OVA
Description
Leila Malcal, born as Leila Breisgau, is a military officer in the European Union Army and the commander of the special unit wZERO, composed of Japanese exiled youth known as Elevens. She is the deuteragonist of the story. Leila was born in the United Republic of Europia to former Britannian aristocrats who defected to the E.U. in pursuit of freedom and democracy. Her father, Bradow von Breisgau, was a politician who advocated for those ideals, and he was assassinated during a rally when Leila was six years old. In the ensuing chaos, her mother, Claudia, was also killed, and Leila herself nearly drowned in a frozen pond. She was rescued by a woman known as the Witch of the Forest, who offered her a Geass contract. Because Leila was still a child, she was given the choice not to use the power, and it would fade by adulthood. She later forgot this encounter, dismissing it as a dream. After her parents’ deaths, she was adopted by the wealthy Malcal family, who sought to integrate noble blood into their lineage. She was betrothed to their third son, Ioan, and befriended Anna Clément while attending school. After skipping several grades and graduating from university, Leila chose to join the military.
Leila exhibits a polite and feminine demeanor, a reflection of her refined upbringing, but her military training shapes her mindset and actions. She is exceptionally gentle, yet firm and resolute toward her subordinates and comrades. She strongly values justice and fairness and has no prejudices against the Japanese, even correcting her superiors when they refer to them as Elevens. As an officer, she is deeply committed to her country but struggles with the reality that her unit sends young Japanese men into battle. To counterbalance this, she actively seeks ways to ensure their safe return, often fighting alongside them. She is kind and idealistic, wishing to end the war and save the Japanese who are forced to fight in place of Europeans. At first, she struggles to connect with those whose lives have been more harsh than her own, despite her sympathetic nature.
Leila’s primary motivation is to give the members of her unit a home to belong to and to create a world where conflict can be resolved through mutual understanding. She believes that if humanity could truly comprehend one another’s feelings, war would disappear. This idealistic drive influences her actions throughout the story.
In the narrative, Leila initially serves as an adjutant to Commander Pierre Anou in the W-0 Unit. She plans Operation Alpha to rescue a surrounded regiment, but confronts Anou over his last-minute decision to use Japanese youngsters for suicide attacks. She removes him from command and takes over, leading the operation to success. She is then promoted to Lieutenant Colonel by General Gene Smilas and given direct command of the wZERO Unit. Leila leads her team, known as the Wyvern Squad, through numerous dangerous missions, including the Apollo Chariot operation and the defense of Castle Weisswolf. Her leadership is tested when the squad is stranded in Warsaw and later when they face the antagonist Shin Hyuga and his Knights of St. Michael. After the conflict, she retires from the military along with her squad and begins a romantic relationship with Akito Hyuga.
Leila’s key relationships include Akito Hyuga, her lieutenant and later her partner. She serves as his superior officer and develops a deep bond with him, understanding his pain and past. She also forms close ties with the other Wyvern Squad members: Ryo Sayama, Yukiya Naruse, and Ayano Kosaka, former Japanese terrorists whom she recruits and protects. Her relationship with her original superior, Pierre Anou, is adversarial, as she opposes his callous tactics. Her connection to Shin Hyuga is primarily antagonistic, but her Geass allows her to counter his power and ultimately helps defeat him.
Leila undergoes significant development over the course of the story. She starts as an idealistic but somewhat naive officer, gradually learning the harsh realities of war and the personal costs of command. Through her interactions with Akito and her squad, she becomes more resilient and pragmatic, while still holding onto her core beliefs. By the end, she chooses to leave the military to pursue a peaceful life, having fulfilled her goal of protecting those under her command.
Leila possesses notable abilities beyond her leadership. She holds a black belt in Aikido, a Japanese martial art, and is highly skilled in hand-to-hand combat, able to subdue armed opponents easily. Her military training makes her an effective tactician and strategist. Additionally, she possesses a Geass known as the Choice of Possibilities, granted to her by C.C. when she was a child. This power manifests through her left eye with a distinctive blue color, a result of its prolonged latency. It allows her to perceive visions of possibilities, pulling her away from reality to enable honest encounters with others, whether living or dead. She can also share thoughts, memories, and emotions between individuals without words, observe the pasts of others, and understand their true feelings. The Geass is born from her desire for mutual understanding. In combat, it can counter other Geass, inflicting pain on those who use their powers aggressively against her. Despite this, Leila’s Geass is inherently altruistic and not used as a weapon. She initially forgets she has it and only activates it later in the story, when it helps her resist Shin Hyuga’s influence and ultimately turn the tide of the final battle.
Leila exhibits a polite and feminine demeanor, a reflection of her refined upbringing, but her military training shapes her mindset and actions. She is exceptionally gentle, yet firm and resolute toward her subordinates and comrades. She strongly values justice and fairness and has no prejudices against the Japanese, even correcting her superiors when they refer to them as Elevens. As an officer, she is deeply committed to her country but struggles with the reality that her unit sends young Japanese men into battle. To counterbalance this, she actively seeks ways to ensure their safe return, often fighting alongside them. She is kind and idealistic, wishing to end the war and save the Japanese who are forced to fight in place of Europeans. At first, she struggles to connect with those whose lives have been more harsh than her own, despite her sympathetic nature.
Leila’s primary motivation is to give the members of her unit a home to belong to and to create a world where conflict can be resolved through mutual understanding. She believes that if humanity could truly comprehend one another’s feelings, war would disappear. This idealistic drive influences her actions throughout the story.
In the narrative, Leila initially serves as an adjutant to Commander Pierre Anou in the W-0 Unit. She plans Operation Alpha to rescue a surrounded regiment, but confronts Anou over his last-minute decision to use Japanese youngsters for suicide attacks. She removes him from command and takes over, leading the operation to success. She is then promoted to Lieutenant Colonel by General Gene Smilas and given direct command of the wZERO Unit. Leila leads her team, known as the Wyvern Squad, through numerous dangerous missions, including the Apollo Chariot operation and the defense of Castle Weisswolf. Her leadership is tested when the squad is stranded in Warsaw and later when they face the antagonist Shin Hyuga and his Knights of St. Michael. After the conflict, she retires from the military along with her squad and begins a romantic relationship with Akito Hyuga.
Leila’s key relationships include Akito Hyuga, her lieutenant and later her partner. She serves as his superior officer and develops a deep bond with him, understanding his pain and past. She also forms close ties with the other Wyvern Squad members: Ryo Sayama, Yukiya Naruse, and Ayano Kosaka, former Japanese terrorists whom she recruits and protects. Her relationship with her original superior, Pierre Anou, is adversarial, as she opposes his callous tactics. Her connection to Shin Hyuga is primarily antagonistic, but her Geass allows her to counter his power and ultimately helps defeat him.
Leila undergoes significant development over the course of the story. She starts as an idealistic but somewhat naive officer, gradually learning the harsh realities of war and the personal costs of command. Through her interactions with Akito and her squad, she becomes more resilient and pragmatic, while still holding onto her core beliefs. By the end, she chooses to leave the military to pursue a peaceful life, having fulfilled her goal of protecting those under her command.
Leila possesses notable abilities beyond her leadership. She holds a black belt in Aikido, a Japanese martial art, and is highly skilled in hand-to-hand combat, able to subdue armed opponents easily. Her military training makes her an effective tactician and strategist. Additionally, she possesses a Geass known as the Choice of Possibilities, granted to her by C.C. when she was a child. This power manifests through her left eye with a distinctive blue color, a result of its prolonged latency. It allows her to perceive visions of possibilities, pulling her away from reality to enable honest encounters with others, whether living or dead. She can also share thoughts, memories, and emotions between individuals without words, observe the pasts of others, and understand their true feelings. The Geass is born from her desire for mutual understanding. In combat, it can counter other Geass, inflicting pain on those who use their powers aggressively against her. Despite this, Leila’s Geass is inherently altruistic and not used as a weapon. She initially forgets she has it and only activates it later in the story, when it helps her resist Shin Hyuga’s influence and ultimately turn the tide of the final battle.