Who is the EVA character you feel most sorry for?

[mammaluser]

A hard question indeed, but my choice for the series is... Toji, just because of the shit he goes through (with his sister being on the hospital, the stress of being chosen to be a pilot and finally the angel incident)
As far as the rebuilds go, i'd say ReiQ since she found out all that stuff at the end of the film and was literally used (just as much as almost everybody in the series).
Also if i add the manga, it would pretty much be Kaji.

[TheCarkolum]

Definitely Rei and Asuka. They are the ones who suffer almost all the time until there's nothing else on their insides. Then they die.

I tried to feel sorry for Shinji, but no matter how hard I try, I can't

[Cybermat47]

Honestly, Rei. Shinji and Asuka were victims of events that unfolded, but Rei never even had a chance to be happy. She was manufactured in a lab to pilot an Eva and bring about Third Impact. She never had a chance to properly live.

[PeteyBarnum]

Honestly, Rei. Shinji and Asuka were victims of events that unfolded, but Rei never even had a chance to be happy. She was manufactured in a lab to pilot an Eva and bring about Third Impact. She never had a chance to properly live.

Agreed. And Shinji also gets so much pain from piloting the Eva. But clearly, the one who suffers the most is Kensuke, who want to be a pilot so bad but never gets to do it.

[TheCarkolum]

Honestly, Rei. Shinji and Asuka were victims of events that unfolded, but Rei never even had a chance to be happy. She was manufactured in a lab to pilot an Eva and bring about Third Impact. She never had a chance to properly live.

Everybody is a victim of events that unfolded, so that doesn't really say too much.

None of the characters ever had a chance to be happy. The only exception is Yui.

I think when Rei is in the sea of LCL, she is happy. At least, the happiest she can be. She seems calm, and in peace, also triggered by the fact Instrumentality feels like death and that's what wished for.

[Chuckman]

Rei is the saddest. Can you imagine being a god shoved into a doughy frame held together with drugs and duct tape?

[Sachi]

None of the characters ever had a chance to be happy. The only exception is Yui.

If by happy, you mean becoming a martyr for Third Impact, doomed to an eternity alone within the Eva, just so a group of old men wouldn't completely ruin the world, then yes. Yui is very happy.

[imprimatur13]

I know that Yui is logically worse off, but, as she (in Lilin form) is only present in flashbacks, I never really connected to her as a person. That's slowly changing, but I always feel most sorry for Rei. She's definitely not my favorite character (Kaworu), but I always feel really sad when I think of her getting choked by Naoko. To be choked, and killed, and then reborn... I always felt that Rei II-III's introversion stemmed from that trauma.

[Reichu]

doomed to an eternity alone within the Eva

Hardly "doomed". I can't think of a single thing that would prevent her from making more life. It's kind of what her body was designed for.

[imprimatur13]

Hardly "doomed". I can't think of a single thing that would prevent her from making more life. It's kind of what her body was designed for.

Well, yes, but she would still have to wait until she lands on a life-friendly planet, right? And who knows how long that could take... though I do see your point.

[Sachi]

Even if after a millennia or so, she lands on a planet and begins life anew, I'd still say she's pretty doomed to be trapped within the Eva alone. At best, her progeny will do to her what they did to Lilith. Maybe there's a chance she can get out of things with another Instrumentality, but I think her fate would be similar to Lilith's as well.

Either way, there's no happy ending for Yui within the Eva. Doomed, I say. DOOOOOOOMED.

[Reichu]

Ah, but what if she gives birth to a race of beings that are gods like her and not pesky little ape-demons? What then?

[imprimatur13]

Ah, but what if she gives birth to a race of beings that are gods like her and not pesky little ape-demons? What then?

You're thinking about 'Attack on Apostolo', aren't you, Reichu?

SPOILER: Show

https://www.reddit.com/r/evangelion/comments/6n79bk/attack_on_apostolo_a_reichu_treatment/

[TheCarkolum]

If by happy, you mean becoming a martyr for Third Impact, doomed to an eternity alone within the Eva, just so a group of old men wouldn't completely ruin the world, then yes. Yui is very happy.

By happy I mean achieving her goals, so yes, taking this shallow definition yes, Yui is happy. I guess the SEELE guys are happy when the end unfolds too.

[Cybermat47]

Everybody is a victim of events that unfolded, so that doesn't really say too much.

None of the characters ever had a chance to be happy. The only exception is Yui.

I disagree.

Shinji could have been happy, but Seele set in motion a series of events that would tear apart his life.

Asuka could have been happt, but Seele set in motion a series of events that would tear apart her life.

Rei was grown in a lab with the express purpose of having Gendo stick his hand in her stomach to start Third Impact. And he probably used her for sex as well.

Kyoko and Yui wanted Asuka and Shinji to be happy. Gendo wanted Rei to make him happy.

[Reichu]

And he probably used her for sex as well.

Methinks it's time to lay off the eromanga.

I don't think you're giving Kyoko nearly enough credit for fucking her daughter up. She made the decision to be a live test subject in the same procedure that had killed Yui. Dialogue in episode 22 establishes that Kyoko cared more about her work than being a present and responsible parent. She's a female counterpart to Dr. Katsuragi, basically.

[Cybermat47]

Methinks it's time to lay off the eromanga.

My assumption that Gendo was using Rei sexually came from Ritsuko's dialogue in episode 22 about Gendo choosing Rei over her, but looking back at those scenes, now with the theory about Seele having Ritsuko raped in my mind, the meaning has certainly changed in my mind.

Still, it wouldn't surprise me if Gendo was using Rei sexually... he gives me the creeps.

And no, I won't lay off the eromanga.

I don't think you're giving Kyoko nearly enough credit for fucking her daughter up. She made the decision to be a live test subject in the same procedure that had killed Yui. Dialogue in episode 22 establishes that Kyoko cared more about her work than being a present and responsible parent. She's a female counterpart to Dr. Katsuragi, basically.

True, but Kyoko didn't purposefully drag Asuka into the clusterfuck, and you could argue that she focused on her work so much because she felt that, in the long run, it would protect Asuka (obviously she was completely wrong).

On the other hand, Gendo, the closest thing Rei has to a parent, just used her as a tool to prevent the Angels from starting Third Impact, and to start his own version of Third Impact.

[Reichu]

My assumption that Gendo was using Rei sexually came from Ritsuko's dialogue in episode 22 about Gendo choosing Rei over her, but looking back at those scenes, now with the theory about Seele having Ritsuko raped in my mind, the meaning has certainly changed in my mind.

On an intellectual level, I'm sure Ritsuko understands what is really going with Gendo and Rei -- she breezily exhibits this kind of knowledge in the early episodes -- but the end-series emotional reality is much different and she has no way to cope. She's never really evolved past the mindset of competing with her mother for pretty much everything, and this includes "competition" for a sexual interest (relationship with older man = Ritsuko's way of filling the giant Dad-shaped void in her psyche). With her mom gone, Ritsuko is becoming her mom, and Rei is, in her distorted world-view, taking the place where Ritsuko had once been. Of course, she reasons, Gendo wants to fuck Rei -- he replaced my mom with me, didn't he? In essence, Ritchan is violently unloading her own insecurities onto everything else. You can see just how unhinged she is by EoE, where she believes with complete sincerity that Balthasar declined the self-destruct because it is actually her mom doing loathsomely mom-like things ("you chose your lover over your own daughter!"). The rational part of her mind that would know that the MAGI were specifically designed to make intelligent and rational decisions (which blowing up Nerv HQ to spite your ex-lover decidedly IS NOT) is... well, it's gone on vacation.

(EDIT: This part of the post is a bit messier than I'd like. I historically haven't given Ritsuko's character the kind of mental effort she deserves and I'm trying to change that. Baby steps!)

Still, it wouldn't surprise me if Gendo was using Rei sexually... he gives me the creeps.

It doesn't really fit his psychological profile, IMHO. He's the kind of guy who hides behind his ATF unless someone forcibly breaks through it (like Yui or the Akagis). The only time we see him touch Rei inappropriately, it's done very clinically, as if it's some kind of ceremonially required procedure; any erotic response that's shown or even intimidated comes from Rei's side of things. I'm fairly certain Rei is supposed to represent the daughter that Gendo and Yui never had (hence why he called her "Rei" in the first place). Although Gendo is too broken and desperate to treat her the way we would expect a father to treat his daughter, he still invests an enormous amount of trust into her. A kind of agreement, an odd but uniquely close bond, exists between the two that lasts until Rei 2's death. I can't see Gendo violating such an important relationship for something as entirely unimportant (to him) as getting his dick wet.

[imprimatur13]

My assumption that Gendo was using Rei sexually came from Ritsuko's dialogue in episode 22 about Gendo choosing Rei over her, but looking back at those scenes, now with the theory about Seele having Ritsuko raped in my mind, the meaning has certainly changed in my mind.

Still, it wouldn't surprise me if Gendo was using Rei sexually... he gives me the creeps.

And no, I won't lay off the eromanga.

Can I just say, that to me, that is one of the most off-putting fan theories floating about? I don't know where it started (maybe Matt Greenfield?), but there is absolutely no evidence for it. The Akagis were jealous of Rei because she received Gendo's love and attention, which they did not have. They were sleeping with him, but they knew in their hearts that he didn't really love them. They wanted his love, but he only really loved Rei. As far as sex goes, Gendo did not choose Rei over them. There's no evidence he ever stopped sleeping with Ritsuko, right up until the end. They wanted love, and affection, but only Rei got it. I hope we can finally put that disgusting myth to rest.

[Cybermat47]

-snip-

Well, I can't really argue with that. You've convinced me.