of conscience. It is only with her daughter and former husband that she does display any affection in any form and it is often fleeting. However, she worries about Elena's relationship with Stefan and can see how Damon is attracted to her daughter.
She shows she never stopped loving her daughter despite becoming a vampire and apparently not caring for human life. Isobel is also an expert researcher who usually finds what she wants. Amongst her significant finds, she found Damon Salvatore and Katherine Pierce. She also managed to find Klaus although he had become so reclusive that many believed him to be a mere legend, this ended up being her downfall as he begun compelling her and forced her to commit suicide after she did everything he asked.
==Powers and Abilities==
Isobel possessed all the standard powers and abilities of a non-original vampire.
==Weaknesses==
Isobel had the typical weaknesses of a non-Original vampire.
==Relationships==
*John and Isobel (Exes/Parents/Former Allies)
*Alaric and Isobel (Ex-Spouses/Former Allies)
*Damon and Isobel (Ex-Fling/Former Allies/Enemies)
*Katherine and Isobel (Former Friends/Former Allies/Distant Family)
*Elena and Isobel (Mother and Daughter/Former Enemies)
*John, Isobel and Elena (Were Family/Frenemies)
*Isobel and Trudie (Ex-Best Friends/Isobel had her killed)
==Appearances==
===The Vampire Diaries===
Season One
*Bloodlines (Flashback)
*Unpleasantville (Mentioned)
*A Few Good Men (Flashback)
*There Goes the Neighborhood (Mentioned)
*Under Control (Mentioned)
*Miss Mystic Falls (Mentioned)
*Blood Brothers (Cameo)
*Isobel
Season Two
*The Return (Mentioned)
*Bad Moon Rising (Mentioned)
*Plan B (Mentioned)
*By the Light of the Moon (Mentioned)
*The Descent (Mentioned)
*Daddy Issues (Mentioned)
*Crying Wolf (Mentioned)
*The Dinner Party (Mentioned)
*The House Guest (Cameo)
*Know Thy Enemy (Death)
*The Last Dance (Mentioned)
*Klaus (Mentioned)
*As I Lay Dying (Indirectly mentioned)
Season Five
*For Whom the Bell Tolls (Mentioned)
*Dead Man on Campus (Mentioned)
Season Six
*Black Hole Sun (Mentioned)
Season Eight
*We're Planning a June Wedding (Mentioned)
===Legacies===
Season Four
*Someplace Far Away From All This Violence (Mentioned)
==Name==
*Isobel meaning is "pledged to God". It is a variation on the name Isabella or Elizabeth.https://nameberry.com/babyname/Isobel
*Flemming comes from Danish, English and Old French origins. In Danish, it comes from a medieval nickname meaning "from Flanders".https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flemming
==Trivia==
* Jenna states that Isobel was sixteen when she had Elena. However, given Isobel's birth year on her tombstone (January 18, 1978), Elena would have been born in 1994. Elena was 17 years old in 2009, so she was born in 1992. Maybe Isobel's tombstone information is incorrect. There is conflicting information, a different birth date (October 17, 1975), from a picture of her driving license. It's also likely the 1978 birth is a production error.
* In Isobel, Isobel says that Katherine found her, but in By the Light of the Moon, Katherine says Isobel found her.
*With The Other Side's collapse and Hell being destroyed, she either found peace or went to a dimension similar to Hell, if one exists.
==Gallery==
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==References==
==See also==
Category:Characters
Category:The Vampire Diaries (series)
Category:The Vampire Diaries Characters
Category:The Vampire Diaries Season One Characters
Category:The Vampire Diaries Season Two Characters
Category:Guest Characters
Category:Recurring Characters
Category:Female Characters
Category:Antagonists
Category:Mystic Falls Residents
Category:Petrova Family
Category:Supernatural
Category:Vampires
Category:Ghosts
Category:Deceased