Jude Mathis

Jude Mathis (ジュード・マティス) is one of the two main characters in Tales of Xillia. He is a medical student training in the royal city when he is engulfed into Milla Maxwell's adventures.

Past
Fourteen years prior to the events of Tales of Xillia, when Jude was only a year old, his father, Derrick, was part of Exodus when it was still an organization dedicated to protecting the stranded Elympions, and his mother, Ellen, was a Rieze Maxian doctor. Derrick overheard Gilland's plans of using the Rieze Maxians as fuel and immediately worried for his wife and son's safety, attempting to discover a way to leave Exodus. Ellen, who thought Derrick was having an affair, followed him to the island where Exodus resided and brought Jude with her. Arriving at the base, Ellen was barred from entering due to children being prohibited. She reluctantly handed Jude over to a guard, who said that his mother could take care of him. However, the woman was away, and Jude was left outside of the house. At the same time, a 6-year-old Milla Maxwell chances upon him and plays with him for a while. Eventually, Jude started crying and pulled at Milla's hair, resulting in her running away with him to an Exodus facility. Gilland, using a spyrix to try to contact the Elympions, raised its power, and Milla began to suffer from the cries of the lesser spirits. Her desire to protect Jude led to her awakening as Maxwell, and the Great Four came to her aid, destroying the base. Eventually, Milla had to leave Jude in the lab's ruins, where he was found by Derrick and Ellen with a small trace of a kiss on his cheek.

Tales of Xillia
Jude's hometown is Leronde, where his parents own a clinic. When he was small, he wandered to a dangerous place and was injured. Due to this incident, his friends changed their impression toward him. According to his mother, he has always been a soft-hearted person ever since he was a child, which was why he was bullied all the time. Jude learned martial arts while still young. His childhood friend, Leia Rolando, often asked for a duel, which resulted in Jude's defeat each time. Jude's parents rarely pay attention to him due to their professions as medical doctors. This treatment causes Jude to believe that his parents live only to work, which he strongly dislikes. Feeling neglected, Jude decides to leave Leronde and head to Fennmont, and study there.

In Fennmont, after a large number of patients are admitted to his hospital following a failed Spirit Arte at a military base, he decides to investigate the cause and meets Milla Maxwell, a mysterious girl who is investigating the recent deaths of a number of spirits. Entering a research building from underground, they discover human experimentation and the Lance of Kresnik, a weapon of mass destruction that Milla refers to as a spyrix. Deeming it as the cause for the mass spirit annihilation as well as other threats, Milla attempts to destroy it by summoning the Four Great Spirits when they are interrupted by a mysterious girl in red clothing. After engaging in a fight and defeating the girl, she activates the lance, causing massive mana absorption, consuming the Four Great Spirits leaving Milla powerless. Before the floor collapses under the power of the lance, Milla manages to steal the key required for activation, stopping the machine. Jude saves her from drowning as they fall through the floor into a water reservoir. Leaving the sewers, they are soon apprehended by knights of Rashugal and placed under arrest for treason; however, Alvin, a wandering mercenary, appears and saves them as they board a boat and begin their journey to regain Milla's powers and stop the Lance of Kresnik. Their trip leads them to Hamil, where they encounter Elize Lutus, and Jude decides to help after learning of her hardships.

Tales of Xillia 2
In Tales of Xillia 2, Jude explains that his father was actually part of Exodus, a terrorist group in Elympios. However, he met Jude's mother, a resident of Rieze Maxia, and decided to run away from the group. He also becomes quite famous in Rieze Maxia and Elympios as the youngest Origin head researcher, for better or worse, as he is also hated by certain parts of the society.

Appearance and Personality
In Tales of Xillia, Jude has neck-length black hair and amber eyes. He wears a white jacket with a navy blue overcoat, lined with light blue accents. In a skit in Tales of Xillia 2, he mentions that he changed his hairstyle and attire to fit Elympios's environment.

Jude's mother describes him as "too quick to help others"—a trait that his friends teased and even bullied him for when he was younger. Despite this, even when he came home bruised and battered, he would still be smiling underneath. This trait is ultimately what causes him to help Milla, an action that made him a fugitive and began his travels with her. He is shown to be a pacifist, as he frequently makes remarks after battle that suggest he is against fighting.

Jude is usually calm and composed, but also has—as Alvin puts it—a nasty habit of poking his nose where it does not belong, and can get into trouble because of this. He frequently becomes concerned about things that others have no interest in—Milla and Alvin, in particular—a trait he does not outgrow even when Alvin tells him he cannot concern himself with other people's business. He is a very diligent student in Fennmont and was offered an opportunity to become an apprentice medical doctor after graduation by a professor in the school. Jude is also a highly dedicated person. Despite his young age, he follows Milla in the hopes that he may be of some use to her. He adores Milla, eventually falling in love with her, and is a great friend to all his companions, being both insightful and forgiving.

Fighting Style
Jude prefers melee-based combat over weaponry, primarily utilizing his fists as weapons with the aid of bracers, making him the second lead male in the Tales series to utilize martial arts, following Senel Coolidge. He also possesses a few, minor healing skills similar to Farah Oersted and Regal Bryant. Jude's special skill is "Snap Pivot" (集中回避), which allows him to dodge an attack and appear behind the enemy for immediate counterattacking. His primary stat for his Lilium Orb is Agility, granting him the ability to dash across the battlefield at breakneck speed and make quick work of enemies. Jude's characteristic skill as the secondary partner in linking is "Restore" (レストア), in which he heals the primary partner should he or she be knocked down at any point. Jude is best utilized against Power-type monsters who frequently knock allies down.

Relationships

 * Milla Maxwell - Jude and Milla meet in Fennmont when she tries to break into the Laforte Research Center. Their meeting is awkward since Milla uses Undine's power to nearly choke Jude to death. Things become weirder when Milla claims to be Maxwell, the Lord of Spirits, which Jude obliviously does not believe until he sees the four Great Spirits under her command. After losing her power to the Lance of Kresnik, Milla is stubborn and still wants to pursue her mission. Jude wants to leave her since she is clearly trouble, creating chaos in the research center and nearly getting them both killed. Despite this, out of pity, he decides to help her. During their travels, Jude learns many things from Milla and slowly develops feelings for her, to which she is oblivious. He later helps her find a cure for her broken legs. After a failed attempt to stop the king of Rashugal from moving the land of Kresnik to a new location, Jude is in despair after Milla sacrifices her life to save him and the others aboard the Zenetra. However, after their confrontation against the real Maxwell, Jude is happy to see Milla again.


 * Alvin - Jude views Alvin as a big brother and is inspired by his free spirit and strength. The two bond fairly quickly in the beginning of the story, and Alvin teaches Jude many different life lessons based on his own experiences he had during his time as a mercenary. When Rowen J. Ilbert joins the group, he and Alvin tease Jude about his youth and often embarrass him. Jude is angry and disappointed at Alvin for betraying the group on several occasions—specifically after escaping from Kanbalar. Later in the story, after Milla sacrifices her life, Alvin falls into despair and attempts to kill Jude. He would have succeed if Leia had not interfered, who is instead shot by Alvin. Jude loses control of his emotions and fights Alvin. Jude wins the fight, and Alvin leaves. Although Leia survives the incident, the group—apart from Milla—finds it difficult to forgive Alvin.

Tales of the Heroes: Twin Brave
Jude appears as a playable character in Tales of the Heroes: Twin Brave, along with Milla.

Tales of the World: Reve Unitia
Jude appears as a playable character in Tales of the World: Reve Unitia, along with Milla.

Trivia

 * Jude is a shorter form of Judas, used to distinguish the apostle Judas Thaddaeus from Judas Iscariot. From the Old Testament, Judah is said to mean "praised".
 * A plushie resembling Jude in his Tales of Xillia outfit appears in Tales of Xillia 2 and Tales of Zestiria. In both cases, a save file from Tales of Xillia is required on the system to obtain it.