Mind Compulsion

Mind Compulsion is an ability exclusive to the original vampires, immortals, vampires, witches, and hybrids. It allows the user to control another person's mind by making eye contact, somewhat astral project into their dreams and overall erase the victim's memories or even alter them to the point where something is completely different about them. Compelled beings usually follow the instructions given to them by the vampire who compelled them to the best of their ability, sometimes even those that would otherwise be beyond their "normal" capacity (i.e. being forced to forget a very recent and otherwise unforgettable experience, cause them to develop new skills, and even create new personalities). Needless to say, this ability plays a vital role in keeping the existence of Vampires (and by extension, other supernatural races) hidden. While most vampires use compulsion with verbal commands, this is not heeded as a necessity, as in one such instance Damon was able to compel Caroline with eye contact alone. However, this method of compulsion has not been used since. Silas however seems to easily do these feats without eye contact or verbal commands when he wants, and can even get into the minds of the Originals.

Vampires can only compel humans, while Originals can compel both humans and vampires, but not their fellow Originals (as Rebekah pointed out to Kol); and though Vampires seem to be aware that they are being compelled while under the effect (Humans aren't), they are, by no means immune to it, unless they have Vervain in their system. However, any vampire can control the dreams of another vampire, like Katherine did to Stefan and Elena and what Damon did to Rose. Compulsion doesn't work if the victim is on vervain. In spite of that, Silas was able to entrance Caroline with a unique form of the skill

When someone is compelled, a new compulsion cannot override a previous compulsion. It is, however, possible to plant a new compulsion for so long as it does not conflict with the previous one. As users grow older, their mind compulsion skills evolve and mature. To prevent compulsion, Elena wore a pendant which contained vervain, and Jeremy was also given a bracelet with the herb in it.