Is Gendo Ikari a Byronic Hero?

[The Abhorrent]

Gendo Ikari. Abandoned his only child, manipulated everyone around him to achieve his goal, slept with no less than two women (mother & daughter no less) to do so, seeking to destroy the world as we know it (or was it to save it from itself?)..... all in the name of love. Quite possibly the character closest to being called the antagonist in Evangelion (SEELE being a close second, having a similiar objective but less screentime).... but at the same time, a heroic figure in the loosest sense. He could easily be called a tragic hero as well, but there seems to be a bit more behind it than that.

After some thought, he seems to fit the description of a Byronic Hero, a very specific type of anti-hero which could be best summarized as "Anti-'Hero' in name only".

Here's some quick sources if you want to look up a better description:

• Wikipedia
  
• TV Tropes

From the Wikipedia article, we have this list of traits which are commonly associated with the character type (I've bolded the ones which I'm more or less certain Gendo has, some explanations added in italics):

• a strong sense of arrogance (hard to tell, could just be that aloof & distant)
  
• high level of intelligence and perception
  
• cunning and able to adapt
  
• suffering from an unnamed crime
  
• a troubled past
  
• sophisticated and educated (iffy, he's smart & clever... but his technical knowledge could be moreso by osmosis than formal education; and he was a bit of a thug during the flashback of episode 21, before marrying Yui at least)
  
• self-critical and introspective
  
• mysterious, magnetic and charismatic
  
• struggling with integrity
  
• power of seduction and sexual attraction
  
• social and sexual dominance
  
• emotional conflicts, bipolar tendencies, or moodiness (has some clear conflicts, but is that emotionally distant that it may not qualify)
  
• a distaste for social institutions and norms (his uniform is always open and otherwise unkempt)
  
• being an exile, an outcast, or an outlaw (during his earlier years, definitely)
  
• "dark" attributes not normally associated with a hero
  
• disrespect of rank and privilege (clearly doesn't care for SEELE's plans other than to use them to his own ends)
  
• jaded, world-weary
  
• cynicism
  
• self-destructive behaviour (trying to start Third Impact, neglecting Shinji, etc.)

So yes, he fits the vast majority very well. The TV tropes adds a few other traits which fit him quite well: a loner, prone to brooding (a.k.a.: introspection, navel-gazing), quite often a Magnificient Bastard, and just could potentially be redeemed by love (which could be the case before Yui was absorbed by Unit 01)..... and the consequences of when that love is lost.


So could Gendo Ikari be consider a Byronic Hero, an anti-"hero" (if in name only) solely because the nature of the narrative has him do (or at least give the orders for) heroic actions? Or perhaps a good example of one who went too far over to the dark side (a fallen or tragic hero) to be considered not even remotely heroic despite his (somewhat) noble intentions?

Or how about all of the above?

[Azathoth]

All the good Byronic heroes lose their loves and die young. Gendou didn't have the guts to do that, so he wound up becoming a creepy old man version of a Byronic hero.

[Kendrix]

I doubt that Anno envisioned him as 'Ze Evil Bastard', either.His "Death creates nothing" even sounds vaguely heroic, and there's always those little Moments where he does something vaguely nice, mostly to Rei.
He's not really 'evil', just tired/bitter/having given up on everything, more like a 'dark grey' character, so I guess the description fits.

[Chrad]

He's an antagonist, but not really the villain.
He would have been a great Byonic hero if he'd been willing to make a serious attack on SEELE.

[Lucretius]

Manga Gendo is sorta Manfred-esque with his plan to get revenge on God. But otherwise no.

[AuraTwilight]

Byronic Hero all the way.

[Kendrix]

All the good Byronic heroes lose their loves and die young. Gendou didn't have the guts to do that, so he wound up becoming a creepy old man version of a Byronic hero.

Well, it's not his fault that the monster killing seems to be reserved for the kids in his Universe and that them Seele Guys don't have any Base to attack. He kicks as much ass as a non-bishie villain without mechas is allowed to XD
He does have some tragic or dark hero-y vibe to him, expecially in EoE.I'm not saying he's an exemplary good guy or something (The only one who could remotely be considered a classic 'hero' is Evangelion is Misato), but I'd prefer him to those creepy SEELE guys at any time.

[sephirotic]

One of the things i like the most in Eva, is the fact that is not a Maniqueist piece, i don´t see Gendou as a Villain at all, here in Brazil we have lot of corrupted politicians far worst than him.

The thing he want's most is to reunite with Yui, but i also believe he also cares for the fate of humanity, even tough he tries to run away from the responsibility of envolving with it, and with his own son, he is just a narcizistic-weak depressive, self-centered and closed man, and for that he kinda of fit in the byronic hero if it weren´t more specific to younger steriotypes.

[Cody MacArthur Fett]

Gendo's certainly done some heroic things (or at least things he thinks are heroic), and he's certainly made his fair share of douche moves. So is he a Byronic hero? I'm not sure if he fits the description exactly to be honest, but that's mostly because he lacks the one thing that would guarantee some understanding of his character: he doesn't monologue. Yeah, I know it's a odd thing to say, but because Gendo is an antagonist that doesn't monologue (even internally) it's very hard to tell what his motivations are and what actions he's actually taken. The fact that we don't see much of him at all in the show certainly doesn't help matters.

[LealahLupin3]

Yeah, I know it's a odd thing to say, but because Gendo is an antagonist that doesn't monologue (even internally) it's very hard to tell what his motivations are and what actions he's actually taken. The fact that we don't see much of him at all in the show certainly doesn't help matters.

Pardon? I found his motivations to be quite clear: reunite with Yui at all cost.

[beaverteeth92]

I'd say he's more of an absurd hero along the lines of Camus's Mersault if anything.

[NemZ]

Gendo is definately the tragic hero of his own story... unfortunately he isn't the main character from our perspective, so protagonist bias puts him in a bad light.

[Cody MacArthur Fett]

Pardon? I found his motivations to be quite clear: reunite with Yui at all cost.

OK, maybe I should clarify. It just doesn't make to me, because I'm thinking, "If you're trying to reunite with Yui, why in the world are you using Third Impact to do it? Are you trying get yourself into Unit-01, or get Yui out of Unit01, or what, what's going on here?"
Ironically, Yui motivations are made a lot clearer then Gendo's in EoE, with her outright stating that her plan is to tang the world and absorb all humanity into Unit-01. It's insane, and clearly marks Yui as being out of her mind in my view, but it's also easy to hear and wrap one's head around.

Gendo is definately the tragic hero of his own story... unfortunately he isn't the main character from our perspective, so protagonist bias puts him in a bad light.

Indeed. It's pretty clear that most of the hate towards Gendo and his actions stems from the fact that Shinji is the audience surrogate and that almost all the events in the series are told from his perspective. Taken objectively, a lot of the actions he takes in the series really aren't that bad, but since Shinji sees those actions as those of a heartless monster that's what most of the audience sees as well. Which of course leads itself into the multitude of fanfiction out there where Gendo is just two steps away from throwing babies into a blender, as well as, quite ironically, the perception that he's a master manipulator who's behind everything that ever happened in Eva and gets all the ladies while beating off Angels with his bare hands.

[LealahLupin3]

OK, maybe I should clarify. It just doesn't make to me, because I'm thinking, "If you're trying to reunite with Yui, why in the world are you using Third Impact to do it? Are you trying get yourself into Unit-01, or get Yui out of Unit01, or what, what's going on here?"

Ok, that makes a bit more sense and I agree. It's implied that he wanted to be taken into Unit-01 with the whole "Take me to Yui" thing when he has his hand in Rei's stomach, but we don't know for sure.

Ironically, Yui motivations are made a lot clearer then Gendo's in EoE, with her outright stating that her plan is to tang the world and absorb all humanity into Unit-01. It's insane, and clearly marks Yui as being out of her mind in my view, but it's also easy to hear and wrap one's head around.

I honestly didn't come away with this impression at all. When did she outright state that she wanted to tang the world? The only thing I can remember even being close to this is when she says that humanity will live on through her, and I took that to mean that she would live forever travling the universe, putting right what was once wrong...sorry.

The image of Gendo tossing babies into a blender made me chuckle.[/quote]

[The Abhorrent]

Ironically, Yui motivations are made a lot clearer then Gendo's in EoE, with her outright stating that her plan is to tang the world and absorb all humanity into Unit-01. It's insane, and clearly marks Yui as being out of her mind in my view, but it's also easy to hear and wrap one's head around.

I would say that's probably going a bit too far with the assumptions. Yui's motivations are still very murky at best, if still very integral the plot of the series. Every character in NGE is subject to some Alternative Character Interpretation (heck, that's the basis for this topic), but none moreso than her due to how little screentime she gets (excluding her giant robot appearances). First impressions of her imply that she is a very pure character, but her final words in EoE do imply that there is considerably more behind her seemingly perpetual smile.

My guess is that she still was intending to place herself in a position to at least control Third Impact (assuming that she considers it inevitable, which might be a safe bet with SEELE trying to start it themselves) and minimize the damage and/or provide the optimal path to recovery..... with a side benefit of immortality. In any event, it's the only thing that's certain with Yui is that nothing is certain. Anyhow, figuring out what Yui's plans really were is probably best left to another topic.

Come to think of it, only two other (notable) characters don't get their motivations established -- Kaji & Rei. The former could be due to the nature of his position (trying to find out what's really going on), and it wouldn't be NGE if we got a straight answer. Rei on the other hand is cryptic at best. With her relation to Yui, that could be more than just coincidental.



By contrast to Yui, Gendo's motivations were established completely by his dying moments. He wants to be reunited with Yui by any means necessary, everything else is just a matter of details and logistics. Did he know of Yui's plan to control Third Impact (going with my theory above), and wanted to place himself in the same place when it happened (perhaps even just to be there)? It's plausible, but not definite.

[Reichu]

Ironically, Yui motivations are made a lot clearer then Gendo's in EoE, with her outright stating that her plan is to tang the world and absorb all humanity into Unit-01

Gendo's the one who talks about using Eva-01 as an ark and advancing humanity to a new world or something. Yui (with Fuyu's help) says a bunch of vague stuff about how humanity was destined to produce a legacy through Eva and the person who becomes Eva will be crazy-lonely.

"If you're trying to reunite with Yui, why in the world are you using Third Impact to do it? Are you trying get yourself into Unit-01, or get Yui out of Unit01, or what, what's going on here?"

Probably, Third Impact was always part of the plan. Once Yui ditched him for her swell new body, he just modified the plan to incorporate the "unite with Yui" thing. In fact, if you take all of his comments throughout the show together, it's pretty apparent that Gendo is motivated by more than his Yui-obsession. It's just easy to overlook all that other stuff because it makes him a grayer character, and lawd knows if there's anything the human mind hates it's ambiguity.

Plus, I'm guessing any of Gendo's weird philanthropic motivations and his reasons for having them just aren't as narratively and thematically relevant as Gendo-Yui-Shinji Triad drama.

[Azathoth]

Plus, I'm guessing any of Gendo's weird philanthropic motivations and his reasons for having them just aren't as narratively and thematically relevant as Gendo-Yui-Shinji Triad drama.

Gendou may be a dick, but he does not, as has been pointed out, spend his weekends eating dead baby salsa. Of course he doesn't want to kill the entire human race...but if he thought there was a way for him to get into Unit 01's core without tanging everyone, you'd think he'd have tried that. As it is, he seems to have resigned himself to it as something that he, at least, won't have to reap the consequences of.

[AuraTwilight]

Or maybe Yui was being a stubborn bitch and refused to get out of the Eva, and she can sort of control who goes in and out, so only Third Impact would let him go in.

[Azathoth]

Or maybe Yui was being a stubborn bitch and refused to get out of the Eva, and she can sort of control who goes in and out, so only Third Impact would let him go in.

I wouldn't be hugely surprised if at some point after the failed salvage, Gendou had tried to get himself absorbed into Unit 01 by actually climbing inside an entry plug (hopefully while wearing a test plugsuit). Obviously, Yui wasn't interested - she wasn't even interested in cohabiting with Lilith, if Rei's existence is any indication - and so he arrives at the conclusion that he needs to create a being more powerful than Yui, that can shove him in there no matter what Yui wants. Of course, if that being winds up returning humanity to a primordial state of non-existence, Gendou doesn't give a fuck, he gets to spend all eternity merged with Yui.

[LealahLupin3]

I wouldn't be hugely surprised if at some point after the failed salvage, Gendou had tried to get himself absorbed into Unit 01 by actually climbing inside an entry plug (hopefully while wearing a test plugsuit).

I don't think he would. They make an offhand mention to all the adult testpilots being fried or absorbed which is the convenient excuse on why they have to use children. Even if it is an excuse there was probably some truth to that; why use mentally unstable kids unless they really are the only ones who'll work? I'd think that Gendo would be able to figure out that climbing into the entry plug and going after her himself was pretty dangerous, possibly send mooks in his stead and getting the confirmation that she wasn't salvageable that way. Otherwise, wouldn't he have died?