Code Prime has many examples between both human and Cybertronian characters.
- The square of Lelouch, Optimus Prime, Suzaku and Megatron work as this on very many levels:
- Lelouch and Optimus Prime: Both are rebel leaders who came from relatively prestigious backgrounds (Lelouch a Royal Britannian and Optimus a high-class archivist), care deeply for their friends, and have a natural gift for inspiring others with words only. But while Optimus managed to enact the reforms he sought while still maintaining his prestige (and was only forced to become violent when the Decepticons struck first), Lelouch lost almost everything as a child and initially led his revolution out of revenge, before coming to believe in his own rhetoric.
- Suzaku and Megatron: The two of them were low-class inhabitants of a flawed caste system but were able to rise to prominence by recognition of their incredible fighting valor. However, while Megatron rose to command and maintained loyalty within his ranks by making sure they always aware of his superior might, Suzaku is subservient (and by extension, much more manipulable) and would rather follow commands than issue them. Moreover, when finally confronted by the atrocities of their actions by their old friends, Megatron doubled down and ended up killing the very planet he lived on, while Suzaku suffered a crisis and eventually made a Heel–Face Turn to join the Black Knights.
- Lelouch and Megatron: Both are pragmatic planners and manipulators who strove to break down the system that spawned them (and the two are compared similarly many times), but unlike Megatron, Lelouch can feel compassion, empathy, and form strong bonds with others, while Megatron is a sociopath that only sees others as tools to achieve his goals. Also as previously mentioned, Lelouch was a Royal Britannian while Megatron was a low-class gladiator.
- Suzaku and Optimus: Both are incredible idealists that believe in the best of people (and like Lelouch and Megatron are often compared), but Optimus has had his ideals tempered with eons of experience and a better understanding of why conflicts can happen, making him more pragmatic, while Suzaku can't yet comprehend that some people just won't change for the better. Additionally as previously mentioned, Optimus started out as an archivist (a librarian, essentially) from the upper classes of Cybertron while Suzaku, though born into an influential family, was reduced to a second class citizen at best after his homeland was conquered ("11" turned "Honorary Britannian").
- Moreover, while Lelouch and Suzaku were already this in canon, their Foil status is further highlighted by their interactions with the Cybertronian leaders on their respective sides - Lelouch completely trusts Optimus and is slowly becoming a better person because of it, while Suzaku is understandably wary of Megatron and has slowly been corrupted by him. Nearing the end of R1, Lelouch acknowledges Optimus as more of a father to him than Charles ever was, while Suzaku, confronted with Megatron's atrocities with the SAZ massacre, finally broke with the Decepticons to join Lelouch and Optimus.
- Bumblebee finds Lelouch similar to Soundwave of all bots - both are master planners who pretty much obliterate their competition with well thought out strategies. Lelouch, in turn, upon learning of Soundwave, compares him to both himself and Schneizel. Of course, Soundwave was a low-ranked gladiator in the past while Lelouch and Schneizel were born privileged royals who are anything but fighters.
- Finally, Lelouch has one other pronounced foil: Bumblebee. In terms of attire, Lelouch is Dark Is Not Evil while Bumblebee is Light Is Good. Lelouch is a natural-born leader while Bumblebee prefers to follow the lead of others. Lelouch is a talented speaker while Bumblebee is The Speechless. Lelouch is a Non-Action Guy while Bee is a frontline fighter. Finally, in regards to knowledge, Lelouch and Bee represent intelligence and wisdom - Lelouch is a master planner and manipulator, but can still be caught flat-footed by things he didn't predict. Bee, meanwhile, may not be much of a planner but is well aware of how things can go wrong and warns Lelouch to expect unforeseen consequences.
- While it has yet to be brought up in the story, Kallen's actually a pretty good one for Soundwave - both are extremely talented warriors that hold positions of significant importance within their respective organizations. Both also hold special relationships with their respective leaders - a platonic one for Soundwave, a questionably romantic one for Kallen. Both relationships are also reciprocated. There's one very pronounced difference, though - while Soundwave downright encourages the worst parts of Megatron's behavior, Kallen brings out the best parts of Lelouch's character. Additionally, Kallen prefers to fight up close, while Soundwave normally uses his Mini-Con army and Groundbridge to deal with foes.
- Cornelia to Airachnid - both are highly skilled female fighters in their respective organizations with a penchant for melee combat. Other than that, though, the two could not be more different - Cornelia uses a ground-based Knightmare while Airachnid's alt-mode is a helicopter. Cornelia prefers blunt action against her foes while Airachnid enjoys playing with her victims. Cornelia leads her forces while Airachnid prefers to let others do the planning. Finally, while Cornelia has moments where she is surprisingly sympathetic (such as her concern for Euphemia), Airachnid is never portrayed as anything other than a monster.
- Cornelia's also one to her half brother, Lelouch. Both are Frontline Generals, but while Lelouch only leads from the front out of personal morals and is otherwise a lackluster pilot, Cornelia leads the charge because she enjoys battle and is a skilled warrior. Cornelia is brash and aggressive versus Lelouch being calm and collected. Lelouch has only been Outgambitted exactly once in the story, while Cornelia has only pulled off a single win. Things have only gone From Bad to Worse for Cornelia, while Lelouch's life has primarily gotten better. Additionally, while Cornelia has suffered numerous defeats yet absolutely refuses to swallow her pride, it took Lelouch receiving exactly one Humble Pie from her to realize he needed to start changing for the better. Finally, while both half siblings work with a Cybertronian leader, Cornelia prefers to work professionally with Megatron while Lelouch views Optimus as a Parental Substitute.
- Megatron to Airachnid - both are bloodthirsty Decepticons, but are diametrically opposite in all other regards. Airachnid is defined by her sadism while Megatron merely indulges in it when doing so will not compromise his other goals. Megatron is a
Lawful Evil warlord who wants to dominate others while Airachnid is a Chaotic Evil Torture Technician who wants to be free to torment others as she sees fit. Airachnid chooses to use an Earth helicopter alt-mode to allow her to blend in better with human forces while Megatron proudly uses a Cybertronian jet as his alt-mode because he wants to be recognized. Finally, Megatron rarely if ever loses his cool while Airachnid is tends to rapidly fall apart when things don't go her way. Lastly, Megatron comes out of R1 considerably better than he was at the start, while Airachnid comes out worse. That being said, both are Arch Enemies of Suzaku, for much the same reason - belittling his ideals, killing innocents, and tormenting Euphemia for their own amusement. - Starscream to Airachnid - the two of them are the least sympathetic of the Decepticons, share similar body-types, and have aerial alt-modes. As for differences:
- Starscream's alt-mode is a jet while Airachnid's is a helicopter.
- Starscream desires to lead, while Airachnid is willing to follow as long as she can indulge in her sadism.
- Starscream is a competent planner, but frequently has his schemes ruined by circumstances that could happen, but which he never expected. Airachnid, meanwhile, prefers to play things by ear, with most of her loses being due to a Spanner in the Works or five.
- Airachnid left the Decepticons because she wasn't able to indulge in her sadism following the end of the war. Starscream remained so that he could try and become leader.
- Starscream's actions are usually (but not always) Played for Laughs. Airachnid's actions, however, are always Played for Drama.
- Shirley Fenette to Kallen Kozuki - Shirley is calm, emotionally fragile, and wouldn't hurt a fly, while Kallen has quite a temper, has an unbreakable will to fight, and is the best Knightmare pilot among the Black Knights. Despite this, they actually get along very well. Romantically, Shirely is the Betty and Kallen the Veronica to Lelouch's Archie.
- Shirley Fenette to Euphemia li Britannia - both are kind, caring woman who are love interests to one of the human protagonists in the story. As for differences, Euphie is a princess while Shirley is implied to be a commoner, and Shirley is mostly uninvolved in the conflict between Britannia and the Black Knights/Autobots at least at first while Euphie tends to be close to the front lines even if she absolutely hates fighting. As for love interests, Suzaku has romantic feelings for Euphie as well, while Lelouch prefers to be Just Friends with Shirley.
- The Decepticons to the Autobots regarding their human allies - while the Autobots tend to be extremely friendly with the Black Knights (to the point that most of the named Autobots have human partners within the Black Knights), the Decepticons prefer to keep their relationship with their Britannian allies strictly professional, and eventually decide that Britannia has outlived its usefulness and make plans to conquer the empire.
