The Vampire Diaries: Books VS Show

So this is basically just a rant about the differences between the books and the tv show. Now this show is my favorite show, so don’t think that I hate it or anything. However, there are some things the fans just don’t know about with the book to tv show adaptation.

Characters:
Elena Gilbert:
-Book physical appearance: Golden blonde hair, lapis lazuli eyes, olive-toned skin
-Show physical appearance: brown hair, brown eyes, natural tan-ish skin.
-Book personality: She starts out as being very manipulative (Basically, she started out exactly like Katherine Pierce) but as the series goes on, she goes through major character development and grows into a strong woman. She goes through many different physical stages, such as going from Human to Vampire to Ghost to Angel and back to human again. She does start out as being with Stefan, but eventually she falls for Damon as well.
-Show Personality: She’s a “goody-goody”, always the one who makes all of the right choices, always sacrificing herself for her friends. She’s the complete opposite of what she was like in the book series.
Damon Salvatore:
-Damon’s pretty much exactly the same in the book to show adaptation. One of the only differences is he has black eyes, not the blue-ish green eyes that we associate him with now. He’s also Italian in the books, not American, and was born during the Renaissance. So, he’s a great deal older in the books.
-He goes through major character development in both the show and books. He goes from bad to not so bad. In the show, he goes completely good.
Stefan Salvatore:
-He’s also exactly the same in the book to show adaptation. The same differences (nearly) as well. He’s got (from what I can tell) blue-ish eyes, but in the books, they’re green. He’s also Italian in the books, not American, and was born during the Renaissance. So, he’s a great deal older in the books than in the show.
-He’s pretty constant, always good in the books. In the show, he spirals a lot, going from Dorothy Gale good to Darth Vader bad within episodes. He does this frequently in the show.
Bonnie Bennett (McCullough):
-Book appearance: fair hair, hazel eyes, translucent skin.
-Show Appearance: African American, brown eyes, brown hair, dark skin.
-Book personality: She’s very fragile and very dependent on her friends, at the beginning anyway. She eventually goes through character development and becomes a strong, independent woman who will do anything for her friends. She matures as the series goes on and is a potential love interest for Damon Salvatore in the book series. She’s a psychic.
-Show personality: She’s strong-willed, despises Damon Salvatore, and will not be pushed around. She’s a witch.
-Basically there was no character development at all. She remains the same through the entirety of the show. They also changed her last name.
Caroline Forbes:
-Book Appearance: auburn-red hair, green eyes, bronze skin.
-Show appearance: blonde hair, blue eyes, fair skin.
Book personality: She is extremely competitive with Elena, hates her (though, they were formerly good friends) and is an all around raging biatch. She turns into a werewolf in the books (not a vampire at any point) and is the love interest of Tyler Smallwood (Lockwood in the show).
-Show personality: She starts out as being super shallow and quiet honestly annoying before she is turned into a vampire (never a werewolf). Upon contracting Vampirism, she goes through huge character development, becoming a major protagonist, great friend, and constant in the show. She does end up dating nearly every guy protagonist in the show.
Characters with minor changes: Meredith Sulez (Fell in show) was a major protagonist in the books but is barely mentioned in the show. Matthew Donovan (Honeycutt in books) has no relation (in the books) to Vicki Bennett (Donovan in show). Katherine Pierce (von Swartzchild in books) is only a few years older than the Salvatore brothers, was a sweet angel who looked like Elena (Doppelgangers were not mentioned) and she morphed into this monster. She is killed by Elena Gilbert (which is also how Elena died). She’s also German, not Bulgarian in the books. Jeremy Gilbert was a traded character for Elena’s little sister named Margaret (in the books) and he’s much older. Elena’s Aunt is named Jenna in the show, but Judith in the books. Judith has a fiance in the books, but Jenna is single (thought she does end up dating Alaric Saltzman in the show before she dies) in the show. Alaric Saltzman is pretty much the same except he was brought in by the mayor and principal of the school about the vampire problem in the books, but comes in by himself in the show. In the books, he is the love interest of Meredith Sulez. In the show, he dates several women (they all either die or remarry when he dies and later comes back to life).

Ships:
-Bamon (Bonnie/Damon; books). I do not ship the Bonnie and Damon of the show because Show Bonnie and Book Bonnie are two completely different characters.
-Delena (Damon/Elena; Book and Show)
-Steroline (Stefan/Caroline; Show, not books)
-Klaroline (Klaus/Caroline; Obviously only show)
-Forwood (Caroline/Tyler; show, not books because blechh)
-Steferine (Stefan/Katherine; show because she’s a raging biatch in the books)
-Jernie (Jeremy/Bonnie; Jeremy’s not in the books, so obviously show)

Vampire Powers:
-Books: Flying, shape-shifting, fog, compulsion (also known as Influencing), supernatural speed, supernatural agility, enchanced senses.
-Show: Compulsion, supernatural speed, supernatural agility, enhanced senses, siring.

Now don’t get me wrong. I totally love this show, but I am not sure where its heading now that Nina’s gone. She played the main protagonist. THE MAIN PROTAGONIST. I will continue to watch it, but I have no idea where its going to be heading. No idea.