Why The Originals Is Worth Rewatching Just For the Great, Sexy Evil That Is Klaus Mikaelson

Despite Klaus being a very cruel and ruthless character, many people have come to love him because of Morgan's brilliant acting. Morgan's ability to express emotions brings a welcome complexity to the character, making us feel for and empathize with Klaus, despite all the evil things he does. Without Morgan's raw acting talent, Klaus would just be another black-and-white villain. In fact, executive producer and writer Julie Plec admitted in an interview with TVLine that Klaus was intended to die in season three of The Vampire Diaries, but Morgan's performance is a big part of what changed their minds.

Klaus's redemption is ultimately what launches The Originals, and it's his love for his daughter, Hope, that is the key to his redemption. She's the light to his darkness. For over 1,000 years, Klaus viewed love as a weakness. At first, he doesn't even care about his daughter. But then, she's born and everything changes. Hope shows Klaus the power of unconditional love. She loves him unconditionally and never judges him. And in return, he works to become a better person for her. That's why it's fitting that he finds freedom from immortality by sacrificing his own life to save her, perhaps giving him a real chance at happiness. Klaus's redemption coming in sacrifice for love and in believing he is loved gives the series full-circle symmetry.

The Original family certainly is dysfunctional. Rebekah luring Mikael to New Orleans to kill Klaus? Not her finest moment. Kol body-jumping Rebekah's spirit into the body of an insane witch? Not cool. Elijah conspiring with Elena and her friends to kill Klaus? Yikes. Finn putting a deadly curse on Kol? Not very brotherly. Klaus daggering his siblings out of paranoia and short temperament countless times? That's just plain cruel. The list goes on and on. But despite the awful things they do to one another, family is everything to them. Their bond is their greatest strength. They stick together, always and forever.

And time after time, Klaus protects and saves his family — no matter the methods, which he makes no apologies or justification for. At one point, he even sacrifices himself for his siblings by putting his fear of being alone aside. For five years, he is imprisoned, some of which he was stuck in a deep, agony-filled slumber with Papa Tunde's Blade, in order to keep his family alive while Hayley finds a way to cure his siblings.

The only thing that could kill Klaus is the White Oak Stake. However, as seen on TVD, on the off chance someone does successfully take down an Original vampire, the rest of their sire line die, too. So killing Klaus would mean the demise of thousands of vampires. Of course, this is only true until Davina breaks Klaus's sire bond in season three of The Originals. His status as a hybrid makes him difficult to execute, too. Being the Original hybrid, Klaus can kill any vampire with a single venomous bite. The Werewolf blood running through his veins also makes him immune to silver-based magic, meaning the Silver White Oak Ash Daggers can't be used on him. Lastly, the mere fact that he's over 1,000 years old and drinks human blood rather than animal blood makes him incredibly strong, since the level of strength in vampires depends on their age and diet.

At first glance, Klaus seems to be a villain — killing without a thought and pursuing his enemies relentlessly. But when we learn more about him and his past, we realize he is nothing but a broken man desperate for companionship, loyalty, and love. Growing up, Mikael ruthlessly abuses Klaus physically and emotionally for being foolish, impulsive, and weak. And once Klaus's true heritage is revealed when he activates his werewolf gene, his own mother shuns him after magically suppressing his werewolf side. His turn toward power and self-preservation is born out of his parents' torment and rejection of him.

Nobody is born evil. Klaus is made to be evil by the 1,000 years of betrayal and abuse he suffers as well as the persistent loneliness and abandonment he experiences. His psychological scars are what ultimately transform him into a merciless monster. Throughout the Vampire Diaries franchise, we even get glimpses of goodness in him, but because of his belief that love is a weakness, he tries to hide how he feels out of fear that his enemies would use it against him. In the end, he's a misguided villain with a soft side prone to obsessions and insecurities.

Is there a character more eloquent, poetic, and villainous than Klaus? Nobody can make threatening someone sound so beautiful except Klaus. Throughout the franchise, he has dozens of hilarious and memorable one-liners and conversations. Some notable examples include: