The Vampire Diaries Finale Countdown: Nina Dobrev's Doppelgängers, Ranked 

‘ eight seasons, “doppelgänger” went from being that word you couldn’t spell to that word you couldn’t escape. And if

thought it was exhausting keeping up with it all, just imagine what Nina Dobrev went through.

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, Dobrev has assumed four (very) different roles, ranging from Tatia — the ancient, exotic village lady trapped in a hopeless triangle with two brothers — to Elena, a human-turned-vampire-turned-human… also trapped in a hopeless love triangle with two brothers. (OK, I guess

In celebration/denial of the show’s upcoming series finale — airing Friday at 9/8c on The CW — we’re playing favorites, ranking Dobrev’s doppelgängers from Amara to best:

4. AMARA | It might seem a little unfair dumping Amara in the No. 4 slot, considering our time with her was so limited — and when we did see her, she was either screaming, back-stabbing or begging for her life — but I’m sticking by it. Did Qetsiyah go a little too far by faking Amara’s death, then anchoring her immortal body to the Other Side, forcing her to experience literally every death for the next 2,000 years? Of course she did… but not enough to bump Amara up to No. 3. (Sorry, girl. Thanks for giving us all the doppelgängers, though!)

3. TATIA | You want to talk about building hype for a character? Try hinting at her existence in Season 2 of 

(2011), then waiting until Season 2 of 

to finally introduce her. By the time we met Tatia, she was dripping with rich, familiar history. A cautionary tale for all undead brothers, Klaus and Elijah’s love for Tatia — whose blood was used in the spell that turned them into vampires — is what led to their initial estrangement. (Too bad they can’t blame her on all of their 

2. ELENA | Elena might be the most basic person on this list — if she had an Instagram, it would be all inspirational quotes and hot dog legs — but she’s also the most invaluable. Despite Stefan taking ownership of the story in the pilot, it was through Elena’s eyes that we entered this crazy world of vampires, witches, werewolves and, of course, doppelgängers. She also got to live out every viewer’s fantasies, first by bagging

Stefan and Damon (and Matt), then by getting to see what life would be like as a vampire… before quickly curing herself and returning to normal. Like Hannah Montana before her, Elena got to experience the best of both worlds. If you hate her, it’s only ’cause you ain’t her.

did you think I’d put on top of this list? Like the world’s sexiest cockroach, Katherine Pierce has proven herself to be equal parts devious and indestructible. When Klaus planned to sacrifice her in the 15th century, she had Rose turn her into a vampire; when she was turned back into a human and her body began deteriorating, she had her spirit secretly transferred into Elena; and when she was finally defeated and sent to hell, she took over as its damn 

. Frankly, I’m curious to see how she’s dealt with in Friday’s series finale — because you 

she’s not going (back) down without a fight.

Does our ranking match yours? Vote for your favorite doppelgänger below, then drop a comment with your thoughts.

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Hahaha, this was the reason I dumped The Vampire Diaries, sorry not sorry, the doppel nonsense was bad. Then I came back and dumped it again this season during the Siren arc. Now I’m back for the end :-) Katherine is by far the only character Nina played that I liked.

I honestly never had a favorite doppelganger, but Katherine was definitely the most mischievous. I loved when she and Elijah had a road-trip (was that on TVD or TO?) and she always evoked the most emotional responses from the Salvatores.

But what I’m really looking forward to the ranking of all of the villains on TVD. That story is coming, right Andy??? Pretty please?? But how to rank them is going to be fun: Least worthy to most worthy opponent? Prettiest? Most enduring? Most charming? Most impactful? So many ways to go with this…. I expect a slide show!

Oh, I love that idea. Since part of the love I felt for this show was always due to it’s good villains. My favorit character of all time is a villian. So please, that ranking has to come.

If TVLine hasn’t done it already, check with TVGuide. I’ve definitely seen one around.

These retrospectives are painful because they remind me of how good the series was in its first three seasons. The breakneck pace of the storyline as it unfolded throughout season one and especially season two was made more compelling by the doppelgänger mythology and Nina’s performances. Introducing Tatia in The Originals briefly was also a nice bonus for fans, and I wish they had left the doppelgänger story at that. Introducing Amara, and Silas as Stefan’s doppelgänger, was not only overkill but inconsistent with and a retcon of the brilliant mythology established in season two.

I actually enjoyed Silas, he was funny. But yes, Stefan being a doppelganger was stretching imagination too much and it didn’t do any favours to Stelena who were then explained as just two doppelgängers magically attracting to each other or smth

There were some truly amazing things in the first few seasons. I loved having Katherine as the big bad only to have her be completely terrified of Klaus when he was introduced. They really never matched her and The Originals in terms of villians. Kai was fun, I’ll admit but not nearly as menacing seeming and most of the others kinda flopped.

Katherine’s was bad but to be compared to Klaus when he was first introduced. He was was terrifying nd so was is whole family besides klaus, kol was the other waste of them, he never played nice at all not to his family or anyone else. Then came kai too who had no heart at all.

The only basic thing is your understanding of the characters, Andy.

LOL, agreed though I would maybe say “Human!Elena in small doses” instead because she became pretty unbearable for me post-vamping. I think Tatia would have been interesting but they really weren’t able to do anything with her on TO.

Katherine Pierce forever HBIC. Even when she turned back human she remained as fierce as ever. I’ll never forget when she crashed that car into the tree!

I agree with the Amara and Silas thing being overkill. As far as I’m concerned Tatia is the the first doppelganger.

#1 Elena. The show could survive without Katherine, who was ok only in small doses. Really went downhill without Elena, though,

Andy I’m sure going to miss your TVD articles…I have to say though, in reading your articles over the years, I have to commend you for being so neutral….Even to this day I have no clue as to which endgame you are most hoping for. Hopefully you can clue us in before the finale.

Katherine is #1 and Elena is whiney little ***** who only became interesting as a vampire and then ruined that by having an escape route of a cure that Bonnie had to procur from an alternate dimension. They never should have killed Katerine or her daughter for that matter. Come on guys keep a few handy doses of Klaus werewolf bite cure around for emergencies that seem to happen every other week.

As an aside, one thing I always hoped to happen was for Katerine to take vamp Elena under her wing and teach her how to be a real vampire and not so emo. That would have been a great arc but oh well great ……………………….grandma Katherine just didn’t play well with her progeny. A shame, could have be real cool to watch as Damon and Stephan try to chase down the doppleganger twins as they lay waste to the south.

there is no point making this list all of them was #1

but the writers should have screw up Katherine after 5×11 with the body-swapping mess

The first season finale was one of the best finales that i had seen in a very long time between Damon and Elena’s make out scene on the porch and then when she walked into the house and revealed herself to be Katherine and cut off David Anders fingers. Great finale – shame it went downhill after that. I think I dumped it when Klaus wouldn’t disappear and the show became all about Delena. Did Kevin lose all of his Dawson’s Creek writers? Now that was how you tell a good love story where you were guessing right up until the last episode who the girl would end up with.

Great list. Elena was the worst. The show wasn’t it’s best after Nina Dobrev’s departure, but it sure wasn’t because of a lack of Elena. A lack of Katherine we can talk about, but her story was pretty well wrapped up, so I can’t complain. Someome tell me when Kat Graham is next on TV. Preferably something with her and Ana Naomi King.

it’s Katherine Katherine Katherine Katherine Katherine all the way.

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