How Did Each Cullen Become a Vampire in ‘Twilight’?

The Twilight films have a pretty divisive reputation. People either love them or hate them, and then there are those who love to hate them. But despite some cringey parts, there are some great things to be said for the saga. One of the most fascinating parts of Twilight lore is the backstories of each member of the Cullen family and how they became vampires. It may seem pretty straightforward — they get bit, they turn into a vampire, they become pro baseball players, etc…

We all know Bella’s (Kristen Stewart) story. She returned to Forks, met Edward (Robert Pattinson), became completely enamoured with him, and after just mere months of dating practically begged him to turn her. She eventually got her wish after the traumatic birth of her and Edward’s daughter, and he bit her in order to save her life. But what about the rest of the Cullens, including Edward — how did they become vampires? The books are where you really get to sink your teeth into the lore, whereas the films only give backstories for Rosalie (Nikki Reed), Jasper (Jackson Rathbone), and Edward. But even those get more in-depth in the books, and the stories are fascinating. Let’s bite into it.

Carlisle Cullen

The leader and founder of the Cullen clan is Carlisle (Peter Facinelli), who was born in 1640, making him the oldest of the Cullens. His father was a monster hunter who hunted witches, werewolves, and vampires. As his father grew older, Carlisle took over, but was less inclined to kill due to a strong sense of empathy and compassion for people. After discovering a coven of vampires that lived in the London sewers, Carlisle led the hunt for them, during which he was attacked and left bleeding in the street. Ashamed by becoming the very thing he and his father tried to rid the world of, he tried to kill himself in many different ways.

He was, of course, unsuccessful, and when the thirst for blood got unbearable he eventually fed off of a herd of deer. This led him to realize he could survive off of animals instead of humans, thus adopting a “vegetarian” lifestyle that would become the backbone of the Cullen clan.

However, it wasn’t always easy for him to live this way, as he was once a part of the Volturi — a high-power coven in Italy. He was drawn to their poised and refined ways, and stayed with them for two decades. During this time, the Volturi tried in vain to turn Carlisle towards their “natural” food source of human blood. Carlisle resisted though, and after he left the coven, he spent the next few centuries perfecting his ability to resist the scent of human blood. This, and his compassion for people, allowed him to eventually become a doctor.

Edward Cullen

Born in 1901, Edward was the next member of the Cullen clan. He, along with his mother and father, contracte the Spanish Influenza in 1918. His father died in the first wave of the illness, and his mother succumbed later on. Before passing, she begge for Carlisle to do whatever he can to save Edward, saying: “What others cannot do, that is what you must do for my Edward,” insinuating that she knows he is a vampire. After Edward’s mother died, and Edward himself grew worse, Carlisle snuck him out of the hospital back to his home, where he turned him.

A little while into his early vampire years, Edward separated himself from Carlisle and Esme (Elizabeth Reaser) and used his mind-reading power as fuel to seek out horrible people. One of his victims was Charles Evenson, who was Esme’s abusive ex-husband. He eventually returne to Carlisle and Esme, having regretted his choice of feeding on lesser humans. Esme and Carlisle soon became parent figures to Edward, and the rest is history.

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Esme Cullen

Born in 1895, Esme is the matriarch of the Cullen family, having married Carlisle. When she was 16, she fell out of a tree and broke her leg, and she was treate by none other than Dr. Carlisle Cullen. Nothing came of it of course, and Carlisle left town shortly after treating her. At the age of 22, in an attempt to please her parents, she marrie Charles Evenson, unfortunately learning he was a mean and abusive man.

He was eventually drafte in World War I, but shortly after he returned, Esme discovere she was pregnant and ran off so as not to raise her child in an abusive home. Her baby unfortunately passed just two days after it was born due to lung fever, and Esme, devastate by the loss, jumped off a cliff in an attempt to end her life. By the time she was found, she was in such bad condition that she was taken straight to the morgue. Carlisle, however, notice that her heart was still beating just the faintest bit, and recognize her as the girl he treate all those years ago. Not able to simply let her die, Carlisle turne her then and there. Esme accepte her new life much easier than Edward did, and immediately fell for Carlisle, marrying him shortly thereafter.

Rosalie Hale

As mentioned, Rosalie’s backstory is given in Eclipse, but it somehow feels even darker in the novel. Rosalie was born in 1915, and was beautiful, earning her many compliments and praise throughout her life. She eventually caught the attention of Royce King II (Jack Huston), the wealthy son of a bank owner. Due to Royce’s busy schedule at work, he and Rosalie had hardly any time to get to know one another and their relationship was built solely on attraction. Still, they became engage.

A week before the wedding, Rosalie was visiting a friend, of whom she envie due to her having a baby. During this visit, her friend’s husband kisse her, which made Rosalie realize just how loveless and passionless her relationship with Royce was. As she walked home, she stumble across her husband and his friends, all extremely drunk. Royce began to brag about Rosalie’s beauty to his friends, which led to Rosalie being brutally assaulte by Royce and his friends. She was left for dead in the street, and the scent of her blood led Carlisle to her. He turned her into a vampire with the intent of her becoming Edward’s mate, but Edward turne this idea down immediately.

Rosalie sought out revenge on those who harme her and robbed her of her life, picking them off one by one and saving Royce for last. She donne a wedding dress when she showed up to kill him. Though notably, she made sure not to spill even a drop of the men’s blood, as she knew she wouldn’t be able to resist and refused to have any part of them with her.

Emmett Cullen

Emmett’s (Kellan Lutz) storyline is rather short in comparison to the rest of the Cullen clan, but his addition to the family was all thanks to Rosalie. In 1935, Emmett was maule by a bear. He was found by Rosalie who carrie him for miles back home, where she begge Carlisle to turn him, since she didn’t trust herself to do so without killing him. He accepte his new life with ease, having fallen in love with Rosalie pretty much immediately, and since then the pair have been inseparable (as the books and the films prove.)

Jasper Hale

Born in 1844, Jasper is the second oldest Cullen aside from Carlisle, however, he did not join the Cullen family until many years later. Jasper joine the Confederate Army at the age of 17 and became the youngest major in Texas after being promote just two years later. He was turne by a beautiful vampire name Maria (Catalina Sandino Moreno), who recognize him as a soldier and had him join her newborn army in an attempt to reclaim her coven’s territory.

Together, Jasper and Maria reclaime her territory and later claime dominance over others, building up an army of newborn vampires to help do so. But Maria refuse to keep any of the newborns after their first year since their transformation, since they were no longer as blood-hungry and rabid, and so Jasper was taske with killing them. Since he has the power to feel emotions, he eventually parte ways from this lifestyle, unable to stomach killing other people when he could feel their pain and emotions.

However, starting a new life in the North didn’t help much either, given that he could still feel the emotions of his victims. He tried to feed less but the thirst was unbearable, and he’d eventually have to find someone to feed off. That is, until he met Alice (Ashley Greene).

Alice Cullen

Alice was born in 1901 and began having premonitions from an early age. She even had a vision of her mother being murdere and begge her not to stray from home. While her mother believe her, her father did not, and after months of nothing happening, her mother finally relaxe. However, she was murdere shortly after, just like Alice’s visions had predicte. Her father soon remarrie, and Alice had a vision of her father paying off her mother’s murderer, revealing that her father was the one behind her death. She tried to tell the town marshal, but her father beat her to the punch and claime that she had gone mad. He admitte her to a mental asylum, which is where she was eventually turne.

In the asylum, she endure electroshock therapy, which gave her amnesia but reverte her back to her happy and perky self that we know her character to be. She was befriende by a vampire who worke at the asylum, who acte as a parent figure to her and helpe protect her from painful and traumatic treatments. One day she had a vision of a tracker name James (Cam Gigandet), the villain of the first Twilight film and novel. He was coming after her, and the only way she was able to escape was for her vampire friend to turn her, and thus remove James’ motivation for tracking her down to feed on her. As she escape, her friend distracte James, sacrificing himself in the process but allowing Alice to escape.

Her first vision after her transformation was of Jasper becoming her mate and the pair joining the Cullens. Knowing this, she began practicing a “vegetarian” lifestyle ahead of time as she awaite Jasper’s arrival into her life. They met in 1948 in a diner in Philadelphia. Alice explaine her visions to Jasper, who never thought a lifestyle such as the Cullens could exist. They soon joine the Cullen family, completing it once and for all.