Characters

Misato is an energetic, determined and strong willed individual who's not afraid to take charge of a bad situation, that is when she's not busy drinking. Misato joined NERV after the death of her father, who died saving her life during the second impact whilst leading the Katsuragi expedition in Antarctica, intent on exacting revenge against the Angels for her loss. She soon acquired the rank of Captain and shortly afterwards that of Major, and is appointed as NERV's operations director with explicit control over Evas 00, 01 and 02 in the absence of both Commanders Ikari and Fuyutsuki.

As well as working for NERV, she is Shinji's voluntary guardian, although her attitude and behaviour towards him is more of that expected from an older sister. Despite her sisterly approach to Shinji and her occasionally bad domestic habits though, Misato does manage to go a long way into helping Shinji to over come his problems, and in getting him to open up a little. Misato has also taken on the role of Asuka's guardian.

Misato is also Kaji's old lover and at one point lived with him, but she broke off the relationship when she realised how similar to her father he was. Despite this though, she still cares greatly for him, although admitting to this in public would be unlikely, and it's not inconceivable that they may soon become once again more than just good friends.

Yui was a caring, thoughtful and content individual, she'd often be caught with a smile on her face and at times seemed almost like a child eager to experience life to the fullest. Although an extremely intelligent and capable scientist, Yui wasn't particularly career driven, though instead sought to experience as much of life as possible. Yui was also the kind of person who would easily make friends what with her out going personality and her polite and affectionate approach to others, and it's because of this that she was able to gain the trust and friendship of others very quickly.

Though he may not look it, Makoto is actually an incredibly strong willed, determined and brave individual. He takes his job at NERV extremely seriously and doesn't think twice about laying his life on the line when it comes to battling against the Angels. Makoto would seem to be the type of person who doesn't get out that much, though this is more likely to be the result of the amount of effort he puts into his work as opposed to a problem of self confidence.

Indeed Makoto spends long hours working at NERV, both during and after official working hours, and it's during these unofficial working hours that Makoto's true personality comes to light. He loves nothing more than digging up those secrets and hidden agendas kept out of sight by both NERV and SEELE, in effect Makoto's true job is that of Misato's secret mole inside the very heart of NERV.

Though Makoto and Misato will never become anything more than friends, Makoto cares a great deal about Misato and will gladly carry out her wishes, even if this means over stepping the mark and potentially jeopardising his career in NERV.

As a Commander, Gendo is very experienced, secretive, always achieves results and is able to stay calm when in command, even when faced with dire situations. As a father, however, he is cold, heartless and even cruel. Gendo has never been there for his son, Shinji, and has made no real attempts to get to know him better, despite the fact that he's capable of doing so for Rei. He seems to almost be disappointed with Shinji and is content to treat his son as a complete stranger whom he may occasionally have a use for. It's no wonder why Shinji chose to run away at such an early age after his mother, Yui Ikari, died. Gendo met Yui during his University years, but it's always been assumed by many that his main reason for marrying her was so that he could get closer to her work and to the organisation she worked for, and that he had no real interest in raising a family.

Gendo may work for NERV, however, he doesn't share the same goals laid down by the UN committee, a cover in fact for SEELE, the backbone behind NERV, who seem intent on carrying out the human instrumentality project; the next step in human evolution. The creation of a single perfect entity formed from the unity of all human souls. Otherwise known as the third impact. All Gendo really cares about is carrying out the last wish of his wife; the prevention of a probable third impact instigated by Angels.

Ritsuko is very secretive and seldom talks about herself or her family, but it is known that she didn't get along with her mother, Naoko Akagi, creator of the MAGI super computers used by NERV, that is on a personal level. She works closely with Commanders Ikari and Fuyutsuki and knows a great deal of the truths behind the mysteries surrounding the second impact, Adam and the arrival of the Angels.

She is also friends with Misato and Kaji having known them both for many years.  Although Ritsuko is fond of Kaji, the two are merely good friends, she knows Kaji still cares for Misato. Ritsuko herself though is still single mainly because she doesn't really know how to act around men. This is most likely because she has spent most of her life alone what with her mother dead, having committed suicide in front of the MAGI many years ago, and without a father during her childhood. Therefore Ritsuko has pretty much got on with her life by emersing herself in her work, something which is very important to her.

Naoko, it would seem, was more interested in her work than in what life had to offer, she spent the majority of her time working for Gehirn and in doing so shut herself out of the world around her. Her devotion to her work, however, wasn't without its rewards, Naoko was the main driving force behind the development of the MAGI super computers used by NERV. Though with all her time and energy put into her work, Naoko rarely made enough time for her daughter, Ritsuko, during her childhood.

Naoko was having an affair with Gendo after Yui's death. She committed suicide in front of the MAGI, however, when she learned of Gendo's betrayal of love towards her from the first copy of Rei, whom Naoko then killed out of vengeance. Gendo never stopped loving Yui, Rei's existence alone was proof of that. Realising this was enough to send Naoko over the edge, and in the process Gehirn lost an individual who'd rendered such remarkable service to the MAGI system.

Kaji is quite the playful type who officially works for NERV special inspections, however, he also secretly works for the Japanese government investigating NERV's true intentions on their behalf. Kaji has a nose for trouble and enjoys nothing more than living out the life of some kind of secret agent or spy, but his desire to act out this kind of role will undoubtedly eventually land him in the worst of situations.

Although his relationship with Misato ended years ago, he's never really given up the battle to win her back and it's possible that they may at some point get back together, despite objections from Asuka who can be seen clinging to Kaji whenever the opportunity presents itself.

As far as bad habits go, Kaji is hardly perfect in that he can often be found playfully hitting on women. While not a crime in itself, this type of behaviour doesn't score him any points with Misato, neither does neglecting to shave, something which Misato is always picking up on.

When in command, Kouzou is not all that dissimilar to Commander Ikari in that he too remains perfectly calm even when a situation turns nasty. He can, however, be a little apprehensive at times, but will take the time out to engage in idle conversation with lower ranking NERV personnel. Unlike Gendo, Kouzou is more likely to play it safe as a posed to taking big risks, and although Kouzou maybe a decade older than Gendo, it would seem that his role in NERV's hierarchy is more of that of a vice-commander. It's Commander Ikari who seems to have the last say, that is when he's not away attending other more important matters.

Kouzou is a former professor at the Kyoto University. It was there that he first met Yui Ikari, one of his students, who introduced him to Gendo. A few years later after the second impact, the two met once again, and it was at this point that Gendo, who by now was in charge of project E; the project to revive Adam, invited Kouzou to work along side him in creating a new era for man. Despite accepting the offer, Kouzou has always believed Gendo in fact knew that the second impact would take place, and as a result of this left the Antarctic Katsuragi expedition the day before the incident, along with all the collected research data. But even Kouzou is kept in the dark about some secrets, especially those concerning SEELE and his fellow Commander.

Maya is a friendly and polite individual who enjoys her work, is grateful for living in the twenty first century and is the kind of person who welcomes technology openly. Maya is easily disturbed by scenes of violence and aggression and hence is more of a pacifist in nature. Maya is also an incredibly hard worker, is eager to please and will rarely ever over step the mark as far as her position in NERV is concerned.

Maya is a technician at NERV and works closely with Ritsuko as her assistant for most of the time, in a way, Maya has earned Ritsuko's trust and respect and considers her to be her mentor. Maya has a great deal of respect for Ritsuko, and will willingly follow Ritsuko's wishes even if she herself doesn't quite agree with them.