Lloyd Asplund

Lloyd Asplund (ロイド アスプルンド, Roido Asupurundo), 29 years old (30 in R2), is an Earl of the Britannian nobility and the developer of the elite Knightmare Frame, Lancelot. He is voiced by Tetsu Shiratori and by Liam O'Brien in the English Dub.

Appearance
Lloyd is a tall and very thin man. He has lavender hair and greyish-blue eyes. He is usually seen wearing a green turtleneck with a lab coat over top of his shirt. He wears both black pants and shoes and has very large glasses covering most of his face. He also has a smile on his face the majority of the time, despite it being mainly fake.

Personality
Lloyd is a self-proclaimed sociopath. Although he expresses no interest in love, he dedicates himself to science which seems to be the only thing he has a "heart" for. Whenever talking about anything else, he comes off as uncaring and sometimes rude, even though this is unintentional. He also prefers not to divulge information about personal details, as he does not even tell Suzaku of his noble status despite having known each other for several weeks.

While he prefers to see humans as parts of a machine rather than actual people, interchangeable and replaceable, it has been shown that Lloyd has more heart than he claims and does indeed care about those closest to him. However, Lloyd is also shown to believe, privately, that the greatest flaw of humanity is having fragile hearts and relationships. Despite his cool exterior, Lloyd is capable of showing panic when facing certain circumstances, such as seeing Nina Einstein's Ganymede with a Sakuradite-enhanced nuclear bomb, the Lancelot getting damaged or simply being a hostage.

Character Outline
Free from having to choose between pursuing science or appeasing his conscience, Lloyd admits to being a sociopath born with an abandoned heart. As such, he immerses himself in science and views people as little more than tools — he regards Suzaku Kururugi, for example, as a mere component of the machine that he pilots. He has a tendency to mock others and is often rebuked for this behavior by Cécile Croomy, his assistant. Prior to joining the military, he attended the Imperial Colchester Institute. Lloyd's research organization, Camelot (キャメロット), is an irregular division of the Britannian Military and has been granted permission by Prince Schneizel to operate outside the command structure and regulations of the regular Britannian armed forces.

Rakshata Chawla refers to Lloyd as the "Earl of Pudding" (プリン伯爵), as pudding is his favorite food.

When Lelouch took the throne, he is one of the few nobles that apparently cared little about the abolition of the aristocracy.

First Season
Lloyd makes his first appearance along with Cecile, having a discussion about Bartley, who is in charge of the Shinjuku Ghetto operation under the orders of Prince Clovis. After finding Suzaku, Lloyd asks him if he would like to fight against the terrorists with his new invention, the Lancelot. He is engaged to wed Milly Ashford in the first season, having agreed to the union mostly in hope that he might be able to obtain the designs of the Knightmare Frame, Ganymede. As such, he has been forced into doing nice things for her by Suzaku.

He is the first person (the second being Darlton) to clap for Suzaku at his knighting ceremony by Euphemia, possibly hinting that he respects him. During the First Assault on Tokyo Settlement, he arries at Ashford Academy with Cecile, who is piloting her customized Sutherland Air Knightmare to ward of the Black Knights who occupied the location to save the Lancelot. After Nina appears with the Ganymede attached with a prototype nuclear reactor, he warns Cecile and the Black Knights to cease fire or they may destroy the entire Tokyo Settlement. However, it fails to activate and Lloyd immediately tells Cecile to remove it.

Second Season
Lloyd is seen at the reception of Empress Tianzi and Odysseus eu Britannia in the Chinese Federation. He explains that Suzaku had convinced him to come along with Milly. Milly breaks off the marriage after she graduates; though Lloyd laughs it off, Cécile's look of concern suggests he's merely hiding his true feelings about the matter.

After the Second Battle of Tokyo, he is confronted by a distraught Nina Einstein, who is shocked by the destruction her weapon caused. Lloyd tells her that she has to make a choice between protecting her heart or sacrificing it to science. When asked by Nina if he had already made that choice, he replies that his heart was empty from the beginning. He willingly joins Lelouch Lamperouge's new regime, while not caring that he lost his title as an earl because of Lelouch, remarking that he and Cécile have become "cogs in a machine" without even realizing it. He expresses an interest in studying Lelouch's Geass, only to be warned off by Jeremiah.

He works with Nina and Cecile to create a countermeasure to F.L.E.I.J.A. and to construct the Lancelot Frontier for C.C. He proceeds to assist Sayoko during the rescue of the hostages on board the Avalon as per Lelouch's order. He and Cecile are last seen in Villetta's wedding picture.

Inventions
A genius scientist whose confidence in his skills is well-earned, Lloyd has invented several cutting-edge technologies for the Britannian Military, predominantly revolving around Knightmare development and production.

Lloyd's most highly recognized creation is the Z-01 Lancelot, the world's first 7th-Generation Knightmare Frame. He was also responsible for creating the Lancelot's successors, the Z-01/DF Lancelot Conquista and the Z-01Z Lancelot Albion. Lloyd was also responsible for the creation of the multiple experimental systems the Lancelot would use, including the V.A.R.I.S. Rifle, Blaze Luminous, Maser Vibration Swords, and Harken Boosters. Lloyd was also recognized as the creator of the first Float System, introducing Knightmares to aerial combat. Following the Gawain's capture by the Black Knights, Lloyd introduced the Float System backpack to the Lancelot, which would later become standard equipment for Britannian Knightmares. It can also be inferred that Lloyd participated in developing the Hadron Cannon as well, as the weapon was shown perfected in Britannia's hands only a year after its introduction.

In addition to the Lancelot series, Lloyd also provided support to the development of the Vincent series of Knightmares, as the Vincent was meant as a mass-production version of the Lancelot. When the Guren Flight-Enabled Version was captured by Xingke, it was turned over to Lloyd and his team, who wasted no time getting to work on it. While the intended purpose was only to study it, Lloyd and his assistant Cecile became too intrigued by Rakshata's work on it, and so chose to alter and upgrade the Guren. The result of this work was the Guren S.E.I.T.E.N. Eight Elements, the world's first 9th-Generation Knightmare Frame. As part of the upgrades, the Guren's signature Radiant Wave Surger was upgraded to fire a disk-like energy projectile.

Cécile Croomy
Cécile, alongside Rakshata, is one of Lloyd's oldest colleagues. In the present day, within Camelot, Cécile acted as Lloyd's assistant. On a greater level, Cécile is Lloyd's most constant companion and, in all likelihood, his only true friend. In everyday life, Cécile acts as a straight-laced counterbalance to Lloyd's eccentric, quirky personality. She constantly acts to hold back his snark in important situations as well as deflating his ego and insolence when need be with snarky quips of her own. It's shown frequently that Cécile often is the only one capable of breaching Lloyd's cool façade and keeping him in check. Cécile, for her part, finds Lloyd's antics to be annoying and mentally taxing. During the Ashford School Festival, at a Whack-A-Mole booth, Cécile let off steam by constantly whacking a student who's appearance resembled Lloyd's.

Still, in spite of Lloyd's demeanor, he and Cécile are consistently shown to be respectful and trusting of one another. Cécile is the only one Lloyd chooses to confide in regarding his inner concerns and worries about humanity. Cécile, while sympathetic, makes sure to remind Lloyd how, in spite of whatever he may feel, he can't make the world or humans simply bend to his whims. Later, after Lelouch takes over the Britannian throne, in spite of the forceful takeover and Schneizel's attempted coup, Lloyd and Cécile remained together in Britannia. Lloyd asks her if she was comfortable with how things had gone, citing how Schneizel and Cornelia had gone. He then considers whether or not the two of them have become cogs in a machine themselves.

In the Kowa era, during the invasion of Zilkhstan, Cécile joined Lloyd, along with Sayoko and Nina, as part of a stealth-based operation to support the invasion. When Cécile was shot by the Zilkhstanian soldiers, Lloyd was visibly shocked and angered by seeing her in danger. After the invasion ended and they were rescued, Lloyd was shown to be glad that she had survived and even comforted her somewhat, showing that he cared about her.

Suzaku Kururugi
Initially, Suzaku was merely seen as a part by Lloyd, as the earl had commandeered the young man from his post as a soldier to act as the Lancelot's "devicer", or test pilot. During their time together, Lloyd was one of the first to pick up on Suzaku's contradictory motivations (becoming a soldier to prevent death, for one) and concealed instabilities. Overtime, due to how Suzaku continually succeeded in utilizing the Lancelot to its fullest potential, Lloyd seemed to start developing genuine respect for Suzaku. When Suzaku was knighted by Euphemia, he was the first to give him applause, rousing the crowd to do the same. However, it is shown that, despite Suzaku having exception ability as a pilot, his personality gradually began testing Lloyd's patience; namely, his stubbornness and rushing into action.

Lloyd was visibly upset when Suzaku punched him and stole the Lancelot from him for the First Assault on Tokyo Settlement. When Cécile spoke to him about it afterwards, it was implied that Lloyd was angered not simply because of the Lancelot being taken, but because of Suzaku rushing off into danger. During the Second Assault on Tokyo Settlement, he was upset again when Suzaku refused to retreat, even after being outmatched by the Guren S.E.I.T.E.N. After the battle was concluded, Lloyd seemed to have finally lost patience with Suzaku, initially refusing to give him the Lancelot Albion, recognizing how he had become unstable. When Suzaku finally admitted his sanctimoniousness and hypocrisy, Lloyd reacted derisively, showing that he had long since picked up on these traits in Suzaku, but had grown tired of them.

After Lelouch took control of Britannia and joined forces with Suzaku, Lloyd later gave the Albion to him, implying that the two had managed to mend fences enough for Lloyd to trust him with his technology again. During the Kowa era, Suzaku and Lloyd are shown still capable of working as allies if need be. Lloyd, for his part, openly and playfully says that Suzaku's traits make him noble, but also a "profound pain in the rear". Suzaku merely accepts Lloyd's snark, implying that the two had grown more comfortable with one another.

Rakshata Chawla
Rakshata was one of Lloyd's oldest colleagues alongside Cécile. She was the one who gave Lloyd his nickname "Earl of Pudding". Throughout their careers, Rakshata has been Lloyd's greatest scientific rival, having an intellect and creativity on par with his own. During the war between Britannia and the Black Knights, the two former classmates took it as a scientific competition, continually working to one-up each another as military technology on both sides advanced. In spite of this rivalry, Lloyd and Rakshata openly respected each other's creations and innovations. Rakshata was angered, however, when Lloyd and Cécile altered the Guren without her permission. On a more general level, Lloyd and Rakshata don't appear to have any sort of real animosity between one another. When they're imprisoned following the Battle of Mt. Fuji, Rakshata merely takes the opportunity to tease Lloyd again over the nickname she gave him. According to Cécile, whatever disagreement they had in the past was completely unimportant, but it was simply a starting point for Lloyd, Cécile, and Rakshata.

Nina Einstein
Nina initially attracted Lloyd's attention when he noticed her experimenting with Uranium-235. Intrigued by this work and Nina's ideas, Lloyd decided to form a business partnership with her, giving Nina resources, including Sakuradite, to further her research. Lloyd was horrified when he discovered that Nina had built and deployed a makeshift nuclear reactor using what she had given him. After Nina officially went to work for the Britannian Military as a scientist, she continued to interact with Lloyd, who was shown to genuinely respect her as a fellow scientist with intriguing ideas. Nina respected and saw Lloyd as a superior calling him "Dr. Lloyd" ("Professor Lloyd" in the English dub) as a sign of respect.

However, as with everyone, Lloyd didn't pull his punches when it came to telling her his opinions. He warned Nina about the danger of mounting her newly produced F.L.E.I.J.A. (a strategic weapon) onto the Lancelot (a tactical weapon), openly telling her that she could get herself killed doing so. On a deeper level, it seems that Lloyd understood how, despite the two of them being scientists, Nina was not like him and did not have a passion for science like his own. Following the first F.L.E.I.J.A. explosion, as Nina despairs and contemplates over the destruction her invention caused, Lloyd came to speak with her. He told Nina that she had to make a choice between preserving her heart and immersing herself in science, essentially, in his own way, giving her advice. When Nina asked Lloyd how he came to a choice, Lloyd merely proclaimed himself a sociopath, and thus, he never needed to choose. Regardless, Lloyd and Nina were shown to be capable of working together as well, collaborating on the development of the F.L.E.I.J.A. Eliminator.

Milly Ashford
Milly was, for a time, Lloyd's fiance. Her family had arranged the marriage between them in order to try to boost their status, with Lloyd agreeing to it to gain access to the Ashford family's resources, including the designs of the antique Knightmare Ganymede. As a result, Suzaku forced Lloyd to do nice things for Milly. For a while, Milly and Lloyd interacted at times, with the earl taking her out on a "date" at his laboratory. As with most, Lloyd showed no real connection with or interest in Milly. Still, Lloyd was always courteous and fair with her. Milly, on her part, made it no secret that she had no interest in Lloyd, but still treated him with respect. After Milly broke off their engagement, Lloyd merely shrugged it off and complimented her, implying that he may have developed a modicum of greater respect for her for making a decision on her own.

Trivia

 * In the Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion manga Lloyd is a smoker.
 * In the Code Geass: Nightmare of Nunnaly manga, Lloyd's appearance is slightly different from the Anime series and he is also a Lt. Colonel.
 * Lloyd's favorite food is pudding. Hence the nickname "Earl of Pudding".
 * In R1 episode 21, Cecile states that Lloyd "has no attraction whatsoever to the opposite sex."
 * In R2 episode 22, Lloyd is seen talking with Lelouch, C.C. and Suzaku about the Zero Requiem, making him one of the characters who were aware of the Zero Requiem plan, the others being Cecile, Nina, Sayoko, and Jeremiah.

Quotes

 * "(To Cecile Croomy and Bartley) You really screwed this one up. Terrorists came along and stole whatever it was that you and Prince Clovis were secretly working on. Retrieving it is simple, but you want to sweep up all their compatriots in addition. Let the terrorists go, and you can find their hideout, too. [turns to his assistant, Cécile Croomy] Congratulations! Your reasoning was spot-on!"
 * "(To Suzaku Kururugi) That contradiction might kill you one day."
 * "(To his Staff) Pack it up! Pack it up! We're done today! Don't do anymore! Hip Hip Hooray! That's all folks!"
 * "(To Nina) You need to make a choice, Nina. Do you abandon science to preserve your heart, or do you abandon your heart and sacrifice yourself to science?"
 * "I'm a sociopath. I was born with an abandoned heart."
 * "I think that 'truth' is something that is covered up most of the time."

Commander: Are you referring.... to His Majesty!? Cecile: Please forgive him, Sir. Lloyd, please! Lloyd: Hmm? Did I say something wrong? Lord Guilford: I see that you haven't changed.
 * Lloyd: That's because I'm working directly under little Charlie now.