Matt Donovan

> "I've hurt people for the wrong reasons too, but that feeling in your gut, that voice telling you to hate yourself for what you did, that's not a bad thing. That means you're a good person."
>
> - **Matt** to **Dorian** in *The Lies Will Catch Up To You*

**Matthew G. "Matt" Donovan** is a main character on *The Vampire Diaries* and a guest character in the third season of *The Originals* and first season of *Legacies*. He is the son of Kelly Donovan and Peter Maxwell. He had an older sister Vicki Donovan, who was turned into a vampire, and was later killed because she was unable to control her blood lust. Matt is also the ex-boyfriend of Elena Gilbert, Caroline Forbes and Rebekah Mikaelson.

He was born and raised in the town of Mystic Falls. After the death of Elena's parents, Elena broke up with Matt because she lost interest in him. Despite the way they broke up, Matt still cares about Elena deeply and they've managed to maintain a good friendship. At the beginning of the series, Matt struggles with his sister, Vicki, because she was a drug user, but then she tragically dies. Later on he begins dating Caroline Forbes, and encourages her to become a more caring, kind and selfless young woman. However, Caroline soon breaks up with him after her transition into a vampire - in order to protect him.

Upon learning about the existence of supernatural creatures, he begins to distance himself from the Mystic Falls Gang. Eventually he starts to help his friends defeat their enemies and protect their hometown, and he fixes his friendship with Caroline. Later he becomes a Medium for a short while like Jeremy Gilbert, although he could only see his sister's ghost. He began a brief relationship with Rebekah Mikaelson, and went to Europe with her at the end of Season Four, but they ended things before she left Mystic Falls.

Later on, he decided to become a deputy in Mystic Falls Police Department, and a vampire hunter.

He is best friends with Jeremy Gilbert, Tyler Lockwood, Elena Gilbert, Christine Meade, and Bonnie Bennett. He is also close friends with Caroline Forbes.

**Matt** is a member of the **Donovan Family**.

## Early History

Matt was born in Mystic Falls. He is the son of Kelly Donovan and Peter Maxwell. He had an older sister, Vicki Donovan. Because Kelly and Miranda Gilbert, who was Elena's adoptive mother, were best friends since high school, Matt knew Elena since infancy, occasionally sharing a crib. They grew up together, being really close childhood friends, and began dating in their teenage years feeling they owed it to themselves to try. When Elena's parents died, she broke up with Matt because she needed time alone to figure out her feelings. Matt still hoped they could be together, but it was not likely to happen due to Elena's instant connection to the new student, Stefan Salvatore. It's something he might still mourn about.

## Throughout The Vampire Diaries Series

* Season 1
* Season 2
* Season 3

At the start of a new school year, Matt saw that Elena was strongly drawn to the handsome, mysterious new student, Stefan Salvatore. He was jealous as he believed that he and Elena still had a chance to be together later. When his sister Vicki was attacked, he saw Stefan at the hospital but he mysteriously disappeared. Matt remained suspicious of him. Matt started to warm up to Stefan a little more when he joined the football team at school.

Matt was also grateful when Stefan found Vicki and she disappeared (when it was Damon Salvatore who took her. Matt still showed he had feelings for Elena and Bonnie tried to help him move on. Not long afterwards, Vicki went missing again. Along with search-parties, Matt tried to find her and was relieved when Jeremy Gilbert called him over to his house where Vicki was, where she was transitioning into a vampire. When she became a vampire, Stefan tried to help her, but when Vicki said he was bothering her, Matt told him to leave her alone.

When she disappeared *again*, Matt was questioned by Sheriff Forbes of her supposed whereabouts, but like everyone else, he had no clue where she had gone. He found a note at his house "written" by Vicki that said she left town. At Caroline's party, Stefan explained to Matt that he was just trying to help his sister, but Matt told him Vicki was unreliable like her mother. Later, Caroline turned up drunk because she was heart-broken by something Damon had told her. Matt tried to cheer her up and eventually had to take her home. She did not want to be alone, so he had to spend the night with her, in her bedroom cuddling together.

Matt started working at the Mystic Grill. Caroline talked about a washed-out football player, Ben, and how he is working as a bartender. Matt was offended by this and Caroline left, saying that they didn't give each other a chance. Matt caught up to her when she was crossing the road, and Matt got out of his Ute and kissed Caroline in the middle of the crossing in the spot light of his lights from the Ute.

They started going out afterwards. They were caught in a heated moment by Matt's mother, who had returned home after her boyfriend left her. Kelly didn't like Caroline very much and called her "Matt's rebound girl". Caroline decided they go on a double-date with Elena and Stefan but the date went wrong for her when Matt and Elena went on about childhood memories. Stefan let Matt drive his car with Caroline but when they came back to the Salvatore Boarding House, Matt found his mom making out with Stefan's brother Damon. He was extremely upset with her, telling her that she was the adult and she should behave like one.

Kelly and Matt were in for devastating news when Caroline and her mother Sheriff Forbes came with news that Vicki's body had been found in a terrible storm. Even though Caroline wanted to comfort him, Matt wanted to be left alone, but ended up crying in Elena's arms.

His relationship with her mother took the final straw when he caught her making out with Tyler Lockwood. He and Tyler got into a fight which was stopped by Tyler's father Mayor Lockwood. When they got home, Matt told his mother to get out of his house because he was better of without her in his life. He did not accept her apologies.

Matt was supposed to be Caroline's escort in the Miss Mystic Falls Pageant, but he could not make it due to his work schedule. He was with her for the Founder's Day Parade. He left the Mystic Grill with Tyler and Caroline when Mayor Lockwood asked them to leave because he was worried for his son's safety. When Tyler heard an unpleasant and painful noise, he sent the car off the road. All three passengers survived but Caroline had to be taken to the hospital for surgery. Her injuries were severe, and Matt, Tyler and her mother wait for any news of her.}}

Matt stayed the hospital to await Caroline's results from the accident. After a visit from Damon, Caroline started to get better quickly, much to Matt and Bonnie's great relief. Unknowingly to him, Damon had given Caroline blood to help her heal, but when Katherine killed her, Caroline became a vampire after drinking blood she found in the hospital. Matt visited her in the hospital, where he found her unhappy. He pulled back the curtains to bring light into the room, put Caroline ran to the shadows. He didn't understand what was happening and left.

At the carnival, Caroline told Matt she had been discharged early. He was happy about that when he gave her a hug, she began to act strange again, and he started to believed she was losing interest. He sneaked into her room to talk to her about how she was acting and he admitted that he was in love with her, and was afraid she didn't love him anymore but she proved him wrong by kissing him. They hugged and Caroline was able to resist the urge to bite him.

Caroline's inability to go out in the sun put a strain on her relationship with Matt. Stefan convinced Bonnie to help her by creating another Lapis Lazuli jewelry piece. Aimee Bradley started flirting with Matt, annoying Caroline and she compelled her to go away and Matt thought she was being rude. Later on, Caroline asked Matt if he was mad at her and he admitted that he thought they were past her insecurities. He told her how he felt about her and asked what more she needed.

Caroline promised that she didn't need anything else and apologized, promising that there will be no more drama. They kissed and headed off into the woods together. They started making out but when Matt cut himself, Caroline lost control and attacked him. Stefan stopped her as a wolf attacked them, but at Tyler's arrival, it left. Caroline then compelled Matt to forget what she did and that an animal attacked him. At the Mystic Grill, Aimee started talking to Matt again. Caroline decided to break up with Matt and made a big deal out of it, forcing him to break up with her.

Matt helped out at the Lockwood Mansion for the Masquerade Ball, and discussed with Caroline's strange behavior with Tyler. Later on, Katherine is shown compelling Matt to have Tyler kill him at any cost because she needed a werewolf now that Damon had killed Mason. Matt almost breaks a fight with Tyler at the masquerade ball, but Caroline knocks him unconscious before
he has the chance to make Tyler kill him. Though he was stopped, another girl, Sara, who was also compelled, attacked Tyler after his failure and died in the process, thus activating his transformation. Afterwards, he is guilt-stricken by what happened, with no memory of being compelled to do so, and apologizes to Tyler. He later drops by Caroline's house to visit her.

In *The House Guest*, Caroline sings to Matt and he kisses her in front of everyone in the Grill. They start making out in the bathroom, but are interrupted by the chaos caused by Jonas Martin. Caroline tries to fight him, but Jonas used his powers on her, Matt tried to save her, and Jonas stabbed him in the neck. As he was lying on the floor dying, Caroline gives him her blood to save him. After he wakes up, Caroline confesses to him that she is a vampire. Matt then remembers Vicki saying something about vampires when she had her accident and thinks that Caroline had something to do with it.

In *Know Thy Enemy*, Matt stays away from Caroline, he meets Sheriff Forbes and demands on how she covered up Vicki's death by the hands of a vampire. He then went to Caroline's house and demanded that she tell him what happened to Vicki and everything about her. After Caroline has told him everything, he tells her that he doesn't want to remember any of it because he doesn't want to look at her and see what she really is.

After she compels him it was later revealed to be a setup by Sheriff Forbes to find out the information that Caroline knew of everything on vampires in town. Matt takes Caroline to the 60s Decade Dance under Sheriff Forbes orders, he is still having a hard time being around Caroline due to the fact that he still knows that she is a vampire as well as Tyler being a werewolf.

In *The Last Day*, Matt once again is talking with Sheriff Forbes. He later seems to have a change of heart and calls Caroline supposedly to tell her everything and then follows Damon. He finds Damon at the Tomb and sees him fight with the warlock Maddox. As Damon is losing, Matt kills Maddox using a rifle and wooden bullets afterwards Damon knocks him out. After he wakes up he witness Tyler werewolf transformation and runs with Caroline down in the Lockwood cellar.

In *The Sun Also Rises*, while protecting themselves from Tyler, he and Caroline had an honest talk about what happened. Matt tells her he can't handle the pressure of her supernatural life and just wants to be normal, Caroline is sad but agrees and they officially end their relationship.

Matt is still working at the Mystic Grill, only this time with Jeremy. He was having a hard time seeing Caroline and Tyler together. He even asks Jeremy to switch waiting tables with him yelling out: "I don't feel like waiting on my ex-girlfriend". He later attends Elena's 18th birthday party and is seen smoking along with Jeremy. Later, he gets a ride with Jeremy to his house where Jeremy suddenly tells him that he can see Vicki.

In *The Hybrid*, he is asking Jeremy more questions about Vicki and admits that he can't remember much when she was a vampire, and that he never got a chance to say goodbye. At first, Matt finds it to hard going through Vicki's things in his garage to try to contact with Jeremy. He gets overwhelmed and tells Jeremy that he can't do it, after seeing a picture of him and Vicki as kids. After Jeremy leaves, the picture flips from face-down to face-up. He believed Jeremy after that, thinking it was a sign, so he goes back to Jeremy's and tries to help.

In *The Reckoning*, Matt is seen working out at the gym when he goes into a classroom where the gang is planing what to do for Senior's Prank Night, which he forgot was in motion. Later, he is helping Bonnie in the school pool room by putting toilet paper all over. And they later go to the gym where they see Klaus, witnessing him killing Tyler. Matt goes with Bonnie to help find away for Klaus to create his hybrids and to save Tyler. They discover ghost can help them, but can't get a hold of Jeremy, so Matt's decides to take one for the team by drowning himself and hopefully communicate with his dead sister, Vicki, who has been haunting him recently. He drowns himself, and Bonnie successfully performs CPR on Matt, thus granting him the ability to see his sister.

In *Smells Like Teen Spirit*, Matt is able to see Vicki now due to his near death experience. Matt talks with her and she tells him that she can come back. Later Matt performed some blood magic that allowed his sister to physically touch and hug things. Vicki used Matt because they're joined by blood. Matt loved his sister with all his heart and tried to protect her. The tender moment between brother and sister was interrupted when she bludgeoned him with a tool. When he woke, he realized the mistake he made and sought Bonnie's help Bonnie informed Matt that he's the only one keeping Vicki around, so Matt had to say goodbye. Vicki apologized, swore that she wouldn't hurt anyone if he let her stay, and cried as Matt let her go. Matt told Vicki that she shouldn't be here anymore, that he needs to let her go no matter how painful it is.

In *Ghost World*, Matt is seen helping the town get ready for The Illumination Night.

In *Homecoming*, Matt shows up at the Salvatore mansion to pick up Rebekah, his date, and his greeted by Elena, who nervously suggests that they go together as a couple as his back up date. Matt agrees. Later at the party he see Caroline on the floor and Tyler telling him to take her away from this place.

In *Our Town*, he helps Elena and Bonnie to surprise Caroline but after seeing she is not in the mood for a celebration, they decide to go to a graveyard to give her a funeral instead. During the party Matt talks with Elena and he discover she feels stuck and doesn't want to lose anyone else she loves. Later Matt and Elena go look for Caroline in the woods and Matt gets knocked out by Stefan. Matt later brings Caroline home after she has been bitten but Tyler. Klaus then comes by and Matt states that this is his fault, as Tyler would have never done such a thing to Caroline. He then meets Elena at Wickery Bridge.

In *Bringing Out The Dead*, Matt is seen comforting Caroline about her father dying, later he walks Elena home where they both find Alaric half dead and Elena explains to Matt why she needs to kill him. After Matt stays with Elena until Alaric comes back to life.

He is seen with Elena and then he drives home. At the Grill, he was approached by Rebekah, wanting him to be her dancing partner which he accepted. During the ball he danced with Rebekah and Caroline, asking her why she is here with Klaus. As Rebekah and him are taking an timeout they went outside where he got a blanket for her. As she originally intended to kill him with the assistance of Kol to make Elena suffer, she now backs out and they go inside. Matt meets Kol inside who introduces himself and crushes his hand. At the Grill Rebekah apologies for her brother's actions but Matt leaves.

In *1912*, Matt is seen running with Elena and filling her in with the situation of Bonnie's mother: Abby had decided to complete the transition and Caroline was going to help her through it. Elena then receives the news that Alaric was arrested as a suspect in the murders of Brian Walters and Bill Forbes and the attempted murder on himself. Matt later helps Elena break into Meredith Fell's apartment to find proof that she, not Alaric, was the murderer. They find her cache, where she had been hiding a box in which she has the files of each victim and an old Gilbert family journal. They also find a corner's report saying that the time of death was actually earlier than the police knew which meant that Alaric had an alibi. Meredith then arrives home and they hide in the closet but she tricks them into coming out.

A furious Sheriff Forbes tells them that Meredith had already given her the corner's report and that it was being checked out and that she wanted them to go home and stay out of trouble. As Elena and Matt are going home, they stumble across Damon with Stefan feeding on a young woman. Matt takes Elena away and questions her on her feelings for both the Salvatores. She reveals that she fell for Stefan because, after her parents' death, she felt like he would never leave, like he would never die. As for Damon, she says that he snuck up on her and she just can't shake him. Matt says that that is what happens when you fall in love with someone.

In *Heart of Darkness*, Matt is busy keeping Rebekah involved in the 20s Decade Dance preparations so that Caroline gets a day off to meet Tyler. He gives Rebekah a ride back to Klaus' Mansion.

In *Do Not Go Gentle*, Jeremy and Matt go to rescue Elena from Alaric and Esther.

In *The Departed*, Jeremy and him want to protect Elena, so Matt drives Elena out of town. Later, when they are driving back to Mystic Falls, Matt's drives off of Wickery Bridge in order to avoid Rebekah standing in the middle of the road. He almost dies until Stefan comes to their rescue. Stefan tries to save Elena first, but Elena insists Stefan save Matt first, resulting in her drowning.
## Throughout The Originals Series

### Season Three

In *Behind the Black Horizon*, he confronts Elijah and Finn who have arrived in Mystic Falls to find Freya. He aims his gun at them and he is made aware that there is another Mikaelson sister. When Elijah gives him two options, Matt suggests a third one and he helps them find Freya. He has his gun aimed at Lucien and Finn puts his hand on his gun and fires at Lucien, killing him temporarily. Lucien rises as a beast and knocks Matt unconscious.

## Throughout Legacies Series

### Season One

In *This is the Part Where You Run*, Matt discovers a mysterious crime scene that can only be described as supernatural. He calls in a favor to a State Patrol buddy and has the scene locked down and calls Alaric, who brings Hope. He explains that the local PD believes it to be a chemical spill, but that is not the actual story; that is for Alaric to determine. Alaric thanks Matt for the heads up and approaches the bus, deceased riders as charred husks of their previous lives litter the sits. Alaric and Hope unsure of what transpired between Landon Kirby, a missing passenger, and the other people aboard the bus.

In *Hope is Not the Goal*, he arrives at the boarding school to let the students and faculty know about the misssing teenagers Dana Lilien and Sasha Stoteraux. He then listens to what Alaric has to say and they later go into the woods together to look for the girls. They find Dana with a pale skin tone and a bite mark on her neck, which makes Matt think she was attacked by a vampire. Not long afterwards, they see Dana is gone and then a bit later find what is left of her in the bus compartment. Much later, he confronts Kaleb in the hallway with Alaric about him feeding on humans.

## Personality

> "Because you're everything that I want to be. You're loyal, honest, kind. People root for you to succeed. Elena even died for you."
>
> - **Rebekah** to **Matt** in *Pictures of You*

Matt is everyone's definition of the "everyday man". Out of the characters, he is the most "normal"; he does not possess any supernatural attribute, nor any supernatural artifact that makes him stand out of the rest of humanity and he wants it to stay that way (at least until he was given the Gilbert Ring previously worn by Jeremy). He is, however, aware of the supernatural world and has more than had his fair share of skirmishes with them in the past.

Matt is often seen by some people as a person who only cares about the sport, however, he is just the opposite, Matt is strong because he wants to protect his family and friends from the dangers that threaten them every day.

As far as personality goes, Matt is loyal, headstrong, and down-to-earth. According to Vicki, Matt is the "golden child" of their family, with a good future ahead of him. These qualities make it very hard for other characters not to like him, and he has captured the hearts of several females throughout the series. However, as the years have passed and he's lost more friends, Matt has become colder and even ruthless to a degree, as he has willingly tortured and hurt Damon and Stefan on several occasions.

## Physical Appearance

Matt is a very handsome young man, who stands at approximately 6 feet tall with baby blue eyes and short dark blonde hair. He has an attractive face and can be considered as the stereotypical football player in regards to his personality and physical looks.

Matt's hairstyle over the seasons has remained similar, shortened with not much length except his hair was somewhat longer in the first season. On special occasions, Matt has been shown to gel his hair such as for the 60s Decade Dance, for a more formal style.

His clothing sense is that of a typical teenager, for school as he played football, he used to wear the school Timberwolves jacket however usually wore a range of different colored t-shirts and jeans with boots or sneaker shoes. Lately, he has been wearing checkered button-down shirts with a t-shirt underneath or shirts with an unbuttoned collar. He also wears a heavy jacket with hoods or light weight jackets, both of which are usually a darkened color. Working at the Grill, Matt has a uniform which consists of a dark blue t-shirt and black trousers. On occasions, he regularly wears a dark tuxedo and trousers with a tie.

## Relationships

### Vicki Donovan

> "Matt, I love you.. but I'm already dead."
>
> - Vicki to Matt in *Resident Evil*

Vicki is Matt's older sister, although it often seemed like the other way around since Matt was the one looking after Vicki, due to their mother not being around. Vicki started to act erratically after she turned into a vampire, which made Matt think she was on drugs. After Vicki's death, Matt believed that she had run away, until her body was found. In season three, Matt was able to see Vicki after Esther performed a spell and tried to bring her back, but he had to learn to accept her death. When Matt temporarily died in season five, he saw Vicki and tried to keep hold of her, but she reminded him that she was already dead and let go as she was sucked into hell.

Seasons later, Vicki appears once again as a spirit from hell with the intent on ringing the Maxwell bell, which would destroy hell and Mystic Falls along with it. Matt originally tried to stop her until he realized how tormenting hell was for her. He recognized that she wanted to find peace from hell and he let her ring the bell. Although unaware of her presence, a little bit after the events of the eighth season finale, Vicki watches over Matt one last time before finding peace in death.

### Tyler Lockwood

> "I'm glad you pulled it together. The thing is, Ty, I get it, alright? We've all been through so much that it's bound to make us a little crazy. But I was thinking, you know, watching the way all those cops honored her today, I want to be a part of something like that. So I talked to one of the deputies, and he gave me an application. There's this, uh, officer training program. Seems pretty cool, you know, like something I'm supposed to be a part of. I got one for you too."
>
> - Matt to Tyler in *Let Her Go*

Matt and Tyler are best friends, and have known each other for a long time. They were both on the football team, and they both also fell in love with Caroline, which strained their friendship for a while.

### Elena Gilbert

*Main article: Elena and Matt*

Elena and Matt had a relationship throughout most of high school, but she had broken up with him after her parent's deaths. At first, it was evident that he still loved her and was jealous of her new relationship with Stefan Salvatore, but they remained good friends throughout the rest of the series. When Rebekah drove Elena and Matt off of Wickery Bridge, she had Stefan save him before herself.

### Caroline Forbes

> "It means that...you almost died and it really freaked me out and it got me thinking you know 'cause... I'm not in a position where I can lose someone else right now. I realized, even though today I wanted to throttle you, I'm pretty sure that I'm in love with you and now it seems like you don't feel the same way."
>
> - Matt to Caroline in *Brave New World*

*Main article: Caroline and Matt*

Matt and Caroline have known each other since first grade. At first, he didn't like her very much, but they began to grow closer and started a romantic relationship. Their relationship was strained due to Caroline's frequent jealousy over Elena due to her and Matt's history. They start to drift apart after Caroline becomes a vampire, and also after she starts getting closer to his best friend, Tyler. They break up, and although they aren't together anymore, they still remain good friends and allies even after the series’ end.

### Rebekah Mikaelson

> "Fine. Okay. The first rule of truly living: do the thing you're most afraid of."
>
> - Rebekah to Matt in *Graduation*

*Main article: Matt and Rebekah*

Matt and Rebekah's relationship was strained at first, especially after Rebekah drove him and Elena off of Wickery Bridge, killing Elena and almost killing Matt. She makes several attempts to make amends with Matt, but he's cold towards her. At Prom, she dances with Matt and tells him that she wants to be everything that he is, which is beautifully human. She tries to be a better person and continually tries to prove it to Matt. She then goes off with Matt, and they spend 3 months traveling together before she joins her brother in New Orleans.

### Other Relationships

Donovan Family, Mystic Falls Gang, Mystic Falls High School, Mystic Grill, Mystic Falls Police Station

* Jeremy, Matt and Tyler (Best Friends/Former Allies)
* Jeremy and Matt (Best Friends/Were Roommates/Former Allies)
* Matt and Bonnie (Close Friends/Allies)
* Matt and Stefan (Former Friends/Enemies)
* Damon and Matt (Frenemies/Former Enemies)
* Matt and Alaric (Former Allies/Friends)
* Katherine and Matt (Former Enemies/Allies)
* Matt and Kol (Former Enemies)
* Matt and Enzo (Enemies/Frenemies)

## Name

* **Matt** is a masculine name of Hebrew origin. It is from the Hebrew *מַתִּתְיָהוּ* (Mattiyahu) which means *"Gift of Yaweh".* Matt is a variation or short form for Matthew. In the English meaning, it means "Gift of God".
* **Donovan** is an anglicized form of the Gaelic Ó Donndubháin.

## Tropes

* Elena's former boyfriend, hasn't given up hope yet - which makes him a Dogged Nice Guy .
* He is pretty much a Generic Guy , with no special qualities - except being human .
* Of course, he just wants his beloved to be happy , so he forgives Elena for ditching him and tries to be friends with Stefan.
* His life sucks most of the times: We don't even know if he knew his father ;his mother is an Alcoholic  who left him for a boyfriend in Florida; his sister Vicki was a drug addict who got turned into a Vampire by Damon because he was bored then staked by Stefan. Ah, and Vicki came back as a ghost. She was persuaded by Esther to try and kill Elena!
* Like most of the main cast, he even died once. But he was revived.
* By Season Four he is the only one in the cast member to remain human, so he is the Token Human, which in this case is also a Token Minority.
* He's often called as *The Quarterback,* or *Matty* (Which he is affectionately called by Vicki).
* He's Rebekah's Morality Pet

## Trivia

* Matt's birthday is February 26, making him a Pisces.
* Matt's first death was "natural" in contrast with his second death caused by "supernatural" causes. This is similar to the character of Buffy Summers who has also died twice. Like Matt, she was drowned causing her first death while her second death was also supernatural: she was killed by mystical energy.
* In the books, Matt's surname is Honeycutt, but in the TV series, his surname is Donovan.
* In the books, Matt learns that Stefan and Damon are vampires and that Elena has become a vampire and needs blood.
* Matt was almost killed by two of his ex-girlfriends after they've been turned into vampires, the first being Caroline in Bad Moon Rising and Elena in The Rager.
* In the series, Matt is aware of four people he knows turned into vampires, werewolf and a hybrid: Vicki, Caroline, Tyler (werewolf/hybrid) and Elena.
* In the series, Matt was the second-to-last main character to learn about the supernatural world (before Jenna) and he is the last character to have learned this to be still alive since Jenna died one episode after.
* Matt is not the brother of Vickie Bennett in the books. In the television series, he is Vicki's brother and takes care of Vicki and his mother Kelly.
* In the books, Matt becomes Stefan's best friend, but in the series, Matt is best friends with Tyler Lockwood and Jeremy Gilbert.
* In the series, he often shortens people's names, as well as Damon, but with nicknames
	+ Vicki "Vick"
	+ Tyler "Ty"
	+ Jeremy "Jer"
	+ Caroline "Care"
	+ Bonnie "Bon"
	+ Christine "Chris"
* Kevin Williamson commented on the character Matt, saying *"There's a door there, that we will eventually open, but for now he's human."*
* Although Matt's feelings for Elena are a major recurring theme in the first season, they have seemed to have completely vanished to make way for his new feelings for Caroline, which become a major plotline in the second season particularly since Caroline is now a vampire. However, in the books, Matt's feelings for Elena never seem to go away and play an even stronger role since he still has feelings for her when he discovers the existence of the supernatural world.
* Matt was the first main character who destroyed an Original (Finn) without neutralizing it. (*The Murder of One*).
* In the books, he and Damon interact more often than in the TV series.
* Although Vicki was a grade above Matt, she isn't quite a year older than him.
* He and Jeremy are indirectly responsible for Elena becoming a vampire.
* Before "Graduation", Matt had never set one foot out of Mystic Falls.
	+ This changed when he and Rebekah took a summer trip around Europe.
* Matt is similar to Damon in respect of their relationships with women.
	+ Both of them had romantic/sexual relationship with Elena Gilbert, Caroline Forbes and Rebekah Mikaelson.
	+ Both of them had close relationship with three members of the Petrova family:
		- Damon had sex with Katerina Petrova, Isobel Flemming, and Elena Gilbert.
		- Matt was the first love of Elena Gilbert and Katerina had a small crush on him.
* Matt remains the only main human character.
* It was revealed that Matt could bench press more than Jeremy.
* Matt is the only main character whose father is unknown.
	+ It is later revealed that Peter Maxwell is his father.

## References

1. ↑ Alaric mentions Matt being mayor on his calling card in *That's Nothing I Had to Remember*
2. ↑ The current date is March 2031.
3. ↑ http://www.babynamewizard.com/baby-name/boy/donovan