The Vampire Diaries' Biggest Villain Was Actually Stefan All Along
Over the course of its 8-season run, The Vampire Diaries has seen many villains come and go.
It has long become a hobby of fans to rank the major monsters from the beloved show in various discussions on social media, especially since some of these villains left a strong impression during their time on the show.
But according to The CW supernatural series star Paul Wesley, The Vampire Diaries' biggest villain was not Kai, Klaus, or even Katherine. It was his own character, Stefan Salvatore.
Speaking to EW in 2017 about the show's final 171st episode, which devastated many fans, Wesley shared that he was rooting for Stefan to die in the finale because he saw him as the show's biggest destructive force.
The actor noted that it was Stefan who allowed his brother Damon to complete his transformation into a vampire.
Becoming a vampire in The Vampire Diaries universe takes three steps: having vampire blood in your body, dying, and drinking human blood. And while both brothers went through the first two steps, Damon didn't want to complete his transformation because he had lost Katherine, who was both brothers' first love. But Stefan didn't want to be left alone, so he tricked his brother into feeding on a young woman.
'All the murders Damon did were all [Stefan's] fault really, if it comes down to the genesis of it.' Paul Wesley told EW. 'It only made sense for him to die at the end.'
Even though Damon was widely considered to be the bad guy in the show because of the multiple crimes he committed, Wesley blamed Stefan for all of it. And while many fans would be at odds with that opinion, there are others who are in agreement.
Besides pushing Damon to turn, there are other reasons why Stefan sometimes feels more like an antagonist than a protagonist in The Vampire Diaries.
Though he always expressed remorse, the younger Salvatore brother has done a lot of bad things on the show, including murder, betrayal, and a total disregard for human life.
Just think back to his Ripper days, when he killed many innocent people because of his lack of control and extreme bloodlust.
Throughout the show, Stefan was often shown as an addict hanging on by a thread. Whenever he was pushed over the edge, he became uncontrollable and extremely dangerous.