19 times we see a character brought back from death in The Vampire Diaries

Throughout the eight seasons of The Vampire Diaries, like any good vampire drama, we see several deaths. These deaths are the pivotal factor in the storyline to carry the plot forward. Interestingly though, some deaths are permanent, and some are not! We witness the resurrection of several characters who are brought back to life, sometimes over and over again, through some good ol' witch magic, protective heirloom rings, and sometimes literally pulled back from "the other side". So in this list, we are going to talk about the 19 Times we see a character brought back from death in The Vampire Diaries.

1) Alaric Saltzman using Isobel’s Ring

Alaric Saltzman, the history teacher at Mystic High, encounters death for the first time when he gets stabbed with a Stake by Damon. He however gets resurrected from the dead using the ring Isobel gave him. The ring is enchanted with a spell that resurrects the wearer from death but with a catch - they died of supernatural causes. Since he was killed by a vampire, the ring worked its magic but the resurrection took a toll on his body.

2) Alaric gets turned into an original vampire

When Esther Mikaelson, the original witch, turns Alaric into an original vampire because of her hatred towards the vampires and with the agenda to kill her children, Alaric loses his humanity. However, when he sustains serious injuries that eventually kill him, he is resurrected back to life by the efforts of Dr. Jo Parker (and surprisingly no magic!).

3) Matt comes back to life

Matt Donovan is known across The Vampire Diaries fandom for being the one person who made it to the end and stayed human. When Matt finds Elena after she escapes the boarding house, he tries to convince Elena not to feed on him. However, Elena does not listen to him and feeds on him anyway and stops when the Salvatore brothers intervene. Matt was wearing the Gilbert ring which resurrected him from the dead.

4) Tyler ripped Stefan’s heart out

When Tyler was possessed by a traveler and was not in control of his actions he ripped Stefan’s heart out, killing him. The travelers were a group of nomads who sought to kill all the supernatural magic except their own. Tyler’s susceptibility was facilitated by a curse that made him vulnerable to possession. However, Bonnie with her magic along with a little help from Katherine brought Stefan back to life.

5) Stefan came back to life with Arcadius' immortality spell

Stefan was resurrected multiple times using Arcadius’ (known as Kai) immortality spell but as a consequence, he becomes a slave to Arcadius and carries out his bidding including murdering people and also turning off his humanity. Each time he got killed he got resurrected by this power, the spell kept him trapped. However, Bonnie interjects and injects him with the cure which breaks the curse and turns him human again.

6) Bonnie’s first resurrection of Jeremy

When Jeremy is shot by Sherrif Forbes, he dies. However, he was revived from the dead by Bonnie. Being in love with him, Bonnie wanted to bring back Jeremy from the dead and connected with the witches using her power and channeling them to bring Jeremy back to life. However, this gave Jeremy a new power to see ghosts, and eventually started getting haunted by Vicki and Anna’s spirit.

7) The Gilbert ring saving Jeremy

In season 2, Damon in a fit of rage after being rejected by both Katherine and Elena breaks Jeremy’s neck and kills him. Damon’s hatred towards Elena after her rejection enraged him to take this action. However, Jeremy was wearing the Gilbert ring which brought him back to life safely.

8) Jeremy voluntarily dies to help Bonnie

In season 3, when Bonnie in her desperate attempt to defeat Klaus is forced to use the Dessication Spell. Jeremy volunteered to offer his life for the spell, despite being aware of the consequences. As the spell requires a human sacrifice, Jeremy’s heart is stopped by Bonnie to create a magical link. However, Bonnie brings him back to life with her magic once again.

9) Jeremy’s death in season 4

When Jeremy and Bonnie discover the cure, Katherine snatches the cure and drains Jeremy of his blood. However, the Gilbert ring which previously protected him from death by any supernatural means when he was human could not save him now because he turned into a vampire hunter. After his death, Bonnie found a way to bring him back to life on the day when the veil between Mystic Falls and the purgatory was thin.

10) Bonnie’s death after her reviving Jeremy

When Bonnie did a spell to revive Jeremy from the dead, the spell took a toll on her. She exhausted herself and died as bringing the veil down between Mystic Falls and purgatory was a difficult spell. However, she does not stay dead for long and is brought back to life. She returned to the land of the living in season 5 after her death in season 4.

11) Bonnie’s return from the prison world

Bonnie became trapped on the other side with Damon at the end of season 5 when she died the second time. They got stuck in the prison world that was created by the Gemini Witch coven to trap Kai when the other side crumbled. However, Bonnie was resurrected and came to Mystic Falls with the clues left by Damon, and her magic was renewed with the help of Qetsiyah’s blood.

12) Elena Kills Jeremy

When Elena is hallucinating in season 4, she accidentally kills Jeremy. Jeremy approached Elena in the kitchen but due to her hallucinations, she saw Conor the vampire hunter in place of her brother. Thinking he had come to kill her, she slits his throat. However, she soon snaps out of it and realizes her fault. Luckily Jeremy was wearing the Gilbert ring and came back to life.

13) Klaus draining Elena’s blood

When Klaus drained Elena’s blood to break his curse, she was brought back to life by the sacrifice of her biological father, John. Elena died of blood loss during the sacrifice. However, John Gilbert had put a linkage spell on Elena which brought back Elena and killed John in the process. John, despite being one of the conniving characters, sacrificed himself for his daughter.

14) Elena’s car accident

When Matt and Elena were on their way back to Mystic Falls in Matt’s truck, Rebecca came in their way. As a result, Matt swerved and the car drove over the bridge. Matt lost consciousness and when Stefan came to save them, Elena requested him to save Matt. However, when Stefan came back to save Elena she was already dead. In a twist of events, she came back to life as she had vampire blood in her system which turned her into a vampire.

15) Katherine turns into a vampire

When Katherine learns about the curse and the reason Klaus sought her she runs for her life, not wanting to die at his hands. Out of fear, she hangs herself to death. She had vampire blood in her system which brought her back to life by turning her into a vampire and escaping Klaus.

16) Caroline turned into a vampire

When Caroline suffered a car accident while riding with Tyler, she was hospitalized with slim chances of survival. However, Damon’s blood saved her and gave her a quick and miraculous recovery. Soon after, Katherine snapped her neck and killed her to get revenge on Elena while she still had Damon's blood in her system. With vampire blood still in her, she came back to life but became a vampire herself.

17) John Gilbert by the Gilbert Ring

When John arrives at Mystic Falls, Damon finds out that John is aware of the presence of vampires and werewolves in the town. John also knew about Damon being the one who opened the tomb to rescue Katherine. As a result, Damon kills John by snapping his neck. What he wasn't aware of was that John was wearing the Gilbert ring which brought him back to life.

18) Alaric’s death in Season 2

In season 2, Alaric comes in the way of Mason Lockwood trying to kill Damon. He gets stabbed by Mason, a werewolf, who is in search of the moonstone and dies. However, the werewolves were unaware of the Gilbert ring he had on which quickly brought him back to life.

19) Damon kills Alaric

In season 3, Alaric gets killed again but this time by Damon. When Elena and Alric try to save Caroline’s father from Damon who is lashing out against him, Damon breaks Alarik’s neck and kills him. But he makes sure that Alaric is wearing the Gilbert ring knowing that he will come back to life. After several hours Alaric comes back to life again.