The Mikaelson Family is the line of the third vampires in existence. Most vampires are descended from them. They are significantly more powerful than any other vampire created since then. They were created by Esther, wife of Mikael. She is the one who also placed the Hybrid Curse on Niklaus.
History
The first members of this family were a man named Mikael and his wife Esther. They were wealthy landowners in an Eastern European village until they were devastated by a plague, which killed their firstborn and only child at the time. They heard from a witch called Ayana that there was a land where everyone was healthy and strong, a land that happened to be the New World. Mikael and Esther traveled to this paradise with Ayana, where they settled in next to the constantly healthy folk, the werewolves, and lived peacefully. In the years to follow Esther bore six more children. Mikael often clashed with his son, Niklaus. Things got even worse when Klaus and his brother Henrik snuck out to watch the werewolves transform one night and one of the beasts mauled Henrik to death.