Suzaku Kururugi

Lore & Background

When Britannia began its invasion of Japan, Suzaku was mortified by the violence and his father's belief that resisting to the bitter end was preferable to surrendering. Unable to change his father's mind, Suzaku murdered him during a heated exchange. The incident was covered up, and Suzaku's life was spared, while the government was thrown into disarray and surrendered to Britannia. Lelouch believes that, had Genbu lived, Japan likely would have been torn apart by war once the other major powers decided to intervene. His guilt over the incident causes Suzaku to constantly place himself on the front lines in the hope of atoning for his actions with his death. It also inspires his belief that the ends achieved with immoral means are meaningless since he created peace through murder. However, after firing the F.L.E.I.J.A. warhead, under the command of Lelouch's Geass, he abandons this belief and decides to achieve his goals regardless of the means. This causes him to finally join Lelouch.

In Their Own Story

Suzaku is introduced in the series' first episode as an Honorary Britannian soldier. While searching the Shinjuku ghetto for poison gas stolen by resistance members, he finds Lelouch standing next to it. He refuses to carry out an order to kill Lelouch and is shot by his superior officer for his insubordination, but the bullet is stopped by a broken pocket watch belonging to his deceased father. Suzaku is approached by Lloyd Asplund and offered a chance to pilot the experimental Knightmare Frame Lancelot. The Lancelot's advanced systems, combined with his unprecedented piloting skills, allow him to almost single-handedly dismantle Lelouch's plan to rout the massacre of the Shinjuku ghetto, but he finds himself under arrest afterward for the murder of Prince Clovis. Lelouch rescues Suzaku from his impending execution by assuming the identity of Zero and takes credit for Clovis' murder, forcing the military to acquit Suzaku, but Suzaku refuses to join his cause. He agrees that the Britannian Empire is corrupt and not worth serving, but wants to change and improve the Empire from within, to show that his father's death was not in vain. Suzaku remains the pilot of the Lancelot. He is reunited with Lelouch and Nunnally after enrolling in Ashford Academy at Euphemia's suggestion. He is promoted to Warrant Officer by Cornelia li Britannia when she first arrives in Japan, and is appointed Euphemia's personal Knight, gaining the rank of Major, after a televised battle with the Black Knights. During the battle on Shikine Island, in which Suzaku is ordered to kill Zero, Lelouch uses the power of Geass on Suzaku to escape destruction, and commands him to 'live,' forcing him to survive by any means from then on. Suzaku falls in love with Euphemia, and is emotionally crushed by her death at Zero's hands. He is visited by V.V., who explains Zero's power of Geass, which drives him to find and kill Zero. He follows Lelouch to Kamine and confirms his identity, after trying to convince himself that Zero and Lelouch were not the same person. Lelouch offers Suzaku a truce to rescue Nunnally, but Suzaku insists that Lelouch's very existence should be ended. Lelouch draws his pistol, and both men attempt to shoot one another. In the second season, Suzaku receives a promotion into the Knights of the Round as a reward for capturing Zero. He intends to become the Knight of One, which will allow him to rule Area 11 by his choosing. After the creation of the United Federation of Nations is cut short by the Emperor's appearance, Suzaku is contacted by a desperate Lelouch, who asks him to protect Nunnally from the Emperor. Suzaku agrees to his request, but only if Lelouch meets him alone at the Kururugi shrine. The meeting goes well at first, and Suzaku decides to help him if Lelouch ends his war, but Schneizel's unexpected attempt to arrest Lelouch makes him believe Suzaku went back on his word. During the second battle of Tokyo, Suzaku is attacked by Guilford under the influence of Lelouch's Geass and Jeremiah Gottwald, whom Lelouch convinced to join the Black Knights. Though both are drawn away from Suzaku, he is forced to battle Kallen in her improved Guren. Suzaku's Geass command forces him to use the F.L.E.I.J.A. bomb, hitting the government complex, wiping out the entire government building and most of the surrounding area. Realizing that he has been naïve, Suzaku decides that the ends are more important than the means used to reach them and takes a more active approach to becoming Knight of One, offering to kill the Emperor for Schneizel. Schneizel agrees and Suzaku heads to Kamine Island to complete his mission, as well as kill the one responsible for the chain of events leading to Lelouch's actions and Euphemia's death. However, Suzaku is derailed by the Knight of One, Bismarck Waldstein, eventually submitting to his Geass and falling back. He later enters the Sword of Akasha with C.C. and agrees with Lelouch that the wishes of Charles and Marianne are selfish, even stopping Marianne from approaching Lelouch. One month later, he assists Lelouch in taking the throne, becoming his 'Knight of Zero.' When the surviving Knights of the Round attempt to remove Lelouch from power, Suzaku easily defeats them with his new Lancelot Albion. He also assists in taking the U.F.N. leaders hostage. During the battle against Schneizel and the Black Knights, he joins Lelouch in boarding the Damocles. Kallen manages to land a fatal blow on the Lancelot while his last attack disables her Knightmare. Suzaku is believed to have died in the blast, but he reappears before the world as the new Zero to kill Lelouch, now the despised tyrannical Emperor of the world, as part of their plan for world peace. Afterwards, Suzaku becomes Nunnally's protector.

Reader's Guide

Suzaku Kururugi is voiced in the original Japanese dubbing by Takahiro Sakurai, and his younger self is voiced by Akeno Watanabe. He is the pilot of the experimental Knightmare Frame Lancelot, and later the Lancelot Albion. His exceptional piloting skills are noted as unprecedented. Key turning points include: murdering his father Genbu Kururugi during a heated exchange over Japan's surrender; being shot by a superior officer for refusing to kill Lelouch, saved by his father's broken pocket watch; being placed under the Geass command to 'live' by Lelouch on Shikine Island; firing the F.L.E.I.J.A. warhead under Geass command during the second battle of Tokyo; becoming Lelouch's 'Knight of Zero' after assisting him in taking the throne; and ultimately appearing as the new Zero to kill Lelouch as part of their plan for world peace, after which he becomes Nunnally's protector. In the OVA Akito The Exiled, Suzaku appears as a Knight of Round accompanying Julius Kingsley, where his ruthless defeat of the Knights of St Michael earns him the title 'White Reaper.' In the film Code Geass: Lelouch of the Re;surrection, which takes place a year after the alternate universe trilogy movies, Suzaku is escorting.

Did You Know?

• Suzaku's existence was kept secret from the public until after the war with Japan.
• He murdered his own father, Genbu Kururugi, during a heated exchange over Japan's surrender.
• A broken pocket watch belonging to his deceased father stopped a bullet that would have killed him.
• He was placed under Lelouch's Geass command to 'live,' forcing him to survive by any means.
• After the Zero Requiem, Suzaku became Nunnally's protector as the new Zero.