Black Clover is arguably one of the leading new gen shonen anime, starring interesting characters with unique abilities and dispositions. One such character is Julius Novachrono, the Magic Emperor of the Clover Kingdom, the main setting of the anime.
At various points in the anime, Julius’s powers were revealed to be unquestionably powerful. Despite his current appearance, which resembles a thirteen-year-old kid, he is still one of the strongest characters in Black Clover.
Who is Julius Novachrono?
Julius Novachrono is the Clover Kingdom’s 28th Magic Emperor. Before he attained his present position, he was the captain of the Gray Deer squad. One would expect a Magic Emperor to be stern and serious at all times; however, Julius appears to be different. His child-like obsession with magic is visible anytime he discovers a new type of magic. He’s an ardent lover of magic, and he loves exploring Clover kingdom to discover different kinds of magic. As a result of his personality, he frequently abandons his duties as the Magic Emperor, to the dismay of his assistant. Regardless of his occasional child-like behaviors, Julius is a wise leader who possesses vast knowledge and experience in magic usage. For instance, he instantly recognizes the magical artifact Yuno discovers in a dungeon and explains the properties to him.
In Black Clover, social class discrimination is a dominant theme. However, despite the societal norm, Julius does not treat people using their background or standing in society. He is a fair and just leader who loves the people of Clover Kingdom. His fairness is depicted through the way he treats Asta and Yuno, regardless of their social standing. Julius handles these two promising magic knights the same way he treats other magic knights from influential backgrounds.
Black Clover revealed Julius’s motivation as a person and leader to be Zara Ideale. Initially, in the Clover Kingdom, Magic Knighthood were titles attained only by nobles. However, Zara Ideale broke this restriction by becoming the first commoner to be a magic knight. Zara's death was one of Julius's main reasons for becoming the Magic Emperor.
What Makes Julius so Powerful?
Julius Novachrono’s abilities are powerful even compared to the strongest knights. In Black Clover, the number of petals on the cover of one's grimoire can depict how powerful a knight is. However, Julius's grimoire appears to be unique; it's coverless, resembling a large roll of giant papers. Julius revealed his grimoire in season 2, episode 42 of the anime, during his fight with Licht, an elf responsible for holding the citizens of Clover Kingdom hostage. Most fans speculate that his grimoire reflects his abilities, time, and space manipulation. In other words, Julius’s grimoire is coverless because time has no beginning and end.
As explained earlier, he can manipulate time and space. Julius can stop, increase, reduce and even reverse time flow. This powerful magic attribute places him above most magic knights in the series. Also, it was revealed that he could heal even mortal wounds using his magic. Evidence of this ability was him making a reappearance as a child despite being killed by Licht. Even Lolopechka, the Queen of the Heart Kingdom, revered him as being powerful enough to defeat devils, a nasty set of powerful villains in the series. Julius is also an arcane stage mage, meaning that his abilities can’t be measured using the conventional magical stages.
What Makes Julius Un-killable?
Another powerful ability Julius possesses is restraining magic. He uses a spell, Chrono Statis, to trap his adversaries in a different space, rendering them immobile. This ability stops time for the opponents trapped in its translucent space. Also, similar to most magic knights blessed by mana, Julius wields a large amount of magic power, which makes his true magical ability, time steal, easier. Julius' time steal allows him to steal time from his targets and store it for his personal use. Towards the end of the Elf Reincarnation Arc, Julius used this ability. He used the time he stored in an artifact to revive his dead self as a kid.
Lastly, Julius can use Mana Zone expertly. Mana Zone is an advanced magical technique that allows the caster to use nature's mana. The skill is so advanced that only a few magic knights can do it. However, Mana Zone is just a stepping stone for Julius, who combines it with his abilities to predict his opponents’ attacks.
Studio Pierrot has confirmed the release of season 5 of Black Clover, including a movie scheduled to be released in the latter part of 2022. In the incoming season, Black Clover fans will be hoping to witness another dimension of Julius Novachrono’s power.