Schneizel el Britannia

**Schneizel El Britannia** is one of the main antagonists of  *Code Geass* He is the Second Prince of the Holy Britannian Empire and he wishes to discredit and kill his brother Lelouch Vi Britannia as well as rule the world.

## History

### Background

Schneizel is the second prince of the Holy Britannian Empire. He also seems to be involved in the assassination of Marianne vi Britannia. Schneizel sponsors a number of experimental projects and is the patron of Lloyd Asplund who is the developer of the Lancelot, funded the construction of the Gawain along with developing Avalon, and takes possession of one of the Thought Elevators in Japan to study it. His investments in new technologies result in the development of the F.LE.I.J.A. warhead and, eventually, the floating fortress Damocles, both of which are integral to his plans for bringing the world "eternal peace".

### Code Geass

Schneizel el Britannia attends Prince Clovis la Britannia's funeral while the Emperor of Britannia, Charles zi Britannia and his father, makes a speech on the virtues of inequality and the social battle for evolution and betterment.

Later Schneizel orders his floating battleship, the Avalon, to bombard the island, intending on sacrificing Suzaku

   Kururugi in order to kill Zero. While searching for Princess Euphemia li Britannia, Schneizel, Earl Lloyd Asplund and Cecile Croomy survey the island's ancient ruins. When Lelouch vi Britannia, Suzaku, Kallen Kozuki and Euphemia meet, a Geass symbol appears in the ground and they suddenly fall into the ruins. Lelouch and Kallen steal the prototype Knightmare Frame Gawain and escape. Suzaku is detained for insubordination, as it is revealed that Lelouch used Geass on Suzaku, giving him the command to "live". He supports Euphemia's idea of creating the Special Administrative Zone of Japan for the Elevens, but fails to mention it to Cornelia li Britannia when he told Euphemia he would. This is because he believes that the plan would weaken the support for the terrorists' groups in Area 11, thus helping to pacify the region and restore public order, possibly even eliminating the Black Knights in the process. He is shocked and horrified when he sees her acting uncharacteristically and massacring the Japanese people, and suspects something is responsible for Euphemia's change.
When Schneizel's older brother, Prince Odysseus Eu Britannia, is too indecisive to act during Zero's attack on the

   Tokyo Settlement, especially after Euphemia's death, Schneizel steps up and volunteers to go to Cornelia's aid, taking the Pacific fleet to Area 11 to relieve her battered forces and restore order. Before that, Schneizel assumed that Charles is at the ruins again.

Schneizel commands all of the Britannian forces attempting to conquer the E.U. controlled Europe after he did his most brilliant accomplishment conquering various E.U. controlled territories, yet ending with a peace treaty despite repeated victories. As he explains to Nina Einstein, he did it because nothing but conquer invites defeat since it destroys hope. The Chinese Empress Tianzi was being forced into a political marriage to Odysseus. The wedding was orchestrated by the High Eunuchs, who would become nobles of Britannia, in exchange for turning over half their land to Schneizel. As the wedding begins, Li Xingke initiates a coupe de'etat to overthrow the Eunuchs, but before he can free the Empress, Zero appears and takes her hostage. He decides to give up on his plan, noting that leaders who do not have the support of their people cannot be called leaders at all. Faced with open rebellion, Schneizel orders a Britannian retreat, and Xingke eliminates the High Eunuchs and rescues his comrades. After the fall of the Eunuchs, Schneizel begins efforts to annext the Chinese Federation's fragmented territories.

He is present in Tokyo during the invasion of Japan by the Black Knights and learns the true identity of Zero which is his younger brother Lelouch vi Britannia. During the meeting between Lelouch and Suzaku Kururugi at the Kururugi family shrine Schneizel sends troops to follow Suzaku in order to identify and arrest Zero and make it appear that Suzaku has betrayed Lelouch again and obtains the recorded conversation of Lelouch's confession and states "Now, I'm the one controlling the game", confident of his victory. During the second battle of Tokyo, Schneizel is aboard the Avalon along with Earl Lloyd Asplund and Nina, watching the battle of Tokyo unfold before his eyes. He retreats when Suzaku under Geass fires F.L.E.I.J.A. at Zero which misses and obliterates the entire government complex and surrounding area, wiping out units from both sides that were not able to escape the blast. He selectively uses the information he acquired regarding Zero, in tandem with the devastation caused by F.L.E.I.J.A., to convince the Black Knights to abandon Zero. He begins a plot to usurp the throne after Suzaku volunteers to assassinate the Emperor in exchange for becoming the Knight of One, noting that the Emperor's dismissal of the war as a "trifling matter" as well as his research into Geass makes him unfit to rule. While talking to Kaguya and the rest of the UFN and assuming that Anya is reporting to the Emperor while Suzaku is attempting to assassinate him, he decides to go to Kamine Island to deal with the rebellion noting how events started to turn out. After reaching Kamine Island, Bismarck arrives to report to Schneizel about the rebellion as they are suppressing it and is later questioned how much he knows and reply by saying that what he is referring to. While events began to unfold throughout the world, Bismarck informs Schneizel that once the Emperor's plan succeeds, he will be left to govern what's left of the world when the plan ceases, Bismarck senses something is wrong with the Emperor. When Lelouch ends up killing the Emperor and taking the throne, Schneizel is content to let his brother have it, placing more concern on a bigger confrontation between Lelouch's Geass and his floating fortress, the Damocles. He uses a F.L.E.I.J.A warhead to annihilate the Britannian capital, then reveals to Lelouch that he plans to have Nunnally, believed to be dead, become the new Empress.

In private, Schneizel shows Cornelia his plan to place Damocles in a position to strike every country in the world, enforcing peace through terror and making him a god. By allowing Lelouch taking over as Emperor, Schneizel makes himself seem like the lesser of two evils and the only hope to end Lelouch's reign of evil, enabling him to convince

    the Black Knights to work with him for the sake of stopping Lelouch so that no obstacles can stand in his way. However, when Lelouch and Suzaku manage to break through Damocles' defenses even as Schneizel prepares to evacuate, Lelouch manages to trap Schneizel aboard the shuttle. He then proceeds to use his Geass on him, forcing him to serve Zero and tell him the location of the Damocles' key.

    Two months later, Schneizel along with the UFN delegates and the Black Knights are being transported to their execution. Schneizel is chained to a post and dressed in rags rather then a standard prisoner uniform, being far more humiliating than the other prisoners. After Lelouch's death, Schneizel was released along with the others.

    In the epilogue, he is shown to be working with the new incarnation of the Black Knights; as his Geass command was to serve Zero, so he is now loyal to Suzaku.

## Personality

Schneizel is charismatic and calculating, able to form complex strategies that can even match Lelouch's. Despite this, he shows a caring side to his subordinates, earning their respect and loyalty. His hierarchy in the royal family of Britannia gives him great power and influence; though he does have ambitions for the throne, a fact that the Emperor seems aware of but not concerned by. He also shows a deal of concern for his half-siblings, aiding them in their ventures as well as offering them protection in times of adversity even in the case of Lelouch, however this seems to be nothing more than a ruse as he quickly gunned down his close older half-sister Cornelia without remorse or hesitation and attempted to use Suzaku as a sacrifice to kill Zero, despite his recent appointment as Euphemia's personal Knight, and the potential loss of the expensive and highly reliable Lancelot prototype, as well as destroying much of Tokyo including 35,000,000 people, most of which would certainly be Britannian, and the entirety of Pendragon, possibly including all of his family other than Cornelia, Nunnally and Lelouch as well as thinking nothing of the deaths of one or two billion people. On the other hand, Cornelia only received minor wounds and was sent to hospital for treatment. It is hard to determine if Schneizel is kind or cruel, or simply doesn't feel strong emotion either way. It is noted by Cornelia that Schneizel had no desires, and in a peaceful world he would be the perfect king.

Schneizel is also strangely honorable; granting conquered people peace treaties instead of initiating an all-out invasion. Interestingly, he also seems to oppose the racist policies of his father, and was visibly appalled when Euphemia under Geass began slaughtering the Japanese. He seems to show disdain for force when it's unnecessary, such as negotiating a peace treaty with the European Union despite dominating them militarily in every engagement. He also claims that those whose followers do not agree with them do not deserve to be called leaders. When playing chess with Zero, after both he and Zero determine that their match would end in a threefold repitition should they both choose options that wouldn't result in their defeat, he chooses to expose his King to Zero's despite this being generally an illegal or rather suicidal move, simply to see what Zero would choose. Similarly, his plan to utilize Damocles would have been far better served by avoiding the battle between Lelouch and the UFN, but chooses to lead the UFN army into battle against Lelouch's forces, causing his downfall, perhaps implying that he prefers interesting choices to those that are wisest.

## Quotes

* "He considers our affairs trival and mundane; that's how his majesty refered to our mortal struggle with the Black Knights. You've seen it too Cornelia; how absorbed father is with his dangerous research. How he abandons the throne. It's true, he treats diplomacy and war like they were meaningless trifles, a man who has lost interest in this world, who sees his people locked in a life and death struggle, and shrugs in indifference. Such a man has no right to rule."
* "Mankind's history is war. Peace is an illusion. To turn illusion into reality is an arduous task. It requires discipline."
* "I wonder, Lelouch...do you really think you can defeat me, because if you do, you're at the end of your path. A man who has not mastered the use of the mask can never prevail."