<Li> Seasons: 1--6 and 8 </Li> <P> Elizabeth "Liz" Forbes is the Sheriff of Mystic Falls and the mother of Caroline Forbes . Her husband, Bill Forbes, who was a member of the town's council, had left her for another man after revealing that he was gay . She is first introduced at a Founders Day party at Mayor Lockwood's house . There, she is shown to have a strained relationship with her daughter . However, she does care a lot for her well - being, which is shown when she arrests a bartender after Caroline gets drunk . She is revealed to be a member of the Founders' Council, a secret organization dedicated to protecting Mystic Falls from vampires . Liz becomes friends with Damon after he saves her from Lexi Branson, and is seen letting him know about the council's plans . In the season one finale, she is handcuffed by John Gilbert for disagreeing with his plan to use the town as bait to capture the tomb vampires . She is later saved by Carol Lockwood, but they are unable to save Mayor Lockwood, who is burned with the vampires . Liz then finds out that her daughter has been in a car crash and goes to the hospital, where she is comforted by Damon . </P> <P> In season two, Carol accuses Liz of getting Mayor Lockwood killed . Liz is later informed by Mason Lockwood that Damon and Stefan are vampires, though she is skeptical, particularly regarding Damon . She tests him by slipping vervain into his drink and he reacts negatively to it . When Damon and Stefan assume Mason did it and attempt to take care of him in the woods, Liz ambushes and shoots the brothers and has them injected with vervain . Liz tortures Damon in an attempt to learn how he and Stefan can walk in the sun, but is interrupted when Elena appears, followed by Caroline, who kills the deputies . Liz is locked in the cellar at the Salvatore House so that the vervain can get out of her system and she can be compelled to forget everything . Liz asks Damon to keep Caroline away from her, but after a talk Liz eventually accepts Caroline being a vampire; Caroline decides to compel her and Liz loses her memory of the whole ordeal . </P> <P> After Matt discovers the truth about vampires from Caroline, he tells Liz, who comes up with a plan to make Matt pretend to be compelled to forget, while he actually has vervain in his system . Liz then uses Matt to spy on Caroline, who she believes is a monster . Liz tries to capture and kill Damon, but accidentally shoots Jeremy instead . Believing she has killed Jeremy, she is shocked to discover that Bonnie is able to resurrect him . She finds out that Matt came clean to Caroline . After confessing that neither wanted to secretly live in fear of one another, Liz accepts her daughter for what she is . After Caroline is locked in a cellar by her father for being a vampire, Liz and Tyler come to her rescue . Liz assists her daughter and her friends throughout the series as their relationship continues to improve and she becomes closer friends with Damon, before it is revealed that she's dying from cancer in season six . Liz is seen in the series finale watching over Caroline . </P>

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