Alaric Saltzman

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

## Biographical information

### Turned

* By Esther Mikaelson (Through The Immortality Spell)

### Occupation

* Vampire Hunter (Formerly)
* History Teacher (Formerly)
* Member of the Mystic Falls Town Council (Formerly)
* College Professor

### Title(s)

* Ric
* Evilaric, Brother, Best Bud, Buddy (All by Damon)
* Bourbon Breath (Elena and Adrianna)
* Professor Bourbon (by Jo)

### Species

* Human
* Enhanced Original Vampire (Purified/Formerly)
* Ghost (Formerly)
* Spirit

## Family information

### Family Members

* Alaric † (Great-Grandfather)
* Ed Saltzman (Father)
* Dianne Saltzman (Mother)
* Isobel Flemming † (Ex-Wife)
* Josette Laughlin † (Late Fiancée/Biological mother of his children)
* Caroline Forbes (Surrogate Mother of his children)
* Josie Forbes (Daughter)
* Lizzie Forbes (Daughter)

## Supernatural information

### Significant kills

* Logan Fell (as a vampire)
* Billy (as a vampire)
* Several Tomb Vampires (as vampires)
* Henry Wattles (as a vampire)
* Brian Walters
* Bill Forbes (as a human)
* Esther Mikaelson (2nd time)
* Niklaus Mikaelson (body only)

### Cause of death

* Staked (1st and 7th time)
* Stabbed (2nd, 5th, and 9th time)
* Broken Neck (3rd and 6th time)
* Elena's Death (8th time; as an Enhanced Original Vampire)

### Killed by

* Damon Salvatore (1st and 3rd time)
* Stevie (2nd time)
* Tony (4th time)
* Elena Gilbert (5th time)
* Klaus Mikaelson (6th time)
* Esther Mikaelson (7th time; as a human)
* Rebekah Mikaelson (8th time, indirectly; as an Enhanced Original vampire)
* Joshua Parker (with the Gemini Coven; 9th time)

## Physical appearance

### Height

* 6'2" (Feet)
* 1.88 (Meters)

### Eye color

* Blue

**Alaric J. "Ric" Saltzman** was a main character of the *An Epic Kind of Love* series and also served as the main antagonist of Book 3 along with the Mikaelson Family. Alaric was a human, vampire hunter, former history teacher at Mystic Falls High School, and a former Enhanced Original Vampire, not by being one of the first vampires as the Mikaelson Family is, but instead being turned through an altered version of the spell used on the Originals.

He originally came to Mystic Falls to find the vampire who killed his wife, but learned that she voluntarily became a vampire and left him. He also learned that his wife had two children when she was a teenager, twins named Elena and Adrianna Gilbert. Alaric began a romantic relationship with their adoptive aunt, Jenna. Following Jenna's tragic death, he seemed to step into his step-father role to Elena and Adrianna and is a father figure to their brother, Jeremy. He was also Damon's best friend alongside Bonnie; Damon even called 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 by others, that hated vampires and vampire sympathizers. As Dark Alaric, he killed several members of the Town Council. With a goal to create a monster to end all monsters - similar to her husband before him - Esther linked Alaric's life force to Elena's and, in the process, created an Enhanced Original Vampire with one true weapon, the final, indestructible white oak stake. Fearing for her family's life, Rebekah Mikaelson caused Elena's death, thereby killing Alaric in the process.

After dying at the end of Book 3, he watched over Damon, Jeremy, Adrianna, and Elena as a ghost. He was resurrected from the Other Side before it's destruction at the end of Book 5. After being resurrected, and though he retained his status as an Enhanced Original Vampire, he became a college professor at Whitmore College, teaching Occult Studies. He met and fell in love with Josette Laughlin, who saved his life when he crossed the magical border into Mystic Falls which stripped him of his supernatural powers and made him human again. Eventually, they came to find out that they were expecting twins. However, Josette was brutally murdered by the Gemini Coven at their wedding when they realized that she was having twins. Alaric was then killed by Joshua Parker, with the help of the coven, when he tried to avenge Jo's death.

Unbeknownst to Alaric, Kai Parker managed to save his daughters, Josie and Lizzie Forbes, and they were carried by Caroline Forbes. Unfortunately, he was never able to meet them.

**Alaric** was a member of the **Saltzman Family** and a non-biological relative to the **Petrova Family**, the **Labonair Family**, and the **Gilbert Family**, due to being Elena and Adrianna's step-father through his marriage to Isobel, and Jeremy's guardian.

## Early History

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 glasses and had a skin condition. While attending Duke University, he met and then married Isobel Flemming, a parapsychologist 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 presumed dead. Alaric took over her research and found out about Mystic Falls and the rumors about vampires residing 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 vampires.

## Throughout An Epic Kind of Love Series (Part 1)

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

Alaric moved to Mystic Falls and took up the position of a history teacher after the death of the previous one, William Tanner. He found a file Mr. Tanner had for Jeremy Gilbert labeled the "jackass" file. Alaric gave Jeremy a clean start and decided to help him out with his grades by giving him an extra credit history report about any event that happened in Mystic Falls.

Jenna Sommers, Elena, Adrianna, and Jeremy's aunt and legal guardian, took an interest in Alaric and was ok that he talked about Isobel, feeling that he needed to let it all out. Alaric came across Logan Fell and staked him because he was a vampire. It was then revealed that Alaric was a vampire hunter and had researched and studied them.

He met up with Jenna who told him that Elena and Adrianna were researching their birth mother whose name was Isobel. Alaric didn't believe they were the same person until Jenna showed him a picture of Isobel who he recognized as his deceased wife. Shocked that she never told him about having children, he left. He later told Jenna that he wasn't ready for the twins to ask him any questions about Isobel. He recognized Damon Salvatore as the vampire who "killed" Isobel and confronted him. Damon taunted Alaric that the life he had with Isobel didn't seem to be enough for her, revealing that she begged him to turn her into a vampire, before stabbing Alaric in the lung with a stake. Stefan Salvatore, Damon's younger brother, was surprised that Damon had done this but was shocked that Alaric woke up later alive. Alaric said it was the ring. Since finding out the truth, his relationship with Damon is less antagonistic.
Alaric later helped Damon with the escaped tomb vampires who kidnapped Stefan and Adrianna to torture and kill them. His job was to get inside the house and get Ms. Gibbons out of the house but was horrified when Damon killed her. The two fought, with Adrianna by Damon's side, and killed several vampires. Pearl, another escaped vampire, and her daughter Anna arrived afterwards. The reason Alaric helped Damon was because Damon told Alaric that Pearl could help with finding Isobel. After finding out that Damon lied, Alaric punched him in the face.

Isobel came to Mystic Falls and asked Alaric to give Elena and Adrianna a message to meet with her. Alaric, hurt and upset with Isobel, refused and left. Isobel caught him outside the Mystic Grill and gave him a firmer warning: to give the message to Elena and Adrianna or she would kill his students one by one. Alaric did as she asked and gave the message to Elena, Adrianna, Stefan, and Damon.
He met Isobel again and took off his ring and vervain to prove that he was not protecting himself from her. Isobel compelled him to move on and get over her, showing that she still cared about him. She gave him back his ring and left.
After John Gilbert turned on the device, Stefan, Damon, and Anna, along with several other vampires were affected and when Stefan was spotted, Alaric sent a deputy towards another vampire instead of Stefan, saving his life.

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## Personality

* Human
* The Darkness
* Enhanced Original Vampire
* Ghost

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 he immediately started to bond with Jenna. However, his 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, shown when 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 move on 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, besides Adrianna.

However, after Jenna's death, Alaric was unhinged and started to fall into a state of depression where 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, Jeremy, and Adrianna (who had her humanity off at this time), 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 was going 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.

Alaric's drinking remained a large part of him when he returned from the dead, first as a vampire, then as a human. One of his nicknames was "Professor Bourbon", and Damon once referred to him as a functioning alcoholic.

Alaric's many deaths and resurrections brought about by the Gilbert Ring eventually caused him to develop a split personality. Each time he died with the ring on, he'd be met by Esther Mikaelson on The Other Side and, in the brief period before the ring revived him, she would speak with him and nurture his negative feelings toward vampires and how they had affected his life. Alaric began to black out and his darker personality would take over, targeting vampires or vampire sympathizers. This Alaric was vindictive, hateful, and militant in his crusade against vampires and anyone who supports them, not caring if they were once friends or family. He murdered members of the Founders' Council because he thought they were too weak to truly protect humanity from monsters.

This side of Alaric even hated his real self, seeing him as weak and hypocritical, befriending vampires rather than slaying them like he should. This alter-ego did care about self preservation and would take control if he felt his life was in danger, like when he removed his ring and Stefan nearly killed him to draw him out. The darkness in Alaric's hatred of vampires led to him aligning with Esther when she returned to life, both of them wanting to eradicate the vampire species. This led to her transforming him into an Enhanced Original Vampire, which for a time let his darker side have complete, uninterrupted control.

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 for 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 was also 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 very upset by the loss of Damon and Bonnie. He admits that he hates every single part of being a vampire and drinks from blood bags not from the vein.
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 that 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.

## Physical Appearance

Alaric can be described as tall, about 6'2" in height, with an athletic build. A handsome man with short, brown hair that is gelled on the top and has blue eyes, he often wears casual clothing, t-shirts, button downs, jackets, jeans, etc. He's mostly seen wearing dark colors, but occasionally wears brighter ones such as pink or white shirts. He appears between the ages of 34-36.

## Relationships

### Isobel Flemming

*Main Article: Alaric and Isobel*

Isobel Flemming is Elena and Adrianna'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 but left him when she became a vampire. Alaric then took over her research, determined to find out what happened to her. They meet again when Isobel returns to Mystic Falls, on Katherine's orders, to get the Gilbert Device so that the tomb vampires could be killed. Before she left again, she confronts Alaric, telling him she regrets her decision to become a vampire. Isobel then compels him to move on from her.

She returns in Book 2 allegedly to help protect the twins from Klaus, but she was really 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 tells him 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. Isobel later commits suicide.

### Damon Salvatore

"*I miss you too, buddy.*"
—Alaric to Damon

*Main Article: Damon and Alaric*

Damon is Alaric's best friend. Their relationship started out antagonistic because 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 been turned into a vampire. From that point on, they have been becoming closer as they first worked together to rescue Stefan and Adrianna from the tomb vampires' occupied house. After this, they often team up to fight the usual threats to the town. Alaric is the only one (other than Adrianna) to call Damon a friend in the beginning. They are often seen drinking together and throughout the series, they become like brothers. Towards the end of Book 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 at the end of Book 3, moments after Elena's death causing Damon to break down over losing his best friend. In Book 5, Damon sacrifices his life to save Alaric and the others before the Other Side is completely destroyed. However, Damon later comes back to life and they began to work together to stop the Gemini Coven. Damon was very upset when Alaric was killed at his own wedding by Joshua Parker and the Gemini Coven.

### Jenna Sommers

"*Just know that I love you. At least I can tell you that much.*"
—Alaric to Jenna

*Main Article: Alaric and Jenna*

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 that his wife, Isobel, was still alive. She also found out that he is a vampire hunter. They reconcile briefly before Jenna is turned into a vampire by Klaus and killed for his sacrifice. Alaric was devastated by her death and even went on a drinking binge to cope with the grief and sadness over her death. He then moves in with Elena and Jeremy, and becomes their legal guardian.

### Other Relationships

* Alaric and Jo (Former Fiancée/Former Allies)
* Alaric and Meredith (Ex-Girlfriend/ Former Allies)
* Adrianna and Alaric (Former Guardian/Father Figure)
* Elena and Alaric (Former Guardian/Father Figure)
* Klaus and Alaric (Former Enemies)
* Alaric and Caroline (Close Friends)

## 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 gifted 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 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 to 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 supernatural means. Alaric's ring was used to melt and bind its protective magic to the last White oak Stake, making it indestructible.

## Name

* **Alaric** is a Gothic name meaning "ruler of all". It was the name of the king of the Visigoths who sacked Rome in 410 and might have precipitated the fall of Rome.
* **Saltzman** is an Ashkenazic Jewish occupational name for a producer or seller of salt, from German Salz "salt" + Mann "man". Altered spelling of German Salzmann.

## Trivia

* Alaric begins a relationship with Meredith Fell a while after Jenna dies.
* His bank account password is "Vampslayer"
* Logan Fell was the first vampire that Alaric killed.
* He has the most deaths in the series.
* Alaric was the third main character to die after Vicki and Jenna
	+ He is the first male main character to die and the fifth to transition into a vampire, after Vicki, Adrianna, Caroline, and Jenna.