What is it About Edward Cullen?

During his Twilight press tour last fall, star Robert Pattinson asked fans what it was about his character, Edward Cullen, that they were so attracted to. What was it about this particular literary vampire that made him, as fans told him repeatedly, "so sexy"?

Many a man has asked that same question. There is a new subculture of men-the Twilight Widowers-whose wives or girlfriends have been stolen away by one supernaturally sexy fictional vampire. But what is it about Edward Cullen and his family of "vegetarian vampires" that women find so appealing? What power or spell does Edward cast?

There are three key elements to Edward's attraction. First, he is a vampire. Second, he is Edward Cullen. And third, he is Robert Pattinson.

The Vampire

Vampires have long been viewed as the ultimate sexual monster. They are dark, they are mysterious. They dwell in shadows and night. They are the bad boy, the forbidden lust, the carnal, primal animal. They seduce their victims with mesmerizing eyes not only because they can, but because they must. They crave the very life force-blood-that gives us our humanity. The vampire may take us with a slow seduction or with violent aggression, but take us he must, in order to live himself. And in taking us, he holds our very existence in his hands. He may deliver us to death, or grant us immortality.

Paramount to the vampire's seduction, more than his changing eyes and shadowy persona, is that craving for our blood that makes his need for us as great as our draw to him. Add to that need, that craving, the fact that the nape of the neck is a powerful erogenous zone in women. Whether the vampire glides up silently behind her and presses his lips to her neck, or takes her with force and dives into her, that moment, in its balance of life and death, in its meeting of hunger and desire, is a powerful sexual image. The vampire's playground is one of a woman's sweetest spots.

Edward Cullen

Edward Cullen is no ordinary vampire. Like all the vampires in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight saga, he does not conform to traditional vampire lore. There are no fangs, no crosses or wooden stakes or garlic. Twilight vampires can walk in the sun, and their beauty is blinding. They do not sleep, they have super strength and speed, and they cannot be killed easily. The Cullen family deviates most clearly from tradition-both in reality and in the story-by refusing to drink human blood; their existence is maintained with animal blood. Then there are the special vampires, those with additional gifts. Alice Cullen can see the future. Jasper Cullen can control moods.

And unless you are Bella Swan, Edward Cullen knows what you're thinking.

Although it is the silence of Bella's thoughts that first catches Edward's notice, it is his most dangerous instinct that draws him to her: his uncontrollable need for her blood. To Edward, Bella's blood is the most powerful narcotic on Earth. It is no passing fancy, no slight temptation. It is a biological imperative. He must take her. He must devour her. He must drain her life and take it inside himself. His struggle to maintain the remnants of his humanity in the face of her overwhelming allure means denying the very essence of his being. He has successfully suppressed his need for seventy years, but a moment, a whisper of Bella's scent reawakens the monster inside of him.

Yet when Edward stops breathing in order to cut off her scent, the silence of her mind drives him just as wild with curiosity as her blood drove him with thirst. He is as intrigued by the novelty of her silence as he is frustrated by it. He cannot control her by seeing her intentions or thoughts. He cannot anticipate her reactions and manipulate her as he has done with all humans for a century. He cannot help himself when the curiosity and desire turn into something deeper, more human and passionate than anything he has experienced before-love.

In loving Bella, Edward undergoes a radical transformation, stifling his need for her blood so effectively that her scent becomes perfume to him, her heartbeat a necessary and enthralling sound. The things in himself that have kept him alive for so long-his strength, his speed, his indestructibility-suddenly are of no use to him. He comes to loathe himself because he cannot be for Bella what she is for him: a warm place, a soft place. He tries desperately to reign himself in, to keep her safe from him, because she is so fragile in comparison. At the same time he is coming to grips with the emotions and passions of humanity, of first love, of lust and sexuality, that have evaded him for his entire existence. Even as he holds himself back from her, he is overwhelmed by the need to take her, not to quench his thirst but instead to become one with her, to give himself to her.

Edward Cullen is 108 years old. He has read every book, seen every movie, studied every language. He is a gifted musician and composer. He is wealthy, and beautiful, and powerfully strong. He is seductive, mysterious, and dark. Edward Cullen will never be out of shape, or messy, or old. He will not leave his underwear on the bathroom floor or leave the seat up. He will never stray from Bella, because she is his one and only love, his eternity, and he will love her with as much passion and constancy a hundred years from now as he does today. He may become overprotective at times, even severely so, but it is his love and fear of losing her that drives him. His entire existence revolves around her happiness, her safety, her needs and desires. Even when her desires and passions drive him to dangerous limits, he channels his inner demons (destroying pillows or headboards, for example) in order to satisfy her needs.

Edward becomes even more alluring as a partner once Bella becomes immortal. The vampire does not need sleep, does not need to eat frequently, does not even need to use the bathroom-and can make love for days on end without pause. Vampire sex in the Twilight world is constant, powerful, house-shattering. Twilight vampires' senses are heightened, making the sexual experience even more intense. Edward could literally spend days satisfying Bella, and she him. Free of the animal need for each other's blood, they are consumed by their need for each other's bodies instead.

Is it really any wonder, then, that teenage girls, overwhelmed with adolescence and hormones, are attracted to this ultimate bad boy? That grown women, whether still seeking their Romeo or long past the days of searching, are swooning at the mere thought of Edward's golden eyes, his cool breath on their necks, his touch on their skin? He is dangerous, exciting, sensual, intelligent, beautiful, and eternal. He is life and death, sexuality and abstinence, sparkling light and blackest darkness in one being. He is both too young and too old for the women who adore him, frozen forever at 17 yet with a century of experience in the world.

Robert Pattinson

Robert Pattinson is not Edward Cullen, and yet he is completely and forever Edward Cullen. Taking on Edward's film persona would have been a challenge for any actor. Pattinson himself has laughed at the impossibility of playing a character so perfect, so beautiful and otherworldly. Yet somehow, in bringing so much of himself to the character-his own insecurities and fears, his darker interests and thoughts-he added a depth of feeling to Edward that the character on the page was lacking. Pattinson embraced Edward's hatred of himself and his inner monster and made that part of Edward more prominent, brushing aside much of the flowery perfection attributed to Edward by Bella and her love-colored glasses.

It also doesn't hurt that Robert Pattinson is a handsome, tall, mysterious, and dark man himself.

From the ends of his inexplicably famous hair to the tips of his graceful, piano-playing, guitar strumming fingers; from the soft whisper of his Edward voice to the deep, gravelly, bluesy growl of his singing voice; from his adorably geeky performance in The Bad Mother's Handbook to his Hogwarts champion in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, there is just something so real, so normal about Robert Pattinson the man that makes him lovable and downright sexy. His interviews range from the dirty ("It's sex where you end up killing the other person. It's the best type of sex") to the silly ("I cut my toenails, and bought some new underpants"). He is a dirty, dirty boy, with his unwashed hair and overgrown eyebrows as well as the wicked twinkle in his eyes and that British accent that can stop your heart. He's so incredibly self-deprecating that he makes you want to give him a hug and take him home with you. He may be the dream of many a teenage girl, but he's admitted a love for older women that has all the cougars panting as well. There is little he holds back, yet he leaves you feeling like you've barely scratched his surface.

Robert Pattinson is not Edward Cullen. But Edward got a little bit hotter because Robert Pattinson gave him a face, a body, an evilly seductive grin, and an innate shyness that he didn't have before.

So Robert, there is your answer, from one admitted TwiHard cougar who thinks you are perfect because you are not Edward Cullen, and thinks Edward Cullen is perfect because he is not anyone at all.