Suzaku of the Counterattack is a spinoff of Code Geass, similar to Code Geass: Nightmare of Nunnally, but with Suzaku instead of Nunnally as the main protagonist. Like Nightmare of Nunnally, it's an Alternate Universe with a very, very different setup than canon.
Suzaku of the Counterattack provides examples of:
- Adaptational Villainy:
- Schneizel is the main and only Big Bad, whose main goal is gaining C.C's immortality instead of being a Knight Templar.
- Likewise, Lloyd is aware of Schneizel's plans and supports them.
- Adaptational Wimp:
- Emperor Charles dies with barely any screen time, whereas originally, he was a main villain.
- Lelouch, since he can't keep the Black Knights in check.
- Anti-Villain: Lelouch/Zero, who in this version has far more morals than in canon.
- Black-and-White Morality: Perhaps not completely, but moreso than the original. Zero's biggest crimes are killing Clovis and trying to assassinate the Emperor. All of his other crimes are controlled vigilante work like his canonical takedown of the Refrain industry.
- Canon Foreigner: Elle, who replaces Cecile as Lloyd's coworker and a comforting female presence in Suzaku's life. She's basically a younger Cecile with an important father.
- Demoted to Extra: Since it's much shorter than the original, several characters count. The two most prominent are C.C., who gets reduced to MacGuffin Super-Person and Emperor Charles, who's killed off unceremoniously.
- False Friend: Schneizel and Lloyd are both this to Suzaku.
- Genre Shift: It's a superhero show instead of a Giant Mecha anime.
- Lighter and Softer: Barely any named characters die, and Lelouch and Nunnally wind up together by the end.
- Powered Armor: This version of the Lancelot, due to the lack of Giant Mecha.
- Shōnen Demographic: The series is a much more straightforward example.
