Rei Ayanami

Biodata

Background / History

Early Injuries and Meeting Shinji

Before Shinji Ikari arrived at NERV, Unit-00 went out of control during an activation experiment. Rei was injured, and the EVA was frozen pending further testing. Gendo subsequently had the still-bandaged girl brought before Shinji, who supported her and pressed her back onto the hospital bed rather than letting her pilot Unit-01 4 22.

While recovering, Rei experienced fragmented visions of a mother holding a baby and memories of Shinji at her bedside. She murmured his name in frightened confusion even after being told she could leave the medical center 10.

Rei attended Class 2-A, where Shinji was assigned the seat directly behind hers. Her face reminded him of his mother, while her given name matched the name his parents had chosen for a daughter. During their first substantial conversation, she questioned his hostility toward Gendo and denied being Gendo’s illegitimate daughter 12 13.

Unit-00 Reactivation

During Shamshel’s attack, Rei summoned Shinji from school and accompanied him to NERV. Misato kept her ready as a replacement pilot despite Ritsuko’s warning that her condition barely permitted synchronization testing 17 18.

Unit-00 went berserk again during its next test. Unit-01 subdued it while Shinji remained outside his EVA; he then stopped Rei’s ejected Entry Plug with an invisible barrier and pulled her into an embrace. The warmth of the rescue helped her distinguish the experience from her recurring dreams 22 23.

NERV adjusted Unit-00’s neural contact system to reduce synchronization and prevent another loss of control. The next reactivation succeeded, although Rei’s synchronization remained unstable and substantially below Shinji’s 24 28.

Ramiel and Operation Yashima

Gendo sent Rei alone against Ramiel while keeping Unit-01 on standby, intending to regain control over NERV’s increasingly independent ace pilot. Ramiel attacked before Unit-00’s final restraint had released, preventing Rei from dodging. Her A.T. Field limited the first beam’s damage, but a stronger second attack incapacitated the EVA and forced emergency medical treatment 29 30 31 32.

During recovery, Rei dreamed of a train journey with a young Shinji, who urged her to feel rather than understand her unfamiliar emotions. On waking, she found Shinji beside her bed and apologized for failing the mission. He rejected the need for an apology; according to the doctor’s assessment he relayed, her lingering pain was primarily sensory stimulation rather than severe physical injury 33 34.

For Operation Yashima, Rei operated the Positron Cannon from the damaged Unit-00. Her first shot penetrated a projected core rather than Ramiel’s true core. Shinji protected her firing position and exposed the target, allowing her next shot to destroy the Angel’s core. Rei smiled without consciously noticing it 35 36 37 38.

Moving into Misato’s Home

Debris from Ramiel’s bombardment tore apart Rei’s balcony and lodged inside her room. Although she considered the apartment habitable, Shinji urged her to move. Her transfer to Misato’s home was approved, and she left with only a small box of belongings 39 43 44.

Because the apartment’s spare bedroom had not yet been cleared, Rei temporarily slept in Shinji’s room. She slept unusually soundly without her jumbled dreams and lingered in bed for the first time, feeling her habitual unease fade 45.

Arrival of Unit-02

Rei accompanied Misato and Shinji to the United Nations escort fleet to meet Asuka Langley Shikinami. During the Seventh Angel attack, she warned Misato that Unit-02 still wore Type B Equipment, which was unsuitable for underwater combat, and also pointed out its lack of carried weapons 46 50.

Appearance

Rei has a delicate, porcelain-like appearance that Shinji associates with fragility 13.

• Hair: Short, pale blue 13.
• Eyes: Ruby red 13.
• Build and complexion: Slender, with nearly translucent pale skin and faintly visible blue veins 13.
• Early injuries: Head bandages covering one eye; initially shown with thick gauze and a syringe in her arm 4 12.
• Usual clothing: A blue-and-white school uniform or a white combat suit. Before receiving her NERV uniform, school uniforms were her only personally owned clothes 13 17 45.
• NERV uniform: Worn with a red beret during the fleet visit 46.

Personality

Rei is quiet, literal, and accustomed to waiting for orders. She rarely changes expression and struggles with choices that are not governed by instructions: deciding whether to leave unwanted meat in a boxed meal becomes an unfamiliar exercise in personal preference. She knows her original room is uncomfortable but does not care enough to improve it 22 27 45.

Her apparent blankness does not mean she lacks private thoughts. Although previously candid with her psychiatrist, she conceals her recurring dreams of Shinji. She remains calm rather than competitive when he surpasses her as a pilot, and she cannot bring herself to dislike him despite his open contempt for Gendo 22.

Through Shinji, Rei begins seeking connection beyond missions and regulations. She asks permission to call him “Ikari,” becomes more visibly surprised and expressive, and eventually smiles during their victory over Ramiel. Asuka observes that the otherwise silent girl makes an effort to show her humanity when beside him 27 34 35 38 47.

Abilities & Skills

EVA Piloting and Synchronization

Rei is Unit-00’s designated pilot and has more piloting experience than Shinji when he joins NERV 22.

• Performs the prescribed movement sequence successfully after Unit-00’s neural contact adjustments 28.
• Operates despite pain transmitted through her connection to the EVA 30 31.
• Her synchronization is sufficient for combat after reactivation, but remains unstable 28.

A.T. Field Defense

Rei deploys Unit-00’s A.T. Field as a thin, warm-yellow barrier against Ramiel 30.

• Prevents the first beam from immediately piercing the EVA outright 30.
• Cannot fully withstand that attack or stop Ramiel’s stronger follow-up 30 31.
• No independent, human-body combat use of an A.T. Field is shown for Rei in these chapters.

Positron Cannon Operation

Rei serves as Operation Yashima’s long-range shooter, using Magi-assisted aiming and specialized Type G Equipment 35 36.

• Tracks Ramiel’s transformations from a prone mountain firing position 36.
• Fires the shot that destroys its true core after Shinji exposes the target 37 38.
• Requires at least thirty seconds between shots 37.
• The aiming system initially mistakes an energy projection for the real core 36.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• EVA Unit-00 — Yellow EVA assigned to Rei; suffers two activation failures before its successful reactivation 22 28.
• White combat suit — NERV-owned piloting equipment, distinct from her personal clothing 17 45.
• Type G Equipment — Long-range loadout incorporating a ballistic calculation system on Unit-00’s right arm; severely restricts mobility 36.
• Positron Cannon — Operation Yashima’s main weapon, powered through nine large supply terminals 36.
• NERV Identity Card — Delivered by Shinji and used to enter headquarters for the reactivation test 27 28.
• Phone — Receives test schedules and Magi notifications; Rei also uses it to set alarms 27 44.

Relationships

• Shinji Ikari — Classmate, fellow pilot, rescuer, and later housemate. Rei’s unexplained dreams center on him, and his care encourages her to seek personal connection. He regards her as human despite her differences from others 13 22 23 27 44.
• Gendo Ikari — Commander and focus of Rei’s early loyalty. She questions others’ dislike of him, but his apparent tenderness is explicitly described as psychological control. He later dismisses her as a replaceable doll while refusing to order her recovery 13 29 31 44.
• Misato Katsuragi — Operations commander and host after Rei’s transfer. Misato asks her to use “Misato” rather than a formal address at home 18 44.
• Ritsuko Akagi — Oversees Unit-00’s testing and technical adjustments. She becomes noticeably withdrawn around Rei at a private dinner; Misato suspects tension, but its cause is not established 22 28 44.
• Asuka Langley Shikinami — Fellow EVA pilot who immediately dislikes Rei’s apparent favoritism and doll-like obedience, while finding her closeness to Shinji unsettling 46 47.

Trivia

• Rei is vegetarian and strongly dislikes meat, including looking at it. Shinji removes or eats her meat portions when preparing meals 27 34 45.
• She has read Thus Spoke Zarathustra and can recite its contents from memory, though understanding the passages is another matter 34.
• Her established waking time is exactly seven in the morning, a habit formed by the commute from her old dormitory 45.
• Her dream associations with motherhood include a cultivation tank, a genetic map, and a silent white giant; these fragments do not establish her origin 33.