Jeremy Gilbert

Jeremy Gilbert is a former main character and a male protagonist on The Vampire Diaries. Jeremy is the adoptive brother and biological cousin of Elena Gilbert, as well as a former medium, although this status became defunct following the collapse of the Other Side. He is also a member of the Brotherhood of the Five. His best friends are Matt Donovan, Tyler Lockwood, and Bonnie Bennett, who was also his girlfriend. Following his resurrection in the Season Four finale, he lived in the Salvatore Boarding House with his sister (when she isn't at college) and her boyfriend, Damon Salvatore since their house was burned down by Elena after Jeremy's death. However, he moved out of the boarding house halfway through Season Five and moved into the Lockwood Mansion with Matt and Tyler.

Prior to the beginning of the series, his parents died in a tragic car accident that Elena managed to survive thanks to a vampire, Stefan Salvatore, who rescued her before she could drown. As a way of coping with the accident, he started dealing and using drugs, but soon stopped after the death of his first girlfriend, Vicki Donovan, who had supposedly died of an overdose. Following the murder of his second girlfriend Anna, Jeremy purposely overdosed on pills after drinking vampire blood in the hope of becoming a vampire so he could turn off his humanity switch. However, his attempt to become a vampire failed, and the blood healed the damage the pills caused to his system.

He later began a romantic relationship with Bonnie Bennett, which ended after he was caught kissing the corporeal ghost of Anna in Ghost World. Jeremy was shot by Sheriff Forbes after Damon dodged the bullet in As I Lay Dying and was revived by Bonnie, who is a witch and who at the time was channeling the power of over a hundred massacred witches at the witch burial ground. However, the spell that caused him to be revived also gave him the power to see ghosts, causing him to be haunted by the ghosts of his dead girlfriends Vicki and Anna.

After experiencing multiple traumatic events as a result of the supernatural drama in his town, including being compelled by Klaus to stand in front of a speeding car, Elena feared for his safety and arranged for Damon to compel him to live with family friends in Denver. He returned to Mystic Falls after Elena and Damon learned that Klaus was aware of where he was living and traveled to bring him back. He was revealed to be a potential supernatural vampire hunter and, following the death of Connor Jordan, he activated his membership into The Five. After helping Professor Shane free Silas from his tomb, he was forced by Katherine Pierce to raise the immortal, who then drained him of his blood and snapped his neck. He was able to survive numerous deaths due to the Gilbert ring, but since he had become a supernatural hunter, the ring no longer worked on him, and his death became permanent. His corpse was burned inside the Gilbert house shortly afterward when Elena, distraught after losing the last biological family she had left, was unable to bear living in the house any longer and set the house on fire, arguing it to was the only believable cover story for Jeremy's death.

Jeremy was brought back to life by Bonnie in Graduation, and lived in the Salvatore Boarding House with his sister, Damon, and Stefan until Rescue Me, when he moved in with his best friends, Matt and Tyler, at the Lockwood Mansion. He moved back in the Salvatore Boarding House in Yellow Ledbetter, as no one was living there at the time, due to the fact that Damon was dead and vampires couldn't enter Mystic Falls due to the Magic Purification Spell.

It was also revealed that Jeremy's supernatural hunter status was inactive while in his hometown as a result of the Purification Spell, as it blanketed Mystic Falls with a barrier that nullified any non-traditional magic that crossed over it. After Kai absorbed the Travelers' spell around Mystic Falls, Jeremy regained his access to his supernatural hunter abilities while inside the town borders again. Later, Jeremy came to the conclusion that it was time for him to move on with his life and leave Mystic Falls in favor of living in Santa Fe, New Mexico. While nearly all of his friends and family are under the impression that Jeremy is going to art school there, in reality, Jeremy has moved there to hunt vampires, with only Alaric, who planned to feed him leads, knowing Jeremy's true plans. Jeremy made his exit as main character on The Vampire Diaries in the episode Stay.

Jeremy is a member of the Gilbert Family, and one of the members of The Five.

Personality
Jeremy was deeply affected by the loss of his parents, and he originally dealt with this pain and trauma through drinking and drugs, relying on them and his love for Vicki to keep him happy. Once Vicki was staked to death by Stefan, Elena had Damon compel his memories regarding Vicki's death so he wouldn't be burdened with the pain of losing another loved one so soon after his parents' death. his drastically changed Jeremy's personality: he stopped using drugs and he was more focused on his school work. Damon explained this as being an effect of him taking away his suffering, though Jeremy later revealed that while he had lost the actual memories of the event, he could still tell something was wrong because he felt empty. Thanks to his ancestor Johnathan Gilbert's journals, Jeremy grew very interested in local vampire legends, befriending Anna, who also seemed to share his passion. He gradually learned that she herself was a vampire and became obsessed with wanting her to turn him into one. However, his love for Vicki was still his primary focus as he thought he could live with her forever. However, he fell in love with Anna and was shattered yet again by grief when his Uncle John killed her.

After discovering the existence of vampires, Jeremy became more involved in his sister's and the Salvatore's worlds. He would help them in their efforts against Katherine, always looking out for his friends, showing a vast and sudden maturity that Bonnie Bennett took notice of and grew attracted to. He started a relationship with Bonnie, citing how he wasn't a little boy anymore. His life was shaken yet again by personal loss at the deaths of his Uncle John and Aunt Jenna before he, himself, was accidentally killed, only being brought back by Bonnie's magic. The consequences of his resurrection, however, were far from pleasant. He was able to see ghosts of his dead girlfriends, Vicki and Anna, who he grew haunted by. Becoming secretive and turning to drugs yet again, Jeremy found himself confused on what to do.

When the ghosts were all sent away, Jeremy proved that he had grown quite accustomed to living the dangerous life he'd been living the past year, beheading a hybrid on his front step without a second thought. He also showed great disdain and annoyance at all vampires, even Stefan, blaming them for the troubles he'd had in life, going so far as to try and forcibly get his sister out of Mystic Falls. Once a member of The Five, Jeremy gained the hunter's instinct that all of the members has. It made him unconsciously cold and hateful toward all vampires, giving him the programmed mindset to be able to kill them with more efficiency. This made him dangerous to his friends and family, who worked on removing those instincts so he'd at least be able to avoid killing his friends. Jeremy is shown to struggle with this instinct prior to his death but managed to keep it mostly under control.

Jeremy has consistently shown himself to be very brave. Often, he took on difficult and dangerous tasks without complaint, and is extremely loyal to his friends and family. He is also a talented artist, but since the arrival of the vampires to Mystic Falls, that skill has been sidelined in exchange for his nature fighting talents.

In season six, Jeremy appears to be grieving about the recent loss of Bonnie. As he can no longer see her, he is dealing with it in his own way. He appears to be playing video games, drinking, and bringing in random girls and making out with them to cover the loss of Bonnie. He is being less of a hunter, and doesn't find a reason to keep up with his hunter abilities if he is no longer needed as a hunter.

Physical Appearance
Jeremy is a handsome young man, standing at 6' foot tall, he has a well-built form and possesses dark brown hair and eyes to match. In the first two season's, Jeremy could be considered "cute" with a lean body, however as seen in the fourth season, his body is much more defined and muscular.

Jeremy's style over the seasons has changed somewhat.

During season one, due to the loss of his parents and his drug addiction, he usually was seen wearing black clothing, hoodies and dark jeans. Post-Season one, his clothing style became much more relaxed, seen wearing lighter colored clothing and wearing a tux for special occasions. His dark hair was originally short, slightly spiked which grew into long bangs, however in the later two seasons, has returned to it's original short brown cut.

Powers and Abilities
After being resurrected by Bonnie, Jeremy gained the power of mediumship, or the ability to see ghosts. He was also able to see the 'invisible' Hunter's Mark tattoo on Connor's arm, which, according to Connor, meant that Jeremy was a potential vampire hunter. Once Connor died, the first part of the Hunter's Mark appeared on Jeremy's right hand, and after he killed a vampire, he activated his supernatural hunter powers and became a full member of the Brotherhood of the Five. Becoming a supernatural hunter gave him increased strength and agility; in addition to these physical powers, Jeremy also became immune to Silas' psychic powers, vampire compulsion, and could not be a host to a Traveler Passenger. Jeremy is also an accomplished hand-to-hand fighter after being trained by Damon Salvatore, Klaus Mikaelson, and Alaric Saltzman throughout the series, and has personally killed dozens of vampires, many even before he had activated his supernatural hunter abilities.

Name

 * Jeremy is a variation from the Hebrew name "Jeremiah", who is one of the prophets of the Old Testament. The name means "Yahweh has uplifted". Jeremy has returned from the dead several times.
 * Gilbert is a English given name.

Trivia

 * Jeremy is often called "Jer" by his family and friends.
 * Jeremy's birthday is October 13.
 * Jeremy's astrological sign is Libra.
 * Vicki was his first love interest on the show.
 * Though he is a primary character in the show, Jeremy does not exist in the novels. He is the only main character to exist on the show who does not exist in the books.
 * Instead of having a brother, Elena has a four-year-old sister named Margaret.
 * In Season 1, Jeremy dated two vampires (Vicki and Anna) who were killed in the final episodes of a chapter (Haunted and Founder's Day). They both appear to him as ghosts at the end of season two.
 * Alaric and Jeremy have each had two couples who have become vampires at some point in their lives and died while they were still together.
 * Jeremy with Vicki and Anna
 * Alaric withIsobel and Jenna
 * Interestingly, both Jeremy and his ancestor Johnathan Gilbert were killed by Salvatores and came back to life thanks to the rings. Jeremy was killed by Damon and Johnathan was killed by Stefan.
 * Jeremy is the first human resurrected with magic and through the help of a witch (Bonnie).
 * He was the last character seen in Season Two.
 * Jeremy has died and been revived or resurrected many times in the series, including in the second, third, and the fourth season.
 * Season Two:
 * (The Return) Damon killed Jeremy by snapping his neck, and he was revived by the Gilbert ring.
 * (The Sacrifice) Katherine drained Jeremy's blood when he tried to get the moonstone from the vampire's tomb and he was brought back with the Gilbert ring.
 * (As I Lay Dying) Jeremy was accidentally shot and killed by Liz Forbes when she tried to shoot Damon, and was resurrected with magic by Bonnie.
 * Season Three:
 * (Before Sunset) Bonnie stopped Jeremy's heart in order to cast the desiccation spell on Klaus, and she brought him back with her magic.
 * Season Four:
 * (We All Go A Little Mad Sometimes) Elena accidentally stabbed Jeremy in the neck while hallucinating due to the effects of the Hunter's cure, believing he was Connor, and he was brought back to life with the Gilbert ring.
 * (Down The Rabbit Hole) Silas snapped Jeremy's neck after being fed his blood by Katherine.
 * (Graduation) He was resurrected by Bonnie.
 * Jeremy was the first human to kill a hybrid.
 * Jeremy was shown to have a dog in Denver, making him the first human on the show to have a pet.
 * While in Denver, Jeremy believed that Kol Mikaelson was truly his friend, not knowing that he was actually an Original vampire who Klaus had ordered to keep tabs on him. It wasn't until Damon and Elena came to Denver to bring him back to Mystic Falls that he learned the truth.
 * It was originally believed that Jeremy, after becoming a medium, could only see the ghosts of people on the Other Side that he knew when they were alive, such as Anna, Vicki, or Alaric, but it was eventually revealed that he could see any ghost on the Other Side, as long as he had something or someone to help him make a connection, such as when Jeremy contacted Rose for Damon and Elena.
 * Although Alaric first felt the negative effects of the Gilbert ring after his fourth death, Jeremy had died the same number of times with the Gilbert ring and never experienced those side-effects. This could possibly be explained by the fact that Esther had been coaxing out Alaric's repressed vampire-hunting nature during his brief stints on the Other Side before being revived by the Gilbert ring; Jeremy neither shared Ric's resentment toward vampires nor had such interactions with Esther.
 * He and Matt are indirectly responsible for Elena becoming a vampire.
 * It was Jeremy's idea to get have Matt take Elena out of town, and Matt was the reason Elena drowned because she wanted Stefan to save Matt first.
 * Apart from Elena, Damon and Stefan, he's the only character who appeared in every episode of Season One except for A Few Good Men.
 * Jeremy and Caroline, are the only characters aside from the main three who have appeared in the most episodes.
 * Jeremy was the first human Elena healed with her vampire blood.
 * About same time Connor died, Jeremy got the first segment of his Hunter's Mark on his right hand.
 * Jeremy is the second human to kill an Original (Kol). The first was Matt Donovan, who killed Finn.
 * Jeremy is the only member of the Brotherhood of the Five to kill an Original, and he is the only one to face Silas in combat, though he didn't kill him.
 * Jeremy is the fourth main character to die in the series.
 * He is the second main male character to die, the first being Alaric.
 * Jeremy is the first major character to be killed without transitioning into a vampire.
 * Jeremy is the first character from the Other Side to be resurrected.
 * Jeremy is one of three main characters who killed an Original. The other two are Niklaus and Matt.
 * He is the first character in the series to get expelled from school; this occurred in I Know What You Did Last Summer, after he got into a fight with two boys at school and, according to Damon, nearly put them in the hospital
 * Thankfully for Jeremy, Damon compelled his principal to merely suspend him for three days instead.
 * Theoretically, he has been an orphan since the death of Grayson and Miranda Sommers-Gilbert, and thus became an orphan before Elena, who wasn't technically orphaned until her last living parent (John Gilbert) died in The Sun Also Rises.
 * Jeremy Gilbert seems to have bad luck when it comes to love, as all three girls (Vicki, Anna and Bonnie) he was interested in died while they were dating; although, Bonnie was eventually brought back to life, in a sense, when she was made the anchor to the Other Side.
 * In Gone Girl, Liv completed a locator spell for Bonnie and Jeremy to help them find Elena/Katherine.
 * According to Liv, the Travelers cannot mess with Jeremy's mind due to his status as a supernatural hunter of the Five, as they were specifically created to be immune to all forms of mind control. This also means that hunters can't be Passengers for Travelers.
 * Jeremy's sidearm of choice, when facing Damon and other vampires that were compelled to kill him, was a Beretta 92FS loaded with wooden bullets and which had a flashlight attachment.
 * Jeremy's favorite insult is "dick," which he has used to refer to Damon, Silas, and many others over the course of the series.
 * During the period of time that the Purification Spell was active in Mystic Falls, Jeremy did not have access to his supernatural hunter abilities while within the town borders. However, since Kai absorbed the anti-magic boundary around the town, Jeremy has full access to his powers at all times.
 * Jeremy left Mystic Falls for good in Stay.
 * Unbeknownst to Elena and the others, he is using art school as a cover up to pursue his actual career of vampire hunting.
 * Alaric is the only one aware of Jeremy's true intentions in Stay, and he has even gone so far as to feed Jeremy leads to suspicious "animal attacks" for him to check out in Santa Fe and the surrounding area.
 * Caroline Dries confirmed that, at the end of Season Six, Tyler joined Jeremy in hunting vampires, himself leaving Mystic Falls behind.
 * Jeremy made an appearance in I'm Thinking Of You All The While to see his sister, who is in a magic-induced coma.