When Britannia began its invasion of Japan, Suzaku was mortified by the violence and his father's belief that resisting to the bitter end was preferable to surrendering.

Suzaku is approached by Lloyd Asplund and offered a chance to pilot the experimental Knightmare Frame Lancelot (ランスロット, Ransurotto).

[6] In the second season, Suzaku receives a promotion into the Knights of the Round, the most powerful order of warriors in the Britannian Empire, as a reward for capturing Zero.

Realizing that he has been naïve, Suzaku decides that the ends are more important than the means used to reach them and takes a more active approach to becoming Knight of One, offering to kill the Emperor for Schneizel.

Schneizel agrees and Suzaku heads to Kamine Island to complete his mission, as well as kill the one responsible for the chain of events leading to Lelouch's actions and Euphemia's death.

When the surviving Knights of the Round attempt to remove Lelouch from power, Suzaku easily defeats them with his new Lancelot Albion (ラン スロット アルビオン, Ransurotto Arubio).

After Alice flees with Nunnally and Emperor Charles zi Britannia declares the Holy Nation of Eden Vital, Suzaku is arrested along with Euphemia, Cornelia as well as his comrades Guilford, Lloyd and Cecile.

In the manga spin-off series shows, Suzaku as the main protagonist, wearing a bionic combat suit and going by the alias Lancelot.

After a renegade Black Knights faction had attacked the Lubie automobile, which killed Lenard and injured Mariel when the wrecked car was destroyed, Suzaku is fueled in anger as he seeks to defeat Zero.

In a special Code Geass Picture Drama episode, Suzaku arrived at Ashford Academy with Nunnally, Shirley, and Nina, and had met with Lelouch, but also brought C.C.

As the Macross Quarter captain, Jeffrey Wilder, offered the group to join up with them, Zero agreed and asked Suzaku to come with them, which he hesitated but accepts.

and tried to convince them to stop, which Gino replied if he enjoyed being a Black Knight and tells him to come to their side, leaving Suzaku in doubt.

In a special OVA parody episode, based on the Alice in Wonderland story, Suzaku appears in the role as the White Knight.

[14] The basic idea for the plot of Code Geass consisted of a "hero" who led a secret organization, which was later developed into a conflict between two characters with different values and who belonged to the same military unit, who eventually became Lelouch Lamperouge and Suzaku Kururugi.

While the main cast involved Brittania characters, Suzaku is an Eleven, so although even in a happy school, there would be heavy parts, Okouchi thinks that a Director Goro Taniguchi series would have that nuance.

Although it was eventually cut, Taniguchi had Okouchi write a script for episode 1, one which began with the scene of Suzaku attempting to kill Lelouch, which would be repeated in the second half.

From Taniguchi's point of view, Lelouch and Suzaku's relationship did not go beyond that of reunited childhood friends; The director wanted to turn it into a pure "friendship".

[18] Writer Okouchi says that while Lelouch is important to bring peace to the world at the cause of his life, Suzaku and several other characters have to remain alive to live up to his legacy.

In the 2007 Seiyu Awards, Takahiro Sakurai was a nominee in the category "Best Actors in supporting roles" for his portrayal as Suzaku, but lost to Akira Ishida and Kouki Miyata.

[23][24] The National News noted Suzaku's popularity led a surprising amount of cosplayer to pursue buying clothes but gave up due to the pricing they have to pay.

Anime News Network's Bamboo Dong regarded Suzaku as a likable character, contrasting his role and personality with Lelouch's.

[26] Kevin Leathers from UK Anime Network agreed with Dong, as Suzaku "counter-balance[s]" Lelouch's alter ego due to how he does not wish violence.

[28] While reviewing an episode from the series, Ramsey Isler found comical and disappointing how was Suzaku forced to stay at school for extra hours having just finished a highly dangerous mission.

[29] His confrontation against Lelouch in the first season's finale was praised mainly because of Suzaku's mentality and his feelings regarding Zero's identity which he confesses he denied accepting such revelation.

[30] Kotaku found Suzaku as an interesting lead due to his irony of working for Britannia in order to change the Empire once taking over.

As the series' second half goes across, Kotaku noted that Suzaku finds himself more tormented by his actions, mostly when he nukes Tokyo using military weapons forced by Lelouch's Geass to survive against Kallen's Knightmare.

[31] DVDTalk.com praised the handling of the first season's finale in regards to Suzaku's relationship with Lelouch who while, about to become allies, the plot twist involving Euphemia causes a large impact on their roles in the story which might appeal to the audience.

[33] The Fandom Post noted that Suzaku and Lelouch's relationship might attract female viewers so he recommended an anthology manga to them, praising the multiple designs presented.

[34] Comic Book Resources claimed that Suzaku often received negative backlash by the fandom due to his violent actions and how he often opposes Lelouch thanks to his skills as a soldier the writer found overpowered, most notably in the second half of Code Geass.

[38] The rivalry was praised by Nicole Soto Rodríguez due to how dangerous are the methods employed by Suzaku and Lelouch and how both come across as hypocrites when defending each other as the narrative explores philosophies involving them.