Edward Cullen is the vampire character in the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyers.  The series has become very popular, and has since been transformed into film, with both Twilight and New Moon having been released.  Eclipse is supposed to be released on June 30, 2010. The series is most popular among young adults.  It has been translated into more than 38 languages around the world.  The books have been set records for the best selling novels of 2008.  They have spent more than 235 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller List. 

Setting

The setting of the series primarily takes place in Forks, Washington, where Bella has recently moved to live with her father, Charlie Swan.  There are also a few other cities in Washington that either appear briefly or are mentioned, which include Olympia, Seattle, La Push, and Port Angeles.  There are some events that take place in Phoenix, Arizona, where Bella was raised with her newly remarried mother.  Volterra, Italy is also a setting in the book New Moon, because Edward travels there to commit suicide after mistakenly learning that Bella is dead.  Jacksonville, Florida, is where Bella's mother has moved with her new husband.  Seattle, Washington is also featured in Breaking Dawn, due to Jacob Black going there to try to escape from the love he has in his heart for Bella.  In the final book, Edward and Bella go to a fictional island, called Isle Esme, which is supposed to be off the coast of Brazil, and they go there for their honeymoon. 

Genre of the Twilight Series

The genre is generally considered a mix of romance, young adult, and fantasy, but they are really books about undying love more than anything else.  They explore the theme of a forbidden romance between a vampire and a human, along with a love triangle that exists in book two between Bella, Edward, and Jacob. 

The books are written from first point of view from the perspective of Bella.  The epilogue in the third book and part of the fourth book are written from the point of view of Jacob.  Although many of the characters are vampires, the book does vary from traditional vampire culture.  The Twilight vampires do not have fangs, but strong piercing teeth.  They do not burn in sunlight, but glitter instead.  They can also drink animal blood instead of human blood. 

Inspiration

Stephenie Meyer was inspired to write the Twilight series by a vivid dream she had about a vampire male and a human girl.  The vampire was in love with her, yet he still thirsted for her blood.  This dream became chapter 13 of Twilight.  Each book in the series, however, is based loosely on a literary classic.  Twilight is based on Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen.  New Moon is based on Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare.  Eclipse is based on Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte.  Breaking Dawn is based on Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. 

After writing and editing Twilight, Stephenie Meyers made a three book deal with the publisher Little, Brown and Company for $750,000. 

Characters

Bella Swan

Isabella "Bella" Swan is a seventeen year old girl at the beginning of the film who moves from Phoenix, Arizona to Forks, Washington in order to live with her father, Charlie Swan.  When she arrives in Forks, she meets a boy named Edward Cullen who acts like he is disgusted with her initially, but ends up mysteriously saving her life on several occasions.  Bella learns that he is a vampire, and they begin a relationship in which they are in love.  When Edward leaves her, she is deeply depressed and seeks comfort with Jacob Black, a werewolf.  Bella and Edward are reunited, eventually become married, having a daughter, Renesmee, and Edward turns Bella into a vampire.  Kristen Stewart plays the role of Bella Swan in Twilight and New Moon.

Edward Cullen

Edward Cullen was actually born on June 20, 1901 in Chicago.  He was dying of the Spanish influenza, and so his mother took him to Dr. Carlisle Cullen to save him.  Carlisle is a vampire who drinks animal blood and he has the ability to read minds.  In order to save him, Carlisle turns Edward into a vampire and adopts Edward, who is frozen in time as a seventeen year old boy.  When Bella Swan moves to Forks, Washington, where the Cullen family of vampires is living, he is attracted to her and falls in love with her.  They begin a loving relationship, but after he realizes that being around him could be dangerous for her, he decides to break up with her and leave for her safety, and the entire Cullen family goes with him.  While he is away from Bella, he is extremely depressed, and when he mistakenly learns that Bella has died, he goes to the Volturi, in Italy, whom he knows have the power to kill him.  Fortunately he is rescued in time by Bella and his sister Alice.  He admits to Bella that he has always loved her.  Later he marries Bella and they have a child, Renesmee.  He also ends up transforming Bella into a vampire following the birth of their child, Renesmee.  The role of Edward Cullen is played by Robert Pattinson.

Jacob Black

Jacob Black was a childhood friend of Bella's.  Bella flirts with Jacob.  When Edward leaves Bella in New Moon, Bella spends a lot of time with Jacob trying to get over Edward.  Jacob falls in love with her.  He tries to win her, but loses her to Edward when he returns.  In the book Breaking Dawn, he imprints on Renesmee, Edward and Bella's daughter.  This is an involuntary process in which a werewolf finds his soulmate.  The role of Jacob Black is played by Taylor Lautner.

Carlisle Cullen

Carlise Cullen is the husband of Esme and the adopted father of Edward, Emmett, Rosalie, Alice, and Jasper.  Carlisle Cullen was the son of a pastor born in London, England in the 1640s.  His father, as well as other pastors of the time, hunted witches, werewolves, and vampires.  Carlisle continued with this when he grew old enough, but one night he was attacked by a vampire and left to die on the street.  He was ashamed and hid himself during his transformation.  He became a vampire and was horrified.  He tried to kill himself, but couldn't.  He became very hungry, and finally he ate some passing deer.  He learned that he could avoid eating humans, so he decided to resist his lust for human blood and become a doctor. 

For a little while, Carlisle lived with the Volturi, but then he left and traveled to the New World where he was a doctor.  That is where he met Edward and transformed him into a vampire.  He also treated Esme after her failed suicide attempt.  He fell in love with her and married her.  He also transformed Rosalie Hale, a young lady who was almost killed by her drunk fiance and his friends and was left to die.  Rosalie herself found Emmett, who had been mauled by a bear and delivered him all by herself over 100 miles on foot to Carlisle, who transformed him.  Carlisle is played by Peter Facinelli.

Esme Cullen

Esme is the wife of Carlisle and the adoptive mother of the children.  Her physical age is 26 years old, and she was born in Columbus, Ohio.  At age 16, she was treated by Dr. Cullen after she broke her leg from falling out of a tree.  She was married to Charles Evenson, but she was abused by him.  When she found out she was pregnant, she ran away, giving birth to her son, who died only a few days later.  She was so devastated that she tried to kill herself.  She was thought to be dead and was brought to a morgue.  Carlisle sensed her heartbeat and transformed her into a vampire.  They fell in love and were married soon after. Esme is played by Elizabeth Reaser in the series. 

Alice Cullen

Alice Cullen is the adopted daughter of Esme and Carlisle.  She has a special ability to be able to see into the future.  Alice gets along well with Bella and treats her like a sister.  She is also very close to Edward, her brother.  She does not remember being a human.  She was, however, born in Biloxi, Mississippi, around 1901 and was put into an asylum due to the fact that she had premonitions.  She was transformed into a vampire by an old vampire working at the asylum in order to protect her from James, a tracker vampire who wanted to kill her.  Alice and Bella are good friends in the series.  Alice is played by Ashley Greene.

Rosalie Hale

Rosalie is the adopted daughter of Carlisle and Esme Cullen.  She is eighteen years old and was born in Rochester, New York in 1915.  She is very beautiful.  She was engaged to Royce King II, but she was likely raped and then beaten and left to die by her drunk fiance and his friends on the streets.  Carlisle found her and decided he would change her into a vampire.  After she was transformed, she tortured and killed the men who had hurt her. 

When Rosalie and Bella meet, Rosalie is mean to Bella and jealous that she is a human.  She comes across as a character who is self-centered and vain.  She is the one who reports to Edward that Bella is dead.  Rosalie does support Bella through her pregnancy and defends Bella's decision to keep the baby.  Rosalie is the guardian of Renesmee, and takes care of her while Bella changes into a vampire.  Rosalie also helps gather evidence that Renesmee isn't a danger to the Volturi.  The role of Rosalie is played by Nikki Reed in Twilight.

Emmett Cullen

Emmett Cullen is Rosalie's husband.  He is the one who was saved by her after being mauled by a bear in Gatlinburg, Tennessee in 1935.  After Rosalie carried him to Carlisle, Carlisle transformed him into a vampire.  Emmett joined the coven of the Carlisle family, but at first had a hard time just sticking to animal blood. 

Jasper Hale

Jasper is the adopted son of Esme and Carlisle Cullen.  He was born in Texas and was a part of the Confederate States Army in 1861 and served in the American Civil War.  He was very charismatic.  In 1863, he was turned into a vampire by a vampire named Maria when he was 20.  His job was to train young vampires and then kill them when they weren't useful any longer.  Jasper grew tired of this and joined his friend Peter and his mate Charlotte.  He decided to leave the two because he did not want to feed on humans.  This was because he had the ability to feel the emotions of his prey as they died.  Jasper does not have much self-control because he once able to feed on humans.  An important event from the series involving Jasper is when he attacked Bella at her eighteenth birthday party because she had a paper cut.  This led to Edward's decision to leave Bella.  Jasper is played by Jackson Rathbone in the series. 

Renesmee Cullen

Renesmee is the half human and half vampire daughter of Edward Cullen and Bella Swan.  She has similar facial features and hair color to Edward, but has curly hair like her grandfather, Charlie Swan, and brown eyes, like her mother, Bella.  She is beautiful.  He heart does pump blood and she has a blush, but her skin glows in the sunlight.  Although her skin is soft and warm when you touch it, it is as strong as the skin of a vampire.  She can survive on human food or blood, but Renesmee prefers blood  She grows and develops rapidly and is very intelligent.  She will reach her physical maturity when she has been alive for seven years, but her physical appearance will seem to be about seventeen, and then she will stop aging.  Jacob Black imprints on Renesmee.  There is also a vampire named Irina, from another coven, that believes Renesmee is an "immortal child," so she tells the Volturi, and the Volturi intend to kill Renesmee and the Cullens in Forks.  The Cullen family meanwhile gathers witnesses and allies from around the world to prove that Renesmee isn't an immortal child and will not cause any harm to the Volturi.  The Volturi leave and Renesmee and the rest of the Cullens are left alone to live in peace. 

Vampires

James is a tracker vampire who kills humans for sport.  He is the one who earlier tried to kill Alice before she became a vampire, and now his mind is set on hunting and killing Bella.  The Cullen family works to protect her, even sending her to a hotel where she can be safe.  However, James lures her out and bites her before he is dismembered and set on fire by Jasper and Emmett, Edward's brothers.  James is played by Cam Gigandet.

Victoria

Victoria is the former mate of James, and when James is killed by the Cullen brothers, Victoria sets her sights on killing Bella for revenge.  She starts to create an army of bloodthirsty newborn vampires who will help her destroy Bella, but the werewolves and Cullen family work together to protect Bella.  In the battle, both Victoria and Riley are destroyed by the werewolf Seth Clearwater and Edward.  In Twilight and New Moon, Victoria is played by Rachelle Lefevre, but in Eclipse, she will be replaced by Bryce Dallas Howard.

Laurent

Laurent is a dark haired and dark-skinned vampire that was a member of James's coven, but he decides to leave the coven when James and Victoria decide to kill Bella.  Laurent travels to Denali, Alaska where he stays with "vegetarian" vampires, but is unable to stick to the animal diet.  He later returns to Forks and comes across Bella and tries to kill her, but he is ambushed by the Quileute werewolves, who destroy him.  His character is played by Edi Gathegi.

Riley

Riley is a tall and muscular vampire with blond hair and red eyes.  He has love for Victoria, and she pretends to love him in return in order to get his help.  Riley fights the Cullens, but he is killed by Edward and Seth Clearwater.