There’s no TV show with a higher body count than The Vampire Diaries. Every character is always in danger of getting killed and during the show’s second season I counted 48 death scenes. Season 3 was even deadlier with 58 death scenes, which included real deaths, temporary deaths and multiple deaths.
#58 Stefan Kills Ray Sutton’s Friends
Episode 3.1, “The Birthday”
The season began with Klaus ordering Stefan to kill two co-eds, and so he did. The result explained why he’s called Ripper: He gets so high on the blood that he literally rips his victims’ bodies apart and then puts them together again.
#57 Stefan Makes Andi Kill Herself
Episode 3.1, “The Birthday”
Proving just how bad he’d become, Stefan compelled Damon’s girlfriend Andi to jump off a high catwalk and plummet to her death, all while Damon watched.
#56 Klaus Kills Ray Sutton
Episode 3.1, “The Birthday”
Klaus’ plan to create an army of hybrids began with werewolf Ray Sutton. First he made Ray drink his blood, then Klaus snapped his neck, killing him and turning him into a werevamp.
#55 Klaus Kills a Pack of Werewolves
Episode 3.2, “The Hybrid”
Klaus tried to turn an entire pack of werewolves into hybrids by feeding them his blood and then killing them, but they came back as deformed, rabid hybrids and eventually either died or were killed for real by Klaus, thus resulting in a massive sea of corpses.
#54 Klaus Kills Derek
Episode 3.2, “The Hybrid”
To create his hybrid army, Klaus needed to feed them human blood after they came back to complete the transition, and Derek was a human living with the pack. After using his blood to transform all of his hybrids, Klaus had no use for the human and killed kim.
#53 Stefan Kills Ray Sutton
Episode 3.2, “The Hybrid”
The rabid hybrid Ray was about to kill Damon, but Stefan showed he still had some compassion left by running in to save the day by ripping Ray’s heart out.
#52 Stefan Kills a Woman in a Car
Episode 3.3, “The End of the Affair”
In the 1920s flashback, Stefan had a bit of a Titanic moment, fogging up the windows of a car. Only in this case, the woman wasn’t his lover, she was his dinner.
#51 Klaus Kills Rebekah
Episode 3.3, “The End of the Affair”
The only way to kill an Original, at least temporarily, is by stabbing them with a white oak ash dagger and leaving it in forever, and that’s just what Klaus did to his little sister Rebekah in the 1920s when she wanted to go with Stefan instead of Klaus.
#50 Klaus, Stefan and Rebekah Kill Their Lunch
Episode 3.4, “Disturbing Behavior”
While waiting for Gloria to track the necklace, Stefan and the two Originals had a snack, only their victims died too quickly for Rebekah’s taste.
#49 Katherine Kills Gloria
Episode 3.4, “Disturbing Behavior”
The witch was torturing Stefan for information, but luckily for him, Katherine showed up to kill her in the nick of time.
#48 Damon Kills Alaric
Episode 3.4, “Disturbing Behavior”
For the third time on the show, Alaric was killed while wearing his magical immortality ring, which Damon knew all along.
#47 Klaus Kills Tyler
Episode 3.5, “The Reckoning”
As a way of forcing Bonnie to help him figure out how to successfully create hybrids, Klaus fed Tyler his blood and snapped his neck, beginning his transformation into a hybrid.
#46 Stefan Kills Chad and Diana
Episode 3.5, “The Reckoning”
Klaus compelled Stefan to obey him and then ordered him to kill these two Mystic Falls High School students who Klaus had compelled to help him out in season 2.
#45 Matt Kills Himself
Episode 3.5, “The Reckoning”
In order to communicate with his dead sister Vicki, Matt tied a weight around himself and jumped into the pool, drowning and temporarily killing himself until Bonnie was able to bring him back with CPR.
#44 Stefan Kills Girls at the Mansion
Episode 3.6, “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
With his emotions turned off, Stefan was pure evil, spending his mornings compelling girls to play Twister and leaving the dead ones on Damon’s Persian rugs.
#43 Katherine Kills a Mourner
Episode 3.6, “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
While trying to bring Mikael back to life, Katherine killed a man visiting the cemetery and dripped his blood into Mikael’s mouth. Mikael didn’t appreciate it, so Katherine tossed the body aside.
#42 Rebekah and Tyler Kill a Girl
Episode 3.6, “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
To win over Tyler, Klaus’ sister brings him a late-night snack and the two began their relationship by devouring her.
#41 Tomb Vampire Ghosts Kill Tobias Fell
Episode 3.7, “Ghost World”
When Frederick and the other Tomb vampires came back as ghosts, they targeted the Founding Families and killed Tobias Fell and strung him up on a tree during the Night of Illumination.
#40 The Werewolves Kill Henrick
Episode 3.8, “Ordinary People”
While out watching the werewolves transform, Klaus’ brother Henrick was attacked and killed by the pack.
#39 Mikael Kills His Children
Episode 3.8, “Ordinary People”
To protect his family, Mikael had his wife Esther turn them into vampires, and after feeding them blood, Mikael killed all of his children.
#38 Rebekah and Klaus Kill a Girl
Episode 3.8, “Ordinary People”
After coming back as vampires, Rebekah and her siblings needed to feed, so Mikael brought a local girl to help them complete the transformation.
#37 Rebekah Kills a Man
Episode 3.8, “Ordinary People”
After becoming a vampire, Rebekah quickly learned that the bloodlust was too powerful as she randomly attacked and ate a man in town.
#36 Klaus Kills His Mother
Episode 3.8, “Ordinary People”
Though Rebekah was led to believe their father killed their mother, it turned out that Klaus was the one who did it out of anger that she put the hybrid curse on him.
#35 Elena Kills Mikael
Episode 3.9, “Homecoming”
To help lure Klaus back to Mystic Falls, everyone hatched a plan to have Stefan tell him that Mikael was dead. But to make it work, Elena actually had to use the dagger coated in white ash on him, temporarily killing Klaus’ father.
#34 Elena Kills Rebekah
Episode 3.9, “Homecoming”
To avoid any extra complications with their plan, Elena ruthlessly stabbed Rebekah in the back, literally, depriving her of her first ever school dance.
#33 Mikael Kills Elena/Katherine
Episode 3.9, “Homecoming”
There were a lot of twists in the plan to kill Klaus, and one came when Mikael threatened to kill Elena. Klaus called his bluff, but Mikael did it anyone. Of course Katherine had taken over Elena’s lace, so it was all fake.
#32 Klaus Kills Mikael
Episode 3.9, “Homecoming”
After Damon tried to use the ancient stake on Klaus, Stefan interrupted, Klaus took it and he staked his father, Mikael, killing him permanently, something that no other weapon can accomplish.
#31 Tony Kills Alaric
Episode 3.10, “The New Deal”
For the fourth time, Alaric was killed while wearing his magic ring, this time when a hybrid ran over him with a car. Unfortunately, the ring brought him back but didn’t quite heal all of his internal injuries.
#30 Jeremy Kills Tony
Episode 3.10, “The New Deal”
In perhaps the most bad-ass death of the season, sweet little Jeremy shot the hybrid with an arrow, grabbed a knife from the kitchen and decapitated him.
#29 Klaus Kills Rebekah
Episode 3.10, “The New Deal”
Poor Rebekah was brought back to life when Elena pulled out the stake and gave her back to Klaus, but Klaus almost immediately killed her once again to keep her from attacking him for killing their mother.
#28 Damon Kills a Hybrid
Episode 3.11, “Our Town”
While visiting the coffins in the witch house, Stefan was attacked by a hybrid, but Damon quickly ripped his heart out.
#27 Stefan Kills Mindy
Episode 3.11, “Our Town”
To prove he’s more of a villain than Klaus, Stefan’s quest to destroy the hybrids began by cutting the head off Mindy.
#26 Alaric Kills Brian Walters
Episode 3.11, “Our Town”
The Mystic Falls medical examiner, and Meredith Fell’s ex-boyfriend, was killed with a stake by Alaric, the serial killer who went crazy due to his immortality ring.
#25 Elijah Kills Daniel
Episode 3.12, “The Ties That Bind”
After finally coming back to life, Elijah started out strong by ripping out the heart of Klaus’ hybrid minion, Daniel.
#24 Alaric Kills Bill Forbes
Episode 3.13, “Bringing Out the Dead”
Crazy Alaric, the ring-induced serial killer, struck a second time, killing Caroline’s dad at the hospital.
#23 Bill Forbes Lets Himself Die
Episode 3.13, “Bringing Out the Dead”
After dying with vampire blood in him, Caroline’s dad came back, but he refused to drink human blood to complete his transition into a vampire. Instead, he chose to let himself die for real.
#22 Elena Kills Alaric
Episode 3.13, “Bringing Out the Dead”
Alaric stabbed himself and he was dying, but to ensure he’d come back, he asked Elena, the supernatural doppelganger, to kill me so he would come back. And she obliged.
#21 Klaus Kills His Beverage
Episode 3.13, “Bringing Out the Dead”
While having a sit-down with Elijah, Damon and Stefan, Klaus used one of his compelled servants as an after-dinner drink and tossed her body aside when he was done.
#20 Alaric Kills Kol
Episode 3.15, “All My Children”
With all of the Originals linked, Alaric daggered Kol in an attempt to stop all of the Originals, though it failed because daggers don’t work on Klaus.
#19 Damon Kills Abby
Episode 3.15, “All My Children”
To stop Esther from harnessing the power of the Bennett bloodline, Damon turned Bonnie’s mom into a vampire and killed her, which also protected Stefan from doing it and being hated by Elena.
#18 Samantha Gilbert Kills Zachariah Salvatore
Episode 3.16, “1912”
In 1912, the immortality ring made Jonathan Gilbert’s granddaughter (and Elena’s ancestor) go crazy as she killed a member of the Founding Families.
#17 Damon Kills Samantha Gilbert
Episode 3.16, “1912”
After enjoying a fight, Damon had a snack in 1912 and drained Samantha, though her ring allowed her to come back.
#16 Stefan Kills Marianna Lockwood
Episode 3.16, “1912”
In 1912 Damon talked Stefan into feeding on humans and he fed so hard that Marianna’s head fell off, thus creating the man who would come to be known as Ripper.
#15 Damon and Rebekah Kill a Pianist
Episode 3.17, “Break on Through”
While seducing Rebekah, Damon offered up a pianist for musical accompaniment and dinner. The two devoured him before heading off to the bedroom for more carnal pleasures.
#14 Matt Kills Finn
Episode 3.18, “The Murder of One”
Who would’ve guessed that simple Matt Donovan could take out an Original? Sure, he had help from Stefan and Elena, but the actual staking was all Matt, and this time, the death was permanent.
#13 Finn’s Death Kills Sage
Episode 3.18, “The Murder of One”
In a brilliant twist, the death of Finn, one of the Originals, resulted in the end of his entire line of succession, which included his girlfriend Sage, who he turned.
#12 Finn’s Death Kills Troy
Episode 3.18, “The Murder of One”
Following in Sage’s footsteps, since she turned Troy, Finn’s death also killed him.
#11 Klaus Kills Alaric
Episode 3.19, “Heart of Darkness”
Alaric was killed for the sixth time, this time by Klaus, to try and facilitate his change to Evil Alaric.
#10 Abby’s Death Kills Esther
Episode 3.19, “Heart of Darkness”
The mother of the Originals was brought back by the Bennett witches, but when Abby died, her link was severed and her body eventually died. However, her spirit lived on by possessing her own daughter, Rebekah.
#9 Kol Kills Mary Porter
Episode 3.19, “Heart of Darkness”
In order to keep the Salvatore brothers’ lineage a secret, Kol found Scary Mary, the vampire who turned Rose who turned Katherine who turned the brothers, and staked her so she couldn’t reveal who turned her.
#8 Alaric Kills Rebekah
Episode 3.20, “Do Not Go Gentle”
Rebekah was possessed by her mother, Esther, and to allow the spirit to reenter Esther’s body, she let Alaric stake her.
#7 Esther Kills Alaric
Episode 3.20, ” Do Not Go Gentle ”
In an attempt to destroy all vampires, Esther used her witchcraft to turn Alaric into an Original Vampire, which involved killing him after feeding him the blood of the doppelganger.
#6 Alaric Kills Esther
Episode 3.20, ” Do Not Go Gentle ”
Before completing his transformation, Alaric killed Esther by stabbing her in the back.
#5 Bonnie Kills Jeremy
Episode 3.21, “Before Sunset”
In order to desiccate Klaus, the magic spell involved Bonnie stopping a human’s heart. So naturally Jeremy was the victim. Luckily the magic ring let him come back once again.
#4 Bonnie and Stefan Kill Klaus
Episode 3.21, “Before Sunset”
Bonnie used a blood bond with Stefan to use her magical spell to stop Klaus’ heart and desiccate him. It’s not a complete death, but it’s as close as you can get with him.
#3 Alaric Kills Klaus
Episode 3.22, “The Departed”
In the season finale, Evil Alaric took his magical Original-killing stake and finally killed Klaus, setting him ablaze. At least we think that’s what happened, because the coffin lid was closed before we saw everything and Bonnie later claimed Tyler was now Klaus.
#2 Elena’s Death Kills Alaric
Episode 3.22, “The Departed”
While fighting Damon, Alaric keeled over and died. Despite the fact that he was evil, it was still an emotional moment because of what it meant about Elena.
#1 Elena Drowns
Episode 3.22, “The Departed”
In the most shocking moment of the entire season, the show killed off its main character. But that’s not the end of the story, because Dr. Fell fed her vampire blood earlier that day, so the final scene of the season was dead Elena coming back to life.
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.
