“The Vampire Diaries” Mikaelson Family Was Super Toxic

In this universe, “daggering” is just a term for putting a vampire to sleep with a magical knife (as one does). Klaus keeps his sibling’s coffins at the ready wherever he goes, in the event of a little rivalry. When they disagree with him or betray him, he just pops them in there for a couple of decades. Casual.

When we first meet Rebekah in The Vampire Diaries, she’s got a thing going with Stefan during the prohibition era. Despite being friends with Stefan, Klaus is not approving of the relationship and is super possessive and creepy when it comes to his sister. In The Originals, we learn that Klaus has literally killed a number of Rebekah’s boyfriends over the centuries and, up until the end of the series, denies her any chance at successful love. Toxic, much?

Mikael and Esther are the primary reason the Mikaelson siblings need therapy. First, they use magic to try to make their children immortal, accidentally turning them into vampires. Disgusted by this, both parents go on multiple benders trying to end their children. Klaus kills them both, but there are multiple times that they return from the grave to wreak havoc.

Strangely, this is the least problematic plotline on this list. Klaus and Hayley primarily grow a platonic co-parenting relationship, and it’s actually Elijah who falls for Hayley once she integrates herself with the family. Oddly enough, this complex dynamic does not send Klaus spiraling. Still, it the makes the list, because it just would happen to the Mikaelsons.

During a dramatic body-swapping predicament, Kol traps his sister’s soul in the body of a witch who is imprisoned in an insane asylum. Turns out, this particular witch is a sociopathic child murderer, which it seems Kol didn’t know, but still. The savagery of trapping Rebekah in an asylum due to being hurt about something she did back in the 1900s seems a little much.

As the oldest sibling, Freya feels the burden of ensuring her sister and brothers are safe. She often takes this to the extreme and is always cooking up a magical spell to protect family members, which is fine and dandy when you have so many enemies but also has to be exhausting. When she begins to date Keelin, she has a lot of trouble setting boundaries with her family. Fortunately, the two work out their relationship in the end, and she is able to finally invest in herself.

When Marcel is a child, he’s taken under Klaus’s wing and eventually turned into a vampire. Despite their love for one another, the two have a complicated and confusing relationship. I mean very complicated and confusing. They are either threatening to kill the other and squabbling over control of the French Quarter, or they are best friends. Marcel can’t seem to decide if he loves or hates the Mikaelsons, and with all that they put him through, it’s hard to blame him.

The aftermath of The Hollow — a terrible evil spirit in The Originals — leaves the Mikaelson siblings unable to be in the same room without causing mass destruction. While this is horrible, it’s fortunate that this happens during the 21st century when phones are a thing, rather than decades prior. Since the thought of staying away from his family is too much to bear, Elijah wipes his memory completely free of all loved ones. This causes a batch of drama and, perhaps, could’ve been avoided if he scheduled some daily FaceTimes.

For a family whose selfishness is unmatched, the birth of Klaus and Hayley’s daughter, Hope, is a major game changer. Not only does Hope help Klaus find what’s left of his humanity, but she makes a big impact on the other immortals as well. The siblings make some pretty big sacrifices to ensure Hope’s safety during The Originalsand this carries into Legacies territory as well.

Speaking of Legacies, the third installment of the franchise dives into the life of the youngest family member, who now has some serious magic powers. Since she’s a Mikaelson, she’s got trauma, anger, and baggage at the ready, but we also see her fight for the greater good. She may come from one very complicated and ancient family, but she’s carrying on the best parts of their legacy.

In flashback scenes scattered throughout The Vampire Diaries and The Originals, viewers get a glimpse into what different centuries have been like for this crew. The siblings have been isolated, on the run from enemies, and left to survive only with the company of one another. They vow to be there for each other “always and forever,” which plays a large role in their devotion to family. Even in their worst moments, they try to uphold this vow.

While the family is certainly riddled with concerning behaviors, we do see glimmers of selflessness throughout various seasons. Klaus, for example, becomes Marcel’s prisoner to keep his siblings safe; and, despite only having each other, the family decides to go separate ways for a time when The Hollow threatens to harm Hope. At the end of the day, they put family above all else.

Unsurprisingly, the Mikaelsons have made a couple of mistakes over the years. As their stories progress, they begin to acknowledge their wrongdoings and attempt to change their ways. Klaus’s redemptive arch is the most distinct, as he begins his journey as a cunning and ruthless villain and becomes a loving father who sacrifices everything for his loved ones.

Cami the therapist (RIP) would likely say that much of this family’s turmoil comes from viewing themselves as monsters. After centuries of chaos, they begin to realize that they, too, deserve love and happiness. Each sibling has a different road to finding this, respectively, but in the end it appears they all find peace.