Damon 201 - Going a bit deeper

It has been widely accepted by fanon (the fans take on LJ Smith's work) that Damon is not the simple black and white character that he would like to portray - a mindless killer without morals. However, Damon does enjoy the hunt, the kill and most of all, getting his way. So, let's delve a little deeper into this character.

Positives

Damon is an incredibly strong character, and by this I don't mean just physically - over the years he developed strong survival skills through leading his own gang and increased his range of vampire powers. Unlike his brother, Damon accepted his place in life and even relished it. Some readers would claim that Damon was cruel and evil - and while Damon displayed his vindictive streak frequently, he is not without his own set of morals. For instance, when it comes down to it, Damon is loyal to those he feels obligation to, or if you were on the short list that made it to his heart. Damon would never admit this to Stefan or the other characters, but when it came down to the crunch, he was there to support his brother against both Katherine and Klaus.

From the first flashback in VD1, when Damon informed his father that he intends not to return to University, it would be easy to assume that Damon a lazy aristocrat without obligation. But Damon is a driven creature - he craves pleasure and passion and will do anything that he has to to get what he wants. Pleasure (usually his own) will drive him to action. When he wants something, he has the will and resources to get it. Another good point about Damon is that he has charm and charisma, which fools others into thinking him harmless.

Negatives

Damon is not without several negative aspects - his quick tongue often makes him scathing and cruel, and Damon often works to find weaknesses in others so he can intimidate and hurt the other person. He takes pleasure in being able rile up others - in particular his father and Stefan. Why he does this is unclear, Damon enjoys upsetting his brother as a way to make Stefan seem weaker than he is, perhaps as a way to impress Elena and Katherine. But perhaps Damon seeks some sort of 'revenge' on his father and Stefan, as Damon may have seen Stefan as being the 'ideal' son, rather than himself. For whatever reason, it is made obvious that Damon takes pleasure from his quick wit and vindictive nature.

Depending on how you look at Damon, you could see his refusal to 'weaken' as a negative mark. Damon holds tightly to his mask, refusing to back down when he has made up his mind. Such as at the very end of VD4, when Elena, Matt and Stefan ask Damon to stay and celebrate with them. Damon refuses all of them, with the remark, "I'm not like you".

He can also act harshly against those that anger him, taking extreme action to teach the person a lesson. This is displayed in VD2 when Damon calls the his Power over the weather on Elena, as he leaves her out in the forest in the middle of a snowstorm after she refuses him.

The Bad Boy Motif

The idea of this section came from reading an article at Examen la Déesse which discusses some of the repeated ideas or motifs that occur throughout LJ Smith's series'.

LJS has a near-obsession on having a 'bad boy' in her works - either as someone to counter the 'good' (i.e. Nick in TSC) or a moody lead character (i.e. Gabriel in DV). Since The Vampire Diaries was one of the earlier series, Damon could be seen as the 'father' of the bad-boys. Those that follow in later books are similar to this character, taking parts of Damon and then building on it. Similar characters include Gabriel Wolfe from Dark Visions, Nick Armstrong from the Secret Circle and Ash Redfern, Quinn and Morgead Blackthorn from Night World.

Why Katherine and Elena?

The long-standing fanon question - why did Damon go after Elena and Katherine? There is no quick answer to this question, even fans are divided on why Damon went after Katherine and Elena. It seems that it is really a mix of several things, rather than one reason. Damon wanted to humiliate his brother, but also was attracted to the two women and wanted them as his own. With Elena though, and perhaps only because we see more interaction, there may have been more to it than just possession.
Of course, Damon did see Elena first - she notices a large crow outside her house watching her, perhaps noticing the similarity to Katherine. This lets us question would Damon have done anything if Stefan had not shown any interest in her? If Stefan had not fallen for Elena, readers are left to wonder if Damon would have ever made a move on Elena at all. The ending of VD3 leaves us with the impression that his feelings for Elena were deeper than even he would allow us to think.
However, Katherine is a different story. Was Damon's affection merely another way to upset Stefan? I think Damon's motives were both - he did feel something for her that went beyond lust, this much is proved by Damon's reaction to Katherine's 'death'. However, Damon got added pleasure from Katherine, the ability to hurt his brother and father by upsetting their plans.