What Is Imprinting In Twilight?

One of the only times Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) shows true, non-monotonic emotion is when she discovers that Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) has imprinted on her and Edward Cullen's (Robert Pattinson) newborn, Renesmee. Upon catching his first glimpse of the baby, Jacob falls to his knees and envisions an entire life spent by her side. But wait ... does this mean Jacob is in love with an infant? Well, not exactly.

In the world of "Twilight," imprinting is when a shape-shifting wolf immediately forms feelings for someone of the opposite sex that go far beyond a crush, or even love. Jacob explains it to Bella like this: "All of a sudden, it's not gravity holding you to the planet. It's her. Nothing else matters. You would do anything, be anything for her."

Ultimately, the imprintee has a lifelong protector and best friend. "Twilight" creator Stephenie Meyer explained in an interview that the wolf is incapable of harming this person and can never be angry at them. "His only purpose at that point then becomes to keep that person safe and happy by whatever means possible." A wolf who imprints can't ignore these feelings, and has absolutely no control over who they imprint on. This, of course, leads to some awkward situations, like Sam Uley (Chaske Spencer) breaking up with Leah Clearwater (Julia Jones) after imprinting on Emily Young (Tinsel Korey). Despite not wanting to hurt Leah, he physically can't overcome the magnetic pull toward Emily.

While Sam Uley's imprint on Emily Young has a romantic component to it, "Twilight" star Taylor Lautner stressed that this isn't the case (just yet) between Jacob Black and Renesmee. "When I filmed that scene, first I wanted to fully understand it, and I had to get out of my mind that it's this romantic thing because it's not at first, at all," Lautner told Hollywood.com. "It's just this special bond, connection with someone, and I think they did it in a really great way, Bill Condon, our director. I'm really happy with it, but on the day, it was challenging."

The hardest part, Lautner explained, was figuring out what imprinting looks like, and perfectly depicting on screen the exact moment that this mysterious connection happens. It didn't help that Renesmee was created via CGI. Therefore, when filming that scene, he had to imprint on an "X" that was placed on the wall rather than an actual baby.

In the end, until Renesmee becomes an adult (at which time she and Jacob will likely become a couple) she has a fierce protector and friend by her side ... not a creepy wolfboy.