Alice Cullen (born Mary Alice Brandon) is the adopted daughter of Carlisle and Esme, adoptive sister of Edward, Rosalie, and Emmett, and wife of Jasper. Alice is described as being petite and pixie-like at 4 ft 10 in (1.5 m), with a graceful gait and hair that is short, spiky, and black. Her special ability is to see the future, an enhanced version of her ability to have premonitions as a human. However, her ability is limited; she is only able to see the outcome of a decision once it is made. Due to this, decisions made in the spur of the moment can not be foreseen. Alice can see futures involving humans and vampires, but is unable those of werewolves or half-breeds, such as Renesmee. In Breaking Dawn, Alice theorizes that she can see vampires very clearly because she is one, can see humans somewhat less clearly because she was one, and cannot see werewolves or half-breeds because she never was one. Alice is portrayed as being bubbly and optimistic, and loves and cares for Bella like a sister. She is also very close to her brother Edward, and enjoys shopping, make-overs, and throwing parties. Alice's early history is very vague, as she remembers nothing of her human life and woke up alone as a vampire. It is eventually revealed that she was born around 1901 in Biloxi, Mississippi, and was kept in an asylum because she had premonitions. Alice was changed by an old vampire who worked at the asylum in order to protect her from James, a tracker vampire who was hunting her. After doing some research, Alice found her grave and discovered that the date on her tombstone matches the date of her admission to the asylum. Through her research she additionally discovered that she had a little sister named Cynthia, and that Cynthia's daughter, Alice's niece, is still alive in Biloxi.
Throughout Twilight, Alice uses her ability to see the future and help Bella when she is in danger. The two soon become friends, loving each other like sisters. In New Moon, Alice foresees Bella jumping off a cliff and assumes she is trying to commit suicide, though Bella actually was partaking in the sport of cliff diving. Rosalie, believing Bella to be dead, informs Edward. After discovering the truth, Bella accompanies Alice to Italy to stop Edward from killing himself. They are successful, but are taken to see the Volturi, who act as police of the vampire world. Through Alice's premonitions, Aro is able to see that Bella will eventually become a vampire and invites her, Alice, and Edward to stay with them. They all refuse and return to Forks. In Eclipse, Alice, who proves to be an adept fighter, joins in the fight to destroy a group of rampaging newborn vampires, created by Victoria in an effort to take revenge on Edward. Alice acts as Bella's maid of honor at her wedding in Breaking Dawn and helps take care of Renesmee until leaving to search out a crossbreed after the Volturi plan to destroy Renesmee, believing her to be an immortal child. Alice is successful and the Volturi, not seeing a threat, leave.
