| Nightmare of Nunnally |
Charles zi Britannia (シャルル・ジ・ブリタニア Sharuru ji Buritania), born on August 4, 1955 a.t.b. (63 years old) was the 98th emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire, the father of Nunnally & Lelouch vi Britannia (and many others) and Pope of the Eden Vital Order. He served as the main antagonist of the manga.
Appearance[]
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Charles as a Child.
Charles is a very large man, towering over nearly all other characters in the series, and appears to be muscular and well-built. He has long white hair (though it was originally a light brown in his younger days) styled into Renaissance-style curls. He has violet eyes and angular features.
Personality[]
Charles is a cold and intelligent man who strongly holds views of social Darwinism, believing that only the strongest were worthy to rise in society. His philosophy is not reserved solely for his adversaries, however, as he treated Lelouch harshly after the death of Marianne, offering no sympathy to his then-adolescent son. He is also deeply cynical, having no confidence in the good of people and believing that humanity's natural course is struggle and conflict.
He has no moral compunctions in how he deals with his enemies. His rise to power saw numerous political rivals and their allies killed, and even as Emperor, Britannia continued to engage in global conflict with its adversaries. Ultimately, he cares little for the casualties caused by Britannia's military conflicts, regardless if they are enemy combatants, innocent civilians, or even Britannian soldiers.
Interestingly, his views and ideology seem to have stemmed from his traumatic upbringing. As a child, he often witnessed his family kill each other in pursuit of the throne, thus he naturally came to understand that without power, one cannot survive. He wishes for the world to be gentler; he even tells Lelouch, during their final confrontation, that the Ragnarok Connection will ensure the gentle world that Nunnally wants.
Background[]
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Charles awakening his geass.
Charles was the son of The First Prince of the Britannian Empire. Charles's father was an idealist who sought a government that existed for the sake of its people and was greatly respected by Charles. However, he, Charles’s mother, and Charles himself to all be assassinator by conservative faction. When he died, his desire for power allowed him to awaken his geass. Charles’s geass, "The Dead Rise" brought him back from dead, granting him immortality. He then took the throne and went on to use his geass to resurrect the most renowned knights from the previous generations to act as his knights of the round. Anyone that rose against him was killed and resurrected as his puppets. Charles had numerous consorts and installed most of his children into important positions throughout the empire.
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Charles as a young man.
Turned cynical by his father's assassination, Charles oversaw a large part of Britannia's expansion, publicly supporting social inequality as well as competition to promote progress. At one point, after a battle, Marianne, a knight who Charles knew to be a priestess of C.C., asked Charles if he can truly bring utopia from such a bloody rule. Marianne stated that geass is too great for humans and its by struggling within their limits that one can be considered human in the first place. After questioning Charles's actions, Charles made her the the lowest ranking of the knights of the round in order to keep an eye on her. With her by his side, he saw the ideals of his parents come back to life and she was attracted to Charles's ideals. They eventually fell in love, got married and gave birth to Lelouch and Nunnally.
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Marianne as Anya, gleefully stating that they can achieve their dream.
Marianne was later fatally wounded in an assassination attempt by Anya Alstreim. As Charles held her, he suggested using his geass, but she stated that it resurrected the body, but not he soul. She asks C.C. to bestow a geass on her. C.C. does so and Marianne is able to send her soul into Anya’s body. She then realizes that part of her soul has already returned to Eden’s Vital, and happy announces that they can use this power to achieve their dream.
C.C., Marianne, and Charles swear to kill god.
He, Marianne, and C.C. would then go on to conclude that conflict only exists in the world because god allows it to, and to truly remove conflict from the world would require killing god. To this end, they begin their plans to establish the Ragnarök Connection, including summoning the Sword of Akasha and using Nunnally and Lelouch to open Heaven's Door.
Some point in the past, Charles supervised the creation of Rolo vi Britannia and rewrote his memories inn an attemp to create a artificial wired geass user.
Character History[]
Charles's first big act is declaring that Viceroys are to be imprisoned for treason and replaced with cardinals of the Eden Vital Order or those with similar status.
Charles creates the Holy Nation of Eden Vital.
In an audience with Schneizel, Schnitzel questions the Emperor's dissection to abolish the aristocracy and replacing the viceroys with member of the Eden Vital Order, pointing out that such a decision would need to go through the senate and likening it it a coup d'etat. Charles counters that he is the empire itself and speak for the nation. Schneizel however, points out that the Senate can and has vetoed his decision and he is speaking on their behalf. Charles then declares that he will dissolve the senate and put all forms of government besides himself on hold, making himself an Absolute Emperor and renaming the Holy Britannian Empire into the Holy Faith Nation of Eden Vital. He then has his guard draw their weapons against Schneizel shocking the prince, who considers such an action to be insane.
As Charles makes his way to Kamine Island, Charles is informed of numerous naval ships from Euphemia and the black knights approaching. Charles however, is undeterred, believing it to be too late. With his geass, he has resurrected numerous zombified knights and knightmares to stop Euphemia's forces and the Black Knights from invading.
Upon opening the thought elevator, Nunnally and Alice are greeted by Charles. He explains that they are at the entrance to Eden Vital and that the world of sadness will be replaced by a kind a gentle world. Anya then appears and states that it is the utopia Nunnally wishes for. It is then revealed that she is actually Marianne.
Marianne and Charles with the Sword of Akasha.
Nunnally questions why she wasn't told that Marianne was alive. Charles states that they intended to and as the key to Eden Vital, the Heaven’s Door, she has the right to know and laments the violence of the world and how that affected the royal family. He talks about his past and how he obtained and used his geass. This disgusts Nunnally who points out how hypocritical he was being. Charles then reveals that Marianne had once told him something similar and explains how he event surrounding her death and their dream of creating a world without conflict. Marianne explains that she and Charles have focuses the energy of all the world’s temples into Kamine island in order to turn it into the Sword of Akasha and slay god, and that by doing so, all humans will return to the collective unconscious that is Eden Vital. Nunnally counters that every human is unique and conflict is the result of differing opinions. Charles and MArianne are undeterred as they believe it is the only way to stop conflicts. Marianne explains that when she put her soul in Anya’s body, part of her soul had already moved onto Eden’s vital, pathway that they can force Open with the Sword of Akasha. They then claim that Nunnally’s wired geass, The Zero is the key for opening Heaven’s door.
Charles explains that The Zero can be used to break open heaven’s door, but Nunnally refuses to do it, likening it to murdering all of humanity. After seeing a vsion of Charles, Marianne and C.C. committing to their plan of killing god, Nunnaly breaks down and points out how both Charles and MArianne abandoned her and Lelouch, but Marianne says that if she goes through with it, she can be with Lelouch again and people will not suffer anymore, leading Nunnally into activating The Zero.
Before she can open Heaven's door, Nunnally, with support from Alice and Nemo rejects, Charles and Marianne's plan. C.C. appears and explains her choice, leading Charles to ask if she betrayed him and states that to deny an ideal world would be to exist in a world of conflict controlled by god. Nunnaly acknoeledges that, but still decies to look for the future. Maraianne convinces Charles that its only right to entrust the decision to Nunnally and the two begin to fade away. As Marianne and Charles disappear, the zombies controlled by Charless begin to vanish as well.
Abilities[]
Geass[]
Charles's Geass, The Dead Rise (ザ・デッドライズ Za Deddoraizu), Aside from granting Charles immortality, it allows Charles to revive the dead as his immortal zombie soldiers. The geass also works on knightmares, making them capable of operating under heavy damage and restoring any damage they sustain. His geass also seemingly allows him to manipulate memories, such as when he manipulated Rolo's memories to give him a fake past.
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Gallery[]
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References[]
Succession and Precedence[]
| Preceded by Unknown |
Emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire a.t.b. 1998 – a.t.b. 2017 |
Succeeded by Euphemia li Britannia |