Chelsea

"Chelsea became the linchpin in Aro's organization. Her ability to both make and break emotional ties is the power that keeps the guard unified and the coven functional."

- Entry on Chelsea's profile

Chelsea is a vampire and a permanent member of the Volturi guard. She is first mentioned in Breaking Dawn. She has the supernatural gift of being able to weaken and strengthen the emotional ties of relationships. She is mated with Afton, also in the Volturi guard.

Early life
Chelsea, originally named Charmion, was born in Greece before 1100 BC, not long after the original Volturi members.

Aro discovered her in the midst of a difficult time for the Volturi, since his brother-in-law, Marcus, failed to find the killer of his wife, Didyme, and became suicidal. Aro had Chelsea use her power to tightly bind Marcus to the Volturi. Since then, Chelsea became the linchpin in the Volturi as she keeps the other guards unified and the coven more functional. Because of her vital role, she often gets what she desires from Aro, who also uses Corin's gift to keep her in the Volturi.

Much of her history remains unknown throughout the series. However what is known is that Aro used her gift to bind Marcus to himself and Caius (thus making him remain loyal to the Volturi). With this it can be assumed then that Chelsea was with them when the Volturi first began and later rose to power.

She had changed her name a few times over the millenia to keep it from attracting attention while frequently interacting with humans and vampires outside the city of Volterra. In the 1950s, she changed her name to Chelsea, and will use it until it becomes out of fashion.

Her role in the Volturi is explained in detail by Eleazar in Breaking Dawn: in battle she separates the allegiances between allied covens, thus preventing them from fighting as a whole, allowing the Volturi to defeat them much easier. She also distances the innocent members in a coven emotionally from the guilty, thus justice without unnecessary brutality.

Breaking Dawn
"Chelsea’s attempts to sway us fluttered impotently against my shield."

- Bella

Chelsea makes her first appearance in Breaking Dawn when her coven prepares to "punish" the Cullen family for creating an immortal child. They later learn that the child they were prepared to eliminate is in fact a half-human half-vampire hybrid. When the Volturi leaders make a pretense of councelling, Chelsea attempts to break the bindings of the Cullens and their allies to no prevail due to Bella's blockage, which also prevents Jane and Alec's powers from affecting their allies. She later attempts to bind Bella, Edward, Benjamin, Zafrina and Kate to the Volturi, but fails also.

When Alice Cullen gives Aro proof that half-vampires can be shrouded from human discovery, the entire Volturi retreats to Volterra in peace.

Physical description
Chelsea is described as being short with an hourglass figure. Her hair is light brown, and her eyes crimson. Her height is 5'3".

Powers and abilities: relationship manipulation
"Her name is Chelsea. She has influence over the emotional ties between people. She can both loosen and secure these ties."

- Edward on Chelsea's gift.

Chelsea is gifted with the supernatural talent of influencing the emotional ties between people, either by weakening or strengthening them. Aro, one of the Volturi leaders, used her gift to keep Marcus loyal to the Volturi after Didyme's, Aro's sister and Marcus' wife, death. Due to the importance of her gift, Aro thinks of her as one of the high ranking members of the Volturi, along with Jane and Alec (the Volturi's strongest offensive gifted members).

Chelsea's main purpose in the Volturi guard is to distance the innocent emotionally from the guilty by severing the bonds that are shared. Also when a vampire Aro is interested in appears, she creates the ties of that vampire to the Volturi, prompting them to serve willingly. Eleazar suspects that Aro had been using her power to make the Volturi guard co-exist easier, as well as strengthening their willingness to obey the leaders.

However, her power has few limits; as stated by Eleazar, she cannot as easily influence the emotional ties of people that are stronger than friends or acquaintances, and in a normal case, even those who think of each other as family. She could not have changed the way Bella and Edward felt about each other, for example, or the ties between a true family, i.e. one that deeply cares and loves the members within it. When she is not around those whose bonds are tied by her power, her influence will not fade immediately; rather, it wears off over a matter of time depending on how long a person has been exposed to her power before separating from her.

Also, though she can influence these ties, she probably doesn't have to the power to see them. This is supported by Marcus's ability to read emotional bonds between people, and that Aro does not surround himself with second-best gifts. If she could see them in the first place, he would not have needed to keep Marcus in the coven.

Her power is also mental, as proven when she unsuccessfully tries to bind Bella, Edward, Benjamin, Zafrina, and Kate to the Volturi during the conflict in Breaking Dawn, only to be blocked by Bella's shield that blocks mental powers. Chelsea's power is described as a fluttering pressure against Bella's shield.

Afton
Chelsea's mate, Afton, is also part of the Volturi guard, and his character is not described, except for showing some measure of invisibility. His affiliation with the Volturi is due exclusively to his being Chelsea's mate, showing her standing in the coven.

Appearances

 * Breaking Dawn