Forum - View topicFrom The Dark Knight to Zero.
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imperative7
Posts: 39 |
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After watching The Dark Knight in theaters, I got to thinking about it and I came to a realization that anime does have a character who is becoming something akin to what Batman is trying to become in the movies and that character is Zero from Code Geass. In Batman Begins and the Dark Knight, Batman is created by Bruce Wayne to inspire fear in the criminals of Gotham and also to inspire the regular people of Gotham to rise up and want more than corruption and terror to rule their city. He is the person who has to make difficult choices and stand for more than just being a hero. He has to become something more important, a symbol that can never be broken and not only must endure the slings and arrows of those who see him as a villain and his enemies as well, he must shoulder the burden of moving Gotham forward towards a brighter future even if there are those who will hate him or see him as the villain. He is the champion of the city and he has to carry the weight of the world on his back because he has to in order to accomplish his goal.
Similarly in Code Geass, Lelouch is becoming the person who has to shoulder the burden of the world on his back to change the world for the better and will be loved by some and hated by others. And this is something that he never wanted or saw coming at all but is growing into. In the beginning of season one, Lelouch donned the costume and identity of Zero in order to strike fear into the hearts of Britannia and its people while protecting his identity and the life of his sister, Nunnally who is totally defenseless and would be a target of his enemies if his identity was revealed. And in the beginning he only saw the people he worked with as pawns that he was using to further his own goals. His performance was all theatrics and misdirection and he would use whatever methods he could to destroy Britannia and change the world and the heck with consequences. He never saw himself as a hero or any sort of savior and believed that all that mattered was that he won. As the first season continued however, this changed. As Lelouch got to know the people who joined the Black Knights he began to trust them more and he wanted them to come back from each battle alive and treated them less like pawns on a chess board. This is because Lelouch is a good person by nature and is extremely loyal to his friends and once you are a friend, he will go to bat for you no matter what happens. You would have to do something extreme for Lelouch to turn against you (and Suzaku does this several times in both seasons of the series). Lelouch is also a person who understands suffering, loss, and being abandoned by others (in his case his father) and this leads him to embrace people from different backgrounds and allows the membership within the Black Knights to be very open, to a fault. I mean come on spoiler[he Jerimiah in to the team and he had been an enemy since the beginning of the first season. Once he saw that Jerimiah actually had the same goal that he had and that he was geunine in his loyality to Lelouch's mother, he accepted Jerimiah without question and welcomed him into the Black Knights as an ally regardless of the past. And while he wanted to use Rolo in the beginning, Lelouch wanted to accept Rolo into his family as a brother and probably would have if he hadn't killed Shirley. This caused Lelouch to turn against Rolo permanently.] But even this is part of the evolution of Lelouch as a character and a champion. He keeps guys like Tamaki around despite his lack of skill since he is loyal and someone who will fight alongside him until the end. And when spoiler[Kallen is captured in ep. 10 of R2, Lelouch is genuine in his promise to her to rescue her and he just doesn't see her as a subordinate but as a valued friend who he would move heaven and earth for if he could.] Lelouch never intended to become a hero or be seen as the savior of the people of Japan but over time the identity of Zero took on a life of its own and grew beyond what he intended. Lelouch didn't realize what he meant to the people of Japan until episode 22-23 of season one when spoiler[he had to deal with Euphy and the aftermath of his mistake with his Geass. He saw Japanese citizens looking up to him and crying out for him to save their nation and the world from Britannia.] He didn't want this in the slightest but he had to come to terms with towards the end of the first season and throughout season two. And we can see the belief of the people of Japan in Zero (and Lelouch) grow even more when at the beginning of R2 when spoiler[Britannia is telling everyone that Zero is dead and the Black Rebellion is over forever. When Lelouch (who has lost his memories) sees some dead elevens he notices that one of the girls in bunny suits held on to a picture of Zero as she was dying and even in death she never gave up hope that Zero would return and save their nation.] Again, Lelouch never intended the identity of Zero to be a source of inspiration for people all over the world who were tired of the rule of monarchs and Britannia's arrogant ambitions to conquer the world and enslave everyone. Zero isn't just a mask that Lelouch wears to keep his enemies from knowing who he is anymore. It now means too much to too many people for it to just be an act. CC puts it best when spoiler[she tells Kallen in episode 7 of R2 that the person who wears the mask of Zero has the weight of the world on his shoulders and not just anyone can wear the mask of Zero.] It is the people who proclaim Zero as a hero and they believe this whether or not Lelouch believes this or not. And we can see the evolution of Lelouch's character by comparing him to Suzaku. Throughout the first season and into season two, Lelouch became the person who has to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders and have to make the difficult choices that no one else would be able to make and have to endure come what may. Suzaku can't do this in the slightest. From the beginning of season one, we have seen Suzaku fight for his version of justice and his belief of peace. Suzaku believes that nothing is more important than peace and that the people can endure their suffering for a short time and eventually they will be accepted by Britannia as long as they don't try to fight for their freedom since they will lose. Suzaku even spoiler[kills his father as a child in a misguided belief that war is always bad and nothing matters more than peace even if that means that they are subservient to Britannia for a time. This is better than losing your life in a winless battle for freedom.] Lelouch is different in that he fights for freedom and will never settle for peace without freedom. Lelouch understands that peace without freedom and equality isn't peace at all. Suzaku can't carry the burden of the world on his shoulders and in fact would crack quite easily in fact under the same pressure that Lelouch faces as Zero. And in fact the people of Japan would knowing everything still look at Zero as their hero and champion and not Suzaku. While Suzaku speaks about serving the people as a soldier in the Britannian army, it is in fact Zero who fights for the people and they understand that it won't be easy and there will be causalities along the way but this is necessary to make the world better than it is now and free Japan from the unjust rule of Britannia. In the end, in my opinion, Lelouch (although he never intended for this to happen) has become as Zero something more than just a freedom fighter. He is more than just a hero. He is the person who shoulders the weight of the world on his back. He is the person who makes the difficult choices that no one else can make and endure the slings and arrows that come at him as he is changing the world for the better. He is a symbol of freedom and hope for millions of people all over the world. He has become the champion of justice and hero of the people that he said he was in the beginning. He is Zero. [EDIT: Fixed a spoiler tag and did some spell-checking for you. -TK] |
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JacobC
ANN Contributor
 Posts: 3728 Location: SoCal |
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*whistle* Nice essay. At first I thought this thread might be dumb, but that's some nice insight on the characters.
I find it interesting that both of those characters, Lelouch and Bruce, try to separate themselves into the person they are and an ideal to represent, thinking that a symbol rather than a person will be the best way to instill fear and respect. They both are wholly focused on perfecting their own characters for this task, but not so much as men, but rather as alternate versions of themselves to pump up the perfect ideal, which makes it hard on them to accept their own fallibility when they're not wearing the cape. They're both pretty confident and arrogant, though. Comes with having a lot of talent. Not to mention the whole voice-change thing adding to trying to separate two halves of themselves. |
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Tony K.
 SubscriberModerator  Posts: 11387 Location: Frisco, TX |
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I like your line of thinking, imperative7. Lots of fictional stories (especially of the shounen, seinen, or comic book superhero variety) usually have a protagonist portrayed as a person who "carries the burden" all by themselves, though the context tends to vary in terms of scale. Sometimes they fight for the world, maybe a smaller community, for their friends and significant others, for whatever personal goals they have, or possibly a combination of these. This is why The Dark Knight is my all-time favorite movie to this day.
On top of being the kind of story that can really delve into the human psyche, I believe many of these titles (a Batman, Spider-Man, Code Geass, Rurouni Kenshin, Monster, and maybe Death Note) can stand by themselves to serve as great character studies, allowing us, the viewers, to analyze, or at least think about our own sense of humanity in an way we might not have considered before. Granted, as normal people we're not all living under the same outlandish circumstances as Bruce Wayne, Peter Parker, Lelouch Lamperouge, etc (well, maybe Parker's the closest, radioactive spider bite aside). But I personally feel these stories really help to explore the human spirit in a much more "noble" aspect that can do wonders to inspire or reinforce our own ideals and motivations. For instance, the whole "Dark Knight" ideology where one is willing to "be whatever Gotham wants me to be" is very similar to what I used to think like at my former job. I started as a cashier, got promoted to a supervisor, and then they stuck me in every position of the store possible. I never complained to management and did what they wanted me to do from cashiering, to customer service, to freight, to supervisor (where you basically have to cover everyone's ass, meaning 3, maybe 4 rotating positions in one shift), to floor associate. I did this for the sake of the store in that I wanted everything to run smoothly and have most of our customers feeling good about being there (not quite like cleaning up the crime and evil of Gotham, but oh well...). Of course I couldn't make everyone happy, but that's just the nature of retail. I guarantee anyone who's worked or at least seen enough of it can understand there are just some people you cannot satisfy, no matter what. Anyway, I put up with working there for about 2 years and 11 months before I finally caved in and decided to quit. After working my butt off for so long, and not even taking so much as a vacation (I only did it once, and that was right before I quit), I reached my limit and decided it was time to move on. And what did this do? Every time I go to visit my friends now, I always get management or sub-management telling me to come back, I get old associates saying they miss me, and management even offered me to pick a position and make my own hours. No, I didn't use theatricality and literally disguise myself as a symbol of the corporation. But when I put on my work clothes and pinned on that name tag, I always knew what it was I had to do, and I did it with reckless abandon (not like, destructive or anything, but self-sacrificing time, energy, lunch breaks, sanity, or a chance to actually sit down in 8 hours). So yeah, it's not as cool as leading a world rebellion or serving as an assassin during the Japanese civil war, but I drew a lot of influences from said protagonists to help instill a certain demeanor upon myself that would possibly make my days a little more bearable. "It's all a bit.. technical." |
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Lycosyncer
Posts: 526 |
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After reading the essay and just recently getting into Code Geass, I strongly agree with everything you said.
Despite the strong comparisons between Lelouch and Light from Death Note, in the end I prefer Lelouch because of the fact that despite that he tries so hard to be the ruthless vigilante that everyone makes him out to be, in the end, he still has his conscience, his heart, and can never cast them aside. Do you really think things would have been different if Lelouch just confessed spoiler[ all of his mistakes that he never intended to happen like during the time that he accidentally used a Geass command on Euphy to commit the massacre?] Anyways, he knows all of the sins he committed and was man enough to accept the burdens he made for himself and has died a martyr. I definitely respect him more than Light, that's for sure. |
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Jessica Hart
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I have to say, using superhero comics and stuff in comparison always leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Something that's been going on for 50 years with endless reboots pretty much means any artistic meaning has been lost long ago. I can't really see Batman as a character so much as a marketing gimmick. Lelouch is a far, far more complex character than any superhero could ever be and had a lot more of an ending goal and point to his character than Batman will.
EDIT: Oh, this thread is 3 years old. |
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Lycosyncer
Posts: 526 |
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@ Jessica Hart
Well, if Hollywood ever gets its hands on Code Geass, how would you think that they change not only the story but how do you think they will change Lelouch? I hope that they don't dumb down his character or go against what made the series so great in the first place. Wait a minute, doesn't Code Geass also has separate alternate universe continuities as well? Unlike Marvel/DC with its endless issues and dumb retcons, the alternate universe continuities for Code Geass, namely its same name manga counterpart that has no Knightmare Frames, Suzaku of the Counterattack, Nightmare of Nunnally, and Strange Tales of the Bakamatsu are alternate universe continuities that actually ends and I think it would be interesting to see those different takes of Code Geass being adapted like how Tenchi Muyo, El Hazard, and Mai-Hime has done. As for the earlier comparison, what makes Lelouch/Zero vastly different from Batman is obviously the fact that Lelouch has to show no hesitance in killing his enemies, especially when he is going up against a huge corrupt empire like Britannia who in turn has already controlled 1/3rd of the world and has all of its police forces in its pocket. If Batman was ever transported to Britannia, how do you think he will handle facing of against a huge corrupt empire? If Lelouch/Zero and Batman ever meet, Lelouch will just call him out for being too soft. What I don't get in Western Superheroes comics/cartoons is why don't they ever kill of their villains? If the villains have harmed/killed many innocent people and shows no possibility of ever changing their ways and enjoy doing what they do, how can these heroes ever let them get away with that? Anyways, I like what Lelouch has done in the ending to prove that despite the terrible actions he caused (unintentional some actions may be), in the end, he still has a good heart and sacrificing himself and his own good reputation to bring the whole world united against him was an admirable feat in itself. |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18334 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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There's a simple explanation for that: because big-publisher comics have, since the beginning, had deeply-ingrained moral components. Early comic books were almost as much morality plays as action entertainment, and despite the trend over the past 30 years towards introducing grittier super-heroes, comics have never entirely strayed from that. Clear-cut concepts of right and wrong lie at the heart of super-hero doctrine, and chief amongst them is the notion that no person should be cop, judge, jury, and executioner all in one. Good guys do not kill unless it absolutely cannot be avoided, and they agonize over it when they do. Even for heroes that do kill, or reformed killers that take up more righteous paths, deep and lingering consequences are clearly-shown. And, honestly, that's what the norm should be. Killer-heroes may be cool, but they should never reflect a society's core values.
Lelouch's case is very much one where a debate over whether the ends justify the means is merited. Personally, I always thought Lelouch was too much of a drama addict; he seemed to feed off of his showy displays. |
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TitanXL
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I would have gone with 'because then they couldn't market the Joker/Lex Luthor' anymore and have to think up new villains. Most comic book villains are established ones from long ago, and very few were created in modern times (even Red Hood was just a revamped Red Hood from the olden days) I know it's definitely annoying when marketing and stuff supersede actual story. There's a good way to go about showing the consequences of killing (Vash from Trigun, Kenshin from Rurouni Kenshin) but it's painfully obvious they don't kill in superhero comics because of marketing reasons and wanting to keep status quo. |
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Lycosyncer
Posts: 526 |
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His showy side is what makes him more awesome when he is Zero! Anyways, despite that, he knows the sins of what he has done (both intentionally and unintentionally) and accepts the hard reality that he knows he will not live with a happy ending and accepts the fact whatever actions he makes, he will live with it for the rest of his life. During episode 17 of season 2, spoiler[ Lelouch is at his most vulnerable when he was with Suzaku at the shrine confessing the truth of his actions throughout the series, even though that some of them are either accidental (Geassing Euphy into that massacre), have no involvement but still feels guilt over it (Shirley's death), and the fact that even though he say that the reasons why he saved Suzaku and their friends were for selfish reasons, we can easily see right through him that he didn't save them because of what he said, but because he couldn't ever forget the close bonds he shared with them all and they do mean a lot to him. Why did he say that he was fully responsible for what happened with Euphy and Shirley despite it was different from what really happened? It's because he knows saying them is only making excuses for himself and he decides to go all the way and accepts the responsibilities for his actions.] Plus, Lelouch may be a drama queen at times, but he can be pretty subtle as well. I find the episode where spoiler[he regrettably geassed Shirley to forget about not only her father's death at Zero's hand, but memories of Lelouch as well in order for him to shoulder her sins alone and doesn't want to get her involved in his life of solitude as the wielder of Geass and is the first set of regrets he makes throughout the series. Plus, that scene at the end of the episode where Lelouch and Shirley meet up for the "first" time and Lelouch expressing his grief to her with subtlety of how he lost someone dear to him despite the fact that the one he is talking about is right in front of him is both sad and touching for me.] Anyways, Lelouch may not make the best decisions and has made the wrong choices from time to time but that is what makes him compelling to me because despite his great genius intellect, he still makes mistakes and is still human. Besides, he is a far more decent human being compared to Light Yagami. |
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