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Rei Ayanami
Neon Genesis Evangelion character
Created by	Hideaki Anno (series creator) Yoshiyuki Sadamoto (character designer)
Voiced by	Megumi Hayashibara (Japanese) Amanda Winn-Lee (English) Brina Palencia (Rebuild Of Evangelion, English)
Profile
Age	14
Gender	Female
Date of birth	Unknown multiple dates[1]

Rei Ayanami (綾波 レイ, Ayanami Rei^?) is a fictional character from the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise. She is the First Child (First Children in the Japanese version) and pilot of the Evangelion Unit 00.

At the beginning of the series, Rei is an enigmatic figure whose unusual behavior confounds her peers. As the series progresses, her personality evolves and she becomes more involved with the people around her, particularly her classmate and fellow Eva pilot Shinji Ikari. She is revealed to be a key factor in the events that conclude the storyline. Her role in this conclusion is not made clear in the TV series, but is one of the principal plot points of The End of Evangelion.

Contents 1 Origins and nature 2 Personality 2.1 Relationships 3 Clones and Dummy Plugs 4 Unit 00 5 Alternate continuities 5.1 Rebuild of Evangelion 5.2 Manga adaptation 5.3 Shinji Ikari Raising Project 5.4 Neon Genesis Evangelion: Angelic Days 5.5 Neon Genesis Evangelion: Gakuen Datenroku 5.6 Petit Eva: Evangelion@School 6 Character notes 7 Reception 8 See also 9 References

[edit] Origins and nature

No specific information is given about Rei's origin or heritage; what is presented in the series implies that she is not entirely human. Ritsuko Akagi states that Rei was born in a certain room deep in the lower levels of Nerv headquarters, but this is all that is explicitly revealed in the series about her creation.^[2] The Red Cross Book later stated that Rei was created from the "salvaged remains" of Yui Ikari after Yui's absorption into Unit 01 in 2004. The Rei/Yui connection is implied a few times during the series. Gendo introduces Rei to the Nerv staff in 2010 as an "acquaintance's child" whom he is temporarily taking care of. In episode 21, Naoko Akagi says that Rei physically resembles Yui. The character model used in the 2010 scenes is based on development materials in which her age is only 4.^[3]

As with the specifics of her creation, the reasons for her existence are not explicitly revealed, Kaworu Nagisa cryptically mentions in their only conversation that she is "the same" as him.^[4] This statement was expanded in the "director's cut" of the episode, in which Kaworu goes on to say that he and Rei are human vessels for the souls of Adam and Lilith, respectively. Later in the episode, she generates an external AT field which is as strong as Kaworu's. In a pseudo-hallucinatory scene in episode 25, "Gendo" tells "Rei" that the day of Third Impact is the day for which she was created. In The End of Evangelion, she plays an important role in Third Impact, although not in the fashion that was intended by Gendo.

In the final episode of Neon Genesis Evangelion, the audience is introduced to a pseudo-hallucinatory alternate reality, with a different Rei. This Rei's personality is completely different, and her behavior is more "normal" (for example, she shows embarrassment and anger when she thinks Shinji looked up her skirt, in stark contrast to her emotionless reaction to the incident with Shinji in episode 5). The Evangelion spin-off manga Neon Genesis Evangelion: Angelic Days is set in this alternate universe, and its version of Rei is a central character.

[edit] Personality

"Whatever else, she needs to be painted in as a bitterly unhappy young girl with little sense of presence." Hideaki Anno, to Yoshiyuki Sadamoto on Rei's character design^[5]

At the start of the series, Rei is socially withdrawn, seemingly emotionless, and rarely interacts with anyone, except for Gendo, to whom she initially displays loyalty but with whom she has a generally distant relationship (she says in episode 15 that she "doesn't know what kind of person he is"). She lives by herself in a drab, dingy, sparsely-furnished apartment in Tokyo-3, a clutter of books being her only apparent luxury items (assuming they are not, in fact, schoolbooks). Toward the end of the series, Shinji comments that her apartment is very similar to the place where Ritsuko says Rei was born. Rei's neutral personality and emotionless nature arouse the scorn of Asuka Langley Soryu, who at one point refers to her as a "doll" or "puppet." Rei is, in many ways, the exact opposite of Asuka. While Asuka is extroverted, Rei is introverted. Also, Asuka is extremely boastful and overly proud of her accomplishments, while Rei constantly states her life has little value. Their appearances are also, in ways, inverses of each other (Rei has short blue hair and red eyes, while Asuka has long reddish-blond hair and blue eyes).

"An emotional change causes certain muscles in the face to tense, producing an "expression". Rei is expressionless but is it that she doesn't feel emotion, or that she is merely unable to express it?" Yoshiyuki Sadamoto on Rei [emphasis in original].^[6]

As the series progresses, she begins to develop relationships with others and to show moments of genuine emotion,^[7] to even become sad and cry.^[8]

It is implied in episode 19 that Rei does not dream. When Shinji is unconscious in a hospital Asuka says he must be dreaming, and Rei is confused about what Asuka is referring to.

[edit] Relationships

Shortly before Shinji's arrival at Nerv, Rei was involved in a Unit 00 activation test that ended in disaster. She was severely injured during this test, and Gendo burned his hands on the entry plug while opening it to "rescue" her. Afterward, she kept a pair of his glasses (which had been warped and cracked by heat from the entry plug) as a souvenir and developed something of a loyalty toward him. She even slapped Shinji for his negative remarks about Gendo as a father. However, her loyalty to Gendo erodes over the series as she witnesses his interactions with Shinji. She disobeys Gendo's orders on a few occasions, yet still says near the end of the series that she'd obey an order from him to kill herself. In fact, the only way in which she disobeys combat orders is by endangering her life. In The End of Evangelion, by the day on which Third Impact occurs, her loyalty toward Gendo has disappeared completely. She crushes the melted pair of glasses, then betrays Gendo by sabotaging his plan for Instrumentality.

In the early episodes, Rei is as indifferent to Shinji as she is with her other classmates, while Shinji is puzzled by her. His first attempts at trying to get to know her fail miserably,^[9] but their relationship begins to grow after the battle against Ramiel, when Shinji risks life and limb to rescue her in the same manner that Gendo did. Rei slowly grows closer to Shinji as the series progresses, though their classmates seem to think that their feelings are obvious to everyone except themselves; Rei doesn't realize that she cares about Shinji until Toji Suzuhara tells her. She later realizes that Shinji is the only person to whom she has ever said "thank you". Also, the only time Rei panics is when she is ordered to retreat when Shinji was absorbed by Leliel and later glares at Asuka for badmouthing him which shows that Shinji is important to her. Their association lasts until the battle against the Angel Armisael.^[10] The Angel partially fuses with Rei and communicates with her, then attempts to fuse with Shinji; however, Rei self-destructs her Eva to kill the Angel and save Shinji. The Rei that Shinji meets after the battle with Armisael is a new Rei clone, replacing the one that dies in the battle; however, the new Rei maintains some form of affection for Shinji as evidenced by her actions in The End of Evangelion. In The End of Evangelion, after Rei absorbs Adam into her body, she says, "I can hear Ikari's heart calling out to me/Ikari is calling me" before she merges with Lilith. Rei also appears to Shinji in two brief scenes which essentially bookend the original Evangelion anime franchise, once in episode 1 and once near the conclusion of The End of Evangelion, after the end of Third Impact. In both scenes, Rei is seen at a distance looking at Shinji for a brief instant, then apparently vanishes.

When Asuka arrives in Tokyo-3 and speaks to Rei for the first time, she demands becoming friends "because it would be convenient," to which Rei remarks that she would if ordered to. Asuka repeatedly jokes about and pries into Rei and Shinji's relationship, and displays jealousy over their growing connection. Also, during Asuka and Shinji's training to stop Israfel, Asuka is angered when Rei and Shinji effortlessly perform the synchronized dance routine that she and Shinji are having difficulty with. In the English script she also frequently calls Rei "Wondergirl" in a sarcastic manner. Toward the end of the series, Asuka views Rei as an obedient, emotionless doll, and hates Rei as such because of extremely traumatic childhood events, one involving a doll. However, Rei still attempts to help Asuka by advising her about her Eva and later rescuing her from Arael. This only damages Asuka's ego and makes her hate Rei even more.

Rei is even less connected with Toji Suzuhara than she is with Shinji or Asuka, and early in the series Toji and Kensuke tell Shinji that while they know of Rei they know nothing about her, and that she doesn't interact with anyone. However, it is Toji who first tells Rei that she seems to be attracted to Shinji. Later, in the fight against the Angel-possessed Eva Unit 03 piloted by Toji, Rei's normally detached personality seems to give way somewhat. Unlike Shinji, who directly refused to attack Unit 03 because Toji was trapped inside, Rei does not outright refuse to attack. However, because attacking would mean possibly killing Toji, Rei hesitates to shoot Unit 03 when it is in her gunsights; this moment of hesitation gives Unit 03/Bardiel an opening to overpower Unit 00, nearly killing Rei.

Like Asuka, Ritsuko does not view Rei as a person, and feels that Gendo somehow rejected her in favor of Rei. Her jealousy becomes thinly veiled hatred towards Rei, and she vents her anger by destroying the Rei clones.^[11] As with Asuka, Rei does not express any animosity toward her.

Rei has only two conversation with Kaworu so far.(not counting the images of them both with Shinji in The End of Evangelion) The first conversation occured in her second body, in which, she regarded his response as they were not the same people although they were created similararly. The second conversation was an attempt by Kaworu to opened up Rei's memory by repeating what she said to him in the first converstion

In the film Rebuild of Evangelion, Rei has not had many drastic changes made to her personality or screen time. The only new sequences featuring Rei are alternate versions of Shinji's train dream sequences. These two sequences better help show Shinji's troubled mind during the narrative of the film and also helps show that there exists a deeper bond between Shinji and Rei than first suspected when they hold hands.

[edit] Clones and Dummy Plugs

Rei is shown spending unknown lengths of time in an LCL-filled tube underneath a structure resembling a giant brain in the Dummy System room, the reasons for which are not revealed. The circular wall of this room is originally depicted as being covered with DNA sequences, but near the end of the series, it is revealed to be an LCL-filled tank in which dozens of soulless clones of Rei are held. The clones are said by Ritsuko to be the cores of the dummy plugs; she also refers to them as "spare parts" and later as "vessels" for Rei. Rei herself, in heavy bandages after the battle against Armisael, but possessing neither memories nor injuries from the battle, says "I think I must be the third one". The movie pamphlet states she can be replaced entirely, with her soul being transferred to a new clone body every time she dies. Other supporting evidence in the anime include her earlier line that "if I die, I can be replaced."

This explanation holds that:

• Rei I - the very first clone, is murdered by Naoko Akagi in 2010 (as shown in Episode 21)
• Rei II - who may not have appeared until as late as 2014 (when she is transferred to Tokyo-3's Class 2-A), is the clone of Rei introduced in the first episode and who appears in most episodes of the series. She dies when she sacrifices herself and Unit 00 to destroy Armisael in episode 23.
• Rei III - is the version seen from the second half of episode 23 through to The End of Evangelion.

These different incarnations are commonly referred to as "Rei I," "Rei II," and "Rei III," after episodes and musical pieces with the same names. In episode 23, the controller that Ritsuko uses to destroy the clones lists numbered clones from "Rei 004" and upwards.

In The End of Evangelion, a shining figure of Rei is shown for a few frames looking down at Misato and Ritsuko moments before they die. These spectral images also appear over the corpses of the slain Nerv personnel.

[edit] Unit 00

As a pilot, Rei's synchronization ratios are unspecified, but are normally not as high as Asuka's or Shinji's. While aspects of Yui Ikari and Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu's personalities (their "souls") are absorbed into Unit 01 and Unit 02 respectively during activation tests, Rei has no known mother and Unit 00 is not known to have been part of any contact experiments, thus raising questions about whose soul is in Unit 00. No official statement has been made regarding this issue by the series' creators, but the series hints that the soul is directly related to Rei in some way. During the mutual compatibility experiment in episode 14, Shinji encounters a distorted image of Rei (this image also appears in episode 25, and is identified in the episode's script, available in the Japanese Renewal DVD set, as Rei I). During the activation test which was depicted in episode 5, Unit 00 struck a window which Gendo was standing behind; in episode 14, it goes out of control in the same fashion and strikes a window which Rei herself is standing behind. After the second incident, Misato questions why Unit 00 went berserk. Ritsuko tells Misato she has no idea, but thinks to herself that she is certain that she was targeted by the Eva.

[edit] Alternate continuities

[edit] Rebuild of Evangelion

Currently, as far as Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone goes, Rei has not shown much change from her previous incarnation. The most drastic change is after the battle with Ramiel when Shinji smiles at her, she does not see a flash of Gendo Ikari and in this version at least, is genuinely smiling at Shinji. In Rebuild 2.0 her character starts to develop more and her relationship with Shinji is shown much more openly than in the original series. She attempts to host a dinner party for her fellow pilots and is shown to work very hard when preparing the food. During the climax she is devoured along with unit 00 by Zeruel. When unit 01 goes berserk Shinji is shown forcing his way into the angel and pulling her out and the two embrace each other. At the end of the film they are both trapped within Unit-01.

[edit] Manga adaptation

In this manga, Rei is somewhat more "human", in the sense that she responds to human contact more readily. Shinji's interactions with her are implied as the main reason of her change; by the time of the battle with the Angel Armisael, it is strongly hinted that Rei is in love with Shinji. Shinji reciprocates this affection to some degree, but is unsure of what he feels for Rei and where their relationship is going. In volume 9, he acknowledges that the gap between them has been considerably reduced since they first met; still, he hopes that this gap can be reduced further. Her desire to be recognized as a person, rather than as a "doll," puts her in some awkward, even dangerous situations. At one point, Ritsuko tries to strangle her when she talks back to the doctor.

In the battle against Armisael, when the Angel communicates with Rei, it forces her to realize that she does want Shinji for herself and is angry at Asuka for drawing Shinji's attention away. As in the anime, she self-destructs Unit 00 to destroy the Angel. However, it's hinted that the "new" Rei still has some residual memories, unlike her anime counterpart, as she wonders to herself why she is alive again after returning to her quarters. As she ponders this, she picks up Gendo's glasses and squeezes them almost to the point of breaking.

[edit] Shinji Ikari Raising Project

In this series, Rei is a distant relative of Shinji's (from Yui's side of the family, in homage to the original). She's the first person the reader sees as she comes to Tokyo-3.

Here, she's portrayed as an intelligent girl (on par with Asuka in the series) and appears of having emotions,as opposed to her original counterpart. However, due to her unhappy childhood, she's also somewhat cold to others. In another homage to the series, Shinji again sees her stepping out of the shower naked. This time, however, she gave the boy a cold smile before adding a tight slap which sent him to the floor.

Later on, her relationship with Shinji gradually warmed, which Asuka felt was a "threat" of sorts. Interestingly, she even invited the boy to shop for a swimsuit with her (for a beach outing), much to his embarrassment. She's also the first person shown in this series to wear a plug-suit.

[edit] Neon Genesis Evangelion: Angelic Days

In Angelic Days, Rei is a transfer student to Shinji's school. Her personality is notably very different from her incarnations in the anime, Sadamoto's adaption, and Shinji Ikari Raising Project, and mirrors the one she has in Girlfriend of Steel 2 and the alternate reality from the final episode of the original series. She is an easily excitable extrovert, but socially inept and unaware of everyday social conventions. She takes a liking to Shinji and confides her feelings in Asuka.

[edit] Neon Genesis Evangelion: Gakuen Datenroku

This version of Rei, while still distant, seems more expressive than other versions. She is a student at Shinji's school and is apparently his love interest. She leads a secret life, working as a "Shamash Guardian" for a group hidden in the school and dedicated to fighting against Angels. Rei wields the Lance of Longinus in combat. She has shown more emotion than most other versions of the character, such as shock at the discovery of Shinji's powers and boredom while reading a textbook. She is known in her class as being attractive but gloomy, and is also apparently very eccentric. She is very fond of a horse's head mask she had to wear for a Christmas pageant and was quite happy (in contrast to her usual personality) when she was allowed to keep it. She gets along with Asuka much better than in other versions.

[edit] Petit Eva: Evangelion@School

In Petit Eva: Evangelion@School, three different versions of Rei exist, and all live together as sisters. The three Rei sisters use a different numbering system. Rei I is the 'normal' Rei, shown in her standard school uniform. Rei II is the 'alternate reality' Rei, from Shinji's imagined world where Rei was a normal girl, shown in a different school uniform. Rei III is the 'child' Rei, basically the first Rei from the normal Evangelion universe prior to her death, who carries various toys and dolls. Rei I's personality is fairly distant, but responds more readily to everyone, especially Shinji. Rei II's personality is very excitable. Rei III is child-like, and cries when she does not get her way or is bullied.

[edit] Character notes

Like many of Evangelion's characters, Ayanami's surname comes from a Japanese WWII naval vessel, the Fubuki class destroyer Ayanami. The exact meaning of the name is intentionally unclear, but is supposedly a reference to the Sailor Moon character Rei Hino^[12]. It is also notable that the Japanese word "rei" can mean "zero" (零^?) , as well as "spirit/ghost" (霊^?),"cool/cold" (冷^?), or "actor".

[edit] Reception

Frenchy Lunning has described Rei as being Shinji's anima.^[13] Rei Ayanami's success as a character, according to Hiroki Azuma, became a catalyst in the anime industry to shift away from storytelling and towards depicting characters with moe-inspiring traits.^[14][15] As Rei became a more prominent character among fans, she "changed the rules" governing what people regarded as moe-inspiring. The industry then created many characters which share her traits of pale skin, blue hair and a "quiet personality". Azuma regards Ruri Hoshino of Martian Successor Nadesico as being directly influenced by Rei.^[16] IGN ranked Rei 10th in "Top 25 Anime Characters of All Time" with writer Chris Mackenzie noting Rei to be one of the most influential character in anime series, but he still commented that she was different from similar characters since "She's a mystery we never really solve, when you think about it."^[17] In the survey "friendship" developed by rankingjapan.com in which people had to choose what anime character they would like to have as a friend, Rei ranked 9th.^[18] While reviewing the films Rebuild of Evangelion, writers from Anime News Network commented on Rei; while in the first title, Carlo Santos criticized that Rei's personality is the same as the one from the TV series, Justin Sevakis praised Rei's response to Shinji's kindness.^[19][20]

Sadamoto's design of the three female leads created extremely high sales of merchandise. Figurines of a bandaged Rei "were the most popular, outselling all else".^[21] Due to her popularity driving sales of merchandise, Rei was called the "Premium Girl" by the media.^[22])

[edit] See also

[edit] References

v • d • e Neon Genesis Evangelion Franchise Neon Genesis Evangelion (manga) (Chapters) • Neon Genesis Evangelion (TV anime) (Episodes) • Evangelion: Death and Rebirth • The End of Evangelion • Angelic Days • Petit Eva: Evangelion@School • Rebuild of Evangelion (1.0 You Are (Not) Alone · 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance) • Gakuen Datenroku Video games Ayanami Raising Project • Shinji Ikari Raising Project • Iron Maiden (2nd) • Neon Genesis Evangelion • Shinji and Good Friends • Evangelion 2 • Battle Orchestra Music Songs "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" • "Fly Me to the Moon" • "Komm, süsser Tod" • "Beautiful World" Albums Neon Genesis Evangelion • II • III • Addition • The End of Evangelion • Death • ~refrain~ The songs were inspired by Evangelion • Evangelion-VOX • Evangelion Symphony • S² Works • Evangelion: The Birthday of Rei Ayanami • Music from "Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone" • Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone Original Sound Track • Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance Original Sound Track Characters Shinji Ikari • Rei Ayanami • Asuka Langley Soryu • Misato Katsuragi • Ritsuko Akagi • Gendo Ikari • Ryoji Kaji • Kaworu Nagisa • Toji Suzuhara • Yui Ikari Glossary Evangelion • Angel • Human Instrumentality Project • Timeline Neon Genesis Evangelion portal