The saga of Neon Genesis Evangelion has lasted for more than twenty years now, with a popular manga, a ground-breaking television series, and a highly-anticipated movie trilogy. It wasn't just the creative storyline, the immersive, post-apocalyptic world, the mind-bending anti-mecha genre, or the creative design and animation that made the series stand out, however.
The characters also made an impression on audiences, and Ayanami Rei is one of the most recognizable, being one of the Eva pilots and therefore one of the main characters of Neon Genesis Evangelion. In the anime universe, Rei is what's known as a dandere character. That means she's stoic, quiet, and initially, mysterious, but, over time, her personality and backstory begin to emerge.
6 Her Name Has Different Meanings
Rei usually means spirit in Japanese, and this name was borrowed from the character in Sailor Moon partly as an homage to that show's director, Kunihiko Ikuhara. They wanted him to work on Evangelion, too, and the name stuck even though he eventually turned down the offer.
The meaning of the name can change depending on the characters used. The way this Rei writes her name can also mean "zero," which is a play on the number of the Eva unit she pilots. It can also be a reference to her quiet character that shows little or no feelings, or as a clone that can be quietly erased and just as easily replaced.
5 A Famous Bluenette
The lack of color is part of Rei's design, and although her hair is blue, it looks washed out and often appears almost white. Unit 002 is blue and white, her plug suit is white, and she is compared to the moon in the sense that she is cold, pale, and emotionally withdrawn.
Part of this color palette comes from Rei's design as compared to the pilot of Unit 002, the ginger Asuka who's often depicted in bright red. The characters are designed to have opposing personalities, and Rei was designed as a quiet character with a calm, even listless demeanor to increase the contrast with outspoken Asuka.
4 Named After A Destroyer
Rei has this in common with other Evangelion characters, who are either named after ships or the components for ships. The word "Ayanami" translates to "twilled waves" in English, which is one of the many references to water that are assigned to Rei's character.
The Fubuki-class destroyer Ayanami was built and commissioned as part of the Japanese Navy after the end of World War I. The ship was scuttled after the Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in 1942, and, to this day, lies on the seafloor of Ironbottom Sound. It could be a bit of foreshadowing, considering one of the last shots in the finale End of Evangelion is of Rei's broken face near the beach.
3 A Design Inspired By Wartime Literature And Rock Music
The Snow Goose: A Story of Dunkirk is a novella written by Paul Gallico in 1940, and the main character is a gangly little girl with a light complexion. The first time the author describes her, she's standing in an otherwise empty room with a wounded goose in her arms. This inspired Rei's earliest animated incarnations.
Rei's introduction is a dramatic one that doesn't fit her stoic image. She's wheeled into the launch area on a gurney, blood still soaking her numerous bandages, as a manipulative ploy by Gendo Ikari to get his son in an Eva. This image was inspired by a song by the rock band Kinniku Shōjo Tai, which includes the lyric "the white girl with bandages."
2 A Strict Vegetarian
Director Hideaki Anno put something of his own personality into the anime interpretation of the characters, and one trait that Rei inherited was the adaptation of a vegetarian diet. It's fairly strict, rejecting even eggs and fish, so fans with sharp eyes might be able to confirm if she eats animal products at all.
This was part of giving her a more bland and mysterious personality since limiting someone's diet can also limit their options for social interactions or travel. It could be one of the reasons that she doesn't go out very often or keeps to herself, which are distinctive character traits.
1 The Key To Everything
Once the secret of Rei's identity is revealed, the mystery of what the Evas really are and where they came from is also uncovered. The story that Rei was born deep in NERV headquarters wasn't exactly a lie, and viewers who were paying attention saw her resemblance to Yui, Shinji's mother. Her affection for Gendo is also a mystery until the viewer finds out that she's actually a clone of Yui's remains, built and designed to be the vessel of Lilith.
Rei has an important part to play in the Third Impact as the human vessel of Lilith, and even Gando Ikari has carefully planned it for decades. When the time comes, however, Rei makes a different choice than the one Gendo had intended. Given that viewers know that Shinji is her son, in a way, her choice to support Shinji at Gendo's expense shouldn't be all that surprising given her character.