3. THEY DIED TOGETHER
In order to defeat Katherine’s sinister plan, Damon was willing to sacrifice himself, but his younger brother Stefan observing the selfless nature of Damon took the decision of sacrificing himself so Damon could live a happy life with Elena. He saw the version of his brother which was lost after he transformed into a vampire and he wanted Elena to know this Damon. He gave his brother a new chance at life while living behind his newly married wife Caroline behind.
Whereas the conclusion of the Originals saw Elijah and Klaus dying together. Klaus absorbed the entire Hollow’s spirit and needed to kill himself to end Hollow once and for all. Elijah had no reason to die, but Elijah explained that the sole purpose of his entire life was to find Klaus’ redemption. In the end, he felt that Klaus has redeemed himself and life would be meaningless for Elijah without Klaus. They were truly each other’s soulmates and their brotherly bond is a testament to that.
2. THEY FORGAVE EACH OTHER
When it came to the Salvatores, they took turns through their guilt trips and the show cycled through whichever Salvatore had the high moral ground for whatever issues was plaguing them. Sometimes it’s Stefan, the good brother while Damon is going on a rampage to deal with his guilt to deal with loss or rejection. Other times, it’s Stefan who lost his touch of humanity for some greater reason while Damon is playing the good brother. Whereas when it comes to the Mikaelsons, Klaus or Elijah, they never took the higher ground. Even though Elijah is considered as the honorable one for always keeping his word, but he is still a monster deep down. Like Klaus once told Hayley, we all are monsters.
Both Klaus and Elijah have done terrible things towards each other. Klaus has killed several love interests of Elijah; Celeste, Gia. Elijah also caused Klaus numerous heartbreaks, some of them were intentional, some were not. Such as compelling Aurora to hurt him, killing Tatia, and not rescuing Hayley. But the brothers always forgave each other and came through for each other. Whereas Salvatores fought for decades over a petty love interest. Their relationship was strained for the most part since 1864 due to their failure to forgive each other.
1. NEVER GAVE UP
Elijah was considered a fool by many for searching the redemption of a monster like Klaus. Elijah always believed that his brother is capable of goodness. He always stood by his brother’s side even when Klaus made it almost impossible to support him such as when he cursed Hayley or cursed Gia, but that didn’t stop Elijah for backing up his brother. Elijah gave up his happiness and any chance of having a romantic life such as with Katherine by choosing Klaus. He was the one to convince Klaus to protect Hayley and the unborn child so it could redeem their family. Klaus also never left his brother alone, when Hollow killed Elijah, he made the earth move to resurrect his brother. He visited his brother in France who had his memories erased and helped him in retrieving those memories, forgave him for playing a part in Hayley’s demise.
Whereas when Bonnie and Damon are trapped in the Prison world, Stefan searched for them for a while, but after that he gave up his search. He realized that he needed to move on with his life, he starts living with Ivy. And when Stefan was locked in a safe by Silas where he drowns over and over. Elena and Damon are busy making love for almost three months and didn’t bother searching for him.