History Fanfic / LelouchOfTheWingsOfRebellion

* AlternativeCalendar: The fic uses the pre-retcon A.T.B. calendar that starts on 55 BC, meaning that the present time in-story is an AlternateHistory 1963. Readers were caught off guard by this in Chapter 50 when Lelouch mentions world population numbers similar to those of the real world in the sixties.

* AnachronismStew: {{Discussed|Trope}}. The Black Knights observes that the fourth Palace borrowed the beautiful grand staircase from the ''UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic'' despite the ship being based on a centuries older galleon. Zero is a bit annoyed by the historical inaccuracy, but Diamond argues that the ''Titanic'' is THE sinking ship in people's minds, so it makes total sense for stuff from it to appear in that particular Palace.

* AppealToFlattery: {{Discussed|Trope}}. [[spoiler:Kallen's stepmother]] advices Lelouch to not forget to compliment his girlfriend's outfit for the MasqueradeBall. He may think he's just stating the obvious, and she's not particularly mindful of her appearance, but the implication is that honest flattery at the proper time is never wasted breath.
* AppealToForce: Cornelia notes that Lelouch's initial interrogators were intelligence agents who answer personally to the Emperor and were initially unwilling to let her confront him. However, threatening to kill them sorted that out rather quickly.

** She does the same in Chapter 37, when she gets him to admit that [[spoiler:he actually returns Shirley's feelings despite deciding to purse a relationship with someone else. Leila should have considered the time and place a bit better because his girlfriend has NOT happy to hear him say that.]]

* AttackItsWeakPoint: [[spoiler:In the fight against the Cognitive Shen Hu, it's second form sprouts wings in a way [[MythologyGag reminiscent of Shido's winged lion]], and proves too difficult an enemy to defeat in the time allowed. Lelouch simply bypasses the Shen Hu to target the Cognitive Xingke riding as it's pilot, in a maneuver with Shirley much like [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XaOOKnntOw Joker and Yoshizawa's Showtime]] in ''VideoGame/Persona5 [[UpdatedRerelease the Royal]]'. Both Cognitions go down almost instantly.]]

** Kallen complains that bringing [[spoiler:Princess Euphemia]] to a Palace with them is a bad idea because it will be dangerous for the person in question and a liability for the team, yet Lelouch insisted despite not really refuting her arguments. [[spoiler:Lelouch fully expected that seeing the injustices committed by a crime lord like the Black King through his Palace would stir up Euphemia's sense of justice, and hopefully even incite her spirit of rebellion and awaken her to her Persona. [[XanatosGambit And even if the latter doesn't happen]], he still gets an ally outside the Metaverse who will be more committed than before to change the world for the better.]]
** How Shadow [[spoiler:Shirley]] gets their original to reject them. [[spoiler:The Shadow gives Shirley a dagger and goads her to kill Lelouch. To everyone else's surprise, Shirley instead suddenly turns and stabs her own Shadow without further hesitation. Despite her bleeding injury, the Shadow laughs madly, satisfied after proving her point about how [[{{Yandere}} Shirley is capable of killing anyone "who would harm her Lulu, even herself"]], as the Shadow's power skyrockets from such an strong rejection.]]
** Milly manages to pull one on ''Lelouch'' of all people, even though it was in a relatively minor matter. [[spoiler:[[StudentCouncilPresident She]] assigns the same task to Kallen, Shirley, and Lelouch because she knows that the two redheads wanted to talk something important with him, and then she simply listened in from the other side of the door and waited for it to happen. She soon hits the jackpot when the girls propose a MarryThemAll scenario for the three of them to Lelouch's cautious agreement. He then tries to [[SecretRelationship keep the whole thing under wraps for the moment]] to avoid complications, but she takes that as her cue to announce herself to them.]]

* TheBet: During the BlackTieInfiltration at the MasqueradeBall, Lelouch and a similarly masked Britannian noblewoman around his age, who turned out to be quite a skilled chess player, gambled that the loser of their rematch game should reveal their identity. [[spoiler:Lelouch won, and she reveled herself to be [[Manga/CodeGeassOzTheReflection Princess Marrybell mel Britannia]] attending the party [[KingIncognito disguised as a regular member of the nobility]], something that saved him and Kallen from getting arrested by the Chinese government.]]
* BigEntrance: Lelouch indulges in one for his meeting with [[spoiler:two members of the Glinda Knights]] in Chapter 62, making himself suddenly appear sitting at the other side of the table much like a pro StageMagician would. [[spoiler:It was just a practical joke for his half-sister where he waited for the other party in the Metaverse version of the room and then had Leila bring Marrybell and Oldrin to him by activating the [=MetaNav=], with the actual objective of having their meeting with as much privacy as possible.]]

** All the girls in the Black Knights sans Diamond in Chapter 49 when she tells them their in-universe fandom thinks all five of them are their leader's harem.

** Also {{Discussed|Trope}} in Chapter 57, where Lelouch freely admits to [[spoiler:Li Xingke]] that he considers the Black Knights' methods as the NecessarilyEvil means to defeat greater evil.

* BribingYourWayToVictory: Summoning Personas from the Compendium cost money just like in the game. When Lelouch managed to [[spoiler:hit Rank Max with the twins]], that started to include [[spoiler:the Picaro Personas can came as {{DLC}} in ''Persona 5'']], each with a hefty price tag and risks attached [[spoiler:due to their high levels]]. Despite [[MetaGuy Tsu]] teasing him about "paying to win", Lelouch still bought [[spoiler:Ariadne Picaro]] because he found in this choice a nice balance of price, risk, and power.

** In Chapter 7, Tsu uses the money she gets from Lelouch to buy pizza. Almost forty chapters later, he sees her wearing a different outfit for once and quips to himself, "at least it wasn't all being spent on pizza."
** The Black Knights' proclamation video from Chapter 49, one showing the masked Zero surrounded by the {{Sexy Silhouette}}s of his five female accomplices, accidentally starts the rumor that all of them are their leader's lovers. Ten chapters latter, the newest member of the Black Knights sees two of them having a ClingyJealousGirl moment and wonders aloud whether the rumors were actually true to Lelouch's immediate denial.

** Bishop mentions that she hasn't forgotten the timewhen [[spoiler:Marrybell basically played dress-up with her in Pendragon the day of Clovis' state funeral]], even 40 chapters later. She brings it up when they finally meet again in Chapter 62.
* TheCameo: [[Manga/CodeGeassOzTheReflection Marrybell mel Britannia and Oldrin Zevon]] make a brief appearance in Chapter 22. More specifically, on the day of [[spoiler:Clovis' state funeral in Pendragon. {{Subverted|Trope}} in favor of the ChekhovsGunman trope when they make an unnamed appearance under a disguise during the MasqueradeBall in Chapter 56, only to reveal themselves the next chapter.]]
* CampingEpisode: The Student Council has theirs in Kamine Island during summer break. Milly insists in doing things the "traditional way", like gathering firewood for a campfire instead of just bringing a portable stove, foraging for food, and Suzaku volunteers to fish.

* CastHerd: {{Invoked|Trope}} by the characters for pragmatic reasons in Chapter 54. [[spoiler:The combined numbers of the Black Knights and the Irregulars make them too large a group to be able to infiltrate Gao Hai's Palace efficiently, so they split into two six-person parties while keeping their pairs if Wild Card wielders and {{Sensor Character}}s in separated groups to maximize the effectiveness of both. Furthermore, both groups take turns as the vanguard/rearguard so half of them will have the chance to catch their breath and make more ground in a single DungeonCrawling run.]]

** After hearing about "Lockdown" service in the Velvet Room, Lelouch ponders whether he should put [[DiscOneNuke Shiki-Ouji]] in it so the Persona will overcome its only elemental weakness to nuke-type skills, and that way have a fine opening option against Shadows with attacks of unknown type, on top of Shiki-Ouji being already impervious to the ever-common physical attacks. [[spoiler:This proves to be worth all the hassle in the battle against the sea monster Scylla in Shirley's Palace, where Shiki-Ouji and Kallen's nuke-wielding Personas are able to double-team the Shadow without issue.]]

** [[spoiler:Princess Marrybell mel Britannia and her Knight Oldrin Zevon]] get Lelouch and Kallen out of tight spot in Chapter 57 during the MasqueradeBall, after being only mentioned in Chapters 17 and 22. [[spoiler:Further developments reveal that this wasn't exactly a coincidence.]]
* AChildShallLeadThem: Empress Tianzi of the Chinese Federation, as in canon. [[spoiler:Unlike canon, Shadow Gao Hai reveals this was horrifyingly contrived. Years ago he gave his senior High Eunuchs the idea of killing her parents with the right drugs that [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident "can mimic a wasting illness, or even death from a broken heart"]] in order to give themselves a PuppetKing to rule China through as her {{Evil Chancellor}}s.]]

* TheConscience: {{Discussed|Trope}} in Chapter 57 when Arsene advices Lelouch against [[spoiler:using the Metanav to transport Gao Hai and his guards to the Metaverse and kill them there, as it would also drag two {{Innocent Bystander}}s needing silencing as well]]. Lelouch {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d whether advice like that means Arsene now fancies himself his conscience, but then he realizes that the literary Literature/ArseneLupin was indeed a GentlemanThief with a strict no-murder rule.

* CruelMercy: Mrs. Stadtfeld {{Lampshade|Hanging}}s it by telling Lelouch that laying out her sins, while freeing her emotionally, was one of the cruelest things he could've done to her as she must live with Kallen forever hating her no matter what she does, along with her husband discarding her. And now Lelouch wants her to act as she did before her change of heart, when all it does is invoke some memories she feels would best be left forgotten.

** Endemic to Britannia's PatrioticFervor and WrittenByTheWinners policies. For example, Lelouch can't help but noticing that [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PerryBustShimoda.jpg the bust of Commodore Perry]] in Shimoda was replaced by a large statue of the [[AlternateHistory Britannian]] man that used GunboatDiplomacy to force Japan to open the port to Britannian ships.

** [[spoiler:In the fight in the Ashford Academy sewers, all of his attacks are completely nullified by Lelouch's Personas because the latter knew what ElementalPowers Mao's Personas wields from the previous battle. Mao does manage a CurbStompCushion this time by pulling out a [[NonElemental Megidola]] attack Lelouch didn't know he had, but once two of the Irregulars arrive to reinforce Lelouch it's all over for Mao.]]
* DangerousForbiddenTechnique: More like ''morally'' dangerous technique. The Metanav can be used as an EscapeRope of sorts that allows a Persona User to flee from real-world danger by jumping into the Metaverse. The problem is that the app isn't too precise and will drag any friend or foe nearby to the other world as well, making it very likely for Lelouch to be required to [[NeverSayDie get rid]] of transported enemies by force with his Personas in order to protect his identity. [[spoiler:Similarly, concern for {{Innocent Bystander}}s the "Emerald-masked woman" and her bodyguard "Oz" made him hesitate to escape from the Chinese Federation embassy when Xingke and the ambassador himself caught them and Kallen in his office.]]

** Lloyd Asplund is one of the main supporting characters in canon ''Code Geass''. Here, he's just a minor figure in the background during Milly's Confidant and doesn't personally show up until roughly halfway through the story. He does get a bit more of screen time during the summer trip by inviting Milly and get friends to Kamine Island. [[spoiler:This leads the team to the very plot relevant discovery of the location of the Charles zi Britannia's Palace.]]
* DesertedIsland: The final stop of Student Council's summer trip is Kamine Island.

** Then [[spoiler:none other than Schneizel himself shows up right afterward, and gives a NewEraSpeech that at one point directly addresses the Black Knights despite the government's tacit stance to underplay their importance. Not only the timing was incredible suspicious, but the speech itself skillfully poisoned public opinion against them.]]

** Elaborating on the above, [[spoiler:Suzaku bodyguarding Euphemia lead to some further ParanoiaFuel for Lelouch. Knowing that she wouldn't have requested Suzaku there as his presence gets in the way of the Black Knights' BlackTieInfiltration, nor Cornelia would have ever allowed a "Number" to guard her beloved little sister, Lelouch hypothesized that only ''Schneizel'' can be behind Suzaku's RankUp, but he can't figure out what the Second Prince could hope to win with it other than observing that the obvious backlash from making an "Eleven" into a Knights means that the expected payout just ''has'' to be very substantial.]]
** Last but not less, [[spoiler:unwittingly or not, Schneizel directly interfered with the Black Knights' mission at the event by engaging Leila in conversation, thus keeping her from playing a crucial role in Lelouch's "Plan A" and forcing him to improvise.]]

** Instead of being shot by Lelouch at the start of his quest for revenge, Clovis [[spoiler:has a mental shut down on live tv by the Black Mask to keep him from confessing to Code R.]]

* DoNotTauntCthulhu: {{Discussed|Trope}}. Tsu warns Lelouch to stop back-talking at Igor, but he argues back that it would just silly to expect that an InsufferableGenius with ParentalIssues like him to ''not'' act rebellious against a parental authority figure like how Igor presents himself. [[spoiler:C.C. realizes that Lelouch got a point in that acting as the SpoiledBrat he's being taken for is paradoxically the prudent course of action for their plans, but she doesn't let the chance to call him just that slide, because how could [[DeadpanSnarker she]] not.]]

* DownerBeginning: Like in the game, the story begins with Lelouch in custody of Britannia and seemingly with no way out, forcefully drugged on [[FantasticDrug Refrain]] as Cornelia interrogates him.

** Nina talks about her scientific projects with Lelouch, but given that nothing like an atomic bomb exists in ''Anime/CodeGeass''[='=] AlternateHistory, he doesn't recognize its potential as a weapon of mass destruction. He instead sees her brainchild as a possible alternative energy source, and later on he even lets Lloyd know about it in hopes of helping Nina to get the grants, equipment, and the Sakuradite samples she needs to continue her research.

** Lelouch is quite impressed to heard that the current Knight of Six Anya Alstreim is so good a piloting a Knightmare Frame that she's said to have the potential to be "the second coming of Marianne the Flash", which is likely to get a giggle/snort out of many a Code Geass fans.
** There's a small example in Chapter 57. "Oz" covers her mouth to hide her amusement when she mistakenly thinks Lelouch is hitting on her boss. Given that the later is actually [[spoiler:[[Manga/CodeGeassOzTheReflection Princess Marrybell mel Britannia]] and [[AmbiguouslyGay very likely lesbian]]]], it's not surprise she thinks so little of his chances with her.
*** In the same chapter, Lelouch briefly considers activating the MetNav to escape Gao Hai arresting him and Kallen, but decides against it because, among other reasons, he would have to kill two innocent bystanders to protect their identities as the Black Knights. Several chapters later, we learn that [[spoiler:said "innocent bystanders" are themselves Persona users scouting out Gao Hai as a target for a heart change.]]

* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: Lelouch finally discovers what "Ragnarök" entails in Chapter 62, [[spoiler:when Marrybell tells him what she knowns about their father's plans to use the Metaverse to remake the world.]]

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: [[spoiler:Joseph Fenette]] designed a test to measure someone's potential as a Persona User as part of his work as a head researcher in Code-R. He ran it on his daughter disguised as regular health checkup as a control sample and accidentally discovered that her potential was leaps and bounds better any of his experimental subjects. He immediately destroyed the results and any evidence she was ever tested in order to keep the rest of Code-R from even getting the idea of using her in their experiments.

* EverythingButTheGirl: By Chapter 71, [[spoiler:Milly has managed to get out of her ArrangedMarriage deal to Lloyd, has begun to mend her relationship with her mother, and is even expecting to pursue her chosen career after graduating high school. However Lelouch turns down her LoveConfession as she expected despite the high likelihood that the girls he's in a {{polyamor|y}}ous with will agree to welcome her into it.]]

** A more serious one happens in Chapter 62, when Bishop sums up what Lelouch just told her about [[spoiler:her being Igor's first choice for the Trickster meant to stop Ragnarök when she was a kid, but she unwittingly failed to develop said potential. Leila wonders whether Igor could have pulled strings and indirectly influenced Clovis to order her parents' death as a last-ditch ploy to make her [[ThePowerOfHate awaken to her power]] in order to [[YouKilledMyFather avenge them]].]]

* FairyTaleEpisode: The fourth Palace is based on Creator/HansChristianAndersen's ''Literature/TheLittleMermaid''. Specifically, it's shaped like the [[MarriedAtSea Wedding Ship]] from the last act. Probably a bad thing if you remember that this fairy tale doesn't have a HappyEnding.
* FairytaleWeddingDress: The one Lelouch and [[spoiler:Shirley Fenette]] see on display in a bridal shop at the mall in Chapter 54 serves a conversation starter about [[spoiler:how [[FatherIWantToMarryMyBrother she used to wish to marry her father as a child]] and how much she misses him now that he's gone.]]

** [[spoiler:Moments later, Lelouch orders Kallen's Persona to throw one of the severed slash harkens high into column while he holds fast to the connected cable. At the same time, he wraps his other arm around Shirley as they are pulled by the line, instructing her to trust him with their improvised flight and focus sorely on shooting Cognitive Xingke dead the moment their swinging trajectory around the column gives her a clean line of fire. She nails the shot ([[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill multiple times]]), destroying Cognitive Xingke and leaving the Shen Hu to descend harmlessly to the ground without its pilot.]]

* FlawedPrototype: For once not a Knightmare Frame, [[spoiler:but in fact a ''person'']]. In Chapter 61 [[spoiler:Igor tells Lelouch that he intended Leila Breisgau, "the offspring of a pair of dissidents, rebels against their society", to be the Trickster meant to stop Ragnarök, and tried to awaken her to the Wild Card when she was a child. But she MissedTheCall and her potential as a Persona-user "ossified" into the specific form of the High Priestess Arcana as she grew up. Even today Igor seems annoyed that he was forced to look for an alternative, opting for a TheChosenMany approach instead.]]

** Bishop forces Lelouch to admit [[spoiler:to his feelings for Shirley right in front of his girlfriend Kallen]]. At first this looks like this is because Bishop's too InnocentlyInsensitive and goal-oriented to pick a better time and place for it, and to a point this ''is'' really the case, but [[spoiler:it's later revealed that Leila is growing to like Lelouch that way too, and thus had her own reasons to want to hear his answer.]]

** PlayedForLaughs about [[LethalChef Leila's awful cooking skills]]. In Chapter 40, Leila's butler looks concerned when she says she's going to take care of her and her guest's lunch. In Chapter 47, she mentions her staff politely keeps her from going anywhere near the kitchen. She finally gets the chance to cook in Chapter 48, only to help bringing the culinary abomination known as [[MythologyGag "Mystery Food X"]] into the world.
** Lelouch notices that Kallen and Shirley are getting along better after the events of the fourth Palace, and deduces they have been hanging out outside the scope of his narration based on the CoordinatedClothes they had when the whole gang wore costumes in Chapter 50. It's revealed the next chapter [[spoiler:that Kallen came clean to Shirley off-screen, not only telling her that Lelouch reciprocates the latter's feelings for him, but also that Kallen herself is just as [[DevotedToYou utterly devoted to him]] as her Shadow showed Shirley is. This and Leila forcing Lelouch to admit he loves Shirley too in Chapter 37 led the redheads to ''actually'' consider a OneTrueThreesome as a possibility for three of them, something that they propose to Lelouch in Chapter 51 to his cautious agreement.]]

** The [[NoNameGiven "Emerald-masked Woman"]] at the MasqueradeBall wears an elegant period costume inspired in WitchClassic apparel. If you happen to know that a stylized witch-riding-a-broom motif is [[spoiler:right on the insignia of the Glinda Knights, an anti-terrorism unit founded by her in ''Manga/CodeGeassOzTheReflection'']], then you're likely to figure out her identity ahead of time.
* ForWantOfANail: The ArrangedMarriage between [[AltarDiplomacy Chinese Empress Tianzi and Crown Prince Odysseus eu Britannia]] is proposed and arranged a lot earlier than in canon. After all, without the [[LaResistance canonical Black Knights]] making Britannia look weak enough for the Chinese Federation to dare "lend" troops to Atsushi Sawazaki to invade Kyushu, the relationship between both global superpowers is a lot more amiable this time around and Prime Minister Prince Schneizel doesn't hesitate to take advantage of the High Eunuchs' ambitions to annex China without a fight.

* FreudianExcuse: All of the Black Knight's major targets, and even most of the minor ones, has revealed some underlining reason for their behavior to varying degrees of sympathy. See the trope below for the less accepted ones.

** Shadow Black King reveals that he was born poor, and climbing his way up to the top of the food chain lead to his Gluttony.
** Shadow [[spoiler:Shirley]] was subjected to a long, loooong TraumaCongaLine. [[spoiler:It starts off with her being abused by Coach Nu, then she witnesses her father's death by mental shutdown and comes to believe that the Black Knights killed him, only to discover that their leader is [[UnresolvedSexualTension the boy she's been crushing over for years]], and to her horror, she realizes that she can't let go of her love for Lelouch even though she believes he killed her father. And ''then'' she's kidnapped and dragged into the Metaverse by Medjed/Mao, being forced to come face-to-face with her Shadow, and learns that her father was responsible for conducting inhuman experiments]]. Needless to say her excuse is by far the most sympathetic yet.
** Shadow [[spoiler:Gao Hai]] offers the fact he was born to petty criminal parents, and had to sacrifice his manhood as his defense for his unrestrained Greed.
* FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse: Most of the Shadows gets this treatment from the Black Knights after their MotiveRant. For example, when the [[TheDon Black King]]'s Shadow reveals that he grew up poor and had to claw his way to "the top of the food chain", Kallen [[ShutUpHannibal instantly retorts]] that a crappy childhood doesn't give him the right to ruin so many lives.
* FriendlyRivalry: Lelouch doesn't miss how Kallen and Shirley, subconsciously or not, compete against each other [[LoveTriangle because of him]] [[spoiler:despite the fact he's made his choice clear already]], but the girls respect each other enough for this to be an incentive to improve themselves [[spoiler:as Persona Users in the Metaverse. He also notices they take cues from each other's fighting styles to improve their own. For example, Shirley gains confidence to fight Shadows at closer range like Kallen does, and Kallen adds elements of Shirley's dance-like maneuvers and becoming more efficient in the process.]]
* TheFriendsWhoNeverHang: Half-sibling variant in the backstory. Lelouch, Nunnally, Marrybell, and possibly her sister Julia didn't hang out much as kids, but they were all very fond of Euphemia and occasionally crossed path that way. [[spoiler:This is brought up by Marrybell in Chapter 62 when trying to remember how he and Nunnally used to be when they were still royals.]]

** An odd case. By replacing the supernatural elements from ''Anime/CodeGeass'' with those of ''VideoGame/Persona5'', the story pretty much [[DemotedToExtra does away]] with the former's MiniMecha and MilitaryScienceFiction elements as most of the plot-relevant combat follows the UrbanFantasy game mechanics of the latter. That is, while the fic can be consider a GenreShift as far as ''Code Geass'' is concerned, it's business as usual for the ''Persona 5'' side of the CrossOver but with a different cast.

* GentlemanThief: {{Discussed|Trope}}. Nunnally comments that her brother must have a fondness of ''kaito'' characters from the way he read ''The Queen's Necklace'' by Maurice Leblanc for her [[spoiler:and Shi]]. Lelouch deliberately picks an ''Literature/ArseneLupin'' story to indirectly discern whether she would approve his actions as phantom thief of hearts.

* GoneHorriblyRight: While it was always in Lelouch's plans to [[spoiler:get caught trespassing in Gao Hai's office]] in other to change his Cognition, he never expected for target himself to [[spoiler:show up and find them there]]. While this removed the Cognitive barriers in the Palace better than what Lelouch had in mind, it also [[spoiler:would have gotten him and Kallen arrested under Chinese Federation laws (due to [[DiplomaticImpunity extraterritoriality]]) were not for Princess Marrybell's presence there making it a dicey political move for the ambassador to take.]]

** It's confirmed in Chapter 57 that the Britannian government has issues gag orders to keep information of the Black Knights' exploits contained to Area 11. It's not a perfect ban by any means, largely thanks to Reid's and the [=KnightWatch=] website, but the government have been successful at having most people underestimate the threat they represent.

* HandWave: When Igor introduces the "Public Execution" (Network Fusion in the game) feature of fusing Persona, he casually mentions how one of the Personas is being supplied from an alternate version from another dimension. Though Lelouch's mind boggles at the implications, Igor brushes them off while making literal hand waving gestures.

* HeroOfAnotherStory: Implied with the Glinda Knights, another group changing hearts that have targeted shady characters such as Princess Carine and Luciano Bradley. [[spoiler:Confirmed in Chapter 59 when they show up in Gao Hai's Palace to steal his Treasure just barely after the Black Knights did it themselves, while also proving that they're the same Glinda Knights from the ''Manga/CodeGeassOzTheReflection''. Later in Chapter 62, Marrybell reveals that her group has made arguable greater strides than the Black Knights at piecing together the Emperor's plans to [[InTheirOwnImage remake the world]]. This is also when Lelouch and Marrybell decided that their teams should collaborate in other to stop their father, thus {{Subvert|edTrope}}ing the trope to a point.]]

* HumanTraffickers: Code-R brings about a few. [[spoiler:They ran innocuous-looking tests on hospital patients without their knowledge nor consent to measure their potential to become Persona Users, kidnapping the promising ones via FakingTheDead in order to make them into specimens for illegal human experimentation. And that's on top of Japanese people getting kidnapped straight out of the ghettos by the mafia in order to be sold to Code-R as guinea pigs, plus illegal Chinese immigrants that were tricked by human trafficking rings to go to Area 11 under the promises of a better life, only to suffer the same fate just like Mao.]]
* HustlingTheMark: One of Lelouch's go-to gambling tricks. He gauges a new opponent's skill at chess while deliberately playing at their level and subtly leading the match to a draw or a seemingly narrow victory for him. This usually leaves the opponent with the false impression that they were very close to beat him, making them likely to double down and propose a higher-stakes rematch game, which is when Lelouch stops holding back and goes home with a much larger profit than by going all-out from the beginning. [[spoiler:This tactic becomes very important during the BlackTieInfiltration at the MasqueradeBall, where he needs to goad a skillful chess player to agree to a private rematch game in order to change Gao Hai's Cognition after circumstances ruined his original plans for it.]]

* InnocentlyInsensitive: Lelouch observes that [[BunnyEarsLawyer Gino Weinberg]] seems to be a good enough guy, but his good looks and priviledged background have made him too used to getting away with ChivalrousPervert antics that wouldn't come off nearly as charming from anyone else.

** In Chapter 43, Lelouch reveals his past as a royal to [[spoiler:Shirley. At first she doesn't believe him, and when he convinces her he's not pulling her leg, she promptly {{faint|ing}}s and later on she has to be convinced that no, ThatWasNotADream.]]

** The Breisgau family are Britannian Nobles that secretly collaborated with the EU. Taizo Kirihara is a FakeDefector who pretended to betray Japan in order to remain in a position of power to secretly help LaResistance. They would have made perfect allies for each other, but with both hiding their true loyalties, they ended up opposing each other on several matters. [[spoiler:Lelouch takes steps to fix this by arranging a business meeting between Leila and Kirihara in Chapter 55.]]

* JapanesePoliteness: {{Discussed|Trope}}. Lelouch observes that Kallen is noticeable more polite and patient with Kaguya Sumeragi than with most other people, despite the GenkiGirl's unending enthusiasm and uncomfortable questions getting on the FieryRedhead's nerves. He guesses that Kallen's Japanese upbringing taught her to be especially respectful toward a member of a family as important and distinguished in Japan's history as the Sumeragi, on top of the fact that Kaguya and the Six Houses of Kyoto are secretly helping LaResistance.

* LetNoCrisisGoToWaste: [[spoiler:The Glinda Knights want to get to a Cognitive Psience research facility hidden in a remote location in the middle of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taklamakan_Desert Taklamakan Desert]], but that's within Chinese Federation territory and breaking into their airspace in a Britannian airship like theirs would surely cause an international incident. That's why they decided to wait for Gao Hai's change of heart and public confession to take advantage of ensuing nationwide rebellion to carry on their plans while the Chinese government will be too busy to deal with them, and that's assuming they will notice they were there at all.]]

* LookBehindYou: {{Subverted|Trope}}. [[spoiler:Shirley Fenette]] warns [[spoiler:Mao/Medjed]] to look behind him. He refuses to "fall for it", but it turns out something it was really behind him. [[spoiler:It's a Pisaca Shadow, who despite being just a {{Mook|s}} it spells Mao's doom because [[NoSell its protection against Curse-type attacks]] makes it immune to his Persona's sole way to deal damage.]]

** [[spoiler:Kallen to Lelouch once she comes to terms about her family situation. He doesn't see it coming at all.]]
** [[spoiler:Kallen confesses again after clearing the fourth Palace, after realizing how much more deeply in love with Lelouch she is now compared to before. If this sounds like heartwarming romantic MeaningfulEcho to you, [[{{Deconstruction}} it mostly isn't]]. See her entry under ThePowerOfLove in the [[Characters/LelouchOfTheWingsOfRebellion Character page]].]]

* LoveTriangle: Lelouch and his girlfriend are in a relationship and Shirley as the HopelessSuitor to him. [[spoiler:Or not so hopeless. The events in the fourth Palace made Lelouch admit that he does love Shirley back, but he's not going to leave Kallen for her, much less cheat on one with the other]]. Eventually, [[spoiler:the situation progresses to type 8 when the three enter a triad.]]

* MagicEnhancement: All Persona Users are capable of physical feats in the Metaverse well beyond what the can do in the real world. [[spoiler:Most notably, Nunnally is [[DisabilityNegatingSuperpower able to walk on her own two legs]] again in the Metaverse.]]

** [[spoiler:Given that the girls have quite distinct personalities from each other, Lelouch was logically bound to get along at least a bit better with one of them than the rest. In their case, Leila is the one who has a noticeable better chemistry with him due to [[BirdsOfAFeather a number of commonalities in their personalities and interests]], which none of his other significant others missed nor are entirely comfortable with. On the flip side, her high social standing makes Leila the one that stands to lose the most were her unusual love life to come to light, which was one of the many things Lelouch warned her about right before their RelationshipUpgrade.]]

** [[spoiler:The Chinese embassy in Area 11 hosts one as a "pre-reception" of sorts for the local upper crust, specifically to make up for the fact that the invitation for real reception for the wedding between Empress Tianzi and Prince Odysseus eu Britannia in Luoyang are strictly limited. The Black Knights see this as an opportunity to get pass a Cognitive barrier in the ambassador's Palace and arrange for as many of them to attend for a BlackTieInfiltration.]]

* MeleeATrois: It's revealed during ''Interrogation 5'' that [[spoiler:three other groups of possible Persona users appeared. Two of them, known as the Irregulars and The Glinda Knights, stole the heart of a military officer by the name of Madd and Carine ne Britannia, respectively. The third, by the name of Medjed, would use the Metaverse to kidnap, murder and blackmail individuals. Medjed and the Irregulars both bother the drug-addled Lelouch signifying that they may not be sympathetic the Black Knights' cause, with the former proving his antagonistic nature the very next chapter by kidnapping Shirley and trapping her within her own Palace, and giving the Knights a two-week deadline to rescue her or Shirley will be killed and their identities released. The Irregulars prove to be a subversion, however, as they support Lelouch against Medjed and hash out a rough non-aggression pact with the Black Knights afterward.]]

** While [[spoiler:human trafficking]] is hardly a "minor" crime, tracking down one of such operations that [[spoiler:the Irregulars]] think was responsible of [[spoiler:bringing Mao to Japan]] led them to discover that [[spoiler:Japanese people are now being taken to China for something likely similar to Code-R, and worse still, it looks like a larger collaborative project between the Chinese Federation and Britannia.]]

* TheMole: [[spoiler:After changing his heart and revealing himself by his real name to him, Jeremiah starts firmly collaborating with Lelouch from his position in Britannian military. Among other things, it's thanks to Jeremiah that Euphemia can move freely enough to meet up with the Black Knights, and he's the one Lelouch turns to in order to do a background check on Alice after becoming suspicious of her.]]
* MoneySpider: Lelouch comments that DungeonCrawling in the Metaverse is more profitable than his illegal gambling on chess matches. [[spoiler:He suspects the Irregulars has been living off from it, which makes sense because they're [[EscapedFromTheLab lab escapees]] from an illegal project sponsored by Prince Clovis himself and at least one of them is LegallyDead.]]

** Lelouch doesn't shy away from the moral implications of [[BrainwashingForTheGreaterGood changing someone's heart]], but also doesn't hesitate in resorting to it as a weapon against greater evil.

** Upon seeing Lelouch talking to Kallen, Shirley thinks the two are dating. Lelouch had just exited the Metaverse with the former girl, and was talking about their experiences their, but then again, this is ''[[ClingyJealousGirl Shirley]]'' we're talking about, who was under exactly the same misunderstanding in canon.

** During their summer trip, the girls in the Student Council plus guests find the guys waiting for them at the {{Hot Springs|Episode}}. It turns out [[ShamelessFanserviceGirl Milly]] [[ThePrankster tricked them]] with the wrong men-only/women-only times at the onsen in order to [[InvokedTrope contrive]] a OutdoorBathPeeping incident for good memories' sake. ''[[DudeNotFunny None]]'' [[DudeNotFunny of her friends saw the humor in that]].
* NotWorthKilling: Zero's opinion of [[spoiler:Medjed when Shirley has his neck at sword's point. Although it's implied that his reluctance to stain her hands with his blood weighted more in his decision to spare Mao. He comes to regret it when Mao pulls off a DisneyDeath and kidnaps Nunnally.]]

* OneHitKill: Hama and Mudo spells are straight up lethal here if the Persona user doesn't get revived fast enough.

** {{Subverted|Trope}}. While it is certainly possible to play the protagonist like this in ''VideoGame/Persona5'' after getting over the EarlyGameHell, Lelouch concludes that the long runs of exploration and numerous battles necessary to clear a Palace or progress into Mementos makes this trope impractical and suboptimal. As he sees it, a [[MasterOfAll Wild Card]] like him serves better the team's overall effectiveness by being prepared to shift into momentary combat roles as required for each battle.
** PlayedStraight with Black Mask, who seems to have followed for the opposite philosophy out of necessity. That is, to devote everything to grind a single Persona to ridiculously high stats and rely on NonElemental attacks to get pass Shadows' elemental resistances.

** The girls walk into the guys in the HotSpringsEpisode and immediately assume the latter did it on purpose. It was actually Milly's prank, who comes clean about it before the whole thing ends in PervertRevengeMode.

* OutOfCharacterAlert: Bishop found it odd for Lelouch to get caught while engaging in OutdoorBathPeeping. Curiously, it's not the usually CelibateHero being suddenly a perv what was out-of-character of him in her eyes, but instead the fact he ''got caught'' doing it, as she holds [[TheChessmaster his]] [[DoWrongRight planning and infiltration skills to a higher standard]].

* PaedoHunt: Discussed briefly when Lelouch idly muses that, in hindsight, Sayoko would have mauled him if it had been the younger looking Shi who commandeered the other half of his bed instead of Tsu.

** The [[TheDon Black King]] [[spoiler:provided Clovis with the experiment test subjects for Code-R]], but made sure to never ask too many questions so as to not fall victim of the HeKnowsTooMuch trope and to cover his ass in case the whole thing came to light someday. [[spoiler:Later chapters confirm that being ProperlyParanoid about this is the only reason he wasn't killed alongside Clovis.]]
** Lelouch makes a point of having a plausible explanation when the team decides to change the heart of a person relatively close to them just in case. It works nicely when he instructs [[spoiler:Nina Einstein]] to say they posted a request to change their own heart in the [=KnightWatch=] website. [[spoiler:Not so much with Mrs Stadtfeld, who didn't buy it at all.]]
** The Black Mask[[spoiler:'s boss -- strongly implied to be a non-Code Bearer version of V.V. -- needed plausible deniability to kill Nunnally as just another member of the Irregulars in the Metaverse. Going directly after her in the real world is not an option for him because Charles would notice and he doesn't want him to become distracted from their plans for "Ragnarök," and of course Mental Shutdowns can't be triggered on Persona Users.]]

** To make matters worse, there are several hints that his girlfriend and Shirley ''would'' agree to become a triad if Lelouch can just be honest with himself and them as both girls are in an unique position to truly empathize with each other. Interestingly, Lelouch is perceptive enough to realize this, but considers he would be taking advantage of their feelings for him if he ever hints he wants to date them at the same time and so he never does.
** The deadlock would remain unbroken until Chapter 51 [[spoiler:when it's instead ''the girls'' who propose a {{Polyamory}} after Kallen comes clean to Shirley off-screen and lets her know several important truths about Lelouch and herself. However, this is not without further {{Deconstruction}}. Instead of immediately agreeing to their offer despite being exactly what he wants, Lelouch's brain comes up with several possible underlying motivations Kallen and Shirley could have to suggest something like that, none of them good. Finally, it's only the fact he can tell the girls truly care for each other and the realization he should go for the LesserOfTwoEvils what convinces him to accept: On the one hand, rejecting pretty much ensures that Shirley ''will'' be miserable no matter how well she could be able to hide it, which in turn would mar whatever happiness Lelouch and Kallen could have by remaining together. On the other hand, Lelouch realizes that there are many, many ways a mutually consensual three-way relationship could go very wrong, very fast, with only a small chance of happiness. So, between certain misery and possible but unlikely happiness, Lelouch knows he has to pick the latter.]]
** Later, in Chapter 58, [[spoiler:it's revealed that Leila indeed figured out that Lelouch, Kallen, and Shirley are all in a relationship together despite their (rather poor) efforts to [[SecretRelationship keep quiet about it]]. More importantly, she has been actually considering to join their {{Polyamory}} and wondering how to let her intentions be known without damaging their relationship or her friendship with each of them. To that end, Leila approached Shirley first, who she correctly predicted would be the least reluctant to the idea because Shirley herself was once a RomanticRunnerUp to Lelouch too. Not too long later, and emboldened by the personal breakthrough she achieved in her Rank Max Confidant Event, Leila tells Lelouch about her conversation with Shirley and finally gives him a proper LoveConfession unlike the time where he simply deduced she likes him and they agreed to a tacit BetterAsFriends deal. Lelouch tries to warn her against it, citing both potential and unavoidable problematic issues about joining their {{Polyamory}}, but Leila remained steadfast in her conviction that she wants a romantic relationship with him regardless the shape it may take. Realizing that she means every word, to say nothing of the fact he actually reciprocates her feelings, Lelouch accepts her LoveConfession without quite wording it like that because he still needs Kallen to approve a RelationshipUpgrade between him and Leila.]]

** Kallen's brother, but differently from canon. [[spoiler:Naoto discovered the Metaverse prior to Lelouch and was the first partner of Morgana's counterpart, Arthur. He managed to figure out a connection between the Metaverse and the psychotic breakdowns, but he ended up killed by Shadow Viletta before he could get further with his investigation. He did, however, account for the possibility of his death into his plans and introduced his sister Kallen to Arthur and the Metaverse just in case. She tried to continue things where he left off, but having only partially awakened to her Persona similarly to Haru in the game, she and Arthur didn't manage to achieve much until Lelouch entered the picture.]]

* PropagandaMachine: Like in the series, there's no such a thing as free press in Britannia. For example, the FestivalEpisode in Ueno Park is reported as an unlawful riot that was quelled by Viceroy Cornelia, who "in a show of clemency let most of the Elevens present leave peacefully." What actually happened is that Euphemia went behind Cornelia's back and lifted the ban forbidding Japanese people from participating in their traditional UsefulNotes/{{Tanabata}}. The viceroy eventually figured it out and ran there to arrest everybody, but then she let them disperse peacefully instead when she realized that Euphemia herself was attending the festival incognito and that she could get hurt in the confusion if she simply ordered her soldiers to break it up.

** Kallen/Queen's Persona is [[https://lynxian.tumblr.com/post/21246431697/suzuka-gozen-%E9%88%B4%E9%B9%BF%E5%BE%A1%E5%89%8D Suzuka Gozen]], a prominent legendary figure from [[Myth/JapaneseMythology Japanese folklore]] from the Kamakura period. She was an {{Oni}} princess and celestial maiden, who also engaged in daring thievery under a different name. She collaborated with the king of Japan's Oni -- Akuro-Ou -- to overthrow the country, but ended up falling in love with a human and switching sides. [[FridgeBrilliance Odd that]].

** [[spoiler:Lelouch and Leila in Chapter 58, upgrading the above to a full harem. Also an unsuccessfully DefiedTrope. Lelouch tries to make Leila reconsider before giving her LoveConfession to him, but instead she convinces him she has considered the problems ahead and remains certain she wants a RelationshipUpgrade regardless.]]
* TheRemnant: Code-R pretty much disappear after Clovis' change of heart and the [[BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork Black Mask getting rid of anyone too involved with the project]], a few conspirators and collaborators of the GovernmentConspiracy still remain. [[spoiler:The Irregulars target these people's Shadows just in case someone could be using them to restart the project.]]
* RestrictedRescueOperation: Neither Milly nor Bishop are able to leave the MasqueradeBall and [[spoiler:follow Euphemia into the Metaverse when Black Mask kidnaps her]] because they're well known faces among the nobility and their absence would be immediately noticed, and that's assuming they would be able to activate the Metanav without getting caught. [[spoiler:Shirley, on the other hand, is just a masked commoner mingling among the elite incognito, so she is able to sneak out after them unnoticed.]]

** The original version of the story stated that Cornelia's interrogation takes place six months from the start of the fic. The author changed it to "about half a year" in order to provide more flexibility in pacing.

** Kamine Island is a DesertedIsland with nothing interesting on it except some ancient ruins, yet it's kept out of modern maps and access to it is heavily monitored by a Britannian military base on the nearby and larger Shikine Island.
** {{Double Subver|sion}}ted by the Kururugi administration before the invasion, who tried to quietly make people forget about Kamine Island. However, the interrupted attempt now hints to Lelouch that the late Japanese prime minister knew something about the place[[spoiler:, perhaps including the reason why the ruins are important to Charles.]]

** In Chapter 69, [[spoiler:Nunnally's subconscious self -- a.k.a. Nemo -- tells Lelouch that she recognized Anya Alstreim as the girl that stayed a few days with them at the Aries Villa, something that he and Nunnally herself had absolutely no recollection of despite happening the previous days to their mother's murder. The fact their memories were altered to hide such a seemingly unimportant circumstance immediately told Lelouch that his father's Cognitive Psience research was almost certainly involved, and that there must be a very important reason about or around her for them to do it.]]
* TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized: {{Discussed|Trope}}. The Black Knights realize that they could [[SparkOfTheRebellion spark a rebellion]] if they actually steal their fifth main target's heart. Lelouch considers it unavoidable if the status quo is to chance at all, but compromises with [[TheMcCoy Noire]] to not take the Treasure if the insight on the target provided by the Palace offers them an alternative -- not that he expects any and he's proven right soon enough.

* RomanticSpoonfeeding: Lelouch's girlfriend to him in Chapter 43's [[BirthdayEpisode "Birthday Bash"]]. This being a tad [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness out-of-character of her]], he suspects she {{Invoked|Trope}} this trope to either [[LivingADoubleLife reinforce this covers]], [[ClingyJealousGirl lay a claim on him]], or likely both. [[spoiler:Then Kallen makes it an IndirectKiss too by rather smugly using the same fork to eat cake herself, thus prompting Lelouch to blush. Gotta hand it to her -- even as a ClingyJealousGirl, Kallen is [[HotBlooded thorough]].]]

** Characters that know Lelouch is a prince instantly assume he's taking after his father when they see surrounded by beautiful young women.

*** Diamond proposes "Milady" from ''Literature/TheThreeMusketeers'' because she remembers her as a cool female character that dressed in black and wore a mask. Lelouch shoots it down because Milady de Winter is a [[TheSociopath "textbook psychopath"]] and Bishop follows up by pointing out Diamond probably knows a LighterAndSofter version of character. It doubles as a MythologyGag and a TakeThat to ''VideoGame/Persona5'' for [[AdaptationalHeroism portraying Milady more like a heroine]].
*** "Franchise/{{Zorro}}" is briefly considered too -- also based on the matching black outfit, mask, and now the sword. Interestingly, the character is lot less known InUniverse because the stories' marked anti-establishment themes don't fly well in [[TheEmpire Britannia]]. Doubles as a MythologyGag to [[VideoGame/Persona5 Morgana's Persona]].

** The Black Mask going by the code name "Agent Nebiros" is a both a reference to the ''Literature/ArsGoetia'' and a MythologyGag to the second compilation movie.

* ShowerOfAwkward: Lelouch and Kallen's moment from [[Recap/CodeGeassS1E3TheFalseClassmate Stage 3]] happens here in Chapter 11, but with a twist. By this point they already know each other's secrets, so Lelouch can't resist snarking at her, which provokes the FieryRedhead into jumping at him without thinking. Her bare feet slip on the shower floor and Lelouch tries to catch her, but he can't to keep his balance and only manages to cushion her fall with his own body, [[SuggestiveCollision leaving a wet and very naked Kallen sprayed all over Lelouch and with her lips hovering just a few inches above his]].
* ShownTheirWork: The summer trip includes detailed descriptions of the locations the student council visits according to their real-world touristic interest while noting the differences in a fictional Japan under Britannian occupation. For example, natural attractions are still there and are appreciated as such, but the changes in the geopolitical map can be felt everywhere else, where the scarcity of domestic tourists because former Japanese people now lacks the money and liberty to travel leisurely, which conditions tourism-based businesses to please a predominantly Britannian clientele down to the food they serve.
* ASimplePlan: Technicalities aside, Lelouch's plan to infiltrate [[spoiler:the Chinese embassy]] was actually pretty straightforward: [[spoiler:attend to the MasqueradeBall, meet up with Leila and play a few chess matches in public as cover story, then sneak into one of the off-limits rooms and let themselves get caught playing another match in there. On the surface, that's just a minor misconduct of two party-goers looking to play in private, but their presence in there should be more enough to unmake the ambassador's Cognition of his private chambers being inviolable to outsiders and allow the Black Knights further access to his Palace]]. Of course, complications such as [[spoiler:Prince Schneizel engaging Leila in conversation]] force Lelouch to improvise.

* SpitTake: Narrowly {{Subverted|Trope}}. Lelouch almost chokes on his coffee when he hears from Suzaku that his "precocious cousin" once told him that her honeymoon plans consists of a long stay in a RyokanInn. [[spoiler:Not surprising considering that he learns of this just a few days after Kaguya gave Lelouch a WackyMarriageProposal.]]

* StupidSexyFriend: It takes a ''while'' and lots of {{Defrosting|IceQueen}}, but by Chapter 46+ Lelouch finally starts to notice just how attractive his female teammates are as more than an objective assessment and without something like the [[SuccubiAndIncubi Incubus]] Persona stirring up his libido. [[spoiler:Also {{Deconstructed|Trope}}. The fact he's dating one of them and knows for certain that other two are attracted to him despite of it makes things really awkward for everybody involved.]]

* SurpriseIncest: More to the reader's expense than anything else. In Chapter 56-57, [[spoiler:the interactions between Lelouch and the "Emerald-asked Woman" over a game of chess has some PairTheSmartOnes overtones, but she's soon revealed to be one of his half-sisters attending the MasqueradeBall [[KingIncognito incognito]].]]
* SwitchingPOV: {{Downplayed|Trope}}. The narration very occasionally switches to a point of view other than Lelouch's. For example, Chapter 14, 24, and 31 introduce the new StoryArc front the perspective of [[spoiler:Leila Breisgau, Princess Euphemia, and Shirley's father]], respectively. Also, TheStinger of Chapter 55 focuses on [[spoiler:the Black Mask and his mysterious boss]], and [[spoiler:Marrybell mel Britannia]] is the one to narrate the first part of Chapter 62.
* {{Synchronization}}: A Persona is connected like this to their user, just like a Shadow Self to its original unless the latter rejects it first. [[spoiler:Shirley stabbing her own Shadow counts as a rejection, but not fast enough for the {{Synchronization}} to not hurt her as well, if just not as severely. The doctors are quite puzzled as to how someone could have an injury perfectly consistent with a stab wound while lacking an entry wound.]]
* TakeOurWordForIt: Readers never get to "see" Luciano Bradley's Palace, only hear the Glinda Knights' description of it. Likely a good thing because the guy is a {{Sadist}}ic BloodKnight PsychoForHire, and a SerialRapist that targeted both [=PoWs=] and his own subordinates.

** The fourth palace also has a trap the Black Knights ''have to'' trigger in order to keep advancing. Specifically one that cuts down the remaining time for the TimedMission of a Palace to about a third.

** They replace it later with a squad of Cognitive Burais, by courtesy of manipulating the public's Cognition of them.

** {{Subverted|Trope}}. Unlike in the game where only the Black Knights and the Black Mask had access to the [=MetaNav=], more than a few people in this story have got it on their own. This includes Naoto Kozuki, Bishop, Medjed, the Irregulars and the Glinda Knights. Lelouch thinks Igor made the app available to as many Persona Users as feasible in order to increase the chances of averting "Ragnarök".

* TheUnreveal: We don't get to learn what was Lelouch's "Plan B" for the BlackTieInfiltration at the MasqueradeBall. Only teasing hints are given, such as Lelouch blanching at the idea of falling back to it because "girls in the Black Knights would never let him hear the end of it."

* VisualPun: {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d. [[spoiler:Prince Schneizel]] doesn't wear a mask for the MasqueradeBall unlike most guests. Lelouch quips said person has such a SilverTongue and ManipulativeBastard skills that their regular face is enough of a mask already.

** Chapter 33, "Blooming Villain": [[spoiler:Shirley sees Lelouch and the Knights leaving the Metaverse, with Milly throwing an errant line that reveals them as the Black Knights. This, combined with seeing Lelouch falling for Kallen, causes her to form her own Palace over Ashford in the Metaverse, and given how much repressed jealousy she has, her Shadow is bound to be powerful and have a personal vendetta against the Black Knights unlike previous Palace rulers.]]
** Followed by "Tanabata", that ends in with a series of startling revelations: [[spoiler:Shirley has a Palace, she represents the [[SevenDeadlySins Deadly Sin]] of {{Lust}}, the Black Mask works for someone that sounds and acts as V.V., they know who the Black Knights are and where to find them, and the only reason they haven't killed or captured Lelouch yet is because ''Emperor Charles'' decided that Lelouch will serve their objectives better if [[INeedYouStronger he's left alone to grow into a stronger Persona user]].]]
** Chapter 41, aptly named "Revelations". Hoo boy, where do we even start... [[spoiler:Mao [[DisneyDeath survives Shirley's Palace]] and comes back to kidnap Nunnally. Lelouch is [[InternalReveal forced to come clean]] to Sayoko about the Metaverse in order to recruit her help. Lelouch loses the rematch fight against Mao, but two members of the Irregulars [[BigDamnHeroes save his life]]. The two Persona Users turn out to be Nunnally's suspicious friend Alice and ''Nunnally herself'', who not only has been visiting the Metaverse in secret just like her brother, but is also able to ''[[DisabilityNegatingSuperpower see and walk]]'' in there. Then Lelouch decides to straight up murder the knocked out Mao, but [[{{Pacifist}} Nunnally]] strongly opposes him. Alice, however, completely agrees with Lelouch that there's really no other choice and [[CoupDeGrace puts a bullet in Mao's heart]] [[DoubleTap and head]] before the siblings can stop arguing. ''And then'' the Black Mask arrives, thanks them for killing Mao for him, and reveals he's a ''government sanctioned ProfessionalKiller'' who triggers mental shutdown on Britannia's orders. He also says the only reason he hasn't killed the Black Knights and the Irregulars is because he's yet to receive an official order to do so, but warns them that he will eliminate them if they cross paths with him in the Metaverse again. As a parting gift, the Black Mask also reveals he's ''not'' the same "Black Mask" Clovis was talking about before the prince got KilledMidSentence, meaning there's ''another'' SerialKiller using the Metaverse to commit murder with impunity.]]

** Squared in Chapter 55 with the following line, not only revealing the identity of the Black Mask if you're familiar enough with ''Code Geass'' lore, but also hinting that [[spoiler:Nunnally's unusual Persona powers are could be beneficial to the bad guys' plans.]]

** Lelouch pulls off a much larger change of Cognition in Chapter 49. [[spoiler:He releases a video of the Black Knights to the Internet -- carefully crafted to hide their identities, of course -- where he as Zero declares that they will continue changing hearts, Medjed was just a psychotic SerialKiller, and that they know Genbu Kururugi [[NeverSuicide didn't commit suicide and was actually killed by mental shutdown]]. A parallel objective of this is showing them surrounded by a squad of Burais in a location easily recognizable as the old subway system, thus introducing the idea that "The Black Knights have Knightmare Frames somewhere in the tunnels" into the public's minds when the video predictably goes viral. This results in a change of Cognition at the collective level that alters the Palace of the Public that in turn creates functional replicas of the Burais in Mementos, which they use to explore the tunnels a lot more safely and efficiently than on foot. On the downside, [=KMFs=] in the hands of an anti-Britannia outlaw group is not the kind of threat that Cornelia will take laying down given that she doesn't know they don't really have that kind of armament in the real world.]]

* AgeLift: The ending of ''Tanabata'' indicates that, [[ForWantOfANail since Codes and Geass don't exist in this universe]], [[spoiler:V.V. looks his actual age]]. [[spoiler:Chapter 67 confirms this is the case.]]

* {{Crossover}}: The story is based on ''Anime/CodeGeass''[='=] setting and characters with its supernatural elements replaced largely with those of ''VideoGame/Persona5,'' but with other elements of the Persona series as well, including ''Royal''. [[spoiler:Later chapters reveal that the world-building also borrows from ''Manga/CodeGeassNightmareOfNunnally'', an AlternateUniverse SpinOff setting in the ''Code Geass'' franchise with its own branch of the supernatural, for more than a few {{Canon Foreigner}}s, as well as including mentions and appearances of characters from''Oz the Reflection'']]. Despite the number of different elements, the author manages to blend them all together practically seamlessly.

* HeroesWantRedheads: [[spoiler:Gino Weinberg]] seems to have a thing for redheads from the way he hits on Shirley and then Kallen at the MasqueradeBall. Naturally, Lelouch didn't appreciate this at all [[spoiler:because he was dating both girls at the time and couldn't say anything about it without risking their mission.]]

** [[Creator/YuriLowenthal Suzaku]] is [[VideoGame/Persona3 Makoto Yuki]].

** [[StalkedByTheBell The]] [[BonusBoss Reaper]] out of all things becomes this in Chapter 53, after its first and until then only appearance in Chapter 22. [[spoiler:Nunnally and her team ran away from the Black Mask in Mementos in a way that purposely led the latter to [[LetsYouAndHimFight meet face to face with The Reaper]], forcing him to drop pursuit and allowing the Irregulars to escape.]]

* RailroadTracksOfDoom: {{Invoked}} by the heroes, unusually enough. [[spoiler:While they are being chased by The Reaper in Mementos, Lelouch makes Kallen drive their Glasgow on the rails, and then eject and self-destruct the Frame at just the right time. This does ScratchDamage to the BonusBoss, but keeps it distracted long enough for it to be run over by an oncoming train.]]

* FairytaleWeddingDress: The one Lelouch and [[spoiler:Shirley Fenette]] see on display in a bridal shop at the mall in Chapter 54 serves a conversation starter about [[spoiler:how [[ElectraComplex she used to wish to marry her father as a child]] and how much she misses him now that he's gone.]]

** Lelouch's love life. [[spoiler:A type 4 {{Triang Relation|s}} between Kallen, Shirley, and Lelouch at the center is bad enough on its own, especially because both girls' feelings for him go ''way'' beyond the level of a simple crush. Then it turns out ''Leila'' is secretly crushing on him and kept quiet about it in consideration of his already complicated love life until a knee-jerk reaction of his makes her give herself away. Worse, Leila's circumstances are far from ideal too because [[KeepingSecretsSucks all the secrets she has to keep]] ([[OnlyFriend plus]] [[IntelligenceEqualsIsolation other]] [[AttractivenessIsolation tropes]]) makes Lelouch the only guy she could feasibly have an actual relationship with despite all the above, and neither of them is sure how much this effective isolation could make feel situationally attracted him. Then Kaguya declares him her future husband just for an added kick in the teeth. Fortunately for him, Kallen and Shirley agree to share him and they all enter a triad.]]

* TriangRelations: A type 4 with Lelouch and his girlfriend in a relationship and Shirley as the HopelessSuitor to him. [[spoiler:Or not so hopeless. The events in the fourth Palace made Lelouch admit that he does love Shirley back -- making this a type 7 instead -- but he's not going to leave Kallen for her, much less cheat on one with the other]]. Eventually, [[spoiler:the situation progresses to type 8 when the three enter a triad.]]

* HaveWeMet: Lelouch can't shake off a sense of déjà vu when talking with the [[NoNameGiven "emerald-masked woman"]] at the MasqueradeBall, and vice versa. [[spoiler:It's implied that she's no other than [[Manga/CodeGeassOzTheReflection Princess Marrybell mel Britannia]], who was airport to say her goodbyes when Lelouch and Nunnally were send to Japan as political hostages eight years ago.]]
* HeroesWantRedHeads: [[spoiler:Gino Weinberg]] seems to have a thing for redheads from the way he hits on Shirley and then Kallen at the MasqueradeBall. Naturally, Lelouch didn't appreciate this at all [[spoiler:because he was dating both girls at the time and couldn't say anything about it without risking their mission.]]

* HiddenInPlainSight: Major spoilers for Chapter 62 and on: [[spoiler:The word "Holy" in "The Holy Britannian Empire" isn't a propaganda element but actually the sole publicly visible indication of the fact that the empire is secretly a [[TheTheocracy theocracy]], one ruled by an {{Cult}} under the Emperor's leadership that has been researching LostTechnology left behind by {{Precursors}} in the form of the ruins currently known as Thought Elevators.]]

* HonorBeforeReason: In a bit of ShownTheirWork trivia, Chapter 57 has Lelouch and his opponent talk about [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypermodernism_(chess) Hypermodern Chess]], which was a real-world school of chess that came to prominence in the 1920s in Central Europa. Given that ''Code Geass''[='=] AlternateHistory puts "Europia" and Britannia as competing superpowers, hypermodernism is looked down in the Empire and Lelouch {{Exploit|edTrope}}s Britannian players' willful ignorance of the related tactics to give himself an extra edge when gambling.

* HotSpringsEpisode: Chapter 46 has this, with the girls walking into the guys at the hot springs and everything, with Milly tricking the boys into walking on the girl's side, who all have {{Naked Freak Out}}s despite all wearing {{Modesty Towel}}s. [[ShamelessFanserviceGirl Milly herself is the one who isn't embarrassed]] and even poses for the boys, causing a few {{Nose Bleed}}s. Although, unlike ''VideoGame/Persona3'' and especially ''VideoGame/Persona4'' where FailureIsTheOnlyOption, the misunderstanding is cleared up ''before'' the [[PervertRevengeMode girls attack the guys]]. In the original version of the scene, the girls still attacked the guys with the author intending for the girls to apologize at the beginning of the next chapter, but things didn't go as planned so the ending was revised to cut the attack short and have Milly apologize for setting up the whole thing.

* InfractionDistraction: Lelouch wants to get caught trespassing in the off-limit areas of the Chinese embassy, and nothing more serious than that, in order to [[spoiler:change the Cognition of the ambassador who believes his inner sanctum is truly impenetrable, which is keeping the Black Knights from infiltrating the deepest areas of his Palace.]]
* InnocentlyInsensitive: Lelouch observes that [[BunnyEarsLawyer Gino Weinberg]] seems to be a good enough guy, but his good looks and privileged background have made him too used to get away with ChivalrousPervert antics that wouldn't come off nearly as charming from anyone else.

** Chapter 47 reveals that [[VideoGame/Persona4 Inaba and the Amagi Inn]] still exist in this continuity, which makes sense considering that Yukiko's family is said to have run RyokanInn for many generations and considering that the current time in-story is an AlternateHistory 1962-1963.

** Despite not meeting Kallen as an AcePilot like in canon, [[spoiler:Gino Weinberg still finds her FieryRedhead attractive and hits on her as soon as he meets her.]]

** The more Lelouch [[ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies tries to protect Shirley by keeping his distance from her]], the worse her issues become [[spoiler:to the point she ends up with her own Palace.]]

** The Breisgau family are Britannian Nobles that secretly collaborated with the EU. Taizo Kirihara is a FakeDefector that pretended to betray Japan in order to remain in a position of power to secretly help LaResistance. They would have made perfect allies for each other, but with both hiding their true loyalties, they ended up opposing each other in several matters. [[spoiler:Lelouch takes steps to fix this by arranging a business meeting between Leila and Kirihara in Chapter 55.]]

* ItMakesSenseInContext: In Chapter 54, Lelouch's plan to [[spoiler:attend a MasqueradeBall as Mrs Stadtfeld's plus-one. It makes complete sense for the Black Knights' BlackTieInfiltration the way he explains it, but that doesn't change the fact he ''is'' going out on a date with his girlfriend's (reformed) WickedStepmother[=/=]MrsRobinson, so still awkward.]]

* JapanesePoliteness: {{Discussed|Trope}}. Lelouch observes that Kallen is noticeable more polite and patient with Kaguya Sumeragi than with most other people, and that's despite the GenkiGirl's unending enthusiasm and uncomfortable questions getting on the FieryRedhead's nerves. He guesses that Kallen's Japanese upbringing taught her to be especially respectful toward a member of a family as important and distinguished in Japan's history as the Sumeragi, on top of fact Kaguya and the Six Houses of Kyoto are secretly helping LaResistance.

** Noticing the TarotMotifs in their Personas, Bishop looks up the tarot cards and proposes to give Lelouch a reading one day. Cynic as always, Lelouch refuses because he doesn't believe in either fortune-telling or destiny, but he relents when he is asked to humor her. As with [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome real tarot]], Lelouch doesn't fail to notice Bishop is in fact trying to use a ColdReading from his reactions to the cards' alleged meanings.

* FairytaleWeddingDress: The one Lelouch and [[spoiler:Shirley Fenette]] see on display in a bridal shop at the mall in Chapter 54 serves a conversation starter about [[spoiler:how [[OedipusComplex she used to wish to marry her father as a child]] and how much she misses him now that he's gone.]]

* FairytaleWeddingDress: The one Lelouch and [[spoiler:Shirley Fenette]] see on display in a bridal shop at the mall in Chapter 54 serves a conversation starter about [[spoiler:how [[ElectraComplex she used to wish to marry her father as a child]] and how much she misses him now that he's gone.]]

** Again in Chapter 51, where Lelouch violently wakes up from an EroticDream [[spoiler:involving Kallen, Shirley, Leila, and himself]] (by courtesy of [[HornyDevils Li]][[DreamWeaver lim]]) that was {{interrupted|Intimacy}} just as violently when a dream version of ''[[PrimalScene Nunnally]]'' [[PrimalScene suddenly appears]].

* DidTheyOrDidntThey: The ending of Chapter 28 employs a literary FadeToBlack after [[spoiler:Kallen asks Lelouch to 'prove' that she is his queen]], followed by a note that Lelouch arrived home late that night. All that being said, [[HornyDevils Incubus']] [[BigYes comments]] imply that [[spoiler:the two did have sex.]]

* DreamWeaver: As her demonic namesake that inspired the myths of [[HornyDevils Incubi and Succubi]] in medieval times, the Persona Lilim can give Lelouch elaborate {{Erotic Dream}}s, something he didn't know until right ''after'' he fused her in Chapter 51.

* EroticDream: Lelouch has one in Chapter 51 that ends in CatapultNightmare before it could leave PG territory. This is actually {{Invoked|Trope}} by his latest Persona, [[HornyDevils Li]][[DreamWeaver lim]], and he gets mad at her for it. [[spoiler:Lilim argues back she's his Persona and thus "also [him]", meaning that she only gave shape to what is already in his subconscious, and the guilt he feels for feeling himself attracted to Kallen, Shirley, and Leila at the same time manifested an {{interrupt|edIntimacy}}ion in form of an angry and disappointed Nunnally catching all four of them making out.]]

* HornyDevils: Some of Lelouch's Personas. He rather dislikes them because they tend to act as mouthpieces for his repressed libido.
** The Persona Incubus instantly picks up on Shirley's attraction to Lelouch and pins her as a potential LoveMartyr, encouraging him to take advantage of it in every sense of the word. Lelouch quickly gets rid of him.
** Later on he fuses Lilim in order to take advantage of his high Confidant Rank with Diethard, but the DreamWeaver demon ends up giving him an EroticDream that ends in CatapultNightmare due to his guilt.

* LoveMartyr: {{Discussed|Trope}}. The Persona [[HornyDevils Incubus]] pins Shirley as one and encourages Lelouch to take full advantage of it. Lelouch angrily has him silenced.

* StupidSexyFriend: It takes a ''while'' and lots of {{Defrosting|IceQueen}}, but by Chapter 46+ Lelouch finally starts to notice just how attractive his female teammates are as more than an objective assessment and without something like the [[HornyDevils Incubus]] Persona stirring up his libido. [[spoiler:Also {{Deconstructed|Trope}}. The fact he's dating one of them and knows for certain that other two are attracted to him despite of it makes things really awkward for everybody involved.]]

* AThreesomeIsHot: The Persona [[HornyDevils Lilim]] [[DreamWeaver gives Lelouch an]] EroticDream in Chapter 51 involving him, his girlfriend and ''two'' of his other female teammates. He's pissed when he wakes up and realizes what she just did, but he's even less amused when she tells him she just gave shape to what was ''already'' in his subconscious.

** People assuming Lelouch is TheCasanova and/or that the girl next to him is her current girlfriend. Most people in Ashford Academy think he's dating one of the girls in the StudentCouncil, Diethard mistakes him for [[spoiler:Leila Breisgau]]'s secret boyfriend [[spoiler:(as does her butler later on)]], the [[TheDon Black King]] thinks he and [[spoiler:Princess Euphemia]] are having an affair, and absolutely ''everyone'' who's ever seen him together with Kallen gets the idea they're a hot item. Must be the {{Bishonen}}-ness.

** {{Discussed|Trope}}. Lelouch muses that anyone watching [[{{Bishonen}} him]] shopping with two very attractive girls such as Kallen and Milly would likely assume something along these lines is going on. Especially if that someone is an Ashford Academy student privy to the rumors painting him as TheCasanova.

* BackAlleyDoctor: {{Discussed|Trope}} in Chapter 53. [[spoiler:The Irregulars considered visiting one when they started to get sick after they EscapedFromTheLab, but finding one without references would have taken time they didn't have. Also, a BackAlleyDoctor is more likely to hide in the ghettos, and four obviously non-Japanese {{Ill Girl}}s walking into one definitely wasn't going to end well.]]

** {{Discussed|Trope}}. Kallen's stepmother let her get away with the excuse she's an IllGirl to justify her frequent absences from class because, if something ever happened to Kallen in the ghettos, there would already be a perfect cover story in place to explain away her untimely death.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
** ''Time management''. As the Wild Card, Lelouch has to carefully administer his time so as to not neglect any of his Confidants, while keeping the pace of the Black Knights' progress in the current Palace and the Metaverse in general. For example, he and his girlfriend have barely had any time alone together since their RelationshipUpgrade due to complications on the "job". Another time he gets dirty looks from the team when he reminds them they have to go back to the Black King's Palace before their security backdoor is detected when they have [[spoiler:Shirley to worry about and her father's funeral to attend the same day.]]
** When [[spoiler:Shirley Fenette]] wakes up from their coma, instead of a heartfelt reunion with their visitor, the doctors shoo the latter away after they barely exchange a few words. This makes sense due to two reasons: First, this particular case of comatose state was a medical enigma to them [[spoiler:as the result of Shirley stabbing her Shadow and forcing herself to use her Persona right after awakening to it]] and the doctors want to play it safe. Secondly, the patient's disappearance act prior to their comatose state is part of an ongoing police investigation, so they probably left orders to isolate the patient to avoid a third party from influencing their testimony as soon as they wake up.
** Discussed after [[spoiler:Nunnally recovers from her blindness. Lelouch notes that her vision should have severely atrophied from disuse, giving her potential problems with depth perception, object recognition, and reading facial cues. The fact that this doesn't happen is somewhat strange, and Lelouch can only guess that Metaverse cognition is somehow involved, but he's definitely not looking such a gift horse in the mouth.]]
** A group of teenagers entering alleyways for no apparent good reason near an embassy is bound to draw the attention of any competent security detail. [[spoiler:Xingke not only notices the Black Knights' suspicious movements, but also identifies two [=VIPs=] among them -- namely Princess Euphemia and Countess Breisgau -- and politely but firmly asks them to stop doing it due to the potential of a diplomatic incident if they get caught. Thankfully for the Black Knights, Xingke [[EntertaininglyWrong simply assumes]] they're just privileged kids looking for a thrill and lets them go with that warning.]]
** Disabling "Cognitive Barriers" in a Palace requires interacting with the Palace Ruler in the real world, and unlike sending the CallingCard, there won't always be a safe way to do it -- particularly if the person is unreachable to the Black Knights in the real world or if the barrier is based on a real-world location that they can't easily access. [[spoiler:Both problems happen at once in the Fifth Palace, requiring an elaborate BlackTieInfiltration to get it done, and even then luck plays a big role both in favor but more often against their plans.]]
** Related to the above, when infiltrating the Fifth Palace requires the real-world version of TheInfiltration into a secure location, Lelouch doesn't hesitate to call in resident StealthExpert NinjaMaid Sayoko to do most of the heavy lifting.
** [[spoiler:Li Xingke]] has no trouble recognizing Kallen in her MasqueradeBall costume despite only meeting her once before. After all, having natural red hair and blue eyes at the same time is one of the rarest phenotypes there is, even rarer than being a SignificantGreenEyedRedhead according to real-world genetics.
** Chapter 69 reveals that [[spoiler:Milly has been in love with Lelouch for a long time, but never say a thing about it because she was (rightfully) afraid he would see it as part of a ploy to use his royal title to bring the Ashford Family back to nobility as her mother so obviously wants. You would expect that after all this is revealed to Lelouch and his girlfriends, Milly would get the chance to join their {{Polyamory}} and become a VictoriousChildhoodFriend, especially because she's likely to accept the offer and the girls are likely to approve the two's RelationshipUpgrade even though Kallen stated that it would take her some time to get used to the idea. Instead, Lelouch [[ShipSinking turns down]] Milly because he's unable to see the friend he loves as a sister in a romantic light, and because he's likely right in his assessment that the {{Polyamory}} they have invested so much effort into making it work so far would crumble if it gets any more complex than it is now, especially with the kind of [[LivingADoubleLife dangerous double life they've been living]].]]
** [[spoiler:Ultimately, Lelouch isn't able to max out ''all'' of his confidants before passing the PointOfNoReturn. Beyond building on the issue of time management, Lelouch is someone who spent most of his life deliberately avoiding human interaction except with a few people he trusted. Even with all the gains he has made since the story started, it's incredibly unlikely he'd know exactly what to say and do to progress all of his confidants to their conclusions.]]

** Lelouch HangsALampshade by commenting that {{Masquerade Ball}}s fell out of fashion in Britannia in the last century and [[spoiler:are not at all a Chinese tradition, but given that the ambassador is just looking forward to rub shoulders and networking with the rich and powerful of Area 11, the whole thing is just an attempt to appeal to Britannian sensitivities.]]