Imprinting is behavioral phenomenon among shapeshifters where a shapeshifter finds his or her soul mate.
Description
Imprinting occurs when a shapeshifter finds their soul mate. The moment the shapeshifter sees the one they are destined to be with, they imprint. It is described as having every connection with everything else severed and instead being only connected to this earth for the other person. After that, nobody else matters because you are only there for your other half, your soul mate.
If an imprinted person is killed by someone, the wolf who imprinted on them can never forgive the killer. If the killer happens to be another wolf from the pack, the wolves would have no choice but to fight to the death. For this reason, the most important law among the La Push shape-shifter pack is that no wolf may kill the object of a fellow wolf's imprinting.
It is unknown what would happen if a wolf was rejected by their imprinted one.
Stages
There are stages to imprinting, especially if the person on who the shapeshifter has imprinted is young.
If the person is young, the shapeshifter will act as an older sibling.
Secound Stage
As the person gets older, the shapeshifter will also come to be their friend.
Third Stage
When the person is old enough, the shapeshifter's feelings are suspected to grow into romantic love, but this hasn't been comfirmed.
If the shapeshifter imprints on a person around their age, their feelings are immediately romantic.
Reason for Imprinting
The reason for imprinting is unknown. Sam Uley believes that the person on whom the shapeshifter imprints is the person with whom the shapeshifter has the best chances to reproduce with (though this may be debatable since Jacob Black imprinted on Renesmee, the half vampire half human child of Edward and Bella). Billy Black, however, thinks that imprinting is designed to make the werewolves stronger. They Imprint so they can have Werewolf/Shape-shifter children who can grow up and protect against the Vampires. So they never die out.
Known Shapeshifters who Imprinted
- Sam Uley with Emily Young
- Jared with Kim Connweller
- Quil Ateara with Claire
- Paul with Rachel Black
- Jacob Black with Renesmee Cullen
In Life
Some animals in the world do imprint, such as swans, sea turtles and many geese. In these cases however, imprinting means to return to the same breeding ground, egg laying site, etc. each year, not to find a soul mate.