Gene Smilas

"A skilled dictator is much more beneficial to humanity than a democracy of ignorant people."

- Gene Smilas

Gene Smilas (ジィーン・スマイラス, Jiīn Sumairasu) was a general of the E.U. Army. He appears to be a sort of mentor to Leila Malcal, offering advice and praising her on her accomplishments, as well as being generally supportive of her ideas.

Character Outline
During a car ride with Leila he shared his stance on the E.U.'s republic system of government, stating that it has caused "irresponsibility and self-interest" and that the E.U. would've been better off with Napoleon Bonaparte as its emperor. He states that he and Leila's father both shared a similar ideal and were best friends before Leila's father was murdered. During the Ark Fleet attacks, General Smilas and the military watched in disgust as the EU council crumbled beneath the public unrest. They revealed their desire and plan to coup and to use Lelia as a Joan of Arc figure to turn the tide against the Britannian forces as Joan herself did against the English during the Hundred Years War.

He was visited by members of the Geass Order and seems to have knowledge of Shin Hyuga Shing.

True enough, he had Lelia give a motivating speech to stop the rioting and reveal the truth of the Ark Fleet's plan. She also revealed that she was the daughter of Bradow von Breisgau, a deflected Britannian popular political leader. The speech endeared the population as many stopped to chant her name.

However, later when Castle Weisswolf came under siege by the Knights of St. Michael, Smilas prematurely declared her killed by the knights and used public anger to rally the EU population for war against Euro Britannia.

It was later revealed by Major Klaus Warwick that Smilas used Leila for personal power and was trying to become Emperor of Europe.

Personality
General Smiles appears initially to be an ideal commander; experience, wise, and practical. He listens and takes into consideration the opinions and ideals of his subordinates even when doesn't agree with them. Seems to show great care for the people of Europia and always strives for what is best for them.

However beneath his professional demeanor, Smiles has a darker side. He deeply despises the greedy E.U. statesmen and elites, viewing them as corrupt for their hedonism and worship of money as well as their lack of concern for neither the E.U. citizens nor the Elevens living in Europia. He firmly believes that the will be conquered by Euro Britannia they way things are going. Because of this, Smile greatly admires Napoleon Bonaparte for achievements during and after the French Revolution which founded the Europia United and wonders what might have happened had he succeeded in becoming Emperor of Europe. Believing that a skilled dictator would be better for Europia than the democracy of ignorant people which has led the E.U. into its current state, Smile hoped to follow in Napoleon's footsteps and succeed where he had failed.

Despite his seemingly noble ideals, Smiles seems to have no qualms about playing dirty and manipulating events and people to achieve his own ends. He took advantage of the unrest caused by Julius Kingsley to set the stage for his plan by using Leila as a symbol for the people to rally behind but then sold her and her entire W-0 group out to Euro Britannia soon after, hoping to use her death to manipulate the masses to unite behind him in resisting the expansion of Britannia and in the process, accept his intention to make the E.U. a dictatorship with himself as Emperor. Thus Smiles' actions show that he has no concern for how ruthless his methods are or how many people he betrays so long as his reaches his goals.

This would suggest that at his core, Smiles is simply a power-hungry man who merely uses the ideals of Napoleon and the revolutionaries as merely a cover for his own ambitions.

Trivia

 * The name "Smilas" is of Greek origin.
 * It has been implied that he has connection to the Geass.
 * Smilas' English voice actor, Christopher Sabat, also did Kurogane in Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle.