What do we really think of Code Geass characters?

[bluebettafish.livejournal.com]

R2 episode 21 thoughts

From the look of things, most people in the fandom are ok with Suzaku now and have spontaneously dissolved their almost universal hatred of him as long as Lelouch accepts him (to use him). Is this why some people stopped hating Rolo when Lelouch finally accepted him when he died? Do we all really have our own steadfast opinions of each character in the show or do we just go with Lelouch's flow whatever it may be? I'm not suggesting that we should hold lifelong grudges against anyone and stubbornly hold on to certain impressions, but it helps to look back and see if our changes in opinions are sometimes a bit too whimsical, not to be critical or anything. =)

Comments

[rebmastu.livejournal.com]

The only character I hate is the writer. of the series. Inconsistent bastard.

[miken-chan.livejournal.com]

Rolo was never really more than a plot device in my eyes, so I neither hated nor loved him. As for Suzaku, I was pretty "meh" with him until he reached his hypocrite phase at the end of the first series, but it's somewhat subsided...though I still gain joy from watching him get kicked around (a la 99-hit combo). Still, I've never gotten to the point where I've outright hated him. I just express extreme frustration over his character at some points. ^-^""

[master.livejournal.com]

Like anything else, opinions change depending on a lot of factors. With Geass, my opinion changes based on the characters changing, and whatever kind of different pieces of backstory we get in each episode.

Take Marianne, for example. I was always "BAAAW" over her trying to protect Nunnally, but after ep 21 of R2, my opinion about her changed because of the new information we were given. Now I would like to punch her. And unless I hadn't seen episode 21, I would have bawed over that gd scene with her, Nunnally and Lelouch forever.

I'm pretty bipolar with character selection, but there are some characters that I love no matter what. Still, it all has to do with the above mentioned, at least for me.

[inksmears]

I LOL'd so hard.

[kusaja.livejournal.com]

I never hated Suzaku, but I did find him annoying at times...right now he's less annoying, which is good, but it's hard to tell what will happen from now on.

[anubuko.livejournal.com]

The writer really seems to like making people turn 180 on characters over and over again. xD;
To be honest I loved both of them from the beginning despite all the stuff they did. There were good reasons for those actions anyway so even when Suzaku kept trying to kill Lelouch I kept asking myself what I would've done so I wouldn't end up HATE AS IF I WERE TO DIE AGH.

In shot they're both good characters, it just depends on everyone's opinions of their actions to see where the fandom leans.

Though geeze 21 was awesome.

[rawrrdoll.livejournal.com]

I was hopin' da same...and I don't care if Rolo was not suppose to exist on the series although I LOVE HIM *-*, But the same here..I hate Suzaku in R1 and I still do..so my opinion doesn't change at all..I don't get the LuluGeasseffect upon Characters..

I don't care if Suzaku joins Lulu..I still hate him LOL..
I love Rolo from the beginning' he was my sweet-o uke baby and I love him even more when he killed Shirley (for god..sake I want to do the same xD! she was annoying and unnecessary)

[igothaxed.livejournal.com]

Best. Post. Ever.

[kohaku-shadow.livejournal.com]

I never hated Rolo or Suzaku either. Sometimes I did want to punch Suzaku in the face but I still liked him. Though I kind of love Suzaku now that he's Lelouchs Knight. Ho ho ho.

[fluffyfledgling.livejournal.com]

loool, I don't like Suzaku, but he's one of my favorite characters.

LOL that was so me for like the first 3/4 of this whole series.

[arhel.livejournal.com]

It's natural to take the perspective of whichever character you identify with (and, one assumes, like). Just that some people are aware of it and able to distinguish between "he hurt my favorite character" and "he is a jerk" while others are not. I'm not sure why Code Geass in particular is so polarizing though.

I do not particularly like either Lelouch or Suzaku, so Suzaku's sudden change of heart with no explanation utterly derailed the episode for me. I'm sure they'll get around to explaining it next ep, but I still think they should have done character development leading up to result first, rather than just showing the result for shock value.

[defade.livejournal.com]

Before I never even realized that there was a pattern, but when I realized that I really want to punch Ougi through a wall and cheer for Suzaku in the recent episode while 10 episodes before it was the opposite, I kind of began to understand which particular group of characters I'm prone to like. Of course, there are tons of exceptions to this rule, and I don't really hate everyone that opposes Lelouch - but just consider their stand regarding Lelouch a factor that affect how I feel about them. This is totally irrational and fangirl behavior, but I really can't help it.

[10sugars.livejournal.com]

yay I am the same!!! Clovis~ damnit. I would have liked to see him come back.
grar!!

[ethocaine.livejournal.com]

I don't think Lelouch is using Suzaku at the moment, instead it's a mutually beneficial pact. Suzaku gets the power he needs to liberate Japan, while Lelouch gets a powerful ally.

Opinions of each character are bound to change as the character develops. And judging from the opinions I've seen so far, a lot of people switched from hating Rolo / Suzaku to accepting them not because of Lelouch's acceptance of them, but because of other reasons. Rolo saved Lelouch at the cost of his own life, thus redeeming himself somewhat. As for Suzaku, his mindset changed drastically since the Freyja incident. So people who disliked / disagreed with his old mindset may find him more acceptable now.

Personally I don't care much for Rolo (his saving Lelouch was touching though). As for Suzaku, I found him annoying in season 1 because of his hypocritical nonsense, and frankly I thought he was psychotic for most of R2. :P But I'm beginning to like him better because he seems to have gotten over the past at last, and the ending of ep 21 was a nice surprise. :D

[levy.livejournal.com]

...I normally don't side with the main characters as an habit, and CG was quite an exception until ep. 17-18, since Lelouch is so much fail you can't help but like him.

Then he did what he did (to Guilford specifically, but also the way he acted during the whole battle..) and I started to pity him so hard, since he shows so little respect of human life and keeps deliberately doing the same mistakes he already knows he's gonna regret. Like geassing the whole Britannian court, for example...

I've always liked Suzaku and never really get why the fandoms hates him so hard.. same goes for Ohgi (and other characters, I'm sure there's more of them...): fandom seems to hate them when they do things against Lelouch, and be quite scandalized that they act this way because of someone (like say, Euphie, Villetta..) and that's odd, since Lelouch himself has started the revolution, plotted and cheated on people only for the sake of someone (Nunnaly) from the very start, and this behaviour of him caused a lot more mess and casualties than anything any other character has done so far.
Even the FREJA is, in the end, his fault... not only because of the Geass he put on Suzaku, but because in the battlefield, even knowing about FREJA, he repetedly ordered Karen to kill him, even when it was clear that she could have simply neutralize him with the upgraded version of the Gurren.

Liking a character does not really implies you must approve his actions or held any esteem of them. Ohgi is probably my favourite character but I have a quite low consideration of him, same goes for Lloyd, that came second, while I have a lot of respect for people like Guilford & Todou, that follow...

When it comes to Lelouch, it looks like fandom tends to see his action made of a lot more awesomeness than it really his, when Lelouch being an ass is nearly the only really interesting thing (beside Villetta's back and Karen inside the Gurren..H_H) in the show.

Marianne is nearly the only character I've really hated since the very start and I'm glad to know I was right XD

[kisu-fu.livejournal.com]

I've always liked Suzaku, right from the start. He's just that kind of character I HAVE to love, no matter how much mistakes he makes.. he just makes me feel sorry for him >.<
I was SO happy in the newest episode when he finally teamed up with Lelouch.. I fangirl at friendships like others fangirl at Yaoi pairs xD

And Rolo... I dunno, there were points where I really, really wanted to see him dead SHIRLEY T_T, but in the end, I still felt sorry for him, so yeah.. dunno really D:

[levy.livejournal.com]

It's natural to take the perspective of whichever character you identify with (and, one assumes, like). Just that some people are aware of it and able to distinguish between "he hurt my favorite character" and "he is a jerk" while others are not. I'm not sure why Code Geass in particular is so polarizing though.

You are perfectly right. In this case particulary it's not totally a matter of fans, but also of poorly written show. There are a lot of details that are not emphasized enough, even when they are determining to characters' actions, that you should watch & re-watch to understand properly, and moreover in a lot of crucial points (like, say, when Lelouch and Suzaku confronts each other at Kururugi's and Schneizel interrupts them..) action is pushed forward by fatality, and people do not act like sentient beings. Suzaku seems to have understood that Lelouch lied about Euphie and stuff back there, but then he acts like he didn't, and that was... bah! ^^;;

[meganehina.livejournal.com]

I've always liked Rolo. ♥
Suzaku has grown gradually on me, probably Lelouch's change of mind made me see him under a different light. And at Euphie's death I couldn't help but being sympathetic for him.

[shinigami39.livejournal.com]

Well, Geass has been a show where I don't really hate any character, so. .

But yes, Suzaku is not high on my favorites list because *for me*, he seemed like the typical shounen-hero who is idealistic and naive and optimistic.

So it's like, my Suzaku!FAN level was around 6/10 before, but now that he's Lelouch new bitch he's with Lelouch and is helping him, my Suzaku!FAN level became OVER 9000 LOL

[shinigami39.livejournal.com]

And by, "he's with Lelouch and is helping him", I meant that Suzaku changed his views and actions, and I think that it's an interesting, if not a bit "whut" turn for a character development XD

[ethocaine.livejournal.com]

QFT

[cloudcataurelia.livejournal.com]

I.... I don't know it anymore.
Suzaku was a faggot but it looks like he's changed. Really....

[cloudcataurelia.livejournal.com]

I know it is offtopic, but where did you get your lovely icon?

[ethocaine.livejournal.com]

It's from here: http://community.livejournal.com/sushi_milk/26377.html :D

[arhel.livejournal.com]

It's not even watching/re-watching, a number of details just aren't really there, you sort of have to imagine and guess. I guess it's because they have too many characters.

I think a good story should change the audience's opinions about the characters as the characters themselves change and evolve, but we're given very little reasoning to work with most of the time.

As far as changing opinion based on characters you like, I'm okay with people saying they hate Suzaku because they like Lelouch and Suzaku gets in his way all the time. At least they're being honest about it. It's rather silly when they try to come up with "justifications" when all it really is is character favoritism.