Fanfic / HERZ

Twelve years have passed. They have rebuilt their lives… but the ghosts of the past still threaten them.
Fanart by Myssa Elaine Rei

"What!? What does Shinji-kun have to do with all this?"
"Everything, Kurumi. Everything."
"How?"
"He is the Alpha and the Omega. The Beginning and the End."

HERZ is an Alternate Universe Flash Forward Fic Neon Genesis Evangelion fanfic written by Toh Ee loong.

It is the year 2027.

Twelve years ago Third Impact was averted and SEELE was exposed. NERV has been broken into two agencies, the scientific research agency GEHIRN and the peace-keeping and peace-making anti-Evangelion proliferation organization HERZ, led by Major-General Misato Katsuragi. Shinji, Asuka and Rei are still her subordinates but they seldom pilot Evas. Shinji and Asuka are married and have a daughter, and the cast leads mostly peaceful lives despite the entangled international political situation forcing them to constantly deploy the Evangelions in possession of HERZ.

However their time is ticking off. Not everyone is willing to give up the dreams that the Evangelion technology makes possible. The remnants of SEELE still desire Instrumentality. The resurgent nation-states, now recovered from the devastation of Second Impact, chafe under the yoke of the United Nations. Several superpowers resent HERZ's full control of the Evangelions and are willing to do whatever it takes to build their own, seize the HERZ's Evas or destroy them.

Meanwhile, Major-General Katsuragi, Director of HERZ, has an agenda all her own, and the Children have a plan to claim their lives of Project Eva. And they are determined to carry it out.

The time is 2027. Has the final hour for mankind come 'round at last?

One of the granddaddies of Evangelion fanfiction, HERZ is a mix of character drama and international intrigue. Everyone feels in-character and a logical extension of their canon selves at the time of End of Evangelion. The politics of the story are a real draw, presenting a colourful global setting where various factions are competing to realize their own vision of the future. The question isn't just "Is Third Impact going to be averted?" but "Even if it's averted, what sort of world will we be living in?"

It can be read here or here. It can also be found in these archives: link, link.

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Tropes:

A-C

• A Father to His Men: Misato is the Director of HERZ. She raised Shinji and Asuka, although the latter moved out after the events of End of Evangelion, and at least once, she notes Shinji, Asuka and Rei are like the children she never had.
• A God Am I: Rei, after absorbing her larger body (Lilith) and Adam.
• A Mech by Any Other Name: The Evangelions, bio-mechanical giant robots. Many nations try to produce their own Evas, and one of the missions of HERZ is preventing this from happening.
• Aborted Arc: In 1999, the author announced he was planning for a prologue. Few months later he announced that "HERZ: Past as Prologue will be on hiatus until further notice." Shortly after he wrote a chapter set in 2016... And that was the end of it. The prologue chapter is nearly impossible to find nowadays.
• Abusive Parents: Shinji and Asuka suffered due to their abusive fathers ditching them right after their mothers' deaths. That is the reason that they got messed up during the Angel War, took six long years before becoming a couple and are still traumatized in their late twenties. At least Gendo is genuinely remorseful and trying to atone for his actions, but Asuka's father is completely absent from his daughter's life.
• Accidental Pervert: In chapter 4 Shinji enters the men’s locker room, hears someone showering in one of the stalls. He thinks it must be Asuka so that he strips his plug suit and walks in the shower stall... and on Kurumi. Subverted because it was a trap.
• Ace Pilot: Shinji, Asuka and Rei are all good Humongous Mecha pilots, although Shinji is the only one still has a functional Eva, and he seldom sorties.
• Achey Scars: Even after twelve years, the scars that Asuka received when she battled the MP-Evas still hurt. Her blind eye bleeds every so often.
  She had told him before that the injuries throbbed with a dull, constant and persistent ache.
• Action Dad: Shinji abhors death and violence, but he's a mecha pilot and a veteran soldier, has been fighting for twelve years, and he will put a bullet in the head of whoever tries to hurt his wife Asuka and their daughter Akiko.
• Action Girl: Misato and Asuka seldom fight the enemy directly nowadays, but they are still duly trained soldiers. Rei also can hold her own since she is a pilot and the merge of two Seeds.
• Action Mom: Asuka. Ex-Humongous Mecha pilot, soldier and mother.
• Affectionate Gesture to the Head: In chapter 2, Asuka wakes up after a terrible nightmare. As he reassures her, Shinji strokes her red bangs.
  "Shuuussh," he said soothingly, smoothly the damn auburn locks on her forehead as he propped her up on the pillows.
• Air-Vent Passageway: In chapter 4 Kurumi used a ventilation shaft to reach Terminal Dogma after being told it was off-limits.
  The grill made a tremendous clanging sound as it crashed onto the floor. Kurumi, in her UNIPF combat fatigues, emerged from the ventilation shaft. "Terminal Dogma is off-limits, my ass."
• Alien Sky: After the Final Battle against SEELE the sky has two Moons:
  The party had been over for some time. Shinji and Asuka strolled hand in hand on the edge of the lake. Its waters glimmered in the silvery light of both moons.
• Alliterative Name: Captain Kurumi Kagero, UN Special Investigations Officer.
• All There in the Manual: The author included supplementary world-building notes after every chapter and in a FAQ on his site.
• All Your Powers Combined: Rei’s soul was Lilith’s. Then she absorbed Lilith’s body and Adam, gaining their powers.
• Alternate Universe: Third Impact did not happen, creating a divergence.
• Alternate Universe Fic: It changes an event of the finale of the series and from there it creates a new continuity.
• Amazon Chaser: Shinji is in love with and married to a temperamental, Fiery Redhead soldier who is better pilot and fighter than him.
• Ancient Conspiracy: SEELE has been plotting the end of the world for decades. On the other hand, GEIST is still another secret organization which is very big on individualism and has been opposing SEELE since they knew about its existence and goals.
• …And That Little Girl Was Me: When Rei tells Akiko Ikari how her father saved her mother twelve years ago thanks to the help of a friend of his, Akiko quickly guesses Rei is her father's friend.
• Anger Born of Worry: In chapter 10, Shinji gets kidnapped. Asuka was so worried, she was about to explode, but she tried to keep her emotions under control.
  Asuka was obviously upset but was trying admirably to keep her turbulent emotions under control. Her first impulse was to run off and thrash wildly in an effort to find her husband. She didn't notice the blood beginning to drip through the patch covering her left eye. She took a deep breath.
• Armor-Piercing Question: During the Grand Finale Rei shows Kihl the Ikari family (Shinji, Asuka and Akiko) like an example of true Human Complementation: two human beings loving each other and the fruit of that love. Then she asks him:
  Rei: Do you understand?
• Armor-Piercing Response: When Kurumi walks into Misato’s office to accuse her of breach of trust, theft and fraud and Kaji’s murder and vow she will pay for her alleged crimes, Misato’s reply stops her tirade abruptly.
  Kurumi:"You'll pay for your crimes. I'll see to it."
  Misato:"I have no doubt in your abilities, Cpt Kagero. But understand that if you persist in your crusade, it will be Shinji and his family who will pay the price for your foolishness."
  Kurumi:"What!? What does Shinji-kun have to do with all this?"
  Misato:"Everything, Kurumi. Everything."
  Kurumi:"How?"
  Misato:"He is the Alpha and the Omega. The Beginning and the End."
  Kurumi:"I don't understand."
• Artificial Limbs:
  • After her right arm got spliced, Asuka got an artificial limb covered by a harness of latex-like material.
  • Touji also has an arm and a leg prosthetics to replace his missing limbs.
• As the Good Book Says...: Chapter 10 quotes a passage of the Book of Revelations.
• Ascended Fanboy: After the Battle of Geofront Kensuke became a soldier. He is not an Eva pilot but he is satisfied with being a jet fighter pilot.
• The Atoner: Gendo tries to atone for being a bad father with being a good, doting grandfather when he is allowed seeing Akiko.
• Attention Whore: When she was a child, Asuka always tried to stand out and be the center of attention due to her self-esteem and abandonment issues. During a dream she remembered she was thrilled to fight Gaghiel because she thought it was a good opportunity to show everyone -specially Shinji- her worth.
• Author Appeal: Rei is the author's favourite character. She does not show up a lot but she is ever-present, the cast talks about her constantly, and she saves the day several times.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Although Asuka still has some anger management issues, there are many times where it is clear that she loves Shinji:
  • In chapter 2, she wakes up from a nightmare. Shinji hugs her while she cries and she pleads with him to never leave her.
  • Later, she she wants to deploy all the Evas together with Unit 01 to protect Shinji.
  • In chapter 10, Shinji gets kidnapped and Asuka is barely keeping herself under control.
    Asuka was obviously upset but was trying admirably to keep her turbulent emotions under control. Her first impulse was to run off and thrash wildly in an effort to find her husband. She didn't notice the blood beginning to drip through the patch covering her left eye. She took a deep breath.
• Babies Ever After: Shinji and Asuka have a daughter named Akiko. And in the last chapter, they're expecting another baby.
• Badass Bookworm: Shinji is a music teacher and an active pilot, too.
• Bath Suicide: In chapter ten it's revealed that Shinji attempted this in the past because he believed Asuka hated him.
• Battle Couple: Shinji and Asuka, although due to Unit 02 getting repaired they are not seen battling in tandem until the Final Battle when they get together to fight SEELE.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Kensuke wished to be an Eva pilot. He managed to become a jet fighter pilot, which is almost as good in his opinion... until it turns out that Asuka is his superior officer.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: Although they resolved it several years ago, Shinji and Asuka still bicker every so often, such as after the Final Battle when Asuka complained about Shinji getting her knocked up again.
• Beneath the Mask: Asuka had created a mask of harshness and abrasiveness to hide her real, vulnerable inner self after her mother's suicide. However, it prevented her from feeling her mother and Shinji,s love. Rei eventually convinced her that she had to drop it and open up to be loved back and be happy.
  • Some people like Kurumi wondered why Shinji had fallen for such a fiery woman. Shinji liked Asuka's fierceness but he had also seen her real self under the mask.
• Berserk Button:
  • Asuka has several buttons, most of them related to her husband: 1) Do not flirt with Shinji, try to steal him away or act pervert around him. 2) Do not poke fun at her relationship with Shinji or suggest to her face they have S&M sex. And 3) do not make Nazi jokes around her. Kurumi is constantly pressing the first button. Kensuke gleefully punches the second one every time he opens his mouth.
  • Threaten Akiko's life and Rei will liquefy you. Not Hyperbole.
• Beta Couple: Hikari and Touji. Whereas Shinji and Asuka have been married for five years and have a daughter, they are still engaged.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Shinji hates violence and killing and simply want to be a good husband and father. And part of his definition for that means being there for his family and protecting them. And he will shoot whoever threatens them.
• Beware the Quiet Ones: Rei is usually quiet, calm and non-confrontational. Then a pack of loonies tried to shoot her niece. The cleaning crew had to scrub their remains off the walls.
• Big Bad: SEELE. In 2015, they tried to culminate their plan to merge all human souls into a single being. They failed and spent the next twelve years trying to build more Evangelions to carry out their goals, funding shady unethical projects and terrorist organizations.
• Big Damn Heroes: The point of divergence happens because Rei and Shinji performed one to save Asuka from the MP-Evas.
• Big Ego, Hidden Depths: Asuka is a temperamental, prideful, boisterous woman, and some people wonder why Shinji married her. However, she is a deeply traumatized person who suffered terribly due to her mother's madness and suicide and her father's abandonment, and Shinji knows that she is the only person who can understand him and help him.
• Big Good: Misato Katsuragi, Director of HERZ. She is tasked with using the Evangelions on peace-keeping and peace-making missions, and preventing the spreading of the Eva technology. She is also SEELE’s worst enemy, having spent twelve years foiling their plans and scheming and plotting against them.
• Big "NO!": Exclaimed by the SEELE members when the Children took control of their newest MP-Evas. The exact wording was "This is impossible!" but the spirit is the same.
• Birthday Episode: A good chunk of chapter 4 is about Shinji and Asuka's daughter Akiko's fifth birthday. Her birthday is one of the rare times where the Ikari family gathers.
• Bittersweet Ending: After the last battle, Shinji and Asuka are alive and expecting another child, most of the canon characters have survived, Yui and Kyoko's souls have been released and SEELE has been defeated once and for all. However, Rei seals herself together with the Evas, Adam, Lilith and the Lance to ensure that they will never be used again, which means she has to say goodbye to her family forever.
• Blackmail:
  • Asuka threatens Kensuke with telling his girlfriend about his pervert exploits back in highschool if he does not stop taunting her.
  • Shinji and Asuka needed a babysitter, and Shinji thought their only recourse was Kurumi. Kurumi agreed to look after Akiko... if Shinji kissed her.
• "Blackmail" Is Such an Ugly Word: Subverted. The Chinese Government tried to build its own Eva in a top secret facility. The monster went out of control, obliterated the facility and started to rampage through China. A Chinese commanding officer pleaded with Misato to get rid of the problem by dispatching her Evas. She retorted she would deploy them... in exchange for information on where the other Eva knock-offs were being built. When the officer complained about it being blackmail, her reaction was, "So what?"
  Commander Hai: This is an emergency. Many lives are at stake. Your charter allows for action now.
  Misato: Indeed.
  [...]
  Commander Hai: What is your price?
  Misato: Information. On where the other Evas are being built. All of them.
  Commander Hai: You can't expect us to know all that. And what makes you think...
  Misato: ...that you would know? [...] That thing was built in Lop Nor. Using technology from SEELE and Chinese military resources. I'm sure this will be an interesting revelation before the UN Organs and the world media...
  Commander Hai: That's blackmail!
  Misato: I'm also perfectly happy to let this thing continue its grand tour through your heartland and population centres. I don't have to do anything until the UN gets its paperwork done or until it reaches Japan itself...
• Blood Knight: Although Asuka is not an active pilot anymore, she still is a soldier and enjoys fighting.
• Blood Lust: The first word used to describe Asuka's battle against the MP-Evas is "bloodlust". Asuka was drowning into it as she fought them.
• Bonus Material: Every chapter included final notes that fleshed the world out. The author's website features a FAQ listing the different factions and their clashing ideologies.
• Break the Cutie: Before the beginning of the story, Shinji had been so thoroughly broken that he attempted to kill himself at one point. He's gotten better.
• Break the Haughty: Chapter 2 retells how Asuka’s pride got shattered until she considered herself a worthless, useless failure and an ugly, scarred freak.
• Break Them by Talking: Asuka did this to Shinji accidentally seven years before the beginning of the story. She wanted to go back to Germany. He pleaded with her to stayi and told he needed her. Unfortunately, Asuka thought he was mocking her, so she called him out on everything he had done and said she hated him. It broke him down, but she did not know it at the time.
• The Bridge: HERZ’s HQ has one with all typical characteristics: elevated seats for the commander, Bridge Bunnies sitting at workstations in front of him, and a large, ample stage between the commander and the workers at the workstations.
• Bridge Bunnies: In the first chapter HERZ's bunnies are introduced:
  "That big bald fellow with the beard is Col Peter Strasser. Used to be from the Third Branch in Germany. He's our deputy commander and concurrently chief of Section 3, that is, Operations. Those three are our bridge operators. From the right - 2nd Lt Mochida, 1st Lt Igarashi and 2nd Lt Ito. I used to sit where Ito is working now. The lady in the lab coat is Dr Ibuki Maya. She's our Chief Scientific Officer."
• Broken Ace: Asuka was the best Eva pilot... and after fighting the MP-Evas, she lost one eye, one arm and her body got scarred permanently. She almost died and lost her mother again, so she became even more furious and unstable.
• Broken Bird: Asuka—she lost her mother and got ditched by her father by the time she reached kindergarten. She was turned into a weapon and a tool and trained hard for ten long years to become the best as a way to validate her existence. When the time came to prove her skills, she got overshadowed by a boy that, as far as she knew, was a rookie with no training. She got repeatedly defeated, humiliated and mind-raped by the enemy. She managed to rise from the ashes only to be horribly beaten by the MP Eva units to prevent the Third Impact. She's gotten better since, but is still pretty messed up.
  She had lost much and suffered terribly, but from the ashes, she had risen anew.
• Broken Tears: Shed by Asuka in chapter 2 after her nightmare where she relived all her defeats and suffering from the battle against Zeruel onward.
• But Liquor Is Quicker: How Kurumi got Shinji to sleep with her.
• But Not Too Foreign: Asuka is part American, part German and part Japanese. Ergo, her daughter Akiko is 5/8 Japanese, 1/8 German and 2/8 American as is her second daughter Sakiko.
• Can't Act Perverted Toward a Love Interest: Asuka makes Kensuke shut up and stop bothering her when she threatens to tell his girlfriend what perverted things he did when they were teenagers.
• Can't Hold His Liquor: Shinji has absolutely no alcohol tolerance.
• Can't Live with Them, Can't Live Without Them: Shinji and Asuka had greatly hurt each other, and yet they could not live without each other. Asuka never stopped loving Shinji, not matter what she said or did. Shinji never wanted another woman, and when he thought Asuka was leaving and she hated him he was so grief-stricken that he tried to kill himself.
• Cannot Spit It Out: Shinji and Asuka’s inability to express their feelings openly and clearly was an additional source of pain. It's stated in chapter 2 that their relationship finally started to improve when Asuka managed to open up to Shinji.
• The Captain: Asuka became one after the events of the series.
• Catapult Nightmare: In chapter 2, Asuka is having a dream about her past traumas. When she reaches the part where the white Evas were eating her alive, she wakes up screaming and bolting up in bed.
  Asuka screamed and bolted up in bed. Dream. Again. Breathing fast, shallow. Heart pounding. Cold sweat. Lightning flashed outside of the apartment's window. Hands over her face, she began to cry.
• The Chains of Commanding: Misato is Director of HERZ, and they are the only thing standing between humanity and its annihilation. Throughout the years, she has been forced to make many tough decisions that she feels conflicted and remorseful about to ensure the future of her family and the survival of the human race. In the process, she has become grimmer and more serious, and too similar to Gendo Ikari for her liking.
• Chaste Hero: Subverted. When Kurumi met Shinji, she thought he was not interested in women because he was shy and oblivious. It's true that he is shy and oblivious, but the real reason is he was fixated on Asuka.
• Chekhov's Gun: In chapter 5, it is mentioned briefly that Shinji can not hold his liquor. Several chapters later, it is revealed that Kurumi used that to take advantage of him in the past.
• Cheshire Cat Grin: Misato wears one in chapter 4 when she thinks of her plan to prevent Unit 01's deployment in the Congo.
• Child Soldiers: Twelve years ago Shinji, Asuka, and Rei (and Touji for a short while) were child soldiers. The experience broke them down.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Asuka is still very jealous and possessive of Shinji. Kurumi trying to hit on Shinji even though she knows he is married does not lessen her jealousy, certainly.
• Colonel Kilgore: Asuka has rank of Captain and loves fighting.
• Continuation Fic: The story takes place twelve years after the end of the the series, changing the outcome of the movie.
• Conveniently an Orphan: All the pilots are orphans. As they discovered after the battle against SEELE in 2015, it was not a coincidence.
• Cool Plane: The aircraft piloted by Kensuke in chapter 1 definitely counts:
  Kensuke loved this. Some real action! Even if he couldn't pilot Eva, at least he got to fly the largest aircraft in the world. It flew high above the range of normal anti-aircraft missiles, undetectable to conventional radar. In any case normal anti-aircraft missiles did not have warheads that could really be more than a bee sting against this flying fortress.
• Cooldown Hug: In chapter 2, Asuka wakes up from a terrible nightmare and she starts to cry. Shinji embraces her, making her feeling safer, and she gradually calms down.
• Cool Aunt: Rei to Akiko. She gives Akiko toys (some of them handmade), tells her stories and tales, and is very protective of her. Akiko in turn loves and admires Rei.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Any battle involving an Eva, especially Unit 01, is one-sided and is over very, very quickly.
• Cut Lex Luthor a Check: Even after being exposed, SEELE still managed to get enough funding to build nine giant robots (and an unknown number of prototypes and nearly completed models blown up by HERZ). In comparison, HERZ needed twelve years to rebuild Unit 00 and repair Unit 02.

D-F

• Dark Secret: Misato thinks she killed Kaji.
• Deadpan Snarker: Kensuke is real good at snarking, especially when he is around Asuka. His sarcastic remarks irritate her every time.
• Death Glare: Asuka deploys this with a menacing Twitchy Eye when another woman stalks her husband.
• Defrosting Ice Queen:
  • Asuka warmed up to Shinji gradually throughout the Angel War, but his actions during the latter part of the conflict combined with her worsening psychological and emotional state destroyed her growth and turned her into a angrier, more asocial person than she was before. Shinji spent several years trying to reach out to her until she finally opened up to him.
  • Rei was a cold Emotionless Girl until she met Shinji, and she started changing. In fact Third Impact was averted in 2015 because Shinji defrosted her.
• Despair Event Horizon: Shinji crossed it seven years before the beginning of the story when Asuka was about to leave and he thought she hated him and did not want to see him ever again. He wrote a suicide note to her and another to Misato and slit his wrists.
• Determinator: Asuka never stopped fighting, not even when the MP-Evas impaled her robot and she felt the pain of getting chopped into pieces and eaten alive. During that ordeal her heart stopped beating... and then it restarted. She survived, recovered and even managed delivering a healthy child.
• Didn't See That Coming:
  • The American troops’ reaction when their satellites with power enough to obliterate an Eva got taken down.
  • This is SEELE's reaction when they are trying to retrieve the Lance and it suddenly flies away and towards Earth.
  • And again when they deploy the second generation of MP-Evas and the Children hijack them easily.
• Did You Think I Can't Feel?: Gendo ordered Rei to take him to Lilith to start off the Third Impact, expecting her to still be his obedient, well-indoctrinated puppet. However, Rei had grown closer to Shinji, and as Gendo talked, she could feel Shinji’s despair at being unable to save Asuka. So she rejected Gendo, to his astonishment, and flew to help Shinji to defeat the enemy and protect Asuka.
• Dirty Business: Misato runs a peace-making, peace-keeping organization devoted to stop the proliferation of Humongous Mecha technology. It is not a nice job and Misato has got to do or order to do many shady, questionable things to protect her family and humankind: blackmail, extortion, sabotage… She regrets all of it and thinks there is too much blood on her hands but she had no other option.
• Disappeared Dad: Gendo and Asuka's father refused to take care of their respective children after Yui and Kyoko's deaths. Gendo at least has an (admittedly poor) excuse (he cared about Shinji but he was afraid of his son and thought he would screw him up if he raised him, so he sent him away) and in the years that have gone by, he has made an effort to rebuild his relationship with his son, but Asuka's relationship with her father is nonexistent.
• Dope Slap: In the epilogue, Asuka smacks Shinji on the head because he did not manage to find their daughter among a crowd even though she had told him where she was several times.
• Double Entendre: In chapter 3, Kurumi glomps Shinji. He warns her he still has a gun.
  "Kurumi... I've still got this gun... please..." pleaded Shinji, arms and weapon raised above his head.
  "It's not loaded, Shinji-kun...Or should I be worrying about your other weapon? You haven't started misfiring with that, do you?"
  "Kurumi!"
• Dramatic Irony:
  • In chapter 2, Misato notes how ironic is they are using the MP-Evas as instruments of salvation when they were created to be the tools of mankind's destruction.
  • In that same chapter, Asuka ponders about her life's several ironies: she had terribly missed her mother, but Kyoko was always with her in Unit 02 and Asuka had been unable to find her, open up and feel her love because Kyoko's death had driven her to shut herself away, and she owed her family and her current happiness to two women she hardly considered friends.
• Driven to Suicide: In 2020, after an argument with Asuka, Shinji slit his wrists because he thought she hated him and never wanted to see him again. The scene was very similar to Asuka’s own suicide attempt during the series.
• Drowning My Sorrows: Misato recalls she got hammered because she didn't have the courage to confess to Kaji.
• Dysfunction Junction: Thankfully their traumas have healed over, but Asuka still has anger management troubles and Shinji is still somewhat insecure.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Despite everything that they had to endure during the Angel War and the battle against, SEELE, the characters do ultimately find happiness.
• Easily Forgiven: Gendo has been placed under permanent house arrest as punishment for collaborating with SEELE’s attempted global genocide. The story does not tell if he faced worse punishments. Likewise, Shinji and Asuka have forgiven him for everything he did to them, directly or indirectly, although it did take them several years and a lot of work on Gendo's part. Gendo is pretty aware of how lucky he is.
• Eating the Eye Candy: In chapter 3, while Shinji is shooting some targets in the range, Kurumi stands behind him, ogling to his bum as he bends and moves around.
• Eldritch Abomination: In addition to the Angels the cast defeated in the backstory, the alien deities and Seeds of Life, Adam and Lilith, (whom Rei absorbed) and the MP-Evas, several countries are trying to create their own Evangelions, and sometimes they spawn shapeless, massive monsters with too many limbs and heads sprouting from strange places. SEELE also created a new batch of MP-Evas to fight the main characters.
• Emotionless Girl: She is not as bad as she used to be when she was younger, but Rei is still pretty stoic.
• The End of the World as We Know It: SEELE tried to bring it about in 2015. They failed and spent the next twelve years preparing to attempt to finish it for real.
• Enemy Mine: The US Government and SEELE do not like or trust each other, but they join forces to destroy GEIST. On the other hand, GEIST lends its support to HERZ to take down SEELE.
• Energy Weapon: In order to gain the upper hand over the Evangelions, many countries built positron cannons. When they were finally used, the MP-Evas were unable to dodge their beams.
• Everyone Can See It: In the past, Shinji and Asuka were unable to realize their feelings for each other while everyone else did. That blindness nearly caused the end of the world and nearly got them killed several years before the beginning of the story.
• Expendable Clone: Gendo treated Rei as an expendable tool in the past. His attitude came back to bite him when she turned against him because Shinji treated her as an human being.
• Eyepatch of Power: Worn by Asuka.
• The Federation: In this setting, the United Nations Is a Superpower. Many state-nations and Great Powers are sick of its interference, and a bunch of the conflicts HERZ has to deal with are borne from that clash.
• Female Gaze: In chapter 3, Kurumi is constantly checking Shinji’s behind as he trains his aim.
• Fiery Redhead: Asuka is already a grownup woman and has a better control over her temper than her teenage self... but she is still pretty temperamental, hot-headed, loud and passionate. Kurumi even describes her as "fiery".
• Finger-Tenting: Misato sometimes has her hands folded in this position when she is plotting or negotiating. It is meant to show she has become more like Gendo.
• The First Cut Is the Deepest: Natsume thinks that her sister Kurumi is so fixated on Shinji because he was her first love and she simply cannot let it go.
• First Kiss: As they are celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary, Asuka remembers her and Shinji's awkward first kiss.
• Foreign Cuss Word: Pretty frequent with Asuka, of course. "Scheisse" is fairly often used.
• Foreshadowing: In an early chapter, Shinji mentions that Asuka was feeling quite frisky lately. In the final chapter, Maya reveals that Asuka was pregnant.
• For Want Of A Nail: The divergence starts out during the battle between Asuka and the MP-Evas. Rei felt Shinji's distress so she flew to help him. She broke the bakelyte blocking the access to the entry plug and both hurried to help Asuka. Meanwhile, GEIST used a super-computer to disable five MP-Evas, making the Ceremony impossible. Shinji fought the remaining functional Evas and managed to win.
• Freakiness Shame: Asuka thinks she is an ugly freak due to her scars and nobody would love her. Shinji assures her that she is beautiful and he loves her.
• Frontline General: Even after being promoted to Captain, Asuka still fights alongside her troops and leads from the frontlines.

G-I

• Gambit Pileup: Misato has a bunch of plans to deal with the huge number of global conflicts and destroy SEELE, SEELE has a plan to destroy HERZ and bring about Instrumentality, GEIST has a plan to defeat SEELE for good, and the Children have a plan of their own.
• Genki Girl: Kurumi is incredibly energetic and enthusiastic for her age.
• Giant Equals Invincible: The narration blatantly points out that HERZ is still invincible because... well... giant robots.
  Despite of the loss of much of NERV's old autonomy, HERZ was still greatly feared. Exclusive control of Unit 01 and the remaining Eva-05 series meant that she could defeat any conventional armed force on the field.
• Girlish Pigtails: Asuka is twenty-six-years-old, has got her hair cut… and she still wears pigtails right like when she was fourteen.
• Go Through Me: When a pack of loonies tries to shoot Akiko, Rei steps in the way and declares she will not allow anybody to threaten her niece.
• Goodbye, Cruel World!: Shinji wrote one when he decided to kill himself back in 2020. Kurumi found it and Asuka still keeps it.
• Good Parents: Shinji and Asuka try to raise Akiko and later Sakiko as best as they can. Shinji especially is determined to be the kind of father to her that Gendo wasn't for him.
• The Glomp: By Kurumi to Shinji in chapter 3, much to his chagrin.
• Grand Theft Prototype:
  • After their assault upon the Geofront failed, NERV (later HERZ) hijacked the MP-Evas and reprogrammed them to use them.
  • When the second wave of MP-Evas assaults HERZ Rei hijacks ALL OF THEM by using mind control to bind the dummy plugs to her will.
• Grasp the Sun: During her nightmare in chapter 2, Asuka reminisces how she clutched at the Sun while threatening the Evas after getting her left eye impaled.
• Gratuitous German: For Asuka and Akiko. Asuka often uses "dummkopf".
  • When she passed by Col Strasser in chapter 4 she greeted him "Gutten morgen, Herr Strasser."
• Gratuitous Japanese: Honorifics, Japanese terms and sentences abound in the text (this is due to an annoying trend spread among anime fandom back then: many fanfiction writers littered their texts with plenty of Gratuitous Japanese).
• Grave-Marking Scene: The Ikari family (Shinji, Asuka, their daughter Akiko and even Shinji's father Gendo) visit Yui's grave every year on the anniversary of her death. They visit it in chapter 4.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Asuka is very jealous. When Shinji is out of her sight she often gets tense and angry, thinking some woman will try to steal him or maybe he will fool around. The paranoia is a bit justified though, since Kurumi still tries to get Shinji to dump Asuka.
• Grew a Spine: Shinji has become more confident in himself in the years that went by, becoming a devoted family man and a reliable friend. Although he hates fighting and killing, he has learned to use weapons and practices his aim constantly to defend his wife and his daughter.
• Grey-and-Gray Morality: The heroes are trying to protect humanity and their families, and in the name of that mission, Misato has manipulated people and committed many shady actions she feels guilty about. SEELE is trying to instigate the Third Impact, which will merge all human souls into a single being because they genuinely think it is something good.
• Groin Attack: Shinji was practicing with his gun as trying to dodge Kurumi's advances. Then Asuka showed up with a sub-machine gun, selected a target at 100 meters, blew off its crotch and head with perfect accuracy, grabbed Shinji and dragged him away.
• Guile Hero: Misato. Being the Director of HERZ, she has to deal with politicians constantly, often playing them against each other.
• Guilt Complex: Shinji felt guilty about many of the things that happened during the Angel War, including events where he had no control or no choice.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: After the Angel War, Asuka's volatile temper got worse. For several years, she was constantly angry, moody or bitter, and prone to exploding when something triggered her. At the start of the story, she has managed to control her temper and she regrets some of her past explosions of wrath, but she still has a short fuse.
• Happily Married: Shinji and Asuka. Their relationship has gone through bumps and hardships and has needed considerable healing, forgiveness and soul-searching on both parties, but they are happy together.
• Hauled Before A Senate Subcommittee: Misato often has to appear before committees and general councils to argue about, and often against, using HERZ’s Evangelions in a war. In a chapter, she talked before a committee to dissuade them from using Unit 01 in the Congo crisis.
• Held Gaze: In chapter 11 between Shinji and Asuka before the Final Battle:
  Husband and wife nodded and rose from the bench. They looked at each other. There were so many words. Good luck. Be careful. I love you. Come back home safely. So many words. But there were no words as those would have failed them. Looking in each other's eyes, all that could be said and more passed between the two. And then they strode out to face their destinies.
• Heroic BSoD: Several years before the beginning of the history Shinji had one after an argument with Asuka because he thought she hated him for everything that he had done.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Shinji, Asuka and Rei were willing to sacrifice themselves to stop SEELE and give Akiko a chance to be happy. At the end Shinji and Asuka survived, but Rei sealed herself out of Earth to save them.
• Hidden Depths: In chapter 7 Asuka remembers that she was surprised when she found out that Shinji played cello, since she did not know that he had hidden talents.
  He had surprised her. She didn't know he played the violoncello. About his hidden talents.
• High-School Sweethearts:
  • Shinji and Asuka had feelings for each other since they were teenagers, but due to their numerous traumas and neuroses, they were unable to start a proper relationship with each other until they were a bit older and got past some of those issues. By the time the story starts, they have been married for five years.
  • Touji and Hikari are a straighter example, having met in middle school and being together (and engaged) after twelve years.
• Holding Hands: After Rei reminds them that her plan is risky and both could die, Shinji and Asuka held hands as they reiterate they were together in this.
• Home Base: The Geofront is HERZ’s base. After the top got blown up during the battle of 2015, it is no longer an Elaborate Underground Base.
• Hope Spot: For the villains. When SEELE got most of GEIST members assassinated and deployed their Evas against HERZ, they thought they were going to win. Then Rei seized the MP-Evas.
• Hopeless Suitor: Kurumi is this towards Shinji.
• Hot-Blooded: Asuka is fiery, passionate and emotional. She is capable of terrible rage and disconcerting tenderness.
• House Husband: Shinji is the one doing all the domestic chores in the Ikari homestead. It is lampshaded several times.
  • In chapter 4:
    "Oh Hikari, you're such a great cook. Maybe Shinji could pick up some tips from you," said Asuka between bites.
    "Oh, you're so lucky, Asuka. Shinji cooks, cleans and looks after the baby while you bring home the bacon," teased Hikari. Being used to all the house-husband jokes, Asuka decided to play along.
• How the Mighty Have Fallen:
  • In the backstory, Asuka went from considering herself the top pilot and a child prodigy to regarding herself as an ugly, scarred and worthless freak and a failure due to being repeatedly beaten, humiliated, mind-raped, and nearly killed.
  • In chapter 10, SEELE kidnaps Gendo. While one of their members is torturing him, he mocks him quoting the line verbatim:
    The SEELE member looked in disdain at the quivering piece of humanity before him. "How the mighty have fallen. The Commander of NERV. Once a powerful man before whom nations and peoples trembled. Now reduced to this," he sneered noting that Gendou's right forearm was missing. An old injury. 'Pity,' he thought, 'five less fingers to break.'
• Humanoid Abomination: In the backstory, Rei absorbed the bodies of two Eldritch Abominations: Adam and Lilith. After doing that, she should look like a planet-sized, glowing, white-haired and white-skinned version of herself, but she prefers to keep looking human to stay with her family. However, strangers that come across her think that she is weird and even eerie.
• Humongous Mecha: The bio-mechanical Evangelions. In addition to Unit 01, a new Unit-00 gets built, Unit-02 gets repaired, and the eponymous organization uses several MP-Evas seized from SEELE in the aftermath of the battle of 2015.
• I Did What I Had to Do: Misato has done many questionable things to protect her children and to avoid the proliferation of the Evangelion technology. Her actions haunt her but she thinks she had no other choice to save her family and billions of lives.
  "I'm the fool. And I've become a monster." She looked down, unable to face him.
  "You made hard choices. And you had your responsibilities."
  "So much blood, Kaji. I have so much blood on my hands." Negev. Tricking the Israelis into stealing bogus S2 engine specifications. When they used it to activate their Eva, everything within 50km was obliterated. The Army of God. She had given no quarter and made sure their leader met his end at SEELE's hands. Blackmailing the Chinese and then summarily nuked all the other military sites that were building their own Evas. They had no warning. No chance. She looked up almost earnestly. Having confessed her sins, she sought absolution in the man she had been forced to betray.
  His smile was sad and warm. He touched the crook of her arm. She did not pull away. "But you knew had to," he said as his fingers traced their way down her forearm. "You had a reason."
• I Miss Mom: In chapter 2, Asuka reflects on how much she misses her mother... and she had been there in her Eva all along, but she had not felt it until she was able to open up her heart.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy:
  • Averted with Kurumi, who for a long time was after Shinji, even if he had made clear he did not love her and he got married. After baby-sitting Akiko, though, she stopped hitting on him.
  • Played straight with Rei, who even encouraged Asuka to open up to Shinji.
• Icy Blue Eyes: Asuka's one functioning eye is a lively, dark-blue color in contrast with the milky grey of her injured eye. Her daughter Akiko inherited these.
• Innocent Blue Eyes: Shinji's eyes are a limpid, light blue. Sakiko inherited her eye color from him.
• Inferiority Superiority Complex: All of Asuka’s bluster, bravado and arrogance were a mask to hide her feelings of inadequacy and worthlessness. Shinji is one of the few people who can see what is underneath, and he often has to reassure her that he would never leave her.
• Inner Monologue:
  • In an early chapter, Shinji is shooting targets, thinking of how he hates fighting and killing, but he has to protect his family.
  • In one of his few appearances, Gendo thinks of how fortunate he is that Shinji has chosen to forgive him and even lets him see his granddaughter.
• Insult of Endearment: After five years of marriage (and knowing each other since they were fourteen), when Asuka calls Shinji "baka" it is not really an insult but a pet name.
  "Hmmmm...(giggle)...Baaka-Shinjii..." she whispered amorously. "I know you just love it when I call you that...(giggle).."
• Interrupted Suicide: In 2020, Shinji attempted to kill himself by slitting his wrists. Fortunately, Kurumi found his suicide note to Asuka and found him just in time to save him.

J-L

• Kid Hero: Shinji, Asuka and Rei started out their piloting careers in their early teens.
• Kid Hero All Grown-Up: Shinji, Asuka and Rei were fourteen-year-old mecha pilots during the Angel War. Twelve years later, they are in their late twenties and they are still soldiers.
• The Kid with the Remote Control: All Evangelions were piloted by children because only they could synchronize with the souls stored inside.
  • After the battle of 2015, Asuka discovered she could pilot Unit 02 because her mother's soul inhabited it and due to her mental trauma increasing during the Angel War, her synchronization ratios suffered for it.
  • When SEELE struck in 2027 Rei was able to control the new MP-Evas because their dummy plugs were an extension from her.
• Kill Sat: The Orbital Defence Platforms, satellites mounted with positronic cannons. Power was collected by solar panels and channelled into a sophisticated power system to blast enemies from the sky. They were made by the USA as a countermeasure against Evangelions.
  "We've still got the Orbital Defence Platforms that we put up over the past few years. Their positronic cannons should give HERZ's Evas a real nasty surprise should the need actually arise. And they thought that we'd actually use it to help those UN and HERZ guys over that little escapade in Kransoyarsk."
  "Ain't this a beauty." Each ODP was a satelite mounted with a version of the positron rifle first used by Eva. Power was collected by solar panels and channeled into a sophisticated power system. This was the ultimate weapon. And now, they were all in place, circling the heavens. Deadly and waiting.
• Killed Off for Real:
  • Gendo in chapter 10, shot by a SEELE member.
  • All the SEELE members in the last chapter, turned into LCL by Rei.
• Kissing Under the Influence: In the backstory, Kurumi kissed Shinji when he was heavily inebriated and then had her way with him. She hoped that would lead to them becoming a couple, but instead, it backfired, as Shinji still loved Asuka and he was so disgusted by what happened that he started to actively avoid Kurumi.
• Last Girl Wins: Asuka in more ways than one: she was the last important female character Shinji met during the War. In the story, she appears after Misato and Kurumi... and she is married to Shinji.
• Latex Space Suit: After twelve years, the Children still wear their skintight plugsuits. Kurumi stole Asuka's in a scene as part of a hopeless plan to try to snatch Shinji.
• Leave No Survivors: In chapter 5, Misato orders an assault against a SEELE installation, and she reiterates, regretfully, that her troops mustn't give quarter or take prisoners:
  "You have the coordinates," said Misato, hands folded in front of her face. "Get what we need. Everything else must burn."
  "What do we do with any civilians we encounter?"
  "Everything else must burn."
• Lighter and Softer: The story can get pretty dark, but it is happier than canon. Third Impact was averted in 2015, and Asuka and Misato survived that battle. Twelve years later, Shinji and Asuka have gotten a handle on their many issues and are happily married with a daughter, and the two of them, together with Rei, work under Misato's orders to fight SEELE's attempts to cause Instrumentality.
• Like an Old Married Couple: Asuka and Shinji already argued like an old married couple before becoming one. In chapter 12, their bickering is hilarious.
• Living Emotional Crutch: Shinji became incredibly emotionally dependent on Asuka since he met her for first time. During the battle of 2015, he muttered over and over again he needed her. Seven years before the beginning of the story, he begged her to not leaved Japan, telling her he needed her. Asuka herself became way more stable and more grounded after hooking up with him.
• Loners Are Freaks: Shinji and Asuka hardly talked to anyone other than Touji, Kensuke and Hikari in high school. Their schoolmates thought that they were weird.
• Love at First Sight: During pillow talk in chapter 2 Shinji confirms Asuka he has always been hers.
• Love Confession: After revealing to Misato that he was alive, Kaji finally said he loved her.
• Love Hurts: Shinji and Asuka truly love each other but they have also hurt each other a lot throughout the years. Shinji's obliviousness deepened Asuka's emotional and psychological scars, his actions in End of Evangelion nearly killed her and made her feel like an ugly, unlovable monster. Asuka herself meanwhile had put Shinji through the wringer due to her own self-loathing, occasional Lack of Empathy, and hot-headedness.
• Lovely Angels: Asuka and Rei were teammates and fought together during the Angel War, but their giant robots were destroyed at the end of the conflict. However, HERZ rebuilds Unit-02 and builds a new Unit-00, and Asuka and Rei face and fight in the Final Battle together with Shinji.
• Love Makes You Evil: Misato feels she has a lot of blood on her hands because she has done many questionable, shady things. And she did all this because she loved Shinji and needed to see him happy.
  "Everything I did, I did it for Shinji. I wanted to... I needed to see him grow up. To have a family. A chance to be happy. I needed that..."
• Love Triangle: Asuka and Shinji love each other, and Kurumi is in love with Shinji.
• Luminescent Blush: Even after so many years, Shinji still blushes like a schoolboy... and his wife is not very different.
  • In chapter 1 Shinji blushes when Kurumi tries to flirt with him:
    Shinji's blush was so pronounced that he looked like he was going to burst.
  • And in that same chapter Asuka’s face flushes when Kensuke tells her not whipping Shinji too hard:
    That stopped Asuka's pacing. She spun around, her face beet-red, as she sputtered incoherently.

M-O

• Madness Mantra: In chapter 2, Asuka remembers her words during her battle against the MP-Evas:
  "I'll kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill. Kill. Kill." Her mantra as she clutched her face and reached out with her right hand of vengeance. "Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill. Kill."
• Making Love in All the Wrong Places: Subverted in chapter 4. Shinji entered the men's locker room in the base and he was led to believe Asuka was waiting for him in one of the shower stalls. He made his way to the stall to "have fun" with his wife... and he found Kurumi inside, so he fled.
• Mama Bear:
  • You don't want to know what lengths Misato will go to protect her adopted children.
  • Shinji, Asuka and Rei are also perfectly willing to kill or sacrifice their lives to protect Akiko.
• Manipulative Bastard: A benign example. Misato is not above using someone else's motivations and emotions (like Kurumi's curiosity) to lead that person on. However, she does not like it and she restrains herself a lot.
• Manly Tears: In chapter 12, Shinji sheds a single tear after Rei says goodbye to him.
• Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Asuka is a tomboyish, hot-blooded, angry, tough-like-nails soldier. Shinji is meek, quiet, non-confrontational and feminine-looking. They are married.
• Meaningful Name: "HERZ" means "heart" in German. "GEIST" means "spirit".
• Mecha Show: There's plenty sci-fi technology around.
• Mêlée à Trois: In this FAQ, the different factions are listed. Essentially you have: HERZ fighting SEELE's attempts to set Third Impact off and other nations' programs to build their own Evas; SEELE fighting HERZ, GEIST and the UN to initiate Instrumentality; GEIST fighting SEELE and the different world nations; the UN fighting SEELE but not particularly liking HERZ; and other nations fighting HERZ and the UN and not liking SEELE but being prone to strike a bargain with them.
• Mildly Military: HERZ is more formal than its predecessor NERV but it's still somewhat lax: a mere Lieutenant like Kensuke isn't afraid of mocking Captain Asuka Ikari, even when they are on duty, and most of staff talks freely and informally.
• Military Science Fiction: The main characters are army members and Humongous Mecha pilots.
• Mind Rape: Asuka still bears a lot of mental scars from experiencing this.
• Mind Screw: A mild one during the final battle: Rei hijacked the MP-Evas and used Shinji, Asuka and their robots to set off the children's own version of Instrumentality. As she collected the SEELE's souls, she showed to Keele several images of the Ikari family to teach him the other way to reach Instrumentality. Shinji and Asuka saw their mothers across an immense void and are finally able to say goodbye. Rei created a second Moon, sealing herself inside it, and Shinji and Asuka woke up on a beach.
• Missing Mom: A good number of Shinji and Asuka’s traumas are rooted in having lost their mothers when they were four. Asuka notes the irony that their mothers were always with them when they piloted their Evas.
• Moe Couplet: Akiko is a chirpy, lovable, endearing little kid and Rei is her cool, detached, unemotional aunt. When they are together, Rei shows her softer, warmer and more overprotective side and Akiko is more cheerful.
• The Mole: Did you think that Kaji working for three sides were overkill in the original series? Here he was working for four sides. When GEIST learnt about SEELE approached to him and made him an offer.
• My Eyes Are Up Here: In chapter 1, Shinji turns around to face who had greeted him only to see a female chest in front of his eyes. Blushing, he looked upwards.
  Pulling the hands away from his face and turning around, he found himself facing a chest. It was not particularly well-endowed but it definitely belonged to a female. Blushing, he corrected his gaze and saw her.
• My Hero, Zero: Reinforced with Rei. After Unit 00’s destruction in the original series, HERZ built a new Eva for her, and it was also called Unit 00, even though it was a brand new robot.
• Mythology Gag:
  • When Shinji goes down to Terminal Dogma, Kurumi stops him pressing a gun against the back of his head. It is a reference to the time Misato tried to stop Kaji in the original series.
  • After the Final Battle, Shinji and Asuka wake up together on a beach.
• Never My Fault: Hilarious example. In the epilogue, Maya informs Shinji and Asuka that Asuka is pregnant. Asuka blames Shinji since it is always the guy's fault. Shinji retorts, "Oh yes! I suppose it's got nothing to with you throwing yourself at me almost every night for the last few weeks!"
• Nice Guy: Despite some serious failings and bad actions he regrets (such like his actions in the hospital when Asuka was comatose), Shinji is not a bad guy, and he genuinely wants and tries to be a good person.
• Nightmare Sequence: In chapter 2, Asuka dreams of the Angel War and how weak she felt when Zeruel destroyed her, how defiled she felt after Ariel’s Mind Rape, how worthless and useless she felt after being unable moving her Eva to fight Armisael, and what it was like when the MP-Evas tore her apart.
• No Social Skills:
  • Asuka never was good with people, and her social skills got worse after the battle with the MP-Evas, since she became angrier, more hostile and more resentful.
  • Shinji was never great at socializing either. After the Angel War, he had few friends and no girlfriend, and he spent most of time trying to reconnect with Asuka.
• Normally, I Would Be Dead Now: In the battle of 2015, Asuka's Eva got impaled by nine spears and then cut into pieces, and she felt each blow, slash and bite. Her heart stopped for a few seconds. Misato got shot and collapsed bleeding on the floor. The narration pointed out it was a miracle Asuka was alive, and Misato always wondered how she survived.
• Not Good with Rejection: Kurumi was rejected by Shinji, but she was unable to accept it and get over it. When she met him again, seven years later, he was married and had a daughter and she kept trying to seduce him with absolutely zero success.
• Noodle Incident: After Kensuke has pressed Asuka's buttons a tad too much, she threatens to tell his girlfriend about his perverted exploits back when they were teens. She does not get specific, but it shuts Kensuke up.
  Asuka: Kensuke... I bet your darling Kaori-chan would just love to hear about all your perverted little exploits back when we were in school...
  Kensuke: What exploits!?
  Asuka: Oh, you know... those...
  Kensuke: I don't know what you're talking about! I... Oh man...
• "Not So Different" Remark: In chapter 4, a GEIST member fears his organization and SEELE are not so different, since the blood of young people is being spilled to fulfill their plans, too.
  '"Young people are our future yet SEELE tried to buy mankind life immortal with the blood of children. I fear that we may not be so different. The blood of the young is still being spilt to carry out the plans of the old."
• Obstructive Bureaucrat: Every so often, HERZ has to deal with UN Inspectors and Auditors overseeing them, examining their accounts and records and poking their noses where they do not belong.
• Odd Friendship: After twelve years, Asuka and Hikari are still best friends although their personalities (Asuka is aggressive and pushing, Hikari calmer and more patient) and even their career choices (Asuka is an army commanding officer, Hikari a political analyst) are pretty different.
• Official Couple: Shinji and Asuka, Hikari and Touji and Misato and Kaji.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Shinji’s reaction when he saw that the woman in the shower stall was Kurumi trying to seduce him.
  • The reaction of the HERZ’s troops dispatched in Crimea when they realized that the other side had positron cannons.
  • SEELE’s reaction when Rei mind-controlled their new batch of MP-Evas, their only weapon against HERZ.
• The One That Got Away: Kurumi had a crush on Shinji since they met in high school. However, he was always in love with Asuka. She spent years chasing after him, but she never managed to get him to reciprocate her feelings, and her attempts to seduce him only pushed him further.
• One World Order: The UN is developing into a World Government due to the loss of power, prestige and public trust of the nation-states and major governments.
• Original Character: Akiko Ikari, Shinji and Asuka's daughter.
  • Kurumi Kagero
  • GEIST
• Orphan's Ordeal: Shinji and Asuka lost their mothers when they were four. Afterwards, their fathers and everybody else treated them like crap. In chapter 2, Asuka reflects that she lost so much and suffered terribly after her mother's demise.

P-R

• Papa Wolf: Shinji hates killing, but if you threaten his wife or his daughter, he will do whatever it takes to protect them.
• Parental Abandonment: Most of Shinji and Asuka's traumas and psychological issues come directly or indirectly from having been abandoned by their fathers when they were four. Shinji has forgiven Gendo, but Asuka's relationship with hers is nonexistent.
• Parental Neglect: Asuka’s father stopped looking after his daughter when she was four. She is twenty-six now and he is still absent from her life. He never shows up, never calls, and Asuka never ever mentions him. It's telling that she has managed to forgive Gendo but she never talks about her father.
• Parental Substitute: Misato has looked after Shinji and Asuka since they were young (although Asuka moved out after the battle of 2015) and she sees them and Rei as the children she never had.
• Past Experience Nightmare: Even after twelve years, Asuka still has nightmares about the Angel War where she relives her defeats, her failures, her humiliation, her Mind Rape... and the Final Battle where she lost her left eye, got her right arm cut in half, was impaled, torn into pieces and eaten alive.
• Pervert Revenge Mode: Shinji walks on Kurumi when she is having a shower. Immediately, he screams and flees, and Kurumi chases after him. Asuka sees both, fetches a bat and starts to chase them.
• Physical God: Rei. Her soul was Lilith's, an Eldritch Abomination that is the mother of all life on Earth. However her body was Shinji's mother's cloned body. In the battle of 2015, she absorbed Adam, becoming even more powerful, but she kept her mortal form to live with her family for a while longer.
• Pietà Plagiarism: Shinji holds Gendo in this position as his father dies in chapter 10.
• Pitbull Dates Puppy: Kurumi wonders why Shinji, a quiet and unassuming guy, had married a fiery woman as Asuka. In reality, Shinji and Asuka need each other desperately and they think no one else will ever be able to understand their pain.
• The Plan: The Plan to defeat SEELE consisted of the Children performing their own version of the Ceremony, using two Evangelions instead of one to seal Adam, Lilith, the Lance, Unit 01 and 02 out of the planet and at the same time destroying the original research materials.
• Please, Don't Leave Me: In chapter 2, after an awful nightmare Asuka clings to Shinji and pleads with him to not leave her.
• The Power of Love: In 2015, Shinji was grieving because he loved Asuka and he could not save her. Rei’s love towards Shinji led her to feel his pain, driving her to rebel against Gendo and help him. In 2027, it is Shinji and Asuka's love towards each other and their daughter and Rei’s love for them which drives them to come up with a risky plan to save humankind and that love allows them succeed.
• Pregnant Badass: Asuka was pregnant with Shinji's child during the last battle. Even so, she fought and helped to save the world.
• The Professor: Ritsuko played this role in the original series, but now she is mostly retired, and Maya is HERZ’s head scientist.
• The Promise: In the final chapter, Rei promises she will not allow the Evangelion technology to be used to harm people again, and she seals herself together with the Evas, Adam, Lilith and the Lance to guarantee that.
• Prophecies Are Always Right: Subverted. SEELE was fully confident of their victory because of what was written in the Dead Sea Scrolls. GEIST's leader remarks that prophecies can be broken.
• Puppy-Dog Eyes: In chapter 4, Asuka didn't want Akiko to keep a stuffed toy. Akiko uses the puppy dog look on her father, and Shinji uses it on Asuka in turn. She relents.
• Quit Your Whining: In chapter 3, HERZ is performing a battery of tests on one of their Evas... and simultaneously placating Asuka who is the test pilot and is not happy about it, considering it a long, useless, big waste of her time. Finally Kensuke asks her stopping complaining:
  Asuka(grumbling): "You all don't really need me to do this. After all, we have the mighty Shinji in the invincible Unit 01 and the A.I. Dummy Plugs for the Eva 05 series. Oh, we mustn't forget Wonder Girl. She doesn't contribute to anything and has an Eva all to herself so she can take it for walks after dinner! This is such a big fat waste of my time,"
  […]
  Kensuke:"Oh Asuka, will you just keep it down for a while? We're trying to work here,"
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: The leader of GEIST gives one to all SEELE members, pointing out that the Children have the Evas, Adam, Lilith and the Spear whereas SEELE has nothing… still they trust their victory because they think The Scrolls Said So.
• Red Is Heroic: Reinforced. Asuka’s soldier uniform is red, her Humongous Mecha is red, too, and she thinks they should paint the MP-Evas red.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Asuka is the red oni (she is temperamental, rash and hot-headed) and Rei the blue one (she is calm and soft-spoken). Due to their clashing personalities there was some hostility between them when they were young, but after twelve years it has mostly faded.
• Reforged into a Minion: Combined with Grand Theft Prototype due to the semi-organic nature of the Evas. After Shinji subdued the MP-Evas in 2015, NERV rebuilt them, mind-wiped them and reprogrammed them to serve them.
• Relationship Upgrade: Shinji and Asuka’s happened in 2020 after Shinji’s attempted suicide. Rei encouraged Asuka to open up to him. They reached out to each other, and got married two years later.
• Retired Badass: After the Angel War Shinji, Asuka and Rei were still soldiers but they seldom piloted mechas. After the last chapter, Shinji and Asuka retired from piloting for good.
• The Rival: During the Angel War Asuka regarded Shinji like hers. She really wanted to beat him. In this story she thinks of Kurumi like a rival: she was a pretty woman who was after her husband, had deflowered him and whom Shinji owed his life. Asuka felt threatened by her, but Kurumi was a challenge and she did not run from challenges.
• Roaring Rampage of Rescue: Averted. When Misato informs Asuka that Shinji has been kidnapped by SEELE, her first impulse was to run off and trash wildly to find her husband, but she struggled to control herself because she knew it was part of SEELE's plan.
• Robeast: In a chapter the cast had to fight an illegal Eva built secretly by the Chinese Government. It looked like the mutated offspring of a Mechanical Beast and an Evangelion.
• Romantic False Lead: Kurumi. When Shinji was a high-school student she was after him. However it did not last long because Shinji could not forget Asuka.
• Romantic Runner-Up: Kurumi was not a bad girl per se (at least if you do not count she got Shinji hammered in order to sleep with him), but she was not Asuka. Shinji loved Asuka for her beauty, brains, bravery and fierceness and being the only person could understand him, and he needed her badly.

S-U

• Sarcastic Devotee: Kensuke spends the whole time pressing Asuka’s Berserk Buttons and teasing her, but he is loyal to her just as he is to Shinji.
• Say My Name: In chapter 10 Kurumi remembers the night when she saved Shinji’s life. When Rei sent into her head the thought something bad had happened to Shinji, she screamed his name several times in dread.
• Scars Are Forever: After twelve years Asuka still sports the scars inflicted by the MP-Evas.
• Sex for Solace: Asuka has a nightmare that leaves her feeling distraught, ugly, and worthless. Shinji assures her that she is not ugly and that he will always be hers. To prove his words, he makes love to her right there and then.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: Asuka looked downright striking in her wedding gown:
  Asuka, despite the eyepatch and arm harness, looked stunning in form-fitting beaded bodice with a chain belt across her waist.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran:
  • Asuka survived the War but she had been beaten, humiliated, mind-raped and disfigured permanently. For many years she was mad at everything, everyone and herself, seeing herself as an ugly, scarred, one-eyed freak and a worthless failure. She needed a lot of therapy to learn to open up to others.
  • Shinji became quieter and more introvert after the battle of 2015. He hardly talked any of his schoolmates who were not his old friends and his ex-roommate. He was also severely depressed and a borderline suicidal.
• Ship Sinking: Shinji/Kurumi sank long before the story started when Kurumi got Shinji drunk and took advantage of him… and Shinji thought she was Asuka through the whole thing. After that night he started to avoid Kurumi, and she knew she had lost.
• Ship Tease: Mainly between Shinji and Asuka but there is also a bit of tease between Shinji and Rei (such like Rei repeatedly stating that she will always protect him).
• Shipper on Deck: Rei supported Shinji/Asuka and made sure that they got together and became happy.
• Shout-Out: Shout-outs must be placed in the proper subpage.
• Shower of Awkward: In chapter 4 Shinji walks in on Kurumi when she was having a shower in the base’s locker rooms. He screamed in terror and ran off.
• Shower of Love: Subverted in chapter 4. Shinji thought that Asuka was waiting for him in the shower stalls of the men’s locker room, so he made his way to one of them, expecting to have sex in the shower with his wife. When he saw it was Kurumi, he screamed in terror and ran off.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Asuka got married to Shinji, who despite his flaws and mistakes tries to be fundamentally a good person.
• Snark-to-Snark Combat: Sometimes the characters engage into this:
  • Shinji and Asuka in the chapter 12:
    Maya: "It's so lovely! […] Oh Asuka, you're pregnant again."
    Asuka:"… […] BAKA-SHINJI! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"
    Shinji:"My fault!? Why is always my fault!?"
    Asuka:"Of course it's your fault! You're a male!"
    Shinji:"Oh yes! I suppose it's got nothing to with you throwing yourself at me almost every night for the last few weeks! And you kept insisting on being on top as well!"
• So Proud of You: In chapter 10 Gendo manages to show he is proud of his son:
  Gendou looked like he was going to say more. Instead he smiled, a genuine smile that spoke of love and how proud he was of the fine young man his son had grown up to be.
• Sorting Algorithm of Evil: Played straight. The first enemies fought by HERZ were soldiers and foot troops. Later they had to deploy several Evangelions to destroy a Robeast. Finally they fought other Evangelions.
• Sour Outside, Sad Inside: The angrier and more hostile Asuka behaves the sadder and more awful she feels inwardly. When she was thinking of leaving Japan in the backstory and Shinji pleaded her staying with him she berated him because she thought he could not possibly love her since she was an ugly, worthless freak and he was just mocking her.
• Spanner in the Works: SEELE’s attack in 2015 failed because another secret organization accidentally learnt about their plans and interfered with them… something SEELE had not counted on at all.
• Stalker with a Crush: Kurumi to Shinji. She has been chasing him since they met in high-school, and she is unable to take a "No" for answer. She got him drunk and slept with him several years ago, and even though he got married she has flirted with him, has thrown herself naked at him, has blackmailed him to kiss her… and he always refuses -or runs away-, but she never listens.
• Stealth Hi/Bye:
  • In chapter 5, Rei does this to people when she is walking around.
  • And in chapter 12 she does this to Shinji. She appears for an instant to say goodbye, Shinji looks away for one second, and when he looks back she has faded.
• Super Prototype: Unit 00, 01 and 02 were the prototype, test type and production models respectively. However 01 was the most powerful of the trio. The MP-Evas were the mass production model, meant to be more advanced (they flew, had unlimited power, quick regeneration and were armed with replicas of the Lance of Longinus). Still Asuka piloting Unit 02 tore them apart nearly completely, and Shinji riding Unit 01 finished them off. In 2027 SEELE built even more powerful mass production Evas, but the three pilots easily defeated them using their old models.
• Supreme Chef: Shinji is the one who cooks in his household. Crosses over a bit with Real Men Can Cook.
• Talking in Bed: In chapter 2 Shinji and Asuka have pillow talk after Asuka wakes up from a nightmare. While Shinji is taking care of her wounds, she asks if he thinks she is ugly ("Of course not", he replies) and begs him not leaving her.
• The Tease: Kurumi spends the whole time teasing Shinji and trying to seduce him, much to his terror and Asuka’s wrath.
• Techno Babble: Plentiful, as it was to be expected considering the source material.
  • Chapter 3 gave a good number of examples, featuring different activation tests.
• The Teetotaler: Since Shinji is an absolute light-weight, he never drinks alcohol.
• Tempting Fate: SEELE’s members gloated over… and over… and over… about his plans coming to fruition, HERZ’s destruction being unavoidable, Instrumentality being imminent and the Children being helpless to stop them. Honestly, they were asking for it.
  • Especial mention goes to Unit 02 being rebuilt and their reaction being “Oh, it can not make any difference, obviously”.
• Tender Tears: Shed by Shinji when his father died in his arms, by Shinji and Asuka when they met and hugged each other after the Final Battle and by Shinji again when Rei said goodbye.
• That Didn't Happen: In 2020 Kurumi got Shinji drunk in order to seduce him and thus getting together. Unfortunately for her, he considered it a mistake and he would rather forget it ever happened.
• Their First Time: Shinji and Kurumi slept together for first and only time seven years before the beginning of the story, and it killed whatever relationship they had.
• These Hands Have Killed: When Shinji visits Kaworu's grave, he states that he killed his friend and his death traumatized him.
  "On this day, twelve years ago, I killed someone. Here. He was our enemy. But he was my friend. At that time, I felt that he was the only friend I had in the whole world. And I killed him."
• Thinking Out Loud: Misato does it in chapter 3, when she muses they are using to save themselves a weapon was created to destroy them, and they are still pawns in a game.
• Time Skip: The epilogue happens twenty years after the events of chapter 12.
• Took a Level in Badass: After spending twelve years training, Shinji, Asuka and Rei are more badass than their teen selves. Shinji and Asuka train every day (Shinji shoots targets in the range, Asuka tries combat simulations inside her Humongous Mecha...) and Rei has an A T Field capable to destroy or pulverize anything -as several terrorists found out- and she has absorbed two ancient alien deities. Asuka is an army commander, too.
• Took a Level in Cheerfulness: After the war Asuka was angry, resentful and gloomy and hated herself and everybody. Twelve years later she is more mature, has repaired her relationship with Shinji and has married him, has given birth a cute daughter and she is happier than she ever was during her childhood.
• Took a Level in Idealism: Asuka managed surviving the Angel War but she became angrier and more bitter due to her terrible physical and emotional wounds and scars. However she managed opening up to Shinji after his almost death. When the story stars out they have been married for five years and have a child, and Asuka is happy and feels loved, something she thought impossible back when she was a teenager.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Downplayed. Due to a being older, married and a mother, Asuka is nicer, less harsh and less mean that she used to when she was thirteen... although she is still pretty hot-tempered.
• Tranquil Fury: When Asuka is angry but she is being quiet and controlled she is actually more dangerous:
  "Kensuke..." said Asuka dangerously. That meant quietly.
• Tsundere: Asuka. Due to her many emotional wounds and psychological scars she was reluctant to open up. Rei warned her unless she managed to open her heart she would not find happiness. After Shinji’s suicide attempt she finally manages to open up.
• Twitchy Eye: Asuka's right eye often twitches when she is angry or jealous. Many characters get scared or worried when they see her eye twitching.
  "Oh no," said Kensuke, looking really worried.
  "What's wrong? All the readings are fine," said Kaori.
  "Look." Kensuke pointed to the videofeed's enlarged view of Asuka's face. Maya and Kaori leaned forward to take a closer look. Asuka's right eye and brow were definitely starting to twitch.
  "How much longer!? I've got to get out here! That ho is after my husband again!"
• Underestimating Badassery: SEELE is utterly convinced that nothing can stop them and the Children are not an obstacle. When the Final Battle started Shinji, Asuka and Rei working together ruined SEELE's plan forever. And they only took five minutes!
• Undying Loyalty: Since he met her Shinji was single-mindedly fixated on Asuka, even if for many years she seemed hating him. In chapter two, during a breakdown Asuka pleads Shinji not leaving her, and he answers he is and has always been hers and he would never leave her.
• United Nations Is a Superpower: The UN is de facto THE hegemonic superpower. It's gradually developing into an One World Order as the nation-states keep losing power and influence and it has its own army, including Humongous Mechas to deal with emergences.
• Unresolved Sexual Tension: Between Shinji and Asuka prior to their reconciliation in 2020. They were drawn to each other but their many -and ironically similar- issues, their wildly different ways to deal with them and their utter obliviousness to each other's feelings had kept them apart (and even hurt) until then.
• Unwanted Harem: Shinji is a chick magnet but he does not really want any woman other than Asuka. In chapter 3 Kurumi tries to get close to him, and when Shinji shies away, she asks:
  Kurumi:"Oh, what gives? Don't you like women hurling themselves at you?"

V-Z

• Violently Protective Girlfriend: When an illegal Eva rampaged through China Asuka suggested that they deploy Unit 01… together with six more Evas only in case to protect Shinji. Misato only let her deploy two Units.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Asuka and Hikari are friends since they were teenagers, but they enjoying poking fun at each other when they hang together. Mocking each other’s husband good-naturedly is almost a requirement during their reunions.
• Wave-Motion Gun: In order to try to gain the upper hand against HERZ's Evangelions several countries build downright massive proton cannons, some of them mounted on weaponized satellites, which shot huge laser blasts. They were effectively used against the MP-Evas.
• The War Room: HERZ’s base has one where the cast often holds meetings and reunions.
• Wham Episode:
  • Chapter 10 starts with news of Shinji and Gendo having been kidnapped by SEELE simultaneously.
  • Chapter 11 reveals the Children’s plan. Rei mind-controls the new batch of MP-Evas. Shinji and Asuka become willing sacrifices to set off their own version of Third Impact. They destroy all original samples taken from Adam and Lilith. Rei seals herself, the Evas, the Seeds and the Spear into a new Moon. Oh, and Asuka is pregnant again.
• What Does She See in Him?:
  • Kurumi never understood what Shinji saw in Asuka or why they got married.
  • For that matter, her older sister does not get what Kurumi sees in Shinji.
    Natsume:"Oh, your darling Shinji-kun! You know, I never really understood what you saw in him."
• What If?: In this universe, SEELE fails to take over NERV in 2015. SEELE is exposed, NERV becomes an UN anti-Evangelion proliferation organization, and the main characters spend the next decade getting over their psychological issues and thwarting SEELE's plans.
• When She Smiles: In chapter 10, Shinji imagines Asuka smiling such a beautiful smile that it was heart-breaking.
  Asuka. He imagined her standing at the end of a long polished corridor. She was in her HERZ uniform with her usual eye patch and arm harness. She held Akiko in her arms and smiled at him. It was a smile that could break his heart.
• "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: The epilogue is meant to show the cast’s lives several years after the end of SEELE.
• Working with the Ex: Variant. Although they did not properly dated, Kurumi was always after Shinji and she even managed to have sex with him, but she was unable to win him over. The story starts out when she begins working in Shinji’s workplace.
• Worthy Opponent: Asuka regarded Shinji as her greatest rival because she respected him deep down.
• Xanatos Gambit: The Children’s plan was failure-proof. If SEELE doesn't attack, they win. If SEELE managed to complete the nine MP-Evas and attacks, they win because they could hijack them and use them to eliminate SEELE and the Evangelion technology.
• Yandere: Kurumi is not as extreme as other examples but she is dangerously obsessed with Shinji. She took advantage of him when he got drunk, and when she met him seven years later she still chased after him obsessively even though he was a married man and a father (bonus points by stalking him in the men’s locker rooms and then chasing him down their workplace despite of being naked).
• You Need to Get Laid: Misato asked her subordinates if Asuka already knew Kurumi Kagero –a girl tried to romance Shinji in the past- had come back. They told her yes, Asuka knows and no, she is not angry. She is actually in an excellent mood today. Misato quips Shinji must be exhausted.

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Rei: Are your hearts and minds still set on the plan? [...] There is much danger. You both might die.
Shinji and Asuka: For the hope that Akiko-chan can have the chance to grow up and have her own chance at happiness, it's a risk we must take.

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