The always popular The Vampire Diaries has bid farewell to Netflix, and fans are distraught about how they'll be able to watch their favorite Salvatore brothers fight for Elena Gilbert's honor on screen again (it's available on HBO Max and Peacock). Damon and Stefan have carved their positions in teen show history as fearless, love-motivated vampires, but even these brave vamps had many fears in TVD.
In the century-and-a-half that they had been immortals, they collected friends and enemies both, so they had many reasons to be afraid despite their awesome powers. From Elena to Katherine, the Salvatores were courageous, but not unafraid.
Stefan Relapsing Into Being A Ripper
He was a good character, but Stefan's inner villain surfaced with the side of him that was a Ripper. Human blood had a scary effect on the younger Salvatore brother, and both he and Damon were deathly afraid of the Ripper and its arrival.
This was because going back to a normal, humanized Stefan was extremely hard once he lost control, and losing control meant loss of life and irreparable damage. Stefan tormented himself for decades over things he did as a Ripper.
Losing Elena
Their love for Elena was the biggest similarity that Stefan and Damon shared, and both of them feared losing her in various ways. Elena being a doppelgänger made her an automatic target for all things supernatural, especially Klaus who was a deadly Original.
The brothers were always looking out for her because someone or the other wanted her dead, or wanted her blood. They did lose Elena twice, temporarily, but they always found a way to get her back.
Each Other's Demise
There might have been plenty of bad blood between the siblings, but they did love each other dearly and were afraid of what they would do should one of them die. Stefan and Damon always made sure to save each other, whether it was a werewolf bite or from being trapped in a human body.
The legendary Stefan and Damon had many sweet brotherly moments because needed each other too badly to let the other get harmed. Even at the very end, both of them only found peace with each other.
Their Father
Not much was known about the father of Stefan and Damon until the later seasons, and Giuseppe Salvatore was revealed to be a terrible husband and father. In fact, he terrorized his family so much that both brothers were deathly afraid of him.
He was prejudiced and abusive, and he often gave corporal punishments to Damon, which Stefan escaped due to his age. He later shot his sons, which led to their transformation.
Katherine
This wily vampire changed the lives of the two Salvatores, and she was always a thorn in their side. From feeding them blood to manipulating them and imitating Elena — Katherine had done it all and still survived.
She was constantly looking for ways to torture Damon and Stefan, even though she claimed to love the latter. Her final outing as Queen of Hell showed how powerful and lethal she could be. This was why the Salvatores contributed to Katherine's final downfall.
Losing Their Humanity
Flipping off the humanity switch was an easy alternative to dealing with messy emotions, but both the brothers did not love the idea of doing it because of how difficult it was to bring the other back from their destructive path.
They both knew that the person with the lost humanity would regret the things they did, which was why losing their humanity was a big no-no for Stefan and Damon unless they were compelled to.
Not Finding Love
While this may not be something that Stefan and Damon expressed overtly, it was implicit in their actions. They needed a woman in their lives whom they could dedicate their love and energy to, and being alone really didn't suit either brother.
Ironically, they always ended up loving the same woman, which made love an even more fearsome topic for the siblings. Still, not finding love in their lives was something they were subconsciously afraid of.
Werewolf Bites
After they discovered that werewolves were real and that their bite was, in fact, lethal to vampires, both Damon and Stefan were always on their guard. Only Klaus' blood could heal them from the bite, and Damon had come dangerously close to dying from it.
While Klaus was around, there was still hope to get an antidote, but once he left, the werewolf bite became a highly feared event for the Salvatores and every other vampire.
Klaus
The Original hybrid was a true threat to the Salvatores. He knew Stefan from decades past, and he loved bringing out his Ripper self. He also wanted to drain Elena to the point of death to let his werewolf side out and had no regard for any life, human or vampire.
Damon and Stefan were rightfully scared of Klaus and his wrath because he was, back then, invincible and determined to get what he wanted — everything that would destroy the brothers' lives.
Losing Their Friends
Even though Damon did a lot of shady things to Alaric and Liz, he loved them and thought of them as his companions. Bonnie was the one friend who got to see the best of him, and Damon couldn't bear to lose his friends at all.
Similarly, for Stefan, Lexi and Caroline were extremely important, and he suffered when Damon killed Lexi for no good reason. They protected their friends at all costs, sometimes even at the cost of Elena's well-being.