How was Tyler Lockwood’s werewolf curse triggered in The Vampire Diaries? Details explored

Tyler Lockwood's werewolf curse in The Vampire Diaries was triggered when he accidentally killed a young woman named Sarah. Killing Sarah activated a dormant werewolf gene within him, leading to his first werewolf transformation. This curse has been hereditary in the Lockwood Family, and is activated by killing someone, intentionally or accidentally.

In Season 2, Episode 6 of The Vampire Diaries, Mason Lockwood explains to Tyler about how he triggered the curse years ago by accidentally killing his friend Jimmy during a fight in Florida. That was the first time he ever transformed into a wolf. Read on to learn more details about the curse and how it got triggered for Tyler Lockwood.

Tyler Lockwood’s werewolf curse got triggered after killing Sarah in The Vampire Diaries.

The Vampire Diaries has always emphasized the werewolf curse, which runs in the Lockwood family. The show establishes that this curse only gets activated for the next person in the family when they end up killing someone deliberately or by accident. The vent marks the first time they transform into a wolf completely.

In Season 6, Episode 2, Mason Lockwood is seen explaining to Tyler about the curse. Mason, all the while, was also preparing Tyler if he by chance ended up triggering the curse in his life. In the very next Episode, 7, we see Tyler's curse getting activated when he kills Sarah, Matt Donovan's friend.

During Katherine’s masquerade ball scheme, she compelled Matt and Sarah to start a fight with Tyler. Katherine was determined to provoke Tyler to kill someone and wanted to trigger his family's curse. Sarah attacked Tyler, and in the struggle, she hit her head on the desk and fell. Even though unintentional, Sarah died at the hands of Tyler, triggering the werewolf curse. In the Vampire Diaries universe, any human death caused directly by a werewolf or someone carrying the werewolf gene counts as "taking a life”.

From that point on, Tyler began to experience the painful monthly transformations into a werewolf, starting at the full moon after Sarah’s death.

The activation of the werewolf curse comes as a narrative device in The Vampire Diaries

Tyler is portrayed as uncontrollable and aggressive in the show, reflecting an internal struggle that is actually tied to his family legacy. Once activated, the physical and emotional turmoil he endures while transforming into a wolf mirrors his real identity and the reasons behind his extreme emotions.

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Therefore, the curse's activation isn't just a personal burden—it’s a narrative device with high stakes. Katherine seeks the moonstone, which is intrinsically linked to both the sun and moon curses: vampires can walk in daylight, and werewolves can transform at will. Breaking these curses is central to her and Klaus' plans.

Katherine triggers the fight because Mason informed her that the only way for Tyler to activate his curse was to kill someone, and she needed a werewolf in play for her moonstone heist plan to work smoothly. However, although Katherine already had Mason, an experienced triggered wolf on her side, maybe she needed a werewolf from the Lockwood bloodline active so she could keep Klaus interested in Mystic Falls.

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