All you need to know about the Twilight saga characters

James

"You brought a snack." ―James on Bella Swan

James was the leader of his coven, with his mate Victoria and Laurent. He caught the scent of Bella Swan, and hunted her as his next meal in Twilight. Using his power of tracking, he found Bella in Phoenix, and tried to lure her into a trap by claiming he had captured Bella's mother, Reneé Dwyer. However, he failed to make Bella his meal and was killed by Emmett Cullen and Jasper Hale (and Alice Cullen in the movie). He was the main antagonist of both the Twilight book and film, although his role was slightly expanded in the film.

James was born towards the end of the American Revolution. His father was a French trapper and his mother was from England. She had come to America as an indentured servant and later ran away from her master. James was raised to track and trap by his father at a young age. The Iroquois killed his parents before his eleventh birthday. He used his substantial skills to survive on his own in the wilderness. He gained a measure of fame during his late teens and early twenties as the best tracker on the frontier, as well as sometimes being called the ugliest. He didn't care about his face, all he cared about was winning. One night in Montreal, he met a mysterious French vampire who found James's confidence amusing and offered to best him in any test, his only condition being that the competition had to be at night. James was unimpressed by the dandified appearance of his competitor, and he agreed without hesitation, even when the Frenchman - seemingly in jest - upped the stakes to life or death. During the contest, James released a marked deer into the wild and tracked it. The Frenchman found it in a matter of minutes. James cried foul as he witnessed his speed and lack of evidence of traditional hunting methods on the deer's body. He claimed the Frenchman had an undisclosed advantage, perhaps witchcraft or demonic help. He also said that he would have been able to track it if he had the same advantage. This prompted the vampire to turn him and give him the same advantage. After he bit James, the vampire took off, laughing, and offered a rematch in a decade or two.

As a vampire, James adjusted to his new life very easily. He was a skilled tracker who enjoyed the hunt as a sadistic game. He tended to get "feelings", a sort of "sixth sense", about his quarry's whereabouts, which aided him in the hunt. Though it's never explicitly stated, perhaps this was the ability he brought over from his human life. However, that did not soften him toward the French vampire. About six months after he grew out of the newborn ravage, he found his creator and killed him - which James considered as his idea of winning the bet. He went on to hunt and track his prey, which grew tiresome as he always found them no matter the distance or time. He searched for more challenging prey, and targeted on vampires. Though it almost cost him his life a few times, he did not stop.

While in London, he targeted Victoria, and she avoided him for months until he found her evasion interesting and made her his mate. He never lost his quarry, except in one case where his prey was turned into a vampire before he could attack her. He wanted her because Alice's scent was very intoxicating to the latter, like Bella's is to Edward. For revenge, James murdered Alice's creator, causing Alice to be alone. He wanted to see if she could survive on her own, and maybe someday find her again and then finish her off. Unlike the Cullens, he drank human blood regularly as his food source, and because of this, he was physically slightly stronger. Their little coven was later joined by Laurent.

James and his coven went to Forks to check out the Olympic Coven. When they did, he caught a human (Bella Swan) among them, and with Edward's protectiveness and the unexpected presence of Alice, he felt excited about starting his most exciting hunt ever and decided to get to Bella at all costs and then finish off Alice - the prey he never got to. Though Victoria didn't think it was a good idea, he still stuck with his plan and had her dig up information about Bella, though the betrayal of Laurent was unexpected. He was furious with his defection, but in his hurry to get Bella before someone thought to change her, he postponed vengeance until after the hunt.

James eager to kill Bella.

Edward's family tried to mislead him using Bella's scent, but he followed his hunches and wound up in Phoenix where Alice and Jasper were protecting her.

After finding Bella's old address in Phoenix, he ran to her old home and dug through the house before calling her. He made her believe that he had captured her mom and lured her into a trap at her old ballet studio, where he brutally attacked and almost killed her after telling her about his encounter with Alice. He was disappointed by how easily she was lured, but was hopeful that Edward and his family's search for revenge would prove more exciting. He left Bella with 4 broken ribs, a head wound, and a broken leg from where he stood on it.

James bites Bella Swan. He also bit her right hand, which left a permanent bitemark, before Edward, Jasper and Emmett stopped him and destroyed him. His venom was drained out of Bella by Edward to stop her from becoming a vampire. His remains were burned moments later, along with the whole ballet studio