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 human father of Rachel, Rebecca and Jacob Black. He resides in La Push Washington. Billy is in a wheelchair due to diabetes. His wife died in a car accident when Rachel, Rebecca, and Jacob were little. 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. Because there were no vampires around at the time, he did not become a werewolf.

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 Charlie's favorite fish fry. When he gets a moment alone with Bella, he tries to talk her out of her relationship with Edward. Billy tells her that the Cullen family has an "unpleasant" reputation on the reservation. Bella counters that the Cullens have done nothing to deserve that reputation, 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 it is Charlie's business to know about the Cullens.'''

 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 go 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, knowing that Billy means well, tells him thanks. Bella did not like the fact that Billy bribed his son to talk to her.'''

New Moon
Sam Uley and 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 and supposed mono in order to protect the tribe's secret. After Bella realizes that Jacob is a werewolf, Billy is once again polite to Bella and aids the wolves in protecting Charlie by inviting him over to his house while Victoria is around.

Eclipse
In this book Billy has a larger part, as Bella, desperately needing an escape, comes to his house more and more often to visit his son, Jacob Black. Bella also discovers that Billy is the chief of the Quileute tribe. While learning the tribe's oral history, she sees a certain majesty and power in him that she had never seen before. During the confrontation with the new-born vampire army, Billy keeps Charlie safe by orchestrating a fishing trip. Charlie comments to Bella in retrospect that Billy was very worried and distracted during the trip, which showed 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 Jacob was in pain over Bella's choice to remain with Edward and needed time to sort things out on his own.

Billy later attends Bella and Edward's wedding, and appears to have gotten over his attempts to warn Bella against being with Edward. He even seems fairly content to be there, despite the wedding being, in his opinion "the worst thing that could happen to his son's best friend" as Bella puts it. He also appears during Jacob's part of the book at his house, where he tries to talk Jacob out of attacking the Cullens. After that, he doesn't appear in the story.

Jacob, Seth and Leah later broke off from the main pack to join the Cullens when Sam decided to kill Bella and the unborn child she was carrying. When Sam reported this, the Quileute Council, more particularly Billy and Sue, supported Jacob's actions, and forbade Sam and the rest of the pack from trying 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 of "will, desire" and helm "helmet, protection".

Behind the Scenes
There has been some speculation that Billy is really Ephraim Black. Stephenie Meyer, however, has said that this is not true, and that Billy really is Ephraim's grandson.