Is Lelouch a Villain in Code Geass? Here is My Ultimate Analysis

One of the hardest questions in Code Geass concerns if Lelouch was evil even a villain.

No one is arguing that he is at least an anti-hero. So the issue lies if Lelouch’s actions bring him the level of a villain.

Now, it’s the context that matters in this case. Which is what makes this question so hard to answer.

Something important to point is that this very contested topic among fans of the series. Some who find Lelouch to be a saint while others call him the infamous nickname Ledouche.

I actually learned about that nickname from a friend while playing Settlers of Catan. This had to have been seven years ago.

So, my goal in this article is not an easy one. I am going to settle this argument once and for all. Much like Lelouch romance article, I am going to go over all the facts and come to a verdict.

One of the many complaints that I got from the romance article was not disclaiming my bias before going in.

So, before I start this article, I will state my bias. When I first watched the series I loved Lelouch’s character and defended him all the time.

Upon my most recent watch, the opinion has somewhat changed. I started to see Lelouch’s actions in a more negative light.

So, I am leaning more towards Lelouch as a villain before writing this article. We will see where my bias lies in the end.

Lelouch’s Goals Had Good Intentions:

Obviously even having good intentions can still make you a villain.
There are so many cases where those intentions hide the destructive and selfish nature of the plan.

But when examining Leluoch’s goals it’s clear that he is only doing this for the right reasons.

I never got the impression that this was an ego trip, rather something more selfless.

Lelouch has stated many times that his goals are to:

• Lelouch wants to end the cycle of hate and make a world without war.
• Lelouch wants to win to end the fighting.
• Make a kinder and gentler world for Nunnally to live in.
• He also seeks revenge against the Britannia empire for murdering his mother.

It’s important to note that nothing here on the surface is evil. We also see that throughout the series Lelouch does desire to be a ruler or gain any power from his actions.

He was even willing to bow to Suzaku to save Nunnally’s life. So, you learn that goals and the endgame had no evil intent to them.

I will explain later about engaging in a war against Brittania.

Another point about Lelouch’s plans is that he has certain lines he will not cross.

He won’t sacrifice those closest to him like Shirley, Kallen, and the rest of his friends.

You would not see that from other villains like Light Yagami. Without completely spoiling Death Note Light Yagami has no limits to who he will use to accomplish his goals.

So, just looking at his plans and the endgame of them Lelouch is more of an anti-hero than a villain.

Lelouch Shows Remorse for His Actions.

A common characteristic among villains is either being a sociopath or a psychopath. Both things Lelouch is not.

Here are some examples of Lelouch demonstrating this.

• He feels remorse after killing Clovis he even almost threw up while thinking about in the bathroom.
• After Shirley’s funeral, Lelouch had a series of regrets about his actions. He had to reassure himself of his plan.
• Erasing Shirley’s memories was painful for him. Even though he believed it to be the only solution it was still very difficult.
• Lelouch even had a hard time playing a villain during the Zero Requiem. He attacked his sister on during their video chat
• After commanding Euphie to kill the Japanese Lelouch was in a state of panic and regret. You can tell he is unable to handle the murder of the Japanese people.

The point here is that most villains tend to not feel bad about others. Much like the first point they do whatever it takes. Lelouch does feel remorse for his actions.

People might get the wrong idea about Lelouch because he does tend to laugh or show no mercy in the large battles. I interpret this as playing a role more than having no emotions.

If you want more proof that Lelouch does care about his actions towards others, watch his conversations with C.C.

You will learn about what Lelouch the person, not Zero the character feels about stuff.

The Zero Requiem Proves Lelouch Is Not a Villain.

This is a very important argument against Lelouch being a villain.

Because the entire goal behind the Zero Requiem was to become the enemy of the world.

So by killing him the world would go into peace it also served as a way to end his father’s tyrannical reign over Brittania.

Ironically in his quest to end all evil in the world, Lelouch does kill a large number of people even his own troops.

But it was to take over the Damocles and end Schneizel’s dictatorship.

The biggest part of the plan was for Suzaku to kill Lelouch.

This is important for two reasons:

• It shows that Lelouch was not someone who lived by the do as I say not as I do expression
  • He meant it when he said, “the only ones who shill kill are those who are prepared to be killed”.
• Part of the reasons Lelouch was willing to die was to make up for all the evil that he committed.
  • Prior to this, he was willing to die at the hands of the black knights when his identity was exposed.

You can’t be a true villain if you are willing to accept the consequences of your actions and be willing to die to make it right.

Even if you believe that Lelouch prior to R2 Turn 19 you can’t deny that he became a hero with the Zero Requiem.

Now it’s valid if you don’t believe that the Zero Requiem makes up for the evil actions Lelouch’s committed. But this is a separate point altogether.

Lelouch’s Actions against Britannia were justified.

This might be the argument that might come with the most amount of resistance.

Because this is very subjective. But I believe Lelouch was justified in fighting Britannia and walking the path of blood.

Here are the reasons why Lelouch was justified.

• Charles Lelouch’s father exiled both him and Nunally to Japan for bargaining chips
• Charles did nothing to save Maria’s death
• Charles showed no concern for either Lelouch and Nunally
• Lelouch felt betrayed by the whole family since no one tried to help him or his mother.

Even Lelouch’s family members understand why he hates his family. Now the bigger question is even if it’s justified does it make it right. The answer is no, the killing of so many cannot be justified. It’s wrong but since Lelouch had good intentions behind this he is still an anti-hero over a villain.

He Only Cares About Those Closest to Him and Treats Everyone Else As Pawns.

As I mentioned earlier Lelouch shows remorse for his actions and he is not willing to cross certain lines.

But it seems like that is only the case for those closest to him.

For example, Lelouch in R1 Stage 25 calls Ohgi, Yoshitaka Minami picks up instead and explains that Ohgi was shot.

Rather than showing concern Lelouch says he will appoint a replacement later then proceeds to ask about Nunnally.

He never even asks how Ohgi is doing due to Nunnally being the only thing that matters to Lelouch.

Lelouch has definitely felt bad about hurting those close to him but the people who have died fighting with or against him.

You could argue the only reason he had the issues of killing Clovis was that he was not used to killing anyone.

Lelouch did feel bad about those he killed in the Battle of Narita but that was only because Shirley’s dad died in that battle.

He never cared about the casualties prior to learning about Shirley’s death.

But as the show progressed you can see that Lelouch shows less and less concern about the many that die at his hands.

He also showed no remorse in the killing all of the people in the Geass research facility

• What makes this important is that he justified it because of Shirly’s death as a way to destroy Geass.
• Anyone who can look past the killing of innocents for petty revenge is a villain.
• This is the one action that can almost the counterpoint to the Zero Requiem.

He has even put many missions and others in jeopardy because he cared more about the few than the many

• Lelouch only ended the prison raid after learning that Suzaku was the Lancelot pilot.
• He abandoned his team during the Black Rebellion just to save Nunnally effectively dooming Japan leading many to their deaths including Naomi Inoue
• How many died just so Lelouch could keep Nunnally safe?

The bottom line is this yes Lelouch cares about those close to him and regret his actions. But his actions to protect those he cares about has caused more damage than harm. The Zero Requirem might make up for it in my eyes, but for many, it does not.

Lelouch’s Actions Killed So Many

I understand that Lelouch had to take the path of blood to achieve his goals. But you still have to objectively look at the body count on his hands.

Think about every time you see a map of the battle with each unit being a dot. Each dot that goes away indicates a unit has been wiped out. Now obviously there were soldiers and this is war.

But the question one has to ask is do the ends justify the means. So obviously in the Zero Requiem Lelouch had to sacrifice many to stop Schneizel. For if he hadn’t Schneizel would have killed so many more with the F.L.E.I.J.A. The other times are not simple to justify and I would argue can’t be justified.

All this damage and destruction caused by Lelouch could easily make him a villain. This is one of the reasons why I struggle with this question and with writing this article.

Lelouch Manipulated People Like a Villain Would.

Lelouch always had the ability to play mind games with people. This is why is his greatest weapon according to C.C. is his mind.

But since getting the Geass, Lelouch has manipulated so many in a range from innocent commands to messed up.

I could do a list of this alone but here are some big ones that always get me.

• He made Dalton betray Cornelia and then killed him afterward.
• He caused Gilford to betray his own team and help Zero thinking Zero was Cornelia. This also led him to become partially blind after the battle in R2 Turn 18
• His use of Geass on Suzaku caused him to constantly make decisions that went against his code. One of those decisions was firing a F.L.E.I.J.A. which killed over 30 million deaths.
• Causing Euphi to kill the Japanese in the Special Administered Zone (regardless if it was intentional or not)
  • He took advantage of it by forming a nation
  • Also, why did he even suggest the idea, to begin with?
• Making the leader of JLF kill himself just in an attempt to capture Cornelia.

Some of these acts were not of an anti-hero but a villain.

When considering all the facts it seems obvious that Lelouch is not a villain and more like an anti-hero.

The key is to consider the major reason and why not.

He is not a villain because of the Zero Requiem and his good intentions behind his plans.

But the manipulation and killing of many including the innocents in the Geass Order were both very villain-like.

Here is what swayed me to see him as an anti-hero. It goes back to my first point and that is Lelouch committed these acts with the goal to help others.

Now those people were only those closest to him but did change to being the whole world.

That’s why I see him more as an anti-hero than a villain. It’s hard for me to think of many villains who did evil things to benefit others.

Now there other elements to consider and as I think of them I will update the article.