Theory: Asuka Langley Sohryu is part Saiyan (sort-of joking)

[Asunji_Yuko]

I am going to use the original anime, End of Evangelion, and the Manga all as sources for this, though I know the manga is a different continuity than the anime. I will not be referring to the Rebuilds.

1. Asuka shows unusually high battle prowess for a human of her size.
Despite being only about 4'10" and weighing 105 pounds, she easily defeats several men larger than her with one hit each.





And Asuka has no formal martial arts training either, making this feat even more impressive.

2. Her power increase in the End of Evangelion/manga fight with the EVA series.

Despite ultimately losing this battle (in End of Evangelion), Asuka had never shown anywhere near this level of power before, in the anime or manga. She always needed another EVA alongside her to manage even 1 or 2 angels.

Now, it is easy to say this was due to her realization that her mother Kyoko was in the EVA 02 with her the whole time, which increased her rate of neuro-sync. But this isn't really true, because her neuro-sync was already quite high before when she was first introduced, the best of the 3 pilots. So higher neuro-sync isn't enough to explain that power increase.

Then what does explain it? For that, consider what preceded it.

In the anime, recall that she likely attempted suicide when she could no longer pilot her EVA 02.




She looked like a skeleton and was likely close to death....until she was hospitalized and slowly brought back to health.
I believe Asuka most likely gained additional strength from a ZENKAI - a power boost a Saiyan gets when beaten within an inch of his/her life...and then recover.




If you've made it this far, thank you for spending the time to read my stupid fanfiction!

[MoonRabbitMallow]

I know this is a (semi?) joke thread but I think it's way funnier to imagine the Eva pilots just casually watching Dragon Ball on TV and replicating the moves while out on the field fighting Angels, since technically Dragon Ball released quite a while before the Second Impact, and it's possible that some copies of it might still exist. And anime and manga exist in the NGE universe even post-Second Impact so it's very possible that it pre and post Impact mediums are still very popular, especially among kids (Anime can survive the apocalypse afterall?). Therefore, it is possible that everytime the Eva pilots are fighting Angels, they are actually just replicating anime moves and screaming like they do in anime (Whoa, anime-ception).

In this essay, I will-

[BernardoCairo]

I know that you're joking, but that's not really how zenkais work.
For any given saiyajin to get a zenkai boost, he needs to recover after being severely injured by someone or something else. You cannot inflict damage on yourself and expect to get stronger as a reward. The zenkai boost is linked to the saiyajin's survival instinct, of course. You can't trick it, which is why Vegeta asked Kuririn to almost kill him before going after Freeza on Namekusei, instead of doing it himself.
Taking that into consideration, it would be impossible for Asuka to get a zenkai boost after trying to kill herself. And before you mention Cell, his biology is different from that of a saiyajin. Piccolo's cells, in particular, were a game changer and he was also getting stronger at levels beyond any regular fighter. Anyone who surpasses the level of Super Saiyajin is considered an ascended warrior and a genius by proxy.

I think Asuka from the manga, if trained by Roshi and Karin, would probably be a match for Yamcha or a bit below him at the end of Dragon Ball. She would probably reach the power to destroy a planet around the time the Z Fighters were training with Kaioh Sama. I can't see her scaling up to Tenshinhan, though.

[Asunji_Yuko]

Hmm, I'm not sure that's the case. Goku got stronger after eating a senzu bean following near-death training on his way to Namek, and I don't see how Cell's Namekian ability to regenerate alters his Saiyan ability for the Zenkai beyond recovering much faster than a pure Saiyan. As in, I don't see why Namekian regeneration would make the Zenkai work for self harm if it didn't already for normal Saiyans. And I know Vegeta said it wouldn't work if he blasted himself, but that's more likely because it'd be hard for him to shoot ki at himself while also lowering his own ki so his own attack can hurt him.

As far as Asuka's training with King Kai.....jeez. She wouldn't need an EVA or even any AT field at all if she became a planet buster. She could just Kamehameha an angel and its AT field to kingdom come.

[BernardoCairo]

Yes, Goku grew significantly stronger on his way to Namekusei, but that has nothing to do with him inflicting damage on himself. He was training, after all. His body was being hurt by his intense training itself. It wasn't like he was trying to kill himself or something. He was also taking advantage and building on the zenkai he had just had after fighting Vegeta on Earth.
Vegeta could have easily shot himself with a ki blast if he'd wanted to. He verbally told Kuririn that saiyajins couldn't get stronger by inflicting damage on themselves.
As for Cell, the regeneration factor changes everything, as it gives him ways to exploit zenkai on the spot, right after being injured. This, combined with Freeza's durability that he seems to have inherited, is enough to render him useless for this discussion. He is simply too different from a saiyajin and should not be seen as one. His biology is unique.
If zenkai worked the way you're suggesting, Z Vegeta (in particular) would keep beating himself up over and over again to get stronger. Heck, not even Ultra Ego works that way. Speaking of it, Ultra Ego would fit Asuka a lot.