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Name: Rei Ayanami
Age: 14
Hair: Blue
Eyes: red
Race: cloned with Angel and human (Yui Ikari) DNA
Ayanami Rei 1 was born from science, with no real parents. She was the prduct
of cloning sciences that ahd received a jump start after the Second Impact,
where most of the human population was killed. Ikari Gendo is the closest thing
to a parent she has ever known. Ikari treated her as his own child, because
in many ways she was; he oversaw her creation, and molded her in the image of
his own dead wife, Ikari Shinji's mother. She is half Gendo, half his wife;
she is not aware of any entity that is "herself". Ayanami Rei died very shortly
after she was born, caught in the jealous rage of Dr. Akagi, the original creator
of the Magi super-computer system. Furious as Rei related various insults at
Dr. Akagi, which she had overheard from Gendo Ikari, Akagi stranged Rei to death
and jumped to her death at the bottom of the Nerv Testing Center. Rei was reborn
as Ayanami Rei 2, a shell with the memories of the First Ayanami Rei but lack
of total understanding of the nature of her death. Her deep seated respect for
Gendo remained; he was the only one she would ever fully open up to. Rei was
recreated solely to be pilot for Evangelion Unit 00, the second of the Evangelion
models to be constructed. The first Evangelion had obliterated itself as Nerv
scientists tried to fuse it with Angel technology. Unit 00 was imbued with the
essence of Dr. Akagi, and Nerv was unable to completely control this essence.
During a synchronization exercise, Unit 00 went berzerk with Rei inside it as
it tried desperately to break through it's supports and kill Gendo Ikari. As
Evangelion finally shut down and collapsed, Gendo Ikari pried the burning Entry
Plug open with his bare hands, leaving permanent marks on his palms. Rei was
badly injured, and was unable to pilot as the first Angel finally surfaced and
attacked the Geofront. She was spared the responsibility of fighting because
of the appearance of Ikari Shinji, the Second Children, pilot of Unit 01, and
son to Gendo Ikari. Rei 2 recovered, and began to fight along side Shinji and
Asuka Langley, pilot of Eva Unit 02. During one battle, her Eva unit was damaged
and had collapsed. Shinji, however, pried open the Entry Plug just as his father
did, bursting into tears when he found that Rei was uninjured. It was one of
the few times she would ever smile. It was demonstrated that Rei and Shinji
had some connection, perhaps even beyond that fo Gendo and Rei, although moreunderstated.
This was Rei's innder nature, the essence of Shinji's mother, manifesting itself.
Although Shinji was unaware of this, he may have subconciously suspected this;
it was Rei he always saw in his visions where he confronted his inner fears.
Rei, in a final, last ditch attempt, destroyed herself to save Shinji from a
dangerous Angel. Before she died, she said "I want to unite with Shinji-kun",
"Unite" meaning to marry/have sexual intercourse with. Ayanami's death remained
unknown to the others, however. gendo simply created another Ayanami Rei, and
placed her in the Nerv infirmary. When Shinji thanked her for saving him, and
asked if she remembered, Rei replied "I don't know. I think I am the third."
Later, Rei Merges with Lilith to cause the Third impact.
REI AYANAMI - comment no. 2
The First Child &
Pilot of EVA 00
Rei Ayanami was the first
EVA pilot to be "found" and has a strong connection to Gendo Ikari because when
EVA 00 furst overheated in a testing Gendo burned his hands saving her. She
rarely speaks and has problems dealing with Shinji who seems to be interested
in her as a friend if not more.
But Rei has committed her own sins. Once when Rei 1 (the first clone) encountered
Dr Akagi, Ritsuko's mother, she told her that Gendo called her "a useless, old
hag". In her anger Dr Akagi strangled Rei to death then comitted suicide. When
we begin Evangelion we are following the exploits of Rei 2.
However Rei is much more than anyone ever guessed. She is the result of the "Dummy Plug" program Gendo Ikari created: lifeless human clones who can be easily manipulated. the ultimate cannon fodder. That would explain her coldness and inability to express emotion but who was she cloned from? The series indicate she was hybrid clone of not on an Angel but also Yui Ikari, wife of Gendo and mother of Shinji. One such supporting incident occurs when Kaoru is battling Shinji and the bridge crew detects a powerful AT field not being generated by Kaoru, the only Angel believed to be in NERV HQ. But we glimpse Rei Ayanami watching on, her eyes red as an Angel's is. And in that same episode Kaoru tells Rei that "you and I are the same". And since Kaoru is an angel it can only mean one thing.
(Japanese Voice by Megumi Hayashibara, English Voice by Amanda Winn)
REI AYANAMI - comment no. 3
Also known as the first Children. She was the first chosen pilot for project
EVA.
She is perhaps the most interesting character in the series. She is an artificial
life created in a laboratory. Because of that, she does not have the emotions
that normal human beings take for granted. In contrast to the other characters
who tried to bury their emotions, she gradually developed her emotional self
throughout the series.
In the beginning of the series, she expressed little emotion and followed orders
explicitly like a robot. She spoke in a very terse and objective manner, bearing
little emotion: "An emergency call ...... I'll go first ..." she said to Shinji
in the third episode when Tokyo-3 was alerted to the presence of the 4th Angel.
Gendou showed concern and affection towards her by rescuing her from the plug
in episode 5, but she did not quite know what to make of it, yet she felt something
(She kept the cracked glasses of Gendou in her apartment). There was a similar
situation after the 5th Angel was neutralized in episode 6 when Rei almost got
killed: "Why are you crying? I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I don't know what to feel
at times like this..." she said. Shinji suggested that she should smile and
she did. There, she first showed a glimpse of emotion towards another. In episode
23, after self examination, she realized that perhaps she felt sad about being
alone. She was able to express emotion for the first time - crying.
Asuka called her a robot without autonomy. Because her life was artificially
created, she constantly questioned her own autonomy. Rei is an artificial soul
placed inside a shell. But Rei realized that her existence is real. During the
mutual compatibility test in episode 14, in EVA-01, Rei felt the presence of
another entity other than herself. Similarily, when the 16th Angel penetrated
her mind in episode 23, a separate entity in her own form appeared before her.
Through distinguishing herself from another being, she was able to identify
her own autonomy. Her history and interaction with other people makes her real
and shaped her into who she is today. Her feelings towards Gendou and Shinji
shaped her into who she is today. What was her is Rei. Like everyone else, she
grows and matures into the person she is.
Rei is not the only one who has to realize her own autonomy. In the final episode,
Shinji also learned this. Without other people, he cannot know his own form
or himself. Only through the existence of other people and comparing the differences
can he come to know himself.
A mystery that lingered is Rei's true identity. In episode 24, after Nagisa
descended to the Central Dogma, another AT field was detected for a brief moment
and disappeared. That was followed by a brief screenshot of Rei standing on
the fringe of the Central Dogma. That, together with Nagisa stating that he
and Rei were the same seemed to suggest that Rei could in fact be an Angel.
In addition, the second Angel was never mentioned in the series.