Yuri Lowell

Yuri Lowell (ユーリ・ローウェル, Yūri Rōweru), is both a fictional character and one of the main protagonists from the Tales of Vesperia of the Tales of series. He is a young man from the Lower Quarter of the Imperial Capital, Zaphias. He was formerly a member of the Imperial Knights, but left after only three months of service due to his contempt for the Empire's treatment of its lower citizens. Yuri originally leaves his life in the lower quarter in order to pursue the thief who stole an important instrument: the blastia core required for regulating the area's water supply.

After being imprisoned in the castle dungeon for trespassing, Yuri escapes continues his journey with a noble named Estelle and his faithful dog Repede for the sake of the common people. His journeys have him crossing paths with many new people, places and thrilling adventures, eventually escalating into a quest to save the planet. Across the story, 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. Together with Karol, he also forms a guild known as Brave Vesperia, of which Judith also becomes a part and when aiding Estellise. He is an expert fighter, capable of wielding swords and axes.

Yuri and his childhood friend Flynn are also the maib protagonists of the anime film Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike which details their backstories as an imperial knight protecting a town alongside his comrades. The character of Yuri was created to be a young adult to contrast previous Tales protagonists who besides being younger were developed across their games. Yuri has been designed by Kōsuke Fujishima. His role in the film The First Strike was carefully planned to explain his role in the empire, his relationship with Flynn as well as how he decides to leave them.

Yuri also been well received with many writers for video game publications finding him as an appealing protagonist that contrasted other heroes. His role in The First Strike also received positive reception. The positive response has resulted in Yuri often appearing in polls and Tales producer Hideo Baba commenting on whether they could create another character with similar traits.

"You may be protected by the law, but not from me."
 * —Yuri Lowell, before dealing the death strike to Ragou.

Appearance & Biography

 * Voice Actor: Troy Baker (English), Kosuke Toriumi (Japanese), Not Known (Brazilian), Not Known (Chinese), Not Known (Dutch), Not Known (Finnish), Not Known (French), Not Known (German), Not Known (Hebrew), Not Known (Hungarian), Not Known (Italian), Not Known (Korean), Not Known (Norwegian), Not Known (Polish), Not Known (Romanian), Not Known (Russian), Not Known (Poland), Not Known (Portuguese), Not Known (Serbian), Not Known (Spanish), Not Known (Swedish), Not Known (Thai), 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 raven hair, which is depicted as purple in-game, 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: Raven Purple
 * Skin Color: Not Known
 * Eye Color: Brown
 * Age: 21
 * Birthday: Not Known
 * Height: 5'11" / 180 cm
 * Weight: Not Known

Background
Yuri grew up in perpetual poverty for most of his life. The Lower Quarter of The Imperial Capital Zaphias is the place he calls home. He reluctantly joined the Imperial Knights alongside his best friend Flynn Scifo in an effort to change their Empire from within, though it was not too long before Yuri quit the order out of distaste.

Yuri is a vigilante at heart, more than willing to deliver judgment to those cannot be touched by the law. He has personally killed off two high ranking officials whose crimes were mostly pardoned off.

Even then, Yuri is a very sarcastic and cynical man, always armed with a witty remark for every situation. Though deep down, he still has a big heart willing to help out with even the smallest individual problems.

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 in different games, particularly those in the Tales 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 of the other protagonists who grow up and develop their own 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

 * Duke Pantarei

Enemies

 * Alexei Dinoia
 * Yeager
 * Barbos
 * Garista Luodur

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.

An Arte is the name of any and all named special attacks in the Tales series. Expect a character to shout out the name of the attack at the top of his/her lungs whenever one is used. Being the main character, Yuri knows a metric ton of these moves, with many of them being themed after wolves.

When compared to other swordsmen in the game, 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.

Artes

 * Azure Edge: A blue shockwave of energy is launched from the blade for a short distance.
 * Azure Storm: Yuri fires off multiple Azure Edges.
 * Azure Blast: An offshoot of Azure Edge. Yuri slams the ground with enough force to emit a sizable blue shockwave.
 * Crushing Eagle: Yuri stabs the ground with his weapon with enough force to emit a small shockwave. Will force a downed opponent off the ground.
 * Raging Blast: Yuri grabs a foe with a hand glowing in a red aura, which will promptly explode and send a foe off its feet.
 * Frigid Blast: A Raging Blast embedded in ice.
 * Shining Eagle: Yuri drags his blade along the ground to produce damaging sparks.
 * Lone Wolf Charge: Yuri unleashes a burst of power in the shape of a wolf strong enough to knock enemies off their feet.
 * Pyre Havoc: A Wailing Havoc wrapped in flames.
 * Guardian Field: Yuri stabs the ground to surround himself in a blue circle that will damage enemies and heal himself... However that works.
 * Dhaos Blast: (Requires Dhaos Cape to be equipped, replaces Destruction Field) Yuri punches the ground hard enough to produce a massive explosion of energy.

Martial Artes

 * Showoff: Yuri will casually twirl or toss his sword in the air in the middle of some of his combos.
 * Tiger Blade: Yuri slices the enemy up into the air and forces them back to the ground in this two staged attack.
 * Fang Strike: A downward slash followed by an uppercut.
 * Dragon Swarm: A long, viscous series of spinning slashes and kicks.
 * Wolf Strike: A sharp thrust, followed by a wicked uppercut that knocks a foe to the ground.
 * Cerberus Strike: A quick series of three punches.
 * Cerberus Blast: A Cerberus Strike ending with a powerful thrust of Yuri's weapon.
 * Shining Fang: Yuri spins his sword in front of him fast enough to look like he is twirling it.
 * Shining Fang Drop: A shining Fang ending with a powerful jumping slash.
 * Ghost Wolf: Yuri phases forward slashes with his weapon, following up with a seamless slash from behind.
 * Severing Fang: Yuri kicks and enemy up into the air, forcing his victim up along with him before slamming his foe back to the ground.
 * Brutal Fang: A rapid series of punches.
 * Wailing Havoc: An aerial combo consisting of two kicks and a slash.

Hidden Artes

 * Rending Wolf Charge: A combination of Brutal Fang and Lone Wolf Charge.
 * Wailing Blast: A combination of Destruction Field and Wailing Havoc.
 * Fatal Strike: When the opportunity is right, Yuri can finish off a foe in a single attack.
 * Overlimit: A temporary burst of power that increases all of the user's attributes. Has four levels to it though up to 8 can be stored at once, each with increasing effects. Level 1 allows Yuri an infinite amount of uses for his regular attacks and Artes in a combo. It also grants Yuri access to his burst Arte. Level 2 will deal more damage to knocked down enemies. Level 3 grants Yuri access to his Mystic Arte and eliminates the need to consume TP with his Artes. Level 4 prevents Yuri from taking damage or staggering from enemy attacks.
 * Final Gale: Consists of two parts. First, Yuri slashes his blade to create a razor wind. Then, he launches the gale at high speeds with another swing of his blade. Slow to start, but can easily break through defenses.

Break Souls

 * Divine Wolf: Yuri's Burst Arte. Has multiple elemental variations.

Mystic Artes

 * Savage Wolf Fury: Yuri's first Mystic Arte. A blinding series of slashes from all directions, gradually increasing in speed until Yuri tops it all off with one last explosive blow. If used to finish off the final boss, Yuri will instead end the combo with an upgraded airborne Azure Edge.
 * Heavenly Bladewing: Yuri's second Mystic Arte, only available with Level 4 Overlimit.

Feats

 * Do You Even Physics?: Yuri has been known to toss his scabbard away at the beginning of a fight. Every. Single. Time. He's thrown the damn thing off of mountains, into the desert, into the ocean, yet he still manages to get it back on every time.

Durability

 * Survived a fall from the top of Zaude into the ocean due to being taken surprise by a stabbing after having won a difficult battle against Alexei Dinoia.
 * Survived getting thrown across the town of Halure by Segata Sanshiro.

Skill

 * Yuri defeated his best friend Flynn Scifo in a duel, who was a high ranking Imperial Commandant at the time.

Weaknesses

 * Looks like a girl.
 * His name isn't helping matters either. After all, Yuri means... Actually, you can go figure that out on your own.
 * Yuri's Artes rely on a limited pool of TP, though he can regain more by landing regular attacks or using items.
 * Despite his brief time in the Imperial Knights, Yuri is mostly a self taught fighter.

Humble Beginnings
Yuri was born and raised in the Lower Quarter of the Capital. 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.

Imperial Knights
As shown in the movie prequel Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike, a major part in his time in the imperial knights is with the Niren Corps often arguing with Flynn, Hisca Aiheap, and his captain, Niren Fedrock, though he admires Niren's ideals. His personality during the movie is much more impulsive often doing things on his own but holds ideals in the highest regard. After returning from a mission to destroy a large pack of monsters from attacking a town due to the increase of aer, Yuri starts a bar fight with a local guild though gains the respect of the guild leader. After Niren and Chastel Aiheap go to investigate the aer and Flynn to attend a gathering in his place, Yuri and Hisca help to quell another monster attack. During the attack, Niren's dog, Lambert, is taken control of by a monster comprised of pure aer forcing Yuri to kill him.

Disheartened, Yuri decides to take care of Repede, Lambert's son, and clashes with Flynn who failed to acquire reinforcements. Niren decides he must take matters into his own hands as Yuri, Flynn and the rest of the Niren Corps go to investigate a fortress which is the center of all of the aer. Yuri, more than ever, tries to save everyone but after successfully stopping the device causing the overflow of aer, the fortress collapses and Yuri fails to save Niren who was caught in a sinking sinkhole. Flynn informs him that Garista Luodur was probably involved in the device as they confront him. When he reveals his plans, he attacks Yuri and Flynn. Yuri, using the blastia that Niren gave to him before he died, catches Garista off guard and kills him. In the aftermath of this, Yuri, who is seen in his familiar black clothes from the game, leaves the knights with Repede, who now has Niren's pipe. The experiences Yuri had in the movie carry on with him throughout the story.

Vigilantism
thief in question, Dedecci, is linked to a much bigger operation by the Blood Alliance leader Barbos, one of the Five Master Guilds, and the imperial councilman and Capua Nor magistrate, Ragou, Yuri's group puts all of their efforts into foiling their scheme to control both the empire and the guilds. Along the way, they discover the horrors that Ragou has committed against his own people, which include taxing them to impoverishing levels, kidnapping and killing citizens and children, and disposing of the corpses either by feeding them to monsters or selling them for money. Following the defeat of Barbos, Ragou uses his standing in the council to reduce his charges. Unable to forgive Ragou, and knowing that the laws of the empire will never punish him, Yuri takes matters into his own hands and murders him, a secret that he keeps from the rest of the party for much of the game. Following this, Yuri marks his departure from the laws of the empire by announcing to Flynn that he will start a guild, and with Karol Capel and Judith at his side they form Brave Vesperia, named after the brightest star in the night sky by Estelle.

During the story's second part, Yuri and his party clash with Cumore, a captain of the imperial knights who has ambitions of becoming the Commandant. Cumore's crimes are soon revealed to be just as bad as Ragou's, and include forcing people to work in slave labor camps and sending innocent citizens, and even his own soldiers, on a suicidal mission into the desert to search for Phaeroh. While the party hopes that Flynn will be able to bring Cumore's actions to an end, Raven off-handedly comments that the only cure for the stupidity for people such as Cumore is death. This unintentionally inspires Yuri to strike again, chasing Cumore out to the edge of the town, where Cumore falls into a sandpit.

Cumore begs Yuri for help, but his pleas fall on deaf ears and he slowly sinks to his death. However, the event is witnessed by Flynn, and the two become engaged in a heated argument. Flynn insists that Yuri's ways are wrong, telling him that his behavior is that "of a common criminal", while Yuri defends himself, stating that his actions were necessary. At this point, Yuri has rejected the law entirely, stating that it is nothing more than "the tools of whoever happens to hold all the chips", and leaves Flynn with the haunting message that he understands his actions entirely, and has chosen to dirty his hands in order to destroy the villains of the world. When Yuri afterward realizes that Estelle was listening to everything, he asks her if she is afraid of him. While she knows that what he has done is against the law, Estelle says that she understands Yuri's reason and thinking, since his actions have saved the lives of others who would have been victimized by Ragou and Cumore in the future and also states that if she ever was to be taken down by him, she knows he would have his reasons, as well.

Yuri's sins are eventually revealed to the party at Nordopolica, following the death of Belius by Flynn. When Flynn crosses paths with the party, insisting that they hand over Estelle and the Entelexeia's apatheia, Yuri tells his friend that he is going down the same path as Ragou and Cumore, and that if he does not stop, he will have no choice but to dispatch him as well. Karol is the most affected by this discovery.

Resolution
Following the revelation that Alexei Dinoia has been the mastermind behind Ragou, Cumore, and even Barbos, and the kidnapping of Estelle and abuse of her power as a Child of the Full Moon, Yuri begins to realize that his actions have solved nothing, and that all they have done is make way for a monster even more twisted than either of his two victims. Resolved to put an end to Estelle's suffering, Yuri decides that his already dirtied hands are the only ones that have the strength to free her. However, he is stopped by his friends, who insist that Yuri's attempt to bear the burden of defeating the monsters of the world all by himself will only hurt him, and them, in the long run. Inspired by their dedication to him, Yuri agrees to travel with them to stop Estelle, only to find her under the complete control of Alexei by the time they reach Zaphias, who brings forth the Enduring Shrine of Zaude. Realizing that there may be no other way, Yuri prepares himself for the worst case scenario: his original plan of killing Estelle. However, his words eventually manage to bring Estelle out of her power-fueled trance and restore her to her normal self.

With Estelle back in the group, Yuri and his friends travel to Zaude and stop Alexei. After defeating Yeager, they confront the Commandant and they fight to stop him. However, their efforts are in vain, and Alexei activates Zaude. To everyone's surprise, Zaude was actually a barrier blastia that prevented the Adephagos from destroying the world. After Alexei's death, Yuri is stabbed by Flynn's subordinate, Sodia, and he falls to the ocean below.

Yuri then wakes up in Zaphias, and he discovers that he was saved by Duke, who takes Dein Nomos back. Reuniting with Estelle and Repede, Yuri learns that everyone was searching for him after his disappearance. After getting the group back together, they help Rita and Estelle in converting the apatheia of the Entelexeia into spirits that can stop the Adephagos. However, they learn from Sylph that Duke has lost his faith in humanity, and has decided to sacrifice everyone's lives, including his own, to use the Tarqaron and destroy the Adephagos. Realizing that they will need all of the blastia in the world to be converted into spirits, Yuri and the group call all of the world leaders and ask for their permission to go through with their plan, which is approved. During this time, Yuri confronts Sodia about her actions and fights Flynn to resolve their differences once and for all.

Arriving on the Tarqaron, the party is confronted for the final time by Zagi, an assassin who has been obsessed with fighting Yuri. Defeating him for the final time, Yuri slashes at him and causes him to fall to his death. At the top of Tarqaron, the party fights Duke to stop him from sacrificing humanity. Emerging victorious, they try to stop the Adephagos but discover that they do not have enough power. To Yuri's surprise, Duke aids them by lending Dein Nomos and they successfully stop the Adephagos. Afterward, Yuri continues his journeys with his friends.

Playable Appearances

 * Tales of Vesperia
 * Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2
 * Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 3
 * Tales of VS.
 * Tales of The Heroes: Twin Brave

Enemy Appearances

 * Project X Zone 2

Support Appearances

 * Tales of Hearts
 * Project X Zone

Non-Playable Appearances

 * Tales of Graces

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

Notes & Trivia

 * There is a skit in the PlayStation 3 version of the game in which Karol questions why Yuri and Flynn possess some of the same artes, yet the two perform them very differently, such as Dragon Swarm and Tiger Blade. Flynn states those were artes they learned while in the Knights, but Yuri decided to add his own twist to the artes by implementing a few kicks or a punch to them, fitting his style.
 * In Tales of Festival 2013, Kousuke Toriumi, Yuri's Japanese voice actor, explained that Yuri's charm point is unlike that of any other protagonists in the series, who tend to maintain a normal sense of justice. Yuri's sense of justice is different and much darker. He also has a mature personality and anti-hero qualities.
 * In July 2015, Yuri also appeared as taking a part of the collaboration between both the Tales of Asteria and Granblue Fantasy, in the latter. He retains Zankou Roueijin as his special attack.