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Code Geass

コードギアス反逆のルルーシュ

2006 –2008 Sunrise MBS / TBS 50 episodes Completed

Action Mecha Sci-Fi Political Drama

Lelouch vi Britannia is seventeenth in line to the throne of the Holy Britannian Empire, exiled to Japan - now called Area 11, a conquered territory with no rights and no name - following his mother's assassination and his sister's crippling. He attends school, plays chess for money, and waits.

Then a mysterious girl named C.C. gives him the Geass: the absolute power to command anyone to do anything, once, through direct eye contact. He puts on a mask. He calls himself Zero. He tells himself he is doing it to destroy Britannia.

He might even be right.

Produced by Sunrise and directed by Goro Taniguchi - who made s-CRY-ed five years earlier and clearly spent the intervening time thinking about political violence and what it costs - Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion aired on MBS from 2006 to 2008. Fifty episodes across two seasons built around a chess match played in real time between a revolutionary who cannot stop lying and a childhood friend who joined the empire to reform it. The show understands that both positions are correct and neither of them will survive being correct.

The plot moves. This is the understatement of the decade. Code Geass was downloaded faster than most fansub groups could release it because no one watching it was willing to wait a week between episodes. The cliffhangers are not cheap - they are the load-bearing structure of a narrative that never stops accelerating. The Knightmare Frame battles are spectacular. The political maneuvering is genuinely intricate. The character work earns what it asks of you.

The ending of R2 is one of the most argued finales in anime history. It is also the correct ending. This is not up for debate.

Fifty episodes. Clear your schedule.

Lelouch vi Britannia

The Mastermind / Zero

An exiled Britannian prince hiding out as a brilliant, bored high school student in Area 11 (formerly Japan). When a mysterious girl grants him the "Absolute Obedience" Geass—allowing him to command anyone to do anything via direct eye contact—Lelouch turns the entire world into his personal chess board. Donning a dramatic cape and mask as the revolutionary leader "Zero," he orchestrates a massive, hyper-calculated rebellion against his own tyrannical father. He is the ultimate shonen strategist, famous for his theatrical hand gestures and his terrifying willingness to sacrifice anything—and anyone—to build a gentler world for his sister, Nunnally.

Suzaku Kururugi

The Lancelot Pilot / Tragic Rival

Lelouch’s childhood best friend and the ultimate ideological foil of the series. As the son of Japan's last Prime Minister, Suzaku chose a radically different path: joining the Holy Britannian Empire’s military as an Honorary Britannian to try and reform the system from the inside. Piloting the experimental, high-mobility Knightmare Frame Lancelot, he unwittingly becomes Zero’s most devastating frontline obstacle. Suzaku possesses superhuman physical reflexes and an ironclad moral code wrapped around a deep, self-destructive death wish, making his tragic battlefield clashes with Lelouch the psychological anchor of the show.

C.C.

The Immortal Witch / Code Bearer

A mysterious, green-haired immortal woman who bestows the power of Geass upon Lelouch in exchange for a secretive, binding "contract." Dubbed the "Immortal Witch," C.C. is immune to physical harm, does not age, and has watched empires rise and fall for centuries. She moves into Lelouch's school clubhouse room, transforming into his live-in accomplice, sounding board, and cynical reality check. Despite her deep emotional detachment from humanity and her legendary, bottomless obsession with ordering large Pizza Hut boxes, she harbors a profound, heartbreaking vulnerability regarding her eternal existence.

Kallen Stadtfeld

Black Knights Ace / Guren Pilot

A fierce, hot-tempered young woman balancing a double life: by day, she acts as a frail, sickly aristocratic student at Ashford Academy; by night, she is the undisputed frontline ace pilot for Zero’s revolutionary army. Born to a Britannian father and an oppressed Japanese mother, Kallen proudly reclaims her Kozuki heritage on the battlefield. Commandering the red, claw-armed Guren Mk-II, her blistering, high-speed melee dogfights against Suzaku’s Lancelot are the absolute peak kinetic highlights of the series. She is blindly loyal to the ideal of Zero, completely oblivious to the fact that her commander is the annoying guy sitting across from her in class.

Shirley Fenette

SPOILER!

Ashford Sweetheart / Tragic Anchor

A bubbly, sweet-natured student at Ashford Academy and a prominent member of the Student Council who harbors a massive, utterly transparent crush on Lelouch. Shirley functions as the crucial, heartbreaking emotional tether to Lelouch's civilian innocence. Her life is completely shattered when the collateral damage of Zero's rebellion kills her father, dragging her straight into a spiral of horrific psychological trauma, memory manipulation, and betrayal. Her tragic narrative arc serves as a stark, unforgiving reminder of the devastating human cost exacted by Lelouch’s grand geopolitical chess game.

Schneizel el Britannia

SPOILER!

Nice Prince / Grand Strategist

The Second Prince of the Holy Britannian Empire and the Prime Minister of the realm. Schneizel is the only person in the universe capable of matching—and routinely beating—Lelouch in a game of pure strategic chess. Charismatic, impeccably polite, and universally adored, he masks a terrifyingly cold, absolute nihilism beneath his charming statesman exterior. He doesn't view war through anger or prejudice; he views it as a cold mathematical problem, eventually deploying weapons of mass destruction from his floating fortress in the name of a peaceful, tightly controlled world order.

Nunnally vi Britannia

The Emotional Anchor / Exiled Princess

Lelouch’s sweet, wheelchair-bound, and blind younger sister who serves as the absolute catalyst for the entire series. Left physically traumatized after the brutal assassination of their mother, Nunnally is the sole reason Lelouch vows to destroy the Britannian Empire—he wants to construct a peaceful, gentle world where she can live safely. Completely oblivious to the fact that her beloved brother is secretly the masked terrorist Zero, her presence is a constant ticking tactical time-bomb, acting as both Lelouch's ultimate vulnerability and his highest moral boundary.

Euphemia li Britannia

SPOILER!

Third Princess / The Tragic Idealist

The kind-hearted, deeply idealistic Third Princess of Britannia who arrives in Area 11 as the Sub-Viceroy. "Euphie" completely rejects the empire's brutal systemic racism, choosing Suzaku as her personal knight and launching a radical political campaign to establish a Specially Administrated Zone of Japan where Elevens can reclaim their name and rights peacefully. Tragically, her pure innocence makes her the victim of the series' most devastating, irreversible plot twist when Lelouch’s Geass goes permanently out of control, transforming her into an unwitting monster and sealing her fate as the show's ultimate tragedy.

Cornelia li Britannia

The Goddess of Victory / Viceroy

The ruthless, fiercely imperialistic Second Princess of Britannia who takes command of Area 11 as Viceroy. Dubbed the "Goddess of Victory," Cornelia is a master military general who scorns political monologues and leads her elite purist forces from the absolute frontlines inside a custom, cape-wearing Gloucester Knightmare Frame. She is an impenetrable strategic wall for Zero's early rebellion, driven by a fierce, fanatical protectiveness over her younger sister, Euphemia, and a cold determination to slaughter anyone who threatens the throne.

Rakshata Chawla

Cybernetic Engineer / Black Knights Scientist

The brilliant, pipe-smoking Indian cyberneticist who serves as the chief technical director for the Black Knights. Carrying a relaxed, deeply sarcastic attitude and lounging on a customized sofa even in high-stress military bunkers, Rakshata is the scientific genius responsible for breaking Britannia’s mechanical monopoly. She engineered the Guren’s devastating Radiation Wave claw and developed the modular Akatsuki frames, running an aggressive, permanent professional rivalry against Lloyd Asplund to prove her tech reigns supreme.

Diethard Ried

SPOILER!

Information Director / Propagandist

A cynical, highly ambitious former producer for the premier Britannian television network Hi-TV. Diethard is a pure media parasite who doesn't care about national pride, justice, or human lives; he cares about the ultimate narrative. Viewing Zero's rebellion as the greatest piece of historical documentation to ever occur, he defects to the Black Knights to become their director of information and propaganda. He masterfully manipulates public perception, editing live broadcasts and orchestrating media blackouts to transform Zero from a rogue terrorist into a global messiah.

Milly Ashford

Student Council President / Grand Tease

The hyper-energetic, chaotic, and relentlessly teasing President of the Ashford Academy Student Council. As the granddaughter of the school's director, Milly uses her absolute authority to drag Lelouch, Suzaku, and the rest of the council into absurd, campus-wide events—ranging from cooking a giant festival pizza with mecha frames to running a high-stakes hat-chasing match. Beneath her bubbly, matchmaking exterior, she carries the heavy aristocratic pressure of an arranged marriage to restore her family's declining social status, serving as the bright, civilian center of Lelouch's school life.