It wasn’t so long ago that author Stephenie Meyer’s hit novels spawned a movie franchise that took the world by storm. Back in 2008, as theTwilightfranchise took hold, for a time it felt like the world was suddenly divided solely along the lines of “Team Edward” and “Team Jacob.” While it was certainly these two, and of course Bella Swan, who got the most attention, the franchise featured an entire world of other characters too. Whether they were humans, vampires, or shape-shifting werewolves, many other characters had a lot more depth and range to their personalities or abilities than they were given credit for.
It’s of course understandable that not everybody may have featured prominently enough in the main plot lines to get any added attention. Of course, now witha series in the works, that may change. If you’re looking for a dose of nostalgia or to catch up on the films before the series, all theTwilightfilms can be streamed on Peacock or rented on Prime Video. However, until then, amid the fan favorites and the ones who always stole the spotlight, here are our picks for the most underrated characters from theTwilightfranchise.
One of the coolest parts of the finale oftheTwilightSagawas that it roped in a bunch of different vampire covens. This introduced us to some great new characters who all had interesting physical attributes, abilities, and backstories. Among them came the Amazonian coven. The most striking one among them was certainly Zafrina. The Amazonian vampires were physically described as thin, tall, with striking features, and an intimidating look to them. Zafrina definitely lived up to this and proved to be an endearing character too.
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She had the ability to create some mind-bending illusions and could essentially recreate reality, or at least any projection of it she could imagine. This definitely made her a lot more powerful than we truly got to see. She also builds quite a quick connection to Bella and Edward’s daughter, Renesmee, which confirmed that she also seemed to have some deeper empath-level qualities too.
Like Zafrina, Benjamin also came from a Coven that answered the Cullens' call for help. He was part of the Egyptian one and was easily the pick of them. As a unique and powerful vampire, Benjamin’s abilities set him apart since, unlike other vampires, he could manipulate, not just the mind, but physical matter too.
In that sense, Benjamin was able to control and manipulate the elements, such as air and water. This made him very powerful, but his best attribute was his personality since he exercised independence from his own creator and refused to be used as a weapon. Lastly, he was played by Rami Malek, who of course went on to becomean amazing actor. This also means the character was probably underutilized, given what a star the film had playing him.
8Leah Clearwater
As a descendant of the Quileute tribe, Leah shared a blood connection with the shape-shifters. However, as a woman, she suffered a lot when her partner Sam Uley rejected her. Being very angry all the time, Leah shocked everyone when her mood swings turned out to be the fact that she was a shape-shifter too.
This fact makes her unique since only men were supposed to have this ability. As the only female member of the shifters, Leah proves just as capable as them. While it’s not something to celebrate, the first time she shifts is so jarring, it actually causes her own father to have a heart attack and die from the shock. Nevertheless, Leah proves with all these things that she’s one of the most powerful female characters in the saga.
7Seth Clearwater
As Leah’s younger brother, Seth Clearwater cuts a lot more gentle figure. That part is however deceptive since he’s also the youngest shifter too and later joins Jacob’s renegade “Black” pack of wolves.
Seth proves himself on the battlefield too as he helps Edward defeat Victoria’s army, and even saves him and Bella during the melee. However, his most endearing qualities are that he’s super kind and sensitive, though in a good way. This side of him is so strong, out of all the wolves, he’s the only one who actually manages to forge a genuine friendship with Edward.
There wereplenty of cheesy linesin the films, but here was one that was quite sweet. To sum up why Seth was such an asset to have around aside from his strength, here’s a quote of what Edward once said to Jacob about him.
“He has one of the purest, sincerest, kindest minds I’ve ever heard. You’re lucky to share his thoughts.”
The Volturi have an infamous reputation in theTwilightfranchise since they’re pretty much vampire overlords. Their main leader, Aro, was well known for recruiting the most powerful vampires around. Since vampires' abilities manifest from strong traits or feelings they had or experienced while still human, Jane was one vampire who had a particularly interesting one. As part of the Volturi’s senior guard, she was already intimidating enough. Like her twin Alec, she has strong psychic gifts.
However, since Jane’s backstory is that she was once burned at the stake as a supposed witch, the horrific pain she endured gave her the ability to psychically make others experience excruciating pain. This makes her extremely powerful but also one to be feared. While her brother is probably just as dangerous, Jane is worse since she’s more ruthless. She was played excellently by Dakota Fanning who imbued her with some very intimidating expressions and an overall frightening demeanor that fit Jane’s reputation well.
5Alice Cullen
Alice Cullen probably deserved a little more prominence than she got overall. It’s probably counterintuitive to describe a person with the strength and speed to rip your head off before you can blink as a gentle soul, but Alice certainly fits this bill. With her gifts as a seer of sorts, she possessed all the regular strength and speed of vampires, but also had another extremely useful gift. Being able to look ahead gave Alice an uncanny ability to pull the strings and guide her loved ones along paths that save their lives.
Her sweet nature, the fact that she went out of her way to make Bella feel welcome, her deep love for Jasper, and her charming personality also made her very endearing as a character. While she was by no means a periphery character, Alice had a lot more depth to her than the films ever truly gave her credit for. However, witha great casting choicein Ashley Greene, what was done perfectly was how strikingly beautiful she was.
4Rosalie Hale
As one of the members of Carlisle’s coven, Rosalie Hale may not have taken the Cullen’s name but proved to very be one of them when it mattered. Throughout the earlier books and films, she makes for an antagonistic character since she’s often moody, rude, and abrasive toward Bella. However, as the story moves on, we learn that she actually has some very tragic reasons for being this way.
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Even as a human, Rosalie was known for her great beauty but was vain because of it. When she got her wish and was betrothed to a wealthy man, little did she know he would actually be a fiend who later, together with his friends, raped and beat her to the point of death. She also never had children, though this was her greatest wish and detests being immortal because of it.
She later takes brutal revenge on her assailants after Carlisle turns her, but shows remarkable restraint even then by refusing to drink blood. Of all the Cullens, she’s the most restrained when it comes to living a “vegetarian” life as a vampire.
Of course,tragedy makes strong characters, so we later learn that she’s actually quite kind and caring, and was antagonistic to Bella as she disagreed with her wanting to become a vampire, since she wishes more than anything that she was still human. She later becomes very close to Bella and her child and nurses Bella back to health. Her words to Bella in theEclipsenovel reveals the tortured soul she actually was all along.
“Would you like to hear my story, Bella? It doesn’t have a happy ending - but which of ours does? If we had happy endings, we’d all be under gravestones now.”
3Charlie Swan
As Bella’s father and the Police Chief, Charlie Swan was always a central figure in the town of Forks. In some ways, his very existence drove the entire story since his staying behind after Bella’s mother left gave Bella the opportunity to return to Forks and a place to stay there. Aside from his inadvertent importance to the plot, as a dad, he often cuts a sometimes hapless, but always caring and understanding father.
His wife divorces him and takes their daughter to another state. When he gets his daughter back he has to deal with her first being moody and unsociable. Then there’s all the drama with Edward, then Bella’s depression inNew Moonand not knowing why she has to push him away later. Throughout the series, he shows a kind, gentle nature, and tons of emotional stamina, and while he never gets to fully show this part off, as a cop, was probably quite handy with a shotgun too. Perhaps,the upcoming serieswill be able to draw out his character better. Lastly, he also deserves to make the list for being the only human who deserves a spot.
2Carlisle Cullen
In many ways, Carlisle is probably one of the most likable and tragic characters of all. While the books flesh out his past more, the films don’t fully convey just how much depth there is to him. Born to a family that once hunted werewolves and vampires, when Carlisle is turned himself, he refuses to drink human blood, going against his own nature on sheer will alone, with no one to ever show him how or give him the strength to pull this off. As he drifts through the decades, his loneliness leads him to seek others out, and he reluctantly changes his other family members to save their lives.
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By giving them a home, teaching them his ways, and always acting as a protector and patriarch to them, Carlisle is like everything from a father figure to a mentor, friend, partner, and teacher. He also uses his vast intellect to become a doctor, so he can help people and shows remarkable strength since his job brings him into contact with human blood all the time. When it matters he can be a powerful fighter but has always beena beloved characterfor the fact that he is a pacifist instead.
1Renesmee Cullen
As a hybrid, Renesmee Cullen represents the culmination of the deep love between Bella and Edward. She’s also one remarkable child whose “miracle” conception and birth endowed her with the best of both vampire and human traits. While she’s not immortal and does age, she will likely live for centuries, and has the powerful powers of both her parents, although in reverse. This means Renesmee can transmit her own thoughts to others by touching their skin and can dismantle psychic shields. She’s often downplayed as just a child andhas even been a meme, making her severely underrated because her story is never fully developed.
She’s also stunningly beautiful, has enhanced strength and speed, and can survive on either blood or human food. The most intriguing part about her is that since she’s unique, no one truly knows what she’s fully capable of. If all that isn’t cool enough, she has two immensely powerful vampire parents and an Alpha shifter whose entire existence is predicated on loving and protecting her as a companion. While Stephenie Meyer has hinted that future stories may or may not include a romantic relationship between them, either way, Renesmee’s fascinating characteristics make her an ideal candidate to take the franchise forward one day.
