Elena Gilbert

**Notice:** This **article** uses content directly taken from the Elena Gilbert **article** at the Vampire Diaries Wiki, and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License.

## Biographical information

### Born

* June 22, 1992 (Mystic Falls; Age 18/38)

### Turned

* By Damon Salvatore's blood on January 6, 2011 (administered by Meredith Fell)

### Occupation

* High School Student (Graduated/ Formerly)
* High School Cheerleader (Formerly)
* College Student (Formerly)
* Headmistress of the Mikaelson-Salvatore Institute (Currently)
* Doctor

### Title(s)

* Cupcake, Dull As Dishwater Doppelgänger (by Katherine)
* Human Blood Bag, Stupid Human Girl (both by Stefan)
* Doppelgänger Bitch, Cow, Doppelgänger Wench (all by Rebekah)
* Lena (by her friends)

### Species

* Human/Doppelgänger
* Vampire (Klaus' Bloodline) (Currently)
* Augustine Vampire (Cured/Formerly)

## Family information

### Family Members

* Amara † (Maternal Ancestor)
* Irene † (Paternal Ancestor)
* Inadu's Mother † (Distant Paternal Relative)
* The Hollow † (Distant Paternal Relative)
* Tatia † (Maternal Ancestor)
* Mr. Petrov † (Maternal Ancestor)
* Mrs. Petrova † (Maternal Ancestor)
* Katerina Petrova (Doppelgänger Of, Maternal Ancestor)
* Nadia Petrova † (Maternal Ancestor)
* Johnathan Gilbert † (Paternal Ancestor)
* Samantha Gilbert † (Paternal Ancestor)
* John Gilbert † (Biological Father/Adoptive Paternal Uncle)
* Isobel Flemming † (Biological Mother)
* Grayson Gilbert † (Paternal Uncle/Adoptive Father)
* Miranda Sommers-Gilbert † (Paternal Aunt, via Grayson/ Adoptive Mother)
* Jenna Sommers † (Adoptive Maternal Aunt)
* Alaric Saltzman † (Former Legal Guardian/ Step-Father)
* Adrianna Gilbert (Younger Twin Sister)
* Damon Salvatore (Brother-In-Law, via Adrianna)
* Jeremy Gilbert (Paternal Cousin/Adoptive Brother)
* Hope Mikaelson (Niece, via Adrianna)
* Alexia Salvatore (Niece, via Adrianna)
* Lizzie Forbes (Goddaughter)

## Supernatural information

### Significant kills

* Alaric Saltzman (5th time/Revived by Gilbert Ring and 8th time, indirectly)
* Connor Jordan
* Jeremy Gilbert (4th time/Revived by Gilbert Ring)

### Cause of death

* Drained of blood (1st time/as a human)
* Drowned (2nd time/as a human)

### Killed by

* Niklaus Mikaelson (1st time/as a human)
* Rebekah Mikaelson (2nd time/as a human)

## Physical appearance

### Height

* 5'6" (Feet)
* 1.68 (Meters)

### Eye color

* Brown

**Elena Gilbert** is one of the main female protagonists of the *An Epic Kind of Love* series. She is the biological daughter of Isobel Flemming and John Gilbert and the adoptive daughter of Grayson Gilbert and Miranda Sommers-Gilbert. Elena is the older twin sister of Adrianna Gilbert and the older adoptive sister of Jeremy Gilbert. She is the aunt of Hope Mikaelson and Alexia Salvatore.

At the beginning of the series, like her sister, Elena appears to be a regular human girl, but is then revealed to be a Petrova Doppelgänger. At the end of Book 3, she became a vampire despite never wanting to be one. Elena is described as a star student. She was popular, sporty, smart, compassionate, empathetic, caring, and friendly. She can be very vulnerable and a damsel in distress.

Elena is best friends with Bonnie Bennett and Caroline Forbes. She is also very close with her twin sister, Adrianna Gilbert and Stefan Salvatore. Her actions and beliefs throughout the series have been most influenced by her relationships with her friends, as well as by her antagonistic relationship with Katherine Pierce.

In Book 1, while coping with the death of her parents, she meets a mysterious new student at Mystic Falls High, Stefan Salvatore. Elena and Stefan fall in love with each other. However, not long after that, Elena discovers that both Stefan and his brother, Damon, are vampires. She also finds out about Katherine Pierce, the woman that turned the Salvatore brothers in 1864, and to whom Elena and her twin sister bear a striking physical resemblance. This causes the twins to find out that they were adopted, and their real parents are John Gilbert, her "uncle", and Isobel Flemming.

In Book 2, the twins learn that they are Katherine's doppelgängers, which explains their identical appearance. Because of this, an Original Vampire, Klaus, wants to use Elena, or her sister, in a sacrifice to break an ancient curse. Despite everyone's best efforts, the sacrifice takes place. Her biological father, John, sacrificed his own life to keep Elena alive and human. However, Klaus killed aunt Jenna, after turning her into a vampire. Due to this and Adrianna being a vampire, Jeremy was Elena's only blood relative alive.

Elena becomes a vampire at the beginning of Book 4 and, after Jeremy's death, turns off her humanity. She also formed a sire bond to Damon Salvatore due to her strong feelings for him. These feelings were one-sided, however, as Damon is in love with her twin sister.

**Elena** is a member of the **Gilbert Family**, the **Petrova Family**, and the **Labonair Family**.

## Early Life

* 1990s
* 2008-2009

Elena was born on June 22, 1992, in Mystic Falls and lived there peacefully for 17 years, with her parents, Miranda and Grayson Gilbert, as well as with her twin sister, Adrianna, and brother, Jeremy. They led a quiet small town life, free of the supernatural. However, in Book 1 Elena learns that she and Adrianna were adopted and their biological parents are John Gilbert, her uncle, and Isobel Flemming. John's brother, Grayson and his wife Miranda, who desperately wanted to have children but were having difficulties conceiving, adopted Adrianna and Elena following their births. Because Grayson was a doctor, he was able to tamper with the birth records, making himself and Miranda appear as the twins' biological parents on their birth certificates. If anyone ever became suspicious, they would have the birth certificate as documentation proof.

Later on, Elena also finds out that her parents were well aware of the existence of vampires and witches, and that, in fact, her father was part of the Augustine Society at Whitmore College, and even experimented on vampires in the basement of his Mystic Falls clinic. In fact, in 1999, when the twins were 7, they almost witnessed one of their father's experiments.

During her sophomore year, Elena had a relationship with Matt Donovan, one of her oldest friends. At a bonfire, the two of them get into an argument where, afterwards, she calls her parents to pick her up. Adrianna gets angry that she called their parents and they argue in the middle of the street. Eventually, Elena walks away from her sister to go wait for their parents. It is during this time that Adrianna and Damon first meet.

After Elena's parents pick her up from the bonfire, their car unexpectedly drives off Wickery Bridge. Stefan Salvatore, who is nearby, hears the crash and saves an unconscious Elena at Grayson's insistence. Stefan's unable to save her parents and takes Elena to the shore where she is found, with everyone believing Elena somehow made it out of the car and made it to the shore. Afterwards, she breaks up with Matt and she and her siblings begin to live with their aunt, Jenna Sommers, who became their legal guardian.
## Throughout An Epic Kind of Love Series (Part 1)

* Book 1
* Book 2
* Book 3
* Book 4
* Book 5

At the start of the school year, Elena meets Stefan and is drawn to him. They develop a connection, flaring Matt's jealousy, due to his and Elena's past relationship. Caroline Forbes is also jealous, as she feels that she is always in competition with Elena. Elena's best friend, Bonnie Bennett, encourages Elena and her feelings for Stefan, but gets a creepy feeling about Stefan when she touches him. Elena meets Stefan's brother, Damon, who her twin sister, Adrianna, is getting closer to. Elena finds out about Stefan's first love, Katherine, and discovers the bad relationship he has with Damon. She later tells him that they're not going to work out. However, she later went to his house and they kiss and get back together.

Elena tries to convince Bonnie to accept Stefan, as she has reservations about him. At a pep rally, Stefan gives Elena a necklace, which contains vervain. Elena attends the Founders' Party with Stefan. Frustrated when Stefan won't open up to her, Elena turns her back on him, only to apologize when she sees bite marks on Caroline. Elena confronts Damon and then tells Adrianna what she found out. Three days later, Elena relays her concerns about her relationship with Stefan. When Stefan arrives to a meeting that she requested, a man claims to know who Stefan is. At a car wash, Elena meets the man again and he claims that he saw Stefan, who has not changed, in 1963. Elena sees Stefan on camera in a video from 1963 and goes to his house, demanding to know what he is.
He tells her that he's a vampire but that it is Damon who is responsible for the recent mysterious deaths. She finds out that Katherine turned them in 1864 and Stefan tells her that Damon has turned Vicki Donovan into a vampire. Elena promises to keep his secret but breaks up with him, causing her extreme emotional pain.
Elena later visits Stefan to see how Vicki is. When Elena tells her that she can't see Jeremy anymore, Vicki attacks and threatens her. The Gilbert siblings attend the Halloween Party later that night, the twins unaware that Jeremy plans on meeting Vicki there. Elena finds them together and Vicki, furious, bites her, causing Stefan to stake Vicki. Elena slaps Damon, blaming him. Later Elena asks Stefan if he can erase Jeremy's memory of Vicki's death. He says he can't, but Damon volunteers instead. Elena also tells Stefan that she still has feelings for him.

Bonnie tells Elena that she's a witch. Elena realizes that she still has feelings for Stefan, but when she goes to tell him she meets Lexi Branson and assumes they have begun a relationship. Stefan later arrives at Elena's house and tells her that Lexi is a vampire and his oldest friend. He invites her to the party that Adrianna and Caroline threw, but she refuses only to go later. Elena and Stefan witness Damon kill Lexi.
Elena watches Bonnie throw her talisman away and is shocked when it resurfaces in Bonnie's bag. Adrianna and Elena try to repair Caroline and Bonnie's friendship and the twins end up talking and finding out that they each knew about the supernatural. Caroline suggests holding a séance for Bonnie's ancestor Emily. When Emily possesses Bonnie, Caroline brushes it off as a joke but Adrianna gets Elena to call Stefan to warn him. Elena sees Damon almost kill Bonnie in his attempts to stop Emily from destroying the crystal. Elena and Adrianna later tells Bonnie about vampires.

Stefan tells Elena that he's leaving town to protect her and she's hurt by this. Stefan later tells her that Logan's a vampire and that he has taken Caroline hostage, however, when Caroline is freed safely Elena offers to drive him home. When they arrive at Stefan's house, she confesses her love for him and he kisses her. They sleep together for the first time but, when he leaves to get her some water, she finds a picture of Katherine and discovers that she looks exactly like her. Elena is very angry at Stefan and demands the truth. He tells her that he saved her from the crash, learned she was adopted, and that he loves her. They kiss. Elena later confronts Jenna about the fact that she and Adrianna were adopted and then she tells her sister everything that Stefan told her.
The night before the 50s Decade Dance, Jeremy invites a pizza guy inside, unaware that it was a vampire. The vampire later attacks Elena, but Stefan arrives in time to chase him off. Damon gives the twins the chance to attend the dance as bait, which they accept. Whilst there, Adrianna receives a phone call from the vampire who threatens to kill Jeremy if she doesn't get Elena and leave the dance. The twins run away and are able to fend him off until Damon and Stefan arrive. The vampire points them in the direction of Emily's grimoire before they kill him. Stefan later tells Elena that he has promised to help Damon use the grimoire to release Katherine from a tomb but it was a lie. Elena promises to help him.

When the tomb vampires capture Stefan and Adrianna as revenge, Elena, Damon, and Alaric help save them. Elena helps Stefan escape and feeds him her blood as he is too weak. He then kills the vampire that came after them. Elena later consoles Matt after Vicki's body is found and he accepts her comfort in favor of Caroline's.
Elena asks Stefan to escort her to the Founders' Ball and, after she witnessed Stefan's new out of control nature, he confesses to her that he's having trouble with his bloodlust.
Bonnie returns to town following her grandmother's death and tells Elena that she blames Stefan and Damon for her death, but she's not going to make the twins choose between them and her. Stefan agrees to be Elena's escort in the pageant. However, Damon reveals to the twins that Stefan is addicted to human blood and is out of control. Elena and Stefan get into a fight and Stefan disappears. Elena then asks Adrianna to swap places with her in the pageant so she can go look for Stefan and Adrianna agrees. Damon, Adrianna, Elena, and Bonnie later find Stefan about to kill Amber but Bonnie stops him. Later, Adrianna and Damon ask Elena to help them inject Stefan with vervain but she refuses and leaves. Adrianna and Damon go through with the plan anyway. Stefan is locked in the basement with Elena visiting him everyday. Elena tells Stefan that she has faith in him, letting him out and giving him his ring. When she discovers he left without his ring, planning to kill himself, she finds him by the quarry. She convinces him to keep fighting for her and they kiss.

Elena and Adrianna's biological vampire mother arrives in town and demands a meeting with the twins, threatening to go on a killing spree if they didn't meet with her. She talks to them and reveals that she wants the device that Damon has. Elena begins crying and Adrianna comforts her. Bonnie sees them but walks away. The next day, Bonnie shows up at Elena's door and apologizes. Bonnie agrees to deactivate the device before giving it to Isobel and Adrianna convinces Damon that it will work. Adrianna gives the device to Isobel, and the twins thank her for being a disappointment.
On Founders' Day, John activates the device and Elena, Adrianna, and Alaric hide Stefan to protect him. They discover that Damon has been caught and Stefan goes into the burning building to find him. The twins confront John about being their biological father, and when Adrianna tries to follow Stefan Bonnie stops her, dimming the flames so that Stefan can rescue Damon.
Elena returns home minutes before Adrianna, Damon, and Jeremy. Just as Damon and Adrianna are about to kiss, Elena interrupts them and asks Adrianna to come inside. Elena finds John in the kitchen and John tells her about the truth behind his feelings for Isobel and hatred for vampires. Elena then cuts off John's fingers and stabs him, revealing herself as Katherine. The real Elena returns home, telling Stefan over the phone that somebody stole her things, and hears her sister and John. She runs into the kitchen and tells her sister that she just arrived home.

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## Throughout An Epic Kind of Love Series (Part 2)

* Book 1
* Book 2
* Book 3
* Book 4

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## Throughout Legacies

* Book 1
* Book 2
* Book 3

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## Personality

### Human

"*Your compassion is a gift, Elena.*"
—Elijah to Elena

As a human, Elena is the sociable popular girl in school and the girl next door. She's compassionate, empathetic, intelligent, beautiful, and friendly. However, she can also be pushy, judgmental, and selfish. Her favorite hobby is writing in her journal and she says that she's always wanted to be a writer. She's always helping around in her community events and Caroline calls her the mothering type.

Like her mother before her, Elena believes in family, honor, loyalty, and community. She is consistently polite, calm, and composed, though prone to great panic and anxiety. Despite being something of a skeptic, she has a vivid internal life. She is extremely introverted. She is brave and self-sacrificing, though much of her willingness to save others seems to come from survivor's guilt over her parent's death. She has a strong backbone and doesn't display a sense of inferiority. However, Elena can also be a hypocrite, and gradually becomes more and more self-absorbed as the series continues, but undergoes several huge changes due to trauma, stress, loss, and finally healing. Elena exalts personal choice and is known for her forgiving nature.

### Vampire

* With Humanity
* Without Humanity

As a vampire, Elena's personality is amplified. In some ways, Elena is considered to be the opposite of Katherine, and even her twin sister Adrianna. In terms of blood consumption, Elena wants to live on a diet of animal blood, like Stefan, in an attempt to avoid hurting someone. However, after she is unable to keep down animal blood, human blood from a blood bag, or vampire blood, she begins to feed from Matt. It is discovered that her inability to consume other sources of blood was unintentionally due to her sire bond with Damon and she eventually begins to live on a diet of blood bags from a human blood bank.

She also struggles with magnified grief from the loss of so many family members, and anger towards those who put her remaining friends and family in danger.

When Jeremy dies during their failed attempt at obtaining the cure, Elena's in denial that he's dead, believing the Gilbert ring will bring him back to life and rejecting anyone that says otherwise. When she finally accepts that he's gone, she breaks down into tears. Damon angrily tells her to shut off her humanity if she couldn't handle her emotions. Due to the sire bond, she complies.

She doesn't care who sees her doing what. As well as losing her humanity, she's lost her modesty. She doesn't care about the rules. Elena always lived by her set of rules, what she thought was right and wrong, but she threw all the rules to the wind and just does whatever she wants to do. Elena is more blunt and honest. She is more direct about getting exactly what it is that she wants. Elena speaks the truth all the time and it's brutal and not fun for the people who have to listen to it.

Elena feeds indiscriminately, walks around without clothes, and does what she pleases. Her actions without her emotions push Adrianna to get Katherine involved. Elena becomes frustrated with her sister and Stefan for trying to get her to turn her humanity back on and so she acts out in unexpected ways, such as getting into a physical fight with Caroline after attacking her mother.
## Physical Appearance

Physically, Elena is a very beautiful and attractive young woman with an oval face, light olive complexion, almond-shaped brown eyes which are sometimes described as doe-eyes, and long dark brown hair. Her height is 5'6", and she has a slim, slightly athletic physique. Elena has an identical twin sister and she has an uncanny physical resemblance to her ancestor and doppelgänger, Katherine Pierce, who often poses as Elena in order to trick others. However, even though Elena, Adrianna, and Katherine look exactly the same in terms of physical appearance, there are some slight differences between the three in terms of fashion and style, and personality.

In terms of fashion sense, while Elena's human, she's much more casual, sporty, and "girl next door" and doesn't wear a lot of makeup or favor fashionable clothing unless attending a formal event. Elena favors wearing dark blue jeans with t-shirts of various colors and Converse sneakers. She primarily wears fashionable clothing or dresses up for special occasions or formal events. Elena almost always wears her hair straight and parted down the middle. She wore a special necklace containing the herb vervain in it as a human, which is really Esther's talisman, which cannot be destroyed. It was given to Elena by Stefan to protect her from compulsion.

Elena as a newly turned vampire wears a small lapis lazuli daylight ring made by Bonnie in order to protect her from the sunlight. Elena has a slightly more sophisticated look and trades her usual jeans and t-shirts for dresses and boots. After she abandons her humanity, she becomes more womanly in the way she looks. She gets red streaks in her hair and curls it. She also begins to wear skirts and belts.

## Powers and Abilities

* Human
* Vampire

She possessed fighting abilities to defend herself against vampires as she trained under Alaric and Adrianna. She knows how to stake vampires and also has the traits of a vampire hunter. Elena also possesses the abilities of the doppelgängers, meaning her blood can be used for various spells. Her blood is also an unlimited source of power, while she's alive, for witches and siphoners.

Elena possesses all the standard powers and abilities of a non-Original vampire.

## Weaknesses

* Human
* Vampire

Elena possessed all the typical weaknesses of a human.

Elena possesses the typical weaknesses of a non-Original vampire.

## Relationships

### Adrianna Gilbert

"*I'll always love you, Elena. Even when I hated you, I loved you.*"
—Adrianna to Elena

*Main Article: Adrianna and Elena*

Adrianna is Elena's younger twin sister. Elena and Adrianna were close growing up but were always seen as the opposite of each other. They have different fashion styles, such as the clothes they wear and the way they style their hair, and Adrianna has a crescent-moon birthmark on her shoulder. Besides these subtle differences, the twins are identical. When the Salvatore brothers came to town both sisters found out about the supernatural at almost the exact same time, though Adrianna was compelled not to reveal anything and Elena actively decided to hide the truth. In Book 2 Adrianna became a vampire and this caused a strain on Elena's relationship with her sister because she couldn't accept the fact that her twin sister was really dead. Their relationship is further strained when Adrianna returned to Mystic Falls with her humanity turned off as Adrianna often threatened her sister and their friends due to them trying to force her to feel. Elena also did not approve of her friendship with Kol and Rebekah Mikaelson. In Book 4, after Elena becomes a vampire, it is revealed that Adrianna has resentment towards Elena because of the hypocrisy in the way Adrianna and Caroline were treated by Bonnie when they transitioned and how Bonnie treated Elena. They're relationship is further broken when it is revealed that Elena was sired to Damon and Elena reveals that she's in love with him. Adrianna also blamed Elena for Kol and Jeremy's death. Their relationship is later repaired when they finally talk to each other while Adrianna was pregnant with her first child.

### Jeremy Gilbert

"*Look, Elena. You're my sister and I love you, no matter what you choose.*"
—Jeremy to Elena

*Main Article: Elena and Jeremy*

Jeremy is Elena's biological cousin/adoptive brother. Although Jeremy and Elena are biological first cousins, they've been raised together as siblings, along with Adrianna. After their parents died, they wanted to help and protect each other. Once they became more aware of the supernatural activities and entities of Mystic Falls, Elena, Adrianna, and Jeremy worked to keep each other and their loved ones safe. Although they are sometimes led apart, they still seemed to retain their closeness as siblings. They love each other and are always willing to risk their lives to save one another. Losing Jeremy crushes her and causes her to turn her emotions off. But thanks to Bonnie, he was brought back to life.

### Stefan Salvatore

"*You were the perfect boyfriend. You valued what I wanted, even if it wasn't what you agreed with*"
—Elena to Stefan

*Main Article: Stefan and Elena*

Stefan Salvatore is Elena's close friend and ex-boyfriend, as well as Damon's younger brother. Stefan is a 168 year old immortal who is described as handsome, athletic, mysterious, brooding, kind, compassionate, and thoughtful. After returning home to Mystic Falls after years of being gone, Stefan unexpectedly "met" Elena on May 23, 2009, after he heard Elena and her parents' car accident while he was out at Wickery Bridge. The Gilbert's car had submerged deep into the water under the bridge, where Elena and her parents were facing death by drowning. It was then that Stefan saved Elena's life, although unfortunately, Elena's parents, Grayson and Miranda, didn't survive the tragedy. After the accident, Elena spent months wondering how she made it out of the accident and believed that her survival was a "miracle". For the next four months, Stefan remained in Mystic Falls, studying Elena's background from afar. Stefan investigated Elena's background in order to find out whether or not Elena, or Adrianna, was really Katherine Pierce due to their uncanny physical resemblance to her. Elena meets Stefan for the first time at the beginning of the school year outside of the men's washroom. She is drawn to him and the two have an instant, deep and indescribable connection. Stefan and Elena begin to bond and slowly start to develop a romantic relationship. They both realize that they share many qualities, hobbies, traits, values, and beliefs in common. As Elena and Stefan start falling deeper in love with each other, Elena unexpectedly discovers that Stefan is a vampire. Stefan is known to respect Elena and honor her choices and wishes, even if he doesn't agree with them. After her transition into a vampire, Elena admitted she was no longer in love with Stefan because she felt he treated her like a project and looks at her like a broken toy and that she can't be with someone like that. Later on, they are able to establish a good relationship.

### Alaric Saltzman

"*You're not a lost cause, Ric. You're just lost. But, so is Jeremy, so is Adri, and so am I. Our family is gone. We don't have anybody. I'm sorry, but you don't have anybody either, so...we're kind of right for each other.*"
—Elena to Alaric

*Main Article: Elena and Alaric*

Alaric is Elena's step father and guardian. They became close when Alaric started dating her aunt Jenna. Alaric was also her history teacher. Alaric taught Elena how to protect herself from vampires and how to fight. He became the legal guardian of Elena, Adrianna, and Jeremy after Jenna was killed by Klaus. Elena was devastated when Esther turned Alaric into an Original and he decided not to complete the transition, however, Esther took control of Bonnie and made her feed him her blood so that the transition would complete. Alaric then took Elena hostage so he could lead Klaus there to kill him and Elena realized that their lives are connected meaning if she dies, he dies. The moment Elena had died, Alaric died in Damon's arms, though Elena came back as a vampire.

### Bonnie Bennett

"*You're my best friend. I can't keep secrets from you*"
—Bonnie to Elena

*Main Article: Elena and Bonnie*

Bonnie Bennett has been best friends with Elena since childhood. She is also best friends with Caroline Forbes and Adrianna Gilbert. Bonnie has mentioned that she and Elena are so close they're like sisters, and she would die for Elena. Throughout the series, Bonnie is protective of Elena, even risking her life to ensure Elena's safety and protection. Elena used to joke about Bonnie's "supernatural" or psychic powers until Bonnie eventually discovered she is descended from a long line of powerful witches, inheriting the gifts herself. Although Bonnie has always been supportive of Elena, after Elena began a relationship with Stefan, Bonnie and Elena begin drifting apart. Their friendship became more strained when her Grams died after being weakened by performing a powerful spell to help the Salvatore brothers release Katherine Pierce. They eventually reconciled and their relationship became consistent. Bonnie was devastated when Elena and Jeremy killed Kol and harbored some anger towards the pair. When Jeremy died and Elena turned off her humanity, she ruined their friendship by trying to kill Bonnie. When Elena got her humanity back, she and Bonnie became friends again. Elena was greatly devastated when Bonnie and Damon were trapped on the Other Side after it collapsed.

### Caroline Forbes

"*Your friendship is important to me.*"
—Elena to Caroline

*Main Article: Caroline and Elena*

Although Elena and Caroline had been friends since childhood, Caroline's constant insecurities as a human, which made her jealous of Elena at times, had created and maintained a friendly rivalry between the two. When Caroline became a vampire, her insecurities gradually went away, and their relationship improved a lot as a result. Their relationship degraded however when Caroline found out that Elena was in love with Damon. This is due to Caroline fully supporting Adrianna and Damon's relationship. The relationship further degraded when Elena found out that Caroline had interest in Klaus and also when Elena turned her humanity off. Elena attacked Liz and tried to stake Caroline. After Elena got her humanity back their relationship is mended though they're not as close as they were before. They were roommates in college.

### Other Relationships

Gilbert Family, Petrova Family, Saltzman Family, Salvatore Family

* Elena and Jenna (Adoptive Maternal Aunt/Good Friends)
* Elena and John (Biological father and Daughter)
* Elena and Isobel (Biological Mother and Daughter/Frenemies)
* Elena and Katherine (Maternal Ancestor/Enemies)
* Elena and Matt (Ex-Boyfriend/Best Friends)
* Elena and Elijah (Friends/Former Enemies/Former Allies)
* Elena and Klaus (Enemies)
* Elena and Rebekah (Enemies/Ex-Friends)
* Elena and Damon (Brother-In-Law/Elena was in love with him)

## Name

* **Elena** is a feminine first name of Greek origin which means "**torch**". The meaning of Elena is "the shining light", "the bright one", or "light". It is a variation of the name ***Helen***.
* **Gilbert**, which is Elena's surname, is a surname of Germanic origin. The English-language surname is derived from Giselbert, a medieval personal name composed of the following Germanic elements gisil ("pledge", "hostage", "noble youth") and berht ("bright", "famous").

## Trivia

* Elena's birthday is June 22.
* Elena's zodiac sign is Cancer.
* Miranda, Elena's mother, gave Elena her first diary when she was nine, and she began writing in it a year later.
* When Elena was in high school she wanted to be a writer.
* Elena used to be a cheerleader along with Bonnie, Adrianna, and Caroline.
* Elena and Tatia share some similarities.
	+ Both were born in Mystic Falls
	+ Both were killed by being drained of blood by a Mikaelson brother. Though Elena was killed by Klaus while Tatia was killed by Elijah
* Elena can't cook, just like her adoptive mother Miranda
* Elena is the only person to die with vampire blood in their system and wake up human. This is because of a spell Bonnie cast, binding Elena and John's life forces together.
* Both Elena and her mother Isobel were both turned into vampires by Damon's blood.
* Elena is the only human to neutralize three Originals (Elijah, Rebekah, and Mikael)
* Two times an Original killed her as a human; Klaus drained her of her blood and Rebekah caused her to drown when she ran Matt's truck off Wickery Bridge.
* Elena had a hand in the death of two Originals, Finn and Kol.
	+ Elena killed Alaric Saltzman, but he became an Original vampire later. Ironically, Elena was also responsible for Alaric's death as an Original because when Esther turned him, she bound Elena's life with Alaric's.
* Elena is the seventh main character turned into a vampire after Vicki, Caroline, Adrianna, Jenna, Tyler, and Alaric.
* Elena is the first purely vampire character shown in the series to form a sire bond, whose bond is based on romantic feelings.
	+ Elena is one of two characters sired to Damon. The other was Charlotte.
* Her first kill was Connor Jordan.
* Elena is one of the last members of the Petrova Family.
	+ The other members are Adrianna, Katherine, Hope, and Alexia.
* Though being a vampire made her Doppelgänger genes inactive, Tessa used her, Amara, and Katherine's blood to transfer anchor powers to Bonnie.