Violence is an accepted fact of life in The Vampire Diaries. When Elena Gilbert fell in love with a vampire, she committed fully and accepted all that life had to offer. This even led her to become a vampire herself, though she regretted that decision later in life. But even with the bad, there was good. Elena and the residents of Mystic Falls encounter misfortune but they persevere.
Squid Game may not seem like it has a lot in common with The Vampire Diaries. The bleak critique on capitalism seems to have more in common with Battle Royale. But the contestants of the Squid Game enterprise encounter violence as well and some characters do not let themselves be turned into monsters because of it. The characters of Squid Game have more in common with The Vampire Diaries than it may seem.
Elena - Gi-Hun
Elena’s compassion and empathy are her superpowers in The Vampire Diaries. Although she succumbs to vampirism later in the series, she always falls back on her humanity. She is the voice of reason when Damon’s plans veer towards dark territory. She urges others to be as humane as she is.
This is similar to Gi-Hun, who is the most human in Squid Game. Even when it is not the most tactical, Gi-Hun will choose people over winning. He is automatically opposed to the murder in the games. During the marble game, he chooses Il-nam to be his partner, even though picking the old man did not seem to be advantageous at the time.
Bonnie - Sae-Byeok
Bonnie is always on the winning team because of her perseverance. Her morality means that she will always do what is right, but will make the hard decisions to get there. Smart and capable, Bonnie will do anything for the people that she loves. This mirrors Sae-byeok, who is only in the games for her brother.
She is desperate to get her brother out of the children’s home and unite their family. She is so committed to this that she breaks rules to do it. Her intelligence matches Bonnie’s as she figures out what she needs to do to survive. She knows enough to avoid being gassed in the van and finds out a clue to the honeycomb challenge before anyone else does.
Stefan - Jun-Ho
Stefan’s prime motivation has always been Damon. His brother is what is most important to him and has sacrificed himself time and time again to save him. Stefan was responsible for turning Damon into a vampire because he didn’t want to be alone and in the final season, dies for him so Damon can live a normal life, which is one of the saddest moments on The Vampire Diaries.
Jun-ho’s commitment to his brother is similar. Even though he is a detective, he is not above murder. When he sneaks into the games under the guise of a worker, he lies and kills to get what he wants. And just like Stefan, Jun-ho is ultimately betrayed by his brother too.
Katherine - Mi-Nyeo
Katherine is most likely to win the Squid Game. She takes care of herself above all else. Even though she claims to have truly loved Stefan, she is not above betraying him to save her skin. There is no bridge too far for her and often uses sex as a device. This is a tactic that Mi-nyeo also employs. She sleeps with Deok-su because she recognizes his strength.
Even when it seems that Mi-nyeo has been eliminated from the games due to the lack of a partner for the marbles game, she comes back for the bridge challenge. Her bloodlust and vengeance are what destroy her in the end, just like Katherine.
Klaus - Deok-su
Klaus’s psychosis is what defines him. He has lost all connection to humanity and uses violence as a way of communicating. One of the best villains on The Vampire Diaries, it is satisfying when Klaus gets what he deserves.
The same goes for Deok-su, who lasted almost until the last round in Squid Game. His cutthroat nature got him far in the game but he underestimated Mi-nyeo. He and Klaus share the personality trait of misunderstanding people different from them and they lose because of it.
Caroline - Ali
Caroline’s main personality trait is that she cares about people. This is not an outrageous characterization in The Vampire Diaries, as most of the main characters retain their humanity. But once Caroline becomes a vampire, she becomes one of the most dependable characters on the show. Many people rely on her kindness and strength to get them through.
Though Ali is naive, he is one of the strongest characters. He is chosen as the anchor in Tug-of-War due to his physical strength as well as his moral character. Both Caroline and Ali’s downfall is that they love and sometimes trust people too much.
Enzo - Sang-woo
Enzo has struggled with his humanity, like many vampires in The Vampire Diaries. Although he feels deeply and can care for others, when he is put in dire situations, he will do what it takes to survive. After fifty years in captivity, Enzo becomes vengeful.
During the Squid Games, Sang-woo falls prey to the same conditioning. He is childhood friends with Gi-hun but does unspeakable things to win the prize money. The cruelty of the world compromises Sang-woo, despite the affection he feels for people.
Wes Maxfield - Byeong-Gi
While only briefly a villain on The Vampire Diaries, Wes Maxfield was responsible for a lot of pain. He hails from the family that imprisoned Enzo and Damon to do experiments on. He is responsible for creating the Augustine Vampire - a vampire who only feeds on the blood of other vampires. He twists his medical profession into something dark, just like Byeong-gi.
Byeong-gi also swore to do no harm but ends up in the Squid Game. He becomes corrupt like Wes and strikes a deal with the workers at the games. He uses his medical practice to help them harvest organs to sell on the black market. Both of these characters use their intellect for the wrong reasons.
Cade - Il-Nam
For being The Vampire Diaries’ personification of the Devil, Cade doesn’t last long. But his villainy is because he is a product of the world that he lives in. Originally empathetic, Cade becomes evil after being burned for his psychic gifts. By the end of the series, he is the character pulling the strings and trying to lure Damon and Stefan into a life of servitude. He has lost all goodwill and there is no redemption for him.
Being a mastermind is something that best describes Il-nam, which is one of the reasons he is the least likable character in Squid Game. Il-nam was also innocent once and had a wife and son that he cared for. But he became so rich and powerful that he started to see people as animals. Both of these characters die having caused a multitude of people pain and misery.
Damon - The Front Man
Damon has many redeeming qualities, but that came from years of learning from his mistakes. Damon has also lived multiple lifetimes of betraying others. He has his moral code but has a reputation for hurting people that care about him.
Like Damon, The Front Man also has a set of principles. He believes in the games because that is where players can find equality that is not present in the real world. But he also betrays his brother, like Damon has betrayed Stefan in the past. When Jun-ho finds out that his brother is in charge of the games, the Front Man shoots him as he has made peace with his role as the villain.