Esme Cullen (born Esme Anne Platt, previously Evenson, born 1895) is the matriarch of the Olympic coven. She is the wife of Carlisle Cullen and the adoptive mother of Alice, Emmett, Edward Cullen, Rosalie and Jasper Hale. Esme is also the adoptive mother-in-law of Bella Swan, and the adoptive grandmother of Renesmee Cullen. She was previously married to Charles Evenson as a human.

In 1921, after losing her baby to lung fever, Esme attempted suicide, but her attempt was unsuccessful. Later, Carlisle transformed her into a vampire on her deathbed. Some time later, the pair fell in love and married, starting to build a family of like-minded vegetarian vampires around them. Esme possessed an unparalleled capacity for passionate love for those around her, which allowed the members of her adoptive family to consider her as the greatest maternal figure in their lives.