Content Warning: This list contains depictions of substance abuse.
Steven R. McQueen's Jeremy Gilbert is one of the few characters from The Vampire Diaries to show up in the now-canceled Legacies and he played the part of a brother and hunter perfectly throughout the show. That Legacies cameo only emphasized his importance in the franchise.
Jeremy had one of the most dramatic and revealing arcs in the show, and his entire personality and perspective changed considerably from the first season of The Vampire Diaries to the last episode he was a part of. Despite leaving the show for a while in the middle, he continued to be imperative to it, and fans loved to see his return in the season 8 finale. By the end of it, Jeremy Gilbert was a changed man.
Jeremy Fell In Love
When Jeremy was introduced to viewers in season 1, he was merely 15 years old. He was just a kid who was discovering the highs and lows of teenage life, and love was something he was feeling for the first time. Jeremy fell hard for the sweet but troubled Vicki Donovan at first, but his affections shifted soon enough.
Her tragic death forced him to move on to Anna and Bonnie, both of whom he loved deeply. Many fans rooted for him and Anna because of how lovely they were together, but Bonnie and his chemistry was off the charts. It's safe to say he messed that one up and did the worst thing he could to Bonnie.
Jeremy Became A Hunter
After the death of Hunter Connor Jordan, Jeremy's membership into the legendary Brotherhood of The Five got activated. This meant that he was now a part of the supernatural, but a mortal enemy of the vampires who loved his sister so much.
For the most part, this storyline was a wild one, and Jeremy was right in the eye of the storm. He became a Hunter with a steadily growing Hunter's Mark, and Klaus and Stefan wanted him to keep hunting to find Silas and the cure through his Mark. Jeremy went from human to Hunter, which was a huge change for him.
Jeremy Died And Came Back To Life
The younger Gilbert racked up an impressive death count on The Vampire Diaries, dying five times and coming back to life. Before the vampires descended, Jeremy would have never imagined his life like this, but he had his neck snapped by Damon and was shot by Liz in his teens.
Bonnie then stopped his heart and he was stabbed by Elena, but the Gilbert Ring managed to bring him back every time. One of his slightly more permanent deaths was when Silas drained him of blood, and the Ring couldn't revive him because he was a supernatural Hunter himself. Even then, Bonnie managed to bring him back to life.
Jeremy Could Interact With Ghosts
Dying and coming back to life was no easy feat, and it predictably had its consequences for Jeremy. When he returned from death, he developed the uncanny ability to see ghosts and interact with them, even if nobody else could see them in the room.
The closer he was to someone, the more they would appear around him. This meant that he could see the spirits of Bonnie, Anna, and Vicki most often, as he loved them both and they still held a special place in his heart and life.
Jeremy Had Two Bodies
There's no doubt that Elena did terrible things with her humanity off, but burning the Gilbert House down along with Jeremy in it was easily the worst. Unlike the other deaths, this one was quite permanent, and poor Jeremy's physical body was actually burnt to ashes by his own sister.
The show never spoke of the physical resurrection of Jeremy when Bonnie did bring him back, but this meant that he had had two different bodies in his lifetime as a human and Hunter.
Jeremy Cheated On Bonnie
The bond that Bonnie and Jeremy had seemed like endgame, but the latter ruined everything because of the affection he had for Anna. In a very amusing but ironic twist of events, as he didn't cheat with a real human entity, but kissed a ghostly Anna which broke his relationship with Bonnie.
This was Jeremy's first brush with the complexities of love and relationships, and he really did think that Bonnie would forgive his transgressions. He treated her poorly, which was unlike his usually gentle personality.
Jeremy Left Mystic Falls, Twice
As a teen, Jeremy was quite satisfied being in Mystic Falls, but he exited the tiny magical town not once, but twice during his tenure on the show. The first time, he was compelled by Damon on Elena's behest to go away to Denver to stay safe from the Originals. That ended quickly when Kol found him there.
The second time, he pretended to move to Santa Fe for art school, when he merely moved out of town to train to be a better vampire hunter with Alaric.
Jeremy Got Sober
The death of his parents sent Jeremy reeling into depression, and he used substances to cope with the loss of his loved ones. He turned to drugs and drinking, which was his main activity in season 1 of The Vampire Diaries. He hung out with the wrong crowd and did careless things in this state.
However, Jeremy did manage to heal himself and move away from substance abuse over the course of the show. He started paying more attention to Elena and helping her out instead of being a burden to her.
Jeremy Found Out That Elena Was Not His Real Sister
One of the biggest revelations for Jeremy was finding out that Elena was not his real sister. Instead, she was the biological daughter of his uncle and Isobel Flemming, who was adopted by Grayson and Miranda and raised as his sister.
Thankfully, learning that Elena was his cousin and not sister did not change his love for her, and he still considered her his sister no matter what their biological ties were.
Jeremy Became Stronger Physically And Mentally
At the tender age of 15, Jeremy had to deal with many blows. He lost much of his family, learned some familial secrets, and went through the transitions of being a Hunter. Jeremy had started off as someone unwilling to do things and help himself, but that changed in TVD.
The young boy turned into a man and made himself a lot stronger both physically and mentally in the show. He learned how to put up with bad fortune, make the best of a bad situation, and always have hope. His physical training also altered his physique a lot.