Mao

Mao (マオ, Mao) was a Chinese orphan who was given the power of Geass by C.C..

Personality
At first glance Mao seems a little off, from there on its topsy turvy all the way through the numerous layers of madness. He's extremly sadistic, relishing the anguish he causes Lelouch when he threatens to blow up his sister and also when he kneecaps C.C multiple times in Clovisland. Though able to keep up a somewhat reasonable persona in the open he obviously does not belong in crowds, his giddy mannerism and emotionally immature personality coupled with zero empathy makes him dangerously unpredictable. As with Lelouch he has his own opinion on how the world should be, a wide open wasteland with no other persons than him and C.C.

Character Outline
Mao was at the age of six when he was given the power of Geass by C.C.. His Geass, like Lelouch's, eventually became permanently active, and the constant influx of thoughts from all around him drove him insane. C.C. states she abandoned him because he was not able to fulfill his part of their contract. C.C. never explained what her contract with him was and so it can be assumed that it was the same as Lelouch's, which was for him to kill her. Mao was incapable of killing C.C because his Geass had not or could not reach the final level; C.C implies this when telling Lelouch that "of all the people I've made contracts with, none have reached that level'" while in C's World. In order to compensate for his uncontrolled power, Mao wears sunglasses to disguise his eyes and headphones which repeatedly play recorded words of encouragement and gratitude from C.C. in order to block out the thoughts around him.

Mao's Geass made him an outcast, so C.C., being the only person whose mind he couldn't read, kept him company. As a result of his lack of human contact, Mao is a fairly childish person, a fact only amplified by his insanity. He refuses to accept that C.C. doesn't love him, and pursues her relentlessly. Mao's mind-reading Geass makes him adept at playing on the insecurities of others to manipulate them. He has a habit of clapping when talking to others, often for no apparent reason which only further signifies his insanity.

First Season
Mao makes his first appearance when Shirley goes to visit her father's grave who died during the Battle of Narita because of the Black Knights. Using his geass, he exploited Shirley for using her father's death for an excuse to kiss Lelouch and to get attention. When Lelouch spots Shirley, he encounters Mao who offers a game of chess. Ultimately, Mao won due to reading Lelouch's mind with his Geass. Mao confuses Shirley into believing that killing Lelouch then herself will atone for their sins. Lelouch reasons with Shirley that Mao is just using her and how pointless this all is. Shirley accidentally shoots Lelouch near the side of his head and it makes him drop Shirley's photos of him and Lelouch. Shirley, more confused, decides to stop this. Mao, disatisfied, goes back into their cable car, planning to kill them "the old boring way". C.C. reactivates the cable car with Mao inside, moving back down the hill. Mao sees C.C. and promises to come for her soon.

When Mao finally finds C.C. in Area 11, she tries to get rid of him after Lelouch muses that killing him would have been more humane. However, she fails and Lelouch ends up rescuing her, using his Geass to make the local law enforcement shoot Mao. Unfortunately, since Lelouch ordered the police to "shoot" instead of "kill", Mao survives with the help of Britannia's advances in medicine.

He then kidnaps and holds Nunnally hostage in the lower levels of the Ashford Academy, hoping to lure out and eliminate Lelouch in an elaborate game. Lelouch and Suzaku collaborate and succeed in rescuing Nunnally and defeating Mao, but the latter reads Suzaku's mind, revealing the true fate of his father. Lelouch angrily silences Mao permanently with his Geass, and as Mao tries to escape, C.C. appears and tells him that she did love him (as Mao could not speak at the time his facial expression would imply joy at this) and then tells him to wait for her in C's world, she then kills him with a silenced pistol to the neck.

Physical
Surprisingly strong despite his little frame, though like Lelouch he is obviously ill suited for physical activity. He makes up for this by being an excellent shot which is shown during his showdown with C.C in Clovisland, shooting the gun pointed at him out of her hand before she can pull the trigger. He is also extremely resilient, able to survive being shot simultaneously by several police officers. (though he credited his recovery to Britannian medical science).

Geass
Mao's Geass power allows him to read the minds of anyone within a 500 meter radius and 300 meter high, either all at once or from a specific individual if he concentrates, though his range is reduced when he focuses on a single target. Mao's Geass differs from Lelouch's on several key areas but both allows control of other individuals. Mao controls people by reading their darkest and most inner thoughts and using them to manipulate the person. This is shown through his manipulation of Shirley in episode 14. However, because his Geass ability can't be turned off, he often struggles to think for himself unless he listens to his recording of C.C..

Quotes

 * (To Shirley) "A girl who kills and then goes fishing for attention? Only evil witches do that."