Nature vs. Nature: Rei and RIAO

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Nature vs. Nature: Rei and RIAO

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Postby universalperson » Mon Jan 07, 2008 1:22 pm

As a fanficcer, I often get weird idea popping in my head. One of the ones that comes up over and over is a 'normal' Ayanami Rei.


We all know about Episode 26's Rei In Appearence Only, and while I think she's funny, I agree she is NOT Rei.

But this leads to the question: What should a 'normal' Rei be? This is obviously an opinon question, with no right or wrong answer.

But what if Rei was raised as 'normal' child, even though she still wasn't entirely normal (Lillth's soul). Would she still struggle with social situations? Would she become like Evil Manga Kaworu? Personally, I think she'd act like Teen Titan's Raven, but I'd really like to see your opinons.
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Postby Eva Yojimbo » Mon Jan 07, 2008 1:29 pm

I think you'd have to back up and define normal first. I think, considering the circumstances, Shinji and Asuka actually are quite normal. Normal people do tend to break down when really bad things happen... over and over... and over.
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Postby Indigo Arcangel » Mon Jan 07, 2008 3:06 pm

I thought the whole point of the alternate reality sequence was that it showed the personalities of the characters if they had been reaised normally, so, and this will probably get me lynched, it seems that the Rei in that sequence is also meant to show that.
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Postby universalperson » Mon Jan 07, 2008 3:31 pm

Eva Yojimbo wrote:I think you'd have to back up and define normal first. I think, considering the circumstances, Shinji and Asuka actually are quite normal. Normal people do tend to break down when really bad things happen... over and over... and over.


Well, here's the thing. I'm pretty sure that through most of her life, Rei Ayanami only had any major social interactions with Gendo. She was probably isolated from most forms of human contact and I daresay entertainment.

So I'm wondering, what if she wasn't raised in the i"solation ward"? What if she was rasied as an ordinary child would be raised? (Off the top of my head: interactions with other children, candy store). How much of her would change, and how much of her would stay the same due to Lillth?
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Postby Zuggy » Mon Jan 07, 2008 3:48 pm

You mean nature vs. nurture?

Often wondered how much of Rei's personality is determined by her soul being Angelic, or her knowledge about who she is - so even if she were brought up in a nicer environment how much difference that would actually make.

We know that Rei wants to die, but can't, because Gendo keeps bringing her back until his scenario comes to fruition - so, if that desire to return to nothingness is part of her makeup as a person, because Rei knows no matter where she goes she can never call it her "home," then Rei would off herself at the first opportunity, wouldn't she?

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Postby Defectron » Mon Jan 07, 2008 4:10 pm

But what if Rei was raised as 'normal' child, even though she still wasn't entirely normal (Lillth's soul). Would she still struggle with social situations? Would she become like Evil Manga Kaworu? Personally, I think she'd act like Teen Titan's Raven, but I'd really like to see your opinons.


Reis someone I always identified with because neither of us really understand humans. I was pretty much raised normally but I'm not really a normal person. I think if she was raised normally Rei would probably end up having a more outgoing personality but she probably still wouldn't understand humans very well.
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Postby Sachi » Mon Jan 07, 2008 7:47 pm

In ep 26, Rei doesn't have nearly the same background as she does in the normal series. She isn't a clone of Yui (Because obviously Yui is still alive in this), she has nothing to do with Angels/Evas/Nerv anything. So, she would end up as just a normal girl. (If ever created).
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Postby NAveryW » Mon Jan 07, 2008 8:22 pm

Let's not forget that Rei is Lilith in a human body, so there's no real way for her to truly be raised normally.
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Postby Sachi » Mon Jan 07, 2008 8:25 pm

NAveryW wrote:Let's not forget that Rei is Lilith in a human body, so there's no real way for her to truly be raised normally.

But in the Alternate reality, she's just a normal girl, not Lilith at all.
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Postby VoidEater » Wed May 27, 2009 1:17 pm

I think it may be that Rei's entire existence as a conscious human is mostly limited to those events we actually see. If so, then her behavior can't be that of a 14 year old (as we generally see her) because she has not had 14 years of socialization as a human. It seems she may well have been decanted just prior to our seeing her (at 5 and 14): otherwise, where was Gendo hiding her for 5 years until she pops up as his little girl ward? And why is no one surprised to see her back after she dies (or was her murder kept a secret, despite all the blood and chalk outline - (EDIT: tho' I guess that's really Naoko's)?

If she had been re-decanted just after her death at 5, I would have expected lingering issues about her resurrection to pop up, and for her to have had some questions about why everyone says she died ten years ago.

Yes, there are key people that know she's just a vessel, but clearly it wasn't common knowledge - Naoko didn't know, and Ritsuko's unveling of the Reiquarium comes as a shock to her audience.

To learn more about this, we'd need to have the reactions of non-critical NERV staff to reveal what they know about her.
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Postby Lucretius » Wed May 27, 2009 1:23 pm

Riao is Rei when she remembers to take her Ritalin.

He shuddered a bit, remembering the somewhat creepy level of detail Kaji had gone into, while rubbing a watermelon in a disturbingly sexual way.

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Postby Sailor Star Dust » Wed May 27, 2009 1:30 pm

VoidEater wrote:If so, then her behavior can't be that of a 14 year old (as we generally see her) because she has not had 14 years of socialization as a human.


Indeed. Rei I was around 5 in 2010 according to the script, and supposedly Rei 2 is only physically 4 years old at least, just genetically altered to appear 14. (If this little tidbit the fanboys disregard isn't enough to make them realize what Rei is really like then I don't think anything will.)

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But going back to what the other thread started to debate, I know that fans LIKE to think Rei would be like transfer student Rei/RiAO if Rei had a chance to be a "normal" girl, but I just think Rei's personality simply wouldn't allow that to happen. Rei is introverted and shows emotion while not knowing what it is, and Transfer Student Rei is extremely extroverted as well as hyperactive.
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Postby Timstuff » Wed May 27, 2009 1:54 pm

Lucretius wrote:Riao is Rei when she remembers to take her Ritalin.


I think you've got it backwards.
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Postby Lucretius » Wed May 27, 2009 2:29 pm

What I meant was, Riao becomes Rei upon taking Ritalin. Damn lexical ambiguity to hell!

He shuddered a bit, remembering the somewhat creepy level of detail Kaji had gone into, while rubbing a watermelon in a disturbingly sexual way.

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Postby Timstuff » Wed May 27, 2009 2:36 pm

Lucretius wrote:What I meant was, Riao becomes Rei upon taking Ritalin. Damn lexical ambiguity to hell!


LOL, that's basically what I was thinking, so I guess I misread you. Riao + Ritalin = Rei.
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Postby Oedipusfoot » Wed May 27, 2009 3:43 pm

Sailor Star Dust wrote:Indeed. Rei I was around 5 in 2010 according to the script, and supposedly Rei 2 is only physically 4 years old at least, just genetically altered to appear 14.


Wait...what?

Though you wouldn't alter genes to make someone appear 14, since this is a superficial 14 years (so no chemicals are involved).

...Wait...what?

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Postby Reichu » Wed May 27, 2009 4:00 pm

I didn't think artificial aging required genetic manipulation, either.
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Postby Sailor Star Dust » Wed May 27, 2009 4:01 pm

I choose a poor choice of words earlier, I simply meant this:

[url]http://wiki.evageeks.org/Rei#Incarnations[/url] Rei 2 wrote:This Rei is shown to have a strong attachment to Gendo Ikari, and a building attachment to Shinji Ikari. It is likely that Rei 2 was created sometime after the death of Rei 1. Given that this occurred in 2010, this would suggest that in reality, Rei 2 is approximately four years old, despite appearing to be fourteen years old.
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Postby Timstuff » Wed May 27, 2009 5:04 pm

The logical extension would be that Rei III is a newborn. Rei I was definitely artificially aged, since in her first appearance she appeared as a small child when she should have only been a baby. However, the successive Rei clones, if their bodies were made at the same time, would probably have aged naturally as an extension of Rei I's age. If we're hitting the theoretical reset button every time Rei gets "downloaded" into a new body though, then Rei II would technically be 4-5 years old.
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Postby BattleMonkey » Wed May 27, 2009 6:19 pm

Sachi_13 wrote:
NAveryW wrote:Let's not forget that Rei is Lilith in a human body, so there's no real way for her to truly be raised normally.

But in the Alternate reality, she's just a normal girl, not Lilith at all.


Then shes not really the Rei. Your basically sticking another soul in someones body and calling them the same person, which is not even remotely close.


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