Kimberly Donovan

Kimberly "Kimmi" Isabelle Donovan was a main character during the first season of The Vampire Diaries. She was the daughter of Peter Maxwell and Kelly Donovan, the younger sister of Vicki Donovan, and the older sister of Matt Donovan. She is also the first character to become a vampire after the Salvatore brothers returned to Mystic Falls. She was also Jeremy and Tyler's love interest. She was turned by Damon Salvatore, and was later staked by Stefan because she couldn't control her hunger. She returns at the end of Season Two and during Season Three and Season Five as a ghost. In We're Planning a June Wedding, Kimberly then comes back in real, corporeal form to ring the Maxwell Bell in order to give Lily Pierce the capability of coming back to Mystic Falls from Hell.

Kimberly was a member of the Donovan Family and the Maxwell Family.

Early History
Kimberly Isabelle Donovan was born on May 24, 1992 to Peter Maxwell and Kelly Donovan. She is the younger sister of Vicki Donovan and the older sister of Matt Donovan. The rest of her background is unknown and vague; but she has mentioned that her father was never around and wasn't even worth knowing. At some point, Kimberly along with her sister Vicki; began taking drugs to escape their domestic problems. But unlike Vicki, Kimberly still did drugs after finding out Elena was pregnant with her twin nieces.

Season Two
Kimberly was mentioned by Damon when he told Patricia and Stefan that Caroline must die, saying that Caroline would not survive as a vampire just like Kimberly before.

Months later, Matt learned what actually happened to her and began helping Sheriff Forbes to spy on the Salvatore brothers.

Sheriff Forbes accidentally shot Jeremy and he was then brought back to life by Bonnie. After that Jeremy saw Kimberly's ghost, also Anna's.

Season Three
In The Birthday, Kimberly appeared briefly to Jeremy at the grill, followed closely by Anna. She later appeared to him in his car when he and Matt were about to drive home, and asked him for help, then disappeared. Anna appeared to Jeremy shortly after.

In The Hybrid, Jeremy tells Matt about his encounters with Kimberly, and the two search through her things hoping to find something that will allow them to communicate with her. Matt finds a photo of Vicki, Kimberly, and himself as children; gets emotional and places the photo face down. Matt expresses to Jeremy that the memories of his sister are too painful, and he is unsure about contacting her. After Jeremy leaves, the lights flicker and Matt sees the photo face up. Later, Matt met Jeremy who has brought over some beer as an apology. They start to share their feelings and the fact that they don't remember their last moments with her before she became a vampire.

Kimberly is saddened over Matt's confession, and calls out to him. Jeremy talks to her asking how he can help her and Kimberly replies that she can come back but needs him to help her, and then vanishes, smashing a window. Anna appears straight after, telling Jeremy not to trust Kimberly.

In The Reckoning, Pushing from the other side, Kimberly is seen to be around Matt a lot even though he couldn't hear or see her, he could feel her presence. To communicate with her, Matt jumps in the pool with weights tied around his waist. Only when he is half dead and between the worlds, is he able to communicate with her. Kimberly told Matt the solution to Klaus' hybrid problem. Bonnie revives Matt with CPR. At the end of the episode, Kimberly appeared to Matt yet again, this time while he's alive. Kimberly tricked her own brother so that she could use Esther's spell to come back to the physical world. She had made a deal with Esther to return under the condition that she would kill Elena and Patricia so that no more hybrids could be made. She tried to kill her by drenching Alaric's SUV with gasoline and setting it on fire, but Bonnie and Matt used a spell to send her away back to The Other Side.

Season Four
Though Kimberly didn't appear in any episodes of Season Four, she was mentioned a few times over the course of the season.

In Growing Pains, Kimberly was mentioned by Jeremy when Patricia was having problems adjusting to the transition into a vampire, referencing to the events of Lost Girls.

In Memorial, Kimberly was mentioned when Stefan calls Elena, Patricia, Caroline, Damon, Bonnie, Jeremy, Matt, and Vicki to have a little gathering where they remember all the people each of them lost including; Alaric, Zach, Lexi, Bill Forbes, Mayor Richard Lockwood, Kimberly, Grayson, Miranda, and Grams. Jeremy, Matt, and Vicki all lighted a Japanese floating lantern in memory of Kimberly. Later, they let go the lanterns into the sky.

Season Five
In 500 Years of Solitude, Kimberly makes an appearance while everyone is waiting for Katherine's death, Bonnie answers to Matt's question that as the anchor to the other side she sees lots of people including Kimberly. Kimberly then appears and tells him via Bonnie that he loves him and Vicki and is always watching over them and to stop having sex with "that blonde Original chick". Kimberly then is seen along with rest of the gang before Katherine refuses to die and makes her heart beat again.

In Resident Evil, Matt is on the Other Side looking for Kimberly. When they are finally reunited, Kimberly warns Matt to go back to his body as something bad was happening on the Other Side. While running, Kimberly falls and the wind is trying to pull her away. Matt tries to hold on to her to save her but Kimberly tells Matt that she loves him, and she lets go of him and is taken away into the sky.

Season Eight
In Nostalgia's a Bitch, Kimberly is in Damon's head as living her everyday life before being turned into a vampire. When questioned about Damon Salvatore by Bonnie it is shown that, in his head, Damon died as a human.

In We're Planning a June Wedding, it was revealed that Kimberly came out of hell at the same time as Cade and Kai when Matt ringed the Maxwell bell. She is seen texting Kelly "Game on" to use as a distraction while she goes ring the bell for Lily.

In I Was Feeling Epic, Kimberly reunites with her estranged father and Matt telling them that she wants to cease to exist instead of going back to hell. Despite needing to ring the bell she gives them enough time to clear out Mystic Falls of the residents. At 10pm, Kimberly rings the bell one final time and the hellfire takes her out. However, Kimberly is somehow granted peace as she watches over Matt.

Personality
Kimberly had a very blunt personality and didn't care what people thought about her. She also told people like it is as she told Elena and Patricia off about her with being Jeremy and dumping her brother. She did, however, show she cared about her younger brother as she was furious about what Elena did to him and saying he should stay away from Rebekah. Even if she was shown being self centered and selfish when Esther asked her to kill Elena and Patricia, she was shown being able to sacrifice herself when she accepts to go to Hell to protect Matt.

Powers and Abilities
Kimberly possessed all the standard powers and abilities of a non-original vampire.

Weaknesses
Kimberly had the typical weaknesses of a non-Original vampire.

Relationships
Donovan Family, Mystic Falls Gang, Mystic Falls High School, Mystic Grill

Matt Donovan
Vicki was always close to her younger brother, Matt. Growing up, both Kimberly and Matt (along with their older sister Vicki) had to endure the hardship of an absentee father and a mother who rarely stepped into her role as a parent. Although Kimberly was the middle sibling and older than Matt, Matt often took an adult role in helping Kimberly and himself. Matt often reprimanded Kimberly for her consistent recklessness, which Kimberly often did not listen to. However, when Kimberly dies shortly after becoming a vampire, Matt believes that she skipped town. Matt is later heartbroken to learn the truth when it is revealed to him that Kimberly has been dead. Despite her being dead, Kimberly and Matt shared several scenes throughout the series while Kimberly was on the Other Side. Season Eight was the last time Matt reunited with Kimberly, but this was in order to stop her from ringing the bell to destroy Mystic Falls. However, she rung the bell anyway in an attempt to escape hell by erasing her existence, which worked in her favor; she was freed from hell and still existing afterwards. Kimberly was last seen watching over Matt as a spirit as he rebuilt the town as a sheriff with their father, Peter Maxwell. After witnessing Matt's now-successful life, Kimberly moves on into the afterlife.

Jeremy Gilbert
Kimberly shared an on-and-off romantic relationship with, Jeremy Gilbert. Before the start of the series, Kimberly dated Jeremy, but broke up around the time his parents were killed in a car accident. After school starts, Jeremy begins pining after Kimberly. After Kimberly is attacked by a vampire, Jeremy continues to help her despite not being in a relationship with her at the time. Jeremy was still in love with Kimberly and he told her about his feelings, but she did not want to settle with Jeremy and she was also dating Tyler at the time before she was attacked by a vampire. However, after Kimberly and Tyler break up, Jeremy and Kimberly begin another brief relationship before she is staked due to her bloodlust. Jeremy was devastated by Kimberly's death, but as the series progressed, Kimberly's spirit started to cause trouble for Jeremy and his friends/allies in Mystic Falls. Jeremy effectively ended any sort of relationship or friendship he ever had with Kimberly when he began silencing her spirit out.

Other Relationships

 * Vicki, Kimberly, and Matt (Siblings)
 * Tyler and Kimberly (Ex-Boyfriend)
 * Tyler, Kimberly, and Jeremy (Former Love Triangle/Former Enemies)
 * Elena and Kimberly (Former Acquaintances/Enemies)
 * Patricia and Kimberly (Former Acquaintances/Enemies)

Name

 * Kimberly
 * Isabelle
 * Donovan is an American name and means "strong fighter". For the Irish meaning of the name it's "brown-haired chieftain". It is also an anglicized form of the Gaelic Ó Donndubháin.

Tropes

 * Kimberly was introduced as The Stoner - we are given the impression she is the one facilitating drugs to Jeremy in Season 1.
 * Kimberly was killed in the seventh episode - a typical 7th Episode Twist! Whenever there is a new series, this is the point when the Exposition stops and the real plot begins. On later seasons, that is also a good point to introduce a plot twist, raise the stakes or change the game.
 * She was billed as a main character, yet she was Killed Off for Real.
 * This was important to show the audience that Anyone Can Die.
 * It is possible she was also a Sacrificial Lamb - a character created only to be killed soon, to make the point that Anyone Can Die.
 * We hardly knew her...

Trivia

 * Kimberly is the first main female character to be killed off in the series and the first to return after dying.
 * She survived a month as a vampire.
 * Kimberly is the first main female character to be turned into a vampire, followed by Caroline and Patricia.
 * In season one, Vicki is the first to be turned into a vampire.
 * In season two, Caroline is the second to be turned into a vampire.
 * In season three, Patricia is the third to be turned into a vampire.
 * Kimberly appears once in Season 2 as a ghost.
 * Kimberly was in all of the episodes up until the 7th episode Haunted where she was killed.
 * Kimberly has the lowest count of episode appearances out of all the main female characters and of all the main characters.
 * She never shared a scene with her mother Kelly.
 * Kimberly holds the distinction of being the female character with the the longest span between episode appearances (36).
 * Kimberly is the first vampire to be killed off in the series.
 * Kimberly was also the show's first supernatural kill.
 * Kimberly has never met Klaus, Katherine, Lily, Jenna, or Alaric. (However, it is possible that she might've seen Klaus in The Reckoning and Alaric in Smells Like Teen Spirit.)
 * Kimberly is the second character to be shown as a ghost. Emily Bennett was the first.
 * Although Kimberly is the first main character to do so. Alaric was the second.
 * Kimberly is the first main character to die in the series, followed by Virginia Salvatore, Alaric Saltzman, Jeremy Gilbert, Bonnie Bennett, Silas, Davina Claire, Sophie Deveraux, and Lily Pierce.
 * She is the first main female character to die. Bonnie's the second.
 * She and Silas were killed in the 7th episode of their season as a main character, and both were killed by Stefan Salvatore.
 * Ironically, Kimberly's death was the October 31, the date on which Klaus was defeated by Elena and ghosts in Dark Reunion.
 * Kimberly and Jenna are the only main characters to never have killed someone, though Kimberly unsuccessfully tried to kill Elena and Patricia on two separate occasions; Jeremy (thought she was driven by her bloodlust after accidentally biting his lower lip); and Stefan.
 * Her first living feed was Jeremy Gilbert, though she completed her transition by feeding on the corpse of Logan Fell.
 * Kimberly is the only main character to never been featured in a mid-season finale.
 * Kimberly is the first main female character to never appear in Season Four.
 * As shown in 500 Years of Solitude, Kimberly knows about the existence of The Originals.
 * Kimberly was the first ghost to appear as a ghost in a different outfit than the one she died in;
 * She died in a vampire costume in Haunted.
 * She appeared as a ghost in a Jacket, Top and Jeans in As I Lay Dying.
 * She appeared again as a ghost in Sweats in Resident Evil.
 * Kimberly has now supposedly been pulled to wherever Lily's spirit went.
 * It has been confirmed that she was pulled to Hell, but was able to escape when Matt ringed the bell.
 * It can be assumed that she is working with Lily.

Quotes

 * Kimberly (to Elena): "Let's get one thing straight, you perky little bitch. You had my brother whipped for 15 years — fifteen years and then you dumped him. When I look at you, that is all I see, just so you know. And I'm gonna see Jeremy, whenever I wanna see Jeremy because I have some fun new toys to play with, and I won't think twice about ripping your little head off. Got it?"


 * Kimberly (to Stefan): "I got to pee. Wait, why do I have to pee? I thought I was dead?"


 * — Haunted


 * Kimberly (to Matt): "Matt, I love you... But I'm already dead."


 * — Resident Evil