Julian Blackthorn

**Julian "Jules" Blackthorn** is a Shadowhunter who has lived his entire life at the Los Angeles Institute. He lives there alongside his siblings and Emma Carstairs, his best friend and *parabatai*.

## Biography

### Early life

Julian was the first child born to Andrew and Eleanor Blackthorn. Some time after he was born, Andrew's children with the faerie Nerissa—Julian's elder half-siblings Mark and Helen—were sent to the Institute to live with them.

Julian soon met Emma Carstairs, whose family lived in Los Angeles and were good friends with the Blackthorns. He and Emma quickly developed a very close relationship.

When he was around ten, Eleanor died just after Tavvy was born. During his mother's funeral, while her body was burned in the canyons, Jules was comforted by Emma, who held his hand while he cried. Jules started painting around this time.

In October 2007, when Julian was twelve, some of the Blackthorn children went to the New York Institute to accompany his older sister, Helen, who was attending the Council meetings during the Clave's search for Jace and Sebastian. Julian, Ty and Livvy were playing with the wax in the nave of the Institute, frustrating Helen who opted to go home after realizing their mischief.

Before they left, Jules met Clary Fray, as well as Isabelle and Alec Lightwood. He wondered and asked if they were siblings; when he found out that Clary had no siblings, he asked her if that was why she looked so sad.

### Dark War

Only weeks after their trip to New York, Julian, Mark, Ty, Livvy, and his friend Emma were at the Los Angeles Institute training with their tutor Katerina when Sebastian came and attacked the Institute. When Mark and Katerina left to investigate, Jules opted to contact the Clave through the office and left with his siblings. Eventually, they found out that Sebastian and his Endarkened army had attacked the Institute, and the group of young Shadowhunters escaped.

Being the oldest among them, Jules was the one asked to hold the Mortal Sword for the Clave's interrogation. During the battle in the Accords Hall, Julian had to kill his father before the latter could take his brother, Tiberius.

In the aftermath of the war, his older sister Helen was exiled to Wrangel Island, and his older brother Mark was left at the mercy of the Wild Hunt. Helen entrusted him, as well as their uncle Arthur with the care of their younger siblings. Unable to bear the thought of being separated from each other, especially after everything they've been through together, Emma and Jules decided to become *parabatai* so the Consul would have no choice but to let Emma stay in Los Angeles with the Blackthorns.

### Cold Peace

Since the war, every year on the anniversary of the Cold Peace, Julian had sent petitions to the Clave to allow his half-sister, Helen, to return home from her post on Wrangel Island, and it was denied every time.

Concerned for their old great-aunt Marjorie, the family decided to pay her a visit in England and spend the summer there in 2012. Knowing that Cristina Rosales was coming and that Emma would not be alone, Jules hoped to use the summer away to get over his forbidden feelings for his *parabatai*. While there, Julian began to work on a set of tarot cards depicting his family.

Upon returning to Los Angeles—a day early due to Malcolm's quirks—he realized that he had failed but still tried to distance himself from Emma emotionally.

## Personality

Julian is stubborn, confident, and does not open up to a lot of people, though he can also be very considerate and thoughtful. Jules is also a very loving person—when he loves someone, he will love them forever; the same applies to the people he hates. Though he is typically gentle, patient, and sweet, he has his limits and is shown to be capable of yelling even at authority when furious. Kieran and Emma have described Julian as ruthless.

As a child, Jules was extremely troublesome, though he often took the blame for his and Emma's mischief. Having lost both of his parents and his elder siblings at the tender age of twelve, Jules has since looked after his four younger siblings. Though he has an uncle to help him, Jules feels responsible for them. Painting, however, momentarily helps him take his mind off his responsibilities.

## Physical description

Julian has dark brown messy hair and the startling Blackthorn blue-green eyes. He is described as tall and slender, lanky, with high cheekbones. As an artist, he is usually seen untidy or splattered with paint, and his nails are bitten. His hair is the color of dark chocolate and wildly wavy and he is said to be the kind of person to wear all black and pull his sleeves over his hands.

## Skills and abilities

* **Nephilim physiology**: Being Nephilim, Julian possesses a variety of enhanced physical and mental abilities granted to him by the blood of Raziel in his veins and also by the angelic Marks of the Gray Book. He also has power to perform tasks unique to their species, such as the ability to use and call on the power of angels for their seraph blades. This includes enhanced strength, agility, stamina, and coordination, which only improves over time and practice.
* **Runic magic**: Due to the angel blood in their veins, all Shadowhunters are able to apply runes on their skin without any real danger. These Marks, in turn, give varied effects that serve to benefit the wearer.
* **Combatant**: Julian is fairly good at fighting and being a Shadowhunter.
* **Marksmanship**: Julian has mastered the use of his crossbow and aims with complete accuracy.
* **Art**: Additionally, Julian is a particularly gifted and talented artist. He has difficulty breaking habits developed as an artist, such as holding his stele as if he is holding a paintbrush.

## Possessions

* **Crossbow**: Julian's favorite weapon is the crossbow, though he also favors seraph blades and throwing knives as his primary weapons.
* **Sea glass bracelet**: Julian has a lucky bracelet that is decorated with shells and sea glass given to him by his parabatai, Emma, who had received them from Jem Carstairs, her distant relative.

## Relationships

### Romance

* Emma Carstairs

Emma and Julian are *parabatai* and have been best friends for years. As *parabatai*, they have grown close and developed great feelings of both *philia* (friendship) and *agape* (family) love throughout their childhoods.

Over time, however, they developed feelings for one another, which, since they are *parabatai*, is forbidden. Despite their attempts to fight it, the pair eventually gave into their feelings and slept with each other.

When Emma discovered what love between *parabatai* may do, Emma falsely told him that she did not have feelings for him to protect him and those around them, going as far as pretending to be with Mark to convince Jules.
### Family

* Mark Blackthorn

Mark is Julian's older brother. Emma states that Julian and Mark have always had a tough relationship: they love and care for each other and would do anything for each other, but Mark does get on Julian's nerves very easily, which causes arguments and other problems to arise between the two of them.

## Etymology

As all the Blackthorns have Latin or Greek mythology based names, he was given the name Julian as a variant of Julius Caesar.

1. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `CoHF`