Yuri Lowell

Yuri Lowell is the main character of Tales of Vesperia, the tenth major release in the Tales Series. A young man from the imperial capital, Zaphias, Yuri is forced to leave his life in the Lower Quarter behind to pursue the thief who stole the blastia core required for regulating the area's water supply. His pursuit of the thief eventually leads to him being imprisoned in the castle dungeons, and after making his escape he continues his journey with Estelle and his faithful dog Repede for the sake of the common people.

Personality
Personality-wise, 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, 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's has a more fully-formed personality. He is an empathic young man who prefers to solve smaller problems from individuals rather than the larger, more political ones. Yuri grew up in the Lower Quarter of Zaphias with Flynn, and according to many of the residents there such as Ted they were the best of friends and 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, and so throughout his adventure he takes the side of normal, average people over them.

What sets Yuri apart from many other RPG protagonists is the fact that, as the second-oldest member of the party, he already has some awareness and knowledge of the world around him. 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 that in doing so he may be bringing himself closer to those whom he despises.

Fighting Style
Yuri is capable of using both swords and axes in battle, though axes usually slows him down. He can lock the enemies in an infinite combo by himself, something that is a first for a Tales character. This has led people to believe him broken. His sub-weapon is t gloves, making him capable of punching the enemy several times as well. His Fell Arm is Blazor Edge Abyssion.

Joining the Knights
Yuri and Flynn joined the imperial knights together, but Yuri left by his own account after "a few months" because he could not stand their corruption. His short time as a knight allowed him to travel outside of the capital, but he was unable to do so as regularly as Flynn.

Vigilantism
For the game's first part, Yuri and his party chase the core thief across the world. After discovering that the 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 and Judith at his side they form Brave Vesperia, named after the brightest star in the night sky by Estelle.

During the game'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 labour 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 and murdering him, as well. 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 behaviour 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. Estelle says that she understands Yuri's reason and thinking, 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. 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 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 realise 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. Realising 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.

PlayStation 3 Differences
While the PlayStatio 3 port for Tales of Vesperia does not change Yuri as much as other characcters such as Flynn and Patty Fleur, Yuri is able to acquire a Tales cameo costume of Judas from Tales of Destiny 2. In a skit, this costume will also be the reason to Estelle to comment that Yuri is acting colder than usual. If the port is pre-ordered, he will also receive the costume of Asch from Tales of the Abyss.

Party
Estellise Sidos Heurassein - Unusually for a Tales main character, Yuri does not show any obvious romantic feelings for any of the females in the party, beyond some flirting with Judith. In fact, when asked by Duke about his reasons for wanting to rescue Estelle, he simply responds that she is "one of ours". This may be because, according to Flynn, he has "no understanding of female psychology", a fact that Estelle reveals in a skit. There was, however, a small hint that Yuri and Estelle may have small crush-like feelings for one another as hinted in a conversation the two had alone near the end of the game.

Karol Capel - Although Yuri kept teasing Karol throughout the game, he eventually becomes some sort of brother figure to Karol. Karol also admires Yuri, and becomes hurt when he finds out about Yuri's crimes. When talking to Raven, Karol says that he is not as cold as Yuri.

Rita Mordio - Because of the problem between him and Rita, they do not have much interactions. Like with everyone else, Yuri is normally sarcastic with Rita. However, as the game goes on, Yuri and Rita seem to form relatively strong friendship. Later in the game, when Yuri is injured and goes missing, Rita claims to have "looked all over" for him. Even Estelle and Judith notice that Rita is happy that Yuri is okay.

Raven - Although Yuri does not seem to like Raven because of the latter's perverted personality and stupid behavior, he seems to trust him to some degree. When Raven, as Schwann, decides to stay and die after the battle, Yuri tells him to get a hold on himself, signing that Yuri does, in fact, respect Raven, even though he betrayed them.

Judith - Yuri and Judith began working together even while Judith was viewed as the party's enemy. Because of their closer age, it seems like they are fond of flirting with each other, though it is unknown if it is just for fun or genuine.

Enemies
Yuri claims to be an enemy of the empire, as he hates their system and the corruption in the world.

Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2
Together with Estelle, Yuri appears in Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2. However, he has lost almost all of his artes from the original game, keeping only eight, including his mystic arte Savage Wolf Fury. This may be because of the close release dates for the original Tales of Vesperia and Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology. Although keeping slightly more artes than Yuri, the same goes for Estelle.

Tales of Hearts
Yuri appears as a support cameo. If you obtain a item called the Vesperia Bangle, then Yuri can be summoned in battles, using Shining Fang on the enemy.

Tales of VS.
Now with more artes in hand, Yuri appears in Tales of VS.. His story in there is together with Farah Oersted from Tales of Eternia, who coincidentally also is alone without her counterpart from same game.

Tales of Graces
Scans have revealed that the pre-order bonus for Tales of Graces will be cameo costumes from Tales of Vesperia. Although they have stated that it is still tentative, Asbel Lhant has been shown with Yuri's clothes.

Trivia

 * Yuri is so far the oldest main character in the Tales Series' history.
 * Yuri wields swords and hand axes in battle. However, many prefer to equip him with swords due to their superior speed.
 * Yuri is the first protagonist in the Tales series who is ambidextrous. This means that he can fight with his weapon in either hand (although he never fights with a weapon in each, like Lloyd Irving). In a skit, Judith even suggests to use a sword in one hand and an axe in the other when discussing which to use, but Yuri refuses.
 * Yuri is unique among Tales main characters, as he has the ability to trap his enemies in an infinite, unbreakable combo in battle.
 * Yuri was mistaken by many to be female when he was first unveiled. This is lampooned in the Lower Quarter when one of the NPC's mistakes him for a woman before going on to criticise that keeping his hair long is "unmanly".
 * In the PlayStation 3 port of the game, Yuri can wear Asch's costume from Tales of the Abyss. This is possibly in reference to how Asch was always willing to kill his enemies, whereas Luke would always try and find an alternate way of dealing with them. As expected, Flynn's costume is therefore that of Luke.

Extrnal Links

 * Yuri Lowell (Xbox 360) by Boomerang 78 GameFAQs (2008)