A vegetarian is a vampire who subsists on animal rather than human blood. The term was adopted by the Cullen family, so that they could refer to their unnatural diet in a civilized fashion. Being a vegetarian is very uncommon among vampires, and the majority consider it somewhat unusual; the only two covens consistently showing this diet are the Olympic and the Denali covens. Nevertheless, being a vegetarian allows vampires to live among humans with little or no detection, even though it can only be accomplished in regions with ample animal populations. In some cases, such vampires can live not as a coven but as a family as their needs do not always drive them to kill. Due to chemical differences within the blood, vegetarians have golden rather than red eyes. The vegetarian diet, however, is much less appealing than human blood. In the Twilight movie, Edward states that "It's like a human only living on tofu, it keeps you strong, but you're never fully satisfied".
Known vegetarians
The Olympic Coven
- Main article: Olympic Coven
- Carlisle Cullen
- Esme Cullen
- Edward Cullen
- Bella Swan
- Alice Cullen
- Jasper Hale
- Rosalie Hale
- Emmett Cullen
- Renesmee Cullen
The Denali Coven
- Main article: Denali Coven
- Tanya
- Kate
- Carmen
- Eleazar
- Garrett (Assumed to have turned to vegetarianism when he joined the Denali Coven)
- Irina (Deceased)
- Laurent (Secretly drank human blood occasionally, Deceased)
Trivia
In the movie adaptation of Twilight, Carlisle uses the term "vegetarian" to describe Jasper, and why he acts distant towards Bella when she comes to the house. Edward also says that he doesn't feed on humans because "he doesn't want to be a monster", and he mentions that they do call themselves vegetarians at times.