Can an Evangelion have the soul of the pilot's father?

[Grayfox5]

I've been wondering if an Evangelion could even work if it used the soul of the pilot's father rather than the mother. Would it have limitations or was it simply never put into effect as mothers tend to have a greater bond with their children? (Or was it just for symbolization?)

[Blockio]

It's only mothers; I'm a bit rusty on the precise dialogue, so I don't recall off the top of my head if it was stated outright or was written between the lines, but only the souls of the mothers are compatible.

[Mr. Tines]

"Return to the womb" - which, let's face it, the entry plug full of warm sustaining fluid really symbolises - only really works with mothers.

[Archer]

I think the “return to womb” symbolism is more of a narrative thing than an in-universe limitation of the technology. For one, we don’t know whose soul is in Unit-0 but it’s definitely not Rei’s mother because she either (a) doesn’t have one, or (b) Yui is technically her “mother” but she’s already in Unit-1.

I think in-universe, the technology probably works with any sufficiently-strong emotional bond, it’s just that through experimentation they determined that the inherent bond between mother and child had the highest success rate by a large margin and thus the only one worth seriously pursuing.

[thewayneiac]

All of Shinji's classmates seem to have dead mothers, so I'd say it had to be the mother. Unless of course, my old theory is right. It's generally accepted that the Adam contact experiment that set off Second Impact was with professor Katsuragi. I always believed, I still do, that there must have been some nefarious reason for Misato's presence. You don't normally take children to Antarctica on classified and highly dangerous missions. So perhaps they were planning on turning Adam into an Eva with Katsuragi's soul and Misato as the pilot. Note that Adam is wearing shoulder restraints during 2I that are absent in the excavation.

[Grayfox5]

it’s just that through experimentation they determined that the inherent bond between mother and child had the highest success rate by a large margin and thus the only one worth seriously pursuing.

If they did experiment with the father's soul, how did it turn out in like a combat situation? I'm leaning toward the father's soul being much more aggressive in the Evangelion and along with being much more savage in the berserk state in comparison to the mother; fathers tend to have an almost god-given instinct to protect their children as they think they aren't capable of handling such a big threat like an angel so the berserk state would probably be activated much earlier like the dummy plug in Unit-01 doing a non-genuine berserk mode against Unit-03.


But that's just how I think it would be as I'm running off of two hours of sleep

[shinryujimikihiko]

Let's not forget that Shinji is absorbed by Unit 01, and he's male. The storage of a male soul in an Eva is not an issue. The requirement of a mother-child bond to motivate the pilot is largely for thematic reasons, not a limitation of the fake technology.

[sithsauron]

I got it! Unit-00 contains the soul of Yui's mother!

[shinryujimikihiko]

I got it! Unit-00 contains the soul of Yui's mother!

I always liked the theory that is has Naoko inside it since that paralells and contrasts with Asuka's mother being in unit 02: Asuka's mother loved her in life but tried to kill her in a fit of madness before killing herself, and Naoko tried to at least be kind to Rei (and failed, as we see onscreen) and then murdered her, only to kill herself in remorse.

[Asunji_Yuko]

I think the “return to womb” symbolism is more of a narrative thing than an in-universe limitation of the technology. For one, we don’t know whose soul is in Unit-0 but it’s definitely not Rei’s mother because she either (a) doesn’t have one, or (b) Yui is technically her “mother” but she’s already in Unit-1.

I think in-universe, the technology probably works with any sufficiently-strong emotional bond, it’s just that through experimentation they determined that the inherent bond between mother and child had the highest success rate by a large margin and thus the only one worth seriously pursuing.

That makes me think, if there were a father Evangelion, narratively speaking, wouldn't the pilot have to get into a a swinging pair of....you know what, nevermind.

[Asunji_Yuko]

I got it! Unit-00 contains the soul of Yui's mother!

I always liked the theory that is has Naoko inside it since that paralells and contrasts with Asuka's mother being in unit 02: Asuka's mother loved her in life but tried to kill her in a fit of madness before killing herself, and Naoko tried to at least be kind to Rei (and failed, as we see onscreen) and then murdered her, only to kill herself in remorse.

Yeah but doesn't make much sense when we look at units 1 and 2, more likely Rei I. Although if it were Naoko, it means Ritsuko could technically pilot it...

[Cola-09]

Just posting this for completeness:
https://wiki.evageeks.org/Theory_and_An ... 0%27s_Soul