When The Vampire Diaries franchise expanded and added the TV series Legacies, there were obviously going to be some parallels between the characters. Legacies focuses on the aftermath of TVD and how the new discoveries in the world of supernatural beings and magic will affect the next generation.
Each Legacies character has something in common with a TVD character whether it is from lineage, personality, or unfortunate life obstacles. The settings are also nearly the same. These supernaturally gifted high-schoolers are just trying to make it through regular school, magical school, and somehow save their town and each other, constantly. Hope Mikaelson and her band of confused yet powerful frenemies cannot seem to escape teenage complications even amidst their constant run-ins with danger.
Updated on August 26th, 2021 by Kevin Pantoja: Some of the similarities between characters from both shows are tough to gauge. For example, the protagonist of The Vampire Diaries was often a human caught up in a world of supernatural beings but the lead character on Legacies is a combination of three different supernatural creatures. Yet, both are brave and at the center of their respective stories. There are so many characters that share these kinds of things that Legacies is almost a new version of The Vampire Diaries rather than a typical spin-off like The Originals was.
Hope Mikaelson & Elena Gilbert
Both of these leading ladies have more than just being at the forefront of the show in common. They're more powerful than they believe and more complicated than they try to present themselves. While they differ in the fact that Hope didn't really have close friends in the beginning, both she and Elena push people away or try to deny their own struggles.
Elena was human for most of her show but in both human and vampire form, she held emotional power with her friends, the Salvatore brothers, and even her enemies. Hope is one of the most powerful witches in the Vampire Diaries universe and tries to deny that power around people but also finds that she is similar to Elena in that way when she is training with Alaric and accepting who she is. The people around her are drawn to be at her side at every turn.
Alaric Saltzman & Alaric Saltzman
In TVD, Alaric started out as a vampire hunter and that never really left him so he took his knowledge and decided to help the next generation of supernatural beings. He especially did this because his daughters happened to be witches.
He is his own counterpart because he still approaches issues in Legacies with his mind first and muscle later. Even with his previous revenge mindset, he took pause when people approached him with new information and grew from it, which is the kind of stuff that he instills in his students.
Landon Kirby & Matt Donovan
At first glance, Landon should align with Stefan Salvatore as they are the main character's love interest and often find themselves trying to be the hero. However, Landon parallels more with Matt Donovan because of the initial fear of getting involved and the thought that they have no place in this supernatural world but love holds them there.
They both prove themselves to fulfill a role and experience some self-discovery. Lastly, both Landon and Matt are vulnerable since one has a special power that is simply coming back to life and the other is just a human.
Lizzie Saltzman & Caroline Forbes
Lizzie and Caroline seem like an obvious pairing as far as counterparts go. Lizzie was raised as Caroline's daughter so of course they would have similarities but she is also a parallel in reference to powers even though one is a witch and one is a vampire.
Lizzie, like when Caroline first became a vampire, had trouble accepting things and controlling herself. Control is a major aspect of both of their lives and when they feel out of control they could get erratic and lose themselves but their family, biological and found, always helps them through it.
Josie Saltzman & Bonnie Bennett
Bonnie is a Bennett Witch and Josie is a Gemini Witch, both powerful in multiple ways. They're also good friends and strong witches who help at every turn. Neither of them fully realized it until they tried dark magic and returned from it.
Bonnie and Josie also share the tendency to not believe in themselves followed by the strength to overcome it. In the end, their friends rescue them from whatever dark places they venture into in return for everything they do for them.
Milton Greasley (MG) & Stefan Salvatore
Initially, MG and Matt Donovan could be seen as similar because of their hesitancy to get involved in things but MG's TVD counterpart is actually Stefan Salvatore.
MG and Stefan are underappreciated but always there for their friends, chase a passionate misunderstood love, and they both have a very dark part of them as rippers who struggle to control themselves. Still, they always ends up finding the light or encouraging those around them to find the bright spot in a situation. It also helps that they're both very powerful yet sensitive vampires.
Kaleb & Damon Salvatore
Kaleb has a tendency to play devil's advocate, is a bit of a hothead, and loves that he is a vampire. But he also is surrounded by loving friends and family that are there to catch him even if he goes off the handle. That's all kind of like his TVD counterpart, Damon Salvatore.
Damon was always a hothead but somehow walks around with a calm demeanor because he constantly believed he was right. He also loves that he is a vampire, or more-so loves to hate it, which at times is something Kaleb has seemingly felt.
The Necromancer & Katherine Pierce
The Necromancer is always popping up with bad timing, similarly to Katherine Pierce. Both he and Katherine never let things go and seem to be endlessly vengeful.
Katherine didn't care about who she hurt, including Damon and others close to her, to get what she wanted whether that was Stefan or just to live her immortal life. The Necromancer didn't care about what happened to the people he would raise from the dead or about who got hurt for him to have power.
Rafael Waithe & Tyler Lockwood
This seems like an obvious pair considering Raf and Tyler are both werewolves in the Vampire Diaries universe but they have more than that in common.
They both prove themselves for their pack, they both never expected to have this curse and they decide to make the best of it after enduring something challenging. For Tyler, it was falling under Klaus's sire bond and for Raf, it was being in wolf form for so long.
Penelope Park & Rebekah Mikaelson
Penelope seemed to be the estranged lover by her own doing. She and Josie were no longer a couple by the time Legacies started but Penelope was actually there for people she cared about and didn't want to seem like it. That meant it typically went the wrong way.
Similarly, Rebekah had this problem because she was so passionate about her family and lovers that she invested in them emotionally. That usually meant that physically she had to hurt someone or herself to then get screwed over.