Character Analysis
(Avoiding Spoilers)
Grew Up... better than you. Trained from an early age to pilot the Evangelion – a giant 'robot' tasked with fighting the otherworldly Angels – Asuka takes to piloting well, as she does with everything else she attempts. Master of three languages, a college graduate, and an ace pilot to boot, Asuka is at age 14 what most adults dream of being at 40. Add to that her exotic background – three-fourths German and one-fourth Japanese – and you have the recipe for a teenage boy magnet.
Living... with fellow pilot Shinji Ikari and their guardian Misato, to Asuka's great chagrin. Thorny at the best of times, Asuka seems to have a particular disdain for the meek, insecure Shinji, constantly berating him with, "What are you, stupid?"
Visiting... in Tokyo-3, where she was sent to help battle the Angels with copilots Rei and Shinji. Neither of whom she particularly likes.
Profession... Evangelion pilot, and proud of it. While Asuka is popular among her male classmates especially (possibly because of her recently expanding chest), working with others is a much larger challenge for the independent prodigy.
Interests... battling Angels, impressing others, and showing up copilots Rei and Shinji. Unlike either of her copilots, Asuka is positively gleeful at the prospect of piloting the Evangelion, cheerfully going after Angels with barely restrained bloodlust.
Relationship Status... single. Asuka's got a distinctly Oedipal thing going on for her former guardian, Ryoji Kaji, but Kaji has the presence of mind to let her down – not least of all because he might be interested in Asuka's current guardian, Misato.
Challenge... being the best pilot. Ever since childhood, Asuka was defined by her status as an Evangelion pilot – so much so that she feels "I have no reason to live" if she can't pilot.
Personality... confident, haughty, and pretending to be far more adult than she actually is. Although she seems invulnerable, Asuka's tough act may actually hide a young girl with deep-seated vulnerabilities. As Asuka herself admits, in one of her rare moments of honesty, "Nobody stays with me...so I don’t want to depend on anybody. But I hate it at the same time! [...] I don't want to be alone, I don't want to be alone, I don't want to be alone!"
Get to Know her in...
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At the age of 14, Shinji Ikari is summoned by his father to the city of Neo Tokyo-3 after several years of separation. There he unwillingly accepts the task of becoming the pilot of a giant robot by the name EVA01 and protect the world from the enigmatic invaders known as "angels." Even though he repeatedly questions why he has accepted this mission from his estranged and cold father, his doing so helps him to gradually accept himself. However, why exactly are the angels attacking and what are his father's true intentions are yet to be unraveled?
