Ben Van Helsing

Benjamin "Ben" Van Helsing II was a major recurring character and an antagonist of the first and second season of ''The Vampyre Diaries. ''He was Luke Van Helsing 's younger brother and is Lizzie Van Helsing's biological father. He met and fell in love with Isobela Garcia when she visited Liberty Falls before she turned into a vampire. After she turned, Ben left town for a while before coming back in Under Control. He was a member of the Town Council. Ben, along with Alaric Grayson, possesses a ring that prevents its bearer from being killed by something supernatural. Ben and Luke inherited these rings. Ben gave his ring to his first former lover Isobela who then gave it to Alaric, her husband.

After Luke Van Helsing died, Ben inherited his ring. When he first came back to Liberty Falls, he conspired with Isobela to destroy the tomb vampires under Katherine's orders. Around that time, Lizzie learned he was her biological father. After finishing his job, Katherine attempted to kill him, but failed and John left. A few months later, he returned with Isobela to help protect Lizzie from Klaus. After Klaus killed Lizzie, John sacrificed himself to bring her back to life, by which he needed a witch to bind his soul for her, so Clare offered to do the spell, for him to save his beloved daughter.

Ben was a member of the Van Helsing Family, a relative of the Pendragon Family and a member of the Town Council.

Early History
In his teenage years, Ben learned about the vampires that had once threatened Liberty Falls from his older brother, Luke, whom he held in high regard. Later on, he met and fell in love with Isobela Garcia and they went out a couple of times. One day, Isobela told him she was pregnant and Ben brought her to Luke so that she could give birth to a daughter, Lizzie. Isobela left Lizzie in the good hands of Luke and his wife Miranda, who didn't know that Luke was the father. Reading Abraham Van Helsing's journals, John discovered a number of secrets such as the existence of the tomb under Wayne's Church and that Damian and Jason Sullivan were vampires. John also discovered the existence of The Primordials and of The Elder Oak Ash dagger which came from an old tree called the Elder Oak tree and after it burned the ashes from the Elder Oak Tree was forged with the daggers that the witches created.

Sometime later, Isobela came to see him and asked him if he knew about the vampires. He told her that he knew Damian and he sent her to meet him. When Isobela was turned into a vampire at her own request, Ben harbored a deep hatred for the vampires who stole his 'true love' from him and felt guilty at having sent Isobel to Damian.

Throughout The Vampire Diaries Series

 * -|Season One=


 * -|Season Two=

In The Hybrid, John Gilbert was mentioned by his daughter Elena Gilbert, when she tries to give Alaric Saltzman John's ring. But Alaric says it is her father's ring and that he gave it to her, but she says it doesn't work for her since she is supernatural. Alaric then says to her to keep her fathers ring to future generations, but Elena says he could have her fathers ring until then. Later on that day Elena says that she has lost her family and she is now lost because of her last parent died, her own father (John Gilbert).
 * -|Season Three=

In Bringing Out The Dead, John Gilbert is once again mentioned by Elena Gilbert, when Caroline Forbes asks her: "What was the hardest part for you? when you lost your dad?" Elena says to Caroline: "You realize all the things he was there for, the things that you just need your dad for you know?"

In Do Not Go Gentle, when Alaric Saltzman was going to die from transformation, Elena Gilbert was once again lost and thought about when she lost her father and her aunt Jenna and said that now one more close to her and Jeremy is going to die who was a friend of the family and who took care of them after the death of Jenna and her father.

In Memorial, Elena and her friends were going to grieve over their loved ones who had died. And Elena mentioned her mother and father as one of the persons she had lost and is grieving over them, one last time as the memorial for her dead family including her own father, John Gilbert.
 * -|Season Four=

In Stand By Me, right after Jeremy died, Elena wanted to burn down the Gilbert House to create a cover story and tells Caroline, Stefan, and Damon: "There's nothing here for me anymore, Stefan. Every inch of this house is filled with memories of the people that I love that have died-- my mom, my dad, Jeremy, and Jenna and Alaric, John, even John. I mean, they're all dead. Everyone is dead. So what am I supposed to-- I mean, how am I gonna-- I can't even-- There's nothing left for me-- aah!"

In 500 Years of Solitude, John appears a hallucination. He appears when Katherine is dying, and her mind is haunted by her past mistakes, and it only gets worse as Damon manipulates her mind. As part of Damon messing with Katherine's head John appears and greets Katherine. "Hello, fingers. Goodbye fingers" Then John cuts off Katherine's fingers as she did to him in Founder's Day. She screams and snaps out of her trance, and is angry at Damon for getting into her head. She still seems to not care about what she did to John.
 * -|Season Five=

In I Was Feeling Epic, John greets Elena in the after life. He is surrounded by Jenna, Miranda and Grayson at the Gilbert House.
 * -|Season Eight=

Personality
Ben Van Helsing was always close to his older brother Luke Van Helsing and held him in high regard, and when he met a woman named Isobella whom he fell in love with. After a time it was known that she was pregnant and then Ben took her to his older brother who is a doctor and helped Isobel receive her child. Ben was not ready to be a father and asked his brother if he could take the role of fatherhood for the child and he agreed, but he would eventually tell the child who the real father was. Ben continued his hunt for vampires while his brother took care of his daughter and protected her from any vampire that would come for her. Ben became very vengeful when he found out that Isobella was sent to a vampire that she had become one herself and hated even more than he did. After his brother dies he plans a way to get rid of the vampires from Liberty Falls.

Physical Appearance
Ben had a slim build and tall stature, and wore a variety of dark and light colored clothing. He had blue eyes and short, light brown hair.

Attitude Towards Vampires
At an early age, Ben Van Helsing learned about the existence of vampires from his older brother Luke Van Helsing and both of them started hunting and killing vampires with weapons they had from their summer house. They later became members of the town council and protecting the town of Liberty Falls from every vampire threat that would come. Both ben and Luke had each a Van Helsing ring that protected them from death from any supernatural species, that they both have inherited the ring from their father. One of the main reasons Ben hates vampires is because of what happened to his former girlfriend Isobella, the mother of their daughter Lizzie. Even due to Isobella became a vampire, Ben still trusted her and loved her still.



After the death of his older brother Luke Van Helsing, Ben came back to Liberty Falls and would put an end to the vampire threat. Ben met a vampire named Damian when he returned and wanted to kill him from the start and along the way threatened to expose him and his brother if he got killed without his ring on him. When Ben uses his ancestor Abraham Van Helsing device to take down every vampire in Liberty Falls he makes sure that every police officer has Nightshade with them and take them to a building owned by him and burn them alive. just before he leaves he stakes Anna while Damian's watching and then he burns the rest along with the mayor who is not a vampire but a werewolf. John later explains his reasons to Lizzie, who reveals herself to be Katherine before she stabs him with a knife.

Relationships

 * Lizzie and Ben (Biological Father & Daughter/Former Allies)
 * Ben and Damian (Frenemies/Enemies)
 * Ben and Alaric (Enemies)
 * Ben and Isobella (Ex-Girlfriend/Frenemies/Former Allies)
 * Ben, Isobella and Lizzie (Father, Mother and Daughter/Frenemies)

Appearances
Season One
 * Under Control
 * Miss Liberty Falls
 * Blood Brothers
 * Isobella
 * Founder's Day

Season Two
 * The Return
 * The Descent
 * Daddy Issues
 * Crying Wolf
 * The Dinner Party
 * Know Thy Enemy
 * The Sun Also Rises (Death)

Season Five
 * For Whom the Bell Tolls (Mentioned)
 * Monster's Ball (Mentioned)
 * Dead Man on Campus (Mentioned)
 * 1,500 Years of Solitude (Hallucination)

Season Eight
 * I Was Feeling Epic (Spirit)

Name

 * Benjimen derives from the Greek Ιωαννης (Ioannes) meaning "Yahweh is gracious". The name is the most popular in the English name, probably because there are two saints with this name. After the First Crusade, this name was given to one-fifth of all British boys. There are several variations.
 * Gilbert comes from English (Norman origin), French and North German: from Giselbert, which compromises of gisil "pledge", "hostage", "noble youth" + berht "bright", "famous".

Trivia

 * Ben gave his Van Helsing Ring to Isobel when they were young.
 * After Grayson's death, John took his brothers ring to be protected from the supernatural.
 * In Know Thy Enemy, John died, but was saved by his Gilbert Ring.
 * John seriously affects Alaric`s relations with Isobel and Jenna, along with Jeremy's relationship with Anna.
 * John dies in the episode The Sun Also Rises.
 * John along with Isobel, Elizabeth and Carol are guest stars that appear in the first and second season.
 * Isobel and John die in the last episodes of season two to save Elena. Despite David Anders' current popularity, it is probable that John will stay dead.
 * Although John was the main antagonist of the five last episodes of season one, he returns as a protagonist in season two. However, he does retain an antagonistic role due notably to his prejudices against vampires, and particularly Damon. He also has a deep rivalry with Alaric.
 * David Anders who played John is actually eight years older than Nina Dobrev who played Elena.
 * Before John's death he shared the same pattern as Alaric, who died one time in each season before dying his second and final time in season 2.
 * Both David Anders and Dawn Olivieri, who played Andie Star on the show, appeared in the show "Heroes" and were both killed.
 * Both John Gilbert and Jenna Sommers were both mentioned by Elena Gilbert and Alaric Saltzman in Season 3.
 * Long after John Gilbert's death, Elena still seems to be grieving over him and his sacrifice. As seen in Memorial.

Quotes

 * -|Season One=
 * John (to Damon): "So what do you think, Damon? You know this vampire problem is real, right? It's a potential bloodbath. Oh, I think it's like 1864 all over again. Vampires running amok. Guess we're gonna have to hunt them down, throw them in church burn them to ash."


 * John (to Damon): "You see, it seems there was a tomb under the church - where the vampires were hidden away waiting for someone to set them free. But then you already knew that, didn't you? Being that you're the one that did it."


 * John (to the Founding families): "One hundred and fifty years of community, prosperity, family. We take care of each other. We look after each other. We protect each other. It's good to be home."


 * John (to Damon): "My knowledge of this town goes beyond anything that you or the council knows. So if you were planning on some clever high-speed-snatch-ring-vamp-kill move - know that if I die, everything I know goes to the council. Including a fascinating little tale of the original Salvatore brothers and their present-day return to Mystic Falls."


 * -- Under Control


 * John (to Jeremy): "You can fight it if you want, but it's part of being a Gilbert."


 * John (to Jenna): "Her mother's name is Pearl? I believe I already know all about her."


 * -- Miss Mystic Falls


 * John (to Pearl): "That's why I wanted to meet with you. I'm planning on changing you mind. With my Gilbert charm. I know you have a weakness for it. May I buy you a drink?"


 * John (to Pearl): "I can help you. I'm connected around here. Town council's eating out my hand. They do whatever I say. I know you just wanna live your life with a picket fence, I can help you."


 * John (to Pearl): "I read his journals. They're very extensive. He actually wrote about you. You were his one regret. He loved you and he hated himself for what he did to you. On his last days, he wrote how sorry he was. You were the only women he only loved. (Laughing) Good god. You vampires you're so emotional. Johnathan Gilbert hated you. His only regret was he didn't drive a stake through your heart himself."


 * -- Blood Brothers


 * John (to Isobel): "They're people, and you're treating them like they're dolls. We're in a partnership because we share a mutual goal. Don't ever confuse that for an acceptance of your lifestyle."


 * John (to Jeremy): "Know that you can talk to me about anything. I'm here to answer any questions that you have. To help you in any way I can. Because your dad would want me to."


 * John (to Isobel): "Come on. Come on, Isobel. I know you. Okay? It's me, John. You can't hurt a kid. Look, I know you're changed, okay? But the old Isobel is there somewhere still. Isn't she?"


 * John (to Jeremy): "Your ancestor invented a weapon, A device that's extremely harmful to vampires. We've been trying to get it. Because there's a group of vampires from a long time ago that wants revenge on this town. Look Jeremy... no one ever thought vampires would return to this town. Not in modern times. But they have. And we have to destroy them."


 * -- Isobel


 * John (to Mayor Lockwood): "This is the key. Once inserted, the device will be activated. It will work only once for an estimated time of five minutes. It's a high-pitched frequency that humans can't hear. Any vampire within a five-block radius will be incapacitated, exposing them. At that time, the sheriff's deputies will inject them with vervain and bring them here, where we'll finish them off."


 * John (to Elena): "Because I'm doing what should've been done 145 years ago? This is the right thing, Elena."


 * John: (To Elena) "You know, I first met Isobel when I was a teenager. I fell in love with her instantly, although I'm pretty sure she never loved me. She was special. Part of why I hate the vampires so much is because of what she became. How it ruined her. And I never would've sent her to Damon had I known she wanted to turn. It's my fault. I'm telling you this because I hope... maybe you'd understand."


 * -- Founder's Day


 * -|Season Two=
 * John (to Jeremy): "Not all, but enough. For now. Can you tell Elena I said goodbye?"


 * John (to Jeremy): " You know Jeremy, I was taught to hate them, the vampires. That's what I know; that's what your father knew."


 * John (to Jeremy): "No, he may have done things differently but there's no other way to see it."


 * John (to Jeremy): "What happened to your parents wasn't supernatural, it was an accident. There's nothing that can save us from that."


 * John (to Jeremy): "He would think that you're still young. You're still finding yourself but you are a Gilbert and you've been exposed to this town's darkest secret and with that comes responsibility."


 * -- The Return


 * John (to Elena): "Not exactly. Hello Elena."


 * -- The Descent


 * John (to Elena): "I'm here to protect you. That's all I can say for the moment."


 * John (to Jenna): "I'm Elena's biological father. There, now you know."


 * John (to Jeremy): "You didn't miss much. Let's say that no one's happy to see me would be an understatement."


 * John (to Damon): "I've been alright, Damon. It's good to see you."


 * John (to Damon): " Is that any way to convince me that you and I are on the same side? First, I need to know that I can trust you, Damon, that I can count on you. Then we'll talk."


 * Damon (to John): "First dad duty: ground your daughter. Keep her here."


 * John (to Damon): "No, no, no, no, no. I'm with Damon on this one. No, stop, stop. You're not going anywhere. Just tell me what's going on."


 * John (to Elena): "Yes I can. You want to know why? Because I'm here to make sure you stay safe"


 * John (to Damon): "I've been thinking. Personal feelings aside Damon, I think you and Stefan will do all you can to protect Elena."


 * John (to Elena): "Miranda and Grayson were your parents, Elena, and I know I'm nothing to you. You have no reason to believe me or trust me. I've done so many horrible things, but when you lost your parents, I lost my brother, my family. I lost my way. I know that I probably won't ever make things right with you, but I'm gonna do everything I can to protect you and protect this family."


 * -- Daddy Issues


 * John (to Elena via letter): ''"Elena... it's no easy task being an ordinary parent to an extraordinary child. I failed in that task. And because of my prejudices, I failed you. I'm haunted by how things might have played out differently. If I'd been more willing to hear your side of things. "For me, it's the end. For you, a chance to grow old and someday do better with your own child than I did with mine. It's for that child that I give you my ring. I don't ask for your forgiveness or for you to forget. I ask only that you believe this. Whether you are now reading this as a human or as a vampire, I love you all the same as I've always loved you, and always will. John.


 * -- The Sun Also Rises


 * -|Season Five=
 * John (hallucination): "Hello fingers. Goodbye fingers."

Gallery

 * -|Season One=