—Julian to Marth in Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon
Julian is a playable character from the Archanea Series of Fire Emblem. A former member of the Soothsire band of thieves, Julian, upon falling in love with Macedonian cleric Lena, makes the resolution to abandon his thieving ways. Thereafter referring to himself as an "Ally of Justice", he aids Prince Marth's army in their entourages in both wars. Julian is also acquainted with Rickard, who affectionately refers to him as "Chief".
Profile
War of Shadows
Julian makes his first appearance in Chapter 3 of Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, where he betrays the Soothsires by rescuing Lena from their stronghold within the domains of the Samsooth Mountains. Aware that Marth's army is approaching the foot of the mountain range from the southeast, Julian guides her to them accordingly after hastily brushing aside her attempt to return to the stronghold to retrieve her misplaced Mend staff. After entrusting Lena into Marth's custody, Julian surrenders to him, and is thereafter granted the opportunity to atone for the crimes that he had committed during his tenure with the Soothsires by joining the army's ranks. Julian will assist Marth in bringing the War of Shadows to a conclusion, swearing off thievery and moving to Macedon to make a living through honest means once Medeus is slain.
War of Heroes
Julian returns in Chapter 3 of Book 2 in Mystery of the Emblem, where it is revealed that following the end of the War of Darkness, he had taken up residence in a Macedonian village with Lena, caring for orphans in a convent. When urged to lead Lena to the safety of Marth's approaching army by Palla, Julian reveals that Lena had disappeared under mysterious circumstances, before returning to the village to source for information on her whereabouts. When Marth later pays a visit to this village, Julian appears to greet him, where he explains that Lena had most likely been abducted by a "strange priest". Julian then agrees to join Marth's entourage on Marth's behest, proving to be instrumental in convincing Matthis to defect from Macedon's army in the same chapter.
Later in Chapter 24, Julian is permitted to join the battle against Medeus, where he proves to be instrumental in rousing Lena from the reverie that she had been placed under. Medeus is felled by Marth shortly after all four noble priestesses are rescued, and following the conclusion of the War of Heroes, Julian formally weds Lena and thereafter leads a life of serenity with her in Macedon, caring for orphans in a convent.
Personality
Despite the fact that he, as a former member of the Soothsires, once engaged in the wicked, deceitful act of thievery, Julian evidently possesses a heart of gold, one that is catalytically triggered when he first meets Lena and falls in love with her, spurring him into resolving to abandon his past and lead a life of honesty for her sake.
Julian has been portrayed as a very devoted lover, a fact that sees him expending every ounce of his free time during the War of Heroes investigating Lena's disappearance. His love for Lena is further explicated in his base conversations with Kris in New Mystery of the Emblem, where he, blaming his weak combat skills for having been responsible for his inability to protect Lena, requests for Kris to train him in this regard. Though crude in his mannerisms and speech, Julian has nevertheless been portrayed as quite the romantic, as can be observed through his conversation with Lena in Chapter 24 of Book 2 in Mystery of the Emblem, where he expresses joy at seeing her smile and hearing her voice.
Through his base conversations with Rickard, Julian is also portrayed as being sly and cunning when he chooses to be, as he constantly employs reverse psychology on Rickard in order to guilt-trip him into confessing to succumbing to the temptation of thievery.
In-Game
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light
Recruitment
| Name | Class | Chapter | Affiliation | Recruit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Julian | Thief | 3 | Other | Automatically from the start. |
Base Stats
| Starting Class | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Thief | |||||||||
| Level | HP | Str | Skl | Spd | Lck | Def | Res | Wlv | Mov |
| 3 | 17 | 4 | 6 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| Weapon | Starting Items | ||||||||
| Sword | Iron Sword | ||||||||
Growth Rates
| HP | Str | Skl | Spd | Lck | Wlv | Def | Res |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80% | 70% | 50% | 50% | 80% | 0% | 30% | 0% |
Overall
|
Subjective: The following part of this article is based upon the editor's personal experiences and opinions, and therefore may not be applicable for all readers.
|
The first thing that sticks out about Julian is his growth rates, which are abnormally high. Unfortunately, he suffers due to two factors: he cannot promote, and he has a 0% growth in Weapon Level and a very low base. When fully-raised, he can have rather high stats, but this will be held back by him being unable to use anything stronger than an iron sword, unless he opts for the risky and inaccurate Devil Sword; a Manual can allay these issues somewhat, but he still cannot use a Silver Sword. He can outdo some of the weaker characters, but as a dedicated combat unit, he will never be as great as units like Ogma or Abel. That said, being a Thief gives Julian a natural level of utility over other characters. He can unlock doors and chests without needing an item; Marth can also unlock chests, but he's often busy with other duties. Julian also has fairly high Movement, helping him keep up with the rest of the army. One unusual trait of his is that Thieves occupy an unusually high priority in enemy AI, which can allow him to bait enemies away from others. In general, Julian is a helpful utility character, and though there is little reason to train him for battle, it can be done if need be.
Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem
Recruitment
Base Stats
Growth Rates
| HP | Str | Skl | Spd | Lck | Wlv | Def | Res |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80% | 70% | 50% | 50% | 80% | 40% | 30% | 3% |
Support Relationships
| Character | Bonus |
|---|---|
| Lena | 10% |
| Character | Bonus |
|---|---|
| Lena | 10% |
Overall
|
|
Subjective: The following part of this article is based upon the editor's personal experiences and opinions, and therefore may not be applicable for all readers.
|
Julian has lost the odd priority rules of his old self, but has gained a Weapon Level growth. This means that he now has the potential to use stronger swords, making the idea of training him for combat much more appealing (especially as he is required for the later chapters and the best ending). In Book 2, he also has a substantially better base Strength of 7 and base Weapon Level of 6, pushing him considerably further in combat. He remains mostly unimpressive, but he can actually contribute somewhat in the final chapter after investment.
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon
Recruitment
Base Stats
| Name | Class | Chapter | Affiliation | Recruit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Julian | Thief | 3 | Other | Automatically from the start. |
| Starting Class | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Thief | |||||||||
| Level | HP | Str | Mag | Skl | Spd | Lck | Def | Res | Mov |
| 3 | 17 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 7 |
| Weapon | Starting Items | ||||||||
 Sword - E |  Iron Sword | ||||||||
Growth Rates
| HP | Str | Mag | Skl | Spd | Lck | Def | Res |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80% | 50% | 0% | 50% | 50% | 80% | 30% | 2% |
Support Relationships
- Supports
| Character | Initial points | Total points for | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | B | A | ||
| Lena | 5 | 5 | 8 | 13 |
| Rickard | 0 | 5 | 10 | 16 |
- Supported by
| Character | Initial points | Total points for | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | B | A | ||
| Lena | 5 | 5 | 8 | 13 |
- To increase support levels, characters must participate in chapters together
- One support point is gained for each chapter they both participate in
- Support levels that require 35 chapters cannot be reached normally
- Characters must be within a three tile radius of each other to receive support bonuses
Bonuses per level:
Overall
|
|
Subjective: The following part of this article is based upon the editor's personal experiences and opinions, and therefore may not be applicable for all readers.
|
Unlike most units in Shadow Dragon, Julian is a member of the unique Thief class. Julian's main utility will be as a Thief; he is able to open doors and chests on maps where they appear, and since he is recruited for free in Chapter 7 he will be the first unit capable of doing so. This is a helpful utility, but not always necessary; Marth can use the Fire Emblem after Chapter 6 to open chests, and Master Keys or Door Keys can enable other units to open chests and doors as needed. Still, Julian may be useful on maps with a lot of chests or doors, or on maps with large numbers of chests and doors.
As a combat unit, Julian will be outclassed by almost every other unit in the game. His base stats and growths are decent, but Julian has several major weaknesses. His base stats are decent, but his E rank in swords means he can only use the Iron Sword at base and will not do much damage. He is also rather frail, meaning that he won't be able to survive more than one or two hits from most enemies, and even against axe users Julian will not avoid often enough to survive most combat situations. Julian is locked to the Thief class and cannot reclass, meaning he can't gain access to any new weapon types or get promotion bonuses, and even on Normal difficulty he is unlikely to keep up with other combat units into the mid and late game. Overall, it is generally best to leave the fighting to other units, and only field Julian when he is needed to unlock doors or chests.
Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem
Recruitment
| Name | Class | Chapter | Affiliation | Recruit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Julian | Thief | 3 | Altea | Visit the northeastern village with Marth. |
Base Stats
| Starting Class | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Thief | |||||||||
| Level | HP | Str | Mag | Skl | Spd | Lck | Def | Res | Mov |
| 6 | 20 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 14 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 7 |
| Weapon | Starting Items | ||||||||
| Sword - E | Iron Sword Mend | ||||||||
Growth Rates
| HP | Str | Mag | Skl | Spd | Lck | Def | Res |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80% | 70% | 0% | 60% | 70% | 80% | 40% | 0% |
Support Relationships
- Supports
| Character | Conversations | Total points for | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | B | A | ||
| Matthis | None | 5 | 11 | 18 |
| Rickard | 1, 2, 3 | 5 | 11 | 18 |
| Lena | None | 0 | 0 | 0 |
- Supported by
| Character | Conversations | Total points for | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | B | A | ||
| Kris | 1, 2, 3 | 5 | 11 | 18 |
| Marth | None | 5 | 11 | 18 |
| Lena | None | 0 | - | - |
- To increase support levels, characters must participate in chapters together
- One support point is gained for each chapter they both participate in
- A hyphen (-) indicates the support level cannot be reached
- Characters must be within a three tile radius of each other to receive support bonuses
Bonuses per level:
Support Conversations
| Number | Importance | Name | Chapters Needed | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 115 | * | Julian and Kris 1 | 3 | - |
| 116 | * | Julian and Kris 2 | 6 | - |
| 117 | * | Julian and Kris 3 | 10 |  Speed Bond
|
| 295 | * | Julian and Rickard 1 | 3 | - |
| 296 | * | Julian and Rickard 2 | 6 | - |
| 297 | * | Julian and Rickard 3 | 10 |  Luck Bond
|
- To obtain the conversations, characters must participate in chapters together
- The requirements for unlocking support conversations are separate from the support bonus system
Overall
|
|
Subjective: The following part of this article is based upon the editor's personal experiences and opinions, and therefore may not be applicable for all readers.
|
In New Mystery of the Emblem, Julian retains many of the traits of his Shadow Dragon counterpart, albeit with the gain that the significantly increased enemy variety allows him to gain weapon triangle against axe enemies. His growth rates, as before, are high, but are held back by his low base stats and inability to promote, meaning his raised stats barring Speed tend to be mediocre. He is also harmed by his Thief class, which has very low stat caps, and he cannot reclass at all. The existence of the Fire Emblem also makes his thief utility questionable. Julian is required for the final chapter, but it is generally easier to simply keep him protected then, rather than spend the whole game trying to train him.
Fire Emblem Heroes
- Tender Thief
- A reformed thief who takes the War of Shadows as a chance to atone for his crimes. Lives and works in a covent with Sister Lena. Appears in Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem.
Base Stats
 | Title | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tender Thief | |||||
| Group | |||||
 Infantry | |||||
| Level | HP | Atk | Spd | Def | Res |
| 1 40 | 17/18/19 36/40/43 | 7/8/9 35/38/42 | 9/10/11 35/38/41 | 6/7/8 30/33/36 | 4/5/6 14/18/21 |
| Skills | Weapon | ||||
 Caltrop Dagger+ New Moon |  Dagger | ||||
Skills
| Type | Name | Prerequisite | Default | Unlocked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Iron Dagger | - | - | - |
| Steel Dagger | - | - | - | |
| Caltrop Dagger | - | - | - | |
| Caltrop Dagger+ | Caltrop Dagger | - |  | |
| Thief's Honesty | Caltrop Dagger+ | - | | |
 | New Moon | - |  | - |
| Moonbow | New Moon | - | | |
| A |  Close Foil | - | | |
| B |  Lull Atk/Spd 1 | - | - | |
 Lull Atk/Spd 2 | Lull Atk/Spd 1 | - | ||
 Lull Atk/Spd 3 | Lull Atk/Spd 2 | |
Overall
|
|
Subjective: The following part of this article is based upon the editor's personal experiences and opinions, and therefore may not be applicable for all readers.
|
Base Set
Counters
Skill Inheritance
Meet Some of the Heroes
| Tender Thief Julian | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Julian was once a member of the Soothsires, a group of bandits based in the Samsooth Mountains. | ||
|
But when he encountered Lena, a priestess who had been captured by the bandits, his life changed. He'd fallen for her, and he soon betrayed his former allies by freeing Lena and running away with her! | ||
|
After cutting ties with the bandits, Julian decided to join the Altean army and fight alongside Marth. | ||
|
During the War of Heroes that followed, Lena was taken by unknown forces, and Julian fought harder than ever to save her. I wonder what will become of the unlikely couple in the end! | ||
| Closely Associated Characters | |||
| Lena | A cleric revered as Macedon's Angel. Cares for orphans in her convent after the conclusion of the War of Shadows. She was captured by the Soothsires but rescued by Julian. | ||
| Marth | Prince of Altea who fights for his homeland and deeply values his friends. After Julian and Lena escape the Soothsires, he accepts them into the Altean army. | ||
Quotes
—Julian's death quote in Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light
—Julian's death quote in Shadow Dragon
Heroes
Endings
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light
- Gives up thievery and opens a small shop in Macedon. According to rumor, he is a father now.
Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem
Book 1
- Flirtatious Thief
- He gave up thievery and worked in Macedon.
Book 2
- Honest Thief
- (If Lena is alive)
- Along with Lena, he cared for orphans at a monastery in Macedon.
- (If Lena is dead)
- He continued his beloved Lena's will and cared for orphans.
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon
- Honest Thief
- Julian gave up thievery for good and found an honest job in Macedon.
Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem
- Noble Thief
- Together with Lena, Julian cared for orphans at a convent in Macedon.
Non-Canon Appearances
Fire Emblem 0 (Cipher)
Julian is illustrated in the trading card game Fire Emblem Cipher with the following cards:
Choose Your Legends Placement History
| Round | Placement | Character Version | Votes |
|---|
| CYL1 | 353 |  Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light/Shadow Dragon |
515 |
| 525 |  Mystery of the Emblem/New Mystery of the Emblem |
200 | |
| CYL2 | 407 ↓54 |
Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light/Shadow Dragon |
428 ↓87 |
| 530 ↓5 |
Mystery of the Emblem/New Mystery of the Emblem |
210 ↑10 | |
| CYL3 | 247 ↑160 (From highest) |
Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light/Shadow Dragon/Mystery of the Emblem/New Mystery of the Emblem |
890 ↑252 (From combined) |
| CYL4 | 230 ↑17 |
Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light/Shadow Dragon/Mystery of the Emblem/New Mystery of the Emblem |
622 ↓268 |
| CYL5 | 388 ↓158 |
Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light/Shadow Dragon/Mystery of the Emblem/New Mystery of the Emblem |
122 ↓500 |
| CYL6 | 414 ↓26 |
Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light/Shadow Dragon/Mystery of the Emblem/New Mystery of the Emblem |
109 ↓13 |
| CYL7 | 386 ↑28 |
Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light/Shadow Dragon/Mystery of the Emblem/New Mystery of the Emblem |
46 ↓63 |
| CYL8 | 363 ↑23 |
Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light/Shadow Dragon/Mystery of the Emblem/New Mystery of the Emblem |
79 ↑33 |
Trivia
- Julian shares his English voice actor from Fire Emblem Heroes, Shannon Mckain, with Ashe in Fire Emblem Three Houses.
Gallery
- See main article: Julian/Gallery.