Jane

"This may hurt just a little."

- Jane before she attempts to torture Bella Swan.

Jane is a high-ranking member of the Volturi guard in the Twilight Saga. She is the twin sister of Alec, and together they are the Volturi's most powerful offensive weapons. Jane has the ability to inflict a mental illusion of burning pain into other people's minds, which serves greatly in instilling fear and maintaining order to confrontations.

Early life
Jane was born in England around 800 A.D, the daughter of an Anglo-Saxon woman and a Frankish soldier. She was born a few minutes before her fraternal twin brother, Alec. Both Jane and Alec displayed strong psychic abilities that were evident even in their human state.

Aro was made aware of Jane and her brother through the thoughts of a visiting nomad. Aro had shown interest in adding Jane and her brother to the guard, but decided to wait until they were old enough to turn them (the Volturi had already instated its rules about immortal children) and left them in the care of their parents. Their talents had not taken a focused shape at that point, but bad things tended to happen 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.

Due to the pain Jane experienced while burning at the stake and the anger she felt towards the villagers, her power took on a sharper form after her conversion into a vampire; she gained the supernatural talent of inflicting the same burning pain on others in the form of illusion. Jane has since become one of the most prized members of the Volturi's guards, along with her brother Alec. About one decade after they joined the coven, Jane and her brother displayed their powers for the first time in battle and annihilated the Romanian coven's army of over one hundred recruits. Since then, they have been known world-wide as the two most powerful vampires there ever existed and are considered the cornerstone of the Volturi's offensive abilities.

Jane's power was so frightening that she came to enjoy inflicting it on others and receiving respect for her power. Over the centuries, she had absorbed some of Caius's sadistic personality in the process.

New Moon
"She glared at me, her jaw clenched with the intensity of her focus. I shrank back, waiting for the pain." "Nothing happened."

- Bella

Jane makes her first appearance in New Moon, when Aro sends her and two other guards, Demetri and Felix, to bring Edward to their castle. Upon Jane's arrival, Bella realizes immediately that she is very dangerous despite her size (small at 4' 8"), as Edward does exactly what she says without hesitation. Bella also notices her child-like beauty. After Jane returns with Edward, Alice, and Bella, Alec takes great delight in Jane bringing back more people than she set out for. When Aro realizes he cannot read Bella's mind, he asks Jane to try her talent on Bella. Edward immediately stands between Bella and Jane, and takes Jane's torture. Once Jane finishes with Edward, she tries to inflict her power on Bella, but it fails as well, which infuriates her. She instantly develops a profound hatred for Bella, and is very displeased, angered, and offended when Aro compares her gift to Bella's ability to block mental powers.

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner
"I glimpsed her face for the first time. She was younger than me, but older, too, I guessed. Her eyes were the velvet color of dark red roses."

- Bree Tanner on seeing Jane for the first time

The Eclipse novella, The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, reveals that Jane and her companions have been aware of the newborn army for a while, and decide to visit Victoria and Riley in a small cottage. Though they try to hide, Jane knows that they're there and warns them to stop hiding, because they will find them eventually.

She gives Victoria a five day limit to "serve" her army's purpose, knowing that Victoria holds some grudge against the Olympic Coven, and then decide what to do with her and her army after they served their purpose. Unbeknownst to all of them, their conversation is eavesdropped on by two vampires, Bree and Diego.

Eclipse
"Either we let them do what they were created for, or we end them."

- Jane on the Seattle newborn army

In Eclipse, Jane travels to Forks with Demetri, Felix and two other guards to deal with the Seattle newborn army that Victoria had created. She is rather shocked to find that the Cullens have dealt with the situation on their own, without one of them being injured or killed, but keeps her emotions hidden. Upon their arrival, Jane notices that there is one newborn left, Bree Tanner. Jane asks for her name, and when she doesn't reply, Jane inflicts her torture. Bree contorts on the ground in absolute agony. When Jane stops, Bree starts talking, and Jane decides to inflict her torture onto her another time, due to her taking time to answer questions.

Jane takes delight in knowing that Bella is still human, as Caius will probably be interested in sending a hunting troop after her, but Alice informs her that the date has been set, much to Jane's dismay. After several minutes of discussion, the Cullens' failed offer to take responsibility for Bree, and another unsuccessful attempt to torture Bella with her power, Jane orders Felix to "deal with that" because she is bored and wants to go home. After Felix executed Bree, they return to Volterra.

Unbeknownst to her, Bree telepathically informed Edward on everything that she knows about the agreement that Jane had made with Victoria before she died.

In the movie, Jane is seen observing the newborn army from a high pointed bridge, accompanied by Felix, Demetri and her brother Alec, instead of destroying the army that had already drawn wide attention. She uses her power to torture Felix when he suggests they consult Aro over this situation. In the clearing, when Jane remarks Caius's interest in knowing that Bella is still human, Bella is the one who tells her that the date is set.

Breaking Dawn
During Breaking Dawn, Jane, accompanied by the entire Volturi, make their way to Forks, this time to destroy an immortal child. She is really annoyed to find that Aro has given Bella a wedding gift, a sparkling pendant. Later, it is discovered that Renesmee Cullen is in fact a vampire-human hybrid. As this confrontation takes place, Jane tries to inflict pain on her enemies to incapacitate them, but since Bella is shielding them, her power is rendered useless.

Jane is infuriated by this and tries to target Bella. When that fails as well, she tries to spring but Alec stops her with a restraining hand. When Alec's power proves equally unsuccessful, she tries to attack again until Aro stops her. Kate chooses Jane as her target when they believe a battle is about to commence, saying that "she needs a taste of her own medicine". However, Alice and Jasper return in time to prevent the fight from starting, with prominent witnesses to resolve the situation.

At the end of Breaking Dawn, Jane departs with the rest of the Volturi guard, with extended hatred toward Bella and her power.

In Breaking Dawn - Part 2, Jane first appears in a flashback of Carlisle's telling about immortal children. She holds Vasilii - an immortal child - in her arms and torments his creator Sasha before destroying both of them. Whilst confronting the Cullens, she remains in her coven's crowd and attempts to torment Edward and his allies, and at first does affect the mind-reader, only to be negated by Bella's shield quickly after.

Alice shows Aro the vision regarding the outcome if a battle is started. In it, Jane torments Jasper to help Demetri destroy him, but Alec, her twin, is killed shortly thereafter, possibly making her weak and unfit for battle. Alice angrily runs towards her, and she prepares to use her gift until she realizes Bella was using her shield. Jane began to run away, and it can be guessed that as Bella said in the books, no one was immune to her gifts, so she wouldn't ever need training for actual fighting. Alice defeats her and she then gets thrown into Sam Uley's fangs. In the end, the battle is avoided and Jane leaves the clearing with her coven.

Physical appearance
"At first I thought it was a young boy. The newcomer was as tiny as Alice, with lank, pale brown hair trimmed short. The body under the cloak - which was darker, almost black - was slim and androgynous. But the face was too pretty for a boy. The wide-eyed, full lipped face would make a Botticelli angel look like a gargoyle. Even allowing for the dull crimson irises."

- Bella on seeing Jane for the first time

Jane is described as 4'8" tall and has a tiny body with lank, pale brown hair trimmed semi short and pale skin to match it. She could easily be mistaken for a preteen boy if not for her girlish face and full lips. Her face is angelically beautiful in its childlike appearance, and lovely when it is animated.

Bella describes her as having an exceptional face that would make a Botticelli angel look like a gargoyle. Her eyes are wide and her lips full, while her childlike voice is described as high and thin and usually speaks with an air of apathy or boredom, but maintains a commanding presence due to the fear she provides with her power. As with the rest of the Volturi, her eyes are dark red in color and they become darker when thirsty.

Jane and her brother Alec serve as two of the highest ranked guard members and so they wear the darkest cloaks amongst the guard.

In the Twilight films, she is portrayed as having long, blond hair that is tied in a bun.

Personality
Jane has a very dark and sadistic personality, and she takes great pleasure in using her gift to torture others. She is easily angered when her gift is made useless, which is where her deep hatred of Bella first began. She shows strong jealousy toward Alice, as Aro is even more impressed by Alice's gift than her own. She worships Aro and is happy to be in his presence, though that adoration is mostly based on Chelsea's power.

Jane enjoys her gift, and the respect and fear that it brings her, and she never wastes an opportunity to use it on someone. But, despite her personality she seems to have a very strong as well as loving relationship with her twin brother Alec and besides Aro, Alec seems to be the person she is closest to.

It also seems that Jane has a jealous side, as she dislikes it when Aro gave Bella an extravagant gift (a diamond necklace).

Powers and abilities: pain illusion
"Jane smiled at me, the bright, happy smile of an innocent child, and suddenly I was on fire. It was like I'd gone back in time to the worst night of my life. Fire was in every vein of my body, covering every inch of my skin, gnawing through the marrow of every bone. It felt like I was buried in the middle of my coven's funeral bonfire, with the flames on every side. There wasn't a single cell in my body that wasn't blazing with the worst agony imaginable. I could barely hear myself scream over the pain in my ears."

- Bree Tanner

Jane possesses a formidable gift, which has been shown to frighten even the strongest of vampires; for this reason she is feared and shown the utmost respect among both the Volturi guard and the rest of the vampire world.

Her gift is to create an illusion of burning pain: it deceives the mind of her target into believing that the body is truly being burned alive, and thus the tormenting pain is experienced throughout the whole body. A person on whom she uses her gift immediately feels excruciating pain of fire, collapses on the floor, and writhes in pain. Though merely an illusion, it has enough strength to incapacitate any individual and turn them into a helpless target, which is why this power frightens many vampires.

It is also said that Jane can control the level of pain she delivers to her victims. In contrast to her brother's gift which takes some time to take effect, Jane's works very quickly. However, though her brother's gift is capable of working on multiple targets at once, Jane's can only work on one object of her focus.

Since finding Jane and Alec, the Volturi had never fought a fight where they were at a disadvantage. The only exception came during the confrontation between the Volturi and the Cullens and their witnesses. Jane, with her "burning" gift, and her brother Alec with his "numbing" gift, are the cornerstones of the Volturi's offense. Together, they are one of the main reasons why the Volturi are referred to as invincible. Despite how powerful her gift is and the reputation it has given her and the Volturi, it is thwarted by one individual, Bella Swan. This is shown in New Moon, during their first meeting. This immunity instantly draws Jane's anger and later hatred towards Bella.

During Breaking Dawn when the two remaining Romanian vampires, Vladimir and Stefan, are discussing the Volturi's offensive powers, they mention that, despite Kate's powerful gift, it is no match for Jane's.

Alec
Alec is Jane's younger twin brother. They both joined the Volturi when they were very young, and already manifested very special talents. In Breaking Dawn and New Moon, it is said that the two have a very close relationship. Her brother has been shown on occasion to tease her, seen when he comments that she brought back two and a "half" vampires instead of one as she was supposed to. When she is angry or throwing one of her anger tantrums, Alec is usually the one who calms her down. When he is killed in Alice's battle-vision in Breaking Dawn: Part 2, she seems devasted and disbelieving, as there is not really any other she loves as much as her twin.

Aro
"Go ahead, my dear."

- Aro to Jane

Aro is Jane's master and creator. She and her brother drew Aro's attention already as humans. He would have preferred they be older before becoming immortal, but when they were burning at the stake, he was hard-pressed for time.

Thanks to Chelsea's power, Jane is completely devoted to her creator and never questions his motives, even when he restrains her from attacking Bella. It is possible she even feels love towards Aro, but that might be due to Chelsea.

Film portrayal
Dakota Fanning has played the role of Jane in New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn - Part 2.

Although Jane is said to have "lank, pale brown hair trimmed short," she has long, blond hair pulled up into a bun in the film portrayal.

Appearances

 * New Moon
 * New Moon (film)
 * Eclipse
 * Eclipse (film)
 * The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner
 * Breaking Dawn
 * Breaking Dawn - Part 1 (archive footage)
 * Breaking Dawn - Part 2