Jeremiah Gottwald (ジェレミア・ゴットバルト)

Background

Jeremiah Gottwald, also known as Orange, is a prominent antagonist-turned-supporting protagonist in the anime series Code Geass. He is an elite Knightmare Frame pilot deeply concerned with the maintenance of Purist supremacy within Britannian society. He is somewhat overconfident and passionate about furthering his goals, both qualities that tend to make him rash and impulsive in battle.

He was formerly a part of Empress Marianne's guard, and he is deeply affected after failing to stop her assassination. To an extent, his loyalty towards Marianne and to Lelouch and Nunnally was so devoted that he is willing to betray anyone to prove his loyalty to them.

Initially, he held the rank of Margrave in Area 11's military hierarchy. After Clovis's murder, Jeremiah takes upon the role of Area 11's Acting-Consul. Still, upon losing Suzaku Kururugi to Zero in a very public fiasco, Jeremiah fell into disgrace and soon into mental instability when denied the opportunity to regain his former status. In fact, by episode 10, he became utterly obsessed with capturing Zero.

After learning of Lelouch's motive for becoming Zero, he regains his sanity and a newfound purpose of serving Lelouch and Nunnally as an atonement for his previous failures.

During Suzaku's execution, Zero interrupts the performance, announces himself publicly, and declares he killed Clovis. He hints that he is bribed by calling him "Orange-Kun. " The honorific -Kun shows a level of formality that hints of a prior relationship between the two to make it appear as if Jeremiah had been conspiring with terrorists. Lelouch uses his Geass on Jeremiah Gottwald to force him to assist in Suzaku's rescue, resulting in Jeremiah's disgrace when they ultimately succeed with his aid.

Following this incident, Jeremiah's standing with both the Army and Britannia is dropped severely. He is reduced in rank to pilot. His superiors and fellow Knightmare pilots refer to him as "Orange" to mock him. However, Villetta Nu remains loyal to him. His fellow pilots even try to assassinate him, from which he is rescued by none other than Suzaku and Villetta.

Seeking to regain his status, Jeremiah seeks out any opportunity to capture or kill Zero, even disobeying orders to do so. He gets his chance during the Battle of Narita. Nevertheless, his impulsive action leads to his defeat.

Schneizel's scientists perform experiments on Jeremiah, enhancing him with various cybernetic devices. The implants run up his spine and cover the entire left side of his body. His mind has also been tampered with, as the scientists mention tearing down and rebuilding his emotions. Before the process is complete, he goes insane at the comment of Zero. He breaks out of the research facility and steals the Knight Giga Fortress Siegfried. After chasing C.C. and Lelouch to Kamine Island, Jeremiah and the Siegfried are dragged into the ocean by C.C. in a kamikaze attack.

Even though the deep sea pressure eventually crushed C.C., Jeremiah somehow escaped that fate, ending up as an ally of V.V. Jeremiah's implants appear to have been almost wholly internalized. However, his left eye is still noticeably cybernetic. He wears an orange mask with an opaque eyepiece over the look and clothing very similar to a Knight of Rounds.

He appears to be aware of Lelouch's identity as Zero and mentions with adjustments, neither Lelouch nor C.C. will be a match for him.

V.V. sends Jeremiah to kill Lelouch. The two meet in a train station, where Jeremiah asks Lelouch why he became Zero and betrayed the Emperor. Lelouch tells him that it was to avenge the death of his mother, Empress Marianne, and reveals his real name is Lelouch Vi Britannia. Realizing who Lelouch indeed was and his motivations, he returns to sanity and swears his loyalty to Lelouch to redeem his failure to protect Marianne. He now takes the nickname "Orange" as a compliment, seeing it as the name of his loyalty.

During the second battle of Tokyo, he is piloting the Sutherland Sieg, salvaged from the destroyed Siegfried. Jeremiah once again reunites with Suzaku during the struggle and ends up fighting Gino. In the aftermath of the F.L.E.I.J.A.'s detonation, Jeremiah restrains an enraged Lelouch as the Black Knights retreat to reform their battle line. He then leaves to search for Nunnally and comes across Suzaku in the crater behind the explosion.

After the Black Knights betray Zero, they report him as dead to the world, Jeremiah included. Jeremiah does not seem convinced and asks to see Zero's face, but Ohgi dodges the request. He later rejoins Lelouch after he takes the throne.

During his conversation with Sayoko, he tells her that she has an odd choice of loyalties (following a Britannian despite being Japanese) and remarks that she, like himself, seems to follow the path of chivalry.

He later helps Lelouch in his battle against Schneizel and the Black Knights and encounters Anya Alstreim. He manages to break open the Mordred by self-destructing his Knightmare. He is prepared to kill Anya but spares her life when she mentions she has no memories. Realizing she is under the influence of Geass and uses his Geass Canceler to restore her memories soon after, he is one of the first to declare "All hail Lelouch!" when he becomes ruler of the world.

During the planned execution of the Black Knights, Jeremiah orders the soldiers not to fire and faces off against Suzaku, masquerading as Zero. However, he lets Suzaku through, knowing what they have planned. When Lelouch is killed, and his prisoners are freed, Jeremiah orders a retreat.