Alice Cullen

"How can someone so tiny be so annoying?"

- Edward Cullen to Alice

Alice Cullen, born in 1901 as Mary Alice Brandon, is a vampire with the ability of precognition who is a member of the Olympic Coven. She is the wife of Jasper Hale and the adopted daughter of Carlisle and Esme Cullen. Alice is the adoptive sister of Emmett and Edward Cullen, as well as the adoptive sister of Rosalie Hale. Alice is the adoptive sister-in-law of Bella Cullen and the adoptive aunt of Renesmee Cullen, as well as the sister of Cynthia Brandon.

In 1920, after having been institutionalized by her family, an unknown vampire transformed Alice into a vampire to save her from the relentless tracker James. Later, she was led to the love of her life Jasper after receiving a vision of him, and the pair subsequently began a life with the peaceful coven of the Cullen family.

Early life
Alice's early history is very vague, as she remembers nothing of her human life and woke up alone as a vampire. It is eventually revealed that she was born around 1901 in Biloxi, Mississippi and was kept in an asylum because she had premonitions, which intensified into her "special ability" when she was changed into a vampire. While at the asylum she was always kept in a dark cell, which is another reason why she remembered so little. Alice was changed by an unknown vampire who worked at the asylum, in order to protect her from James, a tracker vampire who was hunting her. She and Bella are the only two people to ever escape James. She later had a vision of her and Jasper with the Cullen family. In pursuit of this vision, she found Jasper at an empty diner and the two moved themselves into the Cullens' house. After doing some research, (with help from Bella when James was torturing her) Alice found her grave and discovered that the date on her tombstone matched the date of her admission to the asylum (she had stolen her file from their records), perhaps implying that she was "dead" to her family when they confined her there. Through her research she additionally discovered that she had a little sister named Cynthia Brandon, and that Cynthia's daughter, Alice's niece, is still alive in Biloxi.



Twilight and Midnight Sun
At the beginning of Twilight, when Edward Cullen first states his attraction towards Bella Swan, Alice is interested. Alice had a vision about her and Bella becoming friends and knew there was a distinct possibility that it would one day happen. Therefore, she is very supportive of the relationship between Edward and Bella. When Bella comes to visit the Cullens' house, Alice is polite and friendly, acting as if Bella is already a member of her family. With her mental powers, Alice also knows that Bella could very well become a vampire and the spouse of her adopted brother.

Later that year, the Cullens decide to play baseball, with Alice as the pitcher. Edward invites Bella along to watch and the entire family has a good time until three nomadic vampires, James, Laurent, and Victoria, arrive and threaten to kill Bella. Alice did not see that they were coming until shortly before the event because the decision was made extremely quickly.

Bella thinks up a plan for her to go to hide in Phoenix, Arizona, accompanied by Alice and Jasper. Alice and Jasper work together when Bella is being hunted, while the others hunted James. They stay in a hotel and Alice receives a vision of a ballet studio, not understanding what it means. Alice then sees Bella's mother Renee's living room in Phoenix. They realize James had changed his plans and calls Edward. Just before Alice, Jasper and Bella go to the airport to meet Edward, she sees something else. She sees Bella in the ballet studio, and although it is not known exactly what she saw, we know that it is something horrific. Alice does not tell Bella what she saw. When Alice, Jasper, and Bella go to the airport to meet the rest of their family, Bella slips away, causing Alice great worry.

The Cullens realize immediately that Bella has gone to the place in Alice's vision, and they rush to the studio. They arrive in time to help fight off James and kill him. When it becomes apparent that Bella was injured very badly, Alice doesn't leave the site and assists Carlisle and Edward with Bella's treatment, although Alice likely was tempted to kill Bella due to all the blood. Alice presumably returns to Forks after she knows Bella is alright.

A few weeks later, Alice attends the high school prom with the rest of her family, helping Bella get ready. At the prom, Alice is one of the people in the center of attention as she captivates everyone with her looks, dress, and dancing.

New Moon


When the Cullens leave in New Moon, Alice doesn't say goodbye to Bella under the request of Edward Cullen, in order to make a clean break. During her absence, Alice takes her time to research her human family and realizes that she had a sister and a niece, the latter of whom is still alive in Biloxi. She later comes back because she had a vision of Bella jumping off a cliff, and since, it is discovered later, that Alice cannot see the Quileute Shapeshifters, she could not see Jacob Black rescuing Bella. Thinking that Bella has committed suicide, she gets to Forks as soon as she can, driving Carlisle's car. She sees Bella alive and is confused. After some explanation about the cliff diving episode, she is more relaxed and goes hunting because Bella had asked her to stay for a while. She tells Bella what the Cullens have been up to and finds out how hard it was for Bella when they all left her. When Jacob Black tells Edward (thinking that he was Carlisle talking to him on the phone) that Charlie is "at the funeral", Edward thinks he meant Bella's funeral, though he was actually referring to Harry Clearwater's. Alice sees this and she helps Bella get to Volterra, Italy to stop Edward from exposing himself to the world and being killed by the Volturi. While there, Alice steals a yellow Porsche 911 Turbo in order to make it in time and due to her newfound love of the car later asks Edward for one as a gift. After Bella's return to Forks, Alice is one of the Cullens that votes in favor of changing Bella into a vampire.

Eclipse
 Alice mainly plays a supporting role in Eclipse. She is bribed by Edward with a canary yellow Porsche 911 Turbo (like the one she stole in New Moon) to kidnap Bella so she won't go to La Push to visit Jacob. Eventually Bella escapes with Jacob while they are at school, but she still gets to keep the Porsche. She doesn't seem to think that a treaty with the La Push werewolves is bad. It is revealed she can use her power to predict the movements of her opponent in battle. She fights the newborn army created by Victoria with the majority of the Cullens and the werewolves, although Jasper doesn't let her do anything out of fear for her safety. You can see her relationships with Bella and Edward grow throughout this book. Alice is one of Bella's best friends and thinks of her as a sister and during Bella's punishment for leaving to go to Italy, Alice is liked by Charlie and has no limitations for visiting, unlike Edward.

Breaking Dawn
 At the beginning of Breaking Dawn, Alice helps Bella get ready for her wedding, by decorating, helping Bella with her dress and make-up, and giving Bella her garter. Everyone keeps the secret of where the honeymoon is from Bella; since they don't want her to have any idea where they are going, Alice packs Bella's bag for her. When Bella first looks in her suitcase she is surprised to find that Alice packed a lot of lingerie. In Book Two, Alice has a minor part mainly because she cannot see Bella's future when she is pregnant with the hybrid, whom she also cannot see. It gives her headaches to try, and she can only see a few minutes into Bella's future. She is greatly relieved when the shape-shifters come, because then she can't see anything, and it numbs the pain. After Bella has turned into a vampire, Alice presents her gift for her 19th birthday (even though Bella started her change when she was 18) - a cottage from all the Cullens. There is also a great wardrobe area in the small cottage that Alice convinced Esme to add in. Later, when she has a vision that the Volturi are coming she leaves the Cullens with Jasper. She leaves without saying goodbye but gives Bella clues about what to do in case she doesn't come back in time. She gives Bella an address and the name J. Jenks. This man goes on to help Bella make fake birth certificates, passports, and a driver's license for Renesmee and Jacob to escape. While looking for the hybrid, she sends any vampires she can find to the Cullen house. Right before a fight emerges between the Cullens and their allies against the Volturi, Alice arrives with a hybrid named Nahuel, his aunt, Huilen, and Kachiri, an Amazonian vampire. After the Volturi leave, the Cullens welcome Alice back and question her about why she left them without a goodbye, but Alice just smiles and explains she had to find Nahuel without Aro's knowledge of it or Aro would never have committed to withdrawing.

Physical description
Alice is a very friendly person and she shares many of the physical traits associated with Twilight vampires, such as inhuman beauty, pale skin, golden eyes (which darken as thirst increases) and deep purple shadows under her eyes. She is described as being petite, the shortest of the Cullens at 4'10", "thin in the extreme", with small, "pixie-like" features. She is also described to have large eyes and long, delicate eyebrows. Her hair is described as cropped short, spiky, and deep black. She moves gracefully, continually cited as dancing, with a carriage that would "break any ballerina's heart", as described by Bella in Twilight. Also in Twilight, James states, while human, Alice's blood smelled much better than Bella's.

Personality
Alice is portrayed as being tiny, optimistic and pixie-like, she loves and cares for Bella like a sister. She often ignores other people's advice and does things her own way, which usually results in the outcome being better than predicted. She loves to sing with music 3 octaves higher than the song really is with her silvery bell-like voice. She has vicarious fun dressing up Bella "like a three-dimensional paper doll" and throwing parties and decorating for them, and loves shopping at expensive shops in large malls. Alice seems to think that Bella should do everything a normal teenager should do (i.e. love to shop, party whenever possible, etc.) Alice, is also described as being a very fashionable person, going on massive shopping sprees with the money she helps her family make by predicting the stock markets. Alice very much enjoys buying Bella clothing. In Twilight, Bella complains to Edward that Alice was treating her like 'guinea pig barbie'. In Breaking Dawn, Esme furnishes a cottage for Edward and Bella, and Alice stocks the closet with an overflowing amount of clothing. Alice is often disappointed when Bella doesn't dress as she wishes. When Bella turns up wearing jeans and a t-shirt Alice says "Look at you, you need me to show you how to use your closet!" Her adoptive sister, Rosalie Hale shares her intense love for fashion. Although Alice and Edward are very close, Edward often playfully calls her annoying, as he says in Eclipse when she is telling Bella about the graduation party. Edward and Alice have learned how to have a sort of mental conversation, and the family rarely notices.

Powers and abilities
Like all vampires, Alice has enhanced strength and speed. Though petite, she is a capable fighter because of her agility, speed and ability to see the future. The premonitions that Alice experienced as a human are intensified in her vampire life, and she uses this ability to her advantage in order to keep her family safe. However, Alice's sight is limited: she can only see the outcome of a decision once it is made - meaning it can change all too quickly. Also, the future is subjective and Alice cannot see it once shapeshifters become involved. This is a mystery that Carlisle has theorized is due to the unpredictability of the shapeshifters, who, in the split second while they phase, don't technically "exist" once they let their instincts take over. She also cannot "see" Renesmee, Bella's, half-vampire half-human, daughter in Breaking Dawn. Carlisle also believes that there may be a link between the fact that werewolves and Renesmee have 24 chromosome pairs. (see Breaking Dawn.) Alice has theorized that she cannot see Renesmee and the "shapeshifters" because she has no experience as being one of them; she sees vampires best because she is one, and can see humans "okay" because she was one. It's also felt that she can't see Renesmee so well because she has been imprinted by Jacob Black. Alice, while talking about her talent, describes herself as being "far from infallible" overall. Alice also has the ability to draw a scene that she sees in her visions without looking, and also rather quickly, as seen in the Twilight movie. Edward's power of mind reading allows him to know what Alice sees at the time. Alice's gift makes her greatly prized by the leader of the Volturi, Aro, who wishes to take her and incorporate her into his guard, thinking she'll be very useful.

Family
Alice is the wife of Jasper Hale, the sister of Cynthia Brandon, and the aunt of Cynthia's daughter who is alive and lives in Biloxi, as well as the adoptive daughter of Carlisle and Esme Cullen. She is the adoptive sister of Emmett and Edward Cullen, as well as the adoptive sister of Rosalie Hale. Alice is the adoptive sister-in-law of Bella Cullen and the aunt of Renesmee Cullen, Edward and Bella's daughter.



Jasper Hale
Alice foresaw Jasper Hale finding her in a vision before he even knew he was looking for her. They met face-to-face in a diner located in Philadelphia, when Jasper was not a "vegetarian" vampire, where she told him that she had been waiting a long time for his arrival. A little bewildered but intrigued with her knowing him, Jasper "bowed his head like a good southern gentleman" and answered, "I'm sorry, ma'am." She offered him her hand, a non-verbal question of whether or not he would like to go with her. He did indeed take her hand, as the sight of it brought him hope "for the first time in almost a century". During their companionship and travels, Alice and Jasper fell in love. By 1950, they found Carlisle with more assistance from her visions and have been part of his coven (Olympic) ever since.

Alice and Jasper have been together since the 1950s, but are not as flamboyant about their relationship as Rosalie and Emmett are. They are stated to be soul mates and have been married legally once. Their distinctly understanding love is what separates them from other couples, and they are both very protective of each other.

Jasper is a new 'vegetarian' and Alice helps him through it. Alice helps to calm Jasper when he is around humans, as said in New Moon.

Etymology
Alice is from the Old French name Aalis, a short form of Adelais, itself a short form of the Germanic name Adalheidis meaning "noble and kind". This might resemble her kindness and sweet nature toward Bella.



Film portrayal
On February 12, 2008 it was announced that Ashley Greene would be playing the role of Alice Cullen in the Twilight film. She reprised her role in New Moon and will be returning for the upcoming Eclipse. Greene wears a wig when playing the role, as her hair is longer than the character's is said to be. Author Stephenie Meyer said that Ashley Greene was the actor who came closest to her vision for their character. Meyer said, "I saw a picture of her and just thought, 'You found Alice! Oh my gosh!'"

Doll
The Tonner Doll Company is creating a doll based on Alice, as portrayed by Ashley Greene in the Twilight film.

Appearances

 * Twilight (First appearance)
 * Twilight (film)
 * New Moon
 * The Twilight Saga: New Moon
 * Eclipse
 * Eclipse (film) 
 * Breaking Dawn
 * Midnight Sun