Yuri Lowell

Yuri Lowell (ユーリ・ローウェル, Yūri Rōweru), is both a fictional character and and protagonist of the Tales of RWBY series created by Monty Oum and Yoshiharu Gotanda. He is a human, born and raised in the Lower Quarter of the Imperial Capital, Zaphias.

He was formerly a member of the Imperial Knights, but left after killing Garista and following the Fall of Beacon. Yuri is forced to leave his life behind to pursue the thief who stole the blastia core required for regulating the area's water supply.

After being imprisoned in the castle's prison for trespassing, he escapes and swept up in an adventure that takes him far beyond the Empire's borders. Although he is quite close to Flynn, they frequently clash over their conflicting world views, and have a friendly rivalry.

He is willing to help those in need, even if he has to take extreme measures to do so, adopting a vigilante-like attitude in many situations. He is an expert fighter, capable of wielding swords and axes. Together with Karol and Judith, he forms Brave Vesperia.

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 * —Yuri Lowell.

Appearance & Biography

 * Voice Actor: Troy Baker (English), Kosuke Toriumi (Japanese), Not Known (Albanian), Not Known (Arabic), Not Known (Basque), Not Known (Brazilian), Not Known (Cantonese), Not Known (Catalan), Not Known (Chinese), Not Known (Dutch), Not Known (Finnish), Not Known (French), Not Known (Galician), Not Known (German), Not Known (Greek), Not Known (Hebrew), Not Known (Hong Kong), Not Known (Hungarian), Not Known (Indonesian), Not Known (Isralian), Not Known (Italian), Not Known (Korean), Not Known (Mandarin), Not Known (Norwegian), Not Known (Polish), Not Known (Portuguese), Not Known (Romanian), Not Known (Russian), Not Known (Serbian), Not Known (Spanish), Not Known (Swedish), Not Known (Tagalog), Not Known (Thai), Not Known (Valencian), Not Known (Brazilian Portuguese), Not Known (European Spanish), Not Known (European Portuguese), Not Known (Latin American Spanish), Not Known (Latin Spanish)

Appearance
Yuri has long waist-length purple hair, and brown eyes. He wears an outfit consisting of a black tunic that shows his chest, black trousers and grey boots as well as his bodhi blastia as a bracelet on his left arm. When he was in the Imperial Knights, Yuri wore the standard grunt uniform consisting of a blue spandex suit, shoulder plates, gauntlets, and sabatons. Likewise, he wore his sword in a scabbard near his right leg, as opposed to him eventually carrying the scabbard, sword included, in his left hand.


 * Hair Color: Purple
 * Skin Color: Not Known
 * Eye Color: Brown
 * Age: 19 (Pre-Timeskip), 21 (Post-Timeskip)
 * Birthday: Not Known
 * Height: 5'11" (180 cm)
 * Weight: Not Known

Personality
Yuri comes across as sarcastic and cynical, possibly due to the way the nobility treated the people of the Lower Quarter. He seems to enjoy teasing others, especially Karol and Rita Mordio, although he does develop a strong bond of friendship with the former, becoming something of an older brother figure. Unlike many main characters in the Tales series, Yuri has a more fully-formed personality due to his matured age.

He is an emphatic young man who prefers to solve smaller problems from individuals rather than the larger, more political ones. It ultimately manifests in a willingness to save others, even if it means risking his life. Yuri grew up in the Lower Quarter of Zaphias with Flynn. According to many of the residents there, Yuri and Flynn were the best of friends who shared everything, such as the first sword that they bought together.

Growing up as a commoner caused Yuri to develop a dislike for the empire's nobility, due to their haughty nature towards anyone less fortunate and their tendency to turn a blind eye to suffering. Thus, throughout his adventure Yuri takes the side of normal, average people over nobility. What sets Yuri apart from many other protagonists, particularly those in the Tales of RWBY series, is the fact that as the second-oldest member of the party and as the oldest male main protagonist, he already has some awareness and knowledge of the world around him.

While most other protagonists grow up and develop their ideals as they continue through their adventures, Yuri is quite comfortable with the person he is, already having an established mindset and personality that changes and develops very little over the course of the story. This manifests mostly as mocking quips directed at Boccos and Adecor during tutorials, but is also apparent during discussions about the nobles and their treatment of the lower classes.

This also makes Yuri less prone to depression and hesitation. He is not afraid to take difficult matters into his own hands, and throughout his travels comes to decide that taking the law into his own hands is the only way to ensure that the villains of the world are punished. However, as shown by his conversation with Flynn in Mantaic, he is fully aware, and to some extent even worried, that in doing so he risks becoming a person that, in a sense, is just as bad as those whom he despises.

Yuri claims to be an enemy of the Empire, as he hates their system and the corruption in the world. However, his real animosity is directed toward individuals who abuse their power to hurt others, and his opposition of the Empire mainly stems from the fact that many nobles, like Ragou or Cumore, will gladly torment the common people just because they can.

Yuri also makes an enemy in Zagi, who sees him as a worthy opponent for making him bleed in their first battle. Yuri dislikes Zagi's bloodthirsty attitude, single-minded persistence, and tendency to challenge him to battle when the heroes have more important things to do, such as chasing Ragou or hunting for Estelle. Yuri also comes into conflict with Duke Pantarei, although this is more of an ideological conflict than a genuine animosity between them.

Friends/Allies

 * Niren Corps
 * Niren Fedrock
 * Flynn Scifo
 * Hisca Aiheap
 * Chastel Aiheap
 * Brave Vesperia
 * Repede
 * Karol Capel
 * Judith
 * Estelle
 * Rita Mordio
 * Raven
 * Patty Fleur

Neutral

 * Branwen Tribe
 * Raven Branwen
 * Maltran
 * Van Aifread
 * Medissa
 * Duke Pantarei

Enemies

 * Demon's Inner Circle
 * Salem
 * Georg Heldalf
 * Symonne
 * Tyrian Callows
 * Arthur Watts
 * Hazel Rainart
 * Cinder's Faction
 * Cinder Fall
 * Bartlow
 * Ragou
 * Landon
 * Runette Forton
 * Asura
 * Blood Alliance
 * Barbos
 * Alexei Dinoia
 * Cumore
 * Garista Luodur
 * Lunarre
 * Yeager
 * Abby
 * Artorius Collbrande
 * Oscar Dragonia
 * Teresa Linares
 * Shigure Rangetsu
 * Melchior Mayvin

Fighting Style
Yuri is capable of using both swords and axes in battle, though axes usually reduce his attack speed while providing more damage. He uses his fists and feet in combination with his weapons, often punching the enemy with his gauntlets instead of using his main weapon. His attacks and artes range from stylish and flashy to brutal and powerful. His Fell Arm is "Blazor Edge Abyssion", and the sword he is seen with in official art is "Second Star", the sword received after the battle with Estelle.

When compared to other swordsmen in the series, Yuri does not have as much technicality and he tends to do more tricks with his sword such as flipping it around him and spinning it during attacks, something that ironically, puts him at odds with Flynn's nature. Despite wielding a katana as a primary weapon, his sense in Japanese swordplay tends to be rare at best, as he often uses his weapon more akin to a stylish-clubbing tool. He has a good balance of speed and power spread across his artes, which make up for his lack of being able to use magic. Much of his attacks also possess a wolf motif.

Past
Yuri was born and raised in the Lower Quarter of Zaphias. As an orphan, the local residents cared for him as if he were one of their own. He became Flynn Scifo's friend when Flynn moved to the Lower Quarter. The two would practice sword fighting and compete with one another, where Flynn always won. They vowed they would fight to make people happy.

When an accident occurred in the Capital, Flynn's father died protecting the citizens of the Lower Quarter. This event caused Flynn and Yuri to strive for different perspectives in life. After the two reached adulthood, Flynn joined the Imperial Knights in order to change the Empire from within, while Yuri remained in the Lower Quarter.

When Hanks told Yuri to "work properly", Yuri reluctantly joined the Knights, as well, but he nearly failed the recruitment exam by saving a fellow soldier from being killed by a monster. Because Yuri managed to kill the monster in one blow, his instructor decided to allow him in the Knights.

Etymology

 * Lowell is Old French for "young wolf", which corresponds with some of Yuri's aforementioned wolf motif.