Edward Cullen

Edward Cullen
'Twilight series' character
Edward Cullen as portrayed by Robert Pattinson.
First appearance	Twilight
Created by	Stephenie Meyer
Portrayed by	Robert Pattinson
In-universe information
Alias	Edward Anthony Masen (human name)
Species	Vampire
Gender	Male
Occupation	Student
Family	Edward Masen (biological father) Elizabeth Masen (biological mother) Esme Cullen (adoptive mother) Carlisle Cullen (adoptive father) Alice Cullen and Rosalie Hale (adoptive sisters) Jasper Hale and Emmett Cullen (adoptive brothers)
Spouse	Bella Swan (fiancée)

Edward Cullen (born Edward Anthony Masen) is a character in the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. He is currently featured in the books Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse. He will also appear in the upcoming books, also by Stephenie Meyer, Breaking Dawn and Midnight Sun, the latter of which will be from Edward's point of view.

Personal history

Edward Anthony Masen was born on June 20, 1901 to Edward and Elizabeth Masen. While dying of the Spanish influenza in Chicago in 1918, he was changed into a vampire by Carlisle Cullen, at the request of his dying mother. As a human, Edward was very sensitive to the thoughts of the people around him and when he was changed, he gained the ability to hear other people's thoughts. A decade after Edward was changed into a vampire, he rebelled against Carlisle's practice of drinking animal blood. Since he could read minds, he purposefully sought out and preyed on only the worst of society, which helped him justify his actions to himself. However, after a few years he became guilt-ridden and returned home. He has since then fed on animals, his favorite being mountain lions.

Twilight

Edward sees Isabella Swan in Twilight on her first day at Forks High school. He is frustrated to find that he is unable to read her mind. Later, in Biology class, he is nearly overwhelmed by the scent of her blood, to the point of contemplating slaughtering the entire class so to not leave witnesses. He became resentful and angry that a human girl could make him lose the control that he'd built on for years. To prevent calamity, he runs away to Alaska, but returns to Forks.

Determined not to allow the new girl to disrupt the life he and his family have created in Forks, Washington, Edward, now prepared to resist Bella's tempting blood, starts to converse with her in class. But the day after his return, Bella is nearly hit by a van driven by a fellow student, Tyler Crowley. In a split-second decision, he saves her life using his supernatural speed and strength in public, risking exposure of his entire family. Bella witnesses his inhuman abilities and becomes suspicious, while his family's reactions range from disapproval to fury. Because of Bella's suspicions, Edward ends all contact with her for six weeks until he can't take it anymore, saying that he's tired of trying to stay away from her, and they become friends. Later, Bella goes toLa Push reservationwith friends, and learns from Jacob Black that the Cullen family members are supposedly vampires who first arrived in Forks decades earlier. After explaining that they did not feed on humans, they formed a treaty with Jacob's great-grandfather and the rest of the Quileute tribe. They left Forks some years afterward, and returned two years prior to the beginning of the novel. Though Jacob doubts the story's truth, Bella is shocked as she comes to terms with this strange reality. She ultimately decides that it "doesn't matter", knowing that she and Edward are already too close to stay away from each other.

Being with Edward is a lethal risk for Bella because he must constantly fight his desire for her blood, as well as the possibility that he could kill her without meaning to. He constantly warns Bella against being with him, but she ignores this. His fears become justified when, during a Cullen family baseball game in the woods, a group of "non-vegetarian" vampires smell Bella. Edward discovers that one of them, a tracker called James, has decided to hunt her. Edward and his family do their best to protect her, but she is nearly killed. They save her just in time, though after James has already bitten her. Edward manages to suck the venom out of Bella without drinking all of her blood. Bella spends several weeks in a hospital in Phoenix. She asks to be changed into a vampire, but Edward sternly refuses (his reason is not revealed until New Moon). They return to Forks to finish the school year and Edward takes Bella to their prom, despite her angry protests and the fact that she has a broken leg. The book ends on a happy note, but with Bella and Edward at an impasse on whether or not she should be turned into a vampire.

New Moon

New Moon starts with Bella being very upset by her birthday, because it will make her "older" than Edward. While attending a surprise birthday party (arranged for her by the Cullens), Bella gets a paper cut while opening a gift. The trickle of blood sends Jasper over the edge, prompting Edward to leave Forks in order to protect Bella from the danger their relationship puts her in. He convinces Bella that he doesn't love her anymore, and leaves Forks to travel to Alaska with his family.

After leaving Forks, Edward lives an infinitely elongated, depressed, and meaningless life. He tries his hand at tracking Victoria (James' mate), but is unsuccessful. After some months, Edward receives a phone call from Rosalie, who tells him that Alice had a vision of Bella committing suicide. Unwilling and unable to live without her, Edward rushes to Volterra, Italy to ask the Volturi to kill him. When they refuse, Edward decides to force their hand by attempting to expose himself as a vampire inside their own city, which would lead to his immediate execution. Bella rushes to Italy with Alice and stops him just before he steps into the sunlight, which would have made his skin sparkle and immediately exposed him for what he is. The Volturi then tell Edward that Bella must be changed into a vampire, or they will kill her. To save them, Alice shows them that Bella will be changed soon enough.

Back in Forks, Bella realizes that Edward loves her as much as she loves him, and gathers the Cullens for a meeting where they vote on whether or not Bella should be changed into a vampire. The majority votes affirmatively, but they all agree that it should not happen until after she graduates from high school. Edward is furious and breaks the Cullens' brand new TV , but later agrees to change Bella himself if she will marry him first, to Bella's utter distaste. Later, Jacob Black reminds Edward and Bella that the Cullens are not allowed to bite a human without violating the treaty that was set down by the Cullens and the Blacks.

Eclipse

In Eclipse, Edward insists on Bella filling out various applications for college. While bringing over more applications, Edward notices the newspaper's cover story about multiple murders in nearby Seattle. He reveals that his family suspects newborn vampires to be the cause. One day at school, Alice sees that Victoria is back in town and searching for Bella. After convincing Edward that she will be safe with the werewolves, Edward allows Bella to visit Jacob in La Push once in a while. On one of these visits, Jacob confesses his love for Bella, kissing her forcefully. She responds by punching him, resulting in a broken hand. Edward threatens Jacob upon Bella’s return from La Push, telling Jacob that if he ever returns Bella injured again he will be "running with three legs", and that if he ever kisses her without her permission again, Edward will break his jaw.

Edward affirms that he is reluctant to change Bella into a vampire because he believes that vampires are soulless creatures who have no place in heaven (or any other sort of afterlife, for that matter). He tells her that if there was any way for him to be human again, he would change for her no matter what the price. Edward proposes to Bella, and she accepts under the condition that, after their wedding, they will make love while she is still human.

Jacob and Edward grudgingly begin to work together to protect Bella from Victoria, who is creating newborn vampires to use as an army. The werewolves agree to fight the vampires with the Cullens, and a plan is made to rage battle against them, using Jasper's knowledge of newborns and their instincts. The next day, Bella kisses Jacob and realizes that she is in love with him. When Bella later assures Edward that her love for him surpasses everything else, he tells her that he is not angry with her for loving Jacob, and that he understands her frustration. When Victoria appears, Edward destroys her.

Afterward, Bella reluctantly agrees to let Alice plan their wedding, and Edward says he will sleep with Bella without getting married, "no strings attached", because she is doing everything for everyone else's happiness, but not her own. Bella declines, citing Edward's original plan, and decides that it is time to tell her father of their engagement.

In the epilogue of the novel, which is told from Jacob Black's perspective, it is revealed that Edward sent Jacob an invitation to their wedding. He told Jacob that he didn't have to come if he didn't want to, and thanked him for all that he had done for Bella.

Physical appearance

Like all vampires, Edward is described as impossibly handsome, to the point of being almost godlike. His skin is like marble--very pale, hard as stone, and ice cold, but perfect and flawless. If he has recently fed, the dark purple circles under his eyes become lighter. In the sunlight, his skin sparkles like diamonds. His eyes change color depending on his level of thirst: they are described as a golden topaz or ochre when he has fed recently, and gradually darken to black as he becomes thirstier. It takes roughly two weeks for his eyes to darken from their lightest color to pitch black. When he was human his eyes were green. His hair is described as a strange shade of bronze, like his human mother's, and is always in "casual disarray". Edward stands at 6'2", and has a slender but muscular build. At various points in the series, Bella compares Edward's good looks to those of Michaelangelo's "David", the Greek god Adonis, or even to "all the Greek gods put into one". He is also said to be the most 'boyish' looking of all the Cullen men.

Romantic Relationships

Bella

Isabella (Bella) Swan is Edward's first and only girlfriend, but they generally use the term "soul mates", as they figure that the ordinary human terms for love do not adequately describe the deep connection they feel.

Edward fell for Bella despite his apprehensions, and constantly struggles to keep her safe. Edward has a strong attraction to Bella's blood--she is referred to as "la tua cantante" or his "singer", because of how her blood sings to him--making it extremely difficult for Edward even to be in her presence. Early on in Twilight, Edward struggled to stay away from and ignore Bella in an attempt to protect her, but he eventually caved in and fell in love with her. He insists on keeping a close watch on her to make sure she is safe, and even admits to watching her sleep at night. 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.

Eventually, Edward becomes able to resist her blood and forms a romantic relationship with her, by using a method he likes to call "mind over matter". Edward loves Bella deeply and would do anything for her, even going so far as to attempt suicide after hearing about her 'death', refusing to live in a world where she no longer exists. This experience caused Edward to be revolted at the very thought of drinking Bella's blood. As much as he loves her, Edward refuses to change Bella into a vampire, despite her strong desire to become one, because of his belief that vampires are the damned and soulless. However, after the Cullens vote in New Moon that Bella should be changed, Edward strikes a compromise: he will change her himself if she will marry him first.

Bella dislikes the idea of getting married so young, but decides that she will if Edward agrees to change her himself and make love to her, as she is "unwilling to give up that human experience". Thus, Bella and Edward agree that they will do things "right": get married, make love, and then turn Bella into a vampire. They are planning to get married by August 13, a month before Bella's 19th birthday.

Rosalie

Rosalie Hale was changed into a vampire by Carlisle Cullen after he found her near death in the street. Carlisle had originally hoped that she would be a companion for Edward. However, Edward never had anything but sibling-feelings toward her, and she towards him. Rosalie eventually fell in love with Emmett Cullen instead, who she found in the woods dying from a bear attack.

Tanya

Tanya is a strawberry-blonde vampire who lives in Denali, Alaska with her family (similar in dietary ways as the Cullens). It was revealed that she showed interest in Edward when they first met, but he turned her down politely. Edward reassures Bella that Tanya poses no threat, nor had she ever, to Edward's affection for Bella, teasing her that he prefers brunettes.

Vampiric traits

Edward, like all vampires in the Twilight series, possesses superhuman strength, speed, durability, endurance and agility. Edward is the fastest of the Cullens, easily able to outrun any other vampire. Edward can also read the mind of anyone within a few miles of himself, as a side-effect of his nature (Bella is the one person who is immune to this ability). He is also unable to sleep and can cease breathing whenever he chooses, since breathing is not a necessity for vampires. However, Edward has stated that it gets uncomfortable to stop breathing, due to habit, and because it is linked to their sense of smell. Like other vampires in the series, Edward is not harmed by sunlight but avoids it because it causes his skin to sparkle.

Movie portrayal

On December 11, 2007, it was announced that Robert Pattinson will play the role of Edward Cullen in the upcoming film adaptation of Twilight.

External links

• "Official website of Stephenie Meyer"
• "Twilight Lexicon"
• Twilight Series, the books' official website