Characters / Going Another Way

The following characters are seen in the fanfic Going Another Way.

The Children

In General

• Chromatic Arrangement: Only a mild version, each pilot is assigned a color. However, in Shinji's and Rei's case, the color of their plugsuit is not identical with the color of their EVA.
  • Shinji: Suit - Blue, EVA - Purple
  • Rei: Suit - White, EVA - Blue
  • Asuka: Suit and EVA - Red
  • Toji: Suit and EVA - Black
  • Hikari: Suit and EVA - Green
• Dysfunction Junction: Albeit to a much lighter extent than in the original series. They do overcome this with time and at the end, trust each other completely.
• Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The Commander's son, a clone of Lilith in the likeness of Yui Ikari, a Eurasian genius with a massive ego, the class rep and a jock who wants to protect his sister. Not material for writing a novel they are.

Shinji Ikari/Third Child

• Accidental Pervert: Happens no less than three times to poor Shinji. Twice with Rei and once with Asuka. Interestingly, at the second time with Rei, both of them were naked.
• Adaptational Badass: While nowhere near the level of other stories' takes on making Shinji more badass, this version of Shinji is generally much more assertive, confident, and self-assured, while being less mentally fragile compared to his canon self. By the end of the story, it turns out this was an Invoked Trope in-universe, thanks to Prime Rei changing things so that Shinji would not end up bringing the Third Impact about due to his mental breakdown.
• Adaptational Sexuality: Shinji in the anime and manga was bisexual and harbored feelings for Kaworu that were reciprocated. The Shinji of this universe is mortified when he sees his canon self with Kaworu in a bed, implying that he's heterosexual.
• Berserk Button: Besides insensitively bringing up his past, Shinji does develop a huge one in regards to Rei. Threatening or harming Rei in any way will make Shinji react very harshly.
• Beware the Nice Ones: In spades. Shinji is a Nice Guy, but if pushed too far, especially in battle, better take cover. Considering the wrath Yui can unleash, it's clear where he got it from.
• Calling the Old Man Out: There is no One Big Scene of this happening, but Shinji repeatedly makes it abundantly clear to Gendo that he can no longer emotionally pressure him. Gendo reacts by resorting to a more brachial method to break Shinji during the Bardiel crisis.
• Character Development: The interesting thing is, that most of his development happens before the story actually starts.
• Dark and Troubled Past: At first it looks like Shinji has gotten over the past completely and certainly doesn't let others push him around. However, being helpless while the dummy plug trashes Trident reveals that Shinji didn't properly deal with certain fears and he has a breakdown. He does recover, however.
• Determinator: This essentially is what helps Shinji through the battles with the Angels. Especially the battle against Zeruel shows that side of him.
• Enraged by Idiocy: Shinji isn't taking any of Asuka's crap following Israfel and has no problem telling her to the face.
• Extreme Doormat: Defied. Thanks to Prime Rei's influence getting him sent to live and be raised in a much more supportive and caring environment, Shinji is a lot more confident and self-assured than his canon self. When he's shown a vision of how he could've turned out if he wasn't raised in that aforementioned better environment, Shinji is horrified at seeing how much of a pushover he would have been.
• Fearless Fool: Defied. After the battle against Shamshel, Shinji comes to the conclusion that he needs to be at least a little afraid of the Angels. After all, if you are not afraid of the towering monsters, then you are bound to screw up and won't live for much longer. The trick is to not let the fear take over.
• Grew a Spine: With the balls of steel to match, all thanks to his uncle.
• The Heart: Shinji is the one who ties the children together, being Rei's boyfriend, having helped Toji and Hikari to come together and having earned Asuka's respect. When he goes missing for a month, the other children are all negatively affected.
• Heroic BSoD: Nice Job Breaking Your Son, Gendo.
• Humble Goal: Shinji does not want to follow his parents' career path and just wants to open his own small business as an adult. Ironically, that somewhat mirrors how Gendo didn't want to follow his own parents' career expectations.
• The Leader: Even though Asuka does deny it until her Character Development, Shinji is the leader of the pilots in battle.
• Momma's Boy: Not in a negative way. Shinji is still very independent, but ever since re-uniting with Yui, he is shown to be very close to her.
• Nice Guy: Basically what he now is at his core. Of course, should you do manage to piss him off, woe upon you, because it's then straight towards Beware the Nice Ones.
• Other Me Annoys Me: Shiji does see his canon self under Armisael's influence. He's disgusted at how spineless and meek that Shinji is, before becoming horrified to see himself and Kaworu in bed.
• Real Men Cook: He still retains his cooking skills from canon. As Misato is hopeless in the kitchen and Asuka's cooking abilities are never brought up, it falls on Shinji that they don't rely on cheap and unhealthy instant food. He even uses the threat of not cooking for Misato to get her to do her share of the housework.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Subverted in that this Shinji does not want or need Gendo's approval.

Rei Ayanami/First Child

• Apocalypse Maiden: Not this time.
• Back from the Dead: Gets herself a new body following Armisael. Unlike in canon, the process is far less brutal and she does not have memory problems.
• Berserk Button: Don't speak ill of her boyfriend. She'll slap the taste out of your mouth. And don't try to steal said boyfriend away from her either.
• Character Development: Probably gets the most development out of all the characters. Basically, Rei starts out as her Emotionless Girl and Extreme Doormat canon self and by the end manages to become an emotionally healthy and generally normal teenage girl.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Due to Shinji's influence.
• Died in Your Arms Tonight: Dies in Shinji's arms due to injuries caused by Armisael. She gets better - a lot better.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: Rei starts with short hair, but then decides after a suggestion from Shinji to let it grow out, thus at the second half of the story, her hair is as long as Asuka's. Her long hair also symbolizes her growth into a full person.
• Extreme Doormat: Rei starts as one, but gradually grows out of it by becoming more assertive.
• Grew a Spine: Thanks to Shinji's influence, she starts asserting herself more, much to Gendo's frustration. Indeed, after the Bardiel incident, he's had enough and openly plans to replace her, though thankfully due to Ritsuko, he's stopped from going through with it.
• Grew Beyond Their Programming: In a way. Though as, Fuyutsuki muses, since Rei essentially still is a human being, this was bound to happen.
• Immortal Procreation Clause: In an interesting way. Rei is disappointed she can't have children because she's missing a womb due to surgery, that is while her clones do exist and she is practically immortal. Later on, however, she gains a new body that is fully functional while her clones get destroyed, thus making her mortal but capable of having children.
• Innocent Fanservice Girl: Rei does that twice to poor Shinji.
  • The first time is the well-known scene in her old apartment, though Shinji this time does not fumble around.
  • The second time is during the Israfel-training when Rei opens the bathroom door, only to find Shinji on the other side, this time both of them being naked. Thanks to Character Development, Rei this time understands the implications and blushes heavily.
• In Spite of a Nail: She still dies after Armisael... but this time around, she does not pull a Heroic Sacrifice that resulted in destroying Tokyo-3 in the process.
• Other Me Annoys Me: Rei does see her canon self under Armisael's influence. She's horrified at how lifeless and passive that Rei behaves, and the horror only grows upon seeing her fusing with Lilith to cause Third Impact.
• The Smart Guy: Rei is, without a doubt, the smartest of all the pilots - even Asuka's level of genius can't compete there. She also is the best at analyzing a situation thoroughly.
• The Stoic: Rei is this at the start. She does become more emotional over time, but part of it probably won't go away after all those years. Rei will always be the calm one.
• Verbal Tic: Rei does not use contractions ever. Even after lots of character development, she always uses the full words. No explanation is given, though it could be due to her wanting to do things precisely.

Asuka Langley Soryu/Second Child

• The Atoner: After her experiences in Leilel she honestly tries to become a better person.
• Bad Future: Inside Leliel, she is shown the consequences of her behavior should she not change her ways. Asuka is badly shaken by the experience.
• Bilingual Bonus: Some of her German speech is not translated.
• Boisterous Bruiser: Of a sort - she's a lot more hotheaded and direct as a fighter, with a much louder personality to boot.
• Break the Haughty: Naturally happens to her, though in this case, it was from Leilel absorbing her and being shown how her life will turn out if she stays a jerkass. She gets better.
• But Not Too Foreign: Part Japanese and part German, as in canon.
• Character Development: Over the course of the story, she becomes nicer and more considerate of other people's feelings.
• Dark and Troubled Past: The same as per canon. Her fellow pilots are really disturbed once she tells them what exactly happened.
• Fiery Redhead: Even when she becomes a kinder person, she still retains her hotheaded personality.
• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: This is delivered to her during her Break the Haughty routine and plays a large role in her character development. What happened in her childhood was indeed tragic and painful, but it doesn't give her a free pass to treat other people badly, and moreover, she's only hurting herself by not rising above it.
• Gratuitous German: Averted in that she does speak flawless German - and she does that often. (Thankfully, most of it got subtitles.)
• Happily Adopted: Becomes Misato's ward in the end.
• Hot-Blooded: Even after her character development, she's still got this.
• The Lancer: Asuka is this to Shinji after she underwent character development. She does fit all of the criteria.
• Must Make Amends: After her experiences within Leilel. She does a damn good job of it, too.
• Pair the Spares: Hooks up with Kaworu in the end.
• Point of Divergence: Shinji ends up puking on her due to him getting seasick during their first meeting. After that bad first impression, things only get tenser between them. They both make no secret of their mutual dislike, instead of Asuka just trampling over him as in canon.
• Reformed, but Not Tamed: While she does genuinely become much nicer and more considerate of the people around her, she's still hotheaded, forceful, and temperamental. Shinji himself notes that she can't erase who she is, just build on it.
• The Rival: What she feels she is to the other pilots - especially Shinji - thinking of herself as being in a competition for the best pilot due to her self-worth depending on it. It's one-sided however, the other pilots finding the notion strange.
• This Cannot Be!: When the Devil gives her the "Christmas Carol" treatment while inside Leilel.
• Took a Level in Kindness: After her ordeal in the Dirac Sea from Leilel, she takes it as a wake-up call to improve the way she treats other people.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Rei ends up taking her place during the battle against Israfel, which leads to both Shinji and Rei getting closer together.

Toji Suzuhara/Fourth Child

• The Ace: Certainly thinks he's that on the basketball court until shown there's always someone better.
• Beta Couple: With Hikari.
• Big Brother Instinct: For his little sister Sakura.
• The Big Guy: He's the physically strongest of the pilots by far, and it shows in his fighting style as well.
• Chromatic Arrangement: It does go further with Toji than with the other pilots. Not only are his plugsuit and Unit-03 black, he also often wears a black tracksuit with white stripes that mimics his EVA's color scheme.
• Dumb Jock: Subverted. He is actually quite smart - just sadly not book smart and doesn't work hard enough to make up for it in his grades. At least, until Hikari gets on his case.
• Dumb Muscle: What Asuka thinks he is. Toji actually is a lot smarter than he lets on, he just doesn't apply himself intellectually, much to Hikari's frustration.
• Hidden Depths: Despite never dancing before, Toji doesn't make any missteps while dancing with Hikari, much to her surprise. His sports practice has given him good foot coordination.
• High-School Sweethearts: Unlike in canon, with a failure to communicate, Shinji helps Toji and Hikari to finally act on their mutual crushes. They both get plenty of opportunity in battle to show how serious they are about it. It's no wonder that they are in a stable relationship at the end.
• Japanese Delinquents: Played with. Toji openly flaunts the uniform rules of the school, tries to avoid cleaning duty and doesn't apply himself seriously to school work. However, that is only a front, and he actually is a good guy.
• Jerkass Realization: This time has one inside the entry plug right after Shinji defeats Shamshel and describes the pain he's in. Toji honestly apologizes to Shinji for how he'd treated him earlier.
• Jerk Jock: Averted, he is not this. However, he does mention some real Jerk Jocks and is glad he is not like them.
• Lovable Jock: While he is into sports, he certainly isn't a jerk. He only needs help at times to make the right decisions.
• Resigned to the Call: When he and Hikari do get the offer to pilot after the Sahaquiel incident, they are very reluctant to accept. Only after giving it much thought and hearing other opinions, do they accept.

Hikari Horaki/Fifth Child

• Anger Born of Worry: Hikari actually wants the students in school to improve, thus why she is so hard to them. Also, when Hikari is angry with someone, it usually is, because that person either endangered themselves or could have gotten into deep trouble. Her angry words are intended to better them.
• Beware the Nice Ones: She's, without a doubt, the nicest and most polite of the pilots. However, if you get on her bad side... Toji and Kensuke learn that the hard way after their adventure with Shamshel when she shames them in front of the whole class.
• Beta Couple: With Toji.
• Class Representative: Her job at school, which she does take very seriously. It's shown what happens when she's unable to attend to her duties for some time.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Though it's not shown a lot, Hikari's parents clearly see her as the responsible one, while they see Kodama - most likely due to her style of life - as the foolish one.
• Girlish Pigtails: Just look at her picture.
• Girly Girl: Hikari is by far the most feminine of the pilots, since Asuka's behavior is more on the aggressive side. Once she opens up, she also is the nicest pilot of all of them.
• High-School Sweethearts: Unlike in canon, with a failure to communicate, Shinji helps Hikari and Toji to finally act on their mutual crushes. They both get plenty of opportunity in battle to show how serious they are about it. It's no wonder that they are in a stable relationship at the end.
• Like Mother, Like Daughter: Looking at Mrs. Horaki, it's obvious where Hikari got her temper from.
• Nice Girl: When not being on school duty, she is very polite and courteous.
• Only Sane Woman: Is the most well-adjusted pilot.
• Resigned to the Call: When she and Toji do get the offer to pilot after the Sahaquiel incident, they are very reluctant to accept. Only after giving it much thought and hearing other opinions, do they accept.
• Sixth Ranger: She's the only one of the pilots who didn't fill that role in canon.
• Tsundere: More on the Dere side. It is not especially pronounced, but Hikari in general has "nice" as her default mode and switches to her harsh side when she is at her job at school or when she feels someone deserves harsh words.

NERV/GEHIRN General Staff

Commander Gendo Ikari

• The Atoner: After Yui regains her ability to communicate with the outside world and she lets Gendo know how she really feels about his plans and actions, he ultimately sets out on the path to redemption.
• Big Damn Heroes: Saves the Children from SEELE's troops and gets - thankfully non-lethally - shot, thus taking Misato's place. It's this action that convinces Shinji to give him a second chance.
• The Chessmaster: Gendo thinks he is one and certainly acts like it. However, it does become clear that SEELE is outmaneuvering him rather handily by having several aces up their own sleeves that Gendo has no knowledge of.
• Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You: Gendo thinks he has this trope on his side. However, as Shinji, and then later on, Yui, makes abundantly clear, he really has no excuse for blatantly abandoning Shinji and dropping him off with Yui's relatives. He could have done all he did without being a jerk about it.
• Drowning My Sorrows: After Yui rips him a new one, Gendo hits the bottle. He winds up in the infirmary for alcohol poisoning, since he hadn't touched any alcohol in over ten years.
• Easily Forgiven: Averted. After all the crap he pulled, everyone has good reason to mistrust him and his bad deeds don't simply vanish. He has to carry the consequences of his actions. Shinji especially is unwilling to give Gendo any kind of clemency and it takes Gendo pulling a Big Damn Heroes and saving his and his friends' lives to convince him to give his father a second chance.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: One little thing he does to show that he's trying to change his ways is that he becomes clean-shaven again. The command crew is a bit disturbed with the change.
• Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Subverted in that Gendo does it intentionally to intimidate people.
• Heel–Face Turn: Thank Yui for that.
• Parental Abandonment: Just like in canon, he pulled this on Shinji after Yui was absorbed into Unit 01. Naturally, Shinji utterly despises and resents him for it.
• Pet the Dog: He pays for Misato and Kaji's wedding.
• Scary Shiny Glasses: He does this intentionally to intimidate people. He ditches them once he starts his path to redemption, in order to remove the distance between himself and other people.

Sub-Commander Kozo Fuyutsuki

• The Atoner: He is unable to forgive himself for getting entangled in SEELE's web, and thus being forced to do what he despises - working on the end of the world. As soon as he does get the chance, he betrays SEELE by working together with their enemies, now actively working on stopping their plans.
• Despair Event Horizon: Averted. In canon, Shinji being an Extreme Doormat clearly crushed his hopes of change and he accepted what would inevitably happen. Here, he actually is reminded of Yui in how assertive Shinji is, and it gives him the strength to take a more active role.
• Feeling Their Age: He actually is not that old, but all the stuff he's witnessed over the past 15 years has worn him down. When he does get the chance at the end of the story to retire for good, he gladly accepts it.
• Number Two: While he does have all the command power that comes with it, he dislikes that he has to do all the mundane duties (like meeting with the city council) that Gendo feels are beneath him.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Fuyutsuki is unlike Gendo, in that he does respect the people he commands, which gives him their respect in return. Since Gendo does not want to interact with the pilots directly, he earns their respect as well, and (apart from when Asuka was sulking after the Israfel disaster) they never question him.
  • This actually becomes plot relevant when Shinji comes to him after Sahaquiel and explains his thinking that they do need reinforcements, since he feels Fuyutsuki will hear him out. Fuyutsuki actually agrees with him, thus setting things into motion.
  • Becomes even more important once Gendo is out of the picture for a longer time. No one in NERV questions him when he takes full command for a longer time.

Dr. Yui Ikari

• Ascended Extra: She only had very limited screentime in canon. Here, she does take on a far more active role in the final third of the story.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Yui is an incredibly nice woman. However, get onto her bad side and she will viciously tear into you verbally, as Gendo learned the hard way. Clearly, Shinji inherited that trait from her.
• Deceased Parents Are the Best: Subverted in that she was never really dead to begin with - which is made clear right at the start. The other characters, however, don't learn about that fact for quite a while.
• Ghost in the Machine: Shinji doesn't manage to get her out of Unit-01's core, but his efforts do allow Yui to link up with connected computers to communicate with the outside world.
• Good Parent: Yui is highly caring not only for Shinji, but the other children as well. Also, unlike what is hinted in canon, Yui actively wanted to stop SEELE and never wanted children being forced to pilot the EVA units. It's the latter desire however, that leads to her accident.
• Mama Bear: Don't mess with her son. Sachiel, Zeruel and Gendo learn that lesson the hard way.
• So Proud of You: Being the good parent she is, she won't hesitate to say so.
  • Gives this in spades to Shinji for how he managed the huge mess with the Angels and how good of a person he has become. Ironically, while Shinji no longer craves his father's approval, this unexpected praise from his mother makes him very happy. Her approval actually filled the void that Gendo left by ignoring Shinji.
  • She also is proud of Rei and tells her that her heritage is not important, it's her actions that speak for themselves.
• What the Hell, Hero?: After regaining her ability to communicate with the outside world, she rips Gendo a new one for abandoning Shinji and for becoming the antithesis of the man she had fallen in love with.

Dr. Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu

• Always with You: Literally. Kyoko places a tiny part of her own soul in Asuka's to heal the scars on the latter's soul with the given love as a final parting gift.
• But Now I Must Go: Being a soul without a body convinces her to go out with a bang to save everyone and finally go to the world beyond. She tells Asuka as much.
• The Disembodied: This is a huge problem for her. Unlike Yui and Naoko, she has no physical body to return to (as it died years ago). Knowing that she has no other choice than to move on, she decides to sacrifice herself to save everyone.
• Empty Shell: The final fate of her physical body. Due to her soul and mind getting separated from it while working inside the entry plug of Unit-02, her body fell into a zombie-like state where it acted on remnants of her memories before killing itself.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Willingly destroys EVA Unit-02 with herself in it in the final battle.
• Mama Bear: She's still protecting Asuka.
• Pre-Mortem One-Liner: She delivers it to Keel. And in German, to boot. It also gives her satisfaction that it is her who does in the man who destroyed her life (and her daughter's by extension) by ripping her soul out of her body.

Dr. Ritsuko Akagi

• Dye Hard: In-Universe she bleaches her hair blond. However, after getting together with Maya, she stops the bleaching and lets her hair return to its natural brown color.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: Ritsuko returning her hair to its natural brown color shows that she is finally at peace with herself and has started to find her own happiness. She also no longer feels the need to distance herself from her mother by trying to look different from her.
• Girl on Girl Is Hot: It's Ritsuko's imagination drifting to dirty things when realizing she is checking out female members of the staff after she has emotionally divorced herself from Gendo, that makes her realize she is not as straight as she believed herself to be.
• Hackette: Caused Jet Alone to go haywire and thus the project to get axed. Does not have the same success against Iruel, as the Angel flees before she could get in the killing blow.
• The Medic: She's directly responsible for tending to the pilots' medical needs, since the pilots are too important to leave things to chance. Of course, as with all stuff medical, results in numerous embarrassing moments for the pilots.
• Must Have Nicotine: Unlike Misato, she isn't deterred so easily from her smoking habit, saying she'll consider quitting once the Angels are defeated.
• Pair the Spares: She hooks up with Maya in the end.
• Took a Level in Kindness: The main reason is that Shinji and Rei hook up, thus removing Rei's supposed closeness to Gendo as a focal point of Ritsuko's jealousy. Ritsuko thus also is able to see that her relationship with Gendo is not what she imagined it to be. This prevents her from going down the dark path.

Dr. Naoko Akagi

• Female Monster Surprise: Her soul is in Unit 00. It comes as a total surprise.
• My God, What Have I Done?: After killing the first Rei, Naoko realizes she has murdered a child in a rage. Her sheer horror at herself for being capable of such an act causes her to try and kill herself. She does not succeed and Gendo uses the now helpless Naoko to his advantage.
• Pair the Spares: Hooks up with Kaldor Ikari of all people.
• Parents as People: The distant relationship between her and Ritsuko is a result of her husband dying young, thus hurting her emotionally and causing her to set her eyes on Gendo to fill the void. It does take Ritsuko considerable time before she understands her mother's reasons.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Towards Rei. At the start, Naoko can't stand Rei, making life difficult for her in Unit-00. However, after Shinji sowed the seeds of doubt about Gendo in Rei's mind, Naoko picks up on it and does give Rei a chance. Over the course of the story, she slowly warms up to Rei and in the end, gives her her full support.
• Woman Scorned: Due to the circumstances of her ending up in Unit-00's core, she feels highly resentful of Gendo and, when realizing that Rei follows him without question, Rei as well. Only when Rei is starting to doubt Gendo is Naoko willing to give her a chance.

Colonel Misato Katsuragi

• Addiction Displacement: After quitting drinking, she replaces alcohol with coffee.
• The Alcoholic: A huge problem of hers, until Shinji forces her to stop drinking.
• Drives Like Crazy: Until the thought of Rei tagging the inside of her Renault with puke makes her slow down. However, she still does it when time is short at hand, like when Armisael shows up.
• Genius Ditz: She actually is smarter than even she thinks she is, but her heavy alcohol consumption hampers her. After Shinji puts a stop to her alcohol abuse, she does become notably sharper and smarter.
• Happily Married: After no longer beating around the bush, Misato and Kaji do marry. They are certainly quite happy as well, judging from seeing them six months after the final battle.
• Heel Realization: Kaji confronting her when she has no way to run away finally forces Misato to admit that she was treating him like crap for something that was her own doing (her leaving him). Finally working through why she did it starts their road of coming back together.
• Lethal Chef: Misato can't cook to save her life, relying mostly on cheap junk food. She actually didn't notice until getting spoiled by Shinji's cooking. Of course, that makes it even harder for her when he's not available for cooking.
• Mission Control: Since it almost always is her who talks to the pilots either to give them orders or information, this is her role in battle.
• Must Have Caffeine: Switches over to coffee after quitting alcohol, though that is way less destructive than alcohol.
• Near-Death Experience: Suffers one after nearly being choked to death by one of SEELE's goons. In it, she meets her father and finally makes peace with him.
• Scare 'Em Straight: What makes her stop drinking since Shinji told her what happened to a friend's father, a heavy drinker, in loving detail. She is not happy about it, but in the end, she accepts that Shinji wanted to help her and admits that she now does feel better.
• Sole Survivor: Of the Katsuragi Expedition, as she was right smack at Ground Zero for Second Impact.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Gets called out on her bullshit by Kaji. It leads to both of them clearing the air between them.

Ryoji Kaji

• Dark and Troubled Past: Was forced after Second Impact to rat out his brother and friends to soldiers, from whose storehouse they had been stealing. He then was forced to watch while the soldiers shot them. The trauma of that event still haunts him.
• Double Reverse Quadruple Agent: It's a bit complicated. Kaji works for SEELE spying on Gendo and for Gendo spying on SEELE. Both sides are actually aware of that and feel they get the better deal out of it. What they don't know is that Kaji is spying on both of them for the government in order to stop all of their plans.
• Happily Married: After no longer beating around the bush, Misato and Kaji do marry. They are certainly quite happy as well, judging from seeing them five months after the final battle.
• Hidden Depths: Do not get fooled by his behavior, he actually is a highly competent and caring man. The image he shows the outside world is a result of the hurt after Misato left him. Over time, once Misato and he begin repairing their relationship, Kaji starts to get rid of the mask so that the people around him see his real self.
• Improvised Weapon: Can do this when the situation calls for it. The most interesting one is a trash can lid.
• Perma-Stubble: At least, until Fuyutsuki notices and lays down the law. Kaji from then on shaves properly.
• Real Men Can Cook: It comes as a total surprise to Shinji that Kaji is a good cook. No one did expect the roguish Kaji to know his way around a kitchen.
• Spared by the Adaptation: Unlike in canon, he does survive.

First Lieutenant Maya Ibuki

• The Apprentice: Apprentice to Ritsuko. Ritsuko is not holding back with praise for Maya, knowing the young woman holds tremendous potential that has to be nurtured properly.
• Ascended Extra: While only a side character in canon, here she actually does get her own character arc.
• Foil: To Shirgeru Aoba. Where Aoba is sarcastic and generally a bit nihilistic, Maya is more on the idealistic side. Interestingly, despite this sharp difference in philosophy, both are good friends.
• Lipstick Lesbian: One should not get fooled by her boyish haircut and face. She is quite feminine and sensitive and loves to read things like sappy love novels.
• Nice Girl: One of her defining traits. She's perhaps one of the nicest people you meet in NERV. Her gentle and understanding personality is why Ritsuko uses her to interact often with the pilots. Indeed, during the highly embarrassing nude test, it's Maya's calming presence that keeps the pilots from freaking out and refusing orders.
• Pair the Spares: She hooks up with Ritsuko in the end.

First Lieutenant Makoto Hyuga

• Deadpan Snarker: Shows signs of it, but looks downright tame compared to Shigeru Aoba.
• Gossipy Hens: Male variant. Makoto often exchanges gossip with Shigeru at the coffee machine.
• Graceful Loser: After realizing that Misato and Kaji are a set pair, he accepts it and starts to support both of them, showing he won't let this make him bitter.
• Hopeless Suitor: To Misato. However, he is not bitter about it and accepts that Misato chose Kaji with grace.
• Where Are They Now: Acquires a government job following the dissolution of NERV.

First Lieutenant Shigeru Aoba

• Captain Obvious: He does have the tendency to state things that are blatantly obvious to everyone.
• The Cynic: While Aoba at times describes himself as a Nihilist, he's more this. He has no deep beliefs and generally thinks the world is not that great of a place. Later subverted, however, in that this doesn't mean he doesn't care for the world and at the end, he becomes somewhat less cynical.
• Deadpan Snarker: One of his defining traits. He is very snarky and gives many sarcastic comments throughout the story, often causing Maya to complain about how he looks at the world.
• Foil: To Maya Ibuki. Where she's idealistic, he's a sarcastic cynic. Interestingly, despite this sharp difference in philosophy, both are good friends.
• Gossipy Hens: Male variant. Shigeru often exchanges gossip with Makoto at the coffee machine; something that doesn't fit at all to his personal philosophy of cynicism.
• Where Are They Now: Runs a music store following the Angel Wars.

The Trident Staff

Mana Kirishima

• Break the Cutie: She goes into a mini-meltdown after the battle of Tokyo-3, where she had killed to save the world. It does take her time to recover for the ordeal.
• Canon Foreigner: Since she only appeared in a game and a few supplemental books - of which none are canon - her inclusion in the story does come as a surprise.
• Celibate Hero: She's the only teenager without any romantic activities. It doesn't mean she's not interested, but at the moment she's simply not actively seeking it. As proven by their first meeting, she would take an opportunity if it presented itself.
• Foil: Mana is the exact opposite of the Evangelion pilots. While EVA pilots are determined by birth, her coming to pilot Trident came by accident. EVA pilots often have missing family, but hers is intact. It's how ordinary she is that makes her stand out.
• Nice Girl: Of course.
• Obvious Trap: Correctly assumes this about Leilel. And generally has the right hunch about Angels that look too peaceful.
• Odd Friendship: With the AI of Trident. It's this friendship that causes Trident to lock off to anyone but her, forcing the project to accept Mana as its pilot.
• Unexpected Character: Due to her non-canon status, her inclusion into the story did come as a surprise to many.

Major Hanson

• Big Fun: He's quite overweight and one of the nicest persons you could find.
• Drives Like Crazy: When at the wheel of his Gratan. Mrs. Kirishima is constantly annoyed by it.
• Mythology Gag: He's quite obviously Hanson from Nadia and the Secret of Blue Water, even driving the Gratan, which is re-envisioned as a prototype military vehicle that proved too expensive.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Openly challenges Gendo during the Bardiel crisis and only backs off when threatened with being shot.

Mr. and Mrs. Kirishima

• Good Parents: There is no question that they care deeply for their daughter. While not seen often, whenever they interact with Mana, the warmth can be felt.
• Foil: Mr. Kirishima is that to Gendo. Both had their children being pulled into their respective projects. But while Gendo treats Shinji like crap (or simply ignores him), Mr. Kirishima gives Mana lots of help to ease her into her new job and always treats her as his daughter first.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Mr. Kirishima is this in regards to Mana.
• Spared by the Adaptation: Unlike the game, where they are dead in Mana's back-story, they are well and alive here.

Family and Friends

Kaldor Ikari

• Big Brother Instinct: It's said he'd always been quite protective of Yui and she has nothing but good things to say about him.
• Gentle Giant: He's a pretty big guy at 2 meters (or 6'7"), which Misato notices when having to look up to him (she's only 1.66 meters tall).
• Original Character: The only major one in the story, due to the fact that the author dislikes the trope in general.
• Pair the Spares: He hooks up with Naoko Akagi at the end.
• Parental Substitute: Was this for Shinji, helping the emotionally scarred boy left in his care become a far more well-adjusted young man over time.
• What Does He See in Her?: Some people are outright baffled when he hooks up with Naoko Akagi of all people.

Kensuke Aida

• Affectionate Nickname: Mayumi calls him Ken.
• Bring My Brown Pants: Pisses himself in terror over being in the middle of the Bardiel mess. Considering the danger he'd been in, he doesn't feel ashamed over it.
• Chivalrous Pervert: While he is somewhat perverted, it's noted many boys his age are. It's treated as harmless and he's respectful to girls otherwise. Once Mayumi enters the picture, he drops these thoughts entirely.
• Fanboy: For military hardware and battling, though he grows out of this when he sees the danger that comes with it.
• Hidden Depths: Kensuke is a deeper person than one would imagine, but growing up with the stigma of the nerd had damaged his social life. Even his friends don't see the full depth, only Mayumi does - partly because she suffered from the same problem.
• Scare 'Em Straight: Having a front row seat for the whole Bardiel disaster finally convinces Kensuke to give up on being a pilot for good.

Mayumi Yamagishi

• Blind Without 'Em: Subverted. While Mayumi's vision is somewhat blurry without her glasses, she finds the idea she couldn't see at all without them ridiculous.
• Body Horror: She has an S2 core inside her body, which looks really disgusting, once removed. Even having that thing inside her body is already a scary thought.
• Canon Foreigner: Since she only appeared in a game and a few supplemental books - of which none are canon - her inclusion in the story does come as a surprise.
• Faking the Dead: For her own safety, as SEELE believes her to be dead. It's no longer needed once the city is being evacuated.
• The Mole: She is a spy (albeit under duress) sent by SEELE in order to spy on the pilots.
• Unexpected Character: Due to her non-canon status, her inclusion into the story did come as a surprise to many.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: SEELE attempts to kill her by activating her S2 organ. Fortunately, she survives the attempt.

Mr. and Mrs. Horaki

• Good Parents: Having three daughters, they do have their hands full. Mrs. Horaki does take the part of the strict parent, in order to steer their daughters onto the right path. Hikari takes after her a lot.
• Spared by the Adaptation: In canon, Mrs. Horaki is long dead. However, here she's still alive.

Kodama Horaki

• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Their parents obviously see her as somewhat irresponsible to her style of life, while the see Hikari as the responsible one.
• Really Gets Around: Implied, though it's unknown to which degree. It does not mean however, that she's a bad person.

Nozomi Horaki

• Annoying Younger Sibling: Hikari certainly thinks so at times. Definitely when she teams up with Sakura.
• Big Sister Worship: She certainly sees a lot of good in Hikari. Still doesn't stop her from being a brat at times.
• Gossipy Hens: Much to Hikari's horror, once Nozomi makes friends with Sakura, they actively exchange gossip about their older siblings.

Mr. Suzuhara

• When You Coming Home, Dad?: Though he is at home quite often, his hours (there always is lots of construction in Tokyo-3) often also mean he's not at home. His children thankfully take it in stride, knowing he does this to provide for them.

Sakura Suzuhara

• Annoying Younger Sibling: Can be this sometimes, though she normally is rather well-behaved. However, when she teams up with Nozomi, it's a different matter.
• Big Brother Worship: Not exactly. She certainly does respect Toji and his choices, but she's not above making fun of him.
• Cheerful Child: It's obvious she's that when even having to sit in a wheelchair for a few months won't cause her to lose her optimistic personality.
• Gossipy Hens: Much to Toji's horror, once Sakura makes friends with Nozomi, they actively exchange gossip about their older siblings.

SEELE

In General:

• Ancient Conspiracy: What they style themselves as, but certainly aren't. Indeed, their history is not even half a century old.
• Big Bad: They are the main threat lurking in the background, though with Lilith, they're more of a Big Bad Ensemble.
• Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: Each member of the inner circle does have a color:
  • SEELE-01, Lorenz Keel, Germany: White
  • SEELE-02, France: Yellow
  • SEELE-03, United States: Green
  • SEELE-04, Russia: Blue
  • SEELE-05, United Kingdom: Red
• The Conspiracy: They are behind most of the events in the story and are one of the driving forces for their own gain. Their secrecy is absurdly high.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: One of their weaknesses. They do see the big picture but disregard the fact that even seemingly small things like growing friendships between people (like the pilots) can have far-reaching consequences.
• The Faceless: Whenever the bigger circle meets, they are only represented by black monoliths.
• Godhood Seeker: What they want to achieve by initiating the Third Impact.

Chairman Lorenz Keel

• Big Bad: To be more precise, the leader of the Big Bads.
• The Chessmaster: He's really good at planning his moves ahead, always having a surprise in store. Gendo might think he's his equal, but in reality Keel always has an alternate plan ready in case something goes wrong.
• Crazy-Prepared: When SEELE's crimes were exposed and his cohorts being gunned down, Keel escapes to his personal Evangelion, Black Ace. Most telling is, he built it just in case.
• Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: A good part of his body now is cybernetics. If anything, it made him more spiteful than ever. It also becomes his main motivation for Third Impact - to leave behind his crippled body.
• Da Chief: Of SEELE.
• Manipulative Bastard: How good is he? He managed to completely trick Kaworu of all people! Even worse is that many underestimate him due to his crippling injuries. Even Gendo, while wary of him, totally misses that Keel was several steps ahead of him.
• Non-Action Big Bad: For most of the story, he just pulls strings behind the scenes. Everyone is scared out of their minds once he does decide to get involved personally and arrives in a monster-EVA.

The Angels

In General:

• Animalistic Abomination: Gaghiel, Arael, Matarael, and Sandalphon.
• Blue-and-Orange Morality: All the Angels want is to be reunited with their dad. The problem is that they also have a bone to pick with mankind.
• Body Horror: Bardiel and Armisael.
• Composite Character: Many of the Angels did gain traits from other media, mainly from the Rebuild movies and the manga. It does not, however, replace how they appeared in the series, only alters them to a degree.
• Eldritch Abomination: All except Tabris, Gaghiel, Arael, and Matarael.
• Giant Flyer: Most of them.
• Lotus-Eater Machine: Leliel, Arael (a more sinister version) and Armisael.

Adam, 1st Angel

• Back from the Dead: He revives Kaworu at the end.
• Big Good: In a surprising twist from common knowledge, it's him who actually is on mankind's side. The explosion in Antarctica actually was Lilith's doing.
• But Now I Must Go: Returns to the Ancient Ones after healing the planet. He however does promise he'll try to return if possible.
• Good Parent: He must have been this for the other Angels to love him so much.
• Light Is Good: Running contrary to the series' theme, Adam is the Angel of Light and the one who actually wants to help mankind.
• Love Makes You Dumb: He's furious with himself that he fell for Lilith's seduction, which started the whole mess. He knows for sure he won't be that stupid again.
• Sealed Good in a Can: What Lilith did to him.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Joins forces with NERV and the UN to stop SEELE and Lilith from kicking off Third Impact. However, he knows they have good reasons not to trust him and accepts it with grace.
• World-Healing Wave: Reverses the damage Lilith has wrought on Second Impact. That among other things heals Ritsuko's lungs and makes both Rei and Kaworu fully human.
• The World Is Not Ready: Takes back all of the organic material from the EVAs, leaving the empty armor behind. He reasons that that technology is too dangerous to mess around with.

Lilith, 2nd Angel

• A Goddess Am I: Essentially Lilith's big flaw (a literal flaw), is, that thanks to a programming error she did turn insane and now thinks of herself as a goddess.
• Abusive Parent: Very much this towards Angels and mankind alike.
• Abusive Precursors: Gave birth to the Angels, who proved to be more loyal to Adam however, at which she locked them away in another dimension. She also created life on Earth solely to have herself a species that would worship her for all of eternity, first getting rid of the dinosaurs and then poisoning humanity's seed when they turned out to be too free-willed to her liking.
• Grew Beyond Their Programming: A simple programming error by the Ancient Ones in Lilith's matrix caused the entire mess. Of course, Lilith denies that is the reason.
• Offing the Offspring: Does this indirectly for most of the story by luring them to their doom. However, poor Tabris is a direct example, she-she does attack him directly, causing him lethal injuries.
• Omnicidal Maniac: Despite her wish to be worshipped, it, in the end, comes to this, as Lilith is never satisfied with the end results and feels she has to start anew.
• Sealed Evil in a Can: What she did to herself, due to spending so much energy to destroy Adam.
• Unwitting Pawn: Tricks the Angels into attacking by claiming that their father was imprisoned.
• We Can Rule Together: Offered this to Adam in the past.

Sachiel, 3rd Angel

• Big Brother Worship: He does have that kind of relationship with Zeruel and it is mutual. Of course, after Sachiel dies, Zeruel is quite angry, leading to his Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
• Face Death with Dignity: He knows he'll die anyway, but instead of letting himself being beaten to death by Unit-01 or wail in fear, he blows himself up, trying to take his enemy with him. Too bad for him it doesn't work.
• Grievous Harm with a Body: Happens to Sachiel when Unit-01 rips off one of his arms and uses it as a club against him.
• No-Sell: Sachiel is not fazed by conventional weapons, much to the irritation of the military.
• Stone Wall: Is that to the army, as he just shrugs off all their attacks without much of a reaction. Against Unit-01... not so much.
• The Baby of the Bunch: Feels treated like that and hopes that finally proving himself will cause his siblings to stop doing that.
• The Reliable One: Unlike most of his other siblings, Sachiel is taking finding their father very serious and has no hindering character traits. Too bad it's not much help for him.
• Undying Loyalty: To Adam.

Shamshel, 4th Angel

• Combat Tentacles: Shamsel can use her two long tentacles like whips. Difference is that these things can also slice through almost everything.
• Composite Character: Shamshel's appearance is mainly from the series, but she does have the bony and twitching insect legs from Rebuild.
• Cool Big Sis: Leliel considers her as a "wonderful person."
• Hot-Blooded: She is one of the more aggressive Angels, which also shows in her personality.
• Irony: Despite looking - as Misato said - like a huge, pink dildo, Shamshel is a female Angel.
• Light Is Not Good: Her name means Sun of God. Fitting as she is the Angel of Day.

Ramiel, 5th Angel

• Barrier Warrior: While all Angels have AT-fields, Ramiel relies on it more than the others. Considering the field strength, he can allow himself that luxury.
• Beam Spam: Is capable of this, though then the individual beams don't hold too much power.
• Composite Character: While Ramiel is mostly like his canon counterpart from the series, he does gain some abilities form Rebuild. His drill is now shapeshifting his lower tip, he is reflective, the core is explicitly located at the center and Ramiel shrieks when being hurt.
• Shock and Awe: His modus operandi in battle.
• Sinister Geometry: Ramiel is in his classic octahedron form. Many note how strange and not even alive the Angel looks, remaking it looks strangely beautiful. At NERV they are even confused at how the Angel is going to attack them until suddenly they register the power buildup.
• The Stoic: Tries to be this, though sometimes we get glimpses of something beneath it. Later on, the mask falls and Ramiel goes red with rage.
• Strategy Versus Tactics: The tactician of the Angels, for all the good it did him.
• Suppressed Rage: Don't get fooled by Ramiel's calm behavior. If pushed over the edge, he'll become frightening. They do learn this the hard way after injuring Ramiel and causing his mission to fail.
• Wave-Motion Gun: His mode of attack.

Gaghiel, 6th Angel

• Crippling Overspecialization: As a sea creature, he naturally can't enter dry land. Gaghiel is well aware of the problem.
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: He can't stand his siblings feeling bad for his deficiencies.
• Hulk Speak: Thanks to being much more primitive than the other Angels, Gaghiel's speech is literally like that of a stereotypical caveman.
• Sea Monster: That actually creates a unique problem for Gaghiel, as he can't enter dry land. He probably would have adapted with his Angel powers, but for the moment he was stumped at how to proceed.

Israfel, 7th Angel

• Big "NO!": Screams this as he dies. Also the first time that he spoke as one.
• Dual Boss: The trouble is, that Israfel can only be destroyed when being whole but before his cores merge. The time window for that is very small.
• Fearful Symmetry: Even more dangerous when split in two, though after a while Israfel does get uncomfortable.
• Literal Split Personality: While Israfel does split physically, it's still the same mind controlling both bodies.
• Oh, Crap!: When he realizes that his core is breaking in synch.
• Schmuck Bait: Israfel himself, as Asuka learns the hard way.
• Smug Super: He just has to show off his powers and that his enemies can't hurt him, instead of killing them permanently. It does cost him dearly at the end. He actually does lampshade his error as well.
• This Is Gonna Suck: Spends the next several days healing from the N-mine. Needless to say, it does not improve his mood.
• Verbal Tic: The best way to describe is, that Israfel speaks and thinks in stereo. Since this is impossible to show in text, it reads like he's saying every sentence twice.

Sandalphon, 8th Angel

• Born Unlucky: The unluckiest of all the Angels, who has even botched his own transfer to Earth. He's well aware of his reputation, however.
• Crippling Overspecialization: When hatching, his body is well-adapted to the high-pressure environment of a volcano, but not for the outside world. Asuka takes advantage of that by catapulting both of them out of the volcano.
• Ludicrous Gibs: His final fate.
• Magma Man: Close enough, as he plans to melt a tunnel to the geofront and flood it with boiling lava. Honestly, had he not been discovered early, NERV would have been in big trouble.
• Not-So-Harmless Villain: While his tactic is a mystery in canon, here it's clear that had he not been discovered early, there would have been big trouble. After all, there is hardly a defense against the geofront getting flooded with lava.
• Odd Name Out: Apart from Tabris the only of the younger Angels whose name does not end with "-el".

Matarael, 9th Angel

• Adaptational Badass: Compared to canon, Matarael is now several times more dangerous.
• Dirty Coward: Her siblings certainly don't think highly of her. She doesn't care about what they think, however.
• Giant Spider: With Eyes Do Not Belong There.
• Hollywood Acid: Her main weapon of choice. In a case of Adaptational Badass, she is now capable of creating a thick acid mist, which melts away almost everything. A very powerful weapon and defense in one.
• Not-So-Harmless Villain: Matarael in canon was perhaps the weakest Angel of all. Here, she is able to show off more of her abilities and it's made clear that she is not a simple pushover, though she still dies by gunfire.
• Opportunistic Bastard: Actually arrives shortly after Sachiel, but knows she has no chance in hell to just barge in, so she waits in hiding until a moment of weakness on NERV's side. She does see it during the blackout. However, it gains her nothing.

Sahaquiel, 10th Angel

• Bizarre Alien Biology: Just taking a look at Sahaquiel is enough to know how alien he is.
• Composite Character: Sahaquiel arrives in outer space in the black sphere with the etched eyes from Rebuild, but jettisons it right afterward to unfold his classic body. Additionally his Angel adaption allows him to directly attack the EV As and he starts to loosen his core to move it, however, he is not fast enough with the latter change.
• Death Seeker: The deaths of his siblings pushed him into a horrible depression, which actually turned him suicidal. That's the reason why he doesn't just bomb NERV into oblivion from the safety of orbit.
• Honor Before Reason: Sahaquiel is obsessed with making his sacrifice. It's his critical flaw that prevents him from the pragmatic solution of just bombing the shit out of NERV.
• Kill Sat: A living one at that.
• Person of Mass Destruction: Though that goes for all Angels, Sahaquiel is mentioned more explicit than the others. It's outright stated that his suicide run would rip away half of Honshu.
• Suicide Attack: Sahaquiel's tactic. The word "Kamikaze" is explicitly used by the characters and the author did compare Sahaquiel to WW II kamikaze bombers.

Iruel, 11th Angel

• Adaptive Ability: While all Angels have that ability, Iruel takes it up to eleven. Her ability to adapt to attacks is measured in seconds. She here even adapts to the attempt to use her ability against her by deciding to retreat.
• Awesome Ego: Perhaps her biggest weakness, as it constantly causes her to underestimate her enemies.
• It Can Think: Thanks to Iruel's need to show her disdain to what she sees as "insects", NERV becomes aware that the Angels actually are intelligent and very capable of speech.
• Know When to Fold Them: Retreats to avoid being killed by Ritsuko's self-destruct program... only to possess Jet Alone and then return better equipped to handle the issue.
• Outside-Context Problem: NERV had never expected to be confronted with an Angel that is not some kind of enormous monstrosity. At first they are utterly helpless against her.
• Pride: Iruel is very full of herself, leading to an enormous ego. That actually is one of her weaknesses.
• Shout-Out: Iruel in this story is very much inspired by SHODAN from System Shock.
• The Virus: Iruel is a colony of nanites.

Leliel, 12th Angel

• Alien Geometries: This only starts to describe her weird properties.
• Big Eater: One of her defining traits. The disturbing thing is what exactly she eats...
• Fatal Flaw: Her sheer laziness. She could win with ease, but decides to wait and laze around, which in the end is her undoing.
• Fat Slob: What her siblings think of her. It certainly does fit, since she could have destroyed Tokyo-3 and all EVA units with ease, but is too lazy to do so, which turns out to be a horrible error.
• I'm a Humanitarian: Ate an entire fully staffed base entirely and we are treated to the wonderful sight of her digesting the dead bodies. Fully intends to do that to Asuka as well, though that turns out to be a mistake that costs her dearly.
• Ludicrous Gibs: Her fate here is the same as in canon, described in loving detail. The sight is so disgusting that Maya has to vomit.
• Pocket Dimension: Frighteningly enough, said pocket dimension is Lelie's stomach.

Bardiel, 13th Angel

• The Assimilator: Is easily capable of taking over Trident.
• Awesomeness by Analysis: Bardiel attempts to do this He has analyzed the relationships of the pilots and concludes that holding one hostage should give him a big advantage. He fails because Gendo activates the dummy plug, which doesn't care about Mana.
• Breath Weapon: Bardiel logically has one of those in his true form. He actually has two of them; a fire breath that is green and melts sand to glass instantly, and the other one is a highly corrosive acid spray.
• Healing Factor: While all Angels have that, Bardiel takes the cake by not only re-growing his head, but growing two for the price of one. Hurting him that way only makes him stronger.
• Our Dragons Are Different: Bardiel's true form at first just looks like a dragon, but in reality he is a hydra, using his regenerative Angel powers that way. Each time one head is chopped of, two more grow in its place.
• Point of Divergence: Takes over Trident instead of Unit 03, due to there being no opportunity to take over an EVA.

Zeruel, 14th Angel

• Absurdly Sharp Blade: Yeah, those paper-like appendages? They're anything but.
• Attack Its Weak Point: It's his face, which also has a minimal pain tolerance.
• Badass Pacifist: Up until Sachiel is killed, he then turns into a force of nature hell-bent on getting revenge and leaving destruction in his wake.
• Big Brother Instinct: Towards Sachiel, which becomes a big problem once Sachiel is killed by Unit-01.
• Composite Character: Zeruel does gain the wrappings from Rebuild during his approach on Tokyo-3. However, once the wrappings are off, he still does sport his whole body from the series.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: He takes Sachiel's death pretty badly and doesn't waste much of a thought at his mission. He wants revenge first before he does anything else.
• Schmuck Bait: Zeruel's core is quite prominent. However, while very important for the Angel, it's also heavily armored and not his weak point. It probably is a defensive tactic to distract from the real weak point, his face.
• Unstoppable Rage: Regardless what NERV throws at him, he comes out on top, though sometimes with scratches. It takes Unit-01 going berserk for him to be killed.

Arael, 15th Angel

• Ax-Crazy: That does not begin to describe her.
• The Empath: Was that until constantly digging through human minds brought her mind to her limit and it broke. Now she is as far from the trope as imaginable.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Thanks to the Lance of Longinus.
• Irony: Was once the most empathic Angel of all, but constant contact with the minds of humans has eroded her sanity, and now she is Ax-Crazy and next to incapable of making any long-term plans.
• Kill Sat: Only instead of a direct attack, she does send down something far nastier.
• Light Is Not Good: Areal is perhaps the most luminous of the Angels, but she also is the most insane and sadistic out of all of them (which means something).
• Literally Shattered Lives: Once the lance is done with her, her body is reduced to a strangely beautiful rain of crystal splinters.
• Mind Rape: She is the Trope Namer and this time we are shown in more detail what exactly this entails. It's not pretty. Ironically also Inverted, she is the way she is because Humanity accidentally and unknowingly did this trope to her. Millenia of exposure to the human mind caused her to Go Mad from the Revelation.

Armisael, 16th Angel

• The Assimilator: Armisael wants to absorb Shinji and Rei into himself, as this would enable him to learn all of their secrets and knowledge. This however also leaves him open to attack.
• Beware the Silly Ones: At first he just spouts bad philosophical wisdoms. Misato warns that this means nothing, and she is correct once Armisael actually does attack.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: Quite possibly the Angel version of Shikamaru Nara.
• Dissonant Serenity: What makes Armisael even more unsettling. Regardless which situation, he stays unnaturally calm and never raises his voice (at least until he is mortally wounded).
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Armisael's biggest weakness. He is incapable of actually understanding the love shared by Shinji and Rei, thus his impersonation of them is cold and easily discovered. Even worse, being unable to really understand the basic human emotion of love - he only knows it academically - makes him vulnerable to it.
• In Spite of a Nail: Is destroyed by Mana and Trident, rather than by Rei (and sparing Tokyo-3).
• Irony: The form he first appears as looks like a stereotypical Angel halo.
• The Power of Love: What does him in, as he is incapable of understanding love, and Shinji's and Rei's love for each other was like poison to him.

Tabris/Kaworu Nagisa, 17th Angel

• Back from the Dead: He is revived by Adam in the finale.
• Brought Down to Normal: Being turned human, he needed to forget lots of non-essential stuff since the room in his brains now does have a limit. Thus he now needs to go to school again.
• Humanity Is Infectious: He comes to like and appreciate humans over time, though it doesn't stop him from trying to find his father.
• Metaphorically True: When interacting with Asuka, Kaworu is really good at using these. He essentially never outright lies to Asuka, especially concerning his family history. It's just worded in a way that it very well could also apply to a human family, which Asuka of course assumes.
• Oh, Crap!: When he sees that it's not Adam, but Lilith, in Terminal Dogma. By then however it's too late.
• Pair the Spares: Gets together with Asuka in the end.
• Sense Freak: Tabris had been a bodiless Angel, thus taking physical form is a big change for him, which he finds fascinating. By the time of the story however, he already is used to the physical sensations. It the emotions that now take center stage.
• What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?: He actually does learn the answer by himself, but it actually only causes him a heartache when he realizes that he would have to break Asuka's heart once he's ready to fulfill his destiny.
• You Can't Fight Fate: It's really strange for the Angel of free choice to think that, and Kaworu himself knows that. Keel uses that to make him think he already knows everything about SEELE's chances of success, which he doesn't.

Nerima Survivors

In General

• Action Survivors
• Another Side, Another Story: The side story Impact Day details Second Impact and the aftermath seen in Nerima.
• Anyone Can Die: Out of the Nerima Wreckers, only Ranma, Akane, Mousse, Ukyo, and Konatsu survive.

Ranma Saotome

• Gender Bender: Due to his curse.
• Happily Married: To Akane, with three children.
• Oh, Crap!: Senses the Impact moments before it hits in Impact Day.

Akane Saotome

• Happily Married: To Ranma, with three children.

Mousse

• Curb-Stomp Battle: He's not known as the Master of Hidden Weapons for nothing, as the goons chasing both Misato and Kaji find out the hard way.
• Last of His Kind/Sole Survivor: Of the Joketsuzoku/Chinese Amazons, as the village was destroyed and both Shampoo and Cologne were killed during Second Impact.

Other Characters

Original Rei Ayanami/Lilith

• Barred from the Afterlife: Due to her sins, the "powers that be" declared that until she has fixed her mess, she won't be able to go on.
• Cosmic Retcon: Resets the timeline to prevent the Third Impact.
• My God, What Have I Done?: She initiated the Third Impact because she thought it would make everyone happy. Instead, she destroyed everyone.
• Set Right What Once Went Wrong: Her whole plan is to prevent the Third Impact from happening. She achieves this by turning back the clock and changing Gendo's thoughts around to make him send Shinji to live with Kaldor, as well as lessen Lilith's influence on the second Rei.
• Walking Spoiler: Her very existence is one.

The Devil

• Bad Future: Shows Asuka her fate if she doesn't change. It wasn't pleasant.
• Your Soul Is Mine!: He's after Asuka.

Rei Hino

• As You Know: She's Sailor Mars. Though not in this universe...
• The Cameo

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