Twilight (novel)/Characters

Bella Swan
Isabella Swan is the main character of Twilight. She moved from Arizona to Forks to live with her father when her flaky mother got remarried, and was very unhappy staying away from her new husband. She is described by herself as being klutzy, easily bruised and of weak constitution, and being quite plain in appearance. She is also very well read, quiet, introspective, perceptive, observant, stubborn, is obsessed with cooking for her father, doesn't connect with humans. This part is explained by the fact that she is essentially a mature woman in a teenage body, with a mix of occasionnal No Social Skills and perpetual Mr. Imagination. She strives to get deeper connection with others, and only does so easily with vampires and werewolves, she is capable to love with all her heart, body and soul no matter what her brain might say, and she is deeply concerned with the safety of all her loved ones, like Charlie and Jacob, but mostly Edward and the Cullens.
 * All Girls Want Bad Boys: She still wants to date Edward, even though he is "dangerous".
 * Author Avatar: An image circulates on the web of how Bella's in-universe description almost exactly matches how Stephanie Meyers looks in real life.
 * Betty and Veronica: The Archie for Jacob's Betty and Edward's Veronica.
 * Birthday Hater: She hates the attention and how it reminds her that she still ages while Edward doesn't.
 * Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Almost certainly unintentional, but she often comes off as this due to her poor treatment of others and rather uncharitable thoughts about others appearances.
 * Brown Eyes: Meyer makes sure that we know exactly how beautiful they are.
 * But I Can't Be Pregnant: Justified--she had previously thought male vampires were sterile.
 * Cool Car: Drives a 1963 Chevy stepside pickup.
 * Cute Clumsy Girl: Exaggerated to great lengths.
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Damsel in Distress
 * Dreaming the Truth
 * Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Was described as such in the first three books, but even moreso when.
 * Escapist Character: For the Target Audience.
 * Fainting: Bella has an extremely weak constitution, and faints at the smell of blood as well as when feeling overpowered.
 * And when Edward breathes on her, don't forget that!
 * First-Name Basis: With her father, to whom she consistently refers as "Charlie". That's cool, right?
 * Growing Up Sucks: Bella thinks that she should not be any older than Edward physically when she becomes a Meyerpire despite the fact that being slightly older than Edward would not cause too many negative effects for her as a Meyerpire.
 * She more or less drops this opinion in Breaking Dawn, after figuring out how great sex is as a human.
 * Heroic BSOD: The beginning majority of New Moon.
 * I Can't Believe a Guy Like You Would Notice Me: The poster girl.
 * I Just Want to Be Special
 * Informed Ability: She is supposedly wide-read, but never references more than a small handful of books, and they're only the kinds any high schooler had to read in English 101.
 * Informed Flaw: Bella spends so much time talking about how "plain" she is. However, boys are still all over her.
 * Official Couple:
 * Ordinary High School Student: At least she was supposed to be one.
 * Psychic Dreams for Everyone: Bella has prophetic dreams.
 * Meyer tries to Hand Wave this by explaining that the dreams are just Bella's mind sorting out everything she knows... apparently into convenient and highly symbolic visions of the future.
 * Too Dumb to Live: The personality type, if not the pesky consequences. The first book hits the nail on the head when
 * Weirdness Magnet

Edward Cullen
A 108 year old vampire. He was turned when he was 17 and dying of Spanish flu. He believes very firmly in remaining pure until marriage, among other Christian ideals, and the idea that he is a sinner and can never rectify this weighs heavily on his soul. Bella's blood smells particularly good to him, and he finds it difficult to be around her without succumbing to the urge to bite her, but he falls for her and cannot keep away from her.
 * Anguished Declaration of Love: The meadow scene.
 * Betty and Veronica: The Veronica to Jacob's Betty for Bella's Archie.
 * Bishonen
 * Bishie Sparkle: *sparkle*
 * Byronic Hero
 * Can't Have Sex Ever
 * Celibate Hero
 * Does This Remind You of Anything?: Edward's struggling with whether to drink Bella's blood.
 * Everything's Better with Sparkles: Like all vampires in the Twilight universe, he sparkles in the sunlight.
 * Eyes of Gold: Any vegetarian vampire has this, but Edward's are mentioned so often that they deserve a place in here.
 * Green Eyes: In his human life. It makes him a Significant Green-Eyed Redhead.
 * Heroic Willpower
 * Hey, It's That Voice!: In the Japanese dub, Edward Cullen is Suzaku Kururugi.
 * I Cannot Self-Terminate: He has to go to the Volturi in order to commit suicide.
 * Mr. Fanservice
 * Official Couple:
 * 108
 * Really 108 Years Old
 * Redheaded Hero
 * Shallow Love Interest
 * Single-Target Sexuality: The only girl he has ever dated is Bella.
 * Stalker with a Crush
 * Stalking Is Love: One of the most Egregious acts he does in the name of "love" is breaking into Bella's room every night to watch her sleep. And he did this before they were a couple.
 * The Stoic
 * Not So Stoic: In Book Two of Breaking Dawn.
 * Telepathy
 * What Beautiful Eyes!
 * What Beautiful Eyes!

Renesmee Cullen

 * Brown Eyes: Chocolate brown eyes,.
 * In-Series Nickname: Nessie, much to Bella's chagrin.
 * In-Series Nickname: Nessie, much to Bella's chagrin.

Jacob Black
Jacob first knew Bella when they were just children, and they lost contact for years while she was away. He tried to push for a more romantic relationship, but by the time he made his intentions clear, she only had eyes for Edward. He became a werewolf in New Moon.
 * Betty and Veronica: The Betty to Edward's Veronica for Bella's Archie.
 * Derailing Love Interests: Turns from his nice, friendly, easy-going Twilight self into a possessive jerk in the last pages of New Moon and coming to a peak in Eclipse. According to some, this is to make way for the Official Couple.
 * Dogged Nice Guy: Dogged. Hehehehehe. Sorry.
 * Flanderization: His crush on Bella becomes a full-blown obsession.
 * Hot-Blooded: Literally. His body temperature is about 108.1 at rest. The reasons behind it verge into Artistic License territory, but they're not unreasonable.
 * Intimate Healing: Jacob has a higher body temperature than normal, so he's the obvious choice to help Bella avoid hypothermia.
 * Mr. Fanservice
 * Plucky Comic Relief: Until he starts taking a more dramatic role, he is the funniest character in the book.
 * Romantic Runner-Up
 * Stalker with a Crush: Due to Flanderization.
 * Tall, Dark and Handsome
 * Unlucky Childhood Friend
 * Walking Shirtless Scene

Charlie Swan
Charlie is Bella's father and the police chief of Forks. He is quiet and a bit of a loner, who enjoys watching sports and drinking beer. He mostly leaves Bella up to her own devices. He will occasionally try to interact with Bella, but she usually is too busy protecting him from the horrors he is not aware of to actually spend time with him as well.
 * Adults Are Useless: Bella's going through all of this, and Charlie barely steps in. When she becomes a vampire, he ends up keeping his knowledge of what has happened on a need-to-know basis. It has to be said, though, that this is only partly due to his discomfort with the strange goings-on; Bella and the Cullens know that if the Volturi find out he knows about vampires, they will either kill him or force the Cullens to turn him.
 * Butt Monkey: Bella seems to insist on referring to him as "Charlie" instead of "Dad".
 * Parental Obliviousness
 * Locked Out of the Loop
 * Police Are Useless: Justified. There really isn't a practical way for the police to respond to vampire activity and apparently there's no other kind of crime in Meyer's version of Forks.

Carlisle Cullen
The patriarch of the Cullen clan, Carlisle's been around for centuries. The son of an Anglican pastor in the 1600s, Carlisle was turned after a fateful encounter while hunting vampires. Initially horrified, he tries many times to kill himself before succumbing to his thirst by drinking animal's blood. After being revived, he goes on to live out his immortal lifespan as a doctor and helper and eventually decides to create a companion for his growing loneliness. The rest is history.
 * Alliterative Name
 * The Atoner
 * Blue Eyes: As a human.
 * Curtains Match the Window: At least in his vampire life after he decided to become a 'vegetarian' vampire he has gold eyes and golden hair.
 * Hair of Gold
 * Heroic Willpower: According to Edward, it's taken at least 200 years for Carlisle to control his thirst. Now, he's completely immune to the smell of human blood.
 * Hospital Hottie
 * Hot Dad: Very much so.
 * I Am Not My Father: He is said to have a "very different temperament" than his father.
 * Nice Guy: His main personality trait is compassion.
 * Team Dad
 * Vampire Hunter: Before he became a vampire himself.
 * What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: In this case his power is compassion, which kind of pales in comparison to some of the more awesome powers.
 * That said, it does give him an edge on resisting the desire to drink human blood, to the point that he is able to effectively operate in an environment where he is constantly exposed to it (namely a hospital), which combined with his centuries of medical experience makes him an exceptional surgeon.
 * Where Did We Go Wrong?: He is said to have been a disappointment to his father.

Esme Cullen
The matriarch of the Cullen clan and Carlisle's wife, Esme's beauty is matched only by her gentle nature and great capacity for love. After meeting Carlisle as a young girl, she later married another man who turned out to be an abusive jerk. She managed to escape, while pregnant, but her child died shortly afterwards, robbing her of the will to live. After a near successful suicide attempt, Carlisle, who recognized her, transformed her. She fell in love all over again, and has since found solace in her big family of immortal adopted kids.
 * Brown Eyes: In her past, apparently. This makes a Curtains Match the Window depending on the shade.
 * Hot Mom
 * Nice Girl: As seen with her vampire power.
 * Proper Lady: She has all the personality traits: hardworking, mature, gentle, very competent in housework, sweet, maternal, and devoted to those she loves.
 * Team Mom
 * Victorious Childhood Friend: She met Carlisle when she was younger, and then got together with him.
 * What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: Her vampire power is the ability to love passionately. YMMV though if that's a power since not all vampires have them.

Alice Cullen
One of Edward's many adopted siblings, Alice used to be in a mental institution because she claimed to see the future. After being transformed into a vampire to save her from a sadistic hunter, she's managed to find Jasper and the Cullens and has lived with them since. She is funny, happy in nature and well adapted to living as a vampire and aside from Emmet is Edward's closest relative and ally. She adores Bella even before she meet her, just because she knew she will love her.
 * Beware the Nice Ones: She has been known to display a temper every so often.
 * Brown Eyes: When human, and they're Dull Eyes of Unhappiness in the graphic novel.
 * Cloudcuckoolander
 * Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette
 * The Fashionista: Loves dressing people up and throwing parties, especially if Bella's involved. She not only organized Bella's wedding, but packed her honeymoon suitcase, dressed her up in a cocktail dress and stilettos, and filled up her closet at home with more clothes than Bella felt she could wear for a while.
 * Genki Girl
 * Manic Pixie Dream Girl: To Jasper.
 * Waif Prophet
 * Waif Prophet

Emmett Cullen
Adopted into the Cullen family after Rosalie, Emmett is a fairly jolly guy. Found by Rosalie after getting mauled by a bear, he was transformed and has been inseparable from her and the Cullens since then.
 * Badass Normal: Despite not possessing any cool vampire power (not one that we know of, at least), he is described as a strong fighter and the Cullen family's "protector".
 * Blue Eyes: As a human.
 * The Big Guy: He is even described as stronger than an average vampire.
 * Boisterous Bruiser
 * Determinator: Gives off this vibe, especially when Meyer described his constant need for rematches.
 * Double Entendre: Constantly makes jokes about Edward and Bella's sex life, around Charlie no less!
 * Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette
 * Man Child: Acts like this...pretty much the whole time.
 * Plucky Comic Relief
 * Rescue Romance: With Rosalie.
 * Tall, Dark and Handsome: Also qualifies as Tall, Dark and Snarky.

Rosalie Hale
The second kid to be adopted into the family. Rosalie is stunningly beautiful, even for a vampire, but she's really had a hard life. She grew up during the Great Depression, but managed well, and was even poised to marry a man who still had his money in those tough times, even though she didn't love him. She was then and was left for dead in an alley. Taking pity on her, Carlisle transformed her and being with Emmett gave her a reason to keep going on. She's not really nice to Bella, but grew to accept her later.
 * Blondes are Bitchy
 * Blood-Splattered Wedding Dress: Noticeably averted: After becoming a vampire, she took revenge by killing her rapists while wearing a wedding dress (not hers, but one she had stolen for the occasion; she said she was quite melodramatic back then). However, she was very careful not to spill any blood, because she knew she wouldn't be able to resist it, and she didn't want any of them to be a part of her.
 * Blue Eyes: They were described as being almost violet, even.
 * Broken Bird
 * Defrosting Ice Queen
 * Determinator: Around blood.
 * The Fighting Narcissist
 * I Just Want to Be Normal: She wants nothing more than to have children and would give up her beauty and immortality just for that chance.
 * Kuudere
 * Rape as Drama/Rape as Backstory
 * So Beautiful It's a Curse
 * Socialite: Back during her human days.
 * Statuesque Stunner
 * Tall, Blonde and Bishoujo
 * Tsundere: Often portrayed as such in fanon.
 * Wrench Wench: At times.

Jasper Hale
Born in the Deep South, Jasper participated in the Civil War before being transformed. He lived out his early days training an army of vampires, but after the stress proved too much for him, he left, and later met the love of his existence, Alice, and has lived a peaceful existence with the Cullens since then.
 * Badass: One of the most Badass characters in the series, as we learn from his past history, if not the biggest one, although we never get to directly see his sheer Badass in the book. The movies made sure to remedy this, especially the 3rd one. In the final battle we see all the Cullens and the Werewolves brutally fighting against the Newborns, giving it their all. Jasper, however, is tossing them aside and ripping them to shred like wet paper and not one of the Newborns is capable of stopping him from cutting them like fishes. It's a shame that the 4th book was what it was, as everyone would have loved to see Jasper in action and being the Badass we know he has to be.
 * Blood Knight: Struggled with this.
 * Break the Cutie: His whole past qualifies as this.
 * Brown Eyes: Human life.
 * The Empath
 * Fan Nickname: BAD EVIL HARPO!
 * Rescue Romance: Of sorts with Alice.
 * Super Soldier: To some extent.

The Volturi
An ancient coven of vampires living in Volterra, Italy. They consider themselves the rulemakers of the vampire world and purveyors of the arts. They are a large group, headed by the Big Three: Aro, Caius and Marcus, and have many scouts and guards. They are considered the antithesis of the Cullens.
 * Affably Evil: Aro
 * Faux Affably Evil
 * Agony Beam: Jane's power.
 * Ambition Is Evil: Aro
 * Creepy Children: Jane and Alec.
 * Dead Little Sister: Via Word of God; Aro turned his sister into a vampire (killing her in essence), and then killed her for real for falling in love with Marcus and wanting to leave the guard.
 * Eccentric Mentor: Aro, again.
 * Freudian Trio: Caius is the Id, Aro is the Ego and Marcus is the Superego
 * Grammar Nazi: Aro in the films.
 * Humans Are Special: Although they tend to see humans only as food, and don't care much about their human servants, they do appreciate art, literature, and music. They also acknowledge that taking over the planet is impossible.
 * Manipulative Bastard: Aro
 * The Quiet One: Marcus
 * Red Right Hand: Due to centuries of being waited upon and never acting of their own volition, the oldest Volturis' bodies are starting to crumble.
 * White-Haired Pretty Boy: Caius
 * You Have Failed Me: Caius doesn't handle disappointment well,

James' Coven
The first adversary encountered in the first book. They first started out as a small group of hunters and nomads who just lived to drink good blood. Things went from bad to worse when Bella and her rich blood came into the picture. James was offed in Twilight, followed by Laurent in New Moon, and then Victoria and her giant army of newborns in Eclipse.
 * Adaptational Attractiveness: James is described as being very unremarkable in appearance, but in the movie, he's played by this guy.
 * Affably Evil: Laurent
 * Ax Crazy: Stay far, far away from Victoria.
 * Blonde Guys Are Evil: James in the movies.
 * Dangerously Genre Savvy: James, very much so. Victoria also has some shades of this.
 * Faux Affably Evil: James
 * Evil Redhead: Victoria
 * For the Evulz: James. His gentle and almost polite amusement makes it even worse.
 * Oh Crap: Laurent's last look in his face when he sees the Wolf Pack
 * Scarily Competent Tracker: James
 * Wacky Wayside Tribe

The Wolf Pack
Werewolves Wolf-like changelings of the series. They are members of the Quileute tribe and are trained to protect humans from vampires. Members include Sam Uley (alpha), Paul Lahote, Jared Cameron, Embry Call, Quil Ateara V, Seth and Leah Clearwater, and Jacob.
 * Broken Bird: Leah
 * Cheerful Child: Seth is a teenager, but definitely fits this trope.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Leah
 * Double Standard: Leah is a bitch who is ruining the lives of everyone because she can't get over being dumped by her fiance and having to mentally listen to him hate her, with no way to escape. When Jacob is the same because Bella married her boyfriend instead of him, Sam tells Leah to be nice to Jacob, because he's had a much rougher time than she has.
 * Hot-Blooded: Paul, though he settles down in Breaking Dawn after imprinting on Jacob's sister offscreen.
 * The Lancer: Seth plays this role for Jacob after they split from Sam's group. Leah too, once she joins them.
 * Nice Guy / Keet: Seth. Edward even mentions that his mind is one of the purest and kindest he's ever read.
 * Becomes less nice in Breaking Dawn for a little while, due to jumping on the Double Standard bandwagon against his sister, but thankfully, he (unlike most other characters) gets over it fairly quickly.
 * Sibling Yin-Yang: Seth and Leah.
 * Team Mom: Emily
 * Theme Naming: Most of them have Old Testament names (Jacob, Seth, Leah, Sam, Paul, Rachel and Rebecca). 4 of them (Jacob, Seth, Emily and Paul) are named after Meyer's siblings.
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: Jacob and Leah, Type 2.
 * Wife Husbandry: A bad side effect of imprinting, as Quil and Jacob learn.

Bella's Classmates
The human students at Forks High School. The most prominent ones are Mike Newton, Jessica Stanley, Angela Weber, Eric Yorkie, Tyler Crowley, and Lauren Mallory.
 * Alpha Bitch: Lauren
 * Asian and Nerdy: Eric in the films.
 * Casanova Wannabe: Tyler
 * Composite Character: In the movies, Lauren is merged with Jessica and Ben is merged with Eric.
 * False Friend: Jessica, apparently.
 * Green-Eyed Monster: Besides Angela, the girls are all jealous of Bella.
 * Hopeless Suitor: Likewise, most of the boys seem to be crushing on Bella. Of course, normal high school boys have no shot with a girl who hangs out with sparkly vampires and buff werewolves.
 * Meganekko: Angela in the films.
 * Nice Girl: Angela
 * Pair the Spares: Mike with Jessica, Tyler with Lauren, and Angela with Ben (Eric in the films).
 * Race Lift: The movies turn these characters into a Five-Token Band.