The Volturi are the largest and most powerful coven of vampires. They enforce the laws of the vampire world. The equivalent of royalty in the vampire world, Marcus's wife (and Aro's sister) Didyme was also a member before she was killed by her brother. Aside from these head members, it also consists of a collection of powerfully imposing vampires, known as the "Volturi guard", the most powerful being Chelsea, Jane and Alec.
PurposeThe Volturi act as the unofficial royalty in the world of vampires, and are an incredibly influential coven. They are also considered 'nighttime patrons of the arts' as, because of their inability to sleep, they study the arts at night. The Volturi act as guardians, keeping the secret society of vampires hidden from the human world as needed.
LawsThroughout the centuries, the Volturi have established and enforced a number of laws that all vampires are expected to obey or get sentenced to death if they don't. There aren't many of them, and they mainly concern the secrecy surrounding the existence of vampires.
The laws are not written down; to write them would in itself be an infraction. Instead, the laws are passed by word of mouth from vampire to vampire.
Hunts must be inconspicuous, with victims unlikely to be missed; their remains must be disposed of and territory must be changed often.
Incapable of self-control, and therefore a threat of exposure, immortal childrens are not to be created. Such creation is the ultimate taboo and punishable by death to both child, the creator, those who defend the child and those who know of its existence.
Dealing with Childrenof the Moon, except for the purpose of extermination, is prohibited.
False witness, regardless of intent, is punishable by death.
Hunting is forbidden in voltrerra, the town of residence of the Volturi; their food is brought from outside, sometimes from quite far away.
Attention should not be drawn and vampires should not be noticed in open sunlight.
The creator is responsible for his newborn's behavior and teaching of the laws before they can be released on their own. By letting a newborn hunt conspicuously, the penalty will be death both to the newborn and its creator. Even if the newborn is ignorant of the law, his rash acts are still punishable by death.
Vampires' interaction with humans must not draw wide attention. If a human becomes aware of them, the vampire at fault would be responsible for silencing that human. This mostly leads to two options: either make the human join the immortals or silence that human permanently. As long as attention isn't drawn widely that prompts the Volturi's involvement, they may never find out.
Aro: The official leader. His power of tactile telepathy allows him to access every thought a person has ever had by making physical contact with them. He is the most greedy, careful, yet ambitious and manipulative of the leaders, always looking for ways to collect the gifts that he desires, and would kill those he cares about if it meant maintaining his power of authority.
Caius: Aro's partner and co-leader of the Volturi. He does not possess any special talents, but his ambitions and hatred toward the Romanian coven impressed Aro so much that he decided to recruit him when they formed the coven. He is often in disagreement with Aro, but Chelsea's power has kept Caius loyal to him.
Marcus: A co-leader with the power of relationship identification. With it, he can read the emotional bonds of others and see the weaknesses. Aro uses his gift to find the weakest spots of their enemies' emotional bonds and then use it against them. Marcus has been completely apathetic and uninterested in everything since the death of his mate, Didyme.