TV-Series
Description
Rakshata Chawla is an Indian scientist who serves as the head of the Black Knights' research and development team in Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2. She is a tall, slender woman with dark skin, long wavy blonde hair, aquamarine-green eyes, and a purple diamond-shaped bindi on her forehead. She is often seen carrying a pipe filled with scented herbs rather than tobacco, and her relaxed, languid manner of speaking and moving gives her an almost detached air. She is twenty-eight years old during the first season and twenty-nine during R2.
Originally the world's leading researcher in welfare cybernetics and prosthetics, Rakshata studied in Britannia, where she worked alongside Lloyd Asplund and knew Cécile Croomy as a junior. Her partnership with Lloyd eventually ended, and the two developed a strong professional rivalry that appears to have originated from a minor misunderstanding between them. She later moved into Knightmare Frame development in the Military District of India, part of the Chinese Federation, driven by a sincere desire to end war through her creations. Commissioned by the Kyoto Six Houses to build Japanese-made Knightmare Frames, she developed the Guren Type-02 and the Gekka, and when these machines were delivered to the Black Knights, she joined the organization in person.
Rakshata is highly intelligent, direct, and proud of her engineering work, calling herself the mother of machines such as the Guren Type-02. She maintains a calm, almost carefree composure in most situations and can appear cold or arrogant, but she is not reckless with the lives of others; her pilot suits were designed with survival in mind, a notable contrast to Lloyd's dismissive attitude toward pilots. She is not openly expressive about her private thoughts, yet she is capable of genuine warmth toward those close to her and conceals an altruistic side that originally steered her toward medical science. Her actions within the Black Knights are motivated less by ideological loyalty than by scientific curiosity, a desire to gather data, and a personal fascination with Zero, though she also holds a deeper ambition to use her technology to reduce the scale of conflict.
In the story, Rakshata functions as the Black Knights' counterpart to Britannia's Lloyd, providing the technology that allows the resistance to fight on more equal terms. Her inventions include the Radiant Wave Surger mounted on the Guren, the Gefjun Disturber that neutralizes Sakuradite-based systems and can disable the Lancelot, and several original Knightmare Frame designs. During the Black Rebellion she was present when her Gefjun Disturber was used against the Lancelot, and she later ordered the Black Knights to stop firing when the F.L.E.I.J.A. prototype appeared on the battlefield. After the defeat of the Black Knights, she escaped abroad along with other surviving members, and in R2 she returns during the Pacific surprise attack operation bearing new equipment for the reorganized resistance. She is visibly relieved when the Guren is recovered, but angered that Lloyd and Cécile modified the machine without her permission. As the war progresses she becomes a central figure in the technological arms race between the Black Knights and Britannia, and in the later stages of the conflict she participates in the final battles against the Britannian forces under Lelouch.
Her key relationships include her rivalry with Lloyd, whom she both competes with and grudgingly respects; her working connection with Cécile, who serves as a bridge between the two camps; her constructive cooperation with Zero and the Black Knights' leadership; and her care for the pilots who use her machines, particularly Kallen Kozuki as the pilot of the Guren. She also maintains influence within the Indian Military District despite having left it, and remains connected to her homeland's scientific community.
Over the course of the series, Rakshata develops from a detached researcher into a committed, if unconventional, member of the global movement against Britannia, while never fully abandoning her personal agenda. After the conflict, during the Kowa era, she becomes chairwoman of the World Scientific Committee and holds numerous advisory and honorary positions. She establishes her own private organization called Pearl Party, built around a group of child prodigies she gathers, including her younger sister Shanti, and she brings colleagues such as Neha Shankar and Savitri Kagari into the group. Her notable abilities are primarily scientific and technical: expertise in medical cybernetics, a gift for original mechanical design, and the capacity to rapidly produce practical wartime innovations, from advanced Knightmare Frames to energy-disrupting weapons and pilot protection systems.
Originally the world's leading researcher in welfare cybernetics and prosthetics, Rakshata studied in Britannia, where she worked alongside Lloyd Asplund and knew Cécile Croomy as a junior. Her partnership with Lloyd eventually ended, and the two developed a strong professional rivalry that appears to have originated from a minor misunderstanding between them. She later moved into Knightmare Frame development in the Military District of India, part of the Chinese Federation, driven by a sincere desire to end war through her creations. Commissioned by the Kyoto Six Houses to build Japanese-made Knightmare Frames, she developed the Guren Type-02 and the Gekka, and when these machines were delivered to the Black Knights, she joined the organization in person.
Rakshata is highly intelligent, direct, and proud of her engineering work, calling herself the mother of machines such as the Guren Type-02. She maintains a calm, almost carefree composure in most situations and can appear cold or arrogant, but she is not reckless with the lives of others; her pilot suits were designed with survival in mind, a notable contrast to Lloyd's dismissive attitude toward pilots. She is not openly expressive about her private thoughts, yet she is capable of genuine warmth toward those close to her and conceals an altruistic side that originally steered her toward medical science. Her actions within the Black Knights are motivated less by ideological loyalty than by scientific curiosity, a desire to gather data, and a personal fascination with Zero, though she also holds a deeper ambition to use her technology to reduce the scale of conflict.
In the story, Rakshata functions as the Black Knights' counterpart to Britannia's Lloyd, providing the technology that allows the resistance to fight on more equal terms. Her inventions include the Radiant Wave Surger mounted on the Guren, the Gefjun Disturber that neutralizes Sakuradite-based systems and can disable the Lancelot, and several original Knightmare Frame designs. During the Black Rebellion she was present when her Gefjun Disturber was used against the Lancelot, and she later ordered the Black Knights to stop firing when the F.L.E.I.J.A. prototype appeared on the battlefield. After the defeat of the Black Knights, she escaped abroad along with other surviving members, and in R2 she returns during the Pacific surprise attack operation bearing new equipment for the reorganized resistance. She is visibly relieved when the Guren is recovered, but angered that Lloyd and Cécile modified the machine without her permission. As the war progresses she becomes a central figure in the technological arms race between the Black Knights and Britannia, and in the later stages of the conflict she participates in the final battles against the Britannian forces under Lelouch.
Her key relationships include her rivalry with Lloyd, whom she both competes with and grudgingly respects; her working connection with Cécile, who serves as a bridge between the two camps; her constructive cooperation with Zero and the Black Knights' leadership; and her care for the pilots who use her machines, particularly Kallen Kozuki as the pilot of the Guren. She also maintains influence within the Indian Military District despite having left it, and remains connected to her homeland's scientific community.
Over the course of the series, Rakshata develops from a detached researcher into a committed, if unconventional, member of the global movement against Britannia, while never fully abandoning her personal agenda. After the conflict, during the Kowa era, she becomes chairwoman of the World Scientific Committee and holds numerous advisory and honorary positions. She establishes her own private organization called Pearl Party, built around a group of child prodigies she gathers, including her younger sister Shanti, and she brings colleagues such as Neha Shankar and Savitri Kagari into the group. Her notable abilities are primarily scientific and technical: expertise in medical cybernetics, a gift for original mechanical design, and the capacity to rapidly produce practical wartime innovations, from advanced Knightmare Frames to energy-disrupting weapons and pilot protection systems.