Shinji Ikari facts for kids

Shinji Ikari is a main character from the Japanese cartoon Neon Genesis Evangelion. He is a teenage boy who pilots a giant robot, called Evangelion Unit 01, to fight huge monsters called Angels.

Profile

Shinji Ikari (碇シンジ, born in 6th June, 2001) is 14 years old during Neon Genesis Evangelion. His father is Gendo Ikari (碇ゲンドウ) and his mother is Yui Ikari (碇ユイ), but Shinji grew up without them. Yui died when Shinji was a small child, and Gendo left Shinji so he could be in charge of NERV.

Shinji lives in "Tokyo-3", a city built after the original Tokyo was destroyed. He is a junior high school student, but he also pilots NERV's giant robot Unit 01. Shinji uses Unit 01 to fight the Angels that attack Tokyo-3.

Shinji is good at playing the cello. His blood type is A.

Personality

Shinji doesn't talk much to other people and has low self-esteem. He is scared of piloting Unit 01, and has left NERV a few times. He always comes back because he wants his father to be proud of him.

Shinji makes a few friends during the show. He tries to help them when they have problems, even if he could get hurt. He also becomes more brave.

Relationships

Asuka Soryu

Asuka goes to Shinji's school and lives with Shinji and Misato. She also pilots Evangelion Unit 02. Asuka argues with Shinji because she's afraid he is a better pilot than her.

Gendo Ikari

Gendo is Shinji's father. He is the commander of NERV. Shinji wants Gendo to be proud of him, but Gendo almost never spends time with Shinji.

Rei Ayanami

Rei goes to Shinji's school and pilots Evangelion Unit 00. She is even more lonely than Shinji, but acts like she doesn't have any feelings at all. She gets along with Shinji, but they don't talk very much. Shinji is curious about her.

Misato Katsuragi

Misato is Shinji's boss and a commander of fighting forces. She lets Shinji live at her apartment. Shinji thinks she has bad manners.

Quotes

• "I mustn't run away I mustn't run away..." – When Shinji Ikari rode the evangelion for the first time, he said that sentence to himself.

Images for kids

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  Original sketch of Shinji by Sadamoto, altered for the anime series

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  "[Shinji] shrinks from human contact. And he tries to live in a closed world where his behavior dooms him, and he has abandoned the attempt to understand himself. ... Both [Shinji and Misato] are extremely afraid of being hurt. Both are unsuitable-lacking the positive attitude-for what people call heroes of an adventure". – Hideaki Anno

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  Shinji-decorated taxi in Sapporo

See also

In Spanish: Shinji Ikari para niños