Jacob Black

"He was my best friend. I would always love him, and it would never, ever be enough."

Jacob Black is a fictional character in the books Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer. He is described as a Native American of the Quileute tribe. In Twilight he is fifteen, and in New Moon and Eclipse he is sixteen. When he reaches the age of sixteen, he undergoes the transformation that enables him to phase into a werewolf. He imprints on a baby named Renesmee Cullen, the daughter of Edward and Bella Cullen. Like his pack brother, Quil Ateara, his love for Renesmee will not be sexual or romantic until she comes of age.

Early life
Jacob was born to Billy and Sarah Black. Sarah died in a car crash when he was very young. If Bella hadn't known him so long she may have never known.

Twilight
He has a small but very important role in this book. After Bella Swan flirts with him (as a way to get information), he introduces the idea of Edward Cullen being a vampire by telling her Quileute legends. According to Stephenie Meyer via her official website, Jacob was originally just a device to tell Bella about the "Cold Ones." However, both she and her editor liked Jacob so much that they decided to give him a larger role in the sequels to Twilight. He therefore becomes a main character in New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn.

New Moon
Bella becomes very good friends with Jacob, the son of her father's good friend Billy, after Edward leaves Forks. He helps her become somewhat happy and normal again, though she still misses Edward. New Moon reveals that Jacob is one of an ancient line of Quileute werewolves/shape shifters. They have forever been the mortal enemy of any vampire, even the Cullen family. At first Jacob thinks all this is legend, and he is frightened and disturbed by the influence a young man on the reservation, Sam Uley, has on some of the Quileute youth. But when Jacob makes the change himself in response to a new vampire threat, he learns that Sam (the leader of the pack) went through his own werewolf hardships, including a rather bloody incident with his girlfriend (now fiancée) Emily Young. As werewolves are short-tempered, highly violent, and likely to explode into wolf form when provoked to anger, Jacob agrees that he should stay away from Bella. He patrols the forest with his pack, searching for the vampires in the area who are killing local hikers. Jacob and the pack save Bella from the vampire Laurent (from Twilight), who is trying to kill her. Before the over-sized wolves chase him off, Laurent tells Bella that Victoria, James's mate (also from Twilight), is trying to kill her as revenge towards Edward, who killed her mate.

Sometime later, Jacob unexpectingly shows up at Bella's bedroom window and apologizes for avoiding her. When she asks him what's happening with him, he claims that he can't tell her, but leaves her a clue to what he and the rest of Sam's group is. Bella remembers the stories Jacob told her (in Twilight), and figures out that Jacob is a werewolf. She later confronts him about how he and the pack could hurt someone. He convinces her that their job is to protect humans from vampires, and they would never harm anyone. Bella tells Jacob why Victoria is after her, and Jacob leaves for a minute to call Sam and the rest of the pack to a meeting. They show up in human form a few minutes later, irritated that Bella knows their secret. Paul, one of the pack members who is outraged by Bella's prescense, looses his temper, phases into his wolf form and tries to attack Bella. Jacob quickly phases into a wolf, and viciously forces Paul into the woods away from Bella. After learning what Victoria is after, Sam's pack spend most of the time protecting Bella from Victoria. Jacob and Bella renew their friendship, and Jacob tells Bella what it's like being a werewolf. Sometime later, Bella goes cliff diving in order to hear Edward's voice, and nearly drowns before Jacob pulls her out of the water.

Later on, Harry Clearwater dies of a heart attack. During a conversation in which Jacob almost kisses Bella, Bella's phone rings. When Jacob answers the phone, he mistakes Edward's voice for Carlisle Cullen's. Edward inquires where Charlie is, and Jacob tells Edward that Charlie is "at the funeral" meaning Harry's funeral. Thinking that Bella has died, Edward goes to see the Volturi and Bella and Alice rush to stop him. Jacob is hurt and disgusted by Bella's choice, Edward's return, and Bella's willingness to go back to him and become a vampire. In the epilogue of New Moon, after leaving Bella's motorcycle in her driveway, Jacob reminds Edward of their treaty, which prevents the Cullen family from biting, not killing, a human. This means that if a member of the Cullen family turned Bella into a vampire, the treaty would be broken and the werewolves could start a war. Jacob is upset by the whole conversation, though Bella manages to calm him down before she and Edward leave. However, when Bella turns to look at Jacob one last time, she sees he is suffering in heart-wrenching emotional pain.

Eclipse
The third installment of the series begins with Jacob still trying to keep a safe distance away from Bella. She desperately tries to get a hold of him to talk, but he continues to ignore her attempts. He decides to write her a note instead. He is not comfortable with the idea of Bella walking around with a vampire. The thought of it causes him to almost lose control with anger.

The book starts with Bella reading the note from Jacob. He has a hard time expressing himself in the note, as she reads through many unfinished sentences that end up being crossed out. The last comment in the note is not crossed out, and shows that even though he misses spending time with her, he is still angry with their situation.

Later on in the series, his affection towards Bella grows stronger. He's enraged by the fact that she will become a vampire after graduation, which is only a few weeks away. Bella feels bad that she's spending all her time with Edward and so she sneaks off to visit Jacob. Jacob invites Bella to come with him to a Quileute council meeting, and she accepts. Jacob and Bella spend the night together and listen to tribe legends, believed to be real by the Quileute. When Edward realizes that he has been overprotective, he allows Bella to visit Jacob on a regular basis. On one of the later visits, Jacob tells Bella he loves her, and kisses her, thinking that Bella loves him back. Bella, outraged that he would kiss her after he knows that she loves Edward, punches him in the jaw and breaks her hand. Jacob brings Bella home and is threatened by Edward that if he ever kisses Bella again, he'll break Jacob's jaw for Bella. But Edward also claims that he would allow it to happen if Bella wanted to kiss him.

A while later, at a graduation party held at the Cullens' house that Jacob decides to go to, giving Bella a charm bracelet with a carving of a werewolf on it as a graduation present. While he's there he learns that Victoria has amassed a newborn vampire army to attack Bella. Jacob and the pack eagerly agrees on joining forces with the Cullens and learning how to fight these vampires. Their original plan was to have the werewolf, Seth Clearwater, watch over Bella in a remote mountain place while the Cullens and the rest of the werewolf pack fought off the vampires. Bella, however, wanted Edward with her when she stayed in the mountains, and asked Edward. Edward agreed as long as Jacob would carry her to the place in the mountains so that her scent would be lost. They followed through with the plan, and Jacob carried Bella to the mountain hideaway. While waiting for the battle to be over, Edward, Bella, and Jacob set up camp. A blizzard blows through the camp, and Bella begins to freeze. Jacob comes in the tent and stays in Bella's sleeping bag to warm her up with his abnormal body heat, much to Edward's horror.

During the night, Jacob asks Edward about his relationship with Bella and what it felt like to lose her. They talk and temporarily forget their hatred for each other.

In the morning, Bella wakes up and Jacob leaves the tent. Bella and Edward then start discussing their marriage plans. Jacob, for some reason did not leave the campsite, overhears their conversation, and runs away because he's so upset that they're getting married. Upon Bella's request, Edward brings Jacob back and leaves them alone to talk. After some talk, Jacob says that he's going to go and kill himself because Bella doesn't love him. Bella then begs and pleads with him not to. Bella says that she'll kiss him if he won't commit suicide. Jacob agrees and Bella kisses him. To begin with, it is simply Jacob returning the kiss, but after a few minutes Bella finds herself kissing him back passionately and realizes that she is in love with Jacob after all. Jacob then leaves to finish the battle, promising that he will try and not get himself killed, and gets injured in the battle trying to save a fellow werewolf, Leah Clearwater, from a newborn vampire. The new born mangled all the bones on the right side of Jacob, before being destroyed by Sam. Carlisle patches him up and a worried Bella visits him. Jacob is shocked to hear that Edward didn't get angry at Bella for kissing him.They talk and Bella tells him that, although she loves Jacob deeply, she has chosen Edward. While heartbroken over her choice, Jacob doesn't show it, and reluctantly agrees to stop trying to take Bella from Edward. Jacob reminds Bella that he will always be there for her whenever she needs him.

The epilogue is written from Jacob's point of view for the first time in the series. Jacob and Leah are sitting at the edge of a cliff, with Jacob thinking about how difficult it will be when Bella is turned into a vampire. Leah tells him to get over Bella, and Jacob angrily tells her to leave him alone before he goes home. At home he finds that Edward has sent him a wedding invitation to Bella and Edward's wedding. Enclosed was a note from Edward, saying that Jacob did not have to come to the wedding, but that if Edward was in Jacob's shoes, he would want a choice. Edward thanks Jacob for everything. Unable to endure his human emotions any longer, he phases into a wolf, and runs away.

Breaking Dawn
In Breaking Dawn, Jacob is mentioned to be trying to live the rest of his life as a wolf so he doesn't have to deal with the pain he is in. Jacob is first seen at Bella's wedding, since he's decided to attend after all despite still being heartbroken over her rejecting him. He apologizes to Bella and tells her that he only wants her to be happy. However, he becomes violent towards Edward when he finds out about their plans to make love while Bella is still human and has to be restrained by Seth and Sam. During Bella and Edward's honeymoon, Jacob morbidly fantasizes about the different outcomes of the honeymoon. Would Edward kill Bella in the attempt to make love? Or would they come back as newly wed vampires, but pretend Bella died of a disease, before Bella digs herself out of her pretend grave?

When Bella finally returns from the honeymoon, Jacob believes Bella was turned and demands the pack attack the Cullens. Sam refuses to do so, and Jacob goes on a solo attack mission. He finds out that she is pregnant, though still human, and sees that Bella has purple and blue bruises on her stomach from where the hybrid baby has kicked. He talks with Edward, who doesn't want the baby because it is killing Bella, but cannot do anything because Rosalie Hale guards Bella, upon Bella's request. Rosalie's choice influences Emmett, Esme and Carlisle and so Edward cannot force Bella to have an abortion. Desperate, Edward asks Jacob to offer Bella to have babies with Jacob, which would be a much healthier pregnancy than the current one. Jacob is sickened but tempted by this offer and agrees to try to persuade Bella to have an abortion. He also promises Edward that he'll kill Edward if Bella dies.

He returns to Sam and tells him about Bella's pregnancy. The pack plan on killing Bella and the baby because they see the unborn baby as a threat. A threat which is also protected by members of the Cullens. Jacob still loves Bella, however, and revolts against Sam's authority as Alpha. He embraces the Alpha heritage born in him and breaks away from the pack. Seth Clearwater and Leah Clearwater join him and they patrol the Cullens' territory, preventing Sam's pack from launching an attack.

While running patrols, Leah requests that she stay in Jacob's pack after Renesmee's birth. Jacob is taken back by this but agrees to think about it. Leah admits to Jacob that she understands Rosalie and Bella and that, if their positions were switched around, they would all do the same for each other. Jacob is enraged by this and is lead into an awkward (for him) conversation about Leah's being menopausal and her love she still feels for Sam. Jacob ends the conversation to go and check up on Bella.

A few days later, Edward hears the baby's mind for the first time, and he loves the unborn baby as it already loves Bella, leaving Jacob feeling betrayed. Edward hears this and gives the keys of his Aston Martin Vanquish to Jacob, so that Jacob might get away from them. Jacob desperately drives out to look for his soul mate, someone who he may imprint on, so that he would forget his love for Bella. His search ends up fruitless.

Jacob comes back and learns that the baby has broken yet more of Bella's bones. Edward asks Jacob, as the rightful Alpha, for permission to change Bella into a vampire after the birth of the hybrid. Feeling empty inside, Jacob agrees.

After Bella gives birth to a girl, she names Renesmee, Bella appears to 'die' after Edward bites her to turn her into a vampire. Jacob goes off to kill Renesmee, but imprints on her when he sees her. He nicknames Renesmee Nessie because her real name is a mouthful. Bella is extremely irritated with the nickname because it refers to the Loch Ness Monster, and the fact it catches on. He is extremely close to Renesmee, goes hunting with her, and for Christmas he braids her a bracelet that is the Quileute version of a promise ring. Jacob has a strong desire to protect her and to keep her happy and safe. It is likely that his feelings will eventually turn into romantic and sexual interests when she is older. It is hard for him to be separated from her, so he visits every day and almost never leaves the Cullen house. However, he states that once Renesmee's growing slows down, he will go back to school. Finally, Sam's pack stops trying to attack the Cullens, since the most important of the werewolf laws that one cannot kill the object of another wolf's imprinting, due to the damage it would cause to the wolf in question.

When the Volturi come (mistaking Renesmee for an immortal child), Bella plans for Jacob to run away with Renesmee to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, so that they may be saved from the upcoming slaughter. She had forged passports made for the two of them, with Jacob as Jacob Wolfe, and Renesmee as Vanessa Wolfe. When the Volturi left shamefully and regretfully, Bella is overjoyed and calls Renesmee, 'Nessie'.

Physical appearance
Jacob is 6'7" tall, with a toned and muscular body . Bella describes him as having dark-tone russet skin. In New Moon, upon discovering his werewolf powers and joining the Quileute pack, he crops his long black hair short. Later he grows it out to chin length in Eclipse because he thinks Bella prefers it longer. He tends to wear only cut-off style jeans, saying that when turning from human to a werewolf and back he doesn't like to have to carry a lot of clothes since they are ruined during transformation. In Breaking Dawn he cuts his hair short again and it seems that he has grown even taller. It is noted by Bella that he would surely hit his head upon the beams of her new cottage. As a wolf, Jake has russet brown fur, dark eyes that show intelligence, and is very swift. He is also the second fastest and the second largest in the pack. He later grows to be the largest, but Leah Clearwater is still the fastest wolf of the pack.

Personality and traits
Jacob's personality shifts throughout the books as he matures. In Twilight, he seems very friendly though shy and slightly sheepish around Bella, easily succumbing to her flirtations and worrying about how the Quileute legends will affect her perception of him. However, in New Moon Jacob goes from being his old, happy self to becoming sullen and temperamental. This is because he is experiencing the change of shape-shifting. In Eclipse, he becomes a lot more confident that Bella is really for him - so much so that he makes her realize that she does love him after all. In Breaking Dawn, his personality changes yet again, because he feels like Bella is going to die. He is ready to kill her baby daughter, Renesmee, until he sees her and experiences imprinting.

Werewolf traits

 * Regeneration - Body heals at an abnormal rate, faster than any human body can.


 * Phasing - Can morph in and out of "wolf" form. With practice and skill, one can morph faster and with more efficiency. While less experienced, young werewolves will frequently phase when losing their tempers. There is still a risk when a werewolf ages and becomes more and more experienced, it happens much less frequently.


 * Telepathy - Only works within pack, when in wolf form. They can speak with each other telepathically and hear each other's thoughts. Though this is more than useful while hunting and tracking, there is no privacy left in the pack because of this ability. It can be described as both a gift and a burden. Their thoughts are open even when they tried to hide them.


 * Physically enhanced - Has "super-strength" in both wolf and human form. In wolf form, they are also exceptionally fast. Before phasing, the human form will build up their muscles naturally and will be ready for the first time they phase.


 * Delayed aging - They cannot start aging until a solid period of time without phasing goes by. It is unknown the exact length of time, only it would be very difficult because of what causes phasing and the fact that the current pack are so frequently needed in the present time of the books.


 * Constant temperature - Werewolves have a constant body temperature of about 108.9 degrees to withstand severe cold.


 * Imprinting - Werewolves can imprint on a certain person they see once they begin phasing. However, not every werewolf imprints. Jacob describes imprinting as being stronger than true love.



Family relationships
Jacob's father is Billy Black, his mother is Sarah, and he has two sisters, Rachel and Rebecca. Billy and Jacob seem to be fairly close as they have lived alone for a fairly long time. On the other hand, Rachel, Rebecca, and Jacob are not as close as the twins live out of town and they rarely see their brother. Jacob's mother was said to have died of a car crash, with him saying, "Her coffin was nailed shut," in Breaking Dawn.

Bella Swan
"I’d forgotten how much I really liked Jacob Black."

Jacob claims in Twilight that he had a crush on Bella, but didn't act on it since she was already with Edward. During New Moon, he spent more time with Bella, and his crush turned into love. He is romantically attracted to her, although she only sees him as her best friend. As stated In Breaking Dawn, he has many times imagined Bella nude. His feelings for her put him at odds with her boyfriend, Edward Cullen. Jacob tells (or rather, shows) Bella how he feels in Eclipse by forcibly kissing her, to which she reacts by punching him in the jaw, only to end up with a broken hand (due to the fact that she is human and he is a 'werewolf'). Jacob does everything he can think of to try to convince Bella she is in love with him too, but she rejects him. Then later on in Eclipse, he threatens to kill himself if she doesn't kiss him, so she does. The kiss makes Bella realize that she has been lying to herself by saying that he was only her best friend, because she is in love with him too. She kisses him back, and both share a "nauseating to watch" (as we learn from Seth Clearwater, as he watches them) kiss. When Edward finds out, he isn't angry, but Bella knows that she has to choose. She visits Jacob and tells him that she can't be with him, that although she loves him deeply, she has chosen Edward. Heartbroken, Jacob runs away from home and tries to live as a wolf to escape the pain he feels.

Despite Bella's rejection of him, Jacob still feels love for her, and abandoned his former pack to protect her. But he still feels constant pain because he failed to win Bella over. When Jacob imprints on Bella's daughter, however, he is stripped of his romantic feelings for Bella and they are finally able to put their issues behind them. Though he has imprinted on Bella's daughter, he still loves her as a best friend.

Renesmee Cullen
In Breaking Dawn, Jacob imprints on Renesmee Cullen, Bella and Edward Cullen's daughter. While Renesmee is a child, he only feels the need to protect and keep her happy as nothing else is more important than her happiness, but as she grows up, Jacob will feel attracted towards her as part of the imprinting. It is implied that Renesmee will 'accept' Jacob as her mate, since she loves him very much. Bella isn't very happy about this at first, allowing her vampiric temper make her attack him. As time passes by, she comes to accept it later on when she realizes that it's not her choice, that they were made for each other.

Because he finds it hard to be away from her, he visits the Cullens everyday to check up on her. He is the one who nicknames her "Nessie", saying to Bella that her full name is a mouthful. When Renesmee was misunderstood by a vampire named Irina to be an immortal child and went to the Volturi to tell them the news, Bella secretly arranges ID certificates, driving license and passports for Renesmee and Jacob, knowing that he will definitely protect her if the Volturi come looking for them.

Etymology
Jacob means "supplanter." This could refer to the way Jacob took Edward's place in New Moon, and tried to replace him completely throughout the saga.

Movie portrayal
The role of Jacob was played by actor Taylor Lautner in the Twilight film. In January 2009, it was announced that Lautner would reprise his role as Jacob in the sequel, New Moon.

Appearances

 * Twilight
 * Twilight (film)
 * New Moon
 * New Moon (film)
 * Eclipse
 * Breaking Dawn