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.

History
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 Fenmont, 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 (クルスニクの槍 kurusuniku no yari?), a weapon of mass destruction that Milla refers to as a spyrix (黒匣(ジン) jin?). 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.

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
Jude is usually calm and composed, but can get into trouble due to his meddling personality. 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 very dedicated person; despite his young age, he follows Milla in the hopes that he may be of some use to her. He adores Milla, and is a great friend to all his companions, being both insightful and forgiving. 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. He changes his hairstyle into a wilder one and he wears white lab coat with black shirt underneath. According to Leia, he is the person who changes the most amongst the returning characters.

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", 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", 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.