The ups and downs that the main characters of The Vampire Diaries experience throughout the series are extreme, both in the positive and negative sense. They experience some high highs, but they are dragged down to the lowest lows as well.
The series seems to have a particular knack for making their characters happy and then abruptly crushing their dreams. But, they always seem to pull through and find some glimmer of hope in the end (or, they just die). What were the happiest scenes for each of the main characters, and which were their saddest moments in the entire series?
Alaric Saltzman
Alaric had been unlucky in love for quite a while, so when he finally met Jo, everything changed. Their wedding day seemed like the happiest that Alaric had ever been.
But of course, because it's The Vampire Diaries, that happiness couldn't last, and Alaric's best moment was immediately followed by his worst. Jo and Alaric's wedding is destroyed while they're standing at the altar, and Kai finally succeeds in murdering his twin sister.
Klaus Mikaelson
Despite being one of the most powerful beings on the planet, Klaus is desperate for approval. Specifically, for Caroline's approval. So, when Caroline finally gave in to her feelings and hooked up with Klaus, it was his best moment in the series, and probably one of the best moments in his life.
One of his worst, however, was having to watch his own brother, Kol, die. Klaus was familiar with loss, but watching his brother burn alive was painful.
Jeremy Gilbert
Jeremy was a hot mess as a teenager, and while it took some time for him to pull it together, his final scenes in the entire series where he's revealed to be a teacher at the Salvatore Boarding School, helping kids just like him, was great.
And it's great that Jeremy actually made it there. He suffered a lot in his young life, but his lowest point was when he gave up on his human life and attempted to turn himself into a vampire at the end of the first season.
Tyler Lockwood
Tyler spent the beginning of his character arc as a selfish bully, so standing up to Klaus and actually trying to help all the hybrids break their sire bonds was a huge moment for Tyler.
However, that happiness was short-lived, as Hayley ratted him out, and Klaus murdered Tyler's mother for revenge. After Rebekah compels Tyler to transform into a werewolf to attack his own friends, his breakdown over his complete failure was tough to watch.
Katherine Pierce
Katherine was brutal, but she wasn't heartless. Ironically, her death may have been her happiest moment, as finally refusing to run and choosing to stay with the daughter she desperately wanted to be with was a big choice for her.
And on the flip side of that, there are few scenes in The Vampire Diaries that are more shocking and horrifying than Katherine's return home in Bulgaria to see that Klaus has viciously murdered her entire family.
Bonnie Bennett
Bonnie was one of the few characters in the series who always tried to be the hero and protect people at any cost, so seeing her and the rest of the Bennett line unite to fight against the greatest danger that Mystic Falls had ever seen was amazing.
But, as someone who always put other people before herself, it was lovely to see Bonnie finally fall in love with someone like Enzo, and it was brutal to see her heartbreak when he died.
Caroline Forbes
Her happiness was obviously short-lived given that Stefan died shortly after the wedding, but after feeling like she was never good enough for so long, marrying Stefan and having someone choose her first was a wonderful moment for Caroline.
And ironically, the romance between Stefan and Caroline really began at Caroline's darkest moment. Her biggest heartbreak was clearly the loss of her mother, and the scene where Caroline learns that her mother dies was tough to watch.
Elena Gilbert
Elena never wanted to be a part of the supernatural world, and being able to live a human life with Damon was her dream. And not only did her dream come true, but she was able to reunite with everyone she loved and lost in the afterlife, which was a lovely ending after so much suffering.
Elena also did have to suffer quite a lot in her human life, but undoubtedly her most crushing blow was the loss of her brother, which was indisputably the most heartbreaking scene of Elena's entire character arc.
Stefan Salvatore
Stefan has practically made a career out of being sad, so it's ironic that arguably his happiest moment came in death. He resolved everything he wanted to in life, and being reunited with Lexi was, as Stefan would say, epic.
And, while suffering for months, drowning over and over after being trapped in a safe by Silas is terrible, getting out and realizing that the world, including Damon and Elena, hadn't even noticed that he was missing may have been even worse.
Damon Salvatore
Damon Salvatore's moments of true joy are few and far between, despite the fact that he's been alive for well over a hundred years. And while he didn't realize that Elena was sired to him at the time, the realization that she was actually in love with him was clearly one of the best moments of his life.
Damon's saddest moment, however, has got to be when he abandoned Enzo to die and switched off his humanity. Believing that he left his best friend to burn alive crippled him for decades.