Lelouch vi Britannia, Lelouch Lamperrouge or Zero? This man is known, as highly intelligent, liked by the women and as tactical genius. By the way, is he after the statistics the most popular character in the anime 'Code Geass – Lelouch of the Rebellion' and one of the most favoured anime characters of all time. But in spite of the end of the series, in forums and groups discuss the fans the same topic.
Whom did Lelouch really love?
We have four women or rather four teenagers in the spotlight.
The first is C.C, immortal and Lelouchs contract partner.
The second is Kallen Stadtfeld or Karen Kozuki, Zeros honour guard and former classmate.
The third is Shirley Fenette, Lelouchs classmate and his and his devotee since ages.
Last but not least, Euphemia li Britannia, Lelouch half-blood sister and the massacre princess.
Those four have a type of relationship with Lelouch, which is turned very good in the series. It never gets really clear, who Lelouch loves but with all four are making signs. The three magical words are never outspoken, which normally are mentioned in love stories, animes, books, movies and theatre.
One person only uses those words, and I want to start with her.
Shirley Fenette, Lelouchs Classmate
At Shirley, the opinions there are different opinions about her. Some thinks, that she is annoying, other prefer the couple Lelouchx Shirley the most. We start with the apparent signs.
Shirleys Love to the prince is clear. Already at the beginning, she is worried constantly about him, she gets red in his presence and she tries always to spend time with him. She hates his gambling and wants to stop him.
You can see her jealousy to Kallen or Karen very clear. When both of them stood together in episode five, she is totally shocked, and she remembers the incident in episode twelve. To big conspiracy theories, to depressed atmosphere and to discussions about her rival. She gets Millys help in episode twelve, when both of them were missing and her jealousy came out again.
Now to the little signs from Lelouchs side. He kills her father and she kissed him in desperation at the end of episode twelve. He replied it to help her and to make her feel better. She regrets it after the funeral of her father and she apologizes to him. He is shocked and he makes himself accusations. He took a beloved person from her away.
After the incident with Mao, he uses geass on her to forget everything. Now it is a matter of interpretation. Either it is the punishment for him, that he lost a dear friend too or he wants to forget the pain that she can look brightly into the future again. It is really a matter of interpretation and this is now very imprecisely: Maybe Lelouch was scared, that he would never see her smile again. If a person is known as cheerful and if she quit to smile and to laugh, it is very suspicious. He wants to get one thing he knows: namely her smile.
In the second season, Shirleys character changed the most. At the beginning, she still had a crush on Lelouch and tried to get any chance to get closer to him. But at episode twelve of the second season, when she regained her memories, she now became scared and uncertain. She wants to know the truth and wants to get Lelouchs happiness back. It is a very noble goal, but she pays the price for Lelouchs doing: Rolo, his fake brother, shoots her. And in the last moments, she confessed her love to him: as the only one. In her last moments, she managed to tell him her feelings. (My personal opinion comes to the end)
Shirley would have been the perfect girlfriend to Lelouch, if he had been Lelouch Lamperrouge, and only him. Not Lelouch vi Britannia.
Shirley loves Lelouch Lamperrouge, one of the three aspects. The feelings about Zero are unclear, but I want to continue with Zeros admirer.
Kallen Stadtfeld or Karen Kozuki, Zeros Honour guard and ace of the black knights
Kallen does one thing: She shares Zeros looks on the world. She fights for something she wants to realize her dream: To free Japan. She admires Zero for his actions and she became with her abilities his honour guard. Let us look on her personality:
Kallen is like fire: she has temperament, she is independent and she always says her opinion. She is like a demon on the battlefield, she defeats every enemy and she has deserved her nickname: the red lotus. Her relationship is the most unclear one in 'Code Geass'. There are the least signs, but there are some. But the true beginning begins in season 2.
Kallen is in season one only Zeors admirer. She left Lelouch on Kanime Island in episode 25. Her feelings are very unsure but she gets feelings for him. For example, in episode nine, Lelouch is asking Kallen, if they would return to Ashford together. An incident like that happens only, if there is something between people. This is the first sign.
The second sign is that he wants to save her in episode 10, when Li Xingke imprisons her. He promises it and she wants to believe in him. He is scared about her safety and tells her, that he is coming to save her. There must be something between them, or he would not have said this.
In episode nineteen, before his identity is going to be found out, she wants to tell him about her brother. Again, this is matter of interpretation. She wants to comfort him, because of the 'death' of Nunally and she trusts him a lot. The only persons, who know about her brother, are the old members of the resistance before Lelouch as Zero appeared. This is a huge proof, that she trusts him a lot. She either protected him from the others, before he showed his face to the black Knights.
Before Rolo came, he tells her, that she has to live. He does not want that she die; maybe it was a lesson of Shirley's death. Kallen should not die, like Shirley did. Maybe he wants to protect her that another person did not die because of him.
'Who am I to you?' She asks Lelouch this twice. The first time, when he was Zero and the other directed their guns on him. He says, the she was his biggest pawn in his game. She leaves him and she is shocked about his words.
The second time was, when he was emperor before the U.F.N meeting. She wanted to ask him this once again and he doesn't say anything, he remains quit. She asked him, that he told her to live. And then she kisses him. The only kiss in the series, he replies, next to Shirley. His reason is unknown, maybe he does love her really or he wanted to comfort her, as he did with Shirley. It is a matter of seeing.
Kallen is the real girlfriend for the masked man Zero, the masked man. A relationship, between knight and Prince. I would say, that this is a aspect of seeing it. She protects him and he is an important person.
Kallen is Zero's knight, Lelouchs knight is Suzaku. They could have get together, if he were only Zero.
Now, it was Suzaku and knight. Let's turn to the third.
Euphemia li Britannia, the third princess of Britannia and Lelouchs half-sister
For Euphemia, there are the least facts and signs about her relationship for Lelouch. For people, who doesn't like the couple Lelouchx Euphemia, is because of the incest. Understandable, but history showed us, that there was incest in royal families, like Karl II in Spain.
He loved her we all know that. After he shot her in episode 23, he says farewell and says, that she was his first love. (O-Tone) He cares about her, as he does with Nunally. His feelings to her are clear, but what is about her feelings for him?
In episode twenty-one, when she is together with Nunally, they talk about the past. When Nunally asks her, if she would still love him, she doesn't respond. It is a sign for her uncertainty; maybe she loved him in the past too. We don't know the answer.
Lelouch wants to create a world, where Nunally can live in happiness. He is doing it for Euphemia too, because she wanted a free and happy world. Next to Nunally Euphie is the only one, he really cares about. In a sibling way or a lover way, they have not seen each other for seven years. And seven years are a long time.
I can't say that much about Euphemia, because the information are missing. But we can say, that Euphemia is the love of Lelouchs past. She sees him as Lelouch vi Britannia, the third aspect of his character.
But there is one person, that sees all three of it.
C.C, immortal and Lelouchs contract partner
C.C is the most important female character in 'Code Geass' and she is with Lelouch a very dangerous duo. If both of them are together, the enemies must be very careful, to not be killed. She gives him Geass and with that the power, to fulfil his biggest goal. She is the only one, who knows of him all three sides: Lelouch Lamperrouge, Zero and Lelouch vi Britannia. He cannot keep any secret of her she gets everything out. But there are some signs for the relationship between the immortal and the Geass user:
In episode 11, she protects him from the Lancelot. We all know that she needs him to fulfil her wish, but Lelouch was so gentleman-like to thank her for his power. They became accomplices, she needs him for her wish.
Lelouch saves her from Mao, in episode fifteen and he is angry, that she left him for Mao. He doesn't want to leave her to Mao. He wants her save and it the next to their relationship. He did everything to rescue her and he promised her, that he won't become like Mao and that he will fulfil her wish. From that moment, she supports him.
At the end of the first season, she kisses him for the first time. He doesn't kiss her back, it was a kiss only from her side. It was not for love, but maybe her feelings began when she kissed him the first time.
C.C is worried about Lelouch in episode six of the second season and she begs Kallen, to bring back. Maybe she is worried, that he dies, and he won't grant her wish. Alternatively, it was that she was worried about him, that he dies and he would go forever. She begs Kallen, a woman who fights about her love for Lelouch.
When C.C was up to fulfil her wish, he wants to stop her. This time, he is scared that she dies. The places are switched and he tells her, that he is going to make her wish come true. She should die with a smile and he wants to help her. She let the chance go to die and she wants to be with Lelouch. It is a proof, that she holds him dear, if she lets her chance go.
When she lost her memory, Lelouch is cared about her. He comforts her and he shows his lovable side. He apologizes to her, when he hurt her. Maybe he wants to help her to become her old self, which he fell in love with.
The last aspect is, that she prays in a church for him, in the moment he dies. She lets a tear fall for him, from C.C, the most cold woman in the series. You can think that in this moment, she realizes her feelings for him. In the battle against Kallen, she replied with silence and even in the picture drama, before the last, she says a non-clear answer to her. This is the moment of realization.
She sees all three parts of him and understands him like no other. Shirley, Kallen and Euphemia see only one part of the his whole character, but the immortal sees all three. Maybe this is the reason, why she is the most popular love interest of the people.
For the end, I want to give you one comparisons about those four women and my personal opinion.
The first is the couple they would have been described by me.
Lelouch and Euphemia would have been the ideal for kind and queen. He is the strong willed king who defeats the enemies and she is the lovely queen, who cares about the people. If those two were together on the throne, they were able to rule a dangerous Britannia.
Lelouch and Kallen are like fire and ice, she is independent, strong-willed and wants to get her dreams come true. He is ice, he stays calm in situations, he is a strategist and he doesn't care about the unknown people. Those two are like fire and ice. Different and the same.
Lelouch and C.C are like Witch and Warlock. This comparison is very known, but it fits those two the most. She is immortal, a witch with high abilities. He is the warlock, he controls her and works with her. Their power is only fully used, if they are in a team. But, if they are together, they can destroy everything.
Lelouch and Shirley are like the helping couple in the neighbourhood. Because of Shirley's normality, she can only share a normal life with Lelouch. They would have been great parents, good friends and for a bunch of people, the perfect couple. He protects her she protects him.
I want to finish this article with my own person opinion. I tried to be as neutral as possible and I hope I didn't got too much subjective into it. I want to tell you my ranking of these parings with explanation of course:
The first prize goes to Lelouchx Shirley. People think, that she is annoying but I don't agree with you. I think she is one of the greatest anime characters I have ever seen and I want, that Lelouch gets a normal life. Besides, she is the only one who tells Lelouch her real feelings in words. And I was really depressed, the moment she died. Rest in piece, Shirley.
The second prize goes to Lelouchx Kallen. At the beginning, I had no thought about it. But with the time, I learned to like those two and I thin, that she is the right for him. She is doing so much for him and she would protect him to the end. Kallen is a noble person, who wants to protect her loved persons and Lelouch is one of them too. Kallen, may your sadness go away and become happy again.
The third prize goes to Lelouchx C.C. Maybe some of you hate me right now, and I know, that those two are from the character very alike, but I like them not so much as I do Shirley and Kallen. They are contract partners and C.C is the woman for the world, where he is the Geass user and a Geass user doesn't has piece. And I wish it so much for Lelouch.
And the last prize gets Lelouchx Euphemia. They are half siblings and there is so less for these two. If they would have worked Euphemia more out, I think she would has a big place in my heart. Besides, I like Suzakux Euphemia. I think they belong together.
And after the death of Lelouch I say only one thing.
All hail Lelouch!
May Shirley in your dreams, Euphemia in heaven, Kallen in Japan and C.C in her world have an eye over you.
Rest in Piece
The 99th Emperor of Britannia,
Lelouch vi Britannia