Volturi

"The Volturi aren't supposed to be the villains, the way they seem to you. They are the foundation of our peace and civilization."
 * -Edward Cullen to Bella Cullen and Jacob Black

The Volturi are an organized coven of vampires in the Twilight series of young adult novels. They enforce the laws of the vampire world. They "invite" other vampires with powerful gifts to join their coven. They are the largest, and most powerful Coven of vampires in the series.

Background
The Volturi are the equivalent of a royal family to vampires. They operate from the city of Volterra, Italy. The Volturi have existed for at least three thousand years, if not more. They are considered the most sophisticated coven, aside from Carlisle's and Tanya's. However, they do not follow a "vegetarian" diet, as seen in New Moon, in which they capture and murder several humans in a carefully planned "meal". They are considered the de facto royal family of vampires, as they are the largest coven and most influential coven in existence. The Volturi deal swiftly and decisively with anything they consider a threat to their coven, or the vampire world. They destroy anyone who attempts to overthrow them, or resist their authority and, at Caius' insistence, have hunted werewolves (true werewolves, not shapeshifters) to near extinction in Europe and Asia.

Purpose
Although they are not the 'official' royal family of vampires, they still act as though they are, and are an incredibly influential coven. They are also considered 'nighttime patrons of the arts'; as, because of their inability to sleep, they study the arts at night. The Volturi act as guardians, keeping the secret society of vampires hidden from the human world as needed. They often send others to travel from Volterra to destroy overzealous covens from exposing vampires by mass eradication of every vampire (and any humans) present. In the Twilight series, the Volturi are becoming an increasing problem, as they want Bella turned into a vampire as soon as possible, while Edward opposes the idea. They also went to Forks, Washington to destroy Victoria's evil coven of young vampires, as they were being a menace to the neighbouring city, Seattle. However, by the time they arrived, the fight had already ended and the werewolves had to escape as the Volturi do not tolerate truces with werewolves.

Powers
The Volturi are known for their amazing and special powers. Jane and Alec, members of the guard, are credited and worshiped for having the most useful powers. Jane can make someone think they are feeling pain. This excruciating pain makes it easy for the Volturi to attack and destroy their enemies. Alec's powers are also useful when attacking the enemy. He can cut off the senses of any and every thing in his way. This makes the prey unable to see, hear or feel anything, enabling them to kill them without a fight. Aro, one of the leaders, can hear every single thought a person/vampire has ever had. The only way he can do this is if he has physical contact. Marcus, also one of the leaders, can sense relationships. Demetri, a member of the guard, is a tracker. He can track a person down once he has the tenor of their mind. He is known as the best tracker in the vampire world. Renata, also a member of the guard is a shield. She shields Aro and stands by his side at all times. She shields physical attacks. When the person/vampire is attacking she repels them by confusing them. They end up going in a different direction and are unaware of what they were doing in the first place. Chelsea, newest member to the guard, can manipulate vampires, who are wanted, to join them in Volterra. They formerly had the services of Eleazar, who could see abilities or potential abilities in vampires and humans, though he left after meeting his soulmate, Carmen.

Before the Series
The Volturi have ruled the vampire world for centuries. During that time, they did a number of things to ensure stability in the world, including eradicating the Immortal children and, at Caius' urging, hunting the werewolves of Europe and Asia to near extinction. They also cleaned up after the Vampire Wars in the southern parts of America.

At one time, Marcus and his wife Didyme, who was also Aro's sister, planned on leaving the Volturi. Aro was upset by this, but appeared to give them his support. However, Aro later secretly killed Didmye to prevent Marcus from leaving.

Carlisle, at one time, came to stay with them. The Volturi liked him greatly, but were unable to persuade him to hunt humans instead of animals. Carlisle eventually left, and established his own coven in America. Eleazar also was once part of the Volturi Guard, but left with Carmen. The two later found the Denali Coven and stayed with them.

Twilight
While they don't make an appearance in Twilight, Aro, Marcus and Caius are mentioned by Edward as the inspiration of the gods in several Italian paintings.

New Moon
The Volturi are first introduced in New Moon.

Near the beginning of the book, Edward says to Bella that irritating them was a sure fire way to get yourself killed. When Edward thought Bella was dead, he went to Volterra to ask the Volturi to kill him. The Volturi refused, Aro in particular wanted Edward to join them, and Edward decided to force their hand by exposing himself to the humans of the city. Bella and Alice, however, were able to arrive in the city and find him before he stepped into the sunlight. Several guards brought the three of them back to Aro, Marcus, Caius. Aro was intrigued when he saw Bella and when she was able to block his powers as well as Edward's powers. After Edward, Alice, and Bella declined the Volturi's offer to join them, the Volturi told them that Bella either had to be turned right there or die. But Alice was able to convince them to let them go when she said she saw a vision of Bella becoming a vampire in the future.

Eclipse
The Volturi play a very small role in Eclipse. After finding out about an army of newborns created by Victoria, they sent a portion of their guard to destroy the army. But by the time they arrived, they found that the Cullens (with the aid of a werewolf pack) had already eradicated the army. The guard merely killed the only newborn who had surrendered.

Breaking Dawn
Caius was planning to send a hunting party to Forks to see if the Cullens had turned Bella. To stop this, Alice sent the Volturi an announcement for Bella and Edward's wedding. This prompted Aro to send Bella a wedding present: a beautiful necklace with English crown jewels.

Some time after this, the vampire Irina informed the Volturi that the Cullens had created an Immortal Child. They gathered the entire guard together and, with their wives, set out to destroy the Cullens. Aro, meanwhile, had another reason for gathering the entire guard: he was determined to bring Edward and Alice into the Volturi.

When the Volturi arrived, they found that the Cullens had gathered what appeared to be an army to oppose them, including a large number of werewolves. In reality, the Cullen's 'army' was really a group of witnesses that could testify that Renesmee, the so called Immortal Child, was really the hybrid daughter of Edward and Bella. Aro was convinced of this after seeing Edward's memories, and Irina admitted she was wrong. Caius, in an attempt to start a fight, ordered the guard to kill Irina. Caius also tried to use the werewolves as an excuse to attack, but Edward said that they were not real werewolves, and Aro agreed, referring to them as shape-shifters. Though they agreed that Renesmee was not an Immortal Child, they were not convinced that she would not become a threat. The timely arrival of Alice changed that: Alice had found another Hybrid vampire named Nahuel. Nahuel was able to convince Aro that the few hybrid vampires in the world posed no threat, and the Volturi fled.

After the confrontation, Edward revealed that Aro was actually scared of a fight breaking out: after finding out about Bella's power to block special abilities, Aro realized this was a battle they might lose. Though their confidence has been shattered, the Cullens and their allies suspect that the Volturi will attempt to avenge the humiliation they suffered in the future.

Leaders
Aro, Caius and Marcus are the leaders of the Volturi. They command the Volturi's guard and act as representatives when dealing with other covens.
 * Aro
 * Caius
 * Marcus

The Wives
Mates of the Volturi leaders. The wives are also powerful figures of authority, but only go to trials with their husbands on behalf of extremely important matters.
 * Athenodora ( Caius' mate )
 * Sulpicia ( Aro's mate )
 * Didyme ( Marcus' mate; deceased )

The Guard
The Volturi Guard is a group of vampires with powerful gifts.The Volturi has been shown to invite only vampires with incredibly powerful gifts that the leaders of the coven see as useful to ensuring that their authority amongst the other covens goes unchallenged. When a vampire is invited into the Volturi, he or she is forced to feel content about joining due to Chelsea's gift, the ability to manipulate the emotional bonds of others, usually guaranteeing a swift initiation into the group.


 * Jane
 * Alec
 * Heidi
 * Felix
 * Demetri
 * Chelsea
 * Afton
 * Corin
 * Renata
 * Santiago

Other
Gianna is only mentioned in New Moon. Stephenie Meyer has said that Gianna did not survive and was instead killed to sustain the Volturi. There are supposedly more unnamed Volturi and also numerous witnesses, but they are not named in the books.
 * Gianna (Human secretary)

Former/Desired Members

 * Carlisle Cullen: Stayed with the coven as a guest; he left due to his reverence of human life, and created his own Coven in the United States.


 * Edward Cullen: Invited several times by the Volturi because of his ablity to read minds. He declined.


 * Alice Cullen: Invited by the Volturi due to her precognitive powers. She declined.


 * Bella Cullen: Aro was impressed with Bella's ability to block mental powers when she was still human, and has invited her to join the Volturi on several occasions. She declined.


 * Eleazar: A former member of the Volturi. He was invited into the coven because Aro thought his ability to see the gifts and potential gifts of others, especially humans, was useful for when the Volturi scouts for new members. He resigned, however, and joined the Denali Coven.
 * Benjamin: A member of the Egyptian Coven with the ability to physically manipulate the elements with his mind. He was offered a place with the Volturi as an alternative to death at the battle with the Volturi in Breaking Dawn. He declined and stayed on the side of the Cullens.
 * Zafrina: A member of the Amazon Coven with the ability to show people mental images with her mind. She was offered a place with the Volturi as an alternative to death at the battle with the Volturi in Breaking Dawn. She declined and stayed on the side of the Cullens.
 * Renesmee Cullen: It has been assumed by the Cullens that Aro would wish for one as unique as Renesmee to join his "collection." This has been partially confirmed by his "if I can't have her, no-one can" attitude in his attempt to kill her. Other reasons why Aro would want Renesmee as part of his 'living' "collection" is : (1)she is very unique- possibly the only hybrid-vampire who is gifted too (2) if he has her, he possibly lure her parents to join the Volturi (3) using her gift break shields he could possibly have a glance at Bella's mind.
 * Shape-Shifters: During Renesmee's 'trial,' Aro saw memories of the Cullen's interactions with the La Push wolves. Thinking the wolves were the Cullens' pets, he was intrigued by the idea of the wolves working for him, but as 'guard dogs' instead of actual members of his coven. The wolves, however, snarled at him when his intentions were revealed, showing him his idea wasn't going to happen.