Lelouch vi Britannia
" If the king does not lead, how can he expect his subordinates to follow? "
Character Information
Gender: Male
Born: a.t.b. December 5, 1999
Age: 17 (first season), 18 (at R2)
Status: Deceased
Zodiac: Sagittarius
Blood Type: A
Death: a.t.b. 2018
Nicknames
Lulu (Called by Shirley)
Black Prince
The Demon Emperor
Demon
Treacherous Emperor Lelouch
He is the Eleventh Prince of the Holy Britannian Empire and the son of the 98th Emperor of Britannia, Charles zi Britannia. He is also the leader and founder of The Black Knights and the real identity of Zero.
Lelouch is a handsome young man with black hair and violet eyes, which he inherited from his mother. Lelouch is somewhat scrawny, having little muscle, and like most characters in the series, is rather thin. In spite of this, Lelouch is considerably tall, standing at least a head taller than Kallen, and apparently being slightly taller than Suzaku.
Lelouch was born on December 5, 1999 a.t.b. as Lelouch vi Britannia the son of the Emperor of Britannia, Charles zi Britannia, and the late Imperial Consort Marianne, making Lelouch the Eleventh Prince of the Holy Britannian Empire. He was in line to be the seventeenth heir to the throne prior to his mother's assassination and his sister's crippling in the same incident. A ten-year-old Lelouch confronted the Emperor afterwards and accused him of leaving his mother defenseless, even going as far as renouncing his entitlement to the throne. In response, his father banished him to Japan, where he was used as a political hostage in the Sakuradite conflict.
Shortly after gaining the power of Geass from C.C., Lelouch assumes the secret identity Zero, a mysterious, masked revolutionary dressed in a black helmet and cloak. The helmet has a retractable plate over the left eye so Lelouch can use his Geass. In this guise, he forms the Black Knights, initially composed of the members of Kaname Ohgi's resistance group. The goal of this vigilante group is a campaign against powerful individuals who oppress the helpless, which he eventually expands into reforming Japan as an independent nation.
Lelouch is willing to do whatever it takes to carry out his goal, even if it means lying to his followers and using people as bait for the outcome he desires. However, he has trouble putting those he is close to in harms way for the sake of his goal, which is a weakness as a commander but a remnant of his humanity and sanity. His feelings for Nunnally in particular often hinders his plans, particularly at the end of the first season, where he abandons a massive war with Britannian forces to rescue her, and early into the second season, when he has trouble believing Nunnally is willingly waging a campaign for peace that interferes with his plans. Gradually, however, he has come to embrace the fact that he has to destroy before reconstruction can occur, even if it means harming those he cares about.
Originally, Lelouch is motivated by the desire to avenge his mother's death and construct an ideal world where his sister Nunnally can live in peace. After Nunnally becomes Viceroy of Area 11, and her wishes conflict with his goals, his friends help him to realize that his rebellion is no longer just for Nunnally, but for all the people of the world.
Abilities
Geass
Lelouch's Geass, bestowed upon him by C.C., gives him "The Power of Absolute Obedience", allowing him to plant commands within a person's mind upon eye contact in a manner comparable to hypnosis. Activation of his Geass is visually represented by the manifestation of a Geass Sigil in his left eye. Commands dictated in this state are written into the minds of the designated targets once the Sigil projects from his eye to theirs. Lelouch could initially toggle Geass activation at will, but subsequently lost this control and suffered from an affliction known as "runaway Geass" near the end of the first series.
Of all the Geass abilities in the series, Lelouch's has been explored the most, and also seems to have the most restrictions and side effects of any Geass introduced:
- Only affects the nervous system.
- Commands must be issued verbally.
- The victim must make direct eye contact for commands to be issued. The maximum effective distance is 272 meters. Line of sight via a reflective surface is sufficient for the effect to occur.
- Commands may be issued only once to any given individual, but any number of commands may be issued at initial application so long as eye contact is unbroken.
- The victim will not perform any action disallowed by their physical or mental capabilities, though they will try to carry out the command to the best of their ability. For example, a victim will not be able to correctly answer a question they don't know the answer to, but will direct the user to someone who can if they are able. However, commands that affect the mind or consciousness (such as erasing memories or seeing hallucinations) are possible despite the fact that the victim could not normally force themselves to do so. Also, commands that ask for something unpreventable and physically impossible, such as telling a dying person to "not die", will have not make them immune to death. It should be noted that in non-canon appearances, his Geass could be used to unlock memories (Another Century's Episode: R), or put someone into an eternal sleep (Lost Colors).
- An action will be carried out for as long as dictated in its command, or upon the indicated conditional circumstance. Eye contact does not need to be maintained for command execution to occur. No upper limit has been established, but the conditional command Lelouch gives Suzaku is still in effect more than a year later.
- The victim's memories for the duration of command issue and execution are sealed and cannot be recalled.
- As demonstrated in Princess Euphemia's response to the command that she kill the Japanese, a victim may resist a commanded action to some degree if it is utterly repugnant and morally incomprehensible to them.
Intellect and Chess
Even without his Geass, Lelouch is a formidable opponent. His greatest weapon is his prodigious mind, possessing a genius-level intellect, and is capable of devising and executing strategies with incredible speed and precision. As a child, he was a brilliant chess player, besting any opponent who played against him. He has a record of winning a game in 8 minutes and 32 seconds. However, the one person that he was unable to defeat in a chess game was his older brother, Schneizel. As a teenager, he utilized his masterful skills in real combat, leading a small band of terrorists to victory against overwhelming odds. He could manipulate people and factions with well-spoken speeches and clever deceptions.
The series repeatedly demonstrates Lelouch's mental acuity; ranging from his superb skill in playing chess, to an incident in Stage 14, when Mao says C.C.'s name, Lelouch instantly comes up with fourteen different possibilities for Mao's identity - including the correct one. His intellect is also shown when he was able to program the F.L.E.I.J.A. countermeasure in 19 seconds typing at an incredibly fast speed.
In the audio dramas, Suzaku says that, when they were children, Lelouch devised a secret sign language containing over 500 words. In Stage 17, Lelouch proves his tactical ability by predicting Lancelot's actions exactly thanks to his study of past battles, allowing Kallen and the Four Holy Swords to almost defeat the Lancelot (only Suzaku's reflexes saved his life). His intelligence is also parodied in a humorous Audio Drama, which has the Student Council members acting suspicious, and Lelouch racing through possible explanations and cover-ups with increasing speed (though it turns out that they were acting strangely because he had some rice on his cheek from his lunch). Similarly, when Milly Ashford held a "Masked Confession Competition", which was started off by Shirley professing her love for him (while wearing a swimming cap and goggles, no less), he started racing through all the possible identities save the correct one. Focusing so intensely on it, not even hearing the others around him pitying Shirley, he concludes that there are over 47 different possibilities, and that "they've had [him] fooled from the beginning."
Gallery
