Billy Black

"When I looked at Jacob's father, I always felt like I was seeing two people rather than just one. There was the old man in the wheelchair with the lined face and the white smile that everyone else saw. And then there was the direct descendant of a long line of powerful, magical chieftains cloaked in the authority he'd been born with."

- Bella Swan

Billy Black is the father of Rachel, Rebecca and Jacob Black. It was also speculated he was the father of Embry Call, though without proof. He resides in La Push, Washington. His wife died in a car accident when Rachel, Rebecca, and Jacob were little, and he is confined to a wheelchair because of diabetes. He is Charlie Swan's best friend.

Billy's grandfather was Ephraim Black, a former elder of the Quileute tribe. He inherited Ephraim's place on the tribal council and knows the tales of the origins of the Quileutes. He never phased, probably because no vampires were around when he was young.

Twilight
Billy sells his old pickup truck to Charlie so that he can give it to Bella. Charlie and Billy have had disagreements over in the past, and seem to agree to disagree. After he becomes aware that Bella is dating one of the Cullens, Billy stops by on the pretense of dropping off fish fry for Charlie. When he gets a moment alone with Bella, he tries to talk her out of her relationship with Edward, informing her that the Cullen family has an "unpleasant" reputation on the reservation. Bella counters that the Cullens have done nothing to deserve it, as they have never set foot on the reservation. Her knowledge on the subject takes him off guard, and Bella says that she may be more informed than Billy himself is. He agrees this is possible, but is concerned for Charlie. Bella says that it is her business whether or not Charlie needs to be informed. Billy agrees to this, and is then forced to change the subject when Jacob enters the room.

According to Jacob, Billy reacted "over the top" after Bella became injured in Phoenix, since he assumed that Edward had something to do with Bella's injuries. At the end of the story, when Bella is at prom, Billy pays Jacob $20 to talk to her. Jacob tells Bella that Billy wants her to "please" break up with Edward. He also asks Jacob to tell her that "we'll be watching." Bella, not liking that Billy bribed his son into talking to her, but knowing that Billy means well, thanks him.

New Moon
Sam Uley and his two other friends (Jared and Paul) help to search the woods for Bella after Edward leaves her. After Jacob's transformation into a wolf, Billy constantly lies to Bella on Jacob's whereabouts to protect the tribe's secret. After she realizes that Jacob is a werewolf, Billy is once again polite to her, and, during the Victoria crisis, helps the wolves in protecting Charlie by inviting him over to his house.

Eclipse
In this book Billy has a larger part, since Bella desperately needs an escape and comes over more and more often to Jacob. She also discovers that Billy is the chief of the Quileute tribe. While learning the tribe's oral history, she sees in him a certain majesty and power she had always missed before. During the confrontation with the newborn vampire army, Billy keeps Charlie safe by orchestrating a fishing trip. In retrospect, Charlie comments to Bella in retrospect that Billy was very worried and distracted during, betraying Billy's concern for Jacob and the rest of the pack during the battle.

Breaking Dawn
Billy doesn't do anything about Jacob running away, since he understood that he was in pain over Bella's choice of Edward over him, and that he needed time to adjust to it.

Billy later attends Bella and Edward's wedding, and appears to have gotten over his warnings to Bella. He even seems fairly content to be there, despite considering the wedding "the worst thing that could happen to his son's best friend", as Bella puts it. He also tries to talk Jacob out of attacking the Cullens, then appears to the Cullens' house with Sue Clearwater and at Christmas lunch with both werevolf packs at Charlie Swan's.

Later, Jacob, Seth and Leah broke off from Sam's pack to join the Cullens when he decided to kill Bella and her unborn child. When Sam reported this, the Quileute Council, more particularly Billy and Sue, supported Jacob's actions, forbidding Sam and his pack to try to kill Bella. Despite this, Jacob and his pack refused to return to La Push until Bella gave birth.

Etymology
Billy or Bill is dimunitive of William, which comprises "will, desire" and helm "helmet, protection".

Appearances

 * Twilight (First appearance)
 * Twilight (film)
 * New Moon
 * New Moon (film)
 * New Moon (film)
 * Eclipse
 * Eclipse (film)
 * Breaking Dawn

Film portrayal
Actor Gil Birmingham played Billy in the film Twilight. He reprised his role in New Moon and Eclipse.

Behind the Scenes
There has been some speculation that Billy is really Ephraim Black. Stephenie Meyer, however, has denied the truth of the idea, Billy being Ephraim's grandson.