Despite the fact The Vampire Diaries officially ended a couple of years ago now, the series as a franchise is still going strong. At present, its second spin-off series, Legacies is about to enter its second season on The CW and shows no signs of slowing down.
It's a little crazy to think about how the show began to where it has ended up, with three successful series altogether. Of course, one of the main draws to The Vampire Diaries was the many romances that blossomed along the way. But we're going to focus on another favored aspect, the many friendships we got from the series.
WORST: Caroline and Elena
This may seem a little harsh as Elena and Caroline have been best friends for years and clearly they have had some amazing moments together on the show. Their friendship grew in strength quite a bit as the series went on. However, in the beginning, Caroline was a pretty terrible friend to Elena.
She was extremely judgmental towards her when she began dating Stefan and very jealous of her romantic life. Not to mention how cruel she was to Bonnie on several different occasions. Caroline never quite grew out of that judgy place either as she still judged Elena for dating Damon despite her own attractions to Klaus, it made her seem like a hypocrite.
BEST: Stefan and Lexi
It's a shame that we didn't get to spend a lot of time with Lexi. Still, when she showed up in the first season we got to see a side of Stefan we hadn't really seen before. Lexi changes him into a more carefree version of himself and allows him to shed the brooding exterior for a while.
She knows how to make him laugh and she always has his best interests at heart. There's a reason it was Lexi who Stefan saw on the other side when he died in the series finale. Their friendship is a legendary one that spans life and death.
WORST: Damon and Enzo
Many people are fans of the friendship between Damon and Enzo and it's easy to see the attraction to this angsty duo. However, Damon was a terrible friend to Enzo when you think about it. First, they met while they were both being experimented on. But Damon managed to escape.
He never went back to help Enzo get out and abandoned him despite everything they had been through together. It's no wonder Enzo is pissed the first time they encounter each other again. Damon went through plenty of growth during the entire eight-season run but he still had plenty of past mistakes to pay for.
BEST: Elena and Bonnie
Even though Bonnie was never treated as well as she should have been, Elena and Bonnie's friendship is one for the ages. Of course, if you want to talk about judgmental friends, Bonnie could definitely be judgy at times. However, it always felt like her judgment came from a place of genuine fear and worry over Elena's safety whereas Caroline was often due to her rivalry with Elena.
That said, Elena didn't always treat Bonnie with the fairness and respect she deserved, but then again, most characters on the show didn't. They shared some incredibly heartbreaking moments together though. And Elena was the first friend Bonnie shared her magical heritage with.
WORST: Klaus and Stefan
Joseph Morgan and Paul Wesley had undeniably strong comedic chemistry together. Watching the scenes between Klaus and Stefan was always entertaining, particularly in the flashback sequences. But one could hardly consider their friendship as healthy.
Perhaps at one point, it had been mutually beneficial but ultimately Klaus was responsible for forcing Stefan to return to his ripper ways and almost forcing him to murder his friends and family on multiple occasions. They were the definition of toxicity and not a compatible pairing in any way. Stefan wasn't truly himself while with Klaus as he was typically under his control due to threats to Elena's life. In later seasons, after Klaus underwent some growth, things got a bit better.
BEST: Caroline and Stefan
Depending on how you feel about Caroline and Stefan, you may have preferred them as a pairing when they were simply platonic best friends. Or you might be one of the many who adored their eventual romantic pairing. For now, we'll focus on the platonic best friendship that began way back in the first season of the show.
Stefan and Caroline always understood each other. They shared many tender moments over the series and Stefan was super helpful to Caroline when she first got turned into a vampire. They were always there for one another in ways some of the other people in their lives weren't.
WORST: Stefan and Katherine
Stefan and Katherine never had an "ordinary" friendship. But Katherine has always been toxic for the Salvatores. Despite the fact she's one of the show's best villains, she had a difficult time maintaining any real friendships on the series. Even when Katherine was forcibly turned human and Stefan agreed to help her out, she was plotting ways of getting back together with him.
Her duplicity eventually leads her to steal Elena's body and try to implement herself into Salvatore's life. Needless to say, things didn't go according to plan. Katherine is too selfish to understand real friendship, at least in the show's exploration of her character.
BEST: Bonnie and Damon
Bonnie and Damon are easily one of the best friendships on the series. in fact, many fans wonder why the writers never paired these two up romantically, as they had been in the books. Plus, Ian Somerhalder and Kat Graham are good friends in real life and their exceptional chemistry would shine through in every scene they had together.
They had a lovely slow-burn friendship, it started off with mutual hatred and became a deep sincere caring, especially when they were both trapped in 1994. Even when Damon escaped, he never gave up on rescuing Bonnie and their touching reunion was enough to bring tears to the eye.
WORST: Caroline and Damon
The pairing of Caroline and Damon, dubbed "Daroline" by fans, does have plenty of support from certain sections of the fandom, but the friendship will always be toxic for one big reason. In season one, Damon coerced, tortured, and assaulted Caroline. He did so for a pretty long stretch of time by keeping her under his compulsion.
They may have moved on from that point but the trauma Caroline went through was never really addressed. Damon is Caroline's abuser, whether you're a fan of his or not, that fact is undeniable. The fact the show never let Caroline deal with what happened to her or made Damon properly show remorse for his actions at the time makes this a tough friendship to root for even if they did have their sweet moments from time to time (at some point it became obvious the writers would have rather us just forgot about that early storyline).
BEST: Alaric and Damon
Arguably the best friendship on the show was none other than the one between Damon and Alaric. Damon may have sucked at most things and been very hard to root for at times, but in his close friendships, he could be loyal to a fault. His friendship with Alaric began early on and has remained a fan favorite across the entire series run.
Damon was always sure to include Alaric in his thoughts after his death by visiting his grave, talking to his old pal, or missing his drinking buddy. Of course, Alaric doesn't stay dead forever as no one does in this universe, and fans always appreciated moments we got between the duo.