the power of the king will isolate you

Welcome to Prodigium. Some way or another, you have found yourself at this small tribute to Lelouch Lamperouge, the main character, from the anime Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion. Throughout the entire anime series, with every plot twist and stunt Sunrise pulled, Lelouch remains one of the most interesting characters from the series. There were ups and downs for him on my liking scale, but at the end, he still won me over, once they placed him back on track for a purpose. With that said, this is a one page dedication to Lelouch and is in no way meant to be a full "shrine."

Everything here will be from my opinion, and may be biased toward my favorite characters. And of course, if you haven't watched all of Code Geass, which includes R2, the second season, then please beware of lots of spoilers.

For credits and sitely matter, they are located at the bottom. The below sections are divided into appropriate sections that describe his character. Enjoy your stay.

intro; the corrupt world is a monster

As the story of Code Geass is the story of Lelouch, everything originates with him. His real name is Lelouch vi Britannia, making him the youngest prince of the Empire of Britannia. A gifted strategist, mastering chess, and living comfortably as a student of Ashford Academy. Life is peaceful. But behind that peaceful appearance, lies turmoil.

Britannia, the leading empire of the world, holds many territories, one of which is the country formally known as Japan. Its name has been erased, and Britannia dictates it as Area 11, and the Japanese citizens (deprived of nearly all rights) are known as Elevens. Lelouch finds himself in Area 11 because his father, Charles di Britannia, sent he and his younger sister, Nunnally vi Britannia to Area 11 after the death of their mother, Marianne vi Britannia. Gotta love those mouthful of names.

But it is this abandonment that fuels Lelouch's dislike of his father, whom he blames for his mother's death. When C.C., the mysterious girl he found in a capsule, offers him a pact for power, he takes his first step into what will forever change his existence.

zero; they are smeared in blood

The pact he makes with C.C. is the power of Geass. His Geass power gives his left eye the ability to give anyone a command, and have it be absolutely obeyed. The only limitations are that he must have eye contact, and that it can only be used once per person. With the aid of this power, Lelouch takes on a separate identity, he becomes Zero.

With Zero, he forms The Order of the Black Knights, which is made up of Eleven dissidents. Together, they fight against the Holy Britannia Empire with every possible tactic. All the while, Lelouch searches for the answers he so desperately wanted. Why was his mother killed? And by whom? Although this is in the past, this event scarred his sister, Nunnally, leaving her mentally blind and unable to walk. And Nunnally is the world to Lelouch.

While fighting Britannia, Zero becomes the hero to the Elevens, who are given a hope toward freedom, and dared once again to call themselves by their true name, the Japanese people. All is well! Or is it?

At the end of Season One, Lelouch is brought to the Emperor, Charles di Britannia, by Kururugi Suzaku, a former childhood friend and someone who would go on to become Zero's main opponent. His memories of being Zero was erased, as well as any traces of Nunnally, only to be replaced with those of a fake brother, Rolo. Rolo Lamperouge also has the power of Geass (pausing subjective time within a controlled radius), and is sent as an assassin to keep an eye over Lelouch, should he ever remember the truth. But when Lelouch regains his memories, he tricks Rolo into feeling loyal to him, and continues on as Zero.

consequences; the mark of a revelation

I have to admit, one of the things that bugged me about Code Geass and Zero was how easly everything seem to work in his favor. All too easy. That all changed when Lelouch got Shirley's father killed. Shirley Fenette is a fellow student at Ashford Academy, who has long harbored feelings toward Lelouch. Finally, we get to see the consequences of Zero's actions. It was from this point on that I really got into the series.

Following that, more consequences came, and it became more and more Lelouch's fault. At least in the sense his actions directly or indirectly triggered the consequences. One of the major tragedies being Shirley's death in R2. She was killed by Rolo Lamperouge when he believed she was going to shift Lelouch's affections toward Nunnally. And to make a long story short, because Lelouch manipulated Rolo into obsessing over their fake, but to Rolo was very important, brotherly love. In his steps in using Rolo, he made Rolo into Shirley's killer. Nunnally was probably Rolo's greatest fear, since she was Lelouch's true family, and Rolo was afraid of being unloved. When Shirley had the misfortune to mention Nunnally's name, Rolo eliminated the threat at once.

Another major consequence of of his actions, though much less direct, was the death of the only other family member he cared about, Euphemia li Britannia. Euphemia brought his conflict with Britannia almost to a close in season one. She was going to form a peaceful unity with the Japanese people, but while talking with her, his Geass got out of control, and he accidentally commands her (while joking at the time) to kill all Japanese. Though I would argue Suzaku's disruption on C.C. led to Lelouch losing control over his Geass activation, what was done was done. Euphemia would go on to creating a massacre. In the end, to save the Japanese people, Zero shot Euphemia, and she later died, while trying her best to not allow the Geass power to command her to kill Suzaku, whom she had gotten very close to. Something Suzaku would never forgive Lelouch for.

relationships; a double-edged sword

Number one on the list would have to be Nunnally Lamperouge. She is Lelouch's main reason for fighting; his precious little sister. After being removed from Lelouch in the time passed between Season One and Season two, R2, she would later return as a reinstated princess, semi-ruling over Area 11. Needless to say, this brought in unfortunate torments for Lelouch. He had to fight his own sister, the person he cared for most. And in turn, before finding out the identity of Zero, she often said how much she detested Zero. When she finally found out Zero's identity, she was shocked and disgusted with what her brother has been doing, and would go as far as calling him outright a murderer.

C.C. would undoubtedly be the person who had the most lasting impact on Lelouch's life. By granting him Geass, and forming their contract, the two would become close allies, though for the longest time, each denied how important the other really was. She would later be described as a form of shield for Lelouch. Throughout their journey together, they would end up growing fond of each other's company. C.C. wanted death and freedom out of their contract, as she is immortal, and has lived more than she enjoyed. She had originally wanted Lelouch to take her life, and go on to bare her curse of immortality, but he could not kill her. In the end, she would out live him, reminiscing that despite giving him the power of the kings, Geass, which was suppose to make him lonely and isolated, he would end up using it to to unite the world.

Another important person in Lelouch's life was Kururugi Suzaku, having been his childhood friend when he was first abandoned in Area 11. Suzaku had his own sets of believes, and despite Lelouch's plea (wearing the mask of Zero) for Suzaku to join the rebellion, Suzaku chose to change the world from within. After befriending and falling in love with Euphemia, he would hate Zero, and later Lelouch, for her death, refusing to ever forgive Lelouch. Near the end of R2, he would make a pact with Lelouch, after Lelouch killed Charles di Britannia and crowned himself the next Emperor. Together they would form their plan to conquer and unite the world.

Next in line would be my favorite, Rolo Lamperouge. The boy assassin who knew no life outside of the trade of death. He was given the only love he ever felt from Lelouch, under the year they spent together, pretending to be brothers when lelouch was brain washed. Those moments were so precious to him, he was willing to betray his orders and assist Lelouch after Lelouch broke free from the false memories. A symbol of their connection is the locket Lelouch gave Rolo, something Rolo carries with him at all times. Although Lelouch repeatedly tried to kill Rolo, using him to the very last minute, Rolo still loved Lelouch, and believed deep in his heart Lelouch cared for him. When The Order of the Black Knights would later turn against Zero, it is Rolo who comes to Lelouch's rescue, repeatedly using his Geass, stopping subjective time for everyone under the radius of control, to escape and bring Lelouch to safety, at the cost of his own life. Because Rolo's weakness was his heart. Everytime he used his Geass, his heart would temporarily stop. Ironically, it was when Rolo was nearing death, that Lelouch honestly cared for the boy, realizing just how much Rolo valued him. This is the longest section in relationships because I'm biased toward Rolo. xP

Zero's number one soldier in the Order of the Black Knights is Kallen Kouzuki. She fully believes in Zero, from the very beginning, and fights loyally for Zero, only wavering slightly when she found out at the end of Season One Zero's identity. Despite this knowledge, she chooses to stay by him and keep his secret, declaring her loyalty to Zero, and not Lelouch. Eventually though, the line between Zero and Lelouch would be blurred to her, and she would grow to like Lelouch. In his desperate moments though, she still had the sense to refuse his request for her to comfort him. And when the Black Knights turned on Zero with the help of Schneizel el Britannia, Kallen was the last to turn against him. Lelouch showed how much he cared for her when he whispered to her to live on, before getting rescued by Rolo.

end; the arrow of judgment

After killing his father, and declaring himself as the next Emperor, Lelouch seemed to have completely switched direction. With Suzaku at his side, he fought Schneizel and all who stood between him and his conquest of the world, including even Nunnally. Forcing people to obey him with Geass, Lelouch would eventually overtake Schneizel in tactics, and rule absolutely over the world. In doing so, he garnered the hate of the world, and united the world in one purpose. That was the plan he and Suzaku formed. When they had all the world's hate, they would disperse that hate with Lelouch's death, thereby uniting the world. Suzaku would don the mask and cloak of Zero, the symbol of rebellion and the hopes of the people, and kill the tyrannical Emperor Lelouch. Their plan went exactly as they hoped, and the world was rebuild in unity.

There's nothing better than character death to get me involved. I'll admit I have a soft spot and fascination with the idea. I don't believe a character's death kills the series, or even ruins the character in any fashion, unless the act was senseless and did not serve any purpose. Something as grave as death makes us give the character a second look, and we reevaluate who they are, what they stood for, and for what reasons they died. Lelouch brought his journey to a close with his sacrifice. He had truly changed the world from what his father had built. Though the unfortunate believed-to-be-dead Suzaku will have to live the rest of his life pretending to be Zero, the world is left at a much better place. I think Lelouch's choice to preplan his death in such a way that it would benefit everyone else was truly selfless and unbelievable.

If you got the hint from that which side I'm on, you're right. I support Lelouch death, not because I want him dead, or because I hate him in anyway. Rather I believe magically bringing him back from the dead (like Sunrise had done to countless other characers) would ruin the sacrifice he made. He chose to die for a reason, it would be a real pity to let that go wasted.

So rest in peace, Lelouch. I'll forever remember you as one of the most (surprisingly) selfless characters in anime history. Please don't ruin this Sunrise. Leave the speculations to the fans.

sitely; you can't be saved

When I first brainstormed this idea, R2 had not finished airing. And in between that I killed off this idea when it seemed like Lelouch's character was senseless, but I changed my mind again after watching the final episode of R2. Even though there were many times R2 was bad, horrible, beyond reason, I liked the ending they gave. In a way, I would say they redeemed themselves with episode 25.

And when I set out to make this in one day, on October 3rd, 2008, I had never thought this one page shrine thing would be such a long single page. I'm most surprised I actually finished this small project in one day. Everything from the first layout to every word written.

With that said, this second layout (March 24th, 2009) was made in Photoshop CS2 using textures from FEEL, Loveicon, and Swimchick. The image was downloaded from Minitokyo and the font Walkway Expand was downloaded from Dafont. The section heading titles come from the English translation for the second ending of R2, Waga Routashi Aku no Hana by Ali Project. Everything was hand coded in valid xhtml.

On the very unlikely chance someone wants to link back, or even to exchange links, I'll provide buttons (besides I just like wasting time making them). Just please do not direct link these buttons. Thanks!

And if you would like to affiliate Prodigium with your Code Geass site, as long as it's something content driven, feel free to contact me.