Mary Alice Brandon Cullen

Alice Cullen, born in 1901 as Mary Alice Brandon, is a precognitive vampire, member of the Olympic Coven. She is the wifeand soulmate of Jasper Hale and the adopted daughter of Carlisleand Esme Cullen, the adoptive sister of Emmett and Edward Cullen, and of Rosalie Hale. Alice is also the adoptive sister-in-law of Bella Cullen and the adoptive aunt of Renesmee Cullen. She also has a biological sister, Cynthia Brandon, who has remained human and has passed away, and a niece, Cynthia's daughter, still living in Biloxi.


In 1920, after having been institutionalized by her family, an unknown vampire turned her to save her from the relentless tracker,James. Later, she was led to the love of her life, Jasper, after receiving a vision of him, and the pair subsequently joined the peaceful coven of the Cullen family. She is known for her joyful and always happy-go-lucky mood.


Alice was born into a middle-class home in Biloxi, Mississippi, in 1901. Her father was a jeweler and a pearl trader. Alice's mother tended to their home while her father traveled often. Alice had had premonitions of the future ever since she was a child, though they weren't always correct. Though she rarely spoke of her power, people talked a lot during her adolescent years. On two occasions, she tried to warn a friend and a cousin with her predictions, but they refused to listen and when the predictions came true, she was blamed for cursing them, earning her the epithets of "witch" and "changeling" from the townsfolk.


Alice had a horrifying vision of her mother being murdered by a stranger and tried to warn her about it. Though she believed her, her father did not. After months of precautions with nothing serious happening, her mother put her guard down, and was eventually killed. While Alice saw it happen and tried to explained that it was murder, it was declared accidental and her father silenced her.


Within six months, her father remarried a blonde Yankee from Illinois whose father was a promising customer. Alice's stepmother treated her coldly while idolizing her sister. Alice suspected that the marriage and her mother's murder were all planned and carried out by her father, who raged at her for suggesting ill of his new wife.


Then, Alice had a vision of her father and her mother's killer planning to kill her, revealing the true face of her father. She tried to hide in her closest relatives' house, but they drove her away as they still blamed her for the death of their son. Alice then rushed to the town's marshal, but her father was already one step ahead of her. He told the townsfolk that his daughter had gone mad, and had her trapped in a mental asylum two counties away.


While in the asylum, her head was shaved during the threat of typhoid outbreak. She also endured electroshock therapy which rendered her with total amnesia, but it also restored her naturally cheerful and humorous self. A vampire who worked at the asylum befriended Alice and frequently visited her with objects hidden in his hands to test her powers, and shielded her from other horrifying treatments as best as he was able.


One day, she had a vision of a powerful tracker named James coming after her, which occurred the moment he caught her scent. The vampire immediately bit her, took her away and went to distract James, sacrificing himself. When James finally found her, her blood was already fully turned and he decided to let her live a savaged existence to see how she might turn out in the future. When she woke up, she remembered nothing of her human life, but her premonitions were intensified and her first vision was of Jasper Whitlock becoming her mate and of a happy future with the Cullen family. This prevented her from becoming a murderous beast and she used her time to improve her "vegetarian lifestyle".


She and Bella are the only two people to ever escape James. Unlike most of her adoptive family members, she developed a conscience on her own, which kept her from feeding on humans. In her early years, she had a vision of her and Jasper in the Cullen family, and in the follow up of this vision, she found him at an empty diner in Philadelphia, and the two then joined the Cullens' coven. After doing some research (with help from Bella when James was torturing her), Alice found her grave and discovered that the date on her tombstone matched that of her admission to the asylum (she had stolen her file from their records). It is therefore likely that she was "dead" to her family when they confined her there. Through her research she additionally discovered that she had a younger sister named Cynthia Brandon, and that Cynthia's daughter, Alice's niece, is still alive in Biloxi.


Alice is a very beautiful person, petite, the shortest of the Cullens at 4'10", "thin in the extreme", with small, "pixie-like" features. She is also described to have large eyes and long, delicate eyebrows. Her hair is cropped short, spiky, and inky black. She moves gracefully, continually cited as dancing, with a carriage that would "break any ballerina's heart", as described by Bella in Twilight. Also in Twilight, James states that, when they were human, Alice's blood smelled much better than Bella's. This could indicate that Alice was James's singer.


Alice is portrayed as being optimistic, and she loves and cares for Bella like a sister. She often ignores other people's advice and does things her own way, which usually results in the outcome being better than predicted. She loves to sing with music three octaves higher than the song really is with her silvery bell-like voice. She has vicarious fun dressing up Bella "like a three-dimensional paper doll" and decorating for and throwing parties. She also loves shopping at expensive shops in large malls as well as makeovers. Alice seems to think that Bella should do everything a normal teenager should do (i.e. love to shop, party whenever possible, etc.). Alice is also described as being a very fashionable person, going on massive shopping sprees with the money she helps her family make by predicting the stock markets. Alice enjoys buying clothes for Bella. In Twilight, Bella complains to Edward that Alice was treating her like 'guinea pig barbie'. In Breaking Dawn, Esme furnishes a cottage for Edward and Bella, and Alice stocks the closet with an overflowing amount of clothing. Alice is often disappointed when Bella doesn't dress as she wishes. When Bella turns up wearing jeans and a t-shirt Alice says "Look at you, you need me to show you how to use your closet!" Her adoptive sister, Rosalie Hale, shares her intense love for fashion. Although Alice and Edward are very close, Edward often playfully calls her annoying, as he says in Eclipse when she is telling Bella about the graduation party. Edward and Alice have learned how to have a sort of mental conversation.


Alice is known as the most agile vampire in the family, supported with her clairvoyant powers. Alice has the power to see into the future. The premonitions she experienced as a human are intensified in her vampire life, and she uses them to her advantage in order to keep her family safe. However, Alice's sight is limited: she can only see the outcome of a decision once it is made - meaning it can change all too quickly. It mainly works by focusing on a certain object or person and keep track of its decision. She can also focus on several objects at the same time, up to the limit her mind allows. Also, the future is subjective and Alice cannot see it if shapeshifters are involved. This is a mystery that Carlisle has theorized is due to the unpredictability of the shapeshifters, who, in the split second it takes for them to phase, don't technically "exist". She also cannot "see" Renesmee, Bella and Edward's hybrid daughter in Breaking Dawn. Carlisle also believes that there may be a link with the shapeshifters and Renesmee having 24 chromosome pairs Alice theorized that she cannot see Renesmee and the "shapeshifters" or anything connected to them because she has no experience as being one of them; she sees vampires best because she is one, and can see humans "okay" because she used to be one. Alice, while talking about her talent, describes herself as being "far from infallible". Alice also has the ability to draw a scene that she sees in her visions without looking, and also rather quickly, as seen in the Twilight movie. Edward's power of mind reading allows him to know what Alice sees at the time. Her power is also one of few that can go around Bella's shield.


Alice's gift makes her greatly prized by the leader of the Volturi, Aro, who wishes her to join his guard, thinking she would be very useful. Aro wants Edward too, though with less intensity. However, her bond to her family keeps her from joining the Volturi, despite Chelsea's ability to manipulate relationships.

Emmett Dale McCarty Cullen

Emmett Cullen (born Emmett Dale McCarty in 1915 in Gatlinburg, Tennessee) is a vampire and member of the Olympic Coven. He is the husband and soul mate of Rosalie Hale, the adoptive son of Carlisle and Esme Cullen, the adoptive brother of Alice, Edward Cullen and Jasper Hale as well as the adoptive brother-in-law ofBella Swan and the adoptive uncle of Renesmee Cullen.


After being mauled by a black bear in 1935, Emmett was rescued by Rosalie, and given a second chance at life after being turned into a vampire by Carlisle at Rosalie's request. Rosalie and Emmett were rarely parted after this, since they were soul-mates. The pair were integral members of the Cullen family and participated eagerly in removing the numerous impediments it faced. Like all Cullens, Emmett is a vegetarian vampire, and has gold eyes instead of crimson like vampires who drink human blood. Even considering the enhanced physical strength of vampires, Emmett is physically the strongest in the Olympic Coven.


Emmett McCarty grew up in the small town of Gatlinburg, Tennessee, part of a large Scotch-Irish family. He had what his parents considered a wild adolescence, never one to worry about consequences and preferring to gamble, drink and womanize. However, he was a loving child of his family who always kept them supplied with games. He worked on the railroad with his older brothers in Gatlinburg.


Emmett was changed into a vampire by Carlisle Cullen in 1935, two years after Rosalie Hale had been changed. When Rosalie came across him, Emmett was being mauled by a black bear in the mountains of Tennessee. He had nearly died from the attack, but Rosalie saved him and carried him over a hundred miles back to Carlisle. Rosalie was noted as saying that it took nearly all her strength not to kill him. She also said that she brought him to Carlisle so that he, with his stronger endurance to human blood, could save Emmett, being afraid that she would kill him instead. Emmett describes this experience as "being saved by an angel who brought him to God". Many years later, Rosalie confessed to Bella that she saved Emmett from dying because of his innocent look, dimples, and curly hair that reminded her of her best friend Vera's child, Henry, and that ever since the day she saw the baby she always wanted a child of her own just like him. While going through the change, Carlisle attempted to inject painkillers into his system to numb the pain, but the venom burned it out before it could spread.


After his painful transformation, Rosalie and Carlisle explained to Emmett that he was a vampire. This did not upset him, however, like Rosalie and Carlisle had thought it would. He put in his own words, "Hell's not so bad if you get to keep an angel with you." He did, however, initially have trouble adjusting to the Cullens' rule of only feeding on animals, and has tasted human blood on several occasions. He had even run into two strangers whose blood appealed to him like Bella's to Edward, causing him to lose control. Emmett later married Rosalie.


Emmett is described as being very tall, very burly, and to the students at Forks high school, very intimidating. Jessica Stanley refers to him as, "The big dark-haired guy." Standing at 6'5", he is the tallest of the Cullen's, towering over Alice by nearly two feet. His strength gives him a rather filled out form, but he is not regarded as being overweight, just muscular. His height helps spread out his weight. He is described as very handsome with dimples and slightly curly, dark brown hair, giving him a childish look. He is physically the strongest of the Cullen's. Like the rest of his family, he has pale skin and golden eyes that darken to black as he becomes thirsty.


Emmett is one of the youngest vampires in the Cullen family, which is why the scent of human blood is sometimes harder for him to resist. He does very well when things get out of hand and could resist Bella's blood when she was human. In Midnight Sun, a part of Emmett's newborn life was mentioned. There as Edward and him are taking lunch, he remembered somebody who appealed to him the way Bella does to his brother, though because at that time he was young and crazed, he ended up killing the girl with the sweet scent. He eventually grew out of the guilt, saying that "eternity is a long time to wallow in guilt". Despite being the most intimidating Cullen, Emmett is actually very loving and caring to his wife Rosalie Hale and the rest of his family and Bella and his niece Nessie.


Emmett loves to laugh and make jokes, and would try to lighten up tense situations with his sense of humor. In Midnight Sun, Edward angrily says: Trust Emmett to find the humor in the destruction of my life. Unlike some of his family, he always speaks his thoughts, never hesitating, which makes Edward very comfortable around him. He appears to be thoughtless, impatient and makes rash decisions, but also optimistic. He is also brave, enjoys fighting, and is very competitive. When Bella was hunted by James in Twilight, Emmett is upset that he wouldn't be going with her, until she points out that he would have a better chance to fight James if he went with Edward. Despite he has a tendency to fight, he would sometimes willingly miss out on such opportunity to protect those he loves, as proven when he expressed a desire to "pick a fight" with Demetri, but willingly agreed to allow Bella become a vampire, which would prevent a fighting opportunity. The second time he proves this is when he devises a plan to gather witnesses to prove to the Volturi that his niece is not an immortal child, but also expresses a desire to fight. This also proves that he can be smarter than he usually seems.


In Midnight Sun, it is revealed that he also enjoys playing chess, but prefer to play with Jasper and Rosalie rather than Edward and Alice, because of their gifts to anticipate his moves. Edward also finds him comforting because he always acts on his thoughts instead of trying to hide them. Emmett drives a red Jeep Wrangler modified for off-roading.


Emmett has no special powers, but his physical strength surpasses that of a regular vampire, making him very intimidating to his opponents, which is why he uses it as his "special ability". He hints that, if Edward was unable to read minds, he would be able to defeat him in combat. Edward admits, when Bella wants to be trained to fight, that Emmett knows just as much about combat as he does, and Edward is on par with the powerful and experienced Jasper. In Breaking Dawn, Bella, with her newborn strength, beats huge, strong Emmett in an arm-wrestling match.


The name Emmett means "strong" in both English and German, and Emmett is the strongest vampire in the Cullen coven.

Rosalie Lilian Hale Cullen

Rosalie Lillian Hale (born 1915 in Rochester, New York) is a vampire member of the Olympic Coven. She is the wife and soul mate of Emmett Cullen and the adoptive daughter of Carlisle and Esme Cullen, as well as the adoptive sister of Jasper Hale (in Forks, she and Jasper pretend to be twins), Alice and Edward Cullen. Rosalie is the adoptive sister-in-law of Bella Swan and adoptive aunt of Renesmee Cullen, as well as the ex-fiancée of Royce King.


In 1933, Rosalie was transformed into a vampire by Carlisle Cullen after being raped and beaten to the brink of death by a group of drunken men, including her fiancée. Two years later, Rosalie rescued a young man named Emmett from being mauled by a bear, and after his transformation into a vampire, the two fell very deeply in love. Along with Emmett, Rosalie is an integral member of theCullen family and fights eagerly against those who threaten them.


Rosalie Lillian Hale was born in Rochester, New York, in 1915; she had two younger brothers, a housewife for a mother, and her father worked at a bank. Her father's job helped keep the family wealthy during the Great Depression. She was born beautiful and constantly praised, making her vain and self-centered. However, unlike her social-climbing parents, who always wanted more out of life despite their already elevated status, Rosalie was just happy in the knowledge that she was Rosalie Hale, and that she was very beautiful.


One day, Rosalie's mother had her dress up to deliver her father's forgotten lunch to his job, in the hopes that the son of the bank's owner would take notice of Rosalie, and it worked. Royce King IIsent roses to Rosalie and, after making a comment that her eyes were like violets, Rosalie began receiving them, too. Their relationship was solely based on physical attraction, as Royce was often too busy at the bank. They became engaged and shortly before the wedding, Rosalie visited her good friend Vera, who Rosalie envied for her baby boy. At one point, when Vera's husband kissed her, Rosalie finally noticed the lack of love in her relationship with Royce that was so obvious in Vera's. While walking home, shaken by her thoughts about her loveless relationship, Rosalie stumbled across her drunken fiancée and his equally drunk friends; Royce bragged about his fiancé's beauty which eventually led to Rosalie being brutally gang raped and beaten before being left in the street to die.


Rosalie was found by Carlisle Cullen, the scent of blood having attracted him to the dying girl. He carried her to a room where he turned her in a vampire, worsening the
 pain she was already in. She awoke to the voices of the Cullens arguing with Carlisle about him saving Rosalie. Edward was unhappy with the idea that Carlisle had changed her in the hopes that she could be his mate. Rosalie was furious at Edward's rejection even despite her own lack of feelings for him as well. Her vanity still needed feeding and she was surprised and hurt that Edward didn't seem attracted to her. Upon seeing her reflection, Rosalie's unhappy mood increased with her now improved vampiric beauty. Rosalie soon avenged her death by killing Royce's friends. Having saved Royce for last, Rosalie donned a bridal gown for dramatic effect and found him locked in a windowless room with a thick, vault-like door guarded by two men. Killing the guards, Rosalie entered the room where she tortured Royce to death. Though she killed seven men, she was very careful to not spill even the smallest drop of their blood, knowing that she wouldn't be able to resist. After her transformation, Rosalie became a permanent member of the Cullen family. Carlisle had intended for Edward and Rosalie to be like he and Esme were, but Edward only loved Rosalie as a sister.

Two years after her transformation, in 1935, Rosalie stumbled across a young man named Emmett McCarty being mauled by a bear outside of Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Emmett's features reminded her of Vera's young son Henry, and, as such, Rosalie chose to rescue the dying man. Rosalie resisted the urge to drink Emmett's blood and carried him over one hundred miles to Carlisle, who turned him into a vampire. Rosalie and Emmett were rarely separated after this; the two having found in the other their true soul mate. Edward had once told Bella that they were always together, and it was hard to be in a five mile radius of them. The pair would marry often and sometimes lived separate from the rest of their adopted family so as to live as a newlywed couple.


Rosalie is described as being the most beautiful person in the world, as she is astoundingly gorgeous, even for a vampire. She is tall and statuesque, with an elegant figure similar to a model's. She has long, blonde, wavy hair that goes down to the middle of her back that perfectly suits her golden/black eyes like the rest of the Cullens. Like all vampires, when in sunlight, she sparkles as if thousands of diamonds were embedded in her skin. In her human life, Rosalie was described as a woman with beauty, elegance, class, and money. Her eyes were described as being like violets when she was a human.


Rosalie is described as being narcissistic and self-centered, but extremely loyal to friends and family. Rosalie treasures humanity and often wishes she was still human; she is described as being willing to trade anything and everything she has for another chance at being human. Always wanting children of her own, Rosalie supports Bella's decision to keep her daughter (who Bella initially thought was a boy), and Rosalie's former resentment towards Bella turns into a special friendship and bond. After Renesmee is born, Rosalie takes care of her, while Bella recovers from the transformation into a vampire. Rosalie can appear to be bitter and cold, due to being beaten and raped by her ex-fiancé and her depression over being a vampire. She learns to appreciate life as a vampire after finding Emmett, as she had got "half of her happy ending".


Since Rosalie was already extremely beautiful as a human, the transformation only enhanced her beauty, making her more beautiful than the average vampire. She is referred to as being the "most beautiful person in the world." So far, Bella has only mentioned one other vampire whose beauty was comparable to hers: Heidi from the Volturi. Her musical talent was also enhanced, like when Bella stated in Breaking Dawn that she was the next greatest musician in the family next to Edward, and as was her mechanical talent, even though she did not practice them in her human life. In Twilight, Edward also talks about her tenacity, or "pig-headedness".

Rosalie is the French form of Rosa, meaning "rose". Also, the name of a flower. Roses are the symbol of love and beauty. This is most likely tied to her extreme beauty, which could be considered "rose-like". Like a rose, Rosalie has thorns in her behavior too.

The name Hale is from a place meaning "nook, hollow" in Old English, which was a specialized term for the slightest hollow which could afford shelter to a settlement. Stephenie Meyer revealed that Rosalie's original name was Carol.

Esme Platt Evenson Cullen

Esme Cullen (née Platt, previously Evenson, born 1895) is avampire and the matriarch of the Olympic Coven. She is the wife ofCarlisle Cullen and the adoptive mother of Alice, Emmett, Edward,Rosalie and Jasper. Esme is also the adoptive mother-in-law of Bella Cullen and the adoptive grandmother of Renesmee Cullen, as well as the ex-wife of Charles Evenson.


In 1921, after losing her child, Esme attempted suicide, and Carlisle transformed her into a vampire on her deathbed. Some time later, the pair fell in love and married, starting to build a family of like-minded vegetarian vampires around them. Esme possessed an unparalleled capacity for passionate love for those around her, which allowed the members of her adoptive family to consider her as the greatest maternal figure in their lives.

Esme was born in 1895. Little is known about her early life, except that she lived on the outskirts of Columbus, Ohio. She met Dr. Carlisle Cullenfor the first time when she was sixteen years old and had just broken her leg climbing a tree. He soon moved out of town, but Esme never forgot the experience. Initially wanting to move West to become a school teacher, she was pressured by her parents to remain and marry. At the age of twenty-two, she married Charles Evenson, hoping to please her parents and willing to attempt to be happy, but soon realized her husband was an abusive man. Despite it, she tried to become a good wife, and her parents coached her to keep quiet. Much to her relief, her husband was drafted during World War I.

Esme enjoyed a happy period of time while Charles was away, but Charles returned in 1920, starting his abuse again. Esme struggled to break free from him. She ran away, discovering a few days later that she was pregnant with his son, who was born in 1921, only to die a few days later of a lung infection. After the baby's death, Esme felt that she had no longer any reason to live, and attempted to commit suicide by jumping off a cliff. She was presumed dead, and brought to the morgue but her heart was still beating faintly. Dr. Cullen was working in the area at the time and recognized her as the happy, beautiful young girl he treated ten years earlier. To stop her from suffering any longer, Carlisle decided to change her into a vampire. Rosalie once mentioned that her record is almost as clean as Carlisle, even better than Esme, indicating that Esme had lost control of her thirst a few times.

After a while she and Carlisle fell in love. When Esme first woke up as a vampire, Carlisle told her all about the vampire world; she joined the Cullens' coven in 1921. She later married Carlisle, and in time, Rosalie and Emmett were transformed byCarlisle and Alice and Jasper joined the family, becoming her surrogate children. She was easily able to welcome Bella into their "family" due to her warm nature, as she did with the rest of the coven. Esme has a special place in her heart for Edward because he was the first of her adoptive children.

Esme is described as being 5'6", with billows of gently waving, caramel-colored hair. Her face is heart-shaped, and her figure is described as slender but rounded as she was changed not long after giving birth to her son.

She is described as being extremely beautiful; Jacob says she has dimples, and Bella says that she reminds her of "the ingenues of the silent movie era" and that meeting her was like "meeting a fairy tale – Snow White, in the flesh". She is also described as having delicate eyebrows. In the books, Bella is always amazed by Esme's youth and beauty.

Esme is an extremely warm individual who is gifted with the ability to love the people around her passionately. She has always had strong maternal instincts, which is why she is able to open her heart so easily to her adoptive children and Bella. This is due to the death of her first and only child when it was only a few days old, during her human life. Esme is very family motivated, and loves Carlisle, her adoptive children, Bella and Renesmee dearly. She is very protective of them, and is even affectionate towards Jacob Black's pack when they stay with the Cullens. She is described as being as intelligent as her husband, and a very kind and gentle person. Esme is very creative and artistic, and enjoys renovating old properties.

Esme doesn't develop any prominent special abilities, but her transformation does enhances her ability to love the people around her passionately in a maternal way, making them comfortable around her.

Esme, a very creative and artistic person, works as an architect and enjoys restoring old houses. In New Moon, Alice tells Bella that Esme has been restoring a 17th century house in the forest north of Ithaca, and in Breaking Dawn she restores a cottage over a hundred year old on the Cullen estate for Bella and Edward. Her desk is said to be stacked with plans and blueprints.

Esme is the mother figure of the Cullen family, the ex-wife of Charles Evenson and the wife of Carlisle Cullen. She is the adoptive mother of Alice, Emmett and Edward Cullen and Rosalie and Jasper Hale, the adoptive mother-in-law of Bella Swan, and the adoptive grandmother of Renesmee Cullen, Edward and Bella's daughter. Esme has particular care for Edward, being the first of her adoptive children.

In Esme's human life she was married to Charles Evenson. All of her friends had already married, and her parents encouraged her to marry Charles who was a family friend and had good prospects. He was abusive, however, and shortly before her suicide attempt Esme, then pregnant, ran away from him. The baby died soon after birth and Esme jumped off a cliff in an attempt to end her life. Her body was taken to the hospital morgue though her heart was still beating, and Carlisle Cullen found her and turned her into a vampire.

Esme means "to be loved" in Old French. This could refer to Esme's unparalleled ability to love those around her passionately.

Edward Anthony Masen Cullen

Edward Cullen (born Edward Anthony Masen, Jr.) on June 20, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois, is a vampire and a member of the Olympic Coven, as well as the main protagonist of the Twilight Saga. Edward is the adoptive son of Carlisle and Esme Cullen, as well as the son-in-law of Charlie Swan and Renee Dwyer. He is the adoptive brother of Emmett and Alice Cullen, Rosalie and Jasper Hale. 


After experiencing Spanish Influenza in 1918,in Chicago, Edward was transformed into a vampire by Dr. Carlisle Cullen, as the only alternative to death. Over the next 90 years, the pair gathered a family of vampires around themselves, and called themselves "vegetarians".


Edward was born on June 20,1901 in Chicago, Illinois. Though he mentioned that he doesn't remember it very well, he grew up in an old-fashioned family lifestyle. Edward wanted to enlist in the army during World War 1 while he was growing up, with the only thing keeping him away was his age and his love for his mother. That changed, however, when he and his parents became sick from the Spanish Influenza in 1918. His father. Edward Masen Sr., died in the first wave of the influenza. Before she died, Edward's mother, Elizabeth Masen, begged the doctor who was taking car of them, Dr. Carlisle Cullen, to do everything within his power to save her son (Elizabeth: "You must do everything in your power. What others cannot do, that is what you must do for my Edward.") Carlisle acted on her wishes when Edward was near death himself. After Elizabeth died, Carlisle took Edward from the hospital, brought him to his house, and there changed him into a vampire. 


Edward had a rebellious period at the beginning of his vampire life and left Carlisle and Esme in 1928. During his lone time, he used his mind reading ability to attack the worst people of society, thinking that, as long as he was serving justice, it would not matter that he was feeding on humans. A few years later, he regretted this decision and return to Carlisle way of life of drinking animal blood, rather than human. Over the next 80 to 90 years, additional vampires were created by Carlisle as a las resort for a select few nearly dead of left-for-dead individuals, who then became part of the Cullen Family, known as Vampire Coven. Esme, a distraught, grieving mother of a dead child, became Carlisle's mate and Edward's adoptive mother. Rosalie Hale, a would-be socialite left for dead by her fiancé, was originally intended as Edward's mate, but never became more to him than a sibling. Emmett Cullen became Edward's adoptive brother after Rosalie found him near death from a bear attack and fell in love with him. Already vampires, Jasper Hale and Alice Cullen sought out and found the Cullen's and adopted themselves into the Cullen Family after both escaping their tragic past's.


Edward is noted to be extremely attractive. Bella has often described his appearance as similar to the mythical Greek god, Adonis. His facial features are described as perfect and angular - high cheekbones, a strong jawline, a straight nose and full lips. His hair, which is always messy, retains the unusual bronze shade that he inherited from her biological mother, Elizabeth Masen. His eyes, once green, are now described as a topaz or liquid gold. His appearance changes if he goes long without feeding, his eyes darken, becoming onyx black, and purple bruise-like shadows appear beneath his eyes. Edward stands at 6'2", and has a slender but muscular body, remaining frozen physically at seventeen years old, though he is technically over a hundred. He usually wears light colored clothes accompanied by a light beige leather jacket.


Edward is usually described as brooding and stubborn, but also very kind and compassionate. Bella also describes him as charming, polite, and determined. He easily dazzles human females with his beauty, scent and body, and persuades them to do his bidding. He always puts Bella's safety, humanity and welfare before anything else, and goes to great lengths to protect her from what he sees as danger. Edward is also a bit of a romantic at heart. He often over analyzes situations and has a tendency to overreact, especially in situations where Bella's safety is potentially at risk - evident in his decision to disable her vehicle to prevent her from visiting the emotionally unstable Jacob Black.

He retains some of the traditional mindset and outdated speech from his human life in the early 20th century. The development of Edward Cullen's character was influenced by Gilbert Blythe, Fitzwilliam Darcy, and Edward Rochester – particularly the latter, who, like him, sees himself as a "monster". Edward puts his free time to great use. Since vampires do not sleep, he employs the night hours reading books and studying languages and music, becoming a virtuoso on the piano he owns in his house. Edward enjoys listening to a wide range of music, including classical, jazz, progressive metal, alternative rock, punk rock, but he dislikes country. He prefers indie rock to mainstream, and appreciates rock and classical music equally. He surprises Bella in an early car ride by having Debussy in his CD player.


Edward and his family all enjoy driving fast. He has a hobby of collecting cars. He owns a Volvo S60R, which becomes a C30 in the movie adaptation, and an Aston Martin Vanquish as a "special occasion" car. He also gave his sister Alice a yellow Porsche 911 Turbo as a gift. He bought a motorcycle to ride alongside Bella, but gave it to Jasper after realizing that this was something she did with Jacob. Esme described him as a gentleman. Although Edward appears convinced of his own soulless status, Bella noted that he must believe on some level that he possesses a soul as, when he saw her in Volterra while believing that she was dead, his automatic assumption was that he had gone to Heaven with her rather than that she was still alive.


Edward is the fastest vampire in the Cullen family. He and Jasper are the best fighters in their coven, though they are not physically the strongest. He describes himself as the most dangerous predator in the world; his appearance, scent and voice are enormously attractive to his prey, so much so that he occasionally sends Bella into a daze entirely by accident. Edward explains that vampires do not need to breathe, though they often do so out of habit and to retain their ability to smell. He cannot digest human food, and compares its attractiveness for him to the prospect of eating dirt for a regular person.


Edward possesses the extra ability to read people's thoughts. His gift is different from Aro's, which is limited by his need to touch the target, but can access every passing thought he or she ever had. Aro, the leader of the Volturi, is very intrigued by Edward's power because he can read people's minds from a distance and wishes to make him part of the Volturi Guard. However, Edward is not interested. 


He can hear all "voices" in range, but has learned to block out the ones he's uninterested in by focusing on one voice or something in particular. The closer and more familiar he is to his target, the farther away he can reach when he wants to, but can only keep track of him/her within a few miles. He mentions in Twilight that he can use it to dismiss people who feel attraction toward him and his family. He can also telepathically experience Alice's visions and keep track of a shape-shifter's telepathic link to his pack when he is within range. However he cannot read Bella's thoughts as she is shielded, which is part of what made him curious about her when they first met.

Edward means "rich protector" or "blessed guardian" composed of the Old English elements ead "rich, blessed" and weard "guard". This name might refer to his protective love for Bella. The Gaelic root word 'Evart' also denotes a substance with sparkling qualities.

Meyer said that she wanted a name that was romantic, and used Charlotte Brontë's Mr. Rochester and Jane Austen's Mr. Ferrars as Edward's namesakes.

Edward's original surname Masen is from an English surname meaning "stoneworker".