Schneizel el Britannia

シュナイゼル・エル・ブリタニア

Schneizel el Britannia is the Second Prince of the Britannian Imperial Family and the Prime Minister of the Holy Britannian Empire. He is a strategist on par with Lelouch, and the only person Lelouch was unable to beat in chess as a child. Schneizel is ruthless and cold as a strategist, but is extremely charismatic and caring toward his subordinates. He seems to show disdain for force when it’s unnecessary, such as negotiating a peace treaty with the Euro Universe despite dominating them militarily in every engagement.

Schneizel has ambitions for the throne, a fact which the Emperor is aware of but does not seemed concerned by. During the second battle of Tokyo, he remarks that his father is not concerned with the present reality. He also seems to have been involved in the murder of Marianne vi Britannia. When questioned by Lelouch, Clovis suggests that Schneizel knows the truth behind Marianne’s murder, and Cornelia likewise notes that it was Schneizel who carried the body out under the Emperor’s orders. Schneizel sponsors a number of experimental projects throughout the series. He is the patron of Lloyd Asplund, developer of the Lancelot, funded the construction of the Gawain, and takes possession of one of the Thought Elevators in Japan to study it.

In the second season, Schneizel commands of the Britannian forces attempting to conquer the E.U.-controlled North Africa, ending with a peace treaty despite repeated victories. As he explains to Nina, he did this because nothing but conquest invites defeat since it destroys hope. He also attempts to bribe the High Eunuchs of the Chinese Federation into trading much of their land in exchange for being made nobility in Britannia. After the fact is exposed and the people rebel against the Eunuchs, 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. After the fall of the Eunuchs, Schneizel begins efforts to annex the Federation’s fragmented territories using a mixture of intimidation and incentives. He leads the defense against the Black Knights attack on Tokyo, and manages to learn Zero’s identity by having Suzaku followed. He also learns about the nature of Geass from Suzaku, making him confident that he holds all the cards in the upcoming battle.

In Suzaku of the Counterattack,

In the manga spin-off series, Schneizel is the series’ main antagonist, and has knowledge of Geass and C.C., whom he plans to use for world domination.

After Schneizel arrives at Area 11, he meets Lloyd’s assistant Mariel Lubie and discuss the Knightmare combat suit and its connections with Geass. She reveals to him that it involves beings known as “Regulators”, who were part of the Geass cult and gained superhuman abilities. Schneizel then meets Suzaku, and decides to appoint him as his Knight, which Suzaku accepts. When Zero and the Black Knights take control over the Britannian Art Gallery with Charles inside, Schneizel confronts Zero, who he knows is Lelouch. In the Emperor’s private room lies Charles’ dead body, and Schneizel reveals that he killed the Emperor, and that he was the one that killed Lelouch’s mother, Marianne, for discovering his plans. Schneizel sent C.C. away, and later set Lelouch up by having him shoot the Emperor just in time for Suzaku to appear and think that Zero was the culprit. With the arrest of Zero, Schneizel manages to catch C.C. and begins his plan to take her code, thus, becoming immortal.

On the same night the uprising of the Black Knight begins, led by Kallen disguised as Zero, Schneizel begins to extract C.C.’s code. However, he is interrupted by both Lelouch and Suzaku, who have discovered and plan to stop his scheme. Schneizel has gained a portion of C.C.’s abilities is able to stop Lelouch from using his Geass (by means of puncturing his left eye) and damages Suzaku’s combat suit. As he is about to finish the two off, Suzaku reveals his Geass code and stops Schneizel, who is surprised to find that Suzaku is a Regulator. Before Schneizel is able to fully obtain C.C.’s Geass code, Suzaku kills him.