He ' s the most interesting character on the show imo . He has so many layers . unfortunately , the writers cannot seem to grasp the concept that Damon can be a hero and not have to be a tortured soul to do it ! They flip back and forth between Damon doing the right thing , even when it ' s not a popular choice , to Damon falling apart and having to be saved . again and again and again and again . add infinitum here . It seems the writers enjoy putting the character through hell over and over as he tries to find his way to becoming someone Elena could love . It sucks that the writers just use the character of Damon as a whipping post for the other characters to vent upon , ignoring the good things Damon has done over the years . The only excuse I have for this is because of Ian . Ian is so charismatic . so sexy and alluring as Damon they the writers JP know they can get away with making Damon the weak link or the loose cannon that everyone blames because they know the fans will keep watching because so many fans love Ian , despite the way they writers JP assassinate the character of Damon .