The Originals (TV series)

The Originals is an American supernatural drama television series. It is a spin-off of The Vampire Diaries and the first television series expansion of the franchise based on its parent series. The series follows vampire-werewolf hybrid Klaus Mikaelson as he and his family become embroiled in the supernatural politics of the French Quarter of New Orleans.

It began airing on the CW on October 3, 2013. On July 20, 2017, it was announced by series creator Julie Plec that the series' fifth season would be its last. The final season began airing in April 2018 and finished on August 1, 2018.

The Originals, a spin-off of The Vampire Diaries, centers on three of the Mikaelson siblings: Klaus, Elijah, and Rebekah. The Mikaelson family, also commonly known as "the Originals" because they are the first vampires ever to exist, born as witches from their mother Esther Mikaelson. Klaus is the son of a witch and a werewolf and an original vampire, and his quest to unleash his hybrid nature was detailed in The Vampire Diaries. He is the half-brother to his siblings, with Esther having had an affair with a werewolf. Hence he is a hybrid and the others are not. The other siblings are Mikael's children. The backdoor pilot, "The Originals", which aired on April 25, 2013, also revealed that the werewolf Hayley, with whom Klaus had a drunken one-night stand in season 4 of The Vampire Diaries, is pregnant with his child, the first ever tribrid. Elijah, Klaus, Rebekah and Hayley are all introduced in The Vampire Diaries, alongside Klaus' other siblings - Kol and Finn, and parents Esther and Mikael.