leaders of the rebellions

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    Jennifer Sandman

    Final Paper

    May 6, 2013

    Heroes of the Rebellions

    The concepts of dystopian films are always set to where a person or a group

    of people rebels against the overpowering party for their freedom. While

    Equilibrium by Kurt Wimmerand Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion a manga

    and anime written by Ichiro Okouchi are set in completely different worlds, they

    both are fighting for a world where everyone can live freely. In both of these works,

    the main characters John Preston and Lelouch, while minorly helped by members of

    their parties, are soley responsible for bringing victory to their cause. The

    determination and strong wills of these protagonists bring justice to the minorities.

    Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion is an anime series based upon a time

    where a War had been fought between the capital city of the Holy Britannian

    Empire, Pendragon, and Japan. The month long war to win Superiority and land

    between the two countries was won by the Britannian Army in following which they

    gave the name Section Eleven to the defeated Japan. The people that live in Section

    Eleven are referred to as elevens and were considered to be equivalent to the rats

    on the streets that they lived on. Elevens are highly looked down upon and are

    sanctioned off to areas of the country where there is no hope of survival. Since most

    of the war was fought in Japan, a lot of the destruction left many of the people on the

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    streets without the necessities needed to rebuild their community. The Elevens are

    restricted upon entering any part of Britannia and the punishment for stepping foot

    on their Holy grounds is immediate persecution. There is only one way for Elevens

    to enter their city, and that is to join the army in which they are ordered to kill

    Elevens, their families.

    Lelouch Lamperouge is the protagonist of this series and he was the prince of

    Britannia, but was used as a bargaining tool and was exiled to live in Japan with his

    sister Nunally. Going from being Royalty in his home country Britannia, to being

    sent away at the age of ten to live in the place where everyone was considered scum

    sparked off the flame in Lelouch that will in turn lead to the fall of the Britannian

    Empire in the end of the series.

    While attending school in Japan, Lelouch is caught up in a raid from the

    Britannian army where he is saved by a super natural woman, C.C., who makes a

    contract with Lelouch and grants him the power of Geass, also known as the Power

    of the King. The power of the Geass allows Lelouch to command anyone that he

    makes eye contact with to do anything he wants for a single time, whether it be to

    bend their will to fight, live, die, or anything else he could possibly think of. With his

    new found power, he obtains an alias and is called by Zero while in the process is

    named the leader of a resistance known as the Black Knights to fight against Holy

    Britannia for the freedom of all Elevens.

    The Elevens are uplifted with the uprising of the Black Knights rebellion that

    they are no longer saddened by their status of being Elevens they begin to

    revitalize their pride in their culture and who they are. Similar to Equilibrium the

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    people are forced to hide, for what they are, how they were raised, and what they

    believe in. With Lelouchs power he leads many attacks to the Britannians Army and

    ultimately he kills the person who is at fault for giving Elevens their reputation as

    lesser beings, who is also his Father, the King of Britannia.

    Equilibrium is also based upon a world that has undergone a Third World

    War which leads to the ideology that has pointed to human emotion being the very

    cause of all destruction and the root of all conflict. Father is the leader of the

    Tetregrammaton Council, which oversees that everyone is in conformity of the rules

    of their society and the Grammaton Cleric enforces the laws. The soldiers of the

    Grammaton Cleric are trained in the martial arts of Gun Kata in which they use

    against people who are against Father.

    Similar to Code Geass Section Eleven, where there are the people outside of

    controlling totalitarian government, Equilibriums equivalent is called the Nether

    which hold the people who are considered sense offenders. Any type of emotional

    content whether it be art, music, decoration, etc. is banned and if caughtsense

    offending like Viviana, Prestons wife, then execution is the cost of feeling. In the

    Nethers raids from the Grammaton Cleric incinerate all items that can lead to

    someone feeling emotion which is perfectly portrayed in the scene where the Mona

    Lisa among many other paintings were blow-torched.

    Emotions are what make humans, it would be the most difficult task to mask

    your anger, happiness, love, hate, without any substance controlling your brain. For

    this, Prozium is a drug that is required by the Tetragrammaton Council for it

    suppresses emotion, the root of all the conflicts and war. When Preston accidentally

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    breaks his daily vial of Prozium he begins to experience the emotions hes gone

    without for so long now. He decides against taking Prozium again and with his

    regained emotion he finds the rebellion group known as the Underground and

    joins them in order to complete the mission to kill Father and to destroy all of the

    plants that manufacture and store Prozium. The Underground knows that if the

    entire population goes without the drug, even for a day, it will lead people to realize

    that emotions are part of being human.

    Corruption and double standards are prevalent in both of these works. In

    Equilibrium they consciously accept to taking Prozium in order to live in a society

    where they can live happily and peacefully without war and violence. The drug takes

    away their emotions so do they get to fully enjoy the peace that they seemingly

    achieved? Even though this movement was to end war, there is still war going on,

    killing of the people who want to feel their emotions, good or bad. While in Code

    Geass the War fought was to achieve unity between Japan and Britannia, the King

    was engulfed in his power and contradicted the purpose of the war.

    Freedom of individuality is a main theme for Equilibrium and Code Geass.

    Individuality is the main root of every person. In Equilibrium, everyones

    individuality is taken away with the use of the emotion-suppressing drug. Everyone

    follows Father and every word he says is right, like in the Novel 1984 2+2=5.

    (Orwell, George) Individuality is the ability to think for your own, feel emotions and

    being able to act upon them as you wish. In Code Geass the individuality of the

    Elevens are taken away from them and replaced with the individualities that the

    Kings wants them to have, and person to disagree is prosecuted. The goals to regain

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    their individualities are both achieved through the protagonists conquering the

    antagonists of the stories. Also both Preston and Lelouch defeats symbolize that it

    doesnt take an army to win the battle. The fact that they made a difference for a

    whole population is a reminder to everyone that you can make a difference if you

    stand up for what you believe it, not just sit idly by blissfully ignorant.

    Though the plots of these works differ from each other where in Code Geass

    there is no option for the Elevens to become a part of Britannia, and in Equilibrium

    the people chose to go against the government that controls them, they are

    ultimately the same. The hero of each single handedly destroys the leader of the

    totalitarian government that exists in their society. With many obstacles in the way

    for both Lelouch and Preston they overcome each one of them for each of these

    heros obtain the skills and powers to give equality and freedom to the populations.

    Where Preston is the highest skilled Grammaton Cleric, and Lelouch gains the ability

    to use Geass, they both manage to wit their way to their freedom.