Ten Amazing Quick Facts on Shirley Fenette That You Might Have Not Known

Shirley Fenette is an important character in Code Geass but I do not think she receives the same level of attention from fans when compared to Kallen and C.C. So, today I wanted to discuss ten facts on Shirley’s character.

Now to keep this interesting I am tried to find some facts that were not directly stated but things we can infer from the show. The facts will come from the original series, the picture dramas, and the alternative universe.

Spoilers (duh) with that in mind let’s begin.

One of the tragedies of Code Geass is Shirley’s character. I always felt they did her dirty in the series. This ultimately leads to her not being as relevant as she could have been in Code Geass.

One of the proofs of this is how many episodes Shirley is actually in. Now technically she is in 32 episodes which is more than half of the series. The problem is most of her episodes take place after Lelouch uses his Geass on her.

So, with that in mind from episodes 1-14 Shirley is relevant in the story (minus 10,11,16, and 19) and then you have to skip 22 episodes to Turn 11 where Shirley becomes important again. Only for to die in Turn 13.

Really frustrating because there was so much potential with this character.

Shirley can’s catch a break and is constantly on the worse end of someone’s Geass power. This point goes along with my other on how Shirley is done dirty in this series.

Here are the times that Shirley is affected by Geass:

• Mao reads her mind in Stage 14,
• Lelouch commands her to forget about him in Stage 14,
• Charles rewrites her memories sometime after R1,
• Rolo uses his Geass on her to stop her perception of time to grab the gun and killed her with it in Turn 13,
• and Lelouch again to command her to live Turn in 13.

What also interesting about Shirley is that she has two Geass effects working on her at the same time. I don’t believe anyone else in the series ever went through that.

But technically she is tied with Lelouch with being affected by the most amount of unique Geass power if you count the new alternative universe. those instances would be

• Mao reads his mind from Stage 14 – Stage 16,
• Charles rewrote his memories right after Suzaku stopped him on Kamine Island
• Rolo stop his perception of time Turn 4 and Turn 19,
• and Shamna’s Geass sent her back six hours in the past which affected Lelouch’s plans in Lelouch of the Re;surrection.

And if we are counting Lelouch of the Re;surrection then Suzaku has the most.

1. Mao reads his mind in R1 Stage 16
2. Rolo stop his perception of time in R2 Turn 5
3. Lelouch commands Suzaku to leave in R1 Stage 18
4. Bismarck uses his Geass when fighting him in R2 Turn 22
5. Shamna indirectly affects him with her Geass by changing her plans with knowledge of the future.

unfortunately this, not the last of the bad luck that will discuss about Shirley in this list.

Now, this is one where you only a small amount of time to learn about. And I am sure most of you never noticed. In Turn 13 when Shirley meets up with Suzaku at the train station, his appearance scares her so much that she tries to run away.

I never understood initially why she did that. But then it occurred to me who does Suzaku look like from a distance in that scene? He had dark sunglasses and was wearing a long coat.

Give up?

It’s Mao. Remember Shirley just got her memories back and seeing someone who looks like Mao was terrifying for her.

It’s one of the nice little details of Code Geass that makes me appreciate the series with subsequent re-watches.

Now, this is something you might already know but it bears repeating. In Stage 7 Shirley explains to Suzaku that she first was enamored by Lelouch after a car accident. Basically, someone rear-ended someone and tried to blame the couple that he crashed into but Lelouch came to defend that couple.

But he did with a bored expression that made Shirley “wonder what is up with this guy”? And in the process of learning about Lelouch she fell in love with him at least, that’s what Suzaku thinks.

I like this one because it explains why Shirley became interested in him. Before she never liked Lelouch and considered him to be a lazy slacker.

Shirley is quite an interesting case since Jeremiah canceled Lelouch’s Geass, allowing him to use it on her twice.

During the second time, Shirley was dying and Lelouch commanded her to live. But Shirley did not make any attempt to survive. She just laid there with Lelouch until her time came. It’s also important to note that Shirley is the only character in the series to receive two commands from Lelouch’s Geass.

This is the second time in the series where a character with a Geass used on them ignores the command during their death. Euphy was the first and Shirley was the second.

It’s one of the saddest scenes in the series and something that I never look forward to on re-watches of the series.

Shirley does not die in the alternative universe since Jeremiah tells her to not get involved further into things after using his Geass canceller on her.

There are other changes in Shirley’s character if you want a complete list of what changed in the new films check out this article. But they did not just allow her to live for no reason. The purpose was so she could retrieve Lelouch’s body after Suzaku stabs him at the end of Zero Requiem.

Shirley firsts get a call from C.C. in film three the Glorification and then meets with C.C. later on. In Lelouch of the Re;surrection C.C. explains that Shirley retrieved Lelouch’s body.

Some have criticized this and said by keeping Shirley alive you make her less of a character in the series. In my opinion, it is quite the opposite I preferred her in the new films because she actually is important to the story. Don’t get me wrong I like what she was doing in the original series but they did nothing with her. With the memory wipes and her death, it seemed more like Shirley was in the way.

But in this universe, she is very important to the story. But that’s just my opinion on the matter.

So, this one might be a stretch but hear me out. In the picture drama, 3.25 Shirley is able to hold Kallen in place so Milly can get her measurements while they were all in the tub. Even though Kallen was trying to act like a sick girl she was giving Shirley a hard time.

This important because Kallen works out with weights so if Shirley can keep her in place that’s quite impressive. She is also in the swim club and is no slouch herself when it comes to exercise.

But here is why this is important. In Stage 13 Shirley shoots Villetta to protect Lelouch. But Ohgi finds her body in some debris by the pier. The question is how did Villetta get there? Keep in mind that Lelouch crashed in between shipping crates and was not even close to the water.

My conclusion is that Shirley dragged her body and drop into the water. Considering how strong she is this very reasonable explanation of what happened. Never understood why Lelouch never followed the blood to find Villetta’s body but that’s a completely different topic

Shirley’s mind is a lot stronger than you might realize. When Mao was threatening her and Lelouch, her thoughts we all over the place that even Mao couldn’t read them.

This is impressive considering how Mao’s Geass could easily read the mind of Lelouch who’s quite intelligent in his own right. I am not sure if Shirley was actively resting Mao but it’s an interesting feat. Even though Shirley was under Lelouch’s Geass, She was able to figure out that Lelouch was in the Black Knights had done something to her.

Shirley never figured out exactly what it was and we will never know if would have broken Lelouch’s Geass since Charles re-wrote her memories anyways. But you can see that Shirley was starting to figure things out much like how Villetta and Jeremiah were. I think even Lelouch thought this might be possible since he burned her diary.

Most people cannot resist the power of Geass but Shirley almost did it twice.

You probably never thought about the scene where Shirley gives Lelouch’s the tickets too much. But there was a lot that was going on.

In the audio drama Stage 12.55 Shirley went back and forth with Milly about giving Lelouch the tickets. She goes through hypothetical scenarios some of which were absurd.

Milly was eventually able to convince her to do it.

This conversation adds so much to the scene because it really shows how Shirley was tentative about why it was a big deal after she did it.

The whole scene was a big step in Shirley’s character. She was finally able to stop acting shy around Lelouch ask him out. I think this event was one of the reasons why at the end of her life She was not afraid to confess her love to Lelouch.

Kallen does declare her love but it’s in a poem that comes after R2. And with C.C. it’s never confirmed but can easily be inferred from certain parts in the series. But Shirley uses those actual words to Lelouch

I like this fact because it came across as genuine. Despite everything that had happened she could never hate Lelouch. Before Shirley was not sure but now as she was laying on the ground dying there was no doubt. Shirley loved Lelouch and will always love him.

It was so sad because she wanted to make Lelouch fall in love with her for real and it never officially happened. Shirley finally had the courage to tell Lelouch how she felt. But it came at the worse time. I recently discussed how Shirley’s relationship with Lelouch changes in Code Geass you can read that here.

I always play the what-if game with this situation and I think Shirley’s fate could have been changed for the better.

The last fact was bittersweet so I wanted to end on a higher note. After Shirley came back from Narita she was understandably upset. She just confirmed her father’s death.

Seeing Lelouch in the rain outside of the concert caused her to become very emotional. She ended up begging for Lelouch’s help and then kissed him.

This was the first time any of the three girls kissed Lelouch. And like the others, Shirley is the one who initiates the kiss. Shirley felt bad about it afterward and according to Mao, she used her father’s death to move on Lelouch.

I don’t think she was acting that sinister but her actions here were not completely in the right either. This kiss was one of the most emotional scenes in the story and always something that stayed with me even after finishing the series.

If you got this far in the article I want to say thank you. I love to write these articles but they are not easy and can be quite time-consuming.

So, I am very appreciative when people finish the article.

That’s my Shirley Fenette Fact’s list did you like it let me know below. If you did enjoy let me know your favorite fact. If the list was completely wrong please correct me in the comments. I am only human and make mistakes and will make corrections.

Also, did you like the list?

Let me know in the comments below.

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