Bismarck Waldstein

Bismarck Waldstein (ビスマルク ヴァルトシュタイン) was the final man to bear the title of the Knight of One under Charles zi Britannia, formerly known as the strongest amongst the Knights of the Round before being defeated by the former Knight of Zero, Suzaku Kururugi.

Character Outline
He wears a white cloak that the Knights of the Round wear, and pilots the Knightmare Frame Galahad. His left eye is kept sewn shut, in order to keep his Geass in check. Despite his status and combat abilities, he believes that war should be used as a last resort, and also sees strength without restraint as needless violence. He was previously the Knight of Five.

Second Season
During the second battle of Tokyo, Bismarck leads the Britannian forces guarding the shore against Li Xingke's invasion force. Li and Bismarck battle, with Li unable to defeat him. Bismarck compliments Li's skill when he purposefully takes a hit to move into position to rescue the Chinese command vessel. During Schneizel's attempted coup d'état of Emperor Charles, he intervenes to stop Suzaku's assassination attempt on the Emperor. Suzaku's "live" command urges him to flee before they even begin fighting, indicating that Waldstein is extremely dangerous. He later goes to Schneizel and reports him about the Emperor's plan being executed and between that, he asks Schneizel how much he knows and Schneizel asks what he refers to. During the Ragnarok Connection's activation, Bismarck said to Schneizel once Charles' plan succeeds, Schneizel will be left to rule the rest of the empire and after the plan stops, Bismarck senses Charles' death.

Following the death of the Emperor and Lelouch's ascension to the throne, Bismarck leads three of the remaining Knights of the Round and a squadron of Knightmares in an attempt to remove Lelouch from power. After Suzaku decimates all but Bismarck, Bismarck attempts to use his Geass, which allows him to see a few seconds into the future, to even the odds, claiming that the only person he ever used it against was Marianne. Suzaku's "live" command allows him to overcome Bismarck's Geass, and he slices the Galahad in half. Bismarck dies, lamenting that he has failed Marianne.

Abilities
Bismarck is proficient in combat with a sword, which he demonstrates when defending Emperor Charles from Suzaku's attempted assassination. He is equally competent in Knightmare Frame combat, being able to engage Li Xingke's Shen Hu on equal terms, and emerging unscathed from the battles fought in Japan between the Britannian Empire and the Order Of The Black Knights.

Geass
Bismarck's Geass allows him to see into the immediate future. The Geass Sigil appears in his left eye, which is sewn shut to keep him from using it when not necessary. He is seen using his Geass only several times during his fight against Suzaku. He also states that he has only used his Geass once before against Marianne. Who he acquired this Geass from is unknown, although he most likely recieved it from V.V.

The mechanics of Bismarck's Geass likely relate to the 'time lag' between the eye and brain. It normally takes 100 milliseconds for the brain to process and identify objects. Thus, Bismarck's Geass is most likely helping with this process and effectively nullifying the 'time lag' and allowing Bismarck to "see the future".

Nightmare of Nunnally
He appears as the Knight of One, as a zombie member of the Knights of the Round in Nightmare of Nunnally. He and the other Knights of the Round who are turned into zombies face off in Sutherland Sieg-like machines against the contingent of forces led by Zero, Suzaku, and Euphemia li Britannia, and personally fights Zero. Upon Charles and Marianne's defeat inside Eden Vital, he concedes defeat with their passing as well, and crumbles into dust along with the rest of the Rounds.

Trivia

 * His namesakes are Otto von Bismarck, the founder of the German Empire, and Albrecht von Wallenstein (also known as Waldstein), a Bohemian general who battled Gustavus Adolphus on the side of the Catholic League during the Thirty Years' War.

Gallery
Bismarck Waldstein