The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide (11 page)

V
ampires, the central supernatural creatures of the Twilight Saga, have existed in myths and local lore for centuries. While the Saga’s vampires share certain similarities with the vampires of legend, they have many more unique characteristics and supernatural abilities that are specific to the world of Twilight.

I
n the Twilight universe all vampires were originally human. As vampires, they retain a close physical resemblance to their human form, the only reliably noticeable differences being a universal pallor of skin, a change in eye color, and heightened beauty.

In direct sunlight, the disparity between human and vampire becomes more obvious. The cellular membrane of the vampire is not as soft or permeable as in a human cell; it has crystalline properties that cause the surface of vampire skin to react prismatically, giving the vampire a glitter-like shimmer in sunlight.

“
EDWARD IN THE SUNLIGHT WAS SHOCKING
…. H
IS SKIN
,
WHITE
…
LITERALLY SPARKLED
,
LIKE THOUSANDS OF TINY DIAMONDS WERE EMBEDDED IN THE SURFACE
.”

—Bella (
Twilight
, Chapter 13)

The common factor of beauty among vampires is mostly due to this crystalline skin. The perfect smoothness, gloss, and even color of the skin give the illusion of a flawless face. The skin reacts differently to light, creating an angular effect that heightens the perception of beauty. Additionally, the stonelike firmness of the vampire body creates a look similar to muscle, making any size human appear more fit as a vampire.
Like humans, vampires are drawn to beauty. When choosing a human for the transformation process, vampires are as likely as humans to be motivated by a beautiful face and body.

Pale vampire skin is a product of vampire venom’s transformative process. The venom leeches all pigment from the skin as it changes the human skin into the more indestructible vampire form. Regardless of original ethnicity, a vampire’s skin will be exceptionally pale. The hue varies slightly, with darker-skinned humans having a barely discernible olive tone to their vampire skin, but the light shade remains the same. All forms of skin pigmentation—freckles, moles, birthmarks, age marks, scars, and tattoos—disappear during the transformation.

While all vampires have similarly pale skin, they can have a certain variety of eye colors. Vampires who haven’t fed for a few weeks will have solidly black irises. Recently fed vampires will have deep red eyes if they drank human blood, and medium gold–colored irises if they drank animal blood. Vampires who have been newly transformed will have very bright red irises, regardless of diet. It is possible to disguise this feature with colored contact lenses, but the lubricant in vampire eyes breaks the contacts down quickly. One pair will
last only a few hours. Vampires also universally exhibit dark circles under their eyes. These circles, like the changing irises, denote thirst in a vampire. They appear darker and more obvious when the vampire has not recently fed.

“While vampires are frightening and deadly, they are also alluring. They can be beautiful; they can be sophisticated; they have qualities that we actually aspire to: eternal youth, strength, and intelligence. The dual side to vampires makes them hard to resist.” —
Stephenie

Vampire teeth appear the same as human teeth; the canines are not longer or more pointed than human canines. However, vampire teeth are unbreakable, razor sharp on their edges, and strong enough to cut through almost any substance, including vampire skin.

Less noticeable than these physical features is the vampire’s tendency toward stillness. Unlike humans, who grow uncomfortable after holding one physical position for a time, vampires are most comfortable when perfectly motionless. A common vampire reaction to stress is a statue-like immobility.

Vampires breathe reflexively, as do humans, but they have no need for oxygen. They are able to consciously stop breathing for an indefinite period, but they find the sensation uncomfortable. Vampires rely on their sense of smell above other senses, similar to many animal predators. The lack of smell is what causes the discomfort from not breathing.

Some very old vampires are visibly different from others because of this stillness. If a vampire remains unmoving often enough over thousands of years, dust actually begins to petrify in response to the venom-like liquids that lubricate his eyes and skin. Eventually, a vampire’s skin begins to appear thin and translucent, like the skin of an onion—though the strength of the skin is not compromised. A milky film covers the eyes, making the irises appear pink in color. Again, the vampire’s eyesight is not compromised.

Internally, the vampire’s system contains many venom-based fluids that resemble, and in some cases perform the same function as, the human fluids that were replaced. Only the saliva-like liquid in the vampire’s mouth is venomous. A fluid similar to this venom works as a lubricant between the hard cells of the skin, making movement possible. Another lubricates the vampire’s eyes so they can move easily in their sockets. However, vampires do not produce tears, as tears exist to protect the eye from damage by small foreign objects, and those objects would not be able to harm a vampire’s eye. Throughout the body, this pattern is repeated, with venom-like fluids performing the functions that are still necessary to the vampire. Most notably absent is the circulatory system.

Vampires are frozen in the state at which they are transformed.

Vampires are frozen in the state at which they are transformed. They do not grow older, taller, or wider, or experience any other physical change, including unconsciousness (vampires never sleep). Their fingernails and hair do not grow. Their hair does not change color.

A
vampire’s physical and mental abilities far exceed those of a human being. Vampires can run in excess of a hundred miles per hour. They are able to lift objects hundreds of times their own weight. Their senses are similarly boosted, giving them the ability to see, hear, and smell things imperceptible to humans. Their skin is harder than granite, rendering their bodies nearly indestructible. Their minds work many times faster than humans’ are capable of, and all vampires have perfect recall.

Vampires do not age from the moment their transformation is complete. Vampires have no natural life cycle; they exist in this progressionless status indefinitely. This is a conditional form of immortality, as they
can
be permanently destroyed by fire. However, their speed and strength make it necessary to incapacitate them before burning them. Only another supernatural creature has the ability to incapacitate a vampire, by tearing her limbs from her body (thus vampires are in no danger from human beings). A vampire who is incapacitated but left unburned has the ability to reconstitute herself.

One facet of the absence of aging is that vampires do not develop emotionally or mentally past the age at which they are transformed. A transformed child would remain childlike forever, unable to mature in any aspect.

Vampires do not have a circulatory system. Their bodies are harder than human bodies, but their cells are selectively porous. They receive nutrition only from blood, which, once drunk, is absorbed throughout the body. Blood satiates their thirst and makes them physically stronger, but it is not necessary for life. Vampires cannot starve to death; they only get progressively weaker and thirstier as time goes on. They are not able to digest solid food. If a vampire swallows a solid as a subterfuge, that substance will sit in his stomach until he forces it back out through his mouth.

Human blood is the most appealing to vampires—and hardest to resist. However, they can receive the same nutritional strength from animal blood. Vampires do not need to feed as often as humans do; drinking the blood of one human is enough to satiate a mature vampire for a week or two.