Imprinting

From Twilight Saga Wiki

Imprinting is behavioral phenomenon among shapeshifters where a shapeshifter finds his or her soul mate.

Contents 1 Description 2 Stages Of WereWolves 3 Reason for imprinting 4 Known Shapeshifters who Imprinted 5 Imprintee 6 After Effects Of Imprinting

[edit] Description

Imprinting occurs when a shapeshifter finds their soul mate. The moment the shapeshifter sees the one they are destined to be with, they imprint. It is described as a glowing heat; having every connection with everything else severed and instead being only connected to this earth for the other person. After that, nobody else matters because you are only there for your other half, your soul mate.

The actual imprinting itself is an involuntary reaction of course, considering how Sam imprinted on Emily while he was with Leah, Quil imprinted on Emily's neice Claire when she was two, Jared imprinted on Kim, his classmate in whom he never looked at twice before his first phase, Paul imprinted on Jacob's older sister, Rachel, so they're now future in-laws, and Jacob imprinted on the half human/vampire baby Renesmee just minutes after her birth. But by imprinting, none of the involuntary reasons matter anymorre and the imprint makes the shape-shifter happy to be with their soul mate regardless.

Imprinting can't be forced on no matter how much the shapeshifter may want it. As Jacob had tried it numerous of times before to either imprint upon Bella or to get over her. The same goes for Leah too, who didn't go looking around as Jacob did, but admited to either wanting to imprint or to be imprinted on.

The shapeshifter always stares at their imprintee and their own reactions are made secondary, as their first reflex is to give their soulmate anything they need/want.

If an imprinted person is killed by someone, the wolf who imprinted on them can never forgive the killer. If the killer happens to be another wolf from the pack, the wolves would have no choice but to fight to the death. For this reason, the most important law among the La Push shape-shifter pack is that no wolf may kill the object of a fellow wolf's imprinting.

It is unknown what would happen if a wolf was rejected by their imprinted one, though this is declared as almost impossible as the imprinter is the "perfect match" to the imprintee- they will be anything the imprintee ever wanted or needed, making rejection extremely unlikely.

It is also unknown if the shapeshifter could go one day without seeing their imprintee. The seperation may cause both involved pain.

It is implied that once a shapeshifter does imprint they'll one day be able spend the rest of their lives aging alongside their imprintee once they are able to quit phasing thus being able to have children who carry on the wolf gene.

It's also implied that under such circumstances that if the imprintee happens to be immortal, say a half human/vampire hybrid, they would both spend their lives of immortality together as long as the shapeshifter phases every so often, and if possible, having children that become stronger wolves and so on.

[edit] Stages Of WereWolves

There are stages to imprinting, especially if the person on whom the shape-shifter has imprinted is young.

First Stage

If the person is young, the shape-shifter will act as an older sibling.

Second Stage

As the person gets older, the shape-shifter will also come to be their friend.

Third Stage

When the person is old enough, the shape-shifter's feelings are suspected to grow into romantic love, but this hasn't been confirmed.

[edit] Reason for imprinting

The reason for imprinting is unknown. Sam Uley believes that the person on whom the shape-shifter imprints is the person with whom the shape-shifter has the best chance to reproduce (this is debatable since Jacob Black imprinted on Renesmee, the half-vampire half-human child of Edward and Bella). Billy Black, however, thinks that imprinting is designed to make the werewolves stronger.  While never stated directly, Billy's theory may explain Jacob's imprinting on Renesmee; if they are able to reproduce, acquiring some vampire-like traits (such as hardened skin, perfect memory, or supernatural gifts) would possibly make the werewolves stronger or eliminate more of their weaknesses while in human form. Bella hates when Jacob spends all the time with whom he calls "nessie" but soon she learns that the imprint on her brings them closer then ever.

[edit] Known Shapeshifters who Imprinted

• Sam Uley with Emily Young
• Jared with Kim Connweller
• Quil Ateara with Claire
• Paul with Rachel Black
• Jacob Black with Renesmee Cullen

[edit] Imprintee

The imprintee of a shapeshifter has a choice of whether they'll choose their 'soulmate' or not. Though it's implied as highly unlikely. Because no matter the excuse, be it greivances, age differences, or species, no one would be able to resist the levels of commitment and adoration. Having been visited everyday, being stared at adoringly, and to have for them to wait patiently for the imprintee to grow older without the worries over their imprinter leaving them for or dating someone else; knowing that they'd be and do anything for them, giving them all their needs and wants. Not to mention the 'complete' feeling the imprintee feels with their shapeshifter.

Just like their imprinter, the imprintee may have a hard time keeping their eyes off their loved one for any length of time. The imprintee loves their shapeshifter very much, and is their shapeshifter's one and only.

So far only females have been imprinted upon, since it is unknown if Leah Clearwater will ever imprint.

[edit] After Effects Of Imprinting

Even though the shapeshifter has imprinted doesn't necessarily mean they won't suffer a little if it can't be helped. They would instantly break the heart of the one they loved before this imprinting. In Sam's case, he felt horrible when he broke Leah's heart after imprinting on his cousin Emily, giving him reason to hate the vampires for making him phase.

The shapeshifter has to be very careful around their imprinted one, as any bit of anger could cause him to phase and if not far away enough, could accidentily kill or scar them for life.

If the imprintee is younger than the imprinter, and would probably understand when they got older, the imprinter would still not even go around looking to date anyone because they don't 'see' their faces.

There soon may come a day when the young imprintee is old enough to date and even though their imprinter is their 'soulmate' and has always been there, the imprintee has the choice of whether they would commit to their relationship or not.

It is unknown what would happen if the imprintee were to reject their shape-shifter, but it's implied that the shape-shifter could go into an irrational rage and hurt and scar their imprintee very badly, as it seemed to have happened to Emily with Sam.

The sense of duty seems of the only other importance besides being with their imprinted one, so even if the imprintee asked their shapeshifter to stay with them then most likely the answer may most likely be no.

Besides the call of duty as a shapeshifter, being with their imprintee is of more importance and could come with consequences, if the imprinter didn't see their imprinted one all day, they may sneak out at night to be with them, leaving punishment for when they come back home later. And having to not phase for a solid length of time may be very hard, especially due to their bad temper and vampires roaming about, so they can't age normally with their aging imprintee.

If something horribly drastic were to happen where the imprintee sacrifices themselves for their family/tribe, then the same events that happened from the 'third wife's' sacrifice are sure to occur. Bringing much pain to all involved.

Apparently, even after the shape-shifter has stopped phasing and lived a so called 'normal' life with their soulmate, they could still phase back into a wolf if they're angry enough, most notably, if their imprintee has come to any harm.