Julius

Biodata

Background

Balleroy’s Rebellion

While serving in a Lugunican delegation to Vollachia, Julius uncovered Balleroy Temeglyph’s attempt to frame Reinhard. Balleroy, formerly the Ninth of the Nine Divine Generals, had rebelled to avenge his sworn elder brother Miles, who was killed by Reinhard during a spy mission. Julius killed Balleroy in a duel 17 37.

Despite their opposition, Julius remembered Balleroy as a powerful soldier of noble character. The incident remained confidential and personally painful; when he later explained it at the Watchtower, Subaru and Emilia agreed to keep it secret 37.

Loss of His Existence

Gluttony devoured Julius’s existence, causing others to forget him. His contracts with his quasi-spirits were also severed, depriving him of their assistance during the Watchtower trials 37 40 41.

This loss undermined his place within his household, knighthood, and personal relationships. Julius increasingly treated his remaining swordsmanship as the proof that he still existed and had something to offer his liege 41.

Appearance

• Hair: Purple 41.
• Eyes: Yellow 40.
• Build and features: Slender, with a handsome face 40.
• Clothing: A Royal Guard uniform and cloak; his white sleeve becomes bloodstained during his second battle with Reid 40 41.

Personality

Julius is courteous, composed, and strongly committed to knightly propriety. Before fighting Reid, he formally introduces himself and offers his opponent a sword rather than attack someone apparently unarmed. He considers protecting others a knight’s duty, making the revelation of Subaru’s repeated sacrifices especially distressing to him 5 40.

His admiration for historical heroes can make him reluctant to accept their flaws. When Shaula bluntly condemns Reid’s character, Julius initially ignores her answer and attempts to explain it away through historical context 36.

Beneath his polished manner, Julius fears being an inadequate knight. After losing his recognition and spirit contracts, his defeats by Reid threaten the last foundation of his self-worth. His refusal to accept help becomes so desperate that he struggles off Subaru’s back despite being badly injured 41 42.

Julius nevertheless remains capable of restraint and self-reflection. He accepts Echidna’s temporary control of Anastasia’s body rather than attack recklessly, and later acknowledges that his own suspicion helped isolate the amnesiac Subaru. His friendship with Subaru also brings out dry humor and affectionate sarcasm 37 42 44 47.

Abilities & Skills

Swordsmanship

Julius’s refined swordplay reflects years of training, combining rapid thrusts, slashes, feints, and carefully controlled movement 40 41.

• Projectile interception: Deflects a white beam aimed at Subaru, following Emilia’s momentary ice defense. After Beatrice’s E M T weakens the attack, he knocks further shots away with ease 5.
• Weapon adaptability: Adjusts to the Sword of Selection’s thicker blade and heavier tip during his second challenge against Reid 41.
• Footwork and recovery: Uses movement, kicks, and changes in momentum to regain distance or reduce the effects of incoming blows 40 41.
• Limit against Reid: His unaided swordsmanship cannot overcome Reid’s chopsticks. Reid breaks his personal sword in their first encounter and disarms him in the second 40 41.

Spirit Arts

Julius is a spirit knight whose usual fighting style incorporates his contracted quasi-spirits 40 41.

• His practiced combinations include a wind blade and a simultaneous fire-and-water attack accompanying a sword strike 41.
• With his contracts severed, these combinations fail when he attempts them against Reid 41.
• Reid recognizes that fighting entirely alone is not Julius’s normal style 40.

Historical and Military Knowledge

Julius studies the origins and inheritance of sword techniques, an interest encouraged by his teacher 41.

• Recognizes clues to Reid’s identity, including his appearance, extraordinary ability, and the historical epithet “Master Swordsman” 41.
• Explains Balleroy’s former rank and assesses the military balance between Lugunica and Vollachia 37.
• Helps investigate Taygeta’s library, determining that its shelves show no obvious arrangement by name or historical period 38.

Dragon-Carriage Handling

• Drives the expedition’s dragon carriage through the dunes surrounding the Watchtower 2 4.
• Teaches Subaru how to calm their breed of ground dragon by stroking its head; Subaru later applies this knowledge through Invisible Providence to prevent Joseph from running wild 5.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Knight’s sword — His familiar, slender steel blade. Reid breaks it in two during their first duel; Julius leaves the broken weapon behind when he returns for another challenge 40 41.
• Royal Guard cloak — Julius sheds it while sliding across the floor to alter the friction and escape Reid’s continuous attacks 40.
• Sword of Selection — The sword embedded in Electra’s floor. Julius uses it for his second duel after losing his own blade 39 41.

Relationships

• Anastasia Hoshin — His liege. Julius has sworn to become a strong pillar of support for her and is particularly ashamed of appearing helpless before her. Learning that she is unconscious while Echidna controls her body gives him another urgent reason to overcome the tower’s obstacles 41 42.
• Natsuki Subaru — A friend whose relationship with Julius began in conflict, including their duel at the royal castle’s training grounds. Subaru becomes one of Julius’s few emotional supports after Gluttony’s attack and refuses to abandon him after Reid’s second beating. Watching Return by Death later leads Julius to call Subaru the “true knight” 37 41.
• Echidna — The artificial spirit occupying Anastasia’s body. Julius initially confronts her with his sword drawn, but accepts temporary cooperation after hearing her explanation and devotion to Anastasia 42.
• Reinhard van Astrea — A fellow knight whose exceptional ability influenced Julius’s decision to abandon his youthful ambition of reaching the pinnacle of swordsmanship. After losing his existence, Julius admits that he cannot fully trust even Reinhard 37 41.
• Reid Astrea — A historical ideal turned devastating trial opponent. Reid’s contempt for Julius’s technique and identity intensifies his crisis of confidence 36 40 41.
• Balleroy Temeglyph — A respected enemy whom Julius killed during the failed Vollachian rebellion. Experiencing Balleroy’s Book of the Dead forces Julius to revisit that painful encounter 37.
• Halibel — A traveling companion who identifies Subaru’s ability as Return by Death and accompanies Julius and Anastasia toward the Empire 5 37 47.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Watchtower Expedition — Sky Curtain Footage

Journey and Taygeta

Julius drives the party’s carriage through the dunes and helps defend Subaru from the Watchtower’s beams. Once the group reaches the tower and opens Taygeta, he reads Balleroy’s Book of the Dead, experiencing the former general’s memories before Anastasia pulls the book away and helps him recover 2 5 37.

His account establishes his connection to Balleroy and contributes to the party’s initial theory that the books allow readers to experience the lives of people they have met 37.

Defeats on Electra

Julius challenges the second-floor examiner with formal knightly courtesy. Reid catches his sword with chopsticks, overwhelms his techniques, breaks the blade, and knocks him unconscious. Emilia subsequently passes the trial, but her success does not count for the other challengers 40.

After being taken to the green room, Julius returns alone without adequate recovery. He draws the Sword of Selection and challenges Reid again, driven by the need to prove that his remaining strength still means something. Reid defeats him a second time 41.

Subaru carries him away, then supports him down the stairs when Julius insists on walking. Recognizing the same desperate pride that once drove his own hopeless challenge against Julius, Subaru refuses to leave him alone 41.

Anastasia’s Condition and Subaru’s Amnesia

While recuperating, Julius overhears Subaru speaking with Echidna and discovers that Anastasia remains unconscious. He agrees to cooperate with the spirit, but tells Subaru that he does not want either his liege or his friend to regard him as inadequate 42.

After Subaru loses his memories, Julius introduces himself again as Anastasia’s knight and Subaru’s friend. Their familiar, teasing exchange prompts Julius to acknowledge that memories do not wholly determine a person’s nature 44.

Watching the Sky Curtain

Learning About Return by Death

Watching Subaru’s repeated deaths leaves Julius pale and trembling. He wonders whether Subaru has been the one saving everyone all along; Anastasia reassures him that the suffering is not his fault, while Halibel names the ability Return by Death 5.

Later broadcasts deepen Julius’s admiration and motivate his journey toward the Empire. The Balleroy footage also exposes a discrepancy: Vincent remembers personally sentencing Balleroy to death, whereas Julius remembers killing him in a duel. Julius worries that Gluttony’s erasure may have altered information surrounding the incident 37.

Reflecting on his recorded defeat by Reid, Julius credits Subaru with helping him overcome the obstacles that followed. The supplied account does not show the details of that later recovery 40.

Responsibility for Subaru’s Isolation

While traveling from Picoutatte toward the Empire, Julius watches the consequences of his own suspicion toward the amnesiac Subaru. He recognizes that his concern for the group’s safety overlooked Subaru’s desperate need for trust, and accepts blame for worsening his isolation. Anastasia responds that responsibility belongs to all of them, not Julius alone 47.

Notable Quotes

“From beginning to end... was he the one saving everything?” 5

“Whether it is Lady Anastasia or you, I do not want either of you to see me as an inadequate knight.” 42

“I prided myself on understanding people's hearts and their bonds, yet when I should most have accepted him, I gave him the most piercing suspicion.” 47