Rei Ayanami

Infobox animanga character
name = Rei Ayanami
series = Neon Genesis Evangelion


caption =
first =
last =
creator = Hideaki Anno (series creator)
Yoshiyuki Sadamoto (character designer)
voiced by = Megumi Hayashibara (Japanese)
Amanda Winn Lee (English)
nickname = Wonder Girl (by Asuka)
alias =
age = 14
gender = Female
born = Unknown multiple datesIn the anime, her birth date is explicitly said to be unknown; the birthday misconceived to be official by some fans (March 30, 2001) is actually the birthday of - and suggested by - her seiyu Megumi Hayashibara. The album "" was released on that date, Hayashibara's 34th birthday.]
death = Multiple
title =
relatives = Implied to be a clone of Yui Ikari; hosts the soul of Lilith

nihongo|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 .

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".

Origins and nature

Rei's origin and heritage are left deliberately unspecified, and there is evidence that she might not even be 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. 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. In episode 15, Shinji tells Rei that she acted "like a mother", and in episode 24 he compares his father's manipulation of her to his manipulation of Yui. In episode 21, Naoko Akagi says that Rei physically resembles Yui. Rei and Yui also have the same seiyū and English voice actresses, and similar pageboy haircuts.

Gendo introduces Rei to the Nerv staff in 2010 as an "acquaintance's child" whom he is temporarily taking care of. However, there is evidence that he probably created her and almost certainly named her; he said when his wife Yui was pregnant with Shinji that he would have named the child "Rei" if it had been a girl. The character model used in the 2010 scenes is based on development materials in which her age is only 4 [cite book |title=Neon Genesis Evangelion, Newtype 100% Collection |origdate=1997-02-28 |publisher=Kadokawa Shoten|pages=pg 118 ] , which would mean that she would have been only nine years old in 2015 instead of 14 ("see Dummy Plug section below").

As with the specifics of her creation, the reasons for her existence are not explicitly revealed, although it is implied that she is to Gendo and Nerv what Kaworu Nagisa is to Seele. Kaworu cryptically mentions in their only conversation (in episode 24) that she is "the same" as him. 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 "" is set in this alternate universe, and its version of Rei is a central character.

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 [pg 97 of Fujie 2004]

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 expression"less" 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). [pg 165, afterword, of "Neon Genesis Evangelion, volume 3" ]

As the series progresses, she begins to develop relationships with others and to show moments of genuine emotion ["It began when the director told me, "It's not that she doesn't have emotion, but that she doesn't know what it is." His technical request was that I should read my lines as flat as possible. But she's obviously not a machine; she's a human being, flesh and blood." It's a huge difference between "not having emotion" and "not knowing emotion." After all, she could develop feelings, once she learned..." Quote from Megumi Hayashibara, in her "What I learned from meeting a girl who didn't know", 1996. Translated in "Neon Genesis Evangelion, volume 3"] , to even become sad and cry ["No; Rei's beauty comes from the truth that she has feelings. When she cried, it meant the waters of the pool were coming out at last. The struggle to draw your feelings forth, the reconciliation between your surface and your death - that, I believe, is where we truly become alive, truly become human begins." Hayashibara, "What I learned from meeting a girl who didn't know." Ibid.] .

Rei implies in episode 12 that she is a vegetarian, as she states that she "dislikes eating meat". The reason for this is not explained, though both Anno and (the title character of Anno's earlier anime) are vegetarians as well.fact|date=July 2007

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.

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 ["Evangelion", episode 5] , 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 ["Evangelion", episode 23] . 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" 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. 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 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. [Ritsuko: "That's why I'm going to destroy them. Because I hate them. They're not people. They're things shaped like people. But I lost, even to these things! I couldn't win! I only needed to think of him, and I could endure any kind of humiliation! I didn't care what happened to my body! But he... He..." ("Evangelion, episode 23")] . As with Asuka, Rei does not express any animosity toward her.

Rei has only one conversation with Kaworu (not counting the images of them both with Shinji in "The End of Evangelion"), during which he was quite friendly but she regarded him with confusion and suspicion more than anything else.

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's a deeper bond between Shinji and Rei than first suspected when they hold hands.

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.

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.

Rei's Poem

Rei's poem is a phrase used by fans of the series to describe a monologue given by Rei ["Evangelion", episode 14] while she is synchronized with Unit 01. It is not necessarily an actual poem, and may simply be Rei's comments on random images that Unit 01 is showing her. The English dubbed version differs somewhat from the original Japanese.

In the "poem," Rei mentions a "woman who never bleeds/does not bleed." The series does not explain what this means, and its creators have never given a definite meaning. Armisael's communication with Rei is depicted as Rei floating in the air over an endless sea of LCL, while Armisael (appearing as a duplicate of Rei) is standing groin-deep in the LCL. During their conversation, a dark red liquid-like streak can be seen coming from Armisael/Rei's groin, and the flow increases sharply during one part of the conversation. Whether or not this is connected to Rei herself is unknown.

Manga version

Adaptation by Sadamoto

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. In volume 5 Rei actually invites Shinji into her home (surprising him) and makes tea for the two of them. It is also much more strongly implied that Rei is a clone of Yui Ikari. In volume 8 (corresponding to the aftermath of the fight with Zeruel in the anime), Rei asks Shinji to "come back," and is able to communicate with what appears to be the Angelic aspect of , which has disguised itself as Yui and is attempting to keep Shinji inside itself. She says to the Eva, "I'm you and you're me, the former me." Unit 01 agrees as much and demands to know why Rei is interfering with its plans for Shinji. After Shinji is "reborn" from Unit 01's core, he and Rei visit a garden in another level of Nerv headquarters. There, she recounts the times when Shinji touched her hand and how her feelings changed with each contact. She then asks Shinji if she may hold his hand again, to which he agrees.

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. This sequence also strongly hints that the medicines seen in her room in both the anime and manga are necessary for her survival, as Ritsuko threatens to withhold them from Rei if she tells anyone about the attack. On her first meeting with Kaworu, when Kaworu comments that they are the same, she ponders this then replies, "No. We're not the same. We might be very similar...but we're not the same."

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; this scene was in the anime as well, but Rei's thoughts are not revealed there. Later she is seen visiting the garden she went to with Shinji and mimicking her previous actions (such as dipping her hand in the water).

hinji 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). 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.

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 actually mirrors the one she has in "Girlfriend of Steel 2". She is an easily excitable extrovert, but socially inept and unaware of everyday social conventions.

""

This version of Rei, while still distant, seems more expressive than over 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 gloomy, but 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.

Character notes

Like many of "Evangelion"'s characters, Ayanami's surname comes from a Japanese WWII naval vessel, the Fubuki class destroyer "Ayanami". While the official writing of Rei's first name (レイ）carries no meaning, "Rei" (零) is the Japanese word for the number "zero", which as a word can be defined as "nothing; naught", and may also be a reference to Unit 00. The name is also a reference to the "Sailor Moon" character Rei Hino [cite web | title="Evangelion" character names | work=Translation of essay by Hideaki Anno about character name origins; includes a link to the original essay in Japanese | url=http://www.evacommentary.org/appendix/character-names.html | accessdate=August 19 | accessyear=2007] . "Rei" using a different kanji ( [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/霊 霊] )is also the Japanese word for "spirit".Fact|date=August 2007

ee also

References

* "Neon Genesis Evangelion: The Unofficial Guide", by Kazuhisa Fujie and Martin Foster, 2004, ISBN 0-9745961-4-0