| “ | Every inch of this house is filled with memories of the people that I loved that have died. My mom, my dad, Jeremy and Jenna, Alaric, John, even John. They're all dead. Everyone is dead. | ” |
— Elena while trying to burn the Gilbert house down in Stand By Me
| ||
The Gilbert Family is one of the main Founding Families in The Vampire Diaries. They seem to be a fairly wealthy family, possessing a house (formerly owned as of Stand By Me after Elena burnt it down), a small building, which was originally Grayson Gilbert's Office and a lake house. The Gilbert family has been linked to the Lockwood, Salvatore, Forbes and Fell families since the 1800's.
As of I Was Feeling Epic, Jeremy is the last living member of the Gilbert family with Elena's passing.
Family Members[]
- Johnathan Gilbert: Johnathan lived in Mystic Falls in the year 1864 and was part of the Founders' Council. Johnathan wrote a number of stories in journals about his life, including the existence of vampires. His descendants Jeremy, John, and Elena have also read his journals. He had two rings made that would protect the wearer from death by the supernatural - although the rings won't work on the supernatural even if they are essentially human (Doppelgängers) - and they were originally owned by John and Grayson Gilbert. After their deaths, Alaric Saltzman was the owner of one and Jeremy Gilbert is the owner of the other.
- Johnathan Gilbert's Unnamed Son: He was Johnathan's son. He was the father of Samantha Gilbert. Nothing is known about him or his character. He was a member of the Gilbert family.
- Christopher Gilbert: He is a member of the Gilbert family. Nothing is known about his character. He was first mentioned by Stefan Salvatore in Dead Man on Campus.
- Samantha Gilbert: Samantha was a young woman about 25 years old. She was smart and a beautiful brunette. She was one of the town's founding family members and appeared in flashbacks. She was killed by Damon Salvatore in 1912, but she wore a Gilbert Ring, so she was revived, but in 1922, she confessed committing a series of unsolved murders - similar to Alaric Saltzman in the present day who was corrupted by the darkness brought on by his ring - and was locked in an asylum, where she died while attempting to give herself a lobotomy and bled to death on the floor in her cell.
- Grayson Gilbert: Grayson was Jeremy's biological father, Elena's adoptive father and biological uncle. He was the doctor, who helped Isobel Flemming give birth. Later, he and his wife Miranda adopted the baby. He was involved in a car accident on 23 May 2009 and drowned after going over Wickery Bridge. He was a member of the town's council along with his wife Miranda. Grayson was a member of the Augustine society.
- Miranda Sommers-Gilbert: Miranda was Jeremy's biological mother, Elena's adoptive mother and aunt by marriage. She drowned after going over Wickery Bridge along with her husband Grayson Gilbert on May 23, 2009. She was the older sister of Jenna Sommers and a resident of Mystic Falls, Virginia. She was a member of the town's council.
- John Gilbert: John was Elena adoptive uncle, Jeremy's biological uncle, and Elena's biological father. In his teenage years, John learned about the vampires that had once threatened Mystic Falls from his brother, Grayson, whom he held in high regard and looked up to greatly. Later on, in his teen years, he met and fell in love with Isobel Flemming. Isobel told John that she was pregnant and John brought her to his brother, Grayson, who was a doctor, so that she could give birth to her daughter, Elena. Isobel left Elena in the good hands of Grayson and his wife Miranda, who didn't know that John was actually Elena's biological father.
- Elena Gilbert: Elena was born in Mystic Falls, Virginia. Elena was adopted by Grayson Gilbert, her biological uncle and his wife Miranda, her adoptive mother and aunt by marriage. Aunt Jenna, who was her and Jeremy's legal guardian. Her actual mother was Isobel Flemming, who was a descendant of the Petrova bloodline, including Katerina Petrova and Tatia. She is the daughter of John Gilbert, Grayson's younger brother. Like the rest of the Gilberts, Elena is also a descendant of Johnathan Gilbert and Samantha Gilbert. She was turned to a vampire by Damon's blood when she died driving off the Wickery Bridge. She later took the Cure making her human again in I'd Leave My Happy Home For You. Eventually she would live a long and happy life, married to Damon Salvatore, until they both passed away and found peace.[1]
- Jeremy Gilbert: Jeremy is a medium and a supernatural hunter who lives in Mystic Falls with his older adoptive sister and biological cousin Elena. He is the biological son of Grayson and Miranda Gilbert and the biological nephew of Jenna Sommers and John Gilbert. Like the rest of the Gilberts, Jeremy is a descendant of Johnathan Gilbert and Samantha Gilbert. He was a member of The Five until he was killed by Silas in Down the Rabbit Hole. He returned as a ghost in The Walking Dead, saving Elena from being killed by a vengeful Kol, however he was resurrected by Bonnie in Graduation.
Relatives[]
- Isobel Flemming: Isobel was Elena's biological mother. She was married to Alaric Saltzman, Elena's stepfather and Elena and Jeremy's guardian. She became a vampire after being turned by Damon Salvatore in 2007. Isobel gave birth to Elena when she was 16, with the help of Grayson Gilbert, John Gilbert's older brother. Grayson and his wife Miranda then chose to adopt Elena. She later kills herself after being compelled by Klaus, by ripping off her Lapis Lazuli necklace and burning in the sun.
- Jenna Sommers: Jenna was Miranda's younger sister, Jeremy's and Elena's legal guardian until her death. She was the sister-in-law to Grayson Gilbert. She was Jeremy's biological aunt and Elena's adoptive aunt. Jenna was killed by Klaus as part of a sacrifice ritual needed to break the hybrid curse placed on Klaus. She knew nothing of the supernatural or vampires until she was killed by Klaus and turned into a vampire shortly before her death.
- Paul Sommers:[2] Paul was possibly related to Jenna or Miranda though nothing is known about him. It is assumed that he was human.
- Damon Salvatore: Damon is Elena Gilbert's husband. Damon was a 178 year old vampire who was injected with The Cure by his brother, Stefan Salvatore, who previously dated Elena. As a human, Damon married Elena and they lived a long and happy life together.
Family Tree[]
| Christopher Gilbert † |  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Unnamed Sommers Parents |  | Petrova Family | Saltzman Family | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |  |  |  Gilbert † |  Flemming † |  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | Salvatore Family | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |  Salvatore | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- Note: Dashed lines indicate a span of unknown time between generations of family members. Free floating members of the family have yet to be identified as to how they are connected within the family tree, but they have been confirmed to be from the Gilbert family.
Name[]
- Gilbert is a name of Norman-French origin, itself from Germanic Gisilberht or Gisalberht. Original spellings included Gislebert, Guilbert and Gilebert. The first element, Gil-, comes from Germanic gīsil, meaning "shaft of an arrow" or gisal "pledge, hostage", while the second element, -bert comes from Germanic -behrt, short form of beraht, meaning "bright" or "famous".
- Other spellings and variations of the name Gilbert include Gib, Gibb, Gil, Gilberto, Gilburt, Giselbert, Giselberto, Giselbertus, Guilbert, Gilbirt, Gilbyrt, Gilbart, Gilibeirt, Giliburt, Gilibert, Gilibirt, Gilleabart, Guilbert, Guilbirt, Guilburt.
Trivia[]
- In the books the only members known are Thomas Gilbert, Elizabeth Gilbert, Elena Gilbert, Margaret Gilbert and Aunt Judith Gilbert.
- Every member of the Gilbert family has died, though Elena and Jeremy were resurrected by Olivia Parker and Bonnie Bennett, respectively.
- Christopher Gilbert was mentioned by Stefan Salvatore in Dead Man on Campus.
References[]
- ↑ Flash-forward in I Was Feeling Epic reveals that they both died.
- ↑ See Paul's Tombstone