| “ | 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. |
Lelouch vi Britannia, also known as Lelouch Lamperouge, is the titular main protagonist of the Code Geass franchise.
He is an exiled prince from the Holy Britannian Empire who acquires the power of Geass, which allows him to control minds, and uses this to start a revolution as the masked vigilante Zero.
He is voiced by Jun Fukuyama in the Japanese version (who also voiced Toneri Ōtsutsuki in Naruto: The Last) and Johnny Yong Bosch (who also voiced Tohru Adachi in Persona 4) in the English dub.
His Evil Ranking[]
What Makes Him Heinous?[]
R1[]
- When he first obtains his power, he uses it to massacre the Royal Guard who were about to execute him, and while this may be justified and he's initially shocked at what he did, he then smiles evilly, showing that he enjoyed it and has no problem with killing in the name of his goals.
- He mercilessly kills his half-brother Clovis even when he begs to be spared, which in turn leads to Suzaku being falsely accused of the death of him.
- When he was beaten by Cornelia in an early episode, rather than take responsibility, he blamed the forces under his command for being disorganized.
- At the Battle of Narita, he causes a landslide to wipe out the opposing army. When this causes civilian casualties as well, he dismisses this as a "mathematical overestimation."
- He blows up a ship that the Black Knights wanted to save while making them think Britannia was responsible. While he reasoned that it was too late to save them and that doing so would have put them in more danger, this shows he's willing to lie to his followers and even kill allies if it suits his goals.
- He Geasses Mao to never speak again after he ridicules Suzaku for his death wish, even though Mao had already been captured and was not a threat.
- He becomes unstable after Euphemia's death, laughing psychotically while causing mass casualties in the Black Rebellion.
- He cheats when duelling Cornelia, Geassing her aide Darlton to stab her Knightmare in the back, then mockingly thanking Darlton before killing him on the spot.
- He abandons the Black Rebellion when Nunnally is kidnapped, which results in nearly all his allies being killed or captured.
- When Suzaku and Kallen unmask him in the Season 1 finale, Lelouch refuses to explain his actions (either out of guilt or impatience) and taunts Suzaku. This sends Suzaku into a rage who captures Lelouch while Kallen abandons him.
R2[]
- He manipulates Rolo's feelings of brotherly love to gain his service, gloating that he'll dispose of him once he's served his purpose.
- He considers abandoning another battle when Kallen is captured and has to be told this time that this is preferential treatment and will alienate his men.
- When his love interest Shirley is killed by Rolo, Lelouch becomes enraged and orders a massacre of the Geass Order, brutally killing everyone there even though they're noncombatants, some of them even being children.
- When Rolo fights V.V. for him, Lelouch sadistically tries to blow him up with a bomb planted in the Knightmare Frame Vincent as a "funeral offering" for Shirley.
- When he believes Suzaku set him up, Lelouch refuses to let him explain himself and repeatedly orders Suzaku killed in the following battle, which inadvertently triggers the Geass command to live that Lelouch had placed on him, causing him to fire the FLEIJA nuke, obliterating most of Tokyo and causing millions of casualties.
- When Nunnally is presumed dead, Lelouch blows up at his followers, telling the Black Knights that he doesn't care about their casualties, then screams at Rolo that he hates him and has been trying to kill him.
- He becomes suicidal following Nunnally's presumed death and the Black Knights' betrayal, causing him to cross every line he previously wouldn't, namely Geassing masses of people into absolute obedience.
- When he becomes Emperor, it is inferred he causes millions of deaths in the name of becoming the most hated person in history, which is needless considering how awful Charles and Schneizel were, among others, and that evil and conflict dying out with one's death is a flawed position.
- He uses his Geass on Nunnally to manipulate her into giving him the Damocles key.
- In general, Lelouch's sense of responsibility can be as much of a hindrance, as he holds others at a distance and refuses to defend himself against an accusation even when he has a perfect alibi, namely when Suzaku presses him over Geassing Euphemia at the Kururugi Shrine.
- While he does truly want to free Japan, he's also shown to be selfish as he's more fixated on personal revenge on Britannia and doing what he feels his sister would have wanted, despite Nunnally eventually telling him that she never wanted this.
What Makes Him Inconsistent?[]
- He possesses a genuinely tragic backstory:
- His mother was killed by V.V. out of jealousy and his sister was staged as a witness, being blinded by his father using Geass. Afterward, Lelouch confronted his father and accused him of leaving his mother defenceless, even going as far as renouncing his entitlement to the throne, his father banished him and his sister to Japan, where he was used as a political hostage and put in the middle of the invasion of Japan
- When confronting his mother and father in the Sword of Akasha, he discovers that they both abandoned him and his sister, which causes Lelouch to break down.
- He shows love and care for most of his family members and friends:
- He has a soft spot for his little sister Nunally, being loving and caring towards her and when he found out the truth behind his parents’ ploy, he cried over her disability. He was extremely hesitant to use Geass on her or lie to her.
- He accepts Rolo as his brother when he sacrifices himself to save him from being killed by the Black Knights
- He also cares for Euphemia as when reuniting with her, he agrees to end his rebellion, and before killing her, he states that she may have been the first girl he ever loved.
- He deeply cared for his mother Marianne and wanted to uncover the truth behind her death
- He was deeply upset when Shirley was killed and shared a few tender moments with her beforehand.
- When Rival and Nina were captured by his minions, he ordered them to release Rival unharmed, showing he still cared about him.
- Both of his love interests' CC and Kallen, as he told the former to make sure she survives and promised the latter he would save her and later kissed her back as Emperor Lelouch.
- Sayoko and Lord Jeremiah for their service to him, even sparing the latter despite the multiple attempts to kill him about learning of his past.
- He has expressed remorse for his actions more times than not:
- He showed regret over being forced to Geass Suzaku to escape, as he never wanted to use the power on him.
- Although he did kill his half-brother Clovis, he also felt guilty about it later on, even throwing up after realizing what he had done though Clovis had ordered the Shinjuku massacre making his death somewhat reasonable.
- When his Geass goes out of control and causes Euphemia to massacre the Japanese, Lelouch is horrified at this and remorseful at having to kill Euphemia to stop the violence.
- He possesses a strained but genuine friendship with Suzaku despite their differences, even ordering the Black Knights not to kill him upon learning he's the Lancelot's pilot. He also tries again to persuade Suzaku to join him and his first mission as Zero was saving him from an unjust execution.
- He mostly comes across as sophisticated and affable, even to his enemies.
- He fights against the Britannian Empire's oppressive reign over Japan and the entire world which resulted in countless lives being saved from Britannian destruction and the creation of the UFN
- He is a well-intentioned extremist as he only wanted to create a world where Nunnally can be happy.
- For his final atonement, he arranges the Zero Requiem, making himself a hated tyrant across Earth and arranging his assassination at the hands of Suzaku, who is disguised as Zero, bringing an end to the violence and peace in the entire world as well as making Suzaku a hero of the people.
- His death at the end of the series is portrayed sympathetically as Nunnally, Suzaku, C.C., and all his former allies show great sorrow and realize his reasoning behind it.
Trivia[]
- Lelouch, alongside his half-brother Schneizel el Britannia, are the only Code Geass villains to be Inconsistently Heinous.