Dr. Carlisle Cullen

Carlisle Cullen was born on 1643 in London,England. Is a vampire and founder of the Olympic Coven. Carlisle has an unparalleled Gift of Comparison. This allowed him to perfect his Lifestyle as a "Vegetarian" among Vampires. To the Point that he is able to completely resist the temptation of human blood even if it is in large amounts and pass this resistant to his Family.


Dr. Carlisle Cullen was the son of an Anglican Pastor. He was born sometime in the early 1640's in London, England during a time of religious and political upheaval. he was less at ease about killing as his father was, but he was intelligent enough to find a real Coven of Vampires inhabiting the sewers of London. Carlisle led the hunt after them, and in the chaos tat ensued, he was attacked and left bleeding in the street by a Vampire. Knowing what his father would do, Carlisle hid himself in a potato cellar for his painful transformation, emerging three days later as a vampire. Carlisle was repelled and horrified by what he had become, and tired various ways of killing himself, including starvation, drowning, and jumping off cliffs. Eventually he was so desperate for blood that while he was hiding in a cave in a forest he attacked and fed on a herd of passing deer. He found the he survive off animal blood and he considered this much more humane than drinking the blood of a human, there by killing them. 


Carlisle found new life in this fact and over the course of about two centuries was able to perfect his ability to resist the bloodlust caused by the scent of human blood.  During these two centuries, Carlisle studied at night, becoming a "Nighttime Patron of the Arts". As a result of his meticulous studying, Carlisle was able to become a brilliant Doctor. Carlisle was studying in Italy when he stumbled across a coven of ancient vampires called the Volturi that was led by three vampires named Aro, Marcus and Caius. They were much more educated and refined vampires than those living in the sewers of London, but still drank human blood.
While they attempt to convert Carlisle to his natural food source, their attempts were unsuccessful. Carlisle then moved on to the New World, there, he ended up working night shifts in a Chicago Hospital during Spanish Influenza Epidemic. During the epidemic, Carlisle encountered a dying woman named Elizabeth Masen. Her son, Edward, was dying of influenza as well. Elizabeth begged Carlisle to do anything within his power to save her son as she lay dying. Out of loneliness, and armed with the knowledge that Edward was alone in the world. he changed him, making him his companion.

Not long after, in 1921, Carlisle and Edward moved to Wisconsin, where Carlisle treated Esme after a failed suicide attempt spurred by the loss of her child. Carlisle felt compelled to save her life, having already treated her for a broken leg in her adolescence, and changed her as well. They soon fell in love and married.


Carlisle then turned Rosalie Hale, a young woman who was raped and almost killed by her drunken fiancé and his friends, who then left her in the street to die. Later, while hunting, Rosalie found a young man named Emmett who had been mauled by a bear. She carried him over 100 miles to Carlisle to be changed. Around 1950, Mary Alice Brandon and Jasper Whitlock joined his coven. Alice and Jasper met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1948, and sought out the Cullen's based on one of Alice's visions. Rosalie and Jasper pose as twins, taking the surname "Hale", while Alice changed her name to Cullen. (The whole of the Coven is referred to as "The Cullen's"), despite Rosalie and Jasper using the name "Hale".


Much later, Carlisle and his Family moved to Forks, Washington where they had lived previously (before Alice and Jasper joined them) and had made a treaty with th Quileute Tribe, led by a shape-shifter named Ephraim Black. The Treaty stated that the Quileute's would leave the Cullen's alone and not reveal them to the Humans if the Cullen's would Refrain from biting Humans - whether to kill or change them - or trespassing on Quileute Land. Because of the treaty, the Cullen's were able to live in relative peace.


Carlisle's most prominent personality trait is his compassion. Stephenie Meyer has said that his "Compassion-Motivated self-control is really so incredible that it almost crosses the line into 'super power'." His loneliness in the years before he changed Edward and his love for his "children" also indicate that. like Esme, he is very family motivated. Carlisle is also very patient and non-judgmental. He has a passion for art collecting, reading and studying medicine.


Carlisle came up with his own theory as to why certain vampires have enhanced vampire existence. Carlisle is also immortal. and has had centuries to perfect his medical talents, becoming an excellent doctor. Unlike most vampires, after 300 years of practice he is no longer tempted by scent of human blood, and is able to use it to help him in the workplace, therefore turning his "curse" to his advantage. He also believes that every vampire's strongest ability is enhanced during their transformation. What he brought into his next life was his compassion.


Carlisle is a Celtic name meaning "Strong". This could refer to Carlisle's strong resistance from Human Blood. The Old English origin of the name is "Castle Tower", a clear indication of Carlisle's fortitude and the source of his family's own strength. A surname which was derived from an Old French form of Cologne, the name of a City in Germany.