Evangelion - Who's the nuttiest nutty?

[FriendlyEL]

As a response to the questions of the Ranma 1/2 cast's mental issues, anyone have some say on exactly who's the most genuinely mentally ill charachter in the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion. They're all nuts, don't get me wrong, but is there a certain one that you just feel is the worst off one.

Let me just say before everyone automatically selects Gendo, there is a big difference between insane and good/evil.

[WG_Writer]

I vote Shinji, if he isn't the most insane, well, considering everything, he should be.

Gendo - stupid and blind to reality, kinda like a cross between Genma, Kuno Sr. and Moose
Asuka - Deluded, almost to the point of a Kuno
Rei - She lacks enough personality to be marker either way
Ritsuko - she got problems, but nothing bad enough that would make her stand out in society in another setting
Misato - Thinks with her beer too much, generally I think she simply lacks some common sense.

As such, Shinji has too many psychological issues to list.

[Rei-chan]

I choose Gendo simply because you would have to be insane to think his plan would work. Never mind thinking playing with angel body parts is a good idea.

[FriendlyEL]

Shinji definately has his share of issues, especially if you consider his downfall at the End of Evangelion. Still, for some reason he actually seemed pretty well behaved compared to the rest of the cast specifically in episodes 21 - 23, possibly because it was Asuka's, Rei's, Misato's, and Ritsuko's turn to shine.

Oddly enough, doesn't anyone else oddly figure that Rei's probably one of the saner ones, simply because she just doesn't have emotions (hence no negative ones to screw her up)?

[Alathon]

Gotta go with Asuka on this one. Rei and Mistato are up there, but I don't think their quirks and past traumas dominate their lives the way Asuka's do. Gendo, Shinji, and Ritsuko don't really strike me as being particularly mentally imbalanced. Ritsuko and Shinji both have 'issues', but those issues are well within the scope of the typical human experience, and while Gendo does some really messed up shit due to his obsession with Yui, that's not really off the charts either. He's just a more ambitious and intelligent man then most who become similarly fixated, so his ability to do something about his fixation at others expense is greater.

[bneef]

Keep in mind, I don't have a degree in psychology, though I do enjoy it and have enough knowledge to make me dangerous. My basic lists are half remembered from college, a decade ago.

This is an interesting delima. The healthiest individuals listed are Shinji, Misato, Ritsuko, and Rei. I'll get to them in a moment. Asuka appears to have several neuroses while Gendo has some psychoses.

Gendo is, as I understand the terms, both a sociopath and a psychopath. He is unable to associate feelings to people, with the possible exception of Yui, whom he obsesses over. He also has a deep seated need to control things. Ordinarily, this would be attributed to a neurosis similar to obsessive/compulsive disorders. Only his "need" has gone to the exclusion of all else. He is slightly out of touch with reality, in that he feels he is doing nothing wrong, and that he is helping people. This is beyond arrogance.

Asuka is largely in tough with reality. It's only after the angels invade her mind that reality and unreality blur. I won't call it fantasy, as some professionals are apt to do, because, to Asuka, it is all real. Asuka has, and I know these terms aren't correct, but they best convey what I'm looking for, an obsessive/compulsive disorder, a rage disorder, and, although not explored, several deep phobias. All of these are in the neurotic range and is still fully functional in society.

Both Misato and Ritsuko know they are screwed up. One of the rules I learned in psychology is if you think you are, or have, one of these disorders, you don't. Shinji suffers from clinical depression, which is, as I understand it, a mild neurosis. Had he not made friends, he would have progressed through the stages to a full psychosis, perhaps even a form of schizophrenia.

Rei is, perhaps, truly amoral, and thus a sociopath. Her lack of feeling can arguably be attributed almost entirely on nurture, thus exempting her from the whole neurosis/psychosis delima. She has, after all, shone a capacity to feel for others, only that aspect has been programmed out of her.

Again, these are my interpretations based on what I've learned in and out of college, ten years ago.

[FriendlyEL]

Me, I still say Rei's among the sanest. Being an emotional stone is better than being an emotional wreck in my book.

Still, I still would put either Misato or Shinji as two of the more overall likable people, even if they're not exactly the most level headed individuals, but that's probably going off subject.

[Neko-]

Gendo has to be the most crazy/neurotic one in the series. Working towards mankinds extinction of sorts knowingly and willingly makes him a dangerous psychopath in my book. Also taking into account Rei's upbringing, Shinji's upbringing (or lack thereof) doesn't speak in his favour.

Shinji is having his share of problems. But over the course of the series this looks like it's somewhat resolving itself. I certainly wouldn't call him crazy. Introvert, sure, but not neurotic. At the end however he does seem to act on his impulses, which makes him lean closer to the insanity-side of things. Possibly a cause from his upbringing tho.

Asuka has a problem fixating on stuff. Not crazy or neurotic, but pretty much in control of what she thinks, wants and does. She does have a darker side regarding her mother, but manages to control that bit most of the time.

Rei isn't crazy. The bit on the upbringing is reason for her behaviour. She tends to think things through (think logically), and mostly because of the upbringing could potentially come back with weird comments. Hasn't exhibited excessivly weird behaviour which could be signed off to being mentally unstable.

Ritsuko hasn't really shown any real problems, other then a devotion to her work, and a desire to one-up her dead mom. Although the latter could be conceived as 'weird' the former isn't that far out there.

Misato has her issues with drinking, but overall doesn't strike me as crazy or neurotic. More happy-go-lucky then anything else...

[FriendlyEL]

Misato has her issues with drinking, but overall doesn't strike me as crazy or neurotic. More happy-go-lucky then anything else...

Overall, yes. Still, she is... quite overreactive... when she's angry, but no where near as vicious as Asuka usually. Still, she, like everyone else, does have a downhill slope towards the end (Kaji showing her the dark underbelly of Nerv then him dying start it), but still you are right that she's overall one of the happier and more likable charachters in the show.

[Daniel Jess Gibson]

Misato has her issues with drinking, but overall doesn't strike me as crazy or neurotic. More happy-go-lucky then anything else...

Overall, yes. Still, she is... quite overreactive... when she's angry, but no where near as vicious as Asuka usually.

I couldn't disagree with you more. Misato has a level of Narcissism that make her truly dangerous to the pilots and her coworkers. She belts Ritsuko for reminding her of the facts of a situation (when Shinji got eaten by the Morie (sp?) Angel), she also hurts and threatens Shinji far more than Asuka does. (Yelling at him when he asks how to fire a second shot with the super particle rifle is irrational, asking What if I miss is completely reasonable in such a circumstance. That's not the only time she overreacts when someone or something threatens her world view.
Misato's derangement is subtle, but it is there.

Rei I would say has high-functioning Autism or Asperger's Syndrome. She literally can't deal with a lot of the normal day-to-day activities, because she lacks the filters the rest of us take for granted. So she seems to ignore anything that isn't important to her.

[FriendlyEL]

Never said she was sane, just that she seemed to be one of the closest things Shinji had to someone that cared about him. But you are right that her fiery reactions only seem to cause his self esteem problems to get worse, so I guess you could argue that the fact that she does hurt him as much as she does despite occasionally wanting the best for him as a sign of insanity.

Yelling at him when he asks how to fire a second shot with the super particle rifle is irrational, asking What if I miss is completely reasonable in such a circumstance

You must be referring to the manga, which I haven't read. I remember in that scene when he asks it Misato didn't respond to that quesion, and Ritsuko calmly responded "Don't even think of that as a possiblity".

But I have to agree from the scene after the fourth angel, for example, she seems at times only to cause him to fall into the emotional drudge she claims she's trying to get him out of all the time.

[Uldihaa]

In my opinion, most of the cast of EVA are actually sane for the most part. At worst, for most of the series, they have a few neuroses. The exceptions, in my opinion, are Gendo and Fuyuuski.

Shinji: Highly introverted with signs of a social anxiety disorder. After he was abandoned by his father, he pulled away from others to avoid being hurt again. That's a normal reaction. Through the course of the series, he does re-connect with others, even connecting to the ice queen Rei. However, the events of the movie show that he's actually sunk very far and is showing signs of the complete collapse of his psyche. By that point I would say that he was borderline insane (with what I'm not sure). At the climax, it's obvious he's experiencing a psychotic break. This was, of course, exactly what both Gendo and Seele wanted. The Third Impact they wanted depended on Shinji being in this state by this point. He was driven insane by the events of the movie. He wasn't just suicidal, he wanted to take everyone and everything with him, wish I could remember the term they used to describe it; nihilistic maybe? Anyway, it wasn't until the end that he could be described as insane.

Asuka: She does have some problems. She has just as many problems with connecting to others that Shinji does and for much the same reason. Though in her case, her abandonment happened over the course of weeks or months and ended with her mother's suicide, and from her mothers warped point of view, the 'killing' of her daughter. So while she's got issues, they fall into the neurosis-level problems instead of a psychosis. That is until her mind-rape by the angel. That sent her into a downward spiral that turned her neuroses into full blown psychoses; she actually goes catatonic. Again, like Shinji, she makes progress, then something happens that sends her off the deep end.

Rei: She's an extreme example of introversion. She's actually more introverted that Shinji. A few have mentioned Rei as unemotional, but I'd have to respectively disagree. She does have emotions, but she seems to have been taught that they are unimportant, or they have been suppressed by medication. She blushes when Shinji makes the comment about her being a good mother and remarks that:"You embarrass me." She's embarrassed about being thought to be good mother material. She also shows compassion for both Toji and Asuka, and in the former case admits that she might be attracted to Shinji. Those are all emotional responses. And none of those involve an angel muddying the waters, so to speak. After Rei II's death, Rei III shows signs of barely suppressed rage toward Gendo (the incident in her apartment involving the glasses). She also ultimately betrays Gendo in favor of Shinji. So is she insane? Hard to say, considering she's not quite human, but in my opinion, no.

Most of the rest of the cast have similar issues. Except these two.

Gendo: Sociopath with psychotic tendencies. He's also a control freak. My personal opinion is that he doesn't want Yui back because he really loves her, but because he can't possess her. She's out of his direct control. He cares for nothing and nobody but himself. Just the fact that what he does to and allows to happen to his only son shows that. He is insane, but it's a cold and calculating type of insanity.

Fuyuski: He's only slightly better than Gendo, in that he does occasionally object to what's going on. The fact that he still goes along with it means the differences are only a matter of degree. He's just as obsessed with Yui as Gendo, and I wonder if it's for the same reasons or if he really does love her.

EVA, to me, has always been about an exploration of humanity's darker side while avoiding the 'they are just insane' point of view for the most part. I've always preferred the TV ending because it seems to be saying that no matter how bad it seems, there is some hope. After all, the final message of the series is a text saying, "And to all the Children, congratulations."