Rai's father is eventually revealed to be a member of Britannian royalty while his mother was a Japanese woman from the Sumeragi clan, the same clan Kaguya Sumeragi belongs to. His mixed-blood status resulted in ill treatment from his other siblings. Hundreds of years ago, in order to protect his mother and younger sister, he bound himself in a Geass contract with an unidentified individual and his Geass ability allowed him to ascend to power. However, during a war with a neighboring country, while he was only trying to raise the fighting spirit of his people in a speech, he lost control of his Geass and accidentally ordered the people to fight to the death against the enemy. This order caused not only his people, but his mother and sister who he had wished to protect, to charge to their deaths, leaving him with nothing. In his loneliness and sadness, he used his power on himself to make him forget all of this and put himself into a deep sleep inside a ruin similar to that found on Kaminejima. He was discovered by General Bartley, who put him in the same facility in Area 11 where C.C. was held captive by Britannia. When he awoke, Rai used his power of Geass to escape the facility, ending up at Ashford Academy.