‘The Vampire Diaries’ Turns 15: Ranking 15 Brutal Deaths From the CW Drama

The Vampire Diaries must have had its SFX crew and Foley artists working overtime, considering how many gory deaths viewers saw and heard on the CW series. Bones breaking, heads rolling, veins spurting — all in a day’s work for the vamps, werewolves, and witches of Mystic Falls and the crew members who brought them to screen.

In fact, a Fandom list of TVD demises includes 20 decapitations, three dozen stakings, and more than 120 exsanguinations. And this was a show targeted to teenagers!

As The Vampire Diaries turns 15 on September 10, we’re rounding up our picks for the show’s 15 most brutal deaths. These aren’t necessarily the most tragic downfalls — in some cases, fans probably didn’t even shed a tear — but they certainly are gruesome.

15. Damon munches on Coach Tanner

A Mystic Falls High teacher and football coach with a real attitude problem, William Tanner (Benjamin Ayres) dies early in The Vampire Diaries when Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder) bites into his jugular vein as a show of his own inhumanity.

14. Klaus offs Carol at Christmastime

Klaus Mikaelson (Joseph Morgan) drowns Carol Lockwood (Susan Walters), mayor of Mystic Falls, in a fountain after a Christmas party. Why? He wanted to get back at Tyler (Michael Trevino), her son, and he knew that all the two Lockwoods had was each other.

13. Enzo beans Hazel with a doorknob

When Enzo St. John (Michael Malarkey) and Caroline Forbes (Candice King) find Hazel (Gena Shaw) but can’t enter her house, Enzo solves the problem by throwing the Gemini Coven witch’s doorknob at her head at vampiric speed, killing her instantly.

12. Katherine attacks Aimee at the masquerade

A would-be love interest for Matt Donovan (Zach Roerig), Aimee Bradley (Tiya Sircar) makes the fatal mistake of thinking Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) is actually Elena Gilbert and not the doppelgänger Katherine. She learns of that error too late as Katherine paralyzes and then kills her.

11. Stefan compels Andie Star to jump to her death

Andie Star (Dawn Olivieri), a local newscaster, goes from being Damon’s hookup (and blood source) to a pawn in his conflict with brother Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley) when Stefan proves a point by compelling her to jump to her death at the station where she worked.

10. Elijah Mikaelson beheads Trevor barehanded

Trevor (Trent Ford) learns the cost of betraying Elijah Mikaelson (Daniel Gillies) the hard way. Elijah grants Trevor’s request for forgiveness… and then smacks his head clean off his body.

9. Damon “fixes” Vicki Donovan — with a broken neck

After listening to Vicki (Kayla Ewell), Matt’s older sister, list her insecurities in Season 2’s “Lost Girls,” Damon prescribes death as the cure-all, and he promptly snaps her neck. You’d think she might want a say in the decision…

8. Silas feeds on Jeremy at a breakneck pace

Jeremy Gilbert (Steven R. McQueen) dies yet another time in Season 4’s “Down the Rabbit Hole” as Katherine feeds him to Silas, who sucks on his blood and then snaps his neck.

7. Silas cuts Rudy’s throat in front of the townsfolk

Rudy Hopkins’ (Rick Worthy) term as interim mayor of Mystic Falls was very much interim: After immobilizing the Mystic Falls residents attending an end-of-summer party in the town square, Silas slits Rudy’s throat as daughter Bonnie Bennett (Kat Graham) looks on in horror.

6. Elijah gets Slater to turn the stake on himself

After Elijah compels the vampire Slater (Trevor Peterson) to pass along a message to Rose (Lauren Cohan), he gives Slater one more task: to drive a stake through his own heart. Is it really as necessary as Elijah says? Well…

5. Isobel goes up in flames

After being freed of her servitude to Klaus, the vampire Isobel Flemming (Mia Kirshner) apologizes to Elena, her biological daughter, and takes off her lapis lazuli. Without that protection from the sunlight, Isobel bursts in to flames… and dies what sounds like an agonizing death.

4. Kai stabs Josette at the altar

The sibling rivalry between the witch Josette Laughlin (Jodi Lyn O’Keefe) and siphoner-vampire Kai Parker (Chris Wood) ends in bloodshed at her own wedding. Just before Jo recites her vows to Alaric (Matthew Davis), an invisible Kai stabs her to death.

3. Kai loses his head

After Jo and Alaric’s ill-fated wedding, Damon arrives at the church to find Bonnie mortally wounded and a smug Kai lording over the scene. Damon saunters off… only to sneak up behind Kai and lop off his head mid-sentence.

2. Klaus goes hybrid-hunting

In “O Come, All Ye Faithful” — the same Season 4 installment in which Carol meets her fate — Klaus kills the hybrids in gory fashion after Hayley (Phoebe Tonkin) exposes their plot against him. And he saves the worst slaying for last…

1. Damon gives Wes gets a taste of his own medicine

Whitmore College professor Wesley “Wes” Maxfield (Rick Cosnett) turns mad scientist in his efforts to protect humans from vampires, but Damon eventually gets the upper hand and uses a scalpel to mutilate the man to death. (That’s not what the doc ordered!)