78 Fun Facts About The Originals

The Originals is a spin-off of which series?

The Originals spun off from The Vampire Diaries, whose fourth-season episode 'The Originals' served as a backdoor pilot following Klaus Mikaelson away from Mystic Falls.

In which American city is The Originals set?

The Originals is set in New Orleans, where the Mikaelsons helped build the French Quarter centuries earlier and where Klaus returns to reclaim control of the city.

On which network did The Originals air?

The Originals aired on The CW, which moved its premiere up to early October 2013 so the new show could follow the parent series' fifth-season opener.

Who plays Klaus Mikaelson?

Morgan later reprised Klaus in the final season of Legacies.

How many seasons of The Originals were made?

The Originals ran for 5 seasons, from 2013 to 2018; its creator announced at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2017 that the fifth would be the last.

How many episodes of The Originals aired in total?

The Originals aired 92 episodes in all, running from its October 2013 premiere to its series finale on August 1, 2018.

Who created The Originals?

Unlike The Vampire Diaries, this spin-off was overseen by Plec alone with no involvement from Kevin Williamson.

What is the name of Klaus and Hayley's daughter?

Klaus and Hayley's daughter is Hope, born at the end of season 1 and handed to Rebekah to hide after her death was faked.

What kind of supernatural being is Klaus?

Klaus is a vampire-werewolf hybrid: Esther conceived him in an affair with a werewolf, so when she turned her children into vampires his wolf side awoke with his first kill.

The Mikaelson family are known as 'the Originals' for what reason?

They were the first vampires ever to exist: about a thousand years ago their mother Esther cast the immortality spell that turned her children, and every vampire since descends from their sire lines.

Who is Klaus's former protégé and adoptive son who rules the French Quarter when the Mikaelsons return?

Marcel Gerard, the boy Klaus rescued and raised before turning him, declared himself king of the French Quarter after the Mikaelsons fled Mikael's attack on the city.

What is the title of the first episode of The Originals season 1?

'Always and Forever', named for the Mikaelson siblings' vow, is the season 1 premiere; it retells the backdoor pilot's events from Elijah's point of view as he tracks Klaus to the city.

On what date did the backdoor pilot for The Originals air as an episode of the parent series?

The backdoor pilot aired on April 25, 2013 as the parent series' fourth-season episode 'The Originals', revealing that Hayley was pregnant with Klaus's child.

Who is Elijah Mikaelson's actor?

Gillies was simultaneously under contract for the Canadian medical drama Saving Hope and kept doing both shows.

Which actress plays Rebekah Mikaelson?

Holt left the main cast in season 1 but returned as a special guest star through the finale.

Phoebe Tonkin plays which character?

Phoebe Tonkin plays Hayley Marshall, who is pregnant with Klaus's child when the series begins; Tonkin introduced the character on the parent series in 2012.

Before she became a hybrid, what species was Hayley at the start of the show?

Hayley was a werewolf of the Crescent pack; she became a hybrid in the season 1 finale after dying with her newborn daughter's blood in her system.

What is the name of Leah Pipes's bartender character who becomes involved with Klaus?

Camille O'Connell, the Rousseau's bartender and psychology student, inherited her uncle Father Kieran's cache of dark objects and became Klaus's confidante.

The young Harvest witch played by Danielle Campbell is how old at the start of the series?

Danielle Campbell's Harvest witch is 16 when the series begins, hidden in the attic of St. Anne's church after escaping the Harvest ritual's sacrifice.

Riley Voelkel plays which long-lost Mikaelson sibling?

Riley Voelkel plays Freya, the eldest Mikaelson, taken by Esther's sister as a child; the role recurred in season 2 before she became a regular in season 3.

Which actress plays the teenage Hope Mikaelson in season 5?

Danielle Rose Russell took over as the teenage Hope in season 5 and went on to lead the Salvatore School spin-off for four seasons.

Who plays young Hope in season 4?

Summer Fontana played the school-age Hope for all of season 4, after the infant Hope of seasons 1-3 had been played by uncredited babies.

Which witch is possessed by Finn Mikaelson in season 2?

Vincent Griffith, a witch played by Yusuf Gatewood, is possessed by Finn for much of season 2, until Finn is expelled and Vincent regains his body.

Kol Mikaelson spends season 2 in the body of which young witch?

Kol spends season 2 in the body of Kaleb Westphall, a young witch played by Daniel Sharman, after Esther brings her sons back in borrowed bodies.

Who is the Mikaelson siblings' aunt, the season 2 villain who claims the firstborn of every generation?

Dahlia, played by Claudia Black, is Esther's elder sister and a witch of immense power who held the eldest Mikaelson child captive for a thousand years.

Who is Lucien Castle, the season 3 arrival?

Lucien Castle was the first vampire sired by Klaus, turned in 1002 while the family hid in a French castle where he was a servant; he brings the prophecy of a fall by friend, foe and family.

Which season 3 character was Klaus's first love and the first vampire sired by Rebekah?

Aurora's brother Tristan was Elijah's first sired vampire, and the two work with Lucien against the family.

What is The Strix in The Originals?

The Strix is an ancient secret society of vampires founded by Elijah a millennium ago; in season 3 its leader Tristan and lieutenant Aya recruit Marcel into its ranks.

Which parent-show character comes to the French Quarter in season 3, fleeing the hunter Rayna Cruz?

Stefan Salvatore crossed over in the season 3 episode 'A Streetcar Named Desire' (2016), hunted by Rayna Cruz, whose Phoenix Sword had marked him.

Which Mikaelson brother dies in season 3 after Lucien bites him?

Finn is bitten by Lucien, whose upgraded venom can kill an Original, and dies in the season 3 episode 'Behind the Black Horizon' despite his siblings' efforts.

How much time passes between the end of season 3 and the start of season 4?

Season 4 opens five years after the season 3 finale, with Klaus held captive beneath Marcel's compound and Hayley spending those years hunting a cure for his siblings.

What is the name of the ancient evil spirit that menaces the family in season 4?

The Hollow is the ancient spirit of a witch murdered by her own tribe, whose remains were split into four bones; freed in season 4, it seeks rebirth through Klaus's daughter.

In season 4, the family learns the ancient evil created the first of which species?

The Hollow's tribe cursed the warriors who killed her to become the first werewolves, the line from which Hayley's own Crescent pack descends.

How old is Hope in the fifth and final season?

Hope is 15 in the final season, a boarding student at the Salvatore School for the Young and Gifted who has not seen her father in years.

In season 5, why must the Mikaelson siblings stay apart from one another?

At the end of season 4 the Hollow was split four ways among the siblings, so each holds a piece of the Hollow; whenever they reunite its dark magic surges and spreads chaos.

Which past love of Klaus from the parent series appears in season 5 as co-founder of the Salvatore School?

Caroline Forbes, played by Candice King, returns in season 5 as co-founder of the Salvatore School, where she has enrolled Klaus's daughter.

How do Klaus and Elijah die in the series finale?

Their deaths destroy the Hollow for good, and their ashes spread across New Orleans.

What is the title of the series finale of The Originals?

'When the Saints Go Marching In', aired August 1, 2018, is the series finale, sharing its title with the jazz standard long associated with the show's home city.

In the finale, Rebekah is promised what so she can finally live a human life?

Klaus arranges for Rebekah to receive the cure to vampirism so she can grow old as a human, and she finally accepts Marcel's marriage proposal.

How does Hayley die in season 5?

She had first ripped off Greta's finger with the daylight ring on it.

What is Hayley's birth name?

Hayley was born Andréa Labonair, a daughter of the Crescent pack's royal Labonair line; her own daughter's middle name, Andrea, honours it.

What is the name of the spin-off centred on Hope Mikaelson at the Salvatore School?

Legacies follows Klaus's daughter at the Salvatore School for the Young and Gifted; it ran for four seasons, from October 2018 to June 2022.

Matt Davis reprises which character as head of the Salvatore School in the later spin-off?

Matt Davis returns as Alaric Saltzman, the former Mystic Falls history teacher and vampire hunter who became headmaster of the Salvatore School, first visiting the Mikaelsons in the season 4 finale.

Which season 5 Originals character is Hope's human friend working at the Mystic Grill?

Landon Kirby, played by Aria Shahghasemi, is a busboy at the Mystic Grill who befriends Hope in season 5 before becoming her boyfriend in the later spin-off.

What was the 2014 web series that explored Kol Mikaelson's past in 1914 called?

'The Originals: The Awakening' was a four-part web series released in late 2014, following Kol in 1914 as he works with witches to create dark objects.

Which of these is one of the three tie-in novels written by the series creator?

The trilogy is The Rise, The Loss and The Resurrection, starting in January 2015.

In 2014 the actor who plays Klaus won Favorite Actor in a New Series at which ceremony?

The 2014 People's Choice Awards, a fan-voted ceremony held that January in Los Angeles, gave Klaus's actor the Favorite Actor in a New TV Series award.

The Originals earned a 2014 Emmy nomination in which category?

The Originals was nominated for Outstanding Hairstyling for a Single-Camera Series at the 2014 Creative Arts Emmys, recognising the period looks of its flashback sequences.

Who composed the music for The Originals?

Michael Suby composed the score for The Originals, having already scored the parent series, and went on to score the Salvatore School spin-off as well.

In which Georgia city was The Originals filmed from 2013 to 2018?

The Originals was shot in Conyers, Georgia, east of Atlanta, where a full-scale French Quarter backlot stood in for the show's setting throughout its run.

Roughly how many million viewers watched the series premiere on October 3, 2013?

The premiere drew 2.21 million viewers, benefiting from its lead-in from the parent show's fifth-season opener on the same night.

What is the name of the Mikaelson family's compound in the French Quarter?

The Mikaelsons' French Quarter home is the Abattoir, a walled compound with an inner courtyard that served as the vampires' seat of power before Klaus reclaimed it in season 1.

Who returned Mikael, the Mikaelsons' vampire-hunting father, from the dead at the end of season 1?

Davina resurrected Mikael with the Ancestors' power in the season 1 finale, binding him to a bracelet she controls and hiding him in the church attic.

Who plays Mikael?

Roché reprised the role from The Vampire Diaries season 3.

Who is Klaus's biological father, resurrected by Esther in season 2?

Klaus kills him again when Ansel reveals he knows Hope is alive.

Whom does Hayley marry in season 2 in a ritual that shares her hybrid ability with the Crescent pack?

Hayley marries Jackson Kenner, the Crescent pack's alpha, in a Unification ritual that extends her hybrid control over transformation to the whole pack.

Who was Josh Rosza's boyfriend in season 2, whose murder was staged to look like Klaus's work?

Aiden, a Crescent werewolf, was Josh's boyfriend; Esther's sister killed him in season 2 and framed Klaus, and the two reunite in the afterlife when Josh dies in season 5.

Marcel gained the power to defeat the Originals at the end of season 3 by taking what?

Marcel drank Lucien's serum, a potion that turns its taker into an upgraded Original whose bite can kill the Mikaelsons; Elijah killed him without knowing.

At the end of season 4, where is Elijah when Klaus finds him playing piano in a bar?

Klaus finds Elijah in Manosque, France, a small town in Provence, playing piano in a bar with no memory of his family after having his memories erased.

What is the real name of the season 4 villain, the ancient spirit that possesses Sofya and then Hope?

The spirit's true name is Inadu, a witch born with immense power whose own tribe killed her; Blu Hunt played her once she was resurrected in physical form.

Which actor plays Lucien Castle in season 3?

Andrew Lees played Lucien Castle throughout season 3, arriving in the premiere 'For the Next Millennium' as a charming old acquaintance of Klaus.

Where do Kol and his wife live at the start of season 5?

At the start of season 5 Kol and his wife are living in Belize, far from the family, having married after he proposed with a ring cut in San Francisco.

Who does Freya marry in the final season?

Freya marries Keelin, the doctor and last of the Malraux pack whom she once held captive, in season 5; the wedding takes place in the episode 'Til the Day I Die'.

Which Mikaelson falls for the vampire purist Antoinette during the season 5 time jump?

Elijah, stripped of his memories, spends the years between seasons 4 and 5 with Antoinette Sienna, and learns of her family's purist agenda only after his memories return.

Where was the actor who plays Klaus born?

Klaus's actor was born in London in 1981, though his family moved to Swansea when he was a boy; he trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama.

The actor who plays Elijah grew up in which country?

He was born in Winnipeg but moved to New Zealand at age five.

The actresses who play Rebekah and Hayley first co-starred on which Australian series?

The two actresses first shared the screen as teenage mermaids on H2O: Just Add Water (2006-2008), before both joined the parent series and then The Originals.

Which Originals cast member, of Filipino descent, later played Special Agent Quentin Carter on CBS?

Charles Michael Davis, whose mother is from Manila and father from Kentucky, later played Special Agent Quentin Carter on a CBS NCIS spin-off from 2019 to 2021.

Danielle Campbell married which former Originals co-star in 2025?

Woodell played Josh's boyfriend Aiden in season 2.

Nathaniel Buzolic, who plays Kol, is from which country?

Nathaniel Buzolic is from Australia, born in Sydney, and hosted the Nine Network's late-night quiz show The Mint before moving into American television.

How many episodes did each of the final two seasons of The Originals have?

Seasons 4 and 5 each ran 13 episodes, both airing as shortened midseason entries, in 2017 and 2018.

Marcel was born into what circumstances before Klaus took him in?

Marcel was born a slave on a plantation near the city; in 1820 Klaus saved the boy from a whipping, named him Marcellus and raised him before turning him.

In what year did the Mikaelsons flee the city, leaving Marcel to declare himself king?

The family fled in 1919, the night Mikael burned down the city's opera house and nearly caught them; Marcel, presumed dead in the fire, stayed behind.

Which witch possesses Sabine Laurent's body in season 1 and is one of Elijah's greatest loves?

Celeste DuBois, Elijah's lover in the 1820s, was drowned by witch hunters; her spirit body-jumped for two centuries and wore Sabine Laurent's body in season 1.

Who directed the first episode of season 1?

Chris Grismer directed the season 1 premiere, having already directed the backdoor pilot episode of the parent series earlier that year.

Where does Freya keep her sleeping siblings' minds at the end of season 3?

Freya cast a Chambre de Chasse spell, sealing her siblings' minds in a shared dreamscape anchored to Klaus, whose daggered body kept them alive while Hayley hunted a cure.

What is the name of Hayley's human boyfriend when season 5 begins?

Declan, an Irish chef at Rousseau's played by Torrance Coombs, is Hayley's boyfriend at the start of season 5, unaware of the supernatural world around her.

Instead of a traditional pilot, how long was the Legacies presentation Julie Plec delivered to The CW?

The spin-off was ordered to series on May 11, 2018, with Matt Davis starring alongside Aria Shahghasemi and Quincy Fouse.