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Narrative
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The cast of Neon Genesis Evangelion. Here be spoilers..
Oh, and before we start, everyone is a subject to Alternate Character Interpretation.
Shinji Ikari
 I mustn't run away. I mustn't run away. I mustn't run away...
Shinji, the Third Child, is the estranged son of the powerful and mysterious Gendo Ikari. He is the main protagonist and the Ordinary High School Student of the cast, and the series is actually mostly about him and his relationships with the other characters. He witnessed the death of his mother Yui when he was four years old (she was seemingly killed in an early test of the very same Evangelion unit that he must pilot), and was abandoned by his father shortly thereafter. He suffers from an extreme lack of self-confidence through most of the storyline, has a very low opinion of himself, and generally does whatever is asked of him.
Especially in the early episodes, Shinji is the series' resident Butt Monkey, the victim of almost every joke the scriptwriters could come up with for purposes of comedy relief. He's The So Called Coward who saves the day occasionally but never gets any respect, the No Respect Guy who means well but can't ever get a break, the Well Done Son Guy who desperately wants his father to validate his existence.
He is attracted to both Rei and Asuka, and his guardian, Misato Katsuragi, is extraordinarily attractive as well, but while he is sometimes fierce and fearless in battle, he is too shy, insecure, and fearful of being hurt or hurting them to approach any of them on his own.
He pilots reluctantly, out of a sense of duty. In the first episode, he is blackmailed into piloting because otherwise Rei, who is severely wounded, will be sent out in his place, and to certain death.
In contrast to his meek, whiny, and indecisive behavior in day to day life, when he goes into battle, he demonstrates almost suicidal courage again and again. He seems to be the only one of the pilots who fully grasps what is at stake, though he does not want the responsibility; it weighs heavily upon him and preys upon his mind, and on two occasions he begins to run away, only to return in the nick of time. However, a strong theme of the series is that his actions are those of a child seeking approval, i.e. he pilots to earn his estranged father's praise. When under severe stress as a pilot, Shinji has been seen to manifest berserker fury, becoming an unstoppable warrior, which is simultaneously impressive and terrifying.
As the war goes on and the pressure mounts, Shinji becomes increasingly alienated, increasingly depressed, and his sanity slowly erodes. By the end of the series, he is either on the verge of a complete nervous breakdown or having one, and has become considerably less sympathetic than he was at the start (particularly in End of Evangelion when he masturbates over a comatose Asuka and later attempts to strangle her, though many of the viewers considered these acts blatant Character Derailment and pointed to Hideaki Anno as the Writer On Board). What was once bravery becomes the insane recklessness of someone who is in so much pain that he no longer particularly cares whether he lives or dies...
In the manga version, Shinji's personality has noticeable differences (he is more apathetic, depressive, and prone to anger or snarkiness than being fearful and cringing) and he is portrayed as being a bit more stable, but he is fundamentally the same damaged child.
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Misato Katsuragi
 The hedgehog's dilemma...the nearer we get, the deeper we hurt each other...
Misato is the beautiful late-twenties Genius Ditz who is appointed to be the guardian and personal tutor for Shinji Ikari and Asuka Langley
Rei Ayanami
 If I die, I can be replaced.
Rei, the First Child, is a Shy Blue Haired Girl. She is beautiful, fey, and otherworldly, and has a Mysterious Past that is only partially revealed late in the series. When asked why she pilots her Eva, she says that it's because she's "bonded" to it, or that it's her bond to humanity, or something like that. She displays little concern for her own life (see the quote); this takes on very disturbing layers late in the series.
At first, her only human relationship is with her commanding officer, Gendo. Shinji once stops to observe a conversation between Rei and Gendo from some distance, and though neither he nor the audience can hear what they're saying, Rei and Gendo are shown smiling at each other. Gendo, for his part, appears to care for Rei more than anybody else, even his own son. After a failed test forces Rei to eject from her Eva, Gendo, in an uncharacteristic panic, is the first to reach her entry plug, burning his hands while forcing it open to retrieve her. Rei still keeps the broken glasses that fell from his face during this incident, and is initially very defensive of him, as exemplified when she slaps Shinji for saying negative things about Gendo. This deceives Shinji and the audience into thinking that they are close; later, when Shinji asks Rei about Gendo, she replies that she doesn't know what kind of person he is. By the end of the story, her attitude toward Gendo has changed dramatically.
She is stated in Episode 17 to have strong feelings for Shinji, though her thoughts and feelings are for the most part revealed neither to the people around her nor to the audience. This is changed in the manga adaption where, as well as the pair having more scenes together, she shows much more of a fondness towards him and openly admits it. However, the true depths of her feelings are still hidden until later in the story.
She is in many ways the polar opposite of Asuka, and is compared to Yui Ikari on two occasions.
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Asuka Langley Soryu/Shikinami
 You're thinking in Japanese again! If you must think, do it in German!
Asuka, the Second Child, is an obnoxious, arrogant, abrasive German-Japanese girl with a short temper, who alternates between flirting with Shinji and brutalizing him both emotionally and physically. She is a Teen Genius who has a college degree at the age of fourteen and speaks at least three languages fluently; very determined; and very athletic. Her naturally red hair and blue eyes also make her exotically attractive by Japanese standards, but by those same standards her personality is patently offensive, even more so than Western audiences would perceive her. She is infatuated with Ryoji Kaji, Misato Katsuragi's on-again, off-again boyfriend, and throws herself at him again and again in an aggressive manner that is, for cultural reasons, quite shocking to the Japanese. She also has a Catch Phrase: "What are you, stupid?" In Japanese culture this is likewise a very insulting thing to say to anyone, regardless of the circumstances.
She initially offers to be friends with Rei because "it would be convenient", but quickly comes to hate her because she perceives Rei as being akin to a doll or puppet, something Asuka harbors a deep hatred for.
As time passes, she becomes more sympathetic when her own painful past is revealed. The audience sees why she behaves the way she does (particularly, the reason for her using "doll" as an epithet of hatred). Her behavior and personality do not change for the better, but, depending on interpretation, there is a hint at the very end of End of Evangelion that she has come to realize how much she has hurt everyone around her.
She pilots gleefully because she wants to become famous the world over for her intrepid exploits. She glories in combat, and it's very nearly all she lives for.
At first she appears to be a potential love interest for Shinji: there is a comical and clumsy First Kiss scene between them, and Shinji is one of only two males with whom she ever flirts in the whole series, but she makes her hostility towards him quite clear. She is not the main focus of the program, so her thoughts and feelings are not displayed as much as Shinji's are, but some speculate that she is strongly attracted to the warrior that Shinji becomes when people he cares about are in danger, but she is also repulsed when the crisis is over and he turns back into the meek and neurotic teenage boy she despises. This idea appears often in NGE Fan Fiction.
The manga version of Asuka is not much different; the main changes are to her background (she is a test-tube baby), her introduction (which establishes her as more of an outright Bad Ass than in the anime), and her traumatic past (an extra event is introduced which compounds the tragedy and which plays itself out again through Asuka).
The Rebuild version of Asuka differs quite a bit from the depiction in the original anime. Her last name is changed from Souryuu to Shikinami, her loathing for dolls is gone, and so is her almost obsessive crush on Kaji. Not only is she an emotionally healthy (somewhat) less selfish girl, but she has a better time making friends and opening her heart and (shock horror) eventally comes to respect and befriend Ayanami Rei. This Asuka is also more open about her affection towards Shinji and her character design, while starting out the same way as in the anime, undergoes a small but rather drastic change at the very end of Rebuild 2.0, namely an Eyepatch Of Power.
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Gendo Ikari
 There is no one else who can pilot the Evas. As long as they survive, that is what I'll have them do.
It's Gendo! *cue background music*
Erm, okay
The secretive head of NERV, as well as Shinji Ikari's estranged father. Perhaps he was once a loving husband and father, but the horrible and strange death of his wife and fellow scientist Yui caused him to become obsessed with the idea that the Angels hold the key to reuniting them — and with gaining power in order to put into motion a sinister plan to bring her back that will destroy the world in the process. His love and longing for Yui has become a single-minded obsession which has twisted him into a soulless sociopathic monster (if he wasn't one already), whom the seemingly cheerful and well-adjusted Yui would despise, but he does not understand this. He is one of the most feared men in Japan, but he never stops to ask himself whether Yui would love such a cold and ruthless man.
He uses and betrays everyone around him, from his own son to his various lovers, all of whom are very much out of their depth when dealing with him. Such is his desire for power that, in order to gain more, he has involved himself with a powerful and sinister Ancient Conspiracy of apocalyptic fanatics that calls itself "SEELE" (which is German for "Soul"... and "gun barrel").
He is confident, brooding, self-possessed, self-controlled, cunning, intimidating, cold-blooded, amoral, humorless, and utterly ruthless — the very definition of Manipulative Bastard. He has been described as "basically Darth Vader in shades" (he wears little round tinted eyeglasses). His relationship with Rei Ayanami 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 unpleasant undertones.
For some, Gendo appears to be quite the ladies' man. First, Yui fell in love with him (and he with Yui, which is the underlying cause behind the misery of so many other characters). After Yui's death, he took Naoko Akagi as a lover, then her daughter Ritsuko after her death. He also has a brief and thin friendship with Rei.
Gendo is a complex character; he 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 evil mirror image, and it's obvious that on some level there is an Oedipal conflict taking place.
Gendo's right-hand man is Doctor Kozo Fuyutsuki. Also, according to one troper's little sister, he looks like "a pimped-out Abe Lincoln."
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Doctor Ritsuko Akagi
 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 Crazy Cat Lady. She dyes her hair blonde — late in the series we see her in a Flash Back as a teenage girl with dark brown hair.
Fearsomely intelligent and competent, she is coldly logical, often cynical, and can be callous, petty, and blunt to the point of rudeness. She also doesn't seem to really understand human nature, and is in some ways childlike and shockingly naive. Secretly, she is romantically involved with Gendo Ikari, as was her mother Naoko before her death ten years before the series opens. Despite Gendo's ambiguous intentions, she has convinced herself both that he loves her and that Rei is actually her rival for his romantic attentions, 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 a situation appear to call for such a tactic, a position Misato vehemently disagrees with.
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Ryouji Kaji
 There is a river, deeper and wider than the ocean, that divides men and women.
Ponytailed, Perma Stubble-ed, confident, charismatic, and extremely lecherous, Kaji is half James Bond and half Handsome Lech — and he switches back and forth frequently and without warning. Exactly whose side he's on in the wheels-within-wheels world of Evangelion is almost impossible to determine. This former war orphan and Street Urchin (at least in the manga) seems to be a Double Agent 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 most true motivation.
He and Misato have been lovers, on and off, for the past ten years or so. Asuka has a crush on him and is anything but subtle about it, but to his credit he does not take her up on her premature offers. It doesn't help that, in some continuities, he's strongly hinted to have been her guardian after her mother's death. Much to Misato's chagrin, Kaji frequently flirts with Ritsuko. As the series progresses, Kaji and Misato renew their stormy relationship, and Kaji briefly becomes more of a father to Shinji than Gendo ever was.
While not quite an Expy, Gainax have revealed that Kaji is stongly "based" on Col. Paul Foster from the TV series UFO. They also add that Foster was not nearly the lech that Kaji is (though admittedly Kaji's lechery is partially an act).
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Doctor Kozo Fuyutsuki
 As long as one soul still exists, it will be eternal proof that Mankind once existed.
Gendo Ikari's second-in-command and former college professor. Dr. Fuyutsuki knew Yui Ikari before Gendo did.
Dr. Fuyutsuki is far more ethical and a much more decent human being than Gendo is, but he has allowed himself to be carried along by events and it is too late to act on his ever-growing misgivings. Him being The Stoic (and in comedic situations, Un Funny) doesn't exactly help.
If one were to compare Gendo to Darth Vader, then Fuyutsuki would be Grand Moff Tarkin, both in status and in appearance.
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Keel Lorenz
 The beginning and the end are the same. And with this, all is good.
As the ruler of SEELE, Keel Lorenz is NERV's immediate superior and commissioner of the Eva project. He possesses secret Dead Sea Scrolls that tell of a way to evolve all life into a perfect being with no cares, and everything on earth would live in eternal bliss inside this being's mind. Despite his "honorable" intentions, he is perfectly willing to force the issue when things don't go his way, up to and including killing 'em all.
Given his inherently mysterious nature, he's a common target for Epileptic Trees. He is often guessed to be a Biblical figure, particularly one cursed with immortality. Another common theory, based on his German name, obsession with perfection, and access to the Spear of Destiny, pegs him as one of Those Wacky Nazis.
If one were to compare Gendo to Darth Vader, Keel would be Emperor Palpatine.
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Maya Ibuki
Dr. Fuyutsuki isn't the only one who's in love with someone he can never have; there is also Maya Ibuki, a shy, pretty, and kinda tomboyish woman in her early twenties. She is Ritsuko's assistant, and is very much in love with Ritsuko, although this isn't revealed until her final scenes in the story. She is a very sympathetic character — bright, sweet, and one of the few happy, well-adjusted, and normal characters, though with this bunch, that isn't saying much.
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Makoto Hyuuga
A geeky, bespectacled computer technician in the command center; he is in love with Misato Katsuragi 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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Shigeru Aoba
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 Makoto.
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Touji Suzuhara
Toji, in his first appearance, punches out Shinji because his little sister was injured during Unit 01's fight with Sachiel. However, after experiencing firsthand what Shinji has to go through as an Eva pilot, he becomes sympathetic to Shinji. He has Shinji pay him back with a punch of his own, and he, Kensuke, and Shinji become friends. Later, he is selected as the Fourth Children, only to have his Eva taken over by the Angel Bardiel. During the ensuing battle, Gendo orders Unit 01's Dummy Plug to be activated, and the Eva tears Unit 03 apart, then rips out and crushes the Entry Plug, crippling Toji.
The only major differences between Toji's portrayal in the anime and manga are that he shows more emotion to Shinji regarding his decision to become a pilot, and he is actually killed when his Entry Plug is destroyed. Also, Shinji's payback for his punch is different, and their out-of-classroom antics are shown more.
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Kensuke Aida
Kensuke is, at the start of the series, Toji's best friend. He reveals to the class that Shinji is a pilot, and later bonds with Shinji after Shinji runs away the first time. He is very computer savvy, and is a die-hard military otaku, constantly badgering Shinji to get him pilot clearance and practically salivating over the trip to the Over The Rainbow in episode 8.
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Hikari Horaki
Hikari is the no-nonsense Class Representative of Shinji's class, and the second-born of three sisters. She later becomes Asuka's
Pen-Pen
 WARK!
Pen-Pen is Evangelion 's main non-Butt Monkey comic relief, and a mysterious character to boot. Gainax has never stated where he came from; all that is known is that he is Misato's pet penguin. He is also superintelligent (for a penguin), being able to read and watch television, and has claws that are used for grasping objects. What anyone would need a superintelligent penguin that can grasp objects and live in warm temperatures for is not known, but he's both cute and funny. He is also one of the few Evangelion characters not to undergo an emotional breakdown at some point...as far as we know.
Given that penguins were native to Antarctica, which was destroyed by Second Impact, there may also be some hidden significance in Pen-Pen's presence in Misato's life. One would think that she'd want no reminders whatsoever of the event that killed her father and left her physically and emotionally scarred, but Pen-Pen apparently triggers no bad memories or flashbacks for her.
When he leaves the story, you know that a change in tone is imminent.
In the manga, he is a result of genetic experimentation, and was saved from being euthanized by Misato.
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Kaworu Nagisa
 Singing brings joy and revitalizes the human soul. I think that song is the highest achievement of the lilum culture. Don't you agree, Shinji Ikari?
Bishounen, as fey and mysterious as Rei, and possessed of an unnatural calm, Kaworu is the last major character to appear in the anime, puts in only 13 minutes of screen time in one episode, yet is a critical character for a variety of reasons, and marks a significant turning point in the plot.
Kaworu is sent by SEELE as the Fifth Child in order to replace Asuka when her synchronization ratios fall too low, a task he handles with startling ease. He also shows a strong interest in Shinji, showing him more physical and emotional affection than probably any other character, which Shinji appears to accept, to a degree he shows to none of the other characters. Kaworu even goes as far as to say that he likes/loves Shinji (the word used can be translated either way). The next morning, however, Kaworu reveals his true nature as Tabris, the 17th Angel, and attempts to invade Terminal Dogma. After failing to achieve his goals, he concludes that because his success would cause Shinji to die, he cannot be allowed to exist and asks Shinji to kill him, which Shinji reluctantly does after a full minute of animation showing nothing but a single frame of Unit 01 holding Kaworu in its hand. He later shows up in The End of Evangelion to help Shinji to make the decision to reject Instrumentality.
Kaworu's behavior towards Shinji and their interactions have been hotly debated since the show aired. A homosexual subtext clearly exists, and is carried through to both Alternate Continuity works and some official artwork, but it's never made clear whether this is all there is or if more layers exist. Shinji, being so starved for affection, might see Kaworu as a parental figure or some other source of familial intimacy. On the other side, there's the possibility that familial and sexual affection may not be mutually exclusive for Shinji due to his desperation and traumatic upbringing. There are also arguments that Kaworu is just a Fish Out Of Water and does not realize that he's making suggestive comments, or that human sexuality is completely irrelevant to him since he's an Angel.
In the manga, Kaworu is a much more prominent character, showing up well before the battle with Armisael, and fighting against the Angel in Unit 02. The changes made to his personality and interactions with the cast, especially Shinji, have led to cries of Adaptation Decay, and have been subject to Memetic Mutation ("Every time you masturbate, Kaworu kills a kitten"). His fate is ultimately the same, but plays out in a fashion that is more complex and arguably darker than in the anime. It remains to be seen if he will appear again.
Oh, and wait until the third Rebuild of Evangelion movie comes out...
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Yui Ikari
As long as you desire it, everywhere can be a heaven.
Shinji's mother, Gendo's wife, creator of Evangelions...she is, to put it simply, the story's most central character and is both directly and indirectly responsible for almost everything that happens in the series. Despite this, we see very, very little of her in the story, almost entirely in flashbacks. A great deal about her is left open for the viewers to interpret.
Yui's treatment in the manga is virtually identical, but certain aspects of her attachment to Unit 01 are changed, and also played with in very disturbing fashion.
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Mari Illustrious Makinami
The smell of LCL... i like it.
A new character from the Rebuild continuity.
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