“ | There I was, all alone on the Other Side, 'til Qetsiyah found me and reminded me of my supernatural destiny. Cure Silas, and then kill Silas. End of story. | ” |
— Galen to Damon in Graduation
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Galen Vaughn was a character who first appeared in the thirteenth episode of the fourth season of The Vampire Diaries. He was a supernatural vampire hunter and member of the Brotherhood of the Five, who didn't mind being on top of the food chain. Like his fellow member of the Five, Connor Jordan, Galen was very good at his job, and was known for using inventive gadgetry to hunt vampires.
Early History[]
At some point in his life, Galen received the Hunter's Mark and became a member of the Brotherhood of the Five. Galen hunted vampires for most of his life, though never enough to actually complete the tattoo on his arm. While hunting dens of vampires in Colorado, he was met by Katerina Petrova, who told him she could help him find Silas and fulfill his supernatural destiny. Already knowing about the Hunter's Mark and The Cure, she worked with Galen and told him about Silas' burial location. Newly inducted hunter Jeremy Gilbert completed his own Hunter's Mark (through his killing of Kol Mikaelson, an original vampire and consequently his entire sire line) and when he did, Galen's own mark completed and became visible to other people.
Throughout The Vampire Diaries Series[]
Season Four[]
On the island where the cure for vampirism was supposedly kept along with the ancient immortal, Silas, one of the islanders was killed by a hatchet to the back from an unseen assailant, which saved the newest member of the Five, Jeremy Gilbert, in the process. When Professor Atticus Shane, leading his own expedition to find Silas, discovered this, he questioned the witch ally he had brought along and was told that he had nothing to do with the attack. Damon Salvatore was also led to the island by Shane, along with Elena, Stefan, Jeremy, Bonnie, and Rebekah, and when he was off on a walk after a fight with Elena, he was taken by surprise by Galen, who shot him with an arrow before tackling him. In the struggle, Damon saw the Hunter's Mark on Galen's hand, discovering he was a member of the Five and realizing he couldn't kill him without risking receiving the Hunter's Curse. Because of this, Galen managed to gain the upper-hand and break Damon's neck.
In Down the Rabbit Hole, Galen held Damon captive, bound by vervain soaked ropes to a tree. While Damon was tied up, Galen revealed that he had been spying on them on the island and now knew all about the Salvatore brothers and Elena. To show his dominance over Damon, he began to stab him in the neck with the end of a stick. Soon after, he took Damon through the woods, leading him toward the location of Silas' tomb where the cure was kept, and explained that not long ago, presumably when Jeremy completed his Hunter's Mark by killing Kol Mikaelson and his entire vampire bloodline, Galen's tattoo completed itself as well. He then talked about how he was trying to fulfill the original mission of the Five, created by Qetsiyah's descendant, to find, cure, and then kill Silas. When Damon questioned if Galen had been the one to kill one of the natives who attacked Jeremy with a hatchet, he denied the claim, and when they stumbled upon the body of Massak soon after, Galen claimed he hadn't killed him, either.
Galen brought Damon to the entrance of the well where Silas was entombed to discover that Bonnie, Jeremy, and Shane had already entered. Damon broke free from his restraints and when Galen was prepared for yet another scuffle, Rebekah arrived. Well prepared to take on overwhelming odds, however, Galen was not at all caught off-guard, even knowing that only a White Oak Stake, which he did not have, could kill Rebekah. He settled for slowing her down, shooting her a few times before planting a stake-spiked bomb on her chest. He pulled the pin, setting it off and immobilizing Rebekah as the stake shrapnel imbedded into her chest. Damon tried once again to attack the hunter, but was warded off quickly when Galen pulled out one of the shotguns from his pack, which fired a vervain-laced bolo that wrapped itself around Damon's neck, tying him to a post.
Once Stefan arrived, Galen took the chance to bungee down the well, following Jeremy and Bonnie to the Tomb of Silas. The Cure could only be moved if Silas was given blood but Jeremy refused Bonnie's suggestion that they wake him, as he knew just how powerful Silas was. Galen suddenly appeared, stabbing Bonnie in the back from behind, and then forced his way past Jeremy so he could cut his own arm, raise Silas, and kill him. However, Jeremy fought back, and during their struggle, Galen reminded Jeremy that they were on the same team, berating him for wanting the cure for reasons like returning his vampire sister to human. However, Katherine arrived, disguised as Elena, and was ready to kill Galen until Jeremy reminded her of the Hunter's Curse she would inherit if she killed him, so Katherine chose to knock him out instead.
In Stand By Me, Rebekah and Damon were still on The Island, searching for Bonnie, when Galen attacked them, shooting Rebekah with his crossbow. When the vampires made moves to retaliate, Galen fled, but was captured by Damon and Rebekah. They tied him to a tree, but Galen remained calm as he reminding him that they couldn't kill him without gaining the Hunter's Curse, which would torment them forever. However, Rebekah assured him that they would simply torture him over and over, healing him with vampire blood before he could die so they could continue torturing him even more, which scared him into being more cooperative. Soon after, Damon realized that it couldn't be a coincidence that another supernatural hunter and Katherine were on the island at the same time that they all were.
Galen then confessed that he had learned about Silas' location from Katherine after she had found him hunting vampires in Colorado. He also let slip the fact that Katherine tracked down Hayley in New Orleans and convinced her to give her intel regarding what was going on in Mystic Falls. After giving up this information, he smiled at Rebekah, who picked him up and kept him bound as she returned him to the well at the entrance of Silas' former tomb. Galen, now fearful about the fact that Silas had risen again, tried to persuade Rebekah that the only smart thing to do was to use the cure on Silas at her first opportunity. Rebekah still wasn't convinced about how powerful Silas was, so Galen instructed her to look in his bag, where he had placed the mask that Silas had worn over his face while he was still desiccated, which he found in Silas' chamber. He reminded her that it's hard to find the devil when you've never seen his face, and insisted that it didn't matter what they did—if Silas was roaming free, they were all doomed.
In The Walking Dead, after having starved to death in the well on The Island, Galen's ghost appeared alongside Connor's and Alexander's in Mystic Falls after Bonnie activated the Expression Triangle and dropped the Veil to the Other Side within the boundaries of the triangle. Once their ghosts had returned, they confronted Rebekah and Matt outside of the Grill.
In Graduation, Galen went to the Salvatore Boarding House, shooting Damon with wooden bullets and demanding that they give him the Cure before handing over the recently-petrified Silas so that he could cure and kill the immortal and fulfill the mission of the Five.
He was then stopped by Stefan, who ripped out Galen's heart, but when Damon realized Vaughn's bullets had been dipped in werewolf venom, he discovered he was slowly dying. When Elena wanted to give Damon the cure to save him, he refused and gave it to Galen, telling him he'd bring him to Silas. Galen followed Damon to the cliff overlooking Steven's Quarry, but quickly realized Damon had been lying to him. Discovering Damon had been poisoned by the bullets, he furiously shot him a few more times for good measure and demanded Silas' true location. Just then, the ghost of Alaric Saltzman arrived and grabbed him, breaking his spine and throwing him off the cliff and into the quarry, though not before taking back the cure from around his neck.
Personality[]
Galen was an unrelenting individual who was always prepared for any situation he may face. He seemed to know a lot about the Brotherhood of the Five, since he was very dedicated to completing their true mission of curing and killing Silas, showing disdain for others who wanted to use the cure for their own purposes. He showed no fear in the face of extreme danger, such as when he was confronted by Rebekah. Instead, he demonstrated he already had a plan if something like this were to occur. Vaughn was willing to harm anyone who put themselves in the way of his mission, even Jeremy Gilbert, a fellow member of the Five, though he did state that it wasn't personal. He also stabbed Bonnie from behind, knowing how dangerous Witches can be. However, he exhibited fear for his own life after Katherine snuck up behind him and threatened to kill him, hinting that he could only keep up this impression of fearlessness for as long as he was prepared. This was shown once more when he was under threat of being tortured over and over by Rebekah, giving her and Damon the information they wanted to avoid torture after he had failed to kill them again.
Physical Appearance[]
Galen was a Scottish man in his late 20s with light hair and slight facial scruff. He was well-built physically like other members of the Five and was shown to be quite strong. While on the island, he wore hiking gear including a dark hiking vest with a gray shirt underneath. He kept many of his weapons in his backpack, including his shotguns, which he kept on the side pockets of the bag where he could easily draw them when needed. He was described as "ruggedly handsome, charming, built and tough as hell."
Powers and Abilities[]
Galen possessed all the standard powers of a human/member of the Brotherhood of the Five.
Weaknesses[]
Galen possessed all the standard weakness of a human/member of the Brotherhood of the Five.
Relationships[]
Damon Salvatore[]
- Main article: Damon and Galen
Galen and Damon became enemies on The Island when Galen ambushed him, breaking his neck and taking him captive. He kept Damon bound with a vervain-soaked rope and had learned all about him from spying on the group with whom Damon had gone to the island. They were very antagonistic toward one another, both chastising the other with sarcasm and attitude. When Damon finally got free and held Vaughn captive, the latter was unfazed, knowing that Damon would contract the Hunter's Curse if he killed Vaughn, only for Damon to point out that It'll be worth it.
Rebekah Mikaelson[]
Galen had an antagonistic relationship with Rebekah just as he did Damon. He first met her when he was with Damon at the opening of the well that led to Silas. She tried to kill him herself, but despite not having the white oak stake, Vaughn managed to neutralize her with a stake explosive that caught her off-guard. Later, after another failed ambush which involved Galen shooting Rebekah with his crossbow, she tied him up and threatened to torture him if he did not tell her about his alliance with Katherine Pierce. He ultimately gave into her demands, and after she tossed him back into the entrance of Silas' tomb, Galen pleaded for her to find The Cure and use it on Silas.
Jeremy Gilbert[]
Despite both being members of the Brotherhood of the Five, the two vampire hunters had opposing agendas. Jeremy wished to find the cure and use it to turn his sister Elena and his other vampire friends back into humans, while Vaughn wanted it to use on Silas so that he could kill him. Jeremy had gotten to the cure first with help from Bonnie Bennett, but Vaughn was close behind, stabbing Bonnie to get the threat of a witch out of the way. Jeremy, enraged by Vaughn's attempt to kill his friend, attacked Vaughn. Galen acknowledged that it wasn't anything personal but that Jeremy was just in his way when he overpowered him in the fight and was preparing to kill him.
Appearances[]
- Into the Wild
- Down the Rabbit Hole
- Stand By Me (Death Off-screen)
- The Walking Dead (Corporeal Ghost)
- Graduation (Corporeal Ghost)
Name[]
- Galen is a boy's name and is pronounced 'gay-len'. It is of Greek origin, and it means "calm".[1]
- Vaughn is a boy's name and is pronounced 'von'. It is of Welsh origin, and it means "little".[2]
Trivia[]
- Galen is member of the Brotherhood of the Five.
- Galen is the first character in the series to have a Scottish accent.
- The fact that Damon was able to see the tattoo on Galen's arm shows that Galen had already completed his Hunter's Mark. It was revealed that the mark suddenly completed itself (presumably when Jeremy completed his). The mark vanished when Jeremy's did as well, so apparently, when one of The Five's Hunter's Marks were completed, all of the marks of the rest of the members were completed as well.
- Like Alaric (initially) and Kol, Galen seems to be someone with whom Damon is particularly snarky and antagonistic. This probably has to do with meeting him on bad terms, just like he did with Ric and Kol.
- Ironically, the actor who plays Galen, Charlie Bewley, played one of the most dangerous vampires (Demetri) in the Twilight Saga, mainly for his formidable ability to track down his designated targets wherever they may be around the globe. However, unlike his former role, in The Vampire Diaries series, he played a vampire hunter, albeit one who is also exceptional at tracking due to his status as a hunter.
- Vaughn shares a similar passion to Kol when it comes to their personal crusades that they feel are their duties to complete. Vaughn was willing to harm people against whom he had no personal vendetta, simply because they risked interfering in his goal of curing and killing Silas (such as Jeremy and Bonnie). Kol, similarly, stated how he had no ill will towards Jeremy nor Bonnie, but was willing to harm them if it meant not allowing Silas to rise. Both Vaughn and Kol's missions involved Silas, with Kol wanting to prevent his awakening and Vaughn wanting him to wake just long enough to kill him.
- Vaughn is now a Ghost alongside Connor and Alexander, inferring he did indeed die on The Island, later confirmed when he explains that after being left on the island, he starved to death.
- While he was on the Other Side he met Qetsiyah, who sought him out to help him finish his mission while the Veil was down within the Expression Triangle.
- With the Other Side's collapse and destruction of Hell, he either found peace or went to a dimension similar to Hell, if one exists.
Quotes[]
Season Four[]
- (To Damon) "Ah! You're not taking me seriously. I don't blame ya. You don't know me. So, let me introduce myself. My name is Galen Vaughn, and you'd better start talkin'."
- (To Damon) "At the wishing well lies an entrance to a crypt. In the crypt lies Silas. And with Silas lies the cure, which will allow me to kill Silas, bringing the mission of the Brotherhood of the Five to an end. You're my leverage, Damon-- I use you to get your witch friend to open the passage to Silas' crypt for me."
- (To Jeremy) "Don't listen to the witch, boy. We have to raise Silas, and we have to do it now."
- (To Damon) "Torture me all you want. You can't kill me. The Hunter's Curse will torment you forever."
- (To Damon and Rebekah) "I was tracking dens of vampires across Colorado. Katherine found me, said she could help me find Silas. She already knew about the Hunter's Mark, The Cure..."
- (To Rebekah) "You know, if you're smart, you'll use the cure to kill Silas. You be careful up there, you know, 'cause he's up there, running about."
- (To Rebekah) "I found it in the chamber where he lay. They say no one has seen him. No one knows his face. How do you hide from the devil when you don't know what he looks like? Who knows? Maybe I'm him. Mark my words, if you don't use the cure to kill him, doesn't matter if you're human or vampire. You're doomed. We all are."
- (To Rebekah) "Good luck to ya, lass. You've all brought this upon yourselves! May you rot in it!"
Gallery[]
References[]
See also[]
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