Kol Mikaelson

General Information
Kol is the third son of Mikael and Esther. He is the younger brother of Freya Mikaelson, Finn Mikaelson, Elijah Mikaelson and older brother of Rebekah Mikaelson and Henrik Mikaelson. Kol is the younger half-brother of Niklaus Mikaelson and the uncle of Hope Mikaelson.

Throughout his life, Kol has emotionally struggled with his status as the black sheep of the family, and the belief that his siblings considered him to be more of a nuisance than their brother and as such, Kol often lashed out violently and boldly, earning him a dangerous reputation and on occasion, the ire of his siblings. In reality however, his behavior is revealed to be simple cries for attention.

Kol is menacing, unpredictable, dangerous, wicked, cheeky, somewhat unreasonable and cocky to a fault. He can quickly go from being a respectful gentleman to direct and aggressive. When Kol is presented to Carol Lockwood, he greets her with dignity and charm, but when Damon Salvatore is introduced to Kol, he speaks to him very condescendingly. Kol patronizes his siblings often, challenging them with snark and contempt, especially Rebekah and Klaus, demonstrating his clear irreverence. He enjoys breaking the rules, and is naturally very defiant; Finn even aptly describes him as being the wildest one in the family. Kol is also not short on ego, a fact Klaus has remarked on, and considers himself to be "handsome". Additionally, Kol comes across as a playboy and hedonist, seemingly taking great pleasure in his vampire nature. One of Kol's defining characteristics is his vindictiveness. Much like Klaus, Kol does not hesitate to get retribution on those who have caused him harm; plotting for decades against both Klaus and Rebekah for sleights that caused him pain. Kol does not forgive easily, though may pretend to further his goals of vengeance.

As a vampire, Kol finds child-like enjoyment in his acts of violence, sometimes comparing them to games like hide and seek and believing that there is always time for games when he is told to take a situation seriously. A sadistic facet to Kol's character has also been shown such as when he compelled an acting troupe to murder each other while performing Hamlet just for his own entertainment. This example also illustrates his dark sense of humor, resulting in Elijah to opine that his brother has a "vile imagination". Later, in 1914, Kol callously slaughtered half a church parish, including a young alter boy, just to kill one woman who's house he needed to be able to enter. Kol had no regrets about the massacre, happily going to a family dinner soon after.

However, part of Kol missed being a witch. He missed the power that magic had given him and to make up for it, he turned to violence and mayhem, embracing his vampire nature. Kol's longing for his magic drove him to spend a lot of time over the centuries with witches, teaching them his extensive knowledge of spells and magic. Having his witch colleagues use a distinct form of magic, they were able to create curse objects, allowing him to, in a way, wield magic while being a vampire. It was later revealed that Kol hated being a vampire due to the blood lust and heightened emotions, and preferred being a witch because he finally got to be himself.

Despite his flaws he is shown to truly care for his family. However, due to not being included in the "always and forever" pact made by Klaus, Rebekah, and Elijah, Kol has always felt excluded and isolated from his siblings. His extremely violent and aggressive antics are a result of wanting attention from them. Once Marcel joined the family, Kol's jealousy and bitterness grew worse since Marcel seemed to take his spot in the family. When threatened by Rebekah, he was even shown to be ashamed of what his family had become, and was saddened that Elijah was so disgusted by their fighting. He also was upset by how quickly Rebekah seemed to move on from his death when he returned from the Other Side. He has also stated his appreciation of witches, holding them in high esteem. He seems closest to Rebekah and Klaus, though he has stated he views some of Klaus' actions as "horrors". He along with the rest of his siblings (excluding Finn) seemed to look up to Elijah, seeing him as the noble one. However, Kol's violent, reckless, and impulsive nature often clashed with his family, despite really caring for them beneath his vain personality.

Like Klaus, Kol has a sense of honor as he will not go back on his word, however, like his half-brother, he will always look for loopholes in the deals he makes. Despite being intelligent and calculating, he is known to draw unwanted attention to himself.

Kol is shown to be genuinely intimidated and fearful of Silas. This stems from stories he used to be told when he was young about Silas and believes fully that Silas can't be stopped if he's unleashed. He would do anything to ensure that Silas would not come back, including disobeying Klaus' order to leave Jeremy Gilbert alone and even threatening his sister with the White Oak Stake. This seemingly irrational behavior over a legend made his siblings think his fear of Silas had driven him to paranoia and insanity. During a conversation with Elena, Kol further elaborated on his feelings about Silas. He said that he had faith in the immortal's existence unlike the rest of the world, which had lost faith in such things, now not knowing who they should fear.