Supernatural vs. The Vampire Diaries

Inspired by Zap2it's Debate Club Duel: 'Supernatural' vs. 'The Vampire Diaries'

This is not a competition though, it’s more like a parallel between the shows.

We have two brothers whose names happen to have the same initials: Dean and Sam (SPN) and Damon and Stefan (TVD).

Big Brothers:

I did a whole case study focused on Dean and Damon so I’m not gonna repeat all that. Not much has changed since.

Little Brothers:

SPN – College education. Bad hair. Never quite knows where he stands and who to trust. Full of good intentions.

TVD – College education. Highschool education. Decent hair. Vegetarian. Oops, sorry, wrong movie. Knows what he’s capable of and can control it most of the times.

Brotherly bond:

SPN – Dean sold his soul to bring his brother back. Sam would do anything to protect Dean, or at least he would try.

TVD – There’s still some reluctance, but they got each others’ back. Stefan didn’t kill Damon when he had the chance, and Damon gave up on his new found love because Stefan loves her too, so I guess this has to count for something, right?

Love life:

SPN – Dean is quite the ladies’ man, but once he finds someone who he loves he lets her go in order to protect her. Sam lost the one girl he loved, and all the others died too. Except for the hooker, but that’s understandable.

TVD – Damon loved Katherine for 140 years and it turned out she never loved him back. Now he’s in love with Elena and he knows he doesn’t stand a chance. It doesn’t help the fact that he used to shag everything that moved. Stefan also loved Katherine, but it’s her who claims she loved him all this time. For now he has Elena’s love, still there are hints that this might change in the future. I’m feeling sorry for everyone around plus the ones above.

Addictions:

SPN – Sam’s been hooked on demon blood for a long time.

TVD – As awkward as it might sound Stefan has a problem with people blood.

Crying:

SPN – In all the history of television, there were never other guys to cry so much.

TVD – Damon and Stefan only cried once and each time they broke our hearts.

Shirtless scenes:

SPN – Rare, but when it happens it’s worth it.

TVD – Damon’s a bit of an exhibitionist, Stefan less so. I prefer Dean and Damon’s looks because they don’t look like they spend every free moment in the gym. Still give me the guys in a tux and I’ll take them over the shirtless look any day.

Fathers:

SPN – John Winchester really did a number on his boys with the life he put them through.

TVD – Papa Salvatore shot his boys. I don’t know which is worse.

Mothers:

SPN – Dead, but young Mary was quite awesome.

TVD – Absent, presumptively dead. It’s not hard to notice that none of the living ‘mother’ is good parenting material, neither Jenna, Liz, Carol, Isobel or Matt’s mom. Maybe that’s why everybody is so screwed up.

Third sibling:

SPN – Adam is the half-brother who has been dead all along and took Dean’s place in the end. Boo-hoo!

TVD – None that we’re aware of, but there’s this real life Defan brother who would fit right in. Can I have him instead? I mean he’s got blond hair, blue eyes and that Somerhalder trademark smirk, and since it was only a Halloween costume it means he’s not a vampire, duh!

Closest family member left alive:

SPN – Bobby, and a nice character he is when he’s not all whiny and bitchy, did a better job than their father did.

TVD – Aunt Jenna is more like a clueless butterfly flying around without a care in the world.
Protective gears:

SPN – How about pentagram tattoos and rib branding? Rifles with salt, Colt and knives that can kill angels and demons, and if everything else fails… God.

TVD – Big tacky rings, but at least they work, necklaces and charm bracelets. Vervain. Stakes. Fangs. Come to think of it, the Winchesters should get a hold of some Gilbert rings and give God a break.

Transportation:

SPN – The ’67 Chevy Impala is a star on its own. It should be mentioned in the credits or something.

TVD – Personally, I’d prefer Damon’s ’67 Chevy Camaro. Well, it’s blue, it’s convertible, no one lived in it, and there’d be no problem for Damon to get another one, while Dean would probably just shoot whoever gets anywhere near his beloved Impala.

Flashbacks:

SPN – The writers are greedy when it comes to flashbacks, maybe because they favor full episodes, but they are all great.

TVD – Flashbacks are like pieces of the puzzle helping our understanding of the characters and the plot to progress. We want more.

Lead females:

SPN – What’s that?

TVD – Ah, Elena… she knows where she stands, she know what she wants, and she not just once saved the day. We need more characters like her.

Secondary female characters:

SPN – There were some girls called Ellen, Jo, Bella, season 3 Ruby… All dead, all gone. Sigh. So far only Lisa managed to stay alive and she’s out of the picture too.

TVD – Caroline and Bonnie are all for girl power and really can kick ass. Rose also looks promising.

Side kicks:

SPN – Castiel is hilarious with his attempts of humor and lack of one. Given that he’s currently the ruler in Heaven it would probably come in handy to have him on your side, even if it would require Dean to call him and make him listen in order to get some help. Hey, maybe that’s not such a bad idea…

TVD – Alaric has some cool gadgets and a cool ring, unfortunately he’s kinda underused lately.

Drama:

SPN – It’s the end of the world, people, or at least it was until this season. Not sure what’s going on now. If the writers have figured it out, please let me know.

TVD – Two vampire brothers in love with the same human girl. It can’t get more complicated than that, though for the life of me I will never understand why a 100+ years old vampire would fall for a 17 years old girl.
Humor:

SPN – Not often but when they do it it’s impossible not to roll on the floor laughing. Yellow Fever or Changing Channels everyone?

TVD – Small dozes in each episode to keep them light.

Best one liners:

SPN – Dean has the monopoly in that department.

TVD – Damon must have compelled the writers to give him the best lines.

Journals:

SPN – I’m still waiting for Sam to fill a database with the content of John’s journal in order to make the info more accessible and hand over that said journal to a museum.

TVD – Keeping a journal seems to be quite fashionable in Mystic Falls. Elena and Stefan seem to have stopped writing in theirs after they got together.

Supernatural creatures:

SPN – John Winchester left a journal full of well documented creatures and the one he hadn’t heard about Bobby probably knows of.

TVD – Vampires and werewolves for now, but there’s plenty of room for more.

Vampires:

SPN – The boys fought vampires a couple of times and, men, they were ugly. Still Dean as a vampire was kinda hot.

TVD – Main heroes and antagonists are vampires so… yeah.

Werewolves:

SPN – They had one and, of course, they killed it. Because it was a her and she had dared to sleep with Sam. It makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?

TVD – They had one too and they killed it. Now they have a pup.

Witches:

SPN – There was an episode focused on witches, a rather lame one. The boys are using spells and charms all the time.

TVD – Bree, Bonnie, Lucy… is every which black in TVD universe?

Ghosts:

SPN – Tons. Creepy children were really… creepy.

TVD – Emily Bennet.

Killed too soon characters:

SPN – Any female character that ever was on this show.

TVD – Pearl and Anna. I really liked them and felt they could have been put to better use than be mere plot devices.

Characters who should have died but keep kicking:

SPN – I’m drawing a blank here, but I’m sure there has to be at least one character that annoyed the hell out of me.

TVD – Uncle John, hands down.

Characters who just wouldn’t stay dead:

SPN – Dean and Sam died more times than you can count and they visited both Heaven and Hell. Castiel and Bobby died too and were brought back. The rest are just dispensable.

TVD – Let’s see… Alaric, Uncle John, Jeremy, Caroline, Mason. It seems like it’s really hard to die in this show if you’re a regular.
Villains:

SPN – Sorry, but Sam was a better Lucifer than Lucifer, if you know what I mean. Lilith was creepy and showed potential, but the real baddie was Alistair.

TVD – Damon started as the main villain in the beginning, then as he softened up he was replaced by the tomb vampires. Then Katherine showed up. The thing is Damon mostly killed for fun or protection, the tomb vampire were about brutal force, while Katherine kills with a plan and that’s really scary. It makes you wonder how much worse can be the person she’s afraid of.

Gore:

SPN – Well, it’s a horror series, so there’s a little bit, sometimes a little more, gore in each episode. I don’t like it, and I could very well do without it, thank you very much.

TVD – It does gore in small dosages mostly to make a point and for shock value.

Torture:

SPN – We have lead torturer Dean, who got his training in Hell, it can’t get better than that. Him torturing Alistair still sends chills down my spine.

TVD – I know most people mention Mason being tortured, but let’s not forget Damon being repeatedly shot at and being set on fire ‘cause that’s torture too.

Plot:

SPN – I’m sure the writers had an idea for the plot in the beginning, but given the MOTW format of the series you can only at seldom catch a glimpse of it. It’s frustrating to see characters taking ages to evolve even a little bit and be forced to deal with problems that should have been solved like two seasons ago.

TVD – I’m impressed by the fast pace of the show and all the twists and turns they throw at us. It just keeps running and running like the energizer bunny and never slows down to catch your breath, and I love that. This is the main reason why I watch the show (did I mention I don’t like vampires?), beside the brothers’ relationship and the hoot character that is Damon.

Season arch:

SPN – It does have a season arch, though it’s not always reasonably solved. The cliffhanger at the end of each season is terribly annoying most of the time. The only season finale I liked was from season 2. It was the least depressing.

TVD – I’m sure the writers see a season arch somewhere in there, but it’s not so obvious to bug you. The story flows nicely from one point to the next and the one finale we saw so far didn’t leave us cursing the writers and wanting for the summer to end.

Photography:

SPN – Except for the meta episodes, which tend to be pretty colorful, the visuals are usually dark and somber.

TDV – Lots of colors and nice shots, not depressing at all, whee!

Music:

SPN – Classic Rock rocks and “Carry On My Wayward Son” will always have a special place in my heart, but those moment are very rare, especially lately.

TVD – While listening to the TVD soundtrack on repeat could put you in a deep depression, it did bring to my attention about two dozens of good sons I wouldn’t have heard of otherwise.

Costumes:

SPN – Let’s face it, the boys own one bag of clothes, while Castiel has only the clothes on his back. Not much diversity there, is it?

TVD – Many parties, which means lots of tuxes and evening dresses, whether they are contemporary or from the 1800 flashbacks. But this put aside, Katherine’s wardrobe alone is to die for.

Sets:

SPN – The boys travel from town to town all over the US. That could make for some interesting sights, still we mostly see interior of motel rooms, bars, hospitals, morgues, police stations and dark and creepy, abandoned warehouses. By now we’ve seen just as many internal organs as a student would in medical school. We did catch a glimpse of Hell, that was most disturbing, but Heaven was… not what we would have expected.

TVD – With so many parties and community events going on, there’s plenty of nice sets worth checking out. The Salvatore Boarding House is a gem by itself. I mean, did you see that library? I so wanna move in there. Not to mention the fireplaces, chandeliers and antique furniture. And we still have to see Damon’s room. Hmm, I wonder what’s gonna be in there. Moths and coffins? I bet not! He has so much better taste than that.

OK, I’m wrapping up here, this was one long post and I blame @cadlymack for it.

I hope you enjoyed and feel free to disagree.