Cullen, Carlisle

Full Name: Carlisle Cullen

Status: Vampire

Date of Birth: 1640s (TW15)

Date of change to vampire: After 1663 – he was 23 (PC1)

Originally from: London, England (TW15)

Hair color: Blond (TW3)

Eye color: Vampire gold/black

Height: 6’2” (PC1)

Physical description: Very handsome, like a movie star (TW3)

Special talents: Compassion

Occupation: Medical Doctor

Family members: Married to Esme (PC1) Considers Edward, Rose, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper as his “children.”

Nick Names: Stregoni Benefici (PC5)

Source of change: Unnamed (TW15)

Hobbies: Medicine – can easily resist the temptation of human blood

Car: Mercedes S55 AMG – black (SMW)

Personal history: The son of an Anglican pastor, Carlisle was raised during a time of religious persecution. His father led hunts for witches, werewolves, and vampires all in the name of ridding the world of evil. As his father grew older, Carlisle was placed in charge of the raids. Carlisle wasn’t as enthusiastic about killing as his father was, but he was clever enough to discover a coven of true vampires living in the sewers of the city. He set a trap for the vampires and chased one down. Carlisle believes that the vampire was actually too hungry to run and consciously decided to attack. The vampire fell on Carlisle and left him bleeding in the streets after killing two other men and taking off with a third. (TW15)

Knowing how his father would react, Carlisle crawled into a cellar and buried himself in rotting potatoes for the three days of the change. When he emerged, he was a vampire. (TW15) At first he tried to destroy himself by jumping from great heights or drowning in the ocean. Somehow, he was so repelled by what he was that he resisted feeding off of humans. He even tried to kill himself with starvation. (TW16)

Eventually the thirst was too powerful and he attacked a herd of passing deer. He found that living off of the blood of animals could sustain his life and was infinitely more humane than taking the life of a human. Over the course of two centuries, he developed a sort of immunity to the scent of human blood and was able to become a medical doctor. (TW16)

Carlisle was studying in Italy when he met a coven of vampires called the Volturi that seemed more civilized and educated than those he was familiar with in England. Aro, Marcus, and Caius were the three vampires that inspired some of the works of Solimena. Even though they were refined, they persisted in trying to persuade Carlisle to drink from humans. Naturally, he refused. (TW16)

In 1911 he was working in Columbus, Ohio, where he treated a happy and beautiful young girl by the name of Esme Platt for a broken leg. Shortly there after, he moved on to Chicago. (PC1)

He spent several years in Chicago and was nearing the end of his allotted time. (Looking the way he does, he can generally stay in one area until the people believe him to be around the age of 35, and then he has to leave.) The influenza epidemic broke out in the city and Carlisle found himself treating Edward, who had just lost both of his parents and was on the verge of death himself. (TW14) It was Edward’s mother who requested Dr. Cullen save Edward. She seemed to “know” that Carlisle could save him in a special way and begged him to do it. (NM2) Carlisle acted out of loneliness and changed Edward. (PC1)

The pair moved to northern Wisconsin where, in 1921, Carlisle again tended to Esme. This time her injuries were from a failed suicide attempt. Remembering her from before, and feeling saddened by the turn her life had taken, Carlisle changed Esme to save her. The two fell in love and were legally married. (Again, just the one time.) (PC1)

Carlisle then found and changed Rosalie with the intention for her to be a companion to Edward, but it wasn’t to be. Carlisle then changed Emmett after Rosalie found him being mauled by a bear. Although he didn’t change Alice and Jasper, he accepted them as part of his family when they came to him. (TW14)

Around 1936, Carlisle moved his family to Forks where they encountered the Quileute Indians who have the ability to transform into werewolves. A treaty was arranged stating that the wolves would leave the Cullens alone so long as they didn’t bite any humans and stay off of the Quileute land. The Cullens lived in Forks for a few years before moving on to other places. (TW6) (TL)

The family returned to Forks, Washington after a stay in Alaska. At the start of Twilight, they have lived there for two years. (TW1)

Carlisle Cullen (also known as Stregone Benefice is Esme’s husband and Edward, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper’s adoptive father. His first appearance was in Twilight and his physical age is 23. Carlisle is described to look like a model; he has blond hair, and is slender but muscular. Carlisle theorizes that when a human is turned into a vampire, they will have an enhanced ability from their previous life. He believes he brought compassion from his human life. Carlisle has had centuries to perfect his medicinal talents, therefore making him an excellent doctor. Unlike most vampires, he is not at all tempted by the scent of human blood, due to the over 300 years he has spent holding back his temptations. Carlisle Cullen was the son of an Anglican pastor, born in 1640s London, England, during a time of religious upheaval. His father and other pastors hunted creatures such as witches, werewolves, and vampires, often mistaking humans for them. As his father grew older, Carlisle assumed his role. One night, he was attacked by a vampire and left to die on the streets. Knowing he would be rejected by society, he hid himself and silently endured the painful transformation, emerging as a vampire. Horrified by what he had become, he tried killing himself many different ways, but all failed due to his power. One night, unable to endure hunger any longer, he fed on some passing deer. Subsequently realizing he could avoid feeding on humans, he committed himself to resisting his blood lust and to becoming a doctor.

For a short time, Carlisle lived with the Volturi, though he eventually left and traveled to the New World. While treating patients with the Spanish Influenza, he met an ill woman who begged him to save her dying son, Edward. Out of loneliness, Carlisle transformed Edward into a vampire, and Edward became his companion. Soon after, in 1921, Carlisle moved to Wisconsin where he treated Esme after her failed suicide attempt brought on by her infant son’s death. Carlisle felt compelled to save her and transformed her into a vampire, subsequently falling in love with her, and later marrying her. Carlisle then transformed Rosalie Hale, a young woman nearly killed by her drunken fiancé and his friends in Rochester, New York, and left in the street to die. Later, while hunting, Rosalie found a young man named Emmett who had been mauled by a bear, and carried him over 100 miles to Carlisle. Carlisle then transformed Emmett, since Rosalie was unwilling to do it herself, fearing her blood lust would overwhelm her. After Carlisle changed Emmett, Carlisle and his family moved to Hoquiam, Washington where the Quileute Native American tribe offered the Cullens a treaty: the Quileutes would leave them alone if the Cullen family never attacked any humans or trespassed on Quileute land. The Cullens agreed and lived in relative peace until they had to move on. Between the Cullens’ first and second stay in Washington, Alice and Jasper joined his coven as well, having found Carlisle on their own. Throughout the Twilight saga, Carlisle works as a doctor, acting as the coven leader and offering medical advice and help when Bella is pregnant in Breaking Dawn.

Forbes magazine claimed in its 2009 Fictional 15 list of the wealthiest fictional characters that Carlisle is the richest of them all, using 370 years of compound interest and timely investments to amass an estimated fortune of $34.5 billion.

Peter Facinelli plays Carlisle in the Twilight film series.