| “ | The only ones who should kill are those who are prepared to be killed. | „ |
| ~ Lelouch's philosophy, said several times over the series. |
| “ | I, Lelouch vi Britannia, command you! Now all of you... die! | „ |
| ~ Lelouch using his Geass for the first time on a group of Britannian soldiers. |
| “ | If the king does not lead, how can he expect his subordinates to follow? | „ |
| ~ Lelouch's opinion of his father. |
| “ | The human heart has always been the source of all our power. That is why the people rose up against the High Eunuchs, and the Black Knights fight like titans. We fight with the power of our hearts! | „ |
| ~ Lelouch vi Britannia. |
Lelouch vi Britannia, also known as Lelouch Lamperouge and Zero, is the main protagonist of the Code Geass franchise. He is the Eleventh Prince of the Holy Britannian Empire and the son of the 98th Emperor of Britannia, Charles zi Britannia.
Lelouch and his sister Nunnally vi Britannia (who was blinded and crippled in an ambush that resulted in the death of their mother, Marianne vi Britannia) were exiled to Japan by his father to cover up their own plans for global conquest. Lelouch then changed his name to Lelouch Lamperouge in order to conceal his identity and embraced Japan as his true home. However, he is left traumatized after witnessing Britannia's conquest of the country and vows to destroy them. After gaining the power of Geass (the power to control people) from the mysterious C.C., Lelouch becomes the vigilante Zero, leader and founder of the Black Knights, to overthrow Britannia and create a better world for his sister and friends.
In the Japanese dub of the anime, he was voiced by Jun Fukuyama, who also voiced Korosensei from Assassination Classroom, Ren Amamiya from Persona 5 and Roy from Fire Emblem series. In the English dub, he was voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch, who also voiced Jonathan Joestar from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Ichigo Kurosaki from Bleach, Dante from Netflix’s Devil May Cry, Sabo in One Piece and Broly from Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero. As a child, he is voiced by Sayaka Ōhara in the Japanese dub, and Michelle Ruff in the English dub.
Quick Answers
What is Lelouch vi Britannia's alter ego in Code Geass?
How did Lelouch vi Britannia become exiled to Japan?
Who are Lelouch vi Britannia's parents in Code Geass?
What is the significance of Lelouch's title 'Zero'?
How does Lelouch vi Britannia's relationship with Nunnally affect his actions?
Appearance[]
Lelouch's trademarks are his ebony dark hair, and violet eyes, which he inherited from his mother and father respectively. He is somewhat scrawny, having little muscle, and being rather thin, slim and white-clear in skin color. In spite of this, He is considerably tall, standing at least one head taller than Kallen, and apparently being slightly taller than Suzaku and Euphemia. He is stated to be incredibly handsome by many.
After his death and resurrection, it can be seen that he now has a Geass symbol on his chest.
Personality[]
Lelouch is highly calm, intelligent, sophisticated and arrogant because of his aristocratic background and genius intellect. While at school, he appears as sociable, likeable and easygoing to hide his true nature, which he displays as Zero: A charismatic leader with strong beliefs of justice, giving him respects from many soldiers and leaders. Lelouch sees schoolwork as trivial, and instead enjoys finding challenges and plays chess against the nobility, with him being usually the winner. Lelouch can also uses his skills in chess to successfully manipulate an entire army as seen in the episodes when he's leading The Black Knights.
Lelouch is tactical in battle, willing to sacrifice people just for the sake of achieving his goal. Many characters also say that his desire for justice is quite selfish as it comes from wanting to avenge his mother's apparent death and for Nunnally's sake; he grows to understand that he was using Nunnally as an excuse, as it was his own thirst for revenge that drove his actions, however, after this realisation, he earnestly commits to creating a better world for Nunnally, while also he realizes that his goal is for the world over time.
His high intelligence made him arrogant, which serves as a further detriment when faced with the unexpected. When a plan fails, he can adapt an alternate, but when a plan fails so badly, everything backfires, he becomes panicked. His arrogance makes him struggle when expected outcomes are subverted into a contrary path. Also, he tends to underestimate opponents, as with his half-brother, Schneizel; despite being warned of his danger, his older brother's tactics cause Lelouch greater challenge due to being unable to accept a superior intelligence. However, in spite of his ego, he is capable of acknowledging and even respecting the skills and abilities of talented friend and foe alike.
He initially disregards causalities, enemy or civilian, as necessary evils; however, the death toll starts to weigh on his conscience, which is heightened by causing the death of Shirley's father. Shirley's own death also caused him great distress. One of the most traumatic losses he experiences is when he inadvertently (due to involuntary Geass activation) impels his half-sister, Euphemia, a sympathiser to the 11/Japan cause, into massacring a stadium full of Japanese, forcing him to kill her. Despite his grief, he was still pragmatic, since as Zero, he spun the story into a hit piece against Britannia.
Despite his coldness and ruthlessness, he is compassionate to his friends and loved ones, especially Nunnally and Suzaku, even if he hid this underneath an uncaring persona; similarly he becomes attached to C.C. and Kallen. As the series progresses, Lelouch sees the true importance of his goal more over time due to losing people he cares about, though at the same time he also becomes less merciful towards his enemies.
He was childhood friends with Suzaku, although they had parted ways until reuniting in the high school Academy. Lelouch didn't hold any nostalgia, due to his childhood trauma, but Suzaku made repeated attempts to reconnect as friends all the same. Complicating a potential friendship was that Lelouch was Zero, leader of a terrorist organisation seeking to liberate Japan (Area 11), whereas Suzaku was enlisted in the Britannian military with the same goal, however, through arguably naive influence from within the oppressive regime. They became bitter enemies when the truth of Zero's identity was revealed to him, largely due to Suzaku holding a grudge against Zero for killing Euphemia, the girl he loved with all his heart. Despite the enmity, over time, they made a bitter peace, however, when they learned of the truth of Emperor Charles's designs, who was the architect of their misery, their friendship was restored. Lelouch and Suzaku became one of each other's closest allies and most trusted friends, showing that their innocent friendship as children could be and was restored.
Lelouch's capacity for compassion increases over time, as after Euphemia, he seeks to avoid killing any more siblings, even if they are mostly enemies. He feels true pity over Rolo's death, despite the boy being a plant from Emperor Charles and him murdering Shirley; the false brother felt true loyalty and love for Lelouch, which he didn't return, but pitied him in spite of his sins and didn't judge him for them.
As Zero, he was enemies with Jeremiah, until his supposed death in a Knightmare frame battle against Kallen. Jeremiah returns as a cyborg, with Geass-canceling capabilities; his goal was again to destroy Zero, who he learned was Lelouch. However, after learning that Lelouch's mother was Marianne, Jeremiah defected to Lelouch's side out of loyalty to her and grief for failing her. Despite their original animosity, Lelouch came to trust Jeremiah, showing that he was able to forgive even a most severe enemy when making peace; he even trusted Jeremiah enough to make the cyborg one of the few people who knew the reality of the Zero Requiem.
While his antisocial nature made him dismiss romance as frivolous distractions with no merit, his experiences shifted his opinion. As his closest co-conspirator, C.C. was party to the truth of his personality and goals of vengeance against his father; while he was cold and suspicious of her, gradually he grew to appreciate her immensely, not merely for her gift/curse of Geass, but as a kindred spirit with whom he treated with kindness, as well as occasional friendly barbs; C.C. was emotionally dead due to her centuries of trauma, however, Lelouch's kindness changed her, as she went from indifferent ally who felt amusement at watching his schemes and awkwardness, to a committed friend who was inspired by him to have brighter outlook, even held a romantic spark for him. Kallen was Lelouch's greatest asset in the Black Knights being both the bravest and most talented fighter; as Zero, Kallen became enthralled by the mysterious hero, even harboring romantic feelings; she was shocked and betrayed when she learned he was a Britannian Prince, however, the needs of the cause and understanding of his abilities drove her to assist C.C. into restoring Lelouch to Zero; even though she knew the Knights had been used, her prior awe of Zero, combined with admiration for Lelouch's will, intellect, and kindness, reignited her romantic interest; when she pursued it with him, regardless of his own interest, he sadly rejected her, not out of cruelty, but to spare her the dark fate he had planned for himself for the sake of the world.
By the end of the R2 (season2), Lelouch willingly plays the role of the tyrant, just so the world can be unified under the hatred toward him; another motivation being "those who kill, must be prepared to be killed," thus to face atonement for all the lives he took, he felt he must die.
After his death and resurrection, C.C. points out that Lelouch managed to overcome his loneliness despite having the Geass and Kallen noticed that Lelouch is now much kinder.
Trivia[]
- Lelouch was praised for his human like characteristics, as he committed good and evil acts for the right reasons, seeking vengeance against Britannia for what happened to his mother, his love for Nunnally and Suzaku, his remorse for the collateral damage he caused and many other things.
- After reviving and managing to rescue Nunnally by defeating Shamna, Lelouch (who obtained a Code of Immortality Incomplete, a being who is not immortal but no longer ages and can use geass) chooses to travel with C.C. and asks her if now he can take "L.L." as his new name. According to the production of the movie, that was Lelouch's own way of marriage proposal.[1][2]
- Lelouch has died and revived in both the movie timeline and the anime timeline:
- In the anime timeline Lelouch died in R2 and was revived in the manga Code Geass: Lelouch of the Re;surrection (that despite the name it has, it is canon with the anime timeline). It is later revealed that after being killed by Suzaku, Jeremiah recovers Lelouch's body and gives it to C.C. so that she can revive Lelouch. As a consequence of his resurrection, Lelouch becomes a "Failed One" (a being that is not immortal but that no longer ages and can use geass).
- In the timeline of the movies Lelouch dies in the third movie but revives in the fourth movie. It is revealed that after being killed by Suzaku, Shirley recovers his body and gives it to Jeremiah so that he can give Lelouch's body to C.C. so that she can revive Lelouch. As a consequence of his resurrection, Lelouch becomes a "Failed One" (a being that is not immortal but that no longer ages and can use geass).
References[]
External Links[]
- Lelouch vi Britannia on the Villains Wiki
- Lelouch vi Britannia on the Code Geass Wiki
- Lelouch vi Britannia on the Inconsistently Admirable Wiki
- Lelouch vi Britannia on the Inconsistently Heinous Wiki
- Lelouch vi Britannia on the Wikipedia
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 Heroes
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Black Knights Ashford Academy Neo Britannian Empire Seven Shining Stars Others | ||