Elena, as the main character of The Vampire Diaries, is often surrounded by the most danger and drama in the series as a whole, but it's fair to say that sometimes she makes unnecessary problems for herself. Not to mention, she can be selfish when making decisions.
All of this is to say that Elena becomes a bit of a villain in her own right, and there are many quotes from the series that back up this idea. ing some of the most poignant moments makes it easy to see that she is often in the wrong.
Elena Pushes Stefan Away
"You Don't Have To Love Me Like This. The Old Elena Died When She Went Off That Bridge. Let Her Go."
Elena says this to Stefan when she drowned after going off the side of the bridge in Mystic Falls and became a vampire. Stefan always tries to shower Elena with love, but whenever he voices his own opinion, she gets extremely defensive and even pushes him further away from her.
Obviously she's quite upset, but she's also not allowed herself to absorb and understand the trauma she's been through. Instead of thinking inwardly, she decides, in this line, to tell Stefan she's never going to be the same and he can't do anything, especially placate her.
Elena Tells Stefan Her Priorities
"I'm Never Gonna Be Ready. Stefan, I Have Enough Problems With The Family I Actually Care About."
This quote is even crueler to Stefan because she's not only saying she's messed up her relationship with her living relatives, but she's also telling Stefan that she doesn't care about his problems. Even if he and Damon are at odds, they're brothers and she should know what that means.
Not to mention, Elena, later on in the series, falls in love with Damon and never treats him the way she treats Stefan. It often feels like their relationship doesn't go both ways and part of the reason is because of Elena's lack of interest in his life. This harshness is certainly one of the worst things Elena does to one of the Salvatore brothers.
Elena Selfishly Gets Mad At Damon
"You'd Rather Die Than Be Human, And You Expect Me To Be Okay With That?"
Elena yells this at Damon when she first brings up the idea that they can both be human with the cure and live a normal life together. She knows who Damon is at his core, and him having a hesitant response is expected on short notice. She thinks it means he doesn't care.
She's putting her emotions above his choice, which is completely unfair. She's the villain in this situation because she's not allowing him the time and space to really think about it and instead she is forcing her own agenda upon him.
Elena Feeds On An Innocent
"I Did, But Who Cares? I'll Do Whatever I Want."
Elena Gilbert has a lot of memorable quotes, and she says this unforgettable line when she has her humanity off and she feeds on an innocent cheerleader with no remorse or worry about being caught. Not only is she risking other people finding out about her and her friends' secrets, but she's doing it just to create havoc.
Turning her humanity off only made Elena more selfish, and this quote perfectly embodies her lack of awareness or caring. When her humanity turns back on, she does at least realize that she's been a nightmare to everyone she knows.
Elena Threatens Sheriff Forbes
"Either You Have A Drink Or I Will."
Elena says this to Sheriff Forbes who comes over to the Salvatore boarding house to tell Elena that her spur of the moment party is getting too rowdy. Instead of listening to her, she threatens her best friend's mom to stay and party or things will get violent, which is one of the worst things Elena does with her humanity off.
Not only does this put a divide between Elena and Caroline, but it shows the lengths to which Elena is willing to go to get everyone she loves to stop loving her back. Even with no humanity, it's common sense not to hurt someone that knows your secret and raised your best friend.
Elena Doesn't Care About Caroline's Feelings
"Are You Trying To Make Me Feel Bad For Hurting Your Mom?"
Elena says this to Caroline after hurting her mom and crossing a line that shouldn't even need to be drawn. Elena knows what it's like to lose a parent, and threatening to do that to her best friend's mom is extremely low for Elena, who prides herself on trying to save everyone.
Overall, she proves to be a villain and a bad friend to Caroline, who does nothing but try to help Elena in this scene. She wants her friend to act like her friend, but Elena is unwilling to care enough to apologize.
Elena To Damon
"You're Right. Every Time I Look At You All I Want To Do Is Kill You."
Elena says this to Damon because she's in another one of her moods, which was brought on by them having a difference of opinion. She threatens him by saying she wants to kill him and makes it sound like he is to blame for their lack of getting along.
It's always difficult to know where Elena and Damon stand because she is constantly either mad at him for standing up for himself or she's trying not to fall too hard for him. It's just confusing and makes her a bit of a hypocrite for not being able to stick with her own morals and ideas.
Elena Gets Her Memories Changed
"He's Stefan's Brother. He's A Monster. Then He Died."
Elena says this line as she's being compelled to forget her relationship with Damon even though everyone told her not to do it. She felt like she wasn't strong enough to let him go forever so she forced all her friends to keep up the lie for her, which backfires when Damon shows up.
Making herself view her soulmate as a monster was one of the strangest and most selfish things she did on The Vampire Diaries and it made it difficult for her and Damon to have a relationship again. She became her own villain in this way. This also further demonstrates that Elena wouldn't be able to survive without her friends.
Elena Wonders Why Stefan Isn't Being Kind
"Are You Trying To Punish Me?"
Elena says this to Stefan when he's not being as kind or as understanding to her as usual. He doesn't yell at her or tell her to get lost, he just doesn't offer her his shoulder to cry on because she chose Damon over him and he wants to stay out of it so he can heal.
This line is so emotionally manipulative and gives the impression that Elena thinks she can have the hearts of both the Salvatore boys at the same time, but that's just not how it works. Thankfully, Stefan stood his ground at this moment and made her think a little.
Elena Tries Not To Grovel
"I'm Not Gonna Be One Of Those Pathetic Girls Whose World Stops Because Of Some Guy."
This is one of the most ironic quotes of the entire show because Elena either completely shuts off or does something that she'll seriously regret every time she loses Stefan or Damon. She is constantly only worried about them and her feelings for her friends are often secondary.
This quote shows she's a villain in her own story because she's not aware of how she reacts and she never changes because of it. Overall, this line proves that she's not intentionally bad, she just lacks the ability to see outside of herself most of the time.