Red Rising Saga · Character

Julian au Bellona

Also known as Julian, Julian Bellona, Julian au Bellona of House Bellona

Minor
First seen · Book 1 · Ch. 16

His smile lights up like sunlight on water, open and pretty, drawing you in with an easy warmth unusual among Golds. Slender and tall, he carries himself with a fragile pride, like hay bending in the wind. There's a boyish prettiness to him that feels disarmingly genuine amid the posturing.

Gender: male
Age: teenager
First appears: Book 1 · Ch. 16
Books: 3

Julian au Bellona begins the Red Rising Saga as the gentle, golden-haired twin of Cassius, a delicate youth whose innocence is shattered when Darrow kills him during the Institute’s Passage. His death becomes the spark that ignites the Bellona vendetta against Darrow and leaves Cassius consumed by grief, while Darrow himself is haunted by the memory of the first life he took to rise. Across later books, Julian exists only in memory—his mother’s favorite, Cassius’s lost brother—yet his absence continues to shape the emotional landscape of the surviving Bellonas and the Reaper who slew him.

Description

Slender tall teenage boy with an open gaze and pretty smile, build feeble like bent hay, thinner and prettier than his twin with delicate features and pretty hair. Fair skin glows with Gold perfection, frame elongated and vulnerable. He wears simple Institute garb or stands naked, exuding a proud yet fragile demeanor. A tall, slender young Gold boy with golden hair, an open gaze, and a pretty smile. His hair falls toward his eyes and can be brushed back; his face is delicate and attractive, and his posture and build give him a feeble, vulnerable appearance rather than a powerful one. He is shown unclothed in the stone-room scene, with no distinctive clothing established. Julian au Bellona is a young man with tousled curly hair framing soft, kind features. His build is gentle, lacking the hardness of his kin, with an air of quiet warmth. Dressed in fine Gold attire, he carries an innocent presence that stands out sharply. The text provides no visual details for Julian au Bellona. His build, coloring, hair, eyes, facial features, clothing, and distinguishing marks are unspecified.

Connections

Family & partnersFriends & mentorsRivals

Cassius au Bellonaconflicting source relationships
Julian’s twin brother; Cassius’s protective affection turns to lifelong grief after Darrow kills Julian, and Cassius later treats Lysander as a surrogate for the brother he lost.
Darrow of Lykosconflicting source relationships
Initially an acquaintance on the shuttle to the Institute; Darrow becomes Julian’s killer during the Passage, a secret Darrow hides from Cassius while the guilt haunts him across the series.
Sevro au Barcachallenger
Sevro insults the Bellona family and accepts Julian’s challenge to duel after the Passage, establishing an open feud before Julian’s death ends the rivalry.

Story so far

BOOK 1Red Rising
- Arrives at the Institute draft seated proudly at House Mars table, beaming with fraternal theatrics.
- Meets Darrow on the shuttle and exchanges friendly conversation before the Passage.
- Is killed by Darrow in a stone room during the Passage, his body left bloodied with a broken nose and shattered sternum.
- His death fuels Cassius’s hatred and becomes Darrow’s first taste of the violence required to rise.
BOOK 2Golden Son
- Remembered as the kindest of his savage brothers, a curly-haired youth taught to fish.
- His death at Darrow’s hands ignites the Bellona vendetta and haunts Darrow’s path.
- Symbolizes the innocence crushed by Gold brutality.
BOOK 4Iron Gold
- Mentioned as his mother’s favorite and part of the Bellona family devastated by violence.
- Cassius recalls him in his final words, giving Julian a final, intimate presence in the family’s memory.