10 Katherine Quotes That Prove She's A Hero

Great Vampire Diaries characters are often more than meets the eye. Could Katherine really have been the heroine of the series, all along?

The Vampire Diaries' Katherine Pierce may go down as one of the most iconic and ruthless villains in television history. With her sharp wit, sneaky scheming, and willingness to put anyone in harm's way in order to get what she wants, she quickly became the kind of character fans grew to love to hate.

But over the course of nine seasons, she shows moments of true vulnerability and humanity, reminding audiences that a villain isn't always born villainous and that their motivations are often human and understandable. Perhaps somewhere deep down inside Katherine, there is a heroine, after all.

Setting Aside Differences

"Moving out? Giving Up? That's very un-Caroline of you. You need me bad."

Though a lot of bad blood exists between Katherine and Caroline, they team up to learn more about what goes down behind the closed doors of Whitmore College's Dr. Maxfield.

While they couldn't be more different, they do work well together. This quote from season 5 represents Katherine's ability to get under people's skin, reminding them of who they are and motivating them to do something about it. Where Katherine lacks tact, she makes up for in grit.

Showing Her Cards

"You don't owe me anything. I'm going to let you decide where we go from here."

In season 4, episode 18 of The Vampire Diaries, Katherine ends up giving in and trusting Elijah with the cure for vampirism.

A person who generally has to seize control over every situation so as to manipulate it, Katherine finally relents and gives up that control, putting the power in someone else's hands. It's what she rolls over for that makes this gesture so heroic: love.

A 500 Year Long Resilience

"I'm Katherine Pierce. I'm a survivor."

At the start of season 5, Katherine shows up unannounced at the Salvatore house looking for help because, for the first time in 500 years, she is human again. Damon is surprised to see her and she rebuts with a simple yet crucial statement that reminds fans of what they've known to be true of her all along: she is a survivor.

A hero must always be willing to adapt to their environment, and while Katherine has spent several lifetimes making terrible, often vitriolic choices, this reminds fans that she's also spent those lifetimes growing, evolving, changing, doing what she must to survive another day. And what hero doesn't screw up along the way? It's what makes any good hero human.

Making Up For Lost Time

"I won't leave you again."

Vampire Diaries' fans always knew Katherine was tough, but she showed tremendous strength of character when instead of running as she always has, she comes back to tell her dying daughter, Nadia, that she loves her -- even though she knows she has to walk into the belly of the beast in order to do so.

She shows a kindness not seen by many, by getting inside Nadia's head and coloring her mind with a made-up memory of what their life could've been like had neither one ever turned into a vampire. Not only is this quote a testament to her loyalty and her ability to actually stay, but she admits her fault in leaving her daughter the first time.

Owning Up

"It's fine, I'm sure I deserve everything they're saying."

In season 5, as Katherine lay dying, the whole Vampire Diaries gang gathers to commemorate all the horrible things she has done to them over the years over a drinking game. However, Stefan is the only one she can speak to openly because he is the only one to sympathize with her fate.

It takes a lot of pride swallowing to admit when you're wrong and while it's not the most humble of apologies, it's a rare moment of empathy for Katherine. She realizes the turmoil she's put them all through and doesn't blame them for the anger they still harbor. It's one of her most human acts.

For The Love Of The Salvatore Brothers

"Humanity is a vampire's greatest weakness. No matter how easy it is to turn it off, it just keeps trying to fight its way back in. Sometimes I let it."

In season 3, episode 9, Katherine learns a key piece of information that will of course derail the original plan to kill Klaus. If Klaus goes down so does Damon.

While she admits she did it for Stefan, it shows a selflessness fans don't often see in her. She put a relationship, a brotherhood, ahead of her own agenda because she realizes there are more important and rewarding things in life than to self-serve.

Saving The Day

"I owed you one."

At the end of season 2, Klaus orders Katherine to give Damon the cure for being bit by a werewolf. However, because she cannot be compelled, Klaus actually allows her the ability to run as far away from Mystic Falls as possible. Surprisingly, she makes a pitstop to cure Damon before making her next great escape.

The quote may be small and easy to miss, but coming from someone who has repeatedly said she will do whatever it takes to survive, and what this gesture means, it's a courageous and powerful move for her character. It's one of the rare moments that left fans wondering if perhaps Katherine is redeemable after all.

Being There Through Tough Times

"It's my turn to help you now. The problem is you're not facing your real issues."

In season 5, Katherine helps Stefan work through his post-traumatic stress after being locked in a safe at the bottom of a lake where he repeatedly drowned for three months.

When faced with a stressful situation, it's often easier to go around the pain than deal with the emotions head-on. But Katherine forces Stefan to go through the pain, which in the end serves him better as a person. She may do it in her whiny, bratty way, telling him to suck it up and hitting him with a little tough love, but the bottom line is that it works. It goes back to the old adage that actions truly do speak louder than words.

Facing Reality

“Yeah, I've done some pretty terrible things to survive. But unlike you, poor, delicate, Elena, I don't turn it off...I deal with it."

In season 4, episode 21, Katherine tells Elena that in the 500 years she's been alive, she's never once turned off her humanity. As fans watched several characters do this over the course of the nine seasons -- Caroline, Stefan, Damon, and Elena -- they learned this is always the easy way out.

Discovering this about Katherine proves to the audience just how brave she is. Though many of her actions throughout the series are less than condoning, she doesn't shy away from any of her emotions but rather owns them all.

Love Is The Bravest Act Of All

"I never compelled your love. It was real and so was mine."

In a season 2 episode called "Memory Lane," Katherine admits she came back for Stefan's love. He doesn't believe her until later in the episode when fans are shown that she never compelled him the way that she did with Damon. She only compelled him not to fear her once she showed him what she really was.

While no one may have been around to hear her declaration of love as he lay dying, and albeit 146 years later, she kept true in her promise for coming back for Stefan, how they will be together again. Because love always requires a sense of selflessness, it may be her most heroic act of all.

Next: 10 Klaus Mikaelson Quotes That Prove He's Actually Good