Laurent

"Victoria won't be happy about my killing you, but I can't help myself. You are so mouth-watering."

- Laurent to Bella

Laurent (pronounced Luh-rawnt) was a nomadic vampire and a member of James's coven. Following James's encounter with the Olympic coven, he became a member of the vegetarian Denali coven, which included his mate Irina, though he often disregarded their dietary guidelines and admitted to cheating. He was killed by the shape-shifters of the Uley pack, after an attempt to kill Bella Swan.

He is portrayed by Edi Gathegi in the movie adaptations.

Early life
Laurent was born in the early 1700s in Paris, France, into an aristocratic but financially embarrassed family during the reign of King Louis XIV. He was the third son, and had little in the way of prospects. Laurent was recommended for a minor position in the court of the Sun King by his older brother, who married into a more prosperous family. Laurent loved being a part of the court and had ambitions to rise. He was always attracted to people with power, and curried their favor. He had a knack for discerning who the most important person was in any given grouping, and then attaching himself to that person. There was a certain way about Laurent that made anyone he singled out feel more important. Therefore, he did well among the other aristocrats and had a promising future.

His life changed when a mysterious ambassador named Boris, purportedly from the Romanov court in Russia, made a diplomatic visit to the French court. The ambassador's strange behavior was attributed to cultural differences. He came out of his quarters only at night, kept a retinue of mute servants and soldiers who were totally obedient, and always put off discussions of matters of state. He did seem to enjoy the entertainments of the French court immensely and was very interested in King Louis's art collection.

Laurent was drawn to the powerful Boris and befriended him. When the mysterious disappearances of men and women began to attract notice, the ambassador had to move on. Before he did, he offered Laurent the opportunity to go with him, which he accepted out of his thirst for power. Eventually, Boris told him the truth about himself, and Laurent begged him to share his power and immortality, and he complied.

Boris became his companion for awhile, until Laurent grew tired of his creator's jovial habits and left him to find someone with more power. He ran into one of the surviving Romanians, Vladimir, who still radiated some of the power he had once held. However, he did not stay for long as he next turned to the Volturi, who held the exact kind of power that he sought. However, Aro turned him away after finding out that he had encountered the Romanians and declared him as untrustworthy. He continued to hope that he would get another chance to join the Volturi, though the chance was never offered. He wandered the world, allying with anyone who seemed to have power until he found someone more powerful. Eventually, he joined James's coven. The three of them once tracked down a werewolf across Siberia. They then went to the US, becoming nomads.

Twilight
Laurent, James, and Victoria came across the Cullen family playing baseball while passing through Forks. When James and Victoria chose to hunt Bella Swan, his instincts told him he was on the wrong side of the conflict, and he quickly jumped ship to ingratiate himself with the Cullens by warning them about James's skills. Laurent was confused by Carlisle, who had a very different kind of authority than he was used to. He was happy to stay out of the way until James was no longer an issue, hoping to study Carlisle's strength later. He left for Denali to find the Denali coven, hoping to get away from James and Victoria. During his time with them, he became the mate of Irina, and found Tanya's influence similar to Carlisle's. He allowed their peaceful life to envelop, though he found animal blood revolting and fed on humans from time to time, thus kept the red eye color that human-feeding vampires display.

When Victoria sought him out - and after he was sure she was not there to kill - he was seduced anew by the old kind of command. He also told her about the Cullens' powers. He decided to keep the lines of communication open with her, and do her the one favor she asked of him: to spy on Bella and the Cullens.

New Moon
"Victoria won't be happy about my killing you, but I can't help myself. You are so mouth-watering."

- Laurent

Laurent returned as a scout for the vengeful Victoria and found out that the Cullens were no longer living in Forks. When Bella visited Edward's meadow, Laurent stumbled across her while hunting. He found Bella's scent irresistible and decided to kill her himself. However, Laurent was chased off by the sudden appearance of a pack of werewolves before he could strike. Laurent mistakenly recognized the shape-shifters as werewolves. This mistake may have occurred because he had accompanied James on a hunt for a werewolf across Siberia years beforehand. He exclaimed, "I don't believe it!" as he was shocked to see them in their wolf form in broad daylight, with no full moon to generate the phasing, and working together (true werewolves do not run in packs). Bella, having no idea what the strange creatures were, aside from huge wolves, fled in terror after the wolves chased Laurent out of the clearing. Later, after Bella found out about Jacob being a shape-shifter, he told her that they had killed Laurent, and that they have chased Victoria away frequently, though she kept coming back.

Physical appearance
"The man in front was easily the most beautiful, his skin olive-toned beneath the typical pallor, his hair a glossy black. He was of a medium build, hard-muscled, of course, but nothing next to Emmett's brawn. He smiled an easy smile, exposing a flash of gleaming white teeth."

- Bella on seeing Laurent for the first time

In the novels, Laurent is described as 5'9" tall, with glossy black hair, a slight olive tone to his pale skin, dark hair and a French accent. He had a medium, slightly muscular frame and an easy smile. As with all vampires, his skin sparkled upon exposure to sunlight as if thousands of diamonds were embedded in his skin and had dark red eyes that turned black when he was thirsty.

In the films, Laurent was portrayed quite different to his description in the books, being dark skinned and having dreadlocks. He also showed a muscular torso through his open jacket and walked barefoot.

Personality and traits
Unlike his coven mates, James and Victoria, Laurent was articulate and civilized. Bella Swan considered him to be easily the most attractive of James's coven.

He had little sense of loyalty as he betrayed James's plans, his coven leader, to the Cullens: disregarded the Denali Coven's vegetarian diet: and tried to painlessly kill Bella against Victoria and the Cullens' wishes. In The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide, Laurent was described as an ambitious man who was drawn to those with power, to ally himself with them until they were decimated, and then he would flee for his life.

Relationships
Laurent was the mate of Irina, a former coven mate to James and Victoria, and a former coven mate to Tanya, Kate, Eleazar and Carmen. His creator was a Russian vampire named Boris, whom he was close to before growing tired of his lifestyle.

Irina
"I like Tanya very much. And her sister Irina even more... I've never stayed in one place for so long before, and I enjoy the advantages, the novelty of it."

- Laurent's words.

Laurent's only known romantic relationship was with Irina from the Denali coven. They met after he left James's coven and went up North to Alaska. She grew really fond of him, and he enjoyed the flirtation, though Laurent wasn't as dedicated to the relationship as she was.

When he was killed by Sam Uley's wolf pack, Irina became extremely angry and depressed. When the Cullen family asked for the Denali Coven's aid to fight against the newborn army of Seattle, she demanded a condition: they will allow her to avenge her mate's death by killing the pack, which Carlisle refused. Because of this, Irina refused to help the Cullens altogether on the other Denalis' behalf.

Film portrayal
Edi Gathegi played Laurent in the films Twilight and New Moon.

During an interview with Nick Maslow, Edi described his first taste at stardom at Comic-con when he and the other cast members were promoting Twilight.

Appearances

 * Twilight
 * Twilight film
 * New Moon
 * New Moon film

Mentioned in

 * Eclipse
 * Eclipse film
 * Breaking Dawn
 * Breaking Dawn - Part 1 (archive footage)

Trivia
In the original sequel to Twilight, Forever Dawn, Laurent stayed with the Denali coven and came to the Cullens' aid against the Volturi.