Table of Contents:
To quickly jump to a section, type in the word that is in
brackets (e.g. to go to "Who is Julius?", type in "WhoX".)

A) Introduction [IntX]
B) Updates [UpdX]
C) Who is Julius? [WhoX]
D) How Julius is Different from Soma [HowX]
E) How to Use Julius [UseX]
F) What's Different from Soma's Game [DifX]
G) Boss Strategies [BosX]
H) Legal Stuff [LegX]


To use Julius, you must enter JULIUS on the naming screen after
having beaten the game at least one time as Soma.


Section A: Introduction ---- [IntX]
This section is the introduction to the FAQ.

Hello and welcome to my second FAQ, one about the character
Julius  Belmont of Aria of Sorrow. This FAQ's goal is to 
tell you how to use Julius better. If you have any 
suggestions or complaints. Please e-mail 
[email protected].


Section B: Updates ---- [UpdX]
This section deals with updates, when things were changed,
and when they were changed.

If you have any suggestions for this FAQ, e-mail
[email protected]

Version 1.0: 02/21/05
Created the FAQ.
Version 1.1: 02/28/05
Fixed a slight problem with Death's strategy
Version 1.2: 04/26/05: Third Edition
Added how to actually use Julius, plus fixed some minor 
grammatical issues
Version 1.3: 08/24/06
Reworded much of the FAQ, rearranged many of the sections,
added the section descriptions, and updated it in general
to make it more like the slightly-superiorly designed 
Maxim FAQ I made.
Version 1.4: 03/08/07
Fixed some minor issues and a few typos.
Version 1.4: 03/21/08
Redid some of the FAQ to follow a template I use with my other
FAQs. The Version Number is now more in line with GameFAQ's 
numbering system.
Version 1.5: 03/27/08
Various updates and corrections.


Section C: Who is Julius? ---- [WhoX]
This section details who Julius Belmont actually is and his past
(or at least what is known of it). It talks about what storyline
Julius' game actually possesses. It has no actual importance
game-wise.

Julius Belmont is the most recent latest vampire hunter in the
Belmont lineage that we know of. In the year 1999, he, along with
some help, probably from Alucard, went and fought Dracula in a 
suitably epic battle.
What made this battle different from the other times Dracula
fell to a Belmont is that Julius actually finished off Dracula
once and for all, not only killing the vampire but also sealing
away his castle inside of an eclipse.

Julius is a Belmont, and as such, possesses extraordinary powers 
that normal mortals couldn't begin to approach. Additionally, he
wields the whip Vampire Killer, a magical whip specially designed
to be able to destroy vampires without garlic or stakes. He 
probably knows Alucard, who appears to you in the game as Genya 
Arkido.
Julius is the most powerful Belmont to date according to his 
enemy information. Somehow, he lost his memory before the events
of Aria of Sorrow, and went to Castlevania to regain it. His main
goal is to vanquish Dracula forever at any cost, even if it means
destroying his friend, Soma Cruz.


Section D: How Julius is Different from Soma ---- [HowX]
This section deals with the mechanical differences between Julius
and Soma in-game. It details Julius' unique moves and abilities
and how they are better or worse than Soma's. Actual strategies
for using these abilities are found later (in the next section).

-To use Julius, you must enter JULIUS on the naming screen after
having beaten the game at least one time as Soma.
-Julius always has a 800 HP maximum. It doesn't ever increase.
-Julius gets stronger (more damage, max hearts up, etc.) by 
killing bosses and collecting the resulting red spheres, as 
opposed to leveling up like Soma, so killing non-bosses is 
pointless.
-Julius uses a traditional whip instead of an array of swords,
hammers, and guns like Soma.
-Julius starts off FAR stronger than Soma, but by the end, Soma
is the superior character.
-Julius can spin his whip around himself like the other Belmonts 
(sans Trevor and Christopher), blocking projectiles and weak
enemies (like bats).
-Julius doesn't use equipment, so all equipment in the game has 
been removed and replaced by nothing.
-Julius can't use potions, so he can't heal himself at all except
when he finds a save point.
-When Julius is hurt, he'll flinch and won't recover until his
feet touch the ground, unfortunately, if you're high jumping to
a high place and get hit by something, that means you're 
vulnerable until you land, as opposed to Soma, who recovers after
a second, whether or not he's touching the ground.
-Julius has the Double Jump, High Jump, Slide, and Skeleton 
Kicker powers at the beginning of the game.
-Julius doesn't use money, so there's no shop. Money also does
not drop.
-Julius can't backdash. Instead, if you press L while on the 
ground, he'll dash on the game's background (impossible to
explain, just try it), moving while invincible. He'll move about
ten feet before stopping. You can attack to get out of it. It 
doesn't even cost magic. If you use it and go off of a cliff, 
he'll stay in the air until it ends. It's far more useful than
Soma's backdash in most situations. I refer to this ability 
from here on in as the "warp."
-Because of his sub-weapons, Julius doesn't use souls, so 
enemies never give off their souls.
-Julius comes equipped with four of the traditional Castlevania 
sub-weapons, just press R to cycle through them. He's got Holy 
Water, Axes, Crosses, and Giant Crosses. It's a shame he's 
missing some of the other Castlevania sub-weapons like the Stop
Watch.
-Sub-weapons are to Julius as souls are to Soma. He doesn't pick
them up from candles like the older heroes, he carries them 
around with him (why couldn't Simon do that?), to cycle through 
his weapons, just press R. Remember that AoS doesn't use a heart
meter, you're draining your magic every time you use them. I wish
the game had included the Stop Watch, but, what're you gonna do?
Because he has only four sub-weapons, Holy Water, the Axe,
the Cross, and the Giant Cross, I made a subsection for each:
1) Holy Water
The Holy Water is the Dracula X's version; useful, but not THAT 
useful. When Julius deals 128 damage with his whip, it'll do 
about 162 damage.
Its real advantage is in that Julius can do other stuff while the
flames attack, like throwing more holy water. It's holy 
elemental. When you use the attack, Julius throws out a vial of
holy water, which breaks, releasing cool-looking blue flames that
slowly move about 8 feet before burning out. It can hit multiple
enemies and hits larger enemies more than once if they stay in
it. It cannot harm flying enemies for obvious reasons.
Overall, I'd say it's the least useful of all Julius' 
sub-weapons, not because it's bad, like some of Soma's souls, but
its uses are limited compared to the other sub-weapons.
2) The Axe
The traditional axe, one of the most famous Castlevania 
sub-weapons, and my most used. When Julius is doing 128 damage,
it's doing 153. It's not as powerful as the holy water, but it's 
more versatile. Against fast-moving enemies, you'll rarely use 
it, but against slow-moving larger enemies... you'll use holy 
water.
So why is it better than the holy water? It's normal elemental. 
When Julius uses the axe, he throws a large axe into the air that
arcs down and damages enemies, but doesn't make them flinch. The
axe is the Julius' best weapon against flying enemies, and there
are enough to be annoying. The cross can't hit flying enemies 
consistently (they usually fly up then down then up and... god, 
it's annoying), the giant cross is too expensive to use in terms 
of magic power, and the holy water is grounded. Julius' whip 
isn't amazingly effective against airborne enemies because it 
leaves you open and it's range is pretty damn short. It's the 
third-most useful of the sub-weapons.
3) The Cross
Once called the "Boomerang" to avoid religion, the cross is a 
powerful sub-weapon that can make grounded enemies and bosses
easy. When Julius is doing 128 damage, it's dealing 209 damage,
and remember that the cross will probably hit any enemy twice,
and many of the larger enemies three or four times.
When he uses the cross, Julius throws a cross (that doesn't quite
look like a cross) directly horizontally. It'll go for a bit 
before boomeranging back. Like its Dracula X counterpart, they
decreased the range of it. When it comes back, it always goes 
straight backwards, so it doesn't necessarily come back to 
Julius.
You can have more than one out at a time, just so you know. It's
most useful against grounded enemies, even the fast ones, and 
large opponents, like the Big Golem. Few normal enemies will 
stand up to it for long. Overall, I'd say it's the most useful 
sub-weapon of all, since it's more versatile than the holy water
or axe and it's not horribly expensive to use like the giant 
cross.
4) The Giant Cross
I call it the Giant Cross because it doesn't actually have a 
name.
It's actually Richter's item crash for the cross from Dracula X 
for the Turbo Duo that never came out in America, and Alucard's
attack with the cross from SotN. When Julius is dealing his 
meager 128 damage, the giant cross is doing 253. When he uses it,
Julius becomes invincible for the duration. He summons a huge 
azure crucifix guaranteed to hit anything not in a corner. The 
crucifix deals damage to anything that comes in contact with it,
which is almost everything, and deals it several times. If your 
enemy keeps moving, it'll probably hit him three times. If he 
stops in the crucifix, five times. It stays on the screen for 
about five seconds. It is by far the strongest weapon in the 
game, and I'll not go into its uses against enemies because it's
always useful. 
Its downfall? If you couldn't guess, it costs a huge amount of 
magical power from Julius. Even at his best, it'll take about a 
forth of all his magic. Which.... isn't actually all that bad. 
It's probably the second-most useful sub-weapon, second only than
the cross.


Section E: How to Use Julius ---- [UseX]
This section deals with how to actually use Julius as opposed to
using Soma.

Julius, unlike Maxim and Juste, is very different from Soma. He 
doesn't level up, so there's little reason to fight non-bosses. 
But, it's still worth going into how to use him.
-Julius' whip isn't as long as other Belmonts' whips, and there 
aren't any power-up candles (Grah...), so what you see is what 
you get. It's about the length of the longer swords Soma gets 
(the horizontally-attacking ones, not the vertically slashing 
ones), and it stays out for a little while, so he can't dish out
as much damage as Soma. You have to get used to fighting with 
what's essentially the Whip Sword but shorter. Since it DOES get
stronger for every boss you kill, though, it's not all bad.
-Julius has the ability to step into the background, bypassing 
enemies. He stays for about three seconds and can come out of it 
by attacking. He'll face opposite of the direction he was 
initially facing, by the way. It's useful in every circumstance.
Want to bypass the annoying hallway of enemies without risking 
damage? Use this. Want to get on the other side of the boss to 
attack his backside? You got it. He can't use it in the air, 
instead he high jumps, but it's still an incredible maneuver.
It's what really sets him apart from other Belmonts.
-Whenever you're fighting an enemy that uses projectiles (other 
than Nova Skeletons) or lots of weak enemies (like bats), 
Julius' ability to swing his whip around is easier than bothering
to avoid them.
-Julius can use most of Soma's special maneuvers (high jumping, 
double jumping, etc.) at the game's start, so make use of them.
The slide and high jump damage enemies.
-Julius' high jump damages enemies, so you aren't hurt by hitting
an enemy while high jumping, and doesn't make him flinch if he 
crashes into a ceiling, so you can jump without fear of reprisal
from aerial foes.
-Although it's not a difference from Soma, unlike every other 
Belmont in history (sans SotN's Richter), Julius can change his 
direction in the air, while his whip is out, so aerial 
maneuvering is easy.
-Julius is completely incapable of healing. Unlike Maxim, who 
could at least heal himself twice or so, he can't heal himself AT
ALL. So, be careful on long excursions from save points.
-Julius can use a special "Warp" ability, that moves him into the
background, where he skids along for a bit, then rematerializes.
This is most useful for getting around a boss to attack his back,
but its uses are almost unlimited. Keep in mind he can't use it 
in the air, instead he'll High Jump.
- Here are the best ways to take advantage of each sub-weapon, 
which are described in the previous section:
1) The Holy Water
Holy water is useful against slow-moving grounded enemies, such
as large golems and giants. It's useless against flying and 
hovering enemies, and less useful against fast-moving or jumping
enemies. Its primary advantage is that while it's harming the 
enemy you can still attack it, so remember that.
2) The Axe
Axes are useful against flying enemies and large slow-moving 
enemies that will be hit by them several times. Once you use it 
once, you should be able to use it properly from then on. While 
the axe is in the air you can continue attacking, and you can 
combine it with the cross for superior damage.
3) The Cross
The cross is useful in just about every situation. Against flying
enemies it's easy enough to use and grounded enemies have no 
choice but to walk or run right into it. Even jumping enemies 
will probably get hit by one of its attacks. The Cross is 
especially useful when combined with holy water for some extreme
damage.
4) The Giant Cross
The giant cross deals serious damage in exchange for serious
magic. It's too expensive to use against normal enemies, but it's
useful against bosses, especially the final boss who's fairly 
easy to use it against and will be unable to harm you with the
invincibility it grants.


Section F: What's Different From Soma's Game ---- [DifX]
This section addresses the castle's differences when Julius plays
through it as opposed to when Soma goes through it.

-At the game's ending, Julius has the generic Belmont ending of 
silently watching Castlevania explode from a distance.
-There's no dialogue, it's all been removed.
-Julius can't get past the black fog barrier before or after 
beating Graham like Soma can, so Graham Jones is the game's final
boss for him.
-Although it's a not a direct difference from the castle, since 
Julius comes equipped with so many special abilities at the 
game's start, he can skip most of the bosses and areas if he 
wants to.
-Julius still picks up money, but it's worthless, since Hammer 
doesn't appear.


Section G: Boss Strategies ---- [BosX]
This section deals with how to fight bosses using Julius (and 
whether or not they exist in Julius' game).

1. Creaking Skull - HP 240
One of the series' easiest bosses ever, Creaking Skull is the 
first of AoS' bosses that will easily fall prey to Julius' 
skill with the whip. All you need to do is keep whipping
him. He's large enough to hit easily, and when he raises his 
bone-club above his head, either run backward or warp. Of course,
there's a good chance you'll simply be able to kill him before he
can even get his attack off. Even if you're hit, you'll barely be
hurt. He shouldn't even be a minor challenge to you. Any of your
sub-weapons will tear him apart.

2. Manticore - HP 440
He's easy, but not to the degree Creaking Skull was. Your 
superior HP should get you by even if you mess up badly. 
Manticore has two attacks; all of one more than Creaking Skull
had. His first is lifting his tail above his head and slamming it
right in front of his head, if you get hit by it you'll be 
poisoned (oh no...). He'll only do this if you're close, which 
will probably be the entire time (unless you're using sub-weapons
to fight him). His other attack will be signaled when he shakes 
his head and sparks fly all over the place, he's gonna spit out
one or three fireballs. You can whip them away or jump over them,
your choice.
He shouldn't be a problem, no matter how bad you are. If you have
ANY trouble with the guy, just use some holy water or the cross,
they'll shred right through him.

3. Great Armor - HP 650
The first boss who might pose a challenge, but probably won't, he
just sucks that damn much. Great Armor has one thing going for 
him: his shield. It prevents attacks that are going for his body,
so his head and back are his weak points. His attacks consist of
him raising his sword above his head, which he brings down with
considerable force, which you can avoid by warping to his 
backside to attack, and raising his sword to chest level, when he
does that, he's about to stab the air in front of him, so be 
careful and just duck or warp. Either way, start whipping him.
Your greatest threat is his random movement, since he steps 
backwards and fowards all the time without warning and whipping
him doesn't make him flinch. If you're having trouble, the cross
is the sub-weapon for you, it'll destroy him easily.

4. Big Golem - HP 1200
Big Golem is the Talos of AoS: Big and easy. He's no real threat 
at all. Just start whipping his leg, use a cross if necessary.
Just because I'm that kind of guy, I'll tell you what his attacks
are: if he raises his sword to chest level, he's gonna try to 
stab you with it, just face backwards and warp. If he covers his 
mouth, he's gonna belch out rocks and pebbles to hurt you, just 
face backward and warp. If you're having real trouble with him
for whatever reason, just warp behind him; he can't turn around
or attack you, so your only danger is him stepping into you.

5. Headhunter - HP 700, HP 700, HP 700
A decently challenging boss, Headhunter is certainly leagues 
ahead of the other bosses you've faced thus far. She has three
forms (I say "she" because of two of her forms are women, and the
third COULD be female, I don't know):
A) She'll be a noblelady, who will walk leisurely along the
ground and occasionally try to attack you, when you see her stop,
just crouch and keep whipping her. If you have problems, Holy
Water away.
B) She'll turn into an old hag, who will fly around and try to 
kill you with her magic. She has two attacks: Summoning little
fireballs that fly around the room and are easy to avoid if you
just moving, and summoning lightning, just keep moving. Soma 
would have trouble with this, but you can just axe her into 
submission, or if necessary, just keep in the air to keep
whipping her.
C) She'll turn into a lizard: her hardest form. She'll jump 
around a lot, so be careful. When she's on the ceiling, she can
come down all of a sudden, so be even more careful. She'll rarely
stay in one place for long, lowering the holy water and cross'
usage. When she's on the ceiling, she'll spray out poison, easy
to avoid, just stay on the ground or on her other side, and stick
out her tongue, just stay grounded. The basic plan is to just 
keep whipping her, using the axe as needed.

6. Death - HP 4444
Death has two forms, like most of his incarnations in the series.
He's probably AoS's hardest boss. Death deals a lot of damage, so
be careful not to get hit by him.
His first form is his generic attack pattern that never works but
he  uses it all the time anyway; he uses his scythe to attack you
occassionally and summons kamas everywhere to ram into you. You 
can't hurt him, you need to hit his scythe instead. The kamas are
no cause for real concern, they're easy to avoid, spend several 
seconds aiming themselves, and can be dealt with one hit,
and deal little damage regardless. His scythe attacks deal plenty
of damage, and all I can tell is to not get hit by them. Whenever
he attacks you with his scythe directly, just warp behind him and
use the cross two or three times; it's more effective than the 
axe or the whip, and he's rarely close enough to the ground to 
use the holy water against him. His only other attack is 
summoning energy beams from the ground that have a distinct 
pattern; when you see little blue sparks and Death is holding out
his hand, warp to the other side of those sparks.
If you're close  enough to him, just axe him. After you knock off
half his HP, he changes forms. His second form doesn't really 
count as changing forms, but it's easily the most badass Death in
any Castlevania game. His scythe turns into a kickass two-headed
scythe with two blades that is worth getting killed by just to 
see in action.
He's got a few attacks here, and remember, now that he's got a 
new form, he loses the kamas (yay). His first attack is just 
swinging at you with his huge scythe, duck, slide, or warp to 
avoid it, then attack your temporarily immobile foe. His second
attack is rushing at you, scythe in front of him. If you've got
good timing, try warping, if not, double jump before he's right 
in front of you and try to land behind him. Do your best because
Death's attacks hurt a lot. His final attack is really damn cool;
he swings his scythe over his head, then unleashes it like a 
boomerang, I hope you're ready to duck.
Whenever he isn't attacking you, throw crosses all the time. They
deal good damage, will probably hit him several times due to his
moderately large size, and are cool.

7. Legion - HP 5000
Unlike in Soma's game, you don't collect souls, so feel free not
to destroy all his parts. He has four sections of bodies covering
him, and for every section you destroy by whipping, a tentacle 
will come out that spits beams out you. You need to destroy at 
least one section to kill him, though.
Destroy any section you need to, you'll probably want to destroy 
two on one his sides, to expose his weak point; it's that ugly
gray sphere that's flying around. Keep moving whenever you 
aren't attacking, and don't bother warping; he can turn around
easily and hit you when you don't expect it. His tentacles take
a while to spit out the beams and stand erect for a while before
they do, so just pay a little attention to them, those beams DO
deal plenty of damage.
Whenever you see naked bodies wandering aroud, make sure to
destroy them, they might get in the way later and only take two 
hits to destroy. If you need to get up the side of the room 
quickly, just high jump, it's quicker and safer (in case of naked
bodies). Each section has 5000 HP.

8. Balore - HP 4000
One of Soma's greatest challenges is also one of Julius', but 
he's nothing compared to Death. Balore kills the Giant Bat you 
thought you were going to fight, and looks at you. His first set
of attacks is simple; he's gonna try to crush you with his fists.
Just warp whenever a fist is above you. Whenever you can, jump up
and whip his white eye, sub-weapons aren't very helpful against 
him. He eventually switchs to a much harder form of attack; 
apparently he has laser vision. He'll look along the ground, you
can see where he's looking via the white beam (you'll understand
when you see it), and a second later, the ground will burst into
flames in a really cool effect. The only way to avoid this is
double jumping, and it's pretty hard to do, AND those flames are
fairly damaging, so be careful. His eye is once again the target.
You might want to just use the giant cross, it'll make you 
invincible to the flames and damage him a lot if you're standing
directly under his eye.

9. Graham Jones - HP 5000
The game's final boss (for Julius) is fairly easy, but don't drop
your guard. He can deal some real damage if you're not careful,
his attacks deal more than 100 damage.
His first forms is simple; he imitates Dracula. He teleports 
around the room, and has three attacks. The first is Dracula's 
most basic; he summon three fireballs that can be jumped over. 
His weak spot is his head, so aim for that using your whip.
That's right, no sub-weapons. The cross and the axe take too 
long, the giant cross it a waste since he'll teleport again soon,
and the holy water can't hit him. His second attack is launching
two black fireballs, these can't be whipped away and you'll need
to duck, then jump to avoid this attack, and then attack Graham.
If he uses his third attack, summoning a wave of black fireballs,
just duck them and then slide to him, they'll fly over your head
and you'll be in a prime position to whip him when he's done.
He eventually changes forms. He turns into... something. He has a
few attacks. The first is signaled when one of his hands sparkle;
he's gonna swipe at you. Just duck. The second is when both his
hands sparkle, again, duck. The third attack is much more
serious; it deals around 135 damage. See that giant halo? It
flies over to wherever you are, then launches a pillar of blue 
energy that hurts you. Just stay in one place until it locks onto
you, preferably one of the room's corners, out of reach of 
Graham's hands, and slide below his hands.
Graham's weak point is that large stationary purple sphere in the
middle of the screen protected by his hands. Just wait for him to
attack, then attack the sphere. Following a pattern will be his
downfall, but one mistake and you're in for a world of hurt.
This form is begging to killed using the giant cross, by the way,
it will completely and utterly own him.


Section H: Legal Stuff ---- [LegX]
This section is about boring legal stuff.

Layman's Version:
Thou shalt not steal this FAQ. If you want to use this FAQ on 
your site, you need to ask permission by e-mailing me at 
[email protected]. If you do, and I agree, do not edit the FAQ
in any way, and give me credit.

Lawyer's Version:
Copyright 2008 Adam Sokol
This FAQ is for personal use only, do not sell, distrubite, or do
anything else with the FAQ.