Summary

• The Vampire Diaries' Stefan Salvatore was already well aware of what living without humanity was prior to the events of the show.
• Stefan's lack of humanity amplified his character, showcasing a darker and more expressive side.
• Other vampires throughout the series couldn't match Stefan's iconic no-humanity state.

The hit drama The Vampire Diaries introduced audiences to a plethora of supernatural creatures and lore. The series doesn't let viewers forget that, above all things, vampires are dangerous. While a big part of the show hinges on relationships, the majority of it is about the hardships of living with and being a vampire. Stefan Salvatore made this known almost immediately.

Stefan warned Elena of the dangers of vampires right away, also warning her of himself. As the series progresses, it's revealed that Stefan might be one of the most dangerous vampires of all. One of the most dangerous aspects of a vampire is their ability to turn off their humanity. After experiencing turmoil and wanting to be free of their emotions, vampires often choose to turn off their humanity. In this mode, vampires become more careless, less empathetic, and simply scarier. In the world of the show, this is terrifying, but as a viewer, these characters become more alive than ever. Of all the vampires to turn off their humanity switch, Stefan was the one who drastically improved his character.

Stefan's Lack of Humanity Challenged His Identity

• Stefan and his brother, Damon, are from the 1800s and have been vampires since 1864.

Stefan was always a dangerous vampire. Prior to the events of the show, Stefan falls down a dark path of destruction. Stefan was a Ripper or a vampire who enjoyed causing pain and suffering to those around them. A Ripper doesn't need their humanity turned off to be a Ripper, but like most, Stefan had no humanity in him. Stefan's immeasurable bloodlust led to his carnage until he met Lexi.

Lexi helped Stefan stop drinking human blood, which helped him gain a lot of clarity. He finally saw the error of his ways and eventually became the morally sound man the series was introduced to. However, Stefan's relationship with human blood was challenged in Season 1. In Season 1, Episode 17, "Let the Right One In," Stefan had to drink Elena's blood to survive, which opened up old wounds. These wounds led him to harm others, and he ended up needing help getting back on the wagon.

While Stefan's past complicates a lot of things, he is shown to be a good person with a terrible relationship with blood. However, his approach to blood and his character, always waxing moral wisdom, often became a bit tedious. It wouldn't be right to strip Stefan of his morals though, but what the series did was heighten the drama by challenging them by forcing Stefan to turn off his humanity.

No-Humanity Stefan Changed the Course of the Show

• Stefan's mother, Lily, was also described as a Ripper, suggesting his murderous trait is partially genetic.

In Season 3, Episode 5, "The Reckoning," Klaus forces Stefan to turn off his humanity. Klaus, one of the Original Vampires, has the ability to compel other vampires into doing their bidding. Prior to this demand, Klaus reveals that Stefan and he had already met in the past while Stefan was a Ripper, which he forced Stefan to forget about. Klaus said that Stefan's lack of morals was intriguing and how he thought of Stefan as a friend.

After expressing how that version of Stefan is gone, Klaus demands he return by turning off Stefan's humanity. While Stefan had no chance at refusing any command, he still fought with all of his might for Elena. Thankfully, Stefan had enough willpower to save Elena from himself, but not enough to save himself. Klaus had made Stefan revert to his old ways with a simple command.

Stefan then became the very thing he despised. He went back to ripping and murdering all those in his path, with Klaus by his side. While this version of Stefan is one-note, Stefan finally got to express something other than somber. Stefan was known for brooding all the time, a fact that Damon Salvatore, his brother, would comment on all the time. Despite not having emotions, Stefan became very expressive as a vampire with no humanity.

Gone was the mopping, and in came the cheerful, yet very scary, vampire. However, even in his darkest moments, the light that was normal Stefan still peaked through. Stefan's lack of humanity only grew because, deep down, he did not want to face the reality of what he had become. His shame became an ouroboros, feeding on itself. He embraced the lack of humanity over the emotions he knew would arise once his humanity came back, which made it hard for his humanity to come back.

In short, Stefan, without humanity, made an otherwise melodramatic character shine bright. Fans of the series liked Damon's bad boy persona almost immediately, and Stefan, without his humanity, elevated him to a similar bad boy status. Continuously, no-humanity Stefan set the stage for how the other vampires might act in similar positions.

Of course, Stefan couldn't stay trapped in this cycle forever and later regained his humanity in the latter half of Season 3. While Stefan's humanity came back, the repercussions of this event shook the whole series. Elena fell right into Damon's arms, Elena became a vampire, and Stefan mostly fell to the sidelines while his brother shone brightly.

The Other Vampires Couldn't Live Up to Stefan

• While Stefan did force Damon to drink blood and complete his vampiric transition, Stefan never actually turned anyone in the show into a vampire.

Stefan wasn't the only vampire that had turned off their humanity. Elena also turns off her humanity after losing Jeremy to Katherine's evil plans. Similarly to Stefan, Elena, without humanity, is in complete opposition to who Elena really is deep down. However, due to this similarity, Elena, without humanity, didn't hit as hard. The only other vampires that came close to being as good of a character as Stefan would be Enzo and Caroline

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Enzo turned off his humanity twice. The first time was to unleash his anger at Damon after Damon revealed he had killed a woman Enzo loved. While other vampires that turn off their humanity are usually in a state of grief, Enzo's state of anger is a whole different approach. This meant that Enzo's anger was amplified tenfold and made for an interesting turn of events. However, Enzo's reign of terror is stopped after Stefan kills him. After being resurrected, Enzo gets to live life a little longer, even starting a romance with Bonnie. Unfortunately, his time with Bonnie was also cut short. Enzo gets hypnotized by the sirens into turning off his humanity, becoming a danger to Bonnie until he once again dies for good.

When it came to Caroline, she was always someone in control of herself. Even at her most bloodthirsty, Caroline was able to reel herself in almost the entire time. The thing that pushed her over the edge, though, was the death of her mother, Elizabeth Forbes. After her death, Caroline decided to turn off her humanity due to the amount of grief she was experiencing. Despite this amazing juxtaposition, Caroline, without humanity, simply couldn't compete with her normal self or with Stefan's iconic no-humanity persona.

Another character who couldn't live up to Stefan's lack of humanity was Silas. Silas was Stefan's ancient doppelgänger whose personality was eerily similar to no-humanity Stefan. While it didn't help that the doppelgängers shared an actor, Silas had a hard time standing out from what fans already saw from Stefan's romp with evil. All in all, the series knew that no-humanity Stefan was the blueprint for all the other vampires that underwent a period of time with their humanity turned off.