Love and romance were the cornerstones of The Vampire Diaries, and relationships of all kinds flourished on the show. Humans mingled with vampires, witches, werewolves, and Originals, resulting in epic romances that fans loved (and even hated).
However, fan shipping was not an indicator of how healthy these relationships could be. The stakes on the show were always high, which was why the characters were ready to control, manipulate, hoodwink, maim, and even kill their romantic partners in the name of love. Which of these relationships were positive, and which ones were toxic?
Alaric And Jo
Even though this relationship ended because of a very sad death, it was The Vampire Diaries', healthiest couple. Both Alaric and Jo loved each other very much but decided to stay apart until Alaric went back to being a human. They were rewarded for their patience with the news of pregnancy, and a wedding.
Alaric treated Jo right after her difficult life as a Gemini, and she also took care of him after the disastrous marriage to Isobel and the ill-fated relationship with Jenna. They would have been a happy couple, had Kai not intervened.
Caroline And Stefan
These two vampires were as apart as chalk and cheese at the start, but their slow build-up towards love was quite lovely to watch. They were not perfect, as Caroline had forced Stefan to switch off his humanity, and he had left her without saying goodbye because of Rayna Cruz, but they made up for it later with love, understanding, and maturity.
People might say that Stefan never loved Caroline, but theirs was a mature and stable romance, which didn't require sparks or thrills to survive. They made it through years of distance, and the fact that Caroline had kids. Stefan accommodated her as she was, and she understood him completely, especially why he chose to die.
Enzo And Bonnie
These two lovebirds appeared at the tail end of the show but stole fans' hearts anyway. Due to Enzo's shifting loyalties at the start, they had some tension (Bonnie cut off his hand!), but mutual respect and admiration were present even then.
Enzo was a complete gentleman, and in keeping Bonnie safe from the Armory, he clearly showed his hand. The two had the most heartwarming bond, and none of them liked to give up on each other. It was positive to see that they wanted to live as humans together, and Enzo didn't force anything on Bonnie. He encouraged her to move on from his ghost so she could live a happier life.
Elena And Stefan
The first relationship between TVD, Stefan, and Elena started perfectly. She was devoted to him, and he loved her without wanting to control her. Even with his humanity off, he made himself scarce from Elena's life, instead of hurting her or bothering her.
However, trouble struck when Elena started falling for Damon, and Stefan was out of the picture for a while. She left him unceremoniously, didn't care that he was locked away at the bottom of a quarry, and made merry with Damon.
Bonnie And Jeremy
Jeremy and Bonnie may have been together for some time, but their relationship was rocky at best. Bonnie did love Jeremy, and she would have done anything for him, but he couldn't move past his exes and multiple vampire girlfriends.
He was unfaithful to her, didn't bother telling her, and strung her along when his affections lay in another place. She was a good girlfriend, but Jeremy chose to prioritize Anna's ghost over a living breathing girl, which made them pretty toxic.
Caroline And Tyler
Tyler was one of Caroline's worst partners, and she also wasn't fair to him in the end. Despite the help he got from her during his transformation, he sold her out to Jules and was okay with watching her get tortured by Brady. He left town without telling her several times too.
Caroline remained devoted to him till a point, but her fatal attraction to Klaus was her undoing. Klaus had killed Tyler's mother, but she went ahead and slept with him anyway. this couple was seriously unhealthy.
Tyler And Liv
This short-lived relationship was a strange one, with way too much death involved to be okay. Tyler and Liv were sweet at first, even hesitant to take the relationship forward because of Liv's complicated family history. When they did start dating, Liv killed a person to keep Tyler from triggering the curse.
As she lay dying, Liv agreed to let Tyler asphyxiate her so that his curse could be triggered and he could live. This was shown in a romantic light, but it was by no means that. It sent a harmful message to young people everywhere.
Klaus And Caroline
Klaus and Caroline are a big ship, perhaps even bigger than Delena, but they were toxic to the core. Klaus, being a murder machine, originally was supposed to kill Caroline for the moonstone ritual, but chose Jenna instead. He also almost left her to die of werewolf bites before saving her at the last second.
He sought to gain her affections by deliberately breaking her and Tyler up, and instead of recognizing that, she fell for the man who killed Carol Lockwood. He had harassed all her friends but thought that she would choose him, which she did a few times.
Damon And Elena
Doing terrible things to each other was Damon and Elena's thing, and the count never stopped. They excused everything in the name of true love, which included Damon abusing Caroline and Vicki, snapping Jeremy's neck, compelling Elena, force-feeding her blood, manipulating her, killing Aaron, and so much more.
She was no less. Elena accepted this bad behavior and labeled it cute, called him names, compelled their entire relationship away, and chose one brother over the other. They were never a good match and were extremely harmful to each other.
Katherine And Damon/Stefan
These are two relationships, but Katherine's ties to either brother corrupted the other relationship. She toyed with the Salvatores mercilessly, giving them her blood knowingly, and unknowingly in Stefan's case. This led to them becoming vampires and estranging them from their father.
Katherine didn't love Damon, and she claimed to have eyes only for Stefan, but she did a number on both of them when she came back out. Her murderous tricks were horrid, and both the Salvatores also didn't mind kicking her around.