Jeremiah Gottwald
| Margrave Jeremiah Gottwald | |
|---|---|
| Code Geass character | |
| File:JeremiahGeass.jpg Jeremiah Gottwald | |
| Created by | Ichirō Ōkouchi |
| In-universe information | |
| Nickname | Orange |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Purist faction Sutherland pilot Siegfried pilot |
| Relatives | Rylitha Gottwald (Sister) |
| Nationality | Britannian |
Jeremiah Gottwald (ジェレミア・ゴットバルト, Jeremia Gottobaruto) is a fictional character in the Sunrise anime series, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion. His seiyū is Ken Narita and his English voice actor is Crispin Freeman.
Character outline
Jeremiah Gottwald is an elite Knightmare Frame pilot and a member of the Purists. He is deeply concerned with their supremacy, jumping on the chance to use Suzaku Kururugi, an Eleven (Japanese citizen) made an Honorary Britannian, as a scapegoat for both avenging Prince Clovis' death and reinforcing the Purists' superiority in Area 11. He hopes to limit military service to Purists alone. Jeremiah was a guard at the Aries Palace when Empress Marianne was assassinated, and considers the incident his first failure, dreaming of becoming the Knight Of One to make up for it. Afterwards, he transferred to Japan, the land that had apparently taken the lives of the Empress' two children Lelouch and Nunnally, in an attempt to redeem himself.
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, but 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.
Character history
First season
At the start of the season, Jeremiah leads the Sutherland unit in Shinjuku Ghetto. Lelouch Lamperouge, directing the resistance forces, easily defeats his unit and manages to assassinate Prince Clovis. Having used his Geass to make Clovis' guard leave, their subsequent memory loss leads Jeremiah to suspect them of treachery. He has most of them arrested and tries to scapegoat Suzaku for Clovis' murder in a public execution.
Lelouch, in the guise of Zero, interrupts the execution and hints that Jeremiah is hiding knowledge about a project called "Orange". The project doesn't exist, but the mere mention of it sows the seeds of dissent. Lelouch uses his Geass to force Jeremiah to help him escape with Suzaku, resulting in Jeremiah's disgrace when they ultimately succeed with his aid. Following this incident, he is reduced in rank to pilot, and his superiors and fellow Knightmare pilots refer to him as "Orange" as a way of mocking him, though Villetta Nu remains loyal to him. His fellow pilots even try to assassinate him, which he is rescued from 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 against the Japanese Liberation Front at the Narita Mountains. His impatient and impulsive action leads to his defeat at the hands of Kallen Stadtfeld, who has recently acquired the Guren Type-02. Its radiation arm quickly disables his Knightmare, but he refuses to eject. The system eventually ejects on his behalf, but by this point he is badly injured and his escape pod nigh-inoperable. Delusional and barely able to walk, he stumbles upon Prince Schneizel's team of scientists, who pick him up. He is officially listed as killed in action because everything suggesting otherwise was lost along with his Knightmare's signal.
Schneizel's scientists perform experiments on Jeremiah, enhancing him with various cybernetic devices. The implants run up his spine and the cover the entire left side of his body. His mind has also been tampered with, as the scientists make mention to tearing down and rebuilding his emotions. Before the process is complete, he goes insane at the mention of Zero. He breaks out of the research facility and steals the Knightmare Frame Siegfried. After chasing C.C. and Lelouch to Kaminejima, Jeremiah and the Siegfried are dragged into the ocean by C.C. in a kamikaze attack.
Second season
Despite the fact that C.C. was eventually crushed by the pressure of the deep sea (though her immortality allowed her to recover once she surfaced), Jeremiah somehow escaped that fate, ending up as an ally of V.V. The two are seen in an unidentified desert region. Jeremiah's cybernetic implants appear to have been largely removed, though he now wears an orange mask with an opaque eyepiece over his left eye 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 or C.C. will be no match for him.
Behind the scenes
According to the writing staff of Code Geass, it was originally planned for Jeremiah to die in episode 8 from injuries sustained while fighting Kallen. However, the character's unexpected popularity with the fanbase inspired them to rewrite his story, reviving him in time for the end of the first season.[citation needed]