Here, you'll find a little info on the characters of "Neon Genesis Evangelion."
You'll also find some links to some other nice character pages. From those, you'll also be able to get to other pages! Be warned though... some of them do contain spoilers. Thus, be careful in your viewing but, as always...enjoy!
| Shinji Ikari | Asuka Langley Sohryu | Rei Ayanami |
Misato Katsuragi | Gendou Ikari | Ritsuko Akagi |
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| Kaji Ryouji | Kouzou Fuyutsuki | Touji Suzuhara | Kensuke Aida | Hikari Horaki | Maya Ibuki |
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| Shigeru Aoba | Makoto Hyuga | Kaworu Nagisa | Yui Ikari | Pen Pen |
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You could call Shinji the main character here. Shinji can be described as the quiet, shy type. For the most part, he prefers to keep to himself. He kind of has a habit of running away from huge problems...a habit that tends to backfire. Shinji doesn't trust his father, Gendou, and their relationship leaves a lot to be desired. Correction...everything. As an Eva pilot, he initially lacks confidence but slowly gains some through experience, guidance from Misato, his guardian, and the support of his acquired friends. Shinji seems to enjoy music and listens to it at every opportunity. He kind of reminds me of myself sometimes. One thing that really struck me when I was watching the series for the first time was that Shinji listens to music in bed with his DAT player...I do the same thing with my Walkman.
Okay...I keep finding different versions of Asuka's background as far as nationality goes. The bottom line is that she's part Japanese, part German and part American. Having graduated from college already, Asuka is pretty darn intelligent. If she's got it, you'd better believe she'll flaunt it. She's quite confident in her abilities and hates to lose at anything. It always seems she's out to prove she's the best Eva pilot. She also happens to add to the comic element of "Evangelion" quite a bit. Asuka is a pretty outspoken, proud girl. A less charitable person would say that she's a complete bit...ahem...you get the point. However, there is another side to Asuka. I won't go into detail but I'll say that she has grown on me because of it and how it relates to the side she shows.
Rei is a very mysterious, quiet girl. No records of her background exist. Rei pretty much never shows any emotion and keeps to herself. She almost avoids any contact with anybody. In fact, the only person she opens up to is Gendou Ikari. She lives alone in an apartment that is described by Touji as being "so decrepit." The environment itself is not so desirable. Ritsuko describes Rei as not being adept at living. Apparently, Rei dislikes eating meat. Pay attention to this girl. There is a reason why she's so mysterious. Oh yeah...my recommendation: turn up the volume when you watch this series. You'll hear her much better. Also, she resembles somebody...and for a good reason too...
As mentioned above, Misato is the chief of NERV's military operations. Whenever Gendou and Fuyutsuki aren't around, she's in charge. Specifically, she belongs to the First Division of Operations Section in the Department of Tactics and Operations of NERV H.Q. Geesh, that's a mouthfull. She is also Shinji's guardian and later, Asuka's as well. They all live together. Misato is generally a cheerful, optimistic, fun lady. However, she is somewhat messy and drinks a lot of Beer. She cuts down on it later on in the series though. Despite her sunny personality, Misato has a troubled past. A scar on her chest is a constant reminder of that. A definite plus: to me, Misato has so many of the funniest facial expressions in the series!
Besides being the commander of NERV, Gendou is part of a secret organization called Seele, which is financing the secretive Human Instrumentality Project/Human Complementation Plan. He changed his name from Gendou Rokobungi to Gendou Ikari after marrying Yui Ikari. To use Misato's words, he is the "gruff and unfriendly" type. Gendou comes off as a really cold person, tremendously focused on his work and nothing else. He sees Shinji as merely a tool and calls him to Tokyo-3 simply because he has a use for him. In total contrast, he gets along with Rei perfectly...that's kind of a father/daughter relationship. A less charitable person would say he is a complete assh...ahem...uhh...you get the point.
Ritsuko is the scientist in charge of the development and maintenance of the Evangelions. Specifically, she belongs to the First Technology Division in the Department of Technology and Development of NERV H.Q. Another mouthfull. A cool and beautiful lady, she can be quite sarcastic and she takes any opportunity to make a joke, particularly about Misato. Well, that's how it seems to me. Ritsuko and Misato are old college friends, along with Kaji. Ritsuko apparently likes cats but smokes one heck of a lot. An interesting thing to note is that her mother developed the MAGI...NERV's main supercomputer. Overall, Ritsuko is a pretty intellectual person.
As mentioned, Kaji belongs to NERV's Department of Special Inspection. Exactly what that department does is never really explained, though he seems to be in cahoots with Commander Ikari. Later on though, it's revealed that he...hold on, I'm not supposed to be telling you this if you don't know it....never mind. If you know it you know it. Anyway, as I've mentioned, Kaji, Misato and Ritsuko are old college friends. Well, he and Misato dated back in college and his reappearance is much to Misato's chagrin. That changes later on. A handsome (yet unshaven) man, Kaji comes off as quite a cheerful, friendly guy. Your regular ladie's man you might say. As a hobby, he grows watermelons. Definitely an interesting character.
Fuyutsuki is second in command to Ikari. Fuyutsuki met Yui Ikari (then a student) when he was a proffessor in college. After that he met a young Gendou Rokobungi (also a student then), discovering that he was his counselor at the same time. Shortly after Second Impact, he joined the project that later became known as NERV. Like Gendou, Fuyutsuki is serious about NERV's purpose and is just as secretive. In stark contrast to Gendou, however, Fuyutsuki is a warm hearted, kind individual.
Touji Suzuhara is one of Shinji's friends and classmates, along with Kensuke. Together, they make up "The 3 Stooges." Anyway, Touji's younger sister was badly injured during Shinji's first encounter with an angel and they both got off on the wrong foot (or should I say "fist"?) because of it. Touji reconsiders his actions when he see's first hand how much Shinji suffers because of piloting Unit 01. Touji is very direct at expressing his feelings and is something of a hothead. Despite that, he is a caring person and quite pleasant I think. Oh yeah...he also seems to love food and cherishes lunch hour at school.
Kensuke is, in a word, a military freak. Okay, so that was two. This guy is obsessed with anything having to do with the military. Kensuke also aspires to be an Eva pilot. Because of this, he looks up to Shinji and respects him a lot. He is very (and I mean VERY) rarely seen without his ubiquitous video camera. Kensuke is your basic nice guy. ^_^ Oh! I also find it pretty funny how he and Touji do that traditional "I am utterly shocked out of my mind" pose in perfect synchronization!
Hikari is in the same class as all the Children, Touji, and Kensuke. As I've just mentioned, she is the class representative. As you would expect, she is quite responsible and serious about her position as Class Rep. Apparently, she is a great cook too. She has a crush on Touji and sees a sensetive side in him. Heck, I can't argue with that. Overall, Hikari seems to be a friendly, good natured person. Yeah, yeah...I think she's pretty darn cute too. There, I said it.
Maya is most often seen with Ritsuko, whom she sees as her mentor. She has a lot of technical knowledge on the Evangelions and the MAGI but doesn't know about the deep stuff that the higher ups of NERV (i.e. Gendou, Fuyutsuki, even Ritsuko) know about. She basically monitors the synchronization rates of the Eva pilots and gathers and analyzes various Eva-related data. She is against the Dummy Plug System. Maya seems to be an honest person and she appears to like romance novels. We definitely need more Maya Ibuki shrines out there. Alright!! I think she's even cuter!! There!!!
Aoba's main responsibilites are communications and data analysis. For the most part, he's a pretty darn quiet guy who just goes about his business. We do know that he is a guitar enthusiast and when there's nothing to do at work, he takes some time to practice some chords on an air guitar.
Hyuga is basically Misato's aide as far as combat operations go. He is responsible for analyzing combat situations. In his spare time, Hyuga indulges in manga. He has kind of a secret crush on Misato. He even collects her laundry for her! How's that? Other than that, he collects various tidbits of helpful intelligence information for Misato sometimes. Good man he is. Yep. Definitely deserves some shrines of his own. Be quiet...I'm not going to say I think he's cute.
Kaworu Nagisa makes a very brief but lasting appearance in the series. This guy is just as mysterious as Rei and appears suddenly. He seems to be quite intelligent, good at expressing himself and caring. He and Shinji quickly become good friends. That doesn't last very long though. This is mainly because of Kaworu's secret identity...
Yui Ikari is, or was (tough call), Shinji's mother. She was the first test pilot of Unit 01. However, that first synchronization test went wrong. As a result, she disappeared without a trace...all in front of a really young Shinji. Her disappearance is a complete mystery...
I have to put in a word about Pen Pen! Pen Pen is Misato's pet/roommate. Well, he lives in a convenient little refrigerator. He is actually a new breed of tropical, warm water penguins. He was originally part of an experiment but when he wasn't needed any more the plan was to dispose of him. Misato felt sorry for the little guy and took him home with her. Now who wouldn't feel sorry for him?! (A hand reaches up in the crowd. The author face faults, takes a Desert Eagle from his drawer and shoots the owner of the hand. The hand disappears back into the crowd as the author blows the smoke from the barrel and replaces the gun in his drawer). Anybody else? Good! Pen Pen provides quite a bit of comic relief in the series.
Okay, so that wasn't just a little info on the characters. Gimme a break, I couldn't help it!
