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User:Thecoolguy4ever/Vampires in the twilight saga

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Vampires of The Twilight Saga, written by Stephenie Meyer, differ significantly from other vampires in vampire literature. They have special physical and physiological characteristics not found in any vampires in fiction—which are heavily influenced by the traits Bram Stoker gave to Dracula.

Concept and creation

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The premise of the vampires of The Twilight Saga, along with that of the series, originated from a dream Meyer had on June 2, 2003. Her dream was of "two people were having an intense conversation in a meadow in the woods. One of these people was just your average girl. The other person was fantastically beautiful, sparkly, and a vampire". They were discussing the difficulties of their relationship that centered around them "falling in love with each other while the vampire was particularly attracted to the scent of her blood, and was having a difficult time restraining himself from killing her immediately."[1]

On the subject of researching vampires, Meyer says, "The only time I really did any research on vampires was when the character Bella did research on vampires. Because I was creating my own world, I didn't want to find out just how many rules I was breaking."[2]

Existence

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All of the vampires of the Twilight universe were originally human. Vampire Edward Cullen speculates with Bella Swan in Twilight about whether the first vampire in existence was a result of evolution or creation, the same way humans speculate about their existence too. Concerning evolution, he discusses the predator and prey theory, saying, "Couldn't we have evolved in the same way as other species, predator and prey?" On the other hand, he speaks of creation saying, "Or, if you don't believe that all this world could have just happened on its own, which is hard for me to accept myself, is it so hard to believe that the same force that created the delicate angelfish with the shark, the baby seal and the killer whale, could create both our kinds together?" [3]

Most vampires in Twilight believe that when they underwent the transformation from human to vampire and their hearts stopped, they lost their souls and are eternally damned.[4] As a result, they don't think that their form of existence should be called life as they believe they are souless.[5] Some of them believe in God and in afterlife, but most don't.[4] Meyer discussed the matter saying, "They’ve [ The Cullens ] only seen other vampires cease to exist–but is it dying, really? Is there any awareness afterwards? This is, obviously, an important question to the Cullens, but they don’t know the answers and they all believe different things."[6]

Physical characteristics

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Eyes

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Vampires have a fluid in their eyes similar to the venom in their mouths that makes the eyeballs' movement possible. They don't need to blink because blinking is a spontaneous reaction that has no purpose for a vampire. On the subject of producing tears, Meyer says: [7]

Vampires have much better sight than humans and can see microscopic details.[8] Their eye colors vary according to their diet, however, the eye color of all thirsty vampires is a solid black, no matter what diet they are on. Meyer says that "it takes about two weeks without blood for vampire eyes to go entirely black". When vampires feed, the blood lightens their irises' color.[9] A vampire on a normal human blood diet would have deep red irises while another on an animal blood diet would have gold ones.[10] If a vampire stayed long enough on an animal blood diet to the point that his eyes turned gold, his eyes would turn burgundy if he drank human blood. If he resumed the animal blood diet later, his eyes would return into dark gold.[9] Stillness is a common nature among vampires, therefore, if a vampire remained unmoving often enough over a thousand years, "dust actually begins to petrify in response to the venom-like liquids that lubricate his eyes". A thin milky layer formers over his eyes, giving them a pink color (if his eyes are red). His eye sight is not affected.[10] Contact lenses placed in a vampire's eye would melt in a few hours by the lubricant in his eye [10] and it's possible that the lens' color would mix with the vampire's eye color.[11]

Skin

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The basic function of the skin for humans, which is to protect the bones, still exists for vampires after their transformation. According to Meyer, a flid similar to their venom acts as a lubricant between the cells making movement possible.[7] Vampire skin is very hard, often described in the books as hard as "granite". [10] Almost nothing can penetrate vampire skin, except vampire[10] and werewolf teeth.[12] If vampire skin was cut, the wound would bleed if the vampire has drunk a lot of blood recently, otherwise only a bit of venom would leave the wound.[13] Like their eyes, vampire skin tends to look thin and transluscent over the milennia, however, the skin's strength is not affected.[10] Additionally, if a vampire lost a limb, he can spit venom on the limb's skin and reattach it to its corresponding body part.[14]

References

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  1. ^ "The Story Behind Twilight". StephenieMeyer.com. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
  2. ^ "10 Questions for Stephenie Meyer". Time Magazine. August 21, 2008. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
  3. ^ Meyer, Stephenie (October 2005). "Mind Over Matter". Twilight. Little, Brown and Company. Well, where did you come from? Evolution? Creation? Couldn't we have evolved in the same way as other species, predator and prey? Or, if you don't believe that all this world could have just happened on its own, which is hard for me to accept myself, is it so hard to believe that the same force that created the delicate angelfish with the shark, the baby seal and the killer whale, could create both our kinds together?{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  4. ^ a b Meyer, Stephenie (September 2006). "Stitches". New Moon. Little, Brown and Company.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  5. ^ Meyer, Stephenie (August 2008). Breaking Dawn. Little, Brown and Company.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  6. ^ "Twilight Lexicon » Personal Correspondence #6". Twilight Lexicon. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
  7. ^ a b "Frequently Asked Questions: Breaking Dawn". StephenieMeyer.com. Retrieved July 11, 2011.
  8. ^ Meyer, Stephenie (August 2008). "Favor". Breaking Dawn. Little, Brown and Company.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  9. ^ a b "Twilight Lexicon » Personal Correspondence #1". Twilight Lexicon. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
  10. ^ a b c d e f Meyer, Stephenie (April 2011). "Vampires". The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide. Little, Brown and Company.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  11. ^ Meyer, Stephenie (September 2006). "Verdict". New Moon. Little, Brown and Company.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  12. ^ Meyer, Stephenie (April 2011). "Werewolves". The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide. Little, Brown and Company.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  13. ^ "Twilight Lexicon » Personal Correspondence #1". Twilight Lexicon. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
  14. ^ Meyer, Stephenie (June 2010). The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner. Little, Brown and Company.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
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