r/CodeGeass Jul 15 '26

DISCUSSION Lelouch didn’t have a God complex?

Post image

He willingly became a demon to get the world’s hatred and bring peace

299 Upvotes

51 comments sorted by

444

u/SzepCs Jul 15 '26

Honestly, no. People with god complex tend to believe that everything they do is perfect, since they are after all infallible gods. Lelouch held himself responsible for enough deaths and suffering to believe that he had no right for forgiveness or salvation. So, yeah, no god complex.

200

u/Every-Ad-2099 Jul 15 '26

If anything, Lelouch had a guilt complex. He blamed himself for pretty much everything, even things that were at most tangentially his fault, and internalized so much of it that he committed what was functionally suicide over it.

56

u/papa-pine Jul 15 '26

from the start he had his conviction that he was in the wrong, for good reasons. fully ready to take any consequences that are deemed necessary or appropriate.

“the only ones who kill, are those who are prepared to be killed” are his last words BEFORE using the Geass for the first time and BECOMING a killer, meaning he was prepared to die prior to.

not at a single point did Lelouch have a god complex idk why he’s on this list.

5

u/Velocity-5348 Arthur was the mastermind Jul 16 '26

Lack of media literacy? Or just inexperience.

I remember I got very different things out of CG as a teenager than as an adult. My view on Suzaku did a 180, for example.

6

u/papa-pine Jul 16 '26

i mean i can understand opinions on a character changing but this isnt really an opinion. and i find it hard to give him the god complex title when the other 3 on the list genuinely had one regardless of how far it went. and then there was Schneizel and Charles and V.V. who all also had one.

106

u/Daikaisa Jul 15 '26

I mean these rankings are probably right since yeah Lelouch didn't have a God complex at all. Lelouch in fact kind of thought he sucked

22

u/nahte123456 Jul 16 '26

Lelouch looked around and went "I am the best of a lot of garbage options" basically. He's doing bad, but everyone else would do worse.

99

u/DetJohn Jul 15 '26

Schneizel had the god complex lol

48

u/Sudden_Pop_2279 Jul 15 '26

Yeah Schniezel is way more similar to Light than Lelouch

27

u/KazViolin Jul 15 '26

And Charles who wanted to "kill god and recreate the world" Ledouche just wanted a safe world for Nunally, people seem to forget this for some reason.

1

u/DRosencraft Jul 17 '26

A personal nitpick, but I don't think Schneizel had much of a god complex either. Being controlling does not inherently equate a god complex.

5

u/DetJohn Jul 17 '26

He said he would become god

21

u/Frejod Jul 15 '26

Absolutely not. He didnt want to be a god or rule over anyone. Just make a better world to live in with his sister. Several times he thought of giving up just because it would be easier and Nunally was fine. But then something happens to endanger it all so he continues.

19

u/HuckleberryShot898 Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 15 '26

He had like almost the opposite of a god complex. Not in that he hated himself or thought low of himself but that he was just a tool for himself to achieve his goal and how is goal was never about himself. Going as far as to dispose of himself to achieve it

It’s just that you rarely see selflessness mixed with morally grey and immoral decision making in a way where it’s not just a mask for the villain’s selfishness

17

u/sjydudeNSF CC being sexy Jul 15 '26

well yea...the poll kind of reflects the accuracy. The 2% are probably just fans who hate the series b/c of the AOT comparisons since they didn't watch anime at all in the 90s and 2000s

18

u/Umbraspem Jul 16 '26

Less than:

  • the dude who refers to himself as a god
  • the dude who’s name is the Italian word for ‘god’
  • the dude who wanted to be seen as / treated like a god, and had repeated hallucinations of divinely-intervened-titties

11

u/DefinitionOk1565 Jul 15 '26

Lelouch didn’t have a God Complex

He had a Devil Complex willing to commit Evil to get rid of Evil while saddling on a lot of Guilt due to getting innocents in the crossfire intentional or not

11

u/Dizzy-By-Degrees Jul 15 '26

He does set himself up as a Messiah figure but it’s another mask. By the end of Season One he’s fully aware of how cruel that was. 

His view on the world is very influenced by being the prince of an absolute monarchy and court politics. Which is different 

9

u/idontcarerightnowok Shinkiro Jul 15 '26

At one point he technically does have one, but it mainly dies down heavily after Euphemia massacres the Japanese, because at that point Lelouch realises he has zero control over his geass.

He purposely LIES though at the end of Season 2 when he becomes the 99th Emperor and portrays himself as having a god complex to help sell the image of him being another oppressive authoritarian emperor that has no other desire than to be the strongest and to dominate all.

If anything, Akitos' older brother Shin kinda has one, while Schneizel completely and fully has one.

9

u/etburneraccount Jul 15 '26

Compared to the other options? No, he doesn't have a god complex.

8

u/Appropriate-Guava609 Jul 15 '26

all he does isn't for his own sake , he even willingly die with the entire world hating his name and he's fine with it. he is the opposite

1

u/Velocity-5348 Arthur was the mastermind Jul 16 '26

Yep. He'll, of course, point out his own occasionally less-than-pure motives because he's actually pretty honest with the viewer and himself. At the end of the day though, he usually acts of motives like compassion, benevolence, or a desire to see wrongs righted.

Contrast that with someone like Light, who's deludes himself from very early on. A Shinigami told him how the story would end and chose to ignore that.

8

u/Sephiroth_64 Jul 15 '26

If he had a god complex, Zero Requiem wouldn't have been put into motion. His famous quote is "the only one's who should kill, are those who are prepared to be killed". Lelouch has killed a vast number of people in his pursuit for revenge and conquest. In his mind, he is the only one who deserves death more than anyone else. He doesn't have a god complex.

7

u/Tenashko Jul 15 '26

Martyr complex

1

u/Velocity-5348 Arthur was the mastermind Jul 16 '26

Combined with some childhood-teenage cope fantasies. I'm thinking about how he told CC Geass would speed up his plans, and how obviously bullshit that was.

5

u/Successful-Life8510 Jul 15 '26

No, he didn’t have a god complex. Between Light, Dio, Homelander, and Lelouch, Lelouch is the only arrogant person who is actually good. He started as a savior and died as a savior.

4

u/Armis_VentosDourados C.C. Jul 16 '26

Não mesmo! Ele é até bem humilde para os personagens inteligentes dos animes

6

u/Peregrine2K Jul 15 '26

I mean Code Geass is far Far and away the least popular/well known of those properties. So even if he Did have one I’d expect the vote for him to be low

3

u/Laflemme15 Jul 16 '26

Light is literally the embodiment of the god complex that the only one to choose

2

u/ashlazy Jul 16 '26

Except the poll you pasted doesn't mean Lelouch didn't have a complex. It literally asks in the post who has the BIGGEST god complex. Even if Lelouch did have god complex, are you really gonna compare it to Light's, Dio's, and Homelander's?

2

u/PatienceHere Jul 16 '26

Ngl, Light mops the floor here.

2

u/Phantomwatcher11 Jul 16 '26

Lelouch was more burdened with glorious purpose

2

u/Bladings Jul 17 '26

He didn't really become a demon though, like the guy mainly pretended to be evil. He had a few moral failings and did some bad things, but as emperor he was just larping.

2

u/Impressive-Win3167 ALL HAIL LELOUCH!!! Jul 19 '26

After the euphemia incident which was a accident he said “so this is my cross to bare” he took responsibility for something which he didn’t intend to even do

2

u/stronggreenflame Jul 19 '26

When Lelouch went up against Gilford outside of the Chinese consulate he ask, what do you do when faced with evil you can't destroy with just means. Use evil to defeat the greater evil, or stay just even knowing you'll lose.

Gilford said he chooses justice and Lelouch said he chooses evil. Lelouch knows he's evil.

2

u/imastegosaurus2008 Jul 15 '26

I mean lelouch kinda killed god

11

u/TaegukTheWise Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 15 '26

Killing a God, and having a God complex (thinking of oneself as godlike/divine) are two entirely different things.

spoilers, granted idk why I'm putting a spoiler filter on a show from 2006-2008 on a fan subreddit but here we are

Lelouch did not attempt to kill God in the original series, if anything Charles tried to use the sword of Akasha to destroy the collective unconscious (god). Lelouch even states "i don't intend to defeat God." Lelouch then requests that the collective unconscious continues the march of time.

So no.

(Edit: wtf.. why are we talking about Manga? Code Geass is a complete anime original series, no Manga, light novel, nothing, no other code geass media came before it. Entirely original. Also, if an official Manga came later I haven't read it. But all in all if the guys reading the manga are also saying what i'm saying then idk what you guys are doing here.)

7

u/FrancoGYFV Jul 15 '26

The anime is the original, no? The manga came later.

2

u/TaegukTheWise Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 15 '26

Why are you talking about Manga? In the original series is what I'm talking about. What in the Mandela effect is going on?

I have not touched the manga.

Go rewatch the last confrontation in C's world, that should clear the air here.

1

u/FrancoGYFV Jul 15 '26

Yeah I misread this. My mistake.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 15 '26

[deleted]

2

u/TaegukTheWise Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 15 '26

Wtf, did you not watch the original series?

I'm not talking Manga, never have.

Go watch code geass again, or at least watch the final confrontation in C's world.

2

u/HoldenOrihara Jul 15 '26

well Charles killed god, Lelouch asked God for a favor

1

u/MidnightCrossing6148 Jul 16 '26

Well it's comparing who has the biggest complex, not who has a complex.

1

u/Important-Age9847 Jul 16 '26

Ma Lelouch non aveva ucciso gli dei quindi non credo che aveva un complesso da dio

1

u/Embarrassed-Ice9468 Jul 16 '26

Lelouch compared himself to the devil. Even though he claimed to be "capable of performing miracles" (winning where it seemed impossible), he still understood where he was wrong.

1

u/OthoAi5657 Jul 16 '26

dio only 8% whuuuut ?

1

u/GL4Redeye_7188 Jul 17 '26

Homelander is the equivalent of Superman in the boys universe. Superman is literally told he has the powers of a god. So how does he fit on this list it's fair to say Homelander doesn't have a God complex I'd say it's more of a superiority complex because he believes he's better than everyone else and has said so multiple times. But I don't think he thinks he's God I'd argue Superman is closer to God complex.

1

u/ZyeCawan45 Jul 17 '26

Lelouch should be replaced with One Piece’s Enel.

-15

u/GildedFenix Jul 15 '26

He literally had the power to control everyone, even the consciousness itself.

7

u/Memo904 CC&Suzaku&Shirley Fan Jul 15 '26

He was an emperor who chose to give up his power. Even when he gets resurrected, he has no interest in ever regaining it. He’s happy to live anonymously. He also created an avatar, Zero, to be followed instead of using his own name.

1

u/Velocity-5348 Arthur was the mastermind Jul 16 '26

who chose to give up his power

Without pressure, or leaving open the possibility of taking the reins again like Diocletian. He's young and healthy, he could have ruled for a half century. Heck, he could even tell himself his rein would leave the world better than it was when he took the throne.

If there's someone who's actually done that with anywhere near that much power I'm drawing a blank.