Julien Mayfair (1828-1914) is a fictional character in Anne Rice's Mayfair Witches trilogy. His life story is outlined in the first two books of the series The Witching Hour and Lasher. Julien is the first truly prominent male descendant and witch descended from the Mayfairs.
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The son of Mayfair Designee Marguerite Mayfair, Julien's gender initially made him a disappointment as the family passed the fortune down through the female line. Julien had a brother, Remy, though their birth order is contradicted in the books, in the Witching Hour Julien is referred to as "[Marguerite's] eldest son" while in Lasher, when Julien's ghost is telling his life story to Michael Curry, he says that he was the second son and that Marguerite angered her mother Marie Claudette in repeating the "mistake" of giving birth to a son. Despite his grandmother's disappointment in his birth, he actually became Marie Claudette's favorite grandchild, as a little boy he spent a great deal of his time listening to her stories about their ancestors and discussing the family with her. Julien grew up on his family's plantation at Riverbend in Louisiana and spent a great deal of his time spending time with his brother Remy and younger sister Katherine, the heiress of the family, conversing with his grandmother, or learning. An extremely precocious boy, Julien spent all of his time reading and learning. By an early age he was fluent in English, French, Latin, German, Spanish and Italian and was one of the few people in the South who read regularly.
Despite being male, Julien could not only see and communicate with the Spirit Lasher, he also had a considerable magical powers that gave him a degree of control over the ghost. His younger sister Katherine, the designee and new great "witch" of the family, actually was the first designee who did not seem to have witches talents and indeed had a rather weak mind. Her rejection and dissociation with Lasher was such that when she was a baby, her brother believed that she could not even see the demon, though he later discovered that she could see him, but ignored and rejected Lasher out of fear. Due to her weakness and Julien's strength, he was charged by his grandmother, mother and Lasher to protect his innocent sister. Julien's influence, however, went so far that the Talamasca came to suspect that it was him and not Katherine who was the witch of that generation. If so, Julien would be the only male great witch of the Mayfair line.
From childhood, the boy developed a distrust and slight dislike of the spirit, partly in thanks to his grandmother's influence as well as conversations with Lasher himself, who seemed foolish and alien and had at times tried to dismiss and fool the boy. Despite this, Julien benefited from a close relationship with the ghost, who taught him to use his various gifts and showered affection on him.
As he reached adolescence, he started running his family's plantation with his Uncle Augustin, gaining more and more control as he got older. Unfortunately, when Julien was fifteen, he and his Uncle entered into an angry argument in which Augustin produced a gun. The teenager in a fit of rage snatched the gun from his hand and shot at him, meaning to miss but killing him. The death of Augustin resulted in a schism within the Mayfairs between the main branch and Augustin's close relatives.
Not only did Julien seize control of the plantation, but his witch's gifts were taken advantage of as well. With the pressure of Lasher, who trusted the Mayfairs to give him a living body, Julien was reluctantly drawn in to assist his mother in her experiments in voodoo to try and make Lasher a living being. The grotesque acts fueled Julien's animosity toward Lasher to the point of outright hatred.
The young man was his entire life devoted to his sister, Katherine, who he saw as an innocent version of himself.
When Julien was twenty years old, his black hair turned completely white. He continued helping his mother conduct her experiments, but spent less and less time with her and more time in New Orleans. Julien was an extremely handsome as well as charming character, described as very debonair, playful, and fun-loving. When he was not at Riverbend, he often went out to New Orleans, sometimes with his siblings, to enjoy society and attend various operas, ballets, plays, concerts, and parties. His sister Katherine was delicately beautiful and despite being rather feeble-minded, she was very spirited and adventurous, sometimes she would dress as a boy or pretend to be a "Quadroon" or bi-racial woman in order to attend certain events. Twice Julien had to duel men who had been fooled into thinking Katherine was "colored."
He continued his interactions with Lasher and his distrust grew, though he developed a sexual relationship with the spirit. He often tried to get it to reveal something about itself, certain Lasher had sinister intentions.
Julien took numerous lovers, both males and females, and continued to expand his family's fortunes and pursue various pleasures. Despite his playboy attitude, he was very responsible regarding the duty to his family. As his mother descended into madness, Julien became the unofficial figurehead and caretaker of the Mayfair family, overseeing and presiding over relationship as well as financial matters. He was protective of his sister and was mindful of the fact that she would have to marry and produce a witch. He threw every Mayfair male with witch's gifts in his sister's path, but she was uninterested in marriage. Her brother continued to be her escort and he saw to her every wish.
In 1857, at the age of twenty-nine, Julien bought Katherine a piece of land on First Street in the Garden District of New Orleans. Katherine requested that the popular architect Darcy Monahan be commissioned to build a new city home for the Mayfairs. After Monahan was hired, he and Katherine fell deeply in love and Katherine decided to marry him.
Julien was appalled at the match, worrying that if his feeble-minded and weak sister did not marry a witch, that the Mayfair line would fail. This, coupled with a distaste for Darcy made Julien extremely bitter and jealous of the couple. He refused to give his blessing and indeed voiced intense opposition to the match. It was only after Katherine threatened to elope and abandon the name "Mayfair" (an act that would disinherit her and sever the line) was she permitted to marry Darcy. Her brother was furious and his anger climaxed in a violent quarrel between him and the couple in which Monahan begged Julien to accept the marriage. Julien reacted angrily and attacked Monahan, prompting Katherine to call upon Lasher for the first time and force Julien from the home.
Following the fight, Julien and Katherine were estranged for a number of years, with Julien taking up residence in the French Quarter with a string of lovers.
Now in his thirties, Julien had completely abandoned his work with his mother trying to make Lasher flesh and was estranged from Katherine and no longer capable or needed to be her protector. He became anxious that Lasher would no longer see him as useful or necessary to keep alive and instead just see him as a threat and kill him.
In 1871, six years after the Civil War, Darcy Monahan, Katherine's beloved husband, died of Yellow Fever. Nearly inconsolable, Katherine sent a letter to Julien, begging him to come and comfort her. Julien came to his sister's aid at once, Lasher following him.
The witch found his sister mourning in her bedroom and tried to comfort her. After a while, Julien conversed privately with Lasher and fell into a dreamlike state. He left his sister's bedroom and explored the house and later returned, finding his sister awake. Somewhat dazed, Julien pulled his sister into a kiss and then, to his surprise, found himself aroused. Katherine pressed herself against her brother and admitted that before Darcy, she had entertained incestuous dreams involving him. She turned away from him. But suddenly, in a fit of instant and incredible rage, Julien grabbed his sister and raped her. The second he was finished, he was horrified by what he had done. Katherine ran up to him and flung herself on him, calling his name. The two of them fell into bed together and had sex for several days shut up in her room.
After the two emerged, Katherine went completely insane, breaking down completely and searching for her dead husband. Determined to remove his sister from the house her husband had built, Julien removed her and took her back to Riverbend. Katherine then ceased to be the woman she had been before and became intensely religious, only caring to pray and talk about the saints and God. She and Julien's relationship were forever ruined.
In addition to going mad, Katherine discovered she was pregnant. The family discovered what had taken place and were disgusted with Julien for raping his sister, cursing and avoiding him. They were, however, excited about the pregnancy itself, as Katherine had not yet produced a girl, only two sons Clay and Vincent Mayfair.
In 1872, Katherine gave birth to Mary Beth Mayfair and instantly the family, overjoyed at the birth of a girl, forgave and nearly forgot Julien's transgression. Upon the birth of his niece-daughter, Lasher appeared as Julien held Mary Beth and told Julien that he had served his purpose. Realizing that Lasher had intended this, Julien became enraged, but quickly regained composure, offering to be a guide and protector to Mary Beth.
After Mary Beth was born, Julien underwent an intense depression. Though yearning to know and love his daughter, Julien began to despair and give up on life. After being taunted by Lasher, Julien invited Lasher to possess and control his body for a short time. For several years, he let Lasher possess his body and wander New Orleans for several hours at a time. Lasher's wild antics caused Julien's reputation to suffer. After possessing him the first time, Lasher unwittingly imprinted some of his memories into Julien's mind, causing him to have flashbacks. Determined to discover more about Lasher, Julien continued to allow Lasher to possess him in order to gain more flashbacks.
Julien at this time formally assumed the role as head of the family. He moved into the first street house with Remy and his family and became head of the household and, in 1875, married Suzette Mayfair, a beautiful and innocent cousin who Julien loved dearly. She ended up disappointing him, however, being pious and uninterested in the expensive gifts he bought her. In 1871, she gave birth to Cortland Mayfair and later two other sons Garland and Barclay and a feeble-minded daughter, Jeanette. Julien and Suzette raised Mary Beth alongside their children, though they maintained the charade that she was just his niece.
Mary Beth from an early age became Julien's closest friend and confidante, understanding the spirit and knowing the family secrets. She was extraordinarily gifted intellectually, showing limitless aptitude for business, politics, and magic. Her astounding intellect made her Julien's first true intellectual companion. When she was as young as ten, she was displayed unique and singular insights about Lasher which Julien had never considered, and was not afraid of it as her mother had been or hypnotized by it as her grandmother had been. Despite this, she did not share Julien's hatred of it, and instead used it for her own ends.
Julien and Mary Beth became joint family heads, taking care of and overseeing Mayfair matters and keeping track of various relatives. They also saw to the accumulation of wealth and power together. Mary Beth, with assistance from Julien in certain industries, built up financial and business empires of incalculable worth. Julien doted on her and shared his secrets with her to equip her to be a powerful witch.
In 1888, Julien and Mary Beth traveled to Europe, Julien doing so in part to discover more about Lasher and his family's heritage. The Spirit became agitated by the duo's travels and insisted the two return to New Orleans. When Julien refused, Lasher disappeared for a few weeks, later returning after killing Julien's then-lover and secretary, Victor Gregoire. Enraged by Lasher's actions. Julien confronted the spirit and cursed him. This led to Lasher almost killing the warlock in a rage, only to be interrupted and consoled by Mary Beth, who convinced it to allow them to travel.
Mary Beth and Julien then made their way to Donnelaith, Scotland, where Julien made a breakthrough in his research on Lasher. He discovered historical records of his ancestor, Suzanne, who had summoned the spirit, as well as the story of a local legendary spirit called St. Ashlar who served witches and young women. After pursuing as many legends surrounding Ashlar and Donnelaith as he could, Julien confronted the Spirit, who told him to forget what he had learned.
Upon returning to Mary Beth, she announced that she had gone out and seduced a young man in order to become pregnant and bear the next Mayfair Witch. She refused to tell Julien who it was, insisting she'd never see him again. They wrote home with a story that she had married a "Lord Mayfair" and become pregnant. In 1889, Mary Beth gave birth to a daughter named Belle. Prior to Belle's birth, however, Lasher told Julien that Belle would be born too weak and feeble-minded to be the witch, and that Julien would have to father a witch with Mary Beth.
After returning to New Orleans, Julien resumed his work overseeing family affairs with Mary Beth. In 1891, Julien's mother, Marguerite, died at the age in ninety-two in Riverbend. Upon her grandmother's death, Mary Beth formally inherited the emerald. Katherine was forced to move back to the First Street House where she spent the rest of her days wandering the garden in search of Darcy Monahan.
During these years, Julien went into business with his sons and started the law firm of Mayfair and Mayfair, designed to oversee all of the family's legal and financial affairs. He also took several lovers, most notably Richard Llewellyn, and explored the city with Mary Beth, who took to cross-dressing occasionally. It was on one of these escapades in 1896 that Mary Beth met Julien's former lover Daniel McIntyre. The two fell in love and married, and Mary Beth gave birth to a daughter, Carlotta, in 1899, and a son Lionel in 1900. It was sometime around Lionel's birth that Julien fulfilled his promise to Lasher by copulating with his daughter Mary Beth. Stella Mayfair was born of this union in 1901.
Following Stella's birth, Julien began to write down his life story, realizing that Stella was too fun-loving and innocent to deal with the gravity of his secrets. In 1914, Mary Beth burned all of Julien's books. Shocked by what she had done, Julien had a stroke.
Shortly after his stroke, Julien discovered that his son, Cortland, had fathered a daughter with Barbara Ann, daughter of Tobias Mayfair and granddaughter of Augustin Mayfair. This daughter, at age thirteen, had been kept locked in the attic of her family's house because of her strong witch powers. Julien immediately got out of bed, went to Tobias' house on Amelia Street, and rescued the girl, named Evelyn, who was dressed in rags and mostly mute. Julien kept her in his room, and the two eventually had intercourse, making Evelyn pregnant. It was Evelyn who told Julien that Lasher would become flesh and try to destroy the Mayfair family and most of the world.
Julien died in 1914, lying in his bed in the First Street house surrounded by family and friends. After his death, his ghost still haunted the First Street house. His funeral was attended by a multitude of relatives and it was said Stella was inconsolable. Though his ghost was often seen wandering the Mayfair home and Chestnut Street, he did not communicate until 1996 when he appeared to Mona Mayfair as well as Michael Curry and recounted his life story. He would later go on to haunt the Vampire Lestat for a short time.
Julien Mayfair's numerous lover have made him the father of numerous children. His first daughter, Mary Beth, was the first child of incest the family had seen since Angelique Mayfair. Julien went on to father numerous children resulting from liaisons with cousins, siblings, children and grandchildren. Every Mayfair witch since Mary Beth had been a direct descendant of his, as was Michael Curry, husband of designee Rowan Mayfair, and Mona Mayfair. His inbreeding, as well as the incest his eldest son Cortland engaged in, tangled the Mayfair family tree considerably. Julien had been to almost all of his children related to them in more than one way. For example, Rowan was Julien's great-great-granddaughter, great-great-great granddaughter, granddaughter, great-great grandniece, great-grandniece twice over, cousin, and so on and so forth.
Julien married within his family, to his distant cousin Suzette. His children with Suzette, therefore, were the result of an intrafamily union, but Suzette and Julien were too distantly related for Cortland, Barclay, Garland and Jeanette to be truly inbred. Cortland would go on to be intertwined with lines of his family that his father was involved in, including the legacy line.
Within the legacy line, Julien was involved with every Mayfair witch from Katherine on. He was brother to Katherine, and impregnated her. Mary Beth was born of this union, making Julien both father and uncle to her. Mary Beth was therefore the niece of her mother, and both cousin and sister to Julien's other children. Julien fathered Stella by Mary Beth.
Stella later engaged in relations with Cortland, who was Julien's son, twice her brother, twice her cousin, and her uncle. She had Antha with him. Antha's daughter, Deirdre, was fathered by an unrelated man. Cortland then raped Deirdre, conceiving Rowan.
Rowan married Michael Curry, who was Julien's great-grandson by Sister Bridget Marie Mayfair. Together they had the Taltos, Lasher.
Julien and Cortland also were both involved in another line of inbreeding when Cortland fathered Evelyn Mayfair by his cousin Barbara Ann. Julien, by Evelyn, fathered Laura Lee, who had Gifford and Alicia (CeeCee) Mayfair. Gifford married Ryan, Cortland's grandson by his wife, and had Young Pierce Mayfair. Alicia married her cousin Patrick, who was also descended from Julien, and they had Mona Mayfair. Mona with Michael Curry also gave birth to a Taltos, Morrigan.
Julien Mayfair helped spawn a mass of mixed genes, eventually resulting in his descendants having twice the normal number of human chromosomes. It is possible that Lasher guided Julien to incest in order to produce witches with enough chromosomes to give birth to Taltos.