Isabella “Bella” Swan

A seventeen-year-old high school student who doesn’t feel like she fits in anywhere. As narrator and protagonist, Bella often puts others’ needs above her own. She’s clumsy, so she never wants to play sports, dance, or be in the spotlight. She’s more interested in reading, cooking, and listening to music.

Edward Cullen

A seventeen-year-old boy who was turned into a vampire more than a century before the start of the novel. Edward and his vampire siblings blend in with human society by pretending to be high-school students. They drink the blood of animals so that they do not need to kill human beings to feed themselves. Edward has rigid ideas about what is good and what is evil, and as a result, he holds a lot of self-hatred because he is a vampire and therefore evil in his own mind.

Charlie Swan

The Chief of Police and Bella’s father. Quiet, calm, and selfless like Bella, Charlie protects the people of Forks from everyday dangers as well as vampires even though he’s unaware vampires live in Forks. Charlie still views Bella as his little girl and is extremely protective of her, especially when it comes to her romance with Edward Cullen.

Renée Dwyer

Bella’s mother and Charlie’s ex-wife. Renée, a forgetful and creative free spirit, left Charlie when Bella was a child. After several other relationships, Renée is now married to a minor-league baseball player. She sends Bella to live with her estranged father so she can travel with her husband, so she is absent from most of the novel’s action.

Dr. Carlisle Cullen

Edward’s adoptive father and patriarch of the Cullen family of vampires. Despite being a very powerful vampire, Dr. Cullen has dedicated his existence to helping humans. He lives and promotes a “vegetarian” lifestyle of feeding on animal blood instead human blood. He has also learned about the human body and serves the town of Forks as a doctor. He acts as a father figure to the younger vampires he’s adopted as his family.

Esme Cullen

Edward’s adoptive mother, Dr. Carlisle Cullen’s wife, and matriarch of the Cullen family. After her infant daughter passed away, Esme attempted suicide. Carlisle turned her into a vampire and took her as his wife. A natural nurturer, Esme acts as a mother figure to Edward and his siblings.

Alice Cullen

A vampire in the Cullen family who can see visions of future events before they occur. Alice is small and pixielike. She has no memory of her life before becoming a vampire, but she was in a mental institution. She is in a relationship with Jasper.

Emmett Cullen

A vampire in the Cullen family who possesses extraordinary strength and stature. Emmett is playful and teasing. While Emmett wants Edward to be happy, he shares his wife Rosalie’s concerns regarding Bella as a suitable mate for Edward.

Jasper Hale

 A vampire in the Cullen family and Alice’s boyfriend. Jasper possesses the ability to control the moods and emotions of those around him. While Jasper only drinks animal blood, he often struggles to maintain the lifestyle due to his intense craving for human blood.

Rosalie Hale

A vampire in the Cullen family and Emmett’s wife. Rosalie is beautiful, statuesque, and ostentatious. She is adamantly against Edward and Bella’s relationship because of the danger it brings to the rest of the Cullen family.

Jacob Black

A fifteen-year-old boy and member of the Quileute tribe. Jacob’s father is a good friend of Charlie Swan, so Jacob has known Bella for most of her life, but he has not seen her for many years. Jacob knows the old tribal stories about “the cold ones,” vampires who live among humans without hurting them.

Billy Black

A Quileute tribe elder, Jacob’s father, and Charlie Swan’s best friend. Billy fears for Bella’s safety from the first time he spots her with Edward.

Mike Newton

A boy in Bella’s class who becomes one of her first friends at school. Mike has a crush on Bella and doesn’t hide his jealousy of Edward.

Jessica Stanley

A chatty, self-involved girl and one of Bella’s closest friends at school. Jessica has a crush on Mike Newton and knows gossip about every student in Forks High School.

James

A vampire and tracker who comes to Forks with a small vampire coven. He is the mate of Victoria, another vampire. Upon catching Bella’s scent, James is determined to hunt her down and make her his next prey.

Laurent

A vampire and member of James’s coven. Laurent disagrees with James’s hunting of Bella and warns the Cullens about how dangerous James can be once he chooses a human to track.

Victoria

A vampire, James’s mate, and a member of James’s coven. Victoria helps James hunt for Bella.

Angela Weber

A sweet and quiet classmate and friend of Bella.

Eric Yorkie

Enthusiastic and talkative classmate of Bella. Eric is the first person to befriend Bella at her new school and one of several boys who develop a crush on her.

Tyler Crowley

A classmate of Bella’s. Tyler has a crush on Bella.

Lauren

A high-school student who often makes snide comments toward Bella.

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