Elena's changed appearance in The Vampire Diaries foreshadowed her ending up with Damon, not Stefan as in the books. Elena's original book appearance and attitude were swapped with Caroline's in the TV show, hinting at their eventual romantic pairings. The show's creators wanted Elena to have a more relatable "girl next door" look, different from her popular, self-involved book persona.

When The Vampire Diaries changed Elenas appearance from her original book incarnation, the show secretly gave away her eventual romantic fate. The Vampire Diaries ran for eight seasons from 2009 to 2017, adapting Lj Smiths paranormal romance novel series to the small screen. The series followed the story of Nina Dobrevs Elena Gilbert, a small-town high school girl from Mystic Falls who discovers a world of paranormal intrigue when she encounters brothers Stefan and Damon Salvatore. The Vampire Diaries cast of characters grew larger as the series continued, but Dobrevs Elena was the shows original main character.