Jacob "Jake" Black is a fictional character in the
Twilight series by
Stephenie Meyer. He is described as a
Native American of the
Quileute tribe in
La Push, near
Forks, Washington. In the second book of the series, he undergoes a transformation that allows him to morph into a wolf. For the majority of the series, Jacob competes with
Edward Cullen for
Bella Swan's love. In the films
Twilight,
New Moon,
Eclipse, and
Breaking Dawn, Jacob is played by
Taylor Lautner.
Concept and creation
According to
Stephenie Meyer, Jacob was originally meant to be a device through which Bella could learn Edward's secret in
Twilight. Meyer, her agent, and her editor all liked the character so much that they decided to give him a larger role in the following book,
New Moon, with Meyer calling the character, "my favorite gift that
New Moon gave to me.""Jacob was my first experience with a character taking over—a minor character developing such roundness and life that I couldn't keep him locked inside a tiny role....From the very beginning, even when Jacob only appeared in chapter six of
Twilight, he was so
alive. I liked him. More than I should for such a small part."</blockquote>
Meyer has said that after Jacob started emerging as a prominent character in
New Moon, she went back to
Twilight, which she was editing at the time, to "weave Jacob and throughout
Twilight more...
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