Kaworu Nagisa
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"The story presented to the public was just a cover-up." |
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"When Aoba called B Wing's construction sloppy he hadn't seen anything like THIS!" |
| Kaworu Nagisa | |
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| 渚カヲル | |
| Age | 15 |
|---|---|
| Birthday | 09/13/2000 |
| Seiyū | Akira Ishida |
Kaworu Nagisa （渚カヲル) is 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
Though Kaworu is similar in construction to Rei Ayanami, he appears more comfortable in his identity, and also warmer and more emotionally open. Yet like Rei, Kaworu appears to have some distance from human protocols and a tendency to speak in the universal rather than the personal, being interested in human issues of pain and loneliness, of which he considers Shinji a significant example. He often refers to humans as Lilim.
Though he might have been sent to destroy it, Kaworu is also possessed of some interest in human culture, and was first seen 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 Lilim civilization.
Little is known of Kaworu’s motivations for being one, but he seems to represent an idealized friend to Shinji Ikari. He understood Shinji as Shinji had been begging someone to do for a long time, was interested in Shinji’s life and welfare, and said that he liked/loved Shinji, without asking anything in return. Indeed, Kaworu possessed a surprising amount of insight into Shinji’s personality for just having met him, though Kaworu also seems to talk as much about the general state of humanity as fragmented and separated.
In End of Evangelion Kaworu makes several appearances, but that might just be as a representation of Adam, though it is not clear how much of the Kaworu identity lives in the compilation of beings.
"Tabris"
"Angel page" stuff goes here. Or should the Tabris article be used for this crap? Discuss.
Biology
Unlike the Angels who came before him, Kaworu possesses a Lilim-shaped vessel. Exteriorly, his body seems to be no different physically from normal Lilim, save for its unusual pigmentation. However, it is, presumably, composed of the same "particle-wave matter" that characterizes Angels in general. It is impossible to say if he possesses such trademark features as the core and S² Engine.
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
During the mysterious Contact Experiment that occurred shortly before Second Impact, a human "donor" made some kind of physical contact with Adam. The relevant flashback in Episode 21 includes the panicked announcement, "The DNA that dived into Adam has already undergone physical fusion!" The exact meaning of this is undisclosed, but details in Episode 24 -- such as Kaworu's date of birth (the day of Second Impact) and the way he identifies Adam as the "mother" from whom he was "born" -- heavily imply that Kaworu is a product of the experiment. If so, Kaworu is potentially (despite outward appearances) a hybrid entity that wavers somewhere between Adam and Homo sapiens on a genetic level.
Both the show and all official materials remain silent on the identity of the donor. Since "Kaworu Nagisa" is Japanese name, the donor was most likely a Japanese man. 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 music line "Und der Cherub steht vor Gott"- "And the Cherub (Angel) stood 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 kisses him in his sleep. 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.
Sadamoto's portrayal of Kaworu is known by the moniker "EMK" or "Evil Manga Kaworu" by fans, many of whom have taken great umbrage with his kitten-killing.
Rebuild of Evangelion
| 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 |
