Rei Ayanami

Rei Ayanami
綾波レイ
Age	14 (biologically)
Birthday	Unknown
Seiyū	Megumi Hayashibara

Rei Ayanami is the First Children of the Marduk Report and designated pilot of Evangelion Unit-00. Rei has a sustained but somewhat sporadic appearance in the TV series.

Profile

“

Whatever else, she needs to be painted as a bitterly unhappy young girl with little sense of presence. -- Hideaki Anno

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The influences of Rei's character design have been spoken of by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto.

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The first time you see Rei, she is all bandaged up. The group Kinniku Shojo Tai has a son called Hotai de Masshiro na Shojo [The Girl White with Bandages]. When I heard that song, an image popped into my mind; I thought, "I'd like to draw a girl like that," and then I drew Rei from that image. [...] I played around with this character I called "Ukina." She came from a story I wrote a long time ago for NewType magazine called Koto no Oni [The Orge on the Desert Isle]. You take Ukina, give her shaggy, bobbed, wolf-like hair, and it's Rei. Really, I just played with her a bit -- with the way the eyes are drawn. The basic character is the same. Her character was locked in as translucent -- like a shadow, or the air. The kind of girl you can't touch. The girl you long for, but there is nothing about her that you can hold. -- interview with Yoshiyuki Sadamoto printed in Volume II of the manga.

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In the same interview Yoshiyuki also speaks of the decision for Rei to have red eyes.

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There were two things that went into the decision to make her eyes red: one is the fact she didn't have enough outstanding features, and the second is from a business standpoint, the makes of the Eva computer game wanted her differentiated from the other characters. -- interview with Yoshiyuki Sadamoto printed in Volume II of the manga.

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Due to Rei's red eyes and pale skin she is often mistaking taken for having a form of albinism.

Rei dislikes eating meat. Series creator Hideaki Anno and as well as the main character from Gainax's previous work Nadia are known for being vegetinrains.

All files pertaining to Rei have been erased, making her origins officially a mystery. We can extrapolate for the show, however, that Rei I was the result of the failed salvage operation of Yui Ikari from Eva-01.

Rei seems disinterested in school, yet can read German and has an interest in genetics. Rei is often absent from class 2-A later in the series as she spends more and more time in the Dummy Plug Plant. The five books we see in her apartment are all heavily indexed with pieces of paper, suggesting her though study of them.

Rei, in comparison to Asuka, is much better informed as to layout of Nerv and the GeoFront judging from Episode 11. Rei is well informed on Nerv's operational procedure compared to the other Children.

Rei knows of true nature of the Project E better than any of the other Children and is given the job of piecing Lilith with the recovered Spear of Longinus, she is also charged with destroying the Angel Armisael with the Spear of Longinus.

Rei has few possessions. Rei possesses a school uniform, along with a hospital gown which she sleeps in (see EoE). Rei has a standard school satchel that is organised neatly as opposed to Asuka's. Rei has a pair of white plimsoll shoes that she wears to school and a pair of brown slippers that she wears in her apartment. Rei owns white socks but is never seen wearing them. Rei owns predominantly white underwear but also possesses mauve coloured underwear in the television series. Rei has five books on top of her dresser, the same dresser where Rei place Gendo's glasses when she does not have them on her person.

Rei II's and III's height is 145cm (4'9").

Incarnations

Rei I

Rei I is the first vessel of Rei Ayanami. Rei I appears for the first time in Episode 21 and later in Episode 25, lastly appearing in Episode 26'.

Rei II

Rei II is the second vessel of Rei Ayanami yet the first encountered during the series. Rei II is the "Rei" seen during the majority of the series, from Episode 01 through to the first half of Episode 23.

Rei III

Rei III is the third vessel of Rei Ayanami. Rei III appears from the second half of Episode 23 through to The End of Evangelion.

Summary of Rei's story in the TV series

Rei Ayanami is likely the result of the failed salvage operation conducted to rescue Yui Ikari after she was absorbed into Eva-01 during the Contact Experiment. Rei possess the soul of Lilith and is composed of the same particle wave matter that Lilith herself is composed of.

Episode 21

Rei I appears as a child of five years in the year 2010 during this episode 21. Gendo Ikari accompanied Rei I on a tour of Gehirn's facilities and the GeoFront. Gendo may act as Rei's guardian during the show. Rei I is introduced to Naoko and Ritsuko Akagi within the superstructure under Tokyo-3 by Gendo Ikari, who introduces her to them as the "daughter of a friend." Naoko Akagi notes the physical similarity between Rei I and Yui Ikari, which is especially evident in her younger form.

The night before the 1st Branch of Nerv became officially operational Rei I had become lost and encountered Naoko on the bridge of the Command Center. Rei I, after rejecting Naoko's help called her an "old hag", and told her that Gendo himself called her that in private; that Gendo's relationship with Naoko was a fraud and he was simply just using her. In a fit of frustration and rage, Naoko strangled and killed Rei I. Naoko then committed suicide by throwing herself onto Balthasar (which she described as "herself as a mother" earlier in the same episode), one of the three Magi supercomputers below the top tier of the Command Center.

Episode 5: First Half

Shortly before the story begins, Rei participated in Eva-00's first activation experiment in Lab 2. When the process of synchronization reached the ego borderline Eva-00 suddenly went berserk, and the entry plug was ejected. Rei was badly injured as a result of the ejection of the entry plug, her left arm and eye being severly damaged. This damage is mirrored in Eva-01 during the fight with Sachiel.

Episode 1

Rei II being badly injured during the first activation test with Eva-00 prompts Gendo Ikari to summon his long-abandoned son, Shinji Ikari, to Tokyo-3 to pilot Evangelion Unit-01 to fight against the Angel Sachiel.

Episode 3

Rei seems to know that the Angel Shamshel is approaching before the air-raid alarm of Tokyo-3 sounds.

Rei's specturm scan. Episode 4.

Episode 4

In Episode 04 we learn that Rei is likely composed of particle-wave matter judging from the spectrum scan that Ritsuko performs on her. The spectrum scan is similar to the wave-pattern scan of Shamshel that Ritsuko shows Shinji and Misato. In the image of the scan we can also see markings across Rei's body that are also present on Eva-01. See image ro right.

Rei being composed of particle-wave matter is further reinforced during End of Evangelion when she re-grows her own arm a la Eva-01.

Episode 5: Second Half

Rei lives alone in apartment 402. Her apartment is part of a large block of apartment buildings on the western edge of Tokyo-3 that is in the process of being demolished.

During Episode 05 it becomes patent just how little Rei values her own personal space and comfort. Shinji walks into her apartment and falls on top of Rei as she is naked. Shinji, later in the same episode, tries to apologise to Rei. Rei is only roused when Shinji speaks disparagingly about his own father, and she slaps him. Rei from here on is often seen during Shinji's psychedelic sequences as questioning him about his father, often defensively.

Rei, during the beginning of the series, seems happy only when she is with Gendo, who opened the super-heated Entry Plug hatch with his bear hands to make sure Rei was alive after the failed first activation test with Eva-00. Rei treasures a pair of Gendo's glasses that were warped and cracked by the heat of the LCL during this incident. Rei takes Gendo's glasses with her into the Entry Plug during the second activation test which helps to calm her and thus the second activation test is successful. After the activation test is complete Rei tilts her head back in the plug and a number of air bubbles escape her mouth, this indicates that Rei had held her breath throughout the entire activation test, showing how nervous she was. The only other time we see bubbles issuing from a pilot's mouth in the entry plug is during episode 1, where Shinji tries to hold his breath when the plug is first filled with LCL. Rei also takes Gendo's glasses with her into the Entry Plug prior to the fight with Ramiel, as she believed she was going to die during the battle.

Rei describes her reason for piloting an Eva as "a bond," not just to Gendo, but "with all people".

Episode 9

In this episode Rei is seen to be reading a book written in German that contains an illustration of a plasmid.

Episode 14

Rei has a tendency to speak in universal, rather than personal, terms, possibly reflecting the true origin of her soul. One of the best examples of this occurs during the second half of Episode 14 with a monologue that has Rei exploring her character, cosmology, and the nature of Creation. For one interpretation of Rei's monologue see the Rei's monologue page.

During this episode the pilot cross-compatibility experiments between Eva-01 and Eva-00 allow Project E to begin work on the Dummy Plugs, which the vessels of Rei in the Dummy Plug Plant are said to be a central component of.

Episode 15

Shinji openly voices his thoughts about Rei reminding him of his mother, and her potential for being a good mother in the future. Rei blushes from this comment and nervously looks around. Rei may be blushing because she is embarassed by Shinji's comment or, judging from her nervous glance, that Shinji is getting "too close to the truth" for comfort to her.

Rei in this episode displays an acute sense that she shares with Kaworu (as seen in Episode 24 D.C.) of being able to tell when she is being watched judging from her line:

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You've been looking at me all afternoon because you wanted to ask me that? -- Rei Ayanami, to Shinji during episode 15.

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At the beginning of this episode Gendo mentions to Kozo that Project E has begun work on the Dummy Plugs, which the soulless Rei vessels in the Dummy Plug Plant are said to be a central component of.

Rei's apartment. Episode 5.

Episode 23

When her mind and body are penetrated via bio-fusion by the Angel Armisael during Episode 23, Rei was made to truly feel and examine the loneliness and sorrow that are said to be "the form of her heart". Immediately after this Rei shed tears for the first time in her life. Rei II self-destructs Eva-00 using MODE: D of the Dummy System, paving the way for Rei III in the second half of Episode 23.

A dishevelled room in the Third Annex of the Artificial Evolution Laboratory is said during Episode 23 to have been the place where Rei I was "born". This room has a resemblance to the apartment Rei II later lives in, as Shinji comments upon during Episode 23, see image to left. The Artificial Evolution Laboratory is located deep within in the bowels of Central Dogma in which Project E began.

In this episode it is revealed that the soulless Rei vessels in the Dummy Plug Plant are "the core of the Dummy System."

Episode 24

Rei III discovers she possesses the soul of Lilith as evidenced by her actions in Episode 24. Rei III produces an AT Field strong enough to block out all subatomic particles and electromagnetic radiation, including light.

Episode 25/26

The Case of Rei Ayanami gives us the best window into Rei's character, motivations, and world-view. Rei I plays a pivotal role during the last two episodes as a harbinger of the unpleasant truth for Rei II and III. Rei II and III have built their conceptions of their identity upon the "the thing others call Rei Ayanami" yet Rei I states that is not their true identity, and that II and III are merely afaird that they will lose their identity and the bonds that have shaped that identity, Rei II and III's response to this is quoted below:

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Rei III: No, it makes me happy. Because I want to die. What I desire is despair. I want to return to nothingness. Rei II: But I can't. I cannot return to nothingness. He won't let me return. Rei III: He won't let me go back yet. REI II (OFF): I existed because he needed me. REI III: But it's over now. He's not going to need me anymore. He's going to abandon me. I thought I had wished for that day to come, but... Now, I am afraid.

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While other characters in the series have issues with their identity, Rei Ayanami’s might be the most difficult, perhaps insurmountable. At least, that is the problem with her second and third incarnations. Though the first Rei was not internally explored while she existed, in Episode 25 she is portrayed as being more aware of her true nature as Lilith, and cynical about Rei II's and III's attempts to deny the fragility of her identity.

With a soul from Lilith and a body that is a copy of Yui Ikari, Rei has no original elements to claim as hers, yet she recognises her identity as "the thing that other's call Rei" as formed by her interactions with others. Though Rei II is unaware of some aspects of her origins, she still perceives her identity as more fragile than others', with a vague idea that there is something, as Rei I says: "beneath the veil of your conscious mind".

Rei I also appears in Episode 25 durin the conversation Rei III has with her previous two incarnations, as acts as a harbinger of the unpleasant truth, in a similar manner as she did with Naoko. Here, the "floating head" version of the distorted Rei Shinji saw within Eva-00 Episode 14 is treated as a representation of Rei I, which may be providing a "retroactive hint" as to the identity of Eva-00's resident soul. See The Soul in Evangelion Unit-00 for more information.

During Episode 25 Rei outwardly says she wishes for despair and death, and wishes openly she could return to nothingness. Rei II perhaps seeks to stave off this despair by investing herself completely in one person, living entirely for their needs so that she can find a reason for her existence and believe that she is being valued first as "Rei Ayanami" and no one else. It may also be interpreted that Rei is simply waiting to fulfil Gendo's plan (and so not be forcibly brought back into another vessel) before she can return to the nothingness that she seeks through death.

End of Evangelion

Rei III turns away from Gendo and towards Shinji Ikari at the last moment in End of Evangelion, passing the ability to decide the fate of all souls involved in Instrumentality to him. Rei's definite betrayal of Gendo is first marked when Rei III destroyed the glasses that Rei II cherished. For speculation on Rei's relationship with Gendo see Rei's relationship with Gendo.

In either case Rei's fate was the same: to bring Lilith's soul "home". Though the image of Rei appeared in various forms during Third Impact, it is unclear how much of the Rei that was formed by interactions with the Lilim survived in Lilith, and whether it was Rei or Lilith interacting with Shinji during Instrumentality.

Rei I is seen for the last time when all three Rei stand together at the site of Gendo's death during End of Evangelion.

Rei shares her blue hair with Eva-01, the only offspring of Lilith, as we see towards the end of End of Evangelion.

Summary of Rei's story in the official manga

In the manga adaptation by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, Rei's character comes off as being a much warmer and more open, at least with regards to Shinji. Her initial reaction to Shinji is largely the same as in the anime, but she soon becomes Shinji's romantic interest. It is very clearly implied that Rei is romantically interested in Shinji, asking him to hold her hand more than once.

Unique to the manga, she pilots Eva-01 against Sachiel and loses, her injuries being a direct result of the defeat.

Shinji shows revulsion towards Rei after her death and sudden resurrection, as well as after seeing the soulless copies of her in the Dummy Plug Plant.

Shinji, at this point, still has romantic feelings towards Rei. Since the manga is not complete as of this writing, it remains unknown how her relationship with Shinji will play out.

Notes

• Rei in Japanese (レイ) is sometimes a synonym for "zero". Fitting, as Rei is the pilot of Eva-00. "Rei" spelt with different Kanji is the word for "spirit" (霊). Rei's name thus becomes a double pun, she is the pilot of Eva-00, and the vessel for the spirit of Lilith.

In the original Japanese dub of the series the characters refer to Eva-00 using the half-English term "zerogouki" ("-gouki" = "unit"). "Reigouki", however, wouldn't be an entirely inaccurate alternate rendering of it's name.

• • Rei Ayanami's first name comes from the character Rei Hino of the anime and manga series Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon. This was done in an effort to get one of the series directors, Kunihiko Ikuhara, to work on Evangelion [1]. While this effort failed, some of the staff and voice actors of Sailor Moon did work on Eva as well, including one of Sailor Moon's series directors' Jun'ichi Satoh under the pen-name Kiichi Jinme. As well as the voice actresses Kotono Mitsuishi (Usagi Tsukino) and Megumi Ogata (Haruka Tenoh).

• Ayanami in Japanese (綾波) translates approximately to "twill wave". Ayanami is the name of one of the Fubuki class destroyers of the former Japanese navy.

• Rei’s blue hair and red eyes are the inverse of Asuka Langley Soryu’s blue eyes and red hair, perhaps a reference to their opposite personalities.

• In Episode 01, Rei mysteriously appears before Shinji in a brief instant before dissappearing once more. This same scene is repeated during the final scene of Episode 26'. This effectively creates two "bookends" at either end of the series. See Rei's Ghostly Appearances and Quantum Mechanics for more information.

• In Episode 23, when Ritsuko Akagi destroys the "parts" for the Dummy Plug by releasing their destrado, her controller's display lists the soulless Rei-vessels starting with "REI 004". This is often cited as evidence for their being no Rei biomass in the Dummy Plug.

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