On August 10, 2010, the Holy Empire of Britannia launched a campaign of conquest aimed at Japan. Within a month, the operation was complete, thanks to Britannia's deployment of mobile humanoid armor vehicles called Knightmare Frames. Japan’s rights and identity were stripped away; the former proud nation became known as Area 11. Its citizens, the Elevens, are forced to scrape a living while the Britannian aristocracy enjoys comfortable settlements. Resistance pockets emerge throughout Area 11, striving for Japan’s independence. Lelouch, an exiled Imperial Prince of Britannia who poses as a student, finds himself at the center of the ongoing conflict over the island nation.