Jasper Hale

"I didn't have quite the same... upbringing as my adopted siblings here. My beginning was something else entirely."
 * — Jasper Hale on his past

Jasper Hale (born Jasper Whitlock) is a fictional character from Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series.

Personal history
Jasper Hale, was born in 1843 and grew up in Houston, Texas. In 1861 when he was almost seventeen, he lied about his age, stating he was 20, and joined the Confederate States Army to serve in the Civil War. Due to his intense charisma, he quickly rose through the ranks and became the youngest Major in Texas, even without considering his real age.

Jasper was turned into a vampire in 1863 by a vampire named Maria, when he was 20 years old. Maria had a coven with two other vampires, one named Nettie, and the other was Lucy. Maria was fighting a territorial war for claim on big cities in the south, such as Mexico City. Maria recognized that Jasper was high-ranking in the army, and therefore already had some knowledge of combat skills. She wanted a strong male vampire who could fight alongside her. When Maria found out about his peculiar ability to control the emotions of those around him, she found him even more useful.

Jasper's responsibility was to train the newborn vampires and then kill them when they were no longer useful to Maria, usually after about a year when their strength had begun to fade. After about a century of this, he grew weary of the lifestyle. An old vampire colleague of his, named Peter, persuaded him to escape from Maria. For a time, he wandered with Peter and his companion, Charlotte, but soon came to feel remorse for his prey because he experienced their emotions as he took their lives. As a result, he ran away and wandered on his own until he found Alice Cullen, whom he later recognized as his true love, waiting for him in a half-empty diner in Philadelphia. She had seen through her prescience they would find the Cullens and live there together in relative peace.

The Cullens tell humans that Jasper is Rosalie Hale's brother due to their physical similarities; for this purpose, they both use Rosalie's surname of "Hale". Out of the whole coven, Jasper has the hardest time being around humans, due to his untrained upbringing as a young vampire in an army environment. He was not taught control or how to regulate his blood lust. Edward Cullen states that all human blood is equally tempting to Jasper, unlike the rest of the family, who can notice the variations in blood scent in different humans.



Physical appearance
Jasper is 6'3" and has golden honey blond hair. He is muscular but lean. Like the other Cullens, he has pale, marble-like skin and bruise-like purple shadows under his eyes, which appear gradually as his thirst increases. He has golden eyes, like all animal-feeding ("vegetarian") vampires, which turn darker, eventually becoming black, as he grows thirstier. He has many crescent-shaped scars on his body, face, neck and jaw from the bites of vampires he fought on Maria's behalf. The white scars are invisible to humans unless contrasted by a strong light, but when viewed by a vampire they are said to be his most dominant feature, causing defensive reactions in vampires who don't know him. In Breaking Dawn Bella says the scars "screamed dangerous." she also says "How many vampires had tried to kill Jasper? The same number had died in the attempt."

When Bella Swan is new to Forks, Jessica Stanley describes Jasper as "...the one who always looks like he's in pain."

Personality and traits
Jasper could be mistaken for cold because of his highly analytical and military mindset. In the movie he is described by Jessica as 'looking like he is in pain.' However, his relationship with Alice displays his warmer side. The fact that he suffered depression after his years in Maria's service suggests a strong sense of conscience and grief over his perceived wrong-doings. When he was human he was described as being extremely charismatic, and therefore very likable. He has also been shown to be a strong and forceful leader through his rapid ascent through the ranks of the Confederate Army. The fact that he is always a soothing presence shows that he wishes others to feel well and at ease, and will do his best to make that occur. Jasper is highly intuitive but also never takes advantage of his miraculous gift, showing that he is not malicious and chooses not to manipulate others. While the Cullens are gone in New Moon, Jasper studies philosophy at Cornell University. In the opening chapter of the yet to be published Midnight Sun, Jasper is shown as being deeply ashamed of his urge to drain the life from the humans around him. He also believed that a newborn vampire's instability is natural and unavoidable, and therefore had lower expectations for himself and his control. However, when Bella demonstrated very high levels of self-control as a newborn, Jasper's ideas were challenged and he was forced to review his theories and raise his self-expectations.

On a softer note, Jasper is unconditionally in love with Alice, and, despite her precognitive abilities, would do anything for her and to protect her. An example of this was when Jasper was trying to be 'everywhere at once' to protect Alice as they had their show down with the newborn vampires in Eclipse. Jasper also shows his love for Alice again in Midnight Sun's (yet to be released) draft, saying that he would not allow Alice to be put to harm, no matter how slight the possibility is.

Vampiric traits
Some vampires have extra abilities beyond normal which are an amplification of an ability they had as a human (e.g. an intuitive mind could be able to read minds as a vampire). Because he was charismatic as a human, Jasper can feel and manipulate the emotions of others. Like other vampires in the Twilight series, he also has super strength and speed, granite hard skin, immortality, and a keen sense of smell and hearing. In Eclipse, during the training Jasper gives the Cullens and Quileutes, it is noted that Jasper was on par with Edward's skills, despite Edward's mind reading ability. This is seen during their sparring, which only stopped when Carlisle told them to, suggesting that it could have continued perhaps indefinitely.

Etymology
Jasper is an exclusively male name. It is a Persian name meaning "treasurer", and is one of the names traditional given to one of the Three Wisemen or Magi. Jasper is also the name of a precious gem. The gem is believed to stabalise emotions, and 'ease emotional stresses', which fits in with Jasper's ability to manipulate emotions, in particular to calm.

Family relationships
Jasper is thought by Bella at least to being on the fringe of his adoptive family. As Carlisle did not change him he doesn't have the same connection with him as Esme, Edward, Emmett and Rosalie do. He has always thought of himself as the weakest link due to his former background and is comforted by Edward on this fact. He, Emmett and Edward enjoy play wrestling with each other, hunting together on a regular basis, they would seem to be real brothers. Many people think that Jasper has a bigger connection with Esme than the others because of his past and she feels the need to comfort him for it. Rosalie and Jasper are never mentioned too much together, beside the fact that they are twins in the Cullens elaborate cover story. Jasper and Carlisle are as before not connected as well as the others in the Cullen family, but Carlisle still feels a fatherly bond toward Jasper. His connection with Alice is quite remarkable, proven by the fact that meeting her has completely changed his way of life. His connection to the Cullen family as whole is very firm, as he is quiet and very reserved, it can be mistaken that the connection is quite dull.

Alice Cullen
Jasper first met Alice after escaping the vampire wars he had been involved in. She was sitting on a stool in a diner in Philadelphia waiting for him, having used her ability to see into the future to foresee that they would meet there. Jasper, a little taken back by her knowing him, apologized sheepishly to her when she teased him about how long she had been waiting for him. Alice offered him her hand in a silent request to leave the diner and start a new life together. Jasper accepted (as quoted from Eclipse, "For the first time in almost a century...I felt hope"). They fell in love and eventually found the Cullen family together. Alice helps Jasper regulate his blood lust by looking into the future or calming him down. They have been a part of the Cullen family ever since.

It is stated throughout the Twilight series that Alice and Jasper have a special, somewhat private relationship. They were both never complete until they met each other, and they are the only members of the Cullen family who were not turned into vampires by either Carlisle or Edward. Their distinctly understanding love is what separates them from the other couples in their family. They aren't as flamboyant about their relationship as Rosalie and Emmett are. The two are very committed and protective of each other, and have been married legally once, while Rosalie and Emmett tend to do so often when they move to a new place.

Movie portrayal
American actor Jackson Rathbone played the role of Jasper Hale in the Twilight film.

Appearances

 * Twilight
 * Twilight (film)
 * Midnight Sun
 * New Moon
 * Eclipse
 * Breaking Dawn