Rei proxies

[orcot]

I'm not sure this is evangelion related,
but do you think the 5the element Leeloo's character was based on Rei Ayanami?
Both are if not gods guardian angels clonend as humans
Both appear weird Rei as a maybe albino with blue hair Leeloo with orange hair.
Both are bad ass
Both want to protect humanity at all cost
The bandage look at the start
Both start their interaction with the hero afther a great fall.
Both don't really save the world but allow the hero to save the world.
Both are noticable young when they do their thing Leeloo a couple of days Rei (III) only a couple of weeks.

Am I seeing ghosts?
Rei definitely has a lot of proxy characters who do you believe did it the best

[Derantor]

Given that Rei is totally detached and devoid of feeling (to the outside world), while Leeloo is just childlike, I'd just say you are seeing ghosts. Also:

Both are if not gods guardian angels clonend as humans -> Rei is the progenitor of Mankind, but indeed cloned.
Both appear weird Rei as a maybe albino with blue hair Leeloo with orange hair. -> True
Both are bad ass -> ...
Both want to protect humanity at all cost -> Rei definitely doesn't. She just gives Shinji the choice, she has no stake in it either way. Mostly she wants to die when Gendo brings her to Terminal Dogma and wants to grant Shinji a wish because he is distressed.
The bandage look at the start -> Coincidence, really.
Both start their interaction with the hero afther a great fall. -> I'm not sure what you mean by this.
Both don't really save the world but allow the hero to save the world. -> Rei nonchalantly burns off the biosphere in the process, but yes, ultimately she allows Shinji to save the world let the human existence continue in an uncertain future.
Both are noticable young when they do their thing Leeloo a couple of days Rei (III) only a couple of weeks. -> See my first sentence.

[orcot]

Given that Rei is totally detached and devoid of feeling (to the outside world), while Leeloo is just childlike, I'd just say you are seeing ghosts. Also:

Does she not feel them or does she has trouble expressing them? According to Armisael she is horny for Shinji. Rei reason to pilot the eva is to protect "humanity" it is kept abstract but as detached as she is she is also doing it for humanity as in her nature as a guardian angel for humanity.

Both are if not gods guardian angels clonend as humans -> Rei is the progenitor of Mankind, but indeed cloned.

leeloo is named Leeloominaï Lekatariba Lamina-Tchaï Ekbat De Sebat it means "Precious Stone of the Earth, Defender of Light and Life, the Honorable"
Defender of life being the word, Rei is not Lilith, she is a mix between lilith and yui defender of life could be a describtion of Rei (or little vegetarian who is completly detached if it does not involve protecting humanity [or getting horny over the protagonist])

Both appear weird Rei as a maybe albino with blue hair Leeloo with orange hair. -> True

Both are bad ass -> ...

evangelion get's a lot of flack abouth showing trauma all pilots are still bad ass it is genuinly inportant I think

Both want to protect humanity at all cost -> Rei definitely doesn't. She just gives Shinji the choice, she has no stake in it either way. Mostly she wants to die when Gendo brings her to Terminal Dogma and wants to grant Shinji a wish because he is distressed.

Rei is not human and can not decide for humanity she can however choose her champion and try to steer the outcome. All things considering inaction on Rei's part would have gendo decide the fate and taken free will out of the picture.

The bandage look at the start -> Coincidence, really.

Honnestly I doubt it The look was definitly "borrowed" either by Sadamoto or from Jean-Claude Mézières (Ravian en Laureline I havent read the comic).

Both start their interaction with the hero afther a great fall. -> I'm not sure what you mean by this.

in evangelion the protagonist (Shinji) is brought in because Rei got injured From falling down in the test chamber not because the angel came, In the fifth element Leeloo meets the protagonist ( Korben Dalles) by falling in his cab. In both cases a fall by the character introduces the protagonist.

Both don't really save the world but allow the hero to save the world. -> Rei nonchalantly burns off the biosphere in the process, but yes, ultimately she allows Shinji to save the world let the human existence continue in an uncertain future.

Could she have stopped it?

Both are noticable young when they do their thing Leeloo a couple of days Rei (III) only a couple of weeks. -> See my first sentence.

Both are young, days or weeks and old unknown millenea confirmed probably as old as life itself. This ius true for Both Rei as Leeloo

[Blockio]

There are certainly a metric fuckton of Rei Expies out there, Leeloo is not really one.
The origins and supernatural stuff are definitely a parallel to some extent, but it's a case of correlation vs causation; she is an alien being not used to human society first and foremost; the other characteristics are a result of that, or used to illustrate that, not necessarily to invoke Rei, or any other character for that matter. While that can certainly also be said about Rei to some extent, it's not a literary reference simply because Rei was not the first human-friendly alien(-esque being) to appear in science fiction by a long stretch, and as such hinging the characterization of the trope on her would mis the point, especially since she is not the most straight example of it.

In general, Hollywood movies don't really have Rei exipes, since they mostly draw from a different (cultural?) context and its own set of tropes, for better or worse; the only one I can think of where the similarities are meaningful enough to warrant calling it a solid connection is Mako from good old Pacific Rim

[Derantor]

@Orcot: To the first part: Yes, she does have feelings, but does not express them, instead trying to rationally approach every situation. Leeloo is very much the opposite: She expressess mostly feelings, but does not seem to have higher comprehension at first. They are just presented completely differently and with different goals in mind. Like Blockio said, the similarities are superficial and the outsider status of both characters comes from wildly different cultural backgrounds.

Rei protects humanity because that is what she was told her purpose is. She does not do this because she wants to or because she has any stake in the matter - as I said, she wants to end her existence as "Rei" and return to being Lilith. Gendo said "Pilot the robot" and she does it. She has no agency. She blows herself up because she knows she is replaceable. Her death is meaningless to her. She is a tool. Leeloo escapes being a tool right in the beginning of the movie.

Could she have stopped it? [...] Rei is not human and can not decide for humanity she can however choose her champion and try to steer the outcome.

Sure. She innitiated the whole shebang. She just proved that she can decide on her own: She decided to reject Gendo. I see nothing to indicate that she is bound to anybody after that; her granting Shinji's wishes is a "favor" she does him. Humanity is just collateral damage, a victim of Rei deciding to manifest the literal hellscape that is a suicidal mind in the real world by granting the wish of one person: Shinji. The only one she formed a positive attachment to. She has no moral concerns here; she even tells Shinji it's ok to just quit. She is impassionate about the outcome.

[orcot]

wel thank you both
it is Always fun to rewatch a series with someone else perspective on hand.

To derantor I'm unconvinced that Rei could have stopped it at that point, my Take is that:
a true neutral Rei would have yust gone with Gendo.
a evil Rei would have yust decided on her own (taken free will from humanity to decide based on a orange and blue morality could have been good, could have been bad would not have been humanity's decision).
A good Rei would still have choosen a human being to make the decision but try and find someone with better intentions in mind. And try to explain all possible options good and bad her neutrality on the matter highlands free will.

[Blockio]

I think pressuring characters into the old dnd alignment chart is not a good idea in general, and much more so if it is to make a point in theorizing; the obvious issues of subjective morality, sweeping generalizations necessary for it and the vagueness that can mean basically anything aside, it's also not particularily useful, especially not in the context of a show relying so heavily on complex characters and motivations, to shove them into one of nine fixed categories based on arbitrary parameters.

And try to explain all possible options good and bad her neutrality on the matter highlands free will.

since at that point all of humanity was one being, there was simply no need for that. Not to mention that since humans were given the option of dropping out of Instrumentality and were not forced to do so, not sure how making not everyone on earth bound to partake in the HIP is in any sort morally bad (see above for why alignment chart is a bad idea)

[orcot]

since at that point all of humanity was one being, there was simply no need for that. Not to mention that since humans were given the option of dropping out of Instrumentality and were not forced to do so, not sure how making not everyone on earth bound to partake in the HIP is in any sort morally bad (see above for why alignment chart is a bad idea)

This is true and like you said humans are given the option of "dropping out". However this would have made the ending even more confusing and at this point people must have started worrying. If Rei that is a gestalt of humanity started arguing with the gestalt of humanity in stead of a single person... well things could be portayed more easly

[Derantor]

@orcot: What makes you think she couldn't have stopped it? All indications are that she is in complete control of the process, at least from the point of the MP-Evas sprouting Rei-heads to Unit 01 emerging from her eye. Shinji gets to wish for things, but she decides how his wishes are granted. She also doesn't grant all his wishes: "Please interact with me" is a very easy wish to grant - and she is standing right there. But she stays silent. "Everybody can just die" is a pretty far reaching wish, but she decides to take that as a command. So why one and not the other? Surely she is not bound to Shinji's every whim, and with the MP-Evas out of the picture and Yui staying silent until after Shinji decides to restore the AT-Fields, there is no indication that anybody is in a position to influence the outcome.