Bella Swan
Bella Swan is an average, yet slightly gawkish and unconfident teenage girl. She is of average height and weight and has a pale complexion, brown hair, and brown eyes. Bella lives with her divorced father in Forks, Washington, where she attends high school. Her most notable quality is her caring devotion to her friends and family despite her frequent inability to protect the ones she loves. She is caring, yet vulnerable given her dangerous relationship with the Cullens. Her human morality contrasts her lover, Edward, who is an immortal vampire. Bella is fascinated by vampiric culture and wishes she were one herself, though a major conflict in the novel involves Edward's wish for her to remain human.
Edward Cullen
Edward Cullen is a vampire and the love interest of Bella Swan. He was born in 1901 and was bitten by vampire Carlisle Cullen in 1918, rendring him immortal at age 17. He is described as extremely physically attractive, with a smooth, pale complexion, bronze hair, and golden eyes.
Edward lives with his "siblings" Alice, Rosalie, Jasper, and Emmett, who are also vampires, though they are not biologically related. They pose as high school students in Forks in an effort to blend into society. The Cullens are nomadic, as staying in one place for too long would draw suspicion given their inability to age.
During the events of New Moon, Edward physically and emotionally distances himself from Bella for fear of placing her in danger with their relationship. By nature, Edward is highly protective of those he loves, though he can initially come across as standoffish and cold. One of his supernatural abilities include mind-reading, though he is unable to read Bella's thoughts. He also has superhuman strength and speed.
Jacob Black
In the beginning of the series, Jacob Black is Bella's mortal friend who belongs to the Native American Quileute tribe. Later, it is discovered that he, along with other members of the tribe, are werewolves. Jacob is described as having tan skin, brown eyes, and a muscular build.
The tribe's past includes conflict with the vampires, which was settled by an ancient peace treaty that forced both parties to stay off each others predetermined territory. Due to this deeply rooted conflict, and Jacob's friendship with Bella, Jacob and Edward do not like each other.
During New Moon, Jacob and Bella's friendship deepens as he provides her with emotional comfort after Edward's unexpected departure. He falls in love with Bella, though she does not reciprocate his romantic advances. Despite Bella's lack of romantic feelings for Jacob, she still views him as a pillar of stength and deeply values their friendship.
Rosalie Cullen
Rosalie is a vampire and a non-bioligical sibling to Edward. Upon first meeting Bella, Rosalie acts cold and uninviting. It is later revealed that Rosalie is simply jealous of Bella's mortality, as Rosalie did not have the choice of becoming a vampire.
Rosalie is guarded, which can register as standoffish to those who don't know her. Later, however, she proves herself a caring and loyal friend to Bella. Rosalie has a romantic relationship with Emmett, another vampire adopted by Carlisle Cullen.
Charlie Swan
Charlie is Bella's somewhat awkward, yet loving father. He is a cop in Forks and divorced Bella's mother, Renee, whe Bella was a child. When Bella moves in with Charlie, their relationship is initially strained, as Charlie knows very little about Bella from the time that has elapsed while she was living with her mother. He is reserved and gawkish, like Bella.
Emmett Cullen
Emmett Cullen was adopted by Carlisle and changed into a vampire in 1935. At age 20, Emmett was mauled by a black bear, but was saved by Rosalie, who convinced Carlisle to make him immortal. Emmett is the love interest of Rosalie. He is described as broad in stature and muscular, with brown hair and the trademark golden eyes of a vampire. Emmett is outspoken, easygoing, and physically the strongest out of all of the Cullens.
Alice Cullen
Besides Edward, Alice Cullen is Bella's closest friend and forms a deep connection with her after the events of the first novel. Alice is petite, with short, dark hair. She has a warm, bubbly personality. Her unique supernatural ability allows her to see future events and warn others of impending danger. It is beause of this that she forsees Edward's suicide attempt and returns to Forks to warn Bella. Alice has a romantic relationship with Jasper Cullen.
Jasper Cullen
Jasper is the "newest" vampire to be bitten by Carlisle, which causes him to be more vulnerable than others to the desire for human blood. During a birthday party for Bella, Bella gets a papercut on a piece of wrapping paper, driving Jasper insane with bloodlust. Bella narrowly escapes an attack by Jasper, causing Jasper to become deeply ashamed of his nature. Jasper is sensitive and morally conflicted, choosing to become a "vegetarian" vampire, or one who preys solely on animals and refuses to take blood from humans.
Carlisle and Esme Cullen
Carlisle and Esme are the unofficial parents of Edward, Rosalie, Alice, Emmett, and Jasper. They are both warm, caring individuals and will do whatever it takes to keep their family safe. Carlisle Cullen saved each Cullen family member from death by making them immortal with his bite. Esme has strong maternal instincts despite having no biological children herself and is considered to be the most humanistic of the Cullens.
The Volturi
The Volturi are a highly powerful Italian vampire coven. Its main members include Aro, Caius, Aro's wife Sulpicia, and Caius' wife Athenodora. The Volturi "guard", whose job is to protect the Volturi, consists of Chelsea, Jane, and Alec. In the vampiric hierarchy, the Volturi are considered royalty. They are the antagonists in New Moon.
The Volturi establish laws which all vampires are expected to follow. One of these laws states that vampires must not attract attention to themselves, such as exposing themselves to direct sunlight. In a suicide attempt, Edward prepares to do so by exposing his skin in front of a large gathering of mortals, thus placing himself in danger of the Volturi.
Renee
Renee is Bella's eccentric, often flighty and overly idealistic mother. Her personality contrasts Bella's who is guarded and pragmatic. For this reason, Bella often has difficulty relating to her mother as they are so different in nature. Renee remarried to Phil, who is a professional baseball player.
Embry Call
Embry is one of Jacob’s close friends. He is described as tall and slender, with chin-length black hair. He is the first of the trio to join Sam Uley’s “gang” by transforming into a werewolf.
Quil Ateara
The other of Jacob’s two close friends, Quil is described as short and muscular with short, buzzed hair. Quil does not become a werewolf during New Moon, so he never really understands why Embry and Jacob distance themselves from him. He is afraid of being the next one to join Sam’s “gang,” but there are several indications that he will shortly become a werewolf.
Sam Uley
First introduced when he finds Bella lost in the woods, Sam is the alpha werewolf, being the first to transform and the oldest. Many of the werewolves have trouble controlling their temper, which causes them to morph into werewolves unexpectedly, but Sam has more experience, and therefore more control over himself.
Emily
Emily is Sam’s fiancée. She is very motherly toward Jacob and the other werewolves, often cooking for them and letting them gather in her home. When Sam first became a werewolf, before he could control his temper, he accidentally morphed into a werewolf when Emily was near, scratching her down her right face and arm, leaving a red scar.
Paul and Jared
Two more werewolves in Sam’s pack.
Laurent
Laurent is one of the vampires from James’ coven in Twilight. He tries to kill Bella and suck her blood, but the werewolves chase him away. Bella fears Laurent for over a week until she learns the werewolves killed him.
Victoria
Victoria is James’ mate from Twilight. She is trying to kill Bella but is constantly thwarted by the wolves. Throughout much of the novel, Victoria is a huge threat but is never defeated, a conflict that carries over to the next book in the series, Eclipse.
