Vampires. Creatures of the night, blood suckers, monsters, inhuman. No sane person would ever willingly choose to become one. If it means creating a better world though, Lelouch is fully committed to becoming a monster and embracing the night, but can he truly conquer this new side of himself?
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Night is an Alternate Universe Code Geass fanfic by dalek117, set in a world where, instead of "Geass" and the "Power of the Kings", the world is beset by Vampires, as Lelouch becomes one himself in the name of defeating Britannia and freeing Japan.
The fanfic can be read here
on Fanfiction Dot Net and here on Archive of Our Own.
Contains examples of:
- Adaptation Expansion:
- Clovis implicating Schneizel and Cornelia as knowing about what happened to Marianne is explained here not as him thinking they were involved, but that they'd likely know the most about what happened after the fact, thanks to Schneizel being involved in practically everything and Cornelia having conducted her own investigation.
- The Purebloods are largely shown to be Hated by All, even amidst the Britannian military and Clovis, Clovis only tolerating them due to their current leader being Jeremiah Gottwald, someone who cared for Lelouch and Nunnally just as much as their siblings. Were it not for Jeremiah, not even Clovis and Bartley would have put up with them. Not even Jeremiah likes them either, only leading the group as a means to be in Japan and continue his search for the vi Britannia siblings.
- It's elaborated that the Kozuki Cell did manage to retain possession of several of the Sutherlands following the Shinjuku Massacre, but opted to give all but one of them to the Six Houses of Kyoto so they could be reverse-engineered and aid in their own Knightmare Frame production.
- The upkeep for the Glasgow the Kozuki Cell possessed is shown to largely be thanks to Tamaki, who is a pretty skilled mechanic, even if he is a major hothead most of the time. Kallen notes she spent many nights up with him making sure her Glasgow was properly functioning, their shared interest in mechanics being the one thing they didn't get into shouting matches over.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: Jeremiah is a lot closer to several of Charles' children and their associates by virtue of his time as a guard at the Aries Villa. In addition to being the only one of the Purebloods Clovis actually liked, he maintains a good relationship with the li Britannia sisters, and through them a good relationship with Guilford and Darlton.
- Adaptational Backstory Change: C.C. and Mao's history ended up changing as a result of C.C. being a Vampire. While Mao did gain the ability to hear others thoughts, it was his ability he gained from being sired as a Vampire rather than a Geass. His isolating himself and only drinking blood from C.C. however caused him to deny his Vampiric urges, causing him to suffer Sanity Slippage much faster and harder. Rather than just being obsessed with C.C., he instead became a psychotic Serial Killer, breaking his victims with words alone before killing them and bathing in their blood, even engaging in the use of forbidden powers like Blood Curses. C.C. tried to kill him, but Mao held an entire city hostage with a Blood Curse, taking the chance to escape while C.C. worked to undo the curse, but not before C.C. took away his ability to use Blood Curses altogether.
- Adaptational Jerkass: Marianne was already a piece of work considering her canon involvement in the Ragnarok Connection and pulling a Grand Theft Me on Anya, but she's even worse here due to using Anya as her personal blood bank, her sucking blood from Anya's limp form as she weekly tries to resist highly reminiscent of rape, and something even Charles is unnerved by.
- Adaptational Job Change: While canon didn't specify the exact details, Sayoko was a Ninja Maid, but claimed she was actually a former SP member, and her skills came from being heiress to a dojo. Here, the Shinozaki Clan is both a ninja clan, as well as a clan of vampire hunters. This briefly causes an issue when she meets C.C., thinking she's akin to the stereotypical vampires and wanting to protect Lelouch and Nunnally from her, only to be floored once Lelouch reveals he's already a vampire. While her Undying Loyalty for them is enough to look past him becoming one so long as he retains his humanity, its made clear her relationship with C.C. will be Teeth-Clenched Teamwork at best.
- Adaptational Nice Guy:
- C.C. is a lot more open about her concerns and standards, the Prologue in particular demonstrating so via it being from her perspective. In addition to sharing the disdain for the Numbers system, she is initially concerned to learn Suzaku joined Britannia of all things, and easily resonates with Lelouch's sorrow over the pointless loss of life.
- Lelouch is fully aware of the "human factor" being a key element of success from the get go, and while he does still have an ego and pride, he doesn't see anyone as pawns and genuinely wants to help Japan from the start.
- Downplayed with Clovis. While he does more openly show how he cares for his siblings, Lelouch and Laila in particular, it's made clear the present version of Clovis is a cold monster, feeling no remorse for massacring the Shinjuku Ghetto or torturing C.C. As the former though is tied to his holding them responsible for the perceived "deaths" of Lelouch and Nunnally, Lelouch is much more willing to mourn his death, if moreso mourning the kind brother he once was, and not the heartless monster he became.
- Jeremiah's characterization follows his R2 characterization more than his original Pureblood characterization, focusing more on his Undying Loyalty to the vi Britannia's than anything else. He only leads the Purebloods due to seeing it as a means to search for Lelouch and Nunnally, both of whom he is rightfully convinced are still alive, and is much more sympathetic to Bartley after he makes clear just how loyal to Clovis he was, not going through with arresting him for failing to protect the late Prince like he did in canon. He is likewise unwilling to entertain Kewell's idea to turn Suzaku into The Scapegoat since he'd rather find Clovis's actual killer than make a political power play.
- Charles of all people is actually much more decent a human being. In addition to Nunnally's blindness not being his fault, rather it being an unfortunate side effect of him saving her from V.V.'s blood curse, his denouncing Lelouch was the result of the pent up stress he'd been dealing with finally blowing over, something he regrets to this day and only sees it as a positive since it gave him an excuse to get Lelouch and Nunnally away from V.V., while constantly watching over them to make sure they survived the invasion of Japan.* He's also made it a hobby of checking in on Lelouch, admitting that Lelouch is his favorite son, and is actually proud of him now that he's begun his rebellion, making him come across much more like a doting father.
- Viletta in canon for the most part was a Glory Seeker, caring more about prestige and rising to the rank of the nobility over all else, the only exception being her love for Ohgi, and even that didn't stop her from shooting him during the Black Rebellion once she got her memories back, and wanting to kill him to sever any ties before finding she no longer could go through with it. Here, thanks to Jeremiah being a Positive Friend Influence to her and suffering Kewell's coup, she has slowly begun to abandon those ideals much earlier, which is enough for Lelouch to have some faith in her continuing down the right path rather than execute her.
- Adaptational Superpower Change: "Geass" does not exist in the setting here, with Vampirism taking its place. "Codes" do still exist, but they're more accurately Vampires with Complete Immortality here.
- Adaptational Wimp: Played with regarding Lelouch's Compelling Voice. While it shares many similarities with his Geass of Absolute Obedience, C.C. notes that, as a Fledgling Vampire, his ability to impose his will on others can be shaken off if their will is stronger than his or his orders go against their nature. In addition, due to being sired by C.C., she can exert her own will over his own if need be, something Lelouch didn't have to worry about regarding his contract in canon.
- Alas, Poor Villain: Lelouch does mourn Clovis here, understanding how much he still loved his believed dead siblings and cherishing the fond memories he had of him, but still condemns him for the monster he became in the present. As such, C.C. is the one who kills him rather than Lelouch, and Lelouch closes his eyes while mourning his once kind brother.
- Brother–Sister Incest:
- A downplayed case since they're only half-siblings, but it's confirmed Lelouch and Euphie will be in a relationship, building off Lelouch calling Euphie his "first love" in canon.
- Averted regarding Lelouch and Nunnally. While they are still extremely close to one another and consider the other one of their most important loved ones, it's made clear Nunnally will not be in a relationship with Lelouch, but Suzaku instead.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: As kids, Lelouch was constantly fought over by Nunnally, Euphie, and Milly, the latter two often losing out to the former whenever she pulled out the Puppy-Dog Eyes. C.C. was quick to notice that all three of them could get easily jealous over one of them occupying Lelouch's time.
- Death Seeker: Suzaku, true to canon, desperately wants to die out of guilt for killing his father Genbu, willingly joining Britannia despite their racist beliefs, and hiding behind the façade of being an Internal Reformist.
- Even Evil Has Standards: The group of Britannian soldiers that assault C.C. in the Prologue are largely appalled when one of their own, Brian, proceeds to lament having "killed" C.C. immediately rather than first raping her, all but one of the other soldiers internally shuddering, and the NCO giving Brian a harsh dressing down while invoking Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil. This causes C.C., once she gets back up, to kill the NCO and three who demonstrated this relatively quickly, while Brian and the one who agreed with him she draws out the deaths of.
- Everyone Has Standards: "Blood Curses" are considered one of the few things Vampires as a whole disapprove of, even those that normally only consider humans to be cattle. Due to this, whenever its discovered a Vampire has used a Blood Curse, all other Vampires begin to hunt them down and kill them for daring to perform such a heinous action.
- Harem Genre: The story is confirmed to have not one, but two major harems, one for Lelouch, and one for Suzaku.
- For Lelouch, it's confirmed he'll be in relationships with C.C., Kallen, Shirley, Millie, Euphemia, and Villetta, with the possibility of Kaguya, Cornelia, Marrybell, Oldrin, and Anya being added.
- Suzaku will have a comparatively smaller one, but it's confirmed he'll be in relationships with Cecile, Nunnally, and Monica.
- Internal Reveal:
- Chapter 4 sees Lelouch being informed by C.C. about her relationship to Charles and Marianne, though not the entirety of it, as she omits V.V., nor does she reveal the Ragnarok Connection to him.
- Chapter 5 has Lelouch learn from an enthralled Viletta about Jeremiah's search for him and Nunnally, along with his Undying Loyalty to the vi Britannia name, leading to Lelouch resolving to meet with him soon.
- Chapter 6 has Milly told by Lelouch and C.C. about the existence of Vampires and Lelouch being Zero, Milly proclaiming her desire to be at Lelouch's side.
- Misplaced Retribution: C.C. holds both V.V. and Charles responsible for the torture she suffered under Clovis, and has informed Marianne her desire to kill them both. Charles however had no involvement in it, as the OSS had largely become V.V.'s pawns in the last decade, with the few loyal to Charles being few and in-between.
- My Greatest Failure: C.C. pushing Lelouch to accept his Vampiric urges comes from not wanting a repeat of the last person she sired as a Vampire: Mao. Like Lelouch is trying to, Mao refused to give into his Vampiric urges, but this ended up causing Power Incontinence and drove him insane till he became a violent Serial Killer, something C.C. still regrets failing to stop from happening.
- Mythology Gag: Suzaku and Nunnally being in a romantic relationship is a nod to how, early in the series before learning he piloted the Lancelot, Lelouch was a minor Shipper on Deck for the two of them, believing Suzaku would be a perfect fit for Nunnally's Knight of Honor and the only one he trusted to care for her should anything happen to Lelouch.
- Our Vampires Are Different: As C.C. explains to Lelouch after he's first turned, Vampire myths are highly inaccurate to their actual abilities and weaknesses. They still need to eat food for sustenance, they can go out in the sunlight and are only negatively affected if the UV lights are too intense, they still have pulses and are considered "alive", and non-Code Vampires can still be killed if beheaded, poisoned, or their bodies are destroyed. Their bites also don't automatically turn someone, but instead have an aphrodisiac effect and are highly addicting to humans. Conversion isn't instantaneous either, as C.C. notes it will take Lelouch roughly eight months to fully convert into a Vampire.
- Rape as Backstory: It's implied Nina retains her canon backstory of nearly being gangraped in the ghettos when she was younger, which is what birthed her xenophobia against the Japanese. Just thinking about her "attracting attention" briefly causes her to suffer a PTSD flashback from the incident and causes her to break down.
- Really Gets Around: Over the years of her Vampiric existence, C.C. has had plenty of lovers and bedmates, largely for the sake of getting blood to feed on. She's essentially had numerous mini-harems multiple times in life before moving on once she was bored.
- Recursive Fanfiction: The fic is actually based off a much older fic: More than just a man by Thanathos, which also focused on Lelouch becoming a Vampire instead of gaining Geass, but stopped updating after only six chapters.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Subverted. C.C. wanted to go on one after all she suffered under Clovis, even intending on compelling Lelouch to take her to him if he tried refusing, but she reneged on that when she saw how Lelouch still cared for Clovis deep down, opting instead to simply shoot him in the head once, the coroner saying it was quick and painless for him.
- Sanity Slippage: Kewell's spiral into madness following Zero's debut occurs much faster and harder than Jeremiah's canon fall from grace. Not only do he and the Purebloods sans Jeremiah and Viletta proceed to kill their countrymen in their attempt to escape, Kewell completely snaps after Suzaku arrives in the Lancelot and saves Jeremiah, charging at him in a blind rage before Suzaku cuts his Sutherland down in a single strike. This leaves him perfectly fit for Code-R to take him for Project "Evolution".
- Sex Slave: Defied by Lelouch regarding Viletta. While C.C. tells him he'll need to eventually find a suitable thrall to have sex with so as to stave off the negative effects of being a Vampire, and suggests using the enthralled Viletta as one, Lelouch is someone who highly values consent and refuses to compel someone into having sex with him. It's for this very reason he considers C.C. compelling him into engaging with foreplay with Viletta a major breach of trust, as it not only stripped him of his autonomy, but almost made him commit an unforgivable act in his eyes.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Downplayed. While Marianne was still filled with bullets courtesy of V.V. and had to use Anya as a Soul Jar, thanks to being turned into a Vampire by C.C. prior, her body is in a pseudo-death like state, and she can freely return to and from Anya to it. She still needs to be kept on life support so her body doesn't expire, and has to feed on a lot of blood to make any form of recovery, but its a far cry from her body actually dying like in canon.
- Unwitting Pawn: Clovis was given C.C. largely due to being a perfect one for the OSS. His hatred of the Japanese for their allegedly killing Lelouch and Nunnally, combined with the promise of any advancements in research being shared with him, made him the perfect choice to oversee the experimentation done to C.C. at V.V.'s behest, and would be the perfect fall guy should she escape.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: It's noted how Clovis used to be one of the kinder children of Charles, being an artist rather than a tactician and cherishing his siblings. Being lead to think Lelouch and Nunnally were killed by the Japanese however caused him to become colder and cruel towards the "Elevens", as well as condone the torturous experiments C.C. was put through, a far cry from who he used to be. Lelouch reflects on this after C.C. kills him, deciding to mourn who his brother used to be instead of who he became.
