Asuka response to a situation: Kick some a**.

Shinji response to a situation: Curl into fetal position and let mommy take over.

Rei response to a situation: WTF Bomb

Mari kicks Asuka,s ass so bad....for real.

then its a tie between Asuka and Rei for me,.

but Mari all the way

Hei wrote:Mari kicks Asuka,s ass so bad....for real.

then its a tie between Asuka and Rei for me,.

but Mari all the way

Asuka would kick Mari's bony ass any day of the year.

Pwned and loving it
NGE Asuka > Mari ≥ rebuild Asuka
is how I see it. Although the greater than equal to part may change depending on how Rebuild goes.

Hei wrote:Mari kicks Asuka,s ass so bad....for real.

then its a tie between Asuka and Rei for me,.

but Mari all the way

Anyone can kick ass with cheat codes. Just look at Shinji.

Mari is overrated.
Not to mention she plays along with a gameshark, so.

even when she cheated she lost

the_seventh_child wrote:Mari is overrated.
Not to mention she plays along with a gameshark, so.

But Mari has glasses. >:[

Aiko Heiwa wrote:But Mari has glasses. >:[

And Misato has beer. Your point?

Glasses is what make her moe, apparently.

I don't get it either. I still stand by my point.

the_seventh_child wrote:And Misato has beer. Your point?

I'm just drawn toward characters with glasses.

Must have something to do with my glasses.

In terms of Performance, Training and Feats who would qualify as the best pilot out of the cast? Considering the nature of Gendo and Seele's plans, does it really matter in the end?

I'd argue that the best eva pilot was Shinji since he's shown to have the Best Raw Talent, Strongest Eva, Highest Kill Count, potentially highest tolerance for synch pain, best teamwork/compatibility and has the most live action experience.

The only downsides to his record are his low self-esteem, episodes of insubordination (understandable though they were), and the fact that Unit-01's agenda doesn't always match up with Shinji's situational needs (letting Asuka die to MP evas in EOE) which could make it unpredictably unreliable in a tight spot.

Sadly, none of this helped in the end.

Asking who the "best" Eva pilot is basically comes down to asking who is most competent at being an oversized fetus (i.e., metaphorically retreating into mommy's womb). It's just another version of the Special Olympics. And in the end, it doesn't matter worth a damn, since this is a coming of age story and growing up means no longer relying on mommy for everything.

The dummy plug.

1 Angel kill in about 2 minutes, only 1 deployment.

While it may be protag syndrome, I think I'll cast my lot with Shinji on this one.

Dance like you mean it did seem to imply there is some connection between real world skills and Eva pilot ability. If one of them did have real world fighting ability that could best improve their Eva piloting, it should logically be Asuka or Toji. They seem above the rest in that regard, I'm not sure who would win.

Personal opinion- In order from best to worst, some rebuild characters included:

1: Asuka Langley Soryu (Solos 9 MP evas while running on emergency power. Badass.)
2: Rei II (Bull's-eyes an orbiting angel's core with a freakin' lance, constantly demonstrates unwavering courage and self-sacrifice on the battlefield.)
3: Bardiel (Destroys a major NERV facility, takes down two evas and nearly kills a third, all on his first sortie. And in the rebuild, he can make his eva grow extra arms.)
4: Shinji (Has the highest kill count of any pilot, which seems great... until you realize that it was his mom controlling the eva for a lot of them. Extra points for repeatedly doing a job he hates, even though it nearly kills him several times.)
5: Asuka Langley Shikinami (Has some serious skills, but seldom gets to use them.)
6: NERV Dummy Plug (Kicks Bardiel's ass in record time, but that's also all we ever see it do.)
7: Rei Q (Never kills anything, but technically never loses either.)
8: Kaworu (In both NGE and the rebuild [as far as we know], he loses his eva on his first sortie.)
9: Seele Dummy Plugs (9 of them lose to an obsolete eva model running on emergency power, then get reactivated and t-bag it once its power runs out. LAME.)
10: Mari (Self-destructs her first eva on her first sortie. Gets Unit 02 ripped to shreds on her second sortie. Gets yet another eva in 3.0, and succeeds in ruining its arms before the end of the movie.)

And does it matter? Both Asukas are screaming yes.