rei

Rei Ayanami is the First Child (First Children in the Japanese version) and pilot of Unit 00. She is socially withdrawn and rarely interacts with anyone, except for Commander Ikari, to whom she initially displays some loyalty but with whom she has a generally distant relationship (she says in Episode 15 that she "doesn't know what kind of person he is"). She lives by herself in a cluttered and nearly barren apartment in Tokyo-3. Toward the end of the series, Shinji comments that her apartment is very similar to the place where Ritsuko Akagi says she was born.

Throughout the series, Rei's stoic personality compounds intrigue about her, which later results in arousing the scorn of Asuka, who at one point refers to her as a "doll" or "puppet." Rei is, in many ways, the exact opposite of Asuka. While Asuka is extroverted, Rei is introverted. Also, Asuka is extremely boastful and overly proud of her accomplishments, while Rei constantly states her life has little value. Their appearances are also, in ways, mirrors of each other (Rei has short, bluish-white hair and red eyes, while Asuka has long, reddish-blond hair and blue eyes).

Origins

Rei's origin and heritage are left deliberately unspecified, and there is evidence that she might not even be entirely human. Ritsuko Akagi says that Rei was born in a certain room deep in the lower levels of NERV headquarters, but this is all that is revealed in the series about her creation. Her mysterious background has led fans to find multiple theories of just what exactly went into creating her.

Kaworu cryptically mentioned in their only conversation that she is "the same" as him. This statement was expanded in the "director's cut" of the episode, in which Kaworu goes on to say that he and Rei are human vessels for the souls of Adam and Lilith, respectively. This is not the only way in which he can be seen as a counterpart or parallel to Rei.

Gendo Ikari introduces Rei to the NERV staff in 2010 as an "acquaintance's child" whom he is temporarily taking care of. However, there is evidence that he probably created her and almost certainly named her; he said when Yui was pregnant with Shinji that he would have named the child "Rei" if it had been a girl. The character model used in the 2010 scenes is based on development materials in which her age is only 4, thus causing confusion among fans as to her real birth year and date, since it would mean that she was only nine years old in 2015. Since Rei has been stated to be 14 in 2015 (and her character model reflects this information), there are most likely several Rei clones, which have been artificially aged. Rei was later stated to have been created from the "salvaged remains" of Yui Ikari after Yui's absorption into Unit 01 in 2004.

Regardless of age, if Rei was created deliberately, the reasons for her creation are also subject to speculation. In End of Evangelion, she plays an important role in Third Impact. In a pseudo-hallucinatory scene in episode 25, "Gendo" tells "Rei" that the day of Third Impact is the day for which she was created. She also displays uniquely Angelic abilities in latter episodes and the movie, further proving her origins.

Loose evidence is shown in the anime to support a Rei/Yui connection: Shinji tells Rei that he thinks she'd "make a good mother," and later compares Gendo's manipulation of her to his manipulation of Yui. Naoko Akagi says that Rei physically resembles Yui, suggesting a genetic link between the two. Rei and Yui also have the same seiyū and English voice actresses, and similar pageboy haircuts.

In the final episode of Neon Genesis Evangelion (and in the spin-off manga, Neon Genesis Evangelion: Angelic Days), the audience is introduced to an pseudo-hallucinatory alternate reality, with a different Rei. This Rei is presumed to be fully human and not genetically related to Yui Ikari. Her personality is also completely different, and normal (for example, she shows embarrassment and anger when she thinks Shinji looks up her skirt).

Relationships

Shortly before Shinji's arrival at NERV, Rei was involved in a Unit 00 activation test that ended in disaster. She was severely injured during this test, and Gendo burned his hands on the entry plug while opening it to "rescue" her. Afterward, she kept a pair of his glasses (which had been warped and cracked by heat from the entry plug) as a souvenir and developed something of a loyalty toward him. She even slapped Shinji for his negative remarks about Gendo as a father. However, her loyalty to Gendo erodes over the series as she witnesses his interactions with Shinji. She disobeys Gendo's orders on a few occasions, yet still says near the end of the series that she'd obey an order from him to kill herself. In fact, the only way in which she disobeys combat orders is by endangering her life. By the day on which Third Impact occurs, her loyalty toward Gendo has dissolved completely. She crushes the melted pair of glasses, then betrays Gendo by sabotaging his plan for Instrumentality.

Although Rei at first treats Shinji as neutrally as she does any other stranger, their relationship begins to grow after the battle against Ramiel, when Shinji risks life and limb to rescue her in the same manner that Gendo did. Rei slowly grows closer to Shinji as the series progresses, though their classmates seem to think that their feelings are obvious to everyone except themselves; Rei doesn't realize that she cares about Shinji until Toji Suzuhara tells her. She later notes that Shinji is the only person to whom she has ever said "thank you." These feelings between Rei and Shinji are suspected by some fans to be familial rather than romantic, due to the suspected genetic link with Yui. Their association lasts until Armisael partially fuses with Rei and attempts to fuse with Shinji. At this point, Rei realizes that she "wants to become one with" Shinji. The Rei that Shinji meets after the battle with Armisael is a new Rei clone that replaces the one that dies in the battle; however, the new Rei maintains some form of affection for Shinji, as evidenced by her actions in The End of Evangelion.

When Asuka arrives in Tokyo-3 and speaks to Rei for the first time, she suggests becoming friends "because it would be convenient," to which Rei replies that she would only become Asuka's friend if ordered to. Asuka repeatedly jokes about and pries into Rei and Shinji's relationship, and displays jealousy over their growing connection. Also, during Asuka and Shinji's training to stop Israfel, Asuka is angered when Rei and Shinji effortlessly perform the synchronized routine that she and Shinji are having difficulty synchronizing. Toward the end of the series, Asuka views Rei as an obedient, emotionless doll, and hates Rei as such because of extremely traumatic childhood events, one involving a doll. However, Rei still attempts to help Asuka by advising her about her Eva and later rescuing her from Arael, which only damages Asuka's ego and makes her hate Rei even more.

Ritsuko also does not view Rei as a person, and feels that Gendo somehow rejected her in favor of Rei, in a sense; her jealousy over "losing" to a "thing" becomes thinly veiled hatred towards her, and she takes her anger out on the Rei clones by destroying them. Rei herself does not express any animosity toward her, just as with Asuka.

Rei has only one conversation with Kaworu (not counting the one that images of them both have with Shinji in The End of Evangelion), during which he was quite friendly but she regarded him with confusion and suspicion more than anything else.

Clones and Dummy Plugs

Dozens of soulless clones of Rei are kept in a tank in the lower levels of NERV headquarters, and are said by Ritsuko to be the cores of the dummy plugs. Rei is seen spending unknown lengths of time in an LCL-filled tube underneath a structure resembling a giant brain in the dummy-system room, the reasons for which are another subject of speculation. The ending credits of each episode also depict Rei floating listlessly in liquid, but this may or may not be related to the LCL tube.

Ritsuko also refers to Rei's clones as "spare parts" (probably meaning that Rei's body parts can be replaced if they become too badly damaged in combat), but also "vessels" for Rei. Rei herself, in heavy bandages after the battle against Armisael, but possessing neither memories of nor injuries from the battle, says "I think I must be the third one," thus spawning the theory that she can be replaced entirely, with her soul being transferred to a new clone body every time she dies (and her memories having been transferred ahead of time). The canon Red Cross Book confirms this explanation. Other supporting evidence in the anime include her earlier line that "if I die, I can be replaced". In the manga, it is explicitly stated to be true. This explanation holds that Rei I, the very first, is murdered by Naoko Akagi in 2010 (as shown in Episode 21); Rei II, who may not have appeared until as late as 2014 (when she is transferred to Tokyo-3's Class 2-A), dies when she sacrifices herself and Unit 00 to destroy Armisael; and Rei III is the version seen from the second half of Episode 23 through to End of Evangelion.

These different incarnations are commonly referred to as "Rei I", "Rei II", and "Rei III", after episodes and musical pieces with the same names. In Episode 23, the controller that Ritsuko uses to destroy the clones in the dummy system lists numbered clones from "Rei 004" and upwards, implying that only three (or possibly four if there was a Rei 000) have been removed, which would mean that Rei 001-003 are Rei I-III. The latter possibility would require that the Rei clones are not contained within the dummy plugs, but are the "core" of the system in some other way.

Unit 00

As a pilot, Rei's synchronization ratios are unspecified, but are normally not as high as Asuka's or Shinji's. While the mothers of both Shinji and Asuka were absorbed into their respective Evas during contact experiments, Rei has no known mother and Unit 00 is not known to have been part of any contact experiments, thus raising questions about whose soul is in Unit 00. The evidence in this subject is sparse, vague, and heavily subject to interpretation, but it is hinted in the show that the soul is directly related to Rei herself in some way. For example, during the mutual compatibility experiment in episode 14, Shinji encounters a distorted image of Rei (this very same distorted image has also been seen another time in Episode 25, identified in the episode script as Rei I). As for Soryu Kyoko Zeppelin, The mother of Asuka, who survived her contact experiment with Eva 02 while only a portion of her soul remained into the Eva, a portion of Rei's soul might reside in Eva 00, which would make possible for Rei to continue living.

Countless other theories have been elaborated, but none of these have gained any significant popularity, nor been backed up with valid proofs. The show's creator might not even have had any particular soul in mind for Unit 00. No official statement has been made regarding this issue.

Rei's Poem

Rei's poem is a phrase used by some fans to describe a monologue given by Rei in the 14th episode of the TV series. It is not necessarily an actual poem, and may simply be Rei's comments on random images that Unit 01 is showing her. The contents of the speech in the English dubbed version differ somewhat from those of the original monologue.

One line of the "poem" mentions a "woman who never bleeds". Fans sometimes speculate about who Rei is referring to with this statement. The most commonly believed possibilities are Lilith, because she has LCL instead of blood, and Rei herself, who bleeds normally but may instead be making a reference to menstruation. The idea that Rei does not menstruate may be visually hinted at during part of her conversation with Armisael. When Armisael, appearing as Rei, is shown standing waist-deep in LCL, a dark streak (suspected to be blood) seems to be coming from her groin, and the "flow" increases sharply during one part of the conversation. This is extremely easy to miss due to the similarity in color between the streak itself and the shadow that Armisael is casting over it. The reasons for Rei's possible infertility are a mystery.

Manga version

Adaptation by Sadamoto

In this manga, Rei is somewhat more "human", in the sense that she responds to human contact more readily. Shinji's interactions with her are implied as the main reason of her change. Indeed, it is strongly hinted that Shinji and Rei are in love with each other. In book 9, he acknowledged that the gap between him and Rei has considerably been reduced since they first met; still, he hoped that this gap could be reduced further.

Also, it's much more strongly implied that she's a clone of Dr. Yui Ikari. In book 8 (corresponding to the aftermath of the fight with Zeruel in the anime), while Rei was praying for Shinji to "come back", she was able to communicate with what appeared to be a wicked part of Yui's soul possessing EVA-01, and retaining Shinji inside. She said to this soul, "I'm you and you're me, the former me." Yui agreed as much and demanded to know why Rei had interfered with her plans to keep her son in Unit 01 together with her.

After Shinji came out of the Dummy Plug, both he and Rei took a stroll to a pavilion at NERV HQ. There, she recounted the times where Shinji touched her hand and gave her thoughts on them. Then, she asked Shinji to allow her to touch his hand again, which he agreed.

Her desire to be recognized as a person, rather than as a "doll", puts her in some awkward, even dangerous situations. Ritsuko Akagi tried to strangle her once when she talked back to the doctor. Also, on her first meeting with Kaworu, when Kaworu commented that they are the same, she thought for a while and replied, "No. We're not the same. We might be very similar... but we're not the same."

In the battle against Armisael, the Angel apparently communicated with her. It was here that she realised that she cared deeply for Shinji. (The Angel claimed that Rei wanted Shinji for herself, and was angry at Asuka for drawing Shinji's attention away.) Like in the anime, she detonated Unit 00 to destroy the Angel. However, it's hinted that the "new" Rei still had some residual memories, unlike her anime counterpart.

Shinji Ikari Raising Project

In this series, Rei is a distant relative of Shinji's (from Yui's side of the family, in homage to the original). She's the first person the reader sees, as she comes to Tokyo-3.

Here, she's portrayed as an intelligent girl (on par with Asuka in the series). However, due to her unhappy childhood, she's also somewhat cold to others. (In another homage to the original, Shinji again sees her stepping out of the shower naked. This time, however, she gave the boy a cold smile before adding a tight slap which sent him to the floor.)

Later on, her relationship with Shinji gradually warmed, which Asuka felt was a "threat" of sorts. Interestingly, she even invited the boy to shop for a swimsuit with her (for a beach outing), much to his embarrassment. She's also the first person shown (in this series) to wear a plug-suit.

Miscellaneous

Rei was named after Rei Hino from Sailor Moon in an unsuccessful attempt by Hideaki Anno to get Kunihiko Ikuhara, director of Sailor Moon, to join the project. It is also a pun, in that "rei" can mean "zero," and Rei is, of course, the pilot of Unit 00. Before the name "Rei Ayanami" was decided upon, she was called Yui Ichijō, after Hikaru Ichijyo from Macross, which Anno worked on. Also, the name of "Yui" — another character who apparently has an uncanny connection with Rei — means "only one." To note is also the fact that in the opening credits of the TV series the public relations correspondent for TV Tokyo is credited (according to ADV's translation) as "Rei Anami". Whether or not this is either somehow coincidental, directly linked to the name of the character, or a pseudonym used by the credited individual, is uncertain. (Though the latter option would seem the most viable.)

Furthermore, like many of Evangelion's characters, Ayanami's surname comes from a Japanese WWII naval vessel, the Fubuki class destroyer Ayanami.

In fanfiction, Rei is often paired with Shinji as a romantic couple, although not quite as often as Shinji is paired with Asuka. Also, there is a considerable amount of yuri fanfictions/fanart representing a homosexual relationship between Asuka and Rei.

Rei's seiyu shares the same given name as Shinji's seiyu (Megumi, although they are written in different ways in kanji).

Notes

1. ↑  In the anime, her birthdate is explicitly said to be unknown; the birthday misconceived to be official by some fans (March 30, 2001) is actually the birthday of, and suggested by, her Japanese voice actress Megumi Hayashibara, who released her album "Birthday of Rei Ayanami" on that exact date.