alt title(s): Neon Genesis Evangelion Central Cast; Neon Genesis Evangelion Supporting Cast; Shigeru Aoba; Rei Ayanami
The cast of Neon Genesis Evangelion. Here be spoilers..
Oh, and before we start,
everyone is 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 Gendō 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, rather than being fearful and cringing — and he is portrayed as being a bit more stable, but he is fundamentally the same damaged child.
The Rebuild's Shinji is in the core identical to the Anime version with subtle differences, mostly attributed to the first movie's better pacing of angst.
Associated tropes:
- Accidental Pervert
- Action Survivor
- Anti Hero
- Badass Angster: He is a depressed wrench outside the Eva but inside, he's the most hardcore (nearly literally) motherfucking warrior of tomorrow.
- Base Breaker
- Beginners Luck
- Berserk Button
- Beware The Nice Ones
- Big Damn Heroes: Sometimes as the rescuer, sometimes as the rescued.
- Bishonen
- Bi The Way (possibly)
- Break The Cutie
- Brother Sister Incest: Not literally. Not quite. But the relationship between him and Rei (who, unbeknownst to either of them, is the half-clone of his mother) swings back and forth from painful to sweet to plain squicky.
- Butt Monkey: To the extreme.
- Covert Pervert: As evidenced by his dream sequences. No more than Truth In Television level, though.
- Cowardly Lion
- Creepy Child: He's all over this in The End Of Evangelion.
- Cute Shotaro Boy: Somewhat, but far on The Eeyore end of the scale.
- Deadpan Snarker: In the manga, especially to Asuka.
- Dude She's Like In A Coma
- The Eeyore: Not (generally) played for laughs; he's really genuinely depressed, and we're meant to feel his pain.
- Even The Guys Want Him: Played straight, subverted, or both at once, depending on how you look at it. His interactions with Kaworu fall into Ho Yay territory, but end very messily. None of his relationships with the other characters turn out well either, due to his insecurities and everyone else's unique psychological issues.
- Expy: In a sense; Shinji's character design is a Gender Flip of Nadia.
- First Kiss: Painfully deconstructed. Then further deconstructed a several episodes later (at least in the extended versions) when we catch glimpses of the same scenes from Asuka's perspective.
- Freak Out
- Go Mad From The Revelation: Starts late in the series and goes full blast in End.
- Heroic BSOD: Several times over the course of the series, and so much so in End after the Dude Shes Like In A Coma opening that he becomes a passive Death Seeker.
- Heroic Self Deprecation
- Ho Yay: With Kaworu. (This is also Foe Yay.) To some extent with Kaji, although this seems to be only on Kaji's side, and it's not clear if Kaji is genuinely interested or just falling on his standard bag of tricks for how to interact with people.
- Hurting Hero
- I Just Want To Be Normal
- Moe: Actually, his face looks so much like Misato's that in the DVD Commentary track, the commentators have been known to get the two confused — even when Misato was naked in a bathtub.
- Parental Abandonment: Mom's dead. Dad is emotionally abusive. Misato tries to fill in, bless her heart, but she simply can't get the job done.
- Megumi Ogata
- The Scream: Screams quite a bit throughout the series, and at least three times in End of Evangelion.
- Shrinking Violet
- Spike Spencer: His VA in the English dub.
- Stepford Smiler: For most of the series he walks around quietly with a little smile on his face, even when it becomes clear he's dying inside.
- Ten Minute Retirement
- Tragic Hero
- Trauma Conga Line
- Unresolved Sexual Tension: After all, he is the central character, and on a fundamental level the series / franchise is all about growing up, including learning about the opposite sex. First and foremost, with Asuka. Also plenty with Rei and Misato (although they both are also mother figures to him). And Kaworu. To a lesser extent, with plenty of minor characters.
- Unstoppable Rage
- Wangst: The reason he's very a polarizing figure among fans.
- The manga subverts this by cutting back on the wangst and making him less of a pushover.
- Well Done Son Guy: Shinji is arguably a poster child for this trope.
- What Measure Is A Non Badass: Always bashed and hated for not being in an Unstoppable Rage every time he pilots. Well, duh.
- The Woobie
- Yandere: One interpretation of his character; arguably evident in End when he strangles Asuka in the horrific aftermath of Third Impact.
- You Suck
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
Shikinami Soryu, as well as their tactical commander in battle.
She is a very complex character, with three important aspects to her personality.
She is one third
Plucky Comic Relief — her obvious
crippling alcoholism is
played for laughs, especially early in the series. She even has her own theme music for the comedy portions, which sounds like a sort of musical paraphrase of all the wacky 1960s sitcom theme music you ever heard. She wears
extremely skimpy clothes when off duty, has a
pet genetically-engineered penguin named Pen-Pen who can beat her at chess, likes to drive
very fast, and is a borderline
Lethal Chef. She is a
cheerful, optimistic, ditzy, hedonistic slob, if a bit on the immature and irresponsible side.
She is one third
Genius Bruiser and all-around
Action Girl: tough, smart, cunning, hard-nosed, determined, and ultra-competent in strategy and tactics, particularly as the series nears its end.
The last third of her personality is what unifies those two seeming opposites: despite her age, she is, like Shinji, a
broken-hearted child, trying desperately to live up to crushing responsibilities, yearning desperately for love and acceptance, and trying desperately to hide how very sad, lonely, and afraid she feels by pretending that she's either tougher or more cheerful than she really is (by episode 21, after Ryōji Kaji dies, the mask cracks). She can be
childish, touchy, and short-tempered (she loves to tease people, but loses her temper whenever anyone tries to tease her), because she is so insecure. Most of her problems come from not knowing if she should hate
her father for leaving her mother, or love him for
sacrificing his life to save her own during Second Impact.
She hates the Angels, blaming them for her father's death and
her own near-fatal injuries in the cataclysm of 2000, and her obsessive hatred drives her to superhuman feats of cunning to defeat them. Unfortunately, that same hatred also drives her to say the worst possible things at the worst possible moment to Shinji after he kills an Angel that had come to NERV in human form and tried to befriend him in Episode 24, leaving Shinji even more traumatized than he had been a moment before, pushing him into his final slide toward a nervous breakdown.
She and Shinji become very close, perhaps even come to love one another, as the series goes on — though not in an openly romantic way. In
End of Evangelion she
kisses him just before her own heartbreaking heroic death, though her motivations for doing so are
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 or angry that he doesn't share her all-consuming bloodlust, 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.
Her on-again, off-again boyfriend is the aforementioned Ryōji Kaji; their relationship loosely fits the
When A Jerk Loves A Tsundere mold.
The only noticeable difference in the Rebuild movies is that she starts as the Lt. Colonel and the Second Impact looks quite different.
Associated tropes:
- Action Girl
- The Alcoholic
- Best Beer Ever
- Bottle Fairy
- Christmas Cake
- Colonel Badass
- Cool Big Sis: Subverted, Misato attempts to be this towards Shinji to get closer to him. It doesn't work.
- Creepy Cool Crosses
- Crowning Moment Of Awesome: see Taking You With Me.
- Cute Mute: ...for at least a few years after Second Impact due to Heroic BSOD.
- Disappeared Dad: Her father was a scientist who was caught in the middle of the Second Impact with his crew. 14-year-old Misato was the only known survivor of the expedition. Do your maths.
- Fetish Fuel Station Attendant: faces competition from Asuka and Rei.
- Gainaxing
- Genius Ditz
- Heroic Sacrifice: see Taking You With Me.
- Kotono Mitsuishi: Playing Against Type, as her last big role was Usagi Tsukino.
- Lethal Chef: Would you believe she's capable of making instant ramen inedible? Fear her.
- Mama Bear: Fiercely protective of the Children, especially Shinji.
- Most Common Superpower: Our (and Shinji's) very first image of her has an arrow scribbled by her to point it out to us.
- Motor Mouth: During her college days, according to Ritsuko. She even wonders while talking to Naoko if Misato is compensating for her Cute Mute years (see above).
- Ms Fanservice: Competes with Asuka and Rei for this.
- Scars Are Forever: A large scar on her chest, which she got in Second Impact.
- Shotacon: Possibly towards Shinji. The breakfast scene in episode 7 may make one wonder. Or not.
- Smoking Hot Sex
- Stepford Smiler: Acts like a Bottle Fairy to hide her daddy issues and emotional problems.
- Taking You With Me: Her death, in the manga. When the military comes to shoot her to death for letting Shinji go reach EVA 01, she just smiles and pulls out a grenade from her jacket, blowing everyone up.
- Tsundere: Type A, over Kaji.
- Unresolved Sexual Tension: 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. Lampshaded in the closing credits song to You Can (Not) Advance, which is a love song from Misato and / or Rei to Shinji.
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, Gendō. Shinji once stops to observe a conversation between Rei and Gendō from some distance, and though neither he nor the audience can hear what they're saying, Rei and Gendō are shown smiling at each other. Gendō, 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, Gendō, 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 Gendō. This deceives Shinji and the audience into thinking that they are close; later, when Shinji asks Rei about Gendō, she replies that she doesn't know what kind of person he is. By the end of the story, her attitude toward Gendō 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.
Associated tropes:
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 Ryōji 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 Souryū 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 Rei Ayanami. 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.
Associated tropes:
- Action Girl
- Angst What Angst: Shikinami Asuka Langley seems to have taken being nearly killed and torn to pieces inside UNIT 03 very very well, physically and emotionally, according to the trailers for Rebuild of Evangelion 03. Point in fact, she was cheerfully smiling with her new Eyepatch Of Power, not seeming to be angry about the disfigurement in the least.
- Attention Whore: Due to her abandonment issues.
- Blood Knight
- Boobs Of Steel: A mighty warrior. As for her Most Common Superpower, that varies from scene to scene.
- Break The Cutie: Oh God, her past...
- Break The Haughty
- Catch Phrase: "Anta baka?", meaning "What are you, stupid?"
- Clingy Jealous Girl
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Shikinami Asuka Langley actually gets to become a better human being.
- Dont You Dare Pity Me
- Dude Shes Like In A Coma
- Eyepatch Of Power: In the preview for Rebuild of Evangelion 3.0, which makes her, implied disfigurement notwithstanding, even cuter.
- Eye Scream: The poor girl is doomed to this in both continuities. In End of Evangelion, she gets stabbed through the eye when a fake Lance of Longinus flies at Unit-02, and as a result of the high sync rate she bleeds profusely. In previews for Rebuild 3.0, it's shown during that one of her eyes was damaged in the Unit-03 incident.
- Fetish Fuel Station Attendant
- Fiery Redhead
- First Kiss
- Foreign Fanservice: Has German, Japanese and American heritage.
- Girlish Pigtails
- Glory Hound
- The Glomp: On Kaji.
- Heroic BSOD
- Hot Blooded
- Hurting Hero
- Impaled With Extreme Prejudice
- Jerk Ass: Stepford Smiler version: acts like one to not have anybody pitying or dominating her. As stated above, she's much less so in the recent "Rebuild" series.
- Jerk Ass Woobie: You want to punch her for being a bitch. Then you want to hug her for her horrendous past. Rinse, repeat.
- Jerk With A Heart Of Gold: Shikinami Asuka Langley, however, has a genuinely considerate, caring and kind-hearted side that finally qualifies her as an acutal Tsundere as opposed to a mere female Jerkass.
- The Libby
- Mind Rape: One of the cruelest examples ever; became the Trope Namer.
- Moe: Your Mileage May Vary
- Most Common Superpower: Her first appearance has her proudly boasting of it. (In the anime, though, it varies noticeably from scene to scene.)
- Ms Fanservice: A contender for the position with Misato and Rei.
- No Periods Period: Averted (she's mentioned to be in "these days", prior to her Mind Rape).
- Panty Shot: In her first appearance. Hilarity Ensues. YES, IT DOES.
- Pet The Dog: In Rebuild 2.0, she takes Rei's place piloting Unit 03 so that Rei can host her party (even though she insists it's just so she can pilot an Eva while Unit 02 is sealed off, Misato thinks otherwise.)
- Plucky Girl
- Pride
- The Scrappy: Your Mileage May Vary.
- Spell My Name With An S: Is it Soryu, Sōryū, Souryu, Sohryu, Soryuu...?
- Stepford Smiler
- Tall Dark And Snarky
- Tiffany Grant: Her favorite role.
- Tsundere: To the extreme. Might be a deconstruction, though.
- Tykebomb
- Unresolved Sexual Tension: Practically the walking embodiment of it. Most of all, with Shinji.
- Waif Fu: Her first appearance in the manga involves gratuitous handsprings during a fight scene.
- The Worf Effect
- Yandere: Arguably, over Kaji and Shinji.
- Yuko Miyamura
Gendō 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, Gendō
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.
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 evil
mirror image, and it's obvious that on some level there is an
Oedipal conflict taking place.
Gendō's right-hand man is
Doctor Kozo Fuyutsuki. Also, according to
one troper's little sister, he looks like "a pimped-out Abe Lincoln."
Associated tropes:
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 Gendō Ikari,
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 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.
Associated tropes:
Ryōji Kaji
There is a river, deeper and wider than the ocean, that divides men and women.
Ponytailed,
Perma Stubble-ed, confident, and charismatic, 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 on-and-off lovers for the past eight 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 Gendō ever was.
While not quite an
Expy, Gainax have revealed that Kaji is strongly "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).
Associated tropes:
Doctor Kozo Fuyutsuki
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
right hand man, and is as close to
a confidante as Gendō will allow. He was one of Yui Ikari's college professors, and 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
The Stoic (and in comedic situations,
Un Funny) doesn't exactly help.
If one were to compare Gendō to Darth Vader, then Fuyutsuki would be Grand Moff Tarkin, both in status and in appearance.
Associated tropes:
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 Gendō to Darth Vader, Keel would be Emperor Palpatine.
Associated tropes:
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.
Associated tropes:
Makoto Hyūga
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.
Associated tropes:
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.
Associated tropes:
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,
Asuka and Rei are quickly defeated by the Angel-possessed Unit 03. Shinji balks at orders to attack, wanting to try to save the pilot, and Gendō orders Unit 01's Dummy Plug to be activated. Out of Shinji's control, Unit 01
tears Unit 03 apart, then rips out and crushes the Entry Plug, crippling Toji.
There are a few noticeable differences between Toji's portrayal in the anime and manga. Shinji's payback for his punch is different, and their out-of-classroom antics are shown more. Also, he reveals to Shinji that he is Unit 03's pilot prior to its activation/takeover, and he is actually killed when his Entry Plug is destroyed.
Associated tropes:
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 he 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.
Associated tropes:
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
only best friend, and tries to give her emotional support in the later episodes as Asuka becomes more and more distraught. She nurses a crush on Toji as well.
Associated tropes:
- Class Representative
- Fanon: Regarding her two sisters' personalities, appearances, etc.; all that is concrete about the two are their names and seniority of age: Kodama (oldest) and Nozomi (youngest).
- Girlish Pigtails
- Junko Iwao
- Theme Naming: She and her sisters are named after the Tokaido Shinkansen's three train services, with each sister's age corresponding to the increasing order of the services' speeds (Kodama -> Hikari -> Nozomi). Interestingly, the Hikari service was the first one out of the three to be introduced; no points for guessing which of the sisters was first seen in-series.
- Through His Stomach: To Toji.
- Tomboy And Girly Girl: She's the Girly one, with Asuka as the Tomboy.
- Tsundere: Possible; either she's a Type B (deredere aka "sweeter"), or...
- Yamato Nadeshiko: At least the beginnings of one, and Touji is just that good at getting under her skin.
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 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.
Associated tropes:
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 Children 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...
Associated tropes:
Yui Ikari
As long as you desire it, everywhere can be a heaven.
Shinji's mother, Gendō'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.
Associated tropes:
- Action Mom: Sort of.
- All There In The Manual: One of the Evangelions games tells us that Yui is a daughter of a SEELE member.
- The Berserker
- The Chessmaster: One alternate interpretation of her character.
- High Octane Nightmare Fuel: In the manga, Unit 01 presents itself as Yui to try to keep Shinji bonded with it after the battle against Zeruel. Even more disturbing - "Yui" is nude, and "her" scenes have a decidedly sexual undertone.
- Hot Scientist
- Hot Mom
- Mama Bear: The Eva her soul is imprisioned in goes apeshit more than once to protect Shinji.
- Megumi Hayashibara
- My Beloved Smother: In a benign sense - it's pretty much a given that if Yui shows up in any NGE work as an actual character (games, fanfic, Episode 26), it's abundantly clear that she wears the pants in the Ikari household and Gendō and Shinji simply follow her lead.
- Posthumous Character
- Sealed Good In A Can: Or better said, in an Eva.
- Unstoppable Rage
- Xanatos Gambit: It's been hinted by conversations in certain flashbacks that she had planned both her "accident" and Shinji's presence during it in advance, for an as-of-yet not explicitly explained purpose; it seems implied that she "was running out of time" (i.e. someone was targeting her for assassination, and she was rushing to finish her work beforehand).
- Yamato Nadeshiko: Apparently.
Mari Illustrious Makinami
The smell of LCL... I like it.
A new character from the Rebuild continuity.
Associated tropes:
Mana Kirishima
From Girlfriend of Steel / Iron Maiden.
Associated tropes:
Mayumi Yamagishi
From Girlfriend of Steel 2nd/ Iron Maiden 2.
Associated tropes: