History Anime / CodeGeass

* CharClone:
** Lelouch. He's an estranged son of an important political figure with a grudge towards a whole family of nobility, uses a fake name, wears a mask, has a younger sister, is handsome and charismatic, has no loyalty to anyone except himself, and no qualms about killing people who are nice to him in the past. In fact, if you take this perspective, Code Geass becomes ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' with the [[PerspectiveFlip perspectives skewed]], instead of following Amuro (Suzaku), you're following Char.
** Kallen has Char's piloting ability and his penchant for red mecha.
** Schneizel has Char's sociopathy, extreme plans to end conflict, and blonde hair.

* FakeMemories: [[spoiler:The Emperor gives these to Lelouch -- and the whole damn school as well -- with ''his'' geass, during the TimeSkip. Long before this, he did it to Nunnally as well, which caused her blindness]].

* {{Fanservice}}:
** Every female character is subjected to this. ''Especially'' [[MsFanservice Kallen]].
** Several of the male characters have their moments too: Suzaku's and Gino's Knightmare Frame-pilot outfits are really tight. Lelouch has at least one {{shower|scene}} and ShirtlessScene.

* SlowerThanASnail: During the school festival in R2, C.C. gets stuck in a tub of tomatoes that Arthur then takes to bring to another part of the festival, so Lelouch and several of the other students chase after him. Lelouch, not being in very good shape, manages to get outrun by everyone else chasing after Arthur (despite getting a head start), but it doesn't get truly humiliating until Kallen in a chunky, full-body mascot costume and Milly [[GorgeousPeriodDress in a VERY fancy dress5D] both manage to speed past him.

* ExoticEyeDesigns: All Geass users have their pupils change into a bird-shaped sigil. Those that fa%ll into the command of a Geass have their scleras highlighted with the color of the Geass itself.

* ExoticEyeDesigns: All Geass users have their pupils change into a bird-shaped sigil. Those that fall into the command of a Geass have their scleras highlighted with the color of the Geass itself.

* SlowClap: At Suzaku's knighting. Started by Lloyd, then the rest of the Britannian audience picks it up.
** While Lloyd was the first to start clapping, it was really only after Andreas Darlton gave applause that the remaining Britannians joined in.
* SlowerThanASnail: During the school festival in R2, C.C. gets stuck in a tub of tomatoes that Arthur then takes to bring to another part of the festival, so Lelouch and several of the other students chase after him. Lelouch, not being in very good shape, manages to get outrun by everyone else chasing after Arthur (despite getting a head start), but it doesn't get truly humiliating until Kallen in a chunky, full-body mascot costume and Milly [[GorgeousPeriodDress in a VERY fancy dress]] both manage to speed past him.

** At first, only Milly, Suzaku, and Taizo Kirihara are aware of Lelouch's former royal status, and know that he and Nunnally are actually exiled Britannian royalty. Milly and Suzaku still (at first) just see him as a fellow student and friend, while Kirihara respects Zero's determination to destroy Britannia, and all keep that aspect a secret.

* SecretKeeper: For the vast majority of season 1, only Lelouch and C.C. know who Zero is. Due to the events of the S1 finale, Kallen is let in on the secret (technically, so are a few other characters but due to reasons, they aren't sure if Zero is S2 is the same one as in S1.) Then all the higher ups of the Black Knights know who Zero is [[spoiler:when they betray him after learning about some of his dirtier acts. However, they don't reveal his identity to the general public and say he died due to wounds from combat.]] Thus everyone mentioned above become keepers of a final secret; that [[spoiler:Lelouch became a hated dictator to unite the world against him so they would find peace with each other. As only they knew who Zero was the whole time, when Suzaku appears dressed as Zero and assassinates Lelouch, they realize what his plan was all along. They keep silent and let Lelouch go down in history as one of the worst tyrants of all time as was his plan for peace.]] Additionally, for much of the series the only people who know that Lelouch and Nunnally are actually exiled Britannian royalty aside from their various relatives are Milly, whose family was closely connected to their mother, Suzaku, who was Lelouch's best friend following their banishment, and Taizo Kirihara, leader of Kyoto House who secretly supplies various Japanese resistance movements and only agreed to help Zero after Lelouch revealed who he was, and kept his identity a secret out of respect for his determination to destroy Britannia. [[spoiler: The Black Knights and then the whole world learn who he really is in the final episodes of ''R2''.]]

* WorldOfBuxom: Try to count the number of named characters without large busts over the age of 15.
* WorldOfHam: This series is one of the reasons the trope exists. How CAN one not be a [[LargeHam LARGE HAM]] in a world where even the [[SceneryPorn SCEN]][[SceneryGorn ERY]] is [[ChewingTheScenery CHEWING THE SCENERY]]?. And the MUSIC. And the [[HumongousMecha HUMONGOUS MECHA]]. And the laws of PHYSICS. It is MANDATORY to be hammy in such circumstances! Anything more subtle, given the circumstances, would be a [[DullSurprise DULL SURPRISE]]!!!
* WorldOfSilence: [[spoiler:The "World Without Lies" that Charles, V.V. and Marianne planned to create.]]

11 years after the show premiered, a trio of {{Compilation Movie}}s were released, retelling the series in an AlternateReality setting, meant to awaken interest in the show, leading to change the relationships, motivations and even fate of various characters of the show, according to the director. . The first movie (''Initiation'') released on October 21, 2017. The second (''Transgression'') was released on February 10, 2018 and the third (''Glorification'') movie was released on May 26, 2018. Following them Sunrise released a sequel film, ''Anime/CodeGeassLelouchOfTheResurrection'' on February 9, 2019. ''Re;surrection'' takes place [[TimeSkip one year]] after the Zero Requiem.

11 years after the show premiered, a trio of {{Compilation Movie}}s were released, retelling the series. The first movie (''Initiation'') released on October 21, 2017. The second (''Transgression'') was released on February 10, 2018 and the third (''Glorification'') movie was released on May 26, 2018. Following them Sunrise released a sequel film, ''Anime/CodeGeassLelouchOfTheResurrection'' on February 9, 2019. ''Re;surrection'' takes place [[TimeSkip one year]] after the Zero Requiem.

* LightningBruiser: The signature role of (almost) every Knightmare Frame depicted in Code Geass; even the early model Glasgows tore through slower and more conventional armored vehicles during the invasion of Japan (as is seen in many early {{Cold Openings}} of the first season). New models--''especially'' the Lancelot and Gurren in all their forms--trump older Knightmares by being [[LensmanArmsRace even]] ''[[LensmanArmsRace more]]'' [[LensmanArmsRace of a Lightning Bruiser than they were]].

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Ohgi/Ougi. Variations on Tohdoh. Euphie/Euphy.

** Suzaku's lingering trauma about the death of his father means that he's a DeathSeeker who himself is deeply uncomfortable taking a life. At least, until [[Euphemia is killed]], after which he's on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge from which no one is safe.

* AMillionIsAStatistic: Averted. [[When the F.L.E.I.J.A. is detonated over Tokyo, the series makes a point of acknowledging the true impact and toll of the death, and how it affects the characters and the decisions going forward.]] Played straight towards the end; [[spoiler: after Pendragon is destroyed in an even larger explosion, the death toll is largely glanced over (save for a brief scene with Cornelia) with Lelouch of course being more concerned about Nunnally herself, and the Black Knights being interested more in how this could work to their advantage.]]

* AllNationsAreSuperpowers: The world of Code Geass is divided between the Holy Britannian Empire, the European Union and the Chinese Federation. Neutral nations like Japan tends to be conquered by the Britannians.

* AmbiguouslyGay:
** Kanon makes a joke about being Schneizel's assistant "Public and Private". Given a ShoutOut in the PictureDrama [[Literature/AliceinWonderland Nunnally in Wonderland]], portraying Kanon as the Red Queen to Schneizel's Red King.
** Lelouch can be very ''fabulous'' at times.
** Gino leans towards {{Keet}}.
** Rolo's devotion can seem ... different ... from what you'd expect from an admiring younger brother.

* BadGuysPlayPool: [[{{Pun}} Played with.]] Gino, Lloyd and Cecile play pool shortly after Suzaku [[spoiler:nukes Tokyo]]. They are the bad guys, but Cecile and Lloyd clearly disapprove of Suzaku's behavior at this point and let it show. Gino is more apathetic, but he didn't approve, either.

* BellyDancer: One of the many {{Picture Drama}}s, set during the China Arc of the second season, shows Lelouch, C.C., and Kallen sneaking into the Chinese Federation to scout around under the guise of three BellyDancer sisters. The FanService of C.C. and Kallen in skimpy outfits and ''interesting'' poses manages to work with the humour of ''[[AttractiveBentGender Lelouch]]'' also wearing a similar outfit (and looking good enough that at least one of the men there still think he's hot after finding out he's a man).

* BigDamnHeroes:
** When Lelouch finally reaches the end of his rope, runs out of cards, put into checkmate, is completely and utterly screwed... this happens. [[spoiler:Though it didn't happen at the end of R1.]]
** Lloyd did this once during the Black Rebellion when he saved the student council.
** Lelouch does this unintentionally when his dramatic entrance in episode 20 of [=R2=] coincides with [[spoiler:Bismark's near-execution]] of Suzaku, giving Suzaku enough of a distraction to escape.

* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Excluding the first few episodes [[note]]Britannia was colored red for those[[/note]], on maps the nations have been colored blue for Britannia, yellow for the European Union, and red for the Chinese Federation/UFN.

* CrapsackWorld: The Britannian Emperor invades nations because of his "survival of the fittest" philosophy [[spoiler:even if he doesn't believe in it]]. If he wins, you and others like you, will be relegated to ghettos where you will live in poverty. The ghetto is subject to army raids. If you want a better life, swallow your pride and head to the government building where you can sign a document that says you are now an honorary Britannian. You are now eligible for employment (the really demeaning ones). Life in the settlement is marked by racism. Britannians can beat you up in the street and no one, not even police, will help you. Being a Britannian in Area 11 is especially dangerous because of clashes between the army and the Black Knights. The Chinese Federation is no improvement. The only bastion of freedom and democracy in the world is the European Union, and they're losing their war to Britannia; not to mention are revealed in ''Akito The Exiled'' to be rather like real-world America is, corrupted by capitalism and still having a lot of racism and a widening gap between the wealthy and the poor. It's also suggested that Australia is a completely neutral territory (think Switzerland during the [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Second World War]], but it doesn't play a role in the story, so its internal status is unknown.

* EunuchsAreEvil: The High Eunuchs, a group of EvilChancellors heavily ba

* RussiaIsWestern: Russia is initially a part of the European Union, and later becomes a part of the Holy Britannian Empire (with St. Petersburg becoming the Empire's capital). The third bloc, which opposes both EU and Britannia, is the Asiatic Chinese Federation.

* ShoutOut: The basic setting of the franchise is a world of continuous warfare between 3 superpowers: a British-style Empire, a continental European Union, and a Chinese Federation. Except for some minor deviations, this is almost a picture-perfect recreation of Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia from ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour.''

* BadGuysPlayPool: [[IncrediblyLamePun Played with.]] Gino, Lloyd and Cecile play pool shortly after Suzaku [[spoiler:nukes Tokyo]]. They are the bad guys, but Cecile and Lloyd clearly disapprove of Suzaku's behavior at this point and let it show. Gino is more apathetic, but he didn't approve, either.

* ANaziByAnyOtherName: Emperor Charles's speeches before large crowds instantly call up images of Hitler or Goebbels addressing similar audiences. The fact that these speeches are mostly about [[TheSocialDarwinist Social Darwinism]], and that the 'hail' in 'All hail Britannia!' is actually pronounced much closer to German ''[='=]heil[='=]'' than to English 'hail' by the Japanese voice actors, also helps (althouth that could also be just their [[SarcasmMode awesome]] English skills [[IncrediblyLamePun speaking]]).

%%* AffablyEvil: Gino.

* AmnesiacsAreInnocent: Amnesiac C. C. only seems to be this initially but she is in fact being submissive combined with {{fish out of temporal water}}.
%%** Villetta Nu

%%* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning: [[spoiler:ALL HAIL LELOUCH!]]

%%* BlackKnight: What the group calls themselves.

%%** [[spoiler:"One should not kill unless they are ready to be killed themselves!"]]

%%** Played straight later with [[spoiler:Kallen]].
%%* BreakTheCutie: Played horrifyingly straight with a good portion of the cast.

** Lelouch tests his Geass by telling a girl to once a day make a new mark on an unmarked brick of the building. Several times in the series, you see her walking to and marking the building, and during episode 5 of R2, you see the marks on the wall with [[spoiler:the last mark being only half done]]. This is actually [[CerebusRetcon becomes a little less humorous]] when some minor lines in the supplementary material or within the show bring up that this girl [[spoiler:is now living in Britannia and keeps getting up int the middle of the night and trying to walk out of her house]]. The Geass never wore off.

%%* CannotTellAJoke: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duWH8qVjFns Lelouch.]] To the point that it's PlayedForDrama as often as it's PlayedForLaughs.

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Nearly all of the Britannian Empire were purely evil, racist, and ruthless in the first season, but the second season gave it more shades of gray, with the main ones in charge (Emperor Charles, V.V, etc.) being the only truly evil ones, and ''they'' have understandable motivations. In the end, Luciano Bradley is the only Britannian left with absolutely no redeeming qualities. It's still a very dark shade of grey though since millions are dying in Britannia's conquests with no Britannian actually caring about how WarIsHell for the loser. They're mostly {{Punch Clock Villain}}s but a world-conquering and enslaving one. But an example less related to morality would be how early on Cornelia remarks on Guilford having a number of mistresses but for most of the series he acts like he has a BodyguardCrush on Cornelia.

%%* CoolBike: Rivalz' bike.

%%* DelayedExplosion: F.L.E.I.J.A.

%%* DenOfIniquity: Babel Tower.

%%* DyingAsYourself: [[spoiler:Euphemia.]]

%%* DysfunctionJunction: You better believe it!

%%* EpisodeTitleCard
%%* EunuchsAreEvil: The High Eunuchs.

%%* FantasticDrug: Refrain

%%* GuileHero: Lelouch.

%%* HatedHometown: Lelouch to the Britannian Empire.

%%* HeroicBSOD / VillainousBreakdown: Happens almost OnceAnEpisode. Lelouch in particular is prone to these.
%%* HeroicRROD: [[spoiler:Rolo Lamperouge. It ends up causing his death.]]
%%* HeroicSacrifice:
%%** [[spoiler:Rolo "I am not a tool" Lamperouge when the Black Knights betray Lelouch]].
%%** [[spoiler:Lelouch himself]] in the last episode.

%%* {{Hypocrite}}: It'd be easier to list the number of characters that don't qualify. The series could act as a character study regarding varying levels of hypocrisy and self-righteousness.%%A zero-context example with a lot of words that say nothing. No examples are provided of characters being hypocrites or acting hypocritical
%%* HypocriticalHumor: "I hate stubbornness." C.C. has absolutely no room to talk.%%Does not explain the trope. An example should provide enough context even for people not familiar with the work

%%* ImprobableAge: Almost, but not quite, to the point of CompetenceZone / AdultsAreUseless.

%%* InstantDeathBullet: Common with {{mook}}s; usually averted with major characters. But not always....

%%* ItGetsEasier: Lelouch and Suzaku.
%%* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: What many characters in this series are ''at best''.
%%* JustOneMan: The Lancelot knightmare frame and its pilot Suzaku, multiple times.

%%* KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter

%%* LampshadeHanging: For example, on the MoodWhiplash.

%%* ManlyTears: Suzaku during the GrandFinale. Jeremiah does it, too.
%%* MarryThemAll: Kaguya certainly seems to like the idea, given that she tries to ''initiate'' it with Kallen and C.C.

%%* TheMasqueradeWillKillYourDatingLife

%%* MayDecemberRomance: Directly implied between Tianzi & Xingke.

%%* {{Melodrama}}

%%* MemoryGambit: [[spoiler:Lelouch, in episode 16.]]
* MercyKill: [[spoiler:Done to Euphemia by Lelouch after he accidentally brainwashes her into killing all the Japanese.]]
%%** [[spoiler:C.C. to Mao.]]

%%* MildlyMilitary

%%* MundaneMadeAwesome: One word... BUBBLES! [[note]][[ItMakesSenseInContext From episode 7 of R2, FYI.]][[/note]]

%%* MythArc

%%* NothingIsTheSameAnymore: The last four episodes.

%%* OnTheNext

%%* ParanoiaGambit: "Orange!"

%%* PimpedOutDress

* ThePowerOfLove:
** Episode 11 of R2. Lelouch, after consulting Shirley, delivers an epic, over the top declaration that the power of people's love will change the world. The English title is even called "Power of Passion".
%%** Also very cynically employed By Lelouch on Rolo.

%%* PrinceCharmless: Odysseus.

%%* PsychicStatic: Attempted but failed.

%%* LaResistance: The Black Knights.

%%* RivalScienceTeams: Lloyd & Cécile vs. Rakshata.

%%* RoyallyScrewedUp: Britannia's Royal Family.

%%* RuleOfGlamorous: The character designs.

%%* SanctuaryOfSolitude

%%* ShipTease: Constantly. Nearly every [[IncrediblyLamePun conceivable]] pairing.

%% * SuperEmpowering

%%* TameHisAnger

%%* TearsOfRemorse

%%* TokenEnemyMinority: Diethard.
%%* TokenEvilTeammate: Diethard, again.

%%* UndyingLoyalty: Jeremiah Gottwald.

%%* UnwillingSuspension
%%* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Ohgi and Villetta. R2 19. Enough said.

%%* VisualInnuendo: A ridiculous one with Mao and his chainsaw.

* %% UnwillingSuspension
* %% UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Ohgi and Villetta. R2 19. Enough said.

* SecretKeeper: For the vast majority of season 1, only Lelouch and C.C. know who Zero is. Due to the events of the S1 finale, Kallen is let in on the secret (technically, so are a few other characters but due to reasons, they aren't sure if Zero is S2 is the same one as in S1.) Then all the higher ups of the Black Knights know who Zero is [[spoiler:when they betray him after learning about some of his dirtier acts. However, they don't reveal his identity to the general public and say he died due to wounds from combat.]] Thus everyone mentioned above become keepers of a final secret; that [[spoiler:Lelouch became a hated dictator to unite the world against him so they would find peace with each other. As only they knew who Zero was the whole time, when Suzaku appears dressed as Zero and assassinates Lelouch, they realize what his plan was all along. They keep silent and let Lelouch go down in history as one of the worst tyrants of all time as was his plan for peace.]]

* FreakOut: [[spoiler:Happens to both Suzaku and Nina after Euphemia's death. Suzaku manages to for the most part maintain his composure sans a burning desire to kill Zero, whereas Nina goes so insane that she attempts to build a nuclear bomb just in the hope Zero would get caught in the blast radius. The NightmareFace she pulls upon learning of Euphie's death currently provides the page image.]]

->''"All hail, Britannia!"''

** Kanon makes a joke about being Schneizel's assistant "Public and Private". Given a ShoutOut in the picture drama [[Literature/AliceinWonderland Nunnally in Wonderland]], portraying Kanon as the Red Queen to Schneizel's Red King.

* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Subverted precisely one time in the entire series, where the otherwise Bishoujo looking Nina learns about [[spoiler:Princess Euphemia's death]] and has a mental breakdown, complete with the facial expression you'd expect in real life. It's absolutely horrifying.

* BellyDancer: One of the many Picture Dramas, set during the China Arc of the second season, shows Lelouch, C.C., and Kallen sneaking into the Chinese Federation to scout around under the guise of three BellyDancer sisters. The FanService of C.C. and Kallen in skimpy outfits and ''interesting'' poses manages to work with the humour of ''[[AttractiveBentGender Lelouch]]'' also wearing a similar outfit (and looking good enough that at least one of the men there still think he's hot after finding out he's a man).

* HotSpringsEpisode: The Stage 3.25 picture drama features the female Ashford Academy characters [[BathtubBonding bonding]] in the ridiculously large bath on the school, that functions as a hot spring.

* PictureDrama: Nine per season on the Japanese DVD volumes, and a couple more were released separately.

* SelfParody: Several of the side materials, but especially in the [[Literature/AliceinWonderland Nunnally in Wonderland]] picture drama/OVA.

** Happens again in the Picture Drama Stage 9.75. Nunnally inquires once more about C.C. being Lelouch's girlfriend. Lelouch nervously denies it and tries to come up with many ridiculous excuses until Sayako comes in.

* AirstripOne: All the conquered territories of the Holy Britannian Empire. Japan is now "Area 11".

* ArtisticLicense:
** The way chess is portrayed makes nearly no sense according to the rules, but [[RuleOfSymbolism serves as a metaphor for how Lelouch and his opponents think.]] One of the more JustForFun/{{Egregious}} examples is when Schneizel tests Zero during a chess game by moving his own king deliberately into check, forcing Lelouch to actually ''move away from the free win'' because his pride won't allow him to accept victory on those terms. Lelouch ''should'' have simply pointed out that under the rules of chess you are literally ''not allowed'' to deliberately check your own king and forced Schneizel to take the move back and make a legal one instead. Of course, the entire point of the scene was to find out if Lelouch would just take a free win handed to him or not.
** You can't remove and replace contact lenses that easily. But it [[RuleOfCool looks awesome]], and besides, [[LargeHam Lelouch is the type]] who would practice that until he got it right.

* {{Bishounen}}: It's Creator/{{CLAMP}}; what do you expect? According to them, Lelouch himself was originally planned to be white haired.

** Lloyd Asplund, a possibly UsefulNotes/{{Asexual|ity}} CelibateEccentricGenius, is [[ArrangedMarriage engaged]] to Milly Ashford, arguably ''the'' MsFanservice in a cast choke-full of attractive female characters.