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 debuts in Red Rising as the slender, smiling twin of Cassius, a curly-haired youth whose gentle demeanor sets him apart from his savage Bellona kin. His life ends abruptly when Darrow kills him during the Institute's Passage, shattering his sternum and leaving a bloodied corpse that scars Darrow's conscience while igniting Cassius's lifelong vendetta. In Golden Son, Julian is recalled as the kindest of his brothers—taught to fish and embodying lost innocence—his death symbolizing the brutality that crushes Gold youth and continues to haunt Darrow's rise. Across the early books, Julian evolves from living character to tragic symbol whose murder fuels the Bellona-Darrow conflict and underscores the saga's themes of violence and revenge.
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.
- Proudly seated at House Mars table during the Institute draft, beaming with fraternal theatrics
- Killed by Darrow in a brutal stone-room fight during the Passage, suffering a broken nose and shattered sternum
- Death carves a lasting cavity in Darrow's heart as his first taste of necessary violence
- Corpse becomes the spark for Cassius's enduring hatred and the Bellona 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 and gentlest of the savage Bellona brothers
- Recalled as a curly-haired youth taught to fish, clashing with family legacy
- Death ignites the full Bellona vendetta against Darrow
- Haunts Darrow's path as a symbol of innocence crushed by Gold brutality
Key Events
Book Appearances
Red Rising
First appears Ch 16
Golden Son
First appears Ch 1