TV-Series
Description
Diethard Ried is a character from the second season of the anime Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2. He is a former television producer for the Britannian station Hi-TV who becomes a key member of the resistance group known as the Black Knights, serving as their head of information, espionage, and public relations before eventually rising to the position of Secretary of Media and Intelligence. At the start of the series, Diethard is 31 years old, turning 32 in the second season.
Diethard is a handsome man with a slender build, distinguishable by his blonde hair which he wears in a long ponytail, indigo eyes, and a prominent cleft chin. He is almost always dressed in a high-collared carmine red turtleneck, which he originally paired with a dark blue suit during his time in Britannian media and later with the black uniform of the Black Knights or a unique military-style jacket after the organization's restructure.
As a person, Diethard is a zealous journalist whose primary motivation is not justice, freedom, or nationalism, but rather the desire to witness and document what he considers to be grand, world-altering history as it unfolds. He is devoid of conventional moral compass and journalistic integrity, having no issue with presenting falsified information to the public because he does not believe in any objective truth, viewing all information as a product of a subjective mind. What truly excites him is chaos and upheaval, and he has a deep distaste for the perceived stagnancy of the Britannian aristocracy. His loyalty is not to any person or cause, but solely to the narrative of change itself; he will serve any leader he believes can provide the most captivating spectacle of revolution.
In the story, Diethard first appears covering the aftermath of a major incident and becomes instantly entranced upon witnessing the masked rebel Zero rescue Suzaku Kururugi from execution. This event leads him to abandon his career in mainstream media and offer his services to the Black Knights. His skills are invaluable; he is highly perceptive and often correctly deduces the true, ruthless nature of Zero's plans long before others do. He is responsible for restructuring the Black Knights into a more effective, cell-based organization and for expanding their intelligence network and propaganda capabilities. While his loyalty to Zero appears fierce, the series' protagonist, Lelouch vi Britannia (who is Zero), correctly assesses that Diethard's devotion is to making Zero a god, a predictable obsession that makes him easy to control.
Diethard's key relationships are defined by his shifting allegiance. His relationship with Zero is one of worship, viewing him as chaos incarnate and a source of endless inspiration. However, this worship is conditional. When Lelouch's identity and Geass power are exposed to the other Black Knights leaders, Diethard is among the first to abandon him, immediately deeming the spectacle over and defecting to their new leader, Schneizel el Britannia, because he finds Schneizel's vision of world peace through destructive power more interesting than Zero's now-ruined narrative.
Diethard's development is less about personal growth and more a consistent and tragic pursuit of his core obsession. He begins as a cynical media producer, becomes a revolutionary's propagandist, and ends as a betrayer seeking a new master. His notable abilities lie in media manipulation, intelligence gathering, and psychological perception. He is a shrewd strategist in the information war, understanding how to shape public perception and root out internal threats. Diethard meets his end after Schneizel is defeated and placed under Lelouch's Geass. Flying into a rage at the destruction of his latest "interesting" leader, he attempts to kill Lelouch, only to be shot dead by the Geass-bound Schneizel. In his dying moments, he asks Lelouch to use his Geass on him, a final request to be part of a legendary power's story. Lelouch coldly refuses, declaring Diethard unworthy of the honor, leaving him to die as a forgotten footnote in the very history he longed to shape.
Diethard is a handsome man with a slender build, distinguishable by his blonde hair which he wears in a long ponytail, indigo eyes, and a prominent cleft chin. He is almost always dressed in a high-collared carmine red turtleneck, which he originally paired with a dark blue suit during his time in Britannian media and later with the black uniform of the Black Knights or a unique military-style jacket after the organization's restructure.
As a person, Diethard is a zealous journalist whose primary motivation is not justice, freedom, or nationalism, but rather the desire to witness and document what he considers to be grand, world-altering history as it unfolds. He is devoid of conventional moral compass and journalistic integrity, having no issue with presenting falsified information to the public because he does not believe in any objective truth, viewing all information as a product of a subjective mind. What truly excites him is chaos and upheaval, and he has a deep distaste for the perceived stagnancy of the Britannian aristocracy. His loyalty is not to any person or cause, but solely to the narrative of change itself; he will serve any leader he believes can provide the most captivating spectacle of revolution.
In the story, Diethard first appears covering the aftermath of a major incident and becomes instantly entranced upon witnessing the masked rebel Zero rescue Suzaku Kururugi from execution. This event leads him to abandon his career in mainstream media and offer his services to the Black Knights. His skills are invaluable; he is highly perceptive and often correctly deduces the true, ruthless nature of Zero's plans long before others do. He is responsible for restructuring the Black Knights into a more effective, cell-based organization and for expanding their intelligence network and propaganda capabilities. While his loyalty to Zero appears fierce, the series' protagonist, Lelouch vi Britannia (who is Zero), correctly assesses that Diethard's devotion is to making Zero a god, a predictable obsession that makes him easy to control.
Diethard's key relationships are defined by his shifting allegiance. His relationship with Zero is one of worship, viewing him as chaos incarnate and a source of endless inspiration. However, this worship is conditional. When Lelouch's identity and Geass power are exposed to the other Black Knights leaders, Diethard is among the first to abandon him, immediately deeming the spectacle over and defecting to their new leader, Schneizel el Britannia, because he finds Schneizel's vision of world peace through destructive power more interesting than Zero's now-ruined narrative.
Diethard's development is less about personal growth and more a consistent and tragic pursuit of his core obsession. He begins as a cynical media producer, becomes a revolutionary's propagandist, and ends as a betrayer seeking a new master. His notable abilities lie in media manipulation, intelligence gathering, and psychological perception. He is a shrewd strategist in the information war, understanding how to shape public perception and root out internal threats. Diethard meets his end after Schneizel is defeated and placed under Lelouch's Geass. Flying into a rage at the destruction of his latest "interesting" leader, he attempts to kill Lelouch, only to be shot dead by the Geass-bound Schneizel. In his dying moments, he asks Lelouch to use his Geass on him, a final request to be part of a legendary power's story. Lelouch coldly refuses, declaring Diethard unworthy of the honor, leaving him to die as a forgotten footnote in the very history he longed to shape.