Julian au Bellona
MinorHis 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.
Julian au Bellona enters the Red Rising Saga as the gentler, more delicate twin of Cassius, a curly-haired youth whose kindness stands in stark contrast to the Bellona family's martial reputation. His brief arc ends violently when Darrow kills him during the Institute's Passage, transforming the smiling boy into the catalyst for the Bellona vendetta that haunts the series. Across both books, Julian evolves from living character to haunting symbol—the "kindest" casualty of Gold brutality whose death carves a permanent cavity in Darrow's conscience and fuels Cassius's relentless hatred.
Physical 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. 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.
Evolution
Red Rising
Julian au Bellona, the thinner prettier twin of Cassius, starts as a smiling slender boy at the Institute draft, seated proudly at House Mars table and beaming with fraternal theatrics. In a brutal twist during the passage of arms, Darrow kills him in a stone room, leaving his tall feeble body bloodied with broken nose and shattered sternum. His death carves a cavity in Darrow's heart, marking the Reaper's first taste of the violence needed to rise, and becomes a lingering grudge fueling Cassius's hatred.
- Appears as a smiling, slender boy seated proudly at House Mars table during the Institute draft
- Displays fraternal theatrics and beaming pride alongside his twin Cassius
- Killed by Darrow in a stone room during the Passage, body left bloodied with broken nose and shattered sternum
- Death marks Darrow's first taste of necessary violence and ignites Cassius's vendetta
Golden Son
Julian au Bellona is remembered as the kindest of his savage brothers, a curly-haired youth taught to fish, his gentle nature clashing with the Bellona legacy. Darrow kills him early in the Institute, a death that ignites the Bellona vendetta and haunts Darrow's path. From promising boy to tragic casualty, Julian's brief life symbolizes the innocence crushed by Gold brutality.
- Remembered as the kindest of the savage Bellona brothers, taught to fish as a curly-haired youth
- His gentle nature is recalled as clashing with the Bellona legacy of brutality
- Death continues to haunt Darrow's path and fuel the Bellona family's revenge
- Symbolizes the innocence crushed by Gold society's violent hierarchy
Relationships
Julian's death transforms Cassius from proud twin into vengeful adversary, with the Bellona vendetta against Darrow rooted in Cassius's grief over losing his gentler brother
Julian's death creates lasting guilt in Darrow while simultaneously becoming the inciting incident for Cassius's hatred, evolving from a single violent act into a recurring psychological burden
Key Events
Book Appearances
Red Rising
First appears Ch 16
Golden Son
First appears Ch 1