All you need to know about the Twilight saga characters

Caius

Caius is one of the three ancient leaders of the Volturi, who are based in Volterra, Italy, and who, according to Edward Cullen, lead a very civilized lifestyle. Caius has a wife named Athenodora, who lives a very retired life in Volterra. He is the most ruthless of all three leaders.

Caius was born around 1300 BC, and at some point became a vampire. He was born at least a century before Aro and was transformed into a vampire in his late 40s.

He met Athenodora after running afoul of the Romanian Coven, and they began traveling together as a bonded pair, with her later becoming his wife. When they came across Aro, he was quite taken of the vampire's ambitious but long-ranged plans of domination. By the time they met, Aro had already formed a coven with a talented vampire named Marcus. Caius was immediately attracted to the idea of joining forces with the gifted vampires. Though Caius had no psychic gift, Aro was drawn to his ambition and passionate capacity to hate; which was a great potential for manipulation in what could be both a weakness and a strength.

Aro's sister Didyme joined them quickly afterwards; and later Aro's wife, Sulpicia. Aro and Caius were in agreement after Didyme's death had devastated Marcus that the wives must be protected at all costs. By bringing more vampires into the Volturi as subordinates, they brought about his ultimate goal: a war against the Romanian coven. After the Romanians were mostly destroyed, Caius became satisfied to spend his time punishing offenders of Aro's law due to Chelsea's power that kept him bound to the coven.

Some 2000 years before Breaking Dawn, he was nearly killed in a fight with a werewolf, which prompted him to hunt them to near extinction. He also took part in the extermination of the immortal children and cleaning up after the Southern Vampire Wars, making sure that newborn armies and their creators were destroyed. He kept himself occupied with other crusades such as the werewolves, immortal children and the clean-up of the southern wars, making sure the newborn armies and their creators were destroyed, but when he felt bored, he would have Corin use her power to make him happy.

Physical appearance

Caius is described as having "skin so white that it's almost translucent", comparable to an onion's skin. His eyes are dark red, though cloudy or milky like Aro's and Marcus'. His snow-white hair is shoulder-length, and very close in colour to his skin tone. He was transformed in his late 40s, with an average build and is very graceful: almost looking like floating when he moves. As one of the leaders of the Volturi he wears a pitch black cloak.

In the films, his apparent age is of early 20s and his hair is silky blonde, being the exact opposite of Marcus, who was said to be transformed at age 19 in the books and yet bears the appearance of a middle-aged man in the films.

Personality

Of the three Volturi leaders, Caius can easily be considered the cruelest one, and is seen as never extending mercy to anyone. Whenever the opportunity presents itself, he advocates for the most aggressive methods of handling situations, and is usually in favor of executions. He is always at the head of any punitive missions, much to his pleasure. He also enjoys using Jane's power to torture offenders of Aro's law before he has them executed. This depends on the fact that he is actually a very insecure individual and that he enjoys abusing his power over the vampire world to feel powerful.

He has shown on occasion some willingness to argue against Aro whenever he disagrees with his decisions, however he is ultimately subservient to his superior's wishes.

Caius also thinks that animal blood is repulsive and a vegetarian lifestyle is "warped". This thinking may also be supported by his deep hatred of werewolves.

In Breaking Dawn, Caius was out-voted in the decision on the Renesmee crisis. However, Caius found a way to shed blood in Irina. He pressed charges against her for false accusations and had her immediately "disposed of". He likes the sight of bloodshed, war and is very stubborn when it comes to fighting or killing.

Relationships

Athenodora

Athenodora is Caius's wife. They first met during the time of the Romanions' rule and they began traveling together as a bonded pair. They formed the Volturi along with Aro and Marcus. After Didyme's death completely debilitated Marcus, Caius and Aro realised they were vulnerable to the same devastating blow in their quest for power. Athenodora and Sulpicia, Aro's wife, were from then on heavily guarded in every way their husbands could devise. Though Caius is ruthless, sadistic and abuses his power over the vampire world he is still as devoted to Athenodora as he was when they first fell in love, showing he does value her life and vice versa. Athenodora stays in the tower and the few time she does leave like in Breaking Dawn, he ensures that she is perfectly protected at all time.