In honor of this week's series finale(!) of The Vampire Diaries [1], we're counting the ways we love Stefan Salvatore. The undead hero, played by Paul Wesley [2], has had a lot of ups and downs, but that just makes us appreciate him more. If you love TVD just as much as we do, give it up for Wesley and his portrayal of the sexy Stefan, the multidimensional vampire of our dreams.
Meet Stefan Salvatore.
He's the most sensitive and emotional of the TVD guys.
He is also the most heart-stoppingly romantic.
In the beginning, he's adorably tortured and on his own.
And this is him shirtless [3]. You're welcome.
That's right. Work that side-eye.
Does he even know how hot he is?!
He's even cute as a vampire! OK, maybe not that cute.
Here, this should make that better.
Stefan has what's known as "hero hair." Take it all in.
He's usually quite humble, but sometimes he's sexy, and he knows it.
Above all, he's always been there for his brother, even in the exceptionally bad times.
Stefan is also the best friend anyone could ask for, like Lexi, his first girl BFF.
With Elena, he's so cute, even if we're not ever sure who she should be with.
He's just supercool.
He can let loose a little, when need be.
Hey, he had to crack sometime. This is a man who turned to feeding on squirrels at one point.
When he goes Ripper, he's actually kind of interesting.
He and Klaus sort of make for a badass team (except for all the bloodshed). Can't you just hear Klaus saying "RIPPAH"?!
But he never stays the Ripper for long. Too many feelings!
Can we also talk about how sentimental he is? My guess is he never really stopped loving Katherine (or Elena).
And then when Tyler/Julian plucks out Stefan's heart and we thought he was dead in season five, this is how we felt.
Happily, the man we will always love came back almost immediately.
And now we are managing our feelings for Steroline.
A relationship that has been having the slowest burn of all.
But will hopefully have a happy ending come season eight [4].