Airing from 2013-2018, The Originalsshowed us a much darker side ofThe Vampire Diariesuniverse. WhereThe Vampire Diariesfocused on coming-of-age themes,The Originalsfocused on the theme of penance, as Klaus and his family tried to find happiness and hope despite their past sins. Just about every character on this show is guilty of something.

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This dynamic show includes characters who are truly ruthless, like Klaus Mikaelson, but it also has characters who probably wouldn't have killed anyone if they could have helped it, like Rebekah Mikaelson. Perhaps if they'd considered their Dungeons and Dragons moral alignments, then their moral compasses would have worked a little better.

In Josh's first scene, Marcel gives him the offer of immortality if he kills his best friend, and he gives the same offer to Josh's best friend. It's Josh, in the end, who wins immortality. But he wins it by choosing not to kill his friend. Though Josh's life is drastically changed by this event, that impulse to care for his friends never goes away. Josh is one of the only vampires in the show's universe who seemsnot to have gone through a phase with his humanity switched off nor has he killed without meaning to. In short, Josh does whatever is best for the common good, which makes him neutral good.

Freya Mikaelson is one of the most lethal witches in the world, and when she arrives in New Orleans in Season 2, Klaus is convinced that she can't be trusted. Later, ironically, we see that Freya is generally an untrustworthy person, such as when she keeps Keelin hostage after Hayley promised she'd be released.

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Luckily for the Mikaelsons, Freya's morals all revolve around her family, and she would never betray them, which becomes clear when she betrays Dahlia to keep Hope safe, and later in Legacieswhen she crosses the country to give Hope a hug. But good things that are done at the expense of others are still technically evil.

Like Freya, Vincent is one of the strongest witches in New Orleans. As former Regent of the Nine Wards, Vincent helped the witches to protect themselves from the vampires, and to eventually reach a peace accord with the werewolves and vampires of New Orleans. After standing by while his wife dabbled in dark magic, Vincent was hesitant to get involved in witch politics, claiming repeatedly he didn't' want to be Regent. However, when Vincent realized the witches were safer with him as their leader, he rose to the challenge. Consistently, Vincent does whatever will stabilize the people around him the most.

Though she was a witch, Davina was a mostly normal girl before the harvest ritual, which turned her into a seriously overpowered teenage witch who was committed to protecting Marcel, and destroying the Ninth Ward coven leaders for what they did to her.

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Davina tried to change the covens for the better, but after she hired Hayley to kill witches who opposed her, the covens betrayed and banished her. Davina's group of people she represents is always changing, but she is always willing to be ruthless for the people she loves.

In early episodes, Marcel is nothing more and nothing less than a very dangerous bully, spying on New Orleans via Davina Claire, and executing any witch who performs magic that he hasn't approved. As the tension between him and the Mikaelson family dissipates, Marcel aligns himself with the Original family of vampires, and protects them just as fiercely as he protects Davina. But when Freya and Elijah betray Davina, causing her to die tragically, Marcel is happy to help destroy the Mikaelsons, and banish Hayley and Hope from New Orleans. In the end, he finds his place among the Mikaelsons, and knows true peace. But don't think he wouldn't still kill for his family, especially Hope and Rebekah.

The entire plot of The Originalshappens because Klaus Mikaelson gets Hayley pregnant, magically and inexplicably, after a one-night stand the two have in Mystic Falls on The Vampire Diaries. Klaus and Hayley already had a lot of tension between them, and not the good kind; Hayley was directly responsible for freeing all of Klaus' hybrid pack from his sire bond, and when Klaus found out, he killed all of the hybrids Hayley had helped.

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Later, when Hayley identifies as a Mikaelson, she's just as likely to slaughter a street full of witches to help one wolf in her pack as she is to rescue a group of vampires who have nothing to do with her. Always, though, her intentions are good and pure, which makes her chaotic good.

Taking after her parents, Hope is an even mix of their chaotic good and chaotic evil tendencies, and this plays out via her chaotic neutral actions in The Originals and in her spin-off, Legacies. One of Season 5's most dramatic twists came when viewers learned that it was Hope, and not some evil ant-hybrid faction,who kidnapped Hayley and put the sleeping curse on her.

At that point, viewers were only familiar with the hyper-innocent six-year-old Hope, and seeing the child every character on the show had been protecting since episode one act so recklessly was a huge wake-up call. At school, Hope's friend hates being a werewolf so she makes him a hybrid (which allows him to control when he changes into wolf form), but she also charges him for the service. Her actions are morally all over the place, but what else could we expect?

First seen on The Vampire Diaries, Rebekah's only true goal since she discovered the cure for vampirism was to become a human. After Klaus and Hayley found out Hayley was pregnant with Hope, Rebekah put all of her priorities aside to help her family. Most famously, Rebekah takes Hope on the road shortly after she is born to keep her safely away from New Orleans. She often steps into the plot in this capacity the Mikaelson that is most unwilling to be evil.

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However, Rebekah has her list of sins and kills, including Elena Gilbert, whom she killed in a petty attempt to hurt Klaus afterhe said he didn't care about her. In the end, Rebekah intends to spend afew short decades with Marcel before taking the cure from Damon Salvatore on his death bed, finally enabling her to live out the rest of her years as a human.

Though a lot of Elijah's actions have cruel consequences, his basic modus operandi is to never break his word. Unfortunately for Elijah, one of the first promises he made in his eternal life was to save Klaus from his own evil ways. As a result, Elijah has gotten mixed up in a lot of truly evil activities, like betraying Davina and killing Marcel. However, at his heart, Elijah wants peace for his family and peace for Niklaus. All of Elijah's actions, even the ones with horrible consequences, are ultimately contributing to those goals.

Though the show is full of dynamic characters, Klaus's chaotic evil makes the show truly entertaining to watch. His immortality enables him to have free reign in New Orleans, and from the first episode, Klaus demonstrates his superiority by breaking Marcel's rules and killing a French Quarter vampire. He even laughs, pointing out that he cannot be punished because he cannot be killed. When Hope is infected with dark magic, he takes her on a weird father-daughter killing spree. However,in other, more tender moments we see him cure people of werewolf bites for no reason, become attached to good people and take care of them, and form a family with Hayley and Hope.

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Virginia Winters-Troche is a late twenties, early to rise New Englander who has watched and rewatched so many shows on Netflix, her neighbors wonder if she ever leaves the house. (She obviously does--that's how the snacks happen.) Specializing in shows where anyone could bite it at any moment, Virginia channels her constant urge to speak during movies into writing about them. When not watching Netflix, you may find her watching Hulu, HBO, Cable TV, or, rarely, sleeping.

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The Originals: D&D Moral Alignments Of The Main Characters - Screen Rant