Caroline Elizabeth Forbes-Salvatore is a vampire and one of the main female characters on The Vampire Diaries. Caroline is the daughter of William Forbes II and Sheriff Elizabeth Forbes, the wife of the late Stefan Salvatore and the sister-in-law of Damon Salvatore and Elena Gilbert. She is also the surrogate mother of Alaric and Jo's twin daughters, Lizzie and Josie Saltzman. Prior to her transition into a vampire, she was known for her insecurities, which caused her to be excessively competitive, mainly with Elena.
She has always had a strong bond with her childhood friends, Elena Gilbert and Bonnie Bennett. She became best friends with Stefan Salvatore after she became a vampire and he became her mentor. She is also close friends with her ex, Matt Donovan, whom she has known since childhood, and also with Niklaus Mikaelson.
Earlier in the series, Caroline begins dating Elena's ex-boyfriend, Matt, who encourages her to become more caring, kind, and selfless. In the Season One finale, Caroline was severely injured in a car wreck and suffered from internal bleeding. When Caroline's situation was looking pretty bleak, Bonnie and Elena agreed that Damon Salvatore should heal Caroline by feeding her his blood. Later, after Caroline's health had improved, Caroline was smothered to death in the hospital by Katherine Pierce, who was aware that Damon had healed Caroline, therefore knowingly turned her into a vampire. Katherine planned to use Caroline to her own advantage by manipulating her, threatening those she loved and eventually giving her to Klaus to kill in the sacrifice. Damon rescues her and Tyler Lockwood, however, and the deal made by Katherine is forfeited.
She attended Mystic Falls High School, where she was the captain of the cheerleading squad, honor student, head of the dance committees, Mystic Falls beautification committee, head of the recycling program, "Go Green" campaign, Miss Mystic Falls, and one of the most popular girls in the school. She later attended Whitmore College with Elena and Bonnie where she majored in drama.
Caroline's new vampire nature added difficulty to her relationship with Matt and this eventually causes them to break up despite their love for each other. Matt's friend, Tyler, fell for Caroline after she helped him with his first full moon after she witnessed him triggering the werewolf gene when he accidentally killed Sarah. After a while, she realized that she's in love with Tyler too, so they begin a romantic relationship which had ended for good in Monster's Ball. Klaus also falls for her, claiming he fancies her because she's beautiful, strong, full of light, "too smart to be seduced by him", and he enjoys her but in 500 Years of Solitude, Klaus returns to Mystic Falls to see the supposed death of Katherine. While he is in the woods with Caroline, he asked her to be honest about her feelings for him and that as soon as they are done with that conversation, he is going to walk away and never come back. They ended up having . Caroline was forced to see her best friend, Stefan, die right in front of her. When he comes back to life, she is extremely happy but also sad because his older brother, Damon, who was also her ex-boyfriend, died to save him.
Four months after the deaths of Bonnie and Damon, Caroline has dropped out of college and has been trying to find a way to get vampires back into Mystic Falls as an anti-magic bubble kept out all vampires as well as teaming up with Enzo in finding a way to bring Damon and Bonnie back to the living. Since Damon's death, she has also been out of touch with Stefan and later claims that he never said goodbye. She finally tracks down Stefan with the help of Enzo, and tries to convince him to come back home. Much to her dismay, he refuses, and their friendship becomes more strained and tense. Later on, Caroline agrees to help Stefan with Ivy's situation. When Damon returns, Stefan does everything he can to make up his poor behavior, but Caroline constantly gives him the cold shoulder. However, after learning about her mother's sickness, Caroline soon mends her friendship with Stefan and also unexpectedly kisses him. Soon after, Liz passes away in the hospital surrounded by Damon, Elena, Matt and Stefan.
Caroline is the last member of the Forbes Family. She is a member of the Saltzman Family, due to being the surrogate mother of Alaric and Jo's twin daughters, Lizzie and Josie, as well as a member of the Salvatore Family, due to her brief marriage to Stefan Salvatore.
