‘Vampire Diaries’ Season 6 Spoilers: New Character Named Tripp Added; EP Julie Plec Teases Drama

Another new face is joining “The Vampire Diaries” for Season 6 in the fall. Fresh on the heels of Gabrielle Walsh’s addition to the cast, the producers of the CW supernatural drama announced that “Eureka” star Colin Ferguson will play a “significant role” in the show's upcoming season.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the 41-year-old Ferguson will play the role of Tripp, a “handsome, strong and disciplined” man who will take charge in Mystic Falls. The site says that Tripp will become the head of a community militia and the “surrogate father to his young trainees, who will do anything to protect his town.”

The show's executive producer, Julie Plec, took to Twitter to tease fans about Ferguson’s addition to the cast and the potentially villainous nature of his character.

“Hey #TVD Twitter folk, see how long it takes for you guys to figure out who just got cast in the new role of TRIPP for Season 6,” Plec posted on Monday. “For those of you who are sneaky/savvy and see the casting sides, the role was formerly called MITCH.”

Colin Ferguson filled in the blanks on the social media site, tweeting, “Hmmm … Seem to have ‘tripped’ my way into a new role … Mystic Falls, hunh? This is gonna be fun.” However, after reading a couple of responses, he seemed to change his tune about the addition to the cast being “fun.”

“Classic! Everyone who knows the show is telling me I’m going to die,” he added. “I think I packed too much …”

Ferguson and fans of “The Vampire Diaries” will have to wait and see what kind of dangerous situations Tripp gets himself into, but Julie Plec confirmed one crucial piece of information on Twitter: “He’s in town to give Sheriff Forbes a run for her money.”

Viewers may remember that Season 5 of the hit show ended in chaos for the town of Mystic Falls. Markos and his band of Travelers successfully managed to take over the town and its residents by using their ancient magic. Casting a spell on Mystic Falls, the Travelers made it so that no supernatural creature could survive in the area.

Damon and Elena decided that the only way to defeat Markos and his followers was to kill them all in a giant explosion at the Mystic Grill. They succeeded … with some slight setbacks. Sheriff Forbes was still inside the building at the time of the explosion, but she appeared to be alive when Damon checked on her. Meanwhile Damon failed to reach Bonnie in time, leaving him permanently dead on the crumbling “Other Side.” And the gang realized that despite killing Markos, a spell was still preventing them from returning to their homes.

The Season 6 premiere will pick up with some pretty big changes that Plec previously explained to the Hollywood Reporter as a “beautiful and organic reset.” We’re not sure how Tripp will factor in with Elena, Stefan and the others; but since supernatural beings essentially destroyed the town, we can’t imagine people assisting them to re-enter their home.

Fans also have to consider that everyone might be in different places in their lives after the heartbreaking and dangerous events that happened in Season 5. As we previously reported, Matt will stick around Mystic Falls even though his friends can’t come back. TV Line hinted that Matt might take on a role as an officer of the law in Mystic Falls … and we wouldn’t be surprised if he frequently crossed paths with Tripp.

“Vampire Diaries” fans can look forward to seeing Colin Ferguson as Tripp when Season 5 premieres on Oct. 2. What do you think is in store for his character? Tweet your thoughts to @AmandaTVScoop