Katherine Pierce

Katherine Pierce (born Katerina Petrova) was a witch of the Traveler subculture, the second doppelgänger of Amara, a former vampire, a major antagonist, and one of the main characters of The Vampire Diaries. She was the main antagonist ofSeason One (mostly through John Gilbert's and Isobel's actions, as both were working for her to kill off the tomb vampires), and one of the main antagonists of thesecond season, the second half of the fourth season and the first half of the fifthseason.

After giving birth to a baby girl out of wedlock when she was seventeen and being forced to give the baby away, she was disowned by her father. She was then exiled to England, where she quickly assimilated into her new culture and met two nobleman brothers, Niklaus and Elijah Mikaelson. At first, she was attracted to the two brothers. However, she later learned that she was a Petrova doppelgänger and that Klaus was planning on using her as a sacrifice in order to break the curse that bound his werewolf side. She sabotaged his plan by running away with themoonstone, which bound the curse, and then tricked Rose into feeding her her blood so she could turn herself into a vampire. Because Katherine was no longer human, her blood no longer was a viable component of the ritual to undo the curse. Klaus was so infuriated with Katherine's sabotage, that she was forced to live on the run for over 500 years as he hunted her down.

Her activities during her first centuries as a vampire are unknown, but at some point between the 15th and 19th centuries, she took on the alias Katherine Pierce (an anglicized version of her birth name) and eventually met and befriended Pearl, Anna, and Emily Bennett. In the late 19th century, she traveled to Mystic Falls, where she met Stefan and Damon Salvatore while they hosted her at the Salvatore Estate. She later fell in love with both brothers, and subsequently fed them her blood, resulting in their transitions into vampires after being killed by their father. When the Town Council found out the identities of the vampires in town, she faked her death and escaped being sealed in the tomb with the aid of George Lockwood, who helped her in exchange for the moonstone.

During the 20th century, she continued to keep tabs on Stefan while still hiding fromKlaus. In 2010, she came back to Mystic Falls with the intention of finally earning her freedom from Klaus by handing over the Petrova doppelgänger who came after her,Elena Gilbert. To sweeten the potential deal with Klaus, she killed Caroline Forbes, who had Damon's blood in her system and later transitioned into a vampire, and tricked Mason and Tyler Lockwood into triggering their werewolf curses, just so they could also serve as the vampire and werewolf sacrifices necessary in the ritual. She fled Mystic Falls again shortly after Klaus broke his hybrid curse, knowing that he was not done punishing her for her betrayal half of a millenia ago.

After failing to induce Klaus' forgiveness by securing the cure and handing it over to Elijah, Katherine managed to draw Klaus away from Mystic Falls by revealing to himin a letter that a witch in New Orleans named Jane-Anne Deveraux was plotting against him. Once Klaus and Elijah officially returned to New Orleans, Katherine moved back to Mystic Falls.

In Graduation, Katherine initiated a violent fight with Elena. As she was about to rip her descendant's heart out of her chest, Elena forced the cure down Katherine's throat, which resulted in Katherine returning to a human/Traveler.

Following these events, she went on the run for the summer, but when she realized that her return to humanity made her vulnerable to all of the enemies she had made over the centuries, she returned to Mystic Falls, hoping for Stefan and Damon's protection. However, she was forced to flee again when Silas came looking for her at the Salvatore Boarding House and tried to kill her. Silas revealed to Damon that Katherine's blood became the cure after she had ingested it, which is why he wanted Katherine so he could cure himself. She ran from him for weeks, but eventually, Damon helped Silas lure Katherine to the house and fed him her blood, which turned him back into a witch. Though Katherine should have died after Silas completely drained her of blood, Katherine's warrior spirit won out, and she managed to survive the attack. Unfortunately for Katherine, she learned shortly afterward that taking the cure had caused her body to start rapidly aging in order to compensate for the 500+ years she had been alive. Not ready to die, her daughter Nadia reminded her that as the daughter of a Traveler, Katherine had the magical powers necessary to become a Passenger in someone else's body. She ultimately cast the Passenger spell on her deathbed to transfer her spirit into Elena's body, with help from Nadia and a Traveler named Mia. After the gang discovered this, Stefan stabbed her with the Traveler knife, expelling her from Elena's body, but not before making amends with a dying Nadia. Upon learning she was denied entry to the Other Side, and therefore reunion with her daughter, she was dragged by unseen forces into what is presumed to be a hell of some kind.

Katherine's notable ancestors include Amara, who was Silas' true love and presumably the world's first immortal woman, and Tatia, whose blood was involved in the creation of the spell of immortality that was cast on the Mikaelson Family and the curse that bound Klaus' werewolf side. She is also the maternal ancestor of Isobel Flemming and the latter's biological daughter, Elena Gilbert. She was once the romantic interest of Stefan and Damon Salvatore, as well as Mason Lockwood. Since the late 15th century, she has also been the romantic interest of Elijah, with whom she was involved, until he effectively ended their relationship by leaving to join his half-brother, Klaus, in New Orleans.

Katerina Petrova was a member of the Petrova Family.