Renesmee Cullen

"You nicknamed my daughter after the Loch Ness Monster!?"

Renesmee (ruh-nez-may) Carlie Cullen is the fictional half vampire, half human daughter of Edward Cullen and his wife Bella Cullen, in the Twilight series. She is first seen when she is born in the novel Breaking Dawn. Renesmee was considered to Edward and Bella a "miracle" because of what it took to keep her and her mother alive through the pregnancy.

Name Origin
"Her name is Renesmee. Like Renée and Esme, put together. No variations."

- Bella Swan

Renesmee's name derives from an amalgamation of the names of Bella's mother, Renée, and her mother-in-law, Esme. Her middle name, Carlie, is a portmanteau of Bella's father-in-law, Carlisle, and Charlie, Bella's biological father. Jacob Black gives her the nickname "Nessie" because he says her full name is a "mouthful." At first, Bella refuses to use this nickname because of the obvious allusion to the Loch-Ness Monster, but eventually warms to this name along with everyone else by the end of the story. This nickname, in addition to Jacob's imprinting upon Renesmee, made Bella furious enough to attempt to attack Jacob.

Bella's Pregnancy
After Edward and Bella are married, they go on their honeymoon on an island the Cullen family owns off the coast Rio de Janeiro: Isle Esme, a gift to Esme from Carlisle. It is here that Bella and Edward consumate their marriage. However, following this, Bella begins to experience mood swings, peculiar eating habits (particularly eggs), and nausea which confuses her (she initially believes it to be food poisoning caused by bad chicken). After finding tampons in her bag, she realizes that her period is late, and notices a growing baby bump protruding from her hips. She realizes she is pregnant with Edward's child, even though it was thought that a vampire could not impregnate a human (this theory had of course never been tested before, with no previous vampire/human relationships). Edward leaps into action, like always, only caring about the safety of Bella, and insists that she let Carlisle remove the abnormally rapidly growing fetus. However, Bella won't allow it. Enlisting Rosalie's help as a bodyguard, Bella refuses to have an abortion, determined to carry the child, not caring about her own well-being, and knowing if worst came to worst she trusts Edward to save her and Carlisle to be able to save the baby. As the baby continues to grow at an alarmingly rapid rate, Bella's health deteriorates. She develops an unhealthy pallor; her stomach is bruised in multiple places from the baby's movement (as it has inherited a vampire's inhuman strength); her ribs and later her pelvis, are broken. Her body has been rejecting human food, and it is only when Jacob Black bitterly thinks about the "creature" craving blood that Edward, with his ability to read thoughts, thinks of a solution. The Cullens allow Bella to sample some donated human blood from Carlisle's work at the hospital. To Bella's surprise, the blood smells and tastes appealing, and revives her, to an extent. Jacob however is not so thrilled. Besides the strength and appetite of the growing baby, evidence of its vampire heritage is apparent in the fact that the amniotic sack is hard and thick, resembling the skin of a vampire, making ultrasounds impossible. Bella isn't the only suffering individual in this pregnancy; Edward is described by Jacob Black as a "burning man" being lifeless and self loathing, thinking of the child as a possible case of "Rosemary's Baby": a child born a demon, the spawn of the devil. Edward still is not completely convinced that he is not a monster and that he does have a soul.

As Bella's pregnancy nears its completion, the child wins over even Edward when he begins to hear its thoughts, discovering that the baby loves Bella and the sounds of its parents' voices and can understand their words. With this new knowledge the baby knows what hurts her mother. She avoids these things. Bella is convinced that the baby is a boy and calls it "EJ" (which stands for "Edward Jacob"). However, she does admit that she may be wrong and the baby could turn out to be girl. She decides that "Renesmee Carlie" would be what she would call her baby, should it be a girl (the former being an amalgamation of Renée and Esme, the grandmothers' names; the latter being a portmanteau of Charlie and Carlisle, the grandfathers' names). The pregnancy continues its rapid progression, and Bella goes into violent labor even sooner than anticipated when the placenta is unexpectedly detached. Carlisle and Esme are out hunting so Rosalie begins to perform an emergency C-section on Bella, but when her instincts take over, Edward is forced to command Jacob to throw Rosalie from the room. They inject morphine into Bella to ease the pain of the vicious C-section. When Rosalie asks Edward why he isn't performing the operation, he replies that the morphine didn't have time to spread. Bella however, has her own agenda, and she commands Edward to perform the C-section before the morphine has time to take effect, thrashing and screaming that "He can't breathe!". Bella pops a blood vessel in her eye from the stress put on her body. Edward continues with the C-section and Bella's spine becomes broken after Edward and Jacob attempt to keep her breathing with CPR. Edward uses his teeth to bite through the amniotic sac, and removes the child, giving the baby to Rosalie after it bites Bella above her left breast. The vampire heritage is when Bella first holds their child and is bitten and is seen to have inherited sharp, albeit non-venomous, teeth. Following Bella losing consciousness again, Edward injects his venom into her heart and bites her in several places, maximizing her odds of survival. After every bite, he runs his tongue over the wound and heals it, trapping the venom into her bloodstream and preserving her already low blood supply. Jacob performs CPR to try to keep Bella's heart beating to spread the venom through her system faster. It is then revealed that, despite Bella's certainty that the child would be a boy, that it was a girl, Renesmee.

After the Birth
Jacob Black, previously determined to destroy the monster which he believed to have killed Bella, imprints on baby Renesmee as soon as he sees her. Renesmee becomes key to a truce between the werewolves and the vampires; other werewolves would not hurt her because of pack traditions, which prevent harm towards imprinted ones. Renesmee is very possessive of Jacob, thinking of him as her Jacob (Edward says this is because Jacob tastes better than anyone else). It is stated that she loves her Mother at the same level as Jacob, even before officially meeting Bella, or even being born. Renesmee grows at an exceptional pace, forming full sentences mere days after her birth. It is stated at the end of the book that she will probably reach complete physical maturity after 6 and 1/2 years, 7 years after birth, at which point she will stop aging and live forever at the physical age of 16, same as another half-vampire they met at the end of Breaking Dawn. It is also stated than when Christmas Season starts, Nessie had many gifts in hand including her mp3 player from her father Edward, a locket from her mother Bella (inscribed with the words More than my own life in French), and her handmade charm bracelet from her Jacob which is the Quilette equivalent of a promise ring. She learns faster than she grows and acquires the ability to speak rapidly, though she prefers to just show people what she wants. Renesmee is also called Nessie, a nickname given to her by Jacob, but hated by her mother, Bella, because it is the Loch Ness Monster's nickname.

The Volturi
While Bella, Jacob, and Renesmee are in the woods hunting together, they are spotted by Irina, a member of the Denali coven, who is mad at the Cullens for not avenging her mate's death. Irina saw Renésmee and took her to be one of the immortal children, or in other words, a child that has been turned in to a vampire. Because of their inability to control themselves, "Immortal Children" are not allowed to exist, and Irina [whose mother had been killed for making an immortal child] turns the Cullens in to the Volturi. Irina is not aware, however, that Renesmee is not an immortal child, she is half human, half vampire, growing and learning. The Volturi make the decision to come to Forks, and destroy the immortal child. Alice sees this in a vision and decides to see if she can find help by looking for something she can't "see". She tells the Cullens they need to prepare a witness, and leaves a clue for Bella to figure out how to get Renesmee and Jacob aliases, and then flees with Jasper. She leaves clues to make it seem like there's no hope for at least Bella and Edward. When the Volturi show up, the Cullens have gathered witnesses from all over the world, who have seen what the child is. Though at first, the Volturi are ready to kill, they soon see through all the people willing to protect the child that she is special and should not be harmed. The deal to let her live is set when Alice shows up near the end of the trial with another matured half- vampire like Renesmee, one the Volturi have never known of. This boy, Nahuel, manages to tell the Volturi how he aged and matured, how old he is, and about his diet. They no longer see Renesmee to be a threat, and leave, but not before making it clear that this wasn't over, in so many words.

Physical Appearance
Renesmee is described often as being very beautiful. She is described as having the facial features of her father, Edward, as well as his unusual bronze hair color. However, she inherited curly hair from her grandfather, Charlie Swan. Her hair is described as ringlets and falls past her waist. Her eyes are described as chocolate brown, just like her mother, Bella's, were while she was still human. She has pale skin, which has a blush to it because her heart pumps blood (though it beats far faster than a normal human heart). Her skin is as tough as a vampire's, but her temperature seems to be unusually warm, only a few degrees below that of a werewolf, most likely because, like Jacob, she has 24 chromosomes. Unlike her family's skin, Renesmee's skin glows in the sunshine rather than sparkling like diamonds. Renesmee is stated to like shiny things by her mother. However, she will also grow up to be good-willed and caring like both of her parents.

Diet
''"Suuuure you're not thirsty, Nessie," Jacob answered a little sarcastically, but more indulgently than anything else. "You're just afraid I'll catch the biggest one again!"''

Renesmee can survive on human food or blood. She would rather drink human blood, but must drink animal blood to conform to the Olympic Coven lifestyle. Sometimes Bella, her mother, gives her the blood from the blood donations that Carlisle buys. She doesn't like human food much and she will rarely eat it. To get her to drink animal blood, due to the fact she doesn't like it, Bella has her compete with Jacob Black for the biggest meal, which keeps Renesmee motivated. She doesn't mind animal blood when she drinks it, but she prefers human blood, like most vampires. She loves to bite Jacob, but since she is not venomous it doesn't hurt or kill him.

Jacob Black
Jacob Black, a shape-shifter (not a werewolf they just take the form of a wolf because of their ancestors), was originally in love with Renesmee's mother, Bella. After unsuccessfully trying to steal Bella from her vampire boyfriend Edward, Jacob fell into a state of depression caused by a broken heart. Soon after this, Bella became pregnant with her and Edward's baby. Jacob was repulsed because he saw the baby the same way he saw Edward: a monster. Jacob made his hatred for the baby clear on multiple occasions, including when he became angry at Bella for saying the baby reminded her of him. Bella nearly died giving birth to the baby, who she named Renesmee. During Bella's transformation into a vampire, Jacob believed that she had died, and went to kill Renesmee.

When Jacob sees Renesmee for the first time, he imprints on her after seeing that she has Bella's eyes. This immediately strips him of everything that ties him to the world, leaving only a caring for Renesmee. Jacob now only worries about Renesmee's happiness and well-being. Renesmee is very possessive of Jacob, calling him "my Jacob" because she is the only person who is allowed to bite him. She loves Jacob the same as she loves her parents Edward and Bella. Renesmee also helped end the war between the Cullens and Sam Uley's wolf pack because of Jacob's imprinting on her: when she was imprinted on, she became untouchable to the other wolves because there is a law within the pack that if a wolf imprinted, the person they imprinted upon was not to be harmed. Jacob would do anything for "Nessie" and visits her every day.

While Renesmee is a child, Jacob will only be there to protect her and be her friend. As she grows older, Jacob's imprinted feelings may become romantic, though this is currently unknown.

Bella Cullen
Bella Cullen is Renesmee's mother. After Bella finds out that she is pregnant, she acquires a love for her daughter. Even when everyone tries to convince her to abort the baby, (except for Rosalie because she's always wanted a baby but never figured out a way to have one) she can't because she loves it. Once Edward discovers that he can hear the baby's thoughts and it can understand their voices, the child does everything it can to keep from hurting the mother it loves. After the conception, transformation and first hunt, Renesmee and Bella finally have a real meeting. Renesmee loves her mother as much as Bella loves Edward.

Edward Cullen
Edward Cullen is Renesmee's father. During their honeymoon, Edward and Bella unknowingly conceived Renesmee. When they realized this, Edward was far from happy. He had heard stories of women dying in childbirth with a vampire's baby. Fearing that he would lose Bella, Edward became desperate to be rid of the baby. But Bella refused to have an abortion under any circumstances. As Bella's pregnancy continued, an unborn Renesmee kept hurting her and Edward's hatred of his child continued. However, during the final days of the pregnancy, an unborn Renesmee developed to the point where she had a mind that her father could read. Edward heard that Renesmee already loved her parents, understood that she was only accidentally hurting her mother, and was now trying to not hurt Bella anymore. After hearing all this, Edward's hatred vanished and was replaced with love for his daughter. When Bella went into labor, Edward was the one who delivered Renesmee.

The exact details of Renesmee's relationship with her father are unknown, but it is known that they love each other very much, she says dozens of times that she love her "mommy and daddy" very much, even crying when she found out that Edward and Bella would have to leave her. Renesmee loves Edward at same length as he loves Bella. He and Bella are incredibily closely bonded to their daughter.

Special Traits
Renesmee, often called "Nessie", for short, is what is known as a vampire hybrid. Similarly to Alice not being able to see the future of werewolves, because she was never one herself, she finds Renesmee's future difficult to see. However, she is not entirely unable to see Renesmee's future, as Renesmee is a cross between a human and a vampire, both of which Alice has been at some stage. Renesmee is very much alive, with a beating heart (given, a speeding heart) and veins filled with her own blood. Just like a human, she cannot fully function without it. Unlike the rest of her vampire family, she is also able to sleep. However, she is also immortal. She will continue to grow until the age of 6 and 1/2, at which point she will appear to be in her teens (about 17) and will cease to age. The Cullens know this only because of their encounter with another hybrid, Nahuel, who testified for them against the Volturi, telling them tales of him and his sisters. She is not venomous, as that appears to be a trait among hybrids. Nessie is also gifted, like some vampires. If she wishes, she may touch someone with her hand, as her power is only on her palms like Aro or Kate, and show that person a collection of her memories and thoughts. Ironically, this ability is the reverse of her father’s power who can read any thought that happens to pass someone's mind. This is also the reverse of her mother's power, which is to keep everyone out with her shield. This is her preferred form of communication, possibly because her growth rate makes it uncomfortable to keep adjusting to ages. She is able to penetrate Bella’s protective shield, and Edward theorizes that this is either because she is Bella's daughter and has a maternal bond or because she also can break through any shield, the opposite of Bella's ability. The latter is more improbable because Bella's ability was not yet discovered during the conception of Renesmee; however, like Edward told Bella in Breaking Dawn, it could be genetic. However, since Bella wasn't affected by vampire abilities in her human life, the situation is a first class lever, a see-saw. It is unknown if she is able to have children. It is stated by Bella in Breaking Dawn that she likes shiny things.

Appearances

 * Breaking Dawn