The Black Knights - Confidants - Other Vigilantes / The Irregulars / The Glinda Knights - Antagonists / Major Targets - Other Characters
open/close all folders
Major Targets
- See Major Targets
Other Targets
The Purist Faction and The Student Self-Defense Force
A fervently racist political/military faction within Area 11 and an equally racist student vigilante/police force at Ashford Academy, respectively. Both groups hold a connection to Coach Villetta Nu: she was a member of the former, and a founder of the latter.- Demoted to Extra: In canon, members of the Purist Faction served as initial enemies for Lelouch and the Black Knights to face, prior to their extermination at Narita. Here, the most any of them save Villetta and Jeremiah get is Kewell Soresi getting mentioned in passing before having a change of heart off-screen. And being brought up again later when his sister shows up as a member of the Glinda Knights.
- Killed Offscreen: In an organizational sense, both groups dissolve thanks to the off-screen heart thievery of the Black Knights.
- Lone Wolf Boss: In a very literal sense: the Shadow of the SSDF student leader transforms into a giant white wolf with a scaly tail.
- Quirky Miniboss Squad: What their collective membership (or their shadows, at least) ultimately amount to, narratively speaking. Clovis actually outlasts the group this time, though not by much.
Shadow Jeremiah
Jeremiah Gottwald's Shadow, faced by the Black Knights when they first started targeting the Purists.- Arc Villain: Subverted, but very narrowly. At the time he's confronted, Arthur notes his distortion was close to becoming a full-fledged Palace. Defeating him and revealing the survival of Empress Marianne's children prevented that, even if the distortion remains.
- BFS: Wields a giant sword after changing form.
- Mythology Gag: The creature he turns into, Siegfried, is weak to Nuke. The author admitted this was a reference to how he was first defeated in canon.
Vanessa Stadfelt
Kallen's stepmother.- Ascended Extra: In canon, she was nothing more than an adulterous noblewoman who treated Kallen's mother like crap and only appears in one episode and then is never heard of again. Here she's a target of the Black Knights, albeit not one with her own Palace, and many chapters later she makes a reappearance as a key character in the team's Black-Tie Infiltration to the real-world location where the Fifth Palace is based on.
- The Atoner: Her Heel Realization via Change of Hearts hits her hard, leaving her with years upon years of despicable actions that she can no longer justify to herself and very little means to actually atone for them. This is the reason she feels she Must Make Amends to Kallen in particular, but the latter has more than enough reasons to not want to have anything to do with her stepmother.
- The Bus Came Back: Comes back to the plot after an absence of about 30 chapters.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Appears as part of Kallen's Confidant plotline in Chapter 25, but she becomes unexpectedly relevant again in Chapter 54 when Lelouch needed a way into the Chinese Embassy's Masquerade Ball. Namely as Mrs. Stadfelt's plus one, an inconspicuous enough cover for him thanks to her pre-Heel Realization reputation as a serial Mrs. Robinson.
- Cruel Mercy: Her opinion on her own change of heart, which did nothing to her physically but left her with the memories of all her awful deeds in life and no way to think of her sins as anything but what they are.
- Everything's Sparkly with Jewelry: She wears a fancy diamond necklace for the Masquerade Ball. Lelouch fought back a smirk picturing how envious her previous self would have been of Kallen wearing the Queen's Necklace.
- The Fashionista: She used to be one, investing a lot of time and money on looking her best. With her change of heart getting rid of her It's All About Me mindset, this trope was one of the first things to go. She can still fake it well enough if she has to, as it was the case for the Masquerade Ball.
- Freudian Excuse: While Mrs. Stadtfeld remains self-entitled as always in the process, her Shadow's rants shows she's not entirely unsympathetic. Kallen's stepmother thought she was in for a Perfectly Arranged Marriage to Lord Stadtfeld after he was forced to divorce his Japanese wife once Britannia annexed Area 11. Due to her Blue Blood upbringing, Mrs. Stadtfeld considered her husband's previous family completely inconsequential, but when it was discovered that she can't have children, he used it as an opportunity to legitimatize his children. Rather than a divorce, a deal was struck where Kallen was formally adopted and made the heir on the condition that the girl would never see her mother again. However, he broke his promise after Kallen's mother literally threw herself at his feet and begged to not be separated from her child and he hired her as a maid. His betrayal hurt Mrs. Stadtfeld a lot, who thought he did it because he still loved his ex-wife more than he ever did her and not helped at all that by the fact he never once touched her afterwards. Knowing that he would never let her fire her, she made her life miserable instead, probably in an attempt to make her quit, but Kallen's mother endured it all. From then and on, Mrs. Stadtfeld became obsessed with her appearance and desirability, even turning to serial adultery for validation and developing a taste for playing The Vamp to younger lovers — but between the lines, it seems it was all a gigantic cry for attention that her husband never heeded.
- Fridge Logic: In-Universe. She realizes that the Black Knights targeting her in particular out of all nobles in Area 11 with much worse crimes to their names makes no sense unless they had a personal reason for it. Going by the timing of her change of heart, Mrs Stadtfeld immediately suspected Kallen and her boyfriend, whom she met just a little before, plus the already suspicious fact that Kallen stopped skipping class.
- Heel–Face Brainwashing: Deconstructed. Triggering a change of heart in her definitely made her a better person, but technically that only got rid of her It's All About Me mindset that allowed her to justify and rationalize away her awful actions. Without her "distorted heart", she's left only a crushing sense of guilt and none of the people she wronged want to really have anything to do with her.
- I Hate Past Me: She really dislikes her pre-change of heart self, find her vain, petty, and cruel.
- Meet the In-Laws: Invoked. Her one condition to agree to Kallen's request to help them get Lelouch into the Chinese Embassy as her plus-one for the Masquerade Ball was to meet him alone before the event. Her actual goals were to talk with one of the members of the Black Knights other than Kallen, and of course find out what kind of man her stepdaughter so obviously fell for.
- Mrs. Robinson:
- She has a long record of short affairs with younger men until her change of heart put an end to it.
- More specifically, she was very appreciative of Lelouch's good looks when he visited the Stadtfeld Manor for the first time. Lelouch completely missed it, but Kallen most definitely didn't and held something of a grudge against her stepmother for it.
- Lelouch observes that her husband seems to be well-aware of this and made sure of not hiring any male personnel for the manor. Not that it stopped her pre-Heel Realization dalliances any, but at least Lord Stadtfeld apparently took care of having to sign the paycheques of the guy(s) screwing his wife.
- Also an Exploited Trope. When she's invited to the Masquerade Ball at the Chinese embassy, Lelouch arranges with Kallen to have him attend as her stepmother's plus-one, knowing that people wouldn't look twice at Mrs. Stadtfeld in the company of yet another handsome young man. Although he does have some reservations about taking advantage of her poor reputation like that, he has no other inconspicuous way to enter the embassy.
- Must Make Amends: Her reaction to her Change of Heart. Sadly there's just too much for her to atone for, and one of the people she wants to make amends to the most, her stepdaughter Kallen, won't even give her the time of the day.
- Named by the Adaptation: She's named "Vanessa" in Chapter 56, unlike canon where she was a one-off character only named "Step Mother" in Stage 9's closing credits.
- Offing the Offspring: A passive example. Her pre-Heel Realization self was really hoping that Kallen would herself killed during one of her visits to the ghettos or while helping La Résistance. That's why she didn't do much to stop her, like letting Kallen get away with telling everybody at school she was ill because it would have served as a convenient cover story for that very scenario.
- Parents Know Their Children: Her relationship with Kallen is a far cry from a functional one, but Vanessa correctly deduced that Lelouch was actually important to her stepdaughter due to two O.O.C. Is Serious Business moments. First, Kallen stopped skipping class after he entered the picture. Second and more importantly, she asked her a favor for his sake, something she never expected Kallen to ever do for any reason at all.
- Peacock Girl: The theme of her Masquerade Ball costume. Lelouch Lampshaded the typical bit of
Fridge Logic in this trope where peacock flared train is actually a feature of male peafowl instead. - Reformed, but Rejected: She feels she Must Make Amends after her Heel Realization, especially to Kallen, but the latter is not having any of it. It's implied that the only time Kallen even talked to her since her mother was arrested after almost OD-ing on Refrain was at Lelouch's request and only due to official Black Knight businesses. Lelouch advises Vanessa to try and help Kallen's mother instead, and if getting her released on parole is not possible, at least try to get her moved to a better facility.
- Secret Secret-Keeper: Chapter 55 reveals she figured out that Lelouch and Kallen are Black Knights, reasoning that her heart was changed the day after she first met Lelouch and they'd have no reason to target her specifically unless she had personally provoked them. Upgraded to Secret-Keeper once she reveals this to them.
- Unkempt Beauty: Lelouch thinks she's an "outwardly a beautiful woman" when he sees her without any makeup and lacking an elaborate hairstyle like in their first meeting. Although his perception likely has more to do with how she's no longer the hateful person she once was.
Shadow Nina
Nina Einstein's Shadow, faced by the Black Knights after she herself requested her heart be changed.- Killer Robot: Turns into one resembling a Knightmare Frame for her boss fight.
Eleanor Ashford
Milly's mother, who's determined to reclaim her family's noble status regardless of what her daughter wants.- Arc Villain: Effectively serves as this for Milly's story arc.
- Expy: Her Shadow draws heavy reference to Cinderella, and by extension, Kasumi Yoshizawa's Persona Cendrillon.
- Foil: Lelouch considers her one to Kallen's stepmother, Vanessa Stadfelt.
- Kill It with Fire: Due to a dislike of the idea of 'returning to cinders' (becoming a commoner again), her Shadow has a weakness to Fire attacks.
- Rags to Riches: Was a mere commoner who managed to get married to Lord Ashford's son. After getting caught up in the noble lifestyle, she didn't take the family's fall from grace very well.
Colonel Madd
A Code-R scientist and military commander originally intended to lead the Artificial Persona Users produced by the project also tasked with recapturing Mao and the Irregulars after they Escaped from the Lab. The Irregulars under their new leader Nemo changed his heart in order to halt any coordinated effort to recapture them.His Palace takes the form of a factory, representing the way he sees people as an obsolete product meant to be improved upon by him into a superior version capable of using Persona, only to then be mass-produced for his own recognition.
- Berserk Button: Disrespecting him in any form, as a result of his Freudian Excuse.
- Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: Alice describes the berserk form of his Shadow as a very large mechanical thing that "could barely qualify as remotely human".
- Cyborg: He isn't one as in canon, but his Shadow is really big on artificial augmentations for himself and others. The Mooks in his Palace can be accurately described as Cyborg Zombies.
- Didn't See That Coming: An "Unknown Unknowns" example. He knows about Persona Users and the Metaverse, but he has no idea about the existence of the MetaNav, so he saw no danger in not taking Alice's phone from her because he knew for a fact they were in a no reception area and instead prioritized moving them to a secure location as soon as possible. Alice would later reach for her phone despite her restrains, activating the MetaNav and having the four of them escape to the Metaverse.
- Evil Gloating: Gives the Irregulars a Motive Rant when he briefly recaptures them, even calling them "ungrateful" for running away and interfering with his effort to "perfect" them. This backfires big time on him because the voice recognition function of the MetaNav in Alice's phone accidentally picked up the keywords to enter his Palace, not only allowing the girls to escape but also paving the way for them to change his heart later on. In his defense, he had no way to know that could happen.
- Evilutionary Biologist: He sees Persona Users as a superior evolutionary stage for humanity. His Shadow shows that at some level he genuinely thinks he is doing Code-R's victims a favor by experimenting on them to try to have them awaken to their Personas and make them into something more than "mindless rabble".
- Freudian Excuse: His obvious non-Britannian ancestry earned him the constant scorn of many of his colleagues, both as a scientist and in the military. This made any perceived disrespect into his Berserk Button and became rabidly obsessed with proving himself.
- Large and in Charge: Madd is a tall and physically imposing man and was in charge of the military applications of the Code-R project.
- Nightmarish Factory: His Palace is a cavernous factory that produces the "perfected" humans that he wants to create in the real world, guarded by Cyborg Zombie Mooks.
- Pragmatic Villainy: He didn't indulge in any General Ripper clichés to try and catch the escaped Irregulars. He simply came up with detailed fake profiles for the four girls as runaway mental patients and put them up in a wanted list at hospitals because he knew the Irregulars would need medical attention sooner or later. The profiles had specific instructions about what treatment to give them because he simply couldn't have his specimen dying before recapture, plus orders to ER personnel to keep the girls sedated and call him to pick them up. It worked like a charm, the Irregulars only managing to escape again because he didn't know about the MetaNav.
- Uncertain Doom: It's unknown what happened to him after the Irregulars changed his heart, though 'officially' he was demoted and reassigned. They only know he didn't fully confess to the press, so they guess a third party kept him from talking.
- Would Hit a Girl: His Shadow throws Nunnally out of her wheelchair, but it's interrupted by the apparition of her Shadow before he could do more.
Carine ne Britannia
The fifth princess of Britannia, and the first target of the Glinda Knights. Her palace looked like a violent mishmash of various gladiatorial arenas and sights of bloodsport.- Blood Knight: Delighted in war and violence even in her younger years.
- Unwitting Pawn: Was being used by whoever killed Marrybell's mother and sister (and Empress Marianne) to kill Marrybell herself.
Luciano Bradley
The sadistic Knight of Ten, known as the 'Vampire of Britannia'. Fittingly, his palace took the form of a vampire's castle.- Blood Knight: He referred to himself as a 'Homicide Genius', and lived up to the title.
- Unwitting Pawn: Was being used by whoever is targeting Marrybell and the Glinda Knights.
- Would Hit a Girl: His preferred targets were young women.
Black Mask (Major Spoilers)
Persona users triggering Mental Shutdowns following some unknown agendas, and yes, the plural is not a typo. Both the Black Knights and the audience believed that there was just one Black Mask as revealed in Clovis' dying words, but Chapter 41 confirmed there's at least two of them who appear to work for independent and possibly competing parties.
Given the current scarcity of information, it's hard to tell which Black Mask did what. For convenience's sake, this section will cover both. A distinction will be made between Clovis' assassin (the one who used to kill on Clovis' orders and confronts the Irregulars in Chapter 53), referred to by the Irregulars as "Black Mask", and Britannia's assassin (the one that appeared in Chapter 41 in front of Zero and Nemo), referred to by the Irregulars as "Black Armor".
Given the current scarcity of information, it's hard to tell which Black Mask did what. For convenience's sake, this section will cover both. A distinction will be made between Clovis' assassin (the one who used to kill on Clovis' orders and confronts the Irregulars in Chapter 53), referred to by the Irregulars as "Black Mask", and Britannia's assassin (the one that appeared in Chapter 41 in front of Zero and Nemo), referred to by the Irregulars as "Black Armor".
Black Mask/Nebiros
Persona: Loki
- Affably Evil: Remains amiable despite just killing someone by headshoting their Shadow.
- Always a Bigger Fish: The Irregulars manage to escape from him in Chapter 53 by luring him to the Reaper and then leaving Mementos.
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Claims he doesn't remember how many people he's killed, claiming it's similar to not counting how many times someone has brushed their teeth or had a meal.
- Code Name: Is called "Nebiros" by his superior (who is implied to be V.V.). For those who have seen the Code Geass compilation movies, this all but confirms Black Mask's identity.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Barely Subverted. He was about to dish one to the Irregulars, but Nunnally's quick thinking allowed them to escape.
- Establishing Character Moment: Keeps a conversational tone of voice despite just casually shooting someone's Shadow in the head and thus triggering a mental shutdown in the real person.
- Fashionable Evil: His Thief Suit looks like a period outfit for the nobility, but with some concession to practicability like combat boots. Something of a Foil to Black Armor's self-descriptive outfit.
- Lack of Empathy: He has zero empathy for all the people he has killed, comparing murder to an everyday task like brushing his teeth.
- Mundane Utility: Maybe "mundane" is stretching it, but Black Mask uses a flash grenade and the perfectly timed activation of the Metanav to kidnap Princess Euphemia and seemingly disappear without a trace in the middle of a crowd.
- Mysterious Informant: The antagonist version. It's heavily implied that he was the one who gave the anonymous tip telling Consul-General Gao Hai that someone had just broken into his office in the Chinese Federation embassy, which allows the latter to catch Lelouch and Kallen red-handed. It would also have gotten them arrested under Chinese Federation laws were it not for Marrybell's intervention and Lelouch deciding to drag Xingke to the Metaverse.
- Obviously Evil: If his appearance wasn't a big clue, it's him using Loki that seals the deal.
- Smoke Out: Pulls it off perfectly in Chapter 57 with the use of a flash grenade and the Metanav.
Black Armor
- Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: Subverted. If Alice/Speed hadn't killed Mao/Medjed at the end, Black Armor would have done it himself.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Black Armor may be a Professional Killer working for The Empire, but even he is disgusted by the other Black Mask who's just a flat-out murderer who kills people for self-profit and the benefit of their benefactors.
- Knight Templar: Black Armor operates under the belief he kills only "the truly guilty". Unlike Mao, he doesn't pick his targets himself and spares the Black Knights and the Irregulars the first time he meets them because it goes against his code of conduct. His actual morals are hard to pin down because he only admits to attempting to murder Mao, who was indeed a Serial Killer, kidnapper, too fond of Breaking Speeches, and all-around Asshole Victim when defeated.
The Director/Victor zi Britannia
The elder twin brother of Emperor Charles, and the man that Black Mask takes his orders from.- Abusive Parent: Is known as Father by the Child Soldiers of the cult. It's clear that he doesn't actually care about any of them save as useful tools for The Plan.
- Adaptational Name Change: In Code Geass, the organization V.V. leads is referred to as the Geass Order. Here, since the power of Geass has been replaced (both In-Universe and out of it), said organization instead goes by its designation from Code Geass: Nightmare of Nunnally, the Eden Vital Order.
- Age Lift: He's physically much older in this universe, as he doesn't have a code to stunt his aging. He still acts like a Manchild, though.
- The Dragon: Serves this roles in relation to his brother, the Emperor.
- Evil Twin: Downplayed - he does love his brother, Charles, but he is not above going behind Charles' back for selfish reasons.
- Evil Uncle: To Nunnally and Lelouch, since he gave Black Mask the order to kill Clovis and frame Lelouch for the deed, as well as tasking him with interfering with the Black Knights and Irregulars' actions in general.
- The Man Behind the Man: Serves as this for 'Agent Nebiros', instructing him in his work in the Metaverse.
- Sibling Team: Is in one with Charles, acting as a dark Foil to Lelouch and Nunnally's partnership.
- Story-Breaker Power: His Persona is capable of partially manifesting in the real world. He's also somehow able to pull people into the Metaverse on his own.
- Villain Takes an Interest: While he seems dismissive of Empress Marianne's children, he is curious about Nunnally's current arrangement with Nemo.
- Walking Spoiler: Given both who he is and what his persona is in regards to the Persona franchise, he counts.
