about in basements, and hideous sweaters.
Other characters you won’t exactly recognize: Judith and Margaret Gilbert, Elena’s aunt and sister. Judith is an older lady, the sister of Elena’s father, and the legal guardian of the Gilbert girls since the death of their parents. The same role 6882 Visitor's Guide to Mystic Falls[FIN].indd 183
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is played by Jenna in the TV series, with Jenna as a hipper, younger aunt, and someone with whom Elena generally identifies and has an amicable relationship. Judith’s relationship with Elena, however, is somewhat strained and becomes more so when Stefan and Damon enter the picture.
Margaret is Elena’s four-year-old sister, a cute and innocent child who likes kittens. While she’s not a major character, she does feature heavily in a few plot points. In the TV series, she’s been replaced by the much older—and certainly hotter—
Jeremy Gilbert. This change in character allows the writers more flexibility with the story. And, let’s face it, Steven R.
McQueen probably wouldn’t look good in a dress, anyway.
(He would, however, look adorable clutching a kitten.) So, no vampires in tombs?
Not exactly. Stefan and Damon do spend some quality time with each other in the Salvatore family crypt after an unfortunate incident with some pointy steel objects, and we will say that another crypt features heavily in the story later on, but there’s no tomb containing twentysomething mummi-fied vampires plotting revenge on Fell’s Church. In fact, compared to the show, there aren’t that many vampires featured in the original book series: they add up to a grand total of five, including the good guys. But, trust us, that’s more than enough to wreak havoc on the town.
The extensive changes to and expansion upon the basic plot also leads to very different motivations for individual 6882 Visitor's Guide to Mystic Falls[FIN].indd 184
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characters, though you may be surprised at how the TV show has managed to remain remarkably true with your favorites, even when their history and their circumstances have changed (Alaric being the prime example). It’s also interesting to note that the ultimate fates of Vickie/Vicki and Mr.
Tanner are the same in book and show, but the events that lead to said fates happen in distinctly different ways.
How about the vampire mythology?
The TV series has, for the most part, taken the mythology of the books and built upon it to better serve the story it’s trying to tell. Vervain, for instance—what is little more than a glo-rified weed that prevents mind control in the books—has become a veritable kryptonite for vampires in the TV series.
Daylight rings in the show—created for specific owners using magic—are more commonplace in the books, due to the inherent mystical properties of the gemstone lapis lazuli that protects vampires from the sun, no extra witchy ju-ju necessary. Lapis is as interchangeable as Kelly Donovan’s drink preferences, and any vampire in the know is safe from the harmful effects of a great big dose of UV.
Mental powers in the books are also a little more sophisticated. Along with the ability to control people’s minds, vampires are able to speak to each other using telepathy and can also sense each other’s Power over distances . . . provided the vampire they’re trying to sense isn’t stronger than them and deliberately blocking them.
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Then there’s the shape-shifting. The crow is a bird that is synonymous with Damon in the books, to the point that it’s perhaps the most well-known symbol fans think of when they think of the series.
The process of becoming a vampire has also been expanded on in the TV series. The method in the books is as simple as dying with enough vampire blood in your system to cause the change to happen. Being turned by accident is something that can happen easily if vampires aren’t careful with sharing their blood, and a newly turned vampire could, in theory, live their unlife without ever tasting human blood. Newly turned vampires in the