Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Hearts & Minds ❯ Introduction (a quick summary) ( Prologue )

Note: I do not own the characters or major themes in this story they are owned by GAINAX. This is a fan-fiction, no income can/will be generated in its distribution, it is simply a tribute to a great series.

INTRODUCTION

If you are familiar with the series do not read this intro!! Go onto chapter one, the intro below is for people who are unfamiliar only, and as this are my interpretations many people may not agree…

But I had to explain somehow, so its your choice… enjoy!! :)

For those who are not familiar with the series, a quick summary.

Firstly a general note; Evangelion is a Mecha series ( i.e. it is an excuse to have people pilot massive human like robots in combat.) However, moving Evangelion above many similar series is its complicated background and deep storyline. Borrowing heavily from Christian beliefs there are many religious references and themes throughout the series, culminating in the in depth analysis of the human condition. Twisted, but a lot of fun.

Background.

The overall story begins at an unknown time with a secret organisation called SEELE (German for soul) my interpretation is that this organisation is an ancient religious order of sorts, interested only in bringing humanity to one point, to being one with, or equal to, god. They are a very organised, very intelligent secretive organisation. They are heavily financed, influencing all levels of power the world over, seemingly guiding humanity as they see fit.

They don't appear to be of any denomination or race. Relying heavily on science to achieve their goals, the organisation views science as being the means to achieving their ultimate goal.

With the appearance of the dead-sea scrolls the organisation takes a new direction. Unknown to the general public the dead sea scrolls were more then just a historical document, they contain the `entire history' of man, from start to end, the end now having a name, human instrumentality. The organisation interprets this `human instrumentality' as the realisation of their goals and mobilise their considerable resources to bring about the events as set out, or planed, in the dead sea scrolls.

The main characters in this story are three young adults, all 14 years of age, they are the pilots of the robots known as Evangelions, or Evas for short (these being about 70m tall).

Shinji Ikari is the main character. He is a shy introverted young man, who simply does what he is told, apparently with no free will of his own. He is racked by abandonment issues regarding his father, who he does not know. He appears to be a caring individual, but can become aggressive when provoked, his main problem is his low self-esteem.

Soryo Asuka Langley, or simply Asuka, is a fellow pilot. She is a beautiful young woman, having already achieved a university degree she is immensely skillful in everything that she does. She is also boisterous and arrogant, covering her uncertain feelings about her past with a massive façade, guarding it aggressively. She lives to be the best at what she chooses to do, and she has chosen to be an Eva pilot.

Rei Ayanami is the last main character. Who, from a very young age, has been effectively cut off from the outside world. She is a quite and careful individual, though very naive in some matters, simply following orders and appearing to have no emotions at all. She is rightfully compared by Asuka to a china doll, cold and unfeeling. She lives alone.

The other main characters in the story include:

Gendo Ikari: Shinjis father, he is a cold calculating man driven by an unknown desire. Shortly after his wife's death in an experiment with the Evas, he sent his son (then 4) to live with relatives, having little to do with him from then on. Gendo is the head of an organisation called NERV (German from nerve) which is a subsidiary under the control of SEELE and its aims include helping to achieve instrumentality through the use of the Evas.

Misato Katsuraki: Misato is Shinjis and Asukas guardian in Tokyo 3 (the HQ of NERV) the two of them living with her in her apartment. She is also the tactical operations head at NERV, holding a rank of captain. Young and vigorous, she is a brilliant tactician, driven to destroy the believed enemy of this story, the creatures designated Angels. This desire is due to her traumatic experiences as a child. A professional at work, she is however a caring individual to Shinji at home, as well as a bit of a slob.

Ritsuko Akagi: Is the head scientist at NERV. She is intimate with the many technical secrets of NERV but is not privy to all its secrets and objectives. A brilliant scientist she is committed to her work, looking after the Evas as well as the two core elements of NERV, the Magi computer system, and the key to the operation of the Evas, Rei Ayanami. With no time for much of a personal life she is good friends with Misato and, unknown to anyone else, is Gendo Ikaris lover.

Fuyuzuki: Is the second in command at NERV, an old acquaintance of Gendo Ikaris and his late wife Yui Ikari, he is always at Gendos side. He is Yuis old professor from university and is an accomplished scientist himself, though leaving most of the operation and maintenance to Ritsuko. Quite and direct, he is the only man other then Gendo who has a relatively clear idea about the objectives of SEELE.

Ryoji Kaji: Is a triple agent, working simultaneously for SEELE, NERV and the Japanese government. His only true allegiance is to himself and his desire to find the truth about second impact, a disastrous event involving an experiment with the first Angel Adam, which resulted in the destruction of Antarctica and the death of two thirds of the earths population. He also knows Misato and Ritsuko from University, being Misato's former lover, though the two having split some time ago.

Makoto, Shigeru and Maya: Are all head operational staff at NERV, they are all young professionals doing their job to help, they believe, mankind by destroying the angels.

Kensuka and Toji: Are Shinjis good friends from School, Toji's a typical jock, and Kensuka is a bit of a geek obsessing about military hardware.

Hikari: Is the class representative at the children's school and is a good friend of Asuka, strong and determined the two get on well. Hikari also has a crush on Toji.

Kaworu: Is the 17th angel, in the form of a boy Shinjis age, he possesses wisdom far beyond his looks. An open, loving individual he is sympathetic to all mankind, which he calls Lilin. He sacrifices himself in the end of the series to allow for mankind's continuation.

Mana Kirashim: Is a confident and caring girl. Totally lovely, she is loyal and moral. She is however originally spying on SEELE and NERV for another organisation. She does this by becoming close to Shinji, the two go out and soon develop feelings for each other, Mana confesses in the end and SEELE take her and her friends into custody.

Musashi and Keita: Are comrades of Mana. Musashi is confident and brash while Keita is quieter and thoughtful. They try to escape their organisation with Mana and end up in the custody of SEELE.

Important aspects to the story:

The enemies in this story are known as Angels, there are seventeen in total, they arrive one after the other around NERV HQ in Tokyo 3. It is not made clear where they come from, though it is known that they are almost 99% human and posses a soul.

Angels come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from an organic virus that is capable of taking over computer systems to a massive orbiting eye that drops pieces of itself on the planet below. Most angels take on relatively human or animal forms being about 70 m or so tall.

Each angel has a different weapon and means of attacking, though all have one thing in common, they posses an AT field. This Field makes them relatively impervious to conventional weapons.

The Angels aim is apparently to penetrate NERV HQ to get to the first Angel Adam, which is kept inside. This however is not always apparent in the story and the Angels true intention remains ambiguous, other then their obvious aim to destroy NERV and the Evas.

The Evas themselves are not truly robots but organic beings. Derived from the first angel Adam, they posses the ability to deploy the AT field, which allows them to attack the angels successfully.

The only people who can pilot the Evas successfully are ones born at the time of second impact, as this was 14 years ago, this explains the young age of the pilots. There are few people who can pilot Evas however, and only a couple of children are chosen, Rei being the first, Asuka the second, and Shinji the third.

Rei isn't actually human, or not entirely… Somewhat cloned for Yui, Shinjis dead mother, she is technically an Angel, something never stated but I would say heavily implied. Spawned from her are the dummy plugs or control mechanisms of the Evas, which allow the pilots to control the organic beings, or Evas. She is only marginally aware of what she is throughout the original story.

Asuka has had a traumatic childhood, her mother was in an accident at work, NERV second branch in Germany, when Asuka was about 5 years old, and seemingly lost her mind. Her mother refused to have any contact with her child, believing instead that a small doll she continually held, and spoke to, was the real Asuka. Trying to impress her mother Asuka succeeds in being selected as the second child designated to pilot the Evas, the young Asuka raced to tell her mother, only to find her hanging by the neck in her hospital room. A seriously disturbing event. This event galvanised her resolve into never needing anyone, and never crying again, and from this developed the need to be the best.

Shinji Ikari is a very reluctant pilot of the Evas, only doing so because he feels he is obliged to. Only continuing because he believes as an Eva pilot he is worth something.

The AT field turns out to be a barrier to the soul, it is on a different dimensional plane so can deflect physical force. The reason the Evas can generate the fields is because Shinjis and Asukas mothers souls are actually trapped in their respective Evas and are protecting them, something the pilots only discover at the end of the series.

The story begins with Shinji arriving in Tokyo 3 at the age of 14, it is the first time he has really met any of the other characters.

Important developments.

Throughout the story the young pilots and NERV fight the angels in many spectacular battles. Throughout this time the characters interact in many different ways.

Most important developments are:

Rei begins to care for Shinji, after he shows compassion to her throughout the first part of the series. However she is killed towards the end, and her reincarnated form has little to no memory of her past life.

Asuka and Shinji have a termaltuous relationship, everything from once kissing each other to almost physical violence. Asuka softens a bit and its obvious Shinji cares for Asuka, but in the end Asuka simply can't get past her need to be the best, and after she fails repeatedly in battle towards the end of the series she turns on him. Eventually Asuka mentally breaks down and slips into some type of comatose state.

Ritsuko begins to doubt herself and her position towards the end of the series, turning on Gendo she destroys the copies of Rei just after Reis last reincarnation, stopping any further reincarnations. Totally defeated, she nevertheless continues on.

Shinji is a total mess at the end of the series, having seen his friend Toji almost killed by his Evas hand, at that point temporarily on autopilot. He has also seen Asuka deteriorate into a mental coma, unable to cope with her defeats and the mental attack of the 15th angel. He is uncertain what Rei is, and her reincarnated form is no help. He has lost all faith in Gendo as a human being, and to top it all off just when he thought he found someone who understands him, and likes him for him, it turns out to be the 17th angel, Kaworu. Shinji has to kill his new friend to prevent the destruction of mankind. Poor bastard.

Important religious ideas.

Adam is the First angel, `discovered' (which I think may mean created) in the south-pole in the year 2000. It self-destructs/or is otherwise destroyed, causing second impact, but parts of it are obviously recovered. Later in the series you see it in its embryonic form, about the size of a dinner plate.

Evangelions or Evas are born from Adam. They need a soul to operate properly unless in the control of an Angel.

The three supercomputers that comprise the Magi are named after the three wise men.

The most powerful item or weapon in the series is known as the lance of Longinus, named after the spear that was placed into Jesus at the crucifixion.

My understanding is that the huge angle like creature known as Lilith (of unknown origin in the series) is kept in terminal dogma (another religious reference) and that Kaworu refers to humans as Lilin, implying we are born from Lilith. There are many many more religious references, but not necessary to elaborate on for this story.

Physiological aspects, and the events surrounding instrumentality.

Human instrumentality effectively means the return off all individual human consciousness' to the collective, effectively becoming one with god and bringing an end to humanity.

During many times in the series Shinji experiences different planes of consciousness due to his experiences in the Eva and with the angels, occasionally seeming to interact with an impartial version of himself as well as aspects of the people he knows. What he observes in this out of body experience is quite trippy, but also amazingly insightful.

The series ends with Shinjis experience during instrumentality. In the series it is not really explained how it occurs or why, but it occurs just after the battle against Kaworu. Shinji is effectively locked into one long out of body experience, he must analyse his life, his decisions and the person he is. Not liking what he hears Shinji originally recoils, but after working through the person he is, thanks in part to the people he has met, he comes to accept himself, and decides to return to a place that contains other individuals.

Assumptions and interpretations made for this story.

I'm assuming for this story that Kawura was forced to trigger third impact at the point of his death, though his actions allowed for the decision of human instrumentality to fall to Shinji. Who, through his experiences in the last two episodes, decides to come back to a place with different souls, thus effectively aborting the process of instrumentality.

Well that should be enough, enjoy the story!!