Summary

• The Twilight Saga contains plenty of bizarre canon that makes even die-hard fans scratch their heads.
• By far the strangest piece of Twilight lore is imprinting, which is where werewolves develop deep and intense feelings for a person.
• In Breaking Dawn - Part 1, Jacob imprints on a newborn Renesmee Cullen, raising some questions about the ethical nature of imprinting.

One can argue that The Twilight Saga had many cringe-worthy moments, especially in the sequels. However, one stands above all others. Nothing quite beats the weird relationship between Jacob Black and Renesmee Cullen, the vampire-human hybrid daughter of Edward and Bella. While franchise author Stephenie Meyer tried to explain their connection by having Jacob imprint on her as a werewolf, that doesn't make their relationship any less problematic.

Imprinting is the means by which Quileute shape-shifters, aka werewolves, find their soulmates. It's difficult for any of them to explain how it feels. But it seems as though there is an immediate connection that can't be denied. Nothing else matters except this one person.

Updated on January 29, 2024, by Katie Doll: The Twilight Saga was riddled with controversy during its height of success, but nothing quite beat the creepy and offensive undertones of Jacob imprinting on Renesmee. This article has been updated to expand on the implications behind imprinting in the Twilight films.

The Issues with Jacob and Renesmee's Relationship in Twilight

The main reason that Jacob's imprint on Renesmee is so problematic is that he imprints on her as soon as she's born. More often than not, imprinting happens when one is an adult, and because they're dealing with soulmates, there is always a sexual component involved. So when Jacob imprints on an infant child, it's immediately a problem -- for both the audience and for Bella, who fully understands the implications of Jacob's imprint.

Jacob tries to explain that he'll be what she needs him to be throughout her life -- a mentor, a friend and then eventually a lover when she grows up. Like Bella, any reader or viewer would cringe at the weirdness of the situation. His explanation doesn't make the circumstance any less weird and inappropriate. It also doesn't help that Jacob spent years in love with Bella, and then suddenly, he's in love with her child.

Bella Turned Into a Disposable Vessel

While Jacob's imprinting on Renesmee may seem like an easy way to wrap up his storyline, considering he's left in the dust of Edward and Bella's romance, it was not a great move to pair him with their daughter. When Bella was pregnant with her, Jacob hovered around Bella under the idea that he was mourning the last vestiges of his friend and love. But after Renesmee is born, he acknowledges that he was hovering because he could already feel the connection to her.

The majorly offensive implication behind this situation is that Bella was never truly someone Jacob romantically loved. He never respected her boundaries and got in the way of her true happiness, but a very small part of him was redeemed because his love seemed real. After Renesmee was born, though, it was almost as if Bella was useless to him. She was merely a disposable host whose primary purpose for Jacob was to carry the love of his life. Once she did her "duty," he moved on from her.

The situation translates well to real-life situations of women who are mistreated during pregnancy. There are horrible and outdated standards that claim women are only useful for carrying children and continuing a man's legacy. Unfortunately, many people still believe these standards hold true today, and it can sometimes create an abusive dynamic between pregnant women and fathers. In some ways, Bella and Jacob's relationship represents the gendered roles women are forced into and can never escape. To Jacob, Bella's biggest accomplishment was getting pregnant and dying during labor, just so he could imprint on the child.

Imprinting Conveys Potentially Abusive Stalking

Another abusive aspect of general imprinting is stalking in relationships. One of the earliest stories of imprinting that Jacob tells Bella about is between Emily and Sam. The latter imprinted on Emily, despite being in a relationship with Emily's cousin Leah. Emily would continuously tell him they couldn't be in a relationship, but he kept pleading. One day, the two got in a massive fight when he lost control and physically attacked her as a werewolf. At the hospital, he threatened suicide, and she agreed to begin a relationship with him.

The books and movies play this off as a romantic tale of love persevering all, without addressing the clearly problematic spirit to it. Sam manipulated her through stalking, breaking her relationship with Leah and emotionally abusing her with threats of suicide. If this happens between two adults, what would it look like for an adult imprinting on a child? The movies end before Renesmee grows up and evaluates her relationship with Jacob. If she were to feel disgusted by Jacob's obsession with her, the chances of him letting her go would be slim at best. The werewolves are betrayed as compulsive beings whose love knows no bounds. In every case that's known about imprinting, not once did the victim ever succeed in rejecting the men who imprint on them. They always end in a Stockholm Syndrome type of relationship that they have little odds of escaping from.

Jacob Imprinting on Renesmee Is a Sad and Desperate Affair

Although the timelines of their lifespans work out, Renesmee will ultimately outlive Jacob because she is part vampire, and while it seems endearing that Jacob would live his entire life dedicated to her, he comes across as a sad puppy dog who is begging for attention. Fortunately for viewers, the only time that they actually see Jacob and Renesmee spend time together, other than when she was a child, is in a few montage sequences that briefly encapsulate their future together. Thankfully, that's kept brief and doesn't linger on any details, particularly how their relationship affects Bella and Edward.

After spending time believing he'd never imprint and watching all of his werewolf buddies imprint around him, Jacob felt like his luck with love would never win out, especially since Bella had clearly chosen Edward over him. But as soon as Bella had their child, Jacob's life was turned upside down. Again, from a writer's perspective, it seems like an easy way to keep the whole family together while finally giving Jacob a shot at love. But it just doesn't come across like a wholesome event. While there are plenty of cringe moments throughout The Twilight Saga, having a grown man fall in love with a child definitely takes the cake.