I've combed through at least 10 pages of threads in the Rebuild section and didn't really see anything related to this. Feel free to point me to an already relevant thread if you know one so I can catch up on discussions there.

We all know about the end of 2.22 when Shinji surprised us all by:

• gaining glowing red eyes
• powering up his own EVA
• displayed jaw dropping mastery over the creation and manipulation of AT Fields
• somehow enhanced his EVA physically
• gains the ability to do devastating non-physical attacks not based on any human technology
• open the Doors of Guf
• the ability to go soul/core diving
• extract/absorb souls

By all accounts, Rebuild Shinji seems to gain godly powers (Awakened) just by being super emotional while in Unit 01. Being emotional as a condition seems to be confirmed by this dialogue in 3.33:

00:25:19 {Ritsuko} Also, your deep sync test results are in.
00:25:23 {Ritsuko} Your sync rate is 0.00%.
00:25:26 {Ritsuko} Even if you were to get in the Eva, it wouldn't activate.
00:25:30 {Sakura} There we go!
00:25:31 {Sakura} Isn't that great, Ikari-san?
00:25:33 {Ritsuko} Still, we cannot overlook the fact that the unit suddenly entered an Awakened state for twelve seconds earlier.
00:25:39 {Ritsuko} As a result, we've installed the DSS Choker on you.
00:25:44 {Shinji} What is this?
00:25:45 {Ritsuko} Insurance for us.
00:25:48 {Ritsuko} It's a physical safety device that prevents Awakenings.
00:25:51 {Ritsuko} It symbolizes both your punishment, and our mistrust in you.
00:25:55 {Shinji} What do you mean?
00:25:56 {Ritsuko} Should you succumb to your emotions while piloting an Eva, and the risk of Awakening becomes too great to avoid,
00:26:04 {Ritsuko} this will intervene by terminating your life.

I included more dialogue than necessary for better context and because I also want to direct attention to the fact that he did Awaken again to help Asuka out in space. Honestly that particular instance suggests that he might be able to Awaken unconsciously without emotional stimulus but we need more data from the movies to come to any solid conclusions here.

So we've establised that Shinji + Unit 01 = PHENOMENAL COSMIC POWERS itty bitty living space for the next 14 years

BUT!

I don't think this power of his is exclusive to Unit 01.

Remember when Kaworu says he'll close the doors of Guf to stop the Fourth Impact? He ran EVA 13 through with both spears (remember: a single spear of Cassius was enough to stop the godlike Unit 01) before the DSS choker killed him.

But the doors were still open.

I believe the general consensus was that Kaworu was mistaken or lying. But please consider this:

• Shinji was in an incredibly emotional state.
• We don't see his eyes; they're covered by his hair as he pushes his face up against the divide between him and Kaworu
• Shinji is sitting inside an EVA

Mari even exclaims this right after she saw EVA 13 pierce itself:

01:26:04 {Mari} The Door of Guf still hasn't closed!
01:26:06 {Mari} So, Puppy Boy was Seele's backup!

Could it be possible that Shinji was on the verge of Awakening for Kaworu's sake?

To be honest, I'm not 100% sure where I'm going with this. All I can confirm with all this is that:

• Shinji is super special in Rebuild for some reason (is he already a god? an angel? an Adams??? No solid evidence for anything specific besides the red eyes but definitely special)
• Gendo and Mari know about Shinji's true nature 100% (Gendo's plans could not have worked without him knowing in advance, and Mari seems to have just figured it out)

So yeah. Thoughts?

Also kinda nervous cause this is my first proper thread here and I wanted to start small instead of just diving in with a topic I'm passionate about (though it is kinda related).

Ollow wrote:

• Shinji is super special in Rebuild for some reason (is he already a god? an angel? an Adams??? No solid evidence for anything specific besides the red eyes but definitely special)
• Gendo and Mari know about Shinji's true nature 100% (Gendo's plans could not have worked without him knowing in advance, and Mari seems to have just figured it out)

You may want to read this thread for Reichu's recent new ideas on exactly this subject. She links all the pilots to Adams.

Also kinda nervous cause this is my first proper thread here and I wanted to start small instead of just diving in with a topic I'm passionate about (though it is kinda related).

Don't be nervous! We're here to chat and discuss. But be prepared to be pointed at existing discussions sometimes. Even if you've looked first, it's often hard to find such discussions because of their using different keywords for instance.