Kaworu Nagisa
| Kaworu Nagisa | |
| |
| 渚カヲル | |
| Age | 15 |
|---|---|
| Birthday | 09/13/2000 |
| Seiyū | Akira Ishida |
Contents
Profile
Kaworu[1] (渚カヲル) is both the 17th Angel and the Fifth Children. Although classified as an Angel, Kaworu is similar to Rei Ayanami in being a Seed of Life inhabiting a human body. Despite his human form, Kaworu does not consider himself to be human, since he refers to humans as "the Lilin".
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 incorporates 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".
Origin
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"Making something... Nurturing something is really great. You can see and learn so many things from the process." |
Kaworu's body appears to have been created as a result of the Contact Experiment with Adam, wherein DNA from an unknown human donor dove into and fused with Adam's flesh[2], explaining Hyuga's discovery that Kaworu was "born" on the day of Second Impact.[3] Seele salvaged Adam's disembodied soul into Kaworu[4][5], whom they may have recovered in embryonic form in Antarctica.[6]
Kaworu's origin from Adam, only intimated in the anime, is flatly stated in Sadamoto's manga.[7]
Since Kaworu was delivered to Nerv by Seele, it is believed that Kaworu has been living under Seele's surveillance prior to his appearance in the series.
As a Pilot
Kaworu is brought to Nerv as the Fifth Children to replace Asuka[8], who is no longer able to pilot Unit-02. He is only able to pilot Unit-02's soul is in hiding. In his first test, Kaworu immediately achieves impressive synchronization results. It later emerges that Kaworu is able to achieve whatever level of synchronization he chooses with Unit-02.
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 sees him sitting on top of an angel statue (a visual theme that binds together appearances of Kaworu[9]), Kaworu was humming part of the composer Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, the fourth and final movement "Presto - Allegro assai", more popularly called the "Ode to Joy" after the poem by Friedrich Schiller, from which it is adapted. He then says that he considers singing to be the finest achievement of the Lilin (human) civilization.
Kaworu appears comfortable in his identity (far more than Rei), and also warmer and more emotionally open. However he does show a detachment from human protocols and shares Rei's tendency to speak in universal rather than personal terms.
Relationship with Shinji
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.
Relationship with Seele
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"Making something... Nurturing something is really great. You can see and learn so many things from the process." |
Kaworu was sent to Nerv by Seele in order to advance their goal of Instrumentality through a Third Impact that would occur under their direction. Before his final battle, Kaworu is seen talking with a phantasm of Seele that apparently only he can see and it can be assumed that he has been in previous communication with Seele (for example being briefed on his mission to enter Nerv as a pilot). The conversation indicates that they have (falsely) told them that they favor the "true successor" Angels over their own kind[10].
It is uncertain what exactly Seele had in mind for Kaworu. Did they plan for him to attack Terminal Dogma, or was that his own plan? We do know that once the attack commenced they wanted Unit-01 to defeat him[11]. Was this their plan all along, or was it because his foray into the bowels of Nerv was a betrayal?
As an Angel
As the vessel for Adam's soul, Kaworu's designation is "Tabris" (Arabic: تبريس). As revealed in Newtype publications such as ADAM and used by Keel Lorenz in the Manga. Tabris (タブリス), the 17th and final Angel. He is considered the Angel of free will, which is considered a gift of God; Bochan_bird expands:
The Newtype Evangelion Filmbook Remix Vol. II states that while Tabrith is the name of the Angel of Free Will, Kaworu/Kaoru is also that of the Angel of Betrayal.
Although Kowaru was sent by Seele for a specific purpose, he also has his own agenda. See Theory and Analysis:Kaworu's Agenda for an in-depth discussion.
Unlike the Angels who came before him, but like Rei, 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" as Rei and the Angels, it is impossible to say if he possesses a core and S² Engine. Tabris is the only Angel to infiltrate Terminal Dogma.
Kaworu's human body is a vessel for the salvaged soul of Adam itself, and wields all of the power that comes with it. He is in effect Adam reborn as a human. 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.
By being both the First Angel (Adam, whose body and soul were separated 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.
Battle
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.
End of Evangelion
In End of Evangelion Kaworu makes several appearances and is alluded to.
The first instance is the very beginning, as Shinji stands by the lake and (headless) angel statute; the sound of the dropping debris recycles the sound effect used for Kaworu's head splashing into LCL in Death & Rebirth[12]. 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.
In Other Media
Rebuild of Evangelion
Kaworu appears in Evangelion 1.0, rising from a coffin on the moon in sight of an Eva-sized giant in a white covering (Eva-06 under construction). 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 Ikari. Bizarrely, Kaworu appears to be capable of breathing and even speaking in the absence of air.
In Evangelion 2.0, Kaworu is seen on the moon base (Tabgha base), when Fuyutsuki and Gendo approach it on an SSTO to inspect the construction of the new, Seele-built Eva-06. Fuyutsuki, looking out of the spacecraft window, observes Kaworu sitting on Eva-06's finger, clad only in his trousers, and wonders whether Kaworu is human or not. Kaworu greets Gendo as "Father"[13], although the circumstances render it impossible to determine whether he used the word in a literal or metaphorical sense. Kaworu is seen putting on a plugsuit immediately before the battle with Zeruel, standing on top of the now-complete Eva-06, confirming that he is the new Evangelion's pilot. He reappears at the end of the movie and stops Eva-01 from transforming with a staff-like weapon thrown from his Eva, addressing Shinji and saying "This time, only you will find happiness".
With the Third Angel dealt with by Mari at the beginning of Evangelion 2.0, there can be no doubt that Kaworu and Keel Lorenz were speaking of Shinji as "The Third (Boy)" at the end of 1.0. Why Kaworu is so intent to meet Shinji or how far he is involved in Seele's plans is, in the absence of anything more than a few mysterious utterances, a matter of speculation.
Sadamoto's Manga
Kaworu in the manga is portrayed differently from the Kaworu in the anime. Among other things, he is 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 overtly 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[14]. 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.
Shinji Ikari Raising Project (Manga)
In keeping with the SIRP's lighter tone and focus on comedy/domestic drama, Kaworu's primary role is as a rival to Asuka and Rei for Shinji's affections. There are several scenes in which he and Shinji interact in a stereotypical "Shoujo romance manga" fashion, marked by the use of stylistic devices such as flowery backgrounds and elaborate fonts. These scenes are played for comedy, as are the indignant reactions of others. Even in this lighter setting, however, Kaworu is still allied with SEELE for mysterious - and possibly nefarious - reasons.
References
- ↑ 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). See Character Name Origins for more information.
- ↑ Neon Genesis Evangelion. Episode 21'.
Man E: "The contact experiment with the donor is scheduled for the 13th of next month. There will be time for any adjustments."
(later) Woman B: "The genes that dived into Adam have already undergone physical fusion!" - ↑ Neon Genesis Evangelion. Episode 24. Platinum subtitles.
HYUGA: But the one thing we do know [about Kaworu Nagisa] is that his birthday coincides with the Second Impact." - ↑ Neon Genesis Evangelion. Episode 24'. Platinum subtitles.
SEELE A (speaking to Kaworu): [Adam's] salvaged soul exists only within you. - ↑ Neon Genesis Evangelion 2. Classified Information: Adam. "At the time of Second Impact, [Adam's] body was torn apart, and its soul flew off somewhere as a result. Adam's soul was later recovered by Seele and incarnated."
- ↑ End of Evangelion Theatrical Booklet. Glossary: Kaworu Nagisa. "It is likely that he was an Angel which had been captured by SEELE in the embryo stage." (Translation by bochan_bird.)
- ↑ Neon Genesis Evangelion (manga). Volume 9, Stage 72.
- Ritsuko: Kaworu Nagisa... His date of birth is the same as Second Impact. Probably because, on that day, in that place, he was the final Angel to be born.
- Misato: You can’t mean... Are you saying that all the Angels were born from Adam? What did humans do to Adam on that day?
- Ritsuko: Humans tried to return Adam to an egg before the other Angels awoke. The result was Second Impact. Among the data from your father’s research team that was retrieved just before it happened, I have heard that there were indications of an attempt to use human genes in some way. If that was actually done in secret, if the Angel born at that time took human form, and if the Committee got their hands on it, then according to MAGI everything adds up.
- Ritsuko: Kaworu Nagisa... His date of birth is the same as Second Impact. Probably because, on that day, in that place, he was the final Angel to be born.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ See Reichu's analysis (archive) of all the visual allusions and connections to the angel statute.
- ↑ One section of this conversation concerns the "Lilims' hope" The word hope, "kibou" appears several times, once, when used by Kaworu, in katakana instead of kanji:
"Seele 04: "There is a man trying to close the box before the hope at the bottom appears."
Kaworu: "Hope? You're saying that is the Lilim's hope?"
Seele ??: "Hope exists in as many forms as there are people."
Seele ??: "And that is because hope only exists in the hearts of people."
Keel: "However, our hope is becoming substantiated."
It is likely that it is spelled this way just for emphasis, but it has been suggested that there is some wordplay going on here; spelled with a different kanji, kibou means "trick". This might be a subtle clue that Kaworu is being deceived. - ↑ Seele 02: "Humans forget their foolishness and repeat their mistakes."
Seele ??: "If humans do not redeem themselves willingly, they will not change."
Seele ??: "We will not rely on the powers of Adam or the Angels."
KEEL: "Our only choice is to make changes with our own hands for the future. I will be praying that Unit 01 will accomplish its task." - ↑ Bochan_bird: "Incidentally, it has been noted that the splash made by Kaworu's head was redone for "Death & Rebirth" to exactly match the splash of the falling electrical part at the start of Air (EoE). IIRC the actual splash in TV episode 24 was different, and since "Death" can be considered not only a recap of the series but also a psychological sequence, the similarity in the splashes may represent Shinji tormenting himself (over Kaworu's death) by transposing the splash made by the electrical part as the splash made by Kaworu's head."
- ↑ Evageeks.org: Kaworu calling Gendo "father". Retrieved 2011/02/19.
- ↑ In the anime's original plan, Kaworu was that 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.
| 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 | 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 |
| 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 |
