The series is set after Japan's conquest by the Holy Britannian Empire on August 10, 2010, a.t.b. with their powerful new robot weapons, the Knightmare Frames, stripping Japan and its citizens of all rights and freedoms and renaming the country Area 11. The titular Lelouch is an exiled Britannian prince, who has vowed to destroy his father, the Emperor, and Britannia. He gains the ability through the mysterious power of the Geass, becoming the leader of the resistance movement to fulfill his two wishes: to seek revenge for his mother and to construct a world in which his beloved sister Nunnally can live happily.
Code Geass is set in an alternate universe where three superpowers, the Holy Britannian Empire, the Chinese Federation, and the Euro Universe have divided up control of the world (with the exception of an independent Australia) and maintain a tentative balance for the first part of the series. The balance shifts in the second season as the E.U. has much of its territory conquered by Britannia while Lelouch engineers a revolution in the Chinese Federation and creates a new alliance of countries, the United Federation of Nations, reducing the number of superpowers to two.
Holy Britannian Empire
The Holy Britannian Empire (神聖ブリタニア帝国 ,Shinsei Buritania Teikoku?) is an imperial monarchy and the most prominent superpower within the world of Code Geass, controlling over one-third of the world at the start of the series, based in North America with Pendragon as its imperial city. Britannian society is an aristocracy run according to a doctrine of Social Darwinism, with a hierarchy of competing nobles at the top and the peoples of conquered territories (referred to either by their area number or as "Numbers") living in poverty or as unequal Honorary Britannians.
During season one, the Britannian Empire controls the entire Western Hemisphere (both American continents), New Zealand, and recently conquered Japan, as well as the recently conquered "Area 18"[7] in the Middle East region. During season two, Britannia successfully conquers about half of the rival "Euro Universe" superpower; taking over France, Spain, the western half of Africa, and Russia.
The series history diverges with Julius Caesar's invasion, with a Celtic "super-king" being elected (similar to the Arverni chieftain Vercingetorix), successfully resisting the invasion and beginning the Britannian imperial line of absolute monarchy (referred to in the establishment of the Britannian calendar era, "Ascension Throne Britannia" (a.t.b) or the Imperial Calendar in the English dub, roughly fifty years earlier than the Gregorian calendar). English monarchy proceeds to play out according to the actual timeline until the death of Elizabeth I and her illegitimate son "Henry IX" taking the throne, "Elizabeth III" dying after losing the British Isles to Napoleon (and the capital moving to the American territories), and a new royal line being established by a prominent noble family.
Japan
Japan, renamed Area 11 under Britannian rule, is the source of over 70% of the world's total supply of the high energy mineral sakuradite, with its oppressing and dominating other countries through its economic control leading to Britannia's invasion. Through alter-ego of Zero, Lelouch attempts to reform it as an independent nation, the "United States of Japan", as part of his quest to overthrow Britannia.
Chinese Federation
The Chinese Federation (中華連邦 ,Chūka Renpō?) is an imperial monarchy that spans the Asian and Pacific regions, including Central, South, East, and Southeast Asia, with Sakhalin and the Korean Peninsula and is the most populous (and poverty-stricken) of the three superpowers.
Its political structure and organization appears to resemble the former Empire of China, with the Emperor regarded as a living divinity and holding absolute political power, though under Empress Tianzi, it has been reduced to a figurehead for the advisory "High Eunuchs" (大宦官 ,Dai Kangan?) (similar to the feudal era Emperors of Japan). The Vermilion Forbidden City (朱禁城 ,Shu Kinjō?) is the seat of the Chinese Emperor and the government of the Federation is a large palace situated in the capital city of Luoyang.
In the first season, the Chinese Federation attempts unsuccessfully to invade Japan on the pretext of "liberation" using exiled former Japanese officials. The resistance movement in India lends Zero's Black Knights their lead weapons designer, Rakshata, in hopes that an independent Japan will in return aide them in gaining independence from China. In the second season, a Chinese consulate is established with the agreement of the local Britannian authorities and negotiations are held by Eunuch Gao Hai to the end of obtaining a solid Chinese foothold within the colony. After the Black Knights are exiled from Japan, they are granted control of Horai Island (蓬萊島 ?), a fictional artificial land mass built off the coast of China to generate electricity through tidal activity. The Black Knights destabilize and overthrow the government, returning control to the Empress. Shortly after, the Federation collapses and its former member states are incorporated into the new United Federation of Nations.
Euro Universe
The Euro Universe (ユーロ・ユニバース ,Yūro Yunibāsu?), or E.U., is a democratic union encompassing all of Europe (including the British Isles), Africa, and Russia and long in conflict with Britannia. In the second season, Schneizel leads the Britannian forces against the E.U., successfully conquering almost half of their territory, including Portugal, Spain, France, half of Africa, and the whole of Russia.Following this, former member nations Italy and Poland join the forty-seven founding nations of the United Federation of Nations, leaving only the British Isles, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Ukraine and an area of Africa near the Congo.
United Federation of Nations
Following the collapse of the E.U. and the uprising in the Chinese Federation, most of the remaining territories not under Britannian control join forces and form the United Federation of Nations, a new coalition to counter the Empire's advance as the sole other superpower. The U.F.N. flag is a white dove with three circles merging at the point where the wings and body meet, over a yellow background.
The U.F.N. is composed of forty-seven countries spread across parts of Central and Eastern Europe, Eastern Africa, and the majority of the Asian continent. Decisions in the U.F.N. are determined by a two-thirds majority vote by the leaders of each country, with the population of each country determining their voting percentage. The individual armies of the member nations are abolished and replaced by a new supranational military force under the Black Knights' control.
Geass
Lelouch using the power of Geass.Geass (ギアス ,giasu?), also referred to as the Power of Kings (王の力 ,Ō no Chikara?), is a mysterious ability which certain people can bestow upon others (the word itself potentially being an intentional corruption of geas or geis, a type of magical contract in Irish mythology). According to an English edition of Newtype, the power of Geass has something to do with the very existence of humankind and it may be used to destroy or transform just about anything. It is represented by a bird-shaped symbol which glows red when active.
A Geass is set as a contract between an immortal and a human who receives a unique power. It manifests in one eye, and with continued use increases in power, eventually becoming uncontrollable and spreading to both eyes. When a Geass is at full power, a person can then become a recipient of the immortal's "Code", that which grants them their power. This new user receives the Geass mark somewhere on their body, immunity to Geass, and the ability to make their own contracts with others, while the giver is allowed to die (perpetuating an endless cycle). This process is not necessarily consensual, as C.C. received her Code and V.V. had his taken away against their wills.
Every Geass power has both its own unique set of abilities and limitations, allowing for their defeat or victory by someone who is aware of its characteristics. All Geass abilities that have thus far appeared within canon of the television series have been related to the mind, influencing things such as emotion, perception, and memory.
Main charactersLelouch Lamperouge The title character and protagonist of the show, Lelouch Lamperouge is a seemingly ordinary 17-year-old student at Ashford Academy. In reality, he is Lelouch vi Britannia, the exiled son of the Emperor of Britannia and the late Empress Marianne, forced to flee to Japan after his mother's assassination. When he gets caught up in a battle between the military and Japanese rebels, he gains the power of Geass, allowing him to force others to obey his orders without question, and begins a quest to utilize this power to destroy Britannia under the alias of Zero
Suzaku Kururugi Lelouch's childhood friend and son of Japan's last prime minister, Genbu Kururugi. Suzaku is in the service of the Britannia Army as a soldier and chosen to test an experimental new model of Knightmare Frame, the Lancelot. Throughout the series, Suzaku shows a belief that achieving results by wrong or illegal methods is meaningless, setting up a rivalry with Zero.
C.C. A mysterious green-haired girl who establishes a contract with Lelouch on the condition that he grant her one wish, passively overseeing Lelouch's missions and occasionally helping them succeed to ensure he does not die
Nunnally Lamperouge Lelouch's younger innocent sister, wheelchair-bound and blind from her mother's brutal assassination
Kallen Stadtfeld A Britannian-Japanese who believes herself to be a Japanese person at heart and prefers her birth name, Kallen Kouzuki, over that of her father's prestigious family. She maintains the image of a frail, outstanding student at Ashford Academy, all the while being a member of the Japanese resistance movement and one of Zero's most devoted followers.