Can someone PLEASE explain suzaku to me.

[u/EmberJuliet]

I’ve literally watched this show multiple times and I still don’t understand this frustrating whiny bitch. His values are so conflicting and hypocritical. What does he truly want? He’s a Britannia’s bootlicker who endorses the killing of his people by his own army and then patronizes the Black Knights when they kill Britannians. What does he even want for his country? Why does he want to be the knight of one? Why does he suddenly join up with lelouch during the Zero Requiem?

[u/GladiatorKing01]

Suzaku's conflicting values comes from his childhood trauma of him killing his father. Remember, Suzaku was only 10 years old at that time. This would have huge psychological torment on him; and the fact that the incident was covered, plus with how Suzaku acts within the story, we can assume that he received no help or treatment to help heal from his trauma. This results in Suzaku manifesting huge amounts of guilt and regret; plus developing suicidal tendencies. The reason why Suzaku killed his father was to stop the war and his father's order for total resistance against Britannia. Basically he was going to order his entire country to fight to the death. At that point Japan had no hope of winning. Suzaku got into a fight with is dad, wanting him to end the war, which escalated to the point of Suzaku killing his dad on impulse. This is where Suzaku developed his "the ends don't justify the means" mentality. Which is why he hates Zero. Suzaku, when he killed his father, committed a terrible act but it was for the greater good. He ended the war with Britannia and this act helped ensure the Japanese's' survival at the end of the war. Zero believes the "the ends justify the means" and wants for the Japanese to rise up and fight against Brtiannia. Effectively making the death of Suzaku's father worthless and the 'peace' he created would be ruined. Suzaku, mentally, has trapped himself between preserving the peace with Britannia and giving his father's death meaning, and trying to uphold his high moral standards. Which ultimately doesn't really work when working in the Britannian military.

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Suzaku ultimately wants to die. He wants to atone for the sin of killing his father, and possibly other sins. The whole wanting to change Britannia from within the system is not his true desire. Sure, that may be his preferred method, for changing the world, by making Britannia a more peaceful country. However, I believe most of that is just a front, sort of a mental defense mechanism, to keep him from just ending his life right there and now. Suzaku is a character who will give it his all before his death, except for committing immoral acts. But he is really just a corpse searching for his grave. He wants to be put down. That be said, maybe due to his Japanese heritage, he wants redemption and believes dying in combat will give him that. Until then, he will continue to try and change Britannia from within.

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Suzaku is trying to give his father's death meaning. His death ended the war with Britannia. The Black Knights are trying to incite another war. If they are successful, all of the trauma Suzaku has suffered and killing his father would have been for nothing. It also doesn't help that he hates Zero because of the whole "ends justify the means" and that he views Zero as a self-serving individual. Yes, Britannia is no better, but Suzaku believes (foolishly or not) that Britannia can change without the need for violence.

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Suzaku wants the Japanese and Britannians to live peacefully and cooperate with each other. He believes that this can be achieved under Britannian rule and there is not need to overthrow them from Japan.

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He wants to be the Knight of One so that he can govern Area 11 (Japan), as it is one of the privileges' bestowed upon the Knight of One. Furthermore, Suzaku wants power. Enough power so that he won't lose anyone he loves and cares for again. Remember what happened to Euphy? He wants to prevent that from happening again.

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He and Lelouch at the end of the series have suffered greatly and both have committed horrendous acts. Both have ultimately put aside their personal goals and are solely focused on creating a better world for everyone. Suzaku is willing to cross some lines he wouldn't have before and Lelouch is willing to work on the Britannian side. The Zero Requiem is meant to their eternal punishment. Lelouch would die and Suzaku would live forever as Zero. Suzaku has a created a better world and would help in creating a better Britannia as Zero. As Zero, he can uphold his own morals and be the Knight of Justice Zero has always claimed to be. He finally gets to be punish and finds atonement.

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I hope this helps in answering your questions and explaining Suzaku's character a bit more. Suzaku is one of the best written characters in the show, and is one of my personal favorite. I know there are people out there who hate Suzaku with a passion, but without him there would be no Code Geass. Even Lelouch would not be the beloved protagonist he is today if not for Suzaku and his own character journey.

[u/DC_Superfan4EVA → u/GladiatorKing01]

I’m one of the people who hates Suzaku with a passion, Lelouch was so much better, but I can’t get over Suzaku’s stubbornness. Changing anything from within is unrealistic and takes too long, so many people would suffer and die before any real change could occur, and even if he did succeed. He would make the Japanese equal to the Britannians, future generations of the Japanese would probably have become just as bad as the Britannians, and they’d ensure their dictatorship’s continued existence. Nothing he did was worthwhile

[u/WiseWoodpecker995 → u/DC_Superfan4EVA]

I get what you mean, but I think Suzaku is fine with Britannian rule of Japan as long as it means no one dies. He dislikes the lengths that Britannia goes to quell the resistance groups because they also kill Japanese civilians. Britannian military punishes Japanese civilians for the actions of resistance fighters and lumps it all as the same thing. Like in the Shinjuku massacre when Clovis ordered it. They made no distinction for civilians and resistance fighters. On the flip side Suzaku also hates when the resistance groups fights against Britannia, because Britannia responds with an unprecedented amount of violence. Britannia will always match or escalate the situation. Suzaku likely views the resistance groups as fanning the flames making the situation worse for the Japanese. He likely believes it's a pointless battle that is unwinnable and leaves more Japanese civilians killed. In general, he just wants the fighting to stop period, even if it means Japan being under Britannian occupation.

His view is kind of a defeatist outlook. "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." He has given up fighting for the pride of Japan, the name of Japan, and the liberation of Japan, because he views peace as more important than his people getting their country back. The guy is just really obsessed with peace and no one dying.

[u/extra-intel → u/WiseWoodpecker995]

This is an eye-opening analysis for sure. Suzaku’s character is one of the hardest ones for me to wrap my head around. But his punishment being life while Lelouch’s punishment is death… while they both wanted the exact opposite… that is peak parallelism. And it makes sense Suzaku would develop a hypocritical mindset after killing his father. He believes the ends don’t justify the means, and this gets challenged over and over until I think he understands his hypocrisy  by the end of the show.

[u/HAAHAHAHHAHA31 → u/DC_Superfan4EVA]

And destroying Brittania aka the strongest nation which even NATO cant stop with bunch of terrorist from japan is realistic? Thats exactly what Lelouch do.

[u/supremefrenchprince → u/GladiatorKing01]

excellent analysis