Charles Vi Britannia is one of the main antagonists of Iron117Prime's Code Prime, a crossover series between Code Geass and the Transformers "Aligned" universe. He serves as the secondary antagonist of Rebellion.
He is the 98th emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire, the father of Lelouch vi Britannia and many others, as well as V.V.'s younger twin brother. He is Megatron's treacherous apprentice.
After being found by Megatron during the Exodus as a child, Charles was taken in and then mentored by the Decepticon leader. After becoming Emperor, Charles secretly sends supplies of Energon, otherwise known as Sakuradite to the Nemesis in order to assist the Decepticon cause. But in terms of the Geass however, he intentionally hid his true agenda from Megatron for fear of how he would retaliate.
Years later, when the Autobots and their allies reveal themselves, Charles was forced to make an alliance with the Decepticons to defeat them. Though, he constantly treated the battle as a secondary concern and was more focused on keeping the Ragnarök Connection hidden. But as the conflict escalates, Charles is forced to more desperate measures. Including sending the Knights of the Round to Japan and assigning Bismarck the goal of killing Optimus Prime and capturing Lelouch out of envy for the Prime's positive influence on the exiled prince.
Upon learning the truth, Megatron decided to forgoe his alliance with Britannia. He manipulated events so half of Britannia's military would focus solely on Japan, leaving Pendragon defenseless. During the invasion, Charles would face Megatron in his own Knightmare, only to be defeated. Megatron would subject Charles to his Dark Geass of Absolute Terror to make Charles live out his worst fear. He's then called out by Megatron for his hypocrisy and childish beliefs, calling his goal petty and naive. After being pulled out of the visions, Charles was made to watch as the Nemesis wipes Pendragon off the map, destroying his plans. The coup de grace comes when Megatron incinerates Charles with his fusion cannon, after seeing his brother V.V. betray him and side with the Decepticons.
In the end, Charles would die with his "dream" along with everything else lost to Megatron and would be remembered as nothing more than a selfish and petty man who deserved his fate.
Personality[]
Charles is a cold-hearted and intelligent madman who strongly holds views of Social Darwinism, believing that only the strongest were worthy to rise in society, thanks to Megatron's teachings. The philosophy that Megaton installed in him was not reserved solely towards his adversaries, however, as he treated Lelouch harshly after the death of Marianne, offering no sympathy to his then-adolescent son. He is also deeply cynical, having no confidence in humanity's positive traits and believing that their natural course is struggle and conflict.
He has no moral compunctions in how he deals with his enemies. His rise to power saw numerous political rivals and their allies killed, and even as Emperor, Britannia continued to engage in global conflict with its adversaries. Ultimately, he cares little for the casualties caused by Britannia's military conflicts, regardless if they are enemy combatants, innocent civilians, or even Britannian soldiers.
Interestingly, his views and ideology seem to have stemmed from his traumatic upbringing. As a child, he often witnessed his family kill each other in pursuit of the throne, thus he naturally came to understand that without power, one cannot survive. He wishes for the world to be gentler; he even believes that the Ragnarok Connection will ensure the gentle world that Nunnally wants.
However, when he is confronted by Megatron, Charles is forced to confront who he truly is. A naive coward who desired to have the world be about him. He could have used his authority as Emperor to make the world a better place, but instead chose to make the world suffer while working towards Ragnarök simply because he thought the world wouldn't agree with him. Even when he sees a vision of his children ditching him, instead of begging them for forgiveness, he insists they ought to obey him. This is supported as while brief, when Marianne's spirit says she's noticed a great change in Lelouch's behavior, Charles surmises with a trace of envy it's due to Optimus Prime's influence. He's then very quick to state that Lelouch is his son, not the Autobot Leader's. He even wants Bismarck to kill Optimus before capturing Lelouch, out of spite for the "machine" that "corrupted" his son. As further proof of his envy, the first thing Charles sees under Megatron's Dark Geass is Lelouch and Nunnally turning their backs on him, saying their true father (Optimus) is waiting for them.
His claims that through the Ragnarök Connection, humanity could truly be at peace, as it would sever the boundaries between life and death, and everyone would become one, as he believed that humanity could never truly unite, were also false. When Megatron learns of the Ragnarök Connection from V.V., he saw that his plan was not out of an altruistic belief to rid the world of lies, but of a childish desire to make the world revolve around him, as he never truly grew up from the scared little boy that Megatron had first met.
He's understandably terrified of Megatron finding out about the Ragnarök Connection and goes to great lengths to makes sure neither the Autobots nor Decepticons even get a hint about it. Unfortunately for him, C.C. goes rogue from the plan and after the Bots and Black Knights' empathy convinces her to open up, she promises to tell everything about it to them, while Megatron has already grown suspicious about him. He also does not mention anything regarding the Decepticons broadcasting their battle with the Black Knights and Autobots live, out of fear that something he'll say will tip Megatron off... which is exactly what Megatron wants. And then Victor/V.V. tries to put Megatron under his ropes, allowing Megatron to learn everything once he captures the boy.
It's also revealed that In Fall of Britannia, when Megatron uses his Dark Geass on him, after seeing his children disown him, Charles sees a figure that resembles his father. Upon seeing it, Charles in the vision reverts to his child self when Megatron first met him, and when the figure gets close enough to Charles, Megatron's face appears on the figure rather than his father's. This implies that Megatron reminds him of his abusive father.
Charles Vi Britannia sees himself as a powerful visionary who will do whatever it takes to create a better world, no matter who he has to hurt or kill to accomplish his goals and only he understands the truth of it. In reality, he is nothing more than a selfish, power hungry control freak who simply wishes to use Ragnarok to manipulate the world, not fix it out of a childish viewpoint he refused to abandon. Charles would then die as he lived... ruled by fear.