NERV  A secret agency of the United Nations, NERV was formed out of an earlier research project called Gehirn. Directed by Commander Gendo Ikari and overseen by a committee known as Seele, NERV has two purposes. One is the construction of the Evangelion robots. The other is something called the Human Enhancement Project. But, unbeknownst to Seele, Commander Ikari has his own secret agenda for these two interlinked projects...

 

Rei Ayanami  Identified in the Marduk Report as the First Child. First qualified pilot of an Evangelion. Designated pilot of Eva Unit 00. Her past history and records have been erased. Rei is a quiet girl who is virtually unable to express her emotions. She plays a mysterious key role in the secret projects and experiments of NERV. Quote:  "If I die, I can be replaced."

 

Asuka Langley Sohryu  The Second Child. Part German and part Japanese, Asuka has been trained as the pilot of Eva Unit 02, which was built by the Third Branch of NERV in Germany. Bold and aggressive on the outside, Asuka hides deep within herself her pain over the tragedy of her mother, who was the original pilot of Unit 02. Quote:  "Shinji, you idiot!"

 

Shinji Ikari  Lacks self-confidence. Afraid to get close to others. The Third Child. When Shinji was only 4, his mother, the original pilot of Unit 01, was "absorbed" into the robot in a lab accident. Shinji was abandoned by his father, Commander Ikari, who still has no personal interest in the boy: "I have a use for you." That use is to pilot Eva Unit 01. With no prior training or experience, Shinji must go out in Unit 01 and battle an Angel. Quote:  "I mustn't run away! I mustn't run away!!!"

 

Captain (later Major) Misato Katsuragi  Chief of Operations at NERV, she is in command of the Evangelions when they are sent forth to fight the Angels. Fifteen years ago in the Antarctic, her father's expedition discovered the First Angel and thereby unleashed worldwide catastrophe. Misato is the only surviving eyewitness of Second Impact. Quote:  "Let's eat! (Belch) Life doesn't get any better than this!"

 

The Third Angel  "After 15 years, the Angels are back." The military forces of the UN are powerless to defeat the Angel, which is advancing on Tokyo-3. "Conventional weapons are no use against an AT field." Not even the mushroom cloud of an N2 mine can stop the Angel... "The tank battalion has been wiped out!" As a last resort, the military turns to NERV. "What are you going to do?" --"Activate Unit 01." "But we have no pilot!" --"Not any more, we don't. Another spare is being delivered."

 

Eva Unit 01  Shinji is virtually dragged in off the street, to pilot Unit 01. "Am I... going to see my father?" Shinji has never seen anything like this giant robot before. "Is this my father's work?" Commander Ikari suddenly appears overhead: "Correct... I have a use for you." Misato: "But it took Rei Ayanami 7 months to synchronize with her Eva! He can't possibly pilot this thing-- he just got here!" Commander Ikari: "Fuyuzuki, wake up Rei." --"Can... can we use her?" "She's not dead yet." --"Understood." Commander Ikari: "Rei?" --"Yes?" "The spare is unusable. You will do it again." --"Yes, sir." Rei is wheeled in on a gurney, with an IV bag hanging overhead. In the end, Shinji agrees to pilot Unit 01, in place of the badly injured Rei.

 

Battle  Misato: "Don't get killed out there, Shinji." Due to Shinji's inexperience, the Angel almost demolishes Unit 01. "The head has sustained critical damage. We're having trouble maintaining activation. We've lost contact with the pilot. Unit 01 has gone completely silent." Then, inexplicably, Unit 01 reactivates. "My God! Berserker!" In a mad frenzy, the robot attacks. "The Eva's left arm is regenerating... It's tearing through the Angel's AT field like it wasn't there!" Unit 01 rends the Angel limb from limb. The Angel explodes like an atom bomb. "Is Unit 01...?" Out of the heart of the inferno slowly stalks the giant robot. Misato, in hushed tones of awe: "My God... Is that Eva's... true form?"

 

Touji Suzuhara  At first, he beat Shinji up, because Touji's sister had been injured in the battle between Unit 01 and the Third Angel. Later, Touji and Shinji became friends. Touji was eventually identified as the Fourth Child. He became the ill-fated pilot of the short-lived Unit 03. Commander Ikari:  "Reclassify Evangelion Unit 03 as the Thirteenth Angel! All Units, the target must be destroyed!" Shinji:  "Father, there's a pilot in there! A kid just like myself! I can't kill another human being, I'd rather die!"

 

Kaworu Nagisa  The Fifth Child, sent to NERV by Seele as a replacement pilot for Unit 02, after Asuka suffers a nervous breakdown when her mind is probed by an Angel. But then Kaworu, levitating in mid-air, begins his descent down the shaft toward Terminal Dogma, where Adam lies sleeping... Where, if an Angel comes in contact with Adam, the Third Impact will result, annihilating the human race... Vice-Commander Fuyuzuki:  "My God, Seele has sent us an Angel!"

 

Neon Genesis Evangelion images on this webpage used by permission of GAINAX Co., Ltd.