Katerina Petrova (Yuki's Lore)

Template:TO Infobox CharacterKatherine Pierce, born Katerina Petrova (Bulgarian: Катерина Петрова) is a main character of The Originals and the first true witch-vampire hybrid. She was first introduced in The Vampire Diaries as the main antagonist of Season One (mostly off-screen through John Gilbert's and Isobel's actions, as both were working for her in order to kill off the tomb vampires), and one of the main antagonists of Season Two and the second half of Season Four. She is the second-known Petrova Doppelgänger of Amara and a former vampire and witch of the Traveler sub-culture.

Katherine is the mother of the first naturally born tribrid, Adyelya Mikealson, the daughter she had with her former enemy, the Original Hybrid Niklaus Mikealson. She is also the Regent of the Nine Covens, and the leader of the French Quarter Coven, as well as Queen of the Trinity Coven.

After giving birth to a baby girl out of wedlock when she was seventeen in 1490 and being forced to give the baby up for adoption, she was disowned by her father for the shame she brought her family. She was then exiled to England, where she quickly assimilated into her new culture and met two nobleman brothers, Niklaus and Elijah Mikaelson. At first, she was attracted to both men; however, she eventually learned that she was a Petrova doppelgänger and that Klaus was planning to use her as a sacrifice in order to break the curse that bound his werewolf side. She sabotaged his plan by running away with the moonstone, which bound the curse, and then tricked Rose into feeding her her blood so she could turn herself into a vampire. Because Katherine was no longer human, her blood no longer was a viable component of the ritual to undo the curse. Klaus was so infuriated with Katherine's sabotage, that she was forced to live on the run for over 500 years as he hunted her down.

Her activities during her first centuries as a vampire are unknown, but at some point between the 15th and 19th centuries, she took on the alias "Katherine Pierce" (an anglicized version of her birth name) and eventually met and befriended Pearl, Anna, and Emily Bennett. In the late 19th century, she traveled to Mystic Falls, where she met Stefan and Damon Salvatore, whose family hosted her at the Salvatore Estate. She later fell in love with both brothers, and subsequently fed them her blood, resulting in their eventual transitions into vampires after they were killed by their father in early autumn of 1864. When the Founder's Council found out the identities of the vampires in town, she faked her death and escaped being sealed in the tomb with the aid of George Lockwood, who helped her in exchange for the moonstone.

During the twentieth century, she continued to keep tabs on Stefan while still hiding from Klaus, including two separate sightings in Chicago in the 1920s and the 1980s. In 2010, she came back to Mystic Falls with the intention of finally earning her freedom from Klaus by handing over the Petrova doppelgänger who came after her, Elena Gilbert. To sweeten the potential deal with Klaus, she killed Caroline Forbes, who had Damon's blood in her system and later transitioned into a vampire, and tricked Mason and Tyler Lockwood into triggering their werewolf curses, just so they could each also serve as the vampire and werewolf sacrifices necessary in the ritual. She even tracked down the moonstone so that she could give Klaus every component necessary to break his curse. However, when her plans ultimately fell through, she fled Mystic Falls again shortly after Klaus broke his hybrid curse on his own, knowing that he was not done punishing her for her betrayal half a millennium ago.

After failing to induce Klaus' forgiveness by securing the cure and handing it over to Elijah in Season Four, Katherine managed to draw Klaus away from Mystic Falls by revealing to him in a letterthat a witch in New Orleans named Jane-Anne Deveraux was plotting against him. Once Klaus and Elijah officially returned to New Orleans, Katherine moved back to Mystic Falls, confident that the Mikaelsons would be too preoccupied with their complications there to pay any attention to her.

In Graduation, Katherine initiated a violent fight with Elena, believing that Elena got the life that Katherine deserved. Just as she was about to rip her descendant's heart out of her chest, Elena forced the cure down Katherine's throat, which resulted in Katherine returning to a human/Traveler for the first time in over 500 years. Following these events, Katherine encounters Klaus and returns to his mansion where they sleep together, conceiving their daughter, Adyelya. In the morning, Klaus sends Katherine away with money, fake records and clothing, telling her that he never wants to see her again, to which she replied "I've ruined too many good shoes running from you".

Arriving at the bus station and thanking Matt, Katherine decides to go to New Orleans to find a witch to help her become a vampire again. Shortly after arriving in New Orleans, Katherine encounters Hayley and saves her life from three vampires; the two girls then agree two live with one another. A couple of months after living in the French Quarter, Katherine seeks out Jane-Anne and Sophie Deveraux for help, but they detect her pregnancy. The Deveraux sisters plan to use her to gain the Mikaelsons' help against Marcel and to also complete The Harvest and bring back their daughter and niece; Monique. This pulls Katherine into a conflict involving the supernatural community.

Katherine's notable ancestors include Amara, who was Silas' true love and presumably the world's first immortal woman, and Tatia, whose blood was involved in the creation of the adapted spell of immortality that was cast on the Mikaelson Family by Esther, as well the curse that bound Klaus' werewolf side. She is also the maternal ancestor of Isobel Flemming and that of Isobel's biological daughter, Elena Gilbert. She was once the romantic interest of Stefan and Damon Salvatore, as well as Mason Lockwood. Since the late 15th century, she has also been the romantic interest of Elijah, with whom she was involved in the 21st century until he effectively ended their relationship due to Katherine being pregnant with Klaus' baby. Katherine has a one-night stand with Klaus as well, conceiving their daughter, though they eventually grow feelings for one another.

Katerina Petrova is a member of the Petrova Family. Katherine is a member of The Travelers and Trinity Coven. She is now the Regent of the Nine Covens, as well as the leader of the French Quarter Coven. Katherine also has ties to the Mikealson Family via her daughter, Adyelya.

History

Early Life

Katerina Petrova (Cyrillic: Катерина Петрова) was born into a noble and wealthy Bulgarian family on June 5, 1473. Growing up, Katerina's father was a witch of the Traveler sub-culture and her mother was a powerful witch from an extraordinary coven. Katerina was fascinated with magic and all it could do; however, the practice of magic was forbidden in the household, especially Traveler magic. She soon learned that her father was in hiding for deserting his own coven, The Travelers, because he had fallen in love with her mother and wished to settle down, instead of living a nomadic lifestyle. As her mother was a witch, not of the Traveler sub-culture, it was forbidden for her father to marry her; to be together, her parents ran away.

In 1490, when she was about 16 or 17 years of age, Katerina met a man named Markos, the leader of the Travelers, in the village by her family's estate. She was captivated by his charm and intelligence and would sneak out to see him. Katerina slept with Markos and became pregnant. When Katerina's father learned of the pregnancy, he became angry and ashamed, and decided to move the family to the vacation mansion, as he did not want the village to be aware of Katerina's pregnancy. She carried the child to term, but seconds after her daughter's birth, Katerina's father took the child away and gave the child to another family, claiming it would be better for both of them to never see one another. Katerina was devastated by the loss of her daughter, and fought her father to have her back, but he refused her. She was then soon disowned by her father, and banished to England, where she quickly became English.

In 1492, she met Trevor, who introduced her to Lord Elijah, who in turn introduced her to his younger brother, Lord Niklaus. Katerina was attracted to Klaus, until she found out what he was, and that he was planning on using her as a sacrifice to break the the Hybrid Curse placed on him. She escaped with the help of Trevor, who had fallen in love with her. He led her pursuers astray and told her to go east to a cottage in the woods where she would be safe. When she arrived at the cottage, Katerina met a vampire named Rose.

When Rose found out that Katerina had escaped from Klaus with the moonstone, she locked her in a room and told her that she would take her back to Klaus as soon as the opportunity arose, not wanting to suffer Klaus' wrath. Katerina tried to commit suicide by stabbing herself with a knife, saying she would rather die than go back to Klaus, but Rose force-fed her some of her blood to heal her. When Rose turned her back to confront Trevor, Katerina hung herself with a length of rope. Later, when Katerina woke up in transition, Trevor asked why she did it and claimed he would have helped her live. Katerina responds by saying that he would have been able to help her run and that running was never going to be enough.

Rose then explained to Trevor that Katerina used him to escape, and, knowing Klaus would find out their role in the escape, Rose attempted to kill Katerina with a stake. Katerina used the owner of the cabin as a shield, which resulted in her death. Katerina then gave in to her instincts and drained the little old lady, completing her transition into a vampire. She then threw the body towards Rose and Trevor and fled into the night. Katerina returned to Bulgaria in the latter months of 1492 to find her entire family brutally slaughtered by Klaus. She knew he had done it as revenge for her escape and subsequent transition. She was last seen weeping over her mother's dead body.

Katherine may have stolen the spell for making Daylight Amulet's from Esther's grimoire before fleeing from Klaus as this may explain how Emily was able to make Katherine, Bethanne, Pearl, Anna and Harper daylight rings and her a necklace in 1864.

Sometime during 1498, Katherine returned to Bulgaria after escaping from Klaus. Katherine searched every village and cottage for her daughter, Nadia Petrova, who was eight at the time, but had no luck in finding her.

1720

Katherine killed a man outside the French Court of Versaille. Nadia, who was in search of information on her mother's whereabouts, offered a large amount of gold to a man who witnessed Katherine commit this murder and informed him that Katherine had been on the run for 228 years by this point.

1864

372 years had passed when Katerina arrived in Mystic Falls, Virginia in 1864, by which time she had taken the name Katherine Pierce, presumably to avoid detection by Klaus. At some point, she had become friends with Pearl and her daughter, Anna; another friend she made prior to this point was the witch, Emily Bennett, whose life Katherine had saved, putting Emily in her debt. Emily forged Katherine a special piece of jewelry with a lapis lazuli stone, which allowed her to walk in the sun without being burned and helped her keep her vampire identity a secret.

Katherine was taken in by one of the town's founders, Giuseppe Salvatore, having spun a story about being orphaned by a fire that killed her family in Atlanta to win her sympathy. Katherine met and fell in love with his younger son, Stefan Salvatore, though she quickly began a physical relationship with Stefan's older brother, Damon, as well. She created quite a few vampires while living in Mystic Falls, which inevitably alerted the Founding Families to their existence. Pearl warned Katherine that the town knew about the vampires after discovering an elixir that Honoria Fell had asked to be sold at the local apothecary, which contained vervain. Pearl tried to convince her to leave, but Katherine refused, claiming she had a plan in motion. Her plan, it turned out, was to eventually turn Stefan and Damon into vampires, having seduced them both during her stay at the Salvatore household.

Realizing how quickly the Founder's Council would take action against the vampires, Katherine struck a deal with George Lockwood: she would give him the moonstone if he would help her fake her death in the inevitable vampire round-up. Eventually, Stefan unwittingly suggested to his father that he knew a vampire, and Giuseppe guessed Katherine's true identity. Giuseppe spiked Stefan's drink with vervain, and later that same night, Katherine bit him. She was incapacitated by the vervain in his bloodstream, and, hearing the commotion, Giuseppe burst in to take her away. Damon later went to rescue her, and Stefan, upset that he had hurt his brother and jeopardized Katherine's life, helped him in the effort. They were both killed by their own father, who was so ashamed that his sons had been seduced by a "demon" that he preferred to keep the story that they had died honorably in the war against the vampires.

Katherine and the other vampires were taken to Fell's Church to be destroyed, but George helped Katherine escape, as per their previous arrangement. She gave George the moonstone, but instead of leaving right away, she returned to see Stefan's body one last time while it was still lying in the road. She ran to Stefan, kissed him, and promised they would be together again someday. After transitioning into a vampire, Damon was told by Emily that Katherine was trapped in the tomb beneath the church, and as a result, the older Salvatore never stopped loving Katherine, as he impatiently awaited the day he would be able to rescue her from the tomb. In reality, Katherine was still lying low to evade Klaus, and she admitted to Stefan that she had seen him in the front row of a Bon Jovi concert in the 1980s to prove that she had continued to keep tabs on him over the decades.

1920s

Katherine was in Chicago at the same time as Stefan, but she only observed him from afar. After a police raid cleared out the speakeasy, Katherine spotted Rebekah's necklace on the ground. She moved to pick it up, but ran away before Stefan could see or notice her. She watched him for a few moments before slipping into the shadows.

1970s

Katherine employed the talents of the vampire, Will, who owned the music club and bar called Billy's in New York City. He also ran an identity theft ring that secured new identities for vampires. Damon, who was friends with Will and helped him by killing people to steal their ID cards, unwittingly helped Katherine in her mission to remain undetected, though he did not realize this fact until much later.

1983

Anna told Damon that she had seen Katherine during this year in Chicago.

1987

It was revealed that Katherine was watching Stefan and Lexi from afar at a Bon Jovi concert.

Throughout The Vampire Diaries

Season One

When Katherine learned of the escape of the Tomb vampires, she gave her descendant and friend, Isobel, a Lapis Lazuli medallion, enabling the young vampire to walk in the sun. Katherine needed the tomb vampires dead because she didn't want Klaus to find out she was still alive, so she had Isobel retrieve Johnathan Gilbert's invention and give it to John Gilbert to use against the vampires in Mystic Falls. This resulted in the deaths of the remaining tomb vampires.

In Founder's Day after the chaos has settled, Katherine, having stolen some of Elena Gilbert's clothes, goes to the Gilbert house, where she poses as Elena in the presence of Damon. The two kiss, only to be interrupted by Elena's aunt, Jenna Sommers. Unaware of the presence of vampires or the existence of Katherine, Jenna invites her into the house. Katherine startles John Gilbert in the kitchen, still pretending to be Elena. She notices the magic Gilbert ring he is wearing and, using a butcher's knife, viciously chops his fingers off, then stabs him. Elena arrives and comes to John's aid while Katherine hovers behind her.

Season Two

Seeing John Gilbert seriously injured, Elena calls for help and is terrified by Katherine's super-speed around the house before leaving. Upon her return, Damon and Stefan are left reeling after she's caused so much damage in so little time. At the mayor's wake at the Lockwood mansion, she engages in a small power play with Bonnie, claiming that it never ends well for Bennett witches. Bonnie attempts her usual attack against vampires, but Katherine, a much older vampire than Bonnie is used to encountering, seems to have a certain amount of resistance to such spells.

Katherine claims to Stefan that she returned for him, and the two engage in light banter, Katherine playfully and Stefan suspiciously. Their conversation effectively ends when Stefan tells Katherine he hates her, and in retaliation, she skewers him with a metal rod. Later, Damon demands the truth after he and Katherine make out, and she confesses that she never loved him and that "it was always Stefan" that she loved.

Later, she visits Caroline Forbes in the hospital and tells her to give the Salvatores a message: "Game on." Then she smothers Caroline with a pillow, killing her with Damon's blood in her system. A few days later, Katherine appears in Caroline's bedroom and tells her not to be frightened, and that they were going to have so much fun together.

After blackmailing Caroline into distracting Elena, Katherine sets her sights on Stefan for the day. She gets an early start by manipulating his dreams, bringing him back to when he had escorted her to the Founder's Ball in 1864. In the dream, he notices that Damon has found someone to entertain himself with - Elena. Katherine then takes the dream to present day, where Elena and Damon are getting cozy at the Mystic Grill. Stefan wakes suddenly to find Elena asleep in his arms, but he quickly realizes it is actually Katherine.

Later, after he has locked Katherine up in the cellar and threatened her with vervain unless she tells the truth about her return, Stefan interrogates her and she reveals her deal in 1864 with George Lockwood, a werewolf. In exchange for the rare moonstone, Lockwood saved her from imprisonment in the tomb. Stefan points out that she betrayed all the other vampires, including her friend Pearl, just to fake her death, and Katherine seems to have no regrets about her past actions. She insists that she never compelled Stefan to love her, that his love for her was real, and she only compelled him not to fear her. After she escapes the interrogation, she finally meets her doppelgänger, Elena, face to face. In a final flashback to 1864, Katherine is ready to leave Mystic Falls, but falls back to kiss an unconscious Stefan one last time, promising they would be together again one day.

It is soon revealed that Katherine had set up Mason Lockwood's first kill in order to trigger his werewolf gene. She continues to manipulate him by seducing him and persuading him to find the moonstone from the Lockwood mansion. After Mason is killed, Katherine compels Jenna to stab herself as revenge on the Salvatore camp, and also compels Matt to pick a fight with Tyler and not stop until Tyler kills him. Katherine decides to retrieve the moonstone herself with the help of Lucy Bennett, a witch. She dances with Stefan and briefly tries for a diplomatic surrender, but when he refuses to give up the stone, she kills Aimee Bradley in the middle of the dance floor. Later, Caroline successfully lures Katherine into a room upstairs that Bonnie had put a spell on, preventing vampires from leaving it. Stuck in the room with Damon and Stefan, Katherine goads the brothers until they attack her.

Unfortunately, Lucy had cast a spell over Katherine and Elena so that whatever happened to Katherine would also happen to Elena. After learning of Bonnie's involvement, however, Lucy turns the tables on Katherine; after her debt to Katherine has been paid by getting her the moonstone, Lucy incapacitates her. Katherine awakes imprisoned in the tomb, where Damon says she should have been for a long time. As Damon closes the door of the tomb, Katherine screams that Elena is in danger and needs to be protected.

After learning from Rose about the existence of the Originals, Elena visits Katherine to ask her about her past. Katherine complies in exchange for incremental amounts of blood; he time in the tomb without sustenance has weakened her. Through flashbacks, Katherine reveals that she had borne a child before she was turned, and that she was the first Petrova doppelgänger. She explains that, as such, Klaus wanted to sacrifice her as part of a ritual to break a curse. Katherine recounts how she foiled Klaus' plan by tricking Rose into turning her, thus rendering her useless for the sacrifice. Now that another doppelgänger had appeared, the moment Klaus discovered Elena's existence he would find her for the sacrifice and attempt the ritual again.

When Stefan finally arrives searching for Elena, Katherine warns them that Klaus would not hesitate to kill all of the people Elena loves, just like Klaus had done to her. Stefan accuses her of tricking Elena, in a desperate attempt to get herself out of the tomb, but Katherine insists that the tomb is the safest place to be, as no vampire would want to enter for fear of being trapped. Later, alone once more, Katherine peruses the Petrova Family history that Elena had brought, tearing up over drawings of her parents.

In an attempt to get the moonstone from Katherine, Bonnie performs a spell that involves burning Stefan's picture of Katherine from 1864 and throwing the ashes on her, rendering her unconscious for a minute or two. Jeremy, in a valiant effort to spare Bonnie from overexerting her powers, ventures into the tomb alone and asks Katherine for the moonstone. Naturally she refuses, so he shoots a stake into her chest and, while she's distracted, throws the ashes into her face and incapacitates her. While she is unconscious, he enters the tomb, searches for and finds the moonstone, and tries to leave but Katherine revives and attacks him. When Stefan and Bonnie arrive, Katherine holds Jeremy hostage and demands that Bonnie open the tomb so that she can escape. When Bonnie fails, Katherine bites Jeremy but Stefan reacts by entering the tomb and throwing Jeremy out of it, now imprisoning himself along with Katherine.

Katherine is very pleased with herself for trapping Stefan with her. She enjoys planting dreams in his head while he sleeps, though later she does offer the useful advice of seeking out Isobel for information about Klaus. After Elena strikes a deal with Elijah, the warlock Jonas breaks the spell of the tomb, allowing vampires to leave it. Elijah allows Stefan to leave, but compels Katherine to stay inside.

When Damon visits Katherine in the tomb fishing for confirmation about how to kill an Original, she begs Damon not to kill Elijah, because then she would be stuck in the tomb forever. Later this is revealed to be a lie: rather, Katherine knew that killing the Original that had compelled her would actually release her from the compulsion. After they've staked Elijah, Damon finds Katherine in his shower, cheekily asking for a robe to borrow. She further surprises Damon by reaffirming her pledge to help him protect Elena. Katherine subsequently takes up residence with the Salvatore brothers, much to the displeasure of Elena.

Katherine repeatedly states that she will help them to deal with Klaus, and engages in research with the brothers. She is staked and nearly killed by Luka Martin when he infiltrates the mansion via astral projection in an attempt to release Elijah, but is rescued by Damon, who unwittingly burns Luka to death. When his fatherstrikes out in a rage against Elena, Katherine tricks him into believing that she is Elena and kills him. Later, she flirts with Damon in bed, despite admitting to him that she knew the dagger would kill the vampire who used it, and, having to make a choice between Damon and Stefan in a deal with John and Isobel, she chose Stefan once again. Needless to say, Damon does not play along and asks Katherine to find another room to sleep in.

Despite insisting to Stefan and Damon that she's on their side when it comes to killing Klaus, Katherine reunites with Isobel, formulating a contingency plan in case things don't go well for the Salvatores. She helps Isobel kidnap Elena, but soon Isobel double-crosses her and the warlock Maddox incapacitates her, later delivering her to Klaus.

In The Last Dance, Klaus/Alaric compels her to tell him everything she knows, even coaxing out of her information she isn't sure about. He denies her request that he just kill her; he considers death to be a "kindness" after searching for her for over 500 years, and promises to draw out his punishment for at least half as long. After their conversation, Klaus/Alaric hands her a pocket knife and compels her to stab herself repeatedly until he returns. In Klaus, Katherine asks Klaus/Alaric why he would undo the curse in Mystic Falls knowing that a lot people will try to stop him.

Klaus/Alaric reveals to her that he must perform the ritual at the doppelgängers birthplace. Katherine remarks that she didn’t know that was a requirement, to which Klaus/Alaric responds with the cruel reminder that, though she had fled before she could learn these details, Klaus did just fine finding her birthplace - and slaughtering her family. As Klaus/Alaric is leaving, he tells her she can't leave until he tells her to. Later, Damon and Andie Stargo to Alaric’s apartment to discover Katherine is alive. Damon tells Katherine he has vervain, which won’t undo Klaus/Alaric’s compulsion but will prevent further compulsion. Before he gives it to her, he demands to know why she double-crossed them with Isobel. She replies that she didn't think the others could stand a chance against Klaus and she was looking out for herself. Damon gives her the vervain and tells her she owes him - and he will collect. Later that night Katherine is drinking and dancing around the apartment until she hears Klaus/Alaric returning. He tells her Alaric's body is no longer useful. Irritated when Katherine tries to ply him with alcohol, Klaus/Alaric snatches the bottle away from her, throws it against the wall and compels her to sit down and shut up. Having taken the vervain, Katherine only pretends to submit to his compulsion. When Maddox returns with Greta and Klaus's casket, they perform a spell to return Klaus to his true body. They open the casket and Katherine watches in horror as the real Klaus walks out.

In The Last Day, Damon goes to Alaric's apartment to collect his debt for giving her vervain. He asks Katherine where Klaus is keeping the werewolf. Katherine is reluctant to help out but reveals that Klaus has captured Caroline and Tyler. She is shocked to learn that Elena has vampire blood in her system and Damon warns her that this means she would have to compete with Elena for Stefan's love forever. Katherine reveals that Caroline and Tyler are being held in the tomb.

Klaus returns to Alaric's apartment and is immediately suspicious of Katherine. He compels her to tell him what she has been doing but, as she is taking vervain, she is able to lie. Still suspicious, he compels her to remove her daylight bracelet, walk to the window and stand in the sunlight. Katherine has to do it to keep up the ruse and screams in pain until Klaus relents, satisfied. Later that night, after Klaus returns to the apartment and tells Katherine that Elena is with Greta, Damon appears and tells Klaus that he rescued the werewolf and vampire and killed Maddox, thereby foiling his plan. Klaus has Katherine leave the room, then informs Damon of his backup plans. Katherine revives Damon with a blood bag (Klaus had knocked him out off-screen) and tells him that Klaus has gone to begin the ritual. She admits that she had to do something so Klaus wouldn't realize she was on vervain, and reveals that Klaus made her make a call as Elena to lure someone out, explaining that he needed another vampire. Damon asks why Klaus didn't use him as the vampire in the sacrifice. Apparently Klaus had said that Damon was as good as dead. She points out the ugly wound on his arm and asks what it is. He replies, "It's a werewolf bite."

In The Sun Also Rises, Damon shows Katherine his werewolf bite but decides to leave. She is hurt that after 145 years he is leaving without saying goodbye and tells him not to depart on bad terms. She insists that she didn't have a choice and had to lure Jenna for Klaus, adding that she chose her life over Jenna's. Damon observes that Katherine will survive all of this without a scratch. Katherine points out that she doesn't let love get in the way and Damon tells her to enjoy an eternity alone. He leaves to offer himself to Klaus, but Katherine insists that Klaus won't accept him as his blood is impure.

In As I Lay Dying, Damon has a flashback and remembers speaking to Katherine in the 1860s. In it, she asks if he will miss her while he is off fighting and he says he will, but points out that she will still have Stefan. Katherine asks if it is so wrong for her to want them both. However, Damon hallucinates that Elena has joined them. Elena tells him that Katherine was just toying with him and he could have walked away - he had a choice. Flashback-Katherine bids him to return quickly.

Stefan shows up at Alaric's apartment looking for Klaus and finds Katherine there, wondering why Klaus's compulsion hasn't worn off. He admits that they failed to kill him just before Klaus returns. She watches as Stefan tries to bargain with Klaus for the cure to a werewolf bite. Klaus calls Katherine over and bites her; she starts to panic, but Klaus immediately feeds her his blood, and the bite heals, revealing that Klaus's blood is the cure. Meanwhile, Damon suffers more hallucinations of Katherine, mixing the present with the past, thinking he is chasing her through some woods. He remembers begging Katherine to feed him her blood so they could be together forever. Back in the apartment, Klaus calls Katherine over and compels her to take his blood to Damon and to come right back. She leaves immediately, but Stefan, knowing that Katherine has been ingesting vervain, worries that she will never deliver the cure to Damon.

However, Katherine does follow through and appears at the eleventh hour, interrupting Elena's would-be final moments with Damon. She admits that she decided to deliver it because she owed Damon. Elena asks about Stefan, and Katherine informs them that Stefan has surrendered himself to Klaus in exchange for the cure. Before she leaves, and after taunting Elena about working two Salvatores at once, she adds that "it's OK to love them both" - she did, after all.

Season Three

Katherine makes her first appearance of the season in The End of the Affair, when she calls Damon and gives him information about Stefan's whereabouts. She declines to tell Damon where she is, but is later seen exiting a phone booth in Chicago. In Disturbing Behavior, she is still in Chicago and catches Stefan's attention outside of a boutique where Rebekah is trying on clothes. She fishes for information about Rebekah's necklace, which Klaus is looking for and which Stefan gave to Elena. She wants to know Stefan's plans, but he refuses to share them. Katherine warns him about plotting against Klaus, as well as dealing with Rebekah. She later saves him from Gloria's torture by stabbing the witch in the neck, and wants in on his plans if they involve taking down Klaus, but he turns her down again.

Towards the end of the episode, Katherine fools Bonnie into thinking she's Elena, and manages to steal Esther's Talisman. She shows up at the Boarding House with the necklace, proposing to Damon that they team up and get away from Mystic Falls to go on a little "road trip".

In The Reckoning, after they stop the car, Katherine reveals to Damon that she has kidnapped Jeremy. She needs Jeremy because he is able to communicate with ghosts, and he has a connection with Anna, one of the only people who knew anything about Mikael, a vampire who hunts vampires. Anna says Mikael is the only one who can kill Klaus for good, and he was entombed by a witch in the 1990s. Anna reluctantly gives them information about him, warning them that Mikael will kill all of them if awakened.

Katherine ignores her warning, and is able to locate his tomb with Jeremy's help. Katherine spends two days trying, unsuccessfully, to get Mikael to feed, and finally brings him a human and drips fresh blood into his mouth. Mikael opens his eyes, and, horrified, orders her to stop feeding him the blood. As he continues to lay in his coffin, still very weak, she begins to doubt his formidable reputation. She asks him whether he can kill Klaus or not, and Mikael answers affirmatively. He asks Katherine to remove the chains restraining him; after she does, he reveals that he does not feed on living things, and proceeds to attack and feed on her.

In Homecoming, Damon enlists Katherine in a plan to kill Klaus. She pretends to be Elena so that Elena won't be in danger when everything goes down. However, during the party, Klaus, thinking that she is Elena, reveals that in the event that Klaus is killed, the other Hybrids will kill Damon. Katherine then runs back to the Salvatore house, revives Stefan (whom Mikael and Damon had incapacitated to keep him away from the party) and tells him what Klaus said. She tries to convince him to care enough to stop Damon from killing Klaus, because regardless of what he decides, she is going back to see the plan through.

Back at the party, Mikael compels one of the hybrids to grab Katherine (pretending to be Elena) and threatens to kill her if Klaus does not leave the Lockwood house. Klaus, believing that Mikael is bluffing, says to go ahead. Mikael then stabs Katherine, who falls down apparently mortally wounded, right as Damon jumps Klaus. Much to Mikael's surprise, Katherine stands up, throws wolfsbane grenades at the approaching hybrids and flees the scene.

Later, she calls Damon to tell him he had a good plan and confirms Damon's assumption that she's already heading out of town. She hangs up with Damon and turns to Stefan, who is in the passenger seat. He asks Katherine why she, who has wanted Klaus dead for 500 years, would stop a plan to kill him just to save Damon. Katherine says she did it not just to save Damon, but also Stefan's humanity. He doesn't believe her, reminding her that she only cares about herself. Katherine tells him he knows that's not true, and that despite everything that had happened, she did love Stefan and Damon.

Katherine then says that humanity is a vampire's greatest weakness, and no matter how hard one tries to suppress it, it keeps trying to fight its way back in - and sometimes, she lets it. Stefan confesses that he doesn't want to let his humanity back in after everything he has done. Katherine says that he must, because she needs him to get angry enough at Klaus to do what she has planned next. She convinces him to steal the coffins that Klaus keeps his family in, before she herself puts as many miles as possible between her and Klaus.

Season Four

In We All Go a Little Mad Sometimes, Katherine appears to Elena through vivid hallucinations. She torments Elena, telling her they're both the same and that she deserves to die. She proceeds to tell Elena that now that she’s a vampire, Stefan is going to hate her, too. Later, Elena finds herself walking to the Wickery Bridge with Connor on one side and Katherine on the other, asking her if she's ready to die yet and telling her she can't take back what she's done, that she's a monster who deserves to die.

In A View to a Kill, Jeremy mentions Katherine, saying, "We might as well look up Katherine Pierce and see if she wants some company in hiding, 'cause he (Klaus) will come after us!"

In Into the Wild, unknown to the viewers or characters, Katherine kills the mysterious attacker to save Jeremy.

In Down the Rabbit Hole, Katherine makes her dramatic return. Unseen by the characters or viewers, she kills Massak and presumably steals the headstone from him. Later, she confronts and attacks Elena in the caves, defeating her and switching clothes with her. As Vaughn is about to finish Jeremy off, “Elena” swoops in to save him. She is about to bite Vaughn and kill him when Jeremy reminds her of the Hunter’s Curse; instead she just knocks Vaughn out. Katherine continues to pose as Elena while Jeremy begs her to heal Bonnie with her blood to save her, but “Elena” insists they must raise Silas and get the cure first. Growing impatient, Katherine reveals her identity and grabs Jeremy, slits his wrist, and puts it in Silas’ mouth, causing Silas' eyes to open. To speed things up, Katherine bites Jeremy’s neck and holds the wound over Silas’ mouth. Silas gains enough strength to raise his hand and hold Jeremy’s head in place, so Katherine grabs the now unguarded cure and flees.

While not physically appearing in Bring It On, Katherine did send the vampire Will to kill the werewolf Hayley, who was now no more than a liability, having served her sole purpose of telling Katherine where to find the cure and how to get it. Later on, Hayley reveals to Klaus that Katherine had successfully managed to avoid him for over five hundred years because she had established a network of people who were willing to do anything for her, including tie up loose ends.

Katherine does not appear again until American Gothic, when Elena and Rebekah track her to a small town where she has compelled everyone to keep her presence there, among other things, a secret. However, Elena is able to glean information from the townsfolk, who are unaware that Katherine has a doppelgänger and believe that Elena is Katherine. Katherine spots Elena searching the town and ambushes her, but Rebekah quickly intervenes and reestablishes dominance. Rebekah and Elena bring Katherine to a diner to interrogate her, which she unwillingly endures with her usual snark. When Katherine mentions Jeremy, whose death she had caused, Elena remains indifferent and Katherine realizes that her descendant has abandoned her humanity. Rebekah attempts to compel Katherine to reveal where the cure is, but Katherine smiles and informs them that she's on vervain. However, she does reveal that she wants the cure in order to barter with Klaus for her freedom. When Elena finds out Katherine is supposed to be meeting someone named "EM", she exchanges clothing and accessories with Katherine and goes to the meeting in her place.

After Elena leaves, Katherine antagonizes Rebekah until the Salvatores arrive, demanding to know where Elena is. Katherine admits that Elena has unknowingly gone to meet Elijah, with whom she hints at having a sexual relationship. Rebekah tells Stefan where Elena is meeting "EM" and Katherine reluctantly agrees to take Rebekah and Damon to the cure.

Katherine takes Rebekah and Damon to a home she says is hers and, after opening a safe, claims that the cure has been stolen. They don't believe her, so Rebekah heads upstairs to search, leaving Damon alone with Katherine. He notices that the fish tank suspiciously has no fish in it, but only a large treasure chest. When he reaches into the tank, his hand gets burned - it is filled with vervain. Damon begins to attempt to scoop out the chest with a net when Katherine shoves his head into the vervain for several seconds, then sends him howling in pain to the floor. She secures the chest herself and almost escapes out the front door, but Rebekah reappears and blocks her way. Katherine tosses the cure away from herself, distracting Rebekah long enough so that she can escape.

While Elijah and Elena discuss the foolishness of the men, who believe the innocent girls they (Elijah and the Salvatores) fell in love with still exist within who Katherine and Elena are now, Katherine appears suddenly and snaps Elena’s neck. Elijah kneels by Elena’s lifeless body and confronts Katherine about her killing Jeremy and feeling nothing for Elena despite their similarly tragic fates. Katherine says she didn't enjoy killing Jeremy, but that doing so was necessary to survive. Elijah wonders aloud if that’s what he is to her -- a means to survive. She protests, insisting that she loves him, but Elijah cannot be persuaded. She makes a last-ditch effort by reminding him that she can't broker a deal with Klaus without his help, but this appears to hurt the situation more than it helps, and Elijah leaves her.

Katherine arrives, alone, at the home of the woman Elena and Rebekah had first talked to when they got to town and retrieves her "package" - the real cure and the key to securing her freedom. Later, Katherine confronts Elijah on the street and tells him that he was right: she’s told so many lies to survive for so long, she’s beginning to believe them herself. She admits that she doesn’t remember who she was when they met, but that she’d like to find out. Katherine explains that she could use the cure to make Klaus mortal and kill him, but this would mean losing Elijah, a consequence she's not willing to accept. Elijah, moved by Katherine's speech, still resists temptation and raises concerns about Katherine's track record for deceiving men. Katherine responds by taking his hand and placing the cure in it, saying she wants him to trust her like she's now trusting him, and that he must decide what happens next, with both the cure and their relationship. Elijah walks away from Katherine with the cure, unsure of what to do with their relationship.

In She's Come Undone, Katherine meets with Bonnie, who wants Silas' headstone which Katherine stole along with the cure. Katherine, reluctant to give up her potential leverage, asks Bonnie how she could benefit from handing it over, but Bonnie just vaguely insists that she would make it worth Katherine's while.

Later, she arrives at the Salvatore boarding house at the brothers' request; they want Katherine's help with bringing back Elena's humanity, and Katherine is more than happy to torture her doppelgänger. When she enters the house, she taunts Rebekah and Matt before heading down to the cell where Elena is locked up. Katherine pulls Elena out of the vault and makes a snarky remark about checking to see if Elena still has a heart before she plunges her hand in Elena's chest. Katherine interrogates her, asking about what transpired between Elena and Elijah in Willoughby; Katherine clearly believes that whatever Elena said turned Elijah against her. In response, Elena goads Katherine about running from Klaus for so long, calls her a self-obsessed maniac and cruelly wonders aloud why anyone would want to be with "damaged goods" like her. Katherine retaliates by grabbing Elena's neck and admits that she's done terrible things to survive, but instead of turning off her humanity, she dealt with it. She adds that Elena wouldn't last a week as a vampire without everyone fawning over her before she locks her in the vault again. After a moment, she decides that seeing Elena go on a rampage would be more entertaining and unlocks the vault, leaving it open for Elena to escape.

She returns to the main level of the house and pours herself a few successive glasses of bourbon while talking to Damon. She taunts him by predicting that Elena will rush back to Stefan when she gets her humanity back, calling this the tragedy of Damon: he never gets the girl. At that moment, Stefan shows up and reveals that Elena has escaped. Katherine feigns carelessness before admitting that she would derive more pleasure from seeing Elena continue her downward spiral than if she managed to start recovering from it.

Bonnie sets up another meeting with Katherine, who has figured out that Bonnie needs the headstone because it contains Qetsiyah's blood. Having the headstone would give Bonnie the power to drop the veil to The Other Side whenever she chooses, instead of having to wait to channel the power of the full moon. Katherine asks again what is in it for her, and Bonnie sweetens the deal by promising that once the veil is dropped, she'll find out from Qetsiyah how she made Silas invulnerable to any weapon, and in turn Bonnie will share the secret with Katherine. With the prospect of finally having true freedom from Klaus in her sights, Katherine agrees to the deal.

In The Walking Dead, Katherine met Bonnie in the woods where we learned that Bonnie wanted to charge all three points of the Expression Triangle (where the massacres had taken place) and channel the mystical energy from Silas' tombstone. That would drop the veil inside the points of the Triangle just long enough to get what she needs -- which is to contact Qetsiyah and find out how she put Silas down. Katherine tried to walk away, but Bonnie had linked them so that Katherine was on an invisible leash and whatever happened to one of them happened to the other. Bonnie couldn't have Silas getting inside Katherine's head and finding out Bonnie could do the spell whenever she wanted. She went with Bonnie to the other two places where the massacres took place and then they went to a cave which is located in the center of the expression triangle. Katherine heard someone coming, so Bonnie gave her more leash so she could go stop them. It was Elena, who managed to stake Katherine in the stomach. Bonnie felt it, too, and bled. Elena could've finished Katherine off, but Stefan had heard from Bonnie about the link, so he stopped Elena. Katherine bolted.

In Graduation, Katherine confronts Bonnie, demanding the immortality that she was promised in return for the tombstone containing Qetsiyah's calcified blood. When Bonnie informs her that she is out of luck since Bonnie was unable to contact Qetsiyah about the spell, Katherine gets angry and vengeful, and threatens to kill Elena, who she feels has a better life than she deserves. Bonnie threatens her right back, but is distracted by other students arriving for graduation, giving Katherine the opportunity to slink away.

When Elena arrives back at the school looking for Bonnie and Jeremy before the veil is put back up, she is ambushed by Katherine, who throws her against lockers and kicks her around. After a few nasty comments from Katherine, Elena gets riled up and begins to fight back with almost equal measure. Katherine gains the upper hand, and is about to rip out Elena's heart when Elena pulls out the cure and shoves it into Katherine's mouth. She forces Katherine's jaw shut to break open the vial as she struggles to get free from Katherine's grip. After a few moments Katherine falls unconscious next to Elena, who wishes her a "happy, human life."

Later, when Katherine wake up, she is alone in the school and the lights are off. At first she is confused, but she quickly remembers her fight and how Elena forced the cure into her mouth, making her swallow it. Horrified at the thought of being human, Katherine runs to the nearest bathroom in a panic and looks into a mirror, truly confirming that she is no longer a vampire. Not willing to let herself be discouraged, Katherine tells herself that she is a survivor and that she won't be backing down without a fight.

With nowhere to go and no compulsion, Katherine seeks out shelter in the Mystic Grill and, using the last of her money, buys a couple of drinks for herself. She soon encounters Klaus, who mocks and taunts her for being defeated by Elena, a young vampire with no skill. Katherine angrily snaps at Klaus, despite being terrified of him, especially now that she is human. However, Klaus does not kill Katherine, and instead tells her it will be more amusing for him to see Katherine perish in a human way. Katherine initially moves to storm away, but Klaus offers her shelter and help for a simple night. Drunk and desperate, Katherine accepts Klaus and returns with him to his mansion, where they sleep together and conceive their daughter, Adyelya.

Former Minions

• Emily Bennett - She was Katherine's handmaiden in 1864 as well as a powerful witch. Katherine betrayed her when she told the people in town that Emily was a witch.
• Henry Wattles - He was a vampire who helped Katherine to investigate the werewolf attacks within the town of Mystic Falls back in 1864. Henry was staked and killed by Alaric Saltzman.
• George Lockwood - George was a werewolf and the co-conspirator in Katherine's faked death. She and George made a deal in which George helped her escape, telling no one of it, in exchange for giving George the moonstone.
• Will - He had a business to get vampires fake identities, but since he was unable to walk in sunlight and kept busy with his work at his bar, he made a deal with Damon where Damon could feed on his customers in exchange for stealing their IDs for him. He was said to have provided many, if not all of Katherine's identities over the last few decades, many of which were during the 1970s.
• Mason Lockwood - Mason was a werewolf and a romantic partner of Katherine's in the 21st century, whom she manipulated in order to obtain the moonstone. Mason was killed by Damon.
• Jimmy - He was a friend of Mason Lockwood. Katherine used her power of mind control on Jimmy and compelled him to attack Mason after accusing him of sleeping with his girlfriend, Marla. Mason accidentally killed him, which triggered his werewolf curse.
• Isobel Flemming - Isobel is Elena's biological mother and Katherine's descendant. She helped Katherine in her plan to destroy the tomb vampires and seek information about The Originals. Katherine also helped her obtain a lapis lazuli necklace to allow her to walk in daylight. Isobel later betrayed Katherine.
• John Gilbert - Isobel, acting as a proxy for Katherine, asked John to get a device, enchanted by Emily Bennett, that was taken from Johnathan Gilbert in 1864. John failed to get the device, so Isobel managed to get it herself by kidnapping Jeremy in order to trade him for it. She then gave it to John, who used it to destroy the vampires who had been freed from the tomb. Katherine was the one to instigate the plan to kill the tomb vampires.
• Jenna Sommers - Katherine used compulsion on Jenna to spy on Elena and Stefan. After Katherine learned of Mason Lockwood's death, she ordered Jenna to commit suicide by stabbing herself, though Jenna thankfully survived her injuries.
• Caroline Forbes - Katherine turned Caroline into a vampire by smothering her with a pillow in her hospital room after Damon had healed her with his blood. Afterward, she continued to threaten and manipulate her to do her bidding. She ordered Caroline to keep Elena away from Stefan and to occupy her for the day so that Katherine could spend time with him.
• Matt Donovan - After learning of Mason's death, Katherine used her power of compulsion on Matt by ordering him to provoke Tyler Lockwood into killing him in order to trigger Tyler's werewolf curse. She then planned to hand over Elena, Tyler, Caroline and Bonnie to Klaus, along with the moonstone, so that he would have all the components needed to break the Hybrid Curse. Her hope was that she could leverage these items for her freedom, but her plan ultimately backfired.Also compelled him to know things about Elena after possessing her body.
• Sarah - Katherine compelled Sarah to attack Tyler if Matt failed, and when Caroline broke up Matt and Tyler's fight, Sarah attacked Tyler and he accidentally killed her by shoving her away from him, resulting in Sarah breaking her neck when she fell and hit her neck on the corner of a table. Sarah's death triggered Tyler's werewolf curse.

Name

• Katherine is a feminine first name of uncertain origin. It appears to come from the Greek Αικατερινηmeaning "each of the two", or possibly from καθαρος (Katharos) meaning "pure". There are several famous bearers of this name, including Catherine de' Medici and Catherine the Great from Russia. The name is common in English. Katerina is of Bulgarian or Russian origin and means "pure".
• Petrov/Petroff (masculine) or Petrova (feminine) is one of the most common surnames in both Russia and Bulgaria. The surname is derived from the first name Pyotr (Пётр, Russian) or Petar (Петър, Bulgarian), both equivalent to the English name Peter. Petrov means "son of Peter" in Russian and Bulgarian.