Code Geass/Awesome
Lelouch
- Lelouch Lamperouge, the protagonist of Code Geass, is a Magnificent Bastard of the first stripe, and
many fanseveryone who has watched the show agrees that the plans he used to outmaneuver Mao in episodes 15 and 16 are incredible. However, his original Crowning Moment of Awesome may be his facial expression at the end of the first episode. He had just effortlessly killed a squadron of armed soldiers with his new power, getting splashed with blood in the process, and after spending a minute looking shocked and disgusted, his internal monologue reached a conclusion, and a Psychotic Smirk appeared without warning. It gave the audience a clear impression of the kind of Anti-Hero they were dealing with, and they loved it. - He also gets a pretty big one at the Battle of Narita. When Tamaki questions his motives, Zero gives Tamaki a freaking gun, telling the group, "All routes of escape have been cut off. If you feel you can make it out without me, feel free to kill me." He then adds, "Ever since you've joined the Black Knights, you've only had two choices: To live with me, or to die with me." To give guys that you know don't fully trust you that sort of opening takes Sakuradite balls.
- When Lelouch tricks Mao with a recorded conversation
- In R2, he uses this exact same trick to defeat and Geass Schniezel.
- Lelouch's crowning moment in that arc was when he Geassed himself so that he wouldn't remember giving Suzaku his instructions, thus rendering the info Mao was getting from Lelouch's mind inaccurate.
- Season Two: After Lelouch gets his real memories back, he proceeds to... just be Lelouch. Seriously, words cannot describe the scene.
- At which point two giant mecha crash through the ceiling, KNEEL BEFORE HIM, and ask him to give them orders.
- Episode 4 has Lelouch agree to duel Guilford, a vastly superior warrior, for the freedom of his captured men. At first everyone thinks he's crazy - and when he requests that the combatants be limited to a single weapon, claiming a Knightmare-sized riot shield for his, they KNOW he's crazy. And then the plate holding them up starts to tip, sliding the carriers that hold the Black Knights into the Chinese Federation's embassy, effectively putting them out of Britannia's grasp. Lelouch follows this up by surfing the plate on the riot shield, decapitating one Knightmare by railgrinding its slash harken wires. The scene was so iconic that when Bandai made an action figure of Zero's Burai, it came with the shield specifically so that fans could re-create it.
- Then, later in the same episode, he seemingly has to deal with Rolo, his watcher with a hypnotic Geass that can stop people in their tracks. But Lelouch had been studying Rolo's profile and his Geass before the battle and exploits both to their fullest. One: He Geasses one of the Darltons to fire on Rolo, knowing that Rolo's Geass only affected perception and was useless against the nonliving. Two: Lelouch takes the bullet! The reason? Rolo's personality was rather unstable, and this sudden demonstration of loyalty makes Rolo suffer a Villainous BSOD, allowing Lelouch to basically force him to Heel Face Turn.
- The 1 million Zeros scene from Ep 8. It's so ridiculously over-the-top that, much like the Brittanians, you have to let it go. It says something that the entire plan hinged on his belief that Suzaku wouldn't let a massacre take place (even though he came within a few seconds of doing just that), and still worked perfectly.
- That was part of Lelouch's brilliance. He knew Suzaku would prevent a massacre because it would invoke memories of the "Princess Massacre" all over again.
- Shinkirō. Keyboard robot. Any questions? The part that made its first appearance even more awesome was that at that moment Xingke, a massively superior pilot, was desperately begging for anyone to save token loli character Tianzi, and Lelouch's response as he was preparing to deploy himself was "Very well, I understand. Your wish is granted." Still more awesome of a Moment of Awesome was when Lelouch subsequently revealed that he had broadcast his entire conversation with the High Eunuchs, thereby turning the entire population of China, India, Pakistan, and assorted other countries against them.
- R2 episode 17 is titled, "The Taste of Humiliation" (or Dirt, depending on the translation) and is one of his low points. Made worse by the fact that his brother Schneizel surprises everyone by showing up and capturing Lelouch. But even in such a low point, though, Lelouch had made sure to keep a trump card. Before the meeting, he had drawn Lord Guilford into an encounter where he could use his Geass on him and leave a compulsion. Lelouch employs this trump card, making Guilford believe Lelouch was Cornelia, triggering his natural tendency to rescue and protect her, allowing Lelouch to escape.
- In R2 Episode 20, after the Black Knights betray him, and he loses almost everyone that he loves, Lelouch, left with nothing but his Geass and his submersible Knightmare Frame Shinkirō, decides to go out with a bang, and finally loses his moral qualms about using his Geass to rob people of their free will. As the Black Knights rant about Lelouch using them as pawns, Lelouch shows how he would have acted if he had really been doing so; sneakily subverting an entire military base (by making their Geassed friends hold their eyes open in some cases), as well as part of his father's royal guard. Arriving on Kaminajema, where his father is rebuilding the Sword of Akasha, Lelouch appears with a relevant pink kaboom, and finally expresses his internal ham without his Zero mask, showing that he does not truly need the mask to be the Large Ham that he is. As he walks away from the explosion, he explains just who the hell he is, pulling off what would have been a wangsty speech awesomely.
"My name is Lelouch Vi Britannia! I am the eldest son of Empress Marianne-- the prince who was abandoned by his Empire!". (Two columns of Geassed Knightmare frames line up, kneel and salute him with their spears, forming an arch for him to walk under) If anyone wishes to stop me, let them try. If there is anyone who can go beyond my despair...!"
- Then he confronts his immortal father within the Sword of Akasha, and shows how he deals with someone which you cannot kill nor control, by blowing the exit behind him, sealing them in the dimensional pocket where the Sword of Akasha resides.
Charles: "You sealed the exit?!"
Lelouch: "Yes! You, I , and the power of Geass are now sealed in this space together. And, if you can no longer interfere with the real world, then all your plans will be meaningless in the end. You may as well be dead!"
Charles: "Lelouch!"!
Lelouch (with a terrifying expression on his face): "This system, which you created, has become a prison which now holds your own soul captive. Now, let us suffer together... repenting together for all eternity!"
- And Lelouch's later plan to foil Charles' Instrumentality-esque plan by geassing the collective unconsciousness of mankind (Charles' "gods") to disobey Charles. At first, nothing happens, but as Lelouch passionately repeats his appeal he finally gains mastery of his geass (acquiring it in both eyes) and his command takes effect. And he remains remarkably cool moments later when Charles starts dissolving in purple sparkles, flies at him, and starts trying to choke him.
Charles: "Even if that's true, what can you do? The Ragnarok Connection has already begun."
Lelouch: "I don't know about that. I'm Zero -- the man who creates miracles!"
- "BEGONE!"
- For all who have seen the 21st episode of R2: ALL HAIL LELOUCH!
- Additionally, Finally a Spinzaku I like! All Hail Knight of Zero!
- Lelouch's line before that is a Moment of Awesome as well. "Let me make this easy for you all to understand..." *Raises hand in front of face then sweeps it away to reveal his double-Geass eyes* "ACKNOWLEDGE ME AS EMPEROR!"
- Additionally, Finally a Spinzaku I like! All Hail Knight of Zero!
- In episode 23, Lelouch pushes back an overwhelming army by shooting a volcano at it.
- Lelouch has a lot of Crowning Moments Of Awesome that involve him beating the enemy by using the terrain against them. He's especially good at Geassing people to blow up support columns and induce a sinkhole.
- In episode 24, Lelouch gets the final checkmate on Schneizel by pre-recording himself, predicting what Schneizel would say in response, using the recording to initiate a conversation with Schneizel over live transmission, then making his way down to him while he's distracted to Geass him from behind, forcing Schneizel to devote his entire being to serve Lelouch. This same strategy had already been used against Mao in the first season, making it a classic, but he managed to get it to work on Schneizel, the smartest guy this side of hell, for crying out loud!
- Actually, it's even more awesome than that: he ordered him to obey Zero rather than himself, so that Schneizel would continue serving Suzaku (who becomes the next Zero) rather than running off after Lelouch's death. Keikaku doori!
- Moments after his victory over Schneizel, when he proclaims himself the ruler of the world.
Lelouch: "Lelouch Vi Britannia commands you, world! Obey ME!".
- Finally, the great finale of the entire series, in which Lelouch arranges his own ASSASSINATION in order to let the sins and hatred of the world die with him. While the world is cheering the reappearance of "Zero", the great saviour, Lelouch quietly dies in Nunnally's arms while she and the Black Knights realize the truth of what just transpired and the reasons behind Lelouch's actions for the past three months.
- Not only that, but right before his death, he uses the below line, made awesome by the fact that he demonstrates one of his own beliefs in the scene.
Lelouch: "The only ones who should kill are the ones prepared to BE killed."
- Lelouch's awesomeness also carries over into the Alternate Continuity of Knightmare of Nunnally, in which his most notable trait is not so much his Magnificent Bastardry as it is his ability to fight Knightmare Frames with his bare hands (via an altered form of Geass acquired through merging with C.C... it's rather complicated). He shows off said ability quite well during his combat debut in Saitama, but it really gets good during the Battle of Narita, in which he utterly owns Cornelia with his powers (at one point stopping a hail of shrapnel in midair, seemingly just by posing at it).
- "NEVER SPEAK AGAIN!!!" Best. Geass. Ever.
- During the first Assault on the Tokyo Settlement.
Lelouch: These hands of mine have been dirty for a long time now, Suzaku. Your coming to face me now doesn't matter at all. Hell, I welcome it even. I mean of course, you and I are friends. (begins laughing crazily as the Tokyo Settlement collapses around him)
- What makes it even more awesome is that, in the next episode we see how it was done, he geassed the people who controlled the system holding the city up during earthquakes, and told them to deactivate it as the attack starts. This not only causes mass destruction and chaos, but wipes out a lot of the Brittantian army massed against him.
- Despite the incredibly narmy pose he does it in, when Lelouch declares his plans for the United States of Japan.
- Lelouch taking out an entire FLEET of Britannian ships by shooting a tank full of methane hydrate.
- In episode 9 of R2. After Xingke breaks into the middle of Tianzi and Odysseus's wedding, Zero drops in, holding a gun to her head. Xingke calls him "filthy scum". Zero responds with "Oh, am I?" then begins an Evil Laugh that ends the episode.
- R2 turn 2. Lelouch drops a building so the Black Knights can escape and kill Governor Calares.
- So the first time the Hadron Cannon is fired isn't awesome?
- Zero beating Cornelia at Mount Narita. It forced her to actually admit defeat.
- Zero kidnaps Empress Tianzi). After showing what he's done and is holding a gun to Tianzi's head, he starts laughing maniacally, which ends the episode on a pretty cool note.
- Turn 11. The Shinkiro's introduction.
Xing-Ke: I don't care who, but please... someone save her!
Zero: I understand... wish is granted.
- And he proceeds to show off the Shinkiro's capabilities-- it's one of the sturdiest, if not THE sturdiest Knightmare Frame in the series (what else can stand up to the Mordred's Stark Hadron Cannon?), it looks badass, it can transform into a submarine for better mobility (and travel between the Chinese Federation and Area 11), and it can hold it's own very well in a fight (It has it's own spherical Hadron Blasters, and it has it's signature Zero Beam which can be used to directly blast a foe or can be launched into a crystal which then pinpoints and covers a very large range), against the Knights of the Round. Needless to say, the Shinkiro is one of the most badass Knightmare Frames in the series, with badass controls, badass weaponry, BADASS DEFENSE, and a definitely badass pilot, Lelouch vi Britannia. It's too bad it gets mercilessly destroyed in Turn 24, though. The series was coming to an end however, and Lelouch was caught off guard.
- Turn 20. He lost everything, and has crossed beyond the Despair Event Horizon. However, one enemy still stood in his way... his father, The Emperor. What does he do? He uses his Geass to the fullest extent, causes riots and rebellion across Kamine Island, making soldiers do his bidding and looking extremely badass while doing so. All the while it's just theatrics for him, as he gets ready to seal himself and Charles zi Britannia in C's World. And what does he say while doing this?
Lelouch: My name is Lelouch vi Britannia, eldest son of Empress Marianne! The prince who was abandoned by his Empire!
- And later,
Lelouch: (while walking past some Knightmare Frames posing dramatically) If anyone wishes to stop me, let them try... If there's anyone who can go beyond my despair...!
- Nothing's stopping him now. It goes to show you what resolve he has, after thinking he lost everything-- Nunnally, Shirley, the Black Knights... but he had one more goal to accomplish, and that is to defeat his father. Turn 20 was definitely was very awesome for Lelouch in whatever part of the episode he showed up in, Geass-ing soldiers to do his bidding, giving off such epic and incredible bits of dialogue like the ones above, and resolving to defeat the Emperor.
- Lelouch's actions in R2 can be summed up as thus: he conquered one half of the world, and then when he was betrayed by the very people he had been helping, took over the other half of the world. And then he went for broke and re-conquered the half the the world he'd taken over before.
- YMMV on this one, but Lelouch's reaction to Rolo telling him that he killed Shirley. Lelouch was genuinely devastated at the time, and there was a gun right on the floor next to him, but instead of impulsively using it, he pretends to be happy about it so he can continue to use a valuable asset. Lelouch has always been a Manipulative Bastard extraordinaire, but that was a truly phenomenal example of quick thinking and self-control considering how heartbroken/furious he was at the time.
Kallen
- Kallen Kozuki's first major crowning moment of awesome came when she first deployed the Guren Mk-II at the Battle of Narita. After outmaneuvering an elite (if recently demoted for political reasons) enemy pilot, she proceeds to grab his Knightmare Frame by the face and blast it with high energy radiation, causing it to bubble up and explode. The act itself is repeatedly frequently, but always overshadowed by the sheer arrogance in Karen's attitude.
- Followed closely by Kallen fighting Suzaku, and proving that where he wins by Plot Armor, she's still better than he is on even ground.
- Kallen Pawnch! That is all.
- Kallen's actions in her fight with Suzaku at the end of season 1 to be amazing. She and Suzaku clash in mid-air repeatedly, despite the fact that the Lancelot can fly while the Guren can't and she can only attack at close range. She still takes one of its arms off.
- Kallen uses the blast from the Radiant Wave in order to get at the airborne Lancelot: "Don't get cocky just because you can fly!"
- When Kallen's Guren Mk-II is upgraded to the Guren Flight-Enabled Type. Awesomeness ensues.
- Before the upgrade Kallen skates her Guren on a wire to nail a flying enemy unit in mid-air
- The premiere of the Guren SEITEN. At 60% power.
"Hey Kamina, look at what my Guren can do!"
- It was particularly badass how Kallen used it to whittle down Luciano's Knightmare, weapon by weapon, then grab him with the radiant wave arm and turn his whole "What's most important to you?" shtick right back around on him just before blasting him dead.
- Not to mention taking out all four members of his Amazon Brigade in the time it took the first of them to notice that she'd been hit.
- Then Suzaku came in, and gives Kallen several more moments. First he apparently tries to force a Taking the Bullet scenario; she not only survives unscathed, but defeats his best weapon while doing so. Then she toys with him for nearly two minutes while he pointlessly tries Beam Spam. Finally, when ordered to finish the job, she absolutely tears him apart. The best part is when she breaks his Spinzaku kick, and Suzaku immediately realizes how screwed he is.
- This entire scene is really a testament to Kallen's awesomeness as a whole. Here we have the Guren SEITEN, an machine that is so high-spec that Cecile and Lloyd figured no living human -- not even Suzaku -- would ever actually be able to use it. Then Kallen comes in and goes ahead and does it anyway.
- It was particularly badass how Kallen used it to whittle down Luciano's Knightmare, weapon by weapon, then grab him with the radiant wave arm and turn his whole "What's most important to you?" shtick right back around on him just before blasting him dead.
- Kallen confronts Emperor Lelouch and kisses him on the lips before taking off. Considering that Kallen was now Lelouch's enemy since she chose her beliefs over her love, that he could've perfectly sent an assassin to stop her and that Kallen knew she was risking her life... going towards Emperor Lelouch and delivering her true feelings for him definitely required lots of courage and HUGE balls, erm, boobs. You've always been one really badass mother, Kallen, and this action from you definitely and boldly confirms it.
- Kallen redefined the idea of Foe-Tossing Charge by taking out 24 of the latest model enemy units (C.C + 23 Mecha-Mooks) in exactly 36 seconds (and most in hand to hand combat), all the while criticizing C.C about her lack of motivation.
- While the final battle between Suzaku and Kallen in episode 25 was a display of pure awesomeness by both fighters, Kallen gets a special awesomeness bonus for nailing Suzaku with his own patented Spinzaku kick.
- Kallen, with the Guren SEITEN, has rendered the dreaded Spinzaku kick useless on two occasions.
- During the Second Battle of Tokyo: Suzaku attempts one, but fails, only to have the Lancelot's leg ripped off. He pretty much lost all hope after that.
- During the Grand Finale: Kallen not only uses a Spinzaku kick on him successfully, but foils Suzaku's own kick in the same battle by jamming the Guren SEITEN's Radiant Wave arm into the Lancelot Albion's leg, breaking it off while her arm remains intact.
Suzaku
- Any of Suzaku's Big Damn Heroes moment can qualify for this.
- Especially in the battle of Mt. Narita when Lancelot used the VARIS to blast a path through a mountain to save Cornelia.
- His actions in the episode "Nunnally Held Hostage," when he and Lelouch sneak down into the school's sewer system. He analyzes the range and reaction time of a gun turret attached to a camera in the sewers, and instead of finding a way around it like Lelouch suggests, he does a zig-zag run to get close to the gun, then does a badass wall-run before taking it out with a spin kick.
- Suzaku wiping out the majority of the Knights of the Round (including their leader, Bismarck Waldstein, supposedly the greatest warrior in the empire) AND their escorts within thirty seconds. Nuff said.
"My title is the Knight of Zero, and that trumps you, Bismarck!"
- Slicing someone in half with an attack so fast there's a delay before they fall apart? Old. All that and slicing their sword in half... from point to hilt? Edgewise?! AWESOME.
- The best part was definitely how he didn't trick or deceive Bismarck's Geass, he just straight-up beat it in an out-and-out battle. Am I the only one who was hearing Rock Lee when the Lancelot Albion was totally kicking the shit out of that Knightmare? "It does not matter if your eyes can copy me, if your body cannot keep up!"
- Slicing someone in half with an attack so fast there's a delay before they fall apart? Old. All that and slicing their sword in half... from point to hilt? Edgewise?! AWESOME.
- In Nightmare of Nunnally, when he duels Darlton, he manages to evade all his attacks without even counterattacking, and tells him that he isn't worth fighting for seeing him as beneath him.
- Even though it happens during one of the most heartbreaking and horrifying moments of the series, during the Euphinator incident. After Suzaku sees Zero shoot Euphie, he dives down in the Lancelot, screaming "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" at the top of his lungs (in the dub, anyway, in the Japanese he just screams). After making it through a barrage of Hadron blasts fired by C.C. in the Gawain, he Spinzakus it hard enough to knock it over. Then, after he picks up Euphie and starts to fly back to the Avalon, Kallen tries to stop him. Suzaku doesn't stop, just punching the Guren hard enough to knock it over and shatter the Lancelot's fist in the process.
- Lloyd gets punched right in the face without a second's hesitation by eternally-polite-and-subservient Suzaku for withholding the key to the Lancelot; that moment summarizes and exemplifies his entire Roaring Rampage.
- One of my absolute favourite moments for Suzaku was in Turn 21 when after Lelouch declares himself Emperor, his siblings call the guards to arrest/kill him, only for Suzaku to drop out of the fucking ceiling, do his Spinzaku kick to destroy their weapons and knock them out, and then land on his feet, gracefully and cat-like, to stand at Lelouch's side. And there is no Knightmare Frame, this is 'all Suzaku - and the fact that he does it after he and Lelouch finally see eye-to-eye again and are in on the same plan makes it taste like all the sweeter AWESOME-SAUCE! On that note...
- His first deed as Zero, executing the Emperor and his best friend Lelouch, because even though it was all arranged, you canNOT deny how wicked cool it is seeing him dodge all those initial Knightmares Frames and all by himself. It's not just because it was so well-planned that Zero became a legend and hero, but also because at the end of the day, he was - he's an omnipotent entity beyond human capabilities and understanding. Now that is pretty damn awesome.
Jeremiah
- In the first season finale the presumed dead Chew Toy Jeremiah Gottwald shows up as a cyborg flying a new kind of Humongous Mecha, crashing up through the roof of a building screaming "ALL HAIL BRITANNIA!" at the top of his lungs. He proceeds to kick a lot of ass.
- The mecha our beloved Jeremiah Gottwald a.k.a. Orange-Kun was riding in during this scene, was just that... a Giant Freakin' ORANGE that proceeds to rail on Lelouch/Zero's Gawain like money was owed. Talk about taking a joke to the nth degree... I never laughed so hard before I realized what I had just seen.
- Then there's R2 when he comes back as a even more advanced cyborg, nigh invulnerable with a new immunity to Geass, and kicks the asses of Sayoko and Rolo single-handedly. When Lelouch uses his Magnificent Bastardry to turn off his cyborg parts, he just keeps moving out of sheer
willpowerloyalty. Then he tops it all off by revealing he went to all this trouble just to confirm Lelouch was Zero. But then he learns that Lelouch was really the son of Marianne, the woman he had sworn to serve, and just like that, he switches sides! A Heel Face Turn for the ages, that. - His fight with Anya in the final episode; his orange-shaped mecha explodes around him, only for his own personal mecha to leap out of it and land on Anya's mech. Jeremiah then self destructs his machine to blow open Anya's cockpit,
jumpsSPINS out of that explosion and lands on Anya's Knightmare just so she can see who beat her...and chooses to not only let her live but restore her memory.- Let's not forget that this happened in the middle of a battle THOUSANDS OF FEET IN THE AIR. This followed by unbelievably badass line (below) exceeds this trope beyond all limits.
- Becomes a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming as well, when he hears Anya's reply and her inability to remember. This was the cue that made Jeremiah realize she was under the influence of Geass and prompted him to use his Canceler to break it. Also sets the stage for part of the heartwarming (and nickname-affirming) montage in the finale.
- To quote Adultswim: Kallen defeats Suzaku with the power of justice, while Jeremiah defeats Anya with the power of awesome.
- At the beginning of R2 episode 23, after Pendragon City is nuked, Jeremiah (hammily) admonishes some people not to spread rumors about the event...by hamming at them before, during, and after casually jumping out of a plane into the midst of the group.
- ORANGES. Nuff said. When I saw him picking oranges together with Anya in the final episode, the only thing I could think of was this trope. Seriously, the orange-picking moment made his awesomeness come full circle, and is crowning in the truest sense of the word.
- In Turn 26, he purposely let Zero pass him then prevented the guards from attacking. This means that he was in on the Zero Requiem. Even if his Majesty, Emperor Lelouch, wishes to die, Jeremiah will remain loyal to the very end and carry through with such a plan. Such steadfast loyalty is just amazing.
- The way he gears up for battle at the end of Turn 17.
Jeremiah: Now, I shall prove my loyalty-- for Prince Lelouch and Princess Nunnally!'
- And it definitely helps that he's an incredible combatant.
- The Sutherland Sieg and the Mordred are probably the bulkiest and sturdiest Knightmares in the series, it's no wonder that they go head to head in Turn 24 and Turn 25. Plus, the Sutherland Sieg is the only Knightmare on screen able to damage the Mordred in any way (aside from damaging it's Float Unit, which just grounds it.), by having it self-destruct to break through the Mordred. This is probably more a Crowning Moment of Awesome for the Sutherland Sieg, but Jeremiah IS the pilot.
Cornelia
- When Cornelia first encounters V.V., she throws a dagger into his forehead from about fifty feet away. Yes, that was the right response. Shame he didn't stay down.
- Not to mention salvaging a damaged Knightmare Frame, literally bolting on dozens of cannons onto it, and using it to take down one of the most powerful mechs in the Geass universe in the space of a single battle. What pushes her awesome into overdrive is the fact that she did all of this all in a cave... WITH A BOX OF SCRAPS! Oh, and an arm in a sling. Apparently the guns jumped on because they were THAT scared of her badass.
- Which also implies that after getting the unholy hell beaten out of her during said season 1 finale, her disappearance meant she tracked down the Geass cult's headquarters, on foot, with no backup or first aid beyond her own skills over the course of year, by sheer willpower.
- Not to mention she got shot multiple times at point blank after calling her older brother out as a shameless, shameless bastard...and lived to come back in the season finale. You know what? Cornelia is what Badass smokes.
- The Battle of Narita is mostly remembered as a Moment of Awesome for Lelouch and the Black Knights, but Cornelia gets one in there too. Kallen takes one arm off Cornelia's Gloucester and Lelouch shoots the other one off. Just in time, Suzaku shows up and distracts Kallen, at which point Cornelia attacks Lelouch and two other Knightmares, taking out the two escorts and removing one of Lelouch's Knightmare's arms using only her slash harkens. I repeat, she was outnumbered three to one, with both hands tied behind her back, and she still won. Her Badass kicks into overdrive when she chases Lelouch, only stopping when her Knightmare's battery runs out.
- She had her fight with Zero during the Black Rebellion won until the Geassed Darlton stabbed her in the back, literally.
- She was able to easily beat chessmaster Lelouch in a battle that was identical to the Shinjuku attack in the second episode, using nothing but her guards after realizing what was happening. The only reason that Lelouch himself lived was because C.C. distracted the Britannians, allowing him to escape. Lelouch should've known that just because it worked on his idiot brother Clovis doesn't mean his genius sister would fall for it too.
- Of course, it helped that the first time around the troops under his command actually obeyed his orders. Lelouch never would have fallen into that situation if not for their inability to trust his advice.
- She also holds the honor of single-handedly wiping out all of Japan's resistance factions, save of course the Black Knights. as well as subduing other resistance factions in other Areas prior to coming to Japan. Yes, that's right, she (along with her personal knightmare unit) managed to stop various rebellions by themselves. Being Viceroy of Area 11 certainly is fitting.
Nunnally
- In R2 episode 15, when her assistant, Alicia Lohmeyer tries to run things her way, Nunnally puts her in her place by reminding her who's the viceroy. Later that episode, she then puts Suzaku on the spot for lying to her about Lelouch. Just goes to show you that even a blind, crippled 15-year old girl can pwn someone's ass.
- In R2 episode 24, while desperately searching for the F.L.E.I.J.A. launch key, little Nunnally manages to overcome the psychosomatic blindness her father supernaturally and deliberately inflicted upon her... through sheer willpower. When she finally opens her eyes to greet Lelouch, her older brother is obviously shocked.
- She gets another, somewhat more subtle one shortly later when she almost manages to throw off Lelouch's geass on her, also through sheer willpower. The only character to have done something similar to that was Euphie, just before she died.
- And as Suzaku and Kallen fight, Nunnally finally gets a chance to tell Lelouch what she thinks of his Well-Intentioned Extremist ways. Best What the Hell, Hero? speech in the whole series.
- "Six murderous fools poisoned by bloody pride. I'll smash that pride of theirs to tiny bits!" Moment of Awesome indeed. Seems like Lelouch's love of the dramatic and awesome runs in the family.
- There's also the part near the end where she replicates Lelouch's feat of stopping Instrumentality simply by coming to terms with herself, and calling out both her parents in the process.
Euphemia
- Euphemia devised a plan that rendered Zero and the Black Knights obsolete, making them monsters if they didn't accept it. Outmaneuvers Zero in political warfare, giving him a pseudo-Villainous Breakdown in the process. He is defeated and forced to submit. That is until his Geass goes out of control and he uses the situation to his advantage.
- This summary doesn't even do justice to the depth of her achievement there. Unlike everyone else with a political motive in the series, Euphie's actions weren't in any way calculated, or cynical, or self-centered. She simply chose what she thought was the best and most just course of action, and went with it. When Lelouch confronts her, she politely and matter-of-factly rebuts his arguments and successfully convinces him that her way was best. I'll just repeat that; she convinced Lelouch that her way was best. Nobody else in the series ever managed to convince Lelouch to do things their way, and Euphie managed to do it politely and sincerely.
- It was only after Euphie said she was willing to abandon her royal lineage for the plan. Without it, the plan at its core would be too easy to manipulate, which is why Schneizel himself went with it as well, even as her blood sister Cornelia did not for the reason that she did not believe the Elevens deserved rights.
- This summary doesn't even do justice to the depth of her achievement there. Unlike everyone else with a political motive in the series, Euphie's actions weren't in any way calculated, or cynical, or self-centered. She simply chose what she thought was the best and most just course of action, and went with it. When Lelouch confronts her, she politely and matter-of-factly rebuts his arguments and successfully convinces him that her way was best. I'll just repeat that; she convinced Lelouch that her way was best. Nobody else in the series ever managed to convince Lelouch to do things their way, and Euphie managed to do it politely and sincerely.
- Euphy again: The only character to figure out Zero's identity (without seeing him unmasked) and tell him to his face! Even though he was fairly careless about it around her, it's still a notable achievement.
- Euphy again, this time for her Big Damn Heroes moment in Nightmare of Nunnally: Stopping Nunnally's death sentence.
- In the same manga series as above, Euphemia, who some thought got Stuffed Into the Fridge in the anime series, gets a Moment of Awesome of her own. How? The 99th Emperor of the Holy Empire of Britannia, Her Majesty Euphemia li Britannia!
- this almost happened in the anime, when she told Cornelia that she will change the Britannian Policy of discrimination against the Numbers after knighting Suzaku, which the only possible way was to become the Empress. she gets two points of badassery here; she tells her badass sister that she plans to change THE EMPIRE ITSELF by taking over, meaning she'll have to go against both her and Schneizel, possibly two of the top contenders for the Throne.
- In her introductory episode, she was willing to run out into a group of fighting Knightmare Frames in order to command a stop to the battle (which was in particular contrast to her seemingly ditzy introduction).
- Euphemia (while incognito) is being held hostage at a conference that has just been taken control of by an extreme group of Japanese terrorists, and is well aware of what they would do if they knew they had a member of the Bretannian Royal Family (not to mention sub-viceroy of Japan). Then the terrorists start threatening a young student, and Euphie doesn't hesitate for a second to distract them by revealing her identity.
- When Suzaku is ordered to hold Zero (who she's probably figured out is Lelouch) in place so that Shneizal's ship can fire on him (sacrificing his own life in the process), Euphie hijacks a Knightmare and tries to drive it to Suzaku's location in order to get the order withdrawn. You're probably noticing a pattern here...
- Euphie when she smacked a guy who was heckling Suzaku in an early episode, without so much as blinking. Seeing Euphie, who was formerly sweet and demure to the point of Tastes Like Diabetes, so calmly and ferociously defend Suzaku instantly made my regard for her skyrocket.
- "Kururugi Suzaku, I order you to love me!"
- She eventually defeats her Geass. True, it's too little, too late, but still... Her love for Suzaku managed to overrider her command to kill the Japanese. Which is as completely impossible as it is amazing.
- And even before that, when she receives the command, she already tries to resist it. True, she doesn't succeed, but it's still amazing.
Xing-Ke
- Xing-ke is a pretty awesome character in general, but his crowning moment is probably when he released a nearby reservoir knowing it would hit Lelouch's side. Lelouch had drained the aqueduct so his forces wouldn't get hit with a wall of water. What he didn't realize is how crappy the farmland was, so even with knee-deep water the whole area turned to muck.
- This forced Zero to scream Xing-Ke's name.
- Xing-ke crashing the wedding was more awesome.
"We ask this question by the voice of Heaven, the roar of the land, and the hearts of the people! How does this marriage represent the will of the Chinese Federation?!"
- Xingke and his Shen Hu prove themselves able to hold off even Kallen and the Guren Flight-Enabled Type. The Black Knights were surprised as hell when the Shen Hu's Baryon Cannon was able to block the Radiant Wave Surger.
- Xingke holding off Gino, one of the Knights of the Round, despite being distracted by rescuing Tianzi. After that battle, he also breaks onto the bridge of the Longdan that the High Eunuchs are inside, and kills them.
- Xingke vs. Bismarck. Even if he couldn't actually do any damage, you have to give Xingke credit for being able to hold his own.
- By series' end, the Shen Hu is the only surviving knightmare owned by a major character. It's a shame that they leave the fate of its pilot a question mark.
- It was noted soon after his entrance that he didn't have long to live due to chronic illness. Give him props for being able to fight not just his enemies but also his own body at the same time.
Alice
- For the manga-only character Alice, she gets her own, and the one that stands out the most is a recent one: Rolo and Anya are completely wrecking Zero and Suzaku, until Alice shows up with a new Knightmare (Well, technically it's Nunnally's, just a bit different) : "I AM THE 'NIGHTMARE OF NUNNALLY'! ALICE THE CODE GEASS!" where she proceeds to nuke the entire place the fight was in. Sure, the Title Drop sounds a little Narm-y, but it was still freaking awesome.
- As an Extraordinarily Empowered Girl, Alice actually had one quite earlier which doubles with Establishing Character Moment. What's the best way to punish the Alpha Bitch of your school and her Girl Posse for bullying the crippled and blind Nunnally and throwing her off her wheelchair? Easy: call them out on their bullshit, then use your Super Speed and deal them an Humiliation Conga by stealing their school skirts out in the open, revealing their panties.
- I was fond of her one on one battle with Rolo. He stops time, what does she do? Goes to infinite speed.
- The way in which she defeats Mao by stealing and shooting her supply of neutralizer with The Speed, and her Shut UP, Hannibal response, stating that while she claims to save people in despair, she is nothing more than a murderer who tried to kill Nunnally.
Others
- ALL HAIL BRITANNIA!
- Followed soon after by LONG LIVE JAPAN!
- And then both at once.
- Followed soon after by LONG LIVE JAPAN!
- The scene where Tohdoh's skill at warfare stopped being an Informed Ability. Mecha with Chainsaw Katanas.
- Where do we begin with C.C.? There's her successfully posing as Zero for a year, fighting Jeremiah in a pitched amphibious battle that leads to both getting crushed under thousands of tons of water and COMING BACK FOR MORE, her actions in the raid on the Geass Cult...
- How about when she rescues Lelouch from Cornelia? Cornelia has just trounced Lelouch's forces, and is having all her Knightmare pilots come out and show their faces, meaning Lelouch is pretty much screwed...until C.C. appears, dressed as Zero, in full view of all the armed soldiers. Then the Britannians open fire, and she evades by falling backwards off a building. One heck of a distraction.
- Her Mercy Kill of Mao qualifies as one for inner strength; she did care about Mao, which must've made this hard for her to do, but at that point she knew that she had to take responsiblity to undo a trouble that her amoral actions in the past had caused.
- How about when she rescues Lelouch from Cornelia? Cornelia has just trounced Lelouch's forces, and is having all her Knightmare pilots come out and show their faces, meaning Lelouch is pretty much screwed...until C.C. appears, dressed as Zero, in full view of all the armed soldiers. Then the Britannians open fire, and she evades by falling backwards off a building. One heck of a distraction.
- Absolutely any time Lelouch and Suzaku team up is made of awesome, beginning to end. That line about how when they're together they can do anything is entirely validated.
- Stage 20 of season 1. Suzaku and Euphemia have just confessed their love for each in other in one of the biggest Crowning Moments of Heartwarming in the show, but it still looks like he's going to die. He's resigned to it, Euphy's terrified...and then Lelouch and C.C. drop in with a Big Damn Antiheroes moment, and melt all the Chinese Knightmares with the Gawain's hadron cannons. Then Lelouch hands an energy filler over to the Lancelot, and the Chinese forces proceed to be utterly pwned by the Lancelot and Gawain's combined assault.
- And then in the penultimate episode, Lelouch and Suzaku go Up to Eleven: The FLEIJA Eliminator device requires key data to be input 19 seconds before detonation, and even then, the window for execution is 0.04 seconds. As the warhead come ever closer, we see Lelouch's fingers flying across the Shinkirou's keyboard, inputting the data. The FLEIJA starts to detonate as Suzaku comes in, takes the activated Eliminator and, using his "Live!" Geass, hits that four-hundredths-of-a-second window perfectly. Han Solo would be proud.
- Blood Knight Luciano Bradley attacking a Black Knights battleship...by throwing another ship at it.
- Schneizel pretty much shooting all of Lelouch's efforts in seasons one and two to hell in the course of a single episode. Priceless. It's no wonder he always beat Lelouch in chess, proving that he is definitely a Not-So-Harmless Villain.
- Also in Nightmare of Nunnally, when he arranges for Euphemia to become Empress as a back-up plan.
- When Rolo saves Lelouch from the combined forces of the Black Knights and Britannia.
- Agreed. Especially when Rolo uses his Geass over and over again, rendering everything that the Black Knights and Britannia could toss at them useless, even though he knew his heart would not survive it all, and doing basically everything else in his power to get his beloved brother to safety. That display of awesomeness should easily redeem him some to many fans. It sure as heck did for Lelouch and me.
Rolo: I'm...not...a tool! I do this...of my own...free will...as a human being!
- Gino Weinberg gets his own in episode 24 by destroying the Shinkirō (the most powerful defensive KMF ever built, with forcefields that can stand up to mass bombardment) by almost casually throwing his sword at it. To be fair, however, Lelouch wasn't expecting the first attack, which claimed an arm, and Gino won by stabbing the mech in the back while it was retreating, instead of beating it in a fair fight.
- Not to mention that said sword was made from the remains of the friggin' Excalibur, only the most powerful blade weapon in existence.
- To prove that even the "Queen of Scrappies" can have at least one moment of Awesome, Nina Einstein gets one of her own when she creates the countermeasure for her infamous Sphere of Destruction. Keep in mind that said Sphere of Destruction took more than a year to develop, that Nina has only a month to develop said countermeasure and that there's Million-to-One Chance for it to be effective... and it works.
- Actually, unless she had been working on it the entire time since the destruction of Tokyo, then she managed to develop and build it in no more than 12 hours. And even if she had been working on it, that she produced a working version with no prior testing is still pretty damn awesome.
- Also, her Heel Face Turn. Her conversation with Lelouch shows just how much character development she went through, that Lelouch himself tells her she's a good person.
- In the last episode, when everyone talks about justice despite being in different situations.
- Even though it was primarily Suzaku's moment, Knight of One Bismarck Waldstein probably deserves a Moment of Awesome of his own for being able to last more than 3 seconds against the Lancelot Albion, let alone score as many hits as he did. Hell, for a short while, he actually fought on even terms with Suzaku, despite his Knightmare being a generation behind. It was really only after ol' Spinzaku pulled out his "Live" thingy that Bismarck was doomed.
- Bismarck's first Sword Fight with Suzaku (on foot) was definitely a Moment of Awesome for him. Here we have Suzaku, the champion of Charles Atlas Superpower, against a man with a BFS. Bismarck curb-stomps Suzaku so hard that his Geass is actually telling him to run before he's even lost. And all the while Bismarck deconstructs Suzaku's motives while telling him he was that much better when he actually had compassion.
- Anya. She's flying towards the final battle, all set to kick ass and take names. Her words? "I don't like... the new Lelouch."
- Anya during the school event when everyone was chasing Lelouch at Milly's request, when she joined in...using the Mordred.
- When the Black Knights, tried to kidnap Nunnally on her way to Japan. The Mordred beats Chiba by crushing its head with one hand. It also took a slash from Chiba's chainsaw sword like it was being hit by a wet noodle.
- Anya during the school event when everyone was chasing Lelouch at Milly's request, when she joined in...using the Mordred.
- Japanese end of Clovis la Britannia's state funeral as one of this. The funeral itself is taking place in a huge room with millions of Britannians, and after Emperor Charles gives his speech, he ends it with a narmtastic "ALL HAIL BRITANNIA!" This is then taken Up to Eleven by the crowd's response, which is by chanting "ALL HAIL BRITANNIA! ALL HAIL BRITANNIA! ALL HAIL BRITANNIA! ALL HAIL BRITANNIA!"
- Tamaki; at the end of the series he goes into battle in an Akatsuki loaded to bear with every weapon it can hold...and loses his legs to Suzaku in the blink of an eye. After a shocked second, Tamaki turns around and keeps firing, shouting to Suzaku that "Even I have my pride, dammit!" Sadly, he gets taken out seconds later, but coming from the show's Foolish Comic Relief, you have to recognize his guts.
- Cecile piloting a quasi Sutherland/Lancelot mix during the Battle of Tokyo in a Big Damn Heroes moment.
- Galahad using Excalibur to counter Shen Hu's particle cannon, and destroy the aircraft surrounding him with the deflected blast.
- Lloyd get's a pretty interesting one. In the first season finale, when The Black Knights are planning to kill off Suzaku, Shirley, Rivalz, and Milly with the Lancelot out of commission Lloyd flies in with the Avalon and proceeds to destroy every Knightmare surrounding the block along with the Genju Disruptor. And in the most nonchalant way possible. Considering before this moment, we never see Lloyd do anything hands on, or even try to be physical, the way he just rushes in there is absolutely awesome in my opinion. Followed by a snappy one liner.
Lloyd: Good Evening!!!
- Tohdoh got one during the initial Britannian invasion of Japan: Defeating Britannian Knightmare Frames (which were the entire reason that Japan was conquered so quickly by Britannia) with none of his own.