Enhanced self-preservation

"She was exceptionally good at evading enemies."

- Entry on Victoria's gift

Enhanced self-preservation is Victoria's power to sense and escape any danger.

Description
With this power, Victoria could identify any sort of danger coming at her the moment the ill will is directed, as demonstrated when she sensed James hunting her before they became a couple. Another example is when the Volturi came to recruit Heidi, and Victoria sensed that the Volturi were going to kill her and her coven mates after acquiring Heidi's talents.

It also allowed her to instinctively know how to evade an attack and know when to run without any particular planning ahead. For instance, when Jasper and Emmett made their moves on her, she easily dodged their pursue by inches and jumped into the Quileutes' territorial lands, sensing that they wouldn't cross over.

Bella Swan noticed her ability because while she was fighting Edward in Eclipse, her feet seemed to bring her to a safe place while warring with her lust for revenge. It is described as the feeling of being pulled to safety.

Because of this power, she was a very difficult opponent to be defeated by the Cullens. Whenever she found herself facing danger, her instincts were to run.

Limitations
This power only worked on the user alone. Whenever Victoria was in danger, she would feel compelled to run away, and any desire to stay would become secondary as her desire to survive was too great for her to suppress, unless she was angered to a level strong enough to war with that instinct. It is very likely that her ability to detect danger is limited only to those coming from her enemies with the intent to kill.

Origin
This power is rooted in her ability to escape pursuers when she was human, being able to hide or run away without getting caught. She could also avoid the notice of animals.

As a vampire, her survival skill became uncanny, allowing her to sense and evade any danger. When the Volturi came to destroy her coven, she was the only one who escaped. While being chased by James, she manages to escape him for months until he becomes interested in her talent. When his ill-will toward her faded, so did her urge to escape, which allowed him to catch up to her.

Twilight
In Twilight, when Victoria's mate James died at the hands of the Cullens, she escaped their pursuit with her power as her compass.

New Moon
While being pursued by Edward Cullen in New Moon, she sensed the danger and shook him off in Texas. When she returned to Forks, she was relentlessly chased away by the Uley pack. With her powerful survival instinct, it was difficult for her to make a bold move on Bella.

The hunt was seen in the movie, where she manages to evade Jacob Black's attack and escape the wolves by jumping into the water. None of the wolves managed to come close to her.

Eclipse
In Eclipse, Emmett attempted to jump on Victoria, only for her to sense his assault and evade him, and as a result land right into shape-shifter Paul, and almost started a fight. Victoria used this as an opportunity to escape.

In the movie, she was seen being hunted by the Cullens and the Uley pack, but managed to avoid capture and then escape through the Quileute tribal lands.

While in the clearing with Bella, Edward and Seth, Victoria took Riley with her as a device to distract Edward long enough for her to kill Bella. When Seth fought with Riley, she tried to escape. However, Edward, finally noting her ability, frequently taunted her relationship to James in order to put a stop to her threat - permanently. After successfully angering her, a battle erupted between them.

When Riley died, Victoria realized her disadvantage and tried to escape, but Edward anticipated her mind and caught her before she could avoid him, and subsequently died in his hands.

Similar abilities

 * Afton: His power of mental invisibility allows him to become invisible to pursuers, which works well for self-preservation.


 * Fred: His power of physical repulsion makes others unable to think of him for a short period of time, which makes him invisible and inapproachable to those who might want to harm him.