The Volturi Coven
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The Volturi are a civilized coven of vampires. They enforce the laws of the vampire world. They "invite" other vampires with powerful gifts to join their coven. They are the largest, and most powerful coven of vampires in the series.
The Volturi Coven includes: Aro, Caius, and Marcus as the leaders, Sulpicia (Aro's bonded pair), Athenodora (Caius' bonded pair), and Didyme (that used to be Marcus' bonded pair).
Background
The Volturi are an ancient and powerful coven of vampires, something like royalty in humans. They operate from the city of Volterra, Italy. The Volturi have existed for at least three thousand years, if not more. They are the largest coven in existence, followed by Carlisle's family, the Olympic Coven, and Tanya's, the Denali Coven. However, they do not follow a "vegetarian" diet, as seen in New Moon, in which they capture and murder several humans in a carefully planned "meal". They are considered the de facto royal family of vampires. The Volturi deal swiftly and decisively with anything they consider a threat to their city, or to the vampire world; for example they protect vampires existence in secret. They destroy anyone who attempts to overthrow them or resist their authority and, at Caius' insistence, have hunted werewolves (true werewolves, not shape-shifters) to near extinction in Europe and Asia.
Purpose
Although they are not the 'official' royal family of vampires, they still act as though they are, and are an incredibly influential coven. They are also considered 'nighttime patrons of the arts' as, because of their inability to sleep, they study the arts at night. The Volturi act as guardians, keeping the secret society of vampires hidden from the human world as needed. They often send others to travel from Volterra to destroy overzealous covens from exposing vampires through mass eradication of every vampire (and any humans) present. In the Twilight series, the Volturi are becoming an increasing problem, as they want Bella turned into a vampire as soon as possible. Edward opposes the idea, as he believes it would destroy Bella's soul. They also went to Forks, Washington to destroy Victoria's evil coven of young vampires, as they were being a menace to the neighboring city, Seattle. However, by the time they arrived the fight had already ended, and the werewolves had to escape as the Volturi do not tolerate truces with werewolves. In addition, in the last book "Breaking Dawn" they are seen to come to destroy Renesmee along with those who created and protect her, as they wrongly think she is an "Immortal Child."
Leaders
Aro, Caius and Marcus are the leaders of the Volturi. They command the Volturi's guard and act as representatives when dealing with other covens. Aro has the ability to read every thought a human or vampire ever had simply by making physical contact with them. Marcus has the ability to sense relationships, as demonstrated in New Moon. Unlike Aro and Marcus, Caius is not gifted.
The Wives
Mates of the Volturi leaders. The wives are also powerful figures of authority, but only go to trials with their husbands on behalf of extremely important matters, not leaving Volterra but once every few centuries. Didyme had the power to make an aura of happiness, similar to Jasper's gift. Unlike Didyme, Sulpicia and Athenodora are not gifted.
Mates of the Volturi leaders. The wives are also powerful figures of authority, but only go to trials with their husbands on behalf of extremely important matters, not leaving Volterra but once every few centuries. Didyme had the power to make an aura of happiness, similar to Jasper's gift. Unlike Didyme, Sulpicia and Athenodora are not gifted.
Director Chris Weitz on the Volturi -
"No matter how strange one of the characters is in a work of fantasy, I think you have to approach them as people and then so you start to think, 'They've been around for 2,000 years. How would they interact with one another?' The conclusion was that after 2,000 years you'd probably be more than mildly insane. No matter how cultured or gracious you appear on the surface. And I think that's what Michael Sheen managed to portray as Aro, the head of the Volturi -- on the surface he's terribly gracious, warm, a wonderful host and at the same time he's lethal and frightening. It's also what Dakota Fanning conveys as Jane. She's innocent looking in appearance but she's absolutely deadly. The first thing I wanted to do was put them in a setting that wasn't Dracula's castle. There have been so many vampire movies and werewolf movies and horror movies where everything has been dark and dreary. Instead, their headquarters is surprisingly light and crisp. And the characters that they play have a kind of a tactile reality to them in spite of how bizarre their situation is really. The whole point is not to leave Forks, Washington where everything has really been quite realistic and then suddenly go to a location that completely throws you out of the movie. And the set although it's huge and grand and magnificent actually feels like a real place."
"No matter how strange one of the characters is in a work of fantasy, I think you have to approach them as people and then so you start to think, 'They've been around for 2,000 years. How would they interact with one another?' The conclusion was that after 2,000 years you'd probably be more than mildly insane. No matter how cultured or gracious you appear on the surface. And I think that's what Michael Sheen managed to portray as Aro, the head of the Volturi -- on the surface he's terribly gracious, warm, a wonderful host and at the same time he's lethal and frightening. It's also what Dakota Fanning conveys as Jane. She's innocent looking in appearance but she's absolutely deadly. The first thing I wanted to do was put them in a setting that wasn't Dracula's castle. There have been so many vampire movies and werewolf movies and horror movies where everything has been dark and dreary. Instead, their headquarters is surprisingly light and crisp. And the characters that they play have a kind of a tactile reality to them in spite of how bizarre their situation is really. The whole point is not to leave Forks, Washington where everything has really been quite realistic and then suddenly go to a location that completely throws you out of the movie. And the set although it's huge and grand and magnificent actually feels like a real place."