Kyoshiro Tohdoh

Kyoshiro Tohdoh (藤堂 鏡志朗, Tōdō Kyōshirou), 37 years old and (38 at R2), is a chequered former officer in the Japanese military with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and the leader of the Four Holy Swords during their stay with the Japan Liberation Front before joining the Black Knights. He is also Suzaku Kururugi's former master.

Appearance
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Personality
Tohdoh, despite being a fierce warrior, despises conflict unless he has to be drawn into it. He will only fight to protect those close to him, and otherwise will often sit and meditate while patiently looking for a solution on his own time. Because of this, he is against direct confrontation with Britannia. He also prefers to pay respect to any of his enemies, such as Genbu Kururugi, with the possible exception of Zero after he learned of Lelouch's Geass.

Character Outline
Tohdoh originally is seen as a member of the Japan Liberation Front and the leader of the Four Holy Swords. He is the only person to have ever won a battle against the Empire of Britannia during the war, which he notably accomplished without the use of Knightmare Frames. This earned him the nickname Tohdoh of Miracles (奇跡 の 藤堂, Kiseki no Tohdoh), and the event itself would later be known as the miracle of Itsukushima. He is followed by the Four Holy Swords (四聖剣, Shisei-ken), an elite unit consisting of four of his most devoted followers. He was Suzaku Kururugi's former instructor when Suzaku was a child and is one of the few Japanese people who understands Suzaku's ideals. Tohdoh is often seen bearing a Katana at his side.

First season
In the first season, Tohdoh is initially a member of the Japan Liberation Front. During the Battle of Narita, Tohdoh along with the Four Holy Swords left the Narita Mountains in order to obtain customized knightmares for themselves from the Kyoto House. Without him and the Four Holy Swords, the JLF is severely outnumbered and outmatched against Britannia. On their way back, Tohdoh notices that something is already up and has the rest prep the Knightmares. Tohdoh arrives just in time to save the remainder of the JLF and decides to hold off Cornelia's Royal Guards knowing that it will help Zero in his plan. However, Zero orders a tactical retreat for all Black Knight members leaving Tohdoh and JLF to defend for themselves. As a result, Tohdoh and the Four Holy Swords abandon their Knightmares to escape.

As the Britannian Army closes in on them, the organization is eventually scattered to the winds and Tohdoh himself captured. His subordinates turn to The Order of the Black Knights for help, and Zero decides to assist in his rescue to win Tohdoh to his side. Before his execution, Cornelia decides to switch the executioner to Suzaku Kururugi. But, since the Black Knights broke in already, a guard was decided to execute Tohdoh before they could rescue him. Zero manages to arrive in time and convince Tohdoh to join him. He is then reunited on the battlefield with the Four Holy Swords and orders them to cooperate with Zero to finish off the remaining enemies. The Lancelot appears in order to stop them and does so with it's Harken Boosters. Since reinforcements were arriving, Zero gave the order to retreat and Tohdoh releases his Gekka's Chaffsmoke to hide their escape. The Four Holy Swords become permanent members of the Black Knights, with each member leading a squad. Tohdoh is made the head of military operations.

Tohdoh was in command of the Black Knight forces during the Battle of Shikine Island gaining praise from Zero who is impressed by Tohdoh's leadership. After destroying most of Shikine Island's forces, the Lancelot appears and Tohdoh gives the command to fall back. The Lancelot is then caught in their trap by Rakshata's Gefjun Disturber. However, the Avalon appears and the second prince of Britannia, Schneizel gives the order to fire with the Gawain. Tohdoh is then forced to retreat without Zero and Kallen who have both gone missing.

After Euphemia announces the Special Administrative Zone of Japan, it throws the Black Knights into disarray and confusion on what to do. They hold a meeting to go over everything and choose the best course of action. Zero decides to join the Special Zone and work together with Euphemia. During the meeting, Tohdoh and the Black Knights are stationed outside in their Knightmares in case of a trap. Unknowingly amongst the Black Knights, Euphemia ends up under Lelouch's Geass who orders the massacre of the Japanese. With no choice, Zero orders all forces of the Black Knights to destroy all of the Brittanian forces to save the Japanese.

During the First Assault on Tokyo Settlement, Tohdoh attempts to attack Cornelia, but is stopped by her knight, Guilford. He engages in battle with him until Asahina and Senba come to help him. Guilford also receives back-up by the Glaston Knights putting them on even grounds. When Zero abandons the Black Knights, he leaves Tohdoh to command his forces. However, as noted by Diethard, Tohdoh does have great leadership, but does not have the same charisma as Zero. Because of this, he along with the remaining Black Knights are unable to fight off the Britannians who are able to gain the upper hand and put the rebellion down.

Second season
After the failed rebellion, Tohdoh was arrested by Britannian forces and jailed. Gilbert G.P. Guilford, in an attempt to draw out Zero, threatens to publicly execute Tohdoh along with 255 other members of the Black Knights. Though the threat works, Zero is able to rescue all the prisoners. Despite Zero's former abandonment, Tohdoh does not show signs of discontent and recognizes Zero as the only man who can free Japan. When Zero announces his plans to join Nunnally Vi Britannia's renewed Special Administrative Zone of Japan, he goes along once Zero's plan of getting the entire order exiled to foreign soil is revealed.

After being exiled from Area 11, Zero and the Black Knights decide to kidnap Empress Tianzi in order to control the Chinese Federation. Tohdoh uses his new Knightmare, Zangetsu to fight off Suzaku and is able to damage his Lancelot Conquista's Float System. After his fight with Suzaku, Zero orders him to return to the Ikaruga as they now have Empress Tianzi in their possession. However, Xingke appears in the Shen Hu to rescue the Empress. So, Kallen goes out to stop Xingke, but is captured since her energy filler runs out. Tohdoh is unable to do anything since the Zangetsu's Air Glide System was removed to replenish its energy. Zero decides to make the decision to rescue Kallen even under these dire circumstances and so orders Tohdoh, Chiba and Asahina to attack in the air. Tohdoh engages with Xingke in an attempt to exhaust all of the Shen-Hu's energy, but realizes the Black Knights are at a disadvantage without Kallen. The Black Knights are then caught in Xingke's trap and forces Lelouch to call for a retreat. Tohdoh is then ordered to rescue all members and to rejoin at the Mausoleum of Eighty-Eight Emperors. The battle later ensues at the Mausoleum and with the help of Zero's Shinkiro and strategy was able to stop the High Eunuchs and Schneizel.

Tohdoh later leads Black Knight forces in liberation operations throughout the Chinese Federation and the Middle East before being named Head of the Joint Staff of the newly reorganized Black Knights which serve as part of the national army of the U.F.N.. As part of resolution one of the United Federation of Nations, The Black Knights have been contracted to liberate Japan. Tohdoh participates in the Second Assault on Tokyo Settlement. During the battle, after Asahina receives information about Zero during the Assault on the Geass Order from Kinoshita, he tries to warn Tohdoh. However, Suzaku still under Lelouch's Geass to live causes him to use the F.L.E.I.J.A. killing Asahina and a large portion of the Black Knights resulting in a ceasefire. Tohdoh along with the other leaders of the Black Knights betray Zero after learning his identity and Geass from Schneizel. He directs the firing squad that nearly executes Lelouch, but is saved by Rolo who is piloting the Shinkiro. He is later seen with the Black Knights observing Lelouch's ascension to the throne.

He later joins Schneizel during the battle against Lelouch. When Lelouch used the Sakuradite in the Fuji mines, Tohdoh orders all units to deploy their Radiant Wave Shielding. However, even with it, most of the Knightmares are destroyed or badly damaged. His Knightmare, Zangetsu, is destroyed while battling Suzaku in the Lancelot Albion, however the auto-ejection system activates and Chiba manages to catch his cockpit. Tohdoh is gravely wounded following his duel with Suzaku; he attempts to go back to the battlefield, despite Chiba's pleads against doing so. Tohdoh is insistent on returning to the fight, but his injuries ultimately prevent him from rejoining the battle. After the battle, all who opposed Lelouch were captured.

He appears along with all that opposed Lelouch and is headed for their execution. Zero (Suzaku) appears to stop that and kill Lelouch, surprising everybody. When Suzaku assassinates Lelouch as the last part of Zero Requiem, Tohdoh appears to realize what was happening. Kallen asserts that Suzaku is the real Zero. He is last seen together with Chiba Nagisa in traditional Japanese attire in a photo of Kaname Ohgi's wedding with Villetta Nu.

Relationships
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Abilities
Tohdoh is a skilled commander and leader as seen during his times in the Japan Liberation Front and the Black Knights turning almost impossible situations into a victory. One such situation was the miracle of Itsukushima were he succeeds in driving back Britannian forces without the use of a single Knightmare. However, with a Knightmare, he is very skilled and is able to go on par of that of Suzaku Kururugi and other highly skilled pilots such as Guilford and Xingke. It is further proven with the Black Knights assessment giving Tohdoh 100 out of 100 for his combat ability.

Code Geass: The Manga
Tohdoh's appearance in the manga adaption is brief. He first appears during the Black Knights meeting with the Six Houses of Kyoto. He later appears in the second part of the storyline during the Black Knight operations as well as the betrayal of Zero. The Four Holy Swords do not appear in the Manga and he is instead a personal guard of Kaguya Sumeragi.

Trivia

 * Tohdoh's success at Itsukushima was given further explanation in the light novels; he defeated the much larger Britannian force through the use of Sakuradite based explosives and precise timing. This tactic would later be used by Lelouch when Cornelia attempted the capture of Japan Liberation Front leader General Katase for the last time.
 * Tohdoh's character and design is based on Kusanagi from X/1999 which is Clamp's story who did the character designs for Code Geass.

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Kyoshiro Tohdoh