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alt title(s): Code Geass Lelouch Of The Rebellion; Le Louch 
"If the king doesn't lead, how can he expect his subordinates to follow?"
"It wasn't me who was wrong. It was the world!"
"The only ones who should kill are those who are prepared to be killed!"
—Three of Lelouch's mottos.
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion is an anime that aired from 2006-2008. Set in an Alternate History where Britain won the American Revolution only for Napoleon to conquer the British Isles, causing the royalty to flee to the American continent and establish the Holy Britannian Empire, the world's only superpower and the proverbial quarter-ton gorilla, which is ruled by a darwinist Emperor (who happens to be a slightly-less-than-proverbial quarter-ton gorilla himself). In 2010 of the Imperial Calendar, Britannia invades Japan in order to secure an important mineral resource. Thanks to their Humongous Mecha, the invasion is over in less than a month, and Japan is stripped of everything — including its name, leaving them with the new designation "Area 11". Seven years later, the story begins, centering on two friends who first met shortly before the war.
Our protagonist is Lelouch Lamperouge, a Britannian student who encounters the Mysterious Waif C.C. — pronounced as "C Two" (or, in the Japanese, " Shi-Tsu"). They make a deal which results in him gaining an Evil Eye which allows him to issue orders than cannot be disobeyed. With this power and his incredible intelligence, Lelouch jumps at the call and takes on the identity of the masked villain anti-hero terrorist freedom fighter murderer savior V clone Light Yagami clone Char Expy Batman washer-dryer combo man Zero and leads Japan's resistance groups in a war to destroy Britannia in the name of justice.
Meanwhile his friend Suzaku Kururugi, the son of Japan's last Prime Minister, has joined up with Britannia with the intent of reforming the corrupt nation from within. Unfortunately, as a "Number", he's little more than a mask-wearing mook ... until he accidentally becomes the pilot of the Super Prototype Lancelot, which in turn allows him to meet a fellow Wide Eyed Idealist, the Rebellious Princess Euphemia, who shares many of his beliefs.
The major conflict in the series comes not simply from the war between Britannia and Japan, but also from the clash of ideals between the two friends. Lelouch and Suzaku's war isn't just a traditional war, but a conflict of opposites: brains versus brawn, cynicism versus idealism, and Lawful Evil vs Chaotic Good. Note that deciding who is which depends entirely on your perspective.
Code Geass began airing in October 2006 and immediately became a runaway success, spawning a merchandising juggernaut and winning many industry awards. The brainchild of Planetes creators Goro Taniguchi and Ichiro Okouchi, Geass brings their usual style and flair for the dramatic to the Real Robot genre. The series also received a good bit of early word-of-mouth thanks to the decision to hire CLAMP as character designers. Geass plays with several character archetypes and tropes; for example, the show turns the traditional Real Robot protagonist archetype into The Rival, while making its hero a Well Intentioned Extremist in the vein of Char Aznable.
The series is also noteworthy for producing an incredible amount of All There In The Manual, including Radio Drama-like Sound Episodes, Picture Dramas, and DVD-exclusive short stories that help flesh out the show's universe and expand on its characters. Also included are four Alternate Continuity manga:
- Lelouch of the Rebellion is the most faithful to the anime, but removes the Humongous Mecha and most of the military action in favor of more comedy and Shojou elements.
- Suzaku of the Counterattack skews more Shonen, focusing on Suzaku rather than Lelouch and turning the Lancelot into a powersuit so he can act like a Kamen Rider.
- Nightmare of Nunnally, a vast departure from the normal Code Geass, focuses on Lelouch's Ill Girl sister Nunnally, who becomes a Little Miss Badass in an Evangelionesque mecha and battles similarly-powered girls. Oh, and Lelouch returns later on, channeling Master Asia.
- Strange Tales of the Bakamatsu is a Universal Adaptor Cast story, placing the characters in the Bakamatsu era of Japanese history, making Lelouch the head of The Shinsengumi while secretly opposing the Meiji reforms brought on by Britannia (here standing in for Admiral Perry).
Code Geass has also produced three video games to date: a self-titled RPG for the Nintendo DS that mostly follows the first season, a Visual Novel called Lost Colors, and a board/party game, also for the DS, focusing on the second season.
The sequel series, Code Geass R2, aired on Japanese television from April to September 2008; all that can be said from a neutral standpoint is that it generated possibly the biggest Broken Base in recent history. Both series and the first three manga are licensed in America by Bandai Entertainment, with both series running more or less concurrently on Adult Swim. In late December 2008, the Sunrise anime studio indicated its intention of continuing the franchise in the future but no specifics were described. In December of 2009, it was announced that there would be a new manga titled Code Geass: Renya of the Dark (script by Goro Taniguchi, art by Tomomasa Takuma), wherein the eponymous protagonist encounters C.C. in Edo-period Japan. In addition, producer Yoshitaka Kawaguchi has stated that other new products are also in the works. In January 2010, Kawaguchi added that he wants to announce a new animated production "soon" but didn't specify its format.
This series has Fetish Fuel and Tear Jerker pages. It also has both Crowning Moment of Awesome and Narm pages, and it's a testament to the show's utter over-the-topness (and possibly its Broken Base) that in many cases these are one and the same. It's also a testament to the show's sheer over-the-topness that it's the first show to get its own Memetic Mutation page.
To all future editors, Please Please Please Please add tropes related to the characters to the Code Geass Character Sheet, not here in the main page.
Tropes Named:
Code Geass provides examples of:
- The Abridged Series
- Absurdly Powerful Student Council: Milly twice mobilizes the entire student body to a specific task with nothing but a PA announcement.
- Milly being part of the (former) noble family Ashford (as in Ashford Academy) does give at least some reasoning behind it.
- Not to mention the popularity of Milly and the Vice President Lelouch.
- And the fact that she promised a kiss from a student council member, and all the student council members are Bishonen and Bishoujo.
- Then again, her last act as student council president was to organize an event where a person snatching another's hat would designate those two as an official couple...and not, apparently, just for the duration of the game.
- Adaptation Decay: The Lelouch of the Rebellion manga has several changes from the anime series, most notably the removal of Knightmare Frames and several characters being removed or Demoted To Extra, resulting in several additional changes to have the story continue on the same general course as the anime.
- Adaptation Distillation: The Lelouch Of The Rebellion manga covers the first half of R2 in the course of about a single volume.
- Aerith And Bob: In this anime, characters with names like Jeremiah and Shirley play alongside characters with names like Lelouch and Villetta.
- Airborne Aircraft Carrier: The Avalon, the Emperor's Great Britannia, the Ikaruga (which is submersible as well), and several other flying airships which are either passenger transports or cargo ships.
- Airstrip One: All the conquered territories of the Holy Britannian Empire. Japan is now "Area 11".
- Alas Poor Villain: Mao's death scene is pretty sweet and touching, and some consider it a bona fide Tear Jerker. Lelouch's death is an even bigger example, though that at least partially depends on whether or not you consider him a "villain."
- Alternate Character Interpretation: Besides the obvious "Lelouch is the Anti Hero/villain" and "Suzaku is the Anti Villain/hero", there are those who believe Zero is the hero of the story and that Lelouch is the villain. Despite them being the same person. It makes more sense in context than it sounds. Suzaku in this setup... is somewhere in the middle. Or nowhere.
- Alternate History: And it can get pretty out there. For example, the American Revolution failed because Ben Franklin sided with Great Britain. Then Napoleon conquered Europe, including England, so Britannia rebuilt its empire on the other side of the Atlantic.
- And I Must Scream: But not in the way that you think. While in a particularly bad mood Lelouch Geass' one man to bark like a dog and another to dance like an idiot. It sounds funny but then you realize they'll be doing exactly that until they "expire."
- Anime First
- Anime Hair: Not every last character, but a fair few. Sometimes taken to such an extreme it even gets lampshaded in the DVD Commentary.
- Anvilicious: Racism, racism, racism, racism, racism.
- Anyone Can Die: And how.
- Well, not that much. Most of the cast survives, especially the ones that are unlikely to survive in real life war. Notably, all the Black Knights members that were not killed in the last episode of R1 survive, despite statements that various Japanese people were publicly executed. Why would you not kill the highest ranking members of the rebellion!? Hurt them later on when Zero got the entire Black Knights reassembled with only 4 deaths. In the entire series, only four major-to-2nd-tier characters die, all of which connected by a single, obvious thread: Code Geass is about making Lelouch suffer. On the other hand, of the named characters who go into battle, the team of support pilots for the Black Knights and Brittania each lose all by one member, and in R2 alone. Not that anyone seemed to care. And, of course, 2/3rds of the Knights Of Round are killed, including the super talented Knight Of One. But not the less talented Gino, also shot down in the same battle by the same man. Go figure.
- An essential question, now: does Anyone Can Die necessarily have to mean that the show runs up a high body count? Or just that characters die who you wouldn't expect to die, in ways that you wouldn't expect them to die?
- Arc Words: A minor example invoked by Zero, who spouts something about "orange" while threatening a crowded area with an (empty) capsule of poison gas just to screw with everyone. For about two episodes various characters wonder what it could possibly mean before giving up and making it a derogatory nickname for Jeremiah.
- Artistic License: Chess Does Not Work That Way. On several occasions, but to take an example in the first episode: once you're truly losing a game, it doesn't much matter how great a player you are. The only way to win at that point is for your opponent to make at least one horrible blunder. (And, if he or she does make blunder, you don't necessarily need to be all that good a player to take advantage.) Furthermore, even if you're already 'winning'', against a decent opponent, if you move your king just to show how "brave" you are, that's likely going to be a terrible move that could — and, frankly, should — cost you the game. However, while not a strictly accurate depiction of chess, it serves as a useful metaphor for Lelouch's character and leadership style.
- The English dub has an even more egregious example: Schneizel declares "checkmate" in his match with Zero and everyone talks about how he has left himself open, while Zero seems to consider it a test to see if he would "take the bait". Anyone who has played the game knows that checkmate means that you have won the game. Presumably Schneizel meant something more along the lines of "check."
- The worst part is that he used his own king to put Zero's king in check, breaking one of the most fundamental rules of chess.
- Actually, Schneizel is calling Checkmate on himself, as the move he makes essentially forfeits and makes a mockery of the game. That move is so invalid that it's ridiculous and unexpected, and that's the point.
- Assimilation Plot: What the Ragnarok Connection, the Emperor's and Marianne's ultimate plan, aimed to achieve. It's pretty similar to Neon Genesis Evangelion's Instrumentality, but with a different set of symbols.
- Author Appeal: Someone on the staff may have some kind of bondage fetish as imprisoned characters in various types of bondage wear appear several times during both series.
- Awesome But Practical: Slash harkens, the rocket-propelled, tethered projectiles used by almost every Knightmare Frame, were devised by the show's mechanical designers because they figured the machines should have a weapon without ammunition limits.
- Awesome Mc Coolname: Several. Relates to Aerith And Bob.
- Badass Crew: The Knights of the Round.
- Bad Guys Play Pool: Suzaku and Gino play pool with Schniezel, Kanon, Cornelia, Lloyd and Cecile while discussing Tokyo being nuked.
- Banned In China: A) Portraying the Chinese as manipulative eunuchs, B) exemplifying the dignity of conquered peoples going hand-in-hand with striking back against the government, and C) having Tibet as an independent nation (reference is made to the Tibet Convention). It's a B.I.C. Triple Play!
- The Beautiful People: Nearly the entire cast. (What do you expect with designs from CLAMP?)
- Better On DVD: Not surprising, given the complexities of the plot and the Loads And Loads Of Characters.
- Beyond The Impossible: The universe exists purely to screw over Lelouch in increasingly unlikely circumstances.
- Which makes it all the more incredible when he manages to succeed despite this, which he does the majority of the time.
- BFS: Both Bismark Waldstein and his Knightmare carry one.
- Big Damn Heroes: When Lelouch finally reaches the end of his rope, runs out of cards, put into checkmate, is completely, totally, and utterly FUCKED... this happens.
- Also an egregious example in Nightmare of Nunnally, where Nunnally is to be burned for witchcraft and Euphemia and Suzaku burst in, with a "YES MY LORD!" to boot.
- Big Screwed Up Family: Look no further than the Britannian Royalty.
- Bishoujo: All of the female characters are very beautiful. It's CLAMP; what do you expect?
- Bishounen: The character designs were by CLAMP, so no surprises here. Schneizel, Lelouch, Suzaku, Rolo, etc.
- Bittersweet Ending: In the end, Lelouch achieves his ultimate goal, making the world a better place for all his friends and loved ones ... at the cost of his own life. Or maybe that's just what he wants you to think.
- Black Knight: The Black Knights.
- Black Screen Of Death: The sadistic Cliff Hanger end of season one.
- Blood Splattered Wedding Dress: Not literally a wedding dress, but definitely blood splattered. Even gets a mention in the episode's title.
- Bodyguard Crush: Reciprocated, blossoming into a real relationship, between Princess Euphemia and her knight Suzaku. Later, another between Kallen and Zero.
- Book Ends: "One should not kill unless they are ready to be killed themselves!"
- Breather Episode: Episode 12 of R2, filled with pure fanservice and almost no main plot advancement whatsoever, except for the mandatory cliffhanger in the end.
- Brick Joke: Remember when Tamaki was harassing Zero about giving him an official position in the Black Knights during R2? Well, it takes a few episodes of waiting and a sharp eye during the UNF ratification ceremony, but we finally find out what position he got: Internal Cleaning Supporter. Yup, he's a glorified janitor.
- Broken Base: By the end of the series, the pro-Lelouch vs. anti-Lelouch halves of the fandom were so divided that, in spite of the end revealing that everything Lelouch did was to bring about a genuine peace people chose for themselves, as well as democracy, freedom, and happiness for all his friends at the cost of the world hating his memory forever, one side was still acting like he was worse than forty Hitlers. That's as many as four tens. And that's terrible.
- Brother Sister Incest: Lelouch is just a little too fond of Nunnally. Then of course there's the whole thing with Euphemia. There's even one seen where it appears that she's naked and just wearing Zero's cloak. What could that possibly mean?
- For the latter, it means that her clothes were drying out (she evidently swam to shore) and Lelouch lent her the cape instead of having her walk around naked.
- Then maybe Lelouch really is evil.
- For the latter, also one has to take into account, the last thing he says to her when he killed her, was "Goodbye, Euphie. You may have been the first girl I ever loved."
- Lulu isn't the only member of their big happy family whose brother-sister scenes have a weirdly incestuous subtext: Schneizel openly flirts with Cornelia, and Cornelia hovers over Euphie in much the same way Lelouch hovers over Nunnally.
- Bear in mind that this is the Britannian royal family we're talking about here, and historically incest has been common among royalty. To take one extreme: Egyptian (and after Alexander the Great, Macedonian) pharoahs were expected to marry their sisters.
- Call To Agriculture: Lord Jeremiah ends the series in, of all things, an orange grove. Possibly also a reference to when he had to face demotion or a dishonorable discharge. The Euphemism they used for the discharge was "start an orange farm." It shows not only that he wanted new growth after the war, but also reminded him daily of his choice to join Lelouch.
- Cassandra Truth: Lelouch's confession to Suzaku in R2 17 at Kururugi Shrine.
- Catch Phrase
- "Yes, my Lord!" or "Yes, your Highness." (spoken in English by the Japanese cast)
- "Lelouch vi Britannia commands you ..."
- "With all your strength!"
- "All tasks at hand have been cleared."
- "Congratulations!" or "Too bad, but ..."
- "LOYALTY!"
- Cats Are Mean: Mostly played straight, but subverted at a crucial plot point.
- Chainsaw Good: Mao comes up with a hilariously disturbing solution on how to "ship C.C. to Australia" *nervous laugh*. ("I'll make you compact!") Also, the Four Holy Swords' Knightmares have chainsaw katanas.
- Chess Motifs: Let's start with Zero's uniform — which could almost literally be a human-sized classic Staunton chess set king◊ stuffed into a superhero cape — but the list goes on and on and on.
- A Child Shall Lead Them: Jiang Luhua, the Tianzi, is only thirteen years old.
- Kaguya Sumeragi — head of the influential Sumeragi House; High Chairman of the UFN; Japan's representative on said council — is only about fourteen by the events of R2.
- Nunnally begins her rule of Britannia, the world's last remaining superpower, when she has just turned fifteen.
- CLAMP: Did the character designs. Yes, it shows. Everywhere.
- Cliff Hanger: Almost every episode, albeit with widely varying levels of intensity. The first season finale ends with a cliffhanger that makes you want to
kill something with a hammer blow something up with a bomb. If anything, the second season still further uppsed the ante, concluding with an Or Is It in the series finale's epilogue.
- Coincidental Broadcast: In episode eight of the first season, the Black Knights catching the hoteljacking incident on the news.
- Compelling Voice: Lelouch's Geass power.
- Complete Monster: An Invoked Trope and in-series example: Lelouch wanted everyone to hate him, so that his death would bring world peace.
- Luciano Bradley, a Psycho For Hire whose only motive for joining the Knights of the Round was to have a "legitimate" reason to kill people. When Kallen kills him, his fellow Rounds don't even really seem to notice, much less care.
- Conspicuous CG: No, not the mecha — those are hand-drawn. However, during Kallen and Suzaku's final battle, there's a 30 second clip in which the surrounding scenery seems to be made up of cel-shaded 3D graphics. Also, flags in the wind and trains.
- Contemplate Our Navels: In the very last episode, everyone goes through the "Why we fight" speech. And I mean everyone. And they all do it at the same time.
- Crash Into Hello: How Princess Euphemia first meets Suzaku. Except it's a vertical crash: Euphie falls / jumps onto Suzaku from a window.
- Crowning Music Of Awesome: Nightmare, and Madder Sky.
- The Danza: Kento Sugiyama is voiced by Noriaki Sugiyama, Inoue is voiced by Kikuko Inoue and Nagisa Chiba is voiced by Saeko Chiba.
- Dark Skinned Blonde: Rakshata.
- Date Crepe: Euphie and Suzaku after their Meet Cute.
- Death Is Dramatic: And HOW! (At least with sufficiently major characters. Minor characters, especially those with no real ties to the main characters, tend to suffer fates offscreen with little to-do.)
- Death Of The Author: Despite Word Of God on the Really Dead Montage, a vocal segment of rabid fandom still fiercely believes that Lelouch is Hes Just Hiding. Another, and exacerbating, example of the show's Broken Base.
- Decoy Getaway: C.C. sometimes dresses as Zero to aid Lelouch in his plans and/or to lend him plausible deniability. In the second season, Sayoko does the opposite (of sorts) by disguising herself as Lelouch (the Rich Guy With No Day Job version).. As if to top them both, at the end of R2, Suzaku kills Lelouch at Lelouch's own request and takes up the Zero identity.
- Defeat Means Friendship: Subverted with Schneizel. After Lelouch finally beats him in the second-to-last episode, he uses a Geass to force Schneizel to serve him. Or, more precisely, to serve Zero — a distinction soon to become important.
- Deflector Shields: First introduced on the Lancelot's arm gauntlets. Later shown on a large scale with the Avalon.
- Delayed Explosion
- Diabolus Ex Machina: Sometimes, you'd be forgiven for thinking Lelouch's main opponent was called Murphy.
- Episode 22 of the first season in particular is the poster child for this trope.
- Did You Just Make Cthulhu Your Butler?: Lelouch Geasses God — or the collective human consciousness also known as such — in order to kill his immortal father. He did at least ask nicely.
- Die For Our Ship: One of the characters in question, Shirley, actually does.
- In addition, Rolo, who had killed Shirley, later performed a Heroic Sacrifice to save Lelouch.
- Do Not Adjust Your Set: Zero is fond of this. Charles pulls this off once as well.
- Dont Tell Mama: Variation: Lelouch tries to keep his alter ego secret from his sister.
- Downer Ending: Pretty much everything goes to hell for everyone at the end of season one. A lot of individual episodes in R2 do this as well, especially when the series reminds you that Anyone Can Die.
- DVD Commentary: With the Japanese producers and cast. (Includes subtitles.)
- Earn Your Happy Ending: To specify, the cost is the main character's life. (Oh, and the lives of a few others.)
- But at least everyone who hasn't already died a tragic death lives happily ever after!
- Ear Worm: "JIBUN WOOOOOO!"
- The Empire: Britannia.
- Engineered Public Confession: The Chinese Eunuchs should REALLY have considered the possibility that their conversation with Zero could be recorded before they gleefully mouthed off about how "the people are ants" and that the much-beloved child empress is "just a puppet who can easily be replaced." Hilarity Ensues as the entire Chinese Federation '''simultaneously''' revolts in anger.
- In episode 19, Lelouch has it turned right back around on him by Schneizel, who sets the Black Knights against Zero with evidence including one of these.
- Only Schneizel's was a bit more selective with the recorded dialogue from said meeting, as it omitted Suzaku noting that Lelouch wasn't being truthful. But then Schneizel always loved taking liberties with the truth.
- Ensemble Darkhorse: Jeremiah Gottwald, aka Orange-kun.
- Enthusiasm Versus Stoicism
- Episode Title Card
- Esoteric Happy Ending: Depending on how cynical the audience wants to be, the damage to Japan and the world at large paints a rather pessimistic picture of the future when all is said and done. There's also a clear contrast between the tragedy of Lelouch's death and the happiness that follows it, which may be hard to swallow.
- Everythings Better With Spinning: Spinzaku and the LULUCOPTER. Not to mention half the rest of the cast as well, plus it seems to be fairly common for knightmare frames to spin and twirl as they fight.
- Evil Britannian: Aside from a few sympathetic named characters, most Britannians are portrayed as evil or at least uncaring.
- Before we start up again with the Misplaced Nationalists claiming that Britannia is a Take That toward Real Life Americans or Brits, please remember that Britannia is an alternate-history country where Napoleon conquered the British Isles and the American Revolution failed.
- Executive Meddling: The original plans for R2 were changed when it was announced that the series would be moved to an earlier, primetime slot. Fans believe that this mainly affected the first half of R2, for the purposes of re-introducing the show to a new audience instead of picking up right after the first season's cliffhanger like the staff had intended. As a general rule, how much a fan thinks was changed is inversely proportionate to said fan's opinion of R2's quality. Those who see R2 as "Code Trainwreck" tend to think everything from the original plans got scrapped.
- It's known that the Time Skip itself was a result of Executive Meddling. Other elements that are commonly suspected or assumed to fall under this include introducing the character of Rolo and removing aspects of C.C.'s and Suzaku's backgrounds without a full explanation.
- Expy: Suzaku looks and fights like Syaoran from Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle. Considering CLAMP did the character designs for both, it's not surprising.
- Likewise, Lelouch resembles TRC Kamui, especially in the CLAMP artwork.
- The CLAMP lineart design for Nunnally is a direct recycle of xxxHolic's Kohane Tsuyuri.
- Face Death With Dignity
- Fake Boss: Lelouch manages to overthrow Charles and halt Instrumentality five episodes before the end of the series. Schneizel steps up to the plate to reveal himself the true antagonist.
- Fake Memories The Emperor gives these to Lelouch with his geass, during the Time Skip. He's did it to Nunnally as well, which caused her blindness.
- Fan Dumb: Unfortunately, every popular anime has these. Just take a good look at the various communities. While certainly moderated well, heaven forbid if you get into Ship To Ship Combat or characterization/plot interpretation territory.
- Fan Nickname: Many. For example we have Spinzaku, Pizza Butt, and Emperor Wakamoto.
- Fan Service: Every female character is subjected to this. Especially Kallen.
- Several of the male characters have their moments too: Suzaku's and Gino's Knightmare Frame-pilot outfits are really tight. Lelouch has at least one shower and shirtless scene.
- Fantastic Drug: Refrain
- The Federation: The United Federation of Nations, created to rival Britannia.
- Fetish Fuel / Fetish Retardant: Bondage outfits are worn by several characters during R2.
- Fight Off The Kryptonite
- Final Speech: Rolo.
- Forgotten Fallen Friend: An Averted Trope because, while some of the reactions to fallen people are overly short, none of them are really forgotten.
- For Your Own Good: Charles and Marianne justify their actions throughout the series as being this, but Lelouch (correctly) doesn't buy it for a second.
- Fridge Brilliance: One of the minor headaches of the first season was the lack of an explanation for why C.C. decided to abandon an Ax Crazy Mao. Though this is never explicitly brought up in the second season, the reason why Geass powers are handed out is revealed and thus provides a viable explanation: she cared about Mao too much and fled to avoid the temptation to curse him with immortality.
- Or alternatively, since he wants to be with her for the rest of his life, he won't stand for her dying and giving him immortality to live forever without her
- There's generally a lot of Fridge Brilliance in this show. See the main page for details.
- It was this troper's opinion that the reason she abandoned Mao was that Mao was too obsessed with her to actually kill her once receiving her code which is what she was really after. Although maybe she was less selfish then.
- Fridge Logic: Suzaku's "Live!" Geass order forces him to try to stay alive at all costs. Given what we know about it so far, doesn't that mean he'll have to try to obtain C.C.'s immortality eventually at any cost?
- Suzaku's "Live!" Geass only activates when he A) has given up on living or B) is in mortal peril. Secondly, as Shirley shows, the command cannot save someone from dying. So by the time he'd get to the point where his old age would activate it, he'd be far too old to do anything about it. Moreover, he doesn't even know about the existence of the Code, so he wouldn't know that he could take C.C.'s immortality.
- If the Celts beat back the Roman invasion, why do they come to call themselves Britannia, the Latin name for Britain? That's like America defeating Germany then changing its name to Amerika. Not exactly the most obvious of outcomes.
- We don't know enough about the history one way or another. Maybe the world adopted the Latin name because previously, the British Isles didn't really have a single, cohesive name. Besides, you'd prefer 'Albion'?
- Britannia is also the name for a (relatively) popular anthropomorphic version of Britain. Like Uncle Sam... but female.
- If you read the Collector's Booklets it states that the references to the Celts defeating the Romans and the new Imperial Calendar date to the first Emperor of the "Britannian" Dynasty, Ricardo von Britannia in 1813. Since he was not a member of the previous Tudor Dynasty, all of the references to the King of the Celts was probably propaganda to make him seem more like a legitimate heir to the throne. The real place where the history of Code Geass seems to split from our world (other than the existence of sakuradite) is the birth of Henry IX, the son of Queen Elizabeth I.
- And on top of that, it claims that there were 98 Emperors of Britannia. 100, if you count Lelouch and Nunnally. If that were even remotely true, Britannian Emperors remain in power for 20 years on average over the course of the 2000 years since the supposed founding of Britannia. Charles is 35 years older than Schneizel. So unless dying early and leaving everything to your siblingr is common... yeah. Especially compared to real life British royalty.
- Fun With Acronyms: F.L.E.I.J.A. The "J" doesn't appear to stand for anything, and is just there to make the pronunciation approximate the mythological name "Freya".
- Gainaxing: Less than what you'd usually expect, for a series with plenty of fanservice, but it still happens a couple of times in both seasons.
- Giant Robot Hands Save Lives: Suzaku catching a falling woman in his Knightmare Frame. Kallen catching Zero.
- Played with a bit: the woman hadn't been falling for too long, and Suzaku boosted up to her height, then began to fall to catch her without much injury. She and her child would have probably been bruised though. Same with Kallen, since Zero was blown out of a ship, not falling.
- Go Go Enslavement: When Kallen is captured she is tied to a table for no apparent reason. Later on she gets the standard Britannian prisoner garb (which is in fact rather similar to C.C.'s) and then a fancy dress, though she probably got to put the latter on in private.
- Godiva Hair: V.V. in the R2 ending — despite being male.
- Gory Discretion Shot: Used when Lelouch kills his half-brother Clovis and whenever he employs his Geass to order mass suicides.
- Gratuitous English: "Yes, my lord", "homeland", "fottage", "perpetraeor", and don't forget "ALL
HEIL HAIL BRITANNIA!!".
- Green Rocks: Sakuradite, a power source which makes much of the technology work, and prompted Britannia's invasion of Japan.
- Grey And Gray Morality: The conflict between Lelouch and Suzaku (and associates) initially seems to be this: both Lelouch and Suzaku are basically good people trying to do the right thing, and both are willing to resort to dubious measures. As the story progresses, however, the conflict becomes more Black And Grey Morality, though exactly which side is which depends on the audience's point of view.
- Harmful To Minors: Lelouch and Nunnally witnessed their mother's murder at ages nine and six, respectively.
- Heroic RROD: Rolo Lamperouge. It ends up causing his death.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Rolo "I am not a tool" Lamperouge manages this as a Crowning Moment Of Awesome.
- Also, Lelouch himself in the last episode.
- He Who Fights Monsters: Zero and the Black Knights have arguably committed many of the same acts they originally decried, a fact that does not get past some members. This is showing up in increasing levels on both sides throughout the show's progression.
- Hey Its That Voice: Sometimes it's hard to take the English dub's Lelouch seriously when he sounds like a malevolent Koizumi, who coincidentally is also a Large Ham that has Obfuscating Stupidity.
- Hidden Depths: No one in this series is quite who they seem to be at first.
- Hollywood Tactics: When tactics are shown, they appear to be from the 1700's-1800's and are for infantry, and neither side appears to have figured out support fire. Also, Lelouch will ocassionally put himself in completely unecessary harm even though he's at best a mediocre fighter.
- Lelouch's appearance on the battlefield, at least, is justified. He believes that no commander can expect his men to follow if he doesn't risk himself.
- Honest Advisor: C.C. to Lelouch. Usually.
- Ho Yay: Memetic Mutation aside, CLAMP only did the character designs. And yet many in the show's fanbase love to dig into this trope, as there are certainly enough opportunities to do so.
- To start with, Lelouch and Suzaku are rather ... obsessed with each other in what's more properly described as Foe Yay.
- Then there's Schneizel and his absurdly feminine and outright Yaoi Fangirl teasing assistant Kanon who shows up in R2.
- Kaguya, who makes fans invoke Les Yay towards any woman she speaks to, but especially the Tianzi.
- And then there's Kallen and C.C., who seemed to have an almost Lovely Angels dynamic early in R2.
- Gino and Milly invoke this with how touchy feely they are with their respective friends (Suzaku, Shirley). Shirley even describes Milly (somewhat correctly) as a Dirty Old Man on the inside.
- Big Badass Cornelia tends to be much more sweet touchy-touchy with her younger sister Euphemia.
- Rolo claims he sees Lelouch as his older brother, but seemingly acts as though he's in love with him, to the point where some viewers saw his killing Shirley as a case of Murder The Hypotenuse.
- CLAMP has continued to provide fuel for this through their artbooks. And it sure doesn't help matters that their Code Geass illustration are highly reminiscent of their X illustrations, which are just crammed full of Ho Yay!
- Hufflepuff House: The EU, as well as most members of the UFN, much to the annoyance of some fans.
- To be fair, the UFN's military arm IS the Black Knights, so I don't see how that makes them useless.
- It's talking about how the entire armed force is basically just China and Japan. The lack of importance of the rest of the country is especially egregious when you consider that the Japan of Code Geass is not only conquered, but has lost a significant amount of it's population. It's basically the equivalent of having Sudan boss around the other countries in the U.N.
- The map in R2 Episode 17 indicates that the UFN and Britannia are engaged in a world war, with the militaries of other UFN members fighting in Europe, Africa, and other parts of Asia under the banner of the Black Knights. Given that the core of the Black Knights (the Japanese and Chinese forces) have been ordered to reclaim Japan (which is strategically valuable because of its large sakuradite reserve) and most of the characters are Japanese or are in Japan, its logical the show is going to focus on the battle to liberate Japan.
- Humongous Mecha: Worth mentioning again because of how barely this trope applies. At 4m tall, the Knightmare Frames are some of the smallest mecha in fiction, tying Armored Trooper VOTOMS's machines.
- I Am Spartacus: Episode 8 of R2 has a Xanatos Gambit that involves a crowd of one million people dressing like Zero.
- I Did What I Had To Do: Lelouch whilst squaring off with his father. Followed up by "Everybody lies to survive! No one is blameless!" Silly Lelouch.
- Idiot Plot: Some argue that Schneizel's plan in the later period of R2 amounted to this, somewhat understandably since it did require that the leadership of the Black Knights accept the word of their own enemy rather than giving Zero a chance to offer his own explanation. Others have noted that, untrustworthy source though he may be, Schneizel was in fact completely telling them the truth, so calling them "idiots" is a bit harsh. Particularly since Ohgi rushes in to back Schneizel up halfway through the debriefing.
- Schneizel completely telling the truth? To paraphrase the words of Suzaku from part of Schneizel's recording of the meeting between Suzaku himself and Lelouch that was skipped, that is a lie. In addition to cutting out that part which would have revealed that Lelouch lied in his admission to Geassing Euphie on purpose, Schneizel obfuscated the part that Lelouch not warning about FLEIJA was a setup on part of Schneizel and Kanon, the two having Lelouch arrested and making it look like Suzaku lured him, thus making him sound like he couldn't be trusted when he warned Lelouch about FLEIJA. (Not to mention that there was no former precedent of a weapon of mass destruction.) And don't get me started on Ohgi and Villetta, who had until just earlier been working for Britannia, and quite possibly knew of Lelouch's Geass limits as she had been working to keep surveillance for him over a year, so she had quite possibly been keeping tabs on them. That they had been so easily trusting the words of a standing, and formidably manipulative Britannian prince as well as a Britannian agent over those of an ex-Britannian prince who it should have been assumed might rebelling for some reason, while instead balking at the latter for his status, makes them seem like hypocrites.
- Not to mention Schneizel missed telling the Black Knights a key piece of information that would have made his argument 10 times more convincing: Nunnally is Lelouch's full blooded sister that he absolutely adores. Given how irrational Zero was acting whenever Nunnally was concerned, it would have made Schneizel's claim that Zero is Lelouch MUCH MUCH more convincing than the brief audio recording and the other flimsy evidence he brought to the table. Oh and how about the part about Lelouch being exiled and thus REALLY hating his father the Emperor (all they say he was a "former Prince"). That would have been good too. The only thing that really supported Schneizel's argument was the sudden and unexplained defections of Gao Hai, Jeremiah, and Guilford.
- Impossibly Cool Clothes: So very, very much. Just look at the gravity-defying Zero outfit.
- Improbable Age: Almost, but not quite, to the point of Competence Zone / Adults Are Useless.
- Informed Ability: Lelouch's skill at playing chess — the game, as opposed to his The Chessmaster status.
- The Knights of the Round are described as the best mecha pilots in Britannia. Two are killed in seconds (LITERALLY) and except for Suzaku they pretty much get their asses handed to them in every match.
- Also Tohdoh's military skill. Battles led directly by him do not go so well. However, he does justify the apparent disparity by saying that his reputation is largely hype. Xingke at least makes good on the hype surrounding him.
- In Spite Of A Nail: Despite the fact that Word Of God has an extensive explanation for how the the universe of the series diverged from our own, this isn't too apparent when watching it, as so many features (like shopping malls, news stations, etc.) match the real world, not to mention the fact that the Japanese resistance group uses the "red sun" flag, giving the obvious impression that it is a remnant of this world's Japan. And of course, outside of Britannia, pretty much every country has its usual name. Although it's hinted that the "official" history of Britannia is mostly or entirely made up.
- Instant Death Bullet: Common with mooks; usually averted with major characters. But not always....
- Ironic Echo: Not an exact echo of a quote, but it was certainly ironic that the long-blind but now sighted Nunnally should end up begging Lelouch to open his eyes.
- That whole scene where Nunnally is screaming in despair for the dead Lelouch while the world chants "all hail Zero" is incredibly poetic in its irony.
- Invisible Advertising: On Adult Swim, the show began with very little promotion: Being so continuity driven, it was hard to pick up new viewers.
- It Gets Easier: Lelouch and Suzaku
- It Got Worse: Code Geass operates on a continuum in which everything is slightly worse than what came before it.
- Jossed: Word Of God has confirmed that Lelouch is dead.
- As detailed on one of the other pages, it really depends upon how you interpret it. Which is fitting. For instance, I could say I have died. But I could mean that I am no longer the person I was. "That man" is no longer alive. Though that could just be grasping at straws.
- Kangaroo Court: For Suzaku after he's scapegoated for Clovis' murder. The Black Knights' mutiny against Lelouch could also count.
- Lampshade Hanging: For example, on the Mood Whiplash.
- Large Ham: Lelouch, Charles, and Jeremiah (after being possibly brain damaged and cyborg'd, at which point he runs with it and never stops).
- It's even Lampshaded in the anime. One of the soon to be Black Knights says about Zero, "I didn't know the genius strategist was such a ham."
- Lawful Stupid: Suzaku, big time.
- Lensman Arms Race: The main Humongous Mecha of the series are steadily shifting from Real Robots to Supers in terms of their weaponry or equipment upgrades, as new technologies have been introduced and distributed among the warring factions, a single year after the end of the first season.
- Let Them Die Happy: Before she died, Euphemia asked Suzaku if the people were happy with her creation of the SAZ. Needless to say, he didn't tell her that she killed them all while under the Geass's control.
- Rolo perishes in Episode 19 being reassured by Lelouch that they are truly brothers. Lelouch then goes on to bury Rolo with his own hands.
- Living With The Villain: In Season 1, Suzaku goes to school with Lelouch and Kallen. In Season 2, Lelouch is under watch by Viletta and Rolo, who are posing as a teacher and his younger brother, respectively.
- Loads And Loads Of Characters
- Love It Or Hate It: R2 is starting to rival Neon Genesis Evangelion in how large the divide is, made worse by the fact that both sides are quite extreme — just compare the Crowning Moment Of Awesome page with the Narm page.
- Magnificent Bastard: Don't be surprised if this trope is called "The Lelouch" a year from now.
- Manly Tears: Suzaku during the Grand Finale. Jeremiah does it, too.
- May December Romance: Implied between Tianzi & Xingke and, arguably, Anya & Jeremiah. Averted between Kaguya & Lelouch.
- Kaguya and Lelouch would only have had about three or four years of age difference, though. This troper failed to see any signs between Anya and Jeremiah, in any case.
- Mayfly December Romance: C.C. the ageless, deathless witch is romanced by seventeen/eighteen-year-old boys.
- Meaningful Name: Almost every Britannian Knightmare Frame has a name that references Arthurian legend (though Arthur himself is ... a stray cat that Suzaku adopted).
- Meet Cute: A bunch, but perhaps the most obvious is the Crash Into Hello / Rescue Romance when Princess Euphemia falls from her window onto Suzaku.
- Meido: Sayoko.
- Melodrama
- Memento Mac Guffin: Suzaku's pocket watch.
- Memetic Badass: Rivalz and Clovis, thanks to a series of So Bad Its Good fanfics on a certain imageboard.
- Spinzaku, er, Suzaku Kururugi can fight on part with Chuck Norris!
- Jeremiah Gottwald a.k.a. Orange-kun brings you a FUCKING STORM OF LOYALTY!
- Memetic Mutation: "Pizza Hut supports the rebellion!". Also lately, Suzaku's hurricane kick is
slowly quickly becoming one (see "spinzaku").
- Memory Gambit: Lelouch, in episode 16.
- Mercy Kill: CC to Mao.
- Midair Repair: Plus upgrade. Using missiles.
- Mildly Military
- Million To One Chance: In R2 episode 24, Nina creates an anti-FLEIJA device that has an extremely slim margin of success, requiring key data to be input 19 seconds before detonation and only having a 0.04-second window of opportunity even if everything goes right. Lelouch and Suzaku manage to pull it off - mostly through strategy. Lelouch is a genius and so can input within 19 seconds, and Suzaku uses his "live" Geass, which forces him to fire the FLEIJA Eliminator with perfect timing.
- Mind Rape: Mao's treatment of Shirley and C.C.'s distraction of Suzaku. The first was unforgivable, the second accidental: C.C. didn't control what he saw. Then there's the Emperor implanting Lelouch's fake memories, which bears a very uncomfortable resemblance to an actual rape scene, since Lelouch is literally being held to the floor by Suzaku while he screams, thrashes, and begs his father to stop. By episode 21 of R2, it is revealed that Charles had also done the same by using his Geass on Nunnally to cover-up Marianne's murder.
- Mood Whiplash: To such a bizarre extreme that sometimes it seems almost as if the producers, writers, and characters have forgotten what horrors transpired in the previous episode. Occasionally gets a Lampshade Hanging.
- Mooks: Almost a given in an action series.
- Most Common Superpower: Almost every important female character.
- Moral Event Horizon: Have hours of fun with your friends debating at which of the many possible points did Lelouch cross it (if he even did at all).
- More Dakka: Did you see the payload on Cornelia's scavenged Frame in episode 14?
- More Than Mind Control: Schneizel to Nina. Schneizel to Nunnally. Pretty much Schneizel to everyone. Lelouch manages some moments of his own, too.
- Mao's treatment of Shirley seems to count as this as well. It doesn't work completely, though.
- Mundane Utility: The Absurdly Powerful Student Council in Ashford pulls out an old Humongous Mecha to... make a giant pizza. Though on second thought, that could very well have been an intended feature in the original design.
- Mukokuseki: The only real difference between Asians and Caucasians in this series is whether your hair color is black or preposterous; however, with racism as one of the main focuses, some have noticed that this may be part of the point. Lelouch and Suzaku in particular have been noted for being able to easily pass off as the other's race (at least to the viewer).
- The Mutiny: R2, episode 19. The Black Knights mutiny against Zero/Lelouch.
- My Revenge Is Mercy
- Myth Arc
- Narm: So many that it got its own page (an anime first!)
- Nightmare Fuel: You get loads of both onscreen and Fridge variety horror with this show.
- For starters, Mao's smiling, happy-as-can-be delivery of "I'll make you compact!". With a chainsaw.
- And then, if you want something more subtle, try the disturbing little detail that almost everyone under control of the Geass, if specifically ordered to kill someone(even themselves!), will have deranged smiles plastered across their faces. The one exception, Proncess Euphemia, arguably does something even more disturbing by having that same gentle smile she always does... While gunning down the people she had been trying to help.
- There's also the squirm-worthy Mind Rape scene in the the second episode of R2, which comes unpleasantly close to resembling a real rape.
- Night Of The Living Mooks: Charles uses his Geass power "The Dead" to turn skilled soldiers into the nearly unkillable undead Knights of the Round in Nightmare Of Nunnally
- Noodle Incident: Whatever happened at Aomori with Kallen and C.C. Slightly un-noodled by a postcard in the Zero Requiem DVD.
- Noodle People: Most of the characters, due to the CLAMP character designs. The Trope Namer, via Fan Nickname.
- Nothing Is The Same Anymore: The last four episodes.
- Not Quite Dead: Used only a bit (once in the first season, 2-3 times in the latter half of the second season). But nonetheless it has become somewhat of a meme, so much that someone made a small comic about Euphemia coming back from the dead after the end of the series.
- Those are the most blatant cases but the count could easily be increased, depending on what definition you use. Season 1: C.C. (a bunch of times, but it was expected after the first), Suzaku (in episode 1), Viletta (arguable, when shot by Shirley) and Mao. Season 2: Viletta and Ohgi (Ohgi was wounded by kunai and then both of them jumped off a cliff into a shallow river full of rocks; neither is even scratched with no explanation provided), Nunnally and Sayoko (arguable, if you don't buy the decoy shuttle explanation), Orange (arguable, returned after sinking into the ocean), Cornelia (arguable at the end of season 1, definitely in season 2), Guilford (with no explanation too), Suzaku (briefly believed to be dead during the final episode of R2; never visibly shown to exit the Lancelot Albion before its final explosion, so how the hell did he get out is left unexplained). That's at least nine potential instances.
- Not What It Looks Like: Shirley keeps catching Lelouch in what look like romantic encounters with Kallen; Kallen keeps finding Zero (who of course is also Lelouch) with C.C.
- A more convoluted example: In an incident not long after Suzaku starts school at Ashford, he's attacked by Arthur the cat and falls on top of Shirley. In closeup, it looks like a highly suggestive embrace. For a second or two, they look as if they're about to kiss, whether deliberately or not. But as soon as the camera pulls back to a medium shot, the situation looks more innocent: Suzaku's hands are not on Shirley's chest; one is on her arm and the other is in Arthur's mouth — Arthur is biting him. And on second viewing it's clear the whole scene is a Red Herring: Shirley's eyes are shiny and romantic not because she's being embraced by Suzaku but rather because they've been talking about Lelouch, with whom she's in love.
- Nuclear Weapons Taboo: Sakuradite is explosive enough that for most of the series it stands in for any kind of uranium or plutonium-based weapons. However, it's shown as early as Season 1 that Nina is researching nuclear fission. And the research pays off—a prototype nuke is finished (but ends up failing) in the season 1 finale, and R2 episode 18 finally depicts it being used, killing millions of innocent people.
- Oddly Named Sequel: Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2
- Word Of God says it stands for "Reconstruction" and "Revolution", the two major phases in the show.
- Older Than They Think: "Geass" isn't some crazy word a Japanese person made up: In Irish mythology and folklore, a "geis" (plural "geasa") is a magical obligation or prohibition caused by a vow or spell. Sound familiar?
- One Degree Of Separation: Just how many main characters had connections to each other before the story started?
- One Hundred And Eight: The number of Emperor's wives and the number of dates with school girls Sayoko sets up for Lelouch.
- Or Is It: In the final episode, it's revealed that Lelouch's "Zero Requiem" Xanatos Gambit revolves around his own Heroic Sacrifice, playing the part of the evil Emperor, taking over the world, and dying at the hands of Suzaku (who assumes his Zero identity). But then in the very last scene, it's hinted that maybe Lelouch isn't dead after all, despite being impaled with a sword in full view of thousands of witnesses while the whole thing was being broadcast live on international television. Then again, C.C. did survive a bullet to the head in the first episode.
- Fans are definitely divided over this, and is now possible only if they want to ignore Word Of God.
- On The Next
- Our Hero Is Dead: Ends with Lelouch dying in order to bring about a world without war. The show's creator later confirms that he did die, his death being the price he paid for making a better world.
- Outer Limits Twist: Arguably, the death of Euphemia and the events leading up to it, since the whole tragedy happens due to a series of Million To One Chance plot contrivances caused by several characters saying/doing the worst possible thing at the worst possible time.
- Outside Man Inside Man: Poor Suzaku and Lelouch.
- Picture Drama
- Pieta Plagiarism: C.C. in the first OP.
- Pimped Out Dress
- Playing Against Type: Johnny Yong Bosch is more often known for straight-up action heroes, not chessmasters like Lelouch. Jamieson Price on the other hand, often does Bad Ass or The Chessmaster, but Diethard's more of a Smug Snake.
- Plot Armor: Suzaku for most of the series. Arguably abused episodes 23 and 24 of R2.
- Somewhat justified after Lelouch gives Suzaku the command "live", literally forcing Suzaku to pull improbable stunts provided the result is his own survival.
- Power Perversion Potential: Considering his gigantic unwanted harem and his mind control eye, Lelouch could get a lot of use out of this. And in the Visual Novel's PS2-only Blue Moon Path, the protagonist Rai DOES. On anyone from Nina and Kaguya to Suzaku, and even Lelouch himself I might add.
- Power Incontinence: Played straight down to having Applied Phlebotinum to allieviate it, or try to. Mao's headphones don't seem to help much at all. Lelouch's contact lens works perfectly, but he acquires it... too late.
- The Power Of Love: Episode 11 of R2. Lelouch, after consulting Shirley, delivers an epic, over the top declaration that the power of people's love will change the world. The English title is even called "Power of Passion".
- Prince Charmless
- Protagonist Centered Morality: Oh dear.
- Psychic Assisted Suicide: Lelouch uses his Geass to do this at least four times. The first of which is at the end of the very first episode.
- Psychic Static: Attempted but failed.
- Psycho For Hire: Luciano Bradley.
- Psycho Lesbian: Nina over Euphemia.
- Praetorian Guard: The Knights of Rounds.
- Product Placement: Pizza Hut and, less memetically, the Japanese ISP BIGLOBE.
- Wouldn't it make more sense for them to use NetZero?
- Rage Against The Heavens: The ultimate aim of the Emperor and V.V. is to kill the gods, calling them a threat to humanity. That's what the Sword of Akasha is for.
- The "gods" essentially being free will. Talk about taking a metaphor too far.
- Rescue Romance: Princess Euphemia manages a real one with her vertical Crash Into Hello Meet Cute with Suzaku, but then tries to follow it up with a fake one in which she is being chased by enemies. He soon catches her in the lie, but it deepens their romance anyway. Turns into a reciprocated Bodyguard Crush when Euphie makes Suzaku her official knight.
- Red Herring: Lelouch sends Rolo, a psychopathic assassin who is extremely possessive of him, on a rescue mission to save Nunally. As might be guessed, Rolo has every intention of killing her, even thinking about it, but he never manages to reach her.
- Red Oni Blue Oni: Suzaku and Lelouch.
- Redemption Equals Death: You know who I'm talking about.
- Refuge In Audacity: Lelouch's plans, reputation, and leadership of the Black Knights all seem to thrive on this ... which is why he is a Magnificent Bastard.
- Reincarnation Romance: Invoked by Shirley in her Last Words. Whether her hopes are valid or not is left up to the viewer to decide.
- The Remnant: How the last prime minister of Japan is treated.
- La Resistance: The Black Knights.
- Rival Science Teams: Lloyd & Cécile vs. Rakshata.
- Rocket Punch: Kallen's new and improved Guren can fire its radiation wave arm at the enemy, while still connected to the Guren through a cable.
- Rule Of Cool: This applies whenever Lelouch uses geass to make miracles. Suzaku is often the embodiment of this.
- Rule Of Funny: A lot of the antics of the Absurdly Powerful Student Council don't make much sense except for this trope combined with generous helpings of fanservice.
- Rule Of Sexy
- Rule Of Symbolism: Where to begin? The show is packed with symbolism, much of it religious, political, or both.
- Sarcastic Clapping: Mao ... just Mao.
- Say It With Hearts: Lloyd often does this when talking to Suzaku in the manga.
- School Festival: All of episode 21 is dedicated to the annual school festival; about half of R2 episode 5 is as well.
- School Uniforms Are The New Black: Lelouch wears either his school uniform or his "superheroic" Zero outfit. In R2 he dumps both after becoming the Emperor.
- Amusingly, the boy's uniforms at Ashford Academy are black.
- The Scrappy: Too many to count and it changes almost on a per-episode basis. In particular, Nina, Suzaku, Rolo, and Ohgi.
- Screwed By The Network: As of September 2008, Adult Swim moved Code Geass to late Saturday/early Sunday at 5 AM EST while it was still in its initial run.
- Now it's at 2 AM EST starting November 2008, its a little better.
- Depending on which fan theory you believe about how much the less extreme timeslot change in Japan caused R2 to be NOT AS PLANNED, it could count too.
- Seasonal Rot: R2, particularly the later episodes, may or may not be, depending on who you ask. You're better off if you don't.
- Self Made Orphan - Lelouch becomes one when he Geasses the collective conciousness of mankind into using its power of pantheistic godhood to remove his parents from existence.
- Suzaku killed his father, the Prime Minister of Japan, Genbu Kururugi,, during Japan's war against Britannia. He did this in order to force Japan to surrender, thus ending the bloodshed of the war and preventing Japan's total destruction, since Genbu actually preferred to have Japan destroyed rather than under Britannian rule. It worked, but the character is so horribly torn by guilt that the incident gives him Laser Guided Amnesia for years.
- Shield Surf: Lelouch uses a riot shield as a sled in a landslide.
- She Is Not My Fiancée: Lelouch, regarding C.C. In Season One, episode five, when C.C. pops up unexpectedly at Lelouch's place, chatting away with Nunnally, she makes some cryptic remarks about a bond between her and Lelouch and a promise he made about their future together. Nunnally, not having any way of knowing about the Geass, makes the not altogether unreasonable assumption that C.C. is referring to secret wedding plans. When Lelouch tells Nunnally that C.C. is just joking, C.C. claims she never jokes.
- Ship Sinking: Occasionally. Can't possibly keep up with the Ship Tease.
- Ship Tease: Constantly. Nearly every conceivable pairing.
- Ship To Ship Combat
- Shout Out: In R2 episode 5, C.C. cosplays as Chachamaru and Shirley as Mikuru.
- Shower Of Angst
- Shut Up Hannibal: In R1, Suzaku does this to Lelouch. In R2, Lelouch to Emperor Charles and even more spoilery, Marianne.
- In R1 Episode 16. Lelouch to Mao ("NEVER SPEAK AGAIN!")
- Slow Clap: At Suzaku's knighting.
- Spell My Name With An S: Ohgi/Ougi. Variations on Tohdoh. Euphie/Euphy.
- Status Quo Is God: The blatant aversion of this trope is one of the shows biggest selling points.
- Spanner In The Works: Lelouch's love for Nunnally has crumbled his plan thrice. First during the Black Rebellion, second during Pacific Aerial Assault, third when she's apparently killed in the Second Battle of Tokyo.
- In general, his love for his friends serves as such a trope, as it usually causes him to do irrational actions that will cost him. The aftermath of Shirley's death led to his assaulting the Geass Directorate, which led to questioning from other members of the Black Knights who are beginning to suspect his actions.
- Sphere Of Destruction: What happens when you set off F.L.E.I.J.A.
- Super Empowering
- Super Happy Fun Trope Of Doom: F.L.E.I.J.A. — a nuclear bomb, named for the Norse goddess of love and beauty.
- Superpower Lottery: The Geass powers obtained by a contract vary in their usefulness. In Nightmare Of Nunnally, Marianne happens to get just the right power while on the brink of death, transferring her soul into Anya's body].
- Surprisingly Good English: The textbooks, news articles, magazines, etc. Makes sense since it takes place in a Japan under British rule.
- Sympathetic POV: Consider that if we didn't see things primarily from Lelouch's POV, Zero could be labeled as a rather ruthless Anti Villain with good publicity among the Elevens who later turns into a murderous Manipulative Bastard who may very well ruin things just as they could be getting better. Amusingly, it's reversed in the case of Suzaku; Lelouch sees him as an annoying idealist who barges in and ruins things just when he is about to get results, but he later becomes a ruthless anti hero/villain with good publicity with the Britannians.
- Take A Third Option: There's Lelouch's viewpoint, Suzaku's viewpoint, and both of them agreeing on Zero Requiem.
- Tear Jerker: Many, but especially the Grand Finale. See the related page.
- Shirley's death. The sight of Lelouch desperately using the Geass and begging her not to die is one of the saddest scenes in the series. Naturally, it comes one episode after their Relationship Upgrade and was the culmination of 37 episodes of Will They Or Wont They.
- Tears Of Remorse
- Technicolor Eyes: Violet eyes seem to be a somewhat common Britannian trait as Lelouch, Rolo, and the appropriately named Vi(o)l(l)etta all have them; C.C. has Eyes Of Gold to go with her green hair and Anti Villain Suzaku has honest green eyes.
- Tenchi Solution: Kaguya certainly seems to like the idea.
- Thanatos Gambit: Lelouch dies for world peace - and wins the gambit.
- They Wasted A Perfectly Good Plot: Due to the pacing problems in R2, several interesting plot lines were either dealt with too quickly or outright dismissed a few episodes after being brought up. The worst is probably the subplot involving Marianne's death. She's revealed to be inside Anya and is killed in the very next episode, even though her murder had been one of Lelouch's main motivations since the very beginning of the first season. What's more, Empress Marianne herself was part of an arguably "evil" plan and abandoned her children to build a new world for them, which flies in the face of her previous portrayal as admirable and near-perfect. This really should have been better explained.
- In Nightmare of Nunnally, it is better explained when it is revealed that Marianne actually disagreed with Charles' Instrumentality plan, and managed to convince him to back off of it. Unfortunately, when Anya killed her, she lost faith in uniting the world through trust, and when she managed to transfer her soul to Anya's body, resulting in a part of it going to Eden Vital, she discovered a critical clue to making Charles' dream a reality.
- Thirty Xanatos Pileup: Episode 20 of R2, what with the Emperor activating the Sword of Akasha, Schneizel starting his bid for the throne, and Lelouch gunning to take down the Emperor. It actually gets simpler after that.
- The Three Faces Of Eve: C.C., Kaguya and Kallen are a rather curious example. See the main entry.
- This Is A Drill: Luciano Bradley's Percival. He does terrible things with it.
- Time Skip: The first seasons and second season are separated by a gap of one year. Then it happens two more times in one-month and two-month periods.
- Totally Radical: "You fellas know full well what this badass mother can do!"
- Trademark Favorite Food: Pizza for CC; to a lesser extent, perhaps also pudding for Lloyd.
- Transforming Mecha: R2 introduces the Tristan (robot-to-fighter jet) and the Shinkirō (robot-to-submersible fighter jet).
- Trauma Conga Line: The universe of Code Geass LOVES to kick you when you are already down and crying.
- True Art Is Angsty: The story's cripplingly depressing at times but it's still one of the most popular anime in Japan and/or the world.
- Try Not To Die: Among other times, Lelouch to C.C. in the first season finale, after she kisses him. Her response is "Hey, remember who you're talking to".
- Two Scenes One Dialogue: Between Lelouch and Suzaku, in Season One, episode five. A bit of a Ho Yay / Foe Yay as they each pontificate and allow the audience to the commonality and common purpose that, ironically, will divide them.
- Unpleasable Fanbase: This series has one of the more whiny, fickle fandoms This Troper has seen lately.
- Unwanted Harem: Lelouch is insanely popular with the girls at Ashford Academy; it gets even worse in R2, when Sayoko, in the process of running around disguised as Lelouch, manages to set him up with One Hundred And Eight dates within the span of 24 hours. No, really.
- Unwilling Suspension
- Utopia Justifies The Means: Lelouch, Schneizel, Charles and Marianne all try to create their various ideas of a perfect world.
- Visual Innuendo: A disturbing one with Mao and his chainsaw.
- Wave Motion Gun: Hadron Cannons and the upgraded radiation wave in R2.
- We Could Have Avoided All This: Poor Communication Kills taken Up To Eleven.
- Wham Episode: Episode 22 takes the Nice Job Breaking It Hero trope and elevates it to a whole new level when Lelouch accidentally Geasses his sister into killing all the Japanese.
- Starting with episode 13, R2 whams pretty much every episode.
- Wham Line: Mao to Suzaku ("Get your hands off of me, father-killer!")
- Who Wants To Live Forever: C.C.'s "one wish" that Lelouch was originally obliged to grant her by their contract was to finally die, which would make Lelouch bear the curse of immortality in her place.
- Wide Eyes And Shrunken Irises
- The Woobie: So many. Oh, so many!
- World Of Ham: This series is one of the reasons the trope exists. How CAN one not be a LARGE HAM in a world where even the SCENERY is CHEWING THE SCENERY?. And the MUSIC. And the HUMONGOUS MECHA. And the laws of physics: the only law is the LAW OF MURPHY. It is MANDATORY to be hammy in such circumstances! Anything more subtle, given the circumtances, would be DULL SURPRISE!!!
- Xanatos Gambit: Lelouch and Schneizel are experts at it.
- Xanatos Roulette: Your Mileage May Vary on which ones count, but nobody can argue that guessing the exact replies of an upcoming conversation, and recording your half of it in advance is quite insane.
- Xanatos Funeral: Lelouch. And how.
- You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Red for Kallen, pink for Euphemia, pink/purple for Cornelia, bright green for C.C., teal for Kento, blue for Inoue, silver-blue for Villetta. It's a pretty common trait regardless of race.
- Characters with Britannian blood have a wide spectrum of hair colors, but, as far as we can tell, most Japanese and Chinese characters have brown or black hair.
- Interestingly, Mao and the Tianzi (Chinese) both have silvery-white hair. No one in any other ethnicity seems to.
- You Should Know This Already: Lelouch is a Britannian prince, and his power allows him to control people.
- Lelouch is Zero. No joke, someone who only saw the first two episodes actually yelled at me for spoiling that.
- More of a spoiler in Nightmare of Nunnally, when Zero's identity isn't explicitly stated until a fair ways through the plot.
- You Kill It You Bought It: How the various immortals are created.
- Zero Approval Gambit: Zero Requiem
- Zero Percent Approval Rating: Britannia to anyone who isn't Britannian. Toward the end of the series, Lelouch gets even the Britannians to disapprove, resulting in world unity when he's assassinated.
- After seeing the finale, I think it's clear Lelouch was gunning for this trope.
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