Whether it be through a tragic backstory of a complex present,the Super Squad has not had it easy. For some, it has to do with the devastating loss of their parents or painful childhood memories. For others, the full extent of what they went through may not have been revealed, but enough hints were dropped or explained to suggest that their life before the Salvatore School may have been more complicated than what they were given credit for. Besides Cleo, all the main characters had grown up in the time they were currently living in, so not many of them struggled with decades or centuries of guilt and regret.
However, that does not mean they did not have their struggles or tragedies. Cleo’s backstory is filled with devastating realities about how she is connected to Malivore. However, when season four ofLegaciesrevealed Jed’s backstory and the truth about how he triggered his curse, it added another layer of character development and tragedy to Jed’s childhood and explained his behavior when initially introduced. Every Super Squad member has their share of tragic circumstances, but how were they portrayedthroughout the show’s four seasons?
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HadLegaciesexplored more of Kaleb’s backstory, he may have ranked higher on the list, given how traumatic vampire transitions tend to be. As it is, it is heavily hinted that Kaleb struggled with his vampirism before Alaric found him and brought Kaleb back to the Salvatore School. Of all the main characters, Kaleb tends to have one of the easier times dealing with what he is. Kaleb never explains the circumstances behind his transition or directly comments on how he feels about it. Kaleb had also not been alive long enough to deal with a large body count. Even Kaleb’s devastating death is quickly fixed when Landon brings him back to life soon after.
MG gets a slightly bigger backstory. While the circumstances behind MG’s transition were never directly explained, his home life got fleshed out. MG’s father was not supportive of him being a vampire, and in the end, it was easier for MG to compel his father to think MG was dead than to have him know the truth. In addition, MG’s mother was involved with the group that infiltrated the Salvatore School with malicious intentions toward the students. Although season one suggests MG is a Ripper,Legaciesnever develops that, keeping MG’s conscience clearedof the depths Stefan Salvatore had dealt with previously.
It was a mystery how Jed triggered his werewolf curse for a long time, but its reveal was worth it. Season four finally gives an origin story for Jed, portraying the Pack he grew up in and how he was forced to deal with an abusive father as the Alpha. Jed and his friend were initially meant to fight each other to the death, causing a triggering curse. But Jed refused, turning on his father, which triggered his curse. Jed likely had to deal with the repercussions of knowing he was the one to end his father’s life, even if his father had been cruel to him. Jed had been a child at the time and should not have had to deal with such horrifying circumstances.
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Forced from her family at a young age to work for Malivore, Cleo, as a muse, was partially responsible for the monsters created. But, she was never the story’s villain, even if she tried to activate Hope’s vampire side. Cleo was desperate to kill Malivore and finally be rid of him. Her attempt to kill Hope came from knowing that Hope, as a full Tribrid, could destroy Malivore for good. Having continued her life at a different time, Cleo could never reunite with her family. Luckily, she made a new chosen one.
With the Merge hanging over her head, Lizzie hoped that she and Josie could avoid that and live beyond 22 years old. Lizzie even mentioned turning into Heretics as a way to prevent it. However, when Lizzie spirals into a desire for revenge, she transitions into a Heretic when one of her closest friends kills her. Lizzie then must deal with the sire bond to Hope on top of Josie’s absence and then lose the sire bond. Lizzie could not contemplate Alaric dying, as she could not lose her father.
Always putting herself last, it took a while for Josie to build strong self-esteem. When Josie took steps to enhance her magic, she did not realize Ryan Clarke was manipulating her into diving deep into dark magic. Josie’s spiral down the rabbit hole eventually results in her dark persona taking over and a split personality. As her dark counterpart, Josie killed Alyssa Chang and attempted to kill Lizzie. In her mindscape, Josie realizes she had deemed powerful people, such as Kai Parker, as being evil, with the good as being weak. However, that was not the case.
Josie won the battle but, later on, still faced the repercussions of being distracted from helping Hope return her humanity, as well as finding her own identity outside the Salvatore School. Sadly, although Josiefound the best way to save Hopeand find herself in the process, it meant leaving everything she knew behind.
Landon’s biggest wish was for a home. As a foster kid, he bounced between families for years, never finding a steady place to live. When Landon finds a home in the Salvatore School and Super Squad, it is stripped away from him. As Hope’s blood is toxic to him, their first time having sex results in Landon turning to mud and appearing in Malivore. At that point, Landon remains trapped and alone for a long time and is only freed once Hope kills him, taking Malivore as well. Afterward, Landon is trapped in Limbo, unable to return to Hope and his friends. AlthoughLandon finds a job as the new Ferrymanand claims to be okay with the agreement because Limbo is his home now, and he knows where he belongs, it is still a tragic end for one so young.
Dealing with being an orphan is not even at the top of the list of Hope’s problems. Instead, a discussion with the Necromancer leads Hope to believe that Klaus will never find Peace until she does, which is not an easy burden to place upon a young adult. But, it also does not help to discover that becoming a Tribrid, something Hope does not want to do, is the only way to kill Malivore. Hope decides to activate her vampire side because looking for an alternative solution could take too long, and they need to kill Malivore quickly as he is slowly succeeding. Killing Landon, meaning another significant person in her life is dead, makes Hope’s humanity switch automatically turn off.
