Alec

Alec is a member of the Volturi guard, serving as one of the highest ranked guards. He has a twin sister named Jane, who's also a high ranking member of the guard.

Jane and Alec are the Volturi's most offensive weapons as they both hold abilities capable of taking down an opponent, regardless of size. Alec possesses the gift of sense deprivation. He can completely cut off all senses of multiple targets.

While Jane is useful in making an audience fear the Volturi, Alec is their most offensive weapon.

Early life
Alec was born in England around 800 A.D, the son of an Anglo-Saxon woman and a Frankish soldier. He was born a few minutes after his fraternal twin sister, Jane. Both Alec and Jane had strong psychic abilities that were evident even in their human state.

Aro had shown interest in Alec and his sister since they were toddlers, but decided to wait until they were old enough to turn them (the Volturi had already instated its rules about immortal children) and so left them in the care of their parents. Their talents had not taken a focused shape at that point, but bad things happened to people who were unkind to the twins or their family, and good luck followed those who were friendly to them. Eventually, the superstitious locals found the twins too frightening to endure. They were accused as witches and condemned to be burned at the stake.

Aro was apprised of the situation by a nomad who knew of Aro's interest in the twins. Aro hurried to the village, arriving just in time to interrupt the execution. Transformed at the age of about 12 or 13, they are the smallest and youngest in appearance as well as the most prized members of the guard due to their incredibly powerful gifts. It is said that they are the cornerstone of the Volturi's offensive abilities.

About one decade after they joined the coven, Alec and his sister displayed their powers for the first time in battle and annihilated the Romanian Coven's army of over one hundred recruits.

Though not directly said, they could be considered two of the most powerful vampires in the world gift-wise, capable of taking down opponents regardless of size or age.

New Moon
"And this is the cause of all the trouble?"

- Alec on Bella Swan

Alec first appears in New Moon when Jane brings Edward, Alice and Bella, and Alec takes delight in teasing Jane for bringing back Alice and Bella instead of just Edward. Once Edward, Alice, and Bella are permitted by Aro to leave, they are taken to another room to wait until midnight in order to avoid suspicion. Alec is the guard who goes to inform them when they were allowed to go.

In the movie adaptation, Alec remains quiet in most of his screen appearance. He keeps hold of Bella while Aro decides what to do. When Aro makes his decision to kill her, Alec casts Bella aside, turning her around to face Felix, and walking out of the way. It is then Edward jumps in to protect her.

Eclipse
"It appears we've missed an entertaining fight."

- Alec to the Cullens

Alec does not appear in the book Eclipse. His twin, Jane, is sent to clean up the newborn army that Victoria created to destroy the Cullen family and Bella. It is said that only five members of the Volturi came: Jane, Demetri, Felix, and two other vampires.

Though he has no role in the book, Alec appears in the film adaptation of Eclipse. In the film adaption Alec appears in two scenes. In the first scene the Volturi are in Seattle checking on the newborn situation, Alec says, "Then decide sister, it's time." He puts his hand on his sister's shoulder as he says this. In the second scene the Volturi appear in Forks after the fight between the newborn army and the Cullens.

Breaking Dawn
"His gift is slower than Jane's. It creeps. It will touch us in a few seconds."

- Edward explaining Alec's gift to Bella.

Alec appears towards the end of Breaking Dawn, and plays a larger role. He, alongside his twin, Jane, accompany the rest of the Volturi guard to Forks. They went to deal with the presumed immortal child, Renesmee Cullen, who is actually Bella and Edward's biological child. Jane and Alec attempt to use their powers to give the Volturi an advantage. When Jane tries to attack Bella after she blocks her powers, Alec holds her back, soothing her by patting her on the shoulder. After Jane's power gets blocked by Bella's Mental Shield, Alec tries to use his power. He is also unsuccessful, though he isn't angered by failing to penetrate her shield. He doesn't retract his "mist", but rather continues to look for holes and weak spots in Bella's shield, without success.

When the Cullens and their witnesses prepare themselves to fight against the Volturi, Vladimir states that Alec owes him many lives, and chooses Alec as his target. After Renesmee is proven to be a human-vampire hybrid by Alice's new witness, Nahuel, who is also also of her kind, Alec retreats to Volterra along with the rest of the Volturi.

In Breaking Dawn - Part 2, Alec chases down Carlisle's Japanese friend Toshiro to allow Aro to interrogate him. At the clearing, he witnesses Jane's inability to attack the Cullens and their allies, and begins to use his power. However, before his black mist reaches far, Aro restrains him.

In Alice's vision of the battle, Alec occupies Bella to keep her from using her power, but then gets killed by Emmett, who severs his head from his body. The battle doesn't commence, however, and Alec lives.

Physical description
""The boy in the pearl gray suit could have been Jane's twin. His hair was darker, and his lips were not as full, but he was just as lovely."

- Bella on seeing Alec for the first time.

Alec is physically described as looking very similar to his sister, though his hair is a darker brown, he is taller in stature, and his lips aren't as full as hers. Alec, along with his sister Jane, is also described as being angelically beautiful. As a permanent Guard member, and like his sister, he wears a dark gray cloak, almost black.

Personality
Little is known about Alec as a person, though it seems that he is more lively, less sadistic, and calmer than his twin sister, Jane (whom he has a close relationship with). Alec has nevertheless proven to be just as ruthless and self-interested as she is. He can be considered the "sane" other half of Jane, looking at him from Volturi standards. He shows no remorse for taking anyone's life and carrying out the Volturi's frequently violent missions. There's a quiet confidence about him that, given his readiness to kill, is usually terrifying. Unlike his sister, Alec is not easily angered when Bella uses her shield to protect her family from his powers. Instead he simply leaves when Renesmee is proven not to be a problem. This is because in New Moon, instead of being apathetic like most of the Volturi Guard, he takes delight in teasing Jane for bringing two and a "half" vampires back to the castle of the Volturi. Alec is often confused for being the nice twin, but the author explains this to be the contrary. Stephenie Meyer describes Alec as the more calculating type, the one who will attack without warning.

Powers and abilities: sense deprivation
"In a way, he is the antidote to Jane. She makes you feel the worst pain imaginable. Alec, on the other hand, makes you feel nothing. Absolutely nothing. Sometimes, when the Volturi are feeling kind, they have Alec anesthetize someone before he is executed."

- Edward on Alec's gift

Like his sister Jane, Alec possesses a powerful gift. It is because of these gifts that they are highly respected — not to mention feared — throughout the Volturi and the rest of the world of vampires. Alec's gift is to numb the senses (sight, taste, hearing, feeling and smell) of any individual he focuses on. The manifestation of both gifts boils down to their attempted execution at the stake: Whilst burning alive, Jane focused on the pain and anger the humans caused her, thus manifested her ability of creating the illusion of burning pain in any one individual she focuses on. Conversely, while being burned, Alec focused on escaping the pain, and his ability manifested into cutting off the senses of any human or vampire.

Alec can selectively or completely block the senses of several people at the same time, which allows the Volturi to easily execute their opponents. When he uses this ability, it manifests into the form of a shimmering hazy mist that slowly moves toward his target, and it cannot be affected by the physical materials, such as wind or gravity. Unlike Jane, Alec can affect multiple targets at a time, therefore making him more dangerous than she is. For this reason, he is the Volturi's strongest weapon in combat. However, while Jane's power works almost immediately, Alec's power requires time to take effect. The Volturi sometimes have Alec anesthetize a criminal before he is executed to avoid complication if that criminal had pleased the Volturi in any way.

Since their gifts are long range, he and his sister fight from the sidelines, under the protection of bodyguards. His main purpose is to paralyze the senses of the guilty, so they cannot flee or defend themselves during deliberation or execution. For example, in Breaking Dawn, when Aro, Marcus, and Caius are counseling, Jane and Alec try to use their powers to stun the Cullens and their witnesses. Upon hitting Bella's shield, it went around it, making it appear like a giant bubble. Alec maintained the mist for the entire confrontation until Aro decided to retreat.

In the movies, his power takes the form of a "black vapor" that appears from his hands and slowly moves toward the target.

Jane
"Sister, they send you out for one and you bring back two... and a half. Such a clever girl."

- Alec to Jane

Jane is Alec's twin sister. Aro had an eye on them for a while, but when the village thought that they were witches they tried to burn them on the stake. Aro killed every villager and changed Alec and Jane into vampires. As seen in New Moon, Alec likes to tease his sister, because she brought two and a "half" vampires instead of one. He protects as well as calms his sister down on occasions when she throws one of her anger tantrums. It is said in Breaking Dawn that Alec and Jane have a very close relationship.

Aro
Aro is Alec's master and creator.

He and his sister attracted Aro's attention already as children due to their powerful gifts as humans, but due to his self-established laws that forbid creating immortal children, Aro decided to wait till they were older to add them to his collection.

After Alec was turned by Aro, he became fully committed to his masters, with Chelsea's power to bind him and his sister to the coven. Alec has never questioned his position or Aro's ambitions, and praises him like a father.

Film portrayal
Cameron Bright was cast as Alec in the film adaptation of New Moon, and later reprised his role in Eclipse and Breaking Dawn - Part 2.

Appearances

 * New Moon
 * New Moon film
 * Eclipse film
 * Breaking Dawn
 * Breaking Dawn - Part 1 (archive footage)
 * Breaking Dawn - Part 2