Fanfic / Code Geass Megiddo

It's September 13th, 2017. As in the last episode of Code Geass's first season, the Black Knights are fiercely fighting the oppressive Britannian Empire for control of Area 11, formerly called Japan. However, in this fanfic, a small change has been made to the Code Geass Canon: instead of faltering the moment Lelouch departs to pursue V.V. and Nunnally, the Black Knights continue to dominate the battle, their victory all but assured. This has disastrous consequences for Lelouch, the Black Knights and Japan.

Recognizing that Britannia is losing and determined not to let Area 11 fall into the hands of the enemy, Prince Schneizel orders Operation Nero: the detonation of all of Japan's underground Sakuradite reserves. The resulting explosions destroy nearly all the Area's living things, rendering it an uninhabitable wreck and killing most of the soldiers and civilians there—Britannians and Japanese alike. Lelouch himself is brought before The Emperor, who, as in the original series, Geasses away his memories and replaces them with new ones.

Eight years later, Lelouch has become a brilliant Britannian general, fighting alongside Suzaku and his former enemies. Of course, he's totally forgotten his role as Zero and believes Nunnally to have died with his mother. However, the Geass' hold on Lelouch is not absolute — his memories are merely buried, not totally erased, and a certain organization is watching him from the shadows, ready to reclaim their leader...

Code Geass Megiddo is an ongoing For Want Of A Nail Code Geass Fanfiction by Wing Zero Alpha. Originally written in April 2009, it was rebooted in 2016 - 2017 into its current iteration. Suffice to say what makes Megiddo different, especially from standard Geass storytelling, is that it forgoes the usual Crapsaccharine World setting and aesthetics for something darker, grittier and wartorn - something more akin to Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team, Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans or 86 EIGHTY-SIX. As opposed to rebellion and insurrection, this is a story about war, and it shows throughout, from the multiple character perspectives (and backstories) to the incredibly detailed combat depictions (both physical and mecha-based) to the historical accounts that are routinely brought up and discussed. All best emphasized by its very title, as the the word "Megiddo" is the name of the site of an ancient city in Israel and the origin of the word "Armageddon."

Beyond the main story, there's also the Word Dramas which, in the same vain as the original Picture Dramas, provide short character pieces (mostly on the fallout after the Devastation of Japan). The series is available on Fanfiction.net, Archive of Our Own and Spacebattles. It also has a wikia, which is open for editing.

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This fic contains examples of the following tropes, in addition to those already present in the source material:

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Tropes A to M

• A Nazi by Any Other Name: The EU. See below.
• Ace Pilot: Almost all the named Devicers with significance to the story are this.
• Ace Custom: Just about any seventh-generation Knightmare is an Ace Custom by default, although custom versions of 'grunt' units also exist.
• Action Mom: Chigusa (formerly Viletta) and Dorothea.
• Adaptational Badass: The Black Knights in the original series operated more like an advanced militia or resistance group. Here, they have become a major military force with their own army, navy and airforce, and a proper military high command.
  • Lelouch in the original series was a rather mediocre Knightmare Devicer. In this story, thanks to being trained by Bismarck and attending West Point, he is able to go toe-to-toe with other experienced Devicers.
  • Kallen, already an Ace Pilot in the original series, also got this due to receiving her Geass from C.C.
  • The EU as a whole also got this. In R2, they were defeated by Britannia and lost most of their territory offscreen, and what measure of badassery they had was shown in Akito the Exiled, and even then it was from the point of view of the W-0 unit which was mostly made up of Japanese expatriates. Here, not only do they have a new line of Knightmares but made a better showing of fighting Britannia than they ever did in the original series.
  • Zigzagged with the Chinese Federation. On the one hand, their armed forces are still outdated and the entire nation was annexed into Britannia during the Time Skip. However, they have four Shenhu-like Knightmare Frames rather than the one used by Xingke, each of which has its own Ace Pilot and unique ability, and when the chips are down, their armed forces do put up a decent fight against the Britannian occupiers despite their disadvantages.
• Adaptation Expansion: In addition to the Ascended Extras below, the author expanded on certain events that were otherwise unaddressed or skipped over in the original series. Among others, the Eildons (this story's Geass Order) have a much bigger presence and the war between Britannia and the EU is much more elaborated upon than in Akito the Exiled, the latter especially benefiting from said expansion when it was essentially the Hufflepuff House of the original Code Geass. Heck, even some of the original major cast members have had their backstories and motivations expanded upon.
  • Even something as technical as Knightmare Frame development has been expanded in the wiki to add flavor to the setting. The most elaborate has to be the Lancelot's development cycle which included two other units born from that line, one being a near-exact copy of the Lancelot called the Mordred and the other being the Urien, which is this story's Lancelot Grail.
• Adaptation Name Change: Many of the Knightmares have different names from the original series.
  • Anya's Knightmare is named Hector instead of Mordred, the latter being the Dark Twin of the Lancelot and Lelouch's personal Knightmare.
  • Bradley's Knightmare is named Maleagant instead of Percival.
  • The Vincent is named the Elyan and is Gino's personal Knightmare.
  • The Lancelot Grail, Vincent Gram and Gekka Alonso from Oz The Reflection are named Urien, Constantine and Akizuki respectively.
  • The Ahuramazda and Gracchus from Akito the Exiled are named Brunor and Carlisle respectively.
  • The Britannian Portman is named the Bristol.
  • The Chinese Federation's Gun-Ru and Chuyen are named Yaoguai and Baihu respectively.
  • For non-Knightmare examples, the Sword of Akasha and the World of C are called the Sword of Arawn and the Otherworld respectively, and the Geass Order is now the Eildons.
  • According to the Britannian Imperial Family character page, V.V.'s real name is revealed to be Victor zi Britannia in extra materials. Here, he is Alwyn, the legendary founder of Britannia and the Eildons.
  • As opposed to "Europia United", the EU is now known as the Eurasian Union. Originally it was the European Union, but changed its name upon conquering Soviet Russia and annexing its former member states (thus expanding its territory to the opposite end of the world).
  • W-0 is now known as Kampfgruppe Werwolf, and subsequently uses the wolf as its symbol instead of the wyvern. Still largely composed of Japanese and holds the same mission profile, albeit with the same vibes as the rest of Eurasia.
  • The Glinda Knights are now known as the Ceridwen Knights, with the Oz theme otherwise adapted out.
  • The author has confirmed that Cornelia and Guilford's Quinn Roses from Lelouch of the Re;surrection will make their debut as the Morganna and Accolon respectively.
• Adaptational Villainy: While she was never a paragon of virtue in Oz The Reflection, this story's rendition of Marrybell is a much more ruthless general who has even killed innocent civilians in her conquest of the Far East and is not above using her Geass to brainwash her own troops to become suicidal fanatics.
• Adapted Out: There are several Knightmares and vehicles that are not present in this story.
  • Instead of piloting the Galahad, Bismarck Waldstein pilots the Bedivere, which the wiki describes as the Galahad if it took after the Lancelot instead of the Gawain.
  • Instead of piloting the Tristan, Gino Weinberg pilots the Elyan, which is this story's version of the Vincent.
  • Because the Tristan is replaced with the Elyan, Sir Leonard Steiner pilots the Preston (a production version of the Elyan) instead of the Bradford from Oz the Reflection.
  • Tink Lockhart pilots the Kirkwall (a production version of the Hector) rather than the Zetland.
  • Variable Knightmare Frames like the aforementioned Tristan and Bradford are entirely absent from the fic. There is a reason for this; flying Knightmares were experimented on for a time, but were inferior to dedicated aircraft (namely fighter jets) as well as standard Knightmares like the Sutherland and Gloucester which was proven in the story's version of the Wings of Talleyrand Incident.
  • Similarly, float-capable Knightmares are not present in the story due to the high power consumption that current Knightmare technology could not cope with. Thus, all Knightmare fights are strictly ground-based.
  • Instead of piloting the Lancelot Club, Nonette Enneagram pilots the Ywain, which is the Kimaris Vidar reimagined as a Knightmare with the sub-arm shields mounting Blaze Luminous tech and wielding the Rhongomyniad, a lance derivative of the Excalibur.
  • Instead of piloting the Palamedes, Dorothea Ernst pilots the Morien, which resembles the Neros Gundam as a Knightmare equipped with a pilum spear and the 'Pridwen', a massive scutum-style shield that is almost as big as the Morien itself.
  • The Knight Giga Fortress Siegfried does not appear in this story beyond the Black Rebellion, so Jeremiah is given the Vortigern which is basically the Psycho Gundam reimagined as a variable Knight Giga Fortress. After defecting to the Black Knights, he pilots the Akizuki, which is the Gekka Alonso from Oz the Reflection.
  • The mass-produced Knightmares Vincent Ward and Gareth are not in the story. The former is replaced with the Exeter which is a mass-produced Lancelot with the Vincent Ward's faceplate while the latter does not have a replacement in this story.
  • Floating battleships (besides the Avalon) are entirely absent although float airships are used by Britannia and the Black Knights for transportation purposes while land battleships and seaborne vessels are used en masse by the major powers. Thus the Black Knights do not have the Ikaruga as their flagship and instead use the Izumo as their flagship, which is a battleship that can travel on both land and sea.
  • The Panzer Hummel, Panzer Wespe and Panzer Grille Knightmares that the EU fielded in the original series are not in this story and are replaced with a series of Knightmares modeled after Zeon mobile suits. Similarly, the Alexander from Akito the Exiled has been replaced with the Wolfen (which is the Kampfer Amazing as a Knightmare Frame).
  • Subverted with Euro Britannia. At first, it appears it does not exist in this story and was replaced with Princess Marrybell's push into Eurasia from the Far East. However, it turns out that Marrybell intends to form Euro Britannia precisely from these conquered territories, which she will then rule over as her personal domain.
• Affably Evil: Marrybell is described as this by Lelouch, being sweet and kind to friends and subordinates but cold and callous to her enemies on and off the battlefield, even relishing in the destruction her forces caused in the Far East (up to and including the sacking of several population centers).
• Age Lift: Unlike R2, the Time Skip is eight years rather than one year, so characters who were teenagers in R1 and R2 are now in their early to mid-twenties. The most notable example is Tianzi who, rather than the puppet child empress in R2, is a young woman and a major character in this story.
• All Love Is Unrequited: Shirley is still in love with Lelouch, and Anya purportedly has feelings for him too. Unfortunately, it becomes very clear that Lelouch only has eyes for Kallen.
• All There in the Manual: The Wikia has a lot of supporting information for the backstory of the characters, the timeline, the countries, and their military equipment.
• Alternate Continuity: The ripple effects of the Devastation has created a world where Japan is an uninhabitable wasteland with the remnants living in the Ryukyu Islands, Knightmare Frame technology did not advance in leaps and bounds, the Chinese Federation was annexed into Britannia, and the war between Britannia and the EU has been ongoing for years.
• Alternate Universe: Other than being an Alternate History with a For Want Of A Nail premise, there are certain differences present in the story even before the aforementioned For Want Of A Nail. For example, the Gun-Ru was always known as the Yaoguai since the Chinese Federation's incursion in R1 and Rakshata built three additional Shenhu-like Knightmare Frames instead of the only one of its kind seen in R2 as well as additional Guren prototypes that were stored in Ryukyu and utilized by the elite Zero Squadron. Also, the Britannian flag is different from the official one (being the actual St. George's Cross) and the EU and Chinese Federation are vastly different political and national entities from their parent series.
• Ancient Conspiracy: The Eildons. Though they're more or less after the same ends as the original series' Geass Order, they're far more elaborate about it, as in they've spent the last few thousand years hunting down Code Bearers via Britannia's conquests and their subterfuge, with only three to go before Ragnarok can be initiated. It is later revealed that they existed since the time of Alwyn and the founding of Britannia, meaning they have been around since at least the first millennium BC.
• And I Must Scream: The justification for Anya's Emotionless Girl status.
• Arch-Enemy: Lelouch and Suzaku. The sheer rage between them during their duel alone is enough to make a case. While Lelouch is somewhat conflicted about it, as some part of him does still consider Suzaku his friend, Suzaku has no such reservations, despising Lelouch for years for his role in Euphemia's death, all while having to pretend to be his best friend at the same time. Lelouch in turn resents him for his betrayal and suppression of his memories, yet still, he genuinely wants to salvage whatever's left of their friendship. Unfortunately for Lelouch, as far as Suzaku is concerned, there's nothing left to salvage. Several characters commenting on their relationship acknowledge that despite their formerly close friendship, Suzaku is truly Lelouch's greatest enemy. In fact, the narrative and the wiki seem to imply that they were destined to be enemies, regardless of whatever happened.
• Ascended Extra: Plenty of minor characters have their roles expanded, compared to their appearances in Code Geass proper. For example, Senba, previously little more than a Living Prop with a voice in the show, is now something of a Parental Substitute and mentor for Tohdoh, Reginald Calares goes from one of Lelouch's first victims in R2 to become the Viceroy of Area 22 (China) and a major character in his own right, and Alfred Darlton goes from becoming one of Kallen's victims to being her second in command of Zero Squadron.
  • Dorothea Ernst's role has a major expansion, wherein the implications of her skin color are explored. She's also married to Bismarck, having given birth to their son, Roland, and had a close relationship with Bismarck's "protege" (for lack of a better word) during the eight-year interim — Lelouch.
  • Charmelle Finlay, who was little more than a face in a book - being one of the candidates Cornelia had selected for Euphie's Knight of Honor - has been effectively remade into an actual character and a contributing member of the cast.
  • Following Charmelle's example, some of Cornelia's other selections have gone on to become actual characters in their own right. Schutenkin Gordiengo III was the pilot of the Brunor and a major opponent against Kallen, while Zectole Vignal Jr. was one of the Britannian survivors of the Devastation who ended up joining the Black Knights (as well as making a family with a fellow Japanese survivor). Unfortunately, the latter would perish at the Battle of Xiaopei.
• Awesome, but Impractical: Sixth-Generation Knightmares in a nutshell. Similar to Mobile Armors in Gundam, they're an over-the-top bunch that comes with high performance and unique hardware, but at the cost of productivity and/or some sort of crippling weakness. The Gawain was naturally among this lot.
  • Within this generation, the Carlisle and the Wolfen are somewhat unique cases in that they were actually meant to be Boring, but Practical. The former was actually intended to be a conversion kit for Britannia's Sutherland fleet, in that, rather than retire the whole line as the brass considered, they would instead be upgraded to titular Sutherland IIs overnight. Ironically this proved to be more expensive than building a whole new Knightmare line altogether, one thing led to another and the project was discontinued. Meanwhile, the Wolfen was actually the antithesis of the sixth-generation in that it utilized conventional (yet greatly emphasized) tech on a Fragile Speedster frame (itself an antithesis to the Eurasian mindset toward Knightmares being Mighty Glaciers if not outright Lightning Bruisers). The regular Eurasian Army was far from enamored with it but fortunately, Leila saw the Wolfen's potential and made it her Kampfgruppe's exclusive Knightmare of choice.
  • Flight capable Knightmare Frames in general. Once again as opposed to the original series, flying Knightmares (even those equipped with Float Systems) are grossly inferior to true aircraft, while transforming units (i.e. the Somerset) end up sacrificing much of the Knightmare Frame's inherent strengths (and thus are inferior on the ground to standard Knightmares as well) in order to fly to begin with. This is emphasized in the Megiddo version of the Wings of Talleyrand incident, which resulted in the aforementioned group being wiped out by Sutherlands and Gloucesters on the ground and Typhoon fighters in the air.
• Awful Truth: Suzaku didn't kill his father for the sake of Japan — he killed him in order to protect Lelouch and Nunnally, whom his father planned to kill as one final act of defiance against Britannia. Lelouch doesn't learn the truth until fifteen years later, during their duel at the Battle of Pearl Harbor, where Suzaku claims that had he known what Lelouch would become and what his survival would cost him, he would've gladly let Genbu kill them. The revelation nearly drives Lelouch into a Heroic BSoD until Kallen manages to snap him out of it.
  • Lelouch in turn holds out on informing him of the truth about Euphie's death. Primarily because there is no way to know how Suzaku would react to it after descending into madness, and because his raging Guilt Complex makes him unwilling to do so, so in that way he can suffer for his role in her death.
• Battle Amongst the Flames: Lelouch and Suzaku's duel takes place around the still-burning ruins of Pearl Harbor.
• Badass Army: The Order of the Black Knights, as described below.
• Balkanize Me: What happened to the Soviet Union after the EU conquered it. As a result of (Western) European weariness toward further Russian aggression, the former USSR was broken up into smaller states (which correspond to real-world federal districts) and annexed (thus causing the name change to Eurasia), such that everything past the Urals is now referred to as Far Eastern Eurasia (or just the Far East). The following are the aforementioned states:
  • Moskva (Central Federal District)
  • Ladoga (Northwestern Federal District)
  • Azov (Southern Federal District)
  • Caspia (North Caucasian Federal District)
  • Volga (Volga Federal District)
  • Ural (Ural Federal District)
  • Siberia (Siberian Federal District)
  • Amur (Far Eastern Federal District)
• Base on Wheels: Since the Ikaruga is not in this story, the main Black Knights travel aboard the battleship Izumo, which is essentially a black and silver Expy of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED's Lesseps. Before that, Lelouch uses the land battleship Fortitude (itself based on the Compton-class from the same series) as his base away from home during his time in North Africa.
• Battle Couple:
  • Bismarck Waldstein and Dorothea Ernst.
  • Lelouch and Kallen, as of Chapter XXXIX.
• Been There, Shaped History: C.C. actively shaped the lives and careers of Oda Nobunaga, George Washington, Napoléon Bonaparte, and countless others. She also rubbed shoulders with Sun Yat-sen, Ben Franklin, and Lucien Bonaparte. She herself is another famous historical figure: the Maid of Orleans, better known as Jeanne d'Arc.
  • It's revealed C.C. was also Claude (Jeanne) des Armoises, a woman who made a name for herself posing as Jeanne d'Arc.
  • C.C. naturally references the gilded bronze statue that Emmanuel Frémiet made in her (intended) image in 1874. Well into the present, she still hopes he's burning in Hell over it.
  • Outside her original identity, one of C.C.'s past aliases was one Michaela Wittmann. Coincidentally, she mentioned in her "Reason You Suck" Speech to V.V. that she had fought the Red Army in the Soviet War, and had in fact rode a Tiger tank therein.
  • C.C. also seems to have posed as Mori Ranmaru, Oda Nobunaga's legendary retainer. This also makes sense given her previously mentioned background with the Fool of Owari.
  • And of course, there's Alwyn (V.V.) himself. There's little doubt that many key events in Megiddo's history were caused or at least influenced by him, from his beating back Julius Caesar's invasion of the British Isles in 55 BC (the original For Want Of A Nail that led to Britannia's creation) to his having some apparent sway over the Hundred Years' War (such that Marianne claims he was one of the key figures behind Jeanne d'Arc's attempted execution).
• Berserk Button: Saying anything bad about Euphemia or her ideals is one for Suzaku.
  • Trying to hurt Tianzi is a huge one for Xingke.
• Beware the Nice Ones: C.C., as V.V. found out the hard and painful way.
• BFG: Any gun equipped on a Knightmare is a BFG by default, but the standouts are the Britannian self-propelled artillery platform Canterbury and the Chinese landship Mao Zedong, which are armed with some of the biggest guns ever created by man.
• BFS: Again, given the size of Knightmares, any sword they hold is automatically this, but the one that takes the cake is the Bedivere's sword 'Excalibur', which is as tall as the Bedivere itself and can't be wielded by any other Knightmare. The Griflet's sword 'Caernwennin' is described as a shorter bladed version of 'Excalibur' but is still pretty big when compared with other blades.
• Big Badass Battle Sequence: Par for course as the Great World War is still ongoing. Examples include:
  • The Battle of Pearl Harbor
  • The Battle of Xiaopei
  • The Red Rebellion
  • The Battle of Alexandra Land
  • The Battle of Yekaterinburg
  • The Battle of Krasnoyarsk
• Big Damn Heroes: Kallen saves Lelouch from Suzaku after he enters a Heroic BSoD from learning the truth behind Genbu Kururugi's death.
  • Lelouch has his own moment when he saves Xingke from Johann's killing blow. Then the rest of the Black Knights join in to buy the Chinese time to escape Xiaopei.
    • Then not long after that Kondo shows up to pull the collective asses of Lelouch, the Black Knights and the CLA out of the fire.
• Blood Knight: Liliana is this compared to her teammates, who themselves are violent killers.
• Bodyguard Crush: Xingke and Tianzi, all the way.
  • As per the original series, Lelouch and Kallen.
  • Cornelia and Guilford.
• Broken Ace: Suzaku, even more than originally.
  • Lelouch, to a lesser extent. While he is willing to soldier on as Zero once again, his massive guilt over the events of the Black Rebellion and the Devastation, along with his role in Euphemia's death, initially made him reluctant to return to the mask. Though unlike Suzaku, he isn't allowing it to drive him to the depths of insanity.
• The Cameo
• The Casanova: During the eight years in which his memories were suppressed, Lelouch became a bit of a playboy. Considering the Unwanted Harem he had in the series, it's highly doubtful the irony is lost on anyone.
• Child by Rape: Rakshata considers the Four Beasts this. Basically, Cao Kun (the guy who invaded Kyushu) forced her to make them by promising to spare the people of Mumbai, and then slaughtered them all anyway simply to remind Rakshata "who the master was and who the slave was."
• Colour Coded Armies: Though a minor detail, the various factions in Megiddo appear to follow a color system, with the standard uniforms and/or equipment of each faction holding a theme color. They are laid out as so:
  • Order of the Black Knights - Black (Duh)
  • Britannian Empire - Blue/Purple
  • Eurasian Union - Grey (Light Grey for their standard forces, Dark Grey for the Stormtroopers)
  • Chinese Federation - Green/Red (Naturally)
  • Eildons - White
• Combat Breakdown: Lelouch's duel with Suzaku quickly escalated due to eight years of pent-up rage and resentment. Thanks to that, they literally tore each other apart, and the last leg of their battle was reduced to the use of their swords and shielding.
• Cool Train: Marrybell prefers to travel around the Far Eastern Front in the Flora mel Britannia, a commandeered armored train.
• Cue the Flying Pigs: Kallen is absolutely stunned when she sees Lelouch exercising. Seeing as this is Lelouch we're talking about, that is actually an understandable reaction.
• Cultured Badass / Four-Star Badass: There are several of either, but Tohdoh especially stands out. Besides being a lover of classical literature, he's also well versed in the military arts (naturally) as well as the words and wisdom of several historic military commanders, such as Helmuth von Moltke, Carl von Clausewitz, George Washington, Andrew Jackson, and Robert E. Lee.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: As the Black Knights decimate Pearl Harbor, the Britannians literally send everything they have after them. Up to and including a unit of Liverpools, second-generation Knightmares (essentially tank turrets on legs) that were rendered obsolete two decades or so before (upon the Ganymede's debut in fact). Needless to say, they don't last long against Kallen and Alfred.
  • When Marrybell unleashed her geass, it turned what was a conventional battle into a total rout for the EU and Black Knights, especially for the former now that the core EU is open to Britannia.
• Cyber Cyclops: Several Knightmares have a single mono-eyed camera on their heads. The Britannian Sutherlands and Gloucesters have this, although it is covered by their faceplates. This is the most notable feature of the EU Knightmares as theirs is not hidden behind a faceplate. Also the Black Knights' Gekka and Zangetsu have a single eye camera built into the heads of their Knightmares.
  • Wilhelm's personal Knightmare, Griflet, has a single eye and is stated to have more in common with EU Knightmares than Britannian ones appearance-wise.
  • The Constantine is also one of these.
• Dance Battler: Nena's fighting style in the Safir involves a lot of spinning and elaborate maneuvering with her scythe.
• Dark Is Not Evil: The Black Knights, even more so than originally. In a world split between grandiose expies of the British Empire, the Axis Powers and communist China with a secret Illuminati-like order lurking in the background, it's both strange and fitting that the good guys (or at least the lesser of the evils) model themselves after The Legions of Hell while Lelouch takes his Evil Overlord image to even greater heights than before.
• Dark Twin: The Mordred to the Lancelot. The former is essentially a black Lancelot (though according to the wiki, the Mordred actually predates the Lancelot as Z-00, the first seventh-generation prototype) with a Badass Cape. Mirroring Lelouch's relationship with Suzaku, the Mordred starts out fighting beside its twin for Britannia, only to turn against the Lancelot once Lelouch returns to being Zero.
  • Somewhat subverted with the Urien which is another Lancelot copy but is on the side of Britannia. According to the wiki, it was known as Z-02, the last of the seventh-generation prototypes and a failed attempt at an initial mass-produced Lancelot line that was gifted to Oldrin by Marrybell shortly after Z-00 was unearthed and given to Lelouch.
• Darker and Edgier: Megiddo is essentially a dark, gritty Gundam-esque war story that is very much removed from the original Code Geass. For starters, the lack of float-capable Knightmares makes the fights more grounded and intense while various characters have darker traits and personal histories as compared to the original series.
• Deadpan Snarker: Anya of all people. At least when Marianne isn't possessing her.
• Death by Adaptation: In addition to the abovementioned Ascended Extras, several characters who survived to the end of R2 bit the dust in this story. Kallen's parents, who survived to the end of the series, died when Japan was destroyed in Operation Nero. Claudio Darlton, who was the only surviving son of Andreas Darlton by the end of the series, was killed by Tohdoh during the Black Rebellion.
  • According to the author, Akito's older brother Shin was killed by the former in the church where their family died.
• Death or Glory Attack: Xingke notes that Zero's strategies tend to be this, either paying off big or failing spectacularly. Xiaopei is a very notable example of this, as being outmaneuvered by Johann causes the Black Knights and CLA to be caught in their own trap and come within a hair of losing the battle.
• Death Ray: Balmung, the EU superweapon built in Volgograd to be used against Britannia in the Far East. It's even based on Nikola Tesla's theories on building such a weapon.
• Despair Event Horizon: The reason behind Suzaku's attitude. He's been made to have the emotional intelligence of a Nobody in this story.
  • Kallen shortly went through this after finding out Lelouch was Zero and upon discovering that her parents had died in the Devastation, she attempted to self-destruct the Guren with her in it, only for C.C. to stop her and bring her back to her senses.
  • Lelouch also seems to be teetering on the edge of the Despair Event Horizon due to the fallout of the SAZ Massacre and the Devastation weighing on his conscience. The closest he came to falling into it was after learning the true reason for Genbu Kururugi's death, and he would have plummeted into the depths if Kallen hadn't snapped him out of his Heroic BSoD.
• Devoted to You: Kallen would rather die than be without Lelouch. When she thought he was dead, she cursed a Marianne-possessed Anya with her first breath and then begged her to kill her with the next.
• Did You Just Talk Down To Cthulhu!?: A month or so after the Devastation, Milly and the rest of the Ashford Academy survivors are brought before Emperor Charles so that he can Geass away their memories of Lelouch and Nunnally. This is what happens when Milly was ordered to kneel: rather than cower before the Emperor like most would do, Milly, being too pissed over recent events to care, summarily calls Charles out over Japan's destruction and Britannia's callousness, as well as openly declare that she (in the same light as Lelouch before her) would destroy Britannia if she had the power to do so. Naturally, everyone expects Milly to die for this offense; instead, Charles laughs it off and praises her spirit, right before declaring her as the new Grand Duchess of New York (her grandfather's old title) and returning all holdings the Ashford family had lost over Marianne's death. That being said, Charles still Geasses her and the other students.
• Dirty Communists: Partially subverted. While the Chinese Federation was a tyrannical regime that held the worst aspects of the Soviet Union, the People's Republic of China, North Korea, and Imperial Japan under one roof, the CLA, with some exceptions, is largely presented as an army of heroic soldiers fighting to liberate their motherland from Britannia and the traitorous Ministers who sold it out. And then there's Xingke and Tianzi, who are in some ways even more heroic than the main cast.
  • The Soviet Union itself appears in the backstory. It attempted to conquer Europe at one point (acting as the story's more literal counterpart to World War II) but was beaten back, eventually conquered and dismantled by the EU.
• Downer Beginning: The first chapter has the Black Knights on the cusp of victory over Britannia, only for Schneizel to initiate Operation Nero and blow up Japan's Sakuradite reserves, destroying the very nation they set off to liberate and killing millions of people. Also, Lelouch was captured and brainwashed by Emperor Charles to serve Britannia.
• Dramatic Irony: A major subplot is Kallen thinking she was geassed by Lelouch to be loyal to him and that her feelings for him were borne from this. Those who watched R1 would know that he geassed her to ask a few questions on why she was fighting Britannia despite her wealthy background and not to make her loyal to him. This was finally cleared up in Chapter XXXIX when a Geass Canceller was used on her.
• The Dreaded: The Black Knights have garnered this reputation, having been the closest to ever liberating an area from Britannia. Their resurrection was enough to strike terror into much of the Britannian Empire, most of all with the realization that they have gotten even stronger, thanks to the Battle of Pearl Harbor.
  • Lelouch himself has this reputation, both as Zero and as the Black Prince of Britannia. While Zero speaks for itself, his reputation as the Black Prince is just as feared, both as a brilliant strategist on par with his brother Schneizel, and as an ace Knightmare pilot on par with the Knights of the Round.
  • Kallen is almost as infamous as Zero, famed as the Red Dragoness, arguably the best Knightmare pilot of the Black Knights.
  • Johann is this to Lelouch, due to being the only person besides Schneizel to beat him at chess. This is shown to be well-founded during the Battle of Xiaopei, where Johann, after becoming the first person to actually turn one of Lelouch's miracles against him, nearly instigates Lelouch's first real defeat since the Black Rebellion.
• Duel to the Death: Lelouch's battle with Suzaku was quickly heading this direction, and Lelouch, still reeling from the revelation of the true reason why Suzaku killed his father, would have lost and been killed had it not been for Kallen's timely intervention. Suzaku's declaration during their escape makes it quite clear that any subsequent battle between them will most certainly be this.
• Easy Logistics: Despite having blown up their primary supply of sakuradite, which is essential to Britannia's energy needs, they are still able to continue its non-stop campaigns of global conquest. Averted when Zero uses this to deduce that Britannia has access to an alternative source of sakuradite that is at least as large as Japan's which isn't known to the public and decides that finding and taking or destroying it is essential to crippling Britannia's war efforts.
• Elaborate Underground Base: Xiaopei has been turned into this by the CLA. And then there are the bases belonging to Zulfiqar and the Eildons.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Some Britannian characters display signs of this. For example, Charles holds certain contempt for Britannia, which he considers an empty and meaningless nation; in fact, the only reason he retains the throne because it benefits Ragnarok. Otherwise, he would have given it up to Schneizel a long time ago and focus on Ragnarok in his retirement.
  • Calares is a Grade-A son of a bitch who practices all the things that make Britannia evil, but even he looks down upon the Eunuchs for their hedonism and their being traitors. In fact, he lampshades it noting while it's one thing for Britannia to subjugate other nations, it's another for the leaders to do the same to their own and then sell it out at the first opportunity.
    • It's for that reason that of all the Eunuchs, the one he despises the most is Zhao Hao, the former Premier of the Chinese Federation who is also a pedophile. One who attempted to force himself on a young Tianzi only to be stopped by Li Xingke, who cut off his arms in retaliation. When Zhao Hao requests Johann capture both Tianzi and Xingke, his intentions made all too clear, Calares, who had been standing there listening to the whole thing with mounting horror, had to be restrained by Johann from shooting the man right where he stands. Calares's respect for Johann, who he previously resented for taking command of the efforts against the CLA away from him, also goes up when Johann ostensibly refuses and takes Zhao Hao down a peg in the process.
    • Speaking of which, Johann himself is disgusted by Zhao Hao, and as mentioned above rips him a new one when Zhao asks if he can have Tianzi when they capture her.
• Evil Twin: Lelouch has one in the form of Rolo vi Britannia.
• Everyone Can See It: While it's subtle, it seems everyone is aware that Kallen and Lelouch (Zero or otherwise) have legitimate feelings for each other.
• Expy: Played with. The author has commented that he uses expies (at least in terms of appearance) because his readers are more likely to recognize/visualize them than completely original characters and equipment.
  • For starters, Joachim Rommel seems to be a lookalike of Ali al Saachez, Zhukov and his son seem to be based on Sergei and Andrei Smirnov, Louise Hameln is clearly derived from Louise Halevy (only she's engaged to Andrei here), Kondo sounds like Gendo Ikari, and Hijikata, Okita, and Saito are obviously based on Shinsengumi members.
  • Jackson, Longstreet and Stuart also seem to be based on Andrew Waltfeld, Mu La Flaga and Murrue Ramius apiece.
  • Knights of the Round Johann Ernst, Michael Raleigh, and Nena Carmine are obviously based on a certain trinity of 00 characters. Their personal Knightmares are also based on Gundams, albeit from different series.
  • The author mentioned that EU President Friedrich Kessler is visually based on Rustal Elion.
  • Not exactly a character Expy, but the new Black Knight uniforms are essentially black, grey, and silver clones of the A-Laws uniform. These in turn come with commissar caps (for officers), side caps (for enlisted), berets (for special forces), and assorted rank/unit insignia for additional style and badassery. Their Knightmare pilot suits are also based on the A-Laws' normal suit (pilot suit) but are colored black instead of green.
  • Lelouch's Zero attire in Megiddo is effectively a black and gold refinement of Char Aznable's Neo Zeon dress uniform.
  • For another non-human Expy, the EU Knightmare Frames (and at least one Britannian unit) are basically Zeon Mobile Suits re-imagined as Knightmares and painted grey in color. In general, several of the OC Knightmares are based on mobile suits from the Gundam franchise.
• Face Your Fears: Harshly averted. Kallen's third greatest fear (the first obviously being Lelouch getting killed) is the possibility that her feelings for Lelouch are Geass induced. When C.C. offers to remove Lelouch's Geass over her the way she had removed Charles' Geass over him, Kallen immediately snaps her hand back and gives off a terrified expression C.C. had never seen on her until that point. This consequently highlights Kallen's second greatest fear: the possibility of losing her feelings, which subsequently are the last thing tying her to the world. Chapter XXXIX cleared up those fears when the geass on her was removed.
• Fallen Hero: Suzaku, something both he and Lelouch (once he regains his memories) are perfectly aware of. And much to Lelouch's despair, Suzaku doesn't care about how far he's fallen, not as long he can avenge Euphie's death by killing Lelouch.
• Femme Fatale Spy: Milly and Shirley. The former is a young Grand Duchess who uses her eccentric charm on other elites while leading the Ashford Underground as she did Ashford Academy's student body. The latter has since become a Hollywood socialite with an aspiring career in acting, modeling, and singing, through which she branches out to all sections of Britannian society, including the areas that involve military and political secrets.
• Fighting Your Friend: How Lelouch sees fighting Suzaku, a sentiment that is not returned. Lelouch tries not to let it hamper his performance in their duel, but once Suzaku reveals the real reason why he killed his father, he loses almost all will to continue the fight, forcing Kallen to intervene. Suzaku's declaration during their escape, proclaiming that whether it will take another eight years or even an eternity, he will kill Lelouch, only causes his former friend to cry for the loss of their friendship.
• Forced to Watch: Zhao Hao states that this is why he wants Xingke and Tianzi as war prizes; so he can force the former to watch as he rapes the latter. Johann very politely tells him why that's not going to happen and how much of a terrible person he is for wanting it.
• Foreshadowing: There are many hints to C.C.'s true identity. Right before the Battle of Pearl Harbor, she makes a Catholic prayer in French, in support of the Black Knights' victory. Considering how long she's been alive, you would think she would have lost any and all faith in religion...unless it was integral to her core identity. Then, when you look at C.C.'s established age (six hundred years old, give or take) and compare it to the Megiddo timeline, it's near perfect for the birth and death of Jeanne d'Arc.
  • As it's alluded to more and more, it becomes clearer that Project Gogmagog is an entirely different beast from the original series' FLEIJA. For example, during Milly's meeting with Diethard, it is reported that there have been shipments of an "unknown" substance called Uranium coming out of northern Uther. For those who haven't read the author's wiki, the Grand Duchy of Uther is the Britannian equivalent of Arizona, whose northwestern sector is highly laden with uranium deposits (much of which contributed to the US' atomic weapons development in real life). The fact Nina is directly involved helps even less.
• Fragile Speedster: On the EU side, the Wolfen is this. As stated on the author's wiki, it is essentially the Knightmare Frame version of the Kämpfer from Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket which is fast but not heavily armoured. Overall a very fitting stand-in for the Alexander.
  • Similar to the Wolfen is the Liard, which is based on the Gelgoog High Mobility Type. It is described as being very fast and maneuverable while lacking in durability but since it is meant for ace pilots, this is seen as a non-issue.
  • On the Britannian side, there is Gino's Knightmare Frame Elyan, which is the Megiddo equivalent of the Vincent. It's described as having virtually no defensive power, to which it compensates with blistering speed and maneuverability coupled with high close-combat capability. Enough for Gino to take on two members of Zero Squadron simultaneously at Pendragon, as well as Kallen herself at Pearl Harbor. Its production variant, the Preston is also described as this.
  • The Carlisle fights not unlike a fencer against Rai and the Aoren, continuously maneuvering and attacking with its rapier blade. And then it takes a strike to the cockpit and that's the end of that.
• General Failure: You may even feel pity for Odysseus, especially when you know that he's completely aware of how incompetent a leader he is.
• Glass Cannon: The Canterburys. As in Akito, they're basically ginormous guns on landspinners armed with sakuradite based ammunition. They were exceptionally effective at Luoyang, especially against the Chinese, but eventually they fell to the Black Knights and CLA (one by an even bigger set of guns).
• Glory Hound: Calares' motivation toward defeating Xingke and the CLA, such that he even ignores orders from Johann, the Knight of Two, in order to carry out his own attack. This bites him in the ass when it's revealed Johann purposely fashioned his orders to incite Calares into going off on his own, all so that Johann could use his charge as a probing attack.
  • Of course, Calares is a somewhat sympathetic case. He's not after glory for (just) itself so much as a quick victory in China, both to secure Britannia's hold there and so that the brass back home would give him a newer, more bearable assignment in a better part of the world. Chapter XIX even highlights how much Calares hates being the Governor-General of Area 22.
    • As with his real-life base, James MacArthur is as much an invoker of this trope as his boss. Calares even muses having MacArthur taken out to keep him from taking sole credit over Xiaopei (before the battle began of course).
• Good is Not Nice: The Black Knights in a nutshell. C.C. also got up to this in the backstory, using Geass warriors to assassinate European royalty Godfather style in order to help Napoleon (with quite a few kids being collateral damage), something the latter called her out on.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: Lelouch now has a scar running down his left eye, which had been inflicted at one point by Suzaku to keep his Geass from reawakening.
• Gratuitous French: C.C.'s prayer before the Battle of Pearl Harbor, which is an early hint towards her true identity.
• Gratuitous German: The EU Knightmares and military ranks are all spelled in German. Makes sense as its military was developed along Prussian lines in this story.
• Gratuitous Ninja: The Black Knights' Special Forces Group "Iga". Even their Kagero Knightmares are basically Ninja Mechs with Active Camo and hidden blades.
• Guilt Complex: Lelouch, even more so than in the original series. He blames himself for things that are in no way his fault, such as the Devastation and his indirect hand in Suzaku's descent into insanity — including the death of Suzaku's father, who Suzaku killed to protect Nunnally and him. Only Kallen and C.C. are capable of snapping him out of his funk.
• He Who Fights Monsters: Both Bismarck and Lelouch warn Suzaku against becoming this. Unfortunately for everyone, it doesn't take, since, by that point, Suzaku has gone completely insane and is too consumed with rage to care.
• He's Back!: "I am... Zero!" With a "Reason You Suck" Speech to all sides of the conflict. And he makes sure that everyone gets aware of it.
• Heroic Bastard: Charmelle is the result of her Duke father having an affair with his secretary, and taking her in to dispel rumors that he murdered her mother.
• Heroic BSoD: Lelouch when Suzaku tells him that the real reason he killed his father was to protect him and Nunnally. Thankfully, Kallen manages to snap him out of it before it goes too far.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: How the Red Rebellion was won. In order to better protect the cities from the CLA, Viceroy Calares constructed the Argus defense system within each city which has enough firepower to wipe out an invading army and even destroy the cities if they were overrun. Lelouch geassed several people who set up Argus to recalibrate its firing system to target the Britannian forces instead, allowing the CLA and Black Knights to win the day.
• Hope Spot: As mentioned above, just as it looked like the Black Rebellion would succeed and Japan would finally regain its independence from Britannia, Operation Nero happened and ended it in fire, smoke, dust, blood and tears.
  • At the battles of Yekaterinburg and Krasnoyarsk, the fight against Marrybell seemed to be going well for the EU and Black Knights. Then she unleashes her geass and brainwashed all her troops into suicidal fanatics, forcing both of them to retreat. The former is put in dire straits as the way into the core EU territory is open to Britannia.
• Humongous Mecha Gun Fu: It's glorious!
• Hypocrite: Suzaku, something he willingly admits after Lelouch and the ghost(?) of his father call him out on his actions.
• I'll Kill You!: Suzaku shouts this at Lelouch during their duel. With eight years of pent up rage and hatred between them, Lelouch quickly retorts that he won't kill him — not if he kills Suzaku first.
• In-Series Nickname: Though they still have genitalia, the High Eunuchs are (mockingly) regarded by their namesake because they elected a then extremely young Tianzi to the Chinese Federal Chairmanship to serve as their puppet leader, causing the regular populace to compare them to the villainous Eunuchs of the Han Dynasty. This naturally resulted in Disproportionate Retribution, namely in the form of clampdowns by the Federation's Secret Police.
  • Due to its pilot's striking blue color scheme instead of the usual red, Rai Sumeragi's Guren Isshiki has been dubbed the Aoren (Blue Lotus).
• It Is Beyond Saving: Lelouch's attitude toward the current world, though it's mostly centered around Britannia.
• It's All My Fault: Lelouch blames himself for Suzaku's descent into insanity, recognizing that the Suzaku he befriended died with Genbu in order to protect him and Nunnally, although Kallen quickly snaps him out of it before he could plunge himself into the Despair Event Horizon. He also shoulders the guilt of what happened to Japan because of the Black Rebellion (namely, the SAZ Massacre and the Devastation), but he doesn't allow it to weigh on him too much or drive him to insanity, primarily because there was no way he could've known Operation Nero would happen or that it was even possible.
• It's Personal: After everything that has happened between them, including the last eight years of living a lie, both Lelouch (reluctantly) and Suzaku recognize that their friendship is unsalvageable — that in the end, their conflict only ends when one of them is dead.
  • It's for this explicit reason why Tohdoh decides not to interfere in the battle between Lelouch and Suzaku. While he may have been Suzaku's master, Lelouch had been his best friend, and the kind of shit Suzaku pulled on Lelouch, including betraying him to the Emperor, allowing said Emperor to suppress memories to make him serve the very empire he despised, and then playing the role of his best friend for the next eight years knowing full well what he did to him, is enough for Tohdoh to admit that Lelouch has a much bigger bone to pick with Suzaku than he does.
• Lampshade Hanging: C.C. says that it would be out of her character if she didn't talk sarcastically.
• La Résistance: Both the Black Knights and the Ashford Underground. The latter is more akin to the trope's namesake.
• Laughing Mad: Suzaku gives an absolutely chilling laugh that stuns Lelouch when he realizes that Lelouch hasn't figured out the real reason why Genbu Kururugi was killed by his son. By that point, both the readers and Lelouch realize that Suzaku has gone absolutely insane.
• Leeroy Jenkins: Calares' brand of tactics. Amusingly called out by Hei.
• Lensman Arms Race: Subverted. The technology growth in Megiddo is much more realistic and thus, very different from R2. Float technology was never integrated into Knightmares due to power constraints, meaning that even the most advanced Knightmare is a ground-based unit (although sea-based submersible variants exist), while aircraft and gunships continue to dominate the skies with no variable Knightmare equivalents to the Tristan or Bradford. For that same reason, airships take the form of oversized bombers and transports as opposed to the floating battleship fleet Britannia fielded in R2, with the Avalon being the only one of its kind and Schneizel's personal flagship. Meanwhile, eighth-generation Knightmare Frames like the Britannian Exeter (a mass-produced Lancelot) and the Eurasian Loewe (the Gelgoog if it was a Knightmare) are treated as rare elite units since there are no Easy Logistics and production issues have taken their toll on both sides of the Great World War. Thus Britannia still fields Sutherlands and Gloucesters as their mainstay units while the EU field units that go as far back as the fourth-generation (i.e. the Knightmare equivalent of the Zaku I) due to widespread logistical problems.
  • The Eighth-Generation Knightmare Frames can also be seen as a subversion. Rather than being even bigger sticks from the Lancelot, Guren and the rest, eighth-generation Knightmares are meant for mass production and wide range distribution, and so are greatly simplified in design from the previous generation. As a result, neither the Exeter, the Loewe nor the Baihu are up to par with their original prototypes (just as the Gekka is no way in league with the Guren) but are much easier to produce, can be piloted by your average grunt and are still superior to the likes of the Sutherland. Thus the aim of the Megiddo world's arms race isn't who can build the bigger stick but rather who can outfit their forces with new generation Knightmares and deploy them the fastest.
• Light Is Not Good: Suzaku as the White Knight of Britannia. Though he's not evil per se, his sheer vengefulness runs counter to what a White Knight usually stands for. And that's before one gets into his growing insanity...
  • As per the original series, Schneizel as the White Prince of Britannia.
• Lightning Bruiser: The seventh-generation Knightmares can be considered this, the Lancelot and Guren being the most obvious examples, but the eighth-generation machines are no slouches either. Perhaps the most notable example is the Loewe. Being fast, tough, and armed with cutting-edge weapons and technology, the Loewe demonstrates this trope quite well when it decimated the Britannian forces in Tobruk.
• The Lost Lenore: Euphemia, for Suzaku.
• Lost Technology: Generally the Eildons' schtick. Outside Ragnarok, they've been excavating technology left behind by a long lost (and still unidentified) civilization and using it to enhance their own military forces.
• Lovable Sex Maniac: Kallen, especially after Alexandra Land. As best described by Lelouch, the energy and drive that makes her an effective devicer has focused squarely on him, such that any free time they have outside their duties or otherwise appearing in public is usually spent making love in one setting or another.
• Love Makes You Crazy: Suzaku's descent into insanity can largely be blamed on Euphie's death. He later declares that while he may no longer be worthy of being Euphemia's chosen knight, he will fulfill his last duty as her knight in her name — killing Lelouch, her killer. This desire consumes him to the point of obsession, and he finally loses it during his duel with Lelouch at Pearl Harbor.
• Macross Missile Massacre: The Black Knights applied this tactic against Upson and his fleet during Pearl Harbor.
• Madness Mantra: After Marrybell geassed her troops into mindless fanatics, they can be heard chanting "All Hail Britannia!" over and over again as they throw themselves at the EU and Black Knight forces irregardless of casualties.
• Mask of Sanity: As the narrative continues, it becomes clear that Suzaku hasn't been sane in a long time. Even so, it only begins to slip when Lelouch is re-captured by the Black Knights and inevitably resumes his role as Zero. As more and more people become aware of its existence, the general assumption is that he adopted it in response to Euphie's death and the events that transpired afterward, which eventually culminated in the Devastation. They're wrong. The mask was in place long before Suzaku had even met Euphie.
• Meaningful Name: As best shown with the title Megiddo, this is a big theme to the story.
  • The Mordred. What better name for a Knightmare piloted by Lelouch?
  • Bismarck's Knightmare Bedivere. It's named after King Arthur's Marshal who, following Camlann, was entrusted to return Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake.
  • Luciano's Knightmare Maleagant is named after the villainous knight who's best known for abducting Guinevere.
  • Instead of the Sword of Akasha and the World of C, the Megiddo edifice and spirit realm/collective unconscious are dubbed the Sword of Arawn and the Otherworld.
  • The Eildons derive their name from Eildon Hill (in real-world Scotland). In Megiddo, it is said Alwyn started them up by gathering druids around or within said hill, possibly through the presence of a Thought Elevator or some other First Civilization edifice. In the real world, the hill is said to be a possible iteration of Avalon and the final resting place of King Arthur. An ancient fortification is also set at the foot of the hill, which has been dated back to 1000 BC.
  • Forwardly, Project Gogmagog is named after the giant from Welsh myth. However, given this story's apocalyptic allusions, it's pretty fair to assume that it also stems from Gog and Magog of the Bible.
  • The Ceridwen Knights are named after an enchantress in Welsh Mythology.
  • The Morganna and Accolon are naturally named after the sorceress Morgan le Fay and her knight consort/lover. As with the Mordred for Lelouch, what better names for Cornelia and Guilford's personalized knightmares?
  • The EU Knight Giga Fortresses are appropriately named Behemoth and Leviathan, the land and sea monsters of Biblical myth.
• Meaningful Rename: Following the Devastation and her reconciliation with Ohgi, Viletta forgoes her original identity and readopts the name "Chigusa" thereafter. Other characters even refer to her as such, while among the Black Knights proper she is known as Colonel Chigusa Ohgi.
• Mercy Kill: Many of the characters state that if Lelouch does still care about Suzaku, this is the action he should take regarding his former best friend. Lelouch and Tohdoh also acknowledge this, but feel that if it's possible, they will try to save Suzaku from himself.
• Mighty Glacier: The Brunor. It's a lumbering beast with almost no maneuverability (which is atypical for a Knightmare), but it's described as having three times the armor of a Sutherland and firepower to match. Such that it repeatedly takes the Guren Nishiki's surger blasts head-on without so much as flinching, all the while raining bullets across the Bering Strait.
  • The Hector is described as being derived from the same mindset as the Brunor. In fact, it's even more durable, repeatedly taking attacks from multiple Knightmares at once without so much as its paint scratching, all the while dishing it all back out with its hadron cannons and missile launchers. Its production variant, the Kirkwall, also follows the line.
  • The Vortigern, Jeremiah's new Knight Giga Fortress, initially appeared as such until it changes into its Knightmare form, where it becomes a nigh invulnerable Lightning Bruiser.
• Military Mashup Machine: With the lack of float technology and floatships in general, land battleships such as the Black Knight flagship Izumo, the Britannian Formidable-class and the Chinese Mao Zedong-class (the Longdan in the original series) play a much larger role than in the original story. That said, airships are still around, only they're more along the lines of the Garuda from Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam or the Hresvelgr from Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War; generally oversized bombers and transports.
• Mind Screw: The last part of Chapter XXVIII. Kind of expected given that the pre-chapter quote is a passage from the Book of Revelation.
• Morality Pet: In a way, Nunnally is this for Suzaku, as her presence helps keep the latter's inner demons at bay.
• More Dakka: The Brunor's specific brand of offense. Just take that trope page's image and apply it to a Knightmare.
• Mugging the Monsters: This is what happens when a bunch of Chinese secret policemen attempted to rustle up a pair of harmless-looking old men who turn out to be Setsuna and his fellow shinobi Yukihiro Sanada.
• The Mole: Rai seems to be this, serving as an undercover agent codenamed 'Adonis' to spy on Zero and the Black Knights. It is unknown who he serves and to what end, other than he is somehow connected to Ragnarok.
• My Country, Right or Wrong: Gino truly feels that what Britannia is doing is wrong, but he still has to do his duty.
  • Bismarck and Dorothea feel very much the same, stating that no matter how close they were to Lelouch and how just their cause is, they have their duty and they cannot afford to go against it. Johann also sticks around despite being on the receiving end of bigotry.
• Mythology Gag: The near entirety of Chapter XLII is this a nutshell. Taking a break from the war at large, said chapter focuses on Halloween as it's celebrated in Ryukyu, with most if not all the named (original series) characters dressing up in their R2 outfits for their costumes^note They've been written into Megiddo as stemming from various in-universe Britannian and Japanese media. For example, Ohgi's longcoated and bolo tied uniform was apparently worn by a character in a Japanese House of Cards (US)-like TV series, while Chigusa's PE coach jumpsuit comes from the movie Fast Times at Scranton Primary. Examples include C.C. in her Black Knight dress (albeit with a pointy hat to emphasize her being a Hot Witch), Kallen in her Babel Tower outfit and Lelouch dressed up in (you guessed it) his Demon Emperor clothing (which he considers the most ridiculous thing he has ever worn.)
  • Of particular note is the backstory of Lelouch's "costume", which apparently stems from an old Britannian TV series called Whiteadder.

Tropes N to Z

• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Quite a few nicknames among the cast invoke this. To name them:
  • Lelouch - Black Prince of Britannia (as Lelouch) / Demon King (as Zero)
  • Kallen - Red Dragoness
  • Tohdoh - Tohdoh of Miracles
  • Kondo - Ogre of Kyoto
  • Rai - Blue Thunder God
  • Xingke - Chinese Tiger
  • Rommel - Desert Lion
  • Zhukov - Bear of the Far East
  • Akito - Hannibal's Ghost
  • Marianne - Marianne the Flash
  • Schneizel - White Prince of Britannia
  • Cornelia - Witch of Britannia
  • Marrybell - Bloody Marry
  • Bismarck - Warmaster of Britannia
  • Johann - Owl of Britannia
  • Gino - Eagle of Britannia
  • Dorothea - Shieldmaiden of Britannia
  • Michael - Paladin of Britannia
  • Anya - Juggernaut of Britannia
  • Suzaku - White Knight of Britannia
  • Nena - Reaper of Britannia
  • Nonette - Gorgon of Britannia
  • Luciano - Vampire of Britannia
  • Wilhelm - Krieger of Britannia
  • Monica - Sorceress of Britannia
  • Guilford - Spearhead of the Empire
    • Notice a pattern among the Rounds and royals?
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: In Chapter XXXIX, during the Battle of Alexandra Land, Jeremiah's entire strategy hinged on the assumption that Lelouch's Black Knights were geassed into serving him, and thus a massive Geass Canceller Array was established that would remove the Geass effect and leave his forces in disarray. Predictably, it failed since Lelouch never geassed his army in the first place (with the exceptions of Kallen and Chigusa) and Jeremiah's Eildons were thrown into disarray instead. He also pulled the entire Knightmare garrison away from the Eildon base, leaving it defenseless and allowing the remaining Black Knights on board the airship Tsuru to capture the base with ease. But the real kicker is that by removing the Geass effects on Kallen, who was unsure if she had been geassed by Lelouch to be loyal to him, it proved that her loyalty and love for him were not a result of Geass but were genuine, solidifying her resolve and allowing her to destroy the Vortigern alongside Lelouch.
• Noble Wolf: Leila has two, Geri and Freki, who serve as pets (and guardians) as well as mascots for her kampfgruppe.
• Noodle Incident: Due to the fact the entire Old World seems to be at war, lots of battles happen offscreen. Examples include the Britannians suffering a heavy blow at the Rhineland, a Eurasian powerplant in the North Sea being sabotaged (an ironic reference to Lelouch's scheme in Akito the Exiled), the Black Knights and CLA liberating the remainder of Asia following the Red Rebellion and Marrybell being in continuous bouts with Zhukov in the Far East.
• No One Gets Left Behind: The Britannians in the Black Knights show what happens when people don't play this trope straight.
  • Not only the military but also the entire Ashford Academy student body, including Milly, Rivalz, and Shirley.
• Nothing Personal: Surprisingly, Marika doesn't hold Kewell's death against Kallen; she admits she mourns him but also understands that he was fighting for the wrong side and so understands that Kallen didn't have a choice.
• Oh, Crap!: Lelouch's reaction upon seeing Johann in China, since the latter is a Worthy Opponent (the only other person besides Schneizel to beat Lelouch in chess) and Lelouch wasn't expecting one that time around.
  • Britannia when the Black Knights announced their return.
• The Omniscient Council of Vagueness: The Masters' Council of the Eildons. They even communicate in meetings as SEELE styled monoliths.
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Suzaku is obsessed with avenging Euphie's death, vowing to Lelouch that no matter how long it takes, he will be the one to end him. Lelouch returns to the sentiment to a far lesser extent, recognizing that it's somewhat his fault that Suzaku has fallen as far as he has and that he may have to kill him — and not just because Suzaku is serving Britannia.
• Paint It Black: Literally, in the case of the Black Knights' Knightmares and ships, as well as the Mordred.
• Parental Favoritism: Strangely, Charles does (to some extent) regret exiling Lelouch and Nunnally to Japan, acknowledging that out of all his children, the one who relates to the most is not Schneizel, his prized son and clearly chosen successor, but (ironically) Lelouch, undoubtedly the one who hates him (and by extension, Britannia) the most. He questions his actions, wondering if they would've been the most loyal of his children, being the son and daughter of his favored consort, had he not exiled them.
• Parental Substitute: Lelouch considers Bismarck to be the closest he ever had to a real father, a sentiment returned by his mentor, who considers Lelouch as Like a Son to Me. Then again, considering that Lelouch's biological father is Charles zi Britannia, Bismarck might as well have been his father in all but name.
• Parting-Words Regret: As it turns out, one of the main things eating Cornelia up is the fact that the very last time she saw Euphie alive she rather cruelly dismissed Euphie's ideas and called her an idiot....and never got to the Avalon in time to apologize.
• Pop-Cultured Badass:
  • Kallen is a big fan of classic rock, with Empress being her favorite band.
  • Michael will not hesitate in throwing out Monty Python lines while dismembering his opponents.
  • Ryo can be heard listening to Rammstein while on the long drive from Kazakhstan to Yekaterinburg.
  • Sokkia sings "Thankless Job" from Repo! The Genetic Opera while butchering Peace Mark units in Krasnoyarsk.
• Posthumous Character: Genbu Kururugi, who is long dead but appears frequently as a hallucination(?) to Suzaku.
• Power Trio: The Tianshou ("Heavenly Beasts"). They're to Xingke what the Four Holy Swords are to Tohdoh.
• Pragmatic Hero: Xingke invoked this when he had thirteen CLA Generals, including Cao, executed for war crimes. He did it not simply for justice, but also to cement his unilateral authority within the CLA and ensure no further atrocities would be carried out by his sub-commanders (as such atrocities would disparage Tianzi's reputation).
• Pragmatic Villainy: Calares shows shades of this as Area 22's administrator. Unlike the Eunuchs, he would rather not needlessly antagonize the local Numbers nor kill them off en masse. Not so much because he gives a damn about them, but because they're so demoralized and destitute, and therefore unlikely to resist Britannian authority, that there's no real point in mistreating them further. Likewise, Twenty-Two purges tend to attract CLA reprisal. For that same reason, he envisioned using technology derived from Knightmares to improve China as a Britannian Area but was hindered by the Eunuchs.
  • Schneizel also shows signs of this, at least in the past. It is revealed that he supported Euphemia's SAZ plan not because he cared about the Japanese, but because he envisioned it replacing the Areas system with a more bearable one where the Numbers would have greater autonomy and freedom within Britannia and are less likely to rebel against the Empire.
• Pre Ass Kicking One Liner: Kallen: "Lelouch... This is my miracle!"
• Precursors: A civilization that precedes everything in the modern world is hinted toward. Possibly the originators of Geass and the Thought Elevators.
• Psycho Supporter: Liliana Vergammon is revealed to be this; she worships Zero because she believes that he'll need people like her to create his new world order.
• A Pupil of Mine Until He Turned to Evil: Tohdoh recognizes how far Suzaku has fallen and laments that when the pupil turns to evil, the master has only two options: save them... or slay them.
• Putting on the Reich: The Eurasian Union. It's basically a far more elaborate form of the Axis Powers, albeit without the Nazi elements (though there are hints of totalitarianism). The official explanation is as follows: through a somewhat arduous process (see United Europe below), Napoleon ended up being blackmailed by Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher and several others into formalizing a unified Germanic state, thereby giving birth to the titular State of Germany (basically a republican analogue to the Second Reich). As one would expect from this, the state quickly became unified Europe's central military influence; the eventually ratified European Army was developed around Prussian lines, the equally resultant European Navy was established in much the same way as the Kaiserliche Marine (just helmed by all of Western Europe) and so on. France would remain the administrative center despite all this, though its power would continually wane throughout, eventually being supplanted during the Soviet War.
• Pyrrhic Victory:
  • The Battle of Xiaopei's conclusion. Though Lelouch succeeds in dissuading Johann and the Britannians from further pursuit of the retreating Chinese, it's still too little too late; the Xiaopei garrison (the CLA's largest and strongest ground force) is whittled down to thirty percent of its original size while the Four Beasts (the Shenhu and its three siblings) received varying levels of damage. Much worse, Johann knows the locations of the other CLA strongholds and is about to proceed in their extermination (from which he plans on forcing the entirety of the CLA and Black Knights into the open for a final Big Badass Battle Sequence) and there is nothing Lelouch can do to prevent it. Overall, as stated in-universe, all Lelouch succeeded in doing at Xiaopei was gaining the Black Knights and Chinese a breather before the endgame, and not a very long one.
  • One could argue this for Operation Nero. It caused the Black Rebellion to fail, that much is true, but the long-term consequences make one question if it was really worth it. Besides the countless civilian casualties, the loss of a major Sakuradite source, and the irreparable damage to Japan, it effectively ended whatever discrimination there was between the inhabitants of what was once Area 11 with the survivors of the tragedy living peacefully together in the Ryukyu Islands (namely Okinawa). Some of the latter (such as Ohgi and Villetta) have even started families together. As a result of this, many Britannians, undoubtedly bitter about how their homeland abandoned them to die, have joined the Black Knights, including several distinguished high-ranking officers that were once a part of the Britannian military, all of whom helped build up the Black Knights into a major military force. On top of that, forcibly enlisting the amnesiac Lelouch allowed him the chance to get stronger, gain more experience, and gain valuable inside secrets that only made him even more dangerous when he regained his memories and became Zero once again. In short, while Britannia may have quelled a potential uprising to make a statement to the rest of the world in the short-term, they may have just created the instrument of their own defeat in the long-term.
• The Quisling: The Eunuchs. They get their just desserts after the Red Rebellion succeeded.
• Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Out of all the Eunuchs, Zhao Hao is especially hated by Calares and his staff because he's a pedophile. In fact, he once tried to force himself on a younger Tianzi, only to get his arms cut off by Xingke for the effort.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Lelouch (as Zero or otherwise) has been giving out several of these, most notably to Suzaku (pointedly asking him why he betrayed his best friend to the man who destroyed his people) and to the entire world when he announced the Black Knights' return.
• Red China: As opposed to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms knock-off it was in R2, Megiddo's depiction of the Chinese Federation is pretty much a copy of the real-life PRC. It was originally annexed by Britannia due to the Eunuchs' treachery but was reformed following the Red Rebellion.
• Revenge Before Reason: Suzaku is so consumed with his desire to kill Lelouch that he discards his compassion (something that both Lelouch and Bismarck warned him against) and goes Jumping Off the Slippery Slope in the process.
• Related Differently in the Adaptation: In the original storyline, V.V. and Charles were twin brothers. Here, they are master and apprentice respectively and are not related by blood in any discernible way.
• The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized: Lots of resistance groups are like this, such as Zulfiqar.
• Rousing Speech: Zero's worldwide speech declaring his and the Black Knights' return. It was glorious!
• Sanity Slippage: Suzaku. BIG TIME! And it's revealed by the Word Dramas that this slippage has been going on for quite some time; only after Lelouch was taken by the Black Knights, almost ensuring that he will become Zero once again, did it start to become noticeable.
• Scenery Gorn: Obviously post-Devastation Japan.
  • Luoyang also qualifies. Outside the Vermillion Forbidden Palace, the city seems a share a lot in common with real-world Pyongyang.
• Secret-Keeper: Unlike R2, the Black Knights higher-ups (including several Generals outside of the original members) know Zero's identity as Lelouch vi Britannia due to C.C. telling them after the Black Knights regrouped in Ryukyu, although it is later revealed that Tohdoh figured it out during his prison break in R1. On the EU side, there is General Joachim Rommel, who managed to deduce Zero's identity by following several clues that go as far back as Lelouch's childhood and noticed several discrepancies in his supposed past of being exiled to Sunderland (Alaska) for most of his childhood as well as the uncanny similarities between Lelouch's and Zero's tactics. He even sent a video message to Zero addressing him as 'Your Highness' to let him know how confident he is in deducing his identity, although he does not intend to reveal it to anyone else (other than his wife). The only thing he hasn't figured out is why Lelouch would serve Britannia in the past few years when he had opposed them in Japan as Zero.
• Secret Police: The Guoanbu, or more formally the Ministry of State Security (MSS) of the Chinese Federation (later Area 22). More or less the usual depiction of this trope, as well as its real life counterpart in the PRC.
• Sex for Solace: Lelouch and Kallen turn to this following the Eildon episode. Though they both initially write it off as such, this effectively sets the ball rolling for them until they enter a full-fledged relationship after Alexandra Land.
• Shipper on Deck: C.C. for Lelouch and Kallen. To the point of aggravation given their personalities, i.e. their deliberate refusal to come out and admit their feelings for each other.
• Shown Their Work: The author has provided a lot of information about the mechas with a high level of detail in his Wikia.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: Milly invokes this trope in the Word Dramas when Suzaku tries to talk her down from blasting Charles (holy shit) over the Devastation.
• Sociopathic Soldier: Liliana Vergammon of Zero Squadron is this even compared to her compatriots. Luciano is this for the Britannian side.
• Spin-Off: The Word Dramas.
• Spared by the Adaptation: A few characters get this treatment in Megiddo, specifically the Ascended Extras. As mentioned above, Alfred Darlton is spared his fate in R2, and is an Ace Pilot in the Black Knights' Zero Squadron. Reginald Calares, the Viceroy of Area 11 who was killed by Lelouch early into R2, is not only given a bigger role as the Viceroy of Area 22 (China) but managed to survive the Red Rebellion and became the new Premier of the reborn Chinese Federation.
• State Sec: The Black Knights' Special Forces Group "Iga" acts this way, overseeing Internal Affairs within Ryukyu and the "regular" Black Knights as well as performing black operations in the outside world to ensure the Ryukyu Islands remaining secret and forgotten. Needless to say, the other Black Knights have mixed feelings about them.
  • For another example, the EU Sturmtruppenkorps is basically the SS analogue.
• The Strategist: Besides the usual suspects (Lelouch, Schneizel, Xingke, etc.) there's Johann. Unlike the former group, however, Johann's style of tactics is more on the line of Boring, but Practical; they're nowhere near as spectacular as Lelouch's "miracles" or the like, but damn are they effective. At Xiaopei for example, he starts off by manipulating Calares into attacking the fortress on his own to force Xingke into deploying his defenses, to which he then dismantles with a simple cruise missile attack before deploying his own forces to assault the base itself. Then when Lelouch shows up and attempts to deploy one of his miracles (a large scale Gefjun disturber field, similar to the one he used in Shikine Island eight years ago) to immobilize the Britannians, Johann, upon recognizing the ambush, has his flagship broadcast an overriding signal that triggers the Gefjun Disturbers prematurely and while the Chinese forces are in the middle of it (during their attempt to lead the Britannian forces in). And finally, when the battle ends in a stalemate, Johann comes up with his next strategy: wiping out random CLA strongholds to force the Black Knights and CLA out in the open and into an endgame scenario, where they will, at last, be eradicated and Tianzi can be captured.
• Swiss-Army Weapon: As in the original storyline, Orpheus's Knightmare Byakuen has this in its right arm.
• Their First Time: Lelouch and Kallen in Chapter XXXII, right after the Eildon episode. Both (at least initially) write it off as Glad-to-Be-Alive Sex, but C.C. knows otherwise and is visibly agitated that they won't just come out and admit their very obvious feelings for each other.
• This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: Why Tohdoh decides to let Lelouch fight Suzaku — their conflict is far more personal than his and Suzaku's can ever hope to be.
• Token Evil Teammate: While the Black Knights are the good guys, some of their members are still pretty damned evil. Liliana Vergammon is a Sociopathic Soldier who is said to have taken part in the Shinjuku massacre (and enjoyed every second of it), Diethard is a total slimebag who has questionable loyalty, and Iga basically murders any potential traitors and spies before they can become a threat.
• Took a Level in Badass: The shift from the original Geass setting to Megiddo has a resulted in much of the original cast going through this in one form or another.
  • The most obvious example are the Black Knights proper, both in-universe and out. For the latter, they're aesthetically far less comparable to the sparsely organized militia of the original series and more akin to Neo Zeon. For the former, an eight year timespan since the Black Rebellion has allowed them to rapidly expand into a full military force, having everything but manpower (which they gain following the Red Rebellion) going for them.
  • Kallen, and not just because C.C. gave her a Geass power. Rather than "merely" being an Ace Pilot, she's since become an effective squad commander as well.
  • Lelouch has also gone up in multiple levels. The most apparent is that he can now hold his own in a knightmare fight (being on par with Suzaku even), but he's improved greatly as a tactician as well, such that he's noticeably more efficient at conventional strategy and much less reliant on his Geass and "miracles". All emphasized by his Zero attire being more an actual uniform and less a pimp suit.
  • Alfred gets a mention, as he was able to fight Guilford and beat him, albeit with a Bigger Stick. He certainly couldn't have done that eight years ago, and definitely more than his original counterpart who died at Kallen's hands.
  • For a non-Knightmare pilot example, Rivalz has developed from the awkward adolescent he was at Ashford Academy into the Ashford Underground's lead spymaster and Milly's second-in-command.
  • Leila was already a relatively badass character in Akito, so naturally she's only more so in Megiddo. Dresses in a proper uniform (complete with Badass Longcoat and Commissar Cap)? Check. Commands the premiere black operations unit in Eurasia? Check. Organized and headed a covert operation that saw multiple engagements with the Black Knights (in Chinese territory no less) without drawing Eurasia into a full shooting war? Check. Managed to fulfill the real objectives of said operation (which were very much unsanctioned) even with Eurasia's leadership literally standing behind her? Check. Has two pet wolves that serve as both her unit's mascots and her own impromptu bodyguards? Double check.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Suzaku. First, he betrayed Lelouch, his best friend, to his (Lelouch's) father, the same father who exiled Lelouch and his crippled, blind younger sister and left them to die in a war zone, for a position as one of the Knights of the Round. Then he allows said father/Emperor to suppress Lelouch's memories and rewrite them to make him a loyal soldier of the very empire he despised. Then, after all he has done, he has the gall to reignite their friendship during Lelouch's amnesia and play the part of his best friend for the next eight years. Needless to say, when Lelouch regains his memories, he is rightly pissed off at Suzaku the next time they meet. At the same time, you can't really blame Suzaku, since he's been in Sanity Slippage mode since Euphie's death, and perhaps even before, with his guilt over the death of his father.
• Two Decades Behind: As in the original series, the CLA is highly antiquated in both technology and training; the only real advanced tech they have is the Shenhu and its three sister units, while Xingke and the Tianshou triplets are the only highly skilled soldiers/pilots. This is emphasized several times as the reason the CLA hasn't made any headway in living up to its name for the last seven years.
• Undercover as Lovers: Lelouch and Kallen infiltrate a Chinese-Britannian party in Chapter XX, posing as a married couple, so Lelouch can use his Geass on certain high-ranking officials.
• Undying Loyalty: Kallen to Lelouch, but not to Blind Obedience levels. She is so loyal to him that Lelouch admits to her in private that other than C.C., she is the only person he completely trusts. That is why he christened her as his "Knight of Zero" and why he trusted her to watch his back. It's not only to protect him but also to stop him should he ever fall from the right path.
• Ungrateful Bastards: The Chinese to the Black Knights following Xiaopei, as noted by several characters. Probably has something to do with Chinese-Japanese tensions and them being caught in Lelouch's Gefjun Disturber trap at Xiaopei.
• United Europe: Rather than a collection of loosely aligned countries, Megiddo's version of the EU is well and truly a union of states (albeit with an overlapping German aesthetic). As explained on the wiki, this stemmed from a far more elaborately depicted Age of Revolution, in which, through C.C.'s machinations, the vast majority of Europe's nobility was purged from the ground up, thereby allowing Napoleon to annex/conquer the freshly leaderless states and implement his "Sister-State" system of governance (which, also through C.C.'s influence, was deliberately based on the would've-been United States of America).
• Violently Protective Girlfriend: Kallen will slaughter anyone who hurts or threatens Lelouch.
• We Used to Be Friends: Lelouch and Suzaku. From the best of friends to the most bitter of enemies.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: V.V. wants to start his Assimilation Plot before "Armageddon" (Title Drop?), which he believes is worse than anything anyone has ever seen. Considering what that word means in the real world, he's probably not far off base.
• Wham Episode:
  • Chapter XVI has Suzaku reveal the true reason for killing his father to Lelouch, stunning him and almost getting himself killed if not for Kallen saving him in the nick of time.
  • Chapter XXVII (and by extension Act II) ends with a Britannian prince declaring on television that Zero and the Black Knights will be defeated ... a prince who looks exactly like Lelouch!
  • Chapter XXIX is a pretty big one. To make a long story short, the Eildons make their move and Lelouch dies! Obviously it didn't stick, but GODDAMN!
  • Chapter XL ends Act III on a pretty big note. Orpheus explained to Lelouch, Chigusa, and Kallen the foundation of the Eildons and Britannia by Alwyn, the former as the undercover conspiracy it is today and the latter as the enforcer of the Eildons' mission to completing Ragnarok. Then, Lelouch was taken to the Otherworld by his father and Marianne, the former challenging him to a chess game and beating him soundly while berating him for his shortcomings but not without telling him Nunnally is safe, while the latter appeared before Kallen, Chigusa, and Orpheus as Anya Alstreim, where she revealed C.C.'s identity as Jeanne d'Arc and whispered her true identity as Marianne to Kallen. Meanwhile, Jeremiah survived the destruction of the Vortigern, albeit badly wounded, and was taken into custody by the Black Knights. The real kicker, however, is V.V. revealing his true identity as Alwyn himself.
  • Chapter XLIV has the EU deploy Balmung, which turns out to be a Death Ray... but instead of targeting Marrybell as originally planned, the Sturmtruppenkorps colonel in charge targeted Lelouch, wasting the EU's ace in the hole that could have ended the Far Eastern Front then and there. But the real kicker is when Marrybell reveals her own ace card in the form of her own Geass, the Power of Absolute Submission, which she uses to turn all of her soldiers into mindless slave fanatics dedicated to eradicating all of her enemies, not too dissimilar to what Lelouch did to his own soldiers in the final episodes of R2.
• Wham Line:
  • Suzaku, while fighting Lelouch at Pearl Harbour:
  "I killed my father for you and Nunnally!"
  • Rommel, after watching Zero's declaration of war:
  "Indeed, a most excellent war declaration, 'Your Highness'...".
  • V.V., after giving away his Code to Charles and re-activating his Geass, reveals his true name:
  "For that name is Alwyn."
• What the Hell, Hero?: To say Lelouch was mad at Suzaku after regaining his memories would be an understatement. The ghost(?) of Genbu is also disgusted with his son for his actions as well. Not that Suzaku cares by this point.
• World War II: The story is filled with references (some more obvious than others - North Africa and Pearl Harbor), and the current setting is obviously modeled after it. Several characters also share names with various WWII-era figures (i.e. Rommel, Zhukov, Hartmann, Kimmel, MacArthur).
  • Though not WWII related, a Battle of Jutland was mentioned in Chapter X.
• Worth Living For: After continuously losing everything she ever cared for (namely her family), Kallen now lives on for one thing and one thing only: Lelouch. To the point that, on the possibility that her feelings for him are Geass induced, she fears losing them more than anything else (save the possibility of losing Lelouch himself of course).
• You Can't Fight Fate: George Washington's Geass allowed him to have visions to predict the future — including Lelouch's rise as Zero. In order to ensure that future, he told Benjamin Franklin to betray them to Britannia and prevent the rise of the United States.
  • The narrative seems to imply that Lelouch and Suzaku were destined to stand against each other on opposite sides, no matter what happened. And unfortunately for Lelouch, this has so far held true, as Suzaku is too far gone after Euphie's death to even consider salvaging his friendship with his former best friend.
• You Should Have Died Instead: Suzaku killed his father in order to protect Lelouch and Nunnally, his first and only friends. Fifteen years later, he bluntly tells Lelouch during their fight that had he known what would've happened in the interim between then and now, he would have let his father do the deed instead of saving them.
• Your Days Are Numbered: Xingke was dying of tuberculosis for a time, which is why he originally refused to enter a relationship with Tianzi. This obviously changed when Rakshata came forward with a cure.
  • Kallen's Geass is implied to be doing something similar to her, too.
• Zerg Rush: The CLA tactic with the Yaoguais is basically this. The Hongse Diyu (Red Inferno) protocol is a last-ditch Knightmare Wave Attack where the Yaoguais charge in and destroy everything regardless of their casualties. Interestingly enough, this is what turned the tide against Britannia and allowed the Red Rebellion to succeed.

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