Kaworu Nagisa

Kaworu Nagisa
渚カヲル
Age	15
Birthday	09/13/2000
Seiyū	Akira Ishida

Kaworu Nagisa （渚カヲル Arabic: تبريس) is the Fifth Children and a replacement Eva pilot sent to Nerv HQ by Seele. At the same time, he is the 17th and (supposedly) final Angel, designated "Tabris", the only one to infiltrate Terminal Dogma.

Profile

Although classified as an Angel, Kaworu is similar to Rei Ayanami in being a Seed of Life inhabiting a human body. Unlike Rei, he appears more comfortable in his identity, and also warmer and more emotionally open, although he does show a distance from human protocols and the same tendency to speak in universal rather than personal terms. He often refers to humans as Lilin.

Like Rei and unlike the Angels who came before him, Kaworu has a Lilin body, with no visible physical difference from a regular human except for very pale skin, light grey hair and red irises. Although his body is presumably composed of the same "particle-wave matter", it is impossible to say if he possesses a core and S² Engine.

Though he seems to have been sent to destroy it, Kaworu shows a marked interest in human culture, as well as human issues of pain and loneliness. When Shinji first saw him, he was humming part of Beethoven’s "Ode to Joy", the fourth and final movement of the composer’s Ninth Symphony, and then stating that he considered it the finest achievement of the Lilin civilization.

Little is known of Kaworu’s motivations for representing an idealized friend to Shinji Ikari, although his interest in Shinji might have stemmed from his interest in human nature in general, Shinji representing a prime example of human pain and loneliness. Apart from very quickly understanding Shinji's personality, he understood Shinji as Shinji had been wanting someone to do for a long time and was interested in Shinji's welfare without asking anything in return. He does seem to consider meeting Shinji as extremely significant after listening to what Shinji has to say about himself and his relation to his father during his overnight stay in Kaworu's room, but it is not clearly understood what Kaworu truly meant.

During the battle while descending to Terminal Dogma, Kaworu is manipulating Eva-02, but the manipulated Eva doesn't seem to put up as much of a fight as it possibly could under his control. While Shinji aimed for Eva-02's head and neck to incapacitate it, both of Eva-02's knife strikes were in the pectoral region where damage was limited. Kaworu might simply have wanted to delay Eva-01 as far as possible, so that he could use the Eva to realize his own death if necessary.

Indeed, Kaworu decides to willingly let Shinji kill him to let Lilin live and Angels remain dead shows. As the human incarnate of Adam, a fact disclosed by the Seele monoliths, the sheer strangeness of the sacrifice is that Kaworu allowed Adam's (And by extension, his own) children to remain dead while letting the children of Lilith live on.

In End of Evangelion Kaworu makes several appearances. A multitude of his appearances involve him appearing simultaneously in two places at once, which Yui and most notably, Rei/Lilith demonstrate. Kaworu is present within the massive Rei/Lilith/Adam being and has control of the being for a brief period of time in order to bring down Shinji's A.T. Field, but otherwise remains passive. Whether or not Kaworu's identity survived at the very end remains unanswered.

As an Angel

As the seventeenth and final Angel, Kaworu is given the angelic name Tabris(タブリス), as revealed in Newtype publications such as ADAM and used by Keel Lorenz in the Manga. As an Angel, Kaworu is associated with free will, which is considered a gift of God.

Kaworu possesses the salvaged soul of Adam herself, and wields all of the power that comes with it. His A.T. Field is described by the Magi as the strongest yet encountered (until it is surpassed by Rei's). Kaworu is observed using it for levitation, to control Eva-02, as a massive barrier that prevents the Command Center from receiving wave transmissions, and, (evidently) to bypass the LCL Plant's locking mechanism.

Origins

Kaworu's origins are not revealed either in the TV series or in any official publications. The only known information about Kaworu's past is his birthday- September 13, 2000, the day of Second Impact, which has led many to speculate on how his creation might be linked to Second Impact.See also: Theory & Analysis: Kaworu's Origins.

Battle

Kaworu directly manipulated Eva-02 from the outside and headed directly down to Terminal Dogma with the captured Eva. Shinji was sent down to fight in Evangelion Unit-01, fighting the commandeered Unit 02 with his progressive knife. After blocking out all communications with an A.T. Field barrier, Kaworu succeeded in reaching Terminal Dogma, only to discover that the giant crucified inside was not Adam, but Lilith. Eva-01 (With the probable assistance of Rei Ayanami and her A.T. Field) disabled Eva-02 and broke into Terminal Dogma. Kaworu accepted death and requested Shinji Ikari, the pilot, to kill him and let humanity live, a request that Shinji granted after a long hesitation.

Notes

• The name "Nagisa" is a pun. The Kanji character "Nagisa" consists of the Katakana "shi" and the Kanji "sha", forming the word "Shisha", or "messenger". Kaworu, after all, is the final messenger, and the word used for "Angel" in the original Japanese dub is "Shito", or "Apostle" (messenger of God).

• Kaworu, being the vessel for Adam's soul, is in effect Adam reborn as a human. By being both the First Angel (Adam, whose body was separated from her soul in Second Impact) and the Seventeenth and final Angel, he is in effect both the first and the last of his kind.
  • Kaworu is "born from Adam", and describes Adam as being the "Mother of us all". As Kaworu is the vessel for Adam's soul, that paradoxically makes him his own mother.

• Kaworu appears humming the fourth movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, the same music that plays during his descent into Terminal Dogma and so serves as a leitmotif for his character. The Ninth Symphony itself is set to an adaptation Friedrich Schiller's Ode to Joy (An dem Freude, to Joy), a poem dedicated to the unity of all men under God.
  • The moment Kaworu opens the doors to Terminal Dogma is in synch with the line "Und der Cherub steht vor Gott"- "And the Cherub (Angel) stands before God".

• Kaworu's Plug Suit has an inverted, divided triangle symbol on its chest rather than a proper number, though he was sent to be the replacement pilot for Eva-02

Other Continuities

Sadamoto's Manga

Write this as if Sadamoto's "Kaworu Nagisa" is a completely different person who just happens to have the same name as the other Kaworu, along with looking kinda similar. NPOV all the way; EMK-mindset will get us nowhere here.

Kaworu in the manga is a very different character from the Kaworu in the anime. Among other things, he is extremely invasive of personal space and seems to have little understanding of the idea of privacy, walking right into the girl's bathroom to find out why Asuka is upset. His homosexual overtones, while debatable in the anime, are overly evident in the manga--while Shinji is staying at Kaworu's has a nightmare during which he hyperventilates, Kaworu places his mouth over his to slow Shinji's breathing, as well as kissing him. When Shinji leaves his room he is sad that Shinji didn't even bother to say goodbye.

Kaworu's introduction comes much earlier: he is first seen waking up in an LCL tube with Keel Lorenz talking to him, and speaks to Seele, who call him by his Angel name "Tabris" and refer to an agreement made between them. His arrival in Tokyo-3 is shortly before the battle with Arael. Shinji first finds Kaworu playing Ode to Joy on a piano in a ruined church, and Kaworu immediately earns Shinji's immense dislike when he breaks a starving kitten's neck as an act of mercy. At school, Kensuke thinks of him as "Creepy...something inhuman." When Arael attacks, Kaworu is a spectator in Central Dogma, and is disturbed by Gendo's use of the Spear of Longinus. After Asuka enters a vegetative state from the mental attack, Kaworu takes her place in the battle with Armisael, proving himself a spectacular Eva pilot, but refusing to reveal his true nature to the invasive Angel. Despite momentarily feeling Rei's love for Shinji, he tells him that Rei was stupid in sacrificing herself, drawing an intense outburst of violence from Shinji. Kaworu allows Shinji to kill him in the end, although he displays none of the self-sacrifice portrayed in the anime.

Sadamoto's portrayal of Kaworu is known by the moniker "Evil Manga Kaworu" (in short, "EMK") by fans, many of whom deride the changes and have frequently referred to his kitten-killing act to show their dislike of his character.

Notes(Manga)

• Kaworu's original design was that of a boy with a pet cat, who could switch from "Human form" to "Angel form" at will. As in the manga, he was to appear earlier in the series (Although unlike the manga, he was to attack far earlier as well). Sadamoto seems to have made an ironic reference to Kaworu's initial concept with the kitten-killing scene.

Rebuild of Evangelion

Kaworu appears in Rebuild of Evangelion 1.0, rising from a coffin on the moon near another bound giant. He speaks to Keel Lorenz (via his monolith), agreeing that "the child" is progressing as predicted in the Dead Sea Scrolls, and saying that "The Third is still the same." He ends the conversation saying that he hopes to meet Shinji.

Angels

Angels (general)

First and Second Angels (Seeds of Life): Adam | Lilith

Third to Seventeenth Angels (Adam's Children):

Sachiel | Shamshel | Ramiel | Gaghiel | Israfel | Sandalphon | Matarael | Sahaquiel

Ireul | Leliel | Bardiel | Zeruel | Arael | Armisael | Tabris

Eighteenth Angel: Lilin

Rebuild of Evangelion: ?Adams? | Lilith | 3rd Angel | 4th Angel | 5th Angel | 6th Angel | 7th Angel | 8th Angel | 9th Angel | 10th Angel | 11th Angel | 12th Angel | 1st/13th Angel

Other: Extracanonical Angels

Characters

Main characters: Shinji Ikari | Rei Ayanami | Asuka Langley Soryu

Nerv staff: Misato Katsuragi | Gendo Ikari | Ritsuko Akagi | Kozo Fuyutsuki | Ryoji Kaji | Maya Ibuki | Makoto Hyuga | Shigeru Aoba

Classmates: Toji Suzuhara | Kensuke Aida | Hikari Horaki

Other characters: Kaworu Nagisa | Yui Ikari | Naoko Akagi | Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu | Dr. Katsuragi | Mr. Langley | Keel Lorenz | Pen Pen

Rebuild of Evangelion: Asuka Shikinami Langley | Mari Makinami Illustrious | Sakura Suzuhara | Ryoji Kaji (Jr)

Miscellaneous: Minor Characters | Minor Characters (Rebuild) | Extracanonical Characters

Theory and Analysis: Name Origins (Warships) | Designs | Relationships | Profiles

Resources: 2015: The Last Year of Ryohji Kaji