Jacob imprints on Bella’s daughter Renesmee because the Twilight lore sets imprinting up as a mystical, uncontrollable “soulmate bond,” and Renesmee — not Bella — is revealed as Jacob’s true fated match, giving him a permanent role in Bella’s new family and “explaining” his earlier pull toward Bella during her pregnancy.

What imprinting is (in-universe)

In the Twilight universe, werewolf imprinting is described as a powerful, irreversible bond where the wolf is “gravitationally pulled” toward one person, who becomes their absolute center.

That person is framed as their destined soulmate, and the imprinter’s priorities reorder around protecting and pleasing them above everything else.

Key points about imprinting:

  • It is not a choice; it “just happens” when the wolf sees the person they’re meant to imprint on.
  • The bond can start as sibling‑like or protective when the imprintee is a child and only later become romantic if/when they are grown.
  • The lore insists the imprinter will be whatever the imprintee needs at each stage: guardian, friend, then potentially partner.

Why Jacob imprints on Renesmee specifically

When Bella nearly dies giving birth to Renesmee, Jacob is furious and goes to kill the “monster” he thinks killed her.

The moment he looks into Renesmee’s eyes, the imprint hits, and everything else “falls away” — he realizes this is who he has always been unconsciously drawn to.

Within the story’s logic:

  • Jacob’s earlier intense pull toward Bella (especially during her pregnancy) is retconned as actually being his connection to the baby growing inside her, not to Bella herself.
  • He later tells Bella he was never truly attracted to her as such, but to the child she was carrying, which has disturbed a lot of readers ever since.
  • By imprinting on Renesmee, Jacob gives her automatic protection from the werewolves; harming an imprintee is forbidden in the pack.

So the in‑universe “answer” to why Jacob imprints on Bella’s daughter is: because fate decided she was his soulmate, and all of his earlier emotional chaos around Bella was ultimately leading him to Renesmee.

How the stages are supposed to work

The books and later commentary break Jacob/Renesmee imprinting into stages so the story can insist it isn’t sexual when she’s a child.

Typically it’s described like this:

  1. Childhood: He is a protector/older‑brother figure, purely caretaking and guarding her.
  1. Growing up: The bond looks like best friends; they are inseparable, but it’s still framed as non‑romantic.
  1. Maturity: As she reaches maturity, romantic feelings may develop on both sides, and the imprint is implied to become a romantic partnership.

This structure is exactly what many fans and critics find unsettling: the story lays out a path from “adult man bonded to baby” to inevitable romantic relationship later, even though it keeps insisting it’s harmless while she’s young.

Out‑of‑universe: why the author did it

From a narrative standpoint, a lot of fans read Jacob’s imprinting on Renesmee as a plot device to tie up loose ends and dissolve the love triangle without anyone “losing” too brutally.

Common interpretations:

  • It gives Jacob a “happy ending” so he doesn’t end up alone once Bella chooses Edward.
  • It explains why Jacob was so drawn to Bella and lets the story say “it was destiny,” rather than messy teenage emotions.
  • It neutralizes conflict: once Edward knows Jacob is imprinted on his daughter, it’s harder for him to ban Jacob from the family, because Jacob is now framed as Renesmee’s guardian.
  • It lets the narrative absolve Jacob of responsibility for some of his earlier behavior by claiming he was driven by fate all along.

Many readers, though, see this as lazy or flawed world‑building: imprinting feels like a “fated mates” shortcut that forces relationships instead of letting characters make choices.

Why many fans find it weird or wrong

Even people who enjoy Twilight often agree that Jacob imprinting on a newborn is one of the saga’s most uncomfortable decisions.

Criticisms you’ll see in forums and articles:

  • The huge age and power imbalance when the bond begins, even if it’s called “non‑romantic” at first.
  • The implication that Jacob’s romantic pull shifts from Bella to her infant daughter the instant she’s born, which feels disturbing to many readers.
  • The sense that it erases Bella’s agency and reduces her role to “the vessel” for Jacob’s actual soulmate.
  • The feeling that imprinting removes free will: characters don’t really choose who they love; the universe chooses for them.

You’ll also find plenty of fan discussions and fix‑it headcanons that either:

  • Wish Jacob had imprinted on someone else (or no one).
  • Re‑interpret the bond as forever non‑romantic.
  • Or scrap the imprinting concept altogether in fan rewrites.

Quick TL;DR

  • In the story’s lore, Jacob imprints on Bella’s daughter because she is his fated soulmate, and imprinting is automatic, unstoppable, and soul‑deep.
  • His earlier obsession with Bella is later explained as being drawn to the baby she was carrying, not to Bella herself.
  • Out of universe, most people see this as a controversial plot device to resolve the love triangle and give Jacob a permanent place in Bella and Edward’s family, but it’s widely criticized as creepy and flawed.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.