Julius Juukulius

Julius Juukulius (ユリウス・ユークリウス) is Anastasia Hoshin's knight and a member of the Royal Guard. He is a supporting character in Re:Zero, with pivotal roles in both Arc 3 and Arc 6, while having a lesser supporting role in Arc 5. Julius also played the role of a protagonist in Ex Volume 4, which is set roughly 3-4 months before the start of the main story and half a year before the start of the Royal Selection.

He and Subaru initially started out on the wrong foot, due to their seemingly incompatible personalities. However, during the events of Arc 5, he had his name eaten by the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony, ironically making Subaru the only one who can remember him. In Arc 6, the two finally became friends after realizing they actually have a lot in common.

Appearance
Julius is a tall young man of a well-built muscular stature with yellow eyes and gleaming violet hair that is arranged neatly with a strand hanging down his face. He almost exclusively wears the formal Royal Guard uniform. When he fought with Subaru, he took off his Royal Guard's coat and wore a black suit with blue borders.

After his fight with Reid Astrea in Arc 6, Julius received a cut directly under his left eye. Due to the nature of the cut, Julius is left scarred for life and they started harbouring mutual respect for each other.

Personality
As a member of Lugnica's nobility, Julius acts in a proper fashion, always having an air of nobility and conviction. He is also considerate and doesn't forget to show care toward others. He also shows a strict side, giving out accurate assessments of others whether they're good or bad, which is a result of his upbringing as an elite, and in actuality, he believes that he and others can do better than they currently are.

Julius doesn't like those who forget their place, leading him to have bad relations with Subaru for a while. While both have apologized to each other after the battle with the Hakugei, Subaru told him that he still hated him. Julius then told him that he didn't intend to be friends with him. They both became very intimate very quickly during the planning and attacking of the Witch Cult. In the end, Julius directly considered Subaru as his friend.

However, as pointed out by Reid Astrea, beneath his noble demeanor Julius is actually a very insecure person who desperately holds on to his bonds with others. This mindset seems to be the result of his parents' deaths, causing him to seek attention to fill the void in his heart. During his final duel with Reid, Julius acknowledged his flaws and began working to reforge the bonds he lost when after his name was eaten.

History
Julius was born as the son of Klein Juukulius who had run away from his noble family and married a commoner woman. Sometime later, his parents died in a flash flood and Julius was taken in by his uncle Alviero, thus being introduced to his new aristocratic life in the renowned House Juukulius. Julius lived with his family at the House Juukulius. Since House Juukulius is very proud of their heritage and fame as excellent knights, Julius was expected to become a member of the Royal Guard. He spent his whole childhood practicing with the sword and honing his skills as a knight until he achieved the zenith of swordsmanship.

Re:Zero EX Light Novel Volume 1
Roughly 8 to 9 months before the start of the first Arc, Julius, together with Reinhard, formed a friendly bond with a new knight of the Royal Guard–Ferris Argyle. The two knights stood behind Ferris' back, supporting him on his endeavors in the Royal Guard. One faithful day, Julius was tasked with escorting Prince Fourier Lugnica to the Argyle Manor, in order to rescue Crusch Karsten, who has been taken hostage by Biehn Argyle, the lord of the manor. After retrieving the dutchess, Julius swiftly dispatched the remaining living corpses, who have been resurrected by the aforementioned Biehn.

Re:Zero Ex Light Novel Volume 4
Roughly 4-5 months before the events of Arc 1 and a couple of months after the mysterious illness took the lives of the entire Royal family, Julius, alongside Reinhard van Astrea and Ferris Argyle, were tasked with escorting two members of the Sage Council–Miklotov McMahon and Bordeaux Zellgef–on a diplomatic mission to the neighbouring Sacred Vollachia Empire. During their stay, the 9th Divine General of the Empire–Balleroy Temeglyph–wind up dead and Reinhard was blamed for it, forcing the Royal Guard trio to "kidnap" the 77th Emperor Vincent Vollachia and flee the Crystal Palace. In a nearby forest, they were ambushed by 8th and 6th Divine Generals Moguro Hagane and Groovy Gumlet respectively. As Reinhard held back the two Generals, Julius and Ferris fled further ahead with the Emperor, but encountered the 1st ranking Divine General Cecilus Segmunt. Julius and Cecilus fought but the Royal Knight was no match for the Divine General. After successfully breaking Cecilus' 5th sword, the Blue Lightning decided to fight him a bit more seriously. Just as he was about to decapitate the Spirit Knight, Reinhard came to the rescue. A short duel between the two strongest swordsmen of their respective nations followed and Reinhard came out victorious. After successfully escaping from the three Divine Generals, Julius, Reinhard, Ferris and Vincent finally had some time to breathe and plan out their next steps. Vincent revealed that Balleroy most likely stands behind the ongoing coup d'état. Before they could devise a plan, however, a group of 30 assassins from the Insect Cage Clan engaged the three Knights and the Emperor, however, Reinhard stayed behind and swiftly defeated all thirty of them. Meanwhile, while making their escape from yet another serious threat, Julius, Ferris and Vincent fell into an ambush created by the thought-to-be-dead Divine General Balleroy Temeglyph, who managed to snipe off Vicent's right arm by the shoulder while riding on his Flying Dragon. While Ferris healed the mortally wounded Emperor, Julius continued deflecting Balleroy's magical snipes, keeping him at bay and defending his friends. After devising a plan and using Ferris as a decoy, Julius was able to pinpoint Balleroy's location (despite the Divine General's usage of Wind and Yang magic to make himself and his Flying Dragon completely invisible), chanting Al Clauseria, causing the Flying Dragon and its rider to crash, killing the former and seriously wounding the latter. Julius and Balleroy then engaged in their final duel, which ended with the Spirit Knight's blade piercing the Divine General's chest, killing him. After the threat was finally dealt with, Julius, Vincent and Ferris regrouped with Reinhard and returned to the Crystal Palace, resolving the conflict. As a token of gratitude, the Emperor signed the previously-refused non-aggression pact between the Empire and the Kingdom, marking the Kingdom's ambassadors' mission as successful.

Roughly a month after the Imperial Incident, Julius and Ferris encountered the 1st ranking Divine General Cecilus Segmunt in a tavern located in the Capital of the Kingdom. Due to the danger the Divine General presented, the duo accompanied him to a tea house located on the outskirts of the city, where Cecilus informed them of his plans to fight with the Sword Saint Reinhard van Astrea. However, due to Reinhard's absence do to him being on a mission at the Holy Kingdom of Gusteko's borders with Lugnica, Julius had no other option but to secretly accept the Divine General as a guest in his mansion, since his presence in the Capital was illegal. After four days of hiding a Divine General inside House Juukulius, Julius and Ferris were suddenly called to Captain Markos Gildark's office, where a man clad in white was waiting–the 4th Divine General Chisha Gold. The two knights were then given a task to accompany Chisha to his needs in the Capital and the trio set out to find the person Chisha was after. Arriving just in time, they were able to prevent Cecilus from beheading the viscount Gramdart Holstoy who was behind the failed coup d'état and had fled the Empire. Having fulfilled their mission, Chisha and Cecilus were prepared to return back to the Empire with viscount Holstoy, but they were stopped by Marcos, who arranged a proxy match between Cecilus and Reinhard.

Abilities
Divine Protection (加護 Kago): Julius has the Divine Protection of Gathering Spirits (誘精の加護), which enables him to see, talk, and be liked by Spirits, though he has to work hard to actually get liked by Spirits.

Spirit Affinity: Julius has a rare innate gift to form contracts with spirits.

Julius is highly skilled with a sword as he has reached the peak of his swordsmanship and can use spirits to further augment or enhance his technique. Based on his strength alone, he could be a Second-Class General of the Vollachia Empire or higher.
 * Clarista (クラリスタ): Julius imbues his sword with the power of his six Quasi Spirits. Clarista and its different levels are Julius' original magic.
 * Al Clarista (アル・クラリスタ): Al Clarista allows Julius to imbue his sword with the power of his six Quasi Spirits (after his fight with Reid Astrea, he can do that with his newly bloomed Spirits), cladding his blade in a brilliant rainbow light. According to him, when this spell is in use, he can cut almost everything with his sword, no matter the toughness. Julius displayed this ability two times, roughly half a year before the start of the Royal Selection–on his diplomatic journey to the Sacred Vollachia Empire. There, he fought the 1st and 9th ranking Divine Generals on separate occasions, and managed to break the former's 5th best sword, and melt away and kill the latter. Julius is also capable of using the long range version of Clarista where the spell takes the form of a beam of pure destructive energy. The light is capable of cutting through anything and everything in its path. After Julius reforged his contract with his Quasi Spirits, the power and range of the attack greatly increased, surprising even Julius. During his battle with the 9th Divine General of the Vollachia Empire, Julius used this spell to melt away the General's spear and pierce his chest, killing him.
 * Al Clauzeria (アル・クラウゼリア): When Al Clauzeria is casted, six different coloured spirits start circling around Julius and join into one whirling rainbow-hued vortex of light which is shot out from the tip of his sword. Immediately following the impact of the rainbow light, the torrent of light explodes in a sizeable shock wave that sends his opponents flying. The wall as well as the vortex are composed of six elements, which are able to repel any sort of magic that is casted against it as well as any and all physical attacks. Furthermore, in the novelisation of Julius' duel with Petelgeuse, the rainbow shockwave started expanding directly from his own body, rather being shot out from the tip of his sword, easily purifying away close to a hundred unseen hands that enveloped the Knight from all sides, just seconds prior. Despite the small difference in execution, both version have the exact same effect.
 * Al Cranvel (アル・クランヴェル): Al Cranvel is Julius' secret technique he developed long ago but never managed to properly utilize, due to his lack of experience. After he forged a new contract with his newly-bloomed Spirits, Julius called upon their power and clad himself in their sixfold power, greatly increasing his speed and overall power. To the other party, Julius appeared as if he was swallowed alive by a rainbow. This sword skill is noted as Julius' ultimate attack. Debuting this trump card during his final duel with legendary Reid Astrea, it played a vital role in helping him overcome the obstacle known as the first generation's Sword Saint.

Equipment: Julius wielded a sword, which is a prised heirloom of House Juukulius. He spent years mastering its use. During the events of Arc 6, however, the sword broke off, when Julius fought against Reid for the first time. Following that duel, Julius resorted to using a spare sword he brought with him. According to Subaru's observation from one of the failed loops, Julius' new sword looked cheap and mass-produced weapon–a model likely used by many of the other knights.

Immense Power: Though not nearly as strong as Reinhard or Marcos Gildark, Julius is among the strongest individuals of the Dragon Kingdom of Lugnica, falling behind only the two knights and perhaps Wilhelm van Astrea, in terms of his skill with the sword. On numerous occasions, Julius' skill with the blade was greatly praised–at one point, he was stated to be skilled and powerful enough to be able to reach the title of a Second-Class General in the Imperial Army of the Vollachia Empire; a position reserved for individuals who are either unparalleled tacticians, have distinguished themselves with excellent leadership capabilities or stand out from the rest in terms of overall strength and skill in combat, but are not walking monsters capable of single-handedly turning the tide of a major battle. Roughly 3-4 months before the start of the main story, Julius faced off against the Blue Lightning Cecilus Segmunt, who is regarded as the Empire's strongest warrior and is roughly on par with Reinhard, in terms of martial art skill. Though having no hopes of winning against the young swordsman, Julius managed to successfully deflect 7 slashes, which garnered him quite a bit of praise, as according to the Divine General himself, the vast majority of people he faced, got cut down by his first or second slash. Roughly 2 years later, during the events of Arc 6, Julius once again faced off against an overwhelmingly powerful swordsman, though this time, the first generation's Sword Saint Reid Astrea stood in his way. After quite a bit of hardship, Julius finally managed to gather up enough will and strength, and defeated the Sword Saint, piercing his chest. It should be noted, however, that Reid did not display his true strength, as he did not have his original body–according to both of them, Reid is clearly superior in terms of strength and even won the duel, however, Julius passed the exam he was given in the tower.

Trivia

 * According to the author, Julius's birthday is July 7 and his birth flower is a Nymphaea, or water lily.
 * His name was chosen by his father, Klein Juukulius.
 * Julius' favourite colour is blue.
 * At the very young age of twenty-two, Julius already is recognised as one of the Kingdom's greatest knights, and is well on his way to becoming the Royal Guard's next Captain. According to multiple individuals throughout the story, not even Reinhard can compare with Julius in terms of knightly virtues.
 * Julius' spirits are all female and their relationship with the knight dates back well over a decade.
 * After his fight with Natsuki Subaru at the very beginning of Arc 3, Julius was in fact punished for his reckless behaviour and put under house arrest for an unspecified amount of time.
 * According to the author, Julius is quite easy to write about, out of all male characters.
 * Julius generally prefers vegetables and fruit over meat. His favourite vegetable are tomatoes and he'd much prefer ketchup over mayonnaise.
 * Due to his decision to support a foreigner in the Royal Selection, he received some repercussions from his family members.
 * Julius feels a strange sense of admiration for Subaru's "Little Girl User" alias.
 * Julius put together Clarista in honour of the hero of his childhood tales.
 * According to the author, Julius is quite fond of alcohol, and often drinks together with his friends.
 * Julius was actually defeated by Crusch in a sword fight, though neither of them knew each other at the time. Even to this day, neither of them are aware that they fought each other.
 * Reid Astrea is Julius' hero and the one who he looks up to.
 * Julius is the heir of House Juukulius.
 * Julius actually has problems with his eye-sight, so he can usually be seen wearing glasses when reading.
 * His first meeting with Reinhard didn't go too well for Julius. According to the author, the feelings accompanying their first meeting were mostly extreme shame.
 * Before forming a contract with his current quasi spirits, the six he's currently contracted with fought other spirits in a "fierce war". Julius, to this day, is unaware of this battle.
 * Julius' Earth Dragon Shaknar was gifted to Julius for his 15th birthday from an Earth Dragon trainer that's very close with the Juukulius family.
 * According to the author, the reason why Julius isn't in the same state as Joshua after being eaten by Roy Alphard is a spoiler.
 * Julius has his own named chapter in Arc 6 in both the Web and Light Novels.
 * Prior to Subaru contracting Beatrice as his spirit and becoming a spirit knight, Julius was the only spirit knight in the Dragon Kingdom of Lugnica.