The Vampire Diaries Universe (that is, The Vampire Diaries, The Originals, and Legacies) is filled with supernatural beings and creatures, each more powerful and unique than the rest.
There has been much debate between which beings are the most powerful within the universe over the past seventeen seasons, but we’ve compiled a list of who we think deserves an honourable mention.
Note: This list is based on opinions gathered through watching the show over the years and is in no way confirmed to be factually accurate or a reflection of the intentions of the shows creators.
Sybil and Seline
Sybil and Seline were two Sirens introduced in the seventh and eight seasons of The Vampire Diaries respectively. Sybil herself was a powerful Siren who was able to control and enslave the minds of anyone she chose. This allowed her to almost entirely erase Elena from Damon’s mind, replacing her with memories of Sybil herself.
Seline was also shown to be a strong manipulator of minds and was the one who initially taught Sybil to harness her psychic powers. The two later found themselves immortal after making a deal with Arcadius for immortality and youth in exchange for finding the souls of the damned.
Silas
Silas was a powerful witch of the Traveler subculture and the worlds first immortal. Despite being desiccated for two thousand years, Silas was shown to be extremely powerful and was able to best Qetsiyah in magical combat due to having a psychological hold over her at the time.
As an immortal, Silas’ mental capabilities were shown to be far greater than even those of the Original Vampires, and Silas was able to cast illusions and penetrate the mind of even Klaus ensuring that he felt pain even through an illusion.
Bonnie Bennett
Bonnie is one of, if not the singular, most powerful members of the Bennett Bloodline thus far. Throughout The Vampire Diaries Universe, Bonnie was able to channel numerous forms of magic, both good magic, and dark magic.
Whilst a powerful witch when practicing Traditional Magic, Bonnie became even more powerful when she was able to channel the one-hundred dead witches at the Witch Burial Ground; this was enough that she was able to instantly change the season and the weather merely to show Jeremy her capabilities. Furthermore, her connection to the witches meant that she was able to bring Jeremy back to life after his death, although this was more than likely the work of the witches rather than Bonnie’s magic herself.
Bonnie became an almost unstoppable force when she began to use Expression Magic, and was able to lower the Veil between the living and the Other Side. This magic also allowed her to rival even the Original Vampires, inflicting excruciating pain on Kol despite him being over a millennium old.
After returning from the Other Side with the help of Qetsiyah, Bonnie briefly became the Anchor to the Other Side, allowing her great power and the ability to interact with the spirits of those wishing to pass over. Bonnie utilised this ability to bring several of her friends back from the Other Side to the living.
Eventually, Bonnie became the Supernatural Huntress for a brief time, affording her with great strength and the ability to track anyone she stabbed with the Phoenix Sword.
Niklaus Mikaelson
Quickly after his introduction in The Vampire Diaries — and even before, in fact — Klaus was already established as the “big bad” and one of (if not, we see you Mikael), the most feared vampire in The Vampire Diaries universe.
Klaus’ status as the Original Hybrid meant that he not only had all of the abilities and attributes of an Original, he was also immune to the daggers and thus it was difficult to subdue him. Klaus’ blood also allowed him to create hybrids, and his bite was enough to weaken even his brother, Elijah.
Nonetheless, Klaus was no match for the likes of Marcel and Lucien, who were easily able to best him on numerous occasions. Freya was also able to create a dagger capable of subduing him.
Esther Mikaelson
Esther is probably one of the most well known and one of the most powerful witches in The Vampire Diaries universe. Known as the Original Witch, she was responsible for the creation of the Original Vampires and thus, the vampire race as a whole.
Esther was also responsible for placing the Hybrid Curse on Klaus, and was one of the only people Klaus truly feared. Subjectively, Rebekah also referred to her as the most powerful witch in history, although this has since been proven false.
Other feats by Esther include the creation of the Moonlight Rings and was able to give Vicki Donovan a foothold in the real world following her death. Esther’s abilities meant that after her death, she was consecrated on New Orleans soil and became the leaders of the Ancestors.
Despite her power, Esther was arguably less-powerful than the likes of Inadu and Dahlia and was killed pretty easily numerous times throughout the Universe.
The Hollow/Inadu
The Hollow was a powerful native-American witch feared by many, including those of her own village. Her insatiable thirst for power eventually led to her own Tribal Elders killing her, however, she would later grow more powerful in death.
One of The Hollow’s main feats was the casting of the Werewolf Curse upon her death, therefore giving rise to the creation of the Werewolf species. The Hollow would later terrorise the residents of New Orleans and her raw power was enough to almost kill Hope herself. The Hollow would eventually lead indirectly to the death of both Klaus and Elijah Mikaelson.
Marcel Gerard
Marcel was already a pretty competent and feared vampire when Klaus returned back to New Orleans on news that someone was conspiring against him. Running New Orleans as a tight ship wasn’t easy, and his skills definitely made him a formidable vampire.
When turned into an Upgraded Original Vampire via Lucien’s serum, he became even more formidable and rivalled even the oldest vampires, the Originals. The spell that amplified his powers also made his bite lethal to non-Originals and Originals, meaning he is probably the most powerful vampire (perhaps rivalled by Hope) in The Vampire Diaries Universe.
The only downside to Marcel’s strength, however, is that he can be killed by something as simple as Freya’s Dagger, which is perhaps a testament to her power as much as his weakness.
Arcadius
Arcadius was a powerful psychic eventually revealed to be the worlds first. He was particularly powerful, however, given the fact that upon his death, he was able to create his own dimension, Hell, which he later ruled over for millennia.
Arcadius was particularly powerful during his ruling of hell, however, and he was able to deny spirits entry to The Other Side. He was also able to control any of the spirits that he released from Hell, as shown with his control of both Stefan and Damon Salvatore. Perhaps one of his other most notable feats was the creation of the worlds first and only Sirens, Sybil and Seline. Arcadius was able to grant them beauty, youth, and immortality in return for the souls of the worlds most damned.
Dahlia
Dahlia gets an honourable mention in just about every “most powerful witch” list within The Vampire Diaries Universe — how could she not? Freya once referred to Dahlia as the most powerful witch she had ever seen, and that was some comment coming from Freya, who was pretty powerful in her own right.
Dahlia was powerful enough that she was feared by both Freya and Esther, and had extensive knowledge of the dark arts and was perhaps considered a master. Her knowledge was so extensive that she was able to form her own type of Connective Magic that allowed her to link herself to the Freya and draw on her power.
An extension of her link with Freya, Dahlia was able to place the two of them in a slumber for a century at a time in which the two would amass their powers and wake up stronger than ever. This also provided the two with pseudo-immortality, and is the only example within The Vampire Diaries Universe where one could become immortal and retain their link to magic. This makes her immediately more powerful than her sister, Esther, who sacrificed her children’s link to magic to make them immortal.
Qetsiyah
Qetsiyah is arguably the most powerful witch that has appeared in The Vampire Diaries Universe, and has been confirmed as the most powerful witch of the Traveler subculture. Qetsiyah is also one of the “big 4” witches and responsible for the creation of the first immortality spell — and therefore indirectly aided in the creation of the vampire range.
Subsequently, Qetsiyah created the cure for immortality, and the supernatural purgatory, The Other Side as well as the Anchor to the dimension. Qestiyah’s blood alone was a huge source of ppwer that could be drawn on (even after her death), and Katherine compared it to that of a celestial event.
Hope Mikaelson
As the worlds first and only Tribrid, Hope’s power far surpassed all of the witches and other beings within The Vampire Diaries Universe. The true extent of Hope’s power was never expressed in any of the shows, however it was alluded that she was extremely powerful.
As a fully activated Tribrid, Hope was powerful enough that she could not be killed by ordinary means, and even Ken had to create a whole new object in an attempt to kill her. Like her father, Hope also possessed the ability to transform into a wolf at will, and had the ability to compel vampires — a feat only shown possible by Original vampires and Silas.
Ken
Ken was a god and arguably the most powerful being seen in The Vampire Diaries Universe thus far. His status as a god meant that he himself could control lightning, and nullify witchcraft at will. Furthermore, it was shown that Lizzie Saltzman was unable to siphon the magic from Ken and was knocked away with ease.
Ken’s power was so great that Hope was unable to kill him by any means without the use of his own spear, which he himself forged with his abilities. Without this, it is unknown if Ken would’ve been truly invincible. This level of invincibility far surpassed that seen by any other creature in The Vampire Diaries Universe and thus, this makes Ken arguably the most powerful being seen.
