Code Geass/YMMV


 * Alas, Poor Scrappy: Until R2 episode 13, was generally disliked for her naiveté and canon love for Lelouch getting in the way of him hooking up with other love interests. The sheer outrage towards  was truly incredible to behold.
 * For that matter, the death of  was quite the Tear Jerker, even for many who'd previously despised him.
 * Alas, Poor Villain:
 * Clovis was a good brother and son. His mother had a mental breakdown after his death.
 * In Nightmare of Nunnally,.
 * Alternative Character Interpretation: Lelouch
 * Anti-Hero or Villain Protagonist: The debates over whether or not was worth all the atrocities he committed to get there rages to this day.
 * Dark Is Not Evil or Dark Is Evil: Perhaps it's unintentional, but Lelouch tends to invoke this trope. He seems to be a dark figure overall: he has black hair, purple eyes, wears dark-colored clothing, leads a double life, consorts with a witch, and gets compared to a demon on several separate occasions. And yet, he wants to make the world a better place and manages to remain a good person for quite some time, until all the terrible, horrible things he goes through start catching up to him. Meanwhile, Mao and, his two Evil Counterparts are albino and blond, respectively; and both play white against him in chess.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold or Jerk with a Heart of Jerk
 * Prince Schneizel. A Genuinely kind (albeit ambitionless and easily influenced) man whose methods mostly try to preserve human life, who was tragically inspired to believe that what he was doing in the end was the best way to achieve peace, a amoral shell of a human being who has no goals, objectives or ideology, who just does whatever sounds interesting at the time, or a truly evil Manipulative Bastard, who used Dissonant Serenity and False Reassurance as a smokescreen to hide his true evilness, whose plan in the end was just a massive grasp at achieving godhood.
 * Ambiguously Gay: LOTS of characters, to varying degrees, which include Lelouch, Suzaku, Rolo, Gino, Lloyd, Milly, Nina, Schenizel and Kanon.
 * Angst Aversion / Hype Aversion: Tell someone this show is one of the saddest and most depressing they'll ever see and they'll definitely think twice about watching it. Tell them it spawned one of the most horrifying Broken Bases in history and they'll start running very fast in the other direction.
 * Anvilicious: Racism, racism, racism, racism, racism.
 * Secrets and lies! Everyone has secrets and lies! Except sometimes it's actually for the best.
 * Ass Pull: Both seasons had a few of these, arguably, though the first one had less. Most notably,
 * Nunnally gives us a couple of these in quick succession near the end of the series:
 * Author Appeal: Someone on the staff may have some kind of bondage fetish as imprisoned characters in various types of bondage wear appear several times during both series.
 * Better on DVD: Not surprising, given the complexities of the plot and the Loads and Loads of Characters.
 * Also, the animation from some of the TV episodes could get sloppy at times. Facial expressions didn't look the way they were supposed to or characters were off-model. In particular, episode 20 of R2 was one of the worse offenders. The DVD release cleaned up most of it.
 * Base Breaker: Several. Just look at the overlap between Draco in Leather Pants and Ron the Death Eater here.
 * Breather Boss: Viceroy Calares, who's about as incompetent as Clovis, is Lelouch's first enemy in R2, and decidedly less difficult to defeat than most others before or since.
 * Broken Base: Any theme/character/THING in this series will have at least one huge group loving it and another totally loathing it! By the end of the series, the pro-Lelouch vs. anti-Lelouch halves of the fandom were so divided that, in spite of the end revealing that, one side was still acting like
 * For more information, please look at the discussion page. In particular, do not mention episode 25 of R2.
 * Long after the dust had settled, the biggest question is nowadays pretty simple: Kallen, the sexy badass Ace Pilot or CC, the equally sexy Mysterious Waif? Mecha fans almost always prefer Kallen (for example, 4chan's /m/) while the more mainstream anime fans who mostly know the series for being one of the biggest meme shows of the time prefer CC.
 * Cargo Ship: The 'Table-kun' incident, via Memetic Mutation.
 * Complete Monster: Luciano Bradley.
 * V.V. probably rivals Luciano in being nasty pierce of work. His justifications for what he does (kidnapping, Mind Rape, etc) doesn't begin to excuse them and the negative effect they have on everyone, including his own family! You know he's bad when his younger brother, a crazed, facist dictator, comes off as more reasonable in comparission.
 * Common Knowledge: The series is often thought of as a Death Note copycat, even though it has much more in common with other Sunrise mecha anime than it is first apparent. Most of these comparisons seem to focus on the fact Lelouch and Light Yagami from Death Note are both intelligent and manipulative - however that's where the similarities end. Lelouch has motivations that are actually more typical for a Char Clone, with him seeking to achieve a noble goal, for personal reasons, through whatever means necessary.
 * CLAMP wasn't fully responsible for the character designs, unlike what the marketing and 99% of the fandom claims. Truth is, CLAMP only did the early designs and the costumography, while Sunrise veteran Takahiro Kimura was brought in on the finalization. The fact both CLAMP and Kimura use Noodle People as an aesthetic only causes further confusion - Kimura, however, uses a lot of Fanservice which CLAMP does not. If the show had been completely designed by CLAMP, then most of the women wouldn't have their large knockers and CC wouldn't have had her juicy Pizza Butt. That's all Kimura. Kimura's men, on the other hand, barely differ from CLAMP's, being tall, lanky and very thin.
 * Contemplate Our Navels: In the very last episode, everyone goes through the "Why we fight" speech. And I mean everyone. And they all do it at the same time.
 * Contested Sequel: R2 can be seen as these to fans. And let's not get into the ending.
 * Counterpart Comparison: Where to start?
 * Some would see Lelouch as Shinji, C.C. as Rei and Kallen as Asuka. Then there's Emperor Charles' plan. Instrumentality anyone?
 * Or you could see Lelouch as Light, C.C. as Ryuk, Suzaku as L, and Kallen as Misa. But Emperor Charles is in no way Chief Souichiro Yagami.
 * Another famous mecha comparison: Lelouch is the manipulative part of Char Aznable, Suzaku is Amuro Ray, Kallen is the Ace Pilot part of Char Aznable, Cornelia is Kycillia Zabi, Shneizel is Gihren Zabi, Clovis is Garma Zabi and Charles is Degwin Zabi.
 * Crazy Awesome: Some of Lelouch's plans as Zero are as insane as they spectacularly awesome.  are just 2 examples. In fact most agree this is what makes the series work as a fun piece of fiction in the first place.
 * Creator's Pet: Ohgi and Villetta. For those who despise him, Rolo counts too. He was very well liked among female staff members on the show and
 * Crowning Music of Awesome: Nightmare, and Madder Sky.
 * The OPs are famous, too. Especially the first.
 * JIBUN WO!
 * Also "0". The preposterously epic and hammy Leitmotif of My Hero Zero, with even more Spanish flair than "Nightmare".
 * Deconstruction Fic: The fandom is quite fond of tearing down the epilogue of R2 by showing
 * Designated Hero: Suzaku often falls into this, chiefly in R2 where he, like Lelouch, is very clearly straying from the path of heroism.
 * Die for Our Ship: A good part of the fandom hate Rolo got came specifically from people who thought, believing him to be a Depraved Homosexual. Fandom homophobia ahoy!
 * Rolo kind of has this attitude himself toward Nunnally, and in fact
 * Draco in Leather Pants: Nearly every character who's not The Scrappy tends to get these for fans. Lelouch, Suzaku, Cornelia, Mao, Schneizel, C. C. and Rolo in particular, which is ironic when half of these characters ALSO fall under the opposing Ron the Death Eater trope.
 * Ear Worm: "JIBUN WOOOOOO!"
 * Ensemble Darkhorse: Jeremiah Gottwald, aka Orange-kun.
 * Also, Monica Kruszewski, Knight of Twelve.
 * Also, Tamaki Shinchiro, the only Black Knight who  to remain so after the fact.
 * Given the fan's reaction to, Euphemia probably counts as well. Also, based on the fact that, Nunnally aside, she's the only unambiguously good person among the royalty in the show probably helps.
 * Mao, who appeared only for a short while, but left an impact due to how Crazy Awesome he was.
 * Evil Is Sexy: Lelouch, C.C, Mao, Cornelia, Schneizel, Clovis, Jeremiah, and The Kinghts of the round.
 * Esoteric Happy Ending: Depending on how cynical the audience wants to be, the damage to Japan and the world at large paints a rather pessimistic picture of the future when all is said and done. There's also a clear contrast between the tragedy of and the happiness that follows it, which may be hard to swallow.
 * Not to mention the necessity of certain events and actions taken to get there.
 * Everyone Is Jesus in Purgatory: Shirley is really an angel and Lelouch is a demon! That's why they're
 * Fan Dumb: Unfortunately, every popular anime has these. Just take a good look at the various communities. While certainly moderated well, heaven forbid if you get into Ship-to-Ship Combat or characterization/plot interpretation territory.
 * Fan-Preferred Couple: Despite Word of God saying their relationship was merely one of mutual respect or perhaps surrogate mother and son, Lelouch and C.C. still get an incredible amount of shipping. It probably doesn't help matters that they were shown being awfully close in the series and official art.
 * On Fan Fiction.net, Suzaku/Lelouch is even more popular than Lelouch/C.C.
 * Here's a fun fact for you: Over on LiveJournal, the Suzaku/Lelouch community has almost twice as many members as the Lelouch/C.C., Lelouch/Kallen and Lelouch/Shirley communities combined.
 * Fashion Victim Villain:
 * First Law of Metafictional Thermodynamics: The show attempts to defy this; many characters are added without the plot slowing down. As a result, the emotional gravity is lost when they turn out to be Chekhov's Gunman or Sacrificial Lion.
 * Funny Aneurysm Moment: Villetta said she will kill Shirley a thousand times after she forced her to wear a seriously skimpy bikini for the swim club.
 * Also, Lelouch's extremely fake-looking sword, which
 * Germans Love David Hasselhoff: Polish fans view Monica as one of them (Mostly because her surname is Polish, sort of). Though her biggest fanbase is made up by Spanish-speaking people apparently (the only stories on fanfiction.net about her is written in Spanish), reasons unknown.
 * Ho Yay/Les Yay: A LOT in this series. Between Lelouch and Suzaku (often shown in OFFICIAL artwork), Rolo for Lelouch, Gino for Suzaku, Milly for Shirley, C.C. and Kallen in the CD dramas, artwork, and manga, Nina for Euphy, Cornelia for Euphy, Cornelia possibly for Nonnette in the game Lost Colors, Marrianne and C.C., Alice for Nunnally in Nightmare Of Nunnally and even Schniezel and his aid, Kanon which is also supported by official artwork. Did I get them all despite leaving out Tianzi and Kaguya?
 * Oh, I did. V.V. going all Yandere for his brother Charles.
 * Hilarious in Hindsight:
 * Yuri Lowenthal and Johnny Yong Bosch voicing friends who eventually become enemies? That sounds familiar...
 * Also present in Ace Combat Zero,
 * During the Gulle's first taste of battle, Villetta says it's impossible for Elevens to have created such a powerful war machine, dismissing the notion that the Japanese are capable of creating hi-tech weapons.
 * "Zero, you son of a bitch!"
 * Hate Dumb: Suzaku has a massive one, despite his and Lelouch's actions often being comparable in moral standing, many treat Suzaku as if he is a Complete Monster even when the events at hand aren't even really his fault.
 * Given the show's Broken Base, expect this for many of the major characters. See Base Breaker for more.
 * Holy Shit Quotient: Pretty much at least once per episode!
 * Ho Yay Shipping: Memetic Mutation aside, CLAMP only did the character designs. And yet many in the show's fanbase love to dig into this trope, as there are certainly enough opportunities to do so.
 * To start with, Lelouch and Suzaku are rather ... obsessed with each other in what's more properly described as Foe Yay.
 * Then there's Schneizel and his absurdly feminine and outright Yaoi Fangirl teasing assistant Kanon who shows up in R2.
 * Kaguya, who makes fans invoke Les Yay towards any woman she speaks to, but especially the Tianzi.
 * And then there's Kallen and C.C., who seemed to have an almost Lovely Angels dynamic early in R2 (which is expanded upon further in radio dramas, official artworks, and the manga adaptation.)
 * Gino and Milly invoke this with how touchy feely they are with their respective friends (Suzaku, Shirley). Shirley even describes Milly (somewhat correctly) as a Dirty Old Man on the inside.
 * Big Badass Cornelia tends to be much more sweet touchy-touchy with her younger sister Euphemia.
 * Rolo claims he sees Lelouch as his older brother, but seemingly acts as though he's in love with him, to the point where some viewers saw as a case of.
 * CLAMP has continued to provide fuel for this through their artbooks. And it sure doesn't help matters that their Code Geass illustration are highly reminiscent of their X illustrations, which are just crammed full of Ho Yay!
 * Diethard's admiration of Zero and desire to document him and turn him into a legend occasionally comes off like this (especially his reaction to Zero's return).
 * Hype Backlash: From the mecha fandom, thanks to a Newbie Boom mostly consisting of Death Note fans and other shounen watchers. Lack of understanding of the genre nonetheless, the originally kinda-ironic notion of it being "THE BEST ANIME EVER" coined by the mecha fans eventually became fact to a large group of said newbies. By the time the mechaheads pulled the brakes on the "best anime" meme, the hype train had completely lost control, and the Geass newbies started spreading unironic disinformation about the mecha genre itself: "only good mecha anime", "the only mecha anime about the characters and not the robots", "only mecha that's not a toy commercial" etc. were very frequent claims from Geass fans that kept circulating unabashed for nearly a full decade. These allegations were also spread by a wide array of anime YouTubers, and that caused the wider anime fandom to start looking at mecha in a negative light, something still lingering to this day. It took the fairly poorly received Lelouch of the Re;surrection movie for the fandom to shed a lot of the more casual viewers who cared only about Lelouch, and the late 2010s and early 2020s suggest that the Geass fandom has been mostly welcomed back into the larger mecha brotherhood.
 * Idiot Plot: Some argue that Schneizel's plan in the later period of R2 amounted to this, somewhat understandably since it did . Others have noted that, untrustworthy source though he may be, Schneizel was in fact completely telling them the truth, so calling them "idiots" is a bit harsh.
 * Schneizel completely telling the truth? To paraphrase the words of Suzaku from part of Schneizel's recording of the meeting between Suzaku himself and Lelouch that was skipped, that is a lie. In addition to cutting out that part which would have revealed that Lelouch lied in his admission to Geassing Euphie on purpose, Schneizel obfuscated the part that Lelouch not warning about FLEIJA was a setup on part of Schneizel and Kanon, the two having Lelouch arrested and making it look like Suzaku lured him, thus making him sound like he couldn't be trusted when he warned Lelouch about FLEIJA. (Not to mention that there was no former precedent of a weapon of mass destruction.) That they had been so easily trusting the words of a standing, and formidably manipulative Britannian prince as well as a Britannian agent over those of an ex-Britannian prince who it should have been assumed might rebelling for some reason, while instead balking at the latter for his status, makes them seem like hypocrites.
 * Schneizel missed telling the Black Knights a key piece of information that would have made his argument 10 times more convincing: Nunnally is Lelouch's full blooded sister that he absolutely adores. Given how irrational Zero was acting whenever Nunnally was concerned, it would have made Schneizel's claim that Zero is Lelouch MUCH MUCH more convincing than the brief audio recording and the other flimsy evidence he brought to the table. Oh and how about the part about Lelouch being exiled and thus REALLY hating his father the Emperor (all they say he was a "former Prince"). That would have been good too. The only thing that really supported Schneizel's argument was the sudden and unexplained defections of Gao Hai, Jeremiah, and Guilford.
 * Schneizel neglecting to explain those things can be handwaved as an annoying use of the Law of Conservation of Detail. The one that cannot be handwaved is the fact that
 * And even so, it is a wonder that Lelouch didn't call the Black Knights and Schneizel on this. "If I am so untrustworthy how come you are still able to distrust me? It's not like I haven't had ample opportunity to Geass you into eternal obedience." Then again the situation was specifically right after the FLEIJA explosion and Lelouch was in process of solidifying his DeathSeeker-ness.
 * More importantly, Schneizel never directly accused Lelouch of Geassing the leadership of Black Knights (their faces certainly weren't on the files he gave to them), although he tried to sow suspicion about this. Anyway, while in principle the prior events sufficiently set the stage for Black Knights turning on Lelouch (by, you know, making Lelouch look like an unpredictable madman who issues increasingly evil orders with no clear justifications, in their eyes, never mind giving him a lot of actual sceletons in the closet), the turn itself and Schneizel's exact argumentation were too rushed and poorly done.
 * Some of the Black Knights were growing suspicious of Zero, particularly when he disappeared in the Battle of Tokyo, and the massacre of the Geass Order (while they didn't know the details, they knew Zero ordered an operation kept secret from the majority). Todoh's decision was also influenced by Asahina sending him evidence about the Geass Order attack.
 * Still though, why trust Ohgi with leadership afterwards after his own dereliction of duty? Moreover, why count on being able to hang on to Japan, assuming they were to actually get it back, not to mention the deal technically went against the Black Knights being a military front for protecting the UFN from Britannia and liberating other nations, as it constituted a ceasefire?
 * Informed Wrongness: Lelouch. Not a saint by any stretch, but the punishment he suffered was less bad karma than bad luck. And even though he did a lot of good for the world by the point the UFN was formed, the narrative sees fit to punish him by, all the while characters who were more at fault, if not responsible for any of his problems, reaped the rewards instead.
 * Iron Woobie: Guilford got separated from Cornelia, geassed by Zero into defecting to the Black Knights, and almost got himself killed. He only gets to cry after he is reunited with his princess.
 * Lelouch himself, considering how much he puts up with,.
 * Jerkass Woobie: Several; Lelouch, C.C, Suzaku, Kallen, Jeremiah, Emperor Charles, Marianne, Mao and Rolo.
 * Magnificent Bastard / Manipulative Bastard: Lelouch. As an example, Cornelia calls him a coward for attacking her from behind. He makes no attempt to deny it, but calls her one, too. Cornelia, the goddess of war who is always charging into battle in front of her knights and has just made the decision to fight to the last. As is pointed out in the commentary, he says this in such a way that we believe him anyway.
 * Cornelia herself makes a fine example of a Magnificent Bitch in the first season. She commands respect from her men, is more than willing to summon Suzaku if the situation calls for it, is willing to work with Zero to destroy her other enemies if need be, and is able to soundly defeat a few of Lelouch's plans. One may even suspect that the only reason she approved of Euphemia's SAZ plan is that she knew it would spell doom for the Black Knights, though she couldn't have possibly forseen the outcome
 * Schneizel. And HOW. He lacks the theatrics, but god damn he's efficient.
 * Emperor Charles and  just as much so.
 * Mary Tzu: An unfortunate side effect of the encroaching Hollywood Tactics as the series progresses is that the brilliant strategists of the series become this. Somehow, various characters are able to correctly predict the plans of their enemies no matter how convoluted they are, or how little information they have on those plans--Lelouch and Li Xinkge, especially, have a blatant exchange in the second season. Face it, any supposedly military geniuses in the series are this.
 * Memetic Badass: Zero, Kallen, Jeremiah...and Spinzaku.
 * Memetic Mutation: "Pizza Hut supports the rebellion!". Also lately, Suzaku's hurricane kick is slowly quickly becoming one (see "spinzaku").
 * LOYALTY!!!
 * And many more.
 * Misaimed Fandom: "Lelouch  killing innocent people is awesome! Wait?  " And on the opposing team,
 * The belief that Schneizel is an honest man of peace. Where have I heard that one before?
 * Moe: Some of the female cast tend to be these, in particular Nunnally, Kaguya, Shirley, Euphemia, Tanzi and.
 * Aaaaawwww, Tianzi-chan! Can I take her home, Xingke? Pretty please?
 * Listen to her image song and tell me you don't wanna Squee.
 * Moral Event Horizon: Have hours of fun with your friends debating at which of the many possible points did Lelouch cross it (if he even did at all).
 * Schniezel crosses this when he leads Nina to believe that building FLEIJA would fulfill Euphemia's wishes, which directly leads to Nina's crossing when she does build the damn thing!
 * Never Live It Down: Table-kun, of course.
 * Nightmare Fuel: You get loads of both onscreen and Fridge variety horror with this show.
 * For starters, Mao's smiling, happy-as-can-be delivery of "I'll make you compact!". With a chainsaw.
 * And then, if you want something more subtle, try the disturbing little detail that almost everyone under control of the Geass, if specifically ordered to kill someone(even themselves!), will have deranged smiles plastered across their faces. The one exception,, arguably does something even more disturbing by having that same gentle smile she always does... While.
 * 's Geass is by far the most nightmare-inducing in the entire franchise, due to how it is presented. When most people are geassed they do what they are commanded with a minimum of fuss - maybe they blink once or whatever and there's a flicker of recognition that they don't necessarily wish to do what they're "ordered" to do, but nobody really resists. What is ordered to do, however, runs so contrary to her deepest, most primal mental impulses that she spends a good minute writhing in pain, trying to force herself to ignore the command and is fully cognizant of the geass rewiring her mind. (This is assisted by great animation and voicework in both languages.) You can see and hear the girl pathetically trying to fight it and her mind bending ever further as Lelouch realizes just what the fuck he did... and then, with a practically audible "snap", it is done and she is broken, and you know what must come next. There's a lot of agreement that the show lost some people at this point due to how effectively terrifying this scene was.
 * Lelouch does say in the final minutes of the episode that she resisted because such a savage act was completely against her nature.
 * There's also the squirm-worthy
 * declaration of his plans for world domination and godhood. There's just something about how  that makes the viewer realize something: This man is flat-out fucking insane. Somehow, despite the obvious(and awesome) displays of mental instability by Lelouch and others, this comes off as truly disquieting.
 * Oh, God, Charles' Instrumentality project. Reminiscent of Neon Genesis Evangelion. Not to mention his Geass.
 * Paranoia Fuel: You or the guy next to you is under Lelouch's control. All he has to do is "ask for a favor".
 * Purity Sue: How Mao sees C.C. But only Mao.
 * Euphemia treads the line on occasion.
 * Almost everyone who knew Marianne seems to think she was tremendously wonderful and has sworn loyalty to her; those who weren't thrilled appear to be horribly wrong.
 * Also, how Lelouch views Nunnally.
 * Real Women Never Wear Dresses: Shirley. The likely source of her status as The Scrappy. Being one of the girlier characters in the show as well as one of the only female characters who isn't a Badass and/or Plucky Girl did not go over so well with the fandom.
 * Relationship Sue: What some fans have turned Shirley into, sadly. She's sometimes seen only as Lelouch's Ultra Tragic And Ultra Perfect One True Love, rather than as a genuinely kind and gentle girl who had horrible luck and was broken beyond belief because of that.
 * It is true, however, that Shirley actually made Lelouch genuinely happy, and as such, had she lived and managed to maintain a relationship with him, it's easy to imagine her succeeding in saving him from the despair he would be consigned to.
 * Replacement Scrappy: Rolo was one of these for Lelouch for replacing Nunnally. And he could be considered one of these for much of the fanbase who like Nunnally better, too.
 * Rescued from the Scrappy Heap:
 * Many of the people who found Shirley annoying
 * Also, Rolo.
 * Ron the Death Eater: The Black Knights, Lelouch, Suzaku, Shirley, C. C. and even Rolo.
 * The Scrappy: Too many to count and it changes almost on a per-episode basis. In particular, Nina, Suzaku (for some), either Rolo or Shirley (depending on who you ask), and Ohgi.
 * Seasonal Rot: R2, particularly the later episodes, may or may not be, depending on who you ask. You're better off if you don't.
 * Ship-to-Ship Combat
 * Snark Bait: The numerous over-the-top moments, especially during R2, make it a very entertaining MST piece, at least for some. This is something of a sensitive subject.
 * Straw Man Has a Point: Schneizel's argument that Ambition Is Evil and that our desire for hapiness ultimately leads to greed and conflict is actually well-thought out and makes a lot of sense. It's not too hard to imagine someone siding with him, especially when Lelouch doesn't really offer a counter argument other than "People Are Good", and happens to be contradicting himself by the nature of his plan. Chalk the latter up to having jumped the Despair Event Horizon and giving up most of his remaining scruples, though.
 * Sympathetic Sue: Arguably Villetta. While she has several traits, she doesn't steal the show for herself, which is the true trademark of a Mary Sue.
 * True as that is, she also makes things way more complicated than they would be otherwise for Lelouch, especially given that she is partly responsible for So while she doesn't steal the show,
 * Tear Jerker: Lots of them.
 * They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Due to the pacing problems in R2, several interesting plot lines were either dealt with too quickly or outright dismissed a few episodes after being brought up. The worst is probably the subplot involving . This really should have been better explained.
 * Also, the "Euphinator incident" is despised by many, mainly because they feel that having Euphie having her plan actually put into action and horribly collapse would have been alot more interesting than
 * True Art Is Angsty: The story's cripplingly depressing at times but it's still one of the most popular anime in Japan and/or the world.
 * Unfortunate Implications: Dorothea, the only black member of the Knights of the Round, is killed so quickly.
 * The Woobie: So many. Oh, so many!
 * What an Idiot!: Lelouch has his moments.
 * When he . It's not so much the fact that he did it as the primary reason it happened. Worst Rhetorical Request Blunder ever! Admittedly, naming an action that would be entirely contrary to nature of the victim in conversation as an example of what Geass can compel is a reasonable way of impressing how powerful it is, so it's reasonable that Lelouch would use such an example.
 * And let's not forget that before giving this example Lelouch's eye causes him pain three times over the course of the episode. Once right before stating the example... Not once does he ask CC's advice after the first one, he makes NO effort to stop Euphemia while the two are still in the room together. He freaks out and lets her run away after she tries fighting the command for almost 30 seconds.
 * Lelouch didn't simply let Euphemia run away; He DID chase her, but, as we were shown before, he has such a poor stamina that he couldn't keep up to her.
 * Not only that, but he doesn't learn the lesson that he should not overuse his Geass, or use it frivolously, which he arguably should have started thinking after seeing what Geass had done to Mao. He continues to Geass people for petty reasons, such as to get away more quickly during a school chase or to vent his spleen on some thugs. For crying out loud, man.
 * Really, C.C.? After all Mao's been through, did you really think that after walking out on him he'd just let it go?
 * Ditto the Black Knights. See Idiot Plot for more.
 * Watch It for the Meme: A case where the whole anime happens to be a meme, thanks to its' unabashedly over-the-top nature. Code Geass can attribute it's Western popularity thanks to the meme status it held on 4chan's /a/ board from 2006 to 2008 as it aired. As is natural for 4chan, the meme eventually spilled out into the wider internet public and the anime kinda ingrained itself as "really good" (to the point its' MyAnimeList rating is easily in the top 20) all thanks to the meme.
 * What Happened to the Mouse??: Played straight at the beginning of R2 but subverted later on when it tells everyone.
 * Woolseyism: The "conversation" between and Lelouch, where Lelouch recorded his part in advance, made much more sense in the dub. The original included Lelouch predicting his opponent's words perfectly, at one point correctly anticipating being interrupted. In the dub, the interruption was removed entirely, and Lelouch's lines were made much more vague and believable. Read the transcript here. Major spoilers, of course.
 * Ditto the Black Knights. See Idiot Plot for more.
 * Watch It for the Meme: A case where the whole anime happens to be a meme, thanks to its' unabashedly over-the-top nature. Code Geass can attribute it's Western popularity thanks to the meme status it held on 4chan's /a/ board from 2006 to 2008 as it aired. As is natural for 4chan, the meme eventually spilled out into the wider internet public and the anime kinda ingrained itself as "really good" (to the point its' MyAnimeList rating is easily in the top 20) all thanks to the meme.
 * What Happened to the Mouse??: Played straight at the beginning of R2 but subverted later on when it tells everyone.
 * Woolseyism: The "conversation" between and Lelouch, where Lelouch recorded his part in advance, made much more sense in the dub. The original included Lelouch predicting his opponent's words perfectly, at one point correctly anticipating being interrupted. In the dub, the interruption was removed entirely, and Lelouch's lines were made much more vague and believable. Read the transcript here. Major spoilers, of course.