Top 10 Vampire Diaries Plot Holes You Never Noticed

In the "Pilot" episode, Damon opts for a rather theatrical approach when greeting Elena and tormenting Stefan. One of the things this seems to establish about the older Salvatore brother is his ability to control crows and fog, but these powers never show up again. Perhaps they were considered a touch too goofy, especially since Damon was presented as an intimidating villain in Season 1's early days. In the books, Damon can shape-shift into a crow and – to some degree – manipulate the weather, which explains why the TV show briefly references these skills.

When the Mikaelson family is first introduced, a lot of fuss is made over the fact they are the first immortals. Later on, the Originals' claim to fame is retroactively lessened when an even older immortal, Silas, is introduced. Silas' legacy is not treated as breaking news by the vampires, although the same cannot be said for the audience. Now, in all fairness, this plot hole was somewhat fixed by the Originals being rebranded as the first immortal vampires, while Silas – despite sharing many similarities with vampires – is simply described as an Immortal.

"The Vampire Diaries" replaces garlic with the herb vervain as a substance that not only weakens vampires but protects humans from their influence. In Mystic Falls, the availability of vervain tends to vary depending on the needs of the plot. On occasion, finding the substance requires hitting an herb dealer; other times, vervain literally flows through the town like water. In general, it was more scarce during the show's earlier seasons, when used in more basic ways; but later episodes explored new ways to consume the herb, which required a more readily available stash.

The Other Side is purgatory for vampires, witches, and all sorts of supernatural creatures. Well, all of them except Jenna. Elena's aunt was turned into a vampire and killed shortly after, but Jenna never once appears on the Other Side, even when Elena herself is stuck in the dimension. True, Jenna's death was unique among vampires, as she was turned and killed within the same day and didn’t harm a human. In the 20th episode of season 3, Esther explains that Jenna was at peace and managed to avoid the Other Side. But it feels like a biiit of a patch!

Seniority is a big deal among vampires, with physical strength being directly proportional to the undead creature's age. However, this only holds true in a vacuum, as apparently a substantial-enough emotional kick can level the playing field. The fact that anger is enough to shrink the power gap between newborns like Caroline and Elena and centuries-old vampires like Damon and Katherine renders this whole "strength equals age" rule moot. There should be a limit to the power of emotions, otherwise, fights are decided by who wants to survive the most.

The Anchor is essentially an entity that serves as the gateway to the Other Side, so that the ghosts supernatural creatures can pass through. In Season 5, Bonnie is forced to be the new anchor, so the witch actively feels the death of every ghost entering the Other Side. When Katherine dies later in the season, Bonnie has no excuse for not knowing that the doppelganger did not pass through to the Other Side. Bonnie would have felt Katherine dying, an experience that the witch had endured enough times to know what to expect. Even though Katherine had been turned into a human, she was still a doppelganger.

One traditional weakness of vampires is that they have to be invited into a home, although killing the owner of the residence is one way to nullify this protection. Probably the most baffling instance of the invitation rule on "Vampire Diaries" has to do with Logan, who – after being turned into a vampire – cannot enter his own home. The invitation rule does seem to be a bit of a stickler for documentation, so a possible explanation is that Logan's name is not on the property's deed? Still, talk about adding insult to injury.

For a normal human, saving one person trapped in a sinking car is an impressive feat, but a vampire with super strength should do better. In a case of history repeating itself, Stefan twice has to decide whether to save Elena or somebody else, with the vampire never once even considering option three and saving both parties. Stefan has proven to be a pretty powerful vampire, who could toss humans around like rag-dolls after just being turned, so this did not have to be a Sophie's choice-type moment.

Bonnie is arguably the most important character in "The Vampire Diaries," with the witch proving invaluable whenever a plot thread needs a bit of magic to move along. Especially in the later seasons, Bonnie's powers become nearly god-like, so much so that she manages to face off against the literal devil, and later on uses magic to eradicate Hell. Considering that Bonnie spends a decent chunk of the middle seasons without any powers, the character's sudden mastery of magic comes as a rather shocking surprise. More than anything, Bonnie is frequently reduced to a character who exists solely to help everyone else.

The Cure is the holy grail of "The Vampire Diaries," a unique item that reverses immortality. Once ingested, the recipient begins to age normally, but the Cure can be lost if all of the owner's blood is drained, which will cause them to age rapidly. Essentially, only one immortal at a time can be cured. Funnily enough, this changed once Elena and Stefan were the ones exchanging blood; suddenly, a needle's worth was enough to transfer the cure. Silas may just have been lying about needing to fully drain the owner’s blood, but that doesn’t explain how in Season 8 Bonnie knew that a single shot would be enough.