Why does Pen Pen exist anyway ?

[Sheena]

Even better theory: Pen Pen killed Kaji.

[Trajan]

the "Pen Pen is God theory"

trust me *Indiana Jones smirk*

I have seen this, it is true.

To the unbelievers out there, scroll to the bottom paragraph

[pen-pen]

Argh...argh...argh...

[juaxoo]

Aside from comic relief, chances are because he's one of the very few penguins left in the world after Second Impact. All(?) species of penguin exist south of the equator, and they're commonly found in Anarctica. After 2I, there would be next to none of them left (even moreso than other families of species).

Perhaps Misato took him in for sentimental reasons: to remind her of what she saw in Anarctica, to remind herself that not everything was lost that day, or something related to that. That theory kinda disagrees with her reasoning for not visiting the conservation centre (or whatever it's called) in 2.22, but she's always had Pen-Pen regardless.

i second this

[Obstermaxmaster]

Aside from comic relief, chances are because he's one of the very few penguins left in the world after Second Impact. All(?) species of penguin exist south of the equator, and they're commonly found in Anarctica. After 2I, there would be next to none of them left (even moreso than other families of species).

Perhaps Misato took him in for sentimental reasons: to remind her of what she saw in Anarctica, to remind herself that not everything was lost that day, or something related to that. That theory kinda disagrees with her reasoning for not visiting the conservation centre (or whatever it's called) in 2.22, but she's always had Pen-Pen regardless.

i second this

I also agree with this. Pen-pen is around due to Misato taking him in. Misato sees herself in Pen-pen, as somebody who is lonely and just wants to be loved.

Also, Pen-pen existed for humor reasons so the series wouldn't be so depressing at times. You can also look at several episodes that show Pen^2 acting in certain ways so the audience doesn't know what to expect and how to react (ex. episode 2). Therefore, they laugh because it is something out of the ordinary.