Since the very beginning of it's series, The Vampire Diaries has shared a few notable comparisons with the movie series Twilight, not only for it's use of vampires, werewolves, etc. but it's tendency to focus on a love triangle as a core element of the plot in their first three seasons.
Despite this reliance on the love triangle aspect, V.D. has proven to be more versatile in it's method of storytelling by employing a variety of other known mythical creatures such as doppelgängers, witches, werewolves, hybrids, ghosts, travelers, and more. In addition to their vast amount of mythical species, there are three other components that place the vampire diaries above twilight:
1. Acting: In the first film of Twilight's franchise the acting is stale, lifeless and dull, seemingly lacking any form of emotional depth, making you feel as though the characters are pretty much bland with little to no development. However, the vampire diaries have had some relatively decent acting since their first season, with nearly all of it's main cast receiving a great deal of character development as the series progressed. Of course in this case, diaries, has a clear advantage over twilight since it is a TV series versus a movie series. It's worth mentioning the reality of V.D.'s main cast only needing two and a half seasons to achieve character development versus Twilight's characters never receiving any over the course of five movies.
2. Vampire lore: In it's defense, Twilight has created a unique version of vampirism, daring to go for something different, but their version of vampires lack the gothic feel as well as dark tones of which all forms of bloodsuckers have been known for, making them appear to be watered down light weights. Removing this aspect takes away one of the central points of their creation, leaving them to be far less intimidating. In contrast to this, Vampire Diaries, has been more faithful to the gothic atmosphere of vampire lore while being able to add their own unique spin to it. V.D. also presents itself with a more realistic approach in execution.
3. Characters and story: As previously stated, Vampire Diaries' most interesting aspect is the versatility it possesses in it's story structure, using a good amount of realism, blending old myths and legends with modern day themes, as well as jumping back and forth between character's past and present through the use of flashbacks. This method of story telling gives us a more interesting visual representation of events, making it a modern tale with trace elements of a period piece. In regards to the overall story of Twilight, much of it is very similar to it's TV series counterpart, but the weakest parts of the franchise are some of the same things that make V.D. a good show. Twilight's stories lack a great deal of versatility in the writing department, under utilizing any of the potentially great elements it may have. In a sense some of the aspects attributed to their vampires are pretty creative and imaginative, but it fails to make up for it's one dimensional storytelling. Given the fact Twilight has a considerably lighter tone than V.D., it doesn't hold the same level of maturity or realism that diaries has continued to display.
Characters in Twilight, particularly the main ones of the series, feel more like archetypes of a character instead of actual people; one exception to this might be Bella, who has come off as a naïve, desperate girl who makes ridiculously bad choices when it comes to a man. For example; even though Elena, Bella's TV series counterpart, plays the same type of roll in her respective series, she has shown noticeable differences in her resolve. Elena is more or less; smarter, stronger, and far more mentally stable having gone through much more losing parents at a young age unlike her movie counterpart. However they both share a few similar flaws and have made some seriously dumb choices. What makes Elena superior is her ability to realize her mistakes as well as admit to them in order to become a stronger woman.
In truth, both series do their best telling an almost identical tale about a woman's love for a vampire having significant differences made apparent in execution, but in the end what it really comes down to is which of the two is able to deliver a more believable performance, possesses better writing, and has more interesting, fully developed characters to entertain beyond a simple love triangle plot. In every single area presented, Vampire Diaries has proven itself to be the better of both series.
This has been another addition of Random, thanks for reading.
