Suzaku Kururugi

Suzaku Kururugi is the deuteragonist of the Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion anime.

Suzaku is the rival and best friend of Lelouch. Suzaku is a rather controversial character. Instead of following Lelouch's ideals to crush Britannia to save Japan, Suzaku opted to change Britannia from the inside, to help Japan, and he is willing to crush Japanese freedom fighters and terrorists in order to achieve this (even those that share his ultimate goals, such as the Kyoto Group). Speaking of that, he got chosen to pilot the Humongous Mecha Lancelot, which enables him to kick tons of ass. He becomes even better when Lelouch gives him a Geass to live, allowing him to do otherwise-impossible physical feats. He often tells people that "results obtained using the wrong means are meaningless," which means he opposes Zero for using terrorism to achieve his ends.

Later, he finds love in Princess Euphemia li Britannia, and got picked as her Knight, nonetheless. But after a certain incident that made him lose her  very  cruelly and messily, he blamed Zero for it and became more "honest", showing more brutality and less restraint. Even after the revelation that Zero is Lelouch, Suzaku did not falter and turned against his best friend.

In the second season, Suzaku becomes a Knight of the Round as the Knight of Seven and hopes to advance to the rank of Knight of One, since it will grant him honorary rule of any area. He plans to take control of Area 11 (Japan) and use his position to help the Japanese people.

Appearance
Suzaku is a handsome young man with light brown hair and forest green eyes. He is rather tall, being slightly shorter than Lelouch. Like most characters in the series, he also is rather skinny, belying his extreme physical prowess. In the first season, his face is mostly seen as calm and relaxed. However, after Euphemia's death, his eyes and mouth are typically furrowed, showing his incredible hatred.

In the first season, he is usually clothed in a white knightmare frame battle suit or the Ashford Academy uniform, and is also seen wearing a prison outfit and a soldier's uniform on separate occasions. However, in the second, he often wears regal clothing with a long blue cloak of the Knights of the Round which was more decorated and ornamented upon becoming the Knight of Zero and a different knightmare battle suit. His long blue cloak becomes black upon becoming the Knight of Zero. He now permanently wears the Zero uniform.

Personality
According to Lelouch, prior to the Britannian invasion of Japan, Suzaku was somewhat selfish, rarely putting others before himself. He also acted in a rather bratty manner when he first met Lelouch, beating Lelouch up and bullying him.

After Japan was conquered and Suzaku killed his father, Suzaku's personality was significantly changed. He dedicated his cause to not endorse terrorism or rebellion, which he believed would only result in pointless killing. Unwilling to sacrifice the innocent, Suzaku held a more positive outlook on Britannia, believing that it could be changed for the better. He also held a strong sense of loyalty, never questioning the orders of his superiors. Despite that, he was shown to be willing to stab them in the back if necessary. Suzaku also wished to take responsibility for his actions, and his ultimate goal was to atone for the killing of his father. Though Suzaku did not openly admit it, both C.C and Lelouch have deduced that more than anything, Suzaku wanted to die to escape the guilt. But when Zero uses his geass on Suzaku when Schneizel cornered them into a suicidal blow, Suzaku become someone who desperately wants to die, but is unable to.

After Euphemia's death, Suzaku developed a firm resolve to kill Zero and, by extension, Lelouch. He considered Zero to be an evil, immoral individual who was only focused on results and cared nothing for innocent lives. Suzaku twice rejected Zero's offer to join him, even when Zero held him at gunpoint. Later Suzaku would continue honoring Euphemia's memory by continuing his quest to change within by becoming the Knight Of One so that he could have the privilege of ruling an area on his own and transform Area 11. He also held a quill given to him by Euphy and customized his Lancelot's shield with a Knight Of Honor as a mark towards her.

After Zero was exposed as Lelouch, Suzaku began to paint Lelouch with the same brush with which he painted Zero. Suzaku had a hard time acknowledging Lelouch's past actions, such as the Orange and Lake Kawaguchi incidents. This struggle was shown during the time he was transporting Julius Kingsley during the European Campaign. During this time, Suzaku had a more hardened personality and seemed willing to use more underhanded tactics, such as attempting to use Refrain on Kallen, though he discards it soon after. He was not, however, willing to use methods similar to Lelouch's. Suzaku was willing to kill anybody standing in his way, which was shown during the first battle of the Tokyo Settlement for his bloodlust revenge against Zero. While clashing with the Knights of St. Michael, Shin believes Suzaku's true nature to be similar to his own, that he hates the world and wants to destroy it with the darkness within him. During the E.U. campaign, Suzaku gained the nickname "White Reaper" by the Europeans, as he slaughtered countless people and, in one fight, told the army to surrender but decided to kill them since they refused. During Kaguya's conversation with the Six Houses of Kyoto, Suzaku showed no remorse for the fallen members, as their execution couldn't be helped. Regardless, Suzaku hasn't lost faith in Lelouch, as he wonders why he killed Euphie since there could have been another way but despises Lelouch for casting a Geass on him to live even though it was Suzaku's goal to die. After Lelouch reminds Suzaku of his father's past and their confrontation at the Kururugi Shrine, Suzaku realizes that Lelouch is the kind of person who would take all of the lies to make everyone's dreams into reality, indicating that Suzaku's view of Britannia had started to change.

After destroying the Tokyo Settlement with the F.L.E.I.J.A. and causing the deaths of approximately 25 million people due to the influence of Lelouch's Geass command, Suzaku takes some time to reflect within the crater he created. After a one-sided conversation with Jeremiah Gottwald, he laughs maniacally, desensitized by the countless deaths he inadvertently caused. He then abandons his self-righteous nature and resolves to achieve his goals regardless of the means. This saddens Bismark, the Knight of One, who claimed that Suzaku's compassionate core was the source of his strength. This ultimately leads him to make a deal with Schneizel in order to become Knight of One by slaying the emperor, leading to the confrontation in C's world.

Since both had lost the ones they loved and had sullied their hands with the blood of thousands, Suzaku finally allies with Lelouch, but his experience in the thought realm with Lelouch and C.C changed him. He understands that the cycle of hatred would have to be broken for a peaceful future, and though it can only be done by Zero, no one would accept Lelouch as Zero because of the Geass, and devises the Zero Requiem with him. Lelouch describes him of powerful willpower, as he transforms Lelouch's Geass command 'Live' positively into an energy boost. He becomes shocked with Lelouch when Nunnally is still alive and declares them both enemies. Afterwards, he shows a vicious dedication to its completion, and takes the responsibility of being 'Lelouch's Sword' to conquer both his enemies and weakness. He fakes his death in his battle with Kallen, reappears under the guise of Zero and stabs Lelouch. Lelouch smiles at him as his death draws near, and thinking of the Geass as a gift that allows one to do something the other can't, touches Zero's mask in an affectionate gesture and offers him the Geass of changing the world. He tells him that Suzaku Kururugi is no more, and that there exists only Zero, who should strive for peace and justice, to bring about a brighter future. Suzaku accepts the Geass, though crying as he had killed his best friend. Later, he is shown wearing the guise of Zero protecting Nunnally, with which one can only conclude that Suzaku had truly accepted the fate of Zero and would never lead a normal life as Suzaku Kururugi. With this we can deduce that despite his frequent changes in character when facing grief, guilt and self-loathing throughout the series, he was a dedicated and loyal man who wanted peace.

Abilities
While Suzaku possesses no outwardly superhuman powers such as Geass, his physical prowess is top-notch. He possesses superior hand-eye coordination and has extensive military training in both firearms and hand-to-hand combat. Before Britannia's Invasion of Japan, Suzaku was trained by his instructor, Kyoshiro Tohdoh, in martial arts, and has spent most of his time training to become stronger. He is also skilled in the art of kendo despite the fact that he had quit Kendo. His physical prowess seems almost inhuman at times; such as, when Mao kidnaps Nunnally, Suzaku manages to destroy a camera-mounted machine gun with a lag time of 0.05 seconds without being struck once. At the time he assassinated Lelouch under the guise of Zero, he was also able to dodge incoming gunfire from 6 separate Knightmare Frames.

As the pilot of the Knightmare Frame Lancelot, Suzaku is an extremely skilled pilot, with a 94% efficiency rating from Lloyd based from his simulator scores. His lack of tactics and strategies baffles Lelouch, since he fights with instinct instead of thinking or using his mind. The mecha's superior abilities also help, as few other Knightmare Frames can match its astonishing speed or overcome its considerable defenses even if they outnumbered the Lancelot by a tremendous degree. This has been mitigated as of the year 2018, wherein newer Knightmare Frames have filled the technological gap. Even when Lelouch managed to predict his movements, Suzaku's reflexes allowed him to narrowly escape what would have otherwise been certain death. As seen during the Britannian massacre of the Shinjuku Ghetto, he got the Lancelot to perform a mid-air kick, the same move he used on Lelouch in the underground tunnels.

Despite not possessing a Geass power, Suzaku does have an unusual ability to detect those who grant the power, such as C.C.. C.C. speculates that this is either due to her using her abilities on him or another as-yet unidentified factor. Following the events of Shikine Island, Suzaku is also placed under a command by Lelouch to "live." As this command gives no time or event limitations, it activates every time Suzaku feels suicidal (or otherwise accepts his death as an inevitability) and forces him to survive by any means. It also activates to a lesser extent when his life is in immediate danger, but Suzaku is able to resist such activations. He can also use the command to his advantage, allowing him to react faster than he would normally be capable of. An example during his battle with Kallen aboard the Damocles, using the power of the command, Suzaku is able to fight on par with Kallen's Guren S.E.I.T.E.N. Eight Elements in his technologically inferior Lancelot Albion. By the end of the fight, although the Lancelot explodes, the Guren is essentially destroyed as well, having lost both of its arms and its head.

Suzaku's abilities aren't solely physical, as Lelouch has stated, Suzaku has a impressive mind, not only because he was able to disarm his plans many times but because Suzaku can make use of the Geass command used on him to fight more effectively. He also shows to have a very good instinct, as seen when he made accurate guesses about Zero's identity and, based on that, predict what Lelouch is likely to do. During his time as the Knight of Zero, he showed a more casual use of the "live" Geass command used on him and his ability to know what Lelouch is thinking and how to act based in that, as seen during the final battle when both of them stopped a F.L.E.I.J.A. from detonating in the small window of 19.04 seconds.

Trivia

 * Both Suzaku and his father, Genbu Kururugi, have the same names of two of the Four Symbols in the Chinese constellation; Suzaku being the Vermillion Bird of the South and Genbu being the Black Tortoise of the North.
 * In  Code Geass Novel 0, Suzaku kills his father months before the Invasion of Japan. The prime minister plans to hand over the country and execute Nunnally to gain favor with the royal family. In an attempt to stop his father, Suzaku kills him with a sword Todoh had in the family training hall.
 * Due to Suzaku's physically impossible and unintentionally humorous signature spinning kick attack, fans have given him the unceremonious nickname of "Spinzaku". This in turn has led to an Internet meme where fast-paced gifs of the kicks are set to the song "You Spin Me 'Round (Like a Record)" by Dead or Alive, such that it looks like he is twirling in place while in mid-air.
 * Suzaku means vermilion bird; It refers to the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations.
 * Suzaku appears to have affinity of number seven,as his first Knightmare Frame is Lancelot,a 7th Generation Knightmare,solely fend off seven Knightmares of The Order of Black Knights during Tohdoh's prison break and earn the title of Knight of Seven.
 * Takahiro Sakurai voiced McGillis Fareed from Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans which is another Sunrise show. As a reference to the series, McGillis dons a Montag persona similar to Suzaku sporting Zero due to the fact that they have masks that represents them as a Char Clone. McGillis has some similarities to Suzaku as both are willing to betray their friends to gain power to change their nation. Both have an ally who would later turn into an enemy Shin Hyuga Shaing/Gaelio Baudauin (Vidar) who shares the same Seiyuu.
 * Suzaku's character design bears similarities to Syaoran from Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles. The two are also acrobatic and utilize kicks in their fighting style. They also bear similar personalities where they are both kindhearted and determined to see their goals through, and are affected deeply by a loved one, Suzaku's being Euphemia, and Syaoran's being Sakura.
 * Suzaku's appearance is almost identical to that of Kira Yamato from Mobile Suit Gundam SEED. Additionally, Suzaku's love interest Euphemia bears a similarly identical appearance to Kira's love interest, Lacus Clyne.
 * Masaki Ichijou from The Irregular at Magic High School bears resemblance to Suzaku Kururugi. Both start off as enemies to the main characters while at the same time being friends with them. Both have an affection for their sisters.
 * Casshern from Cassern Sins bears resemblance to Suzaku as well as having similarities with him. Both are atoning for the very action that cannot be undone until at some point they would end up forging new friends that set them on a hopeful course. Their nemesis would later build an army at some point for world domination. A tomboy female character also have a bitter attitude towards them for what they have done. Both have the ability to prevent them from dying and have similar martial arts style by kicking while spinning in midair. Later they would later become the reaper as well as overlooking the world. Both have a relationship with an animal: Casshern-Friender and Suzaku-Arthur.
 * Goro Akechi from Persona 5 bears similarities to Suzaku as both are respective foils to the protagonists of the series. Both oppose the protagonist's and their organizations' methods as well as serving the government as the dog. At some point they would later sell out the protagonist at the later point which the protagonist gets out of. They have issues with their respective fathers but in a different way (Suzaku murdered his father to prevent bloodshed whereas Goro wants to kill Shido out of acceptance and revenge for letting his mother die). Both would don a black knight like outfit due the fact that they are Japanese. The relationship between them and the protagonists are similar but the only difference is that Goro was friends with the protagonist at a teen age whereas Suzaku and Lelouch were friends since childhood. It is likely that Goro is what Suzaku could have become if it were not befriending the protagonist early on. Both are strong in terms of strength and intelligence as well.