The Vampire Diaries franchise has been going strong for thirteen years, but between three shows and 17 seasons, there are bound to be some errors in continuity. The current spinoff, Legacies, is set in Mystic Falls just like the original show, and while it takes place several years after the end of The Vampire Diaries, it ought to follow the same general rules regarding the three main supernatural species.
However, mix-ups can happen. Along with taking a different tone and approach to the supernatural world, Legacies conveniently forgets some details of what happened during The Vampire Diaries' run. Here are ten facts established in The Vampire Diaries that Legacies contradicts.
Mystic Falls Was Stripped Of All Magic In 2012
During season 5 of The Vampire Diaries, the Travelers performed a ritual to cleanse the world of all magic but their own. While it did not fully succeed, it did make it so that Mystic Falls was stripped of its magic for a large chunk of time in 2012. This made it so that witches had no power there, and vampires died all over again.
However, on Legacies, a vampire character named Sebastian claims to have been buried under the Salvatore School, desiccated, since the 19th century. While this allowed the show to bring in an older vampire, as most of the characters are strictly from this century, it contradicts The Vampire Diaries. Since all vampires were cast out of Mystic Falls or suffered their deaths, Sebastian ought to have died in 2012.
Jo Wasn't Buried In Her Wedding Dress
It was heartbreaking when The Vampire Diaries provided fans with its own version of Game Of Thrones's Red Wedding, killing Jo Laughlin and her entire coven on her wedding day. But The Vampire Diaries didn't end actress Jodi Lyn O'Keefe's role there. Jo's body was brought back to life with the soul of a vampire named Florence before eventually dying again.
Yet, when she was resurrected in Legacies, she appeared in her blood-stained wedding dress. While it made for a dramatic entrance, it doesn't make any sense with the events portrayed in The Vampire Diaries.
Prison Worlds Are Linked To The Life Of The Gemini Coven Leader
Prison worlds served an important function in The Vampire Diaries, locking away villains who could not be killed. Legacies has been a little more laissez-faire with its use of prison worlds, including having Alaric throw students into prison worlds when they lose control and kill others.
However, as much as prison worlds are an easy answer to all Legacies' problems, they do have rules that often get forgotten. One critical rule is that prison worlds are bound to the life of the current Gemini Coven leader. In theory, the three modern prison worlds are all tied to Lizzie and Josie, as the only remaining members of the Gemini Coven. With that being said, there should have been some impact on the prison worlds when Lizzie died and became a heretic, but Legacies has ignored that complication.
Sire Bonds Are Incredibly Hard To Break
In The Vampire Diaries, sire bonds are shown to be incredibly hard to break. Tyler had to transform over a hundred times in a row to break the sire bond between himself and Klaus. Vampires can also break the sire bond by turning off their own humanity, thus breaking their affection for their sire.
But in Legacies, when Lizzie develops a sire bond with Hope, she is able to break it out of sheer force of will, defying most of the lore on sire bonds that the franchise built.
Powerful Spells Have Physical Consequences On The Witch
Magic is incredibly complicated in The Vampire Diaries universe, with Bonnie alone using several different types of magic, each of which requires precise spell casting and some form of sacrifice. Often, this sacrifice comes as a physical consequence to the spell caster, even for The Vampire Diaries' most powerful witches.
However, in Legacies, witches hardly ever seem to have any physical consequences for magic. It is mentioned a few times that Lizzie experiences bad reactions to dark magic, which is banned at the Salvatore School, but in general, magic is easier on its caster in Legacies, requiring considerably less precision and personal sacrifice.
Finding Peace Has Very Little To Do With A Person Being Good Or Bad
Like magic, the afterlife is a tricky subject in The Vampire Diaries universe. A witch named Qetsiyah was responsible for making The Other Side, a realm where supernatural creatures go after they die. Likewise, Hell was made by a powerful psychic named Cade. But by the end of the series, both of those realms have been destroyed, leaving supernatural creatures to go either to oblivion or peace.
The whole concept of the afterlife changes in Legacies, with souls needing to provide the ferryman with coins in order to get to peace. In order to get these coins, they have to resolve their life's issues or help others in order to pay off their debts. However, this completely contradicts everything The Vampire Diaries set up about peace, as multiple villainous characters found peace without having to work their way there.
Rippers Struggle Against Their Impulses Every Day Of Their Lives
The Vampire Diaries introduces the concept of a ripper to vampire lore, suggesting that while some vampires can control their thirst, others become violent and unfeeling, feeding without regard to the lives of those they are feeding on. This is a central element of Stefan's character when he turns off his humanity, as he is constantly fighting his darkest impulses.
Not so on Legacies, where two different vampires are shown to be rippers. While both had one bad day, neither seem to struggle with their thirst nearly as much as Stefan did, and both are easily brought back when they do give in. This lessens the significance of Stefan's struggles by making it seem like he was just unusually bad at suppressing his instincts.
Siphon Witches Can Use Their Powers To Drain Their Opponents
Siphoners are a specific type of Gemini witch that can only perform magic when they have siphoned some from someone else. The Vampire Diaries' villainous Kai Parker is the predominant example of this in The Vampire Diaries, repeatedly using his abilities against the show's heroes.
However, on Legacies, being a siphoner is always about finding something to siphon to act like a 'normal' witch. The showrunners seem to have forgotten its offensive purpose, where a siphoner can drain a magical creature to stop them from attacking. While this was not a critical power on The Vampire Diaries, it was part of what made siphoners different, while Legacies seems focused on them being just like anybody else.
Werewolves Have Super Hearing
Vampires and werewolves both have enhanced senses, but Legacies plays really fast and loose with what powers each species has. The Vampire Diaries established that werewolves specifically have enhanced hearing, which allows them to hunt down their prey.
However, when Hope wants to know what Lizzie and Josie are talking about in Legacies, she has to ask her vampire friend Roman, rather than using her own abilities. This allowed Roman to get some redemption after the part he played in killing Hope's mother but left viewers confused as to why Hope couldn't just do it herself.
The Vampire Who Turned Their Humanity Off Has To Choose To Turn It Back On
An important part of The Vampire Diaries' take on vampires is that they can turn their humanity off at will, and they have to be heavily coerced into turning it back on. Many do terrible things with their humanity off, so it's a protective instinct to keep it off. But, at the end of the day, most can be forced into feeling something again which lets their humanity back in.
However, Legacies didn't want to go through all of that effort. Instead, they had Josie, hopped up on dark magic, turn vampire Jade's humanity back on. This is nothing that was demonstrated on any previous show and lessens the impact of every arc to get a character to turn their humanity back on, including Hope's journey just two seasons later.