Kristen Blake first came to Salem in 1993, and was saved from being mugged by John Black. Originally she was grateful, but when she learned who he was, she wanted nothing to do with him. She kept finding herself attracted to him, but her brother Peter constantly warned him to stay away from John Black. When a mysterious sniper began firing at John in Salem Place, he saved Kristen's life, and Kristen found it harder and harder to deny how she felt for him. Alice Horton decided to do a little match-making between the two of them, and put them in charge of the Horton Center together, then arranged for them to both be at the cabin, where they made love for the first time.

When John started looking into Kristen's past, he found a bloody wedding dress, and Kristen confessed that she was engaged to be married, but that they were lying low right now because someone tried to kill her husband-to-be at the wedding. Not only that, but Kristen had an even bigger secret...she was Stefano DiMera's ward, and she was hiding her 'father' who was dying of a brain tumor. When Stefano was kidnapped, she had to pay big money to get him back. John was horrified to learn she was Stefano's foster daughter, but still loved her. However, she swore to a dying Stefano that she would marry Tony, and she couldn't break her promise.

Kristen was all set to marry Tony when Marlena's daughter, Belle, disappeared (whom everyone thought was Roman's), and Kristen and John posed as husband and wife to get her back, horrified to learn that the woman trying to get rid of the baby was none other than teenager Sami Brady! This seemed to cement their relationship, and Stefano knew he had to break them apart. So he got his hands on Sami's diary, and the truth was revealed that it was John who actually fathered little Belle. Kristen went ahead with the wedding to Tony, but at the ceremony, John showed up, claiming he had proof that Stefano was involved in Curtis Reed's death. When it seemed Stefano died at John's hands, Kristen went through with the wedding to Tony.

In 1994, Kristen threw a charity event at Maison Blanche in her childhood home of Aremid. Kristen was shocked first to see a shackled John, and later to learn that Stefano was really alive and well. Tony ran back into Maison Blanche to get the laptop containing a file on John's past, and went blind as a result. So even though she was sleeping with John, she couldn't leave her blind husband. Later she learned that Tony switched her birth control pills with sugar pills, so she left him, and moved in with John. She was all prepared to marry John when they cracked the files on the computer, and learned that John was actually a priest! So Kristen, a strong Catholic, returned to Tony.

In 1995, Kristen worked with John (who was functioning as a priest) to save Marlena from satanic possession. After that, John arranged to be released from his vows, and Kristen then arranged to have her marriage to Tony annulled so that her marriage with John would be recognized by the Catholic church. Once together, Kristen learned that she needed to have a child quickly, as she had a medical condition which would soon render her infertile. She still planned to be happy with John, but when they all went to Aremid for Peter and Jennifer's wedding, Tony arranged to kill himself and have John blamed. John was arrested and, thanks to Peter, sentenced to death. Kristen couldn't help but wonder if, just maybe, John really did kill Tony, and at the trial, Peter forced her to admit that she believed John killed Tony.

Kristen convinced the Woman in White, whom they met in Aremid, to return to Salem with them, and Kristen, John, the woman, and Marlena all moved into the DiMera mansion. Kristen found a letter from John to Marlena, confessing his love, and hid it, terrified she would lose John. Marlena found the letter, but at that time, Kristen discovered she was pregnant. Marlena agreed to keep quiet because she knew that Kristen's pregnancy was very precarious, and moved out when John proposed to Kristen. Kristen was later shocked when, under hypnosis, John claimed that the Woman in White was really her mother, Rachel Blake. Rachel knew that Kristen had hid the letter, and begged her to confess. Under hypnosis a second time, Kristen asked John if he loved her or Marlena more, and he answered Marlena. When Stefano returned to town, she agreed to help him kidnap Marlena in the hopes of winning John back. This was the beginning of Kristen's decent into DiMera-ism, as in the beginning, she had been purely good.

When Rachel and Marlena flew to San Francisco so Rachel could have reconstructive surgery, Marlena made Kristen swear not to sleep with John or wear his ring. What Marlena didn't know is that Kristen had given Stefano all the flight information to kidnap Marlena. Stefano arranged for a double to be captured, and Stefano had kidnapped Marlena! After Stefano faked a crash, all were convinced he and Marlena were dead. Stefano supplied John with goggles that enabled him to see Marlena, and when she used the goggles, Kristen realized that Marlena was writing diary entries about her, and planned to destroy the goggles. Stefano planted a bomb to go off next time the goggles were used, which happened to catch John and Kristen. Luckily, they and the unborn child were fine, and John promised not to use the goggles again. When Rachel suggested that John and Kristen go to Paris (following the 'Queen of the Night' game), John left, and Kristen and Rachel soon followed when Stefano sent them a fax supposedly from John, asking them to come.

John realized Stefano was holding Marlena prisoner, and arranged a grand ball, but Stefano was one step ahead of him, and arranged for many women to be there, all of whom looked exactly like Marlena. However, Marlena and Kristen came face to face, and after a confrontation, Marlena ran to John. Stefano drugged John, though, and not only did he get Marlena back, but he managed to steal Marie Antoinette's crown as well. Kristen tried to find John to save him from Stefano, and an explosion down there resulted in the presumed deaths of both Stefano and Rachel. Later, at the hospital, Kristen lost her baby, but convinced the doctor to keep quiet, who got even with her by telling John that he and Kristen could not make love. Kristen and Peter used a hypnotic device to get John into Kristen's bed, but it was Marlena's name he called out.

Stefano appeared alive and well in Salem, and arranged to hire Susan Banks, a pregnant woman who bore an alarming resemblance to Kristen, to impersonate her when necessary, and Susan agreed to sell her baby to Kristen when it was born. Marlena became more and more suspicious that Kristen wasn't really pregnant, and talked to Laura about her suspicions. Later, Kristen was heart-broken when it seemed Peter had been murdered by Jack Deveraux. Kristen made the mistake of adjusting her pregnancy pad and being caught by Laura, but luckily, Peter and Stefano were on hand, and took her back to the mansion. Stefano wanted to take Laura out of the country, but Peter and Kristen convinced him to just wipe her memory clear for the last few days.

When Susan went into labor, Kristen was there disguised as a nurse so she could watch, but she got to see something else as well...John wanted to be married to the mother of his child before it was born, so Kristen had to sit and do nothing while John married Susan, whom he thought was Kristen. Susan handed over her son to Kristen, who was named John Black Jr., and left, but when she learned her baby had a heart defect, she returned, and asked for her baby back. Kristen convinced her that she and John would be the best parents for the child, but Susan began to lose it, and was convinced that she deserved to be John's wife and the full-time mother to her child. Susan threatened to expose Kristen, but Kristen told her that if she did, she would end up in jail, and John would always hate her. She did allow Susan to breast feed the baby (on doctor's orders), but when Susan started getting too close to the baby, she tried to get rid of her again. When John found the two women together, Kristen pretended she had hired Susan as the baby's nanny. Kristen asked Vivian and Ivan for help in locking Susan in a secret room, and when Marlena pieced the truth together, Kristen locked her in the secret room!

When Kristen learned that Laura had recovered her memory and was going to have Peter's coffin dug up to prove there was no body there, she made sure she got there first, and claimed that Peter had requested his body cremated. When Laura confronted Kristen, she broke down, thanks to drugs supplied by Kristen and Lynn Burke. When Susan began to worry about Marlena, Kristen told her that Stefano had kidnapped Marlena, and would do the same to her if she talked. Kristen stopped Susan from releasing Marlena by saying that John would hate them both and marry Marlena, so Susan began to impersonate Kristen in the role of John's wife, and locked both Kristen AND Marlena in the secret room. Kristen and Marlena were both forced to watch, and Kristen tried to dig her way out of the room to stop Susan and John's wedding, and ended up hitting a gas pipe, knocking out both her and Marlena. Luckily, they were rescued when Laura slapped Susan and knocked out the false teeth, prompting Susan to confess everything. Kristen and John were almost married when Marlena rushed in and told John about Kristen losing the baby and hiring Susan to impersonate her and give birth. Kristen then grabbed a gun and threatened to kill Marlena, but was stopped by John. Kristen was arrested, but soon released on bail.

Kristen crashed John and Marlena's engagement party at the Penthouse Grill, and became suicidal when she heard him propose to Marlena, but John managed to talk her down. Later, Kristen showed up at Marlena and John's wedding with Marlena's presumed dead ex-husband Roman. She convinced them Roman would be most comfortable in the mansion, and John and Kristen pretended to be married to allow Roman to think he had a chance with Marlena, whom he still loved. Later, Kristen and John went off to find the cure, meeting Dr. Rolf, who had the antidote. Unfortunately, the vial was broken, and John and Hope had to go off into the wilderness to get a new cure. Kristen and the others got back to Salem just in time to stop Marlena from marrying a dying Roman. But since any stress could kill Roman, John and Kristen had to continue to pretend they were married, and John moved back in with Kristen. When Roman saw problems between them, Kristen told him that another woman was trying to steal her man.

In 1997, Kristen answered the door at Jonesy's townhouse, and found Celeste there. In a battle, Kristen accidentally infected Celeste with the Jungle Madness disease. Stefano disowned her, and told her that when he got Elvis back (the name Susan had christened the baby with after getting him back, since she believed Elvis was his father...in reality it was Stefano in disguise) she wouldn't be allowed near him. This caused Kristen to go a little crazy, and Kristen tricked Susan into signing little Elvis over to her, but Stefano and John stole the baby back and returned her to Susan, who then impersonated Kristen at the courthouse (John delayed her) and said she wanted to return the baby to Susan. Kristen was furious, but couldn't do anything about it, as John and Marlena had already gotten Susan and Elvis out of the country. She got her revenge by telling Roman to go to the airport (knowing that John planned to propose to Marlena on his jet) so HE could propose to her, and discovered Marlena and John discussing how they were deceiving him. Kristen and Roman decided to fight for their loves, but when Roman learned that Kristen was now a liar and a schemer, he turned his back on her.

After Laura confronted Kristen in Salem Place about Peter, Kristen found Laura's Placiden, and used it to calm herself down. When Kristen broke into Marlena's penthouse, she found a fax Susan sent to Marlena, and she kidnapped Susan's sister, Sister Mary Moira, and told Susan to come to Salem, and bring the baby. Kristen drugged Susan, and was furious to learn that she hadn't brought the baby. She sold Susan into the harem for 'The Supreme Leader'. Susan had tipped Roman and Abe off ahead of time, and they were rushing to the airport to stop her when they got a report that Kristen had been found dead, so they believed the woman at the airport (Kristen) was actually Susan. They took her into the police station for questioning, where Susan's English boyfriend, Edmund Crumb, showed up. Thanks to him Kristen was released, and when Edmund proposed to 'Susan', Kristen accepted on her behalf, all the while terrified that if Susan was the dead woman, she would be charged with her murder. The coroner ruled the death a suicide (overdose), but Roman was convinced it was murder. When John found a suicide message from Kristen on the answering machine, he felt extremely guilty.

All of Salem turned up for Kristen's funeral, and Stefano had a heart attack after blaming the town for Kristen's death. After being released, he went to the cemetery and apologized for cutting Kristen out of little Elvis' life. Kristen, who was there, revealed herself to Stefano and begged him to help her get out of town, but he said it would look too suspicious. She was going to leave when Edmund brought both Elvis and his mother Violet to town. Kristen tried to drug Violet and sneak off with Elvis, but John found her and took her to the Penthouse Grill, where Edmund had arranged a surprise wedding. Kristen had to go through with it or risk exposure, and although she tried to escape Edmund, she couldn't and the two ended up on a honeymoon flight to Bermuda, after learning that Laura was arrested for Kristen's murder.

Before leaving, Kristen had left a note for Marlena from Susan, thanking her for all her help, including chocolates she knew Marlena liked, laced with penicillin, which Marlena was deathly allergic to. Belle was the one who ate them, but was saved by Roman. Meanwhile, on the plane, Edmund confessed that HE had killed Kristen, and rather than risk ending up dead if he found out who she was, she told him that when the plane landed, she was leaving, and he wasn't to follow. Once in Bermuda, Kristen and Edmund were surprised by Susan, who had escaped from the island and gotten to Bermuda with Violet's help. Susan exposed Kristen, and both Kristen and Edmund ended up wondering who actually died in the pool. Susan revealed that the dead body was actually a fourth Banks child, Penelope Kent (who had been given away as a child), who had come to Salem to help her, and told Edmund that it wasn't his fault, as Penelope was dying anyway. To pay Kristen back for everything she did, Susan arranged for Kristen to take her place on the island. When Susan learned what had almost happened to Belle, she sent a message to Kristen on the island telling her that John and Marlena were engaged to be married. Kristen wasn't heard from for years.

In October 2012, Stefano was on a mission to rebuild a broken DiMera family. Since Lexie's death, Chad and E.J.'s fight, none of the DiMeras were connected. So, Stefano reached out to Kristen to put the family back together. Because he had been sending her checks all the previous years, she agreed to help Stefano, knowing full well that her return to Salem would not be welcomed by everyone.

Kristen took the challenge on and met with both Marlena and John upon arriving in Salem. Neither were happy to see her, but Kristen insisted that she'd had a lot of therapy and was a changed woman. Marlena, especially, did not believe Kristen. Marlena was so sure that Kristen was manipulating them again that Marlena jumped to several false assumptions about several of Kristen's actions.

On the other hand, John was starting to believe that Kristen had changed and was making amends. This caused friction between John and Marlena -- which was Kristen's plan.

Kristen had her sights set on another Black besides John. Kristen and Brady began spending more time together. Brady began to fall for Kristen and she used this to her advantage. So, she hired a man to attack her in front of Brady, knowing that Brady would step in and save her. Brady was also attacked during this altercation, sending him to the hospital.

Kristen was by his side and took care of him while he healed, all the while planning to trap him into a relationship, then dump him, leaving him broken hearted, just as his father had done to her. Once they started dating, Kristen almost immediately began scheming for their secret relationship to come out. When John and Marlena found out, they were horrified. When John and Brady got into a fist fight, Kristen was thrilled that her plan was working.

Brady fell in love with Kristen and proposed to her. E.J. and Stefano both questioned Kristen's intentions for Brady, mainly, her ability to go through with hurting Brady. Kristen insisted that she would see her new plan (to have Brady walk in on her in bed with John) through. But when Brady presented Kristen with a wedding present -- adoption papers for their future child -- Kristen began to doubt whether or not she could go through with the whole thing.

On the eve of their wedding, John showed up at Kristen's hotel room. He had decided that the only way to break up Kristen and Brady was for Brady to see them in bed together. But, Kristen couldn't go through with it. She turned John down and ran to see Brady.

But Marlena had gotten to Brady first. She had a photo of Kristen paying off the man who attacked Brady. When Kristen arrived at the mansion, she tried to lie and then finally explained the truth to Brady. Brady left her and called off their wedding.

Kristen was crushed. Just as Marlena was prepared to celebrate her win, Kristen told Marlena that earlier that night, John had come to her hotel room and tried to seduce her. Kristen might have lost Brady, but she took some joy in believing that Marlena also lost John. But, Kristen still blamed Marlena for ruining her relationship with Brady, and was determined to make Marlena pay.

When Marlena's son, Eric Brady, went out of town on business, Kristen followed him. She snuck into his room, shot him with a memory-erasing drug-filled dart, lured him into bed, and raped him. She video taped their sexual encounter and had it edited to look like Eric was a willing participant. She planned to show the video at the consecration of St. Luke's Academy, the school that Eric worked so hard to get built.

But on the day of the consecration, Brady informed Kristen that he learned that she was the one who stopped things from going further with John. Brady wanted to give their relationship another chance. Thrilled, Kristen agreed and kept the video hidden.

Kristen met with the doctor who supplied her with the drugs she used to poison Eric multiple times to confirm that Eric wouldn't remember anything. Once satisfied, she proceeded on with her life, even working along side Eric to select scholarship winners for the new school. Brady told a very disappointed Marlena and Victor that he and Kristen were back together.

Kristen became worried though when she thought that she might be pregnant. She bought a pregnancy test and ran into Jennifer on her way home from the drug store. Jennifer saw the test and asked Kristen if she and Brady were pregnant. Kristen confessed that she had slept with another man when she and Brady were apart, but didn't tell Jennifer who the man was. Jennifer was supportive of Kristen and after she took the test, Kristen called Jennifer to say that it was a false alarm. Kristen asked Jennifer to keep quiet about sleeping with another man. Jennifer agreed.

However, Marlena was in the hallway of the DiMera mansion picking up Sydney when Kristen was making the phone call. Marlena heard Kristen confess to sleeping with another man. Marlena teamed up with Victor and Nicole to find out Kristen's secret.

An uneasy alliance with Nicole soon formed as well, and Nicole told Marlena about a flash drive that Kristen was adamant to be kept secret. Marlena knew that she had to find the flash drive.

Meanwhile, Kristen and Brady were growing closer. Brady revealed how much he loved Kristen during Pre-Cana counseling. She was thrilled and wanted to move up the wedding. She knew Marlena, Victor, and Nicole opposed the wedding, but she was determined to marry Brady.

Kristen frequently checked with Dr. Chyka to be sure that Eric would not remember what she did to him. Despite all of his guarantees, Eric did remember. But, he thought it was Nicole who raped him. Kristen thought she was in the clear.

But then she learned that Marlena had her flash drive with the video on it. Kristen hired a man to attack and rob Marlena. He failed at his task but lied to Kristen that he threw the flash drive into the river.

However, the flash drive was on the ground in the park where Marlena was attacked. Parker happened to pick it up when he was playing and showed it to Daniel. Daniel took it, thinking that it belonged to someone, and intended to open it to see if he could find out who's drive it was. But, before he could do so, he was called away from his desk. Marlena came into Daniel's office to leave him a note. When she reached for a pad from his desk, she found the flash drive.

She recognized it as Kristen's. She tried to open it, but it was encrypted. So, she took it to Victor and his team was finally able to open it the morning of Brady and Kristen's wedding. He watched it and was shocked to see Eric on the video. Victor tried to show the video to Brady, but Brady wouldn't hear Victor out. Victor knew that Brady had planned on showing a video for Kristen during their wedding, so he convinced Marlena to swap out the DVDs.

On the day of Brady and Kristen's wedding, with Eric officiating, Marlena unknowingly played the tape of Kristen raping Eric. Everyone was horrified and Kristen ran out of the church. Brady followed her and demanded an explanation. She said that Eric had seduced her, and since the video was edited to make it look like Eric was a consenting party, Brady believed Kristen. But, Kristen knew that as soon as he talked to Eric, Brady wouldn't believe her. So, she fled Salem.

As soon as Nicole found out about the video she went looking for Kristen. She found her trying to flee Salem and drove after her. Their cars got into an accident. Nicole was not badly injured. While her car was totaled, Kristen was nowhere to be found. The only person who heard from Kristen again was Brady, who got a DVD that Kristen left for him before the wedding, telling him how much she loved him.

While she was away, Kristen received news that Brady was slipping back into drugs. So, she hatched a plan to talk to him. She had her men kidnap Daniel while he was in St. Louis at a conference. Her hope was the Brady would come looking for him. However, Daniel was able to turn the tables on Kristen and end up capturing her and bringing her back to Salem to face charges. When she arrived, E.J. informed her that he would not be representing her. She was on her own to get out of her own mess.

So, Kristen hatched a plan. She learned that John had been in an accident and was in a coma. She contacted some of the doctors on the DiMera payroll and they were able to supply her with a drug that would bring John out of the coma. However, she told Marlena that she would only produce the drug in exchange for Eric refusing to testify against her. But, she didn't want Brady to know about the offer. Marlena agreed and, reluctantly, so did Eric.

In the meantime, Kristen was shocked to hear that her brother E.J. was killed. She was upset that they were at odds when he died. She wanted to do something to help. So, when Stefano called her with a mission, she agreed. While E.J.'s body was in the morgue, Kristen snuck in and injected E.J.'s arm with something.

Meanwhile, Brady was horrified to see Kristen in town. He told her to stay away from John. And, even though he told her that he wanted space, Brady returned to Theresa for comfort to forget about Kristen. But, Kristen noticed that Theresa was very jumpy anytime someone mentioned John coming out of his coma. Kristen started to suspect that Theresa was the one who attacked John and put him in the coma in the first place. So, Kristen planted a recording device in Theresa's friend Anne's purse and got a recording of Theresa saying that she was the one who hit John.

Kristen played the recording for Brady. But, he didn't believe her, especially since John had backed up Theresa's story that Brady was the one who hit John in self-defense. Brady told Kristen that they were finished and there was no hope for them. Heartbroken, Kristen went to see Daniel to see if he could help her, since he also suspected Theresa was guilty. However, instead she found a drunk and distraught Daniel. The two of them yelled at each other. Then, their rage turned to passion and they ended up in Daniel's bed.

At that very same time, Brady was going to talk to John about Kristen's recording. Outside of John's room, Brady heard John and Theresa talking about the night of John's attack. He was furious and confronted them both. John told the truth but Theresa continued to deny it. She swore that Kristen doctored the recording. Brady rushed to talk to Daniel about the recording, and walked in on Daniel and Kristen were in bed together.

Daniel and Kristen didn't even notice Brady standing in the doorway. But, they did stop before things progressed further. They got dressed and both agreed that what almost happened was a mistake. Kristen wished Daniel well and told him that she was leaving Salem.

Kristen arrived back at her hotel room to pack. Brady showed up to talk to her. He told her that she was right about Theresa. Kristen began to see hope, but then Brady finished his thought -- there was hope until he saw her in bed with his best friend. Kristen tried to explain that they didn't actually sleep together, but Brady didn't care. He told them that they were done forever. He never wanted to see her again.

Before she could leave town, Kristen wanted to confront Theresa. So, Kristen followed Theresa into the woods. While there, Kristen overheard Theresa say that she was pregnant with Brady's baby. Kristen snapped. She called her henchmen and set up one last scheme. She had Theresa kidnapped and strapped to a hospital bed. Then, Kristen had some DiMera doctors transplant the embryo from inside Theresa to Kristen and Kristen left Salem pregnant with Brady's child. She moved to a DiMera castle in Italy.

The child was born, a son, and Kristen named him Christopher. But, Christopher was sick and needed a bone marrow transplant. So, Kristen dispatched one of her hitmen to Salem to test blood from Brady and Theresa. Theresa was a match. So, Kristen sent for Theresa to be brought to Italy. The plan was to kill her after the transplant.

However, Brady and Melanie had figured out what Kristen had done and arrived in Italy to confront her. After a failed attempt to convince Kristen that he still loved her, Kristen had them thrown in the dungeon. They were to die too.

Meanwhile back in Salem, Marlena was going to look for John, who had gone after his new long-lost son Paul. Knowing that Victor kept tabs on many people, Marlena went to Victor's house to steal Paul's address from Victor's desk. But Marlena stole Kristen's instead. So, Marlena showed up at Kristen's castle just as everyone else was there, tied up. Kristen pulled a gun on Marlena. The two struggled. And Kristen fell out the window. The Italian police investigated the crime scene. But, since no body was ever recovered, the had to let Marlena return to the U.S.

Back in Salem, Stefano got the news and was heartbroken. He was determined to make Marlena pay for Kristen's supposed death.