Bella Swan faces many of her greatest fears throughout The Twilight Saga, but some rank as much scarier than the others!
News of Taylor Lautner’s recent wedding (via Vogue) has once again brought the nostalgia of The Twilight Saga back to fans, as they reminisce over their favorite characters and where they are today. Along with Lautner’s Jacob Black, another name that tops that list is Kristen Stewart’s Bella Swan, the awkward yet relatable protagonist whose journey is charted by the series.
Despite Bella facing numerous hurdles and trying situations after joining Edward’s supernatural world, many of her greatest fears were driven by her own human emotions and insecurities. Although some of them (such as the Volturi and Victoria) were indeed murderous and terrifying creatures, a lot of Bella’s strongest and scariest demons came from within.
10 Staying An Aging Human
Once Bella learns Edward’s truth, she is constantly insecure about her humanness in comparison and is shown to become especially afraid of growing older and how it will impact their relationship.
While staying an aging human is a monumental fear for Bella (driving her incessant desire to be turned into an immortal vampire), it’s the least scary fear; not only is aging a normal part of the non-supernatural world but – as Edward reminds her – there are far more terrible things out there, some of which Bella goes on to face.
9 Being The Center Of Attention
Bella’s most cringeworthy quotes in Twilight, it’s clear that she is inherently awkward and anxious. As such, one of her greatest fears is being the center of attention.
Whether it be dancing at prom, having a birthday party, or being the bride at her own wedding, Bella dreads any events that showcase her in front of other people. While her hesitancy and fear of embarrassing herself in social situations may be relatable and daunting, it is also something she has to deal with constantly and eventually learn to overcome by the end of the series, making it not as terrifying as some others.
8 Bringing Harm To Loved Ones
Although Bella is seen by most as a bland and whiny protagonist that ruins her movies, she is still shown to have immense empathy and care deeply about her loved ones, even more so in the books.
From keeping Charlie safe to not wanting to hurt Jacob’s feelings, Bella is constantly worrying about how her decisions and how their implications will hurt those around her. A lot of the time, this means fearing for their lives as she tries to keep her supernatural world from harming her fragile human parents and friends, with the severity of the vampire threats she faces making this one of her more valid and scarier fears.
7 Meeting Death Through James
Bella’s decision to meet James at her old ballet studio was noble and made even more brave and righteous by how terrified she was to go and meet her death that day.
This is made clear right in Twilight’s prologue, but when she also goes to meet James, his revelations about previously hunting down Alice and his obvious reveling in slow torture stress Bella out further. However, as scary as meeting James may be, Bella still manages to counter that feeling through the relief of knowing Charlie and Renee are safe. That self-placation and willingness to place others over her terror make this fear not as notably horrifying as others.
6 The Pain Of Her Transformation
Much of Bella’s development arc throughout The Twilight Saga relies on her fixation with becoming a vampire, but in the Eclipse novel, Bella reveals to Jacob that she is still frightened of the transformation’s pain and how intense it may be.
Given a glimpse of what it felt like when James bit her in Twilight, along with all the stories she’s been told, Bella’s impending suffering is one of her scarier fears. Not only will it cause immense agony to her, but it also dampens her enthusiasm for becoming a vampire – a worthy feat given how that is her one constant and overarching goal throughout the series.
5 Not Having Self-Control As A Vampire
Just as with the many other Twilight plot threads not fully explored in the movies, Bella’s worry of her inevitable bloodlust is barely touched upon in the films, besides the brief nightmare she has in Breaking Dawn Part 1.
But in the books, Bella is quite concerned about how she’ll be able to manage her hunger as a newborn, as evidenced by the many conversations she has about it. Given the Cullens’ own troubled history with bloodthirsty and the newborn army they come across, Bella’s fear of not having self-control is incredibly justified and one of the scariest and most overwhelming feelings she has to face. Surprisingly, she handles it well in the final installment.
4 Facing Laurent Alone
Laurent may be one of Twilight’s most likable side characters, but he is also behind one of Bella’s most terror-driven moments when she has to face him alone in the meadow in New Moon.
Part of what makes facing Laurent one of Bella’s scariest fears is the range of emotions she goes through upon seeing him, depicting just how fragile both her physical and mental well-being were at that point. Plus, her being stranded alone, the desperation as she tries to lie out of the situation, and her helplessly succumbing to him make it one of the more terrifying fears she has to face throughout the series.
3 Being Hunted By Victoria
Victoria manages to haunt Bella more often than many of her other fears throughout The Twilight Saga, making her not only one of the scariest ones but also the most consistent.
From Twilight to Eclipse, Victoria manages to remain a constantly relevant, relentless, and ruthless threat to Bella, going so far as to raise an entire newborn army just to try and kill her for James’ vengeance. Victoria constantly lurking in the shadows is shown to affect Bella greatly in New Moon, along with amplifying many of her other fears (such as harming loved ones) in Eclipse. Yet, Victoria’s eventual demise both shows great character development for Bella and her bravery at facing one of her strongest demons.
2 The Volturi Coming After Her
Despite the many hilarious Twilight memes about the Volturi, they are undoubtedly the most menacing and powerful threats Bella has to fear. From New Moon right up until Breaking Dawn Part 2, the fear of the Volturi coming and raging havoc on her life with Edward and the Cullens greatly troubles Bella, especially since it puts so many of her loved ones at risk.
Bella’s fear of the Volturi is a top contender for the scariest, especially given the set of powerful vampires like Jane and Alec, who are in their ranks. Not to mention the fact that her giving birth nearly leads to a brutal vampire war that would have destroyed many lives thanks to the Volturi.
1 Losing Edward
As shown on countless occasions, Bella’s greatest fear is losing Edward. Not only is he her soulmate, but he is also a connection to the supernatural world that Bella so desperately longs to be a part of.
While losing Edward may at first not seem to be as scary as facing the Volturi or Victoria, it’s evident that much of Bella’s happiness is irrevocably tied to the young vampire. As proven in New Moon, his departure leads to a serious decline in her well-being, and he is at many times the one thing tethering her to her emotions and motivations. Without Edward, Bella is barely alive – even as a human – which is what makes her fear of losing him the scariest.
The Twilight Saga can be streamed on Amazon Prime, or on Netflix in certain regions.
