Corner of solitude

Rei

Enigmatic, isolated and yet strangely gentle. A stoic young girl of fourteen, Rei Ayanami was the “First Child” to be chosen to operate an Eva and is the pilot of the prototype Eva Unit Zero. Rei is the product of one man’s struggle to govern the evolution of his species. Rei embraces his cause, and the man, as the validation of her existence. Her resemblance to Shinji’s mother and Gendo’s wife, Yui Ikari, is due to the fact that her body was partially created from the salvaged remains of Yui after her death during an early Eva project experiment. But the knowledge that she is a substitute for some thing, for some one, whispers to her from the void of her missing soul. She is the “First Child”, the future incarnate. Rei has died twice, only to have her spirit re-instantiated each time in a clone body created for this purpose.

Asuka

Asuka Langley Sohryu is a troubled girl whose flaming red hair is a symbol of her burning anger for the world and the rage within. But her emotional character mask an internal fragility. The ghosts of her past haunt her, driving her from the silence of memory into the raging turmoil of the present. The “Second Child” chosen to operate an Eva, she is the pilot of Eva Unit Two, she fights to quiet the voices. Her mother’s severe mental illness, and father’s ensuing abandonment of them caused her to develop an extremely independent and driven personality - one that resulted in her graduation from college at the age of fourteen as well as her aggressive, competitive relationship with Shinji and Rey. She has never fully come to terms with her mother’s suicide.

Shinji

As the fourteen year old son of the most powerful man in the world, Shinji Ikari is a boy in lonliness. While still an infant, Shinji witnessed the death of his mother during an experiment for the Evangelion project. After her death, Shinji was abandoned by his father, Gendo Ikari, and found himself in the care of one of his teachers. His mother’s death and de facto abandonment have left him emotionally uncertain, insecure and frightened of himself and his world. At the age of fourteen, Shinji was summoned by his estranged father to become the “Third Child” chosen to operate an Eva. Introverted, and often awkward when expressin himself or communicating with others, Shinji is reluctant to fulfill his role as pilot of Eva Unit One. This is the messiah of the Gospel for the New Age.

Misato

Misato Katsuragi wages a private war on doubt and terror. As a child she accompanied her father’s Antarctic research expedition. When that team’s discovery resulted in the cataclysm known as Second Impact, Misato was saved by her father and was the expedition’s sole survivor. In the awful confusion of the battle against the angels, she is NERV’s unsung weapon. Responsible for the strategic command of the Evas, NERV’s Operation Chief Misato Katsuragi is a vibrant soul. It is her courage, her sense of duty, and ultimately her humanity that holds together the battered minds and souls that defend Mankind. Fuelled by information given to her by her lovver, Ryohji Kaji, Misato has becom increasingly suspicious about NERV’s objectives. She shares an apartment with Shinji and Asuka and acts as their guardian.

Gendo

Gendo Ikari is one man at war with God. His heart is a vacuum inhospitable to the humanity he methodically drives from those around him. Divine judgement is at hand, and the visionary Ikari will not rest until man is no longer subject to Sacred Law. NERV is the club in his raised fist. Gendo is Shinji’s father and the Commander of the government agency known as NERV. Prior to his appointment he was the Chief of Research at the U.N. Artificial Evolution Laboratories. Upon the death of his wife Yui Ikari, Gendo devoted himself completely to the Human Instrumentality Project - a plan to force the next step in human evolution using knowledge gained from the Angels. Though the project has the support of the secret international organisation known as SEELE, Gendo’s motives for pursuing it are different from SEELE’s. His relationship with Shinji is extremely strained and formal, and the two have shared only a handful of words since their reunion.

Ritsuko

Maintaining the facade of a cold and clinical scientist, Ritsuko Akagi seeks to compartmentalise, classify and dismiss the emotions that frighten her and threaten to shatter her self-image. The thirty year old Ritsuko is the daughter of Dr. Naoko akagi - the creator of the MAGI super computer that serves as the brain of Special Agency NERV and bears her transplanted personality within its operating system. Ritsuko is the Head of the Evangelion Project for NERV, and is an accomplished scientist. Like her now-deceased mother, she has been romantically involved with NERV’s Commander, Gendo Ikari. As the daughter of a brilliant scientist, Ritsuko vies with the ghost of her mother in a never-ending battle, a battle she cannot win and will never confess. She has also been friends with Misato Katsuragi since the two met in college.

Yui

Shinji’s mother, Yui Ikari was a brilliant scientist, and a key member of the Evangelion development team until her unexplained death during one of the first activation tests. While a college undergraduate, she was one of Fuyutsuki’s students. An original member of the secret international organisation SEELE, Yui first met Gendo while attending Kyoto University. The two were subsequently married and had one child together, Shinji. Interestingly, “Ikari” is her family name. When she married Gendo Rokubungi, he assumed the last name of “Ikari” as well. She continued to work at Gehirn on the Evangelion project until an accident during testing took her life. And there’s some indication that she voluntarily sacrificed herself during testing to help realise the goal of the Evangelion project. Her soul remains with Rei Ayanami as well as within Eva Unit One, protecting her child, Shinji.

Kouzou

A taciturn man, gruff but not uncaring, Kouzou Fuyutsiki has the unenviable job of NERV’s second in command and Gendo Ikari’s right hand man. As Commander Ikari’s direct subordinate, he carries the responsibility of defense against the Angels. He is one of the only NERV members who has full knowledge of the organisation’s ultimate objectives and methods. His knowledge of the Evangelion units’ secret purpose allows him to remain calm and unflappable even in the midst of an attack. Prior to his appointment, he served as professor of Meta-biology at the University of Kyoto, where he first met Gendo and Yui Ikari. His affection for Yui was deep, though the two were never romantically involved.

Kensuke

A member of the same school class as the Eva pilots, Kensuke Aida is enamoured with all manner of military hardware much to the misgivings of his two buddies Toji Suzuhara and Shinji. He was overjoyed by the chance to join Shinji and Misato along with Toji on the deck of a U.N. aircraft carrier while the fleet was transporting the “Third Child” Asuka’s Eva Unit Two. Though he is one of Shinji’s closest friends, Kensuke cannot understand his reluctance to pilot an advanced weapon like the Evas.

Toji

At times a bit of a hot head, Toji Suzuhara is one of Shinji’s classmates and is frequently seen in his company along with Kensuke. Though Toji initially blamed Shinji for the critical injury which befell his younger sister during the Third Angel’s attack, the two have since become close friends after witnessing the turmoil that Shinji goes through while piloting an Eva. It is hard to say who was more surprised when Toji was chosen to be the “Fourth Child” to pilot an Eva. Unfortunately, the 13th Angel invaded and took-over Toji’s Eva Unit Three, which then had to be destroyed by Eva Unit One.

Kaji

Although employed in the Special Inspections Division of NERV, Kaji Ryohji was secretly spying on NERV’s operations for the SEELE organisation at the same time - a position that resulted in his death. The results of his investigation were entrusted to his lover Misato Katsuragi, with whom he shares a complex and somewhat turbulent history. He was responsible for transporting the Adam Embryo from Germany to Japan.

Hikari

Hikari Horaki is a bright, intelligent girl in the same school class as the Eva pilots. Despite her bossy nature and self assurance as Class Representative, she is shy and uncertain when it comes to dealing with Toji, on whom she has a crush. After Asuka’s arrival in Tokyo-3, they become close friends and routinely gang up on the “Three Stooges”, which constitutes Shinji, Kensuke and Toji.

Naoko

A computer genius, Ritsuko’s mother Naoko Akagi was responsible for the design and programming of the Magi supercomputers that control NERV, and they were imprinted with her personality. She is supposed to have told her daughter that each of the computers i imbued with a different aspect of herself: as a scientist; as a mother; and as a woman. After Yui’s death, Naoko became romantically involved with Gendo. Although brilliant, Naoko had a very disturbed personality and perhaps because of the similarity between Rei and Yui, Naoko murdered the first Rei in a jealous fit of rage and took her own life immediately thereafter.

Shigeru

Shigeru Aoba is the third of the Evangelion control room operators. Easy going and laid back, not much fazes him. In his spare time, he enjoys playing guitar. He would seem to be the most well adjusted of all the NERV personnel.

Maya

As Ritsuko’s right hand woman, Maya Ibuki is responsible for much of the monitoring of the Eva Units during testing and Combat. Although not quite as quick on a keyboard as her boss, she is nevertheless a computer expert in her own right. While quiet, she has definite opinions and is capable of holding her own.

Makoto

Though he harbours feelings for his direct superior, Misato, this Second Lieutenant assigned to NERV’s First Operations Bureau has never let his emotions interfere with his duties. Makoto Hyuga is responsible for aiding Misato in the analysis of combat situations and strategic development.