Shinji Ikari

Shinji is an extremely troubled (depressed) and self-conscious individual (and kawaii^.^); however, most of his ordeals are worsened, and often even caused by his severe lack of self confidence. Shinji finds it incredibly hard to express his feelings towards others because he is afraid of being emotionally hurt, and is usually unwilling to adapt to new situations. For that matter, he is often very tense and needs to learn how to calm down. Shinji hasn't had the best relationships with his father, Gendo Ikari. He ran away many years ago. He's also suffered the loss of his mother, Yui Ikari, at quite an early age, which hasn't made his life any easier to deal with. Unfortunately, running away from bad situations is one of Shinji's personal traits, one that he must overcome this in order to be able to live a much less stressful life. Unwilling to bear the company of his father (hates working for him) after living alone in emotional agony for so many years, Shinji chooses instead to accept Misato's invitation to live with her on his arrival to Tokyo-3, something which is a big step for Shinji. Although Misato doesn't turn out to be the ideal roommate Shinji had in mind, the bizarre situation he finds himself thrown into does help him to open up a little (he's way too quiet). Shinji is also the reluctant pilot of EVA-01 (since he was born the year of the second impact), though no one really knows why he continues to pilot the Eva as he's made it quite clear on several occasions now that he would rather not be the pilot.

At age fourteen, Misato Katsuragi witnessed what could have been the end of the world. She, along with the rest of her family, were dragged to Antarctica along with a scientific team led by Dr. Katsuragi (her father) to study the being that was later known as Adam, the 1st Angel. Misato's father was studying Adam's energy level in what he called the Super Solenoid (or S-2) engine. His research had taken him away from his family for long periods of time, which had caused Misato's mother much grief. Misato had grown to hate her father, and was glad when her mother had finally decided to divorce him. Adam broke free and went berserk, melting the Antarctic ice cap and shifting the Earth's axis in the event called the Second Impact. During the chaos, Misato's father was dying, and placed his injured daughter (Misato) in an escape pod and sealed it before he died. Misato later opened the escape pod when it was floating in the sea, where she witnessed Adam causing havoc and destruction in what had once been a living continent. Misato was the only survivor of this catastrophe. Now, Misato currently works for the company NERV as the operation's manager. She also lived alone, but then Shinji moved in. She often gets drunk (beer), acts very immature, and she stinks at cooking. Not to mention, her house is a disaster and she has a penguin named Penpen (Pen²). She enjoys pushing Shinji's "buttons" because she thinks it will help him express his feelings more.

Rei has been undergoing special training since the Evangelion Development Project began. Rei is extremely timid at times. Sometimes, she seems withdrawn from the world around her. She finds it incredibly hard to express her feelings towards others and consequently, she isn't the kind of person who makes friends that easily. All of Rei's personal records have been erased. She has no parents and there is no trail leading to her past, and it would seem that her existance begins at a dead end. She was the first child to be chosen to pilot an Eva, in particular EVA-00, in accordance with the Marduk institute. Unfortunately she was seriously injured during her first attempt to synchronise with her Eva when it mysteriously went out of control. Fortunately Commander Ikari rescued her and she survived the accident. Her next attempt at synchronisation was successful and she has now become the active pilot of EVA-00. Whether Rei has chosen to pilot the EVA is unknown. Rei simply seems to do as she is told without complaining, something which Shinji is also known for doing. The truth is though, Rei is entirely human. She is a by-product of the human instrumentality project, artificially created and implanted with the soul of Yui Ikari. Rei has only one soul. However, NERV created multiple bodies, or vessels, for Rei's soul in the event of her death. Indeed Rei has been killed twice, by both Naoko Akagi and the sixteenth Angel.

Asuka is extremely confident and constantly struggles trying because she wants to be better than everyone else. Since her mother, Kyoko Zeppelin Souryu, who worked for NERV went insane after an accident when she tried to synchronise with EVA-02, she committed suicide many years ago because of this. Asuka has immersed herself heavily in her own pride; this is possibly her way of dealing with this tragic loss. As a result of this, she is often unwilling to accept any kind of help and advice from others, and will rarely ever admit to making a mistake. She can also be very annoying at times and is known to look down on people, especially Shinji; however, she would never intentionally hurt the feelings of others. Since she moved to Japan, Asuka has taken up on Misato's hospitality, choosing to live with her and Shinji. But with her interest in Kaji and her overall attitude towards Shinji, the decibel level (screaming/noise) in Misato's apartment has risen somewhat since her arrival. Asuka is also the proud pilot of EVA-02, and is probably the only Eva pilot who actually enjoys and takes pride in being a pilot. Although she puts a lot of effort into piloting EVA-02, unlike Shinji she is not a naturally talented pilot. It's extremely likely that this is the reason for her pointless ongoing rivalry with him.

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Published on: 2005-02-21 (1604 reads)