Theory and Analysis:Identity of Kaworu's Donor

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Kaworu Nagisa's Lilin form is courtesy of an unknown "donor". Who is this person? The show never mentions, and neither do the supplementary materials. But since Kaworu's counterpart, Rei, has a genetic source that is known and very plot-relevant, it seems likely that the same may be true of Kaworu.

Anyone who wasn't there at Second Impact

The line "the contact experiment with the donor is scheduled for the..." is worded in Japanese in such a way that the donor is implied to actually be present for the CE. That is, the CE wasn't just with the donation; it was between Adam and a living, breathing person who would, through the procedure, donate genetic material.

In spite of this, speculations about the donor tend to gravitate toward people who weren't actually present for the CE, including but certainly not limited to: Gendo, Keel, Yui, and Kaji. Some have claimed that Kaworu, being sent by Seele, would have to be created and potentially raised by Seele themselves, and that a young(er) Keel Lorenz resembles Kaworu, after balding and gaining weight. No matter the neat thematic tie-ins one might find with some of these characters, the fundamental problem remains that they simply were not there. In fact, going by the "donor was present for experiment" criterion, only two named characters qualify as serious candidates.

Could Dr. K or Mr. K make K-aworu?

Misato

Misato Katsuragi was a 14-year-old at the time. Her presence at the Katsuragi Expedition base is unexplained and possibly suspicious, and it's possible she was being used for pilot testing. However, Misato's gender is opposite that of Kaworu, and the two of them look little alike, making this theory rather unlikely.

Dr. Katsuragi

Dr. Katsuragi, Misato's father, would seem to be the better candidate of the two, given that Misato and Shinji's troubled relationships with their fathers are paralleled. Misato effectively says that she is participating in the Angels' destruction to both avenge her father's death AND to sublimate the father-hatred that continues to haunt her. Likewise, Shinji's "enemies" eventually become one, when Gendo fuses with Adam, which would be mirrored by Misato's father to becoming one with the enemy as well. If he was the donor for Kaworu, this basically means that destroying the final Angel DOES purge Misato of her father's ghost, as she has eliminated all that remains of him. Kaworu would also represent her father's fusion with Adam, a fusion later conducted in a different manner by the other "hated father".

Furthermore, as Rei is a clone of the mother of Shinji, the main child protagonist, Kaworu as a clone of the father of the main adult protagonist would fit. Given that the other two CEs involved scientist parents of main characters Shinji and Asuka, it would make sense that Adam's CE involves scientist parent of main character Misato. Finally, what little we see of Dr. Katsuragi's face is not inappropriate for an older version of Kaworu.

However, past the thematic fitting, there is little concrete evidence, and certainly nothing conclusive, made more questionable by the lack of interaction between Kaworu and Misato. Interestingly, the Director's Cut version of Episode 24 has added a sort of interaction between them, as Misato spies on Kaworu talking to the Seele monoliths, with Anno having deliberately chosen to emphasize this in place of other possible additions. However, even before the DC additions, Misato was also very interested in and suspicious of Kaworu, launching her own investigation into the Fifth Child. Misato's unresolved trauma towards her father and personal vendetta against the Angels would seem to give this some thematic meaning, but are insufficient on their own. Perhaps this is one of those questions that aren't meant to be answered, but Anno has decided to give a nod to it nonetheless.