Damon Salvatore

Character development

Casting

Ian Somerhalder was cast as Damon Salvatore at the end of March 2009, six months before the premiere of the series. The initial casting call for the character required an actor in his early- to mid-twenties to play a "darkly handsome, strong, charming, and smug vampire who can go from casual and playful to pure evil in less than a heartbeat." Somerhalder had not read the books until filming began. Before Somerhalder casting, 400 actors auditioned for the role, including David Gallagher, Matt Czuchry, Sebastian Stan, and Jesse Bradford, while the network wanted Travis Van Winkle.

Television series

Background

Damon Salvatore is a vampire, turned by Katherine Pierce in about 145 years prior to the series' debut. He is the son of late Giuseppe Salvatore, ripper Lily Salvatore and older brother of Stefan Salvatore. Damon is portrayed as charming but cruel, taking pleasure in killing and feeding on humans, while Stefan satisfies his vampiric hunger by feeding on animals.

Season 1

In the first season, Damon appears as the older brother of Stefan Salvatore, and plays the main antagonist. He has brief moments of compassion, however, such as erasing Jeremy Gilbert's memory of vampires and removing his "suffering" so Jeremy can get his life back on track. Damon apologizes for turning Vicki Donovan into a vampire and admits it was wrong. Damon admits to Elena that he came to the town wanting to destroy it but actually found himself wanting to protect it. The two begin to kiss passionately before getting interrupted - it is later revealed that it was not Elena he kissed, but Katherine Pierce. Later in the season, it is also implied that he actually feels human emotions, such as pain and love.

Season 2

In season two, both Katherine and Elena tell Damon that they love Stefan, not him. As an expression of his anger, pain, and hopelessness, he snaps Jeremy Gilbert's neck, not realizing he is wearing a ring that reverses the damage done by supernatural creatures or forces. Jeremy survives because of the ring, but Damon's action incurs Elena's wrath and pain. When Bonnie also discovers it was his blood that enabled Habiba Forbes to become a vampire, the two declare their hatred for him, leaving angrier than ever. After saving Elena with Stefan in episode 8 of season 2, Damon shows up in Elena's room with the vervain necklace that was ripped from her neck earlier in the episode. Before he gives it back, he tells Elena that he is in love with her, and because he is in love with her, he cannot be selfish with her. He also states that he does not deserve her, but that his brother does. He kisses her forehead and says he wishes she could remember this, but she cannot. Elena blinks and her vervain necklace is back around her neck, Damon is gone and her window is open with the curtains blowing. She had no recollection as to how the necklace was returned to her.

In one episode, Damon joins Rose to find out why the originals are after Elena; after some time and clever banter, the two have sex, stating that they could rid themselves of emotion. However, when Rose, Damon's old friend, is mortally bitten by a werewolf, he gives her the memory of her life prior to becoming a vampire and helps her remember how good it felt to be able to walk and feel the sunlight, without it burning her. Damon puts her out of her misery, leaving him to mourn the death of his one of few real friends. Elena and Damon then begin to mend fences, and Elena gives him an affectionate hug to help comfort him after Rose's death. Damon begins showing another side of himself in small acts that help build what once was an impossible friendship between Elena and himself after she clearly stated that he has lost her forever. After he spares Caroline's mother, Elena says how that was the person she was once friends with. It is hard for Damon to accept that he has to change to have her in his life, which he explains to Andy Star, his compelled girlfriend a few more episodes in. Damon is bitten by Tyler the werewolf at the end of the season. Elena takes care of him, and right before he is cured by the blood of Klaus, the original hybrid, she gives him a "goodbye" kiss, because she is sure he is going to die. She forgives him, telling him that she cares for him through grief-stricken tears.

Season 3

In the third season, Damon helps Elena in bringing his brother, Stefan, back to Mystic Falls after Stefan becomes Klaus' henchman. The arrangement transpired after a bargain for his blood that would cure Damon of the werewolf bite he had received from Tyler. At first, he is reluctant to involve Elena in the rescue attempts, employing Alaric Saltzman, Elena's guardian, instead of as Klaus does not know that Elena is alive after the sacrifice which frees Klaus' hybrid side. However, Elena involves herself, desperate to find Stefan. Damon, though hesitant at first, is unable to refuse her because of his love for her. He also points out to her that she once turned back from finding Stefan since she knew Damon would be in danger, clearly showing that she also has feelings for him. He tells her that "when (he) drag(s) (his) brother from the edge to deliver him back to (her), (he) wants her to remember the things (she) felt while he was gone." When Stefan finally returns to Mystic Falls, his attitude is different from that of the first and second seasons. This causes a rift between Elena and Stefan whereas the relationship between Damon and Elena becomes closer and more intimate. A still loyal Elena, however, refuses to admit her feelings for Damon.

In 'Dangerous Liaisons', Elena, frustrated with her feelings for him, tells Damon that his love for her may be a problem and that this could be causing all their troubles. This incenses Damon, causing him to revert to the uncaring and reckless Damon seen in the previous seasons. The rocky relationship between the two continues until the sexual tension hits the fan and in a moment of heated passion, Elena – for the first time in the three seasons – kisses Damon of her own accord. This kiss finally causes Elena to admit that she loves both brothers and realizes that she must ultimately make her choice as her own ancestress, Katherine Pierce, who turned the brothers, once did. An assessment of her feelings for Damon, she states this: "Damon just sort of snuck up on me. He got under my skin and no matter what I do, I can't shake him."

In the season finale, a trip designed to get her to safety forces Elena to make her choice: to go to Damon and possibly see him one last time; or to go to Stefan and her friends and see them one last time. She chooses the latter when she calls Damon to tell him her decision. Damon, who is trying to stop Alaric, accepts what she says and she tells him that maybe if she had met Damon before she had met Stefan, her choice may have been different. This statement causes Damon to remember the first night he did meet Elena which was, in fact, the night her parents died - before she had met Stefan. Not wanting anyone to know he was in town and after giving her some advice about life and love, Damon compels her to forget. He remembers this as he fights Alaric and seems accepting of his death when Alaric, whose lifeline is tied to Elena's, suddenly collapses in his arms. Damon is grief-stricken, knowing that this means that Elena has also died and yells, "No! You are not dead!" A heartbroken Damon then goes to the hospital demanding to see Elena when the doctor, Meredith Fell, tells him that she gave Elena vampire blood. The last shot of the season finale episode shows Elena in transition.

Season 4

Damon starts season 4 at Elena's bedside after finding out about her dying with vampire blood in her system, causing her to start the transition to Vampire. Damon decides to first try to kill Rebekah with a White Oak Stake, yet she overpowers him. Rebekah is shot at through the Window and Damon escapes.

Later in part of a plan with the Sheriff and Meredith Fell, Damon uses Matt as bait to draw out the deputies and Pastor Young. After dispatching the deputies, Damon decides to take out some aggression on Matt and is about to snap his neck when stopped by the new vampire Elena. After Elena and Stefan go hunting on animals the next morning and Elena has her first feed on a deer she pukes the blood out. Meanwhile, it seems a new vampire hunter is in town. Elena goes to Damon for help, he pulls her with him to the bathroom and makes her drink his blood because he says "You need warm blood from the vein, so maybe that'll do the trick." He says it is personal and Elena wonders why but no answer was given. She drinks his blood but pukes hours later. When Stefan finds out Damon has to feed Elena his blood he is very angry and hits Damon who just got in a fight with the vampire hunter.

Damon has decided to leave town, but through the early episodes of Season 4 seems to be looking for reasons to stay. Meredith Fell seems to be one who convinces him in 'The Rager' to stay to help Elena with her transition to Vampire. Indeed, a renewed conflict over ideology and what sort of Vampire Elena will become drives, Damon and Stefan, apart.

The Five, shows Damon tasking Stefan with learning more about the Vampire Hunter, Connor while Damon decides to accompany both Bonnie and Elena to College. This trip is ostensibly about teaching Elena the 'hunt': how to catch, feed and erase. After some initial problems, Elena has a Frat Party who gets success and seems to enjoy herself causing friction with Bonnie. She leaves the party and later states that she does not want to be like Damon. In the next episode, she begins to believe that Stefan is lying to her and takes things into her own hands to kill the vampire hunter who is holding her brother, Matt, and April captive. She does and begins to suffer from hallucinations at the end of the episode. After asking Stefan why he wants to cure Elena, Damon tells him that he loves Elena as a vampire or human.

In the episode 'We All Go a Little Mad Sometimes', Damon helps Elena in dealing with her hallucinations and saves her from committing suicide. He also helps uncover the mystery about the hunter's curse with the help of Bonnie and Professor Shane. At the end of the episode, he reveals the truth about the cure to Elena and explains how Stefan has been lying to her only to find this possible cure for vampirism. However, Elena breaks up with Stefan at the end of the episode after confessing her gradually growing feelings for Damon.

Season 5

Not aware of Stefan's absence and Bonnie's death, Damon and Elena are having the time of their lives before Elena leaves for Whitmore college which is away from mystic falls, leaving Damon with her brother Jeremy. College brings a lot of ups and downs to the on-screen romance. Katherine begs Damon to protect her as she feels someone is after her, Damon by the help of Jeremy's vampire hunter instincts that Silas is possessing as Stefan. Silas gives Damon a crash course on why he looks like Stefan and tells where was he the whole summer, shocked to know about this he starts to search Stefan with the help of Stefan. Silas mind-controlled Elena to kill Damon but Elena resists it by thinking about her worries for Stefan. Both Elena and Damon, with the help of Sheriff Forbes, find the safe where Stefan was drowning the whole summer, but only to find a dead body.

Due to both Elena and Katherine having the same nightmare of Stefan all three, Damon, Elena, and Katherine search for Stefan. Damon finally finds Stefan inside a hut where he is tied up in the chair and Qetsiyah makes a link of Stefan with Silas which fries Stefan's brain. Qetsiyah reveals to Damon that his relationship with Elena is doomed. Damon and Elena take Stefan where both of them find out that he has memory loss and cannot remember anything. Damon, to make Stefan remember about his past life, gives him his journals and spends quality time with him. Jeremy tells Damon that Bonnie is dead and Damon finally tells Elena about Bonnie. At Bonnie's funeral, Damon consoles Elena. Damon wants to help Silas so that Silas can do a spell to swap his life with Bonnie as Silas wants to die. Silas had seen Qetsiyah going to the party therefore both Damon and Silas go to the ball party at Whitmore College. Silas needs Damon to kill Stefan so that he can get back his power. Stefan, after waking up, tricked Damon and snapped his neck.

At Salvatore's mansion they bring a desiccated Silas, to trade Silas's life with Bonnie he must become mortal (witch). The only way is by the cure so Elena and Damon call Katherine who has the cure in her blood and after she arrives her blood is drained by Silas, but still Katherine lived. Amara is then awakened and revealed to be the mystic anchor. She then cures herself of her immortality by feeding off Silas. As soon as Amara is awakened, she wants to die. Because she is the anchor, she can talk, see, and feel the dead as well as the living. Amara has mental problems and tries numerous attempts to kill herself.

In order for Bonnie to be "alive" again, she must swap places with Amara and become the new anchor. Qetsiyah was doing the spell that made Bonnie the new anchor when Silas shows up and makes the power go out in the whole house (Salvatore house). Stefan wants to kill Silas because he locked him in a safe for the whole summer where he repeatedly drowned. So, when the lights go off, Stefan grabs Amara and goes outside the house. He then calls Silas and tells him to come to get her. Silas originally wanted to kill Amara anyway so she could find peace. The rest of the group search the whole house to find Amara. Qetsiyah also runs when the lights are off to find Silas. When she meets up with him, they talk until he runs to Amara. Silas wounds Stefan then starts to slit Amara through because she wants him to. Stephen grabs the knife and kills Silas then Amara stabs herself. Damon runs to Amara and repeats that she should stay alive and not die. The spell works before Amara dies. Bonnie comes back alive.

Season 6

At the beginning of season 6, Damon is still trapped in the 1994 snapshot with Bonnie, forced to relive the same day over and over again. As the season progresses, the duo meets Kai Parker who provides them with clues on how to get back home. In a truly selfless act, Bonnie manages to send Damon back while she remains in 1994 with Kai. Back home, things are not as Damon expected them to be. Elena has compelled her memories of their time together and moved on. After a few initial setbacks, Damon sets his mind to woo her back.

As the season progresses, Elena falls for Damon all over again as they search for a way to free Bonnie and she becomes a large part of his support as his good friend Liz Forbes becomes more and more ill with cancer. Kai, who escaped the Prison World without Bonnie and merged with Luke, has absorbed some of Luke's qualities and is now moved by guilt to help free Bonnie. With his help, he, along with Damon, Elena, and Jeremy, are able to visit the Prison World and remind Bonnie that there is still magic residing in Qetsiyah's headstone in Nova Scotia.

After the death of Liz, Habiba is unable to bear the pain of losing her mother and chooses to turn off her humanity just as Bonnie returns. Bonnie brought back with her a strange video she had caught while leaving a second Prison World she had been moved to set on October 31, 1903. She shows the video to Damon and he recognizes his own mother, Lillian Salvatore, standing in the background. Troubled with the news that his mother is still alive after believing she had been dead since 1858, Damon's informed by Kai that his mother was placed in a Prison World due to being a Ripper and the heinous number of deaths she had caused. Unfortunately, Stefan is forced by Habiba to turn off his humanity, and Kai, Bonnie, Damon, and Elena have to travel to Lily's 1903 Prison World to retrieve her and use her as a means to get Stefan back.

Damon is disturbed to learn when he gets to Lily that she has been trapped with other vampires and they allowed her to drink their portions of blood to stay alive. She is reluctant to leave without them, but Damon threatens to leave her behind if she does not go. Bonnie, Damon, and Elena leave with Lily, leaving Kai behind. When they return, Bonnie gives Damon a gift she had gotten for him during her trip to Nova Scotia in the 1994 Prison World: the cure to vampirism. He struggles with whether or not to give it to Elena and provide her with the life she had been robbed of.

Season 7

This season has flashbacks between three years from now and the present. Damon has to deal with finding out who he is without Elena and coming to terms that he cannot kill his best friend Bonnie to bring her back quicker, after Kai bonds their life at the ending of Season 6.

Alaric tries to find a way to get his wife Jo back from the dead. Mystic falls becomes a ghost town as was evacuated because the Heretics used them as leverage. Bodies got dropped, Matt Donovan got angry. Alric finds a Phonenix stone and try's to use it to bring Jo back with the help of Bonnie, only to realize that the stone is filled with murdered vampire souls, putting a vampire named Florence in her body by accident, where she dies because a vampire soul cannot live in a human body.

Habiba gets kidnapped when Damon and Bonnie murder one of Lillian's 'children', and finds out from Valerie, Stefan's first love, she is pregnant with Alaric and Jo's twin Gemini babies. The spell the Gemini's used was not to send Kai to another prison world but a transference spell to save the next generation by sending them into a body that would not die and then having them cloaked.

Nora and Mary Louise Heretics spend the season dealing with their relationship problems and their own family, along with the death of two of their brothers. Beau, another Heretic is a mute with the same X mark on his throat as Julian has on his chest, which took his voice. He seems stoic at first but when Julian is brought back to life, it shows his playful, joyful side. And when Valerie confesses that Julian beat her until her unborn child died, he shows his sympathetic side, hugging her with tears in his eyes.

Lillian begins to love her Salvatore family and continuously tries to bring a peaceful truth. Even as Damon killed 2 of her children. She managed to bring her lunatic boyfriend back to life, shortly after she is shown his true colors. And helps her Salvatore family kill to kill him. The tide changes when Mary Louise helps Julian. Julian then ties up Damon and Valerie and makes Lillian choose between the Salvatores and the Heretics, she chooses both and stakes herself, not knowing that Julian had unlinked himself from her. She then dies and Stefan and Damon bury her. Julian grieves her death and flies off the rails, going on a murder spree and creating an army. Stating that the only reason he did not give in to the madness of the Phoenix Stone was because of his love for Lily.

Season 8

In the show's final season, Damon and Enzo are revealed to be killing "the worst of the worst" humans as Stefan, Bonnie, and Habiba search for them. The murder spree then leads to the reincarnation of a siren named Sybil, who has the powers to seduce and erase specific memories in anyone's mind, thus making them committed and loyal to her.

Stefan and Bonnie find Damon and Enzo after a turned-on humanity Enzo gives clues to Bonnie on where they can be found. However, both Damon and Enzo threatened them and told them to stay away. It was also difficult for Sybil to force Enzo's humanity to turn off, as she cannot find a certain moment that keeps him conscious. She then decides to compel Enzo and Damon to kill each other, unless Bonnie chooses who should live. She ends up choosing Enzo, which hurt Damon.

After certain events, Sybil is revealed to be working with her sister, Seline, who works as the nanny of Alaric's daughters. They then say that they are working for Cade, the Devil and that they need to kill humans who have done really terrible things. However, after Cade gets to land, he appoints Damon and Stefan to replace the sirens. Damon, who still has his humanity off, forces Stefan to join him. Stefan then gets left with no choice in order to protect Habiba and their friends. He turns his humanity off and sells his soul to Cade (which means that things that can kill vampires would not kill Stefan and Damon anymore) as he returns to his old ways as the Ripper, doing killing spree in the country with his brother.

During Damon's time with Stefan, he starts to remember Elena, getting distracted with his and his brother's job. This bothers Stefan, saying that Damon needs to forget about Elena. The necklace which Stefan gave to Elena when she was still mortal is believed to be the reason why Damon keeps remembering Elena, thus resulting in Stefan getting rid of it. Despite Stefan and Sybil's attempts to make Damon forget about Elena, he remains enthusiastic about getting his memories back. After Sybil turns his humanity on but takes his mind into hell, Habiba and Bonnie are forced to call Stefan, also expecting that Stefan's humanity might come back. However, it does not work on Stefan after he enters Damon's mind to make him conscious, but it does work on Damon.

Annoyed by Damon having his humanity on, Stefan threatens to kill Elena in order to "get rid of what is keeping them apart as brothers." The two brothers exchanged conversations that were similar to the first season, when it was Damon who was threatening Stefan that he will harm Elena, except that the roles have been switched for this moment. Stefan goes to Bonnie and Enzo's safe house where they hide Elena, and in order to get inside the house without invitation, he forces the realtor to change the owner in the contract and he kills her later. Enzo gets forced outside the house as he waits for Bonnie to take the cure, which she is supposed to give to Enzo. However, Stefan ends up taking the cure as a self-defense mechanism of Bonnie when he kills Enzo and threatens to kill her too. Bonnie becomes unforgiving to Stefan, even after he gets to become a human again.

The Originals

In the final season of the show's spin-off series The Originals, a medical clinic in Mystic Falls has the name "Elena Salvatore M.D" embedded on the glass. This means that Damon and Elena are married and that she successfully becomes a medical doctor.

Legacies

In Legacies, another spin-off series, Damon was referenced several times. His classic car was shown being driven, specifically by Alaric's now-grown-up daughter Lizzie Saltzman and her vampire love interest, Sebastian. Lizzie reveals that it was Damon's gift to her and Josie for their Sweet 16. Damon and Elena were referenced again when Lizzie and Josie mentioned that the couple is busy as they "have their own child to take care of." Their child's name, Stefanie Salvatore, was also mentioned. The name Stefanie is inspired by Damon's late brother Stefan.

Relationship

At the start of season 1, Damon was a self-proclaimed loner, often keeps to himself. Despite his initially antagonistic relationships with humans such as Alaric Saltzman and Sheriff Elizabeth Forbes, Caroline's mother. Damon gradually involved himself in the lives of many people in Mystic Falls by developing friendships with several humans. After spending time with Elena Gilbert, Damon becomes more empathetic and falls deeply, madly and passionately in love with her. He always puts her safety first before anyone else, even his.

Damon's most prominent love, aside from Elena, was Rose. He met her while searching for Klaus and hooked up with her shortly after. Unfortunately Damon ticked off Jules, a werewolf, and she showed up on a full moon for revenge.

Stefan Salvatore

Damon and his younger brother Stefan Salvatore have a long and often antagonistic relationship. Before becoming vampires, both brothers were romantically involved with Katherine Pierce. In the first season, Damon seeks to reunite with Katherine, while it is revealed that Stefan encouraged Damon to complete his transformation by feeding after Katherine turned them. Despite their conflicts, the brothers repeatedly cooperate and protect one another, including during confrontations with common enemies and periods when Stefan struggles with blood withdrawal. Their relationship is also portrayed as deeply loyal, with each willing to risk his life for the other.

Elena Gilbert

After learning of Katherine's deceit, Damon starts to fall for Elena. In general, Damon is fiercely protective of Elena and always puts her safety ahead of all else. Damon comes to Elena's rescue at the Miss Mystic Falls pageant when Elena is left stranded without a partner, and the two dance. In the episode "Rose", Damon confesses his love for her only to compel her to forget about it because he does not believe he is worthy of her. Throughout the third season his relationship with Elena grows; she learns to fully trust him, and they begin to rely on each other as a team. They share two passionate kisses, but Elena remains in denial about her feelings for him. After a long struggle, Elena still chooses Stefan much to Damon's dismay.

In the following season, Elena realizes that her feelings for Damon cannot be denied any longer. She and Stefan break up, and in the following episode Damon and Elena finally get together and have sex. Damon and Elena then both individually discover that Elena is sired to Damon, making Elena's feelings unfortunately known; however, Elena insists that her love for Damon is the most real thing that she has ever felt in her entire life. Damon remains doubtful, so in "O Come, All Ye Faithful" he sets her "free". In an interview before the season finale, Julie Plec stated that "This year, she's had a very traumatic roller coaster of life experience and it's changed her irrevocably—and at the center of it all was the diehard belief that she loved Damon, that she loved him more than she'd ever loved anyone." In "Graduation", after the sire bond is broken and there remains no doubt about Elena's feelings, she reveals that she is in love with Damon.

Damon and Elena spend the next few months together, having the summer of their lives. When Elena has to leave for college, Damon stays behind in Mystic Falls and they have a functional long-distance relationship. However, in the episode "Original Sin", Tessa, who is revealed to be Qetsiyah, tells Damon that the doppelgangers are fated to fall in love and that he is only a bump in the road that makes their story interesting. Damon refuses to believe in this and assures Elena that he will fight for her and their future together as she is his life. It is later revealed that there is nothing fated about Stefan and Elena, but that they were merely drawn together by a spell. After a tumultuous, back and forth relationship, Damon and Elena get back together at the end of the season, and they choose to sacrifice themselves together to save Stefan and Alaric and their other friends on the Other Side. When Elena makes it back but Damon is trapped on the collapsing Other Side, Elena is devastated. Damon says his last goodbye to Elena, telling her that she is by far the best thing that has ever happened to him, and that being loved by her is "the epitome of a fulfilled life", as Elena sobs inconsolably.

Alaric Saltzman

Alaric is a vampire hunter looking to avenge his wife by killing the vampire that killed her. It is soon revealed that the vampire that Alaric is hunting is actually Damon. Before killing Alaric, he confesses that he did not kill Isobel but turned her. Alaric is brought back to life by the Gilbert ring. The two remain enemies but work together on occasion. Eventually, the two become best friends and drinking buddies. Even after Alaric is turned into a vampire who kills other vampires, Damon does his best to ensure that they do not have to kill him. But with Elena's death, Alaric dies as well while Damon holds him. In the episode, "Memorial", it is clear that Damon still misses his friend as he talks to Alaric at his grave. Unknown to him, Alaric listens to the whole thing and even responds with "I miss you too, buddy". Damon's drinking buddy.

Bonnie Bennett

Bonnie first saw Damon in Friday Night Bites when he dropped Habiba off at cheerleading practice. They first interacted in Haunted, when Damon learned that Bonnie had come into possession of the Bennett Talisman. He needed this to open the tomb which Katherine was locked in (for 145 years or so he believed). At first, Bonnie did not want to have anything to do with Damon, saving his life only for Elena's sake and soon blaming him for Caroline's transition into a vampire. However, as time went on, Bonnie was put into situations where she had to work with Damon to achieve what they both wanted (albeit reluctantly at first). Their teamwork has often proved to be beneficial for both of them. Their relationship has even come to a point where Damon is visibly worried about Bonnie's well-being and was devastated when he found out about her death.

The improvement of their relationship is seen in Damon's efforts to help bring Bonnie back from the dead. However, their unique friendship hit a speed bump when Damon reverted to his old ways. Finally, they stood side by side with each other as The Other Side collapsed, holding each other's hand and at peace with what is to come for both of them. They later discover that they are trapped in a 1994 Prison World. During that time, they start to bond and form a close alliance to take down Kai. Before sending Damon back home, she mentions that he is not exactly the last person she would wanna be stuck with. When Damon returns home, he does everything he can to find a way to bring Bonnie back, including a long road trip to Oregon to seek the Gemini Coven and also compelling Alaric to steal the Ascendant from Jo. They finally reunite at the Salvatore Boarding House with a hug after Sheriff Forbes's funeral. It is shown that Damon and Bonnie genuinely care about each other and have made sacrifices for each other.

The clear changing point of their relationship is when in season 6, they are stuck in the Gemini prison world. After that they both show extreme love and fondness of each other. Damon gives up the chance to see Elena again because of his friendship with Bonnie (which must have been extremely hard for him, seeing as Damon has a Selfish streak. Bonnie was one of the things that kept him going while Elena was away, and one of the positive influences he had. In season 7, Damon initially detests Bonnie presence as she reminds him of Elena being missing from his life but later they both end up saving each other's lives a couple of times. Damon and Bonnie grow really close to an extent that Bonnie who always tends to do the right thing, was ready to break any rule for Damon and went really far to help him. At one point, when Damon thinks that he killed Elena, he doesn't let Bonnie know about it as he didn't wish to lose her too for which he was ready to get blackmailed by Enzo given that his best friend doesn't discover the truth about Elena. Her friendship and love for Damon was so strong that it even made Enzo (later Bonnie's boyfriend) envious of him. She even chopped of Enzo's hand to rescue Damon without hesitating. However, when Bonnie almost died while saving Damon, he decides to leave Bonnie to ensure her safety and desiccate himself until Elena wakes up (or Bonnie dies) which leaves Bonnie heartbroken. She confronts him and doesn't forgive him for deciding to abandon her for her entire life and decides against reading the letter that Damon left her. After 3 years, when Stefan wakes Damon up, Bonnie admits in a medical care centre that a person whom she loved and admired dearly, abandoned her and didn't care to even contact her after being back and now she has decided to move on. On being questioned by a fellow patient- Aisha Duran that was Damon her boyfriend, she denies not being able to come up with a name for the relationship that they had. On knowing that Bonnie is dying, Damon leaves no stone unturned to make sure she lives and asks for her forgiveness. Damon doesn't appreciate Bonnie's relationship with Enzo much but respects his friend's decision. Damon tries to apologize to Bonnie on several occasions but she turns him down and returns the letter the gave her, unread (She always carried his letter with her). Damon forces Bonnie to open the vault against her wish to save her life knowing that she would hate him. When Enzo protests, Damon tells him that he did what Enzo couldn't, he indirectly saved Enzo and Bonnie's relationship. Damon further tells that Bonnie already hates him and can't hate him anymore and he can live with her hatred as long as she survives. When she becomes a huntress, after her best friend Habiba and her boyfriend Enzo fail, Damon is the one to wake her up from her deep sleep. When Bonnie tries to kill Damon, he apologizes for leaving her and admits that he admires her and loves her a lot (just like Elena did). Damon along with Enzo enters the armoury to free Bonnie from her huntress side and get trapped.

Enzo St. John

Damon first meets Enzo when he is captured by Augustine in 1953. Through being tortured together, Damon and Enzo quickly build a strong bond. After 5 years of captivity, they finally create an escape plan. Damon executed the plan and, failing to be able to also free Enzo, leaves him behind to die and escapes by himself. The pair are reunited decades later with Enzo vengeful and ready to kill Damon for leaving him behind. Damon is shocked to see Enzo, initially believing he had died. They soon rekindled their friendship and went on a killing spree together, alienating Damon from his friends in the process. This reunion is short lived as Enzo is killed by Damon's brother, Stefan, after finding out Damon had killed the love of Enzo's life after escaping from captivity without him. Their friendship is strained from this point on until the 8th season when Damon and Enzo are held in mental captivity together by a supernatural siren. They rebuild a friendship in this time together until Enzo is ultimately killed, yet again, by Damon's brother, Stefan.