Shinji Ikari

Personal Information
Name: Tsumi
Age: 23
Personal Journal: tseutsumi
Email / AIM / MSN / Plurk: AIM: tseutsumi | tseutsumi
Current Character(s): Jaime Reyes | Dr. Finitevus | Hazama

Character Information
Character Name: Shinji Ikari
Fandom: Rebirth of Evangelion

Character History:

Rebirth of Evangelion 1.11: You Are (Not) Alone.

There isn't much known about Shinji's early life except a few facts. He was born to Yui and Gendo Ikari and was their only son. Shinji's mother died at some point while he was young and the boy doesn't even remember what she looked like. When he was eleven, his father left him with to live with one of his teachers when he left to work full time for NERV. This left Shinji heartbroken as he lost the only parent he had ever known. His sensei was a good person but not a replacement for the parents he had lost. It also instilled a strange hopelessness in Shinji. He began to follow orders without much question, most likely too make sure his sensei wouldn't leave him or to burden his new caregiver.

It was when he was fourteen that he was summoned to Tokyo-3 by his father for reasons unknown. He arrived shortly after the Fourth Angel attacked the city and all modes of transportation and communication were down. He was waiting for his ride to show when he began to witness the attach by the Angel. Shinji was almost caught up in an explosion before his ride, Misato Katsuragi, arrived and whisked him away.

The two of them escaped the battle zone only to be caught in the blast of an N2-mine, a device about as powerful as a nuclear warhead. They survived the blast and were able to turn over Misato's car and go on their way toward NERV headquarters. On the way, Misato asked if he had any questions but he didn't as he thought she wouldn't tell him the truth. Though she said she wasn't that kind of adult, Shinji just responded that he was following his directions and that was all.

Misato explained to him that the creature they had seen was called an Angel anyway. She also told him about NERV and how it was a secret military organization controlled by the U.N. The two boarded an express train down into NERV HQ. Shinji asked if they were going to where his father was and wondering why his father sent him a letter. He, of course, was sure his father wanted him for something but was unsure of just what it was.

Shinji and Misato made their way through NERV HQ when they came across a doctor by the name of Akagi Ritsuko. She was in charge of Project E and had been looking forward to meeting Shinji. Next they took Shinji to the holding chamber of Eva Unit 01. It was then he came face to face with his father after three years. Though he wasn't happy to once again see his father. He was then told he would be piloting Unit 01. Shinji refused at first and accused his father of leaving him because he wasn't needed. Gendo simply stated that he needed him now which was why he summoned him. Hearing that didn't sit well with Shinji as it confirmed to him that as soon as he was useless again, his father would send him away. He asked why it had to be him and all Gendo said was it could be no one else.

The teen said he couldn't do it. He'd never read or heard anything about the Eva and was sure he'd fail. His father told him he was to either pilot it or he was to leave. Misato and Ritsuko tried to convince him to pilot it to help him face his father and himself but he still said he couldn't do it. When they gave up trying to convince him, Shinji was sure that it meant he had never been needed. It wasn't until Rei was wheeled in, still injured, that Shinji changed his mind. He saw just how hurt she was and that falling over had reopened her wounds. He agreed to pilot the Eva.

The activation of Unit 01 went well. The Eva and Shinji were sent up to the surface to confront the fourth Angel. At first things seemed to be going well until he tried to take his first steps in the Eva. It fell flat on its face. Shinji couldn't do anything but watch as the Angel first broke the left arm of the Unit 01, which Shinji felt as if it was his own. Then it grabbed Unit 01 by the head and continued to attack it until it drove a spike through the head of Unit 01. The unit fell silent as Shinji passed out due to the shock.

The next thing Shinji knew, he was on a train listening to his parent's voices. He heard them discussing what they would name their first child. He heard the name Rei Ayanami followed by a flash of a strange pale girl with red eyes. Then he awoke.

Character Personality: At this point in his life, Shinji's mental health is unstable but perhaps the most sound it could be throughout most of the Rebirth of Evangelion series. Though he does his best to avoid fear and stress through obedience, he also has that defense set as the foundation for most of his life. He believes his knows what he has to do to get through life on his own and that he will always be alone. It's a sad life but one Shinji seems to be able to live through without the added stress of the angels and Evas. It's because of those things that Shinji's mental instabilities seem to start growing worse in the future.

Shinji is a boy much like others his age. He is a scared boy who wants friends and the approval of his only living parent. He wanted to be able to lead a more normal life than the one he has. Deep down, he just doesn't want to be alone. He does wish for someone, especially his father, to take him into their arms and tell him it will all be alright. This is mostly thanks to his mother dying when he was young and his father abandoning him at the age of eleven. The unfortunate thing is Shinji doesn't make attachments quickly and is liable to sabotage growing connections due to this fear of them leaving and it hurting him. He also wants to be able to accept the fact he'll always be alone while not truly being alone. He has a complex about being alone that keeps him at arms length from most people and contradicting wants doesn't make it any better.

To cope with these conflicting wants, Shinji has adopted the defense mechanism to always do as he's told. He tries to silently follow orders and doesn't talk much either. He falls into a sort of; children are supposed to be seen and not heard mentality. Being a contradictory fourteen year old, he can ramble on when he's feeling distressed or scared about how he will just do as he's told and that he has no true freedom but most of the time he surrenders to repeating orders as a mantra and trying to walk through life with the thought that obeying orders will help him get through it all relatively unharmed.

Despite his drive to avoid what is hurtful, Shinji does know right from wrong. He strives to do what is right even if his own conflicting feelings tell him to run the other way. Though he may be scared, he will try his best to be good. This is shown when he agreed to pilot Unit 01 instead of the injured Rei. He wants to help people as well and is happy doing so without asking outright for anything in return. Truth is, he wants the praise and joy that comes from doing what is right, even if he doesn't always get it. He is a good boy at heart.

Shinji does also have the potential for change. It is inside him as is shown later in his life. He can learn to look at things from how others see them and can open up to others. It just takes him time to be able to push passed his issues to do it. Though as Shinji has positive potential, he also has negative potential. Shinji is easily depressed and each time he falls to it, it seems he falls further than the previous time. The boy is fragile. He needs and desires people around him to help him feel better but often has a hard time taking the first steps to do so. But if that potential inside of him can be woken up and if he can be nurtured in the right direction, he has the possibility to become a much stronger person than he is now.

Should Shinji form strong bonds with people, he becomes heavily attached to them. This often takes time and a sort of understanding about feeling alone or useless. There could be exceptions but usually there aren't. Once he has made these connections, he will do anything to protect those people. His fear of lost and sadness motivates him to go to huge lengths for people he sees as his friends. The switch side of this is he hates hurting those same people. If he feels he has, he will most likely try to leave and remove himself from their lives as a form of self punishment and protecting them from him harming them again. It is another unfortunate defense mechanism the boy has.

Overall, Shinji Ikari is a sad, scared, and very lonely teenager. He feels he is not worth a lot and strives nonetheless to make others proud. He yearns for praise and for the approval of his father. He desperately wants friends and perhaps even a family. The problem is he has half-succumb to the idea that he will always be alone and often falls back on defense mechanisms to avoid unpleasantness. He wants what is good and wants to avoid what is bad. The unfortunate truth is he doesn't know how to deal with the hardships of life and because of this seems weak. He's inexperienced and childish at times though has the potential and ability to be brave, even in the face of fear. He knows what is right and good and tried to be just that. He wanted to be wrong and to not runaway but it's hard for him to accomplish his own wants by himself. He mustn't runaway. That is Shinji in a nutshell.

Powers and Abilities: Shinji is human through and through. In reality he has no real special powers or abilities outside of concerning Eva Unit 01. He has been shown to have a high sync rate with Unit 01 though his skills right now leave something to be desired. He also has shown to be able to make Unit 01 awaken after he passed out in his first and only battle this far in his canon point. Besides that, he has nothing much he can do.

Samples

Network: [Audio]

H-Hello? This is on, right? I-It's a little hard to tell. I'm never going to get used to talking into Father's music player...

A-Anyway. I was wondering...um...the stars here are almost different in each district I think. Would any like to go out and watch the stars with me? I used to do it back home when I lived with my teacher. I haven't done it in a long time. Being here with an unfamiliar sky...I thought it might be fun. I understand if everyone is too busy. I know it's silly to ask but I was just wondering...

Pardon this if I interrupted anything important. J-Just...

Oh. This is Ikari Shinji, if anyone is wondering. Sorry. I should have said that first...

Um...

Anyway. I'll be in the Northern District. In that garden tonight. I'll be in the other districts other nights...

Thank you. Goodbye.

[Shinji turns off his communicator.]

Third Person: Shinji laid out in the Garden of Dreams that night like he has said on his network post. Blue eyes looked up into the sky above him and took in the stars. Some looked like the ones from home while others seemed brighter. He tried to find pictures in them at first but eventually gave up. It was hard to find anything when there wasn't much familiar with it. Instead, he just took in the beauty of them all up there in the night sky. It was all part of the same place, the sky in Nautilus, but it seemed to change to him when he moved from one district to another.

A city of change. Did that mean nothing would ever stay the same? Nothing would become familiar? Other people spoke of it like it didn't change that much but the teen wasn't sure how much to trust them on that. People come and go all the time was something a lot of people kept repeating. The only person Shinji could think of that he wanted to appear here was his father. Maybe if his father came here, he could do something to make him happy. This Bending thing -- it sounded more like magic than anything else. Magic wasn't real and he would have thought the same of Bending if it weren't for the angels and the Evangelion back home. He thought such things were impossible too until he saw his first angel and got into Unit 01 the first time. He wasn't any good at Bending but that didn't mean he couldn't get good. He planned on enrolling in the school he had been told about once it opened for new students. Maybe manipulating reality would make his father smile.

His heart clenched and Shinji's hand moved to his chest. It probably wouldn't. His father never smiled at him. His father probably wouldn't come here unless he needed him back at home. He'd come, tell him it was time to leave, and drag him back. Shinji wasn't sure if he wanted to go back. Being inside that Eva, fighting the angel, it still gave him nightmares. He was scared to ever go home again. Part of him said he knew he would have to sometime but the rest of him compelled him to just stay here. There were no angels here, no NERV, no Evas. It was just him and everyone else. He could forget everything from before if he wanted to. Maybe even forget about all of that too.

Shinji's eyes focused again on the stars and that unfamiliar sky.

"I wonder. If this sky gets familiar, would the sky back home look strange to me if I went back?" He asked aloud to no one. He was all alone but that's how it always was. Watching the stars by himself wasn't so bad. He could talk to himself and no one was there to overhear and ask questions. His hand reached out for the music player that doubled as his communicator. He hit the play button and put the headphones in his ears. He'd just watch the stars and listen to the cassette that forever was on repeat. It was all he wanted to listen to. He could just lose himself in the sound of it and the sight of the stars. He could let it all go and not think here. Maybe he'd even just let himself fall asleep and not go home. It wasn't like anyone would be waiting for him in his room in the welcome house. No one was there waiting. Again, he was alone and he kept telling himself it didn't bother him.