Kallen Kozuki

Lore & Background

Kallen is half Japanese and half Britannian, but believes herself to be Japanese at heart due to being born and raised in Japan by her mother. She prefers to be known by the name "Kozuki," her mother's maiden name and her original birth name. Her father is a Britannian and her mother is an Eleven; her father comes from a prestigious Britannian family, from which Kallen benefited after she was officially acknowledged as his heir after the invasion of Japan. Due to her parents never marrying she was considered illegitimate before this point, and spent years treated as and living as an Eleven before her father claimed her as his own during her middle school years (approximately 1–2 years before the start of Code Geass R1). Because of this she bears no personal attachment to the "Stadtfeld" name, seeing it as a fake identity; in Japanese credits and apocrypha she is exclusively titled as "Kallen Kozuki" as a result. She attends Ashford Academy, where she later becomes a member of its student council and is one of its most outstanding students. Her brother, Naoto Kozuki, with whom she had a deep connection, was a former leader of her resistance cell before his death. Both Kallen's stepmother, a Britannian, and biological mother live with her in the same house, but her biological mother is employed as a maid and is often mistreated by both her stepmother and Kallen herself. After her biological mother is arrested for using Refrain (a fictional drug which lets people think they're reliving the past), Kallen changes her views and decides to fight against the Britannian Empire not only for her brother, but to fulfill her new wish for a world in which she can live happily with her biological mother.

In Their Own Story

Kallen appears early in the first episode, driving a truck carrying C.C.'s capsule, and then providing cover by fighting Jeremiah in a Glasgow. After Lelouch gains his Geass from C.C., he takes control of an enemy Sutherland and helps Kallen to escape the other Knightmare Frames chasing her. He further directs the remaining resistance forces in the battle, granting them a decisive advantage until Suzaku Kururugi uses the Lancelot's superior systems to overwhelm their forces. She sacrifices her own machine to allow Lelouch to escape, despite not knowing who he really is. After this incident, Lelouch's unfamiliarity with his Geass causes him to reveal knowledge of the Shinjuku incident to Kallen while questioning her about her motivations, leading her to suspect him of being their unknown benefactor. Lelouch disproves these suspicions by being present while she receives a telephone call from Zero, which actually plays a message he recorded. With the formation of the Black Knights and Zero's increasing number of victories over the Britannian forces, Kallen comes to greatly admire him, evident in her ecstatic reaction to her appointment as head of his personal guard. She even tries to assassinate Suzaku Kururugi after learning that he is the pilot of the Lancelot, believing it would benefit Zero's goal. Once the Black Knights begin receiving new Knightmares, Zero gives Kallen the newly developed Guren Mk-II. With its powerful radiation-emitting arm and speed matching Suzaku's Lancelot, Kallen becomes one of the Black Knights' most talented pilots, often facing off against Suzaku and usually proving an even match for him. At the end of the first season, Kallen reveals her identity to the students of Ashford Academy when the Black Knights occupy it as their base of operations. Later on, she battles against Suzaku in his flight-equipped Lancelot, suffering a narrow defeat. Lelouch intervenes before Suzaku can deliver the finishing blow. When Lelouch abandons the battle to rescue his sister, Kallen follows him. She witnesses his confrontation with Suzaku and learns about his true identity, the truth about the massacre of SAZ, and his Geass power. She flees in shock rather than helping Lelouch to deal with Suzaku, and goes into hiding. One year later, Kallen is still part of the Black Knights. Along with C.C., she is the only member who knows Lelouch's identity and secret power, having been brought up to speed by C.C. in the interim. Kallen confronts Lelouch about whether or not he used Geass to make her loyal to him, and Lelouch insists that her loyalty is her own decision. She seems to accept this, and still supports Zero, even though she prefers to see Lelouch and Zero as separate entities; however, she later starts seeing them as the same person. Over time Kallen grows to love Lelouch, offering to die for him. During the operation to kidnap Nunnally vi Britannia as she is being transported to Area 11, Kallen receives an upgrade for the Guren Mk-II, giving it flight capabilities and an upgraded radiation arm. With it she is able to destroy Gilbert G.P. Guilford's Vincent and the remaining two Glaston Knights flanking him, then incapacitate Gino and Anya's Knightmare Frames with a wide-range burst. Her battle with Suzaku is cut short when the airship carrying Nunnally crashes into the sea. After this incident, Lelouch becomes depressed over Nunnally's involvement, since he can't bring himself to go against her wishes. When he nearly resorts to taking Refrain, Kallen steps in and talks him out of it, promising to do anything he asks her to. He tries to kiss her, requesting her to comfort him as a woman, but despite her feelings for him she backs out at the last moment and slaps him, insisting that he bears the responsibility for realizing the dream he gave the Japanese people. During the Black Knights attempted kidnapping of Empress Tianzi, Kallen is captured by Li Xingke in his Shen Hu, having taken her Guren into battle without replacing its energy filler. After the High Eunuchs turn to Schneizel el Britannia for military support, she is turned over to Suzaku along with the Guren. She is sent back to a prison in Area 11, and subsequently transferred into a more comfortable solitary cell by Nunnally, who also gives her a dress to wear. During the second battle of Tokyo, Kallen is rescued from captivity and returns to the Guren (complete with a pilot suit brought by Sayoko), which had been radically upgraded by Lloyd Asplund and Cécile Croomy during her imprisonment.

Reader's Guide

Kallen leads a double life as both a normal Britannian student and as a member of a guerrilla resistance group against Britannia, which is later reformed into the Order of the Black Knights by Lelouch Vi Britannia. In school, she portrays herself as a feeble-bodied high school student careful to follow every formality and goes by her Britannian name of Stadtfeld. However, her personality becomes very forceful and strong-willed when she acts as a resistance fighter. As a running gag, Kallen ends up nude or immodestly dressed in front of other people on numerous occasions: Lelouch sees her naked after she accidentally pulls back a shower curtain in the third episode, Suzaku sees her bathing under a waterfall when they are stranded on Kamine Island, she is forced to dress in an immodest bunny costume at the start of the second season (to plant a tracking device on Lelouch), and she walks in on a meeting between C.C. and the Chinese ambassadors wearing only a towel when intending to complain about the previous situation to C.C. (claiming that the operation would've gone faster if C.C. was wearing the outfit). In an interview reported by the anime magazine Newtype USA, seiyu Ami Koshimizu talked about the difficulty of voicing Kallen because of the double life that her character leads. Certain aspects of Kallen's character such as her girlish naivete and competitiveness made it easy for the voice actress to relate, even to the point of admitting that in some ways they act very much the same.

Did You Know?

• Kallen's Japanese voice actress Ami Koshimizu won 'Best Actress in a Supporting Role' for her role at the first Seiyu Awards in 2007.
• Kallen was awarded 8th place in the 29th Anime Grand Prix, then 17th and 16th, respectively, in the following two.
• In Japanese credits and apocrypha, Kallen is exclusively titled as 'Kallen Kozuki' rather than 'Kallen Stadtfeld'.
• Kallen's brother, Naoto Kozuki, was a former leader of her resistance cell before his death.
• Kallen's biological mother is employed as a maid in the same house where Kallen, her stepmother, and her biological mother all live.