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Whether you consider yourself a casual Twilight fan, or the ultimate Twihard, there is likely a great deal you don’t know about your favourite characters. While the films leave out their fair share of details, the books, too, can only cover so much, leaving guidebooks to fill in the gaps.
Carlisle is the character we easily know the most about, as his origins are recounted in the first Twilight novel, though this story while be wholly unheard of to those fans only familiar with the films.
Before we continue, I’m Riley and this is Otherworldly Fiction. On this channel I nerd out over fantasy books, obsess over fantasy itself, and offer the occasional advice to readers and writers alike. If any of this sounds like your cup of tea (or your cup of blood for those vampires out there) consider subscribing. We offer immortality to those who subscribe; just kidding, we don’t, but it was worth a shot.
Carlisle is one of the oldest Cullen’s existence wise. He was born in the year 1640, and transformed into a vampire in 1663; he was forever frozen at the age of 23. Carlisle lived in London, England, when he first started out. As a result, he has an English accent, though he can switch to a flawless American accent too.
As far as looks go, Carlisle has been compared to a movie star. Though he works primarily as a doctor, he has studied a range of topics—including music and science. He’s spent time in universities too, playing the role of both student and professor over the years. As for his hobbies, he enjoys collecting artwork and books.
Carlisle’s story begins in London in the 1600’s. The only son of an Anglican priest, his mother died in childbirth. Though Carlisle’s relationship with his father didn’t seem to be bad, the priest couldn’t be described as a kind man. Instead, Carlisle’s father considered himself to be a “crusader against evil.” He lived during a superstitious time, and he was among those responsible for the burning of innocent people.
Carlisle’s father hunted witches, werewolves, and, of course, vampires. Unfortunately, the majority of the beings caught by this self righteous figure were no more supernatural than he was.
Age forced the priest to retire, leaving Carlisle to continue his father’s mission. Carlisle resumed his father’s hunts, but he wasn’t the type to see evil where it didn’t exist. Instead, through a combination of determination and intelligence, Carlisle’s unearthed the real monsters—a group of very real vampires lurking beneath the London sewers. Carlisle gathered a group of fellow hunters, and together they waited outside the sewers for night to fall.
As predicted, a vampire emerged, but of course the humans were helpless against a true supernatural entity. Alone, the vampire killed two of the hunters, and bit Carlisle.
Carlisle knew his fate was sealed. He also understood that his father would destroy him, knowing what he would become; he hid himself away and, despite the excruciating pain the transformation brought, he managed to keep himself from crying out.
On emerging as a full fledged vampire, Carlisle loathed himself. He made multiple suicide attempts: he tried jumping from great heights; drowning himself; and starvation, but nothing worked. None of these methods can kill a vampire.
For months, Carlisle endured his thirst, but did not die; his resistance only weakened his self control (which, for a newborn vampire, was impressive). Carlisle made a point of hiding in isolated locations, that he might avoid contact with humans. It was only a matter of time before he lost the strength to resist.
It was night when, desperately thirsty, Carlisle stumbled on a herd of deer. Thoughtlessly he attacked them, and drank his fill. His strength, along with his “sense of self” returned, and it was a revelation to Carlisle to know that he could survive, and be whole, without taking human life.
There was no guilt in feeding off of animals—after all, even as a human, he’d lived off of deer and other meats.
Carlisle, understanding he would be reviled, set out to begin a new life alone. The only contact he had with his father was to view him from a distance, but the priest remained unaware of these visits. He never knew what happened to his son.
The newborn vampire found the positive in being immortal: he loved learning, and now he had unlimited time to do so. He was able to find night classes in Europe; at universities, he studied science, music, and medicine. Eventually his studies took him to Italy, where he encountered the refined Volturi.
It was the early 1700’s, and Carlisle admired the comparative civility of the Volturi. Unlike other vampires, they had an appreciation for culture and remained in one place. However, even they drank human blood. The Volturi leaders—Aro, Caius, and Marcus—tried to persuade Carlisle to drink it too.
Carlisle, in turn, tried to persuade the Volturi to attempt his lifestyle, to drink animal blood and respect human life, but they were unmoved. Though both sides failed to gain headway with the other, there were no hard feelings.
The good vampire spent two decades in Italy, but the inability to find others with his viewpoint left him lonely. He finally decided to head for the New World, America, in hopes of finding others who felt as he did.
Alas, Carlisle found no such vampires in America. Despite this disappointment, Carlisle made use of his time: that he might atone, in some measure, for the existence of vampires, he began a career in medicine.
Despite enjoying his work as a doctor, he felt isolated from his human co-workers. His condition forced him to keep them at arm’s length, lest they discover what he was. Lonely, he weighed his guilt around creating another vampire against his continued isolation. It was a debate which plagued him for decades—until 1918.
Carlisle was working in Chicago, and the area was suffering through the brutal Spanish Influenza. He worked nights, but as people continued to die he met a woman named Elizabeth. The first wave had killed her husband, but Elizabeth Masen, and her teenage son, Edward, continued to cling to life.
It became clear to Carlisle that Elizabeth and Edward were not improving, just as it became clear to Elizabeth that Carlisle could save her son. Somehow, Elizabeth knew Carlisle was different. She begged the doctor to save her son, and Carlisle agreed.
Though he managed to bite Edward, it wasn’t easy; he had to taste human blood, but not drink it. Edward’s mother died an hour after making her request, and it was the “goodness” Carlisle could see in Edward’s face which decided him.
Though Edward’s mind reading abilities were surprising, Carlisle’s time with the Volturi had taught him that such occurrences were not unprecedented. The two travelled together, Edward playing the part of Carlisle’s brother-in-law to a late wife the doctor had never had.
1921 brought Carlisle and Edward to Ashland, Wisconsin. Continuing his work as a doctor, Carlisle encountered yet another human patient certain to die. Esme Evenson, as she was then known, had attempted suicide. Curiously, Carlisle had met Esme ten years prior. She had been a teenager, but her injuries then—a broken leg—had been decidedly less fatal. Conventional medicine would not save Esme’s life this time and so, remembering the spark she’d possessed as a teen, Carlisle bit her.
Carlisle apologized to Esme for changing her, but there were no hard feelings—she had considered Carlisle her “ideal of a gentleman” and before long the two married. Edward assumed the identity of Esme’s younger brother, though he felt more like the son of the vampire couple. After years of wandering, Carlisle had more than friendship—he had a family.
There were no plans to expand this family further, but when the doctor, during a stint in Rochester, New York, discovered the dying Rosalie, he was compelled to save such a young life. Privately, he couldn’t help hoping Rosalie would become a mate to Edward as Esme had become to him.
Rosalie did not enjoy being a vampire, even after two years, and Edward never considered her more than a sister (a relationship which was difficult enough). Guilty for changing her, Carlisle couldn’t say no when Rosalie asked him to change the dying Emmett on her behalf. He felt that giving her a partner she had chosen was one way he could make it up to her (and luckily for all parties, Rosalie and Emmett quickly fell in love).
The family, now five in number, moved to Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. There they encountered a tribe which included shape-shifting wolves. However, Carlisle knew they were intelligent human beings and he respected them; out of a desire to avoid conflict, he offered to create a treaty with the group. Edward’s mind reading abilities aided communications, as he could read the minds of the locals even when they were in their wolf forms, and so the treaty was formed.
Vampires were natural enemies to the shape-shifters, but Ephraim Black trusted Carlisle’s word and the rules were made: the Cullen’s could not trespass on Quileute land; the Cullen’s could not bite humans, not to drink or change them; and both sides would keep the secret of the other, a third condition Carlisle proposed.
Continual moving remained necessary, lest anyone notice the family wasn’t aging, and Carlisle finally encountered others like himself in Denali, Alaska. The Denali Clan, though they had once hunted humans, had come to find the constant death disturbing. As with the Cullen’s, they now abstained from human blood – a choice reflected by the unusual yellow eyes they shared with Carlisle’s family.
As a result of their shared beliefs, the covens came to regard each other as extended family, as cousins specifically.
Finally, another vampire couple, Alice and Jasper, joined the family – though they were the first Carlisle himself hadn’t made, they became as like family as the others, bringing the Cullen’s numbers up to seven.
The cover story shifted. Rosalie and Jasper played the roles of the Hale twins, pretending to be Esme’s orphaned cousins, while Alice, Edward, and Emmett would be the adopted children of Carlisle and Esme. The coven returned to Washington, and Carlisle, working as the Forks local doctor, developed a positive reputation for his efforts.
Was there anything about this story which surprised you? Which character are you most eager to hear about? Sound off in the comments. And if you enjoyed this video, like and subscribe. Thank you for watching, and happy reading!
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