Charlie Swan

"No matter what side I’m on, if someone kisses you without your permission, you should be able to make your feelings clear without hurting yourself."
 * -Charlie on Bella Swan hitting Jacob Black

Charlie Swan is the father of Bella Swan and the Chief of Police in Forks, Washington.

Life before the series
Charlie and Renée, Bella's mother, were not married for a long time. Renée left Charlie soon after Bella was born. Charlie was still in love with her, but came to accept that she didn't love him anymore. Charlie has been long time friends with Billy Black, who resides on the La Push reservation. When Bella was younger, she would visit Charlie in Forks, also spending time with Billy's children, Rachel, Rebecca, and Jacob.



Twilight
Charlie has lived in Forks, Washington and when Bella (his daughter) was 17 she moved in with him when her mother moved to Florida with her new husband. After a couple months, Bella fell in love with Edward Cullen, a vampire who also lives in Forks. But it wasn't a "love at first sight" deal with these two. At first he was trying to stay away from her but then he realized that staying away from her was impossible. Charlie was surprised, and tentatively accepts Bella's choice, oblivious to the fact that Edward is a vampire. The couple believes that it is for the best that he doesn't know what the truth is about Edward and his family.

New Moon
Some time later, Edward suddenly left, claiming he no longer loved Bella, but he was really trying to keep her safe. Bella fell into a deep depression. Her depressive state hurt Charlie because he felt he was unable to help his only daughter. When Bella heard from Alice Cullen, Edward's sister, that Edward intended to have the Volturi kill him, Bella ran off to Italy. Charlie was worried sick about her since she didn't even tell him where she was going.

Bella came back with Edward, their relationship renewed. Charlie, by now, no longer trusted Edward, and banned him from the house and forbade Bella from seeing him again. But Bella threatened to move out if he didn't retract his decisions. Charlie grudgingly agreed, but grounded Bella for running off. Bella didn't worry about the grounding, as long as she and Edward could still be together.

Eclipse
In Eclipse, Charlie still mistrusts Edward and worries that Bella's whole life is revolving around the Cullens. As a result, he agrees to end Bella's grounding under the condition that she spend time with her other friends, as well as try to work things out with Jacob. Bella agrees to this, but says that being friends isn't enough for Jacob. Charlie jokingly asks if Edward is up for competition, but it becomes obvious later that he would prefer Bella being with Jacob than Edward.

Through the book Charlie is very worried about the mysterious murders happening in Seattle, which are being committed by Victoria, the mate of James, a vampire who once hunted Bella. Towards the end of the book, he spends time in LaPush with Billy as a ploy by Bella and the werewolves to keep him safe during the fight against Victoria and the new born vampires.

By the end of the book, Bella has chosen Edward over Jacob, and says its time to tell Charlie about their engagement.

Breaking Dawn
At the beginning of the book, Bella and Edward tell Charlie about their engagement. When Bella couldn't get the words out at first, Charlie jumped to the conclusion that Edward had gotten her pregnant. Edward then told him they were getting married. Charlie didn't agree with the arrangement, but didn't show it. Instead, he told Bella she would have to tell her mother about this herself, knowing that Renee was strongly against early marriage. Renee, however, consented to the marriage, despite wishing that Bella and Edward waited a few more years. After this, Charlie felt like there was nothing he could do, and begrudgingly accepted Bella's marriage to Edward.

When Charlie heard that Bella and Edward were back from their honeymoon, he was told that he couldn't see her. He went crazy with worry when told that Bella had gotten sick on Isle Esme. In reality, she was pregnant with a half-human half-vampire baby, and it was growing at an abnormal rate.

A little over a month later, Bella gave birth to her and Edward's daughter Renesmee. Jacob imprinted on the baby, releasing him from his broken heart over Bella. When Jacob learned that the Cullens were soon planning on moving away, he believed that Charlie was the reason. Because it would be painful to be away from Renesmee, he went to talk to Charlie, and phased into his wolf-form. Charlie was shocked to discover the existence of a magical world, but told Jacob (and later Bella) not to tell him anymore than what was necessary for him to know. He went to talk to Bella (who by now had become a vampire), and met his granddaughter for the first time. Edward said Renesmee was his niece and that he and Bella were adopting her. Charlie, however, figured out the truth when he stared into Renesmee's chocolate brown eyes; his chocolate brown eyes. He agreed, however, to stick with what was going to be the public story to protect Bella and Renesmee. He and Bella also agreed not to tell Renee about the magical world or about Renesmee, since they knew she wouldn't be able to handle it.

He has since grown close to the Cullen family, and also appears to have developed a relationship with Sue Clearwater.

Personality and traits
Charlie is described as having a very private mind, which is why Edward finds it difficult to see his thoughts. Edward can, however, still see some of Charlie's thoughts, though he feels the emotional direction behind his thoughts as opposed to the words. He enjoys spending time by himself ; this, Bella and Edward decided, was passed on to Bella, who was quite the loner herself before meeting Edward and the Cullens.