Kaitlynn Chandler

Kaitlynn Elizabeth Chandler (eventually Kaitlynn Elizabeth Keller) is a main character in A Tale as Old as Time and it's subsequent sequels. She is the second daughter of Robert Reynolds and Vanessa Chandler, the younger full sister of Catherine Chandler, older half-sister of Heather Chandler, adopted daughter of Thomas Chandler, and step-daughter of Brooke Chandler. Kaitlynn is also adoptive mother of Cody Keller and eventual wife of Vincent Keller.

Personality
Kaitlynn was once a very happy, bubbly girl who held her loved ones close to her and was very close and a social butterfly in her school years. However, after she witnessed her mother's murder, Kaitlynn's personality changed and became very complex and layered. As a detective, she's hard working and tends to do whatever she has to in order to prove innocence or guilt (exhibited in episode 1X04 "All In"), also demonstrated in this episode is her kindness and compassion. By helping others, it gives Kaitlynn a way to avoid dealing with her issues in her personal life, which is why she tends to throw herself into her work to avoid dealing with her emotions. After her mother's death, she kept her family at arms length, due to them not believing her when she told them what she saw that night. Her toughness, courage, and fearlessness serve her well on the job as a detective in pursuit of criminals, but also during Vincent's transformations. Kaitlynn is able to maintain a calm and level head in heated situations. She is highly altruistic, supportive, and resourceful towards her peers, but also towards those she serves.

After meeting and befriending Vincent Keller, Kaitlynn began to heal and open her heart again, starting with repairing her relationship with her sisters and her dad. This led to her healing from the trauma of her mother's murder and opened herself up to the possibility of love; both for her family and romantically. Once she opened her heart, she fell in love with Vincent and did whatever she could to keep him safe from those who wanted to kill him.

Kaitlynn loves fiercely and will do whatever it takes to protect those she loves; which was proven many times in her effort to cover up Vincent's involvement in her earlier cases to keeping secrets from her dad and sisters regarding who she spent her free time with, in order to protect them from Muirfield.

Appearance
Physically, Kaitlynn is a very beautiful and attractive young woman with an oval face, light olive complexion, almond-shaped brown eyes, and long dark brown hair. Her height is 5'6"(168 cm), and she has a slim, slightly athletic physique, and well toned legs from her childhood and pre-teen years as a dancer. Starting with episode 1X13, Kaitlynn has blonde highlights in her hair from going to a salon with her younger sister Heather while she was on medical leave from work after getting shot a few episodes prior.

Her clothing style changes depending on the setting; she'll usually wear heeled boots with jeans and casual blouses or sweaters when on the job with the NYPD, her hair is usually in a high ponytail, and she'll wear a leather jacket that's usually blue, red, or black. She wears a minimal amount of makeup when on the job, unless she's working undercover.

When Kaitlynn is lounging around her apartment, she usually wears sweatpants or shorts with large t-shirts with either sports logos or cartoon characters or emblems, or tank tops (sometimes with sports logos) with flannel shirts, and her hair is either down or in low pigtails that fall over her shoulders.

When she's attending a formal event, Kaitlynn dresses appropriately in elegant gowns and will curl her hair instead of keeping it straightened.

In the season three finale, Liam Cullen noticed a resemblance between Kaitlynn and her ancestor Elizabeth Reynolds, whom he once loved back in the 1850's.

Early Years
Kaitlynn grew up in Westchester with her parents, Thomas & Vanessa Chandler, and her sisters Catherine and Heather. Despite being two years younger than Catherine, Kaitlynn graduated Fenton High School alongside her in 2003. Afterwards, she attended NYU and started with a Major in English Lit. with dreams of becoming a novelist in her adult life.

While attending NYU, Kaitlynn got a job as a bartender at the Salty Dawg alongside her sister Catherine in order to pay for tuition. One night, Catherine had car trouble after closing up and called their mother for help. After Vanessa arrived to assist her daughters, two men showed up and gunned down Vanessa in front of them. When they tried turned their guns on the girls, Catherine grabbed Kaitlynn's hand and they ran into the woods but tripped and fell. Catherine was knocked unconscious from the fall, but Kaitlynn was only momentarily dazed, but had sprained her ankle. Suddenly, the two gunmen were attacked by what Kaitlynn described as a "Beast." No one believed her, though, and she eventually came to believe that she was so traumatized she'd misunderstood what happened

After her mother's death, Kaitlynn changed her course to a double major in Psychology and Criminal Justice, and earned her Master's Degree in both in three years. She graduated top of her class at NYU, and then the police academy the following year. Kaitlynn worked her way up through the ranks to become a homicide detective at the 125th precinct, meeting her would-be best friend and partner, Kimberly Cooper.

A Tale as Old as Time
Nine years after her mother's death, Kaitlynn and her partner, Kimberly Cooper, who goes by her nickname KC, investigate the murder of a high-profile fashion editor who was found dead in an upscale hotel bathroom. Kaitlynn discovers a clue that leads her to Vincent Keller, an Army soldier, who was reportedly killed by enemy fire while serving in Afghanistan in 2002. She follows up with his roommate and friend, J.T. Forbes, and finds out that Vincent is actually alive. He convinces her not to tell anyone he's alive, but she notices an article about her mother's murder in his belongings, and insists on getting answers. She finds out that there was a hair with cross-species DNA found in her case, similar to one found at her mother's murder. She tries to get answers from Agent McCleary, but she almost gets killed. The same mysterious beast saves Kaitlynn again, and she finds out the "beast" is actually Vincent. Vincent later tells her how he was part of a classified military experiment called Operation Muirfield, which changed his DNA and turned him into a beast. The experiment went awry, and the military shut it down by killing all the experiments. Vincent survived, and has been hiding. Kaitlynn decides to keep Vincent's secret, but also lets him know that she will not let him push her away or disappear again.

Kait quickly learns that working with Vincent would not be easy. First, she alienates him by pushing him to reveal himself and then labeling him a victim. She later makes amends for these mishaps by apologizing to him. Though initially trying to push her away, Vincent finds it hard to stay away from Kaitlynn and starts spending more time with her. She's glad when Vincent lets her be a part of his life, and the two become quick friends, but Kaitlynn realizes she's going to be leading a "double life," hiding her life with Vincent away and lying to her family and friends.

Muirfield is alerted to Kaitlynn's involvement with Vincent, and starts digging. Eventually, Agent Silverfox kidnaps Kaitlynn and her older sister, Catherine, an Assistant District Attorney, and hopes to make Kait give up Vincent to them. Silverfox tries to scare her, then offers the sisters information on their mother in exchange for Vincent. After the two sisters are released, Catherine demands answers from Kaitlynn and she comes clean about knowing Vincent was the "beast" that saved them the night of their mother's murder, but that's all she discloses. Later at her apartment, Kaitlynn finds Vincent waiting for her and tells him what happened. The next night, Catherine shows Kaitlynn articles about civilians being mauled to death, and questions Kait about her level of trust in Vincent, and the two argue, which Vincent overhears, and decides to turn himself in for fear of actually hurting Kaitlynn and her damaging her relationship with her sister. When J.T. informs Kaitlynn that Vincent turned himself in, she and Catherine help him track down Vincent, and they kill Silverfox and the other Muirfield agents. Catherine later apologizes to Kaitlynn and the two being to repair their relationship, and Catherine offers to help whenever and however she can.

Skills and Abilities

 * Expert Detective: As a Detective, Kaitlynn has proven herself as highly skilled. Unlike most of her co-workers, she rarely jumps to conclusions before she gets her facts straight, except when she is emotionally involved in the case especially cases that involves Beast and Vincent Keller.
 * Expert Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Kaitlynn has proven that she is a capable hand-to-hand combatant, especially in the fighting style of Kickboxing which is her specialty, which makes her fairly matchable towards skillful agents of Muirfield and others villains that she's faced. She has also shown to be capable in the art of Krav Maga. Kaitlynn also tends to use her skills as a dancer to avoid hits from her opponents, adding an element of grace to her fighting style.
 * Skilled Markswoman: Due to her police training, Kaitlynn is highly officiant in the uses guns and other forms of firearms.
 * Skilled Profiler: Due to her Master's in Psychology, Kaitlynn is able to come up with accurate psychological profiles of suspects in her cases, or be able to read people's emotional state.

Vanessa Chandler
Kaitlynn was very close to her mother and loved her deeply. She said that she would always side with her mother during family debates and take any excuse to spend time with her. When Vanessa was murdered by Muirfield agents, Kaitlynn was traumatized and heartbroken and pushed away her loved ones as a result. Once she learned about her mother's involvement in Operation: Muirfield, Kaitlynn's feelings for her mother became mixed and she harbored some resentment towards her for the part she played in turning Vincent into a "beast".

Thomas Chandler
Kaitlynn was also close with her dad, Thomas Chandler, and loved him for always being there for her. When she began to slowly heal in the years after her mother's death, Kaitlynn worked on repairing her relationship with her family, and that included accepting the fact that Thomas was starting a new life with a woman named Brooke, who he was going to marry.

Catherine Chandler
Catherine is Kaitlynn's older sister and the two were close growing up, sharing the same birthday despite being two years apart in age. Kaitlynn and Catherine were working together the night Vanessa was murdered, although Cat was knocked unconscious from a fall while they ran from the gunmen, while Kaitlynn witnessed a "beast" saving them. A year after Vanessa's death, Catherine had called Kaitlynn crazy for claiming a "Beast" had saved them, and started to move on with her life, and that comment fractured their relationship to the point where they only saw each other or spoke during holidays and when their paths crossed with work. However, once Catherine found out about Kaitlynn's friendship with Vincent, the two started to repair their relationship and regained their closeness due to no secrets being kept between them. Catherine is also one of the first characters to note the mutual romantic attraction between Kaitlynn and Vincent.

Heather Chandler
Heather is Kaitlynn's younger sister. Like with Catherine, Kaitlynn was also close with Heather growing up and the two took ballet together until Kaitlynn was fourteen. After Vanessa's death, Kaitlynn became distant because she blamed herself. Heather tried to get past it and keep Kaitlynn close, but found it hard when Kait kept obsessing over Vanessa's case. Kaitlynn though, worked on rebuilding her relationship with Heather after meeting Vincent, but found it challenging to keep secrets because Heather was also living with her.

Cody Keller
Cody is a young beast-kid that was sent to an orphanage after his mother died during childbirth, and was taken by a branch of Muirfield scientists, and when he was six years old, he escaped and sought help, finding Kaitlynn in a local park and formed an instant attachment to her. As soon as she met Cody, Kaitlynn's maternal instincts kicked in and she did everything she could to take down the Muirfield branch that experimented on him, and she later decided to become Cody's foster mother, and with help from Catherine and Gabe, it was approved. She treated Cody like her own son and made her guest room into his bedroom and bought him whatever comics or books he wanted, giving him a stable home.

Kimberly Cooper
Kimberly, or KC as she likes to be called, is Kaitlynn's best friend and work partner. She often helps Kaitlynn stay focused when she's distracted by anything related to Vincent. When Kait kept Vincent's existence a secret, lying to KC was the hardest for her and upset her the most because KC trusted her.

J.T. Forbs
J.T. was wary and distant from Kaitlynn, afraid that her hanging out with Vincent could put him in danger. He is cold towards Kaitlynn, often telling her to stay away. Over time, though, when Kait assists J.T. to keep Vincent safe and shows her genuine concern and care for Vincent, J.T. encourages Vincent to spend more time with her, softening his position towards her by telling Vincent to keep Kaitlynn in his life. J.T. initially got along with Kaitlynn for Vincent's sake, but the two grew to become friends on their own.

Vincent Keller
Vincent is Kaitlynn's Soulmate, though they started out as friends, this eventually grew into them falling in love and eventually, despite many obstacles along the way, they marry and he becomes her Husband. When Vincent revealed his secret, Kaitlynn looked past his physical changes, and saw him for the man that he is rather than the beast he had become. Kaitlynn told Vincent that though he was no longer human, he wasn't a monster and she believed that he was more human than he believed himself to be.

Blake Clancy
Blake was Kaitlynn's boyfriend for her last two years of High School and they were together up until Vanessa's death. In the months after, Blake had sensed a change in Kait and suggested that she and him attend a different collage out-of-state and start fresh, hinting that he wanted a life with her. Kaitlynn however, told Blake that she needed some time and space and ended their relationship. They eventually lost contact and didn't see eachother again until their 10-year High School Reunion.

Trivia

 * Kaitlynn is portrayed by actress Nina Dobrev. She is the second main female protagonist Nina portrays, the first being the character of Andrea Rayne from both Mina A's and Vengie D's respective Arrowverse inspired works.