UK & USA TV Drama character analysis- Anna Tyler

Merlin (UK)

Gaius

He is the physician in the castle. He knows about magic and used to practice it himself; this is why he looks after and guides Merlin. He gives him a book that can give him all the spells he’ll ever need. He protects Merlin’s identity and powers from anyone and everyone even under torture. He is the one that spears Merlin to protect Arthur from the evil sorceresses and enemies made by Uther. He keeps everyone in line including king uther and morgana. People look up to him for guidance and help, he always knows the right solution or what to do. However he can even be blinded to the truth through thinking a personnhasnt changed so this is when Merlin steps in to protect him like Gaius does to Merlin all the time.

King Uther

He governs the land of the Pendragon kingdom. Him and his wife were not able to conceive a child so, Uther asked a sorceress to help them; she told him there would be consequences as magic has to find a balance and he agreed. On the birth of his son, Arthur, his wife died from childbirth. However, Uther saw it as a trick by the sorceress and banned sorcery across the nation and if anyone were to be found of using magic they would be killed. He tried to find her over the years but never did. He also cheated on his wife with a sorceress, Morgana is his secret daughter. He ruled his kingdom then on through fear and killed those who opposed him. He is a stern King and always turns to Gaius for his wisdom and help whenever he needs to. Throughout the series he has tried to be killed and also even been manipulated to try and gain power but Merlin was always there to save the Kingdom. Uther always sees his son as the saviour. If he knew about Merlin he would not see another side to it other than he should be sentenced to death. When he died due to battle wounds he made sure he told Arthur that he was proud of the man he had become and should rule it how he saw fit.

The Vampire Diaries (USA)

Katherine.

Katherina Patrova, better known as Katherine Pierce is a vampire and the second doppelganger to exist in the lifetime of the original vampires. She originally comes from Bulgaria where she had a child out of wedlock but it was taken away from her; this is why she ran away to England where she met the original brothers, Klaus and Elijah. Klaus is a hybrid of vampire and werewolf but the original witch cast a spell on him to leave his werewolf side dormant. To break the spell he had to perform a sacrifice which a doppelganger had to be used in: when they found Katherine, she was supposed to be used. Elijah had a kind heart and therefore was vulnerable when he told her of the ritual- she ran away and took refuge with a couple of vampires where she tricked them to feed her their blood so she could change into a vampire. By doing this she would not be able to be used in the ritual and would not die. Unfortunately, Klaus got angry and killed her whole family so when she returned she found their scattered bodies over her homeland. She learned to look after herself. In 1864 she went to America with her new friend Pearl and Pearl’s daughter Anna where they took shelter in the Salvatore home. Katherine knew how to charm a man and soon got Damon and Stefan under her ‘spell’, however when she told Stefan of what she was he was horrified but she loved him so compelled his fear away, whereas Damon did not require any compulsion as he loved her for who she was, but unlucky for him she did not love him. In her selfish ways she wanted all of them to be happy together. The town of mystic falls where she took shelter had a secret council where they tried to track down the vampires. Stefan being naïve gave his father a clue as to who the vampires were. Katherine was taken away that night with all the other vampires, but Stefan and Damon tried to save her where they were shot by their own father due to their betrayal and siding with the vampires. By her exchanging blood with Damon and Stefan they were turned into vampires. She was supposed to be put into a tomb with all the other vampires under the church in mystic falls where they were to be sealed in with a spell, but Katherine had made arrangements with Mr. Lockwood who happened to be a werewolf that she would give him the moonstone in exchange for her freedom. The moonstone had a legend attached to it that it was the spell that bound werewolves by the moon and vampires were weakened by the sun and depending on which species broke the spell, their curse would be broken, which is why it was so valuable to Mr. Lockwood. She was to be known to die in the church- this was to cover her tracks because Klaus was trying to catch her due to her slipping through his grasp many years before when he tried to use her in the ritual. Over the years she watches over Stefan, still in love with him, however when she returns to mystic falls, she finds Stefan has fallen in love with Elena, the doppelganger of Katherine. Jealousy raged her, and she confronted Stefan, only to find out that he hated her guts. Katherine’s façade did not allow Stefan to see that he had hurt her feelings. Even through her feelings for Stefan, her motivations are purely for herself and her well being. This is how she has learned to survive. Stefan and Damon try to lure Katherine into a trap in the masquerade ball but she is already one step ahead of them by making a witch link her life to Elena’s meaning that Stefan and Damon will not touch her. The witch turns on Katherine once she finds out a Bennet witch is involved in the whole incident. Katherine is sealed into the tomb where she was supposed to be for the last 165 years. This way Damon, Stefan and Elena could find out the valuable information that Katherine knows about the original vampires and her history that would lead to Elena’s biological mother. Katherine works her magic on Damon and is able to free herself from the tomb where she ‘sticks her nose’ into everyone’s business where she manipulates everyone for the result she desires yet always seem to end up in the worst situation by the end. By series four she has made an enemy of Elena who is now a vampire, and they have discovered a cure for vampirism- this is what Elena shoves in Katherine’s mouth in the last episode. How is she to cope? Is she going to turn into human Elena? Will she turn herself back into a vampire?

Katherine overall is just a girl that has learnt over time that she cannot trust anyone, but by learning this she lost her friends, how to be friends and most of all how to make friends with people. She has an unrequited love, Stefan that she tries to win over no matter the situation but helps him nevertheless.

Bonnie

She is close to her Grams, who continually tries to tell bonnie that she is a witch. Bonnie starts to experience her powers and turns to her Grams for help. Bonnie has two best friends, Elena and Caroline who she has known since childhood. They all grew up in the town together. When Stefan moves to town, she touches his arm and only feels what she imagines death to be like. Bonnie is a bystander of all the events that play out; witches are always drawn into vampire problems. By helping Elena she asks her Grams to help her with a really strong spell, her Grams dies because of it. From this Bonnie tries to stay out of vampire business but no matter how hard she tries she is continually brought into it: because of Stefan, because of Elena, because of Caroline, because of Matt and Vicky, because of the town’s protection, she cannot help her involvement. There is a series where her ancestors use her to finish their unfinished business with Damon and the vampires in the tomb but that is to no avail. Her ancestors try to give her strength. Bonnie goes in search of her biological mother but finds that because she left bonnie, the ancestors punished her by taking her powers away; nevertheless they work together try and restore her powers. In another vampire problem her mother is turned into a vampire and leaves her again. Bonnie always seems to be the one suffering and having to sacrifice her happiness for that of her friends’.  By the fourth series she is being manipulated by a professor to use a dark source of magic, known as expression to unleash an immortal creature that legend says is to wreak havoc on the world but is hidden with a cure for vampirism. In the process of trying to stop him and trying to keep the guy she loves, Jeremy, alive, she dies in the last episode of the fourth series. However, she does not want her friends to know so tells Jeremy to tell them that she went away to visit her cousins for a while. What will happen now? Will she come back?

Bonnie is a kind hearted girl that is always in the middle of situations. She puts her friends and everyone else’s circumstances before herself. She is the one to suffer no matter how hard she tries otherwise.