Rei was never a doll

...she just thought she was.

In my search for information for my sites, I often come across inaccurate information and opinions which reflect limited perspective. I don't begrudge people these opinions, but sometimes they really bother me for one reason or another. This is the case with these two people who were listing their least favorite characters and Rei turned up on both of their lists. The main reason was the she was an unemotional doll among an interesting cast of emotional people.

Which is fine except for one thing...

Rei has emotions.

Neon Genesis Evangelion is a story about fear. People fear God, so they keep reconstructing a city after its been destroyed time and again. People fear being alone so they desperately try to fit in. People fear each other, so they build defenses to keep people from hurting them. People fear themselves, so they create an illusion of themselves that they are comfortable with. Freudian physchology tells us that fear is one of our basic motivators and it is part of how we relate to the world. For better or worse, people are afraid.

And so are the people of Nerv. NGE is a study of people sheltering themselves from fear. Shingi expresses it by complaining about it... all the time. Asuka covers it with a layer of confidence. Misato hides behind a playful demeanor and beer cans. Ritsuko has her job and Gendo has his obession. Rei just never shows emotion.

Which method is the best? It's hard to say since everyone develops different combinations of defense mechanisms to deal with life, so it is simply a matter of what we are comfortable with.

Rei's method is different from what we usually see but it is quite logical. When you face an enemy do you want to look afraid? No. It is better to look confident and strong, but Rei lacks confidence so she does the next best thing-she shows nothing... Or at least not to the people around her. Watch her carefully and you will see her sadness, her loneliness, and yes, her fear. She thinks she is a doll and she acts like it, but we can tell she isn't. If you listen to her thought sequences, she sounds far too conflicted to be a doll. She is conflicted because she feels... but maybe she doesn't want to.

Besides, NGE is filled with characters boiling over with emotions. Someone has to be there to represent those who carefully guard their emotions... and there are a lot of them.

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