What is Caius’ origin story?

There are many characters in the Twilight Saga who haven’t had their stories fully told, and Caius is one of them. The character, who was lived on the big screen byJamie Campbell Bowerdoes not have much prominence in the books written by Stephenie Meyer and has very little screen time in the film adaptations. Therefore, fans of this universe know very little about the past of this vampire, who is a high-ranking member of the Volturi clan.

However, through the book “The Twilight Saga: The Offical Illustrated Guide” (in free translation, The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide), fans were able to know a little more about certain stories, with as many details as possible — including Caius’ past.

The Story of Caius

Although Aro is the leader of the Volturi, Caius is the eldest. He was born around 1300 BC, and was turned into a vampire at the age of 40, which is unusually old compared to the other immortal beings in the saga. It is not known for sure why and how Caius became a vampire, however, it is clear that shortly after his transformation, he meets Athenodora, his eternal life companion.

Aro was looking for a powerful and ambitious vampire to join him and Marcus to form an unshakable clan, with the aim of defeating the Romanians, the most powerful group of vampires at the time. When he first met Caius, he saw potential in him because of his boundless hatred. Thus, Caius became a member of the Volturi along with his mate.

But even before this meeting with the leader of the Volturi, Caius had already faced the Romanians, causing him to have a grudge against the clan, which further helped his interaction with Aro. While Caius was concerned about attacking the clan, Aro wanted to gain power, and they saw in the other the chance to fulfill their desires. The Volturi killed all the Romanians, and established themselves as the most powerful vampires in the Twilight Saga.

Even after the victory, Caius’ anger did not subside. The vampire swore to wipe out all werewolf species after nearly dying from an encounter he had with a shapeshifter. He always hunted werewolves to try to exterminate groups and the Quileute tribe, which Jacob is part of, was lucky that this immortal being never went to take his anger out on Forks.

In addition to his constant hatred, another point that made Caius essential to Aro’s plans was his determination and paranoia, in addition to intense fear. These characteristics allowed him to defend the clan even without any power – not to mention that he was a faithful follower of Aro.

Another thing Caius hunted relentlessly was immortal children. The vampire spent years searching for children who were turned into vampires and who lacked the ability to control their abilities. These small immortals became a major threat to the control of the Volturi and Caius, alongside the twins Alec and Jane, became the main vampire responsible for finding and executing these small ones.

Like Marcus, Caius’s love story didn’t have the ending he wanted. When the plot of the Twilight saga begins, Caius and Athenodora are still together, but she ended up being trapped with Aro’s companion. The two vampires are in a glorious prison to avoid being murdered, as happened to Marcus’s mate, Aro’s sister.

However, it is worth remembering that Aro murdered his own sister, as he thought that both she and Marcus would turn their backs on him, due to their love. But the leader of the Volturi never revealed that he was responsible for his sister’s death, and so he used the excuse of locking his companions in a prison so that they would not suffer the same cruel fate.

To compensate for the pain of separating the couple, Aro ensured that a vampire who could control minds made both Caius and Athenodora think they were happy with this supposed protection. Still, Caius couldn’t convince himself that living forever was worth any power. Right in the first events of the Twilight story, the vampire begins to question Aro’s decision to keep his companions imprisoned.