Voltron and Allies | The Galra Empire | The Holy Britannian Empire
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The Paladins
The heroes of the story.
In General
- Always Someone Better: The Paladins are head and shoulders beyond anything that Earth has at the moment. Even a Knight of the Round can only hope for a draw against them.
- Ascended Extra: Milly, Shirley, and Rivalz get this treatment as members of the Paladins of Voltron.
- Badass Crew: They hit a few rocks on the way, but they've certainly become this. Case in point, their coordinated plans to defeat Cornelia and Schneizel when attacking the Avalon and Mao.
- Battle in the Center of the Mind: In Brawl on the Astral Plane they come to aid Lelouch in his battle for control of the Black Lion with Zarkon before he gets a boost from Haggar and temporarily kills C.C. to break the connection.
- Color-Coded Characters:
- Lelouch — Black
- Kallen — Red
- Rai — Green
- Milly — Yellow
- Suzaku — Purple
- Shirley — Orange
- Rivalz — Blue.
- Color-Coded Elements:
- Kallen, with fire, is red.
- Rai, with forest, is green.
- Milly, with light, is yellow.
- Suzaku, with darkness, is purple.
- Shirley, with land, is orange.
- Rivalz, with water, is blue.
- Lelouch, with sky, is black.
- Decomposite Character: The five canon Paladins have their traits divided amidst the Paladins here, the only exceptions being Lance whose traits are solely found in Rivalz, and Suzaku who has few to no traits from the Paladins:
- Shiro's traits are divided between Lelouch and Rai. Lelouch has the role of The Leader of the Paladins and is the most experienced among the group overall, while Rai has Shiro's backstory as having been kidnapped by the Galra and left with Amnesia.
- Keith's traits are divided between Lelouch and Kallen. Lelouch shares his similar trust issues, slowly opening up to the other Paladins, and having a character arc involving his Missing Mom, along with the heavy implication he is a Half-Human Hybrid via Krolia, just with her as his grandmother rather than his mother. Kallen meanwhile is rather crass and Hot-Blooded like Keith. Finally, Nunnally is the one who joins the Blade of Marmora.
- Hunk's traits are divided between Shirley and Milly. Shirley shares his role as The Heart of the group, as well as being a Cowardly Lion who grows more emotionally invested as a Paladin after going to the Balmera. Milly meanwhile possesses Hunk's mechanical skill as a Wrench Wench, as well as being a Supreme Chef.
- Pidge's traits are divided between Rai and Kallen. Rai is the tech expert of the Paladins and shares Pidge's motivation of trying to save their family from the Galra. Kallen meanwhile hid her true nature from the others much like Pidge hid her true gender from the others, and both are heavily motivated by their Older Brothers, the two even taking on visual cues from them.*
- Empowered Badass Normal: Per the results of a poll, all of the Paladins are eventually given Geass, so this could be applied to all of them. Specifically:
- Lelouch has the Geass of Absolute Obedience from canon. He can also now shoot out lightning bolts.
- Shirley has the Geass of Absolute Concealment.
- Kallen has the Geass of Absolute Perception.
- Rivalz has the Geass of Absolute Protection.
- Milly has the Geass of Absolute Telepathy.
- Suzaku has a currently-unnamed Geass that allows him to see into the future.
- Rai has a Geass that enhances his combat abilities.
- Glowing Eyes: The Paladins get these whenever they are sharing a strong bond with their Lions. For those that have a Geass, it also causes the Geass symbol to appear in their eye. The finale of Battle for Home has Lelouch gain Geass in both eyes after receiving a pep-talk from Zenobia.
- My Country Tis of Thee That I Sting: When Voltron returns to Earth, this comes into play with Shirley, Rivalz, and Millynote , and Suzaku and Rainote . This was already the case with Kallennote and Lelouchnote .
- Parental Issues: With the exception of Shirley, all of the Paladins have these.Specifically
- Personality Powers: Each Paladin's Geass reflects their own personality (along with some Irony).
- Lelouch, who wishes to have control over his own fate, has a Geass that gives him control over others. That being said, he'd much prefer that his subordinates would follow him of their own choice.
- Shirley, who wishes to protect her friends, has Area of Effect Invisibility. Fitting that she gets the power of Invisibility when she openly chose to ignore the injustices around her.
- Kallen, who is determined to protect Lelouch, has True Sight, ensuring she will always be able to keep an eye on Lelouch. As for the twist, it's fitting that someone who spent most of their life living a lie would have a Geass that shows them the truth.
- Rai, who is a Determinator focused on finding his sister and recovering his memories, has heightened senses that ensure he won't miss clues to these goals.
- Rivalz possesses Deflector Shields - fitting for someone who always wants to help his friends. More subtly, given certain reveals in Chapter 27, it's implied his powers also represent how he was shielding himself from the truth regarding the ghettos versus the settlement.
- Positive Friend Influence: Bonding with the other Paladins has had a positive effect on Lelouch, Kallen, and Suzaku.
- Lelouch is the most obvious - he's lost many of his negative character traits (his tendency to deceive his allies and act impulsively when Nunnally is in danger being the most obvious) and made efforts to open up more to his companions and actually be a person.
- Kallen's Fantastic Racism towards Britannia has been tempered a bit, and her temper has calmed, though it is still there.
- Suzaku has changed the least, but the results are noticeable - his Death Seeker tendencies have started to abate (but it will be a while before they are truly gone), and he's finally started to realize he may have made the wrong choice siding with Britannia.
- The Power of Friendship: What lets them overcome Mao - Mao never anticipates that they will coordinate a strategy that capitalizes on his weaknesses and keep him from figuring out their real plan until its too late.
- Rag Tag Bunch Of Misfits: More pronounced than in canon, since half of them were essentially high school students with no combat training at all.
- Seven Heavenly Virtues: The Paladins and their lions are themed around a modified version of this, per
Word of God.- The Black Lion and Lelouch embody Leadership.
- Rai and the Green Lion embody Curiosity and Intellect.
- Rivalz and the Blue Lion embody Optimism.
- Shirley and the Orange Lion embody Compassion.
- Milly and the Yellow Lion embody Diligence.
- The Purple Lion and Suzaku embody Honor.
- While not explicitly stated, Allura's comments indicate the Red Lion and Kallen embody Passion.
- Tangled Family Tree: Lelouch, Rai, and Suzaku are related by dint of Suzaku’s aunt being Rai’s mom and Lelouch’s father Charles being Rai’s father, making Lelouch and Rai half-brothers and Suzaku’s cousins. And if Kallen and Shirley’s feelings toward Lelouch and Rai, respectively, are any indication, they might eventually get in on this later on.
- This Is Unforgivable!: All of the Paladins agree that the Emperor crossed the point of no return when he allied with the Galra and turned the SAZ into a massacre. Suzaku and Lelouch take it especially hard, as V.V. had Rolo attempt to assassinate Euphie and Nunnally, making the entire affair personal.
- True Companions: More so than in canon - even after finding out Lelouch and Kallen's secrets, the rest of the team refuses to judge them. It should be noted, though, that this mostly applies to all of the Paladins except Lelouch, not because he doesn't view them as friends, but because they are actually his Family of Choice.
- Unskilled, but Strong: The Paladins as a whole. The Lions are far more powerful than any Earth Knightmares, but, save for Kallen and Suzaku, most of the Paladins are relative rookies, allowing more skilled pilots like the Knights of the Round to actually give them a decent fight in some cases.
- Weapon Specialization: The forms the Bayards take in this story are:
- Katanas Are Just Better: A katana with a European hilt for Suzaku.
- Wolverine Claws: a clawed gauntlet (resembling the Guren's) for Kallen.
- The Straight and Arrow Path: A bow for Shirley.
- Sinister Scythe/Epic Flail: A kusarigama
for Milly. - Lelouch, being the Black Paladin, doesn't have one since the Black Bayard is currently in Zarkon's possession. He instead relies upon his Geass, which has gained a new trick. He later gains a Morph Weapon in the form of a Luxite Blade inherited from his grandmother, which transforms into a longsword.
Lelouch
Lelouch vi Britannia/Lelouch Lamperouge/Zero, the Black Paladin
- Adaptation Species Change: While he is purely human in his home series, here, it's noted numerous times that Lelouch is more like a Galra than a human, only furthered by the revelation that Marianne was in possession of a Luxite Blade, the identifier for members of the Blade of Marmora, heavily implying that not only is Marianne a Composite Character with Keith, but also that she, Lelouch, and Nunnally are all part Galra by virtue of Krolia. Later confirmed.
- Adaptational Badass: Lelouch had no personal combat skills in canon and only managed Knightmare victories in machines customized for his personal usage. At the same time, his Geass was more suited for manipulation than combat. Here, however, his Geass gives him Shock and Awe powers, has grown skilled fighting with the Luxite Blade and he's able to outfight Cornelia using the Black Lion. Additionally, Battle For Home sees him fully master his Geass, something he never achieved in canon.
- Adapted Out: His hilariously bad attempts to get meat for Euphemia and himself on Kamine Island are excised due to Zenobia having rations onboard. Euphie still ends up getting some berries for them to eat, though, because the rations aren't particularly tasty.
- Battle in the Center of the Mind: In Brawl on the Astral Plane, he ends up fighting against Zarkon for control of the Black Lion.
- Big Brother Instinct: Above all else, Lelouch wants to protect his sister, Nunnally. Charles exploits this after Schneizel finds Nunnally by allowing her to give an international broadcast begging the Black Knights to cease hostility, knowing Lelouch will come to save her. It still backfires, though, because Lelouch was able to out-think Schneizel.
- Black Knight: Being the Black Paladin of Voltron, Lelouch now actually fits this mold more so than in canon.
- Call-Back: In Tears of the Balmera, Lelouch's conversation with Sendak is almost identical to what he said to those Britannian guards way back at the beginning of Code Geass proper.
- And when addressing the universe to let them know about the New Paladins of Voltron in Rebirth, his speech is practically identical to when he dubbed the Kozuki Resistance Cell the Black Knights after the events of the Lake Kawaguchi hotel.
- Character Development: Due to bonding with the other Paladins and talking with Alfor, Lelouch is taking steps toward becoming far kinder than he was in canon. Already, he's become quite a bit more trusting with others.
- Chekhov's Gun: Numerous characters note in the early chapters that Lelouch tends to act and fight like a Galra. This seems mostly just to be a case of Worthy Opponent, until Crystal Venom, where The Stinger reveals that Lelouch gave Sayoko possession of a special looking knife that apparently belonged to his grandmother...
- Defector from Decadence: Just like his grandmother.
- Didn't See That Coming: For all his planning on how to defeat his father, Charles joining the Galra never crossed his mind.
- Elemental Motifs: As the Black Paladin, Lelouch is the Guardian Spirit of Sky. Fittingly, Lelouch as Zero embodies freedom, which is often associated with the Sky. His new Shock and Awe powers also fit the mold, though they are more an embodiment of storms.
- Family of Choice: Lelouch considers the Paladins to be his true family, since he was more or less abandoned by his real family.
- Fatal Flaw: His Big Brother Instinct - while Lelouch is an incredibly skilled commander and does have genuinely heroic intentions, he will abandon his allies if Nunnally is put in danger to rescue her. This is what almost convinces him to leave the Paladins during Fall of the Castle of Lions and is also leads to him attempting to recklessly charge right into a trap his father set with Nunnally as bait. His friends have been working on tempering this issue, though.
- Foil:
- Lelouch is an extremely pronounced one with Zarkon, the former Black Paladin. Zarkon is The Emperor of the Galra Empire, is a One-Man Army but is usually content with using his minions to do his dirty work, and has incredible versatility with his Bayard. Lelouch, meanwhile, is a quarter Galra Fallen Prince of the Britannian Empire, is physically weak but leads from the front, and lacks any personal weaponry, instead relying upon his empowered Geass. Additionally, Lelouch has near-total trust in all of his friends, to the point of sharing his identity with the rest of the Paladins, while Zarkon only has total trust in Haggar, and otherwise rules through fear. Even their origins are opposites - Zarkon was the beloved leader of both his people and the Paladins and only turned evil due to outside influence, while Lelouch had one of the worst childhoods imaginable but became a hero despite it.
- Lelouch is also one to Lotor. Both are royalty who were exiled for daring to oppose their father. Both are also part Galra, though Lelouch is an Uneven Hybrid. Finally, both tend to have a flair for the dramatic and stylize themselves in a Dark Is Not Evil manner, though they are willing to use extreme measures when necessary. All of this serves to highlight just how different they are:
- Lelouch was exiled as a child for daring to question his father regarding why the Emperor had only made a token effort to investigate Marianne's death, meaning that he spent most of his life growing up apart from Charles and thus gradually developed a broader world view that instilled some heroism in him. Lotor, meanwhile, was exiled as an adult for trying to take a more reasonable approach to achieving the goals of the Galra Empire. Consequently, while Lotor does have legitimately heroic goals, he tends to be less well-intentioned than Lelouch (or at least more willing to resort to extreme measures more easily) because he spent most of his formative years around Zarkon.
- While both are Frontline Generals who lead their forces into battle, Lelouch is nowhere near the best fighter of his team (but he is getting better over time) while Lotor is a One-Man Army.
- Lelouch and Lotor both initially maintain some distance from their subordinates, but Lelouch gradually opens up and bonds with them, as well as with his siblings, while Lotor never really reveals his more vulnerable side with his team. This means that Lotor never develops any Morality Chains that help him become a better person, which ultimately contributes to some of his worse decisions.
- Lelouch is also one to his half-sister, Cornelia. Both are Frontline Generals that use personalized mechs for fighting. Both are also Benevolent Bosses toward their subordinates, and have weapons with unique functionalities (Cornelia uses a sword that is also a gun while Lelouch uses a knife that can turn into a sword. As for differences:
- Cornelia is A Mother to Her Men, while Lelouch's closest subordinates are either True Companions, Family of Choice, or, in one case, his Love Interest.
- Cornelia's Knightmare is an Ace Custom Mook Mobile, while Lelouch wields the Black Lion of Voltron.
- Cornelia is The Social Darwinist, while Lelouch completely opposes said belief on principle.
- Cornelia leads the Britannian occupation of Area 11 (Japan) and holds on to Fantastic Racism towards numbers, while Lelouch leads a team dedicated to the freedom of all sentient beings, race and species be damned.
- While both Cornelia and Lelouch tend to throw caution to the wind when their loved ones are in danger, Lelouch is still willing to listen to his friends and be reasonable when this happens, while Cornelia enters Unstoppable Rage, which doesn't work out for her in the long run.
- Good Counterpart: Due to being both the Black Paladin and primarily fighting via magic (Shock and Awe from his Geass), Lelouch acts as one to both Zarkon and Haggar.
- Heroic Lineage: He's Krolia's grandson, and it is her, not his parents, that Lelouch takes after most.
- Irony: Somewhat humorously, he could actually try to use Suzaku's idea of being an Internal Reformist for the Galra Empire. As he is one-quarter Galra through his maternal grandmother, were Zarkon to die, he could try and become Emperor via the Kral Zerra and force the changes he desires with full imperial authority.
- The Kindnapper: Kidnaps Euphemia when escaping Kamine Island. He has a rather good justification for this - the alternative was leaving her in the same room as Haggar.
- Like Father, Like Son: A Gender-Inverted example involving his grandmother - Lelouch rebelled against Britannia for their mistreatment of others and himself, just like his grandmother did with the Galra Empire. In fact, if Lelouch's maternal grandmother actually is Krolia, then she is the one person in his family he most takes after, choosing to battle a seemingly insurmountable foe to improve the lives of others even though doing so would likely be to his detriment.
- Memento Macguffin: Lelouch entrusted Sayoko with the only possession he ever obtained from his mother after her death, which he won from a noble before learning of its heritage. Said possession is the only remnant Lelouch has of his maternal grandparents, having been given to Marianne by her father, who gained it from his wife. It's a Blade of Marmora knife.
- My Sister Is Off-Limits: Noticeably Averted - despite how protective he is over both Nunnally, Lelouch does not give Suzaku any flak for having feelings for Euphemia, who Lelouch also cares about.
Then again, he did canonically try to get Suzaku betrothed to Nunnally, so Lelouch likely wouldn't mind Suzaku courting one of his sisters. - Mythical Motifs: Though confirmed via Word of God to be unintentional, Lelouch actually shares several traits with King Arthur, being a royal figure who was hidden away at childhood, but ultimately ends up becoming a wise ruler anyway. He leads his own version of the Knights of the Round Table, yet is not the most truly heroic among them. He even has his own version of Caliburn - in this case, a Luxite Blade inherited from his grandmother. It's rather ironic that the greatest enemy Britannia has ever faced embodies one of their greatest legends.
- Mythology Gag: When Team Voltron returned to Earth in Zero's Return, Lelouch gave a similar speech to the one he gave after returning as Zero in Code Geass R2.
- Nature vs. Nurture: Lelouch is a unique case where both elements have roughly equal influence on his character. Lelouch is Krolia's grandson, yet had a ridiculously abusive childhood, which would imply his heroism is in his Nature. However, there's also the fact that he's a member of the Britannian Royal Family yet actively works against them due to witnessing how their actions harm others, indicating his heroism is a product of Nurture. These two assumptions open up the possibility that Lelouch's character is a product of both Nature AND Nurture - he had innate inclinations toward being a hero that was solidified by his upbringing.
- Not So Above It All: At Least With Sorrow reveals that Lelouch has not quite gotten accustomed to remembering that Rai is his half-brother.
- Not So Similar: Lelouch has many similarities to both his father and Zarkon, enough that Mao accuses Lelouch of being no different from the Emperor of the Galra. However, as the story progresses, it becomes apparent that Lelouch is vastly different from both of them.
- In relation to Zarkon, Lelouch has multiple Morality Chains in the form of the Paladins and his sister, all of whom actively work to ensure that Lelouch does not go down the dark path that Zarkon did. Additionally, Lelouch is pointedly shown to value and care about others beyond their usefulness to him as soldiers, something that cannot be said of Zarkon.
- Unlike his father, Lelouch has the emotional maturity to accept when his plans/ideas no longer work and decide to choose a new path, and is capable of swallowing his pride and doing something he dislikes if it will achieve a net good. Case in point, Lelouch was willing to have an Enemy Mine with Charles to oppose the Galra, which was derailed when Charles allied with the Galra because he doesn't want to abandon the Ragnarök Connection.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
- Played for Laughs, but when he says that Nunnally can go to the Balmera, everyone looks at him like he's grown a second head before he clarifies that Sayoko is going too.
- When he admits that he doesn't have a plan for strengthening his connection with his Lion enough to overpower Zarkon's, Rai asks who he is and what he's done with the real Lelouch.
- Parental Sexuality Squick: While he did need to give his teammates a briefing, his desire to Change the Uncomfortable Subject after Coran asks if polygamy is normal on Earth has shades of this, seeing how this was started when Lelouch brought up his father’s Royal Harem.
- Related in the Adaptation: As Charles was wed to Suzaku's aunt in this story, with the union producing Rai and Sophie, Lelouch (and by extension Nunnally) are Suzaku's cousins in this story.
- Ship Tease: He shares some rather tender moments with Kallen during Across The Universe. He even asks her to take care of Nunnally if he dies from his wounds.
- Shock and Awe: Lelouch's Geass gives him this power in this story in addition to his canon Compelling Voice powers. It's implied this is related to the Galra and their Druids and his Galra heritage.
- Sinister Scimitar: Unlocks this form of his Luxite Blade during Battle for Home while rescuing Cornelia from Zarkon. Yet another case where Lelouch uses a villainous trope for just causes.
- Take Care of the Kids: Asks Kallen to take care of Nunnally if he dies during Across the Universe.
- This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: In The Legend Begins, when he decides that he needs to strengthen his connection with his Lion enough to overcome Zarkon's, he invokes this, politely rejecting the help of the other Paladins.
- This Means War!: When the attempt to establish the SAZ was thrown awry by loyalists to Charles and the Galra Empire, Lelouch decided it was time to exterminate them.Lelouch: This is my order to all Black Knights! Charles zi Britannia is now officially our enemy! The coward has sided with the Galra and openly declared anyone who sides with us as traitors, even fellow Britannians! All Black Knights and Paladins, wage an attack now! Wipe out all Galra and Britannian forces! Save the people! Hurry!
- Token Enemy Minority: Twofold - he leads the Black Knights and is a Britannian Prince, and is the leader of the Paladins of Voltron despite being one-quarter Galra.
- Took a Level in Badass: At the start of the story, he's at his canon levels of physical strength and skill and piloting capability - which are both rather lacking. By the time he returns to Earth, he's gained a firm grip on his Geass' new Shock and Awe powers, gained more insight into piloting the Black Lion, and begun learning how to use his grandmother's Luxite Blade. Given that Lelouch is arguably the weakest of the paladins in canon Code Geass, where he was outrun by both Milly in high heels and Kallen in a mascot costume, he seems to be the one to have taken the most levels in badass (excluding Milly, Rivalz, and Shirley, who never did any fighting period).
- As of Battle for Home, Lelouch's Geass has fully evolved, as he had it in both eyes when he successfully wounded Zarkon.
- Uneven Hybrid: Revelations done in several chapters heavily imply that Lelouch (and by extension Nunnally) are one-quarter Galra on their mother's side. Confirmed in Battle for Home when he awaken's a Luxite Blade, something that is only possible for those who have Galra blood in their veins.
- White Sheep: In three different ways! Despite his upbringing, Lelouch only inherited the absolute best traits of his family - his father's strategic skill, his mother's piloting and acting skills, and the Galra belief in only killing if you are willing to put your life on the line.
Kallen
Kallen Kozuki/Stadtfeld, the Red Paladin
- Ace Pilot: Arguably the best pilot of the team, rivaled only by Suzaku.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Kallen was not at all happy when Kaguya glomps Lelouch in Message From Kyoto. She does not have this reaction when Shirley did the same in Confessions and Revelations, though, likely because a.) she hadn't sorted out her feelings for Lelouch yet and b.) it was Shirley that did the glomping.
- Elemental Motifs: Kallen is hot-headed and passionate, fitting her role as the Guardian Spirit of Fire.
- Empowered Badass Normal: Gains a Geass from C.C. during Across the Universe - specifically, the Geass of absolute perception.
- Foil:
- Kallen is one to Keith from regular Voltron - both are the Red Paladins of their teams, and have a close relationship with their Black Paladins (platonic for Keith, romantic for Kallen). Both are also amongst the most experienced members of their teams and have pronounced parental issues (Bastard Angst for Kallen, Parental Abandonment for Keith) and were rather isolated at the start of the story. However, while Kallen hid her issues under a façade, Keith had no reason to do so.
- She's also one to Alfor, the original Red Paladin.
- Fiery Redhead: She's quite hot-headed and fiery in personality.
- Heroic Bastard: The illegitimate daughter of a noble and one of the Paladins of Voltron, in addition to being a member of the Black Knights.
- Hypocrite: Initially refuses to believe that there are any good Galra, even though she opposed Britannia while being a half-Britannian herself. She grows out of it by the end of Rai's Escape.
- Not So Above It All: She asks Coran and Allura if they can throw Viletta in the castle's dungeon to interrogate her the old fashioned way since they can't use Lelouch's Geass.
- Ship Tease: She shares some rather tender moments with Lelouch during Across The Universe, including forming a contract with C.C. on the off chance that it might help her heal Lelouch. And when Lelouch reveals his identity to Kirihara, causing Kaguya to glomp him, Kallen is not happy about it at all. Complete with Cross-Popping Veins! She later admits to Nunnally that she indeed has fallen in love with Lelouch.
- Spotting the Thread: During Reunion Over The Pacific, she's the only one to notice that Suzaku referred to the Lancelot by name, even though he logically has no reason to know that.
- Take Care of the Kids: Lelouch asks her to take care of Nunnally if he dies during Across the Universe.
- True Sight: Her Geass, in a nutshell - in addition to giving her X-Ray Vision, it also allows her to see the Prorok Robeast while in the Blade of Marmora base's pocket dimension.
- Wolverine Claws: Her Bayard takes the form of a micro-Radiant Wave Surger (and yes, it can still make stuff balloon up and explode).
Rai
Rai/Zephyr zar Britannia, the Green Paladin
- Accidental Kidnapping: Ends up taking Nonette with him to the Castle of Lions when the latter refuses to let go of him when Zerith rescues him from Kamine Island.
- Adaptational Backstory Change: In Code Geass: Lost Colors, Rai was the illegitimate son of an unidentified Britannian noble, who was given Geass by an unknown Code Bearer (implied to be V.V.). Here, he's a member of the Britannian Imperial family (if the last scene of Tears of the Balmera is any indication), with his Geass being indicated to have come from Haggar running experiments on him.
- Adaptational Superpower Change: Rai's Geass in Lost Colors was like Lelouch's, only it required the person hearing the command instead of direct eye contact. Here, his Geass grants him heightened senses in combat.
- Big Brother Instinct: He was willing to totally destroy his sister's trust in him by attacking her just so that the Galra would choose him over her to fight in their gladiator arena, allowing her to be assigned to the comparatively safer forced labor groups.
- Composite Character: Rai is this for Pidge and Shiro, as he's revealed to have once been a Galra prisoner while also being the one who hacked into the Galra communications, in addition to being the Green Paladin.
- Covered in Scars: As seen by a horrified Nonette during Island of the Gods Rai's back is mostly scar tissue from his time as a slave of the Galra with very little in the way of unmarred skin left.
- Elemental Motifs: More obscure than the rest, but Rai is the most knowledgeable of the Paladins. Intelligence is a trait traditionally given to trees, fitting his role as the Guardian Spirit of Forest/Nature.
- Given Name Reveal: Chapter 32 reveals that his full name is Zephyr zar Britannia.
- Made a Slave: Was enslaved by the Galra prior to becoming a Paladin.
- Playful Hacker: Genuinely enjoys hacking enemy computers, and leaves a calling card in the form of Voltron's laughing face when he's done.
- Really Royalty Reveal: He's actually a member of the Britannian Imperial Family, which technically means he's related to Lelouch.
- Additionally, according to Lost Colors, he's also a member of the Japanese Imperial Family, though whether this is the case here is still in the air.
- Related in the Adaptation: According to Lost Colors' canon, he briefly ruled Britannia before willingly exiling himself within a thought elevator, meaning that he is actually Lelouch's great to the x power uncle. Here, the two are paternal half-siblings.
- According to Nonette Enneagram, Rai's mother is actually Erina Kururugi, which also makes Rai Suzaku's cousin.
- Ship Tease: Has some with Shirley. Notably, he's the one to comfort her after she kills Mao. In "Trenching Plans", he even gets a kiss on the cheek from her!
- Slave Brand: Is revealed to have one in Isle of the Gods from his time as a Galra slave. Coran says that it is Galran for "Property of the Galra Empire".
- Token Enemy Minority: He's a Britannian Prince just like Lelouch and a member of the Paladins and Black Knights.
Milly
Milly Ashford, the Yellow Paladin
- Abusive Parents: Milly's mother has been continuously trying to procure an Arranged Marriage between Milly and the heir to a noble family so that the Ashford family can return to Britannian high society, with the intended match before Milly became a paladin being Lloyd. It's made pretty clear that this has estranged the two, especially since Milly doesn't even try to evacuate her mom before the Black Rebellin commences. The Galra note that there is little connection between the family members.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: It's implied the reason Milly is becoming receptive to Rivalz is because unlike all of the suitors her mother tries to pair her off with, Rivalz just likes Milly for who she is, not for her status.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Downplayed, but she doesn't like it when Rivalz starts ogling other women.
- Elemental Motifs: Milly is the extroverted and flashy of the paladins, as expected from the Guardian Spirit of Light.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: In Isle of Gods, before going on a mission, she's mentioned as having just let go of C.C.'s hand. Her next appearance confirms she got a Geass.
- Hidden Depths: She seems to have inherited some of her grandfather's technological skills.
- Empowered Badass Normal: Gets a Geass from C.C. during the events of Island of the Gods known as the Geass of Absolute Telepathy.
- Irony: Code Geass canon has Milly mostly ignore Rivalz' attempts to woo her. Here, Milly actually gets uncomfortable when Rivalz starts flirting with another girl, with her discomfort bordering on jealousy.
- Raised by Grandparents: Milly was raised by her grandfather, Reuben. Jupiter's Sanctuary reveals that he took her with him when he moved to Area 11, while both of Milly's parents stayed in the homeland.
- Ship Tease: When Rivalz is knocked out by an explosion during Fall of the Castle of Lions, Milly is very worried about him, to the point of crying. And in Chapter 12, while Milly was suspicious of Rolo, Beezer, and Nyma (for obvious reasons), she really didn't seem to like Rivalz spending so much time with Nyma. This get's more pronounced later on, as she really does not like him ogling other women, to his immense confusion (Milly had shot down all of his prior attempts to woo her).
- Shipper on Deck: It's subtle, but Chapter 12 implies she is aware of the attraction between Lelouch and Kallen.
- Supreme Chef: Is the best cook among the female Paladin trio - Shirley and Kallen are both terrible cooks (though Kallen's lack of skill has only been mentioned in supplementary materials.
- A Taste of Their Own Medicine: Lelouch finally manages to embarrass her in Greening the Cube as payback for all her pranks and general perversion. How? By "using the powers invested in him as a prince of Britannia and the Black Paladin" to declare Milly and Lloyd husband and wife. He does take it back after a moment, but this is the only time in the story so far where Milly lets out a Big "WHAT?!" and has a Luminescent Blush.
- The Tease: Would it be Milly if she wasn't this? She goes out of her way to make innuendoes and show off her body as long as the mission won't be compromised.
- Telepathy: How her Geass works, although she is limited to communicating with only one person at a time. She also needs to know and say their full name for the ability to work.
- Wrench Wench: Like Grandfather, Like Granddaughter it seems - she's the one who takes on Hunk's role when the group meets Rolo's crew.
Suzaku
Suzaku Kururugi, the Purple Paladin
- 10-Minute Retirement: Briefly leaves the team in Chapter 31 after Mao revealed that Suzaku killed his father. Thankfully he rejoins by the end of the chapter.
- Adapted Out: Because he’s on the side of the Paladins, Lelouch doesn’t put the "Live" command on him, due to the events on Shikine Island happening differently then they did in canon.
- Big "NO!": Did not take it well when Rolo shot Euphemia.
- Elemental Motifs: Significantly less pronounced compared to the other Paladins, but Suzaku's idealism and determination invoke The Sacred Darkness, while his lack of fear regarding death brings to mind Don't Fear the Reaper. Both help identifies him as the Guardian Spirit of Darkness. On the other hand, he also represents how darkness hides secrets, as he takes the longest to reveal his own secrets to the group.
- Foil: Gradually becomes one to Bismarck Waldstein. Both are the best friend of a Britannian Royal, among the best combatants of their respective teams, and possess a Geass that allows them to see into the future. Both are also the Number Two to said Britannian Royal and hold a command position within their team. While Bismark is Charles' Dragon, though, and knowingly works toward the Ragnarok Connection, Suzaku is The Lancer to Lelouch and works to keep his best friend from Jumping Off the Slippery Slope. Bismarck is The Leader of the Knights of the Round, while Suzaku is, as mentioned above, Lelouch's Number Two and generally lacks command abilities. Finally, while both have a Geass that provides them with Combat Clairvoyance, Bismarck's telegraphs everything that will happen in the next few seconds while Suzaku's can look much further into the future.
- Heel Realization: Is slowly having one about Brittania. Charles choosing to ally the entire empire with the Galra finishes it.
- Honor Before Reason: Something held over from the main series, and part of the reason he's the pilot of the Purple Lion. He even (temporarily) leaves the team in Chapter 31 because he feels he's dishonored the team after the truth of his father's death is revealed.
- Hypocrite: Lelouch calls him one in Chapter 11, pointing out that, for all the latter says about opposing rebellion, he's supporting one right now by being the Purple Paladin.
- Internal Reformist: Initially joined the Britannian Military to try and become one of these. he admits to C.C. in At Least With Sorrow that this was actually a cover for his Death Seeker tendencies, and only started believing in it for real after meeting Euphie, as she had the power to help him enact the changes he wanted.
- Mythology Gag: When the Paladins return to Earth, it is Suzaku who tells Lelouch that if he doesn't reveal his identity and Geass to the Black Knights, someone else could use that information to make them distrust him. Exactly what Schneizel did in R2 canon.
- Not Afraid to Die: Is this more than a Death Seeker like in canon - Suzaku isn't throwing himself into suicidal situations anymore, but when it appears that he will be killed fighting Zarkon, he merely closes his eyes and attempts to Face Death with Dignity.
- Rage Breaking Point: Suzaku hits this in the aftermath of the SAZ Massacre, during which he hacks up a wall in the Castle of Lions with his Bayard, then punches said wall for good measure while crying. Notably, this is the point where he finally admits he didn't honestly believe he could fix Britannia from within when he joined the military.
- Related in the Adaptation: Turns out that his aunt Erina is the mother of Rai, making them cousins. And since Rai's father was Emperor Charles zi Britannia, this also means that he is cousins with Lelouch and Nunnally.
- Seers: Suzaku’s Geass allows him to see into the future. As opposed to Bismarck’s Combat Clairvoyance, though, Suzaku’s Geass warns him of things that are relatively more distant into the future.
- Self-Made Orphan: As in canon, Suzaku murdered his father to stop the latter from ordering Japan to fight to the death, not wanting millions to be slaughtered over this.
- Ship Tease: With Euphie - she is what appears in his mind when attempting to think as one with the rest of the Paladins. And when staying with the mermaids, he mumbles in his sleep about giving her daifuku he made. When she confesses in Chapter 31, he's briefly thrown for a loop. And when Nebiros shoots Euphie during the SAZ Massacre, he the most distraught among the Paladins (with exception to her various siblings present at the Massacre).
Shirley
Shirley Fenette, the Orange Paladin
- Beware the Nice Ones: She was the one to finally take Mao down, though since it was the first time she killed someone, the stress along with his upgraded mind trauma took a toll on her.
- Composite Character: Gains Hunk's more comedic roles in the plot but She's also the one who gains the will to fight the Ghalra after seeing what they've done to people like Shay.
- Cowardly Lion: Takes Hunk's place as this on the team.
- Cuteness Proximity: Goes absolutely gaga over the alien pill bugs she and Rai find in Across the Universe, complete with beating heart eyes! Milly indicates that Shirley has actually used them as pillows at least once.
- Didn't Think This Through: After returning to Earth, she decides to bring Arthur onto the Castle of Lions... forgetting about the Altean Mice. Hijinks ensue.
- Elemental Motifs: Shirley, the Guardian Spirit of Earth, is the most motherly and compassionate of the Paladins. Earth Deities are traditionally shown as being motherly figures, which fits rather nicely with Shirley's Characterization.
- Empowered Badass Normal: Gains a Geass from C.C. during Tears of the Balmera — specifically, the Geass of Absolute Concealment.
- Gaining the Will to Kill: Shirley has the hardest time adjusting to the fact that as a Paladin, she may be required to actually take a life (by her own hands rather than through her Lion and Voltron). She doesn't take it well when she kills Mao. She takes it much better when she mortally injures his Robeast form.
- Good Parents: Implied - Shirley's greatest fear is losing both of her parents. This actually makes her a Downplayed team normal in that regard, as she is the only member of the Paladins to have a good relationship with both of her parents.note Shirley makes sure to rescue both of them before the Black Rebellion commences.
- Heel Realization: Has a moment during Tears of the Balmerra, when she stays with Shay's family. Not only is she deeply saddened by how they live their entire lives in tunnels, forced to mine crystals from a living creature in a manner that is implied to be extremely painful for it, but she also realized that something similar happens on Earth with all of the numbers that are forced to serve Britannia.
- Invisibility Cloak: Her Geass works this way - it creates a field around her that makes anything within it invisible to others. As for limitations, it only works up to a certain distance away, and only in certain directions.
- "No More Holding Back" Speech: Shirley gives a mental version as she prepares her strike on Robeast Mao.Shirley: 'Before, I was just a normal girl, who was ignorant of everything that's been happening in the world...All the suffering... All the pain that so many people feel. And not just this world...but others as well. But I'm not going to cry anymore. I swear that I will protect all of you, even my friends. I know who I am... My name is Shirley Fenette, Paladin of the Orange Lion of Voltron! My aim is true! This time, I won't hesitate!'
- Ship Tease: While she still has a crush on Lelouch (at the moment), she has these moments with Rai, most prominently in Across the Universe where they're stranded together (with the little aliens they meet even making a heart around the couple). Geass vs Geass confirms she has a crush on him in addition to Lelouch, and that she's torn up about it. She even gives him a kiss on the cheek in "Trenching Plans".
- The Straight and Arrow Path: Her Bayard takes the form of a bow, with an arrow quiver appearing on her back. She becomes very adept with it, with one omake showing her pulling off several trick-shots during training.
- Vomit Discretion Shot: A running gag she inherited from Hunk.
Rivalz
Rivalz Cardemonde, the Blue Paladin
- Ascended Extra: Out of the Code Geass characters, his role in canon is arguably the smallest and least important. Here he gets far more screen-time as a member of the Paladins of Voltron.
- Barrier Warrior: His Geass lets him created a barrier to protect himself. The only problem is that nothing can get in or out, including him.
- Butt-Monkey: Just like Lance. Rivalz tends to have a lot of bad things happen to him, most of which are Played for Comedy.
- Casanova Wannabe: Though he obviously likes Milly, he'll hit on anything if it's on two legs, female, and cute. This actually gets his Lion stolen at one point when a female bounty hunter plays Rivalz like a fiddle and handcuffs him to a tree.
- Composite Character: As mentioned above, he's the only paladin who is completely composited with one of the canon paladins - he inherited virtually all of Lance's traits (including the latter's womanizing, despite canonically only harboring feeling for Milly).
- Deflector Shields: His Geass of Absolute Protection creates these, but he has to be standing completely still for them to hold.
- Elemental Motifs: The Blue Paladin is the Guardian Spirit of Water. Rivalz has the most versatile Lion, his demeanor remains calm even when he is stressed out, and his becoming a Paladin is a sort of spiritual rebirth for him, bringing to mind a baptism.
- Empowered Badass Normal: As proof that he and the other Paladins are C.C.'s friends, he asks for and gets a Geass in Cheering Mao.
- Irony: He flirts with Nyma when he first meets her, unaware that Milly is finally starting to return his affections.
- Momma's Boy: Implied - The writers for Code Geass have stated that his last name is actually his mother's maiden name and that he uses it because he had a falling out with his dad. Additionally, he noticeably does not address his father when saying hello to his family during the SAZ broadcast. This is later revealed to be because of what his father planned to do to his little brother to avoid the "hassle" of splitting the inheritance.
- Oblivious to Love: Ironically, Rival does not understand why Milly doesn't like it when he's ogling other women, primarily because she had shot down all of his prior attempts to woo her.
- Selective Obliviousness: Rivalz used to consciously ignore the suffering that the Japanese went through under Britannian rule, despite regularly driving by the ghettos on his motorcycle. Mao wastes no time in noting this during his Breaking Speech.
- Stating the Simple Solution: When the space-capable Knightmare project is stalled because they keep burning through their energy fillers too fast to be viable, Rivalz has the brilliant idea of using some of the smaller Balmera crystals rather than try and make the energy fillers more efficient or find a way for the Knightmares to carry multiples. After all, since the larger crystals the Castle uses could last for thousands of years, the smaller ones should be more than sufficient.
The Lions
The Voltron Lions
The seven lions that combine to form Voltron.- Adaptation Distillation: Since there are two new lions, some of the powers got shuffled up a bit.
- The original Yellow Lion is now the Orange Lion, which is still the lion of Earth. The new Yellow Lion is the Lion of Light.
- The purple lion, meanwhile, is the Lion of Darkness.
- Elemental Powers: Each lion is associated with an element, though only some have had their powers shown off.
- Aka (Red) is associated with fire and can use a flamethrower.
- Polaris (Blue) is associated with water and can use ice beams. She can also use a sonic cannon, which is likely a reference to how sound travels faster in water than in air.
- Zinnia (Orange) is associated with earth and is the only Lion shown to be capable of tunneling.
- Zenobia (Black) is associated with wind/sky.
- Zerith (Green) is associated with forest.
- Maeraka (Yellow) is associated with light, and can use powerful light attacks to blind enemies.
- Yoru (Purple) is associated with darkness and can create an Unrealistic Black Hole.
- Empathic Weapon: The Lions are living beings and have their own thoughts and feelings, which they act on from time to time. Case in point, when Zen and Zerith sense Lelouch and Rai in danger during Isle of the Gods, they immediately move to save them. And when Nunnally is in danger during The Bloodstained Alliance, not only does Zenobia (who is piloted by her brother, Lelouch) come to save her, but so does Yoru (who was piloted by Nunnally during Suzaku's 10-Minute Retirement).
- Gender Flip: All of the lions are female in the story, while Black, Red, and the original Yellow Lion (now the Orange Lion) were confirmed as being male in Legendary Defender.
- Make Me Wanna Shout: Blue has a sonic cannon.
- Meaningful Name: Each Lion was given a nickname by its pilot to further their bond with their Paladins.
- Kallen, surprisingly, starts it off by calling her lion "Aka", Japanese for red.
- Rai names the Green Lion, Zerith.
- Milly settles on "Maeraka," Arabic for battle. The Yellow Lion approved.
- Rivalz names Blue "Polaris", after the North Star.
- Suzaku names Purple "Yoru", the Japanese word for night.
- At C.C.'s suggestion, Shirley goes with "Zinnia" after a type of orange flower, symbolizing endurance, affection, and daily remembrance.
- Fitting for the head lion, Lelouch goes with "Zenobia" after The Rebel Queen of Syria or "Zen" for short.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Zigzagged - the Black Lion destroys the Kamine Island Thought Elevator, which was implied to be preventing the Earth from being noticed by the Galra. However, this also prevents Haggar from studying the Thought Elevator, which could potentially have allowed the Galra to replicate its powers. It also set back the Ragnarök Connection, to V.V.'s annoyance.
- Purple Is the New Black: The Lion of Darkness is Purple, since the Black Lion is the sky/wind Lion.
- Spontaneous Weapon Creation: Just like Voltron, the lions have their own arsenal of weapons that they can create near instantaneously.
- BFG: Each Lion can manifest a cannon atop its back.
- Cutlass Between the Teeth: Each Lion has a pair of jaw blades that give this impression.
- Story-Breaker Power: The Lions are very much this for the Code Geass side of things, being leagues more advanced than any Knightmare Frame, capable of coming to their pilots, and even not being affected by the Geass that Nebiros uses.
- Suddenly Voiced: Battle for Home reveals that the Lions are at least capable of talking to their Paladins via their bonds when Zenobia gives Lelouch a pep-talk.
- Troll: In Brawl on the Astral Plane, Zenobia seemingly takes Lelouch deep into space to the ruins of Daibazaal, but actually never left the Castle of Lions. Lelouch outright calls her a troll after this, noting to the other Paladins that she's got a taste for theatrics.
Voltron
Voltron, the Defender of the Universe.
- Adaptation Expansion: Due to now having seven component lions instead of five, Voltron has several weapons that were not in Legendary Defender. Additionally, the weapon the Blue Lion provided was never specified in canon, while here, it is a sonic cannon.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: In contrast to Legendary Defender, Voltron gets in a few of these, particularly against Britannia.
- Discard and Draw: Due to using different Paladins than in Legendary Defender, Voltron no longer has its shoulder cannon, instead using an energy bow. It also has a few new weapons, such as a Radiant Wave Surger (created from Kallen's Bayard).
- Serial Escalation: Due to having two additional lions to form its body, Voltron is even bigger than it was in Legendary Defender.
- Summon to Hand: Voltron can create multiple weapons via the different Paladins inserting their Bayards into special slots in their lions.
- Cool Sword: Suzaku's Bayard create a sword.
- Gale-Force Sound: Rivalz’s Bayard creates a shoulder-mounted sonic cannon.
- The Straight and Arrow Path: Shirley's Bayard creates an energy bow.
- Wolverine Claws: Kallen's Bayard can produce a Radiant Wave Surger.
- BFG: Rivalz's Bayard makes a shoulder-mounted cannon.
- BFS: All of the Bayards (except the Black Bayard) used together create a giant sword longer than Voltron is tall!
Core Allies
C.C.
C.C. / Cera
- Berserk Button: Do not mess with her pizza. She almost sent Tamaki to the cryopods when he ate some.
- Foil: To Haggar. Both are "witches" associated with a Black Paladin, but are diametrically opposite in almost every other way. C.C. tends to dress in light colors while Haggar dresses in darker ones. C.C. has no real offensive or defensive powers beyond being immortal, while Haggar is proficient in combat-capable Black Magic. C.C. tends to keep Lelouch at a distance and Trolls the hell out of him for amusement, while Haggar genuinely views Zarkon as a friend and even her criticism of him is pointedly polite. As Zarkon and Haggar are actually husband and wife, they can be viewed as a dark mirror of Lelouch and C.C. in the film universe.
- The Gadfly: Still a big one. Case in point, when Kallen asks how Lelouch threw her off when she questioned him while taking a shower, C.C. asks the latter if he 'enjoyed the view'.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
- The normally stoic C.C. is reduced to a crying mess after having Haggar Mind Rape her.
- She's similarly undone by a reminder of how she's never had a chance at a normal life or to find loved ones. Her mood is considerably lifted when the Paladins and Allura declare that they will stay by her side no matter what.
- I'm Standing Right Here: C.C. says as much when Suzaku tells Lelouch they will discuss as to who she is.
- I Warned You: While C.C. was initially surprised when she sensed the Kamine Thought Elevator getting destroyed, she then smirked imagining how frustrated Charles, V.V., and Marianne would be at this before saying, "I did warn them, didn't I?"
- Positive Friend Influence: Like with Lelouch, bonding with the other Paladins has had this effect on her. However, this rather muted so far, as she still tends to be blunt and amoral.
- Shoot the Dog: Has no problems with doing this, as she was perfectly willing to kill Viletta when the latter saw Shirley's face.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Pizza, duh. One of the first things she does when the team returns to Earth is using a Pod to get boxes of Pizza Hut pizza, enough to fill the pod! She also hides her stash away from the rest of the Castle and treats it like a Dragon Hoard, and went ballistic once when Tamaki stole a few slices. She nearly sent him to the cryopods.
Allura
Princess Allura
- Character Development: When Lelouch reveals his suspicions that he's part-Galra to her, C.C., Nunnally, and the Paladins after the Battle in the Center of the Mind in Brawl on the Astral Plane, she noticeably reacts a lot better than she did with Keith in canon, remarking on how she's working on moving past her prejudices.
- Establishing Character Moment: Seconds after Allura wakes up from a 10,000 year-long cryosleep, she's immediately putting a smooth-talking Rivalz into submission and demanding to know who he is.
- Fantastic Racism: Refuses to believe that there are any good Galra in the universe, and pointedly believes that the Blade of Marmora are honest about their intentions, even after Lelouch Geasses Ulaz to confirm the latter's remarks. Mao implies that she would like to wipe out the Galra to avenge Altea, something an alternate reality Allura did. Ironically, though, his Breaking Speech makes her realize how wrong she is and strive to become better.
- Foil: To Lelouch - both are former royalty who were forced to leave their homelands. Both also have extremely loyal servants of the opposite gender. There are plenty of differences, though: Allura was forced to leave for her own safety due to Zarkon invading Altea, while Lelouch was exiled for daring to speak against his father. Lelouch has many half-siblings and several friends while Allura is one of the last Alteans alongside Coran. Allura had a good relationship with her father and mother while Lelouch, as previously stated, was exiled for defying his father's will and eventually founded a resistance movement to oppose his father's empire. Finally, Allura generally prefers to take straightforward action against the Galra, while Lelouch prefers to fight strategically. More mundanely, Allura's attire emphasizes Light Is Good while Lelouch's is themed around Dark Is Not Evil.
- Glad He's On Our Side: After hearing of Lelouch's plans for their first battle after arriving back on Earth, Allura is very glad that she's not Lelouch's enemy, mentally remarking that in that unlikely scenario, there's no way she could win against him.
- Hypocrite: As revealed by Mao, while Allura wants to protect other races in the universe from being destroyed by Zarkon like her people were, she is perfectly willing to completely wiped out the Galra to do so, even though not all of the Galra are fighting with Zarkon, which he giddily points out would make her no better than Zarkon or Charles. She doesn't take it well.
- Not So Above It All: For all of her efforts to maintain her regality, she has a temper and attitude as bad as Tamaki, something Lelouch notes.
- Really 700 Years Old: Being an Altean Popsicle for 10,000 years has her chronologically much older than all the Paladins, although biologically and mentally she is a teenager about their age.
- Shapeshifter: Alteans can naturally alter their appearances, which Allura has used both to sneak into a Galra Outpost and to allow her to enter one of the ghettoes in Area 11 to see just how bad things are.
- Token Wizard: Of a sort, as while all of the Paladins already have (or will gain) Geasses and C.C. can give these out, Allura is the only member of Team Voltron who can use a magical ability regularly without any negative consequences beyond physical exhaustion.
Coran
Coran Hieronymus Wimbleton Smythe
- Brutal Honesty: Coran does not offer any sugar-coating when he speaks. He's very critical of the Paladins at times, and very bluntly states that, if the Galra were to invade right now, Earth would fall within a day.
- Commonality Connection: Hits it off with Rakshata early on due to their mutual interest in advanced technology.
- Foil:
- To Sayoko. Both are the loyal servants of royalty, but while Coran is generally a Non-Action Guy (though he can certainly fight when he wants to), Sayoko is a Ninja Maid.
- He's also one to the Earth-based Knightmare Researchers (Lloyd and Rakshata), as while he possesses traits from both of them (Lloyd's borderline obsession with machinery and Rakshata's Motherly Scientist tendencies, albeit a paternal version), Coran is extremely well adjusted socially and has a far easier time working with others, as he was originally trained to be a servant of the Altean Royal Family and thus has a better understanding of other people than his fellow scientists. Additionally, while Lloyd and Rakshata are Non Action Guys, Coran directly commands the Castle of Lions in battle when Allura is in danger.
- He's also a foil to Cécile, being a character with an engineering background who tries to act like a sibling toward their allies. Unlike Cécile, Coran actually pulls this off quite well due to his training as a servant, and while he also has Cordon Bleugh Chef tendencies, his are implied to be intentional, as he goes off a slightly modified version of the If It Tastes Bad, It Must Be Good for You ethos. Cécile, meanwhile, has rather bizarre beliefs regarding cooking. Notably, unlike Lloyd and Rakshata, Cecile and Coran are both willing to enter battle themselves if those they care about are in danger.
- Last of His Kind: He's the only male Altean left in existence.
- Not So Above It All: He's the one who is disguised as Zero during the meeting with Kyoto, because he really wanted to wear the outfit.
- Papa Wolf: One of the traits that separate Coran from his fellow Mecha engineers is that Coran will get involved in a fight if Allura is in danger - even if doing so is borderline suicidal.
- Really 700 Years Old: Mentions visiting the Balmera with his grandfather while the latter was building the Castle of Lions. Considering the Castle is around 10,600 years old, that makes him at least 600 years old before being made an Altean Popsicle. He doesn't look like it.
Team Pets
The Mice
Chuchule, Platt, Chulatt, and Plachu
- The Confidant: When Allura feels she can't speak to the others, the mice are usually her go-to confidants.
- Intelligible Unintelligible: They can only make the typical sounds mice make, but Allura can understand them just fine.
- Nice Mice: They're cute little alien mice.
- Non-Human Sidekick: They are rarely seen without Allura.
- Psychic Link: With Allura, developed by sharing her sleep pod for 10,000 years.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: A group of pastel-colored tiny animals who all resemble mice.
- The Stool Pigeon: The mice gladly tell Allura whatever secrets they have of the Paladins without much prodding. Such as in Fall of the Castle of Lions where they told her everyone's secrets, which was how Allura learned Lelouch was a prince.
Rover
Rover
- Heel–Face Brainwashing: Used to be a loyal drone working for the Galra Empire, until reprogrammed by Rai.
- Man of Kryptonite: To Mao - Mao's Geass only works on living things, so he can't sense Rover. This allows the Paladins to get the drop on him by having Rover mimic C.C., who is also immune to Mao's powers, which is why he never suspects a thing until he gets blasted by Rover.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Since Lelouch used his Geass to deal with Haxxus, Rover is still functioning.
Arthur
Arthur
- Animal Nemesis: To Suzaku, though it's downplayed compared to most examples. Arthur seems to hate him for no reason and tends to bite him whenever the two are in the same room. Sunrise has stated that Arthur actually likes Suzaku, it's just that biting someone is apparently her way of showing affection.
- Animal Jingoism: Attacks the mice the minute she sees them. The narration leaves it ambiguous if this was due to hunger, boredom, instincts, or all of the above.
- Gender-Blender Name: Even though Arthur is referred to in male pronouns in the English dub of the anime (and, consequently, in the fic as well), Arthur is actually a female.
- Team Pet: Counting the mice as one character, she's the third one Team Voltron has.
The Black Knights
In General
- Adapted Out: Several examples.
- Due to the existence of the Lions and the Seishin, the Gekkas (and their prototype) and the Sougetsu do not exist here.
- Characters from side stories other than Oz the Reflection and Akito the Exiled are not included. By extension, the Protagonist of Lost Stories is also not present as the game didn't exist before the story was made.
- The Bait: It's implied they were intended to be this at Narita for one the JLF retreated. Kallen spares them this fate.
- Bottomless Fuel Tanks: Justified - just like the Castle of Lions, their new Knightmare, the Seishin, is powered by via Balmerra crystals. As the Castle of Lions was able to run on one such crystal for ten thousand years without any major issues, it can safely be assumed the crystals are so energy efficient that this trope is in effect.
- Costume Evolution: They eventually get a uniform upgrade into something more similar to what the Paladins use.
- Dark Is Not Evil: As always, their attire and Knightmares tend toward darker colors, but they are a resistance movement fighting against two oppressive empires.
- La Résistance: Originally formed to oppose the Britannian Empire. Then Lelouch brings them in to fight the Galra, in part because Voltron can only be in so many places at once.
- Light/Darkness Juxtaposition: Their new general-purpose Knightmare frame, the Seishin, is primarily colored black and grey, but also has light blue patches from using Balmerra crystals for power. This serves as a visible indication that while they appear menacing, they are still fighting for a just cause..
- Mook Mobile: The Black Knights primarily use a Japanese version of the Glasgow known as the Burai, though they’ve also used Sutherlands in certain situations. They upgrade to the series’ first space-capable Knightmare, the Seishin, in time for the arrival of the Galra.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Group-wide example: unlike in canon, when Lelouch reveals his true identity to them and explains his reasons for creating the Black Knights, they take it surprisingly well.
- Took a Level in Badass: As of At Least With Sorrow, they're in possession of Earth's first space-capable Knightmare Frame, the Seishin. As ofGreening the Cube, they've also added Olkari-made wooden Knightmares to the mix.
- Tracking Device: The new suits the Black Knights get after joining the Voltron Coalition include tracking devices, mainly so that they can avoid getting lost in the never-ending dark void of space.
- Undying Loyalty: To Zero. Even when Lelouch reveals who he is, they still choose to follow him.
Ohgi
Kaname Ohgi
- Big Brother Mentor: Acts as one to Kallen after the death of her brother, Naoto.
- The Confidant: Kallen views him as one due to him being her Parental Substitute. She goes to him after the first confrontation with Mao for advice on whether Naoto would have approved of her actions as both a rebel and a Paladin.
- The Handler: Acts as one for Villeta/Chigusa. In an aversion to the normal intent of this trope, his job is to watch over her in case she regains her memories, though he quickly grows attached to her, which she reciprocates.
- Number Two: Serves as this for the Black Knights, being the one directly below Zero in their hierarchy. After the Black Knights are folded into the Voltron Coalition, his rank is more ambiguous, but he appears to be third in command after Lelouch and Allura.
- Ship Tease: Has some with Chigusa, as in canon. He gets many tender moments with her, and even after Viletta regains her memories, she's still interested in him.
Tamaki
Shinichirō Tamaki
- Boisterous Weakling: Talks a big game, but gets his ass handed to him in most fights. This is less due to him being weak and more his enemies being significantly stronger than him.
- Butt-Monkey: During Zero's Return, he gets his ass literally kicked by Kallen when he hesitated to get onto Aka and faints from shock upon seeing Voltron for the first time. He's later seen getting demolished by the Castle of Lions' gladiator drone. His thoughts in The Miracle Worker imply this happens several times off-screen. In addition, he swipes a slice of pizza from C.C.'s stash and is nearly sent to the cryopods.
- Faint in Shock: While everyone else reacts with awe at the sight, Tamaki faints when he first sees Voltron in all of his majesty.
- Literal Ass-Kicking: Is on the receiving end of this when he refuses to get inside Aka.
- Screams Like a Little Girl: His response when C.C. flipped out on him after he swiped a slice of pizza from her stash.
Yoshida
Toru Yoshida
- Ambiguous Situation: It's initially left ambiguous on whether he still died in the Black Rebellion or managed to survive. Greening The Cube confirms that he died.
- Killed Off for Real: Still died during the Black Rebellion.
- Killed Offscreen: Still dies in the Black Rebellion, but how is unstated.
Sugiyama
Kento Sugiyama
- Adaptation Expansion: He's never really given much character in Code Geass, beyond being "a total skirt-chaser". Here, we learn a tiny bit of his backstory - namely, that he was a physical therapist before the Britannian Invasion. He ends up helping Nunnally learn to walk again.
Minami
Yoshitaka Minami
- Ambiguous Situation: It's initially unknown if he survived the Black Rebellion in this story. It's eventually revealed that he did, but lost one of his legs during the retreat.
- An Arm and a Leg: In Greening the Cube, he lost one of his legs (crushed under some debris) whilst he and his comrades were fleeing at the Black Rebellion's climax. They were forced to amputate it, and he will be out of commission until he gets a prosthetic leg.
- Artificial Limbs: Eventually gets a cybernetic replacement for the leg he lost in the Black Rebellion.
- Everyone Has Standards: Gives Lelouch a sympathetic look after hearing about the former prince's past.
Inoue
Naomi Inoue
- Ambiguous Situation: As with Minami, whether she survived the Black Rebellion is currently in the air. She survives, but lost her right eye in the process.
- Everyone Has Standards: When she hears about Lelouch's past, she gives him a noticeable look of pity.
- Eye Scream: She loses her right eye in the Black Rebellion.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Unlike her canon self, she survives the Black Rebellion mostly intact.
Kyoshiro Tohdoh
Kyoshiro Tohdoh
- Ace Custom: Uses a Seishin with an energy-cape.
- Badass Normal: Lelouch and Suzaku say he's one of the best strategists on Earth and a major threat on the battlefield due to his immense skill as a Knightmare pilot. Lelouch even admits that he could likely match Zarkon should they ever face each other in combat.
- Eye Scream: Gains an eye scar during his duel with Corza.
The Four Holy Swords
From left to right: Ryoga Senba, Kosetsu Urabe, Nagisa Chiba, and Shogo Asahina.
The Japan Liberation Front's most powerful soldiers led by Tohdoh. After Tohdoh is captured by the Britannians, they seek out Kyoto for aid in rescuing him, who in turn sends them to Voltron. They subsequently join fully with the Voltron Coalition after Tohdoh does.- Elite Four: The Four Holy Swords are essentially Tohdoh's equivalent of the Four Heavenly Kings.
- Foil: To the Paladins as they mirror several traits of the Paladins. Additionally, the Four Holy Swords have been fighting alongside each other and Tohdoh for years, while the Paladins have only existed in their current iteration for a few months.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Urabe self-destructs his Knightmare amidst a group of Galra reinforcements to clear a path for the rest of his squad and Suzaku to escape.
Kaguya
Kaguya Sumeragi
- A Child Shall Lead Them: She's barely even a teenager yet leads her entire house. One wonders what happened for her to get into this position.
- The Cutie: At times - she's adorable, and her actions are a frequent source of comedy.
- The Glomp: Gives one to Lelouch (which Kallen does not approve of) and Suzaku.
- Hero Worship: Has some for Zero, which only rises when she learns that he is Lelouch.
- Precocious Crush: Has one for Lelouch. Kallen does not approve.
- Tag Along Kid: Effectively becomes this after the Black Rebellion fails, as she no longer has the resources to back the Black Knights. She still maintains contact with the few remaining assets that Kyoto has, but she's lost much of her power. She seems to be trying to become a diplomat instead.
- The Team Benefactor: As the representative of the Six Houses of Kyoto, she's the financial backer of the Black Knights alongside Taizo Kirihara. She loses this status after the Galra conquer Earth, instead becoming something of The Social Expert for the group.
Rakshata
Rakshata Chawla
- Bollywood Nerd: She a Mad Scientist from India and her appearance and other characteristics contrast her rival, who appears quite British.
- Commonality Connection: Quickly forms a rapport with Coran over their mutual love of technology.
- Instant Expert: When she gets her hands on an Olkari headband, she quickly learns how to use it, and begins mass producing wooden versions of the Guren MK II.
- The Knights Who Say "Squee!": Her basic reaction to a breakthrough while making space-worthy Knightmares.
- Mad Scientist: Like her rival Lloyd Asplund, Rakshata Chawla is a mostly benign version. Not evil enough to be 100% Mad Scientist, but too quirky and young to be The Professor.
- Motherly Scientist: Thinks of her Knightmare frames as her children.
- Not So Stoic: When Zarkon makes his first appearance on Earth and dishes out a massive Curb-Stomp Battle to Darlton, Edgar, Cornelia, and Sayoko, Rakshata is visibly nervous, with narration mentioning that she's clunching her pipe so hard that her hands start turning white.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Rakshata normally isn't phased by anything. The first time she sees Zarkon, though, she has a visible Oh, Crap! moment, even if it is rather muted.
Family of the Paladins
Nunnally Lamperouge
Nunnally Lamperouge/Princess Nunnally vi Britannia
Lelouch's sister. See her folder under the main character page. Sayoko Shinozaki
Sayoko Shinozaki
Lelouch's Ninja Maid and surrogate mother. See her folder under the main character page. Cornelia li Britannia
Cornelia li Britannia, Second Princess of Britannia
One of Lelouch's half-sisters. See her folder under The Holy Britannian Empire's page. Euphemia li Britannia
Euphemia li Britannia, Third Princess of Britannia
Another of Lelouch's half-sisters. See her folder under The Holy Britannian Empire's page. Topaz Cardemonde
Topaz Cardemonde
Rivalz's mom.- Good Parents: Is supportive of all her children's interests, including Rivalz being a member of the Paladins.
- The Maiden Name Debate: Her husband's name is Yates, but she goes by her birth name of Cardemonde. This is because she had an incredibly messy divorce after her husband tried to sell off her youngest child to avoid an inheritance problem.
- Mama Bear: Her husband actually tried to sell off her youngest son because he wanted to keep the line of inheritance "simple". Topaz promptly fled the Cardemonde Estate with her children, staying first with her parents and then moving to Area 11.
Rivalz's Siblings
Amelia, Ava, Isla, and Joshua Cardemonde
Rivalz's siblings. After the vents of Battle For Home, they move in with Rivalz aboard the Castle of Lions.- And Call Him "George": Joshua engages in this with one of the pillbug aliens, though he mostly limits it to pull on its for. Fortunately, the alien doesn't seem to mind (or be affected at all).
- Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: On account of being a toddler, Joshua doesn't have a large attention span, being more interested in playing with a pillbug alien than his brother explaining why he is the Blue Paladin.
- The Baby of the Bunch: Joshua is literally this, being only three years old and having the attention span to match.
- Nom de Mom: All of the children go by their mother's maiden name, Cardemonde, instead of their father's name, Yates. This is because their father, Corbin Yates, tried to sell of Joshua to ease up his children's inheritance.
- Passionate Sports Girl: Ava and Isla are mentioned as having interests in sports.
- The Unfavorite: Joshua, since their father only wanted one male heir. Their mother had to hide the gender of her baby throughout her pregancy so her husband couldn't force her to abort him, and when he was born his father just looked at him with disgust. He eventually decided to try and sell him to make the inheritance easier to handle, prompting his wife to take her children and flee.
Reuben Ashford
Reuben Ashford
Milly's paternal grandfather.- Cool Old Guy: His only appearance shows him to be a fairly well adjusted person, especially considering his son (implied to be Weak-Willed), his daughter in law (a Social Climber and a harpy), and his daughter (who is relatively normal, but is also The Tease and The Gadfly).
- Good Parents: Well, a Parental Substitute version, but he is this to Milly. Case in point, it's implied that he was effectively exiled to Area 11 after it was annexed, and Milly willingly joined him.
- Like Parent, Like Child: Well, grandchild, but he can be somewhat dramatic like Milly at times, having once claimed that one of her schemes would be the end of the world. He's visibly unhappy that this ended up being Not Hyperbole when the Galra show up.
- The Professor: He's the man who designed the prototype for all modern Knightmare Frames.
- Raised by Grandparents: He is Milly's primary parental figure, on account of her mom being a status obsessed Social Climber and her father being too Weak-Willed to rein-in his wife.
- So Proud of You: Explicitly tells Milly he's proud of what she's accomplished while Voltron is recovering at Jupiter.
Milly's Parents
Mr. and Mrs. AshfordMilly's parents.
- Extreme Doormat: Milly's father is practically his wife's servant from how Milly and Reuben discuss him.
- The Ghost: Neither has appeared in the story as of yet. A conversation Milly has with her grandfather in Jupiter's Sanctuary reveals that they still live in the Britannian Homeland, so there lack of appearance is due to being outside the scope of the story.
- Social Climber: Milly's mother is implied to have married into the family at its zenith and did not take their fall from grace well at all. She's been trying to arrange a marriage for Milly that will see the family returned to nobility regardless of how Milly would feel about it.
Spoiler Character
Krolia
- Action Mom: Well, grandmother, but the point stands - she is a member of the Blade of Marmora, meaning she's spent years fighting against Zarkon.
- The Ghost: Has not been seen or even named at this point in the story. The hints provided so far make it obvious who she is, though.
- Heroes Prefer Swords: Like all members of the Blade of Marmora, she wields a Luxite Blade, which can switch between sword and knife forms. Lelouch inherited one from her.
- Like Grandmother, Like Grandson: It seems that rebelling against corrupt authorities is In the Blood for Lelouch.
