In the universe of CW’s The Vampire Diaries which includes The Originals and Legacies, more than a few types of vampires have been established. The Vampire Diaries premiered on the CW in September of 2009 and is based on the YA book series of the same name by L.J. Smith. It starred Nina Dobrev as Elena Gilbert, a teenage girl who has a love triangle with vampire brothers Stefan and Damon Salvatore, played by Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder. The series follows Elena and the supernatural goings-on of the fictional town Mystic Falls, Virginia. The Vampire Diaries' 2 spinoff series The Originals and Legacies, follow the Mikaelson family and Alaric Saltzman, who were established in The Vampire Diaries.
The Vampire Diaries establishes several types of supernatural beings, including witches, werewolves, and ghosts along with the titular vampires. The Vampire Diaries universe has had plenty of room to get deeper into its law. The primary vampires in the universe follow the traditional understandings of vampires: undead people who subsist off of human blood and burn in the sun. The spinoffs also explore the expanded universe that began in The Vampire Diaries.
There are many different types of vampires in the Vampire Diaries universe, including types that combine vampires with other supernatural beings. The Vampire Diaries has a lot of lore that can be difficult to keep up with, as it is spread across the 3 main series. Here is a look at all of the types of vampires in The Vampire Diaries, The Originals, and Legacies.
Ripper
A Ripper is a particularly vicious vampire who enjoys violently ripping apart and torturing their victims. Usually, a ripper has turned off their humanity, which allows them to cause harm without the burden of a conscience. A ripper isn’t a true sub-type of vampire, but rather is a nickname for particularly violent, feral vampires. They tend to growl and behave in a more animalistic manner than other vampires. Stefan Salvatore was a ripper when he was first turned, as was his mother Lily. Though some vampires are rippers without being infected, there’s also a Ripper virus that will turn any vampire into a ripper.
Augustine Vampire
Augustine Vampires are vampires used as test subjects by the Augustine Society, or vampires created by the Augustine Society using the Ripper virus. Vampires infected with the Ripper virus become cannibalistic vampires who, instead of craving the blood of living humans, have an insatiable desire to consume vampire blood. Dr. Whitmore of the Augustine Society was initially trying to study how vampires' regenerative healing abilities could lead to advancements in medicine. Vampire blood is known to have healing properties when used by humans, as long as the human is still alive. Eventually, Whitmore developed the Ripper Compound in hopes that it would cause the vampires to cannibalize each other and wipe out the entire species. Elena and Damon were both Augustine Vampires after being injected with the Ripper Compound but were eventually cured.
The Heretics
A Heretic is a vampire who is also a witch. They are called heretics because it is against the laws of Nature for vampires to use magic and they can usually only do so by siphoning magic from another source. The Heretics are a known coven that originated in the Pacific Northwest. They were originally witches from the Gemini Coven, but were exiled due to using a siphoning spell even before they were turned into hybrids. Lily Salvatore eventually turned them into vampire/witch hybrids and their siphoning ability allowed them to continue practicing magic. Other vampire-witch hybrids are sometimes called Heretics, though they are not officially part of the Heretic coven. In Legacies, Lizzie Saltzman is an example of a hybrid vampire-witch that isn’t necessarily a Heretic.
Original Vampire
The Original Vampires are the first vampires. They were turned using an immortality spell that was modified to keep them safe from werewolves. The Original Vampires are the oldest and strongest vampires in the world, and are the only vampires turned by a spell instead of by consuming vampire blood before death. Klaus’s family, the Mikaelsons, were the ones to create the vampire spell. Klaus himself is an Original Vampire, but he is also the Original Hybrid because his biological father, Ansel, was a werewolf.
Former vampire hunter Alaric Saltzman was also, at one point, an Original Vampire. Alaric became a vampire hunter after witnessing his then-wife being attacked by a vampire. He is later transformed into an Enhanced Original Vampire using the same spell that turned the Mikaelsons. After being manipulated, he temporarily became an evil version of himself and was linked to Elena by Esther, turning him into an Enhanced Original Vampire. Enhanced Original Vampires are stronger than the Originals, which made Alaric a threat to the Mikaelsons. After being killed and resurrected, he was no longer enhanced but retained his abilities as an Original Vampire.
Hybrid
A hybrid is a type of vampire that is combined with a witch or a werewolf. The Heretics are the main example of witch-vampire hybrids. These types of hybrids can only use magic by siphoning it from another magical source, as vampires typically cannot use magic. The vampire-werewolf type of hybrid spawns from Klaus Mikaelson, who is the Original Hybrid. To become a vampire-werewolf, a werewolf must have Klaus’s blood in their system before they die. Later, Klaus’s daughter Hope also has the ability to create hybrids.
Beast Vampire
The Upgraded Original Vampire is sometimes known as the Beast Vampire. This type of vampire is similar to the Enhanced Original Vampire that Alaric had turned into. The Beast was prophecized to be the undoing of the Mikaelson family or to be created from the demise of the Mikaelson family. Beast vampires also don't necessarily require human blood to complete their transition, whereas normal vampires, including Originals, need to consume human blood quickly to transition or they will die. Lucien Castle and Marcel Gerard are the two vampires who become Upgraded Original Vampires.
Tribrid
A tribrid is a type of hybrid vampire that is actively part witch, vampire, and werewolf at the same time. Klaus had the bloodline to be a tribrid, but Hope is the first tribrid and the only known tribrid in the world. Though Hope was born a tribrid, she still has to activate her werewolf and vampire abilities in order to fully realize her tribrid status. Currently, in Legacies, Hope is the only tribrid to be fully realized and the only person for whom becoming a tribrid was possible.
Though most commonly vampires are simply sired by another vampire in The Vampire Diaries universe, there's more than one way to be a vampire. The CW series and its spinoffs The Originals and Legacies have gone in-depth about the history and potential future of their brand of vampires.