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"Mature Content!" |
| “ | You won't die. Because I'll protect you. | „ |
| ~ Rei Ayanami |
Rei Ayanami is one of the main characters of the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise. Introduced as a mysterious, aloof girl that is one of the pilots of the EVAs, she is gradually revealed to be a clone of Shinji's mother, Yui Ikari.
Gendo created her for the purpose of putting the soul of Llith into, the progenitor of humanity into after defeating all of the Angels, so that he could one day use her power to initiate Third Impact and cause a reversible version of human instrumentality in order to re-unite with his wife and fulfill her dream and counter SEELE's plans for a permanent version of instrumentality. Rei is revealed to also have multiple clones for back-up in case her body is destroyed or she is killed, which happens twice in the series, which are later destroyed by Ritsuko in a fit of rage.
In End of Evangelion, she rejects Gendo's offer and fuses with the body of Lilith and allows Shinji to choose what to do. Shinji, in grief and despair from the loss of Kaworu, Asuka and Misato, chooses to annihilate humanity for failing to understand him, which the creature that Rei has fused into agrees to, before Shinji rejects instrumentality, with Rei allowing her physical body to be killed and allowing lifeform to physically re-manifest themselves. She is last seen at the end having her consciousness intact, despite her body being destroyed, staring at Shinji in the distance.
She is voiced by Megumi Hayashibara in Japanese. In the original English dub by ADV Films, she is voiced by Amanda Winn-Lee. In The Rebuild of Evangelion films, she is voiced by Brina Palencia. In the Netflix dub, she is voiced by Ryan Bartley.
Her Good Ranking[]
What Makes Her Admirable?[]
- She pilots the EVAs that protect humanity from annihilation from the angels.
- Goes out of her way to save Shinji and Asuka's lives multiple times, including risking her own life.
- Despite her sometimes cold and off-putting behavior, she is generally polite and well-spoken to most people.
- Unlike Shinji and Asuka, who primarily piloted the EVAs for the sake of emotional validation, she pilots the EVAs for the selfless motivation of protecting humanity and her loyalty to Gendo.
- In Episode 23, she sacrifices herself in order to save Shinji from Armisael, after which Gendo puts her into a new clone body with no memories.
- Despite her lack of memories, she feels an instinctive care towards Shinji, and over the course of the series ferments an increasing rage towards Gendo towards his mistreatment of both him and herself, cultimating in her going against his plans and betraying him, allowing Shinji himself to choose what happens.
- When Shinji desires to initiate instrumentality, Rei pleads with him not go through with it.
- Despite causing instrumentality, she allows her physical body (as Lilith) to be killed without putting up any resistance, and reverses it to allow lifeforms to return to their physical forms if they will themselves to do so.
- Meets Shinji upon the beach, staring silently at him while floating atop the water to demonstrate she still remembers and cares about him.
- While not her intention, she ultimately manages to help fulfill Yui and Gendo's intended goal of a reversible third impact that would go contrary to SEELE's goals.
What Makes Her Inconsistent?[]
- She can sometimes be cold and aloof to the point of being rude to people, demonstrated when she slaps Shinji across the face for making a very fair insult of Gendo, or insulting Shinji for not understanding Gendo even though he had almost caused Toji's death. This is partially a result of her being raised by Gendo and not having many social skills, so this is a minor prevention.
- After fusing with Lilith, she caused Human Instrumentality because Shinji asked her to, despite initially trying to convince Shinji not to go through with it. She then turned every human on the planet into LCL while merging their minds into one being. While Lilith was primarily in control of the hybrid, there was no indication that Rei had put up any resistance over their actions until the deed was done. And while it was reversed, it still caused an enormous amount of damage to the world to the point that it will not be the same for a long time, if ever. Due to the sheer scale and heinousness of the Third Impact, this is too corrupting for her to be NPG.
Trivia[]
- Rei Ayanami is, so far, one of the two Inconsistently Admirables in Neon Genesis Evangelion, alongside Shinji Ikari.
External Links[]
- Rei Ayanami on the Heroes Wiki
- Rei Ayanami on the Evangelion Wiki
- Rei Ayanami on the Inconsistently Heinous Wiki