The Twilight series has been a big part of pop culture ever since the books were released in the 2000s, and the saga has had a resurgence of popularity recently with the release of Midnight Sun. This book was told from Edward’s perspective, so fans are once again thinking about the sparkling vampire hero and love interest.
While Edward Cullen might be the male romantic lead in the story, he isn’t always perfect. He has moments where he can be annoying and flawed as well as having positive attributes.
10 Worst: Moody
Edward Cullen definitely fits the trope of being the moody and attractive male love interest, and he is rather emotional. He’s prone to brooding over the state of his soul, and while Bella helps pull him out of his bouts of depression, he generally isn’t the most upbeat person.
In fact, he spent decades before her lamenting that he was going to hᥱll so, overall, his self-loathing can get worse.
9 Best: Understanding Consent
When the books were first coming out Team Edward versus Team Jacob was a big deal, and even today fans still have strong opinions on who Bella should have ended up with. While both Edward and Jacob have their flaws, one of the best things about Edward is he understood much better than Jacob the importance of consent in physical relationships.
He got upset when Jacob kissed Bella because Bella didn’t say yes to the kiss.
8 Worst: Angry
Vampires as a whole can seem rather calm and cold, but they can be suddenly emotional and even scary especially when in the midst of a bl00d frenzy.
However, Edward was someone who often needed to learn to keep his angry feelings to himself. While he didn’t take anger out on Bella, he could easily get upset at other people around him and especially needed to learn to calm down when it came to the shapeshifters.
7 Best: Soulful
Edward Cullen had been alive for nearly 100 years before he met Bella, and the immortality that vampires have allows them to learn and grow in ways that humans never could. While most vampires take up other hobbies and become proficient in many skills, Edward was partially deep and soulful.
He loved things like classical music and had a somewhat old-fashioned sensibility when it came to art and the world around him.
6 Worst: Judgemental
For fans who read Midnight Sun, one standout thing they learned about Edward is that he was fairly judgemental. While this does come across somewhat in the other books, it’s clearer when the story is told from Edward’s point of view.
Edward had disdain for a lot of people, and he seemed to think that Bella was one of only a few women who was special enough to interest him. Sometimes, it could even come off as sexist.
5 Best: Caring
While Edward has his moments where he can be selfish, he is overall a caring person. He is attached to his family members, and when he starts dating Bella, he does feel a lot of loyalty and affection for her.
He does many things to take care of her and show that he is thinking about her which makes a lot of sense given that he doesn’t even have to sleep.
4 Worst: Aloof
Of all the members of the Cullen family, Edward came off as the most distant and aloof when it came to interacting with others. While this makes sense to a degree when it comes to relationships with humans, he didn’t really try to get to know any other vampires either.
Overall, he was a bit of a loner, and he could come off as cold and distant. There also seems to be a part of him that was arrogant and thought he was better than others.
3 Best: Intelligent
It seems like most vampires in the series are intelligent to some degree, and given they have so many years to learn and such heightened senses, this seems natural.
Edward is particularly intelligent, however, and he is somewhat more prone to things like learning and introspection than other vampires such as Emmett Cullen.
2 Worst: Controlling
One of Edward’s worst traits that many fans and critics of the series have pointed out is that Edward can be way too controlling.
While there are times when he tries hard to make sure Bella gets to make her own choices, he was often controlling when it came to her spending time with Jacob and the other shapeshifters. He might have said he was doing this to protect her, but it was still unhealthy.
1 Best: Thoughtful
Edward’s overall personality is introverted and careful, and while this does mean he can sometimes be moody and come across is negative, there is a good side to this, too.
Edward could be particularly thoughtful, and he remembered many details about Bella and was always trying his best to make her happy.
