Twilight: Who Is The Most Powerful Member Of The Cullen Family? (2024)

In The Twilight Saga movies and books, vampires are beautiful, fast, strong, spark in the sun, and have a superior sense of smell, all of which contribute to their ability to hunt humans. Additionally, some of them also have extra special powers.

Within the Twilight lore, when some humans transform into vampires, their strongest trait is enhanced to a supernatural level. The stronger it was in human form, the more powerful it would be in vampire mode. Twilight's Cullen family is a particularly gifted group. Throughout the Twilight franchise, each Cullen has the opportunity to show off unique vampire powers, but some are better than others. Here is when each Cullen became a vampire, and their powers ranked from least to most impressive.

Updated on July 22, 2024, by Robbie Robinson: There's a load of different vampire abilities in Twilight. The Volturi naturally have some of the strongest powers, but the Cullens have their own arsenal. This list has been updated to discuss other vampires in the series with notable powers as well as to get this list up to current CBR formatting standards.

9 Esme Cullen Is the Family's Powerless Motherly Figure

The Fans Love Her Anyways

Esme Cullen was born in 1895, and Carlisle changed her into a vampire in 1921 when she was only 26 years old. Esme's vampire transformation story began very tragically. After fleeing an abusive relationship and losing her son, she tried to take her own life, but Carlisle saved her and turned her into a vampire. In fact, Carlisle had met Esme earlier in life when she was younger.

Esme ranks last in this list because she has no special gifts, apart from the usual vampiric abilities of hunting, speed, and sharp teeth. However, throughout the series, Edward comments on her incredible capacity for love and compassion and a propensity for motherhood. She functions as the coven's mother, and her family adores her because her empathy is her superpower.

8 Emmett Cullen's Gift Is Quite Unoriginal

Though, It Suits Him

Emmett Cullen was born in 1915 and turned by Carlisle when he was only 20 years old. Rosalie had seen Emmett after he got attacked by a bear, and she felt an uncontrollable affection for him. Carlisle turned Emmett at her request. Emmett is noted as having advanced strength beyond that of a typical vampire, but it hardly seems to be a gift worth getting too excited about — it's a very standard ability.

Newborn, uncontrollable vampires are stronger than Emmett. Besides, his strength is weakened by his moral preference for drinking animal blood. While he is the strongest among the superhumanly strong, that's not much of a gift, considering what others possess. Still, his brute power comes in handy for the Cullens on a few occasions.

7 Carlisle Cullen Started the Cullen Clan

His Self-Control Is Perfect For His Career Choice

Carlisle Cullen is the leader of the Olympic Coven of Cullen Vampires. He was born the son of a pastor in 1640 and changed into a vampire at 23 years old. That makes him one of the oldest vampires in the Twilight series. Alone for most of his existence, Carlisle searched for a way to kill himself rather than feed off humans, since he never wanted to hurt others. Later, he learned he could survive on animal blood, and thus developed a meticulous system of "vegetarianism" that allowed him to be a vampire and save lives.

Afterward, he dedicated his life to practicing medicine and saving human lives. While most vampires lost control around blood, Carlisle developed exceptional self-control. Therefore, he could easily work in close contact with injured humans, best seen when he stitches Bella up on her birthday. He is low on the list because his self-control is not a gift as much as it is a perfected skill, which showcases his willpower.

6 Rosalie Hale's Power Is a Bit Different From Her Clanmates's Abilities

Being a Beauty Has It's Charms

Rosalie Hale was born in 1915 and was changed by Carlisle when she was 18 years old. She has angelic beauty beyond that of a typical vampire, and, like her husband, Emmett, her gift is only a slight boost over others of her kind. This beauty works in her favor during negotiations, or when she wants to convince people to do something her way. Since it's such an abstract gift, even fans generally wonder what Rosalie's powers are in Twilight.

Rosalie is above Emmett and Carlisle on the power scale. However, along with her enhanced beauty, Rosalie has never tasted human blood, and that level of self-control acts as an additional gift. She's definitely one of the most interesting characters in Twilight and one of the best side characters of the saga, but she's often reduced to a superficial villain due to her gift; Edward calls her vapid, and Jacob refers to her as a Barbie. Rosalie was none of these, as she was an all-rounder who learned to fix cars and also was an expert musician.

5 Alice Cullen's Gift Was Extremely Potent, Even With Limitations

Too Bad It's Not Always Accurate

Alice Cullen was born in 1901 and was sent to an asylum due to her visions of the future — a piece of Twilight lore that only book fans would know. She was called a witch as she could sense people's auras and had a knack for knowing what was going to happen. Her abilities as a human were quite strong. However, she was changed by an unnamed vampire in 1920 as protection against James, the same tracker who hunted Bella.

Alice is good at what she does, but her visions can be subjective. They come in handy when playing chess against Edward or fighting a much larger adversary. The future was always in flux, and Alice could see these changes, which made her quite powerful. Even though her gift doesn't work when werewolves or Renesmee are involved, she can see everything else about the people in her field of existence.

4 Renesmee Cullen Is the Youngest, But Far From the Weakest

She Also Ages at an Alarming Rate

Renesmee Cullen is the vampire-human daughter of Bella and Edward and the younger Cullen. She was born in 2006, and after rapid maturation, she will remain immortal upon reaching adulthood. Even though she's younger than all the other members of the family, she's also powerful.

Renesmee has the ability to share her thoughts by touch, and she can penetrate mental shields, meaning that her gift can be used on anyone — including her mother. The weakness of her gift is that she must physically touch the person with whom she wants to share her power, but beyond that, she can use it on anyone. This ability is particularly useful in battle or any hostile situation where verbal communication would not be possible, like the almost-battle in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2.

3 Edward Cullen's Power Made Him All-Knowing

The Fact That He Couldn't Read Bella's Mind Only Made Her More Mesmerizing

Edward Cullen was born in 1901 and turned into a vampire by Carlisle at age 17. He possesses the gift of reading minds. The better he knows someone, the deeper he will be able to gauge their thoughts and feelings. Funnily enough, Bella is the closest person to him, but she's immune to his ability. He cannot read her mind.

Edward's ability to read minds ranks him very high on this list because it also allows him to take advantage of the gifts of those around him. For example, he can see Alice's visions if he's near her, and he can see any of Renesmee's projections from a distance. It would be impossible to lie to Edward about anything; he can anticipate anything, from a bad reaction to an attack, because he can peek into the minds of everyone around him. This was what made him so coveted by the Volturi.

2 Bella Swan's Power Shields Her From Mental Attacks

Considering Some of the Strongest Vampires Do Mental Attacks, It's Super Useful

Bella Swan was born in 1987 and changed by Edward — although some could say Renesmee was the one who changed her — in 2006, just two days shy of her 19th birthday. As a human, Bella possesses a special gift: a mental shield. This was something that she had even when she was human, as her thoughts were blocked from Edward. Her natural instinct to protect her own also became a part of her arsenal of vampiric powers.

After Bella transforms into a vampire, her gift only grows in power. She can manipulate her shield to protect others, and she can temporarily remove the shield to allow her husband, Edward, to read her mind. The weak side of her gift is that it only provides mental protection and is unable to stop physical attacks. She ranks second on the list because, even as a human, her gift was exceptionally effective against vampires and grew after her transformation.

1 Jasper Hale Is Undoubtedly the Most Powerful Cullen

He's Also the Oddest Cullen

Jasper Hale was born in 1844 and became a vampire after he was bitten by warlord Maria in 1863. He has the gift of Pathokinesis, which means he can manipulate the emotions of those around him. He can also do this to a large group, as he does with the newborn army he trained in the late 1800s.

Since Jasper physically manipulates brain chemistry, Bella's shield is unable to block him. It's safe to say that no mental shield can go against his power. Jasper could manipulate anyone into being agreeable, control hostile emotions, and even numb people from suffering with his gift. Combined with his combat abilities, Jasper was a lethal combination of mental and physical power. His gift was underutilized in the books and films, which is a shame because he has the best gift among the Cullen family's powers.

Twilight

PG-13

Fantasy

Romance

When Bella Swan moves to a small town in the Pacific Northwest, she falls in love with Edward Cullen, a mysterious classmate who reveals himself to be a 108-year-old vampire.

Director

Catherine Hardwicke

Release Date

November 21, 2008

Studio

Summit Entertainment

Cast

Kristen Stewart , Robert Pattinson , Billy Burke

Writers

Melissa Rosenberg , Stephenie Meyer

Runtime

2 Hours 2 Minutes

Main Genre

Drama

Producer

Wyck Godfrey, Greg Mooradian, Mark Morgan

Production Company

Summit Entertainment, Temple Hill Entertainment, Maverick Films, Imprint Entertainment, Goldcrest Pictures, Twilight Productions