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''This is the home of things we'd rather forget.  Not the same as [[Common Misconceptions]], which are long standing and widespread falacies, but concepts that make one say, "What were we thinking?"
''This is the home of things we'd rather forget (or, at least, whose origins are best forgotten).  Not the same as [[List of Common Misconceptions]], which are long standing and widespread fallacies, but concepts that make one say, "What were we thinking?"


==Akira==  
==Akira==  
In early 2005, long-time ANFer Magami No ER had been working on a Kaworu fanfiction and created a thread for the purpose of exploring hypothetical questions. She planned to utilize the idea that Kaworu was a clone of Dr. Katsuragi, and, when pressed to give the man an actual name, Reichu proposed "Akira" (after Akira Ishida, Kaworu's seiyuu). About a year later, Reichu hijacked the thread to rather messily peddle her complete conviction that a connection between Kaworu and the Doctor went far beyond fanfiction. But, strangely, she referred to Dr. K. as "Akira" in most of her posts, claiming it was "as shorthand", and a couple of others joined in. In addition to outright confusing people (to the point that "Akira" made a brief appearance on Wikipedia), it helped brand Reichu's various proposals and wacky ideas with the stigma of being elaborate "fanfiction" (as opposed to just lousy fanwankage). While Reichu et al. eventually stopped using "Akira" in serious posts, the pet name remains blemished to this day.
[[Image:Reichu akira-anf.png|thumb|right|Reichu's old Akira avatar]]
In early 2005, long-time ANFer Magami No ER had been working on a Kaworu fanfiction and created a thread<ref>http://evageeks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3764</ref> for the purpose of exploring hypothetical questions. She planned to utilize the idea that [[Kaworu Nagisa|Kaworu]] was a clone of [[Dr. Katsuragi]], and, when pressed to give the man an actual name, [[User:Reichu|Reichu]] proposed "Akira" (after [[Akira Ishida]], Kaworu's seiyuu). About a year later, Reichu hijacked the thread<ref>http://evageeks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=120147#120147</ref> to rather messily peddle her complete conviction that a connection between Kaworu and the Doctor went far beyond fanfiction (see [[#Revelations Incident|Revelations Incident]]). But, strangely, she referred to Dr. K. as "Akira" in most of her posts, claiming it was "as shorthand", and a couple of other forum members joined in. In addition to outright confusing people (to the point that "Akira" spread, entirely of his own accord, across multiple language versions of Wikipedia's NGE timeline article), it helped brand Reichu's various proposals and wacky ideas with the stigma of being elaborate "fanfiction" (as opposed to just lousy fanwankage). "Akira" eventually stopped appearing in serious posts, and Reichu properly partitioned him and most of the associated concepts into a fanfiction project that finally became realized in 2015, a full ''ten years'' after Magami No ER's first post<ref>http://forum.evageeks.org/post/786169/Fic-Crying-Man/#786169</ref>.  


==Duel of the Seeds==
Although "Akira" retained a blemish for quite some time, as of 2008 this has largely worn off, and "Akira Katsuragi" (as a fan-created elaboration upon Dr. Katsuragi) has an innocuous presence at EGF. He can be sighted in the Fandom subforum, its fanfiction spinoff and, occasionally, that awful IRC channel...although he had been largely forgotten in the meantime. (He's also mentioned on a handful of Spanish NGE pages whose owners apparently never realized that the ill-conceived Wikipedia edit was corrected years ago.) Akira has patiently waited for and seen through the release of the [[Rebuild of Evangelion]] movies without the mention of a canonical first name. Unless his name sneaked in as an Easter Egg somewhere in [[Evangelion: 3.0 + 1.0]] or is set to be revealed in a story that covers the 14-year timeskip, it appears that he hasn't been assigned one. He continues to persist until a different canonical first name is finally assigned and threatens to, at long last, destroy him for good...or perhaps will be elevated to new heights with the even less likely reveal that Akira ''is'' his canonical name. Only time will tell.
[[Image:Full-op C234 adam-spear.jpg|thumb|left|Adam on Spear]]


The idea that the dominance of Lilith-based life on Earth was determined by the outcome of a primordial battle that took place between Lilith and Adam (with the name referring to the battle itself, as well). Now, this made perfect sense at the time. We know that Lilith is essentially an imposter on Earth, whose Black Moon collided into the planet (= First Impact) after Adam's own arrival, and that, obviously, the "true successors from the lost White Moon" (Adam's offspring) got the short end of the stick. The show contains an image of Adam being exhumated (see figure), wherein the tines of the Spear of Longinus are visible emerging from her back -- i.e., she's skewered on it -- and Shin-seiki offered, way back, that Lilith is the one who did the skewering{{fact}}.  
==The Spear of Longinus was Adam's S^2??==
It was at one time a popular opinion that the [[Spear of Longinus]] either was or was made from Adam's S^2 Engine. <ref> [http://forum.evageeks.org/viewtopic.php?t=5942 Here] is thread where the idea is debated.  As a bonus, it also includes one of the earliest references to the Duel of the Seeds as well.</ref>  This notion always had its disbelievers, and the skepticism increased when the [[Extended Opening|Extended OP]] became available with the release of [[Renewal of Evangelion|Renewal]]. The clear shot of Adam being excavated while already impaled by the spear had been available all along in its "Rei Tank'' <ref>See [[Theory and Analysis:Dummy Plug Plant Images]] for more details on the Rei tank images.</ref> 
version, but this clean shot drew a lot more attention.  "Why", people wondered, "would the spear's natural state be a fork sticking out of Adam's back?"  Finally the [[Classified Information (Translation)#The Spear of Longinus|Classified Information]] came along and spiked this theory once and for all.   Each seed was sent out accompanied by a spear that had a mind of its own, and a mission to immobilize any seed that acted contrary to its mission.


The concept of a full-fledged duel -- perhaps echoing that between Eva-01 and Eva-02 in Episode 24 -- gained further momentum early in 2006{{fact}}, spurred on by initial glimpses into the [[The Geektionary N-S#NGE2|NGE2]] Classified Information (intimations that every [[The Geektionary N-S#SoL|Seed]] was sent with her own Spear, for example) and various theoretical dabblings. However, once the relevant parts of the CI were fully translated, this most excellent theory was drop-kicked down into "oh, if only it were true..." whimsy. "Adam, skewered by her own Spear? What the hell was Anno thinking?!?" (...Wait. Don't answer that.)
At the height of its glory, DotS was sufficiently infectious that (as of this writing) its falsified status has not been universally dispersed. This effectively means the occasional poor soul shows up brandishing it, and has to be dealt with accordingly. "What? The Duel of the Seeds was disproven?!?"


==Revelations Incident==
==Revelations Incident==


[[Image:Shitstorm.jpg|150px|left|SHITSTORM INCOMING!!]]
[[Image:Shitstorm.jpg|150px|left|thumb|SHITSTORM INCOMING!!]]


Right around Christmas 2005, [[User:Reichu|Reichu]] woke up one morning convinced that the [[Gainax]] Gods had bestowed upon her the key to all of NGE's deepest mysteries — ''Evangelion'' was like a puzzle, and she at long last had the Solution in sight! She proceeded to bombard ANF with her "revelations", shattering the forum's extended period of dormancy with more posts than anyone could keep up with. This was all received fairly well … at first. Eventually, however, those annoyed with Reichu's increasingly bizarre ideas and escalating sense of dramatics began to mount, and a grand flame war (or something like one) broke out. The blaze, fortunately, snuffed itself out quickly. After a couple of months of madness, everything gradually began to return to normal, although it would take Reichu much longer to recover her reputation.
Right around Christmas 2005, Reichu woke up one morning convinced that the [[Gainax]] Gods had bestowed upon her the key to all of NGE's deepest mysteries — ''Evangelion'' was like a puzzle, and she at long last had the Solution in sight! She proceeded to bombard [[ANF]] with her "revelations", shattering the forum's extended period of dormancy with more posts than anyone could keep up with. This was all received fairly well … at first. Eventually, however, those annoyed with Reichu's increasingly bizarre ideas and escalating sense of dramatics began to mount, and a grand flame war (or something like one) broke out. The blaze, fortunately, snuffed itself out quickly. After a couple of months of madness, everything gradually began to return to normal, although it would take Reichu much longer to recover her reputation.


===Detailed Synopsis===
===Detailed Synopsis===
During the winter of 2005/2006, Reichu suffered from a sinus infection that, at its tail-end, yielded to a manic attack (for entirely unknown reasons).  This effectively placed her in a state of elated delirium, wherein the mind was constantly racing with thoughts and sleep seemed remarkably unnecessary. Presumably with ample free time over the holidays, Reichu began to post on the [[ANF]] boards in one of the most intense attempts to analyse Neon Genesis Evangelion since its release.
During the winter of 2005/2006, Reichu suffered from a sinus infection that, at its tail-end, yielded to a manic attack (for entirely unknown reasons).  This effectively placed her in a state of elated delirium, wherein the mind was constantly racing with thoughts and sleep seemed remarkably unnecessary. Presumably with ample free time over the holidays, Reichu began to post on the ANF boards in one of the most intense attempts to analyse ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' since its release.


The "Revelations" were largely contained in four original threads (and a fifth hijacked one) which were substantially interconnected with one another, and whose interconnection increased with time. The materials discussed we many and varied, ranging from the biology of souls in NGE to relationships between the characters to the mechanics of [[Third Impact]].
The "Revelations" were largely contained in four original threads (and a fifth hijacked one) which were substantially interconnected with one another, and whose interconnection increased with time. The materials discussed were many and varied, ranging from the biology of souls in NGE to relationships between the characters to the mechanics of [[Third Impact]].


At the time, Reichu heavily employed the techniques of [[Theory:Parallelism|Parallelism]] and [[Theory:You Never See Things Just Once|You Never See Things Just Once]] in order to make connections between what had previously thought to have been completely unrelated characters and concepts in NGE. Most of the connections were highly original and interesting, but somewhat lacking in hard evidence.*
At the time, Reichu heavily employed the techniques of [[Theory:Parallelism|Parallelism]] and [[Theory:You Never See Things Just Once|You Never See Anything Just Once]] in order to make connections between what had previously thought to have been completely unrelated characters and concepts in NGE. Most of the connections were highly original and interesting, but somewhat lacking in hard evidence... As time wore on, the "Revelations" increasingly relied on earlier "Revelations" to support themselves. In addition, much of Reichu's earlier work had been left unfinished or incomplete as she moved on to the next topic, having reached a new "Revelation" in the meantime. Also throughout the discourse, Reichu continually proclaimed that NGE was about to be completely solved and that she was tantalisingly close to a completely consistent understanding of the show. ("Delusions of grandeur" are a symptom of mania.)


However as time worse on, the "Revelations" began to rely on earlier "Revelations" to support themselves. In addition, much of Reichu's earlier work had been left unfinished or incomplete as she moved on to the next topic, having reached a new "Revelation" in the meantime. Also throughout the discourse, Reichu continually proclaimed that NGE was about to be completely solved, and that she was tantalisingly close to a completely consistent understanding of the show. ("Delusions of grandeur" are a symptom of mania.)
After approximately two months of a near continuous stream of "Revelations", by this time many of which were very weakly or not at all supported by the canon, the posters on ANF became disillusioned as Reichu continued to proselytize controversial theories such as [[Radioactive Waste#Fem-Kaworu|Fem-Kaworu]] and ... ''her'' relation to Dr. [[Radioactive Waste#Akira|"Akira"]] Katsuragi. With unending criticisms being laid upon her, a huge backlog of incomplete material to finish, and anti-manic medication finally taking effect, Reichu called a halt to the proceedings and declared an end to her "Revelations" threads.


After approximately two months of a near continuous stream of "Revelations", by this time many of which were very weakly or not at all supported by the canon, the posters on ANF became disillusioned as Reichu continued to proselytize controversial theories such as [[Radioactive Waste#Fem-Kaworu|Fem-Kaworu]] and his/her relation to Dr. [[Radioactive Waste#Akira|Akira]] Katsuragi. With unending criticisms being laid upon her, a huge backlog of incomplete material to finish, and medication against the symptoms of mania finally taking effect, Reichu declared an end to her "Revelations" threads and called a halt to the proceedings.
[[Image:Dr-nick flame-avvie.jpg|right]] The incident is recorded in some quarters as a flame war due to the arguments and criticisms which ensued. There was a general sense of disillusionment with ''Evangelion'' analysis following this incident, with some more recent forum members never fully recovering. The threads themselves, though they are chaotic and confusing to read, have been archived both for the historical record and because the "Revelations" threads are among the densest discussions in Eva geek fandom, with nigh every mystery, inconsistency and character discussed and connected within. Given their cabbalistic nature and eclectic content, it is possible that the "Revelations", though currently beyond our ken, may, like the Mrin Codex or other such texts, be understandable to us in the future, or they may contain hidden kernels of terrible truth that can only be disclosed though careful study or by minds touched in some profound way, e.g. by sinus infection. This is however, only an outside possibility. Newer initiates are advised to read the threads with some interest, but more so with caution.


The incident is recorded in some Quarters as a flame war due to the arguments and criticisms which ensued. There was a general sense of disillusionment with Evangelion analysis following this incident, with some more recent forum members never fulling recovering. The threads themselves, though they are chaotic and confusing to read, have been archived both for the historical record, and because the "Revelations" threads are among the densest discussions in Eva Geek fandom, with nigh every mystery, inconsistency and character discussed and connected within.
==Fem-Kaworu==
 
Given their cabalistic nature and eclectic content, it is possible that the "Revelations", though currently beyond our ken, may like the Mrin Codex or other such texts, be understandable to us in the future. Or they may contain hidden kernels of terrible truth that can only be disclosed though careful study or by minds touched in some profound way, e.g. by sinus infection. This is however, only an outside possibility. Newer initiates are advised to read the threads with some interest, but more caution.
 
*For instance, one of the chief "revelations" was the theory that [[Keel Lorenz]] and [[Dr. Katsuragi]] were homosexual lovers.  Reichu's evidence for this was the parallelistic theory that:  1. Gendo betrayed [[Naoko Akagi|Naoko]] and [[Ritsuko Akagi|Ritsuko]] and he was sleeping with them.  2. [[Minor Characters|Langley]] betrayed [[Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu|Kyoko]] and he was sleeping with her (at one time at least since Asuka was born).  Therefore:  3. Keel betrayed Katsuragi, so he must have been sleeping with him.  The skeptics pointed out that while there is plenty of evidence for first two, and they already satisfy parallelism, there is no evidence of the third, and no need to find a third instance of this to satisfy parallelism.
 
[[Image:Mr.popp.jpg|thumb|right|''"I'm the captain of this ship"'']]
:All this, together with the fact that Reichu refered to "Akira" Katsuragi in her signature as a "speculative character", prompted thewayneiac to begin using this avatar, with the following signature:
 
:''Spectulative Character:  Keel's favorite teacher, Herman T. Deutchlander, whose apocalyptic philosophy inspired Keel and paved the way for [[Second Impact|Second]] and [[Third Impact|Third]] Impacts.  The proof:  according to the Evangelion Parallelism theory, Keel must have had a favorite teacher because [[Gendo Ikari|Gendo]] and [[Yui Ikari|Yui]] had one: Fuyutsuki.'' 


:By same sick twist of fate, however, this gentle barb reached its intended target rather belatedly; thewayneiac later learned that Reichu didn't even notice his new signature for about three months, and by that time the whole thing had pretty much started to wind down.
[[Image:Fem-k icon.png|left]] At the height of her [[#Revelations Incident|Revelations Madness]], Reichu had the outstanding epiphany<ref>http://evageeks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=120946#120946</ref> that Kaworu is, in fact, a female. (I.e., despite the masculine secondary sexual characteristics, possesses a female reproductive system.) Naturally, Reichu's sanity was brought into question, and absolutely no one took this idea seriously, except for maybe a small handful of weirdos. Reichu eventually abandoned any hope of "fem-Kaworu", as [[User:Dr. Nick|Dr. Nick]] branded the beast, gaining acceptance. However, she couldn't ''quite'' let it go altogether, and subsequently she and Mr. Tines did their darnedest to spread word of fem-Kaworu (or "f-K" for short) and ensure that it would not be forgotten.  


(BTW:  That is actually a sketch of thewayneiac's favorite teacher, who didn't have an apopcalistic philosophy that we know of. The caption was the catchphrase he always used to instill dicipline in the classroom.)
While decidedly a forced meme at first, at some point or another the denizens of EMF began to make references to it completely on their own, to the point that it became the veritable "Godwin's Law" of EMF: as [[User:BrikHaus|BrikHaus]]' signature put it, "On EMF, as a thread becomes longer, the likelihood that fem-Kaworu will be mentioned increases exponentially." (Incidentally, the sig '''still''' says this, even though the forum has ceased to be EMF.) Fem-Kaworu has also been mentioned periodically on "THAT BOARD", though it seems to be considered more of an irritation than an in-joke. As of mid-2008, f-K made her first known appearance in an ''Eva'' fanfiction<ref>http://evageeks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1857</ref>, which may yet serve as a vector for this terrible creature to truly spread beyond her native territory. OH THE HUMANITY!!!


==Fem-Kaworu==
"Fem-Kaworu" is commonly confused for more traditional female versions of the character ([[:Image:Genderbend kaworu-shinji.gif|ones with T&A]]) or the omnipresent "Tabby-chan" ([[:Image:Tabris-xx illo.jpg|Tabris-XX]]), but they are far from the same thing.
 
At the height of her Revelations Madness (see below), Reichu had the outstanding epiphany that Kaworu was, in fact, a female. (The "logistics" are not important here.) Naturally, her sanity was brought into question, and absolutely no one took this idea seriously (except for maybe a small handful of misfits). Reichu eventually abandoned any hope of "fem-Kaworu" (as Dr. Nick branded it) gaining acceptance, although she couldn't quite let it go altogether. She and Mr. Tines subsequently made sure that no one could forget about fem-Kaworu, no matter how much as they might want to. While this was decidedly a forced meme at first, at some point or another the denizens of EMF began to make references to it completely on their own, to the point where it became the veritable "Godwin's Law" of EMF. As phrased in BrikHaus' signature (as of this writing), "On EMF, as a thread becomes longer, the likelihood that fem-Kaworu will be mentioned increases exponentially." Fem-Kaworu also makes periodic appearances at "THAT BOARD", though it seems to be considered more of an irritation than an in-joke.


==Sarai==
==Sarai==
A fictional character concocted by Tbozfan at AnimeNation Forums whom he used to answer all controversial questions. ''Whose soul is in Eva-00?:  Sarai!  Who shot Kaji?: Sarai! Who caused the [[Episode 11]] blackout?: Sarai!'' I wish I could say that Tboz was just tired of the same questions over and over, but I'm afraid he was just being a pain.  Once again, for some reason some people played along with this gag
A fictional character concocted by Tbozfan at AnimeNation Forums whom he used to answer all controversial questions. ''Whose soul is in Eva-00?:  Sarai!  Who shot Kaji?: Sarai! Who caused the [[Episode 11]] blackout?: Sarai!'' While Tboz was just doing this to be a pain, some of the locals played along with the gag, and many who were actually there for it have never quite been able to forget.
 
==The Spear of Longinus = Adam's S² Engine==
 
HAH HAH HAH HAH.


==The Tree of Life at Second Impact==
==The Tree of Life at Second Impact==


''Note:  In most of these images it's hard to see what we're talking about if you don't click to see the full sized image.''
<big>The theory that the [[Tree of Life]] tried to form in Antarctica during [[Second Impact]]; it was originated by Shin-seiki.</big>


The theory that the [[Tree of Life]] tried to form in Antarctica during [[Second Impact]]; it was originated by Shin-seiki.   
One day, while watching ''[[Death]]'', Shin-seiki noticed something curious:  a group of wavy lines in the upper left hand corner of the screen as Adam's wings emerge.  He checked, and this did not appear in the scene as originally presented in [[Episode 12]], so he concluded that it had been added along with the red [[soul]] dots. He then took a closer look to try and figure out just what it was supposed to be.  The more he looked, the more he thought that it looked like the twiggy end of the Tree of Life.  When he posted this conclusion, some of the leading lights of AnimeNation and Eva Monkey Forums were incredulous at first, until Reichu compared a flipped version to a sketch of the Tree of Life from the [[Groundwork of Evangelion]].  She was convinced and became a champion of this theory.  Most of the old timers (thewayneiac for example) then followed suit.  Much accolades and back-pattings were directed at Shin-seiki for this important discovery.   


[[Image:TOLatsouthpole.jpg|thumb|left|''It's the Tree of Life!''...or not.]]
Unfortunately, a party-pooper ''extraordinaire'' with the handle "Kaysow" proceeded to decisively demonstrate that what we were looking at was just a flaw in the cell,  by posting screencaps of several other instances in ''Death'' where the same phenomenon occurs<ref>http://www.evageeks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1854</ref>.  He posted about 20 or 30 examples, but two should suffice here. He also pointed out that it always occurred in either the first or last frame of a cut, and thus was probably a flaw in the splicing process.
[[Image:TOLspdetail.jpg|thumb|none|A closer look at the alleged tree]]


One day, while watching ''[[Death]]'', he noticed something curious: a group of wavy lines in the upper left hand corner of the screen as [[Adam|Adam's]] wings emerge.  He checked, and this did not appear in the scene as originally presented in Episode 12, so he concluded that it had been added along with the red soul dots.
Confronted with this evidence, Shin-seiki and various others were obliged to to say, "Never mind." This is probably for the best: the Tree of Life is impossible to explain in the first place, let alone what one was doing at Second Impact!
He then took a closer look to try and figure out just what it was supposed to be.  The more he looked, the more he thought that it looked like the twiggy end of the Tree of Life. 


[[Image:TOLspflip.jpg|thumb|left|Maybe it will make more sense upside down]]
[[Image:Tolsketch.gif|thumb|none|Sketch of the Tree of Life]]


When he posted this conclusion, some of the leading lights of Anime Nation and Eva Monkey Forums were incredulous at first, until Reichu compared a flipped version to a sketch of the Tree of Life from the [[Groundwork of Evangelion]]. 
''Note: Clicking to see the full-sized image is usually required to see what we're talking about.''
She was convinced and became a champion of this theory.  Most of the old timers, thewayneiac for example, then followed suit.  Much accolades and back-pattings were directed at Shin-seiki for this important discovery.


[[Image:TOLatsea.jpg|thumb|left|''Hey!  What's the Tree of Life doing here?'']]
{{MontageBox
[[Image:TOL concert hall.jpg|thumb|none|''Oh No!!!  The Tree of Life is in the Concert Hall!  Run!!!]]
|float  = left
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|title  = '''The Tree of Life at Second Impact?!'''
|colour  =
|image1  = [[Image:TOLatsouthpole.jpg|thumb|200px|''It's the Tree of Life!''...or not]]
|image2  = [[Image:TOLspdetail.jpg|thumb|200px|A closer look at the alleged Tree.]]
|image3  = [[Image:TOLspflip.jpg|thumb|200px|Maybe it will make more sense upside down...]]
|image4  = [[Image:Tolsketch.gif|thumb|150px|A sketch of the Tree of Life.]]
|image5  = [[Image:TOLatsea.jpg|thumb|200px|''Hey!  What's the Tree of Life doing here?'']]
|image6  = [[Image:TOL concert hall.jpg|thumb|200px|''Oh no!!!  The Tree of Life is in the concert hall'''Run!!!''''']]
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{{-}}


Unfortunately, a party-pooper extrodinaire with the handle "Kaysow" proceded to decisively demonstrate that what we were looking at was just a flaw in the cell,  by posting screencaps of several other instances in ''Death'' where the same phenomenon occursHe posted about 20 or 30 examples, but two should suffice here. He also pointed out that it always occured in either the first or last frame of a cut, and thus was probably a flaw in the splicing process.
[[Image:03 C282 smudge.jpg|200px|left|thumb|What?  Even Shamshel can summon the tree?]]
Postscript:  While moving the [[FGC:Episode 03 Cut 282|commentary]] to the new site, we were reminded of this shot from [[Episode 03]]Had we remembered it at the time we could have been spared a good deal of embarrassment.
{{-}}


Faced with this evidence, Shin-seiki was obliged to to say, "Never mind."
==References==
{{reflist}}


[[Category:Random]]  
[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Forum Antics]]
[[Category:Random]]

Latest revision as of 22:18, 26 August 2021

This is the home of things we'd rather forget (or, at least, whose origins are best forgotten). Not the same as List of Common Misconceptions, which are long standing and widespread fallacies, but concepts that make one say, "What were we thinking?"

Akira

Reichu's old Akira avatar

In early 2005, long-time ANFer Magami No ER had been working on a Kaworu fanfiction and created a thread[1] for the purpose of exploring hypothetical questions. She planned to utilize the idea that Kaworu was a clone of Dr. Katsuragi, and, when pressed to give the man an actual name, Reichu proposed "Akira" (after Akira Ishida, Kaworu's seiyuu). About a year later, Reichu hijacked the thread[2] to rather messily peddle her complete conviction that a connection between Kaworu and the Doctor went far beyond fanfiction (see Revelations Incident). But, strangely, she referred to Dr. K. as "Akira" in most of her posts, claiming it was "as shorthand", and a couple of other forum members joined in. In addition to outright confusing people (to the point that "Akira" spread, entirely of his own accord, across multiple language versions of Wikipedia's NGE timeline article), it helped brand Reichu's various proposals and wacky ideas with the stigma of being elaborate "fanfiction" (as opposed to just lousy fanwankage). "Akira" eventually stopped appearing in serious posts, and Reichu properly partitioned him and most of the associated concepts into a fanfiction project that finally became realized in 2015, a full ten years after Magami No ER's first post[3].

Although "Akira" retained a blemish for quite some time, as of 2008 this has largely worn off, and "Akira Katsuragi" (as a fan-created elaboration upon Dr. Katsuragi) has an innocuous presence at EGF. He can be sighted in the Fandom subforum, its fanfiction spinoff and, occasionally, that awful IRC channel...although he had been largely forgotten in the meantime. (He's also mentioned on a handful of Spanish NGE pages whose owners apparently never realized that the ill-conceived Wikipedia edit was corrected years ago.) Akira has patiently waited for and seen through the release of the Rebuild of Evangelion movies without the mention of a canonical first name. Unless his name sneaked in as an Easter Egg somewhere in Evangelion: 3.0 + 1.0 or is set to be revealed in a story that covers the 14-year timeskip, it appears that he hasn't been assigned one. He continues to persist until a different canonical first name is finally assigned and threatens to, at long last, destroy him for good...or perhaps will be elevated to new heights with the even less likely reveal that Akira is his canonical name. Only time will tell.

The Spear of Longinus was Adam's S^2??

It was at one time a popular opinion that the Spear of Longinus either was or was made from Adam's S^2 Engine. [4] This notion always had its disbelievers, and the skepticism increased when the Extended OP became available with the release of Renewal. The clear shot of Adam being excavated while already impaled by the spear had been available all along in its "Rei Tank [5] version, but this clean shot drew a lot more attention. "Why", people wondered, "would the spear's natural state be a fork sticking out of Adam's back?" Finally the Classified Information came along and spiked this theory once and for all. Each seed was sent out accompanied by a spear that had a mind of its own, and a mission to immobilize any seed that acted contrary to its mission.


Revelations Incident

SHITSTORM INCOMING!!

Right around Christmas 2005, Reichu woke up one morning convinced that the Gainax Gods had bestowed upon her the key to all of NGE's deepest mysteries — Evangelion was like a puzzle, and she at long last had the Solution in sight! She proceeded to bombard ANF with her "revelations", shattering the forum's extended period of dormancy with more posts than anyone could keep up with. This was all received fairly well … at first. Eventually, however, those annoyed with Reichu's increasingly bizarre ideas and escalating sense of dramatics began to mount, and a grand flame war (or something like one) broke out. The blaze, fortunately, snuffed itself out quickly. After a couple of months of madness, everything gradually began to return to normal, although it would take Reichu much longer to recover her reputation.

Detailed Synopsis

During the winter of 2005/2006, Reichu suffered from a sinus infection that, at its tail-end, yielded to a manic attack (for entirely unknown reasons). This effectively placed her in a state of elated delirium, wherein the mind was constantly racing with thoughts and sleep seemed remarkably unnecessary. Presumably with ample free time over the holidays, Reichu began to post on the ANF boards in one of the most intense attempts to analyse Neon Genesis Evangelion since its release.

The "Revelations" were largely contained in four original threads (and a fifth hijacked one) which were substantially interconnected with one another, and whose interconnection increased with time. The materials discussed were many and varied, ranging from the biology of souls in NGE to relationships between the characters to the mechanics of Third Impact.

At the time, Reichu heavily employed the techniques of Parallelism and You Never See Anything Just Once in order to make connections between what had previously thought to have been completely unrelated characters and concepts in NGE. Most of the connections were highly original and interesting, but somewhat lacking in hard evidence... As time wore on, the "Revelations" increasingly relied on earlier "Revelations" to support themselves. In addition, much of Reichu's earlier work had been left unfinished or incomplete as she moved on to the next topic, having reached a new "Revelation" in the meantime. Also throughout the discourse, Reichu continually proclaimed that NGE was about to be completely solved and that she was tantalisingly close to a completely consistent understanding of the show. ("Delusions of grandeur" are a symptom of mania.)

After approximately two months of a near continuous stream of "Revelations", by this time many of which were very weakly or not at all supported by the canon, the posters on ANF became disillusioned as Reichu continued to proselytize controversial theories such as Fem-Kaworu and ... her relation to Dr. "Akira" Katsuragi. With unending criticisms being laid upon her, a huge backlog of incomplete material to finish, and anti-manic medication finally taking effect, Reichu called a halt to the proceedings and declared an end to her "Revelations" threads.

The incident is recorded in some quarters as a flame war due to the arguments and criticisms which ensued. There was a general sense of disillusionment with Evangelion analysis following this incident, with some more recent forum members never fully recovering. The threads themselves, though they are chaotic and confusing to read, have been archived both for the historical record and because the "Revelations" threads are among the densest discussions in Eva geek fandom, with nigh every mystery, inconsistency and character discussed and connected within. Given their cabbalistic nature and eclectic content, it is possible that the "Revelations", though currently beyond our ken, may, like the Mrin Codex or other such texts, be understandable to us in the future, or they may contain hidden kernels of terrible truth that can only be disclosed though careful study or by minds touched in some profound way, e.g. by sinus infection. This is however, only an outside possibility. Newer initiates are advised to read the threads with some interest, but more so with caution.

Fem-Kaworu

At the height of her Revelations Madness, Reichu had the outstanding epiphany[6] that Kaworu is, in fact, a female. (I.e., despite the masculine secondary sexual characteristics, possesses a female reproductive system.) Naturally, Reichu's sanity was brought into question, and absolutely no one took this idea seriously, except for maybe a small handful of weirdos. Reichu eventually abandoned any hope of "fem-Kaworu", as Dr. Nick branded the beast, gaining acceptance. However, she couldn't quite let it go altogether, and subsequently she and Mr. Tines did their darnedest to spread word of fem-Kaworu (or "f-K" for short) and ensure that it would not be forgotten.

While decidedly a forced meme at first, at some point or another the denizens of EMF began to make references to it completely on their own, to the point that it became the veritable "Godwin's Law" of EMF: as BrikHaus' signature put it, "On EMF, as a thread becomes longer, the likelihood that fem-Kaworu will be mentioned increases exponentially." (Incidentally, the sig still says this, even though the forum has ceased to be EMF.) Fem-Kaworu has also been mentioned periodically on "THAT BOARD", though it seems to be considered more of an irritation than an in-joke. As of mid-2008, f-K made her first known appearance in an Eva fanfiction[7], which may yet serve as a vector for this terrible creature to truly spread beyond her native territory. OH THE HUMANITY!!!

"Fem-Kaworu" is commonly confused for more traditional female versions of the character (ones with T&A) or the omnipresent "Tabby-chan" (Tabris-XX), but they are far from the same thing.

Sarai

A fictional character concocted by Tbozfan at AnimeNation Forums whom he used to answer all controversial questions. Whose soul is in Eva-00?: Sarai! Who shot Kaji?: Sarai! Who caused the Episode 11 blackout?: Sarai! While Tboz was just doing this to be a pain, some of the locals played along with the gag, and many who were actually there for it have never quite been able to forget.

The Tree of Life at Second Impact

The theory that the Tree of Life tried to form in Antarctica during Second Impact; it was originated by Shin-seiki.

One day, while watching Death, Shin-seiki noticed something curious: a group of wavy lines in the upper left hand corner of the screen as Adam's wings emerge. He checked, and this did not appear in the scene as originally presented in Episode 12, so he concluded that it had been added along with the red soul dots. He then took a closer look to try and figure out just what it was supposed to be. The more he looked, the more he thought that it looked like the twiggy end of the Tree of Life. When he posted this conclusion, some of the leading lights of AnimeNation and Eva Monkey Forums were incredulous at first, until Reichu compared a flipped version to a sketch of the Tree of Life from the Groundwork of Evangelion. She was convinced and became a champion of this theory. Most of the old timers (thewayneiac for example) then followed suit. Much accolades and back-pattings were directed at Shin-seiki for this important discovery.

Unfortunately, a party-pooper extraordinaire with the handle "Kaysow" proceeded to decisively demonstrate that what we were looking at was just a flaw in the cell, by posting screencaps of several other instances in Death where the same phenomenon occurs[8]. He posted about 20 or 30 examples, but two should suffice here. He also pointed out that it always occurred in either the first or last frame of a cut, and thus was probably a flaw in the splicing process.

Confronted with this evidence, Shin-seiki and various others were obliged to to say, "Never mind." This is probably for the best: the Tree of Life is impossible to explain in the first place, let alone what one was doing at Second Impact!


Note: Clicking to see the full-sized image is usually required to see what we're talking about.

'The Tree of Life at Second Impact?!'
It's the Tree of Life!...or not
A closer look at the alleged Tree.
Maybe it will make more sense upside down...
A sketch of the Tree of Life.
Hey! What's the Tree of Life doing here?
Oh no!!! The Tree of Life is in the concert hall! Run!!!


What? Even Shamshel can summon the tree?

Postscript: While moving the commentary to the new site, we were reminded of this shot from Episode 03. Had we remembered it at the time we could have been spared a good deal of embarrassment.

References