For those of you who are not familiar with the character, Lelouch Lamperouge is the main protagonist of a decade-old anime,
Code Geass. The series takes place in an alternate version of our own world, with its own alternate history to boot. In this world, the empire of Britannia rules over a large part of the world with an iron fist. Citizens of the mainland empire consider people from other countries, like the storyโs main setting of Japan, to be inferior, and thus treat those people like trash. And that brings us to Lelouch.
Lelouch is the son of the Emperor of the totalitarian nation of Britannia. After his mother is killed and his little sister blinded and crippled he was sent to the nation of Japan as a hostage. He ends up under the care of the leader of the nation, until him and his little sister can escape. After Britannia invades Japan, fearing that they will again be used as pawns, he hides his little sister with a Britannian noble family, the Ashfordโs. Lelouch hides in plain sight, pretending to be an ordinary Britannian school student in Japan, when in reality, he is actually a royal prince of the empire placed in exile. Wanting to exact revenge on his father for exiling him and despairing on the inside over the plight of the Japanese people, Lelouch feels powerlessโฆuntil one fateful day. Circumstances lead to a chance meeting with the mysterious woman, C.C., who grants him the power of Geass, a supernatural ability that often has an effect on the mind and consciousness. Lelouchโs geass, to put it simply, is to command another person to do as he says, but the power can only work on an individual once. With his newfound power and the intelligence with which he was born, he could now face off against Britannia and do what he set out to do upon his exile.
See, Lelouch is a brilliant young man. He has a strategic mind that is almost unmatched, even among the Britannian royal family. He had a great deal of siblings, and each and every one of them regarded him with respect. Many hated him, given the fact that his mother was not of noble birth. However, they respected his intellect in a profound way. His oldest brother, Schneizel, says that Lelouch was a brother who โI both loved and feared.โ He was the only one who was able to stand tall to his intellect in games like chess. His brilliant mind is his most valuable asset, but it is not his only one.
Upon acquiring the Geass, Lelouch sets out to do what he wanted. In order to achieve that he creates a masked persona called Zero. He never shows his face to his allies, since he knows that they wouldnโt trust a Britannian. And if they ever found out that he is a Britannian prince, they would likely kill him. Thus, his masked campaign to bring down Britannia begins.
There is a constant battle within Lelouch over how far to go with his revolution. As he goes further and further, he is forced to make harsher and harsher choices.
Over the course of the series, Lelouch often finds himself having to test his morals to great extents. Someone who simply wanted to bring a better world for his sister slowly comes to the realization that, in his world, it all cannot simply be done by just means. As time goes on, he finds himself struggling to do what is right and starts doing what is necessary to achieve his goals, even if those acts are acts of evil. While he realizes that some of the things that he did were wrong, his attempt at creating a safer world could not have been done any other way. Lelouch feels the guilt in all that he does. He knows that he has sinned. Lelouch transcended the boundary between hero and villain.
He builds himself up as the worst tyrant in the world. He destroys any and all rivals that oppose him. He uses his Geass to enslave thousands upon thousands of people. He betrays his friends and the world, and unites the world under his tyrannical reign. And then, Zero, the symbol of justice, shows up and slays him. With this, the world is able to move forward and make peace. Nunnally is the kind hearted empress, Suzaku is the protector of Nunnally and the symbol of justice, and Schneizel is the master strategist and politician.
Lelouch, the devil himself, sacrifices everything for the sake of his sister's world. His name will be remembered in hatred. His legacy will be tainted. His very existence will be remembered as a mistake upon the world. But that doesn't matter.
For the sake of world peace, destruction must come before creation.