History Anime / NeonGenesisEvangelion

* ForWantOfANail:
** A number of the AlternateUniverse works differ in varying degrees. ''Evangelion ANIMA'' in particular takes place three years after the anime wherein Third Impact never happens in part due to Kaji staying alive to warn NERV of SEELE's planned attack.
** If Shinji and Asuka would have just taken the time to express their feelings and frustrations with each other, Asuka's synchronization rate wouldn't have plummeted and Shinji wouldn't have caused TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt.

** And then you have the scene where Shinji and Asuka kiss. Asuka likes Shinji and offers to kiss him, but she treated it like a game to waste time in case he was going to reject her (saying she was bored, pinching his nose...). And since Shinji stood still, gasping for air instead of kissing her back or hugging her, she thought he had rejected her and ran off. The sad thing is [[HeroesWantRedheads Shinji DID like Asuka]], but because of how mean she's been to him and her treating it like a game, he didn't think she liked him back and he did not dare to do anything. So instead of getting them closer, their kiss made Shinji feel worse about himself and contributed to Asuka's breakdown (that scene played during her MindRape).

** [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny This stance has become increasingly disputed in more recent years, however, thanks to a combination of said pop-culture osmosis alongside the much wider availability of older mecha anime and tokusatsu]]. It's become known that ''Evangelion'' drew heavily from ''Anime/SpaceRunawayIdeon'' and the ''Franchise/{{Ultraman}}'' series. Given that ''Ideon'' was directed by Creator/YoshiyukiTomino, who has been known to play around with already existing mecha tropes some 15-20 years before ''Evangelion'' even was concieved, the more dedicated retro anime circles have started to think of ''Evangelion'' as a ''revival'' of the late 70s-early 80s cynicism rather than a completely new deconstruction. It just so happened that the newer deconstructor was brought first to the States instead.

* UnbuiltTrope: Many examples (leading to its SeinfeldIsUnfunny status among some modern viewers).

* PoweredByAForsakenChild: The Evas themselves. They're made from the remains of angels imprinted with the minds and spirits of their respective pilots' mothers. Unit-01 completely absorbed Shinji's mother, leaving her lifeless body behind, while Unit-02 caused Asuka's mother to develop a dissociative disorder that eventually led to her suicide. It's implied that the remains of her soul entered Unit-02 after her death. Units -03 and -04 had more successful results but still required a (somewhat less) dangerous bonding process. The pilots themselves can also be considered said forsaken child, since piloting the Eva Units inevitably causes psychological damage. The synchronization process merges the minds of the pilot with the Eva, and high synchronization levels lead to hallucinations, dissociation, and sharing the experience that can only be felt by a human mind trapped inside a BodyHorror cyborg.

* PoweredByAForsakenChild: The Evas themselves. They're made from the remains of angels imprinted with the minds and spirits of their respective pilots' mothers. Unit-01 completely absorbed Shinji's mother, leaving her lifeless body behing, while Unit-02 caused Asuka's mother to develop a dissociative disorder that eventually led to her suicide. It's implied that the remains of her soul entered Unit-02 after her death. Units -03 and -04 had more successful results but still required a (somewhat less) dangerous bonding process. The pilots themselves can also be considered said forsaken child, since piloting the Eva Units inevitably causes psychological damage. The synchronization process merges the minds of the pilot with the Eva, and high synchronization levels lead to hallucinations, dissociation, and sharing the experience that can only be felt by a human mind trapped inside a BodyHorror cyborg.

* GenreDeconstruction: Arguably the TropeCodifier for modern anime. The series has an axe to grind with the entire SuperRobot MechaShow genre, which becomes ironic given it's sheer pop-cultural osmosis.

** [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny This stance has become increasingly disputed in more recent years, however, thanks to a combination of said pop-culture osmosis alongside the much wider availability of older mecha anime and tokusatsu]]. It's become known that ''Evangelion'' drew heavily from ''[[Anime/SpaceRunawayIdeon Ideon]]'' and the ''[[Franchise/{{Ultraman}} Ultraman]]'' series. Given that ''Ideon'' was directed by Creator/YoshiyukiTomino, who has been known to play around with already existing mecha tropes some 15-20 years before ''Evangelion'' even was concieved, the more dedicated retro anime circles have started to think of ''Evangelion'' as a ''revival'' of the late 70s-early 80s cynicism rather than a completely new deconstruction. It just so happened that the newer deconstructor was brought first to the States instead.

** However, in the more recent years, [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny this stance has become increasingly disputed thanks to a combination of said pop-culture osmosis alongside the much wider availability of older mecha anime and tokusatsu]]: it's become known that ''Evangelion'' drew heavily from ''[[Anime/SpaceRunawayIdeon Ideon]]'' and the ''[[Franchise/{{Ultraman}} Ultraman]]'' series. Given that ''Ideon'' was directed by Creator/YoshiyukiTomino, who has been known to play around with already existing mecha tropes some 15-20 years before ''Evangelion'' even was concieved, the more dedicated retro anime circles have started to think of ''Evangelion'' as a ''revival'' of the late 70s-early 80s cynicism rather than a completely new deconstruction. It just so happened that the newer deconstructor was brought first to the States instead.

'''''[[TropeCodifier The]]''''' MechaShow GenreDeconstruction.

** ''End'' features a couple. The "Shinji wanking" sequence is an Unsexy Discretion Shot; we hear what's going on but only see the [[JustForPun output]]. Later on, Shinji is treated to a trippy flashback of Misato and Kaji screwing around in college. We mostly just see their feet, but the movement (and Misato's squealing) during the scene makes it decidedly more graphic than any of the TV sex scenes.

* SpellMyNameWithAnS:
** Somewhat justified with Ka(w)oru. The Japanese spelling would correctly be transcribed Kaworu, but the "w," depending on speaker, can become near silent to totally nonexistent. More generally, the "o" particle in the language is in fact "wo," but with the same issue, typically being transcribed without the "w" in romaji. The synch tests a few minutes into episode 24 show that the official romanization of his name is "Kaworu." This also shows up on the Mass-Produced Evas' dummy plugs.
** Asuka's last name as well. Is it Soryu, or perhaps Souryu or Sohryu?
** Suzuhara too. Depending on who you ask, he’s Touji, Toji, Tohji, or even Tôji.

** An in-universe example for whoever came up with the "Second Impact" cover story. Regardless of speed, a meteor as small as they described would airburst from friction, not capable of surviving our atmosphere long enough to hit the ground. Also, regardless of speed or angle, it would take a ''gigantic'' (dozens or hundreds of kilometers) stellar body to knock the Earth's axis off enough to cause the changes in seasons shown (for that matter, how would Adam's self-destruct be forceful enough to cause that?). Not to mention that an impact that destructive would hurl a shitload of ejecta into the atmosphere, causing a global nuclear winter that would lead to far more negative long-term effects than shown in the show (maybe Adam's explosion was focused up and out, not down?).

%%* DarkestHour:
%%** One might argue that they already go here in the battle between Unit 01 and Unit 03, and again in Unit 01 vs. the last Angel.

* DaylightHorror: The Third Impact begins on a beautiful, sunny day.

** However, in the more recent years, [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny this stance has become increasingly disputed thanks to a combination of said pop-culture osmosis the much wider availability of older mecha anime and tokusatsu]]: it's become known that ''Evangelion'' drew heavily from ''[[Anime/SpaceRunawayIdeon Ideon]]'' and the ''[[Franchise/{{Ultraman}} Ultraman]]'' series. Given that ''Ideon'' was directed by Creator/YoshiyukiTomino, who has been known to play around with already existing mecha tropes some 15-20 years before ''Evangelion'' even was concieved, the more dedicated retro anime circles have started to think of ''Evangelion'' as a ''revival'' of the late 70s-early 80s cynicism rather than a completely new deconstruction. It just so happened that the newer deconstructor was brought first to the States instead.

* LockerMail: Asuka opens her locker to see a pile of letters for her. However, despite loving all of the attention, she stomps on the letters since her eyes are only for Kaji.

* ChildSupplantsParent: One of ''many'' interpretations of the series. Interviews with Creator/HideakiAnno [[WordOfGod suggest that he was actually aiming for this]], since Shinji has a [[WellDoneSonGuy love]]-hate relationship with his [[AbusiveParents father]] and motherhood is a central theme of the series. Most importantly, one of Shinji's love interests, [[EmotionlessGirl Rei]], turns out to be clone of [[ParentalIncest Yui]], while Yui's soul is housed inside his Eva. In the manga, Gendo also turns out to have harbored feelings of jealousy towards Shinji for "stealing" Yui away from him. This is even lampshaded in Shinji's ({{Blooper Reel}}s only) rant:
-->And what's an [[HumongousMecha Eva]]? Is that like, a [[LampshadeHanging Freudian]] thing?

** Misato and Kaji's relationship, once it is revealed that she may have been using him as a [[OedipusComplex replacement for her father]].

* OedipusComplex: One of ''many'' interpretations of the series. Interviews with Creator/HideakiAnno [[WordOfGod suggest that he was actually aiming for this]], since Shinji has a [[WellDoneSonGuy love]]-hate relationship with his [[AbusiveParents father]] and motherhood is a central theme of the series. Most importantly, one of Shinji's love interests, [[EmotionlessGirl Rei]], turns out to be clone of [[ParentalIncest Yui]], while Yui's soul is housed inside his Eva. In the manga, Gendo also turns out to have harbored feelings of jealousy towards Shinji for "stealing" Yui away from him. This is even lampshaded in Shinji's ({{Blooper Reel}}s only) rant:
-->And what's an [[HumongousMecha Eva]]? Is that like, a [[LampshadeHanging Freudian]] thing?

'''''[[TropeCodifier The]]''''' MechaShow {{Deconstruction}}.

* CatchPhrase: In the anime, Shinji is constantly saying "I mustn't run away!"; also Asuka's repeated refrain of "What are you, ''[[UsefulNotes/{{Baka}} stupid?]]''" Let's also not forget all the times when Gendou tells Fuyutsuki to "handle the rest of this" "Scenario" and variants of "So," "Yes," and "I understand."

** Shinji: "I mustn't run away, I mustn't run away, I mustn't run away..." (Used as ArcWords, to the extent that they're practically his CatchPhrase)

* FrankenVehicle: {{Conversed}} in the audio commentary for ''Death and Rebirth''. The cast and crew joke that the change in paint scheme for Eva Unit-00 was due to not being able to find matching parts after it was damaged.

* SenpaiKohai:
** Maya sees Ritsuko as her sempai, but Ritsuko doesn't reciprocate.
** Surprisingly absent from Shinji's school, where all pupils seem to be the same age and in the same grade. This is a deliberate subversion, as all of the students in Shinji's class are potential Eva pilots.

* ProductPlacement: Yebisu/Yebichu beer is seen prominently, episode 2 features an actual Sony TV and Mitsubishi Fuso trucks, and you can actually buy Shinji's Walkman, almost--it's a real DAT (Digital Audio Tape) player, again made by Sony[[note]]model [=WMD-DT1=]. The artists just changed the DAT logo to SDAT, and added a non-existent LCD panel to the player[[/note]]. Asuka plays a UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn in episode 23.
* PsychosexualHorror: Parts of Shinji's ordeal are related to his attraction to Asuka and the early urges of his puberty. Indeed, in ''The End of Evangelion'', part of the finale is Asuka, Misato and Rei asking him whether he wants to have sex with them.

* PsychoStrings:
** Unit 00's {{leitmotif}} and its derivative, "The Beast."
** ''End'' also has the track "The End of Midsummer."

* PsychosexualHorror: Parts of Shinji's ordeal are related to his attraction to Asuka and the early urges of his puberty. Indeed, in The End of Evangelion, part of the finale is Asuka, Misato and Rei asking him whether he wants to have sex with them.
* PsychoStrings:
** Unit 00's {{leitmotif}} and its derivative, "The Beast."