The Originals is an American fantasy-drama television series picked up by The CW television network for their fall 2013 schedule, after a backdoor pilot for the series aired as an episode of The CW series The Vampire Diaries in April 2013. It is a spin-off of The Vampire Diaries, sharing similar themes and depictions of reality as its predecessor. The show revolves around three Mikaelson siblings, Klaus (Joseph Morgan), Elijah (Daniel Gillies), and Rebekah (Claire Holt), collectively known as "original vampires", or simply the "originals". The Originals is set in the city of New Orleans. It was created by Julie Plec.
Main characters
The following is a list of series regulars who have appeared in one or more of the series' five seasons. The characters are listed in the order they were first credited in the series.
Key
= Main cast
= Recurring cast
= Guest/Special Guest cast
Klaus Mikaelson
Played by Joseph Morgan
TVD recurring season: 2
TVD starring seasons: 3–4
TO starring seasons: 1–5
TVD special guest starring seasons: 5, 7
LG special guest starring season: 4
Also played by Aiden Flowers (young Niklaus) into seasons 1–2, 4
Niklaus Mikaelson (based on Klaus from "The Vampire Diaries" novels), more commonly known as Klaus, is an Original vampire, later known to be the Original Hybrid (half werewolf-half vampire).
In The Vampire Diaries
Klaus Mikaelson is a fictional character in the series. Klaus, his father (whom was later revealed to be his step-father), half-brothers, and half-sister became the very first vampires after their mother, a witch, cast a spell on them in order to protect them from werewolves. His mother was characterized as adulterous, and Klaus' biological father was a werewolf, which made Klaus the only original vampire-werewolf hybrid in existence. However, his werewolf powers were bound to the moonstone by a band of witches, which includes his mother. To release his werewolf powers a ritual, in which a werewolf, a vampire, and a Petrova doppelgänger have to be sacrificed, has to take place. The first Petrova doppelgänger Klaus found was Katerina Petrova, but she escaped Klaus with the moonstone and hung herself in order to become a vampire so that she would be useless for the ritual. Klaus then wanted revenge on Katerina, causing her to spend centuries running from him.