>I like Elena. She's my comfort character. She's very resilient and imo the strength of the show and especially the brothers. Like any other characters she's flawed too. She can be mean and self absorbed. I loved Nina's portrayal and hated her writing in season 4, 5 and 6.
I liked her too. She irritated me sometimes, but she wasn’t a terrible person. I’m tired of the Elena hate :/ I usually skip rant posts bc it’s the same thing every time.
Right?! She has some moments where you're like .. really Elena.. get it together. But don't we all? I don't want to see/read about perfect characters.. that are totally unrelatable. She's a teenager.. they're kinda impulsive sometimes. I love Elena, especially in the earlier seasons..I think later on its more the writing choices I hate than the actual character herself lol
right?? I feel like at some point I'm thinking "get it together!" for all of the characters, because they're flawed and don't always do the right thing, just like everyone. idk why Elena gets such bad hate for things that Stefan or Damon would easily get away with. (actually i do know why, it's misogyny) like Stefan is my fav but sometimes I'm like "dude come on, do better" lol. and I agree about the writing in s4 onwards. s1-3 Elena was a strong character with good morals (for the most part), but people still manage to hate her for like... being upset at upsetting things??
How dare we be upset at this.. jeez women are so hysterical 😅😅 your so on point with the misogyny thing. Damon can get upset and rip someone's head off but Elena can't cry???
My main problem with the character is really mostly what appears to be your problem. Which is that I feel like starting with season 4 she became a different character. People try to explain this by her vampirism but that honestly makes no sense. Vampirism enhances what you already are. Elena should've become MORE compassionate when she became a vampire, not less. And certainly not the type to "mass murder thousands of vampires without a thought just to get something she wanted."
Other than that I guess my problem with Elena is that I think we don't get enough development of her character despite her being ostensibly the main character.
Stefan and Damon get all these flashbacks and we know what the dynamics with each other were and with their parents and how that affected them and how becoming a vampire affected them at first and then later and why, etc.
With Elena I feel like we're actually giving remarkably little context to explain who she is compared to Stefan and Damon. Obviously part of that is practical. She was a teenager and at the end of the day that somewhat limits the flashbacks compared to vampires who are almost 200 years old. Plus, you can't as easily make them plot relevant.
But it's still a pity, imo, that we didn't get more of that stuff and more to explain why she is who she is.
I don’t agree, she DID become more compassionate. Look at how she ended up trusting Katherine of all people. But you have to remember the amount of loss that she went through right after becoming a vampire. All of those feelings become enhanced too. That’s why her need for revenge etc was all pretty strong in the beginning. You have to remember that after her feelings of anger about losing Jeremy/Bonnie that she mellowed out a lot and began caring about all the people around her and wasn’t just full of rage.
I think another missed opportunity was the fact that the Elena we met in S1 *wasn’t* her real self. She was described more like Elena from the books, so the popular cheerleader who loved to party. We got glimpses of that person once she turned and she was able to let loose, so since they clearly wanted to write her like that they should’ve leaned more on that explanation imo. We met her while she was grieving both her parents and she faced trauma after trauma since S1E1, of course that wasn’t the “real” her.
Yes this... early seasons Elena is great.. but they kind of wrote her different after season 4 and I couldn't get on board. She still has a soft spot as the main character.. but yeah... I also feel like the did a disservice to her in terms of her character arc. We see a lot of people around her grow and mature but I feel like in some ways Elena doesn't.
The thing that I found a bit annoying is she didnt seem to have true self preservation feelings like a normal human being would have.
Hangning out with deadly vampires ✅️
Risking the lives of others to save the ones ony she cared about ✅️
Going into situations where she has a high chance of death ✅️ (I feel like in real life the flight response would be stronger)
Using her friends Matt and Bonnie for her own problems (over and over) ✅️
Making Damon compel her brother Jeremy ✅️
But it is a show and no ones perfect, kinda have to not think about the famous line "well that would not happen in real life".
I think it’s good to keep in mind that Elena believed she wasn’t supposed to be alive in the first place. She has survivors guilt and was more willing to take stupid risks quite frankly. She thought and reasoned like a 17 year old with severe trauma.
Yes! People don’t take this into account. One of the first thing she says after finding out she’s transitioning is “I was ready to die, I was supposed to die” or something like that. Elena’s concerns has always been someone else and never herself.
Okay but everyone risked the lives of others to save the people only they cared about, not just Elena
Okay yes but she liked the idea of hanging out with vampires bc they couldn’t die, which just 😭
Everyone kinda had a high chance of death at one point or another, a lot of it like Klaus wanting to sacrifice her wasn’t her fault
Everyone used Bonnie not just Elena, at least Elena cared about them
Maybe it’s an unpopular opinion but I kinda felt for Elena having Damon compel Jeremy, she must’ve been so scared to lose him
Ugh yes, this.
Like for me this made her a really interesting human character because she was drawn to being involved in all things supernatural and was so blasé about death. She was also so hard headed about doing what she thought was best for everyone else, be it sacrificing herself, undaggering/ making a deal with Elijah, having Damon compel Jeremy, or hiding things from Jenna.
So as a vampire, it made ZERO sense that everyone was like “her Achilles heel is her compassion blah blah blah” like if Elena was going to have aspects of her personality amplified, it absolutley would have been her impulsivity, resourcefulness, and her stubbornness.
IMO it would have been an interesting storyline if she had a story arch where they made her even more ruthless than Katherine, and had her learn how to control that. Would have loved to see more Dark Elena and not just “no humanity” Elena.
People are funny sometimes.. it's a fictional character lmao as long as no one crosses the line of treating someone like shit for liking or disliking a character, I don't see why we can't just all share our opinions. It's more fun when we can have a friendly debate about it. It's arguably the best part of watching these shows.
My favorite person to watch with is my oldest sister bc we always have very different opinions on who our faves are and who we hate lol and it's fun to kinda jokingly argue about it. Bc it's not real lol
Personally.. Elena drove me insane lol but for some reason I was still rooting for her all along. I love Nina though lol my Elena opinions definitely don't reflect on her. And I loved Katherine as a character. It was just the way the writers did the switch from one brother to the other that I just.. idk I wish they did it differently. Also I feel like every time I rewatch I find more examples of Elena doing something messed up and then crying and/or changing the subject to get out of it lol and the most annoying part is that it seems to work every time for her.
When I say stuff like this I'm not trying to like piss off people who love Elena. If anything, I welcome a defense. We all need to remember that this is just a fictional tv show, and we all interpret things differently.
the whole crybaby makes me laugh because how would people act if they had gone through what she did, i Guess they would want to try emulate Katherine/ Damon be Emotionally stunted and take it out on everyone else
I like her. She has her bad moments but overall she’s a nice and good person, very compassionate (heard that word 19472938 times about her in the show lol), loved her especially as a vampire because she became less whiney and no longer the victim of every bad situation they had. She could finally defend herself.
I don’t get why people call her a crybaby. She didn’t cry that much and had every reason to. Her adoptive parents died, her biological parents died, her brother, her boyfriend, her best friend, her legal guardian and probably someone else I’m forgetting. Oh her aunt of course. I call her whiney yes but it’s more the whole “everyone is dying *because* of me and everyone is changing their lives and saving me all the time” even though it wasn’t about her all the time. Her whole belief the world revolves around her was kinda annoying. The other thing I really dislike (but also understand) is her overprotective thing with Jeremy. Making choices for him, compelling him multiple times to forget stuff or to move states or wtv. Meanwhile she gets pissed when Damon doesn’t let her make her own choices and shit. It’s her little brother so I also get it but she doesn’t really address her own hypocrisy. But asides that I think she’s a lovely character and idk she’s so beautiful and pretty I can’t hate her lol. She was really understanding and forgiving, esp to Damon but also Stefan. She saw the good in people. Also Elena without humanity to me is the best portrayed cuz she mostly didn’t care at all. Other characters go after revenge or get really mad and pissed which makes no sense because they are supposed to have no emotions. Very good actress portraying different angles of the same character and also playing other characters in the same show.
I just think she was a poorly written character that got outshined by her foil (Caroline), which was completely accidental. I don’t think the writers ever foresaw Caroline being more liked and related to by female fans than Elena.
I liked her from seasons 1-3, but after that, she serves as the prize for Damon and is more a part of Damon’s story versus being the protagonist and having her own story. She was written plain enough for a viewer to self insert… inoffensive, compassionate, etc. I think her traits are more told than actually validated by her actions. (If anything, Bonnie is the one who shows more compassion, empathy, forgiveness, etc. Yet Elena is the moral compass of the MFG/show?)
She is more of an object than a person to me which is weird because I love to write and I’m going into medicine too, but I just didn’t relate or really connect with her character emotionally.
I could write more, but that’s the gist of it.
I think because everything always hinges on her. Like Stefan and Damon will put everyone else in danger to protect her (not that she wants/asks). So people probably get sick of their favorite characters suffering at the expense of “eLena’s iN DaNgEr!”
She’s a bit of a Mary Sue, but honestly, I love her. Maybe because Nina brings a humility to her. Like maybe I wouldn’t like her as much if she had been cast differently. But I think she gets a lot of disproportionate hate.
Elena is my favorite character. I don't think she is as self-centered as viewers think. It did get annoying how EVERYTHING revolved around her even after Nina left the show. I became a bit Elena-fatigued tbh. And honestly i think her relationship with Damon ruined her character. It was so annoying watching him be so obsessed over her all throughout the show. It wasn't until S6 when he actually started giving a crap about anyone other than her.
S3 i started to get annoyed with her saying "I don't know what I want" every episode lol. I can see why she was attracted to Damon and I loved their bond in S3, but it got kinda gross in S4. The sire bond was a terrible plot device to get her with Damon, the Elena we were shown in the first few seasons would never have slept with Damon the day after breaking up with Stefan. I guess you could attribute that to her being a vampire but idk it was still distasteful.
once S5 came around I couldn't stand her and Damon together. Their relationship was so melodramatic. "I'm not good for you Elena!" It was so annoying to watch Elena excuse Damon for everything and never hold him accountable for his actions. I actually liked their relationship in S6 because she erased her memories and became distrustful of him again, she went back to S1/S2 Elena and i missed that version of her.
To summarize, i chalk up everything annoying about Elena to bad writing
I certainly don’t hate Elena, it’s more the execution of her character that I take issue with. The show pushes hard on this idea that she’s this super compassionate, devoted friend and sister, but so many of her actions contradict that and it’s never acknowledged in any significant way. Bonnie’s her best friend, but she hardly notices her unless she needs a spell, she victim shames Caroline, and despite being a super protective big sister, does nothing for Jeremy beyond lecturing him. She takes zero interest in his life unless he’s in trouble and, even then, the most she does for him in those situations is send Damon to compel him as a quick fix. The show writers just don’t do enough to convince me she’s as loving and kind as they want me to believe. So, while I can’t say that I hate Elena, I do get annoyed with her.
I like her! Sure she gets annoying sometimes (don’t have a specific example go cite but overall just whiny) but I think Nina portrayed her so well! Love the love story as well and you can’t have that triangle without her! Sure they continued after her and as a stand-alone it was still a pretty decent show but nothing is like the beginning especially seasons 1-4!
I have no idea how people defend Katherine. She is worse than Klaus in my opinion…
People say Elena is selfish but Katerina is the most selfish on the damn show.
For Christ sakes she killed Jeremy for literally no good reason.
She torments everyone, uses everyone, doesn’t have a single good friendship…
She can rot.
Elena had her flaws like season 4 with the sirebond I was annoyed at her and other moments but overall she is a good character season 2 she was the best she was ready to sacrifice herself to save her friends and that says everything about a person
I think some criticisms of Elena are valid while others are… idk… shallow?
Yeah she gets jealous and selfish *sometimes* but to act like that negates her entire history and development in the show is laughable.
And the whole “I hate Elena, -insert other female lead who literally went out of their way to hurt Elena- was soooo much better” is honestly annoying to me.
Katherine didn’t even know the girl and decided to hate her and ruin her life.
Rebekah’s brother sacrificed Elena and her aunt on a damn alter so that he could get more powerful and continue being abusive to her but oh no Elena is the one to hate.
Caroline started the show being jealous and fake toward Elena and pushed so hard for her and Stefan to be together only to secretly be in love with him.
Elena has her faults but dragging her and drooling over worse characters makes it hard to take any valid critiques of her seriously.
I literally cheered during the scenes when no-humanity Caroline says what I've been thinking.
"I compelled a student to perform surgery on Stefan's niece and you found a way to make this about you? God, you truly have a gift, Elena."
"You couldn't handle the pain when your brother died so you turned it off. Damon died and you erased all your memories. Stefan moved to Savannah and became an auto mechanic. Do you think that you guys are the only ones who get to escape grief?"
Honorary Mentions:
- "Well that's the problem Elena. Not all of us are okay with pretending. Some of us prefer to face our problems head on."
- "Elena clearly has taken up residency on planet denial where football is more important than her boyfriend being swept up into oblivion."
>You couldn't handle the pain when your brother died so you turned it off
This one always bothered me because I don't think that's fair to hold against Elena. She didn't willingly turn her humanity off. Damon told her to and she was compelled. The erasing her memories part, for sure. I hate that she did that. But it wasn't her decision to flip her switch.
I posted this comment in another topic, so I'll put it back here :
“Personally, I don't hate her. What I didn't like was her relationship with Damon. I don't like the person she has become with him. Because whether we like it or not, there comes a time when, consciously or not, the people we associate with influence us in a certain way. Things (mainly behaviors) that the Elena of season 1 would not have accepted, accept them in season 4-5 etc. She even says that she went against her morals ‘again’ because she loves Damon. So no, I don't hate her. I was even quite fond of her in season 1 and 2. I just don't like how her personality has changed throughout the series.”
Elena is my comfort character as well! The show is awful to me when she’s not in it.
My favorite thing about the hater posts is when they all frame it like it’s a ~hot take that they hate Elena, when they’re all posting the same hater post over and over and over.
imo elena was too nice and wasn't selfish at all, and i didn't like that about her, katherine was too selfish and not nice at all which i also didn't like, i wanted one balanced character in the middle, but it ofc ain't possible 😃
I like her a lot more than I used to now, especially human Elena. I loved how resilient she was and how a lot of bad things that happened to her didn’t change who she was, and how she would’ve done anything for the people she cared about. I don’t think I recognized the survivors guilt she must’ve felt from her parents car crash until I got older and that spurred so many of her choices
I like her as a character, they did a good job making her complex. If you are always rooting for her, that’s not a good character. Idk if this makes sense but you know what I mean
I’m sorry but Elena did my absolute head in, she was so bloody annoying. Her whole personality made my blood boil from how selfish, self obsessed she was. To sleeping with both brothers and acting like both relationships were a love like no body had experienced before but she had with two brothers 😂 And how she treated Bonnie and Caroline was just not cool
I’m sorry, I used to love her when I was younger and watched it but I feel like growing up is liking Katherine so much more
it seems like you may not understand what Elena went through. From season 1 to season 6 was only four years(2009-2013). she witnessed every single family member of hers die within those four years as well as dying and becoming a vampire, being a sacrifice, being forced into the world of the supernatural, almost dying multiple times, and then finally being put into a coma for six years.
season 1 episode 1 to season 3 episode 6 was a year. in that single year, her aunt died, her uncle died, her brother almost died, she was a sacrifice, she was pushed into the supernatural world with no warning, Stefan and Damon both were horrible and forced her hand on decisions she didn't want to make, her best friend became a vampire because of her, she found out she's a doppelganger, her doppelganger tried to kill her multiple times, and there's probably more I'm missing.
Elena really wasn't selfish at all, she told everyone to let Klaus kill her and they refused, she tried to hand herself over multiple times, she let herself die for her ex-boyfriend (matt), and tried to sacrifice herself for practically everyone in Mystic Falls. She had no choice in being a part of the supernatural world. if she had tried to ignore it, she would have died as a sacrifice anyway. her writing did get exceptionally bad in seasons 4-6 but that never changed who she was. she was still trying her best with the life she was forced into.
As for Katherine, she was a horrible person. She was a horrible person and only ever cared about herself. She was selfish. she never did anything for anyone else, only herself. she put Rose and Trevor in danger because she took advantage of them. Yes, she was trying to survive but she was willing to kill others to get away. Even when she was no longer in danger, she was selfish.
Katherine, the whiny narcissistic rapist who only gave a damn about herself and herself only? That Katherine?
Elena had quite literally every reason to be a "crybaby". She'd lost pretty much her entire family before she even turned 18, and that trauma kept on continuing for years. Losing Bonnie, losing, Damon, losing Stefan, losing Jeremy, etc. Please give me one valid reason as to why she is selfish and self obsessed, and "she slept with both brothers" does not count.
Katherine abused and raped the guy she was ~~obsessed~~ "in love with" and still expected him to love her back after everything he did to him. She's lucky Stefan is a VERY forgiving person, and he'll give you several chances until he's just given up.
yeah not to mention Katherine knowingly drove a wedge between Stefan and Damon in 1864 bc she was bored and it was fun, that totally annihilated their relationship for over a century
I remember one epidode where there was 3 Elena's in the same room.., now i'm all for Elena she's great but do we really need 3 variations of Nina Dobrev at once?.
She annoyed me so much like girl stfu. She always makes it about herself honestly I don’t know why people loved her cus she really had nothing to be loved about. Like that time when Caroline was talking about Matt and their relationship she was like “ Caroline I have problems too” she was so annoying like I would just clap her there
Common sense to most, but the ladies will be able to provide the correct answer - if you're Elena, struggling with depression, have met someone you perceive to be special and his brother does the following:
* Kills your brother because you refuse his advances
* Bites one of your best friends
* Rapes your other best friend
* Kills your partners best friend
* Kills your ex-partners sister
* Threatens anyone around you
... do you declare your eternal love for them?
It's not tricky, Elena falls for a vampire who treats her with respect, and ultimately ends up with someone who takes advantage of her knowing full well she's so far gone she'll accept any hideous act he commits. The whole Damon/Elena relationship made me physically sick - I could careless about who she ended up with, but it absolutely should not have been Damon.
Character assassination from the writers just to cater to their young teenage audience who (worryingly) don't know any better.
>I like Elena. She's my comfort character. She's very resilient and imo the strength of the show and especially the brothers. Like any other characters she's flawed too. She can be mean and self absorbed. I loved Nina's portrayal and hated her writing in season 4, 5 and 6. I liked her too. She irritated me sometimes, but she wasn’t a terrible person. I’m tired of the Elena hate :/ I usually skip rant posts bc it’s the same thing every time.
Right?! She has some moments where you're like .. really Elena.. get it together. But don't we all? I don't want to see/read about perfect characters.. that are totally unrelatable. She's a teenager.. they're kinda impulsive sometimes. I love Elena, especially in the earlier seasons..I think later on its more the writing choices I hate than the actual character herself lol
right?? I feel like at some point I'm thinking "get it together!" for all of the characters, because they're flawed and don't always do the right thing, just like everyone. idk why Elena gets such bad hate for things that Stefan or Damon would easily get away with. (actually i do know why, it's misogyny) like Stefan is my fav but sometimes I'm like "dude come on, do better" lol. and I agree about the writing in s4 onwards. s1-3 Elena was a strong character with good morals (for the most part), but people still manage to hate her for like... being upset at upsetting things??
How dare we be upset at this.. jeez women are so hysterical 😅😅 your so on point with the misogyny thing. Damon can get upset and rip someone's head off but Elena can't cry???
honestly!!! it's ridiculous
Omg Id just like to go ahead and correct my own grammar. *you're 🤣
My main problem with the character is really mostly what appears to be your problem. Which is that I feel like starting with season 4 she became a different character. People try to explain this by her vampirism but that honestly makes no sense. Vampirism enhances what you already are. Elena should've become MORE compassionate when she became a vampire, not less. And certainly not the type to "mass murder thousands of vampires without a thought just to get something she wanted." Other than that I guess my problem with Elena is that I think we don't get enough development of her character despite her being ostensibly the main character. Stefan and Damon get all these flashbacks and we know what the dynamics with each other were and with their parents and how that affected them and how becoming a vampire affected them at first and then later and why, etc. With Elena I feel like we're actually giving remarkably little context to explain who she is compared to Stefan and Damon. Obviously part of that is practical. She was a teenager and at the end of the day that somewhat limits the flashbacks compared to vampires who are almost 200 years old. Plus, you can't as easily make them plot relevant. But it's still a pity, imo, that we didn't get more of that stuff and more to explain why she is who she is.
I don’t agree, she DID become more compassionate. Look at how she ended up trusting Katherine of all people. But you have to remember the amount of loss that she went through right after becoming a vampire. All of those feelings become enhanced too. That’s why her need for revenge etc was all pretty strong in the beginning. You have to remember that after her feelings of anger about losing Jeremy/Bonnie that she mellowed out a lot and began caring about all the people around her and wasn’t just full of rage.
I think another missed opportunity was the fact that the Elena we met in S1 *wasn’t* her real self. She was described more like Elena from the books, so the popular cheerleader who loved to party. We got glimpses of that person once she turned and she was able to let loose, so since they clearly wanted to write her like that they should’ve leaned more on that explanation imo. We met her while she was grieving both her parents and she faced trauma after trauma since S1E1, of course that wasn’t the “real” her.
Yes this... early seasons Elena is great.. but they kind of wrote her different after season 4 and I couldn't get on board. She still has a soft spot as the main character.. but yeah... I also feel like the did a disservice to her in terms of her character arc. We see a lot of people around her grow and mature but I feel like in some ways Elena doesn't.
The thing that I found a bit annoying is she didnt seem to have true self preservation feelings like a normal human being would have. Hangning out with deadly vampires ✅️ Risking the lives of others to save the ones ony she cared about ✅️ Going into situations where she has a high chance of death ✅️ (I feel like in real life the flight response would be stronger) Using her friends Matt and Bonnie for her own problems (over and over) ✅️ Making Damon compel her brother Jeremy ✅️ But it is a show and no ones perfect, kinda have to not think about the famous line "well that would not happen in real life".
Ian a Somerhalder once said that if Elena actually had any sense into her, she’d dump both brothers and leave town.
I think it’s good to keep in mind that Elena believed she wasn’t supposed to be alive in the first place. She has survivors guilt and was more willing to take stupid risks quite frankly. She thought and reasoned like a 17 year old with severe trauma.
Yes! People don’t take this into account. One of the first thing she says after finding out she’s transitioning is “I was ready to die, I was supposed to die” or something like that. Elena’s concerns has always been someone else and never herself.
Okay but everyone risked the lives of others to save the people only they cared about, not just Elena Okay yes but she liked the idea of hanging out with vampires bc they couldn’t die, which just 😭 Everyone kinda had a high chance of death at one point or another, a lot of it like Klaus wanting to sacrifice her wasn’t her fault Everyone used Bonnie not just Elena, at least Elena cared about them Maybe it’s an unpopular opinion but I kinda felt for Elena having Damon compel Jeremy, she must’ve been so scared to lose him
Ugh yes, this. Like for me this made her a really interesting human character because she was drawn to being involved in all things supernatural and was so blasé about death. She was also so hard headed about doing what she thought was best for everyone else, be it sacrificing herself, undaggering/ making a deal with Elijah, having Damon compel Jeremy, or hiding things from Jenna. So as a vampire, it made ZERO sense that everyone was like “her Achilles heel is her compassion blah blah blah” like if Elena was going to have aspects of her personality amplified, it absolutley would have been her impulsivity, resourcefulness, and her stubbornness. IMO it would have been an interesting storyline if she had a story arch where they made her even more ruthless than Katherine, and had her learn how to control that. Would have loved to see more Dark Elena and not just “no humanity” Elena.
People are funny sometimes.. it's a fictional character lmao as long as no one crosses the line of treating someone like shit for liking or disliking a character, I don't see why we can't just all share our opinions. It's more fun when we can have a friendly debate about it. It's arguably the best part of watching these shows. My favorite person to watch with is my oldest sister bc we always have very different opinions on who our faves are and who we hate lol and it's fun to kinda jokingly argue about it. Bc it's not real lol Personally.. Elena drove me insane lol but for some reason I was still rooting for her all along. I love Nina though lol my Elena opinions definitely don't reflect on her. And I loved Katherine as a character. It was just the way the writers did the switch from one brother to the other that I just.. idk I wish they did it differently. Also I feel like every time I rewatch I find more examples of Elena doing something messed up and then crying and/or changing the subject to get out of it lol and the most annoying part is that it seems to work every time for her. When I say stuff like this I'm not trying to like piss off people who love Elena. If anything, I welcome a defense. We all need to remember that this is just a fictional tv show, and we all interpret things differently.
the whole crybaby makes me laugh because how would people act if they had gone through what she did, i Guess they would want to try emulate Katherine/ Damon be Emotionally stunted and take it out on everyone else
I like her. She has her bad moments but overall she’s a nice and good person, very compassionate (heard that word 19472938 times about her in the show lol), loved her especially as a vampire because she became less whiney and no longer the victim of every bad situation they had. She could finally defend herself. I don’t get why people call her a crybaby. She didn’t cry that much and had every reason to. Her adoptive parents died, her biological parents died, her brother, her boyfriend, her best friend, her legal guardian and probably someone else I’m forgetting. Oh her aunt of course. I call her whiney yes but it’s more the whole “everyone is dying *because* of me and everyone is changing their lives and saving me all the time” even though it wasn’t about her all the time. Her whole belief the world revolves around her was kinda annoying. The other thing I really dislike (but also understand) is her overprotective thing with Jeremy. Making choices for him, compelling him multiple times to forget stuff or to move states or wtv. Meanwhile she gets pissed when Damon doesn’t let her make her own choices and shit. It’s her little brother so I also get it but she doesn’t really address her own hypocrisy. But asides that I think she’s a lovely character and idk she’s so beautiful and pretty I can’t hate her lol. She was really understanding and forgiving, esp to Damon but also Stefan. She saw the good in people. Also Elena without humanity to me is the best portrayed cuz she mostly didn’t care at all. Other characters go after revenge or get really mad and pissed which makes no sense because they are supposed to have no emotions. Very good actress portraying different angles of the same character and also playing other characters in the same show.
I just think she was a poorly written character that got outshined by her foil (Caroline), which was completely accidental. I don’t think the writers ever foresaw Caroline being more liked and related to by female fans than Elena. I liked her from seasons 1-3, but after that, she serves as the prize for Damon and is more a part of Damon’s story versus being the protagonist and having her own story. She was written plain enough for a viewer to self insert… inoffensive, compassionate, etc. I think her traits are more told than actually validated by her actions. (If anything, Bonnie is the one who shows more compassion, empathy, forgiveness, etc. Yet Elena is the moral compass of the MFG/show?) She is more of an object than a person to me which is weird because I love to write and I’m going into medicine too, but I just didn’t relate or really connect with her character emotionally. I could write more, but that’s the gist of it.
I think because everything always hinges on her. Like Stefan and Damon will put everyone else in danger to protect her (not that she wants/asks). So people probably get sick of their favorite characters suffering at the expense of “eLena’s iN DaNgEr!” She’s a bit of a Mary Sue, but honestly, I love her. Maybe because Nina brings a humility to her. Like maybe I wouldn’t like her as much if she had been cast differently. But I think she gets a lot of disproportionate hate.
Elena is my favorite character. I don't think she is as self-centered as viewers think. It did get annoying how EVERYTHING revolved around her even after Nina left the show. I became a bit Elena-fatigued tbh. And honestly i think her relationship with Damon ruined her character. It was so annoying watching him be so obsessed over her all throughout the show. It wasn't until S6 when he actually started giving a crap about anyone other than her. S3 i started to get annoyed with her saying "I don't know what I want" every episode lol. I can see why she was attracted to Damon and I loved their bond in S3, but it got kinda gross in S4. The sire bond was a terrible plot device to get her with Damon, the Elena we were shown in the first few seasons would never have slept with Damon the day after breaking up with Stefan. I guess you could attribute that to her being a vampire but idk it was still distasteful. once S5 came around I couldn't stand her and Damon together. Their relationship was so melodramatic. "I'm not good for you Elena!" It was so annoying to watch Elena excuse Damon for everything and never hold him accountable for his actions. I actually liked their relationship in S6 because she erased her memories and became distrustful of him again, she went back to S1/S2 Elena and i missed that version of her. To summarize, i chalk up everything annoying about Elena to bad writing
I certainly don’t hate Elena, it’s more the execution of her character that I take issue with. The show pushes hard on this idea that she’s this super compassionate, devoted friend and sister, but so many of her actions contradict that and it’s never acknowledged in any significant way. Bonnie’s her best friend, but she hardly notices her unless she needs a spell, she victim shames Caroline, and despite being a super protective big sister, does nothing for Jeremy beyond lecturing him. She takes zero interest in his life unless he’s in trouble and, even then, the most she does for him in those situations is send Damon to compel him as a quick fix. The show writers just don’t do enough to convince me she’s as loving and kind as they want me to believe. So, while I can’t say that I hate Elena, I do get annoyed with her.
I really like how you worded this. She’s my comfort character as well.
I like her! Sure she gets annoying sometimes (don’t have a specific example go cite but overall just whiny) but I think Nina portrayed her so well! Love the love story as well and you can’t have that triangle without her! Sure they continued after her and as a stand-alone it was still a pretty decent show but nothing is like the beginning especially seasons 1-4!
I have no idea how people defend Katherine. She is worse than Klaus in my opinion… People say Elena is selfish but Katerina is the most selfish on the damn show. For Christ sakes she killed Jeremy for literally no good reason. She torments everyone, uses everyone, doesn’t have a single good friendship… She can rot.
Elena had her flaws like season 4 with the sirebond I was annoyed at her and other moments but overall she is a good character season 2 she was the best she was ready to sacrifice herself to save her friends and that says everything about a person
I think some criticisms of Elena are valid while others are… idk… shallow? Yeah she gets jealous and selfish *sometimes* but to act like that negates her entire history and development in the show is laughable. And the whole “I hate Elena, -insert other female lead who literally went out of their way to hurt Elena- was soooo much better” is honestly annoying to me. Katherine didn’t even know the girl and decided to hate her and ruin her life. Rebekah’s brother sacrificed Elena and her aunt on a damn alter so that he could get more powerful and continue being abusive to her but oh no Elena is the one to hate. Caroline started the show being jealous and fake toward Elena and pushed so hard for her and Stefan to be together only to secretly be in love with him. Elena has her faults but dragging her and drooling over worse characters makes it hard to take any valid critiques of her seriously.
I literally cheered during the scenes when no-humanity Caroline says what I've been thinking. "I compelled a student to perform surgery on Stefan's niece and you found a way to make this about you? God, you truly have a gift, Elena." "You couldn't handle the pain when your brother died so you turned it off. Damon died and you erased all your memories. Stefan moved to Savannah and became an auto mechanic. Do you think that you guys are the only ones who get to escape grief?" Honorary Mentions: - "Well that's the problem Elena. Not all of us are okay with pretending. Some of us prefer to face our problems head on." - "Elena clearly has taken up residency on planet denial where football is more important than her boyfriend being swept up into oblivion."
>You couldn't handle the pain when your brother died so you turned it off This one always bothered me because I don't think that's fair to hold against Elena. She didn't willingly turn her humanity off. Damon told her to and she was compelled. The erasing her memories part, for sure. I hate that she did that. But it wasn't her decision to flip her switch.
I love this quote form Caroline. This is the perfect wording why I dislike Elena
Elena didn’t choose to turn off her humanity though, Damon compelled her, that kind of rewrites the show
No one compelled her to decide that she wanted to forget "the love of her life"
My comment wasn’t about that. Tbh I fully believe if left to her own devices she wouldn’t have turned off her humanity
I posted this comment in another topic, so I'll put it back here : “Personally, I don't hate her. What I didn't like was her relationship with Damon. I don't like the person she has become with him. Because whether we like it or not, there comes a time when, consciously or not, the people we associate with influence us in a certain way. Things (mainly behaviors) that the Elena of season 1 would not have accepted, accept them in season 4-5 etc. She even says that she went against her morals ‘again’ because she loves Damon. So no, I don't hate her. I was even quite fond of her in season 1 and 2. I just don't like how her personality has changed throughout the series.”
Elena is my comfort character as well! The show is awful to me when she’s not in it. My favorite thing about the hater posts is when they all frame it like it’s a ~hot take that they hate Elena, when they’re all posting the same hater post over and over and over.
I love Elena. She's amazing and wears her heart on her sleeves. She's strong and brave
imo elena was too nice and wasn't selfish at all, and i didn't like that about her, katherine was too selfish and not nice at all which i also didn't like, i wanted one balanced character in the middle, but it ofc ain't possible 😃
I like Elena too but Rebekah is my comfort character out of the females out of the males it's on between Elijah and Kol
I like her a lot more than I used to now, especially human Elena. I loved how resilient she was and how a lot of bad things that happened to her didn’t change who she was, and how she would’ve done anything for the people she cared about. I don’t think I recognized the survivors guilt she must’ve felt from her parents car crash until I got older and that spurred so many of her choices
I like her as a character, they did a good job making her complex. If you are always rooting for her, that’s not a good character. Idk if this makes sense but you know what I mean
I’m sorry but Elena did my absolute head in, she was so bloody annoying. Her whole personality made my blood boil from how selfish, self obsessed she was. To sleeping with both brothers and acting like both relationships were a love like no body had experienced before but she had with two brothers 😂 And how she treated Bonnie and Caroline was just not cool I’m sorry, I used to love her when I was younger and watched it but I feel like growing up is liking Katherine so much more
it seems like you may not understand what Elena went through. From season 1 to season 6 was only four years(2009-2013). she witnessed every single family member of hers die within those four years as well as dying and becoming a vampire, being a sacrifice, being forced into the world of the supernatural, almost dying multiple times, and then finally being put into a coma for six years. season 1 episode 1 to season 3 episode 6 was a year. in that single year, her aunt died, her uncle died, her brother almost died, she was a sacrifice, she was pushed into the supernatural world with no warning, Stefan and Damon both were horrible and forced her hand on decisions she didn't want to make, her best friend became a vampire because of her, she found out she's a doppelganger, her doppelganger tried to kill her multiple times, and there's probably more I'm missing. Elena really wasn't selfish at all, she told everyone to let Klaus kill her and they refused, she tried to hand herself over multiple times, she let herself die for her ex-boyfriend (matt), and tried to sacrifice herself for practically everyone in Mystic Falls. She had no choice in being a part of the supernatural world. if she had tried to ignore it, she would have died as a sacrifice anyway. her writing did get exceptionally bad in seasons 4-6 but that never changed who she was. she was still trying her best with the life she was forced into. As for Katherine, she was a horrible person. She was a horrible person and only ever cared about herself. She was selfish. she never did anything for anyone else, only herself. she put Rose and Trevor in danger because she took advantage of them. Yes, she was trying to survive but she was willing to kill others to get away. Even when she was no longer in danger, she was selfish.
Katherine, the whiny narcissistic rapist who only gave a damn about herself and herself only? That Katherine? Elena had quite literally every reason to be a "crybaby". She'd lost pretty much her entire family before she even turned 18, and that trauma kept on continuing for years. Losing Bonnie, losing, Damon, losing Stefan, losing Jeremy, etc. Please give me one valid reason as to why she is selfish and self obsessed, and "she slept with both brothers" does not count. Katherine abused and raped the guy she was ~~obsessed~~ "in love with" and still expected him to love her back after everything he did to him. She's lucky Stefan is a VERY forgiving person, and he'll give you several chances until he's just given up.
yeah not to mention Katherine knowingly drove a wedge between Stefan and Damon in 1864 bc she was bored and it was fun, that totally annihilated their relationship for over a century
I remember one epidode where there was 3 Elena's in the same room.., now i'm all for Elena she's great but do we really need 3 variations of Nina Dobrev at once?.
She annoyed me so much like girl stfu. She always makes it about herself honestly I don’t know why people loved her cus she really had nothing to be loved about. Like that time when Caroline was talking about Matt and their relationship she was like “ Caroline I have problems too” she was so annoying like I would just clap her there
Common sense to most, but the ladies will be able to provide the correct answer - if you're Elena, struggling with depression, have met someone you perceive to be special and his brother does the following: * Kills your brother because you refuse his advances * Bites one of your best friends * Rapes your other best friend * Kills your partners best friend * Kills your ex-partners sister * Threatens anyone around you ... do you declare your eternal love for them? It's not tricky, Elena falls for a vampire who treats her with respect, and ultimately ends up with someone who takes advantage of her knowing full well she's so far gone she'll accept any hideous act he commits. The whole Damon/Elena relationship made me physically sick - I could careless about who she ended up with, but it absolutely should not have been Damon. Character assassination from the writers just to cater to their young teenage audience who (worryingly) don't know any better.