"I'm the world's most dangerous predator. Everything about me invites you in. My voice, my face, even my smell. As if I would need any of that. As if you could outrun me. As if you could fight me off. I'm designed to kill."
Edward Cullen (born Edward Anthony Masen on June 20, 1901 in ) is a vegetarian vampire and a member of the Olympic Coven. Edward is the adoptive son of Carlisle and Esme Cullen as well as the son-in-law of Charlie Swan and
Edward Cullen
. He is the adoptive brother of Jasper Hale and Emmett Cullen, as well as the adoptive brother of Alice Cullen and Rosalie Cullen.
After contracting the Spanish Influenza in 1918, Edward was transformed into a vampire by Carlisle Cullen, as the only alternative to death. Over the next ninety years the pair gathered a family of vampires around themselves, and devoted their lives to "vegetarianism". Edward eventually fell in love with Bella Swan and with her had a daughter who they named Renesmee Carlie Cullen, before transforming his beloved into a vampire, after she almost died giving birth.
Edward is rather manically depressed and sullen, and his family notices his brooding. They know that he is missing something from his life, but he himself doesn't. When the new girl, Isabella (Bella) Swan, moves to town, he listens to everyone's thoughts about her to find out what he can, and realizes that all of the boys already like her, despite her self-confessed unattractiveness. He feels protective of her, trying desperately to rationalize his feelings of lust over her scent. and thinks about massacring the whole class as well out of his blind disgust. Promptly after leaving class he left for Denali, where there was a sale on Prada shoes, to avoid causing disappointment to his parents, in particular Carlisle. A week later, he returns, with his family being extremely overprotective of him, watching for any signs of danger. He then introduces himself to Bella, and soon discovers that he can't read her mind. She answers all of his questions in different ways than he thought she would, mostly because he cannot read her thoughts ahead of time. He saves her from Tyler's van, and then refuses to speak to her for a long period of time. But after all the time not speaking to her, the other boys, Mike Newton in particular, think that nothing is going on between the two and decide they have a chance to get some tail. As Edward watches them, he realizes that he is starting to feel jealous of these boys, but decides to dismiss it. However, after sneaking into her room one night to watch her doin’ it with Mike, she accidentally says his name and he realizes that he is in love with her. Over the next few weeks, he starts to pursue her and after one night together in Port Angeles, he discovers that she knows what he is and that she has fallen in love with him too. After a while, Edward invites Bella over to his house to meet his family, who with the exception of Rosalie, immediately take a great liking to Bella. Alice, Edward's sister, invites them both to come play baseball later. Edward takes Bella to the field, but some unexpected guests show up: James, Laurent, and Victoria. James catches her scent and decides to hunt Bella for sport. After some thoughts from Bella, Alice, and Emmett, Edward allows them to try to use Bella's plan: Bella convinces Charlie that she is leaving town and there's nothing he can do to stop her, and Alice and Jasper take her to hide in Phoenix. Edward tries to lead James away, but loses his trail. He then flies to Phoenix to see Bella and finds James, who has mortally wounded Bella and bitten her hand. Edward's family arrives and destroys James, while Edward sucks the venom out of Bella's system to prevent her from becoming a vampire herself. After they return to Forks, Edward takes Bella to their prom. He resolves that he isn't going to change her into a vampire, but she is adamant that the discussion isn't over.
The story of New Moon begins with Bella being very upset by her 18th birthday, because she'll be older than the permanently 17-year-old Edward. During her birthday party Bella accidentally gets a paper cut while unwrapping a present, and Edward's brother, Jasper, attacks her, although members of the Cullen family hold him back while Edward knocks Bella behind him in an attempt to get her away from Jasper. Bella falls through a glass table, receiving an arm laceration and forcing Emmett, Alice, Jasper, Rosalie, a worried Edward and an apologetic Esme to leave the room. Jasper's instinctive hunger for Bella's blood reminds Edward of the continual danger their relationship puts her in.
In a misguided attempt to protect Bella, he convinces her that he does not want her anymore (though he still loves her), and abandons her in the forest. He moves away with his family, leaving her heartbroken and depressed, as if her life as she knew it ceased to exist. Although Edward lived as a vampire without romantic love for nearly a century before meeting Bella, he finds it difficult to live without her, becoming severely depressed at the prospect of an infinitely long and meaningless life. After he mistakenly learns from his sister Rosalie that Bella has committed suicide, Edward attempts to convince a group of powerful Italian vampires, the Volturi, to kill him. Together with his sister Alice, Bella rushes to Italy and stops Edward before the Volturi can destroy him. Bella meets the Volturi, and Edward and Alice find out that Bella is immune to other vampires' powers as well as theirs. After he and Bella return from Italy, Edward explains why he left and apologizes to Bella. She forgives him entirely, and they continue on with their relationship as if Edward had never left. Upon realizing that their current situation– fear for Bella's humanity while they are together– is untenable, Bella successfully seeks the support of Edward's family for the idea of turning her into a vampire. Edward becomes furious at the thought of Bella losing her humanity in order to be with him, but later agrees to change her himself if she agrees to marry him first.
Sometime later, Jacob Black, a La Push werewolf and friend of Bella who helped her while Edward was gone, confronted them. Edward thanked Jacob for protecting Bella while he was gone, and asked if there was anything he could do to repay him. Jacob said that he wanted Edward to leave and never return, but Edward said that was only in Bella's power. Jacob also reminded Edward (though he hadn't forgotten) about the treaty, saying that it would be broken if he bit Bella. This sparked anger from Bella, protesting that it was none of his business and that it was her choice. Her fury is interrupted by Charlie, who demands that Bella comes inside, and she storms home.[1]
Eclipse continues the drama of Bella and Edward's relationship. Edward explains that he is reluctant to change Bella into a vampire because he believes that vampires are soulless creatures who have no place in heaven. Bella, whose opinion of marriage is jaded by the early divorce of her own parents, agrees to marry Edward on the condition he will make love with her while she is still human. He initially refuses, saying that he could easily lose control in the heat of the moment. However, seeing how important it is to Bella, he agrees to try and make love with her while she is still human, but only after they are married. Meanwhile, Jacob Black declares his feelings for Bella and forcibly kisses her, trying to convince her to leave Edward for him. Bella and Edward are both furious at Jacob for this, and Edward vows to break Jacob's jaw if he ever kisses Bella without her consent again.
The plot is driven by the machinations of the vampire Victoria, who first met Bella and the Cullens during the first book, Twilight. Victoria, seeking revenge for the death of her mate James, is hunting Bella and creating Newborn vampires to build an army. To combat this threat, the Cullens call on the Denali Coven for help, but the Denalis abandon them when the Cullens refuse to let them avenge Laurent's death. It is apparent that Irina was in love with him during a brief stay with her coven. Without any other options, an alliance is made between the Cullens and the Native-American werewolf pack led by Sam Uley and Jacob. However, before the battle starts, Jacob tricks Bella into kissing him and she realizes that she is also in love with him, despite her engagement to Edward. Edward surprisingly accepts this, saying that no matter who Bella chooses he'll be happy as long as she is. Bella realizes that she loves Edward more than Jacob, and chooses him. Soon after this, Victoria finds Bella's hiding spot, but Edward kills her. The Cullens and wolves, meanwhile, destroy her army.
After the battle, Bella visits Jacob and tells him that she has chosen Edward over him. Edward spends the night holding Bella as she cries. After she calms down, Edward asks Bella if she is sure that choosing him was the right decision, since he had never seen her in such pain. Bella, who had been in worse pain when Edward left her, assures him that she can live without Jacob, but not him. After hiring Alice to plan out their wedding, Edward tells Bella that they do not need to marry but he will uphold his side of the deal by making love to her, as he realizes that she spends too much of her life trying to please other people. However, she refuses his offer and says that she will do everything the right way (responsibly): marriage, making love, and then becoming a vampire. Bella then tells Edward that they need to tell Charlie about their engagement.[2]
Near the beginning of Breaking Dawn, Edward marries Bella in a beautiful ceremony orchestrated by Alice. The reception, however has a minor disturbance: Jacob unexpectedly arrived, and eventually became violent towards Bella when he found out that Edward was going to make love to her before she becomes a vampire, as he fears that Edward will kill her. Soon after, Edward and Bella spend their honeymoon on Isle Esme, a small island that was given to Esme as a gift from Carlisle. They consummate their marriage, but Edward's passionate lovemaking sparks a fight between the newlywed couple: Edward is horrified that he has bruised and battered his new wife, but Bella insists that she is fine and wants Edward to make love to her again. He vows not to so again while she is still human, but eventually gives in. Soon afterwards, Bella becomes very sick, and realizes that she is pregnant when she discovers unused tampons.
Edward falls into a state of shock and rushes Bella off the island to see Carlisle, who, as a doctor, confirms that she is expecting Edward's child. Edward feared that the pregnancy would kill Bella. Unable to stand the thought of losing Bella, he tries to coerce her into having an abortion in order to save her own life. However, Bella feels a bond with her unborn child and insists on giving birth. Edward doesn't give up so easily, going as far as to ask Jacob if he would conceive a child with Bella. The baby, however, eventually wins Edward over: when it developed enough, Edward was able to hear his child's thoughts, and was both shocked and delighted to find out that it already loves Bella and him. Bella nearly dies giving birth in an emergency c-section, but Edward successfully delivers his baby girl, whom Bella had named Renesmee. Edward then injects Bella's heart with his venom, thus healing her wounds by turning her into a vampire. During Bella's painful transformation, Jacob goes crazy with rage when he thinks Bella died. Blaming Renesmee, he goes to kill her, but ends up imprinting on her instead.
After Bella wakes up from her transformation, Edward takes her out on her first hunt. He is impressed when Bella is able to resist the smell of human blood. By this time, Edward and Jacob appear to have become friends, despite Edward's annoyance about Jacob's imprinting on Renesmee. Sometime later, Irina, a vampire from the Denali Coven, mistakes Renesmee for an
Edward's Appearance
, a creation that is forbidden in the vampire world. Irina goes to the Volturi, and the Volturi gather their entire guard together to destroy the Cullens. In the month it takes for the Volturi to arrive, the Cullens turn to all their allies (the La Push werewolves, the Denali Coven, and other vampires) for assistance. When the Volturi arrive, the confrontation comes close to a fight. In the end, however, the Volturi are convinced that Renesmee is not a threat, and they flee. With the confrontation over, Edward, Bella and Renesmee are free to live their lives forever.[3]
Physical appearance
Like all the vampires in the Twilight series, Edward is described by Bella as being impossibly beautiful. At various points in the series, she compares him to the mythical Greek god Adonis. His skin is "like marble"—very pale, ice cold, and sparkles in the sunlight. She describes his facial features as being perfect and angular—high cheekbones, strong jawline, a straight nose, and full lips. His hair, which is always messy, retains the unusual bronze shade that he inherited in his human life from his biological mother. His eyes, once green, are now described as topaz. His appearance changes if he goes long without feeding: his eyes darken, becoming almost black, and purple bruises appear beneath his eyes. Edward is 6'2", and has a slender but muscular body. His only daughter Renesmee was noted to look a lot like him. When he was a human, it is told that he had his mother's green eyes.
Personality and traits
Edward is described in the book and by Bella as being charming, polite, determined, and very stubborn. His scent and voice are enormously seductive to Bella, so much so that he occasionally sends her into a pliant daze entirely by accident. He is very protective over Bella and puts her safety, humanity and welfare before anything else. He often over-analyzes situations and has a tendency to overreact, especially in situations where Bella's safety is at risk. He retains some outdated speech from his human life in the early 20th century. Edward sees himself as a monster, and after falling in love with Bella, he desperately wishes that he were human instead of a vampire.
Edward is musical, able to play the piano like a virtuoso. He enjoys a wide range of music, including classical, jazz, progressive metal, alternative rock, and punk rock, but dislikes country. He prefers indie rock to mainstream, and appreciates rock and classical music equally. He mentions in Twilight that he likes music from the fifties better than the sixties, dislikes the seventies, and says the eighties were "bearable".
A hobby of Edward's is collecting cars. He owns a Volvo S60 R and an Aston Martin V12 Vanquish as a "special occasion" car. He also gave his sister Alice a Porsche 911 Turbo as a gift in Eclipse. He bought a motorcycle to ride alongside Bella, but gave it to Jasper after he realized that riding motorcycles was a hobby she enjoyed sharing with Jacob.
Powers and abilities
Edward, like all vampires in the Twilight series, possesses superhuman beauty, strength, speed, endurance, and agility. Edward is the fastest member of the Cullen family. He and Jasper are the best fighters in their coven, though they are not the strongest. In Twilight, Edward explains that like other vampires, he does not need to breathe, though he chooses to do so out of habit and because it is helpful to smell his environment. He cannot digest regular food, and compares its attractiveness for him to the prospect of eating dirt for a regular person. As well, like other vampires, Edward is not able to sleep. Edward also possesses the ability to read people's thoughts as they think them. This is different to Aro's gift which is limited to touch but can access every thought ever heard by one. However he cannot read Bella's thoughts as she has a very privite mind.
Edward's relationship with his biological parents, Edward Senior and Elizabeth Masen, was very old-fashioned. He loved them, and it was apparent that his mother loved him as well. In Twilight , Carlisle mentions that it was Elizabeth who made up his mind to transform Edward into a vampire, in order to save his life.
"Before you, Bella, my life was like a moonless night. Very dark, but there were stars—points of light and reason… and then you shot across my sky like a meteor. Suddenly everything was on fire; there was brilliancy, there was beauty. When you were gone, when the meteor had fallen over the horizon, everything went black. Nothing had changed, but my eyes were blinded by the light. I couldn’t see the stars anymore. And there was no more reason for anything."
Bella Swan is Edward's wife. Edward had a strong attraction to Bella's blood, making it extremely difficult for him to even be in her presence. The Volturi called Bella, in their own words, la tua cantante (meaning his singer, because they said that Bella's blood was singing to him). For Edward, Bella is the center of his existence. Early on in Twilight, Edward struggled to stay away from Bella in an attempt to protect her, but he eventually convinced himself that his lust for her scent was a budding love for her despite his apprehensions. For this reason Edward sees himself as selfish, knowing that he should stay away from Bella for her safety, but not being able to bring himself to do it. As much as he loves her scent, Edward was averse to changing Bella into a vampire, despite her strong desire to become one, because of his belief that vampires are damned and soulless creatures. However, in New Moon he agrees to do so after they are married, and she eventually accepts his proposal. Bella and Edward marry during Breaking Dawn, and Edward later changes her into a vampire with venom straight to the heart to keep her from dying in childbirth. At the end of Breaking Dawn, Edward and Bella are free to live their lives with their daughter Renesmee Carlie "Nessie" Cullen.
Rosalie Hale
"I don't want Edward that way, Bella. I never did ― I love him as a brother, but he's irritated me from the first moment I heard him speak."
Rosalie Hale was changed into a vampire by Carlisle Cullen after he found her near death in the street. She has blonde hair and is described as the most beautiful woman in the world. Carlisle had originally hoped that she would be a romantic companion for Edward. However, their feelings for each other remained those of loyal siblings, and Rosalie eventually fell in love with Emmett Cullen instead. Rosalie maintains a deep irritation by the fact that Edward never showed any romantic interest in her, but remains loyal to him as a sister.
Tanya is a strawberry-blonde vampire who lives in Denali, Alaska with her family, the only other known group of vampires who, like the Cullens, have chosen not to feed on the blood of human beings. She expressed an interest in Edward when they first met, but he turned her down in a characteristically gentlemanly way. (in Twilight) Edward goes to Alaska to buy his time and to think. Tanya helps Edward get through his pain and convince him to go back to Forks.Edward later tells a jealous Bella that Tanya poses no threat to their relationship, teasing Bella that he prefers brunettes.
Seth Clearwater is one of the youngest wolves of the La Push shape-shifter pack.
Originally, there was no interaction between Edward and Seth. When the wolves and Cullens agreed to join together to fight Victoria's army, Seth and Edward ended up fighting side-by-side against Victoria and Riley. After defeating them, there was clearly no hostility between Edward and Seth, despite the fact that wolves and vampires were natural born enemies.
By Breaking Dawn, Seth and Edward have become close friends. This friendship is part of the reason Seth joins Jacob in his revolt against Sam's authority as Alpha when Sam decides to launch an unprovoked attack on the Cullens. Seth also stands with Edward and his family when the Volturi arrive to destroy them.
Jacob Black
"Though you hate me, I must admit that I don't feel the same about you. I think of you as a... a brother in many ways."
Jacob Black is one of Edward's friends and Bella's best friend.
Jacob originally didn't care about Bella being with Edward. But after he changed into a wolf, Jacob developed antagonistic feelings towards Edward because wolves and vampires were mortal enemies. This hatred was also due to the fact that he developed romantic feelings for Bella.
Jacob eventually declares his feelings for Bella, becoming Edward's rival for her love. Despite this, Edward never feels any hatred towards Jacob, even when Jacob tricks Bella into kissing him and Bella realizes she has feelings for him as well. When Bella tells Jacob that she had chosen Edward, Jacob's hatred for Edward reaches its all-time high while Edward regrets the pain that Jacob is in.
In Breaking Dawn, Jacob's hatred began to die down when Bella becomes pregnant with Edward's daughter, Renesmee. While Jacob was furious that Edward had impregnated Bella with a baby that was killing her, they formed an unlikely bond because of their mutual hatred for the baby. Jacob felt betrayed when an unborn Renesmee won Edward over. After her birth, Jacob imprinted on Renesmee. While Edward was annoyed by this, he understood Jacob's imprinting was involuntary and Jacob didn't have a choice in how he felt about Renesmee. Their relationship became much friendlier after this.
When the stand against the Volturi looked like it is going to turn into a fight, Edward said goodbye to Jacob, referring to him as his son (Stephenie Meyer said this was because Edward accepted that Jacob was part of Renesmee's life). The situation, however, didn't turn violent, and by the end of book there was no longer any hostility between Edward and Jacob.
Etymology
Edward means "rich protector". This name might refer to his protective love for Bella. The Gaelic root word 'Evart' also denotes a substance with sparkling qualities. Stephenie Meyer may have also been inspired by the Jane Austen character, who is mentioned in the first novel.
Henry Cavill, Stephenie Meyer's original preferred choice of actor to play Edward Cullen.
claimed on her website that "The only actor I've ever seen who I think could come close to pulling off Edward Cullen is Henry Cavill."[4]
She also felt that any actor who portrayed him must be younger than 21. Amongst the fans on her site, Hayden Christensen was the most popular choice for an actor, and Robert Pattinson was second. However, as she notes there, neither she, nor they, could choose the actor. In the end, Robert Pattinson was cast as Edward Cullen in the film adaptation of Twilight.
Robert Pattinson also played Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter.
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