Edward Cullen

"There's something... strange about the way you two are together... The way he watches you—it's so... protective. Like he's about to throw himself in front of a bullet to save you or something."
 * — Renee Dwyer on Edward.

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

Personal History
Edward Cullen was born Edward Anthony Masen on June 20th 1901. He had a great want to be a soldier and fight in World War I while he was growing up. That however changed when he and his parents caught the Spanish Influenza in 1918. His father Edward Masen Sr. died in the first wave of the influenza. His mother Elizabeth Masen asked the physican Dr. Carlisle Cullen, who was taking care of them to do everything within his power to save her son before she died a few hours later. Carlisle acted on her wishes and took Edward from the hospital shortly after he took Elizabeth to the morgue and took him to his house where he changed him into a vampire in 1918. Edward had a very rebellious period at the beginning of his vampire life and used his ability to read minds to prey on only the worst people of society. He later regretted everything he did and went back to Carlisle's side and his way of life. Over the next 80 to 90 years, Edward watched his family grow from just him, Esme, and Carlisle to him, his adoptive mother and father, his adoptive sisters Rosalie and Alice, and his adoptive brothers Emmett and Jasper. Rosalie was originally meant for him but he never looked at her more than a sister.He also watched how everyone in his family found love and that he was the only one who didn't. However, that all changed when he met and fell in love with Bella Swan.

Twilight and Midnight Sun
When Edward saw Bella Swan for the first time, he knew something was up. She smelled really good and he couldn't read her mind. Soon they fell in love, and then he had to protect her from James.

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The story of New Moon begins with Bella being very upset by her 18th birthday, because she'll be older than the permanently 17-year-old Edward. During her birthday party Bella accidentally cuts herself, and his brother Jasper's instinctive hunger for Bella's blood reminds Edward of the continual danger their relationship puts her in. In a misguided attempt to protect Bella, he convinces her that he does not love her anymore and moves away with his family, leaving her heartbroken as if her life as she knew it ceased to exist. Although Edward lived as a vampire without romantic love for nearly a century before meeting Bella, he finds it difficult to live without her, becoming severely depressed at the prospect of an infinitely long and meaningless life. After he mistakenly learns from his sister Rosalie that Bella has committed suicide, Edward attempts to convince a group of Italian vampires, the Volturi, to kill him. Together with his sister Alice, Bella rushes to Italy and stops Edward before the Volturi can destroy him. Bella met the Volturi and Edward and Alice found out that Bella is immune to other vampire powers. After he and Bella return from Italy, Edward explains why he left and apologizes to Bella. She forgives him entirely, and they continue on with their relationship as if Edward had never left. Upon realizing that their current situation– fear for Bella's humanity while they are together– is untenable, Bella successfully seeks the support of Edward's family for the idea of turning her into a vampire. Edward becomes furious at the thought of Bella losing her humanity in order to be with him, but later agrees to change her himself if she agrees to marry him first.

Eclipse
Eclipse continues the drama of Bella and Edward's relationship. Edward explains that he is reluctant to change Bella into a vampire because he believes that vampires are souless creatures who have no place in heaven. Bella, whose opinion of marriage is jaded by the early divorce of her own parents, agrees to marry Edward on the condition he will make love with her while she is still human. He initially refuses, saying that he could easily lose control in the heat of the moment, however, seeing how important it is to Bella, he agrees to try and make love with her while she is still human, but only after they are married. The plot is driven by the machinations of the vampire Victoria, who first met Bella and the Cullens during the first book, Twilight. Victoria, seeking revenge for the death of her mate James, is hunting Bella and creating Newborn vampires to build an army. To combat this threat, a grudging truce is made between the Cullens and the Native-American werewolf pack led by Sam Uley and Jacob Black, a friend of Bella's who was there for her when Edward broke her heart. However, the truce is endangered when Bella, despite her engagement to Edward, realizes Jacob means more to her than she thought. Ultimately, Edward accepts that Bella cares for Jacob and successfully destroys Victoria, and Bella acknowledges that Edward is the most important person in her life, agreeing to tell her father of her and Edward's engagement. Edward tells Bella that they can sleep together before they get married, as he realizes that she spends too much of her life trying to please other people. However, she refuses his offer and says that she will do everything the right way: marriage, making love, and then becoming a vampire.

Breaking Dawn
Near the beginning of Breaking Dawn, Edward marries Bella in a beautiful ceremony orchestrated by Alice. The reception, however has a minor disturbance: Jacob unexpectedly arrived, and eventually became violent towards Bella when he found out about her plans to make love with Edward while she was still human. Soon after, Edward and Bella spend their honeymoon on Isle Esme, a small island that was given to Esme as a gift from Carlisle. They consummate their marriage, but Edward's passionate lovemaking sparks a fight between the newlywed couple: Edward is horrified that he has bruised and battered his new wife, but Bella insists that she is fine and wants Edward to lie with her again. He vows not to make love to her again whilst she is still human, but eventually gives in. Soon afterwards, Bella becomes very sick, and realizes that she is pregnant with Edward's child.

Edward falls into a state of shock and rushes Bella off the island to see Carlisle, who, as a doctor, confirms that she is expecting Edward's child. Edward had previously heard of stories about women dying because they are carrying a vampire's child. Unable to stand the thought of losing Bella, he tries to coerce her into having an abortion in order to save her own life. However, Bella feels a bond with her unborn child and insists on giving birth. Edward doesn't give up so easily, going as far as to ask Jacob if he would conceive a child with Bella. The baby, however, eventually wins Edward over: when it developed enough, Edward was able to hear his child's thoughts, and was both shocked and delighted to find out that it already loves Bella and him. Bella nearly dies giving birth in an emergency c-section, but Edward successfully delivers his baby girl, whom Bella had named Renesmee. Edward then injects Bella's heart with his venom, thus healing her wounds by turning her into a vampire. During Bella's painful transformation, Jacob goes crazy with rage when he thinks Bella died. Blamming Renesmee, he goes to kill her, but ends up imprinting on her instead.

After Bella woke up from her transformation, Edward took her out on her first hunt. He was impressed when Bella was able to resist the smell of human blood. By this time, Edward and Jacob appear to have become friends, despite Edward's annoyance about Jacob's imprinting on Renesmee.

Sometime later, Irina, a vampire from the Denali Coven, mistakes Renesmee for an immortal child, a creation that is forbidden in the vampire world. Irina goes to the Volturi, and the Volturi gather their entire guard together to destroy the Cullens. In the month it takes for the Volturi to arrive, the Cullens turn to all their allies (the La Push werewolves, the Denali Coven, and other vampires) for assistance. When the Volturi arrive, the confrontation comes close to a fight. In the end, however, the Volturi are convinced that Renesmee is not a threat, and they flee.

With the confrontation over, Edward and Bella and finally free to spend the rest of their lives together.

Physical Appearance
Like all the vampires in the Twilight series, Edward is described by Bella as being impossibly beautiful. At various points in the series, she compares him to the mythical Greek god Adonis. His skin is "like marble"– very pale, ice cold, and sparkles in the sunlight like diamonds. She describes his facial features as being perfect and angular - high cheekbones, strong jawline, a straight nose, and beautiful, full lips. His hair, which is always in casual disarray, retains the unusual bronze shade that he inherited in his human life from his biological mother. His eyes, once emerald green, are now described as a liquid, golden topaz. His fingers are described often as slender and he is said to have a dazzlingly crooked smile. His appearance changes if he goes long without feeding: his eyes darken, becoming almost black, and purple bruises appear beneath his eyes. Edward stands at 6'2", and he has a slender but muscular build.

Personality and Traits
Edward is described in the book and by Bella as being charming, polite, determined, and very stubborn. He always puts Bella's safety, humanity and welfare before anything else. He often over-analyzes situations and has a tendency to overreact, especially in situations where Bella's safety is at risk. He retains some of the traditional mindset and outdated speech from his human life in the early 20th century, and can be very romantic. The development of the Edward Cullen character was influenced by Gilbert Blythe, Fitzwilliam Darcy, and Edward Rochester– particularly the latter, who, like Edward Cullen, sees himself as a "monster". Edward is also musical, able to play the piano like a virtuoso. He enjoys a wide range of music, including classical, jazz, progressive metal, alternative rock, punk rock, but dislikes country. He prefers indie rock to mainstream, and appreciates rock and classical music equally. He mentions in Twilight that he likes music from the fifties better than the sixties, and dislikes the seventies entirely and commments that the eighties were "just bearable". A hobby of Edward's is collecting cars. He owns a Volvo S60R and an Aston Martin Vanquish as a "special occasion" car. He also gave his sister Alice a Porsche 911 Turbo as a gift in Eclipse. He bought a motorcycle to ride alongside Bella, but gave it to Jasper after Bella didn't believe she could keep up with Edward's bike.He is described as a gentelman by Esme in the books.

Vampiric Traits
Edward, like all vampires in the Twilight series, possesses superhuman beauty, strength, speed, endurance, and agility. Also, Edward is said to be the fastest out of the Cullen family. His scent and voice are enormously seductive, so much so that he occasionally sends Bella into a pliant daze entirely by accident. In Twilight, Edward explains that like other vampires, he does not need to breathe,

though he chooses to do so out of habit and because it is helpful to smell his environment. He cannot digest regular food, and compares its attractiveness for him to the prospect of eating dirt for a regular person. As well, like other vampires, Edward is not able to sleep. Edward also posseses the ability to read people's thoughts. However he cannot read Bella's thoughts as she is a "shield".

Etymology
Edward means "rich guard". This name might refer to his protective love for Bella.

Family relationships
Edward Cullen is brother to Emmett Cullen, Alice Cullen, Rosalie Hale, and Jasper Hale. He is an adopted son of Carlisle and Esme Cullen. He is also the husband of Bella Swan and father of Renesmee Carlie Cullen.

Bella Swan
Bella Swan is Edward's wife. Edward had a strong attraction to Bella's blood, making it extremely difficult for him to even be in her presence. Early on in Twilight, Edward struggled to stay away from Bella in an attempt to protect her, but he eventually fell in love with her despite his apprehensions. For this reason 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. As much as he loves her, Edward was adverse to changing Bella into a vampire, despite her strong desire to become one, because of his belief that vampires are damned and soulless creatures. However, in Eclipse he agrees to do so after they are married, and she eventually accepts his proposal. Bella and Edward marry during Breaking Dawn, and Edward later changes her into a vampire to keep her from dying in childbirth. In the end of Breaking Dawn, Edward and Bella are free to live their lives with their daughter Renesmee.  Nessie  Cullen.

Rosalie Hale
Rosalie Hale was changed into a vampire by Carlisle Cullen after he found her near death in the street. She has blonde hair and is described as the most beautiful woman in the world. Carlisle had originally hoped that she would be a daughter to him and a romantic companion for Edward. However, their feelings for each other remained those of loyal siblings, and Rosalie eventually fell in love with Emmett Cullen instead. At first Rosalie was very irritated that Edward doesn't like her, but she soon finds out no one had been good enough for Edward until Bella came along. Rosalie soon gets over the irritations.

Tanya
Tanya is a strawberry-blonde vampire who lives in Denali, Alaska with her family, the only other known group of vampires who, like the Cullens, have chosen not to feed on the blood of human beings. She expressed an interest in Edward when they first met, but he turned her down in a characteristically gentlemanly way. Edward later tells Bella that Tanya poses no threat to their relationship, teasing Bella that he prefers brunettes.



Movie portrayal
Stephenie Meyer claimed on her website that "The only actor I've ever seen who I think could come close to pulling off Edward Cullen is Henry Cavill." She also felt that any actor who portrayed him must be younger than 21. Amongst the fans on her site, Hayden Christensen was the most popular choice for an actor, and Robert Pattinson was second. However, as she notes there, neither she, nor they, could choose the actor. In the end, Robert Pattinson was cast as Edward Cullen in the film adaptation of Twilight.