|
Since lelouch has been discussed in detail much by others, there is no furthur need to bring up his personal history here.
This discussion aims to primarily address lelouch's motivations and whether he indeed may be dubbed a hero.
Personally to me, i harbour no bit of resentment against lelouch. However, i most certainly do not think lelouch can be considered a hero, not even a bit.
Throughout the series, lelouch's motivations behind his cruelty are purely that of selfsh intentions. To begin with, he begins his pointless campaign against the empire just to seek revenge against a bitter dispute he had with the empire. No where is it hinted that his intentions were to save the world if you put aside his pretentious rantings about making the world a better place.
The series then proceeds, with lelouch losing the meaning behind his actions, only to discover a new ome again. This is yet again proof that he is unfocused on the goal of saving the world, amd is merely using it as a pretext to justify his cruelty to the audience. This is clearly seen in many examples, such as how he literally broke down and stopped his "noble plans" when his sister was presumbly dead. The cliched heroic ending that code geass plays on is merely lelouch realising his mistakes and seeking a way to escape and atone for it. It is no where near heroic, or even sad. Many watching it can only say that he deserved it, though we do wish for a happier resolution, like conspiracy theories about him being alive. Ultimately we need to recognise this somewhat positive feelings arise solely because of our desire for it, and not lelouch being a dark hero that deserved a better end.
If you would look at the example of another famous but genuine dark hero, this difference in sincerity is made explicit. Kiritsugu Emiya, the antihero from fate/zero is a more genuine example of a dark hero, where he remains true to his ideology, making painful sacrifices along his path to seeking salvation for all. Also, he remains focused om his task, to the point of being able to reject all power and greed just to pursue his belief in the end.
In conclusion, lelouch is not a worthy candidate for the title of dark hero. He strikes me overall as just a manipulative, petty, proud person, though he has the courage to make ammendments for his mistakes in the end, thus preventimg him from beimg considered a villian
|