Did Anno originally planned on Asuka being a clone while working on NGE?

[C.T.1290]

So we know that Asuka being a clone is more exclusive for the Rebuild tetralogy, but I have recently been wondering if it was something Anno had thought of during the production of the original series.

What would that have been like if it was the case? Would that have change some things in the tv series, or would it have been more or less the same?

[BernardoCairo]

No. They considered turning her into some kind of werewolf through...

[Cola-09]

Well, in episode 22 of the directors cut it might've been implied - depending on your interpretation. When Asuka's mind gets infiltrated by the 15th angel, there's a scene on a train station where Asuka gets cornered by dozens of of other Asukas wearing cloaks.

[Asunji_Yuko]

No. They considered turning her into some kind of werewolf through...

Tell us more about this pls

[MsenjaKagami]

It was less of a "they" and more just one guy http://wiki.evageeks.org/Geektionary#Werewolf_Asuka

[thewayneiac]

No. They considered turning her into some kind of werewolf through...

Tell us more about this pls

This is from a proposal for the movie ending for NGE; fortunately they did EOE instead. Apparently this was so early in the process that they still thought they would just re-do 25 & 26 as director's cut episodes to end the story, so they would need a new story for a sequel movie. In this proposal returnees from Instrumentality are, for some reason, turning into werewolves. Here is an (incomplete) translation:

https://wiki.evageeks.org/Sore_o_Nasumono_(Translation)

[nerv bae]

Well, in episode 22 of the directors cut it might've been implied - depending on your interpretation. When Asuka's mind gets infiltrated by the 15th angel, there's a scene on a train station where Asuka gets cornered by dozens of of other Asukas wearing cloaks.

Note also the audio track similarity between this episode 22 scene and two Rebuild scenes. In my opinion this is an intentional callback from Rebuild to NGE cluing us in to Shikinami's nature. But I'm not sure what it means in the context of NGE alone—do we have any analysis or contemporary interviews about this scene in episode 22?

[C.T.1290]

It was a pretty interesting idea of Asuka turning into a werewolf. I wonder how the series would have turned out if they kept that idea.

As for Rebuilds, I don’t think I can consider Shikinami as Asuka since she’s not really her. Not the original like Soryu was. To me, Soryu will always be the one true Asuka. Shikinami? Not so much.

[Kendrix]

I'm pretty sure it arose later in the process, some early drafts for 2.0 even still mention her having a mother and "exploring their relationship".

Probably happened around the time that the general plan for the Rebuilds shifted from "HQ remake with some tweaks" to being its own thing.

Though it's interesting how a similar idea showed up in various spinoff ideas, the werewolf thing, how they made her a test tube baby in the Manga & genetically augmented in Gakuen Datenroku.

She was always a character that's a "specially trained elite supersoldier" lacking in parental love (at first just by more mundane means), so I suppose there's an inclination to go further with that.
The sea of identical faces in the ep 22 DC is just a metaphor for her need to differentiate herself but from that it's not so big a leap to make it literal within the show's canon.

In the end it's an extension of Kaworu attempting to "screw destiny" but producing a world where everyone's pre-determined roles are even more pre-determined. It's much broader than just Asuka being artificial this time, there's the reveal of the pilots coming with pre-programmed feelings & behaviors, or how Gendo is shown plotting throughout the first 2 films what events to make happen to Shinji & Rei in a specific order.