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[[WMG:[[center: [- ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' '''[[Characters/NeonGenesisEvangelion Main Character Index]]'''\\
[[Characters/NeonGenesisEvangelionTheChildren The Children]] ([[Characters/NeonGenesisEvangelionAsukaLangleySoryu Asuka Langley Soryu]]) | '''NERV Staff''' | [[Characters/NeonGenesisEvangelionGEHIRNStaff GEHIRN Staff]] | [[Characters/NeonGenesisEvangelionOtherCharacters Other Characters]] | [[Characters/NeonGenesisEvangelionExtracanonicalCharacters Extracanonical Characters]]]]-]]]

!!This page contains unmarked spoilers. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.

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[[foldercontrol]]

!NERV Staff

[[folder: As a whole]]
* WeakBossStrongUnderlings: Due to NERV's military-like hierarchy, this trope comes in layers and could be seen as an {{inver|ted}}sion of RankScalesWithAsskicking. First, we have the Children: teenagers with no military training who synchronize with and pilot {{Humongous Mecha}}s known as Evas -- the Evas are kind of sentient and contain the souls of the Children's [[MamaBear mothers]] and that's why only the kids can control them. Then we have Major Misato, the children's [[TheStrategist tactical commander]] in battle and the ParentalSubstitute of two of them as well as an accomplished ActionGirl. So, she is only stronger than the kids when they aren't piloting the Evas. Above them are NERV Commander Gendō and his Deputy Fuyutsuki; neither of them is an action guy and their strength lies on respectively being TheChessmaster and TheProfessor. Finally, there's SEELE, the shady global organization funding and overseeing NERV. SEELE's CosmopolitanCouncil comprises regular politicians with a penchant for theatrics.
[[/folder]]

!!Leadership

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[[folder:Gendō Ikari]]
!!Commander Gendō Ikari
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/FumihikoTachiki ([[UsefulNotes/JapaneseLanguage Japanese]]); Tristan [=MacAvery=] [ADV], Creator/JohnSwasey [Director's Cut], Creator/RayChase [VSI] ([[UsefulNotes/AmericanEnglish English]])[[note]]'''Other languages:''' Creator/HumbertoSolorzano [Locomotion, Animax], Creator/IdziDutkiewicz [VSI] ([[UsefulNotes/LatinAmerica Latin American]] Spanish); Juan Carlos Gustems [TV series], Joan Massotkleiner [{{film}}s], Luis Bajo [VSI] (UsefulNotes/{{Europe}}an Spanish); Fábio Moura (Brazilian Portuguese)[[/note]]

[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gendo-profile2.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:256:[-"Forgetting is what lets people go on living.\\
But there are some things we must never forget.\\
That's an important lession that Yui taught me."-]]]

->"''There is no one else who can pilot the Evas. As long as they survive, that is what I'll have them do.''"

Gendo Ikari (né Rokubungi) is the secretive head of NERV and Shinji Ikari's estranged father. While he is not the series' true BigBad, he is one of the main antagonists. He is NERV's liaison to [[AncientConspiracy SEELE]], and a member of SEELE's [[TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness Committee for Human Instrumentality]], but in reality he is running his own scenario which runs counter to SEELE's plans. To see this plan succeed, he is more than willing to use and betray ''everyone'' around him without hesitation, from his own son to NERV's central personnel to SEELE itself. He is confident, brooding, self-possessed, self-controlled, cunning, intimidating, cold-blooded, amoral, humorless, and utterly ruthless.

Yet, for all of this, the series gradually makes clear that Gendo's primary motivation for all of his bastardry is, in fact, {{love|MakesYouEvil}}. In college, he met and fell in love with Yui Ikari; while it's possible that he had ulterior motives for approaching her initially, his love for her was genuine, so much so that he took her surname when they married. After Yui's contact experiment with Unit 01, Gendo became focused on a plan to reunite himself and Yui through a modified version of SEELE's plans for Third Impact that would involve the Angel Adam and the Evangelion which now held Yui's soul. Everything that he does in the series is just step after step toward seeing this plan to completion.

For some, Gendō [[TheCasanova appears to be quite the ladies' man]]. First, Yui fell in love with him, and he with Yui. After Yui's death, he took Naoko Akagi as a lover, then her daughter Ritsuko after ''her'' death, although in both cases it's revealed that these trysts were solely to use them for their knowledge. He also has a brief and thin friendship with Rei, which is a sore point with Ritsuko; he shows more concern for Rei than he does for his actual son, but to Ritsuko (and the audience) the whole thing seems to have some [[PaedoHunt unpleasant]]... [[ParentalIncest undertones]].

Gendo's abandonment of Shinji shortly after Yui's death is one of the key factors behind Shinji's emotional problems, and over the course of the series, Gendo does little to bridge that gap. Indeed, Gendō and Shinji spend as much time opposing each other as they do fighting the Angels. He is merciless where Shinji is kind, confident where Shinji is fearful, calculating where Shinji is hopelessly naive. He is Shinji's twisted and sinister [[ShadowArchetype mirror image]], and it's obvious that on some level there is an [[UsefulNotes/OedipusComplex Oedipal conflict]] taking place. What the story doesn't reveal until ''End of Evangelion'' is just how similar Gendo and Shinji really are under all their differences.

Gendo's depiction in the {{manga}} differs somewhat from the original. His villainous traits are more emphasized, while the glimpses behind his harsh façade are downplayed, to the point where his character has a hint of madness and willful cruelty to it, rather than emotional distance and calculating pragmatism, especially when it comes to his ultimate goal, which, as it turns out, is not quite the same as in the {{anime}}.
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* AbusiveDad:
** On both ends no less. He's emotionally neglectful and abusive to Shinji, being absent for most of his life and the times they do interact, it's cold and aloof, leaving Shinji wanting to please his dad while being mad at him. In a bit of cold {{Irony}}, he tried to distance himself from Shinji out of fear of hurting him and his final words before death was apologizing to Shinji for hurting him. Furthermore, it's implied that his parents were little better, which could explain why he was an emotional mess and why he took his wife's last name in marriage. In the manga, he is more openly abusive, both verbally and emotionally.
** Even Rei is not exempt. It is implied that Gendo in some ways sees her as a daughter ("Rei" is, after all, the name he told Yui he wanted to give their child if it turned out to be a girl), but he clearly doesn't want to get too emotionally attached to her and as such he is highly negligent towards her most of the time and evidently goes to some lengths to keep her out of sight and mind. This becomes even more evident as time goes on. He orders Unit-00's Angel-infected arm explosively amputated while her neural synch was still turned on, and his usage of her as a ephemeral vessel for Adam and Lilith at ''End of Evangelion'' implies he was willing to sacrifice her as a means to an end.
* AdaptationalJerkass: In the manga, Gendo's already-sparse PetTheDog moments towards Shinji are completely absent. He is also more verbally abusive towards Shinji and shows no regrets for mistreating him as he does in the anime, and in his last scene with his son he gives a him a combined BreakingSpeech and MotiveRant that paints him as a borderline StrawNihilist with a god complex, during which he admits up front that he outright hates Shinji for taking Yui's attention and affection. However, he ultimately does have a HeelRealization and DeathEqualsRedemption.
* AdaptationalNiceGuy: In several spin-off manga, other than Sadamoto's, he often is seen in a much better light, complete with smiles and laughter with his son. This can partially be attributed to his wife still being around, and like the rest of the cast, being much less depressive. ''Manga/ShinjiIkariRaisingProject'' outright portrays him as a well-intentioned but somewhat awkward BumblingDad.
* AllForNothing: In the end, Gendo's years of effort come out to nothing. While Human Instrumentality is commenced, it's not to his plans, and it turns out his wife had been there, possessing the first EVA, and in exchange humanity has been devastated even worse than Second Impact and will likely take decades to recover.
* AmbiguouslyEvil: At the beginning it is unclear whether he does care about Shinji or is just an evil jackass. The fight against Bardiel seems to cement him as the latter to both Shinji and the audience, but his final confession in ''The End of Evangelion'' makes it clear that things are more complex than that.
* AntiVillain: An absolutely wretched human being and [[AbusiveParents abusive parent]] out of his [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds absolutely inhuman, unbearable grief]] and desire to be [[TheLostLenore with his wife.]]
* BeardOfSorrow: The fact that flashbacks show that Gendo was always clean-shaven while Yui was still around and that he by all appearances grew his beard shortly after her "death", strongly indicate that is the case.
* BeneathTheMask: ''End of Evangelion'' reveals his cold exterior is really just that; behind it is a lonely, sad, and ultimately fearful man who is filled with self-loathing and believes he is unworthy of being loved and deserves to die in agony for all the bad things he has done.
* BodyHorror:
** In the anime, he has fused the embryonic Adam to the palm of his right hand. It has a large, exposed eyeball, and seems to be also ''growing outwards''.
** In the manga, he actually ''swallows'' Adam, which eventually manifests as an eyeball in the middle of his left hand from which he can project an AT field.
* BroodingBoyGentleGirl: In the flashbacks describing the birth of Nerv, Gendo was introduced as a {{Jerkass}} failure in life who kept getting into trouble. For example, when Fuyutsuki first met him, it was to bail him out of jail, as Gendo Rokubungi was a recluse and habitual drunk with a penchant for getting into bar fights. Fuyutsuki could not comprehend why such a beautiful genius as Yui would be paired with such a failure in life as Gendo. To boot, Gendo then said that he was used to being hated by everybody else. He needed Yui as a philosopher to teach him how to live and socialize like every other human being. As a result, after Yui sacrificed herself to be absorbed in Unit-01, Gendo became TheStoic whose only purpose is to bring her back from the dead.
* ByronicHero: He certainly fulfills several of the list, even if calling him a hero is questionable, being a very intelligent, ambitious, brooding and ruthless man who does whatever he deems necessary for his goals, revolving around love. Furthermore, he is quite popular with the ladies despite having only one woman he ever loved. Then there's the mess of a relationship he has with his son.
* TheCasanova: Gendo was not only able to earn Yui's genuine love, but landed both Akagis as lovers after Yui's death, although for the latter two it was solely to use them for their scientific knowledge.
* TheChessmaster: He's technically subordinate to SEELE, but he constantly makes moves to mess up their plans while advancing his own goals.
* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: Gendo's usual outfit is that of a black uniform jacket with a dark-orange turtleneck sweater underneath it. This makes it the inverse of Shinji's standard outfit of a white school-uniform shirt over a blue t-shirt, to underscore that he is a dark mirror image of his son.
* ComicBookFantasyCasting: Overlaps with FakeNationality. His character design, although not character overall, is based ''heavily'' off of Ed Bishop in his starring role as Ed Straker on the British television show ''Series/UFO1970''.
* CreepyShadowedUndereyes: He has a hint of this, thought is not as noticable for most of the series, as it mostly hidden behind his glasses. But it was especially noticable when he was young, and it certainly lends his gace quite a bit of intensity.
* DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou: Deconstructed. Where previous entries in the mecha genre show the scientist father who abandons the protagonist to build a giant robot [[SavingTheWorld as heroic]], ''NGE'' delves into what a father who [[ParentalAbandonment abandons their child]] only to call them back [[ChildSoldiers to fight alien horrors]] is [[AbusiveParent actually like]]. Needless to say, his actual reasons for abandoning Shinji when he was five were not that noble, if understandable for his mindset: his plan is not to [[SavingTheWorld save the world]], but [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt to basically bring about Armageddon so he could reunite with his wife and Shinji's mother, Yui,]] and he abandoned Shinji simply because he came to the conclusion that he'd be a terrible father and Shinji would be better off without him. After seeing what Gendo's like when he becomes a part of Shinji's life again, he [[JerkassHasAPoint was probably right about the latter point.]]
* DarkAndTroubledPast: The finer details before he met Yui are unknown, but he states he is used to being hated. {{alternate universe}} works portray him as having had a rough childhood and adolescence, and his only comment about his past seems to hint at it being the case in the series too. Though Yui's death definitely sent him off the edge, he was already there before he met her. It does go a long way to explaining his emotional issues, his devotion to Yui (to where he took her last name) and perhaps his fears behind parenting Shinji.
* DeathEqualsRedemption: Done in the manga, where he finally has a HeelRealization before he dies thanks to Yui, remembers that he used to love Shinji and thus wishes that Shinji will live on and lead a better life than the one he did.
* DeathSeeker: {{Downplayed|Trope}}, but Gendo's hope that his plan will reunite him with Yui is clearly very much the only thing keeping him from giving completely up on life, and even then he shows himself to be at least passively self-destructive at several points, frequently placing himself at the frontlines of dangerous situations unnecesarily and without regard for his own health and safety. The most prominent example of this is him standing around to watch the fight between Unit-01 and Zeruel up close, and it ends up being down to pure blind luck that he doesn't ended up getting crushed.
* DefrostingIceKing: Appeared to have been something like this with Yui. As a young man he was a recluse and a bit of a delinquent, but she saw the softer side of him and he, in turn, opened up to her. Completely undone after Yui's death, to a point where he's probably incapable of ever defrosting again.
* DesperatelyCravesAffection: [[LikeFatherLikeSon Like with Shinji]], this is Gendo's main struggle in life. For Gendo though, this is compounded by SingleTargetSexuality; he has essentially convinced himself than no one but Yui will ever be able to look past his failings and problems and accept him with flaws and all, and he therefore wholeheartedly believes that she is the only one who can ever give him the affection he craves, which is why he is so desperate to bring her back at any and all costs.
* DiabolicalMastermind: In a sense. He's the true head of NERV, which is deeply corrupt, and controls the entirety of Tokyo-3.
* DirtyCoward: {{Downplayed|Trope}}, but in direct contrast to his son's CowardlyLion status, he's this. It's easy to miss, because he's the commander of NERV, not a frontline soldier. Gendo spends most of the series hiding from most of the problems he creates or sending others to suffer something intended for him. The glasses and finger-tenting he always does hides his expression from those in front of him. Gendo admits to running away from Shinji out of fear of screwing up his life more than before. Rei I only dies because Gendo didn't have the guts to break things off with Naoko in person and didn't realize (or care) how unhinged Naoko had become. SEELE wants to interrogate Rei II? He sends Ritsuko to suffer being stripped, shamed, and interrogated by SEELE rather than facing them himself. Finally, he is absoutely frightened of having an honest and open conversation with his own son, even though it would probably help to clear up a lot of the conflicts and misunderstandings between the two of them.
* DirtyOldMan: {{Fanon}} and Alternative universe spinoffs sometimes imply he is one because of his creepy attachment to Rei. In canon, he was married to Yui Ikari (10 years younger than him), [[spoiler:referred to his lover Naoko Akagi (probably only a few years older than him) as an "old hag"]] and [[spoiler:has an affair with Ritsuko Akagi (18 years younger than him)]].
* DidntSeeThatComing: He is caught completely off-guard by Rei turning against him in the 11th hour. Likewise in the manga, Ritsuko living long enough to shoot him dead was a nasty surprise.
* DragonWithAnAgenda: Gendo may be the head of NERV and a part of SEELE, but his ultimate loyalty is to himself and to his plan to subvert Instrumentality for his own goals. In ''End of Evangelion'', Rei has to defy him so that Shinji will have the power to disrupt the whole plan.
* EmptyShell: Yui's death has shattered him so completely he essentially has nothing left but his desperate wish to get her back through the hijacking of the Instrumentality project, no matter the cost or whatever might stand in his way.
* EternalEmployee: Implied. In contrast to the other NERV employees, the audience never sees Gendo being off the clock or at home in any regard, and he appears to be spending the vast majority of his time in an official capacity at NERV HQ. The closest thing we are shown that he has to some kind of "off-time", is when he has the occasional philosophical conversation or [[SmartPeoplePlayChess plays shogi]] with Fuyutsuki, and these things are either done in his office or when the two of them are travelling between destinations for work. It is indicated that he is so utterly subsumed by his quest to be reunited with Yui that any kind of personal life he might have had is now pretty much non-existent, and it is ultimately ambigious if he even actually has a home somewhere that he occasionally goes back to or if he literally sleeps at work.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: It isn't clear until ''The End of Evangelion'', but despite his abusiveness, Gendo genuinely loves Shinji in his own twisted way.
* EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor: Gendo was quite a DeadpanSnarker back in the day, as shown in the flashback episode, but when Yui "died" she apparently took his funny bone with her.
-->'''Fuyutsuki:''' You said it was luck you left the day before but you took all your files with you... even though the expedition wasn't over!\\
'''Gendo:''' Those weren't shredded? How careless.\\
'''Fuyutski:''' And I've been looking into your finances as well, quite a sum for a college professor!\\
'''Gendo:''' Remarkable, are you now teaching economics as well?
** However, he is not entirely above it during the series proper either, such as during a discussion with Fuyutsuki about the whole debacle surrounding Unit-04 and the Second Branch's disappearance. While Fuyutsuki is quietly horrified about the loss of life, Gendo sees it fit to crack a very dry joke:
--->'''Fuyutsuki:''' But the Committee is in a panic!\\
'''Gendo:''' *''matter-of-factly''* Of course, it was an unscheduled accident.\\
'''Fuyutsuki:''' *''[[ActuallyPrettyFunny clearly amused, in spite of himself]]''* SEELE must also be frantically adjusting the schedule...\\
'''Gendo:''' Incidents not depicted in the Dead Sea Scrolls can occur. This ought to teach the old men a lesson.
* EvilParentsWantGoodKids: It is somewhat subtle, but at least part of of his motivation for sending Shinji away from him and going to some lengths to keep his involvement in son's life to an absolute minimum, can be read as him fearing (perhaps not incorrectly, but a terrible mistake anyway) that he would only be a bad influence on Shinji.
* EvilSoundsDeep: He's a villain and the UsefulNotes/{{Japan}}ese, English, and [[UsefulNotes/SpanishAccentsAndDialects Spanish]] versions give him a deep, charismatic voice.
* ExcessiveMourning: He was so torn up by losing his wife that he abandoned their son and spent years devising a plan to reunite with Yui by bringing the apocalypse.
* FaceDeathWithDignity: In ''End of Evangelion'', after realizing he's going to [[spoiler: be killed by Unit-01 instead of being absorbed into Instrumentality,]] Gendo finally talks through his many, ''many'' issues, and when [[spoiler: Unit-01 is about to devour him]], he simply [[spoiler: apologizes to Shinji]].
* FallenHero: Yes, really. The flashback episode makes it clear that he and Yui were planning to try to prevent the Third Impact after all of the Angels were defeated. After her absorption into Unit-01, he decides to change plans and plot out his own version of the Impact so they can be reunited.
* FingerTenting: TropeCodifier; Gendo spends a great deal of time in this pose, so much so that it received memetic status in the fanbase and became known as [[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/the-gendo-pose "the Gendo pose"]].
* {{Foil}}: Ends up serving for this for his own wife. Both are manipulative [[TheChessmaster chessmasters]] who are willing to go to [[TheUnfettered pretty much any means to achieve their goals]], but Yui represents the most persevering though [[AntiHero profoundly cruel]] ideal of [[HopeBringer hope]] and [[AntiNihilist free will]], whereas Gendo represents the absolute pit of [[StrawNihilist despair]] and [[AbusiveParents control.]]
* FondMemoriesThatCouldHaveBeen: Three words. [[LastWords "Forgive me, Shinji."]]
* FormerTeenRebel: Gives the impression that he might have been one during the first meeting with Fuyutsuki. He still has hints of it, in that he's in flagrant breach of regulation by always wearing his uniform in an unzipped state, and frequently displays a lowkey devil-may-care attitude to his superiors, though that's also been seen as a sign that he is only focused on his quest and has pretty much moved beyond caring about what the world thinks of him.
* FourEyesZeroSoul: [[SinisterShades Okay, so they're more like sunglasses.]] It still counts.
* FreudianExcuse: {{Implied|Trope}}. It's strongly suggested he had a decidedly less than pleasant childhood.
* GenerationXerox:
** It is implied a few times, especially in ''End of Evangelion'', that Gendo shares most of his character traits with Shinji.
** [[http://imgur.com/u04fFcd Shinji's seen briefly wearing Gendo's old glasses in episode 5.]] [[http://imgur.com/jtOPXWg A young Gendo appears without his trademark beard or glasses in the flashbacks of episode 21]]. Comparing the two... yeah, Shinji ''strongly'' resembles his old man, both inside and out.
* GodhoodSeeker: His true objective in the manga is becoming the new Adam and triggering the Third Impact with Rei so he can recreate the world and reunite with Yui. It fails because Rei rejects him and leaves the recreation of the world to Shinji instead.
* HappilyMarried: To Yui before her "death". The event utterly ''broke'' him.
* HatesSmallTalk: While never stated outright, it is quite evident that Gendo treats having to say anything more than what he feels he absolutely needs to like having a tooth pulled. The only people he appears comfortable enough around to talk casually to are Fuyutsuki and Rei, and the case of the latter, they are usually very token attempts.
-->'''Gendo:''' How is school?\\
'''Rei:''' No problems, Sir.\\
'''Gendo:''' I see. That's good.
* HenpeckedHusband: In the {{Alternate Continuit|y}}ies where Yui is alive, she tends to be the one in the charge of the household while Gendo just quietly follows her lead. It is a DownplayedTrope most of the time, though, as the relationship tends not to be portrayed as overtly negative, and for his part, Gendo seems to be just fine with the arrangement.
* HeartbrokenBadass: Light on the badass side, but very heavy on the heartbroken side.
* HiddenDisdainReveal: In the manga, while he initially seems distant like his anime counterpart, he finally tells Shinji that he saw him as competition for Yui's attention and genuinely despised him for that.
* HisOwnWorstEnemy: Like with Shinji, his extreme self-hatred and subconscious fear that he is not worthy of being loved is really what is at the root of most of his problems.
* TheHeavy: As the chief agent of SEELE, Gendo is directly responsible for triggering the events of Second Impact and organizing the global push towards [[AssimilationPlot Human Instrumentality.]]
* HiddenHeartOfGold: Yui certainly thought so, telling an incredulous Fuyutsuki that Gendo is "quite a sweet person. It's just that no one knows it." We also get glimpses of it through Yui's recollection, mostly notably from a moment after Shinji's birth, where an audibly worried Gendo questions if his child will even have much of a future to look forward to in the ruined Post-Second Impact world. It becomes more clear in ''The End of Evangelion'', where it is explained that he truly does care about Shinji, and his dismissive attitude towards him stems from the fact that he sees ''himself'' as a bad influence and feared hurting his son. And, finally, in his dying moments he regrets everything he's done to Shinji. Largely averted in the manga, though, where he is pretty much every bit as horrible as he appears to be.
* InconsistentSpelling: Depending on the romanization the translator uses, his name can be rendered as Gendo (or more properly, Gendō) or Gendou, with the former being more popular.
%%* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: In the manga. Far more ambiguous in the anime.
* ItsAllAboutMe: A shared trait with [[LikeFatherLikeSon his son.]] While both are profoundly self-loathing, they are also incredibly selfish. It's made explicit at the end of the series that Yui didn't want this whatsoever to begin with (not to mention she initiated the plot to begin with) and is disgusted by his actions, granting him a KarmicDeath though still giving him time to come to terms with himself.
* IWasQuiteALooker: In his youth, Gendo was much more ruggedly handsome and conventionally attractive (and actually strongly resembles an older version of Shinji, who was himself designed to be a {{Bishonen}}). He's not bad looking at all at his current age, but looks are clearly the least of his priorities.
* JadeColoredGlasses: Gendo used to be a more open and humorous person when Yui was alive. Once she died, he lost all these traits and became the monster he is now.
* JealousParent: Towards the end of the manga, Gendō admits to Shinji that he never loved him as a son. Instead, he's greatly jealous of Shinji for "taking all of Yui's love for himself".
* JerkassHasAPoint: Activating the Dummy Plug system that causes Toji to become crippled (or to die in the manga) was harsh, but the alternative was Third Impact. Asuka and Rei had already been defeated by Bardiel, and Shinji refused to do anything, so there really was no other way even if he wasn't a ruthless jerk.
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: His relationship with Rei indicates a much kinder side to him, and while he does love her to an extent, she's ultimately still created to play a role as an emotional substitute for Yui and a puppet for his ultimate goal that will ultimately involve her sacrificing herself (Which she rejects to recognize herself with individual will and to go along with Yui's plan instead).
* KavorkaMan: Whether Gendo is attractive or not is completely up to the viewer, but as it stands he's a perpetually scowling recluse in his late forties with absolutely no social skills, a general disregard for other people and blatant mental issues. Despite this, he manages to win over Yui and both of the Akagi women with relative ease. Each of these can be at least partially explained by the fact that they took root while he was younger and more dashing and mentally stable.
* KarmicDeath: In ''End of Evangelion'', unlike everyone else who got to be embraced by images of their loved ones before turning into [=LCL=], Gendo is picked up by Unit-01 (which has his beloved wife's soul in it) and bitten in two, AFTER Rei slices his left arm off. He deserved a good metaphorical smacking from the cosmos, his death drips of poetic justice, and in his LastWords he states that he's ''perfectly aware of this''.
* KarmicNod: As he is about to be devoured by a demonic Unit-01 during Instrumentality, he accepts it as a fair punishment for everything he has done.
* KickTheDog: He has a few more moments in later Angel battles, usually through negligence like abandoning Asuka to her fate when Arael attacked or everything he does to Rei until her betrayal in ''End.'' Also the Dummy Plug incident, in which he has the new autopilot for EVA-01 tear apart EVA-03 while the pilot is still trapped inside. Initially this sounds like ShootTheDog, but that smile on his face as Bardiel dies and Shinji is begging him to shut the thing off says otherwise.
* KubrickStare: One of the three "ingredients" of his signature pose.
* LargeAndInCharge: He's one of the tallest characters in the series, and the head of NERV.
* LaserGuidedKarma: At one point, Gendo has EVA-00's arm severed, ostensibly to prevent the Angel Bardiel from infecting it, but without severing Rei's connection first so she has to feel the agony. Fast forward to ''End of Evangelion'', Rei's next clone returns the favor by tearing Gendo's arm off herself.
* LeanAndMean: While it isn't too noticeable in the show proper due to his bulky jacket, the art book ''Evangelion Chronicle'' has him shown without said jacket, revealing that he is actually quite slender of frame (a trait Shinji has clearly inherited) to the point where he wears both a belt and suspenders.
* LoveMakesYouEvil: DeconstructedTrope. He takes the phrase "you're worth the world to me" to its (ridiculously) logical conclusion. He tries to bring about the apocalypse, in fervent belief that this will reunite his mind and soul with that of his wife, Yui. Technically, while the plan actually began working, Yui's soul ''rejected'' Gendo's at the climax, due to the untold suffering he brought, especially to their son. The moment is best summed up when the Eva her soul is in bites Gendo and Gendo's last words are an apology to his son.
* LoveRedeems: Zigzagged. Before he met Yui, he had few friends and was a pretty bitter man. Though it is implied he might have sought Yui out initially because of her connections to SEELE, he genuinely fell deeply in love with her, and actually became a somewhat decent and caring guy. Then Yui "died", and he did a full 180 into LoveMakesYouEvil territory and spent the rest of his life trying to find a way to bring her back... and was willing to destroy the entire human civilization to do so.
* LikeFatherLikeSon: In his last moments, it becomes clear that Gendo and Shinji are quite alike, and that Gendo's actions, from his obsession with Yui to his neglect of Shinji, were born of his own Hedgehog's Dilemma.
* ManipulativeBastard: In every continuity. Though it's somewhat notable that he's almost always a ManipulativeBastard by accident. To paraphrase the man himself, he just isn't good at interacting with other humans. However, he does have access to psychological profiles on most of the main cast, so make of that what you will.
* MaskOfSanity: He's publicly the leader of the heroic organization fighting to prevent the end of the world. The truth of the matter is far more complicated as he's plotting to cause it himself instead in a mad quest to be reunited with his long-dead wife.
* TheMole: Before Gendo took command of NERV, he worked as an auditor on the Katsuragi Expedition. Him and his team conviently left the expedition's laboritory the day before Second Impact, the implication being that SEELE planted him there with orders to manipulate Dr. Katsuragi and his team into triggering the event. SEELE later has him inserted into the official UN investigation of the Second Impact. His orders are again somewhat ambigious, but Fuyutsuki strongly suspects that he was ordered to muddle up the results and make sure that SEELE's "freak meteor strike" cover-story is the only version of events that ends up being told to the public.
* MoreThanMindControl: Gives the impression of having this over Rei and Ritsuko, and they both break it by the end of the series. Same goes for Shinji.
* MotiveDecay: Flashbacks indicate he initially participated in Yui's plan to subvert SEELE for her purpose of making Instrumentality reversible, but after her "death", he became profoundly stricken with grief and now only really cares about reuniting with her, with that motivation being tertiary at best.
* MotiveMisidentification: On the receiving end of this from another villain. Keel and SEELE believe that his motivation is a hunger for power and that he wants to take control over Instrumentality for himself and become a god. In reality, his motivation is love, and all Gendo really wants is to be reunited with Yui. Averted in the manga, where SEELE actually are right about his plan.
* {{Necromantic}}: He still thinks of Unit-01 as Yui, and speaks to it often.
* NervesOfSteel: Does not flinch even when he gets splattered with blood from Unit-01 and Zeruel brawling right in front of him.
* NeverBeHurtAgain: Ultimately, this what is at the core of Gendo's general attitude of detachment from, well, ''everything''. Yui was the only person who ever managed to get emotionally close to him, and her "death" utterly ''broke'' him to a point where he is effectively pathologically unable to ever dare trying to be close to anyone again. It is, again, one of the strongest implications that whatever happened back in his childhood and adolescence had to be something really terrible to make him that way in the first place.
* NoodleIncident: His past prior to meeting Yui. He was a known rebel and drunk who was prone to getting into bar fights at his university, and nonchalantly told Fuyutsuki that he was "used to being hated" when reprimanded by him. While this suggests that he has a DarkAndTroubledPast outside of his relationships with his wife and son, the audience never learns anything more about it.
* NoSocialSkills: Between his curt way of speaking, which betrays an obvious dislike for saying anything more than he feels he absolutely needs to, regularly making the effort to hide his face behind his glasses and hands so it is hard to get a read on him, and being quite the recluse in private, with Fuyutsuki and Rei probably being the closest he has to a friend and family respectively, it is evident that Gendo is ''not'' a people person. [[NotSoDifferentRemark This is underlined by Ritsuko and other characters stating that Shinji and him are actually rather similar at this field.]]
* NotSoStoic: He has his moments, with many of them notably happening around Rei. This is especially evident with her betrayal in ''End of Evangelion'' which makes his true agony start to leak out, culminating with his final apology to his son. He also becomes noticeably agitated and irritated with Shinji in the fight against Bardiel, both during the battle and after when he's dressing down Shinji for his actions.
* OhCrap: In the manga, when Shinji tries to assault him after Touji's death. Albeit very brief (it only lasts one frame) this is the only time that Gendo is seen genuinely shocked.
* ParentalFavoritism: In a manner of speaking: while Rei isn't really his daughter, it's clear he sees her as one, and he clearly favors her over Shinji, treating her with unusual warmth while he largely ignores and is disappointed in Shinji. Played for Drama in that it's implied that this is because he sees her as an emotional substitute for Yui, and downplayed in that, even though he cares for Rei to an extent, she's still ultimately expendable to him.
* ParentalIncest: His relationship with Rei is ''profoundly'' possessive and creepy, reaching it's apex where he directly touches her naked breast in ''End of Evangelion'' (non-sexually, but still), and numerous statements indicate that he more or less views her as his daughter even if he's not directly genetically related to her. This is ultimately a downplayed example, as despite him clearly having some uncomfortable feelings towards her and her being completely subservient to him, there is absolutely no indication he actually does anything sexually inappropriate with her otherwise.
* PerpetualFrowner:
** While he shows off the occasional triumphant smirk when something goes JustAsPlanned, he spends most of the series with a downcast scowl on his face. His only truly warm smiles tends to happen when he is around Rei.
** Notably, the flashback episode shows that the younger Gendo tended to default to a confident smirk for his standard expression. After losing Yui, the frown that his older self will be known for appeared and was there to stay.
* PetTheDog:
** The two occasions when he treats Shinji well, and his dying words in ''End of Evangelion'': "Forgive me, Shinji."
** He saves Rei a few times over the course of the series, but the later episodes prove she is expendable to him. Still, he's horrified when she's injured during the EVA-00 incident. The implication is he sees her as Yui.
* ThePhilosopher: Comments a great deal on science, scientists and the state of humanity.
* PsychoticSmirk: Whenever something goes AllAccordingToPlan for him. It's usually hidden behind his hands. Chillingly, when he sees that the Dummy Plug is actually working during the Bardiel incident, he does it openly.
* TheQuietOne: He usually speaks little, and when he does he never says a single word more than he has to.
* ScarsAreForever: His hands are covered with burn scars, as a result of forcibly opening Rei's entry plug to rescue her after the failed activation of Unit-00. His scars are much worse in the manga, too.
* ScaryShinyGlasses: Former TropeNamer and so iconic that this coupled with his [[FingerTenting signature pose]] have long been the subject of [[MemeticMutation meme]] and ShoutOut.
* SelfFulfillingProphecy: In his final (and only) soliloquy he states that the reason he abandoned Shinji was because he was afraid of hurting him and convinced his son would be better off without him in his life. Unfortunately, this act ended up being the root of all of Shinji's problems; Gendo realizes this painful truth just before his death.
* ShadowArchetype: Of Shinji. It's very noted that the two are not so different in their personality and appearances and indeed, Gendo appears to be what could happen to Shinji if he underwent similar circumstances.
* SingleTargetSexuality: He loves Yui and ''only'' Yui. After Yui's "death", he is perfectly fine with sleeping with other women if he can use them to further his goals, but he harbors no actual attraction to them. This raises further implications in his relationship with Rei, who looks remarkably like Yui.
* SmartPeoplePlayChess: He is shown to occasionally play TabletopGame/{{Shogi}} with Fuyutsuki.
* SmugSmiler: As a young man, before crossing the DespairEventHorizon, his standard expression was a cocky, defiant smirk. The fact that he's a PerpetualFrowner in the present shows just how different he became after losing Yui.
* SourOutsideSadInside: The scary, cold and mysterious façade he projects hides that he is more or less like his son underneath it all: someone with an exceptionally low opinion of himself, who fails to connect with other people due to being deeply afraid of hurting and being hurt by others.
* TheStarscream: He's only going along with SEELE to hijack their Human Instrumentality Project so that he can reunite with his dead wife and attempts to betray them in ''End of Evangelion''.
* TheStoic: His default facial expression hardly ever changes.
* StrawNihilist: It's gradually revealed that his motivation is a result of his absolute grief and sorrow for Yui's death, and that he has no independent will to live and doesn't find any meaning in life. Ironically, Yui herself is an AntiNihilist.
* StrongFamilyResemblance: The flashbacks we see of him where he doesn't have his beard show that he is basically just Shinji with a longer face. Design sketches of him without his bulky jacket also reveals that he actually has a very slender build and that Shinji has clearly inherited this trait from him.
* SugarAndIcePersonality: '''Very''' icy, with the sugar only showing up around Rei and Yui.
* SunglassesAtNight: More like colored glasses [[HollywoodDarkness in various poorly lit rooms]] in an ElaborateUndergroundBase. It is even justified; Gendo's normal glasses broke prior to the beginning of the series, his orange-tinted sunglasses are by all appearences the only pair of prescription glasses he has left, and it is implied that his private life is so utterly non-existent that he simply cannot muster up the motivation to go out and buy himself a new pair.
* TallDarkAndSnarky: He is one of the tallest characters of the cast, dresses like one of TheMenInBlack and he has a pretty dry wit. He was snarky in a more standard way when he was younger, too.
* TeethClenchedTeamWork: Though he seems to hold Fuyutsuki in a slightly higher regard than he does most people, their partnership is based on the mutual understanding that their goals align, not any actual friendship.
* TerseTalker: Gendo prefers answering in monosyllabic words, and he by and large clearly dislikes saying any more than what he feels he absolutely needs to. The only exceptions is when he discusses philosophy with Fuyutsuki or talks with Rei. It actually gets justified when it becomes clear how similar he and Shinji actually are to each other at their core. This manner of speaking is actually a strong hint towards the fact that Gendo might be just as socially awkward as his son and that the two of them have largely the same difficulties with small talk; Gendo is just better at hiding them.
* ThemeNaming: Even Gendo's original last name, Rokubungi, continues the show's trend of using naval-themed names, as "Rokubungi" means sextant.
* TogetherInDeath: Although he wasn't inducted into Instrumentality, Shinji's statement in the manga's penultimate chapter implies that like Yui, his soul was left inside the petrified Unit 01.
* TooMuchAlike: He and Shinji are so very much alike, it's painful. Both of them are brooding, introverted, quiet people who have evident difficulty with the concepts of interpersonal relationships and small talk, and ultimately they are revealed to have the same {{Fatal Flaw}}s, namely an immense sense of self-loathing and a subconscious belief that they are unworthy of being loved. They also have quite a strong willpower beneath their unassuming exterior, given how Shinji's berserk drive and Gendo's cold determination are not different (especially since Gendo implied he was more brash in his youth). Gendo's decision to abandon Shinji being driven by his fear of being a bad parent also mirrors Shinji's tendency to isolate himself from others out of fear that he will only be a burden to them. Especially the later is why the two of them find it so impossibly hard to communicate earnestly with each other.
* TookTheWifesName: Gendo taking Yui's surname when he married her is the first sign that his love for her is no act. Furthermore, WordOfGod says that Yui was the only daughter of a SEELE member, and therefore [[UptownGirl of high social status]]. It also serves to reinforce the implications that Gendo had a very troubled childhood and adolescence and [[ShedTheFamilyName may have taken Yui's surname to cut all ties with his family]].
* TroubledAbuser: His rather horrible treatment of Shinji is strongly implied to be at least partly be a result of his own childhood and adolescence being miserable. As he himself says in an off-hand comment, he is "used to being hated."
* TheUnfettered: Lets absolutely nothing get in the way of his plans. Not the fact that his son is a puppet, not the fact that the closest he has to a daughter is a puppet, not common decency or sense, not thinking his wife may be horrified at all of this ''if'' it works, '''nothing'''.
* VillainousBreakdown: In ''End of Evangelion'', he completely loses his composure when Rei takes his arm and abandons him in favor of helping Shinji, being reduced to a frightened, screaming mess, as he desperatedly begs Rei not to leave him. He does, however, gain some dignity in his last moments, [[spoiler:apologizing to Shinji just before he's killed]].
-->'''Gendo:''' ''"I beg you! Wait, Rei!"''
* VillainousCheekbones: His somewhat prominent cheekbones serves as one of the few physical traits he doesn't share with the more soft-faced Shinji.
* WardrobeFlawOfCharacterization: Unlike the more proper and prim Fuyutsuki, Gendo wears his uniform's jacket always open, lampshading his latent rebellion against his superiors.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Zigzagged. We don't have a great idea of what his goals were before Yui's contact experiment, but he seemed to be firmly on her side. After the contact experiment, he merely wants to be with his wife again and doesn't seem to care much what happens to everyone else.
* WhiteGloves: First used to hide the burn scars he got from the incident with Unit-00 prior to the series' beginning. Later used to hide the embryonic Adam, [[BodyHorror which has either been fused with his hand or is actually looking out from his hand, in the anime and manga respectively]].
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds:
** In ''End of Evangelion'', the implications that Gendo's a lot like Shinji become flat-out stated, with him having tried as desperately as possible to revive the one woman he cared about, at the cost of his empathy, all his friends, and, as part of the endgame, all of humanity. Gendo's shown to be a hollow shell of a man, and even admits outright that he was so [[AbusiveParents terrible toward Shinji]] because he genuinely didn't believe he (Gendo) deserved love and thought he would only hurt Shinji if he were near him, only to hurt him anyways. Gendo's just as much of a mentally-ill mess as his son; he's just better at pretending he's not, and keeps himself calm long enough to play TheChessmaster.
** Definitely in the manga, which shows exactly how broken he was before falling in love with Yui. Losing her (who was his MoralityChain) and her starting to love Shinji more than him were both factors for his "father of the year" attitude.
* WouldHurtAChild: Not directly himself but the Eva program [[PoweredByAForsakenChild runs off of children]], he has no problem risking Toji getting killed to test the Dummy Plug (all he does [[PsychoticSmirk is grin]] when he see that the Plug actually works), and in one instance he has the staff apply extra pressure to Shinji's plug to choke him out for daring to question his methods (the aforementioned Dummy Plug "test").
* {{Yandere}}: Initially, he appears to be an aloof, collected leader. But as it turns out, he's greatly obsessed with his dead wife. He's willing to initiate TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt to get her back. Plus, given that she's not so much dead as trapped inside the Eva-01 mecha, part of his plan to "reunite with her" involves getting his son to "ride inside her cockpit" unknowingly. ''And'' he takes a particular liking to his wife's fourteen-year-old clone, Rei Ayanami. It is taken up a notch in the manga, where he declares open resentment for Shinji for getting "preferential treatment" from her. No, he is not a very sane individual; why do you ask?
* ZenSurvivor: Absurd as he eventually is revealed to be under it all, he explains to his son that his "meh" attitude towards everything is a survival mechanism when they meet at Yui's grave for her anniversary.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Doctor Kozo Fuyutsuki]]
!!Deputy Commander Kozo Fuyutsuki
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/MotomuKiyokawa (Japanese); Guil Lunde [ADV, series], Michael Ross [movies], John Paul "JP" Karliak [VSI] (English)[[note]]'''Other languages:''' Creator/JesseConde [Locomotion, VSI], Rolando de Castro [Animax] (Latin American Spanish); Jordi Ribes [TV series and films], Luis Fernando Ríos [VSI] (European Spanish); João Batista [Locomotion], Sidney Lima [Animax], Carlos Campanile [Netflix] (Brazilian Portuguese), Creator/StellaMusy (Italian)[[/note]]
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_kozo.png]]
%%
->"''As long as one soul still exists, it will be eternal proof that Mankind once existed.''"

Dr. Fuyutsuki is the Deputy Commander of NERV, Gendō Ikari's [[TheLancer right-hand man]], and is as close to [[TheConsigliere a confidante]] as Gendō will allow. In his life before NERV, he was a college professor at Tokyo University, teaching in the somewhat obscure field of [[OurSoulsAreDifferent metaphysical biology]]. Yui Ikari was one of his interns, and he carried a torch for her for some time. He never acted on his feelings, but was shocked when Yui told him that she was marrying Gendō. Years later, Fuyutsuki discovered the truth of Second Impact and confronted Gendō, but was persuaded by Gendō to assist him with the Eva project rather than exposing the coverup.

Fuyutsuki is far more ethical and a much more decent human being than Gendō, but he has allowed himself to be carried along by events until it is too late to act on his ever-growing misgivings. His being TheStoic (and in comedic situations, TheComicallySerious) doesn't exactly help.

----
* AdaptationalJerkass: The manga subtly implies him to be this. During his MotiveRant, Gendo blames "God" for taking Yui away from him, even though getting absorbed by Unit-01 had been ''her own plan'' all along. This is in contrast to the anime, where Gendo and Fuyutsuki talk openly about Yui's reasons to get absorbed by Unit-01. This at least strongly implies that, in the manga, Fuyutsuki never offered Gendo any insight at all into Yui's plans and basically just left him to suffer in uncertainty.
* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Heavily implied to have been attracted to Yui, who was his student at the university they met, including looking jealous when he first heard of her and Gendo dating. It seems neither Gendo or Yui are aware of his feelings.
* BigGood: Some fans see him and Yui as co-{{Big Good}}s of the series thanks to a very ambiguous flashback in ''End'', which can be interpreted as them planning or at least predicting all the heroes' moves ahead of time to ensure Keel's plan would fail.
* TheCallLeftAMessage: Episode 21 strongly {{implie|dTrope}}s that Gendo wanted to recruit Fuyutsuki into GEHIRN from the beginning, and left an incriminating paper trail following Second Impact to lure him to their headquarters.
* ComicBookFantasyCasting:
** Just like Gendo, his character design is based off of a star from ''Series/UFO1970'', in this case George Sewell who played Alec Freeman. In fact, his character design mirrors Sewell so much that the only difference in appearance between them is hair color. This means that he canonically looks British, not [[FakeNationality Japanese]]... certainly not the weirdest thing in this show.
** He also bears more than a passing resemblance to Creator/PeterCushing.
* TheConsigliere: Fuyutsuki often spars verbally with Gendo, mostly by questioning his motives, alternatively trying both to remind Gendo to act with patience and not do something overly reckless in his ploys against SEELE, and also acting as a conscience of sorts, trying to remind him of the human costs of his actions.
* CoolOldGuy: Even as a former university professor, he has the guts to challenge Gendo over SEELE's plans, despite the risk to his life doing so causes.
* DeadpanSnarker: His sardonic wit injects some much-needed levity into the series and can sometimes be rather poignant depending on the situation.
* FacePalm: In episode 9 once Shinji and Asuka begin bickering immediately after dispatching Israfel.
* AGoodWayToDie: He accepts his fate in ''End of Evangelion'' with no fear, and actually seems to welcome it. In the manga, he speaks for some time to the Rei-turned-to-Lilith before being absorbed.
* HotForStudent: Towards Yui, although he didn't make his feelings known (not that it would have made a difference, since she loved Gendo).
* NotSoStoic: Having to deal with the rest of the cast and their various mental problems occasionally gets him to react in a frustrated or exasperated manner.
* NotThatKindOfDoctor: Downplayed. It is implied that a focus on metaphysical biology includes a working knowledge of physiology and anatomy. At any rate, Fuyutsuki appears to know enough about the human body to be able to perform [[OpenHeartDentistry amateur surgery]] in a pinch, and with the woeful lack of medical professionals to fill the need in the aftermath of Second Impact, he feels compelled to step up and help the desperate masses however he can, and operates an unlicensed clinic in the ruins of Toyohashi City for a couple of years until Gendo catches up with him again.
* NumberTwo: To Gendo, meaning he usually has to deal with the more mundane functions of NERV.
* OnlyFriend: There are quite a few signs that Gendo, in some kind of sense, views him as such, as Fuyutsuki is the only person he regularly socializes with and has even shared his true plan with him. Fuyutsuki doesn't quite return that sentiment, but he doesn't outright dismiss Gendo either, and at points it is implied he pities him for the kind of life he has brought upon himself.
* OnlySaneMan: One of the few adult characters who is relatively well-adjusted and if not satisfied, then content with his lot in life.
* ThePhilosopher: Engages in some philosophical banter with Gendo on occasion.
* TheProfessor: Yui was one of his interns when he was a college professor. Gendo refers to him as "Professor" during flashbacks and his final descent into Terminal Dogma.
* ReluctantMadScientist: It is subtle, but he has some traces of it, with how his expertise in metaphysical biology are all but outright said to have played a big role in both the creations of the Evangelions and Rei, as well as the latter's cloned dummy bodies. While his feelings on his contributions to the development of the Evangelions aren't made entirely clear, he appears to have at least some regrets about his hand in the making of Rei, if his comment about her being "the product of my despair" is anything to go by. He also outright admits to Yui that his continued employment with NERV after being recruited by Gendo is entirely down to SEELE holding a gun to his head, as he was threatened with "erasure" for [[HeKnowsTooMuch knowing too much]] [[ResignationsNotAccepted should he ever try to resign]].
* ResignedToTheCall: By all appearances, he's resigned to stay with NERV because he is aware that [[HeKnowsTooMuch he knows far too much about SEELE's plans]] and [[ResignationsNotAccepted would likely not live for long should he try to leave]]. It is subverted when his real reasons are revealed and turn out be far more idealistic in nature; namely that his true agenda is helping Yui to undermine SEELE's plans.
* SatelliteCharacter: Beyond some limited interaction with the rest of the NERV staff, Fuyutsuki only ever has any meaningful screentime with Gendo and Yui.
* TheStoic: Is generally pretty reserved, though not as much as Gendo.
* TeacherStudentRomance: He developed an attraction to Yui when she was his student.
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Neither he nor Gendo like each other too much, and a flashback heavily suggests that Fuyutsuki ''hated'' Gendo back when he was his student, but both of them work closely together due to having similar goals. By the series proper, Fuyutsuki seems to have developed a certain amount of pity for Gendo, but he still clearly doesn't like him.
* WhatASenselessWasteOfHumanLife: He often ruminates aloud on the loss of innocent lives that Gendo and SEELE's plans tend to leave in their wake. He might have resigned to the idea that he is powerless to do anything to stop it from happening, but that still doesn't mean he likes it.
[[/folder]]

!!Members

[[folder:Misato Katsuragi]]
!!Captain / Major Misato Katsuragi
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/KotonoMitsuishi (Japanese); Creator/AllisonKeith [ADV], Creator/CarrieKeranen [VSI] (English)[[note]]'''Other languages:''' Toni Rodríguez [Locomotion], Marisol Romero [Animax, VSI] (Latin-American Spanish); María Moscardó [TV series], Creator/CarmenCalvell [''Death & Rebirth'', ''The End of Evangelion''], Olga Velasco [VSI] (European Spanish), Creator/LaurenceBreheret (French); Vanessa Alves [Locomotion], Lene Bastos [Animax], Priscila Franco [Netflix] (Brazilian Portuguese)[[/note]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/misato_2.png]]
%%
->"''The hedgehog's dilemma...the nearer we get, the deeper we hurt each other...''"

Misato is the beautiful [[OldMaid 29-year-old]] BunnyEarsLawyer who is appointed to be the guardian and personal tutor for Shinji and Asuka, as well as the pilots' tactical commander in battle.

Misato is a study in contrasts. When she's on the job, she's a force to be reckoned with--tough, smart, cunning, hard-nosed, determined, ultra-competent in strategy and tactics (particularly as the series nears its end), and an all-around ActionGirl. At home, it's a completely different story. She [[HardDrinkingPartyGirl guzzles beer]], wears [[SkimpierIsBetter skimpy clothes]], has a pet genetically-engineered penguin named Pen-Pen who can beat her at chess, and is a borderline CordonBleughChef. She's [[ManicPixieDreamGirl cheerful, optimistic, ditzy, hedonistic, and quite the slob]]. She even has her own theme music for these scenes, which sounds like a sort of musical paraphrase of all the wacky 1960s sitcom theme music you ever heard.

As the series progresses, it's gradually revealed that these contrasts in personality are two halves of a facade. Despite her age, Misato, like Shinji, is a [[BrokenBird broken-hearted child]], striving to live up to crushing responsibilities, yearning for love and acceptance, and trying desperately to hide deep sadness, loneliness, and fear (by episode 21, after Ryōji Kaji dies, the mask cracks). Despite her lighter side, her insecurities cause her to be [[{{Manchild}} childish, touchy, and short-tempered]]; for instance, she hates being teased yet loves to tease people, especially Shinji. Most of her problems come from [[Theatre/OedipusRex conflicting feelings toward her father]], who neglected her and her mother in favor of his work but [[HeroicSacrifice sacrificed his life]] to save hers during Second Impact... an event that she's all but certain he had a hand in ''causing'', but as a horrific accident.

She hates the Angels, blaming them for her father's death and [[ScarsAreForever her own near-fatal injuries]] in the cataclysm of 2000, and that hatred drives her to amazing feats of cunning to defeat them. Unfortunately, it also causes her to misinterpret the reasons why Shinji acts the way he does when he pilots Unit-01, and drives her to say the worst possible things at the worst possible moment to Shinji near the end of episode 24, in the aftermath of Tabris' attack on NERV (see Kaworu's entry for details), traumatizing him even further and pushing him into his final slide toward a nervous breakdown.

She and Shinji become very close, perhaps even coming to love one another, as the series goes on -- though not in any openly romantic way. She even [[LastKiss kisses him just before her own heartbreaking heroic death]], though her motivations for doing so are [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation subject to debate]]. It is very sad to watch, as the series goes on, that whenever Shinji is in the most pain and needs Misato the most, she's either wallowing in drunken self-pity, angry that he doesn't share her rage, or her efforts are misguided and seemingly inappropriate, and whenever Misato is in the most pain and needs Shinji the most, he can't handle seeing her in pain and tries to ignore her--not because he doesn't care, but because he doesn't know what to say or do and fears he'll only hurt her more if he tries. [[note]]See quote above; this is what they describe as the Hedgehog Dilemma, and is the best way to describe her relationship with Shinji.[[/note]]

Her on-again, off-again boyfriend is the aforementioned Ryōji Kaji; their relationship, at least at first, is all about BelligerentSexualTension.

----
* ActionGirl: She's not an Eva pilot like Asuka and Rei, but she's incredibly competent in her own right. This is especially evident in episode 7 when she takes down Jet Alone and in ''End of Evangelion'' when she saves Shinji from the JSSDF.
* AddictionDisplacement: Replaces beer for coffee later in the series after Kaji's demise.
* TheAlcoholic: Borderline. Her fridge is practically stuffed with beer, and downing at least one can is the first thing she does when she gets home from NERV. She also drinks notably more when she is under stress, something Ritsuko comments on with some concern in a later episode. It makes her entirely quitting beer and instead drinking pretty much only canned coffee following Kaji's death that more noticeable.
* AntiHero: Downplayed. She's a good person, but her motivations to work with NERV are largely personal and she has serious psychological issues that impair her ability to relate to people, which greatly affects Shinji in particular.
* BadassDriver: At least hinted at. Because of the nature of the show, she doesn't get that many chances at showing off her driving skills, but she swiftly and professionally manages to evacuate Shinji from the frontlines in her car in the first episode, and later she shows that she can pull off high-speed ParallelParking without breaking a sweat.
* BadBedroomBadLife: Misato's bedroom (let alone the rest of her apartment complex) is a complete mess, with empty beer cans, instant meal wrappers, dirty laundry, and other sorts of junk. While it initially demonstrates her lax, carefree nature, it also displays her unresolved trauma from the Second Impact along with other deep emotional struggles.
* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: {{Subverted|Trope}}. It seems that her drinking, poor eating habits, and lack of proper hygiene haven't affected her looks, but she has a large scar on her chest (briefly revealed in the anime, seen full-on in one panel in the manga) from her brush with death during Second Impact, and she's seriously injured by Unit-03's destruction of its launch site, wearing a head bandage and an arm sling for the next couple of episodes.
* {{Beergasm}}: The happy yell she lets go of when she knocks back her first cold one after work provides the current page image.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: She's friendly, but it's not wise to piss her off.
* BigBreastPride: Our (and Shinji's) very first image of her is a picture she included with Shinji's NERV materials that has an arrow she drew pointing to her cleavage and "Get a load of these!" written on the picture.
* BigEater: She binges on junk food like ramen and curry during her free time, as displayed by the gigantic mess in her apartment complex.
* BizarreTasteInFood: She really likes to play mix-in-match with different instant foods. She especially likes curry on top of instant ramen, a combination which Ritsuko and Shinji don't really try that hard to hide that they find rather off-putting.
* BrokenAce: Initially introduced as a beautiful, hard-drinking, hard-fighting and improbably young elite officer of NERV sent to mentor and guide Shinji, the cracks start showing throughout the series and by the end she is barely holding it together following serious injuries, the resurfacing memories of Second Impact, her increasing awareness that NERV has been lying to her all along, her old friendship with Ritsuko coming apart at the seams, and the death of Kaji. In the finale, having failed to motivate Shinji as a friend and as a substitute mother, all she can do is offer herself and she dies asking if she did the right thing.
* BrokenBird: Her personality is mostly a coping mechanism for her childhood traumas.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: She is certainly a HardDrinkingPartyGirl, who [[{{Womanchild}} often fails to act her age]] and definitely marks for PluckyComicRelief, but there is a ''very'' good reason why she is at the top of the military chain of command within an organisation like NERV.
* ButtMonkey: She has her moments, mainly when the series gets comical and she finds herself on the receiving end of Ritsuko or Shinji's [[DeadpanSnarker snide remarks]].
* BuxomBeautyStandard: Her large chest often has men fawning over her, especially Shinji's classmates.
* CharacterCatchphrase: When she's describing something as slight, she uses ''chocchi'' instead of the conventional ''chotto''.
* ClickHello:
** To Kaji when she catches him about to sneak into Terminal Dogma.
** To Ritsuko when she was about to reveal Rei's origins to Shinji.
* ClingyJealousGirl: She gets quite jealous whenever Kaji runs off to flirt with another woman. In one early episode, when Kaji gets a little too touchy-feely with Ritsuko, she stares at him with a look of [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments utterly hilarious fury]] through a window.
* CoolBigSis: Subverted. Misato attempts to be this towards Shinji to get closer to him, but their mutual issues derail her efforts.
* CoolCar: Has a penchant for driving around in sport cars, most notably her Renault Alpine A310. One episode also shows her driving to Shinji's school in a Toyota MR-2.
* CordonBleughChef: Her cooking is best described as completely unrelated instant meals gathered in the same vessel. She's better off leaving the food to Shinji.
* CowardiceCallout: She gives several callouts to Shinji in some instances where he wants to no longer be a pilot; in ''The End of Evangelion'', Misato's last words to Shinji are telling him to stop fleeing and wanting to kill himself and to instead make a choice.
* ADayInTheLimelight: Episode 7, where she is the key factor in taking down the Jet Alone mecha after it goes awry during its debut performance.
* {{Deuteragonist}}: Per WordOfGod, Misato is the secondary hero, following Shinji.
* DisappearedDad: Her father was a scientist who was caught in the middle of the Second Impact with his crew.
* DrowningMySorrows: {{Inverted|Trope}}. After Kaji's death, she entirely quits drinking beer, switching instead to drinking an apparently equal amount of canned coffee.
* {{Dumbstruck}}: Following Second Impact, the teenaged Misato was found in a borderline catatonic state and she didn't speak for at least a couple of years afterwards. When they're in college together, Ritsuko notices that Misato is quite the MotorMouth and speculates that she talks so much then to make up for her time as a mute.
* EarnedStripes: Misato gets a promotion but doesn't say anything about it. Only Kensuke, a military otaku, notices the change in her ranks, and Shinji is surprised when he congratulates her on it.
* ExtremeDoormat: After the Second Impact, she spent years being unemotive and barely speaking. It was only when she got into college that she started to become more social again, which is implied to be why she's such a {{Womanchild}}.
* FunctionalAddict: Even though she is a borderline alcoholic, it never shows when she's on the job, where she is one of the most well-adjusted people working at NERV (relatively speaking) and a military genius.
* GeneralRipper: It is hinted that she often pushes her wards to danger due to her hatred of the Angels.
* GenerationXerox: Ironically, despite the large emotional distance between her and her father, she ends her life pretty much the same way he ended his: using her last minutes alive to do everything in her power to save her children, in spite of both having suffered a fatal injury and the fact that the apocalypse is literally happening around her.
* GenkiGirl: {{Deconstructed|Trope}}. Even though she is 29 years old, she is quite giddy and carefree during her free time. However, it turns out this served as a coping mechanism for all her hardships in life, mainly the events of the Second Impact.
%%* HangoverSensitivity: She gets quite a few hangovers.
* HardDrinkingPartyGirl: A far more serious example than most. To begin with, her drinking habits are generally played for laughs, but it becomes increasingly evident as the show progresses that she drinks in an attempt to cope with the stress of her job and the ghosts from her past.
-->'''Ritsuko:''' Misato's drinking too much, isn't she? She's acting a little out of control.\\
'''Kaji:''' Sometimes one drinks to keep oneself ''under'' control. We all do.\\
'''Ritsuko:''' As someone who has lived with her, your words carry a certain weight of truth.
* HalfTheWomanSheUsedToBe: In ''[=EoE=]'' it isn't ultimately blood loss from her gunshot wound that finally does her in, but the explosion from the charges the JSSDF had planted. Going through the explosion frame by frame reveals that it ends up literally tearing her in half.
* HeroicSacrifice: She receives a fatal gunshot while protecting Shinji and sending him to pilot the Eva one last time.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Ritsuko, until the pileup of NERV's secrets and the traumas suffered over the course of the series shatter their friendship.
* HotBlooded: A milder example. She's quite grounded and serious when needed, but she's still emotional, and said emotions are likely to dominate her.
* HotTeacher: In the alternate reality Shinji sees in Episode 26, Misato is his and his classmates' teacher, and Shinji ogles her just as much as Toji and Kensuke do.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Misato is greatly annoyed at the fact that Shinji has no personal stake in being an Evangelion pilot beyond the fact that doing so might please his father, but she herself is only invested in killing the Angels out of personal revenge and to please her now-dead father. However, it's implied that part of what makes her so angry at Shinji is that so many of his motivations mirror hers, and she encourages him to do it for himself.
* HypocriticalHumor: Says that Kaworu is "in serious need of a therapist" when she spies him seemingly talking to himself. In reality, Kaworu is one of the only characters who ''doesn't'' need a therapist, Misato included.
%%* IllTakeTwoBeersToo:
* IllTellYouWhenIveHadEnough: When she's pissed off and drinking, ''don't'' try to stop her.
%%* INeedAFreakingDrink: She ''does'' drink a lot. Then again, that could be her way to cope with everything happening around her.
* InVinoVeritas: When she's sober, she's a force to be reckoned with. Drunk... not so much. She lampshades this in episode 15 before her meltdown in front of Kaji as she admits why she ended their relationship.
* InformedPoverty: Episode twelve has her claim that a single steak dinner for two kids is enough to make her broke, which makes one wonder how she manages to afford her adequate (if modest) apartment and pair of cars, one of which is a Renault Alpine A310.
* IntergenerationalFriendship: With Shinji, who is 15 years younger than her. This is yet another deconstruction, as Misato bouncing back and forth between Shinji's commanding officer when they're on duty and a CoolBigSis at home keeps them from truly being able to relate to each other in a way that would be mutually beneficial. Things are clouded even further by the ambiguity of exactly what she feels for him and her near-complete inability to actually help him with his problems due to her own issues.
* TheLadette: She enjoys drinking copious amounts of beer, has an interest in cars, and is quite the disorganized slob in private. She also has a notable aversion to wearing high-heeled shoes, judging from Kaji's surprise upon seeing her wearing them at a wedding.
* LastKiss: Knowing she's about to die from the bullet wound in her back, Misato kisses Shinji as she sends him off to pilot the Eva, possibly to snap him out of the near comatose depression he's in.
* LastNameBasis: She pretty much only refer to Kaji by his last name, to the point where Kaji's first name, "Ryoji", is only ever spoken by her once in a FullNameUltimatum.
* LegFocus: Misato wears shorts and miniskirts that show off her long legs, which the camera focuses on when she exits her car.
* LethalChef: Misato is such a lousy cook that she can only heat up cups of ramen and order takeout. Shinji and Ritsuko have both admitted to finding her actual cooking repulsive.
* LikeAnOldMarriedCouple: Ritsuko notes that Misato and Kaji's interactions are like this in episode 15 after Misato snaps at Kaji like a HenpeckingWife for missing the wedding ceremony, not bothering to shave, and even grabs his tie to fix it. Only Kaji is amused by Ritsuko's comment.
* LikeParentLikeSpouse: She is attracted to Kaji because he reminds her of her father. This realisation is what led her to break up with him.
* LittleBlackDress: Her standard work outfit is a short, sleeveless dress, though most of the time, it tends to be covered by her red officer's jacket.
* MajorlyAwesome: Proves her badass credentials several times in the anime, ''End of Evangelion'', and the manga. She starts out as TheCaptain in the original anime and manga before being promoted to Major.
* MamaBear: ''Fiercely'' protective of the Children, especially Shinji. The best example comes in ''End of Evangelion'', where she leaves the command center mid-battle to rescue him, as well as hiding Asuka and her Eva at the bottom of the Geofront lake to keep her out the reach of the JSSDF.
* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: A subtle case with Kaji. While Kaji is clearly quite manly, he also enjoys gardening, drinks coffee and specializes in espionage, in contrast to Misato, who enjoys cars, drinks beer and specializes in combat. This is notable due to the series' recurring analysis of gender roles, particularly Misato's worries of failing as a mother figure.
* TheMcCoy: The emotional, empathetic, and idealistic counterpart to Risuko's [[TheSpock Spock]].
%%* MessyHair: When she wakes up, obviously.
* MentorOccupationalHazard: Throughout the series, she mentors Asuka and Shinji in defeating the Angels. By the time of ''The End of Evangelion'', however, she helps Shinji escape from the JSSDF to pilot Unit-01, but not before she gets fatally shot in the process.
* MotorMouth: During her college days, according to Ritsuko, making her assume that Misato is compensating for her CuteMute years (see above).
* MustHaveCaffeine: After Kaji's death, she switches from beer to copious amounts of canned coffee, perhaps because she's now motivated to work all hours to find the truth about NERV.
* MrsRobinson: Throughout the series, there are several moments that suggest she may have an attraction to Shinji, though how much of this is simply due to her issues with communicating with men in any way other than sexual and her own parental issues is up for debate. (Documents related to Episode 23 explicitly indicate that she is offering Shinji sex when he's depressed over Rei's demise.) She also doesn't seem to mind the attention from younger men (probably due to her insecurity), such as Toji and Kensuke, as well as using the feelings of her subordinate Hyuga to her advantage at times.
* MsFanservice: Competes with Asuka and Rei for this.
** Played up in the previews of next episodes, in which she regularly comments on how much fanservice she's giving (at least until things [[CerebusSyndrome start going south]]).
** Taken further in the manga, especially in still art.
* MundaneLuxury: In episode twelve, she sends Shinji, Asuka, and Rei out on an incredibly risky mission with a miniscule chance of success that, even by her own admission, is being put together based entirely on assumptions and guesswork. Their reward if they succeed? A steak dinner. Shinji and Asuka pretend to act excited and impressed by the offer, as they know that Misato can't afford anything better, and even end up going for a meal at a cheap ramen place rather than forcing Misato to spend all her money on steak.
* NiceGirl: For all of her flaws, Misato is one of the most friendly and kindhearted characters in the show who always tries her best to look out for Shinji and Asuka.
* NotAMorningPerson: Especially when she has to attend Shinji's parent/teacher conference.
* OldMaid: She's 29-years-old and and there are a lot of jokes about the fact she's too old to still be single.
-->'''Misato:''' [[LampshadedTrope It's like everyone's in a rush to get married before they turn 30.]]\\
'''Ritsuko:''' And you don't want to be the last one still single, do you?\\
'''Misato:''' ''Excuse me?!''
* ParentalFavoritism: Despite taking Asuka in as her guardian like she did with Shinji, Misato is [[ParentalNeglect largely hands off]] in her guidance of Asuka in comparison to Shinji. While Misato goes through great efforts to break down Shinji's barriers to grow closer to him, she had a habit of engaging Asuka in PassiveAggressiveKombat by comparison. Misato's presumed favoritism towards Shinji, along with her relationship with Kaji, both play into Asuka's growing resentment towards both her and Shinji.
* ParentalSubstitute: Usually comes across as a mother-figure for Shinji but ultimately she fails to succeed, which she even admits in ''End of Evangelion''. The reason she points out is that she's probably just as messed up as Shinji is. Nevertheless, she still loves and protects him like a mother and would die for him, which she does in the end.
* ParentsAsPeople: Misato means well for Shinji and tries her best to make him happy, but her own shortcomings and struggles make things difficult. She evens admits her flaws as a ParentalSubstitute towards Shinji in ''The End'' [[spoiler:during her HeroicSacrifice]].
* PhysicalScarsPsychologicalScars: The audience is first shown that she has a large, rather gnarly looking scar on the right side of her abdomen some ways into the series, in Episode 10, when Asuka also notices it as they are relaxing in the women's section of the hot springs. At this point, Misato rather nonchalantly waves it off as something she "got in the Second Impact". But then, in a later episode, Misato has a prolonged flashback that shows what she actually experienced during the moment of Second Impact. The flashback ends with a cut to in Misato in the present, quietly regarding her scar in a mirror with an uncharacteristically grim and solemn expression on her face. Both of these serves as the first serious glimpses the audience gets of the trauma she hides under her cheerful surface.
* ThePigPen: A {{downplayed|Trope}} example -- she isn't visibly filthy, but she doesn't seem to care much for her personal hygiene, [[TrashOfTheTitans let alone keeping a clean apartment]].
* PinPullingTeeth: Done beautifully for her death scene in the manga. JSSDF soldiers approach her slumped and fatally-wounded body; she turns her head towards them, revealing a pin in the corner of her mouth. She then [[OhCrap shows them the hand grenade she's holding]].
* PovertyFood: Downplayed. She seems to genuinely enjoy eating the instant ramen and curry that her kitchen shelves are entirely stocked by, even if Shinji and Ritsuko find it somewhere between unappetizing and disgusting. However, episode twelve reveals that she can't even take Shinji and Asuka out for a nice steak dinner without rendering herself broke, so it seems like her choice in diet is at least somewhat forced upon her by her financial situation.
* PrecisionFStrike:
** From the Manga dub of ''End'': "''So '''fucking''' what if I'm not you?''"
** In volume 4 of the manga, albeit the one there is censored.
* RankUp: Is promoted from Captain to Major in episode 12.
* ScarsAreForever: A large scar on her chest, which she got in Second Impact.
* SecretlySelfish: {{Downplayed}}. Misato is actually one of the most morally upstanding characters and has her genuinely selfless moments, but while she is working to save humanity from the Angels, she's largely operating out of revenge and personal interests rather than for the good of all mankind. She spends a good deal of the show annoyed at Shinji's own selfish motivations for piloting an Evangelion, but admits in the final episode that she's no better; one of the themes of Evangelion is that ''everyone'' is SecretlySelfish.
* SenseiChan: She is one in the alternate universe depicted during Instrumentality in episode 26.
* SexGoddess: Implied by Kaji, who claims she's "wild in bed". He is supposedly talking about her sleeping habits, but his coy expression and her mortified reaction make clear what he really meant.
* SexyMentor: Implied so to Shinji, whenever we are shown his thoughts. Although Kensuke and Toji don't care whether everyone knows about their crush on Misato or not, Shinji later turns out to be not so different because images of Misato (particularly nude) appear just as much as Rei and Asuka. It's somewhat "foreshadowed" at breakfast in episode 7 when Misato (in her midriff-baring pajamas) [[https://64.media.tumblr.com/373f1e65371acb65ac05e98de8e901bf/tumblr_nya94g8Qzw1tes8zmo1_540.gifv folds her arms]], pushing up her breasts, [[FunnyBackgroundEvent which makes Shinji turn to the wall behind him in embarrassment]]. Misato doesn't appear to notice.
* SheCleansUpNicely: She has a rather unkept style of clothing outside of when she wear her work uniform. When she grooms herself up for a wedding, however, she is ''absolutely gorgeous''.
* ShellShockedVeteran: A rare example of a character who becomes one over the course of the series, as her injuries, past traumas and Kaji's death pile up and finally get to her.
* SlutShaming: Misato's introspection sequence in Episode 25 makes it clear that she struggles with a lot of internalized slut-shaming. Much of the sequence is her berating herself merely for having sexual thoughts and desires, and being mortified and deeply ashamed that others, especially Shinji, are able to access her memories of her sex life now that there are no personal barriers between people's minds. The ultimate irony is, that despite thinking of herself as a "dirty" woman and the playfully flirty facade she usually projects, Misato does, by all measures, actually appear to be quite chaste; in fact, everything seems to indicate that Kaji might be the only person she has ever had sex with.
* SmarterThanYouLook: If one were to catch her off-duty, they'd probably see an airheaded, silly, drunken party girl, but she's actually very intelligent. Not only is she a gifted enough strategist to be made operations director over numerous personnel with higher ranks and more experience, but she's also a competent hacker and was able to keep up with Ritsuko when they were in college.
* SmokingHotSex: It's the only time she ever smokes nowadays, she tells Kaji in episode 20.
* SoleSurvivor: She was at ground zero of Second Impact, and was the only one who got away alive thanks to her father getting her into an escape pod in the nick of time.
* StacysMom: Toji and Kensuke are both quite enamored with her. She notices and appears to be flattered.
* StepfordSmiler: Acts like a HardDrinkingPartyGirl to hide her daddy issues and emotional problems.
* TheStrategist: To an exceptional degree, and enough that even Gendo recognizes her skills.
* TakingTheBullet: When she and Shinji are suddenly ambushed by a JSSDF patrol, she quickly shields him from their gunfire with her body, resulting in her sustaining a lethal injury before they are able to get away.
* TakingYouWithMe: In the manga. Dying from a gunshot wound, she is found by JSSDF soldiers but blows both herself and them up with a grenade.
* TankTopTomboy: When not wearing her work uniform, she is shown wearing tank tops -- either in yellow, pink, or blue -- to demonstrate that she is TheLadette.
* TeamDad: Misato's approach to Shinji, at times, is like this, especially in the movie finale, where she makes it very clear that she has no time for Shinji's apathetic-like depression and accuses him of "cowering under the skirt" of Asuka. Compare Kaji's TeamMom, where he frequently encourages Shinji to think for himself, somewhat boosting Shinji's confidence.
* TokenGoodTeammate: Of the NERV staff, she is the one with the strongest moral compass, her personal struggles notwithstanding.
%%* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Adult version of Tomboy to Ritsuko's Girly girl.
* TomboyWithAGirlyStreak: Misato is hardcore, owns a sports car, [[HardDrinkingPartyGirl shamelessly chugs on beer]], is a [[LethalChef lousy cook]], sports [[TankTopTomboy tank tops]] and short shorts, and [[ThePigPen is quite slovenly]]. She also doesn't mind [[SheCleansUpNicely wearing dresses on special occasions]], gushes over boys, and has a motherly-type relationship with Shinji.
* TragicKeepsake: The cross pendant that she has was given to her by her father, just before he sealed her in a capsule to save her from the Second Impact.
* TrashOfTheTitans: The first time Shinji enters the apartment, Misato warns him with a sheepish smile that it's a little messy. He steps in and is appalled at the piles of beer cans, instant meal wrappings, dirty laundry...
* {{Tsundere}}: Has shades of this towards Kaji. She is frequently exasperated and annoyed by his flirting and goofing around, but she is very much still attracted to him and they eventually rekindle the relationship.
* TwoGirlsAndAGuy: Formerly with Ritsuko and Kaji, back when they were university students.
* UnkemptBeauty: She has an unkept manner of clothing when she is off-duty, but she ''is'' quite stunning nonetheless.
* VitriolicBestBuds: There are clear traces of this in her and Ritsuko's relationship. Ritsuko clearly likes to playfully insult Misato, especially about her more immature behavior and moments, to which Misato always bashfully grumbles at her to shut up. However, as the series goes on, and the stress of the situation starts wearing on their friendship, Ritsuko's insults gradually lose their playful edge, and instead become increasingly cutting and venom-filled, and instead of getting bashful, Misato starts displaying deadly serious annoyance and even anger at Ritsuko's insults and even begins insulting her right back.
* UnresolvedSexualTension: She's the closest thing the series has to a sexpot, so there's plenty of sexual tension to go around. The tension with Kaji is resolved, at least in the most literal sense, so that leaves the winner of this trope as Shinji.
* UrbanLegendLoveLife: Her flirtatious facade hides a desperately lonely woman who only has eyes for Kaji and (on a more ambiguous level) Shinji. One of her lines also strongly implies that Kaji might be the only person she has ever actually had sex with.
* {{Womanchild}}: She has some childish sides to her. Most notably, she is messy and lazy in private and likes teasing people whenever she gets the chance but is very much unable to handle being teased herself.
* WorkHardPlayHard: Misato is serious and competent on the job, but off the job, she is a HardDrinkingPartyGirl whose house is full of beer and junk food.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Doctor Ritsuko Akagi]]
!!Doctor Ritsuko Akagi
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/YurikoYamaguchi (Japanese); Sue Ulu [ADV], Creator/EricaLindbeck [VSI] (English)[[note]]'''Other languages:''' María Eugenia "Maru" Guerrero [Locomotion], Gabriela Gómez [Animax], América Torres [VSI] (Latin American Spanish); Montse Moreno [TV series], Maria Rosa Guillén [films], Sandra Jara [VSI] (European Spanish); Cecília Lemes [Locomtion], Silvia Suzy [Animax and Netflix] (Brazilian Portuguese)[[/note]]
[[quoteright:249:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_1b8.png]]
%%
->"''The interaction of men and women isn't very logical.''"

Ritsuko is NERV's resident computer scientist, tasked with the development and upkeep of the MAGI supercomputers and research on the Evas. She, Misato, and Kaji have been friends since college, and she often acts as a foil to Misato. She is also something of a CrazyCatLady. She dyes her hair blonde -- late in the series we see her in a FlashBack as a teenage girl with dark brown hair.

Ritsuko is extremely intelligent and competent, but has a coldly logical and [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism often cynical attitude]], and can be callous and petty. She also doesn't seem to really understand human nature, and is in some ways childishly naïve. Secretly, she is romantically involved with Gendō Ikari, [[GenerationXerox as was her mother Naoko]] before her death ten years before the series opens. Despite Gendō's ambiguous intentions, she has convinced herself both that he loves her and that Rei is actually her ''rival'' for his romantic attention, and she deeply resents Rei because of this. She also shows little concern for the lives of the pilots during battle, and is ready to sacrifice them should such a tactic seem necessary, a position Misato vehemently disagrees with.

----
* AdaptationalJerkass: Her treatment regarding [[spoiler:Rei]]. In the anime, [[spoiler:while Ritsuko still dislikes Rei enough to destroy all of the Dummy clones, she is at least never shown to be mean to Rei herself, whether physically or verbally, and keeps a professional if cold attitude toward her.]] However, in the manga, [[spoiler:Ritsuko at one point mocks Rei before immediately attempting to strangle her in a fit of rage, when Rei makes a surprisingly cutting remark back at her, although she at least regrets her action afterward.]]
* AffectionateNickname: Her mother Naoko called her "Ricchan" in the letters they used to write to each other. However, that seems to be as far as Naoko's affection went, due to their distant relationship and Naoko herself admitting that she was never a very hands-on parent.
* AmbiguouslyAbsentParent: Ritsuko's father is by all means conspicuously absent from the story, and doesn't seem to have played any kind of role in her life. The only real sort-of acknowledgement of this in the series, is when Naoko writes in a letter that Ritsuko has "never been good around boys", and speculates that it is due to her having been only raised by a woman.
* AIIsACrapshoot: When Ritsuko tries to activate NERV's self-destruct, Caspar (the part of the MAGI that is Naoko as "woman") rejects the order, which floors Ritsuko.
%%* AntiHero: {{Nominal Hero}}ine.
%%* BadassLabcoat: Her labcoat.
* BerserkButton: She goes nuts directly after destroying the Rei clones, realizing that she's repeated all of her mother's mistakes, and even asks Misato to kill her before being arrested.
%%* BetaTestBaddie: As we find out late into the series.
* BlownAcrossTheRoom: In ''End'' when Gendo shoots her.
* BoxedCrook: Following her betrayal in Episode 23, Gendo has her incarcerated. She's let out of prison to install a firewall in ''End Of Evangelion''.
* BondVillainStupidity: She has every opportunity to just straight up shoot and kill Gendo when confronting him in ''End of Evangelion''. Instead, she attempts to activate NERV HQ's self-destruct function and takes the time to gloat about ruining his plans and savoring her revenge. This is actually a {{downplayed|Trope}} example, as her plan would certainly have stopped Gendo and likely scuttled SEELE's invasion. Its only shortcoming was depending on the cooperation of a supercomputer that was based on a woman who loved Gendo and was capable of defying orders. Ultimately, her [[WheresTheKaboom confusion at the self-destruct failing to trigger]] causes her to drop her guard at the worst possible moment, giving Gendo the opportunity to shoot ''her'' to death.
* BrainyBrunette: Defied; she's a natural brunette but dyes her hair blonde to distinguish herself from her mother.
* ClickHello: Courtesy of Misato. Ironically, she gets to do this to Gendō and Rei in the manga adaptation of ''End Of Evangelion''.
* ColorCodedEyes: Both Ritsuko and her mother are the only characters with green eyes, [[GreenEyedMonster which may be intentional]], considering how the two of them believed they were in a love triangle with Gendō, and Rei and Yui, respectively.
* CrazyCatLady: Misato spits that Ritsuko uses cats as a substitute for human affection.
* ADayInTheLimelight: Episode 13, when she hacks the MAGI to stop Ireul's invasive attack.
* DeadpanSnarker: She has a rather dry speaking manner and often lets Misato suffer her remarks. While this is PlayedForLaughs at the beginning, after episode 16, it seems Ritsuko starts meaning every insult to Misato at this point, who gladly reciprocates.
* DeathSeeker: She begged Misato to kill her after she destroyed the Rei clones. She {{lampshade|Hanging}}s this to Gendo in ''End Of Evangelion''.
-->'''Ritsuko:''' I will kill you first, then I will die myself. They say this happens often. In cheap dramas.
* DirtyBusiness: Ritsuko is in deep with Gendo and is often the one who is left to carry out the more practical and unpleasant sides of his more shady doings. As the series progress it becomes obvious that both this nasty work and the additional stress of having to keep NERV's dirty secrets from her best friend greatly wears on her conscience. When it dawns on her that it was AllForNothing as Gendo betrays her by handing her over to SEELE, she ''snaps''.
* DisappearedDad: Ritsuko's mother Naoko openly states that her father was never around during her upbringing and even suggests that her trouble around men had to do with this.
* DyeHard: InUniverse example. As her strangely dark eyebrows for a blonde person hints at first, and a flashback later goes on to full-on reveal, Ritsuko is actually a brunette. It is strongly implied she dyes her hair in yet another one of her attempts to differentiate herself from her likewise brown-haired mother.
* EvenTheGirlsWantHer: Maya surely does, although this isn't revealed until her final moments in ''End''.
* FamilyThemeNaming: Ritsu'''ko''' and her mother, Nao'''ko'''.
* {{Fanservice}}: Two brief scenes, with the latter edging into FanDisservice due to the circumstances[[note]]her being interrogated by SEELE while unclothed[[/note]].
* FiringOneHanded: When she confronts Gendo in Terminal Dogma.
%%* FlatWhat: In addition to "That's not possible!" and "Oh no!"
* FriendlessBackground: By her own admission, she had no real friends until she met Misato in college, as her peers were typically reluctant to speak to her due to her prestigious name.
* {{Foil}}: To Misato, as she provides the more cold, logic-minded, and grounded counter to Misato's warm, emotionally-driven and somewhat high-strung personality... at least, until her own issues overtake her in the latter half of the series.
* GenerationXerox: Her and Naoko's relationships with Gendō, despite her attempts to [[DefiedTrope defy the trope]]. Like mother, like daughter.
* GirlsBehindBars: Averted, as she was let out to put her computer skills to use.
%%* GoodSmokingEvilSmoking: Ritsuko toes the line between the distinction.
* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Played with. Despite being the only blonde in the main cast, she's actually cold, aloof and deceptively amoral. Tellingly, it's eventually revealed she is not a natural blonde.
%%* HeroicSacrifice: This depends on one's view of her.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Misato, at the start of the series. By the end, this is completely dissolved.
* HiddenDepths: As with many of the other characters in ''Evangelion''. Although she pushes for Shinji to be sent into the Eva, she is more vocal about Shinji's well-being than either Gendo or Misato at the beginning of the series and openly states that Rei is a very nice girl. She really does have a caring, compassionate side to her, but this better nature is overshadowed by her breakdown later in the series.
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Her explanation as to why she destroyed the Rei clones.
* ImprobableAimingSkills: In the manga. Mortally wounded, she somehow manages to regain the strength to pick up her gun and [[ImpromptuTracheotomy shoot Gendo right in the jugular]].
* InstantDeathBullet: She dies about a half a second after getting shot in ''End of Evangelion''.
* IntelligenceEqualsIsolation: Ritsuko might be one of, if not ''the'' smartest person when it comes to technical matters at NERV, but she is also easily the loneliest. Even though she is friends with Misato and Kaji, it is clear that she is also somewhat distant from them, due to the fact that she is privy to NERV's dark secrets and tries to keep them hidden from them, and this becomes pronounced as Misato and Kaji start investigating further into NERV. She also might have a secret affair with Gendo, but Gendo holds no actual love for nor attraction to her; he is just stringing her along as he sees it a means to keep her under control. As the series goes into the endgame, she becomes increasingly aware of how isolated she actually is, and the realization slowly breaks her.
* KickTheDog: She coldly mocks Shinji for not being able to remember his mother's death, moments before destroying the entire Dummy Plug system out of sheer jealousy.
* LastBreathBullet: Unlike the anime, in the manga she holds on to life long enough after Gendo shoots her to return the favour.
* LikeMotherLikeDaughter: Despite her desire to get out from under her mother's shadow, she ends up making the exact same mistakes as her, especially in completely misjudging Gendo's character. In the manga, she even briefly throttles Rei after getting set off by one of her remarks, just her mother did with the first Rei. The bitter irony of this is ultimately not lost on her, and she acknowledges this during her breakdown.
* LonelyRichKid: It is implied that she has been this. In Episode 21, Ritsuko mentions in passing in a letter to Naoko that that the status and reputation that came with being her daughter has always meant that her peers have been somewhat less inclined to approach her and only ever looked at her "from afar", which is why Misato has quickly become her best friend as she is the only fellow student who treats her like a normal person and without any of the reservations her prestigious family name normally carries. There are even implications that Misato (maybe aside from Kaji) might indeed be [[OnlyFriend the only person Ritsuko have ever truly considered a friend]].
* LoveMartyr: Ritsuko stays loyal to Gendo for a long time out of love for him, helping him to keep NERV's dirty secrets from Misato and the pilots, treating the fact that Gendo really doesn't care one iota for her or her feelings, but merely uses her for her intelligence and skill, as well as the fact that he hasn't and probably never will get over Yui, with a heavy dose of SelectiveObliviousness. It is eventually subverted, as it finally dawns on Ritsuko how little Gendo cares for her, when he chooses to protect Rei by throwing her at the SEELE council for a ''very'' unconformable interrogation, when it was actually Rei they wanted to interrogate. This culminates in her turning against him, although she ultimately does so too late to do any real damage to his plans.
* MeaningfulName: Though named after an IJN warship like many NGE characters, she's one of only four such characters (the others being her own mother Naoko, Asuka and her mother Kyoko) whose ship-based name uses different kanji from her namesake, in her case 赤'''木''' (Red Tree) instead of 赤'''城''' (Red Castle). This "fakeness" in the ThemeNaming mirrors Ritsuko dying her naturally brown hair yellow (i.e. a fake blonde) as a visual aspect of her attempts to distance herself from her late mother, yet undermining those attempts by having an affair with Gendo Ikari just like her mother did; it also mirrors how Ritsuko (and her mother before her) is nothing more than a "fake" lover for Gendo who could never displace his late wife Yui from his heart, and whom he simply uses as a tool to further his agenda.
* MexicanStandoff: With Gendō in Terminal Dogma. Needless to say, it doesn't end well.
* TheMistress: [[spoiler:To Gendo Ikari]]
* MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate: Because committing 2nd degree mass murder is a sane act. Also guilty of handling some of NERV's darkest secrets alongside Gendo and Fuyutsuki.
* MurderTheHypotenuse: There are clear elements of this in her destruction of the Dummy system. Ritsuko in the moment admits that she is angry that Gendo ultimately chose to protect Rei over her after all the DirtyBusiness she had already done and endured for him. When asked directly by Gendo why she did it, she answers that it was to destroy Rei and spite him.
* MustHaveNicotine: Though she rarely smokes on-screen, occasional shots of an ashtray brimming with lipsticked-stained butts make it obvious that she is a chain-smoker.
* NeverASelfMadeWoman: The trope is a bit played with, as Ritsuko's mother, Naoko, by all accounts very much appears to be a self-made woman, while it is also clear her name and its attached achievements at least partly helped landing Ritsuko a place in a good college and later her job at GEHIRN. However, Ritsuko ''sees'' herself this way even if her relative is a woman, as she definitely resents standing in her mother's shadow. It is part of the reason she bleaches her hair.
* NightmareFuelStationAttendant: She deals with the most nightmarish aspects of the Eva program and has her fun with it.
* OhCrap: Her stunned reaction when the self-destruct is rejected.
* OldMaid: Like Misato, she's almost 30 and single, and pokes fun at Misato over it...but by the end of the story, the reason for her being so is tragically evident.
* OmnidisciplinaryScientist: While Ritsuko's speciality is ostensibly in computer programming and computer engineering, she is evidently also an expert in biology and bioengineering, as she is in charge of maintaining the Evangelions. Since she's also responsible for maintaining Rei's physical health, it can be inferred that she also has at least some degree of in-depth knowledge about medicine.
* ThePhilosopher: She does understand philosophy and even psychology to some extent and does raise pertinent questions on decisions and on the state of existence more than once.
* PleaseKillMeIfItSatisfiesYou: After destroying the Rei clones, Ritsuko begs Misato to kill her.
* PutDownYourGunAndStepAway: To Gendō in ''End of Evangelion''.
* ScaryShinyGlasses: Sometimes, although nowhere nearly as often as Gendo.
* ShowdownAtHighNoon: She faces off against Gendō in Terminal Dogma.
* SleepingWithTheBoss: Like her mother before her, she is sexually involved with Gendo. She clearly wants something more romantic and emotionally intimate from their relationship, but it becomes increasingly obvious that, just as with her mother, Gendo doesn't care one bit about her and mostly, if not exclusively, sees their occasional trysts as a means of keeping her loyal to him.
* SmartPeopleWearGlasses: Downplayed, since she is occasionally seen wearing glasses at work, but these appear to be just simple reading glasses.
* TheSpock: The controlled, aloof, and pragmatic counterpart to Misato's [[TheMcCoy McCoy]].
* StopOrIWillShoot: The confrontation with Gendo in Terminal Dogma.
%%* SugarAndIcePersonality: Early on in the series.
* TakingYouWithMe: She attempts to detonate Terminal Dogma to stop Gendo from instituting Instrumentality, or possibly for her [[{{Yandere}} petty revenge]].
* ThisCannotBe: Practically a catchphrase of hers. Whenever an Eva or an Angel does something, expect her to declare that it is "Impossible!" or some variation thereof.
%%* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: The Girly girl to Misato's Tomboy.
* TookALevelInJerkass: The Director's Cut paints Ritsuko as a decidedly more horrid person than the TV version. This happens gradually in the original version as well, since Ritsuko starts out being a friendly, if somewhat rigid person, but gets much colder towards the later half of the series; she essentially goes through [[InvertedTrope a reversal]] of the DefrostingIceQueen process.
%%* TragicVillain: Depending on one's view of her.
* {{Tuckerization}}: Anno has stated that Ritsuko's first name comes from one of his old friends from middle school.
* TwoGirlsAndAGuy: Formerly with Misato and Kaji, back when they were in university.
* WeMeetAgain: To Gendō, when she confronts him in Central Dogma in ''The End of Evangelion''. Unfortunately for her, Gendō ends out with the upper hand.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: Over time it becomes apparent that Ritsuko and Misato's friendship is strained at best because of many of the conflicts between them, and by Episode 23, it is effectively over.
* WheresTheKaboom: She's caught completely off guard when the self-destruct order she keyed into the MAGI is rejected.
* WomanScorned: Gendo ultimately choosing to protect Rei over her finally forces Ritsuko to fully realize he doesn't care about her, and as such she seeks revenge on him, first by killing Rei's [[BodyBackupDrive back-up bodies]] and then later rigging the MAGI to trigger NERV HQ's self-destruct in an attempt at TakingYouWithMe. In the end, though, her attempts are rendered futile (the latter by some posthumous interference by her mother) and she fails to do any actual damage to Gendo and his plans.
* {{Yandere}}: Over Gendo. She tries to kill Rei just like her mother did (in the manga only), then destroys the Rei clones in a bid to get at her and Gendo. [[FridgeBrilliance It may have actually made Rei better.]]
* YouAlwaysHearTheBullet: And she does, when she is shot in cold blood by Gendo.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Ryōji Kaji]]
!!Special Inspector Ryōji Kaji
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/KoichiYamadera (Japanese); Aaron Krohn [ADV], Creator/GregChun [VSI] (English)[[note]]Other languages: Enrique Cervantes [Locomotion], Gerardo García [Animax, VSI] (Latin-American Spanish); Jose Luis Mediavilla [series and ''Death and Rebirth''], Tasio Alonso [''End of Evangelion''], Iván Muelas [VSI] (European Spanish); Cassius Romero [Locomotion], Marco Antônio Abreu [Animax], Fábio Azevedo [Netflix] (Brazilian Portuguese); Creator/AnatoleDeBodinat (French, second dub)[[/note]]
[[quoteright:275:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_0e5.png]]
%%
->"''The gulf dividing men and women is deeper and wider than any ocean.''"

Ponytailed, PermaStubble-ed, and confident, Kaji is half Film/JamesBond and half HandsomeLech--and he switches back and forth frequently and without warning. Exactly ''whose'' side he's on in the [[GambitPileup wheels-within-wheels]] world of ''Evangelion'' is almost impossible to determine. He seems to be a DoubleAgent at the very least; he may even be working for more than two powerful entities, although his own personal drive to know the truth of Second Impact, the Eva project, and the rest of SEELE and NERV's secrets are his truest motivation.

He and Misato were lovers in college, but by the start of the series have been broken up for several years. Asuka [[ClingyJealousGirl has a crush on him]] and is [[TheGlomp anything but subtle about it]], but [[ChivalrousPervert he does not take her up on her premature offers]]. It doesn't help that, in some continuities, he's strongly hinted [[{{Squick}} to have been her guardian after her mother's death]]. Much to Misato's chagrin, Kaji flirts with several of the female staff, including Ritsuko and Maya. As the series progresses, Kaji and Misato renew their stormy relationship, and Kaji briefly [[BigBrotherMentor becomes more of a father to Shinji]] than Gendō ever was. Tragically, he digs too deep when he rescues Fuyutsuki from SEELE after they kidnapped the old man shortly after the 14th Angel. SEELE (or NERV) responds by having him assassinated.

In the manga, Kaji's role is mostly unchanged, but he is given a tragic backstory: he was a war orphan and StreetUrchin who carries a huge burden of guilt for ratting out his friends to soldiers so he wouldn't be killed for stealing their supplies.

----
* AdaptationPersonalityChange: In the anime, Kaji is the most confident and mature character in the cast (admittedly not a big feat, but still), and it's only through hints and side materials that we learn he may not be as stable as he seems. Meanwhile, his manga version is ''infinitely'' more insecure and goofy, to the point where Asuka and Shinji turn him into a NervousWreck by teasing him about his relationship with Misato in an elevator, and also carries a serious case of survivor's guilt due to a traumatic event from his past.
* AmbiguouslyBi: Or at the very least is [[GayBravado confident enough in his heterosexuality]] to jokingly hit on Shinji.
* AntiHero: A roguish womanizer of questionable loyalties, he's nonetheless shown to be a genuinely good and compassionate person who is doing his best to stop SEELE from initiating the Third Impact.
* TheAtoner: In a sense, in the manga. He says that he survived by "trading [his] brother's life", and now wishes to find out why Second Impact took place, thereby orphaning him and the other children who were forced to steal to survive.
* BigBrotherMentor: To Shinji. Compared to Misato's conflicting feelings towards Shinji resulting in her failing as a guardian, Kaji and Shinji share a much simpler masculine mentor-student relationship that results in him being a more effective form of emotional support and guidance to Shinji while he's around.
* BrutalHonesty: In the manga, he essentially points out that Shinji's inaction contributed to Toji's death, and that he survived because Toji died.
* CallToAgriculture: He likes to spend his free time tending to a watermelon patch he has planted inside the Geofront. As he explains to Shinji, he enjoys caring for something living, and sees it as a good learning expierence. Notably, during the Zeruel battle, Shinji finds him just standing calmly around and watering his melons, despite the battle raging in the background. He explains to Shinji that he wishes he could have been snuggled up in bed with Misato for this dark occasion, but since he didn't have the time or the opportunity to find her and gardening was the second-best activity he could think of, he decided it was the best way to go out if everything really came to an end. Curiously, his manga counterpart doesn't display this trait.
* CaringGardener: He enjoys gardening as hobby, and it brings out the more caring, down-to-earth side of himself.
* CrushBlush: He often got these when was alone with Misato in the manga, usually when he was reminiscing or attempting to charm her, and occasionally had them in flashback stills of the times when the two of them were dating.
* DeadManWriting: Knowing that either NERV or SEELE are going to make an attempt on his life in the near future, he leaves a phone message for Misato, apologizing for all the trouble he put her through and asking her to continue to pursue the truth behind TheConspiracy, now that he will no longer to be able to.
* DeadpanSnarker: Has a sly quip for every situation, even his own death.
* DoubleReverseQuadrupleAgent: He is working for NERV, but is secretly in league with SEELE, and is later revealed to also be an agent of the Japanese government. We later learn that he had an agenda of his own entirely separate from any of these three groups.
* DyingDeclarationOfLove: His final message to Misato ends with an implied marriage proposal, just before he goes on what he knew was very likely a suicide mission.
* EverybodyCallsHimBarkeep:
** His first name isn't revealed until Misato confronts him at gunpoint and [[FullNameUltimatum says his full name]] as she reveals that she has figured out he is a DoubleAgent. Other than that, he's just referred to by his surname.
** Interestingly, the only person who is on a first-name basis with him is Ritsuko, who {{affectionate|nickname}}ly calls him "Ryō-chan" (and he calls her "Rit-chan"), but this is usually in the earshot of Misato to irritate her.[[note]]The UsefulNotes/{{Japanese Honorific|s}} "-chan" is usually used to refer to children, so this is an intentional, [[CutenessProximity couple nickname]]-like {{troll}}ing.[[/note]]
* FaceDeathWithDignity: He calmly accepts that making the choice to rescue Fuyutsuki will likely firmly seal his fate (he knew that SEELE had by this point figured out that he was the one who stole Adam for Gendo, which meant that they were going to come for him sooner or later; and if not them, he would be on NERV's hit list too, for both [[HeKnowsTooMuch knowing too much]] and [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness having outlived his usefulness]] now that SEELE knew the truth about him). When confronted by his assassin, he greets them with a casual "Hey, you're late."
* FemmeFataleSpy: A rare male example that is downplayed, played with and then exaggerated. Played with because he chooses to flirt with numerous people to either throw them off as a HandsomeLech or win them over as [[TheCharmer a charmer]] but moments with Shinji and Misato have shown that this is mostly a facade. Then it turns out that he isn't on anyone's side and is a double agent for another group, but exaggerated when it's revealed that he is backstabbing several governments. Downplayed, because he doesn't go further than flirting. And, like some {{femme fatale}} characters, he is [[RedemptionEqualsDeath murdered after "redeeming" himself]] (i.e. informing Misato).[[note]]Since Misato has only seen him flirting with other women and embarrassing her in front of teens, Kaji telling her about all he knows that NERV is hiding would show that behind the teasing, he still cares about her after all these years, thus redeeming himself, in her eyes[[/note]]
* {{Foil}}: Kaji is easy around people, confident in his relationships with the opposite sex, and a charmer in many ways--in other words, all the things most characters in the series aren't. This highlights not only the troubled inner life of Misato, his most immediate counterpart as a NERV worker, but also those of other characters like Shinji, Asuka and even Gendo. Possibly subverted, however, if we take in account hints and info from side materials that suggest this is actually a mask of empty social skills built around a cynical, bitter real self. If it is the case, it creates the ironic situation that the character that contrasts the most with the series's dysfunctional cast is actually not that different from them after all.
* TheGadfly: Enjoys messing with Misato, Shinji and Asuka to get a flustered reaction out of them. He attempts to do it with other characters at times, but is always much less successful.
* HeroicSelfDeprecation: Although he doesn't show it, it's revealed in an artbook that Kaji is a self-hating mess. The anime mostly drops subtle hints about it, such as his talk with Ritsuko about the past, which reveals that he on some level doesn't consider himself worthy of Misato, believing that he himself is too immature to be in an "adult" relationship. In the manga, where this is expanded upon with a new background, he even says that he, Misato and Shinji, who survived by trading others' lives, don't deserve to be happy.
* HiddenDepths:
** The anime gives off the impression that Kaji is the only character that is not maladjusted or unstable in any way. However, he does have some somber moments, which side materials point to as being signs that his laidback personality is only a mask concealing a self-hating cynic. The manga expands this as being due to survivor's guilt.
** Invoked with the fact that under his playboy DoubleAgent persona is an avid watermelon gardener.
* HopeSpot: He's a relatively emotionally stable adult who has major positive effects on Shinji, Misato and Asuka's CharacterDevelopment while also being cool and charismatic all the while. Of course he has to die.
* {{Hunk}}: He's tall, pretty muscular, and has a somewhat gruff look compared to other male characters, but is undeniably handsome.
* InformedAttribute: Misato's true reason for breaking up with up Kaji was that he reminded her too much of her father. However, the way Kaji behaves doesn't really match her description of her father's personality (a weak and frail workaholic who was outright afraid of interpersonal commitments). The fact that Misato thinks the "warmth" she found with Kaji is a father complex shows how screwed up she is.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: A skirt-chaser with a biting wit he may be, but Kaji has humanity's very best interests in mind and does his best to subvert both SEELE and Gendo's plans.
* TheKirk: Much more emotionally driven than Ritsuko, but also far more laid back and controlled than Misato. It really says something that shortly after his death, Misato and Ritsuko's friendship completely falls apart because he is no longer there to mediate between them.
* LastNameBasis: He only ever adddresses Misato as "Katsuragi".
* LikeAnOldMarriedCouple: When Ritsuko points out that Kaji and Misato's interactions in episode 15 are like this, Kaji is the only one amused.
* AManIsAlwaysEager: Played with. Kaji is shown to be flirtatious and often hits on the women around him, but as his HiddenDepths are gradually revealed it becomes clear that this behavior is at least partly an ObfuscatingStupidity act he employs as a part of his spying work. There are even several hints that he actually isn't all that interested in sex, but more uses it as a means to an end, most prominently in his pillow-talk with Misato which implies that his sex drive might be quite a bit lower than hers.
* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: A subtle case with Misato. While he's overtly masculine, there are many softer touches to his personality, such as his enjoying gardening, drinking coffee, being tidy and organized, and specializing in espionage. This is in contrast to Misato, who enjoys cars, drinks beer, is quite the slob, and specializes in combat.
* MellowFellow: No matter how much pressure he is under, Kaji reacts to pretty much everything in a laid-back and breezy manner, and never once raises his voice. He even greets his assassin with a relaxed smile and a witty remark. His calm disposition is only seen clearly slipping very few times. When Misato drunkenly insults herself, Kaji becomes visibly upset and begs her to stop it, and later, when she comes to him for information about the conveniently timed selection of the Fourth Child, he turns uncharacteristically serious and somber as he shares what he knows with her. And Kaji's cool is clearly shaken for the briefest of moments when Shinji of all people manages to catch him off-guard with an ArmorPiercingQuestion about his relationship with Misato.
* MentorOccupationalHazard: Throughout the series, he often acts as a father figure and mentor to Shinji. He is eventually killed as the series goes into its final act.
* TheMole: He's all over the mole map. He juggles employments in NERV, SEELE, and the Japanese government, while trying to achieve his own goals on the side.
* MrFanservice: Perhaps the closest thing the series has to [[FemaleGaze eye candy for the women in the audience]], unless you count the male teens for the younger girls. We don't see him with his shirt off onscreen even if it's implied (compared to Shinji, who is seen shirtless almost every episode), so the only things that might suffice are his wit, his voice, [[BigSofty enjoying gardening]], and being ruggedly handsome.
* MurdererPOV: He speaks directly to his assassin in his final moments, even chiding him for his poor aim in the manga.
* MustHaveCaffeine: Unlike Misato's alcohol addiction, Kaji seems to stick to canned coffee.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: It is clear that his promiscuous jokester attitude is at least partially an act to trick people into underestimating him.
* OnlySaneMan: While he reveals himself to be surprisingly cynical in private, Kaji is generally presented as being the most easy-going, stable and mature character in the series.
* ParentalSubstitute: Becomes the closest thing Shinji ever has to a father figure later on in the series.
* PermaStubble: His face always sports some stubble, giving him a sloppy and laid back appearance at all times.
* PlayfulCatSmile: A common facial expression of his is a mischievous cat smile (downplayed because it doesn't look like a typical anime one), most likely to throw people off to believe that he [[DissonantSerenity can't take anything seriously]]. It's probably the biggest reason that Misato exploded the way she did after he outed her sleeping habits to a room full of teenagers when they reunited in his first appearance.
* RedOniBlueOni: The blue oni to Misato's red, often the one to comfort her whenever she gets heated. [[OppositesAttract No wonder they get along]].
* SpearCounterpart: Like Misato, he's an employee of NERV assigned as the guardian of one of the Eva pilots, who is unusually flirty and unprofessional for someone in his position. They are distinctly different in terms of personality, however, making them counterparts in terms of roles only.
* SeekerArchetype: Kaji's true goal is to get to the bottom of the whole conspiracy behind Second Impact, which is an obsession which runs underneath almost everything he does. He is willing to use and let himself get used in turn by SEELE, NERV, and the Japanese government respectively in his quest for knowledge, and in the end he even gives up his life to achieve it.
* SleepsWithEveryoneButYou: [[DownplayedTrope Well]], ''flirts'' with everyone. He hits on every woman he meets and even (jokingly) puts some of his moves on Shinji, but shows an uncharacteristic amount of restraint when dealing with [[PrecociousCrush Asuka]], who is constantly trying to come on to him. Unlike Misato and her relationship with Shinji, Kaji exclusively registers himself as a guardian in his relationship with Asuka.
* StepfordSmiler: Supplementary materials reveal that he's a self-hating wreck who's just very good at covering up his problems. This is one possible explanation for why he didn't do anything to stop his own death and was even nonchalant about it in his final moments.
* TheStoolPigeon: In the manga, of the Betrayer Barry model. As a kid, he and his friends and brother were stealing food and supplies from a military base; when he was caught on his own, he gave up his friends' location in order to save himself from a summary execution by the hand of the soldiers. While he managed to escape the soldiers, he would, upon returning to the hideout, discover to his horror that the soldiers had beaten him to it and killed everyone there.
* StreetUrchin: His backstory in the manga, due to being a survivor of the wars that broke out after Second Impact.
* SurvivorGuilt: In the manga, due to his friends and brother being killed by the soldiers he ratted them out to.
%%* TallDarkAndHandsome: And all too aware of it.
* TallDarkAndSnarky: [[TallDarkAndHandsome Tall, good looking]], and always ready to crack wise about the situation.
* TeamMom: A nurturing emotional support towards Shinji, compared to Misato's occasional "grow a pair of balls" TeamDad mentality.
* TwoGirlsAndAGuy: Formerly with Misato and Ritsuko, back when they were in university. When they all meet up again at a wedding, he points out that "it's just like old times".
* UnkemptBeauty: He's scruffy and dresses casually, but is still suave and handsome at all times. It's suggested that he intentionally tries to cultivate a "just got out of bed but still look good" image for himself.
* UnresolvedSexualTension: He flirts with almost every woman he meets. Most (not all) are appreciative, or at least pretend to be. On occasion, he even seems to be trying to flirt with Shinji, although it's not entirely clear if this is out of genuine interest, just habit -- flirting is possibly the way he manipulates people -- or a simple joke at Shinji's insecurity.
* TheUnreveal: Unlike the rest of the main cast, his backstory is never gone into, only having his shared history with Misato and Ritsuko shown to the viewer. As a result, the motivations behind his actions and personality traits are much more vague than any other major character. Averted in the manga, where he is given a backstory that gets covered over several chapters.
* UrbanLegendLoveLife: Behind his flirtatious facade there are hints that, regardless of any sex or love life he really has, he is in fact a very lonely man, and there's no question that he only has eyes for Misato.
* WhatTheHellHero: In the manga, he calls Shinji out for trying to blame Toji's death on Gendo, pointing out that he could have done ''something'' to save his friend, but instead chose to just let the Angel kill him, which would have helped no one.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Maya Ibuki]]
!!First Lieutenant Maya Ibuki
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/MikiNagasawa (Japanese); Kendra Benham [ADV], Amy Seeley [movies], Creator/ChristineMarieCabanos [VSI], Creator/MonicaRial [Director's Cut] (English)[[note]]'''Other languages:''' Alma Wilhelme [Locomotion], Mariana Ortiz [Animax], Anette Ugalde [VSI] (Latin-American Spanish); Creator/NuriaTrifol [TV series and films], Ana Monleón [VSI] (European Spanish); Fátima Noya (Brazilian Portuguese)[[/note]]
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_6qfd47.png]]
%%
->"''Oh God! I can't watch...!''"

Dr. Fuyutsuki isn't the only one in love with someone he can never have; there is also Maya Ibuki, [[ShortTank a shy, pretty, and kinda tomboyish woman]] in her early twenties. She is Ritsuko's assistant, and is very much in love with her, although this isn't revealed until her final scenes in the story. She is a very sympathetic character -- bright, sweet, and [[OnlySaneMan one of the few happy, well-adjusted, and normal characters]], though [[DysfunctionJunction with this bunch, that isn't saying much]].

----
* ActualPacifist: She really hates violence, being completely unable to watch the more brutal Eva battles and freezing up in terror when she herself has to shoot at JSSDF soldiers in self-defense.
* AdaptationalSexuality: [[AmbiguouslyBi She has some definite]] ShipTease with Aoba in ''NGE2'', whereas in the series there is no evidence that she is attracted to anyone but Ritsuko (and that's only revealed in ''End'') and the aforementioned ShipTease is ignored by the fanbase for the most part as a result.
* BoyishShortHair: Which ends up making her look quite a bit like Shinji.
* BridgeBunny: Is almost always seen in the NERV command center alongside Hyuga and Aoba presiding over Eva missions.
* DoesntLikeGuns: During the JSSDF attack, she is seen cowering in terror under her console and completely freaks out when Aoba tries to give her a gun to defend herself:
-->'''Aoba:''' *''hands Ibuki a gun''* Release the safety. \\
'''Maya:''' I can't! I just can't shoot this thing, Aoba! \\
'''Aoba:''' Of course you can! You've had basic training! \\
'''Maya:''' But I shot at targets, not at other human beings! \\
'''Aoba:''' Idiot! You kill or you die!
* FreudianTrio: Forms one with Hyuga and Aoba, Maya representing the id, being the most emotional of the three and the one most likely to go against orders if they compromise her morals.
* GenderFlip: Whether intentional or not, Maya is almost a female version of Shinji appearance-wise; this has carried over to some non-canon NGE works, such as ''Manga/NeonGenesisEvangelionCampusApocalypse'', and has also fueled WMG that she may be a child of Gendo's from a relationship prior to Yui.
* GreekChorus: Occasionally functions as this alongside Hyuga and Aoba.
* IgnoredEnamoredUnderling: To Ritsuko, who is never shown to even be aware of her affections.
* LipstickLesbian: Her sexuality isn't immediately obvious in that while she is certainly boyish-looking, she's not really butch either.
* MachineWorship: She's extremely enthusiastic about the prospect of the MAGI supercomputers running everybody's lives, and most of her ShipTease moments come from watching someone do something amazing with computers. Aoba even rolls his eyes at her blatant technophilia in episode 11, making him one of the few people in or out of the show to comment on this. That said, the one notable exception is the Dummy Plug, which she openly distrusts even before it's first activated and is the only thing that ever causes her to openly protest against Ritsuko's actions.
* NiceGirl: Easily the most bubbly and sociable of the bridge bunnies, and, by proxy, the rest of the cast. Her interactions with the pilots are limited, but she is one of the only characters to treat them as the emotionally vulnerable teens that they are.
* OnlySaneWoman: Deconstructed. Compared to the character traits and emotional baggage of most of the other characters, Maya is pretty normal... perhaps even ''too'' normal for her own good, considering the very abnormal events that take place around her. She doesn't work well under pressure and often loses her cool during traumatic moments, particularly whenever an Evangelion is butchered in front of her eyes or when [=NERV=] [=HQ=] is under attack.
* SatelliteCharacter: Beyond her two coworkers and Ritsuko she hardly interacts with anyone.
* ScullyBox:[[invoked]] It has been assumed by some viewers that Maya's cushion (that she's seen holding in the movie) is for the ability to use the bridge controls.
* SimilarSquad: The trio she forms with Hyuga and Aoba is frequently noted to resemble the trio of Toji, Hikari and Kensuke, fitting with the series' heavy analysis of maturity and adulthood.
* TwoGuysAndAGirl: With Aoba and Hyuga in the bridge crew.
* VomitDiscretionShot: Twice in the anime, during Unit 01's destruction of Bardiel and when Unit 01 starts eating Zeruel, and again in ''End of Evangelion'', when Unit 02 is being torn apart.
* WideEyedIdealist: As idealistic as one can get given the setting anyway. Her spiel on the wonders of technology becomes rather ironic given that technology begins to backfire on NERV from this point on in the series. Her interactions with others also give her a naively trusting demeanor.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Makoto Hyūga]]
!!First Lieutenant Makoto Hyūga
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/HiroYuki (Japanese), Matt Greenfield (ADV), Keith Burgess (movies), Daniel MK Cohen (VSI) (English)[[note]]'''Other languages:''' Creator/EnzoFortuny [Locomotion, VSI], Roberto Mendiola [Animax] (Latin-American Spanish); Eduard Itchart [TV series and films], Ricardo Escobar [VSI] (European Spanish); Creator/AlfredoRollo (Brazilian Portuguese)[[/note]]
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_img1442412864.png]]
%%
->"''It's okay, Major... besides, dying beside you wouldn't be a bad way to go out.''"

A geeky, bespectacled computer technician in the command center and member of the Tactical Operations division; he is Misato Katsuragi's chief aide, and in love with her, but is too shy to approach her. She is aware of his feelings and feels no shame about manipulating him to gain information (or to do her laundry), but otherwise she sees him as a friend and contact.

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%%* BridgeBunny
* CannotTellAJoke: The one time he does, it's not very funny and he makes it at the worst possible time, causing the joke to die on arrival.
* ADayInTheLimelight: Episode 11, where he alerts the rest of NERV to the approach of the 9th Angel.
%%* DoggedNiceGuy: To Misato.
* FreudianTrio: With Maya and Aoba, Hyuga representing the ego, being quite a bit more passionate than Aoba but much more detached than Maya.
* TheGenericGuy: Fits this the best of anyone in the cast, seeming relatively mentally stable while lacking an interesting past or distinguishing characteristics.
%%* GreekChorus: Occasionally functions as this alongside Maya and Aoba.
* HopelessSuitor: Might have stood a chance with Misato if Kaji wasn't around. Key word being ''might''.
* IgnoredEnamoredUnderling: It becomes progressively obvious towards the end of the series that he is in love with Misato. Unfortunately for him, she's still mourning over Kaji's death and either is unaware of or ignores his feelings.
* ItHasBeenAnHonor: See the above quote, when it seems as though self-destructing NERV headquarters is the only way to prevent Third Impact during Shinji's fight with Kaworu.
* OnlySaneMan: Compared to most of the rest of the cast, Hyuga comes off as a pretty normal guy. He also starts helping Misato towards the end of the series with investigating NERV.
* SatelliteCharacter: Beyond his two coworkers and Misato, he hardly interacts with anyone.
* SimilarSquad: The trio he forms with Maya and Aoba is frequently noted to resemble the trio of Toji, Hikari and Kensuke, fitting with the series' heavy analysis of maturity and adulthood.
* SmartPeopleWearGlasses: Wears glasses and operates some heavy tech. His ability to gain top secret intel also suggests that he's pretty sharp.
* TogetherInDeath: A twisted example, but during Instrumentality, when everyone is greeted by visions of their loved ones as 'guides' to the other side, he is greeted by a vision of Misato, who passionately kisses him before his body reverts to LCL.
* TwoGuysAndAGirl: With the other bridge crew members Maya and Aoba.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Shigeru Aoba]]
!!First Lieutenant Shigeru Aoba
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/TakehitoKoyasu (Japanese); Jason C. Lee [ADV], Creator/BillyKametz [VSI], Creator/VicMignogna [Director's Cut] (English)[[note]]'''Other languages:''' Creator/RicardoTejedo [Locomotion], Rodrigo Carralero [Animax, VSI] (Latin-American Spanish); Alex Messeguer [TV series and films], Juan Antonio Soler [VSI] (European Spanish); Wellignton Lima (Brazilian Portuguese)[[/note]]
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_aoba01.png]]
%%
->"''Idiot! You kill or you die!''"

The long-haired, guitar-playing computer technician in the command center. Unlike everyone else in the series he seems to have no one he truly cares about, although he appears to get along well with Maya and Hyuga.

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* AirGuitar: Is seen playing one in a brief 'blink-and-you'll-miss-it' moment towards the middle of the series.
* AllThereInTheManual:
** Supplemental publications and WordOfGod have stated that Aoba is an extreme atheist/nihilist, which is also why his Instrumentality is so different from everyone else's.
** There's also a few references here-and-there to him having an UnrequitedLove for Maya. How canonical this is is up for debate, as there is no evidence of it within the series.
* AloofAlly: Apparently. His version of Instrumentality implies he has no loved or trusted ones at all, which all but means his cool relationships with his co-workers are all façade.
* TheAntiNihilist: While it's shown he has nobody he's especially close to in life, he actually makes some effort to enjoy his time on Earth, gets along rather well with his colleagues, is generally quite relaxed when not on duty, and most importantly he takes his job in protecting the remainder of humanity very seriously.
* AscendedExtra: He gets far more screen time and characterization in ''End'', and, like every other major character, gets his own scenario in ''NGE2''.
* BitCharacter: Gets the least focus of all the bridge bunnies and mainly serves as a glorified extra for the most part.
%%* BridgeBunny
* TheCynic: Implied by his nihilism and demonstrated by his rather beleaguered response to Maya overpraising the wonders of technology in Episode 11.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: ImpliedTrope. Judging by the way that he was converted into [=LCL=] during ''[=EoE=]'', he had ''no'' loved or trusted ones at any point in his life, meaning that he probably has quite the angsty backstory.
* FreudianTrio: With Maya and Hyuga, Aoba representing the superego, being the most aloof and detached of the three and having the greatest willingness to do inhumane things for the sake of humanity.
%%* GreekChorus: Occasionally functions as this alongside Maya and Hyuga.
* InformedLoner: While he's a bit of a cynic, he's not really any more unfriendly than his coworkers are. Despite this, while Maya, Hyuga and Fuyutsuki are embraced by images of a loved one when they're being absorbed during Third Impact, all Aoba sees is a crowd of Reis who forcibly convert him into LCL as he screams in utter terror, implying that he has no one in his life who he truly trusts or loves.
* MellowFellow: When not on the job, Aoba is notably laid-back and relaxed in his manners. The only time he is ever seen being verbally aggressive is when he tries to convince Maya to help him and Hyuga out in the fight against the JSSDF.
* OnlySaneMan: Compared to most of the rest of the cast, he seems like a pretty stable and rational person, if a bit cynical.
* SatelliteCharacter: The worst of the trio. He ''only'' interacts with his two coworkers for the most part.
* SimilarSquad: The trio he forms with Maya and Hyuga is frequently noted to resemble the trio of Toji, Hikari and Kensuke, fitting with the series' heavy analysis of maturity and adulthood.
* {{Technobabble}}: All of the Bridge Bunnies speak it fluently, but in his case it seems to make up the vast majority of his dialogue.
* TwoGuysAndAGirl: Making up the bridge crew with Hyuga and Maya.
* UndignifiedDeath: In marked contrast to the calm Instrumentation the other characters get, he goes out hiding under a table and shrieking in terror. That said, whereas everyne else had a loved one come for them, he had a bizarre chain of naked Rei's with full understanding of what is happening.
[[/folder]]

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