"Destroying the world is only too easy. Rebuilding it is not so simple, however."
— Professor Kozo Fuyutsuki, Rebuild of Evangelion 3.33: You Can (Not) Advance
Beginning with the anime known for being the pinnacle of Mind Screw, Neon Genesis Evangelion has sprouted a sprawling franchise with many adaptations. Although known for the myriad of personality problems its cast suffers from, many of the schemers playing off the eldritch truths of mankind's alien past manage to overcome their own issues to prove themselves truly magnificent masterminds.
All spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned!
Original Anime
- Gendō Ikari, born Gendō Rokubungi, is the driven Commander of NERV. Falling in love with his future wife Yui Ikari in college, Gendō used her connections to the secret SEELE organization, learning the truth about the world and how mankind, born of the Fruit of Knowledge, are destined to battle the Angels, born of the Fruit of Life. Learning of SEELE's Human Instrumentality Project, Gendō seeks to retool it for his own ends and live out Yui's dream of merging all of humanity's minds before releasing them to their bodies to give them an enlightened perspective on life. Growing distant from his son Shinji after Yui's tragic death, Gendō calls him to Tokyo-3 to pilot an Evangelion to do battle with the Angels and creates an entire class full of potential Evangelion candidates as backups. Keeping himself indispensable to the ruling council of SEELE, Gendō performs flawlessly in his job defeating the Angels, at one point even personally overseeing their manual launch when NERV's power supply is cut. A man of endless contingencies, when the government tries to render the Evangelions defunct with their own robot, Gendō sabotages the demonstration and when Shinji refuses to fight an Angel that has taken over the Evangelion his friend was piloting, Gendō uses a remote control system to override him. Coming within mere moments of completing his goal, Gendō is only stopped by the betrayal of an eldritch being aiding him and still dies calmly, quietly apologizing to his son and showing his true affection for the boy. A famously influential example of the Archnemesis Dad archetype, Gendō's cold, calculating nature is matched by his stoic charm and single minded focus on his goal, cementing himself as one of anime's most compelling villains.
- Professor Kozo Fuyutsuki is a brilliant metabiologist and the Vice Commander of NERV. Having mentored both Gendō and Yui, Fuyutsuki quickly discovered the truth behind Second Impact and was recruited by Gendō into NERV's predecessor agency for his skills. In love with Yui but accepting of her choice to be with Gendō, Fuyutsuki helps set up Yui's contact experiment with Evangelion Unit-01 alongside the couple and overcomes his personal dislike of her husband to set in motion Yui's idea for Instrumentality and enlighten mankind after she merges with the Evangelion. Over the years, Fuyutsuki proves Gendō's closest ally, a scientific advisor to NERV and even taking command of NERV during his boss' absence to defeat the attacking Angels. Calmly overseeing the devastated NERV when SEELE orders a military attack on their headquarters, Fuyutsuki buys enough time for Gendō to begin his ideal Instrumentality plot to reach Yui and when finally dying, calmly ponders if Gendō and Yui were reunited.
- Professor Kozo Fuyutsuki is the Beleaguered Assistant to Gendō Ikari, one of the heads of NERV, and one of the most composed and brilliant characters in the entire cast. Before the Second Impact, Fuyutsuki was the professor to Gendō, his wife Yui, as well as her best friend Mari, and after Yui's soul was absorbed by the Entry Plug System she devised, Fuyutsuki joined Gendō in attempting to enact the Human Instrumentality Project in order to see her again. As cunning as Gendō but more principled and far less obsessive, Fuyutsuki calmly shatters young hero Shinji's mind over a game of shogi with the Awful Truth of the Rei Ayanami clones and Shinji's own mother, thus manipulating the boy into kickstarting the Third Impact for the purpose of his and Gendō's plans. By the finale, Fuyutsuki is single handedly manning NERV's mass-produced Eva military, and proves himself a master strategist and combatant by engaging WILLE's entire army on his own and nearly managing to come out on top. Even when beaten as Instrumentality begins, Fuyutsuki comes to terms with his loss, happily leaving Mari with the means to help stop Instrumentality, and surrenders to degeneration with nothing but dignity.
- Mari Makinami Illustrious is a flirtatious and disturbingly bloodthirsty but well-meaning Evangelion pilot. Introduced tricking NERV into allowing her to pilot the experimental Unit-05, Mari manages to use the flawed prototype's self-destruct mechanism to destroy an Angel as it attacks the testing ground. Combating another Angel by activating a stolen Evangelion's secret backdoor code, Mari elates at the combat, even being casually willing to accept the end of the world when she loses to the beast and Near-Third Impact is initiated. Later joining WILLE to rebel against Gendō Ikari and NERV, Mari proves an expert tactician, reclaiming land NERV has "purified" with L Contamination for humanity to begin living on once again. Mentoring Gendō's own son Shinji and having set her scheme in motion years ago, "Mary/Maria (of) Iscariot" sees him remake the world as a more peaceful place and happily takes her place by Shinji's side, beginning a romantic relationship with him in the finale.
- Gendō Ikari, born Gendō Rokubungi, is the same cold Commander of NERV as ever. Manipulating his son Shinji into becoming his ace to defeat the Angels and usurp SEELE's Human Instrumentality Project, Gendō even remotely hijacks Shinji's Evangelion to destroy an Angel, sacrificing the life of another Evangelion pilot in the process. Merging with the embryo of the first Angel Adam, Gendō uses its eldritch powers to slaughter the forces sent by SEELE trying to kill Shinji and tries to break the boy into helping him destroy the world he despises. When Shinji is rescued from his clutches, Gendō tries to use the soul of the Angel Lilith to enact his vision for Instrumentality and when rejected and mortally wounded reunites with a vision of Yui, who helps him come to terms with his life to die in peace.
- Professor Kozo Fuyutsuki allies with Gendō to see through his beloved Yui's dream for Instrumentality. Keeping Yui's plan to merge with Evangelion Unit-01 secret from Gendō, Fuyutsuki admits to his enjoyment of his bitter boss' suffering but continues to assist him as NERV's Vice Commander all the same. Helping Gendō retrieve the Spear of Longinus and even resisting SEELE's torture to keep their plans for Instrumentality secret, Fuyutsuki's professionalism allows Gendō the chance to try to reunite with Yui and take revenge on the world he despises, Fuyutsuki himself calmly passing away while imagining himself with Yui.
- Kaworu Nagisa, the Angel Tabris, is a being seeking a purpose allied with SEELE. Assigned to infiltrate NERV, Kaworu finds himself drawn to Shinji and bonds with him despite Shinji's initial dislike of the cheerfully amoral young man. Fulfilling his role to take a path to Terminal Dogma, Kaworu comes into contact with the Angel Lilith, revealing he suspected SEELE's treachery and uses the opportunity to force Shinji to kill him in a demonstration of his freewill against SEELE's wishes.
Other Media
- Campus Apocalypse: Kaworu Nagisa here is ruthlessly devoted to protecting Shinji Ikari. As one of NERV's top agents Kaworu fights powerful enemy Angels and even threatens NERV staff to remind them his loyalty solely rests with Shinji. Willing to kill even peaceful Angels even with the revelation he is one himself, Kaworu also breaks Shinji out of imprisonment in NERV facilities, ultimately sacrificing himself to let his dear friend live on.
- Evangelion -ANIMA-: Professor Kozo Fuyutuski, regretful of his role in Gendō Ikari's Human Instrumentality Project, is recruited back by NERV to stop the monstrous Evangelion "Armaros". Acting as Commander while Misato Katsuragi is away, Fuyutsuki stoically takes to battling Armaros, even suppressing information about its danger, leading to the deaths of thousands of people, to keep NERV poised to fight the monster. Retaining his strategic mind, Fuyutsuki also orders NERV's forces alongside their allies to combat Armaros and its minions, ready to sacrifice corrupted teenagers and children in the name of ending Armaros and SEELE's goals. Putting an end to the eldritch threat, Fuyutsuki, along with the rest of NERV, celebrate their victory, ready to fight back against the diabolical SEELE who vow to return, and rebuild the ravaged world they fought so hard for.
- Akio Satsukawa's Original draft
of "Episode 24: The Final Messenger": Kaworu Nagisa, the Angel Tabris, is not the pawn of SEELE his animated incarnation wound up being. A clever, erudite being, Kaworu infiltrates NERV as a friendly Evangelion pilot, winning over the organization's staff with sheer charisma. Bonding with Shinji Ikari, Kaworu suddenly rebukes him after implying romantic interest, preparing Shinji for his use in Kaworu's ultimate goal. Exposing his angelic nature and approaching Terminal Dogma, Kaworu reveals his true intent is to die in a demonstration of his free will against his natural angelic drive to destroy humanity, forcing Shinji to kill him to save the world and dying proving only he would determine his own fate.
