Twihards
9 Best ‘Twilight’ Couples, Ranked
In a new piece of “Do you feel old?” news, The Twilight Saga: New Moon is officially 15 years old. That means the first movie can now drive. The Twilight book series was already very popular in the mid-aughts, but the creation of the Twilight film franchise jettisoned the saga into the stratosphere of a global phenomenon.
Millions of people around the world became invested in Bella (Kristen Stewart) and Edward’s (Robert Pattinson) tortured romance. New Moon specifically exacerbated the Team Jacob (Taylor Lautner) and Team Edward fan wars that divided the fandom into civil war debates. We all know who Bella chose in the end, but celebrating New Moon had us thinking about all of the couples in Twilight that make the saga the Swooon-worthy favorite that it is.
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Twilight made romantasy mainstream. Without it, who knows if we’d have A Court of Thorns and Roses or a number of our other modern series. Twilight broke the mold in so many ways. It’s also great because there was so much romance outside of the central couple. In celebration of Bella and Edward, Jacob, and the entire Cullen crew, Swooon is ranking the top couples in the saga.
9. Jacob and Bella
Jacob and Bella are really only on this list because we refuse to acknowledge Jacob and Renesmee (Mackenzie Foy) as a romantic pairing, and it feels wrong to leave Jacob off the list entirely. Also, this list is celebrating the 15th anniversary of New Moon, which is when Jacob and Bella’s relationship was strongest. The werewolf was an incredible friend to Bella and, in another universe without sexy vampires, maybe that could have been the foundation for a deep and rewarding romance. If we were ranking Bella’s most important relationships, this would go a lot harder, but the movies try even less than the books to make Jacob feel like a viable second option in the love triangle.
8. Charlie Swan and Sue Clearwater
This one is for the millennials who were there when the magic was written and are now old enough to realize that the sexiest man in the entire saga is Charlie Swan (Billy Burke). He’s a stable, drama-avoidant dad who has a loving relationship with his daughter. Sue Clearwater (Alex Rice) understood the assignment. They are low on the list because we don’t actually see a lot about their relationship and how it works, which is fair because the saga is not about them. But the brief glimpses we did get into their sparkling romance made it seem like they were living the dream. That’s great, because they both deserve happiness.
7. Kate and Garrett
Kate (Casey LaBow) and Garrett (Lee Pace) are another couple that we didn’t get to see a lot of because the Volturi were on their way to Forks, but the information we did get about their relationship sounds like a Dickens romance. Garrett was a nomad, living out his eternal days alone as he hunted for food and lived in the shadows. He didn’t know happiness was possible until he met Kate. As they huddled together at the Cullens and waited for the Volturi, they realized they were wasting time by not being together. That’s the kind of storyline Swooon is all about.
6. Benjamin and Tia
It’s actually a crime that Benjamin (Rami Malek) and Tia (Angela Sarafyan) didn’t get more time. They should have their own spinoff because their decades-old romance sounds epic. They were childhood sweethearts until he was taken and turned into a vampire. He found her years later, and they decided to spend eternity together. Think of the longing! The angst! The Egyptian vistas! Okay, so their ranking is obviously based on a lot of potential rather than onscreen romance, but them being able to bridge the vampire-human gap helped Bella and Edward make their own transition so they also get brownie points for that.
5. Sam and Emily Uley
Sam (Chaske Spencer) and Emily (Tinsel Korey) are a tricky one. On the one hand, they are one of the most devoted couples in the saga. They are so in love it makes the other Quileutes nauseous to hear Sam’s thoughts about his imprinted bride. But their relationship is far from perfect. Sam exhibited some real f-boy behavior in how he ditched Leah (Julia Jones) to be with Emily. Then he attacked Emily while he was transformed. We know that his inner wolf was to blame for that, but it still gives us a little reservation and prevented them from making it higher on the list.
4. Emmett and Rosalie
Here’s what you actually came for: The ranking of the Cullen couples. Emmett (Kellan Lutz) and Rosalie (Nikki Reed) are an “opposites attract” couple. He’s outgoing and charming. She’s got a tough exterior and is fiercely protective of her family. They balance each other out and are also just stunning together. However, they aren’t just pretty faces It’s really hard for Rosalie to see Bella and Edward get everything she wanted, and we don’t know that she could have come around without Emmett there to ground her. That’s evidence of a really powerful and loyal love.
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3. Carlisle and Esme Cullen
We have some questions about Carlisle (Peter Facinelli) and Esme’s (Elizabeth Reaser) habit of collecting wayward vampire teens, but we have no reservations about them being a committed and loving couple. The way Esme screamed when we thought Carlisle was beheaded in Breaking Dawn — Part 2 will haunt us forever. Marriage is full of ups and downs, especially when it’s literally for eternity. These two make it look easy, and we know they were probably on Bella’s vision board for couple goals if Bella was a vision board kind of girl.
2. Bella and Edward
It was rough-going for these two at the beginning. Despite being over 100 years old, Edward exhibited some truly teenage-boy-level communication skills in the early days of their relationship. Also, stalking a girl while she sleeps is not cool unless she consents ahead of time. Edward thankfully matured out of several of those bad habits and proved that he’d go through hell and back for Bella. Once he made space for Bella to come into her own power, these two became an unstoppable duo. They are the reason we love this franchise so much and go back to it over and over again. “It’s the skin of a killer, Bella!” and we can never get enough.
1. Alice Cullen and Jasper Hale
Bella and Edward are epic, but they are not the GOAT Twilight couple. That honor goes to Alice (Ashley Greene) and Jasper (Jackson Rathbone), the poster couple of “Is anyone going to match my freak?” These two are so in love it borders on co-dependent, but really it’s because no one is going to understand them the way that the other does. It’s so important for Jasper to have someone to keep him grounded, especially as he’s still mastering his base urges when we first meet him. It’s equally important for Alice to have someone to love her for all that she is. They have the loyalty of Carlisle and Esme and the passion of Bella and Edward, even if the saga doesn’t focus on it. They are the total package and the relationship to aspire to in this franchise.
Who is your favorite Twilight couple? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
