Red Rising Saga · Character

Romulus au Raa

Supporting
First seen · Book 3 · Ch. 42

Gender: male
Age: middle-aged
First appears: Book 3 · Ch. 42
Books: 2

Romulus au Raa begins as a poised, battle-scarred Moon Lord whose porcelain skin and marble eye mark him as both survivor and sovereign. In Morning Star he negotiates an uneasy alliance with Darrow against the Core; by Iron Gold he has become Sovereign of the Rim Dominion, only to be betrayed by his own wife, Dido, for concealing Darrow’s destruction of the Ganymede docks. His arc culminates in a dignified trial and ritual suicide, leaving his children—especially Diomedes—torn between the honor he embodied and the political wreckage he left behind.

Description

A serene and violent Gold man of perfect porcelain skin leans forward with a thinner build the same height as Darrow, his long dark gold hair drawn back into a sleek ponytail. The narrow wrathful face holds a nose broken twice, full lips pinched with three scars on the upper lip, a scar crossing the left eyelid, and a smooth blue and black marble globe in place of the left eyeball while the right eye sits a third larger and intense. Large hands grip firmly, and he appears in smooth white dragon armor like carved ivory during ritual and battle, every movement radiating controlled power and old wounds that only accentuate his flawless features. High cheekbones and long jawline lead to sensual lips riven with two scars on a haggard face. Dark gold hair streaked gray tied in a simple bun with black wood stick, left eye a smooth blue marble globe. Moon-pale bare chest reveals right arm stump in white bandages, clad in gray scorosuit or rough-spun wool kimono. A dignified, lean man with pale skin, high cheekbones, a long jaw, and sensual lips marked by two scars. His dark-gold hair is streaked with gray and tied in a simple bun with a black wooden stick; his left eye is absent, replaced by a smooth globe of blue marble, and his right arm is missing. He wears a gray scorosuit with a cloak or cape, or a rough-spun gray wool kimono, and holds himself with composed, tranquil restraint.

Connections

Family & partnersFriends & mentorsRivals

Diomedes au Raafather
Romulus instills duty and honor in his heir; their final exchange—pride mixed with permission to choose his own path—haunts Diomedes after his father’s death.
Seraphina au Raafather
Romulus shields his daughter from punishment for her role at the docks; her testimony at his trial underscores both his protective love and the irreparable family rift his confession creates.
Dido au Raaconflicting source relationships
Once celebrated as star-crossed lovers, their marriage fractures under political strain; Dido’s coup and Romulus’s refusal to fight her leave both devastated, ending with his execution and her unresolved grief.
Lysander au Luneconflicting source relationships
Romulus’s counsel on unity and leadership inspires Lysander to side with the Rim, though Lysander ultimately fails to rescue him from the Dust Cells.
Darrow of Lykosconflicting source relationships
Begins as a wary treaty partner in Morning Star; evolves into a concealed enemy once Romulus learns Darrow razed the Ganymede docks, culminating in shattered trust and Romulus’s public confession.

Story so far

BOOK 3Morning Star: Book III of the Red Rising Trilogy
- Meets Darrow in dragon-scale armor to broker a temporary truce against Octavia au Lune.
- Reveals his missing eye and twice-broken nose, symbols of past Rim wars.
- Agrees to limited cooperation while keeping the Rim’s independence intact.
BOOK 4Iron Gold
- Rules the Rim Dominion from a scorosuit throne while missing his left arm.
- Secretly shields Dido and the Moon Lords from the truth of the Ganymede dockyards massacre.
- Is arrested by Dido after she stages a coup and charges him with negligence.
- Confesses to treason before Olympic Knight Helios au Lux, choosing honor over civil war.
- Walks the sulfur waste to his death, bidding farewell to son Paleron and urging Diomedes to follow his own heart.