Irina

"I don't believe that! He wanted to be like us!"

- Irina talking about Laurent at Edward and Bella's wedding

Irina (pronounced Ear-ee-na) was a vampire, one of the original Denali "sisters" and an originator of the myth of the succubus. She was a "vegetarian" and led a very peaceful lifestyle. The Denalis consider themselves to be the Cullens' extended family or "cousins". She and Laurent were in a relationship before he was killed by the shape-shifters in New Moon. Irina was killed by Caius after giving false information to the Volturi about Renesmee Cullen.

Early life
Irina was the third vampire added to the Denali coven, after Tanya and Kate. As a human, she was a pretty peasant girl living in a small farm community. She physically resembled Kate and Tanya, and Sasha decided to change her with the idea of adding a new sister to her "daughters". Irina, Tanya, and Kate loved their mother as much as she loved them. They were orphaned by the Volturi because their mother was harboring an immortal child named Vasilii; a human child that was turned and therefore couldn't learn to control himself due to his primitive mind.

The sisters were responsible for the myth of the succubus, as they would have sexual relationships with human men before killing them. The Denali sisters later lived a vegetarian lifestyle to avoid slaughtering the men that they grew fond of, and became close friends of Carlisle Cullen and his family.

New Moon
After Laurent came to live with the Denali Coven, Irina started a relationship with him, which ended following his death at the hands of the Quileute shape-shifters.

Eclipse
When the Cullens asked for the Denali coven's aid against Victoria's newborn army, she wanted revenge on the wolves in exchange for their aid, but they disagreed and so the Denalis turned down their alliance temporarily.

Breaking Dawn
Irina did not appear at Bella and Edward's wedding with the rest of the Denali coven, because she was still upset at the wolves for killing her Laurent. In the film, she did attend the wedding, but felt utterly hurt when she saw Seth and refused to believe the Cullens about Laurent trying to kill Bella.

Three months later, Irina was on her way to Forks to make peace with the Cullens when she suddenly saw Bella, Jacob, and Renesmee hunting from a distance. The moment she saw Renesmee, she was mislead to believe that she was an immortal child that Bella and Edward had created, knowing that creating an immortal child is an illegal action. Irina ran to tell the Volturi, but not before Bella saw her.

A few days later, Alice foresaw the Volturi's decision to visit Forks, and explaining that she was not trying to predict their actions, but trying to find Irina, Bella came to the conclusion that Irina assumed that Renesmee was an immortal child and that she must have decided to go to the Volturi to tell them about Renesmee. Irina was with the Volturi when they arrived in Forks to punish the Cullens. She was called upon by Caius to bear witness to Renesmee. She explained to the Volturi that she was upset because the shape-shifters killed Laurent, but the Cullens refused to let her avenge him. However, upon realizing her mistake, she no longer wanted to complain against the wolves or the Cullens. The second she said that she was willing to take full responsibility for her error, Caius signaled the guard and Irina was destroyed in front of all the vampires present. Caius merely looked on and proceeded to set Irina ablaze, as a plot to enrage Kate and Tanya into attacking the Volturi guard. Caius later justified this by saying that "now she has taken full responsibility of her actions".

After the confrontation ended with only Irina's death, the Denalis returned home to mourn for their fallen sister and celebrate the addition of a new comrade, Garrett, who had become Kate's new mate.

Physical description
"Her hair was pale, pale blonde, almost silver. This was the gleam that had caught my eye. It hung straight as a ruler to a blunt edge at her chin, parted evenly down the center. She was a stranger to me. I was absolutely certain I'd never seen her before, even as human. None of the faces in my muddy memory were the same as this one. But I knew her at once from her golden dark eyes. Irina had decided to come after all."

- Bella, upon seeing Irina for the first time

Irina was described as being a vampire with straight, chin-length, silvery blonde hair and golden eyes that turned black when she was thirsty. Her height was 5'2".

Personality
Due to her mother's passing for creating an immortal child, Irina, along with her sisters, were "purists" when it came to vampire laws. For centuries, they had enjoyed the pleasurable company of men, both human and vampire, but learned to achieve monogamy when Laurent came into her life.

Relationships
Irina is the deceased mate of Laurent, the youngest adoptive sister of Tanya, Kate and the deceased Vasilii, the adoptive daughter of Sasha and coven members with Eleazar and Carmen.

Laurent
"He wanted to be like us. To live in peace with humans. With me."

- Irina on Laurent

Laurent was Irina's mate. He came to Denali after he left James and Victoria. There, he and Irina met, and fell in love, though she was more serious about their relationship than him. However, Laurent had trouble sticking to the vegetarian diet, and occasionally hunted humans.

In March, he went back to Forks as a favor to Victoria to see if Bella was still under the protection of the Cullens. It was there that he got killed by the Quileute werewolves when he attempted to kill Bella Swan to sustain his own thirst, abruptly ending Irina and Laurent's relationship before they could move on to the next stage. Irina was enraged and deeply hurt by his death and because of this, the Denali Coven were prevented from helping the Cullen family during the newborn crisis of Seattle.

In the movie, Irina points out that she did not believe that Laurent had tried to kill Bella.

Tanya
Tanya is Irina's eldest adoptive sister, as well as leader of the Denali Coven after their "mother" was killed centuries ago by the Volturi at the crime of creating an immortal child.

Irina loved her and her siblings above everything else, which drove her to confess her mistakes in order to protect them. Tanya was so enraged by her death that she attempted to attack the Volturi to avenge her sister.

Kate
Kate is Irina's other adoptive sister, and the only one with a gift.

Irina loved her and her siblings above everything else, which drove her to confess her mistakes in order to protect them and resulted in her death. Kate was so enraged by her death that she attempted to attack the Volturi to avenge her, using her gift on anyone who attempted to stop her until Bella blocked her power and Garrett restrained her.

Eleazar
Eleazar is a member of the Denali Coven, who joined them with his mate Carmen after leaving the Volturi to lead a more peaceful existence. Eventually, they met the Denali sisters and found interest in their "unusual" lifestyle. Irina and her sisters invited the visitors to stay and try out their lifestyle, and eventually their stay became permanent.

Carmen
"Irina? Come meet Bella."

- Carmen to Irina

Carmen is a member in the Denali Coven, and Eleazar's mate. Though it is not determined how close they really were, it seems they had a fairly mutual connection, as Eleazar points out that by abstaining from human blood allows them to form true family bonds.

Sasha
Sasha was Irina's adoptive mother. After creating Tanya and Kate, Sasha was intrigued with the idea of adding a new sister to them and found their physical features quite similar. It did not take long before Irina learned to love her new family, whom in return loved her.

Losing her mother was a tremendous blow for all three of them, and in the aftermath of that loss, she and her sisters became purists of the Volturi's laws.

Film portrayal
On September 27, 2010 it was announced that Irina will be portrayed by Maggie Grace in Breaking Dawn - Part 1 and Part 2. Her character was given the surname "Denali" in the films.

Appearances

 * Twilight (mentioned)
 * Midnight Sun (mentioned)
 * New Moon (mentioned)
 * Eclipse (mentioned)
 * Breaking Dawn
 * Breaking Dawn - Part 1
 * Breaking Dawn - Part 2