meta ; tvd | a case for klaus
(For arabian, who challenged me to make her care about Klaus. ;) )
This post contains spoilers up to episode 3x10 - The New Deal.
Please note: This meta is a mix between the serious and the silly. There are some moments when I get very scholarly and wordy and others when my tongue firmly planted in my cheek. You have been warned.
| Preamble |
When I first started this meta, my goal was to write a serious persuasive argument on why Klaus should be liked as a character, but since that is completely subjective, I decided to go with my top ten reasons for I empathizing with and admiring Klaus.
Now, I don’t blame anyone for not being enamored with Klaus from the beginning. He starts as a very one-dimensional bad guy, but he has transformed over the last dozen or so episodes into not only a multifaceted character, but one hell of a multifaceted character. This is a character with dimensions, layers and a tragic back story. He’s as cute as a button and endowed with heaps of awesome and badassary. Don’t buy it? Read on.
01 | His name is awesome.
Klaus. Seriously, that’s a really great name, especially for a villain. Who didn’t get chills when Rose said it for the first time? I mean, would Klaus still be Klaus if his name were say...‘Ted’? No one would be that scared of a evil hybrid named Ted. But Klaus! It invokes just the right balance of old world mystery and new world freshness. It rolls of the tongue almost effortlessly. And his full name, Niklaus--how beautiful is that? And it has so much potential for nicknames. Klaus. Nik. Nikky? OK, I know there are more. And yes, I realize that he had nothing to do his own naming, but really, would fate have given such an awesome dude a less than awesome name? Doubtful.
02 | He has major mommy and daddy issues.
On some level, Klaus’ parents really are the root of all his problems. First there’s Mikael, the domineering and distant father who actively disliked him and disapproved of all he did. And then Esther, the once-loving mother who abruptly turned her back on him. His parents certainly loved him, as is obvious his inclusion in the protection spell that created vampires, but that doesn’t outweigh the tremendous impact their actions had on him, nor does it change how their many betrayals shaped him into who and what he became.
Mikael: Nobody cares about you anymore, boy! What do you have other than those whose loyalty you forced? No one. No one!
Klaus: My whole life you've underestimated me.
Mikael: Your impulse, Niklaus. It has and will forever be the one thing that keeps you from truly being great.
LOOK AT THIS FACE. LOOK AT THE TEAR. How can you not want to hug him to pieces?
OK, composure regained. Klaus’ relationship with his father was tumultuous to the end, but even there, he is still seeking approval. Klaus is stamping his foot and saying “Look at what I’ve done! You’ve always underestimated me, but look how powerful I am now!” It’s really kind of sad. Once again, Klaus is disappointed. A hundred lifetimes of planning and plotting and gaining power and being awesome and his father isn’t even mildly impressed. Is it any wonder Klaus enjoyed driving that stake into his heart?
Not knowing his real father is a part of Klaus’ issues certainly, but biology aside, Mikael was the only father Klaus ever knew. It was Mikael’s love and approval Klaus needed; it was he Klaus hated for not accepting him, for not loving him as he was. Now, Klaus will never get the chance to reconcile.
Rebekah: A thousand years in the grave and she's still screwing with you.
This line of Rebekah's and Klaus’ reaction to it are especially telling after we learn who the Original Witch was to them. The curse is Esther’s lasting legacy, even more damaging and hurtful to Klaus than Mikael’s disapproval. We don’t know exactly why yet, but it is clear by how Klaus reacts that, both in the past and now, Esther’s betrayal is the one that hits him deepest.
Klaus is clearly starved for a father’s approval, especially as a human, but the silver-lining for him back then was that at least his mother loved him. His mother defended him. Klaus had her unconditional love until the day the truth came about his paternity. Then his loving mother, who went against the laws of nature to preserve his life for all eternity, slaps him with a curse that suppresses an entire facet of his nature and then disowns him for something he had absolutely no control over. He didn’t choose to be a vampire. He didn’t choose the blood lust. He didn’t choose to be born illegitimate and with the werewolf gene. He is cursed and disowned for apparently nothing of is own doing by a mother he trusted and loved. Add that to the heightened aggression of the were-gene heightened even more by vampire-ism. Of course he cracked. Who wouldn’t?
The circumstances of his human life, namely the actions of his parents, define who he is, and why he is the way he is. He had no control over anything that happened to him, and this lack of control was so traumatic for him that that he subsequently became obsessed with being in control over everything. Being in control colors all his actions, it governs how he makes decision, and how treats his family and underlings. Everything he does is in the pursuit of the control he felt robbed of in his past and in making the world the place he thinks it ought to be.
03 | He just wants his family back.
If Klaus had a bucket list (a hypothetical bucket list, of course), it would likely read something like this:
1. Break Curse. Become hybrid.
2. Create more hybrids so I don’t feel like a freak alone.
3. Reunite with my siblings. (Note: must un-dagger and convince them they love me again first.)
4. Live happily ever after.
As I see it, Klaus has two great desires; to be who and what he was meant to be (a hybrid) and to have the love, loyalty and companionship of the family he lost a thousand years ago. His parents are out the equation, which makes his siblings even more precious to him.
For an example, look at how precious and dear Klaus considered Rebekah in 20’s. Loyal siblings are apparently hard to find for Klaus, and he was very overprotective of the loyal little sister who had stayed by his side. He appeared downright heartbroken when Rebekah chose Stefan over him in the end. In Klaus’ mind, of course he had to dagger Rebekah; she was going to leave him, and he couldn’t let that happen. It was also a punishment for her disloyalty--a 90 year timeout.
This might seem extreme, but I doubt Klaus thought what he was doing, quasi-killing his family, as wrong at all. It is a pretty established TVD thing that vampires regard violence toward each other much more lightly than their human counterparts; they are routinely stabbing each other, breaking necks and the like, just to get a point across. Klaus knows his family isn’t really dead, just as Damon knew Alaric was going to come back to life after he broke his neck in Disturbing Behavior. Vampires think nothing of taking major violent action to get a point across with each other, and in a way it makes sense. When your immortal, having a fist-fight to work out your issues must seem pretty tame and unsatisfying.
Daggering his family isn’t killing them to Klaus; to him, it’s protection. It’s punishment. It’s a holding pattern until Klaus can get all his ducks in a row. It’s a way to keep them safe and in his control until a time he sees fit to bring them back, until the time is right.
A good example of this can be seen in his dealings with Elijah. When Elijah is about to kill Klaus at the end of The Sun also Rises, Klaus looks genuinely shocked; he knew Elijah wasn’t exactly happy with him, but he didn’t know that it went that far, that his own brother wants him actually dead. This is very disappointing for Klaus. When the plan doesn’t work out, of course Klaus had to dagger Elijah; it’s neutralizing, true, but mostly it’s his punishment for his disloyalty.
Speaking of Klaus and Loyalty: Klaus’ preoccupation with loyalty can also be seen in how he treats Elena during the sacrifice in The Sun also Rises. Elena did what she was asked to do, she came without a fuss, and Klaus took a moment from his grand triumph to thank her from the bottom of his black heart. I am sure he was actually grateful, but he didn’t need to thank her, nor would I guess that he’d typically feel it necessary; he’s made it clear how little he regards a human life (ala Katerina), but he thanks Elena here because, in his twisted mind, she’s been loyal to him. She didn’t run as Katerina did. She accepted her fate. Klaus has a major complex with loyalty, no doubt about it. :) Anyway, back to the siblings:
When it comes to Rebekah and Elijah, Klaus is harder on them than the others because he expects more and was promised more from them both. In that circle, they held hands and pledged to stay by his side, forever. Klaus took this oath to heart. When they, in his eyes, broke their word, they disappointed him and deserved to be punished. Klaus, in his quest for control, thought nothing of being the one to put them in their place.
Rebekah: We're vampires. Our emotions are heightened. I'm stubborn, Elijah moral, and Nik... Nik has no tolerance for those who disappoint him. Over a thousand years as a family we've all made that mistake at least once. I've made it several times.
His own sister says that Klaus has no tolerance for those who disappoint him and that their whole family has done just that. Given how grandly Esther and Mikael disappointed him, it is no wonder this is a major issue with Klaus. One by one, his siblings let him down and the wonderfully impetuous Klaus daggered them all but he still keeps them with him, suspended in time, waiting for the perfect moment for them all to be a family again. And it seems like that time is near: in The New Deal, we see that Klaus is preparing a grand mansion in Mystic Falls, and he tells a daggered Rebekah that he has brought her home. There is something so reveling about his choice of Mystic Falls, a sense of things coming full circle. Klaus is fixing what is broken and recreating the circumstances in which his family was last together and happy, before everything fell apart. Precious, right?
At the end of the day, the poor boy just wants to be himself and have his family with him, loving him for who he is. Who could really blame him for that?
04 | Klaus has a precious smile.
Even when he’s doing bad things, seeing Klaus smile is like seeing a baby smile; it makes you happy! Seriously, look at this face and tell me you’re not smiling. Freaking infectious, it is.
05 | He has simply adorable fits of rage.
I don’t know why I find so many of Klaus’ really disturbing actions absolutely precious, but I do. There is something wrong with me, certainly. But after such total toddler-like hissyfits, don’t you just want to give him a hug and put him down for a nap?
All cuteness aside, I find the juxtaposition between Klaus’ calm moments and his rage-filled tantrum ones very interesting to watch. This is clearly one guy who has a major issues with control: with losing it, with not having it and with being in it at all times.
06 | He is the king of all pet names.
Love. Pet. Dear. Sweetheart. Klaus can take any pet name and make it sound vile, sweet, cynical, testy, seductive, you name it! The man has genius inflection and timing.
07 | Klaus has chemistry with EVERYONE.
Even though the closest we’ve seen to blatant onscreen romance from Klaus was chastely kissing Katherine’s hand, he is somehow incredibly shippable with pretty much every other character on the show. Really, who doesn’t this guy have chemistry with? I’ve not met a Klaus!Ship I didn’t find at least mildly interesting. Klaus/Elena is my guilty pleasure ship. Klaus/Rebekkah is practically canon. Klaus/Stefan is magical and Klaus/Elijah writes itself. Name me one character who wouldn’t have at least some chemistry with Klaus. I dare you. ;)
08 | He doesn’t want to be alone.
Klaus: The doppelganger had to die in order for me to become a hybrid, but if she was dead...
Rebekah: Then you couldn't use her blood to sire yourself a new species
Klaus: Leaving me alone for all time
Rebekah: Is that what this is about? Your obsession with hybrids. You just don't want to be alone?
This is where Klaus’ long-lost humanity comes shining through. It is one of his most human traits, this need for companionship, this desire to be with others who love him for who his is. It’s a motivation so basic, so human, that it has universal appeal. How can you help but empathize with the guy? And look at that face!
09 | He also has major brother issues.
Klaus’ issues with his family can be splintered ever further into his undeniable need to have a brotherly relationship, and he tries to use Stefan (twice) to fill that void. We don’t yet know how Klaus’ relationships with his other brothers ended with them daggered-dead in coffins in the back of a truck, but we do know about his relationships with Elijah and Henrik.
While we don’t see much of them together on screen, Klaus’ action of taking his little brother out to see the werewolves speaks volumes about their relationship. It can be assumed that Klaus loved him and probably spoiled him some, and it is very likely Henrik looked up to Klaus, giving him the some approval that was denied Klaus by their father. Theirs was likely a strong relationship, with Klaus in the idolized older brother role. When Henrik dies in front of him, it is the first truly traumatic event in Klaus’ life, and it is made even more tragic by the fact that Klaus was his brother’s protector at the time and it was he who failed to save him.
Henrik’s death was the tipping point that set everything else in motion, and Klaus feels responsible, in part, for it. This feeling that everything, including the loss of his family, was his fault would be powerful enough to drive him to do anything, no matter how extreme, to get them back. His failure with one brother would also likely lead to an obsession with keeping the rest of them close. And it appears that, at least for awhile, he had that closeness with Elijah.
At least as humans and again in 1492, Klaus and Elijah appear relatively close. As humans, they spared and competed and goaded each other on in the most brotherly of ways, especially common of brothers so close in age. Soon after they are turned, Elijah, feeling his brother’s pain, pledges his loyalty to Klaus. In 1492, while he may be beginning to resent Klaus a bit, Elijah is still actively helping him break the curse, in spite of the fact that he has growing feelings for the girl who must die for it to be broken. When Katerina flees, Klaus, aware of his brother’s feelings, blames Elijah for her disappearance, is betrayed once again by someone he loves and their relationship falls apart.
Now, in this great void of brotherly affections enters 1920’s!Stefan, devoid of a conscious and short a brother of his own. In this morally corrupt and creative vampire, Klaus sees a potential mate, a new brother to replace the several he’d lost. He opens up to him, he pals around, offers him advice on how to date his little sister, and he is genuinely broken up when the friendship must come to an end. However, he briefly finds a brother in Stefan, and years later, this is the core reason he keeps Stefan alive, it is why he manipulates Stefan back to his darker ways. It’s the reason he caves and compels Stefan in The Reckoning even though he would have much rather had Stefan’s loyalty for real, and why he says ‘I fixed him’ with such a light in his eyes.
Klaus is lonely. His misses his family. He wants a brother and if he can’t have any of his real ones, Stefan will certainly do. The last brother he did have left ‘alive’ just tried to murder him. In light of that, a ten year bender with a fake brother who was once so sympathetic and understand doesn’t sound all that unreasonable, does it?
10 | Klaus is the ultimate reason for EVERYTHING.
Klaus, either himself or his actions, has set every major plot point in the show in motion.
Klaus took his brother Henrik out to see the werewolves change. Henrik died and vampires were created as a result. Klaus himself, being made a vampire from a werewolf bloodline, was the reason for the curse in the first place. Klaus’s obsession with breaking the curse had him looking for the Doppelganger, bringing Katherine to his attention in 1492 and setting off the chain of events that would lead to the Salvatore brothers being turned in 1886 and subsequently, Stefan saving Elena from drowning in 2009. Remove Klaus from the equation and we are left without a heroine, hero, antihero, antagonist, conflict or plot.
| Conclusion |
On the surface, Klaus is the bad guy. He’s spent the majority of his very long life lying, manipulating, and killing anyone that gets in his way (and several who didn’t). He has no regard for life, human or otherwise. He is an unmitigated magnificent bastard. When he is first introduced, before we learn anything real about the character, Klaus is irredeemable evil; he is more plot point than character, the obstacle our protagonists must overcome. And if he had died in The Sun also Rises, that’s all he would have ever been. However, Klaus did not die and since then we’ve continued to learn more and more about him, his family and his motivations. In his interactions with his siblings, we see less of a monster and more of a man, trying in his own twisted way to set everything right again. As his back story is further reveled, we begin to see exactly why Klaus is the way he is, we learn what drives him,and we see that it goes much deeper than simply the enjoyment of being evil.
Klaus has spent the last thousand years focusing on essentially one goal: to put his world back together again--to become whole and to have the love and acceptance of his family. The ends always justify the means for Klaus, and his actions over the centuries demonstrate this. But Klaus has become more than just the big bad wolf. He is now a character who is varied, complex, damaged, lost and infinitely interesting; he is now worthy of our attention, empathy and fascination.