Jeremiah Gottwald

History

Jeremiah Gottwald was a part of Lady Marianne vi Britannia's royal guard before she was killed. Jeremiah partially blamed himself for the incident, but also never understood why Marianne order that he and his men not be at the palace.

Seven years later, after the Britannian invasion of Japan - now known as "Area 11" - Jeremian served under Prince Clovis, who was also assassinated. Jeremiah and the Britannian "purebloods" take charge of the military in Area 11 and taking control over the investigation, framing Suzaku Kururugi for the murder. However, on his way to the trial, they were stopped by the masked man known as Zero. Zero blackmailed Jeremiah with a device that looked like a bio weapon, taking the civilians in the area as hostages. Zero also made a claim to know about the secret operation known as "Orange," and that he would reveal everything about it. This was, however, a bluff, for there was no "Orange." When he got the opportunity, Zero - who, in reality, was Lelouch vi Britannia, son of Lady Marianne - used a power known as "Geass" to force Jeremiah to let Suzaku and himself go without charges. He obeyed, going as far as to fire on his own soldiers when they tried to stop Suzaku and Zero from escaping.

The bluff combined with his unusual behavior planted a seed of doubt in the Britannians, causing them believe Jeremiah to be a traitor. He became mocked by his fellow Britannians, earning the scornful nickname "Orange," referencing the false secret mentioned by Zero. He was demoted, losing his title of "Margrave." The only person in the Britannian military who remained loyal to him was Viletta Nu, another person who was subjected to Geass.

Several Knightmare pilots attack Gottwald, ambushing him in the Shinjuku ghetto. He is saved by the intervention of Suzaku Kururugi, the man who Jeremiah was previously going to have executed. He was also saved when the newly revealed Princess Euphemia ordered that all units withdraw.

Gottwald was involved in the Battle of Narita, an operation where Britannian military forces - led by Princess Cornelia, the older sister to Princess Euphemia - against the Japanese Liberation Front. Zero and his Black Knights, as the terrorist group had come to be known, engaged Britannia in an act to get the JLF on their side. Gottwald recklessly went after Zero, attempting to regain lost honor. Zero, however, was protected by his ace pilot, Kallen, pilot of the Guran. Kallen easily beat Jeremiah, who refused to eject when his Knightmare began to fail. Eventually, it did initiate auto ejection, but not before Jeremiah was injured in the process.

Cyborg

Jeremiah was presumed dead. However, in reality, he was recovered by Britannian scientists. He was brought to the secret facility. He was rebuilt with cybernetic enhancements to his body. Upon first emergence, it appeared that some of his mental sanity had been lost in the process. He piloted his powerful Siegfried against his arch enemy, Zero, during the Battle of Tokyo. In an effort to distract him, Zero's immortal ally - C.C. - attacked Gottwald, "sacrificing" herself to defeat him, both crashing into the ocean.

Upgraded

A year after the Battle of Tokyo, Zero had returned. Jeremiah was upgraded a second time by V.V., another immortal being. V.V., leader of the Geass Order, upgraded Jeremiah with enhanced abilities. Among his upgrades include: enhanced durability, a retractable sword-length blade from his arm, and - most deadly of all - a Geass Canceler, giving him the ability to take away the influence of Geass from a person as well as himself. It also appeared that Jeremiah's sanity was restored. To that end, in great secrecy, V.V. ordered Jeremiah to find and assassinate Lelouch, aka Zero.

Jeremiah used his Geass Canceler to track down people who had been affected by Geass, effectively using them as a trail to find Lelouch. While doing this, he brought back to memories of Shirley Fenette, one of Lelouch's friends.

Jeremiah found Lelouch's residence at the Ashford Academy. There, he killed many guards who had been affected by Geass, serving as Lelouch's slave guardians. He was finally met by Lelouch's maid, Sayoko, who served as his last line of defense. The secret ninja fought Jeremiah for some time. The battle was stopped when Lelouch's false brother, Rolo, intervened, using his "time-stopping" Geass to hold Jeremiah while Sayoko finished the job. However, Jeremiah's Geass Canceler allowed him to escape Rolo's hold, badly wounding Sayoko and taking down Rolo.

Jeremiah tracked Lelouch down near the subway terminals. Unbeknownst to him, Lelouch was baiting him. He drew Jeremiah in close, where he activated a Gefjun Disturber - a device that will stop any machine powered by Sakuradite, which included Jeremiah's cybernetic parts. Jeremiah tried hard to resist, but succumbed to the device, revealing to Lelouch his fierce loyalty to Lady Marianne. It was at that moment that Lelouch revealed himself to be Marianne's son. He turned off the device before Jeremiah's wounds became terminal. From that point on, Jeremiah turned his back on Britannia, swearing complete loyalty to Lelouch vi Britannia, aka his former archenemy, Zero.

Lelouch's Ally

After the incident, Jeremiah assisted Lelouch and his Black Knights conduct a secret black-ops strike on the headquarters of the Geass Order, where Jeremiah turned on the ones who created him. During the attack, all scientists, cultists, apprentices, and retirements were killed - including the immortal V.V., when his immortal "code" was taken by his brother, Charles zi Britannia.

Jeremiah continued to serve Lelouch, participating in the Second Battle of Tokyo, where the Black Knights engaged the Britannian forces for an all out offensive. The objectives included:

• Securing the city.
• Taking Lelouch's sister, Nunnally, "hostage" to prevent her from being harmed. Led by Rolo and Sayoko.
• Rescue Kallen

However, not everything went as planned. Kallen was rescued, by Nunnally was seemingly killed when the Britannians launched a powerful, terrible weapon known as the FLEIJA, which decimated the majority of the Tokyo settlement. Lelouch went mad, ordering that all soldiers search for Nunnally. It was Jeremiah who made the move to stop him, taking him away to a safe location. After Lelocuh was secured, Jeremiah went on a personal search for Nunnally.

Lelouch was later betrayed by the Black Knights, who claimed that Zero had been killed due to wounds sustained in the battle. Jeremiah did not believe the claim, and abandoned the Black Knights. In reality, Lelouch was able to escape the death that his former allies had planned for him.

Lelouch, in a surprising turn of events, was able to kill his father, the Emperor of Britannia, and took the throne for himself. Jeremiah returned to the Palace, again swearing loyalty to Lelouch, the new Emperor. Jeremiah went on at least one mission to assassinate Lelouch's enemies within the Empire.

Jeremiah, along with Suzaku, were among the front line soldiers engaging the Black Knights and Britannian soldiers allied with Prince Schneizel. Jeremiah found himself up against the Knight of Six, Anya Alstreim, piloting the Mordred. Anya's Mordred proved a challenging opponent, her Stark Hadron Cannon tearing Jeremiah's Sutherland Sieg to pieces. However, Jeremiah was able to escape with a smaller backup Knightmare, attacking Anya at close range before she could throw up her shields. He then initiated self-destruct, destroying his own Knightmare and parts of Anya's. Unhurt, he pinned the now vulnerable pilot in her cockpit. When she revealed to him that she had no memories of her own - the reason for her obsession with recording everything, including their previous battle - he used his Geass canceler on her. In the aftermath of the battle, Jeremiah was amongst the other soldiers chanting the name of Emperor Lelouch, still standing on Anya's defeated Mordred in victory. During the battle, however, it was assumed that Suzaku Kururugi, the Knight of Zero and Lelouch's personal knight, was killed during the fight.

A month later, Jeremiah led the parade as Lelouch went through the streets of Japan with his prisoners from the battle, leading them to the execution grounds. The group stopped when Zero interrupted the parade. Many were shocked at this revelation. As the masked figure rushed toward Lelouch, Jeremiah ordered the other soldiers to stand down as he met him head-on. However, "Zero" was able to dodge him, and made his way to Lelouch vi Britannia, where he killed him. After the assassination, the resulting chaos worsened by the inclusion of a small band of rebels - led by Princess Cornelia - rushed in to free the prisoners. Jeremiah ordered that all Britannian forces retreat.

It is revealed that Jeremiah was amongst those who knew of Lelouch's end-game plan, known as the "Zero Requiem," which involved Suzaku faking his death, Lelouch intentionally becoming the most hated man in the world, and Suzaku assassinating Lelouch as Zero. After the incident, in stark irony, Jeremiah retired to work on an orange farm, where he appeared to live happily.

Personality

Jeremiah is fiercely loyal to Lady Marianne and Marianne's offspring. He was fully willing to kill Lelouch until he discovered that Lelouch was the son of Marianne, in which case he swore his loyalty to Lelouch, serving him and turning his back on Britannia.

Powers and Abilities

Jeremiah was a somewhat skilled Knightmare pilot, though not exceptional.

After he was reconstructed by Britannian scientists, he became something of a super soldier. He became almost completely invulnerable to all harm, capable of surviving the self-destruct of his Knightmare without any damage and taking hits from daggers. The only thing capable of bringing him down was a Gefjun Disturber - a device that will stop any machine powered by Sakuradite, which Lelouch designed as a prototype to bring down Knightmares.

Jeremiah utilized two long, sword-like blades, which came from both of his arms.

Jeremiah also possessed a Geass Canceler. This ability allowed him to remove the affects of Geass from anybody, including himself. He was able to free himself from Rolo's "time freezing" Geass.