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 Chief of Police in Forks, Washington.

History
Charlie and Bella's mother, Renée, were not married for a long time, possibly because they got married very young. Renée left her husband soon after Bella's birth. Bella only saw her dad for two weeks in the summertime. Charlie was still in love with Renée, but came to accept that she didn't love him any longer. Charlie is good friends with Billy Black, who lives on a reservation near La Push. Billy's son, Jacob becomes a good friend of Bella.



Twilight
Charlie lives in Forks, Washington, and when his daughter Bella is 17 she moves in with him while her mother moves to Florida with her new husband. After a couple of months, Bella falls in love with Edward Cullen, a vampire who also lives in Forks. Charlie is 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 Charlie doesn't know the truth about Edward and his family. In the Twilight movie, Charlie is constantly making sure that Bella has pepper spray with her. When she goes to prom, he gives her a new can of spray, not trusting Edward after what happened when she went out with him previously. However, he is accepting of Edward being Bella's boyfriend.

New Moon
In New Moon, Edward leaves with his family, claiming he no longer loves Bella in order to keep her safe. Bella falls into a deep depression, leaving Charlie hurt because of his inability to help her. Bella later runs off with Alice Cullen, who had come back in confusion believing that Bella was dead, when she hears Edward is going to commit suicide, leaving Charlie worried sick. After their return, Charlie bans Edward from the house, no longer trusting him, and forbids Bella from seeing him again. Bella threatens to move out if he doesn't retract his decisions, and Charlie grudgingly agrees though still grounds Bella. Charlie shows an obvious preference for Jacob Black, as he "stitched Bella up" after Edward left.

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. Charlie makes it clear that he wants Bella to choose Jacob over Edward, especially when he approves of Jacob forcing a kiss on Bella.

Throughout 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 La Push with Billy as a ploy by Bella and the werewolves to keep him safe during the fight against Victoria and her army of newborn vampires.

Near the end of the book, Charlie feels that he is going to lose Bella, and tells her to give him a warning if she decides to run off. Sometime later, Bella comes home after visiting Jacob and tells Charlie that she has broken off with him to remain with Edward. Charlie is disappointed that she chose Edward, and also disapproves of her telling Jacob this while he was recovering from injuries he had received, but is forced to accept her choice. He also points out that Edward seems to care for Bella's safety a bit more than Jacob does.

Breaking Dawn
At the beginning of Breaking Dawn, Bella and Edward inform Charlie about their engagement. Charlie reacts with rage when he initially thinks Bella is pregnant, but calms down when told that isn't the case. Instead of telling them that he doesn't approve of them getting married, Charlie tells Bella she will have to tell her mother about their engagement herself, knowing that Renée is strongly against early marriage. It turns out, however, that Renee's feelings about marriage apply only to herself, and she accepts Bella's choice wholeheartedly. After this, Charlie feels like there is nothing he can do, and begrudgingly accepts Bella's marriage to Edward. Meanwhile, Charlie also starts a search for Jacob, who ran away after being rejected by Bella.

When Charlie hears that Bella and Edward are back from their honeymoon, he is told that he can't see her. He goes crazy with worry when Carlisle falsely tells him that Bella has picked up a rare disease in South America. 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 gives birth to Renesmee. Jacob imprints on the baby, curing him from his broken heart over Bella. When Jacob learns about the Cullens plans of moving, he believes that Charlie is the reason. Unwilling to be separated from Renesmee, he informs Charlie about their world, in the hope that his new knowledge will keep the Cullens around, going to the extent of phasing into his wolf-form in front of him. Charlie is shocked to discover the existence of a mythical world, but orders Jacob (and later Bella) not to let him know any more than what is necessary. He talks to Bella (who by now had become a vampire), and meets his granddaughter for the first time. Edward says Renesmee is his niece and that he and Bella are adopting her. Charlie, however, figures out the truth when he stares into Renesmee's chocolate brown eyes; his chocolate brown eyes. He agrees, however, to stick with what is going to be the public story to protect them. He coos over Renesmee constantly, and states that she is prettier than any baby he has ever seen, including Bella. He is also cheered by the fact that Renesmee's middle name is Carlie, a combination of Carlisle and Charlie. He and Bella also agree not to tell Renée about the mythical world or about Renesmee, since they knew she wouldn't be able to handle it.

By the end of the book, Charlie has grown close to his new family, and appears to have developed a romantic relationship with Sue Clearwater. It is not known whether this is true or not. His friendship with Billy Black, however, is said to not be what it once was.

Personality and traits
Edward finds Charlie's thoughts hard to read at times, and he feels the emotional direction behind his thoughts is opposed to the words. When Bella got in a near-car accident in Twilight/Midnight Sun, Edward saw that Charlie loves and cares for Bella much more than he likes to let her know. Also, he enjoys spending time by himself watching baseball or fishing; this was passed on to Bella, who was quite the loner herself before meeting the Cullens. It is also stated that Bella got her clumsiness from Charlie.

He has a mustache and curly brown hair, though in the movies he has straight brown hair. Bella has said that her relationship with her father is quite odd, but she found Charlie easier to live with since he respects her privacy when she needs it even though he is protective of her. Charlie is described as overbearing at times but loving. It is made obvious in the book, that Charlie has a hard time trying to be involved in Bella's life because he is shyer than her mother. Charlie tries to accept Edward as Bella's boyfriend in Twilight, but he resents him after he leaves in New Moon, causing Bella's depression.

Bella Swan
Bella is Charlie's daughter. He loves her deeply even though they don't speak a lot. When Charlie got a divorce from his wife, Renée Dwyer, she moved to California taking Bella with her. In the early years after the divorce Bella used to come and visit him in the summer, when it became apparent that Bella hated Forks. When she was there they would go fishing, among other things which Bella also hated. At the age of seventeen, in her junior year of high school, Bella moved back to Forks in order to allow her mother to travel with her new husband, Phil Dwyer. Charlie respects her privacy and they often spend comfortable moments of silence together. After moving in Bella began to do the cooking around the house which Charlie seemed to appreciate, even though he doesn't say anything. He is very protective over her, rushing to her school when he heard there was an accident and even distrusting Edward after the (staged) fight they had. He was sad when Bella told him she was leaving, being reminded how Renée had left him.

Renée Dwyer
"She seems different, she seems happy. Phil sounds like an alright guy."

- Charlie on Renée

Charlie's ex-wife, Renée Dwyer, divorced him after realizing she had rushed into a marriage(after having Bella). Charlie still cares about Renée and expresses to Bella his contentment in her happiness with Phil.

Renesmee Cullen
Bella gave birth to Charlie's granddaughter, Renesmee, one month after she married Edward. He first meets her after Jacob tells him about the mystical world.

Although Edward and Bella are going by adoption as the public story, Charlie discovers their biological relation once he looks into her eyes for the first time.

Appearances

 * Twilight
 * Twilight film
 * New Moon
 * New Moon film
 * Eclipse
 * Eclipse film
 * Breaking Dawn

Film portrayal
Actor Billy Burke was given the role of Charlie in Twilight. He reprised his role in New Moon and Eclipse, and has been confirmed to reprise his role in Breaking Dawn. He is often given most of the jokes in the first three films, and has been acclaimed as the saga's most lovable character.