The Official NGE Character Ranking
It’s finally time for the official ranking of Neon Genesis Evangelion characters, as proclaimed by me. While there are a lot of characters to examine, I’d like to focus on the main characters of the original TV series, End of Evangelion, and Death & Rebirth.
WORST OF THE WORST
Gendo Ikari
The story's villain, it's only appropriate to set him dead last. A grieving man turns to putting 14-year-old kids into mecha robots powered by souls. From parental neglect to his agenda to end the world and start the Third Impact, Gendo Ikari can only receive small sympathy points.
Kozo Fuyutsuki
As Gendo's sidekick, I can't let Fuyutsuki off the hook for aiding and abetting. While he does show more compassion towards Shinji Ikari for the identity crisis every other episode than Gendo ever cared to, helping your former college students end the world doesn't look good on a resume.
No Harm No Foul
Kensuke Aida
Kensuke is a little military nerd who just dreams of piloting an EVA. He likes learning about all the actions of NERV or the UN - but also has the horned-up aspect of being a 14-year-old boy who carries around a camera. While it's nice to allow Shinji to have some friends and a form of escapism through his brief stay with Kensuke after running away (again). there isn't much that we know about Kensuke.
Toji Suzuhara
The other half of Kensuke, Toji is the more outwardly expressive and even passive-aggressive. We're introduced to him through his anger at Shinji for Toji's sister after she is severely injured from an EVA/Angel attack. He's the stereotypical "delinquent" who attacks Shinji as payback for his sister's injury, but he turns a more empathetic leaf after witnessing the mental suffering Shinji faces while piloting the EVA. When Toji is selected as the Fourth Child, everything takes a turn for the worse and we never see him again after that fiasco.
Complicit?
Ritsuko Akagi
Ritsuko lives in the shadow of her mother who created the MAGI System, the living, breathing programming holding NERV together. She's the only other person aside from Gendo and Fuyutsuki who knows the true intentions of NERV and SEELE, and for that, points off as being a piece of the end of the world. Ritsuko is still an interesting character as she internalizes and intellectualizes everything until her breaking point in destroying all the Rei copies. I feel bad for her in the cycle of abuse her mother and then her goes through under Gendo's romantic relationships with both of them.
Yui Ikari
This poor woman died and her husband decided it was time to end the world. Had she not passed during the Project E experiment, Shinji would have been a functioning and less traumatized boy. She is such a kind-hearted person who had a positive impact on those around her, and it's sad to see what her legacy turned into through Gendo's distortion.
Misato Katsuragi
Misato always has me going back and forth on my opinions, but I do admittedly love her as a character. Her hotheadedness and drinking habits make her a piece of emotional release from all the environmental stress. Her traumatic past explains the present, and her motherly care for the pilots stands in direct opposition to Ritsuko's risk of the pilots for the sake of destroying the angels. She is largely unaware of NERV's true intentions until the untimely end.
Ryoji Kaji
Kaji is somehow a triple agent working for the Japanese Ministry against both Gendo and SEELE, really just looking to find the truth of it all. He's an admirable character whose only real flaw is being so goddamn horny for all his female characters - except Asuka so I guess there are some moral boundaries. He knew that his life was constantly at risk by working behind everyone's backs, but he's still a positive role model to Shinji, almost showcasing what the positive outcome could be.
The Children
Kaworu Nagisa
We're introduced to Kaworu as the Fifth Child following Asuka's synchronization levels dipping to unprecedented levels. He's a poetic character who quickly befriends Shinji and shows his affection toward him in unexpected manners. As it turns out, Kaworu is actually the seventeenth angel, Tabris. His interest in humankind and otherwise odd behaviors goes seemingly unnoticed by NERV. Kaworu's goal is to reconnect with Adam, but instead, he finds Lilith, rendering his mission a failure thus allowing Shinji to kill him.
Kaworu is one of the only people that shows real love towards Shinji, and that cannot go unappreciated.
Shinji Ikari
Love him or hate him, Shinji is still one of the most interesting case studies of the human mind. A traumatized 14-year-old boy who has never felt real familiar affection since his mother's passing. Abandoned by everyone but commanded to not run away too. He's just looking for some kind of approval. I believe Ritsuko summed up Shinji's character the best by equating him to the "Hedgehog's Dilemma", in which hedgehogs need warmth in the winter so they huddle together, but just end up pricking each other and causing more harm. Shinji cannot be intimate with another character without some outcome of mutual harm.
BEST GIRLS
The lifelong battle, who is the best girl of Evangelion?
The truth is, there is no real answer. They're both amazing.
Rei Ayanami
Rei I - The child we're introduced to is snarky towards Ritsuko's mother as seen in a flashback - calling her an old hag. This Rei is a product of what Gendo really says in private, and thus is killed by Naoko Akagi for repeating the words said behind her back.
Rei II - This iteration of Rei is who we're most familiar with throughout most of the series, socially withdrawn and living in admiration of Gendo for the majority of her lifespan. In her interactions with the other children, she learns to be happy and to cry. She knows she is easily replaceable to NERV's mission. In being the recreation of Yui, she exists as how Gendo saw Yui. This version of Rei passes in sacrifice to destroy an angel.
Rei III - This is the final iteration of Rei seen in the series and End of Evangelion - and is the most expressive one yet. She knows what happened to the previous incarnations, but didn't live it herself. She's angry at the world, angry at Gendo, angry at Shinji, at everyone. She knows she's replaceable, but can't do anything about it but become indifferent to the changing environment.
Asuka Langley Sohryu
I take Asuka as my favorite for her relatability. She says what we're all thinking; and just like Shinji, she's just looking for affection. The main difference is that she refuses to admit that she needs help, for people to look at her, for people to appreciate everything she's sacrificed to get into her position. She holds herself to a standard of pride, never taking out the Interface Headset clips in her hair. She thinks she's grown up, but it's all the trauma that's forced her to become so mature against all odds.
Asuka holds a special place in my heart for some unexplainable reason, so I have to place her in the top position.
Anyways, that's my ranking of the main characters of Neon Genesis Evangelion. lol.
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