Rei Ayanami (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
instrumentally) wrote2021-05-30 08:30 pm
instrumentally) wrote2021-05-30 08:30 pm
Entry tags:
I. Character Application (Victory Road)
Name: Rei Ayanami (II)
Series: Neon Genesis Evangelion
Timeline: Episode 23
Canon Resource Links: The Deep Mysteries of EVA
Affiliation: Breeder
Personality:
Rei Ayanami is almost impossible to define, mainly because she refuses to do any defining at all. Speaking with her is often an uncomfortable experience. Rei barely talks, almost never blinks, and has subdued and flat expressions whenever she has expressions at all. When Shinji broke into her room and accidentally copped a feel, Rei showed absolutely no reaction whatsoever. Unless you're paying very close attention, Rei's thoughts and feelings are a complete mystery.
It is therefore easy to assume Rei does not have them. Indeed, she spends almost the entirety of her screen time following orders without complaint. She appears close to Gendo Ikari, even shown smiling while interacting with him, and every single combat order is followed with speed. She first appears literally covered head to toe in bandages. When Gendo threatens to send her into battle if Shinji won't comply, she attempts to stand and obey the order. No matter how terrifying or horrifying the circumstances, or the fact that her EVA unit has a tendency towards going completely berserk, she does what she is told and seems to take pride in it.
Because she doesn't speak very much, the words she does say make a big impact. Rei comes across as extremely blunt, even if that isn't her intention, because she does not disguise her speech with any sort of politeness. Interacting with Asuka for more than a minute leads to Asuka completely flipping a shit at her because Rei won't talk enough for her. She's prone to calmly dissecting the people she interacts with, with pinpoint accuracy to boot. Her flat affect does her no favors. Her observations sound like judgment, and her statements are easy to interpret as insults. Sometimes she even means them as insults, as passive aggressive behavior is one of the few ways she has of demonstrating her displeasure.
Rei doesn't speak very often, so when she does, it bears the weight of thought behind it. Rei is always thinking. When we hear her narrate the first recap episode, it's full of weighty metaphors about her situation and her observations of all the characters she's met thus far. She thinks in terms of images and separate pieces, which she then combines into a whole. Apart from Gendo himself, she knows the most about his plans, as she is critical to almost all of them. The single most important thing to know about Rei Ayanami that if you listen to her, she will tell you everything you need to know. You just have to be listening. One of her very first lines is the admission that "if she dies, she can be replaced." This turns out to be one hundred percent literally true. In fact, the reason she’s so attached to Gendo initially is because she almost died and he didn’t replace her when her test of the EVA malfunctioned.
Rei’s many issues are caused, almost entirely, by being a horrible abomination who should not exist. She knows it, too. She’s kept deliberately isolated from others, so she has no idea what emotions are or how to show them. She has died before, and it’s highly implied that this soul is currently residing in her EVA unit. Notably, she died as a child when she insulted Naoki Akagi, which would explain why her second form is almost compulsively deferential to others.
Particularly Gendo. The first emotion she shows in the series is anger, when she slaps Shinji for insulting him. Still, it’s worth noting that Rei forms strong connections to others, almost despite herself, and she changes through them. She is unable to destroy the EVA with Toji in it because he was kind to her earlier, and she sacrifices herself to save Shinji Ikari because of the kindness he’s shown to her throughout the entire series. When the 16th Angel makes contact with her mind, it breaks her down and forces her to confront her deep and endless loneliness.
The destruction of all her clones is quite possibly the best thing that's ever happened to her. Her willingness to put up with Gendo's bullshit reduces to about .02 seconds, and after a pep talk from Kaworu shortly before his death, comes to embrace free will and overthrow Gendo's evil plan by kicking control over it to Shinji, and then proceeds to talk Shinji out of the ensuing nervous breakdown. She still thinks of herself as a crime against nature, and doesn’t view herself as having any additional worth or value, but she does gain the ability to make choices. They aren’t futile if they can’t be erased this time. She’s learned in even the smallest possible way that she is only herself.
Series: Neon Genesis Evangelion
Timeline: Episode 23
Canon Resource Links: The Deep Mysteries of EVA
Affiliation: Breeder
Personality:
Rei Ayanami is almost impossible to define, mainly because she refuses to do any defining at all. Speaking with her is often an uncomfortable experience. Rei barely talks, almost never blinks, and has subdued and flat expressions whenever she has expressions at all. When Shinji broke into her room and accidentally copped a feel, Rei showed absolutely no reaction whatsoever. Unless you're paying very close attention, Rei's thoughts and feelings are a complete mystery.
It is therefore easy to assume Rei does not have them. Indeed, she spends almost the entirety of her screen time following orders without complaint. She appears close to Gendo Ikari, even shown smiling while interacting with him, and every single combat order is followed with speed. She first appears literally covered head to toe in bandages. When Gendo threatens to send her into battle if Shinji won't comply, she attempts to stand and obey the order. No matter how terrifying or horrifying the circumstances, or the fact that her EVA unit has a tendency towards going completely berserk, she does what she is told and seems to take pride in it.
Because she doesn't speak very much, the words she does say make a big impact. Rei comes across as extremely blunt, even if that isn't her intention, because she does not disguise her speech with any sort of politeness. Interacting with Asuka for more than a minute leads to Asuka completely flipping a shit at her because Rei won't talk enough for her. She's prone to calmly dissecting the people she interacts with, with pinpoint accuracy to boot. Her flat affect does her no favors. Her observations sound like judgment, and her statements are easy to interpret as insults. Sometimes she even means them as insults, as passive aggressive behavior is one of the few ways she has of demonstrating her displeasure.
Rei doesn't speak very often, so when she does, it bears the weight of thought behind it. Rei is always thinking. When we hear her narrate the first recap episode, it's full of weighty metaphors about her situation and her observations of all the characters she's met thus far. She thinks in terms of images and separate pieces, which she then combines into a whole. Apart from Gendo himself, she knows the most about his plans, as she is critical to almost all of them. The single most important thing to know about Rei Ayanami that if you listen to her, she will tell you everything you need to know. You just have to be listening. One of her very first lines is the admission that "if she dies, she can be replaced." This turns out to be one hundred percent literally true. In fact, the reason she’s so attached to Gendo initially is because she almost died and he didn’t replace her when her test of the EVA malfunctioned.
Rei’s many issues are caused, almost entirely, by being a horrible abomination who should not exist. She knows it, too. She’s kept deliberately isolated from others, so she has no idea what emotions are or how to show them. She has died before, and it’s highly implied that this soul is currently residing in her EVA unit. Notably, she died as a child when she insulted Naoki Akagi, which would explain why her second form is almost compulsively deferential to others.
Particularly Gendo. The first emotion she shows in the series is anger, when she slaps Shinji for insulting him. Still, it’s worth noting that Rei forms strong connections to others, almost despite herself, and she changes through them. She is unable to destroy the EVA with Toji in it because he was kind to her earlier, and she sacrifices herself to save Shinji Ikari because of the kindness he’s shown to her throughout the entire series. When the 16th Angel makes contact with her mind, it breaks her down and forces her to confront her deep and endless loneliness.
The destruction of all her clones is quite possibly the best thing that's ever happened to her. Her willingness to put up with Gendo's bullshit reduces to about .02 seconds, and after a pep talk from Kaworu shortly before his death, comes to embrace free will and overthrow Gendo's evil plan by kicking control over it to Shinji, and then proceeds to talk Shinji out of the ensuing nervous breakdown. She still thinks of herself as a crime against nature, and doesn’t view herself as having any additional worth or value, but she does gain the ability to make choices. They aren’t futile if they can’t be erased this time. She’s learned in even the smallest possible way that she is only herself.