Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 211 (click to see context) from:
* FrickinLaserBeams: Averted. [[spoiler:When the positron cannons were used, the MP-Evas were unable to dodge their beams.]]
to:
* FrickinLaserBeams: Averted. In order to gain the upper hand over the Evangelions many countries build positron cannons: huge laser beam cannons. [[spoiler:When the positron cannons they were finally used, the MP-Evas were unable to dodge their beams.]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 204 (click to see context) from:
* FieryRedhead: Asuka. Kurumi even describes her like “fiery”.
to:
* FieryRedhead: Asuka. Asuka is already a grownup woman and has a better control over her temper than her thirteen-years-old self... but she is still pretty temperamental, hot-headed, loud and passionate. Kurumi even describes her like “fiery”.as "fiery".
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Moving to YMVV
Deleted line(s) 200 (click to see context) :
* {{Fanon}}: Several misconceptions and misguided assumptions that were very prevalent in the fandom back then are present in this story: Misato killing Kaji (she did not), Asuka not knowing why she kissed Shinji (she was aware she was trying to seduce him) and rinsing her mouth to save her pride (she was masking her pain); Adam, Lilith and the Angels being the ones of Judaeo-Christian lore (nothing to do whatsoever)…
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 196 (click to see context) from:
* EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: SEELE tried to bring it about in 2015. They failed and spent the next twelve years preparing to attempt to finish it for real.
to:
* EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: SEELE tried to bring it about in 2015. They failed and spent the next twelve years preparing to attempt to finish it for real.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 295 (click to see context) from:
* KidWithTheRemoteControl: All Evangelions were piloted by children because only they could synch with the souls stored inside.
to:
* KidWithTheRemoteControl: TheKidWithTheRemoteControl: All Evangelions were piloted by children because only they could synch with the souls stored inside.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 188 (click to see context) from:
* DramaticIrony: In chapter 2 Asuka notes ponders about her life’s several ironies: she had missed terribly her mother, but her mother had been always there and she had been unable to find her, open up and feel her love because Kyoko’s death had driven her to shut her heart; and she owed her family and her current happiness to two women she hardly considered as friends.
to:
* DramaticIrony: In chapter 2 Asuka notes ponders about her life’s several ironies: she had missed terribly her mother, but her mother had been always there and she had been unable to find her, open up and feel her love because Kyoko’s death had driven her to shut her heart; and she owed her family and her current happiness to two women she hardly considered as friends.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 181 (click to see context) from:
* DirtyBusiness: Running HERZ is not a nice job and it entails making some shady stuff: blackmail, extortion, sabotage… all in the name of keeping peace and saving humankind.
to:
* DirtyBusiness: Running HERZ Misato runs a peace-making, peace-keeping organization devoted to stop the proliferation of HumongousMecha technology. It is not a nice job and it entails making some shady stuff: Misato has got to do or order to do many shady, questionable things to protect her family and humankind: blackmail, extortion, sabotage… She regrets all in the name of keeping peace it and saving humankind.thinks there is too much blood on her hands but she had no other option.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 176 (click to see context) from:
* DidNotSeeThatComing:
to:
* DidNotSeeThatComing:DidntSeeThatComing:
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 175 (click to see context) from:
* {{Determinator}}: Asuka never stopped fighting, not even when she got impaled by the MP-Evas spears and her heart stopped. Her heart restarted, she survived, recovered and even managed delivering a healthy child.
to:
* {{Determinator}}: Asuka never stopped fighting, not even when she got impaled by the MP-Evas spears impaled her robot and she felt the pain of getting chopped into pieces and eaten alive. During that ordeal her heart stopped. Her heart restarted, she stopped beating... and then it restarted. She survived, recovered and even managed delivering a healthy child.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 174 (click to see context) from:
* DespairEventHorizon: Crossed by Shinji seven years ago when [[spoiler:Asuka was about to leave and he thought she hated him and did not want to see him ever again.]]
to:
* DespairEventHorizon: Crossed by Shinji crossed it seven years ago before the beginning of the story when [[spoiler:Asuka was about to leave and he thought she hated him and did not want to see him ever again.]] He wrote a [[spoiler:suicide note to her and another to Misato and slit his wrists.]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 162 (click to see context) from:
** Kensuke is real good at snarking, especially when he is around Asuka. His sarcastic remarks irritate her each time.
to:
** Kensuke is real good at snarking, especially when he is around Asuka. His sarcastic remarks irritate her each every time.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* TookALevelInIdealism: Asuka managed surviving the Angel War but she became angrier and more bitter due to her terrible physical and emotional wounds and scars. However she managed opening up to Shinji after [[spoiler:his almost death.]] When the story stars out they have been married for five years and have a child, and Asuka is happy and feels loved, something she thought impossible back when she was a teenager.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 151 (click to see context) from:
* CooldownHug: In chapter 2 Asuka wakes up after a terrible nightmare and she starts to cry. Shinji embraces her, making her feeling safer, and she gradually calms down.
to:
* CooldownHug: In chapter 2 Asuka wakes up after from a terrible nightmare and she starts to cry. Shinji embraces her, making her feeling safer, and she gradually calms down.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 140 (click to see context) from:
* ChasteHero: When she met Shinji Kurumi thought he was not interested in women because he was shy. The real reason was he was fixated on Asuka.
to:
* ChasteHero: Subverted. When she Kurumi met Shinji Kurumi she thought he was not interested in women because he was shy. The shy and oblivious. It's true that he ''is'' shy and oblivious, but the real reason was is he was fixated on Asuka.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 131 (click to see context) from:
* ButNotTooForeign: Asuka is part American, part German and part Japanese.
to:
* ButNotTooForeign: Asuka is part American, part German and part Japanese. Ergo, her daughter Akiko is 5/8 Japanese, 1/8 German and 2/8 American [[spoiler:as is her second daughter Sakiko.]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 10,11 (click to see context) from:
''Fanfic/HERZ'' is an AlternateUniverse {{Continuation}} ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' fanfic written by Toh Ee loong.
to:
Added DiffLines:
* BadDreams: Even after twelve years Asuka still has nightmares about the Angel War where she relives her defeats, her failures, her humiliation, her MindRape... and the FinalBattle where she lost her left eye, got her right arm cut in half, was impaled, tore into pieces and eaten alive.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* {{Badass}}: Shinji, Asuka and Rei used to kill giant alien monsters when they were kids, and they have been HumongousMecha pilots for years. Shinji works most of time as a music teacher, but he is the only pilot in active. Asuka is still a soldier and a captain leads from the frontlines. And Rei is... well... a [[spoiler:HumanoidAbomination.]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 328 (click to see context) from:
* MamaBear/PapaWolf:
to:
* MamaBear/PapaWolf:MamaBear:
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 26,27 (click to see context) from:
To contrast with other Eva fics of the same era go to ''Fanfic/NeonGenesisEvangelionR'', ''Fanfic/TheOneILoveIs'', ''Fanfic/ChildrenOfAnElderGod'' or ''Fanfic/HigherLearning''.
to:
To contrast with other Eva fics of the same era go to ''Fanfic/NeonGenesisEvangelionR'', ''Fanfic/TheChildOfLove'', ''Fanfic/TheOneILoveIs'', ''Fanfic/ChildrenOfAnElderGod'' or ''Fanfic/HigherLearning''.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 101 (click to see context) from:
* BigNo: Exclaimed by [[spoiler:the SEELE members when the Children took control of their newest MP-Evas.]] The exact wording was “This is impossible!” but the spirit was the same.
to:
* BigNo: Exclaimed by [[spoiler:the SEELE members when the Children took control of their newest MP-Evas.]] The exact wording was “This “This is impossible!” but the spirit was the same.
Added DiffLines:
* RoaringRampageOfRescue: Averted. When Misato informs Asuka [[spoiler:that Shinji has been kidnapped by SEELE]], her first impulse was to run off and trash wildly to find her husband, but she struggled to control herself because she knew it was part of SEELE's plan.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 41 (click to see context) from:
* AccidentalPervert: In chapter 4 enters the men’s locker room, hears someone showering in one of the stalls. He thinks it must be Asuka so that he strips his plug suit and walks in the shower stall… and on Kurumi. Subverted because it was a trap.
to:
* AccidentalPervert: In chapter 4 Shinji enters the men’s locker room, hears someone showering in one of the stalls. He thinks it must be Asuka so that he strips his plug suit and walks in the shower stall… and on Kurumi. Subverted because it was a trap.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 298,299 (click to see context) from:
''"Ain't this a beauty." Each ODP was a satelite mounted with a version of the positron rifle first used by Eva. Power was collected by solar panels and channeled into a sophisticated power system. This was the ultimate weapon.
And now, they were all in place, circling the heavens. Deadly and waiting.''
And now, they were all in place, circling the heavens. Deadly and waiting.''
to:
''"Ain't this a beauty." Each ODP was a satelite mounted with a version of the positron rifle first used by Eva. Power was collected by solar panels and channeled into a sophisticated power system. This was the ultimate weapon.
weapon. And now, they were all in place, circling the heavens. Deadly and waiting.''
Changed line(s) 368 (click to see context) from:
* TheOneGotAway: Shinji is this to Kurumi. Even after so many years she still has a crush on him.
to:
* TheOneGotAway: TheOneThatGotAway: Shinji is this to Kurumi. Even after so many years she still has a crush on him.
Changed line(s) 370 (click to see context) from:
** Akiko [[spoiler:and Sakiko]] Ikari, Shinji and Asuka's offspring. Akiko was a relatively popular Shinji and Asuka’s fan-created daughter back in the day, but never as much as ''[[Fanfic/ChildOfLove Teri Ikari]]'', let alone [[spoiler:''[[Fanfic/TheSecondTry Aki Ikari]]'']].
to:
** Akiko [[spoiler:and Sakiko]] Ikari, Shinji and Asuka's offspring. Akiko was a relatively popular Shinji and Asuka’s fan-created daughter back in the day, but never as much as ''[[Fanfic/ChildOfLove ''[[Fanfic/TheChildOfLove Teri Ikari]]'', let alone [[spoiler:''[[Fanfic/TheSecondTry Aki Ikari]]'']].
Changed line(s) 385 (click to see context) from:
* ThePlan: The Plan to defeat SEELE consisted of [[spoilers:the Children performing their own version of the Ceremony, using two Evangelions instead of one to seal Adam, Lilith, the Lance, Unit 01 and 02 out of the planet and at the same time destroying the original research materials.]]
to:
* ThePlan: The Plan to defeat SEELE consisted of [[spoilers:the [[spoiler:the Children performing their own version of the Ceremony, using two Evangelions instead of one to seal Adam, Lilith, the Lance, Unit 01 and 02 out of the planet and at the same time destroying the original research materials.]]
Changed line(s) 415 (click to see context) from:
* SarcasticSupporter: Kensuke spends the whole time pressing Asuka’s {{Berserk Button}}s and teasing her, but he is loyal to her just as he is to Shinji.
to:
* SarcasticSupporter: SarcasticDevotee: Kensuke spends the whole time pressing Asuka’s {{Berserk Button}}s and teasing her, but he is loyal to her just as he is to Shinji.
Changed line(s) 483 (click to see context) from:
* WhereTheyAreNow: The epilogue is meant to show the cast’s lives several years after the end of SEELE.
to:
* WhereTheyAreNow: WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: The epilogue is meant to show the cast’s lives several years after the end of SEELE.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 109 (click to see context) from:
'''[...]''\\
to:
'''[...]''\\]'''\\
Changed line(s) 227 (click to see context) from:
* GrandThefPrototype:
to:
* GrandThefPrototype:GrandTheftPrototype:
Changed line(s) 256 (click to see context) from:
* HomeBase: The Geofront is HERZ’s base. After the top got blown up during the battle of 2015 it is no longer an UndergroundBase.
to:
* HomeBase: The Geofront is HERZ’s base. After the top got blown up during the battle of 2015 it is no longer an UndergroundBase.ElaborateUndergroundBase.
Changed line(s) 261,262 (click to see context) from:
-->In chapter 4:
''"Oh Hikari, you're such a great cook. Maybe Shinji could pick up some tips from you," said Asuka between bites.''\\
''"Oh Hikari, you're such a great cook. Maybe Shinji could pick up some tips from you," said Asuka between bites.''\\
to:
Changed line(s) 287,288 (click to see context) from:
* {{{Irony}}: In chapter 2 Misato notes how ironic is they are using the MP-Evas as instruments of salvation when they were created to be their destruction’s tools.
to:
* {{{Irony}}: {{Irony}}: In chapter 2 Misato notes how ironic is they are using the MP-Evas as instruments of salvation when they were created to be their destruction’s tools.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 64 (click to see context) from:
* ArmorPiercingAnswer: When Kurumi walks into Misato’s office to accuse her of breach of trust, theft and fraud and Kaji’s murder and vow she will pay for her alleged crimes, Misato’s reply stops her tirade abruptly.
to:
* ArmorPiercingAnswer: ArmorPiercingQuestion: During [[spoiler:the GrandFinale]] Rei shows [[spoiler:Kihl]] the Ikari family (Shinji, Asuka and Akiko) like an example of true Human Complementation: two human beings loving each other and the fruit of that love. Then she asks him:
-->'''Rei''':''"Do you understand?"''
* ArmorPiercingResponse: When Kurumi walks into Misato’s office to accuse her of breach of trust, theft and fraud and Kaji’s murder and vow she will pay for her alleged crimes, Misato’s reply stops her tirade abruptly.
-->'''Rei''':''"Do you understand?"''
* ArmorPiercingResponse: When Kurumi walks into Misato’s office to accuse her of breach of trust, theft and fraud and Kaji’s murder and vow she will pay for her alleged crimes, Misato’s reply stops her tirade abruptly.
Deleted line(s) 72,73 (click to see context) :
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: During [[spoiler:the GrandFinale]] Rei shows [[spoiler:Kihl]] the Ikari family (Shinji, Asuka and Akiko) like an example of true Human Complementation: two human beings loving each other and the fruit of that love. Then she asks him:
-->'''Rei''':''"Do you understand?"''
-->'''Rei''':''"Do you understand?"''
Deleted line(s) 87 (click to see context) :
* BadassEyepatch: Worn by Asuka.
Changed line(s) 131 (click to see context) from:
* CantActPervertTowardsLoveInterest: Asuka makes Kensuke shutting up and stopping bothering her when she threatens with telling his girlfriend what pervert things he did when they were teenagers.
to:
* CantActPervertTowardsLoveInterest: CantActPervertedTowardALoveInterest: Asuka makes Kensuke shutting up and stopping bothering her when she threatens with telling his girlfriend what pervert things he did when they were teenagers.
Changed line(s) 137,138 (click to see context) from:
-->''Asuka screamed and bolted up in bed. Dream. Again. Breathing fast,
shallow. Heart pounding. Cold sweat. Lightning flashed outside of the apartment's window. Hands over her face, she began to cry.''
shallow. Heart pounding. Cold sweat. Lightning flashed outside of the apartment's window. Hands over her face, she began to cry.''
to:
-->''Asuka screamed and bolted up in bed. Dream. Again. Breathing fast,
fast, shallow. Heart pounding. Cold sweat. Lightning flashed outside of the apartment's window. Hands over her face, she began to cry.''
Deleted line(s) 147 (click to see context) :
* ComfortSex: Between Shinji and Asuka in chapter 2 after she suffers from a horrible nightmare.
Changed line(s) 173,174 (click to see context) from:
* DeathFromTheSky: The Americans built a bunch of satellites fitted with positronic cannons as a weapon against the Evangelions.
* DeathGlare: Asuka deploys this –together with a menacing twitch from her eye and brow when another woman stalks her husband.]]
* DeathGlare: Asuka deploys this –together with a menacing twitch from her eye and brow when another woman stalks her husband.]]
to:
* DeathFromTheSky: DeathFromAbove: The Americans built a bunch of satellites fitted with positronic cannons as a weapon against the Evangelions.
* DeathGlare: Asuka deploys this –together with a menacing twitch from her eye andbrow brow- when another woman stalks her husband.]]
* DeathGlare: Asuka deploys this –together with a menacing twitch from her eye and
Added DiffLines:
* EyepatchOfPower: Worn by Asuka.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* AndThatLittleGirlWasMe: When Rei tells Akiko how her father -Shinji- saved her mother -Asuka- twelve years ago thanks to the help of a friend of his Akiko quickly guesses Rei is his father's friend her aunt is talking about.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Useful Notes/ pages are not tropes
Deleted line(s) 88 (click to see context) :
* {{Baka}}: Asuka calls Shinji this fairly often.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 2,3 (click to see context) from:
[-[[caption-width-right:350:Twelve years have passed. They have rebuilt their lives… but the ghosts of the past still threaten them. Fanart by Myssa Elaine Rei]]-]
to:
[-[[caption-width-right:350:Twelve years have passed. They have rebuilt their lives… but the ghosts of the past still threaten them. \\
Fanart by Myssa Elaine Rei]]-]
Fanart by Myssa Elaine Rei]]-]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 424,434 (click to see context) from:
* ShoutOut:
** GEIST’s members’ pseudonyms come from gods of Ancient Egipt.
** In the end of chapter 4, the four questions of the final episode of ''Series/BabylonFive'' are asked.
** In episode 8 there are homages to ''Film/StarWarsTheEmpireStrikesBack'', ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'' and ''Film/ThePrinceOfEgypt''.
** In chapter 9 [[spoiler:Kaji]] quotes one line of ''Fanfic/NeonGenesisEvangelionR''.
** Chapter 10 includes a paragraph of ''Literature/TheBible''. Concretely, Revelations 3:5.
** Chapter 13 concludes with another quote taken from ''Series/BabylonFive''.
** Natsumi and Kurumi Kagero’s names are taken from two ''Anime/RanmaOneHalf'' characters, and their surname of a character of ''Anime/NinjaScroll''.
** Akiko [[spoiler:and Sakiko]] were named after the seiyuus of the main characters of ''Anime/YoureUnderArrest''.
** Minor characters were named after WWII warships or nautical terms.
** HERZ’s BridgeBunnies were named after the members of J-Pop band, “Everything Little Thing”.
** GEIST’s members’ pseudonyms come from gods of Ancient Egipt.
** In the end of chapter 4, the four questions of the final episode of ''Series/BabylonFive'' are asked.
** In episode 8 there are homages to ''Film/StarWarsTheEmpireStrikesBack'', ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'' and ''Film/ThePrinceOfEgypt''.
** In chapter 9 [[spoiler:Kaji]] quotes one line of ''Fanfic/NeonGenesisEvangelionR''.
** Chapter 10 includes a paragraph of ''Literature/TheBible''. Concretely, Revelations 3:5.
** Chapter 13 concludes with another quote taken from ''Series/BabylonFive''.
** Natsumi and Kurumi Kagero’s names are taken from two ''Anime/RanmaOneHalf'' characters, and their surname of a character of ''Anime/NinjaScroll''.
** Akiko [[spoiler:and Sakiko]] were named after the seiyuus of the main characters of ''Anime/YoureUnderArrest''.
** Minor characters were named after WWII warships or nautical terms.
** HERZ’s BridgeBunnies were named after the members of J-Pop band, “Everything Little Thing”.
to:
* ShoutOut:
** GEIST’s members’ pseudonyms come from gods of Ancient Egipt.
** InShoutOut: Shout-outs must be placed in the end of chapter 4, the four questions of the final episode of ''Series/BabylonFive'' are asked.
** In episode 8 there are homages to ''Film/StarWarsTheEmpireStrikesBack'', ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'' and ''Film/ThePrinceOfEgypt''.
** In chapter 9 [[spoiler:Kaji]] quotes one line of ''Fanfic/NeonGenesisEvangelionR''.
** Chapter 10 includes a paragraph of ''Literature/TheBible''. Concretely, Revelations 3:5.
** Chapter 13 concludes with another quote taken from ''Series/BabylonFive''.
** Natsumi and Kurumi Kagero’s names are taken from two ''Anime/RanmaOneHalf'' characters, and their surname of a character of ''Anime/NinjaScroll''.
** Akiko [[spoiler:and Sakiko]] were named after the seiyuus of the main characters of ''Anime/YoureUnderArrest''.
** Minor characters were named after WWII warships or nautical terms.
** HERZ’s BridgeBunnies were named after the members of J-Pop band, “Everything Little Thing”.proper subpage.
** GEIST’s members’ pseudonyms come from gods of Ancient Egipt.
** In
** In episode 8 there are homages to ''Film/StarWarsTheEmpireStrikesBack'', ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'' and ''Film/ThePrinceOfEgypt''.
** In chapter 9 [[spoiler:Kaji]] quotes one line of ''Fanfic/NeonGenesisEvangelionR''.
** Chapter 10 includes a paragraph of ''Literature/TheBible''. Concretely, Revelations 3:5.
** Chapter 13 concludes with another quote taken from ''Series/BabylonFive''.
** Natsumi and Kurumi Kagero’s names are taken from two ''Anime/RanmaOneHalf'' characters, and their surname of a character of ''Anime/NinjaScroll''.
** Akiko [[spoiler:and Sakiko]] were named after the seiyuus of the main characters of ''Anime/YoureUnderArrest''.
** Minor characters were named after WWII warships or nautical terms.
** HERZ’s BridgeBunnies were named after the members of J-Pop band, “Everything Little Thing”.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/herz_mer03_copia.jpg]]
[-[[caption-width-right:350:Twelve years have passed. They have rebuilt their lives… but the ghosts of the past still threaten them. Fanart by Myssa Elaine Rei]]-]
->''"What!? What does Shinji-kun have to do with all this?"''\\
''"Everything, Kurumi. Everything."''\\
''"How?"''\\
''"He is the Alpha and the Omega. The Beginning and the End."''
''Fanfic/HERZ'' is an AlternateUniverse {{Continuation}} ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' fanfic written by Toh Ee loong.
It is the year 2027.
Twelve years ago Third Impact was averted and SEELE was exposed. NERV has been broken into two agencies, the scientific research agency GEHIRN and the peace-keeping and peace-making anti-Evangelion proliferation organization HERZ, led by Major-General Misato Katsuragi. Shinji, Asuka and Rei are still her subordinates but they seldom pilot Evas. Shinji and Asuka are married and have a daughter, and the cast leads mostly peaceful lives despite the entangled international political situation forcing them to constantly deploy the Evangelions in possession of HERZ.
However their time is ticking off. Not everyone is willing to give up the dreams that the Evangelion technology makes possible. The remnants of SEELE still desire Instrumentality. The resurgent nation-states, now recovered from the devastation of Second Impact, chafe under the yoke of the United Nations. Several superpowers resent HERZ's full control of the Evangelions and are willing to do whatever it takes to build their own, seize the HERZ's Evas or destroy them.
Meanwhile, Major-General Katsuragi, Director of HERZ, has an agenda all her own, and the Children have a plan to claim their lives of Project Eva. And they are determined to carry it out.
The time is 2027. Has the final hour for mankind come 'round at last?
One of the granddaddies of Evangelion fanfiction, HERZ is a mix of character drama and international intrigue. Everyone feels in-character and a logical extension of their canon selves at the time of End of Evangelion. The politics of the story are a real draw, presenting a colourful global setting where various factions are competing to realize their own vision of the future. The question isn't just "Is Third Impact going to be averted?" but "Even if it's averted, what sort of world will we be living in?"
It can be read [[http://web.archive.org/web/20050320085336/http://www.geocities.com/zhuoyilong/HERZ.html here]] or [[http://fanfic-mausoleum-n-grill.dreamwidth.org/tag/HERZ here]]. It can also be found in these archives: [[http://web.archive.org/web/20060129152929/http://www.geocities.com/zhuoyilong/ link]], [[http://web.archive.org/web/20080917201926/http://www.geocities.com/SEELE_hq/Archive/index.htm link]].
To contrast with other Eva fics of the same era go to ''Fanfic/NeonGenesisEvangelionR'', ''Fanfic/TheOneILoveIs'', ''Fanfic/ChildrenOfAnElderGod'' or ''Fanfic/HigherLearning''.
----
!!Tropes:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:A-C]]
* ADateWithRosiePalms: In a chapter Asuka reminds Shinji that she knows that he did in the hospital when she was comatose.
* AFatherToHisMen: Misato is the Director of HERZ. She raised Shinji and Asuka –although the latter moved out after the events of End of Evangelion-, and at least once she notes Shinji, Asuka and Rei are like the children she never had.
* AGodIAm: [[spoiler:Rei after absorbing her larger body –Lilith’s- and Adam.]]
* AMechByAnyOtherName: The Evangelions, bio-mechanical giant robots. Many nations try to produce their own Evas, and one of the missions of HERZ is preventing this from happening.
* AbortedArc: In 1999 the author announced he was planning for a prologue. Few months later he announced that "HERZ: Past as Prologue will be on hiatus until further notice." Shortly after he wrote a chapter set in 2016... And that was the end of it. The prologue chapter is nearly impossible to find nowadays.
* AccidentalPervert: In chapter 4 enters the men’s locker room, hears someone showering in one of the stalls. He thinks it must be Asuka so that he strips his plug suit and walks in the shower stall… and on Kurumi. Subverted because it was a trap.
* AcePilot: Shinji, Asuka and Rei are all good HumongousMecha pilots, although Shinji is the only one still has a functional Eva, and he seldom sorties.
* AcheyScars: Even after twelve years, the scars that Asuka received when she battled the MP-Evas still hurt. Her blind eye bleeds every so often.
-->''She had told him before that the injuries throbbed with a dull, constant and persistent ache.''
* ActionGirl: Misato and Asuka seldom fight the enemy directly nowadays, but they are still duly trained soldiers. Rei also can hold her own [[spoiler:since she is a pilot and the merge of two Seeds.]]
* ActionMom: Asuka. Ex-HumongousMecha pilot, soldier and mother.
* AdultFear: Shinji and Asuka fear that unless SEELE gets stopped, their daughter will have no future and no chance to grow up and be happy. Ergo, they are set on the plan despite of the risks.
* AffectionateGestureToTheHead: In chapter 2 Asuka wakes up after a terrible nightmare. As he reassures her, Shinji strokes her red bangs.
-->''"Shuuussh," he said soothingly, smoothly the damn auburn locks on her forehead as he propped her up on the pillows.''
* AirVentPassageway: In chapter 4 [[spoiler:Kurumi used a ventilation shaft to reach Terminal Dogma after being told it was off-limits.]]
-->''The grill made a tremendous clanging sound as it crashed onto the floor. Kurumi, in her UNIPF combat fatigues, emerged from the ventilation shaft. "Terminal Dogma is off-limits, my ass."''
* AlienSky: After the FinalBattle against SEELE the sky has two Moons:
-->''The party had been over for some time. Shinji and Asuka strolled hand in hand on the edge of the lake. Its waters glimmered in the silvery light of both moons.''
* AlliterativeName: Captain Kurumi Kagero, UN Special Investigations Officer.
* AllThereInTheManual: The author included supplementary, world-building notes after every chapter and in a F. A. Q. in his site.
* AllYourPowersCombined: [[spoiler:Rei’s soul was Lilith’s. Then she absorbed Lilith’s body and Adam, gaining their powers.]]
* AlternateUniverse: Third Impact did not happen, creating a divergence.
* AlternateUniverseFic: It changes an event of the finale of the series and from there it creates a new continuity.
* AmazonChaser: Shinji is in love with and married to a temperamental, FieryRedhead soldier who is better pilot and fighter than him.
* AncientConspiracy: SEELE has been plotting the end of the world for decades. On the other hand, GEIST is still another secret organization which is ''very'' big on individualism and has been opposing SEELE since they knew about its existence and goals.
* AngerBornOfWorry: In chapter 10, [[spoiler:Shinji got kidnapped.]] Asuka was so worried she was about to explode, but she tried to keep her emotions under control.
-->''Asuka was obviously upset but was trying admirably to keep her turbulent emotions under control. Her first impulse was to run off and thrash wildly in an effort to find her husband. She didn't notice the blood beginning to drip through the patch covering her left eye. She took a deep breath.''
* ArmorPiercingAnswer: When Kurumi walks into Misato’s office to accuse her of breach of trust, theft and fraud and Kaji’s murder and vow she will pay for her alleged crimes, Misato’s reply stops her tirade abruptly.
-->'''Kurumi''':''"You'll pay for your crimes. I'll see to it."''\\
'''Misato''':''"I have no doubt in your abilities, Cpt Kagero. But understand that if you persist in your crusade, it will be Shinji and his family who will pay the price for your foolishness."''\\
'''Kurumi''':''"What!? What does Shinji-kun have to do with all this?"''\\
'''Misato''':''"Everything, Kurumi. Everything."''\\
'''Kurumi''':''"How?"''\\
'''Misato''':''"He is the Alpha and the Omega. The Beginning and the End."''\\
'''Kurumi''':''"I don't understand."''
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: During [[spoiler:the GrandFinale]] Rei shows [[spoiler:Kihl]] the Ikari family (Shinji, Asuka and Akiko) like an example of true Human Complementation: two human beings loving each other and the fruit of that love. Then she asks him:
-->'''Rei''':''"Do you understand?"''
* ArtificialLimbs:
** After her right arm got spliced, Asuka got an artificial limb covered by a harness of latex-like material.
** Touji also has an arm and a leg prosthetics to replace his missing limbs.
* AsTheGoodBookSays: Chapter 10 quotes a passage of the Book of Revelations.
* AscendedFanboy: After the Battle of Geofront Kensuke became a soldier. He is not an Eva pilot but he is satisfied with being a jet fighter pilot.
* TheAtoner: Gendo tries to atone for being a bad father with being a good, doting grandfather when he is allowed seeing Akiko.
* AuthorAppeal: Rei is the author's favourite character. She does not show up a lot but she is ever-present, the cast talks about her constantly, and she [[spoiler:saves the day several times.]]
* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: Although Asuka seems being always angry, there many times where it is clear how much she loves Shinji:
** In chapter 2 she wakes up from a nightmare. Shinji hugs her while she cries and she pleads him never leaving her.
** Later she deems necessary deploying Unit 01… and she wants to deploy all Evas together with it to protect Shinji.
** In chapter 10 [[spoiler:Shinji got kidnapped]] and Asuka was barely keeping herself under control.
--->''Asuka was obviously upset but was trying admirably to keep her turbulent emotions under control. Her first impulse was to run off and thrash wildly in an effort to find her husband. She didn't notice the blood beginning to drip through the patch covering her left eye. She took a deep breath.''
* BabiesEverAfter: Akiko after the canon events. And in the last chapter [[spoiler:Shinji and Asuka discover that the former got the latter pregnant again. They call their second daughter Sakiko.]]
* BadassEyepatch: Worn by Asuka.
* BadassBookworm: Shinji is a music teacher and an active pilot, too.
* {{Baka}}: Asuka calls Shinji this fairly often.
* BattleCouple: Shinji and Asuka, although due to Unit 02 getting repaired they are not seen battling in tandem until [[spoiler:the FinalBattle when they sortie together to fight SEELE.]]
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Kensuke wished being an Eva pilot. He managed becoming a jet fighter pilot, which it is almost so good in his opinion… but it entails that Asuka is his superior officer.
* BelligerentSexualTension: Although they resolved it several years ago, Shinji and Asuka still have some good, ''[[Anime/MazingerZ Kouji/Sayaka-worthy]]'' bickering every so often, such like after the [[spoiler:FinalBattle]] when Asuka complained about [[spoiler:Shinji getting her knocked up]] again.
* BeneathTheMask: Asuka had created a mask of harshness and abrasiveness to hide her real, vulnerable inner self after her mother’s suicide. However it prevented her from feeling her mother and Shinji’s love. Rei eventually convinced her that she had to drop it and open up to be loved back and be happy.
** Some people like Kurumi wondered why Shinji had fallen for such a fiery woman. Shinji liked Asuka’s fierceness but he had also seen her real self under the mask.
* BerserkButton:
** Asuka has several buttons, most of them related to her husband: Do not flirt with Shinji, try to steal him away or act pervert around him. Asuka will ensure it is hazardous to your health. Do not poke fun at her relationship with Shinji, suggest to her face they have S&M sex or make Nazi jokes around her. Kurumi is constantly pressing the first button. Kensuke gleefully punches the second one every time he opens his mouth.
** Rei. Threatens her niece’s life and she will liquefy you. Not a hyperbole.
* BetaCouple: Hikari and Touji. Whereas Shinji and Asuka have been married for five years and have a daughter, they are still engaged.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Rei is usually quiet, calm and non-confrontational. Then a pack of loonies tried to shoot her niece. The cleaning crew had to scrub their remains off the walls.
* BigBad: SEELE. In 2015 they tried to culminate their plan to merge all human souls into a single being. They failed and spent the next twelve years trying to build more Evangelions to carry out their goals, funding black projects and terrorist organizations.
* BigDamnHeroes: The point of divergence happens because [[spoiler:Rei and Shinji performed one to save Asuka from the MP-Evas.]]
* BigGood: Misato Katsuragi, Director of HERZ. She is tasked with using the Evangelions on peace-keeping and peace-making missions, and preventing the spreading of the Eva technology. She is also SEELE’s worst enemy, having spent twelve years foiling their plans and scheming and plotting against them.
* BigNo: Exclaimed by [[spoiler:the SEELE members when the Children took control of their newest MP-Evas.]] The exact wording was “This is impossible!” but the spirit was the same.
* BittersweetEnding: After the last battle [[spoiler:Shinji and Asuka are alive –and expecting!-. Most of canon characters have survived, Yui and Kyoko’s souls have been released and SEELE has been defeated once and for all. However Rei seals herself together with the Evas, Adam, Lilith and the Lance to ensure that they will never be used again, which means she has to say goodbye to her family forever.]]
* {{Blackmail}}:
** Asuka threatens Kensuke with telling his girlfriend about his pervert exploits back in middle school if he does not stop taunting her.
** Shinji and Asuka needed a babysitter, and Shinji thought their only recourse was Kurumi. Kurumi agreed to look after Akiko… if Shinji kissed her.
* BlackmailIsSuchAnUglyWord: Subverted. The Chinese Government tried to build its own Eva in a top secret facility. The monster went out of control, obliterated the facility and started to rampage through China. A Chinese commanding officer pleaded Misato dispatching her Evas. She retorted she would deploy them… in exchange for information on where the other Evas were being built. When the officer complained about it being blackmail, her reaction was "So what?"
-->'''Commander Hai''':''"This is an emergency. Many lives are at stake. Your charter allows for action now."''\\
'''Misato''':''"Indeed."''\\
'''[...]''\\
'''Commander Hai''':''"What is your price?"''\\
'''Misato''':''"Information. On where the other Evas are being built. All of them."''\\
'''Commander Hai''':''"You can't expect us to know all that. And what makes you think.."''\\
'''Misato''':''"..that you would know? [...] That thing was built in Lop Nor. Using technology from SEELE and Chinese military resources. I'm sure this will be an interesting revelation before the UN Organs and the world media..."''\\
'''Commander Hai''':''"That's blackmail!"''\\
'''Misato''':''"I'm also perfectly happy to let this thing continue its grand tour through your heartland and population centres. I don't have to do anything until the UN to get its paperwork done or until it reaches Japan itself..."''
* BloodKnight: Although Asuka is not an active pilot anymore she still is a soldier and enjoys fighting.
* BloodLust: The first word used to describe Asuka's battle against the MP-Evas is "bloodlust". Asuka was drowning into it as she fought them.
* BlueIsHeroic: Rei’s robot is blue.
* BreakTheCutie: Before the beginning of the story Shinji had been so thoroughly broken that he [[spoiler:attempted to kill himself at one point.]]
* BreakTheHaughty: Chapter 2 retells how Asuka’s pride got shattered until she considered herself a worthless, useless failure and an ugly, scarred freak.
* BreakThemByTalking: Asuka did this to Shinji accidentally seven years before the beginning of the story. [[spoiler:She wanted to go back to Germany. He pleaded her staying and told he needed her. Unfortunately Asuka thought he was mocking her, so she called him out on everything he had done and said she hated him.]] It broke him down, but she did not know it at the time.
* TheBridge: HERZ’s HQ has one with all typical characteristics: elevated seats for the commander, BridgeBunnies sitting at workstations in front of him, and a large, ample stage between the commander and the workers at the workstations.
* BridgeBunnies: In the first chapter HERZ's bunnies are introduced:
-->''"That big bald fellow with the beard is Col Peter Strasser. Used to be from the Third Branch in Germany. He's our deputy commander and concurrently chief of Section 3, that is, Operations. Those three are our bridge operators. From the right - 2nd Lt Mochida, 1st Lt Igarashi and 2nd Lt Ito. I used to sit where Ito is working now. The lady in the lab coat is Dr Ibuki Maya. She's our Chief Scientific Officer."''
* BrokenAce: Asuka was the best Eva pilot… and after fighting the MP-Evas she lost one eye, one arm and her body got scarred permanently. She almost died and lost her mother again, so she became even more furious and unstable.
* BrokenBird: Asuka. Let’s see: she lost her mother and got ditched by her father before being four. She was turned into a weapon and a tool and trained hard for ten long years to become the best as a way to validate her existence. When the time came to prove her skill she got overshadowed by a boy that -as far as she knew- was a rookie with no training. She got repeatedly defeated, humiliated and mind-raped by the enemy. She managed rising from her ashes only to be impaled, mutilated and eaten alive. And still she survived even after her heart stopped for a short while, she became a fine soldier and she even delivered a healthy child.
-->''Asuka leaned into the kiss. She had lost much and suffered terribly, but from the ashes, she had risen anew.''
* BrokenTears: Shed by Asuka in chapter 2 after her nightmare where she relived all her defeats and suffering from the battle against Zeruel onward.
* ButNotTooForeign: Asuka is part American, part German and part Japanese.
* CantActPervertTowardsLoveInterest: Asuka makes Kensuke shutting up and stopping bothering her when she threatens with telling his girlfriend what pervert things he did when they were teenagers.
* CantHoldHisLiquor: Shinji has absolutely no alcohol tolerance.
* CantLiveWithThemCantLiveWithoutThem: Shinji and Asuka had greatly hurt each other… and yet they could not live without each other. Asuka never stopped loving Shinji, not matter what she said or did. Shinji never wanted another woman, and when he thought Asuka was leaving and she hated him he was so grief-stricken that [[spoiler:he tried to kill himself.]]
* CanNotSpitItOut: Shinji and Asuka’s inability to express their feelings openly and clearly was an additional source of pain. In chapter 2 Asuka remembers their relationship finally improved when she managed to open up to him.
* TheCaptain: Asuka became one after the events of the series.
* CatapultNightmare: In chapter 2 Asuka is having a dream about her past traumas. When she reaches the part where the white Evas were eating her alive she wakes up screaming and bolting up in bed.
-->''Asuka screamed and bolted up in bed. Dream. Again. Breathing fast,
shallow. Heart pounding. Cold sweat. Lightning flashed outside of the apartment's window. Hands over her face, she began to cry.''
* TheChainsOfCommanding: Misato is Director of HERZ. Its organization is the only things stands between the humanity and its annihilation. Throughout the years she has been forced to make many distasteful things that she feels conflicted and remorseful about to ensure the future of her family and the survival of the humanity. In the process she has become grimmer and more serious, and too similar to Gendo Ikari to her liking.
* ChasteHero: When she met Shinji Kurumi thought he was not interested in women because he was shy. The real reason was he was fixated on Asuka.
* ChefOfIron: Shinji is a soldier and pilot and an excellent cook right like another ''[[Anime/MazingerZ mecha anime ace pilot]]''. He is actually the one cooks in his household.
* ChekhovsGun: In chapter 5 it is mentioned briefly that Shinji can not hold his liquor. Several chapters later it is revealed that [[spoiler:Kurumi used that to take advantage of him in the past.]]
* CheshireCatGrin: Misato wears one in chapter 4 when she thinks of her plan to prevent Unit 01's deployment in the Congo.
* ChildSoldiers: Twelve years ago Shinji, Asuka, Rei –and Touji for a short while- were child soldiers. The experience broke them down.
* ClingyJealousGirl: Asuka is still very jealous and possessive from Shinji. Kurumi trying to hit on Shinji even though she knows he is married does not lessen her jealousy, certainly.
* ColonelKilgore: Asuka has rank of Captain and loves fighting.
* ComfortSex: Between Shinji and Asuka in chapter 2 after she suffers from a horrible nightmare.
* {{Continuation}}: The story happens twelve years after the end of the the series, changing the outcome of the movie.
* ConvenientlyAnOrphan: All pilots are orphans. As they discovered after the battle against SEELE in 2015, it was NOT a coincidence.
* CoolPlane: The aircraft piloted by Kensuke in chapter 1 definitely counts:
-->''Kensuke loved this. Some real action! Even if he couldn't pilot Eva, at least he got to fly the largest aircraft in the world. It flew high above the range of normal anti-aircraft missiles, undetectable to conventional radar. In any case normal anti-aircraft missiles did not have warheads that could really be more than a bee sting against this flying fortress.''
* CooldownHug: In chapter 2 Asuka wakes up after a terrible nightmare and she starts to cry. Shinji embraces her, making her feeling safer, and she gradually calms down.
-->''Asuka screamed and bolted up in bed. Dream. Again. Breathing fast, shallow. Heart pounding. Cold sweat. Lightning flashed outside of the apartment's window. Hands over her face, she began to cry. Arms encircled her. Strong arms. She clutched at him. Burying her face into his chest as she sobbed. Shelter. Safe. Her breathing grew a little deeper.''
* CurbStompBattle: Any battle involving an Eva –especially Unit 01- is one-sided and is over very, very quickly.
* CutLexLuthorACheck: Even after being exposed, SEELE still managed having funding enough to build nine giant robots (and an unknown number of prototypes and nearly completed models blown up by HERZ). In comparison, HERZ needed twelve years to [[spoiler:rebuild Unit 00 and repair Unit 02.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:D-F]]
* DarkSecret: Misato [[spoiler:-thinks she-]] killed Kaji.
* DeadpanSnarker:
** Kensuke is real good at snarking, especially when he is around Asuka. His sarcastic remarks irritate her each time.
*** In chapter 1:
--->'''Kensuke''':''"Asuka, could you please just stop pacing around for a moment?"''\\
'''Asuka''':''"Aaargh! I'll make him suuuffer for this! Just you wait till I get back, Baka-Shinji..."''\\
'''Kensuke''':''"Don't whip him too hard this time, alright?"''
** Shinji is usually non-confrontational, but he has some good zingers. Such like when [[spoiler:Asuka said it was his fault she was pregnant again:]]
--->'''Asuka''':''"BAKA-SHINJI! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"''\\
'''Shinji''':''"My fault!? Why is always my fault!?"''\\
'''Asuka''':''"Of course it's your fault! You're a male!"''\\
'''Shinji''':''"Oh yes! I suppose it's got nothing to with you throwing yourself at me almost every night for the last few weeks! And you kept insisting on being on top as well!"''
* DeathFromTheSky: The Americans built a bunch of satellites fitted with positronic cannons as a weapon against the Evangelions.
* DeathGlare: Asuka deploys this –together with a menacing twitch from her eye and brow when another woman stalks her husband.]]
* DespairEventHorizon: Crossed by Shinji seven years ago when [[spoiler:Asuka was about to leave and he thought she hated him and did not want to see him ever again.]]
* {{Determinator}}: Asuka never stopped fighting, not even when she got impaled by the MP-Evas spears and her heart stopped. Her heart restarted, she survived, recovered and even managed delivering a healthy child.
* DidNotSeeThatComing:
** The American troops’ reaction when their satellites with power enough to obliterate an Eva got taken down.
** This is [[spoiler:SEELE's reaction when they are trying to retrieve the Lance and it suddenly flies away and towards Earth.]]
** And again when they [[spoiler:deploy the second generation of MP-Evas and the Children hijack them easily.]]
* DidYouThinkICantFeel: Gendo ordered [[spoiler:Rei taking him to Lilith to start off the Third Impact, expecting she behaved like his obedient, well-indoctrinated puppet. However Rei had fallen in for Shinji, and as Gendo talked, she could feel Shinji’s angst and despair at being unable to save Asuka. So that she rejected Gendo –to his astonishment- and flew to help Shinji to defeat the enemy and protect Asuka.]]
* DirtyBusiness: Running HERZ is not a nice job and it entails making some shady stuff: blackmail, extortion, sabotage… all in the name of keeping peace and saving humankind.
* DisappearedDad: Gendo and Asuka’s father refused to take care of their offspring after Shinji and Asuka’s mothers’ deaths. Gendo at least has a –poor- excuse (he cared about Shinji but he was afraid of his son and thought he would screw him up if he raised him so he sent him away) and in this story he has made an effort to rebuild his relationship with his son, but Asuka’s relationship with her parents is inexistent.
* DopeSlap: In the epilogue Asuka smacked Shinji on the head because he did not manage to find their daughter among a crowd even though she had told him where she was several times.
* DoubleEntendre: In chapter 3 Kurumi glomps Shinji. He warns her he still has a gun
-->''"Kurumi... I've still got this gun... please..." pleaded Shinji, arms and weapon raised above his head.''\\
''"It's not loaded, Shinji-kun...Or should I be worrying about your other weapon? You haven't started misfiring with that, do you?"''\\
''"Kurumi!"''
* DramaticIrony: In chapter 2 Asuka notes ponders about her life’s several ironies: she had missed terribly her mother, but her mother had been always there and she had been unable to find her, open up and feel her love because Kyoko’s death had driven her to shut her heart; and she owed her family and her current happiness to two women she hardly considered as friends.
-->''Asuka leaned into the kiss. She had lost much and suffered terribly, but from the ashes, she had risen anew. She had also gained so much. Things she had not dared to hope for in the past, a past that seemed like a lifetime ago. The irony of it all. Owing so much to two women she hardly considered as friends.''
* DrivenToSuicide: In 2020 [[spoiler:after an argument with Asuka Shinji slit his wrists because he thought she hated him and never wanted to see him again.]] The scene was very similar to Asuka’s own suicide attempt during the series.
* DrowningMySorrows: During a scene Misato recalls she got hammered because she had not got the guts to confess to Kaji.
* DysfunctionJunction: Thankfully their traumas have mellowed down, but Asuka still has anger management troubles, Shinji is still somewhat insecure…
* EarnYourHappyEnding: Despite everything that they had to endure during the Angel War the main characters still are forced to defeat SEELE once and for all if they want to lead happy lives.
* EasilyForgiven: Gendo has been placed under permanent house arrest in punishment for collaborating with SEELE’s attempted global genocide. The story does not tell if he faced worse punishments. Likewise, Shinji and Asuka have forgiven him for everything he did to them, directly or indirectly. Gendo is pretty aware of how lucky he is.
* EmotionlessGirl: She is not as bad as she used to when she was younger, but Rei is still pretty emotionless.
* EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: SEELE tried to bring it about in 2015. They failed and spent the next twelve years preparing to attempt to finish it for real.
* EnemyMine: The US Government and SEELE does not like or trust each other, but they join to destroy GEIST. On the other hand, GEIST lends its support to HERZ to take down SEELE.
* EveryoneCanSeeIt: In the past Shinji and Asuka were unable to realize each other’s feelings in spite that everyone else did. That blindness nearly caused the end of the world and [[spoiler:nearly got them killed several years before the beginning of the story.]]
* {{Fanon}}: Several misconceptions and misguided assumptions that were very prevalent in the fandom back then are present in this story: Misato killing Kaji (she did not), Asuka not knowing why she kissed Shinji (she was aware she was trying to seduce him) and rinsing her mouth to save her pride (she was masking her pain); Adam, Lilith and the Angels being the ones of Judaeo-Christian lore (nothing to do whatsoever)…
* TheFederation: In this setting the UN is becoming a world government de facto. Many state-nations and Great Powers are sick with its interference, and a bunch of conflicts HERZ has to deal with are born from that clash.
** The story treats this like a good thing and an ideal to reach. Though, the idea of ''[[Franchise/{{Gundam}} a world Government armed with giant robots and a willingness to deploy them against dissidents and rebels]]'' does not inspire confidence for some reason.
* FemaleGaze: In chapter 3 Kurumi is constantly checking Shinji’s behind as he trains his aim.
-->''She handed over the two clips to a blushing Ikari Shinji. Her eyes followed his behind as he walked towards the firing point.''
* FieryRedhead: Asuka. Kurumi even describes her like “fiery”.
* FingerTenting: Misato sometimes has her hands folded in this position when she is plotting or negotiating. It is meant to show she has become more like Gendo.
* TheFirstCutIsTheDeepest: Natsume thinks that her sister Kurumi is so fixated on Shinji because he was her first love and she simply can not let it go.
* FirstKiss: As they are celebrating her fifth anniversary Asuka remembers her and Shinji’s first kiss.
* ForeignCussWord: Pretty frequent with Asuka, of course. “Scheisse” is fairly often used.
* ForWantOfANail: The divergence starts out during the battle between Asuka and the MP-Evas. Rei felt Shinji's distress so she flew to help him. She broke the bakelyte blocking the access to the entry plug and both hurried to help Asuka. Meanwhile GEIST used a super-computer to disable five MP-Evas, making impossible the Ceremony. Shinji fought the remainder functional Evas and managed to win.
* FreakinessShame: Asuka thinks she is an ugly freak due to her scars and nobody would love her. Shinji assures her that she is beautiful and he loves her.
* FrickinLaserBeams: Averted. [[spoiler:When the positron cannons were used, the MP-Evas were unable to dodge their beams.]]
* FrontlineGeneral: Even after being promoted to Captain Asuka still sorties with her troops and leads from the frontlines.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:G-I]]
* GambitPileup: Misato has a bunch of plans to deal with the huge number of global conflicts and destroy SEELE, SEELE has a plan to destroy HERZ and bring about Instrumentality, GEIST has a plan to defeat SEELE for good, and the Children has a plan of their own…
* GenkiGirl: Kurumi is incredibly energetic and enthusiastic even after becoming an adult woman.
* GiantEqualsInvincible: The narration blatantly points out that HERZ is still invincible because... well... giant robots.
-->''Despite of the loss of much of NERV's old autonomy, HERZ was still greatly feared. Exclusive control of Unit 01 and the remaining Eva-05 series meant that she could defeat any conventional armed force on the field.''
* GirlishPigtails: Asuka is twenty-six-years-old, has got her hair cut… and she still wears pigtails right like when she was thirteen.
* GoThroughMe: When a pack of loonies tries to shoot Akiko, Rei steps in the way and declares she will not allow anybody threatens her niece.
* GoodbyeCruelWorld: [[spoiler:Shinji wrote one when he decided to kill himself back in 2020.]] Kurumi found it and Asuka still keeps it.
* GoodParents: Shinji and Asuka try to raise Akiko [[spoiler:and later Sakiko]] at their best skill. Shinji desperately wants to be a good husband and father.
* GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex: Shinji and Asuka are depicted having good, nice, passionate, comforting, healing sex frequently (although Kensuke claims that they have S&M sex and Asuka is Shinji’s mistress).
* TheGlomp: By Kurumi to Shinji in chapter 3, much to his chagrin.
* GrandThefPrototype:
** After their assault upon the Geofront failed, NERV (later HERZ) hijacked the MP-Evas and reprogrammed them to use them.
** When [[spoiler:the second wave of MP-Evas assaults HERZ Rei hijacks ALL OF THEM by using mind control to bind the dummy plugs to her will.]]
* GraspTheSun: During her nightmare in chapter 2 Asuka reminisces how she clutched at the Sun while threatening the Evas after getting her left eye impaled.
* GratuitousGerman: For Asuka and Akiko. Asuka often uses “dummkopf”.
** When she passed by Col Strasser in chapter 4 she greeted him “Gutten morgen, Her Strasser.”
* GratuitousJapanese: Honorifics, Japanese terms and sentences abound in the text (this is due to an annoying trend spread among anime fandom back then: many fanfiction writers littered their texts with plenty of GratuitousJapanese).
* GreenEyedMonster: Asuka is very jealous. When Shinji is out of her sight she often gets tense and angry, thinking some woman will try to steal him or maybe he will fool around. Despite the protestations of Kensuke, she is hardly paranoid, since Kurumi is always trying to steal him.
* GrewASpine: Shinji has become more confident and more determined to protect his family. Although he hates fighting and killing he has learnt to use weapons and practices his aim constantly to defend his wife and his daughter.
* GreyAndGrayMorality: The heroes are trying to protect humanity and their families, and in the name of that mission Misato has manipulated people and committed many shady actions she feels guilty about. SEELE is trying to liquefy all humans and merge their souls into a single being because they genuinely think it is something good.
* GroinAttack: Shinji was practicing with his gun as trying to dodge Kurumi's advances. Then Asuka showed up with a sub-machine gun, selected a target at 100 meters, blew off its crotch and head with perfect accuracy, grabbed Shinji and dragged him away.
* GuileHero: Misato. Being the Director of HERZ she has to deal with politicians constantly, often playing them against each other.
* GuiltComplex: Shinji felt guilty about most bad things had happened during the Angel War, including events where he had no control or no choice.
* HairTriggerTemper: After the Angel War, volatile Asuka’s temper got worst. For several years she was constantly angry, moody or bitter, and prone to explode when something triggered her anger. At the start of the story she has managed to control her temper –and she regrets some of her past explosions of wrath-, but she still has a short fuse.
* HappilyMarried: Shinji and Asuka. Their relationship has gone through bumps and hardships and has needed considerable healing, forgiveness and soul-searching on both parties, but they are happy together.
* HauledBeforeASenateSubcommittee: Misato often has to appear before committees and general councils to argue about –and often against- using HERZ’s Evangelions in a war. In a chapter she talked before a committee to dissuade them from using Unit 01 in the Congo crisis.
* HeldGaze: In chapter 11 between Shinji and Asuka before the FinalBattle:
-->''Husband and wife nodded and rose from the bench. They looked at each other. There were so many words. Good luck. Be careful. I love you. Come back home safely. So many words. But there were no words as those would have failed them. Looking in each other's eyes, all that could be said and more passed between the two. And then they strode out to face their destinies.''
* TheHero: Shinji. He tries to be a good person and making the right thing, and the fate of humankind rests on his shoulders.
* HeroesWantRedheads: Shinji. Asuka is “his life’s love”.
* HeroicBSOD: Several years before the beginning of the history Shinji had one after an argument with Asuka because he thought she hated him for everything that he had done.
* HeroicSacrifice: Shinji, Asuka and Rei were willing to sacrifice themselves to stop SEELE and give Akiko a chance to be happy. At the end [[spoiler:Shinji and Asuka survived, but Rei sealed herself out of Earth to save them.]]
* HiddenDepths: In chapter 7 Asuka remembers that she was surprised when she found out that Shinji played cello, since she did not know that he had hidden talents.
-->''He had surprised her. She didn't know he played the violoncello. About his hidden talents.''
* HighSchoolSweethearts:
** Shinji and Asuka cared for each other since they were ''thirteen'', but due to their numerous trauma and neuroses they were unable to reach out each other until they were nineteen. For the time the story starts out they have been married for five years.
** Touji and Hikari are a straighter example, having met in middle school and being together (and engaged) after twelve years.
* HilariousInHindsight: In chapter 4 Asuka calls her daughter Akiko ''[[Fanfic/TheSecondTry Aki-chan]]''.
* HoldingHands: After Rei reminds them that her plan is risky and both could die, Shinji and Asuka held hands as they reiterated they were together in this.
* HomeBase: The Geofront is HERZ’s base. After the top got blown up during the battle of 2015 it is no longer an UndergroundBase.
* HopeSpot: When [[spoiler:SEELE got most of GEIST members assassinated and deployed their Evas against HERZ they thought they were going to win. Then Rei seized the MP-Evas.]]
* HopelessSuitor: Kurumi is this towards Shinji. Neither Sinji’s marital status nor intellectual realization that she IS hopeless stops her of keeping trying to seduce him.
* HotBlooded: Asuka is fiery, passionate and emotional. She is capable of terrible rage and disconcerting tenderness.
* HouseHusband: Shinji is the one make all domestic chores in the Ikari’s homestead. It is lampshaded several times.
-->In chapter 4:
''"Oh Hikari, you're such a great cook. Maybe Shinji could pick up some tips from you," said Asuka between bites.''\\
''"Oh, you're so lucky, Asuka. Shinji cooks, cleans and looks after the baby while you bring home the bacon," teased Hikari. Being used to all the house-husband jokes, Asuka decided to play along.''
* HowTheMightyHaveFallen:
** In the backstory Asuka went from considering herself the top pilot and a prodigy child to regard herself as an ugly, scarred, worthless freak and a failure due to be –repeatedly- beaten, humiliated, mind-raped, brutally scarred and nearly killed.
** In chapter 10 [[spoiler:SEELE kidnaps Gendo.]] While one of their members is torturing him, he mockes him quoting the line verbatim:
--->''The SEELE member looked in disdain at the quivering piece of humanity before him. "How the mighty have fallen. The Commander of NERV. Once a powerful man before whom nations and peoples trembled. Now reduced to this," he sneered noting that Gendou's right forearm was missing. An old injury. 'Pity,' he thought, 'five less fingers to break.'''
* HurtingHero: Shinji and Asuka had suffered terribly due to their mothers’ deaths, their fathers’ abandonment, being turned into child soldiers and forced to pilot giant robots to fight alien monsters… now they are adults and are more emotionally stable, but they are still forced to fight, some psychological scars still endure and Asuka still has nightmares about the past.
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Misato has done many questionable things to protect her children and to avoid the proliferation of the Evangelion technology. Her actions haunt her but she thinks she had no other choice to save her family and billions of lives.
-->''"I'm the fool. And I've become a monster." She looked down, unable to face him.''\\
''"You made hard choices. And you had your responsibilities."''\\
''"So much blood, [[spoiler:Kaji.]] I have so much blood on my hands." Negev. Tricking the Israelis into stealing bogus S2 engine specifications. When they used it to activate their Eva, everything within 50km was obliterated. The Army of God. She had given no quarter and made sure their leader met his end at SEELE's hands. Blackmailing the Chinese and then summarily nuked all the other military sites that were building their own Evas. They had no warning. No chance. She looked up almost earnestly. Having confessed her sins, she sought absolution in the man she had been forced to betray.''\\
''His smile was sad and warm. He touched the crook of her arm. She did not pull away. "But you knew had to," he said as his fingers traced their way down her forearm. "You had a reason."''
* IMissMom: In chapter 2 Asuka reflects about how she missed her mother… and she had been there in her Eva all along, but she had not felt it until she was able to open up her heart.
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy:
** Averted with Kurumi, who for a long time was after Shinji, even if he had made clear he did not love her and he got married. After [[spoiler:baby-sitting Akiko, though, she stopped hitting on him.]]
** Played straight with Rei, who even encouraged Asuka to open up and hook up with Shinji.
* IcyBlueEyes: Asuka’s sane eye is a lively, dark-blue colour in contrast with her dead eye’s milky grey. Her daughter Akiko inherited her eye colour.
* InnocentBlueEyes: Shinji’s eyes are a limpid, light blue. [[spoiler:Sakiko inherited her eye colour from him.]]
* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: All of Asuka’s bluster, bravado and arrogance were a mask to hide her feelings of inadequacy and worthlessness. Shinji is one of the few people can see what is underneath, and he often has to reassure her he does not think she is ugly and he would never leave her.
* InnerMonologue:
** In an early chapter Shinji is shooting targets, thinking of how he does not hate fighting and killing and telling himself he has to protect his family.
** In one of his few appearances Gendo thinks of how fortunate he is because Shinji has chosen forgiving him and even lets him see his granddaughter.
* InsultOfEndearment: After five years married (and knowing each other since they were thirteen), when Asuka calls Shinji "baka" it is not really an insult but a pet name.
-->''"Hmmmm...(giggle)...Baaka-Shinjii..." she whispered amorously. "I know you just love it when I call you that...(giggle).."''
* InterruptedSuicide: When [[spoiler:Shinji attempted to kill himself in 2020, Kurumi found him in time and saved him.]]
* {{{Irony}}: In chapter 2 Misato notes how ironic is they are using the MP-Evas as instruments of salvation when they were created to be their destruction’s tools.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:J-L]]
* KidWithTheRemoteControl: All Evangelions were piloted by children because only they could synch with the souls stored inside.
** After the battle of 2015 Asuka discovered she could pilot Unit 02 because her mother was inside… and she had become unable to synch with it because she could not open up due to her mental trauma increasing during the Angel War.
** When SEELE struck in 2027 [[spoiler:Rei was able to control the new MP-Evas because their dummy plugs were an extension from her.]]
* KillSat: The Orbital Defence Platforms, satellites mounted with positronic cannons. Power was collected by solar panels and channelled into a sophisticated power system to blast enemies from the sky.
-->''"We've still got the Orbital Defence Platforms that we put up over the past few years. Their positronic cannons should give HERZ's Evas a real nasty surprise should the need actually arise. And they thought that we'd actually use it to help those UN and HERZ guys over that little escapade in Kransoyarsk." ''\\
''"Ain't this a beauty." Each ODP was a satelite mounted with a version of the positron rifle first used by Eva. Power was collected by solar panels and channeled into a sophisticated power system. This was the ultimate weapon.
And now, they were all in place, circling the heavens. Deadly and waiting.''
* KilledOffForReal:
** [[spoiler:Gendo in chapter 10,]] shot by a SEELE member.
** [[spoiler:All SEELE members in the last chapter, turned into LCL by Rei.]]
* LatexSpaceSuit: The Children still wear their plugsuits, skintight pilot suits when they undergo a synch test or pilot their Evas.
* LikeAnOldMarriedCouple: Asuka and Shinji already argued like an old married couple before becoming one. In chapter 12 their bickering is hilarious.
* LivingEmotionalCrutch: Shinji became incredibly emotionally-dependent on Asuka since he met her for first time. During the battle of 2015 he muttered over and over again he needed her. Seven years before the beginning of the story he asked her not leaving Japan, telling he needed her. And Asuka became way more stable and more grounded after hooking up with him.
* LonersAreFreaks: Shinji and Asuka hardly talk anyone other than Touji, Kensuke and Hikari in high school. Their schoolmates thought that they were weird.
* LoveAtFirstSight: During pillow talk in chapter 2 Shinji confirms Asuka he has always been hers.
* LoveConfession: After [[spoiler:revealing to Misato that he was alive, Kaji finally said he loved her.]]
* LoveHurts: Shinji and Asuka truly love each other but they have hurt a lot throughout the years. Shinji's obliviousness deepened Asuka's emotional and psychological scars, his actions in “End of Evangelion” cost her life -albeit temporarily- and made her feeling defiled and an ugly, unlovable monster. On the other hand her posterior abuse, fuelled by her resentment and self-loathing, drove Shinji to the edge.
* LoveInterest: Shinji and Asuka are each other’s love interest.
* LoveMakesYouEvil: Misato feels she has much blood on her hands because she has done many questionable, shady things. And she did everything because she loved Shinji and needed to see him happy.
-->''"Everything I did, I did it for Shinji. I wanted to... I needed to see him grow up. To have a family. A chance to be happy. I needed that..."''
* LoveTriangle: Asuka and Shinji love each other, and Kurumi loves Shinji.
* LovelyAngels: Asuka and Rei, although they have battled few battles together… the last of them in chapter 12 [[spoiler:against the SEELE forces.]]
* LuminescentBlush: Even after so many years, Shinji still blushes like a schoolboy… and his wife is not very different.
** In chapter 1 Shinji blushes when Kurumi tries to flirt with him:
--->''Shinji's blush was so pronounced that he looked like he was going to burst.''
** And in that same chapter Asuka’s face flushes when Kensuke tells her not whipping Shinji too hard:
--->''That stopped Asuka's pacing. She spun around, her face beet-red, as she sputtered incoherently.''
[[/folder]]
[[folder:M-O]]
* MadnessMantra: In chapter 2 Asuka remembers her words during her battle against the MP-Evas:
-->''"I'll kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill. Kill. Kill." Her mantra as she clutched her face and reached out with her right hand of vengeance. "Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill. Kill."''
* MagnificentBastard: Misato. She is intelligent, charismatic, merciless when she needs being and her schemes deterred for twelve years the end of the world.
* MakingLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces: Subverted in chapter 4. Shinji entered the men’s locker room in the base and he was led to believe Asuka was waiting for him in one of the shower stalls. He made his way to the stall to “have fun” with his wife… and he found Kurumi inside, so that he fled.
* MamaBear/PapaWolf:
** You don't want to know what lengths Misato will go to protect her children.
** Shinji, Asuka and Rei are also perfectly willing to kill or sacrifice their lives to protect Akiko.
* ManipulativeBastard: A benign example. Misato is not above of using someone else’s motivations and emotions (like Kurumi’s curiosity) to lead that person on. However she does not like it and she restrains herself a lot.
* ManlyTears: In chapter 12 Shinji sheds a single tear [[spoiler:after Rei has said goodbye to him.]]
* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: Asuka is a tomboyish, hot-blooded, angry, tough-like-nails soldier. Shinji is meek, quiet, non-confrontational and feminine-looking. They are married.
* MeaningfulName: "HERZ" means "heart" in German. “GEIST” means “spirit”.
* MechaShow: There’s plenty sci-fi technology around.
* MeleeATrois: [[http://web.archive.org/web/20021201015617/http://www.geocities.com/zhuoyilong/HERZfaq.html In this faq the different factions are listed]] Essentially you have: HERZ fighting SEELE's attempts to set Third Impact off and other nations' programs to build their own Evas; SEELE fighting HERZ, GEIST and the UN to initiate Instrumentality; GEIST fighting SEELE and the different world nations; the UN fighting SEELE but not particularly liking HERZ; and other nations fighting HERZ and the UN and not liking SEELE but being prone to strike a bargain with them.
* MindScrew: A mild one during the final battle: [[spoiler:Rei hijacked the MP-Evas and used Shinji, Asuka and their robots to set off the children’s own version of Instrumentality. As she collected the SEELE’s souls she showed to Kiehl several images of the Ikari family to teach him other way to reach Instrumentality. Shinji and Asuka saw their mothers across an immense void and said goodbye. Rei created a second Moon, sealing herself inside it, and Shinji and Asuka woke up on a beach.]]
* MissingMom: A good number of Shinji and Asuka’s traumas are rooted in having lost their mothers when they were four. Asuka notes the irony that their mothers were always with them when they piloted their Evas.
* MyEyesAreUpHere: In chapter 1 Shinji turns around to face who had greeted him only to see a female chest in front of his eyes. Blushing, he looked upwards.
-->''Pulling the hands away from his face and turning around, he found himself facing a chest. It was not particularly well-endowed but it definitely belonged to a female. Blushing, he corrected his gaze and saw her.''
* MyHeroZero: Reinforced with Rei. After Unit 00’s destruction in the original series, HERZ built a new Eva for her… and it was also called Unit 00, even though it was a brand-new robot.
* MythologyGag:
** When Shinji [[spoiler:goes down to Terminal Dogma, Kurumi stops him pressing a gun against the back of his head.]] It is a reference to the time Misato tried to stop Kaji in the original series.
** [[spoiler:After the FinalBattle]], Shinji and Asuka wake up together in a beach.
* NeverMyFault: Hilarious example. In the epilogue, [[spoiler:Maya informs Shinji and Asuka that Asuka is pregnant.]] Asuka blames Shinji since it is always the guy's fault. Shinji retorts: "Oh yes! I suppose it's got nothing to with you throwing yourself at me almost every night for the last few weeks!"
* NiceGuy: Despite of some serious failings and bad actions he regrets (such like his actions in the hospital when Asuka was comatose), Shinji is not a bad guy, and he genuinely wants and try to be a good person.
* NightmareSequence: In chapter 2 Asuka dreams of the Angel War and how weak she felt when Zeruel destroyed her, how defiled she felt after Ariel’s MindRape, how worthless and useless she felt after being unable moving her Eva to fight Armisael, and what it was like when the MP-Evas tore her apart.
* NoSocialSkills:
** Asuka never was good with people, and her social skill got poorer after getting disfigured by the MP-Evas, since she became angrier, more hostile and more resentful.
** Shinji was never at socializing either. After the Angel War he had few friends and no girlfriend, and he spent most of time trying to reconnect with Asuka.
* NormallyIWouldBeDeadNow: In the battle of 2015 Asuka’s Eva got impaled by nine spears and then cut into pieces, and she felt each blow, slash and bite. Her heart stopped for a few seconds. Misato got shot and collapsed bleeding on the floor. The narration pointed out it was a miracle Asuka was alive, and Misato always wondered how she survived.
* NotGoodWithRejection: Kurumi was rejected by Shinji, but she was unable to accept it and get over it. When she met him again, seven years later, he was married and had a daughter and she kept trying to seduce him with absolutely zero success.
* NoodleIncident: After Kensuke has pressed Asuka's buttons a tad too much she hints she will tell his girlfriend about his perverted exploits back when they were teens. She does not get specific, but Kensuke shuts up.
-->'''Asuka''':''"Kensuke... I bet your darling Kaori-chan would just love to hear about all your perverted little exploits back when we were in school.."''\\
'''Kensuke''':''"What exploits!?"''\\
'''Asuka''':''"Oh, you know... those..."''\\
'''Kensuke''':''"I don't know what you're talking about! I... Oh man..."''
* NotSoDifferent: In chapter 4 a GEIST member fears his organization and SEELE are not so different, since the blood of young people is being spilt to fulfil their plans, too.
-->'''"Young people are our future yet SEELE tried to buy mankind life immortal with the blood of children. I fear that we may not be so different. The blood of the young is still being spilt to carry out the plans of the old."''
* ObstructiveBureaucrat: Every so often HERZ has to deal with UN Inspectors and Auditors overseeing them, examining their accounts and records and poking their noses where they do not belong.
* OddFriendship: After twelve years Asuka and Hikari are still best friends although their personalities (Asuka is aggressive and pushing, Hikari calmer and more patient) and even their career choices (Asuka is an army commanding officer, Hikari a political analyst) are pretty different.
* OfficialCouple: Shinji and Asuka, Hikari and Touji and [[spoiler:Misato and Kaji.]]
* OhCrap:
** Shinji’s reaction when he saw that [[spoiler:the woman in the shower stall was Kurumi trying to seduce him.]]
** The reaction of the HERZ’s troops dispatched in Crimea when [[spoiler:they realized that the other side had positron cannons.]]
** SEELE’s reaction when [[spoiler:Rei mind-controlled their new batch of MP-Evas, their only weapon against HERZ.]]
* TheOneGotAway: Shinji is this to Kurumi. Even after so many years she still has a crush on him.
* OriginalCharacter:
** Akiko [[spoiler:and Sakiko]] Ikari, Shinji and Asuka's offspring. Akiko was a relatively popular Shinji and Asuka’s fan-created daughter back in the day, but never as much as ''[[Fanfic/ChildOfLove Teri Ikari]]'', let alone [[spoiler:''[[Fanfic/TheSecondTry Aki Ikari]]'']].
** Kurumi Kagero, the members of GEIST…
[[/folder]]
[[folder:P-R]]
* PapaWolf: Shinji hates killing… but threatens his wife and/or his wife and he WILL do.
* ParentalAbandonment: Most of Shinji and Asuka’s traumas and psychological issues come directly or indirectly from having been abandoned by their fathers when they were four. Shinji has forgiven his… but Asuka’s relationship with hers is non-existent.
* ParentalNeglect: Asuka’s father stopped looking after his daughter when she was four. She is twenty-six now and he is still absent of her life. He never shows up, never calls… and Asuka never ever mentions him. It’s telling that she has managed to forgive Gendo but she never talks about her father.
* ParentalSubstitute: Misato has looked after Shinji and Asuka since they were young (although Asuka moved out after the battle of 2015) and even after so many years she sees and Rei as the children she never had.
* PervertRevengeMode: In a scene Shinji walks on Kurumi when she is having a shower. Immediately he screams and flees, and Kurumi chases after him. Asuka sees both, fetches a bat and starts to chase them.
* PhysicalGod: [[spoiler:Rei.]]
* PietaPlagiarism: Shinji held [[spoiler:Gendo]] in this position as [[spoiler:his father died]] in chapter 10.
* PitbullDatesPuppy: Kurumi wondered why Shinji –a quiet, unassuming guy- had married a fiery woman as Asuka. In reality Shinji and Asuka need each other desperately and they think no one else will ever be able to understand their pain.
* ThePlan: The Plan to defeat SEELE consisted of [[spoilers:the Children performing their own version of the Ceremony, using two Evangelions instead of one to seal Adam, Lilith, the Lance, Unit 01 and 02 out of the planet and at the same time destroying the original research materials.]]
* PleaseDontLeaveMe: In chapter 2, after an awful nightmare Asuka clings to Shinji and whispers: "Don't ever leave me..."
-->''She hugged him fiercely and whispered, "Don't ever leave me..."''\\
''"I've always been yours."''
* ThePowerOfLove: In 2015 [[spoiler:Shinji was grieving because he loved Asuka and he could not save her. Rei’s love towards Shinji led her to feel his angst, rebel against Gendo and help him.]] In 2027 it is Shinji and Asuka love towards each other and their daughter and Rei’s love for them which drives them to come up with a risky plan to save humankind [[spoiler:and that love allows them succeed.]]
* PregnantBadass: [[spoiler:Asuka was pregnant with Shinji's child during the last battle. Even so she fought and helped to save the world.]]
* TheProfessor: Ritsuko played this role in the original series, but now she is mostly retired, and Maya is her substitute and HERZ’s head scientist.
* ThePromise: In the final chapter Rei promises [[spoiler:she will not allow the Evangelion technology is used to harm people again, and she seals herself together with the Evas, Adam, Lilith and the Lance to guarantee that.]]
* PropheciesAreAlwaysRight: Subverted. SEELE was fully confident on their victory because they thought that it was prophesized in the Dead Sea Scrolls. The GEIST's leader remarked that prophecies may be broken.
* QuitYourWhining: In chapter 3 HERZ is performing a battery of tests on one of their Evas… and simultaneously placating Asuka who is he test pilot and is not happy about it, considering it a long, useless, big waste of her time. Finally Kensuke asks her stopping complaining:
-->'''Asuka'''(grumbling): ''"You all don't really need me to do this. After all, we have the mighty Shinji in the invincible Unit 01 and the A.I. Dummy Plugs for the Eva 05 series. Oh, we mustn't forget Wonder Girl. She doesn't contribute to anything and has an Eva all to herself so she can take it for walks after dinner! This is such a big fat waste of my time,"''\\
''[…]''\\
'''Kensuke''':''"Oh Asuka, will you just keep it down for a while? We're trying to work here,"''
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: The leader of GEIST gives one to all SEELE members, pointing out that the Children have the Evas, Adam, Lilith and the Spear whereas SEELE has ''nothing''… still they trust their victory because they think The Scrolls Said So.
* RedHeadedHero: Asuka, FieryRedhead and soldier. As a HERZ officer she has commanded many peace-keeping missions throughout the years.
* RedIsHeroic: Reinforced. Asuka’s soldier uniform is red, [[spoiler:her HumongousMecha is red, too,]] and she thinks they should paint the MP-Evas red.
* RedOniBlueOni: Asuka is the red oni (she is temperamental, rash and hot-headed) and Rei the blue one (she is calm and soft-spoken). Due to their clashing personalities there was some hostility between them when they were young, but after twelve years it has mostly faded.
* ReforgedIntoAMinion: Combined with GrandTheftPrototype due to the semi-organic nature of the Evas. After Shinji subdued the MP-Evas in 2015, NERV rebuilt them, mind-wiped them and reprogrammed them to serve them.
* RelationshipUpgrade: Shinji and Asuka’s happened in 2020 after [[spoiler:Shinji’s attempted suicide.]] Rei encouraged Asuka to open up to him. They reached out to each other, and got married two years later.
* RetiredBadass: After the Angel War Shinji, Asuka and Rei were still soldiers but they seldom piloted mechas. After the last chapter, Shinji and Asuka retired from piloting for good.
* ReverseMole: Did you think that [[spoiler:Kaji working for three sides were overkill in the original series? Here he was working for four sides. When GEIST learnt about SEELE approached to him and made her an offer.]]
* TheRival: During the Angel War Asuka regarded Shinji like hers. She really wanted to beat him. In this story she thinks of Kurumi like a rival: she was a pretty woman who was after her husband, had [[spoiler:deflowered him]] and whom Shinji [[spoiler:owed his life.]] Asuka felt threatened by her, but Kurumi was a challenge and she did not run from challenges.
* {{Robeast}}: The Chinese Eva. It looked like the mutated offspring of a ''[[Anime/MazingerZ Mechanical Beast]]'' and an Evangelion.
* RomanticFalseLead: Kurumi. When Shinji was a high-school student she was after him. However it did not last long because Shinji could not forget Asuka.
* RomanticRunnerUp: Kurumi was not a bad girl per se (her [[spoiler:getting Shinji hammered enough to sleep with her notwithstanding,]] but she was not Asuka. Shinji loved Asuka for her beauty, brains, bravery and fierceness and being the only person could understand him, and he needed her badly.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:S-U]]
* SarcasticSupporter: Kensuke spends the whole time pressing Asuka’s {{Berserk Button}}s and teasing her, but he is loyal to her just as he is to Shinji.
* SayMyName: In chapter 10 Kurumi remembers the night when she [[spoiler:saved Shinji’s life.]] When [[spoiler:Rei sent into her head the thought something bad had happened to Shinji,]] she screamed his name several times in dread.
* ScarsAreForever: After twelve years Asuka still sports the scars inflicted by the MP-Evas.
* SheCleansUpNicely: Asuka looked downright striking in her wedding gown:
-->''Asuka, despite the eyepatch and arm harness, looked stunning in form-fitting beaded bodice with a chain belt across her waist.''
* ShipSinking: Shinji/Kurumi sank long before the story started when [[spoiler:Kurumi got Shinji drunk and took advantage of him… and Shinji thought she was Asuka through the whole thing. After that night he started to avoid Kurumi, and she knew she had lost.]]
* ShipTease: Mainly between Shinji and Asuka but there is also a bit of tease between Shinji and Rei (such like Rei repeatedly stating that she will always protect him).
* ShipperOnDeck: Rei supported Shinji/Asuka and made sure that they got together and became happy.
* ShoutOut:
** GEIST’s members’ pseudonyms come from gods of Ancient Egipt.
** In the end of chapter 4, the four questions of the final episode of ''Series/BabylonFive'' are asked.
** In episode 8 there are homages to ''Film/StarWarsTheEmpireStrikesBack'', ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'' and ''Film/ThePrinceOfEgypt''.
** In chapter 9 [[spoiler:Kaji]] quotes one line of ''Fanfic/NeonGenesisEvangelionR''.
** Chapter 10 includes a paragraph of ''Literature/TheBible''. Concretely, Revelations 3:5.
** Chapter 13 concludes with another quote taken from ''Series/BabylonFive''.
** Natsumi and Kurumi Kagero’s names are taken from two ''Anime/RanmaOneHalf'' characters, and their surname of a character of ''Anime/NinjaScroll''.
** Akiko [[spoiler:and Sakiko]] were named after the seiyuus of the main characters of ''Anime/YoureUnderArrest''.
** Minor characters were named after WWII warships or nautical terms.
** HERZ’s BridgeBunnies were named after the members of J-Pop band, “Everything Little Thing”.
* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: Asuka got married to Shinji, who despite his flaws and mistakes tries to be fundamentally a good person.
* SnarkToSnarkCombat: Sometimes the characters engage into this:
** Shinji and Asuka in the chapter 12:
--->'''Maya''': ''"It's so lovely! […] Oh Asuka, you're pregnant again."''\\
'''Asuka''':''"… […] BAKA-SHINJI! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"''\\
'''Shinji''':''"My fault!? Why is always my fault!?"''\\
'''Asuka''':''"Of course it's your fault! You're a male!"''\\
'''Shinji''':''"Oh yes! I suppose it's got nothing to with you throwing yourself at me almost every night for the last few weeks! And you kept insisting on being on top as well!"''
* SoProudOfYou: In chapter 10 Gendo manages to show he is proud of his son:
-->''Gendou looked like he was going to say more. Instead he smiled, a genuine smile that spoke of love and how proud he was of the fine young man his son had grown up to be.''
* SourOutsideSadInside: The angrier and more hostile Asuka behaves the sadder and more awful she feels inwardly.
* SpannerInTheWorks: SEELE’s attack in 2015 failed because another secret organization accidentally learnt about their plans and interfered with them… something SEELE had not counted at all.
* StalkerWithACrush: Kurumi to Shinji. She has been chasing him since they met in high-school, and she is unable to take a "No" for answer. She [[spoiler:got him drunk and slept with him several years ago,]] and even though he got married she has flirted with him, has thrown herself naked at him, has blackmailed him to kiss her… and he always refuses -or runs away-, but she never listens.
* StealthHiBye:
** In chapter 5 Rei does this to people when she is walking around.
** And in chapter 12 [[spoiler:she does this to Shinji. She appears for an instant to say goodbye, Shinji looks away for one second, and when he looks back she has faded.]]
* SuperPrototype: Unit 00, 01 and 02 were the prototype, test type and production models respectively. However 01 was the most powerful of the trio. The MP-Evas were the mass production model, meant to be more advanced (they flew, had unlimited power, quick regeneration and were armed with replicas of the Lance of Longinus). Still Asuka piloting Unit 02 tore them apart nearly completely, and Shinji riding Unit 01 finished them off. In 2027 [[spoiler:built even more powerful mass production Evas, but the three pilots easily defeated them using their old models.]]
* TheTease: Kurumi spends the whole time teasing Shinji and trying to seduce him, much to his terror and Asuka’s wrath.
* TechnoBabble: Plentiful, as it was to be expected considering the source material.
** Chapter 3 gave a good number of examples, featuring different activation tests.
* TheTeetotaler: Since Shinji is an absolute light-weight, he never drinks alcohol.
* TemptingFate: SEELE’s members gloated over… and over… and over… about his plans coming to fruition, HERZ’s destruction being unavoidable, Instrumentality being imminent and the Children being helpless to stop them. Honestly, they were asking for it.
** Especial mention goes to [[spoiler:Unit 02 being rebuilt]] and their reaction being “Oh, it can not make any difference, obviously”.
* TenderTears: Shed by Shinji when [[spoiler:his father died in his arms,]] by Shinji and Asuka [[spoiler:when they met and hugged each other after the FinalBattle]] and by Shinji again when [[spoiler:Rei said goodbye.]]
* ThatDidntHappen: In 2020 [[spoiler:Kurumi got Shinji drunk]] in order to seduce him and thus getting together. Unfortunately for her, he considered it a mistake and he would rather forget it ever happened.
* TheirFirstTime: [[spoiler:Shinji and Kurumi]] slept together for first and only time seven years before the beginning of the story, and it killed whatever relationship they had.
* TheyDo:
** Asuka and Shinji got married between the events of the series and the first chapter.
** Touji and Hikari between the FinalBattle and the epilogue.
* ThinkingOutLoud: Misato does it in chapter 3, when she muses they are using to save themselves a weapon was created to destroy and they are still pawns in a game.
* TimeSkip: The epilogue happens twenty years after the events of chapter 12.
* TranquilFury: When Asuka is angry but she is being quiet and controlled she is actually more dangerous:
-->''"Kensuke..." said Asuka dangerously. That meant quietly.''
* TriangRelations: Shinji/Asuka/Kurumi is a Type 4: Shinji and Asuka are HappilyMarried. Kurumi likes Shinji but her feelings are unrequited.
* {{Tsundere}}: Asuka. Due to her many emotional wounds and psychological scars she was reluctant to open up. Rei warned her unless she managed to open her heart she would not find happiness. After [[spoiler:Shinji’s suicide attempt]] she finally manages to open up.
* UnderestimatingBadassery: SEELE is utterly convinced that nothing can stop them and the Children are not an obstacle. When the FinalBattle started [[spoiler:Shinji, Asuka and Rei working together ruined SEELE's plan forever. And they only took five minutes!]]
* UndyingLoyalty: Since he met her Shinji was single-mindedly fixated on Asuka, even if for many years she seemed hating him. In chapter two, during a breakdown Asuka pleads Shinji not leaving her, and he answers he is and has always been hers and he would never leave her.
* UnfortunateImplications: In the back-story Kurumi [[spoiler:got Shinji drunk and slept with him.]] That is, in fact, rape [[spoiler:(Shinji could not give his consent due to his altered mental state but also he never consented to have sex with Kurumi because he thought she was Asuka).]] The author does not seem being aware of it, though, and he always treats Kurumi sympathetically.
* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: This story was written in 1999. Hence there is no mention to 9/11 and the War on Terror even though it delves into international politics. Likewise, the UN has become all but a world unified government, unlike what has happened in the real world where its power and influence has diminished. Christian fundamentalists are depicted as a dangerous threat whereas Islamic fundamentalists not even are mentioned.
* UnresolvedSexualTension: Between Shinji and Asuka prior to their reconciliation in 2020.
* UnwantedHarem: Shinji is a chick magnet but he does not really want any woman other than Asuka. In chapter 3 Kurumi tries to get close to him, and when Shinji shies away, she asks:
-->'''Kurumi''':''"Oh, what gives? Don't you like women hurling themselves at you?"''
[[/folder]]
[[folder:V-Z]]
* ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend: When an illegal Eva rampaged through China Asuka suggested deployed Unit 01… together with six Evas only in case. Misato only let her deploy two Units.
* VitriolicBestBuddies: Asuka and Hikari are friends since they were teenagers, but they enjoying poking fun at each other when they hang together. Mocking each other’s husband good-naturedly is almost a requirement during their reunions.
* TheWarRoom: HERZ’s base has one where the cast often holds meetings and reunions.
* WhamEpisode:
** Chapter 10 starts with news of [[spoiler:Shinji and Gendo having been kidnapped by SEELE simultaneously.]]
** Chapter 11 [[spoiler:reveals the Children’s plan. Rei mind-controls the new batch of MP-Evas. Shinji and Asuka become willing sacrifices to set off their own version of Third Impact. They destroy all original samples taken from Adam and Lilith. Rei seals herself, the Evas, the Seeds and the Spear into a new Moon. Oh, ans Asuka is pregnant again.]]
* WhatDoesSheSeeInHim:
** Kurumi never understood what Shinji saw in Asuka or why they got married.
** For that matter, her older sister does not get what Kurumi sees in Shinji.
--->'''Natsume'':''"Oh, your darling Shinji-kun! You know, I never really understood what you saw in him."''
* WhenSheSmiles: In chapter 10 Shinji imagines Asuka smiling such a beautiful smile that it was heart-breaking.
-->''Asuka. He imagined her standing at the end of a long polished corridor. She was in her HERZ uniform with her usual eye patch and arm harness. She held Akiko in her arms and smiled at him. It was a smile that could break his heart.''
* WhereTheyAreNow: The epilogue is meant to show the cast’s lives several years after the end of SEELE.
* WorkingWithTheEx: Variant. Although they did not properly dated, Kurumi was always after Shinji and she even [[spoiler:managed to have sex with him,]] but she was unable to win him over. The story starts out when she begins working in Shinji’s workplace.
* WorthyOpponent: Asuka regarded Shinji as her greatest rival because she respected him deep-down.
* XanatosGambit: The Children’s plan was fool-proof. If SEELE did not attack they won. If SEELE managed completing nine MP-Evas and attacked [[spoiler:they won because they could hijack them and use them to eliminate SEELE and the Evangelion technology.]]
* {{Yandere}}: Kurumi is not as extreme as other examples but she is dangerously obsessed with Shinji. She [[spoiler:took advantage of him when he got drunk]], and when she met him seven years later she still chased after him obsessively even though he was a married man and a father (bonus points by stalking him in the men’s locker rooms and then chasing him down their workplace despite of being naked).
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Rei is blue-haired. Misato is purple-haired, but her hair is already getting grey.
* YouNeedToGetLaid: Misato asked her subordinates if Asuka already knew Kurumi Kagero –a girl tried to romance Shinji in the past- had come back. They told her yes, Asuka knows and no, she is not angry. She is actually in an excellent mood today. Misato quips Shinji must be exhausted.
[[/folder]]
----
->'''Rei''':''"Are your hearts and minds still set on the plan? [...] There is much danger. You both might die."\\
'''Shinji and Asuka''':''"For the hope that Akiko-chan can have the chance to grow up and have her own chance at happiness, it's a risk we must take."''
----
[-[[caption-width-right:350:Twelve years have passed. They have rebuilt their lives… but the ghosts of the past still threaten them. Fanart by Myssa Elaine Rei]]-]
->''"What!? What does Shinji-kun have to do with all this?"''\\
''"Everything, Kurumi. Everything."''\\
''"How?"''\\
''"He is the Alpha and the Omega. The Beginning and the End."''
''Fanfic/HERZ'' is an AlternateUniverse {{Continuation}} ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' fanfic written by Toh Ee loong.
It is the year 2027.
Twelve years ago Third Impact was averted and SEELE was exposed. NERV has been broken into two agencies, the scientific research agency GEHIRN and the peace-keeping and peace-making anti-Evangelion proliferation organization HERZ, led by Major-General Misato Katsuragi. Shinji, Asuka and Rei are still her subordinates but they seldom pilot Evas. Shinji and Asuka are married and have a daughter, and the cast leads mostly peaceful lives despite the entangled international political situation forcing them to constantly deploy the Evangelions in possession of HERZ.
However their time is ticking off. Not everyone is willing to give up the dreams that the Evangelion technology makes possible. The remnants of SEELE still desire Instrumentality. The resurgent nation-states, now recovered from the devastation of Second Impact, chafe under the yoke of the United Nations. Several superpowers resent HERZ's full control of the Evangelions and are willing to do whatever it takes to build their own, seize the HERZ's Evas or destroy them.
Meanwhile, Major-General Katsuragi, Director of HERZ, has an agenda all her own, and the Children have a plan to claim their lives of Project Eva. And they are determined to carry it out.
The time is 2027. Has the final hour for mankind come 'round at last?
One of the granddaddies of Evangelion fanfiction, HERZ is a mix of character drama and international intrigue. Everyone feels in-character and a logical extension of their canon selves at the time of End of Evangelion. The politics of the story are a real draw, presenting a colourful global setting where various factions are competing to realize their own vision of the future. The question isn't just "Is Third Impact going to be averted?" but "Even if it's averted, what sort of world will we be living in?"
It can be read [[http://web.archive.org/web/20050320085336/http://www.geocities.com/zhuoyilong/HERZ.html here]] or [[http://fanfic-mausoleum-n-grill.dreamwidth.org/tag/HERZ here]]. It can also be found in these archives: [[http://web.archive.org/web/20060129152929/http://www.geocities.com/zhuoyilong/ link]], [[http://web.archive.org/web/20080917201926/http://www.geocities.com/SEELE_hq/Archive/index.htm link]].
To contrast with other Eva fics of the same era go to ''Fanfic/NeonGenesisEvangelionR'', ''Fanfic/TheOneILoveIs'', ''Fanfic/ChildrenOfAnElderGod'' or ''Fanfic/HigherLearning''.
----
!!Tropes:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:A-C]]
* ADateWithRosiePalms: In a chapter Asuka reminds Shinji that she knows that he did in the hospital when she was comatose.
* AFatherToHisMen: Misato is the Director of HERZ. She raised Shinji and Asuka –although the latter moved out after the events of End of Evangelion-, and at least once she notes Shinji, Asuka and Rei are like the children she never had.
* AGodIAm: [[spoiler:Rei after absorbing her larger body –Lilith’s- and Adam.]]
* AMechByAnyOtherName: The Evangelions, bio-mechanical giant robots. Many nations try to produce their own Evas, and one of the missions of HERZ is preventing this from happening.
* AbortedArc: In 1999 the author announced he was planning for a prologue. Few months later he announced that "HERZ: Past as Prologue will be on hiatus until further notice." Shortly after he wrote a chapter set in 2016... And that was the end of it. The prologue chapter is nearly impossible to find nowadays.
* AccidentalPervert: In chapter 4 enters the men’s locker room, hears someone showering in one of the stalls. He thinks it must be Asuka so that he strips his plug suit and walks in the shower stall… and on Kurumi. Subverted because it was a trap.
* AcePilot: Shinji, Asuka and Rei are all good HumongousMecha pilots, although Shinji is the only one still has a functional Eva, and he seldom sorties.
* AcheyScars: Even after twelve years, the scars that Asuka received when she battled the MP-Evas still hurt. Her blind eye bleeds every so often.
-->''She had told him before that the injuries throbbed with a dull, constant and persistent ache.''
* ActionGirl: Misato and Asuka seldom fight the enemy directly nowadays, but they are still duly trained soldiers. Rei also can hold her own [[spoiler:since she is a pilot and the merge of two Seeds.]]
* ActionMom: Asuka. Ex-HumongousMecha pilot, soldier and mother.
* AdultFear: Shinji and Asuka fear that unless SEELE gets stopped, their daughter will have no future and no chance to grow up and be happy. Ergo, they are set on the plan despite of the risks.
* AffectionateGestureToTheHead: In chapter 2 Asuka wakes up after a terrible nightmare. As he reassures her, Shinji strokes her red bangs.
-->''"Shuuussh," he said soothingly, smoothly the damn auburn locks on her forehead as he propped her up on the pillows.''
* AirVentPassageway: In chapter 4 [[spoiler:Kurumi used a ventilation shaft to reach Terminal Dogma after being told it was off-limits.]]
-->''The grill made a tremendous clanging sound as it crashed onto the floor. Kurumi, in her UNIPF combat fatigues, emerged from the ventilation shaft. "Terminal Dogma is off-limits, my ass."''
* AlienSky: After the FinalBattle against SEELE the sky has two Moons:
-->''The party had been over for some time. Shinji and Asuka strolled hand in hand on the edge of the lake. Its waters glimmered in the silvery light of both moons.''
* AlliterativeName: Captain Kurumi Kagero, UN Special Investigations Officer.
* AllThereInTheManual: The author included supplementary, world-building notes after every chapter and in a F. A. Q. in his site.
* AllYourPowersCombined: [[spoiler:Rei’s soul was Lilith’s. Then she absorbed Lilith’s body and Adam, gaining their powers.]]
* AlternateUniverse: Third Impact did not happen, creating a divergence.
* AlternateUniverseFic: It changes an event of the finale of the series and from there it creates a new continuity.
* AmazonChaser: Shinji is in love with and married to a temperamental, FieryRedhead soldier who is better pilot and fighter than him.
* AncientConspiracy: SEELE has been plotting the end of the world for decades. On the other hand, GEIST is still another secret organization which is ''very'' big on individualism and has been opposing SEELE since they knew about its existence and goals.
* AngerBornOfWorry: In chapter 10, [[spoiler:Shinji got kidnapped.]] Asuka was so worried she was about to explode, but she tried to keep her emotions under control.
-->''Asuka was obviously upset but was trying admirably to keep her turbulent emotions under control. Her first impulse was to run off and thrash wildly in an effort to find her husband. She didn't notice the blood beginning to drip through the patch covering her left eye. She took a deep breath.''
* ArmorPiercingAnswer: When Kurumi walks into Misato’s office to accuse her of breach of trust, theft and fraud and Kaji’s murder and vow she will pay for her alleged crimes, Misato’s reply stops her tirade abruptly.
-->'''Kurumi''':''"You'll pay for your crimes. I'll see to it."''\\
'''Misato''':''"I have no doubt in your abilities, Cpt Kagero. But understand that if you persist in your crusade, it will be Shinji and his family who will pay the price for your foolishness."''\\
'''Kurumi''':''"What!? What does Shinji-kun have to do with all this?"''\\
'''Misato''':''"Everything, Kurumi. Everything."''\\
'''Kurumi''':''"How?"''\\
'''Misato''':''"He is the Alpha and the Omega. The Beginning and the End."''\\
'''Kurumi''':''"I don't understand."''
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: During [[spoiler:the GrandFinale]] Rei shows [[spoiler:Kihl]] the Ikari family (Shinji, Asuka and Akiko) like an example of true Human Complementation: two human beings loving each other and the fruit of that love. Then she asks him:
-->'''Rei''':''"Do you understand?"''
* ArtificialLimbs:
** After her right arm got spliced, Asuka got an artificial limb covered by a harness of latex-like material.
** Touji also has an arm and a leg prosthetics to replace his missing limbs.
* AsTheGoodBookSays: Chapter 10 quotes a passage of the Book of Revelations.
* AscendedFanboy: After the Battle of Geofront Kensuke became a soldier. He is not an Eva pilot but he is satisfied with being a jet fighter pilot.
* TheAtoner: Gendo tries to atone for being a bad father with being a good, doting grandfather when he is allowed seeing Akiko.
* AuthorAppeal: Rei is the author's favourite character. She does not show up a lot but she is ever-present, the cast talks about her constantly, and she [[spoiler:saves the day several times.]]
* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: Although Asuka seems being always angry, there many times where it is clear how much she loves Shinji:
** In chapter 2 she wakes up from a nightmare. Shinji hugs her while she cries and she pleads him never leaving her.
** Later she deems necessary deploying Unit 01… and she wants to deploy all Evas together with it to protect Shinji.
** In chapter 10 [[spoiler:Shinji got kidnapped]] and Asuka was barely keeping herself under control.
--->''Asuka was obviously upset but was trying admirably to keep her turbulent emotions under control. Her first impulse was to run off and thrash wildly in an effort to find her husband. She didn't notice the blood beginning to drip through the patch covering her left eye. She took a deep breath.''
* BabiesEverAfter: Akiko after the canon events. And in the last chapter [[spoiler:Shinji and Asuka discover that the former got the latter pregnant again. They call their second daughter Sakiko.]]
* BadassEyepatch: Worn by Asuka.
* BadassBookworm: Shinji is a music teacher and an active pilot, too.
* {{Baka}}: Asuka calls Shinji this fairly often.
* BattleCouple: Shinji and Asuka, although due to Unit 02 getting repaired they are not seen battling in tandem until [[spoiler:the FinalBattle when they sortie together to fight SEELE.]]
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Kensuke wished being an Eva pilot. He managed becoming a jet fighter pilot, which it is almost so good in his opinion… but it entails that Asuka is his superior officer.
* BelligerentSexualTension: Although they resolved it several years ago, Shinji and Asuka still have some good, ''[[Anime/MazingerZ Kouji/Sayaka-worthy]]'' bickering every so often, such like after the [[spoiler:FinalBattle]] when Asuka complained about [[spoiler:Shinji getting her knocked up]] again.
* BeneathTheMask: Asuka had created a mask of harshness and abrasiveness to hide her real, vulnerable inner self after her mother’s suicide. However it prevented her from feeling her mother and Shinji’s love. Rei eventually convinced her that she had to drop it and open up to be loved back and be happy.
** Some people like Kurumi wondered why Shinji had fallen for such a fiery woman. Shinji liked Asuka’s fierceness but he had also seen her real self under the mask.
* BerserkButton:
** Asuka has several buttons, most of them related to her husband: Do not flirt with Shinji, try to steal him away or act pervert around him. Asuka will ensure it is hazardous to your health. Do not poke fun at her relationship with Shinji, suggest to her face they have S&M sex or make Nazi jokes around her. Kurumi is constantly pressing the first button. Kensuke gleefully punches the second one every time he opens his mouth.
** Rei. Threatens her niece’s life and she will liquefy you. Not a hyperbole.
* BetaCouple: Hikari and Touji. Whereas Shinji and Asuka have been married for five years and have a daughter, they are still engaged.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Rei is usually quiet, calm and non-confrontational. Then a pack of loonies tried to shoot her niece. The cleaning crew had to scrub their remains off the walls.
* BigBad: SEELE. In 2015 they tried to culminate their plan to merge all human souls into a single being. They failed and spent the next twelve years trying to build more Evangelions to carry out their goals, funding black projects and terrorist organizations.
* BigDamnHeroes: The point of divergence happens because [[spoiler:Rei and Shinji performed one to save Asuka from the MP-Evas.]]
* BigGood: Misato Katsuragi, Director of HERZ. She is tasked with using the Evangelions on peace-keeping and peace-making missions, and preventing the spreading of the Eva technology. She is also SEELE’s worst enemy, having spent twelve years foiling their plans and scheming and plotting against them.
* BigNo: Exclaimed by [[spoiler:the SEELE members when the Children took control of their newest MP-Evas.]] The exact wording was “This is impossible!” but the spirit was the same.
* BittersweetEnding: After the last battle [[spoiler:Shinji and Asuka are alive –and expecting!-. Most of canon characters have survived, Yui and Kyoko’s souls have been released and SEELE has been defeated once and for all. However Rei seals herself together with the Evas, Adam, Lilith and the Lance to ensure that they will never be used again, which means she has to say goodbye to her family forever.]]
* {{Blackmail}}:
** Asuka threatens Kensuke with telling his girlfriend about his pervert exploits back in middle school if he does not stop taunting her.
** Shinji and Asuka needed a babysitter, and Shinji thought their only recourse was Kurumi. Kurumi agreed to look after Akiko… if Shinji kissed her.
* BlackmailIsSuchAnUglyWord: Subverted. The Chinese Government tried to build its own Eva in a top secret facility. The monster went out of control, obliterated the facility and started to rampage through China. A Chinese commanding officer pleaded Misato dispatching her Evas. She retorted she would deploy them… in exchange for information on where the other Evas were being built. When the officer complained about it being blackmail, her reaction was "So what?"
-->'''Commander Hai''':''"This is an emergency. Many lives are at stake. Your charter allows for action now."''\\
'''Misato''':''"Indeed."''\\
'''[...]''\\
'''Commander Hai''':''"What is your price?"''\\
'''Misato''':''"Information. On where the other Evas are being built. All of them."''\\
'''Commander Hai''':''"You can't expect us to know all that. And what makes you think.."''\\
'''Misato''':''"..that you would know? [...] That thing was built in Lop Nor. Using technology from SEELE and Chinese military resources. I'm sure this will be an interesting revelation before the UN Organs and the world media..."''\\
'''Commander Hai''':''"That's blackmail!"''\\
'''Misato''':''"I'm also perfectly happy to let this thing continue its grand tour through your heartland and population centres. I don't have to do anything until the UN to get its paperwork done or until it reaches Japan itself..."''
* BloodKnight: Although Asuka is not an active pilot anymore she still is a soldier and enjoys fighting.
* BloodLust: The first word used to describe Asuka's battle against the MP-Evas is "bloodlust". Asuka was drowning into it as she fought them.
* BlueIsHeroic: Rei’s robot is blue.
* BreakTheCutie: Before the beginning of the story Shinji had been so thoroughly broken that he [[spoiler:attempted to kill himself at one point.]]
* BreakTheHaughty: Chapter 2 retells how Asuka’s pride got shattered until she considered herself a worthless, useless failure and an ugly, scarred freak.
* BreakThemByTalking: Asuka did this to Shinji accidentally seven years before the beginning of the story. [[spoiler:She wanted to go back to Germany. He pleaded her staying and told he needed her. Unfortunately Asuka thought he was mocking her, so she called him out on everything he had done and said she hated him.]] It broke him down, but she did not know it at the time.
* TheBridge: HERZ’s HQ has one with all typical characteristics: elevated seats for the commander, BridgeBunnies sitting at workstations in front of him, and a large, ample stage between the commander and the workers at the workstations.
* BridgeBunnies: In the first chapter HERZ's bunnies are introduced:
-->''"That big bald fellow with the beard is Col Peter Strasser. Used to be from the Third Branch in Germany. He's our deputy commander and concurrently chief of Section 3, that is, Operations. Those three are our bridge operators. From the right - 2nd Lt Mochida, 1st Lt Igarashi and 2nd Lt Ito. I used to sit where Ito is working now. The lady in the lab coat is Dr Ibuki Maya. She's our Chief Scientific Officer."''
* BrokenAce: Asuka was the best Eva pilot… and after fighting the MP-Evas she lost one eye, one arm and her body got scarred permanently. She almost died and lost her mother again, so she became even more furious and unstable.
* BrokenBird: Asuka. Let’s see: she lost her mother and got ditched by her father before being four. She was turned into a weapon and a tool and trained hard for ten long years to become the best as a way to validate her existence. When the time came to prove her skill she got overshadowed by a boy that -as far as she knew- was a rookie with no training. She got repeatedly defeated, humiliated and mind-raped by the enemy. She managed rising from her ashes only to be impaled, mutilated and eaten alive. And still she survived even after her heart stopped for a short while, she became a fine soldier and she even delivered a healthy child.
-->''Asuka leaned into the kiss. She had lost much and suffered terribly, but from the ashes, she had risen anew.''
* BrokenTears: Shed by Asuka in chapter 2 after her nightmare where she relived all her defeats and suffering from the battle against Zeruel onward.
* ButNotTooForeign: Asuka is part American, part German and part Japanese.
* CantActPervertTowardsLoveInterest: Asuka makes Kensuke shutting up and stopping bothering her when she threatens with telling his girlfriend what pervert things he did when they were teenagers.
* CantHoldHisLiquor: Shinji has absolutely no alcohol tolerance.
* CantLiveWithThemCantLiveWithoutThem: Shinji and Asuka had greatly hurt each other… and yet they could not live without each other. Asuka never stopped loving Shinji, not matter what she said or did. Shinji never wanted another woman, and when he thought Asuka was leaving and she hated him he was so grief-stricken that [[spoiler:he tried to kill himself.]]
* CanNotSpitItOut: Shinji and Asuka’s inability to express their feelings openly and clearly was an additional source of pain. In chapter 2 Asuka remembers their relationship finally improved when she managed to open up to him.
* TheCaptain: Asuka became one after the events of the series.
* CatapultNightmare: In chapter 2 Asuka is having a dream about her past traumas. When she reaches the part where the white Evas were eating her alive she wakes up screaming and bolting up in bed.
-->''Asuka screamed and bolted up in bed. Dream. Again. Breathing fast,
shallow. Heart pounding. Cold sweat. Lightning flashed outside of the apartment's window. Hands over her face, she began to cry.''
* TheChainsOfCommanding: Misato is Director of HERZ. Its organization is the only things stands between the humanity and its annihilation. Throughout the years she has been forced to make many distasteful things that she feels conflicted and remorseful about to ensure the future of her family and the survival of the humanity. In the process she has become grimmer and more serious, and too similar to Gendo Ikari to her liking.
* ChasteHero: When she met Shinji Kurumi thought he was not interested in women because he was shy. The real reason was he was fixated on Asuka.
* ChefOfIron: Shinji is a soldier and pilot and an excellent cook right like another ''[[Anime/MazingerZ mecha anime ace pilot]]''. He is actually the one cooks in his household.
* ChekhovsGun: In chapter 5 it is mentioned briefly that Shinji can not hold his liquor. Several chapters later it is revealed that [[spoiler:Kurumi used that to take advantage of him in the past.]]
* CheshireCatGrin: Misato wears one in chapter 4 when she thinks of her plan to prevent Unit 01's deployment in the Congo.
* ChildSoldiers: Twelve years ago Shinji, Asuka, Rei –and Touji for a short while- were child soldiers. The experience broke them down.
* ClingyJealousGirl: Asuka is still very jealous and possessive from Shinji. Kurumi trying to hit on Shinji even though she knows he is married does not lessen her jealousy, certainly.
* ColonelKilgore: Asuka has rank of Captain and loves fighting.
* ComfortSex: Between Shinji and Asuka in chapter 2 after she suffers from a horrible nightmare.
* {{Continuation}}: The story happens twelve years after the end of the the series, changing the outcome of the movie.
* ConvenientlyAnOrphan: All pilots are orphans. As they discovered after the battle against SEELE in 2015, it was NOT a coincidence.
* CoolPlane: The aircraft piloted by Kensuke in chapter 1 definitely counts:
-->''Kensuke loved this. Some real action! Even if he couldn't pilot Eva, at least he got to fly the largest aircraft in the world. It flew high above the range of normal anti-aircraft missiles, undetectable to conventional radar. In any case normal anti-aircraft missiles did not have warheads that could really be more than a bee sting against this flying fortress.''
* CooldownHug: In chapter 2 Asuka wakes up after a terrible nightmare and she starts to cry. Shinji embraces her, making her feeling safer, and she gradually calms down.
-->''Asuka screamed and bolted up in bed. Dream. Again. Breathing fast, shallow. Heart pounding. Cold sweat. Lightning flashed outside of the apartment's window. Hands over her face, she began to cry. Arms encircled her. Strong arms. She clutched at him. Burying her face into his chest as she sobbed. Shelter. Safe. Her breathing grew a little deeper.''
* CurbStompBattle: Any battle involving an Eva –especially Unit 01- is one-sided and is over very, very quickly.
* CutLexLuthorACheck: Even after being exposed, SEELE still managed having funding enough to build nine giant robots (and an unknown number of prototypes and nearly completed models blown up by HERZ). In comparison, HERZ needed twelve years to [[spoiler:rebuild Unit 00 and repair Unit 02.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:D-F]]
* DarkSecret: Misato [[spoiler:-thinks she-]] killed Kaji.
* DeadpanSnarker:
** Kensuke is real good at snarking, especially when he is around Asuka. His sarcastic remarks irritate her each time.
*** In chapter 1:
--->'''Kensuke''':''"Asuka, could you please just stop pacing around for a moment?"''\\
'''Asuka''':''"Aaargh! I'll make him suuuffer for this! Just you wait till I get back, Baka-Shinji..."''\\
'''Kensuke''':''"Don't whip him too hard this time, alright?"''
** Shinji is usually non-confrontational, but he has some good zingers. Such like when [[spoiler:Asuka said it was his fault she was pregnant again:]]
--->'''Asuka''':''"BAKA-SHINJI! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"''\\
'''Shinji''':''"My fault!? Why is always my fault!?"''\\
'''Asuka''':''"Of course it's your fault! You're a male!"''\\
'''Shinji''':''"Oh yes! I suppose it's got nothing to with you throwing yourself at me almost every night for the last few weeks! And you kept insisting on being on top as well!"''
* DeathFromTheSky: The Americans built a bunch of satellites fitted with positronic cannons as a weapon against the Evangelions.
* DeathGlare: Asuka deploys this –together with a menacing twitch from her eye and brow when another woman stalks her husband.]]
* DespairEventHorizon: Crossed by Shinji seven years ago when [[spoiler:Asuka was about to leave and he thought she hated him and did not want to see him ever again.]]
* {{Determinator}}: Asuka never stopped fighting, not even when she got impaled by the MP-Evas spears and her heart stopped. Her heart restarted, she survived, recovered and even managed delivering a healthy child.
* DidNotSeeThatComing:
** The American troops’ reaction when their satellites with power enough to obliterate an Eva got taken down.
** This is [[spoiler:SEELE's reaction when they are trying to retrieve the Lance and it suddenly flies away and towards Earth.]]
** And again when they [[spoiler:deploy the second generation of MP-Evas and the Children hijack them easily.]]
* DidYouThinkICantFeel: Gendo ordered [[spoiler:Rei taking him to Lilith to start off the Third Impact, expecting she behaved like his obedient, well-indoctrinated puppet. However Rei had fallen in for Shinji, and as Gendo talked, she could feel Shinji’s angst and despair at being unable to save Asuka. So that she rejected Gendo –to his astonishment- and flew to help Shinji to defeat the enemy and protect Asuka.]]
* DirtyBusiness: Running HERZ is not a nice job and it entails making some shady stuff: blackmail, extortion, sabotage… all in the name of keeping peace and saving humankind.
* DisappearedDad: Gendo and Asuka’s father refused to take care of their offspring after Shinji and Asuka’s mothers’ deaths. Gendo at least has a –poor- excuse (he cared about Shinji but he was afraid of his son and thought he would screw him up if he raised him so he sent him away) and in this story he has made an effort to rebuild his relationship with his son, but Asuka’s relationship with her parents is inexistent.
* DopeSlap: In the epilogue Asuka smacked Shinji on the head because he did not manage to find their daughter among a crowd even though she had told him where she was several times.
* DoubleEntendre: In chapter 3 Kurumi glomps Shinji. He warns her he still has a gun
-->''"Kurumi... I've still got this gun... please..." pleaded Shinji, arms and weapon raised above his head.''\\
''"It's not loaded, Shinji-kun...Or should I be worrying about your other weapon? You haven't started misfiring with that, do you?"''\\
''"Kurumi!"''
* DramaticIrony: In chapter 2 Asuka notes ponders about her life’s several ironies: she had missed terribly her mother, but her mother had been always there and she had been unable to find her, open up and feel her love because Kyoko’s death had driven her to shut her heart; and she owed her family and her current happiness to two women she hardly considered as friends.
-->''Asuka leaned into the kiss. She had lost much and suffered terribly, but from the ashes, she had risen anew. She had also gained so much. Things she had not dared to hope for in the past, a past that seemed like a lifetime ago. The irony of it all. Owing so much to two women she hardly considered as friends.''
* DrivenToSuicide: In 2020 [[spoiler:after an argument with Asuka Shinji slit his wrists because he thought she hated him and never wanted to see him again.]] The scene was very similar to Asuka’s own suicide attempt during the series.
* DrowningMySorrows: During a scene Misato recalls she got hammered because she had not got the guts to confess to Kaji.
* DysfunctionJunction: Thankfully their traumas have mellowed down, but Asuka still has anger management troubles, Shinji is still somewhat insecure…
* EarnYourHappyEnding: Despite everything that they had to endure during the Angel War the main characters still are forced to defeat SEELE once and for all if they want to lead happy lives.
* EasilyForgiven: Gendo has been placed under permanent house arrest in punishment for collaborating with SEELE’s attempted global genocide. The story does not tell if he faced worse punishments. Likewise, Shinji and Asuka have forgiven him for everything he did to them, directly or indirectly. Gendo is pretty aware of how lucky he is.
* EmotionlessGirl: She is not as bad as she used to when she was younger, but Rei is still pretty emotionless.
* EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: SEELE tried to bring it about in 2015. They failed and spent the next twelve years preparing to attempt to finish it for real.
* EnemyMine: The US Government and SEELE does not like or trust each other, but they join to destroy GEIST. On the other hand, GEIST lends its support to HERZ to take down SEELE.
* EveryoneCanSeeIt: In the past Shinji and Asuka were unable to realize each other’s feelings in spite that everyone else did. That blindness nearly caused the end of the world and [[spoiler:nearly got them killed several years before the beginning of the story.]]
* {{Fanon}}: Several misconceptions and misguided assumptions that were very prevalent in the fandom back then are present in this story: Misato killing Kaji (she did not), Asuka not knowing why she kissed Shinji (she was aware she was trying to seduce him) and rinsing her mouth to save her pride (she was masking her pain); Adam, Lilith and the Angels being the ones of Judaeo-Christian lore (nothing to do whatsoever)…
* TheFederation: In this setting the UN is becoming a world government de facto. Many state-nations and Great Powers are sick with its interference, and a bunch of conflicts HERZ has to deal with are born from that clash.
** The story treats this like a good thing and an ideal to reach. Though, the idea of ''[[Franchise/{{Gundam}} a world Government armed with giant robots and a willingness to deploy them against dissidents and rebels]]'' does not inspire confidence for some reason.
* FemaleGaze: In chapter 3 Kurumi is constantly checking Shinji’s behind as he trains his aim.
-->''She handed over the two clips to a blushing Ikari Shinji. Her eyes followed his behind as he walked towards the firing point.''
* FieryRedhead: Asuka. Kurumi even describes her like “fiery”.
* FingerTenting: Misato sometimes has her hands folded in this position when she is plotting or negotiating. It is meant to show she has become more like Gendo.
* TheFirstCutIsTheDeepest: Natsume thinks that her sister Kurumi is so fixated on Shinji because he was her first love and she simply can not let it go.
* FirstKiss: As they are celebrating her fifth anniversary Asuka remembers her and Shinji’s first kiss.
* ForeignCussWord: Pretty frequent with Asuka, of course. “Scheisse” is fairly often used.
* ForWantOfANail: The divergence starts out during the battle between Asuka and the MP-Evas. Rei felt Shinji's distress so she flew to help him. She broke the bakelyte blocking the access to the entry plug and both hurried to help Asuka. Meanwhile GEIST used a super-computer to disable five MP-Evas, making impossible the Ceremony. Shinji fought the remainder functional Evas and managed to win.
* FreakinessShame: Asuka thinks she is an ugly freak due to her scars and nobody would love her. Shinji assures her that she is beautiful and he loves her.
* FrickinLaserBeams: Averted. [[spoiler:When the positron cannons were used, the MP-Evas were unable to dodge their beams.]]
* FrontlineGeneral: Even after being promoted to Captain Asuka still sorties with her troops and leads from the frontlines.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:G-I]]
* GambitPileup: Misato has a bunch of plans to deal with the huge number of global conflicts and destroy SEELE, SEELE has a plan to destroy HERZ and bring about Instrumentality, GEIST has a plan to defeat SEELE for good, and the Children has a plan of their own…
* GenkiGirl: Kurumi is incredibly energetic and enthusiastic even after becoming an adult woman.
* GiantEqualsInvincible: The narration blatantly points out that HERZ is still invincible because... well... giant robots.
-->''Despite of the loss of much of NERV's old autonomy, HERZ was still greatly feared. Exclusive control of Unit 01 and the remaining Eva-05 series meant that she could defeat any conventional armed force on the field.''
* GirlishPigtails: Asuka is twenty-six-years-old, has got her hair cut… and she still wears pigtails right like when she was thirteen.
* GoThroughMe: When a pack of loonies tries to shoot Akiko, Rei steps in the way and declares she will not allow anybody threatens her niece.
* GoodbyeCruelWorld: [[spoiler:Shinji wrote one when he decided to kill himself back in 2020.]] Kurumi found it and Asuka still keeps it.
* GoodParents: Shinji and Asuka try to raise Akiko [[spoiler:and later Sakiko]] at their best skill. Shinji desperately wants to be a good husband and father.
* GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex: Shinji and Asuka are depicted having good, nice, passionate, comforting, healing sex frequently (although Kensuke claims that they have S&M sex and Asuka is Shinji’s mistress).
* TheGlomp: By Kurumi to Shinji in chapter 3, much to his chagrin.
* GrandThefPrototype:
** After their assault upon the Geofront failed, NERV (later HERZ) hijacked the MP-Evas and reprogrammed them to use them.
** When [[spoiler:the second wave of MP-Evas assaults HERZ Rei hijacks ALL OF THEM by using mind control to bind the dummy plugs to her will.]]
* GraspTheSun: During her nightmare in chapter 2 Asuka reminisces how she clutched at the Sun while threatening the Evas after getting her left eye impaled.
* GratuitousGerman: For Asuka and Akiko. Asuka often uses “dummkopf”.
** When she passed by Col Strasser in chapter 4 she greeted him “Gutten morgen, Her Strasser.”
* GratuitousJapanese: Honorifics, Japanese terms and sentences abound in the text (this is due to an annoying trend spread among anime fandom back then: many fanfiction writers littered their texts with plenty of GratuitousJapanese).
* GreenEyedMonster: Asuka is very jealous. When Shinji is out of her sight she often gets tense and angry, thinking some woman will try to steal him or maybe he will fool around. Despite the protestations of Kensuke, she is hardly paranoid, since Kurumi is always trying to steal him.
* GrewASpine: Shinji has become more confident and more determined to protect his family. Although he hates fighting and killing he has learnt to use weapons and practices his aim constantly to defend his wife and his daughter.
* GreyAndGrayMorality: The heroes are trying to protect humanity and their families, and in the name of that mission Misato has manipulated people and committed many shady actions she feels guilty about. SEELE is trying to liquefy all humans and merge their souls into a single being because they genuinely think it is something good.
* GroinAttack: Shinji was practicing with his gun as trying to dodge Kurumi's advances. Then Asuka showed up with a sub-machine gun, selected a target at 100 meters, blew off its crotch and head with perfect accuracy, grabbed Shinji and dragged him away.
* GuileHero: Misato. Being the Director of HERZ she has to deal with politicians constantly, often playing them against each other.
* GuiltComplex: Shinji felt guilty about most bad things had happened during the Angel War, including events where he had no control or no choice.
* HairTriggerTemper: After the Angel War, volatile Asuka’s temper got worst. For several years she was constantly angry, moody or bitter, and prone to explode when something triggered her anger. At the start of the story she has managed to control her temper –and she regrets some of her past explosions of wrath-, but she still has a short fuse.
* HappilyMarried: Shinji and Asuka. Their relationship has gone through bumps and hardships and has needed considerable healing, forgiveness and soul-searching on both parties, but they are happy together.
* HauledBeforeASenateSubcommittee: Misato often has to appear before committees and general councils to argue about –and often against- using HERZ’s Evangelions in a war. In a chapter she talked before a committee to dissuade them from using Unit 01 in the Congo crisis.
* HeldGaze: In chapter 11 between Shinji and Asuka before the FinalBattle:
-->''Husband and wife nodded and rose from the bench. They looked at each other. There were so many words. Good luck. Be careful. I love you. Come back home safely. So many words. But there were no words as those would have failed them. Looking in each other's eyes, all that could be said and more passed between the two. And then they strode out to face their destinies.''
* TheHero: Shinji. He tries to be a good person and making the right thing, and the fate of humankind rests on his shoulders.
* HeroesWantRedheads: Shinji. Asuka is “his life’s love”.
* HeroicBSOD: Several years before the beginning of the history Shinji had one after an argument with Asuka because he thought she hated him for everything that he had done.
* HeroicSacrifice: Shinji, Asuka and Rei were willing to sacrifice themselves to stop SEELE and give Akiko a chance to be happy. At the end [[spoiler:Shinji and Asuka survived, but Rei sealed herself out of Earth to save them.]]
* HiddenDepths: In chapter 7 Asuka remembers that she was surprised when she found out that Shinji played cello, since she did not know that he had hidden talents.
-->''He had surprised her. She didn't know he played the violoncello. About his hidden talents.''
* HighSchoolSweethearts:
** Shinji and Asuka cared for each other since they were ''thirteen'', but due to their numerous trauma and neuroses they were unable to reach out each other until they were nineteen. For the time the story starts out they have been married for five years.
** Touji and Hikari are a straighter example, having met in middle school and being together (and engaged) after twelve years.
* HilariousInHindsight: In chapter 4 Asuka calls her daughter Akiko ''[[Fanfic/TheSecondTry Aki-chan]]''.
* HoldingHands: After Rei reminds them that her plan is risky and both could die, Shinji and Asuka held hands as they reiterated they were together in this.
* HomeBase: The Geofront is HERZ’s base. After the top got blown up during the battle of 2015 it is no longer an UndergroundBase.
* HopeSpot: When [[spoiler:SEELE got most of GEIST members assassinated and deployed their Evas against HERZ they thought they were going to win. Then Rei seized the MP-Evas.]]
* HopelessSuitor: Kurumi is this towards Shinji. Neither Sinji’s marital status nor intellectual realization that she IS hopeless stops her of keeping trying to seduce him.
* HotBlooded: Asuka is fiery, passionate and emotional. She is capable of terrible rage and disconcerting tenderness.
* HouseHusband: Shinji is the one make all domestic chores in the Ikari’s homestead. It is lampshaded several times.
-->In chapter 4:
''"Oh Hikari, you're such a great cook. Maybe Shinji could pick up some tips from you," said Asuka between bites.''\\
''"Oh, you're so lucky, Asuka. Shinji cooks, cleans and looks after the baby while you bring home the bacon," teased Hikari. Being used to all the house-husband jokes, Asuka decided to play along.''
* HowTheMightyHaveFallen:
** In the backstory Asuka went from considering herself the top pilot and a prodigy child to regard herself as an ugly, scarred, worthless freak and a failure due to be –repeatedly- beaten, humiliated, mind-raped, brutally scarred and nearly killed.
** In chapter 10 [[spoiler:SEELE kidnaps Gendo.]] While one of their members is torturing him, he mockes him quoting the line verbatim:
--->''The SEELE member looked in disdain at the quivering piece of humanity before him. "How the mighty have fallen. The Commander of NERV. Once a powerful man before whom nations and peoples trembled. Now reduced to this," he sneered noting that Gendou's right forearm was missing. An old injury. 'Pity,' he thought, 'five less fingers to break.'''
* HurtingHero: Shinji and Asuka had suffered terribly due to their mothers’ deaths, their fathers’ abandonment, being turned into child soldiers and forced to pilot giant robots to fight alien monsters… now they are adults and are more emotionally stable, but they are still forced to fight, some psychological scars still endure and Asuka still has nightmares about the past.
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Misato has done many questionable things to protect her children and to avoid the proliferation of the Evangelion technology. Her actions haunt her but she thinks she had no other choice to save her family and billions of lives.
-->''"I'm the fool. And I've become a monster." She looked down, unable to face him.''\\
''"You made hard choices. And you had your responsibilities."''\\
''"So much blood, [[spoiler:Kaji.]] I have so much blood on my hands." Negev. Tricking the Israelis into stealing bogus S2 engine specifications. When they used it to activate their Eva, everything within 50km was obliterated. The Army of God. She had given no quarter and made sure their leader met his end at SEELE's hands. Blackmailing the Chinese and then summarily nuked all the other military sites that were building their own Evas. They had no warning. No chance. She looked up almost earnestly. Having confessed her sins, she sought absolution in the man she had been forced to betray.''\\
''His smile was sad and warm. He touched the crook of her arm. She did not pull away. "But you knew had to," he said as his fingers traced their way down her forearm. "You had a reason."''
* IMissMom: In chapter 2 Asuka reflects about how she missed her mother… and she had been there in her Eva all along, but she had not felt it until she was able to open up her heart.
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy:
** Averted with Kurumi, who for a long time was after Shinji, even if he had made clear he did not love her and he got married. After [[spoiler:baby-sitting Akiko, though, she stopped hitting on him.]]
** Played straight with Rei, who even encouraged Asuka to open up and hook up with Shinji.
* IcyBlueEyes: Asuka’s sane eye is a lively, dark-blue colour in contrast with her dead eye’s milky grey. Her daughter Akiko inherited her eye colour.
* InnocentBlueEyes: Shinji’s eyes are a limpid, light blue. [[spoiler:Sakiko inherited her eye colour from him.]]
* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: All of Asuka’s bluster, bravado and arrogance were a mask to hide her feelings of inadequacy and worthlessness. Shinji is one of the few people can see what is underneath, and he often has to reassure her he does not think she is ugly and he would never leave her.
* InnerMonologue:
** In an early chapter Shinji is shooting targets, thinking of how he does not hate fighting and killing and telling himself he has to protect his family.
** In one of his few appearances Gendo thinks of how fortunate he is because Shinji has chosen forgiving him and even lets him see his granddaughter.
* InsultOfEndearment: After five years married (and knowing each other since they were thirteen), when Asuka calls Shinji "baka" it is not really an insult but a pet name.
-->''"Hmmmm...(giggle)...Baaka-Shinjii..." she whispered amorously. "I know you just love it when I call you that...(giggle).."''
* InterruptedSuicide: When [[spoiler:Shinji attempted to kill himself in 2020, Kurumi found him in time and saved him.]]
* {{{Irony}}: In chapter 2 Misato notes how ironic is they are using the MP-Evas as instruments of salvation when they were created to be their destruction’s tools.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:J-L]]
* KidWithTheRemoteControl: All Evangelions were piloted by children because only they could synch with the souls stored inside.
** After the battle of 2015 Asuka discovered she could pilot Unit 02 because her mother was inside… and she had become unable to synch with it because she could not open up due to her mental trauma increasing during the Angel War.
** When SEELE struck in 2027 [[spoiler:Rei was able to control the new MP-Evas because their dummy plugs were an extension from her.]]
* KillSat: The Orbital Defence Platforms, satellites mounted with positronic cannons. Power was collected by solar panels and channelled into a sophisticated power system to blast enemies from the sky.
-->''"We've still got the Orbital Defence Platforms that we put up over the past few years. Their positronic cannons should give HERZ's Evas a real nasty surprise should the need actually arise. And they thought that we'd actually use it to help those UN and HERZ guys over that little escapade in Kransoyarsk." ''\\
''"Ain't this a beauty." Each ODP was a satelite mounted with a version of the positron rifle first used by Eva. Power was collected by solar panels and channeled into a sophisticated power system. This was the ultimate weapon.
And now, they were all in place, circling the heavens. Deadly and waiting.''
* KilledOffForReal:
** [[spoiler:Gendo in chapter 10,]] shot by a SEELE member.
** [[spoiler:All SEELE members in the last chapter, turned into LCL by Rei.]]
* LatexSpaceSuit: The Children still wear their plugsuits, skintight pilot suits when they undergo a synch test or pilot their Evas.
* LikeAnOldMarriedCouple: Asuka and Shinji already argued like an old married couple before becoming one. In chapter 12 their bickering is hilarious.
* LivingEmotionalCrutch: Shinji became incredibly emotionally-dependent on Asuka since he met her for first time. During the battle of 2015 he muttered over and over again he needed her. Seven years before the beginning of the story he asked her not leaving Japan, telling he needed her. And Asuka became way more stable and more grounded after hooking up with him.
* LonersAreFreaks: Shinji and Asuka hardly talk anyone other than Touji, Kensuke and Hikari in high school. Their schoolmates thought that they were weird.
* LoveAtFirstSight: During pillow talk in chapter 2 Shinji confirms Asuka he has always been hers.
* LoveConfession: After [[spoiler:revealing to Misato that he was alive, Kaji finally said he loved her.]]
* LoveHurts: Shinji and Asuka truly love each other but they have hurt a lot throughout the years. Shinji's obliviousness deepened Asuka's emotional and psychological scars, his actions in “End of Evangelion” cost her life -albeit temporarily- and made her feeling defiled and an ugly, unlovable monster. On the other hand her posterior abuse, fuelled by her resentment and self-loathing, drove Shinji to the edge.
* LoveInterest: Shinji and Asuka are each other’s love interest.
* LoveMakesYouEvil: Misato feels she has much blood on her hands because she has done many questionable, shady things. And she did everything because she loved Shinji and needed to see him happy.
-->''"Everything I did, I did it for Shinji. I wanted to... I needed to see him grow up. To have a family. A chance to be happy. I needed that..."''
* LoveTriangle: Asuka and Shinji love each other, and Kurumi loves Shinji.
* LovelyAngels: Asuka and Rei, although they have battled few battles together… the last of them in chapter 12 [[spoiler:against the SEELE forces.]]
* LuminescentBlush: Even after so many years, Shinji still blushes like a schoolboy… and his wife is not very different.
** In chapter 1 Shinji blushes when Kurumi tries to flirt with him:
--->''Shinji's blush was so pronounced that he looked like he was going to burst.''
** And in that same chapter Asuka’s face flushes when Kensuke tells her not whipping Shinji too hard:
--->''That stopped Asuka's pacing. She spun around, her face beet-red, as she sputtered incoherently.''
[[/folder]]
[[folder:M-O]]
* MadnessMantra: In chapter 2 Asuka remembers her words during her battle against the MP-Evas:
-->''"I'll kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill. Kill. Kill." Her mantra as she clutched her face and reached out with her right hand of vengeance. "Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill you. Kill. Kill."''
* MagnificentBastard: Misato. She is intelligent, charismatic, merciless when she needs being and her schemes deterred for twelve years the end of the world.
* MakingLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces: Subverted in chapter 4. Shinji entered the men’s locker room in the base and he was led to believe Asuka was waiting for him in one of the shower stalls. He made his way to the stall to “have fun” with his wife… and he found Kurumi inside, so that he fled.
* MamaBear/PapaWolf:
** You don't want to know what lengths Misato will go to protect her children.
** Shinji, Asuka and Rei are also perfectly willing to kill or sacrifice their lives to protect Akiko.
* ManipulativeBastard: A benign example. Misato is not above of using someone else’s motivations and emotions (like Kurumi’s curiosity) to lead that person on. However she does not like it and she restrains herself a lot.
* ManlyTears: In chapter 12 Shinji sheds a single tear [[spoiler:after Rei has said goodbye to him.]]
* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: Asuka is a tomboyish, hot-blooded, angry, tough-like-nails soldier. Shinji is meek, quiet, non-confrontational and feminine-looking. They are married.
* MeaningfulName: "HERZ" means "heart" in German. “GEIST” means “spirit”.
* MechaShow: There’s plenty sci-fi technology around.
* MeleeATrois: [[http://web.archive.org/web/20021201015617/http://www.geocities.com/zhuoyilong/HERZfaq.html In this faq the different factions are listed]] Essentially you have: HERZ fighting SEELE's attempts to set Third Impact off and other nations' programs to build their own Evas; SEELE fighting HERZ, GEIST and the UN to initiate Instrumentality; GEIST fighting SEELE and the different world nations; the UN fighting SEELE but not particularly liking HERZ; and other nations fighting HERZ and the UN and not liking SEELE but being prone to strike a bargain with them.
* MindScrew: A mild one during the final battle: [[spoiler:Rei hijacked the MP-Evas and used Shinji, Asuka and their robots to set off the children’s own version of Instrumentality. As she collected the SEELE’s souls she showed to Kiehl several images of the Ikari family to teach him other way to reach Instrumentality. Shinji and Asuka saw their mothers across an immense void and said goodbye. Rei created a second Moon, sealing herself inside it, and Shinji and Asuka woke up on a beach.]]
* MissingMom: A good number of Shinji and Asuka’s traumas are rooted in having lost their mothers when they were four. Asuka notes the irony that their mothers were always with them when they piloted their Evas.
* MyEyesAreUpHere: In chapter 1 Shinji turns around to face who had greeted him only to see a female chest in front of his eyes. Blushing, he looked upwards.
-->''Pulling the hands away from his face and turning around, he found himself facing a chest. It was not particularly well-endowed but it definitely belonged to a female. Blushing, he corrected his gaze and saw her.''
* MyHeroZero: Reinforced with Rei. After Unit 00’s destruction in the original series, HERZ built a new Eva for her… and it was also called Unit 00, even though it was a brand-new robot.
* MythologyGag:
** When Shinji [[spoiler:goes down to Terminal Dogma, Kurumi stops him pressing a gun against the back of his head.]] It is a reference to the time Misato tried to stop Kaji in the original series.
** [[spoiler:After the FinalBattle]], Shinji and Asuka wake up together in a beach.
* NeverMyFault: Hilarious example. In the epilogue, [[spoiler:Maya informs Shinji and Asuka that Asuka is pregnant.]] Asuka blames Shinji since it is always the guy's fault. Shinji retorts: "Oh yes! I suppose it's got nothing to with you throwing yourself at me almost every night for the last few weeks!"
* NiceGuy: Despite of some serious failings and bad actions he regrets (such like his actions in the hospital when Asuka was comatose), Shinji is not a bad guy, and he genuinely wants and try to be a good person.
* NightmareSequence: In chapter 2 Asuka dreams of the Angel War and how weak she felt when Zeruel destroyed her, how defiled she felt after Ariel’s MindRape, how worthless and useless she felt after being unable moving her Eva to fight Armisael, and what it was like when the MP-Evas tore her apart.
* NoSocialSkills:
** Asuka never was good with people, and her social skill got poorer after getting disfigured by the MP-Evas, since she became angrier, more hostile and more resentful.
** Shinji was never at socializing either. After the Angel War he had few friends and no girlfriend, and he spent most of time trying to reconnect with Asuka.
* NormallyIWouldBeDeadNow: In the battle of 2015 Asuka’s Eva got impaled by nine spears and then cut into pieces, and she felt each blow, slash and bite. Her heart stopped for a few seconds. Misato got shot and collapsed bleeding on the floor. The narration pointed out it was a miracle Asuka was alive, and Misato always wondered how she survived.
* NotGoodWithRejection: Kurumi was rejected by Shinji, but she was unable to accept it and get over it. When she met him again, seven years later, he was married and had a daughter and she kept trying to seduce him with absolutely zero success.
* NoodleIncident: After Kensuke has pressed Asuka's buttons a tad too much she hints she will tell his girlfriend about his perverted exploits back when they were teens. She does not get specific, but Kensuke shuts up.
-->'''Asuka''':''"Kensuke... I bet your darling Kaori-chan would just love to hear about all your perverted little exploits back when we were in school.."''\\
'''Kensuke''':''"What exploits!?"''\\
'''Asuka''':''"Oh, you know... those..."''\\
'''Kensuke''':''"I don't know what you're talking about! I... Oh man..."''
* NotSoDifferent: In chapter 4 a GEIST member fears his organization and SEELE are not so different, since the blood of young people is being spilt to fulfil their plans, too.
-->'''"Young people are our future yet SEELE tried to buy mankind life immortal with the blood of children. I fear that we may not be so different. The blood of the young is still being spilt to carry out the plans of the old."''
* ObstructiveBureaucrat: Every so often HERZ has to deal with UN Inspectors and Auditors overseeing them, examining their accounts and records and poking their noses where they do not belong.
* OddFriendship: After twelve years Asuka and Hikari are still best friends although their personalities (Asuka is aggressive and pushing, Hikari calmer and more patient) and even their career choices (Asuka is an army commanding officer, Hikari a political analyst) are pretty different.
* OfficialCouple: Shinji and Asuka, Hikari and Touji and [[spoiler:Misato and Kaji.]]
* OhCrap:
** Shinji’s reaction when he saw that [[spoiler:the woman in the shower stall was Kurumi trying to seduce him.]]
** The reaction of the HERZ’s troops dispatched in Crimea when [[spoiler:they realized that the other side had positron cannons.]]
** SEELE’s reaction when [[spoiler:Rei mind-controlled their new batch of MP-Evas, their only weapon against HERZ.]]
* TheOneGotAway: Shinji is this to Kurumi. Even after so many years she still has a crush on him.
* OriginalCharacter:
** Akiko [[spoiler:and Sakiko]] Ikari, Shinji and Asuka's offspring. Akiko was a relatively popular Shinji and Asuka’s fan-created daughter back in the day, but never as much as ''[[Fanfic/ChildOfLove Teri Ikari]]'', let alone [[spoiler:''[[Fanfic/TheSecondTry Aki Ikari]]'']].
** Kurumi Kagero, the members of GEIST…
[[/folder]]
[[folder:P-R]]
* PapaWolf: Shinji hates killing… but threatens his wife and/or his wife and he WILL do.
* ParentalAbandonment: Most of Shinji and Asuka’s traumas and psychological issues come directly or indirectly from having been abandoned by their fathers when they were four. Shinji has forgiven his… but Asuka’s relationship with hers is non-existent.
* ParentalNeglect: Asuka’s father stopped looking after his daughter when she was four. She is twenty-six now and he is still absent of her life. He never shows up, never calls… and Asuka never ever mentions him. It’s telling that she has managed to forgive Gendo but she never talks about her father.
* ParentalSubstitute: Misato has looked after Shinji and Asuka since they were young (although Asuka moved out after the battle of 2015) and even after so many years she sees and Rei as the children she never had.
* PervertRevengeMode: In a scene Shinji walks on Kurumi when she is having a shower. Immediately he screams and flees, and Kurumi chases after him. Asuka sees both, fetches a bat and starts to chase them.
* PhysicalGod: [[spoiler:Rei.]]
* PietaPlagiarism: Shinji held [[spoiler:Gendo]] in this position as [[spoiler:his father died]] in chapter 10.
* PitbullDatesPuppy: Kurumi wondered why Shinji –a quiet, unassuming guy- had married a fiery woman as Asuka. In reality Shinji and Asuka need each other desperately and they think no one else will ever be able to understand their pain.
* ThePlan: The Plan to defeat SEELE consisted of [[spoilers:the Children performing their own version of the Ceremony, using two Evangelions instead of one to seal Adam, Lilith, the Lance, Unit 01 and 02 out of the planet and at the same time destroying the original research materials.]]
* PleaseDontLeaveMe: In chapter 2, after an awful nightmare Asuka clings to Shinji and whispers: "Don't ever leave me..."
-->''She hugged him fiercely and whispered, "Don't ever leave me..."''\\
''"I've always been yours."''
* ThePowerOfLove: In 2015 [[spoiler:Shinji was grieving because he loved Asuka and he could not save her. Rei’s love towards Shinji led her to feel his angst, rebel against Gendo and help him.]] In 2027 it is Shinji and Asuka love towards each other and their daughter and Rei’s love for them which drives them to come up with a risky plan to save humankind [[spoiler:and that love allows them succeed.]]
* PregnantBadass: [[spoiler:Asuka was pregnant with Shinji's child during the last battle. Even so she fought and helped to save the world.]]
* TheProfessor: Ritsuko played this role in the original series, but now she is mostly retired, and Maya is her substitute and HERZ’s head scientist.
* ThePromise: In the final chapter Rei promises [[spoiler:she will not allow the Evangelion technology is used to harm people again, and she seals herself together with the Evas, Adam, Lilith and the Lance to guarantee that.]]
* PropheciesAreAlwaysRight: Subverted. SEELE was fully confident on their victory because they thought that it was prophesized in the Dead Sea Scrolls. The GEIST's leader remarked that prophecies may be broken.
* QuitYourWhining: In chapter 3 HERZ is performing a battery of tests on one of their Evas… and simultaneously placating Asuka who is he test pilot and is not happy about it, considering it a long, useless, big waste of her time. Finally Kensuke asks her stopping complaining:
-->'''Asuka'''(grumbling): ''"You all don't really need me to do this. After all, we have the mighty Shinji in the invincible Unit 01 and the A.I. Dummy Plugs for the Eva 05 series. Oh, we mustn't forget Wonder Girl. She doesn't contribute to anything and has an Eva all to herself so she can take it for walks after dinner! This is such a big fat waste of my time,"''\\
''[…]''\\
'''Kensuke''':''"Oh Asuka, will you just keep it down for a while? We're trying to work here,"''
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: The leader of GEIST gives one to all SEELE members, pointing out that the Children have the Evas, Adam, Lilith and the Spear whereas SEELE has ''nothing''… still they trust their victory because they think The Scrolls Said So.
* RedHeadedHero: Asuka, FieryRedhead and soldier. As a HERZ officer she has commanded many peace-keeping missions throughout the years.
* RedIsHeroic: Reinforced. Asuka’s soldier uniform is red, [[spoiler:her HumongousMecha is red, too,]] and she thinks they should paint the MP-Evas red.
* RedOniBlueOni: Asuka is the red oni (she is temperamental, rash and hot-headed) and Rei the blue one (she is calm and soft-spoken). Due to their clashing personalities there was some hostility between them when they were young, but after twelve years it has mostly faded.
* ReforgedIntoAMinion: Combined with GrandTheftPrototype due to the semi-organic nature of the Evas. After Shinji subdued the MP-Evas in 2015, NERV rebuilt them, mind-wiped them and reprogrammed them to serve them.
* RelationshipUpgrade: Shinji and Asuka’s happened in 2020 after [[spoiler:Shinji’s attempted suicide.]] Rei encouraged Asuka to open up to him. They reached out to each other, and got married two years later.
* RetiredBadass: After the Angel War Shinji, Asuka and Rei were still soldiers but they seldom piloted mechas. After the last chapter, Shinji and Asuka retired from piloting for good.
* ReverseMole: Did you think that [[spoiler:Kaji working for three sides were overkill in the original series? Here he was working for four sides. When GEIST learnt about SEELE approached to him and made her an offer.]]
* TheRival: During the Angel War Asuka regarded Shinji like hers. She really wanted to beat him. In this story she thinks of Kurumi like a rival: she was a pretty woman who was after her husband, had [[spoiler:deflowered him]] and whom Shinji [[spoiler:owed his life.]] Asuka felt threatened by her, but Kurumi was a challenge and she did not run from challenges.
* {{Robeast}}: The Chinese Eva. It looked like the mutated offspring of a ''[[Anime/MazingerZ Mechanical Beast]]'' and an Evangelion.
* RomanticFalseLead: Kurumi. When Shinji was a high-school student she was after him. However it did not last long because Shinji could not forget Asuka.
* RomanticRunnerUp: Kurumi was not a bad girl per se (her [[spoiler:getting Shinji hammered enough to sleep with her notwithstanding,]] but she was not Asuka. Shinji loved Asuka for her beauty, brains, bravery and fierceness and being the only person could understand him, and he needed her badly.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:S-U]]
* SarcasticSupporter: Kensuke spends the whole time pressing Asuka’s {{Berserk Button}}s and teasing her, but he is loyal to her just as he is to Shinji.
* SayMyName: In chapter 10 Kurumi remembers the night when she [[spoiler:saved Shinji’s life.]] When [[spoiler:Rei sent into her head the thought something bad had happened to Shinji,]] she screamed his name several times in dread.
* ScarsAreForever: After twelve years Asuka still sports the scars inflicted by the MP-Evas.
* SheCleansUpNicely: Asuka looked downright striking in her wedding gown:
-->''Asuka, despite the eyepatch and arm harness, looked stunning in form-fitting beaded bodice with a chain belt across her waist.''
* ShipSinking: Shinji/Kurumi sank long before the story started when [[spoiler:Kurumi got Shinji drunk and took advantage of him… and Shinji thought she was Asuka through the whole thing. After that night he started to avoid Kurumi, and she knew she had lost.]]
* ShipTease: Mainly between Shinji and Asuka but there is also a bit of tease between Shinji and Rei (such like Rei repeatedly stating that she will always protect him).
* ShipperOnDeck: Rei supported Shinji/Asuka and made sure that they got together and became happy.
* ShoutOut:
** GEIST’s members’ pseudonyms come from gods of Ancient Egipt.
** In the end of chapter 4, the four questions of the final episode of ''Series/BabylonFive'' are asked.
** In episode 8 there are homages to ''Film/StarWarsTheEmpireStrikesBack'', ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'' and ''Film/ThePrinceOfEgypt''.
** In chapter 9 [[spoiler:Kaji]] quotes one line of ''Fanfic/NeonGenesisEvangelionR''.
** Chapter 10 includes a paragraph of ''Literature/TheBible''. Concretely, Revelations 3:5.
** Chapter 13 concludes with another quote taken from ''Series/BabylonFive''.
** Natsumi and Kurumi Kagero’s names are taken from two ''Anime/RanmaOneHalf'' characters, and their surname of a character of ''Anime/NinjaScroll''.
** Akiko [[spoiler:and Sakiko]] were named after the seiyuus of the main characters of ''Anime/YoureUnderArrest''.
** Minor characters were named after WWII warships or nautical terms.
** HERZ’s BridgeBunnies were named after the members of J-Pop band, “Everything Little Thing”.
* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: Asuka got married to Shinji, who despite his flaws and mistakes tries to be fundamentally a good person.
* SnarkToSnarkCombat: Sometimes the characters engage into this:
** Shinji and Asuka in the chapter 12:
--->'''Maya''': ''"It's so lovely! […] Oh Asuka, you're pregnant again."''\\
'''Asuka''':''"… […] BAKA-SHINJI! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"''\\
'''Shinji''':''"My fault!? Why is always my fault!?"''\\
'''Asuka''':''"Of course it's your fault! You're a male!"''\\
'''Shinji''':''"Oh yes! I suppose it's got nothing to with you throwing yourself at me almost every night for the last few weeks! And you kept insisting on being on top as well!"''
* SoProudOfYou: In chapter 10 Gendo manages to show he is proud of his son:
-->''Gendou looked like he was going to say more. Instead he smiled, a genuine smile that spoke of love and how proud he was of the fine young man his son had grown up to be.''
* SourOutsideSadInside: The angrier and more hostile Asuka behaves the sadder and more awful she feels inwardly.
* SpannerInTheWorks: SEELE’s attack in 2015 failed because another secret organization accidentally learnt about their plans and interfered with them… something SEELE had not counted at all.
* StalkerWithACrush: Kurumi to Shinji. She has been chasing him since they met in high-school, and she is unable to take a "No" for answer. She [[spoiler:got him drunk and slept with him several years ago,]] and even though he got married she has flirted with him, has thrown herself naked at him, has blackmailed him to kiss her… and he always refuses -or runs away-, but she never listens.
* StealthHiBye:
** In chapter 5 Rei does this to people when she is walking around.
** And in chapter 12 [[spoiler:she does this to Shinji. She appears for an instant to say goodbye, Shinji looks away for one second, and when he looks back she has faded.]]
* SuperPrototype: Unit 00, 01 and 02 were the prototype, test type and production models respectively. However 01 was the most powerful of the trio. The MP-Evas were the mass production model, meant to be more advanced (they flew, had unlimited power, quick regeneration and were armed with replicas of the Lance of Longinus). Still Asuka piloting Unit 02 tore them apart nearly completely, and Shinji riding Unit 01 finished them off. In 2027 [[spoiler:built even more powerful mass production Evas, but the three pilots easily defeated them using their old models.]]
* TheTease: Kurumi spends the whole time teasing Shinji and trying to seduce him, much to his terror and Asuka’s wrath.
* TechnoBabble: Plentiful, as it was to be expected considering the source material.
** Chapter 3 gave a good number of examples, featuring different activation tests.
* TheTeetotaler: Since Shinji is an absolute light-weight, he never drinks alcohol.
* TemptingFate: SEELE’s members gloated over… and over… and over… about his plans coming to fruition, HERZ’s destruction being unavoidable, Instrumentality being imminent and the Children being helpless to stop them. Honestly, they were asking for it.
** Especial mention goes to [[spoiler:Unit 02 being rebuilt]] and their reaction being “Oh, it can not make any difference, obviously”.
* TenderTears: Shed by Shinji when [[spoiler:his father died in his arms,]] by Shinji and Asuka [[spoiler:when they met and hugged each other after the FinalBattle]] and by Shinji again when [[spoiler:Rei said goodbye.]]
* ThatDidntHappen: In 2020 [[spoiler:Kurumi got Shinji drunk]] in order to seduce him and thus getting together. Unfortunately for her, he considered it a mistake and he would rather forget it ever happened.
* TheirFirstTime: [[spoiler:Shinji and Kurumi]] slept together for first and only time seven years before the beginning of the story, and it killed whatever relationship they had.
* TheyDo:
** Asuka and Shinji got married between the events of the series and the first chapter.
** Touji and Hikari between the FinalBattle and the epilogue.
* ThinkingOutLoud: Misato does it in chapter 3, when she muses they are using to save themselves a weapon was created to destroy and they are still pawns in a game.
* TimeSkip: The epilogue happens twenty years after the events of chapter 12.
* TranquilFury: When Asuka is angry but she is being quiet and controlled she is actually more dangerous:
-->''"Kensuke..." said Asuka dangerously. That meant quietly.''
* TriangRelations: Shinji/Asuka/Kurumi is a Type 4: Shinji and Asuka are HappilyMarried. Kurumi likes Shinji but her feelings are unrequited.
* {{Tsundere}}: Asuka. Due to her many emotional wounds and psychological scars she was reluctant to open up. Rei warned her unless she managed to open her heart she would not find happiness. After [[spoiler:Shinji’s suicide attempt]] she finally manages to open up.
* UnderestimatingBadassery: SEELE is utterly convinced that nothing can stop them and the Children are not an obstacle. When the FinalBattle started [[spoiler:Shinji, Asuka and Rei working together ruined SEELE's plan forever. And they only took five minutes!]]
* UndyingLoyalty: Since he met her Shinji was single-mindedly fixated on Asuka, even if for many years she seemed hating him. In chapter two, during a breakdown Asuka pleads Shinji not leaving her, and he answers he is and has always been hers and he would never leave her.
* UnfortunateImplications: In the back-story Kurumi [[spoiler:got Shinji drunk and slept with him.]] That is, in fact, rape [[spoiler:(Shinji could not give his consent due to his altered mental state but also he never consented to have sex with Kurumi because he thought she was Asuka).]] The author does not seem being aware of it, though, and he always treats Kurumi sympathetically.
* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: This story was written in 1999. Hence there is no mention to 9/11 and the War on Terror even though it delves into international politics. Likewise, the UN has become all but a world unified government, unlike what has happened in the real world where its power and influence has diminished. Christian fundamentalists are depicted as a dangerous threat whereas Islamic fundamentalists not even are mentioned.
* UnresolvedSexualTension: Between Shinji and Asuka prior to their reconciliation in 2020.
* UnwantedHarem: Shinji is a chick magnet but he does not really want any woman other than Asuka. In chapter 3 Kurumi tries to get close to him, and when Shinji shies away, she asks:
-->'''Kurumi''':''"Oh, what gives? Don't you like women hurling themselves at you?"''
[[/folder]]
[[folder:V-Z]]
* ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend: When an illegal Eva rampaged through China Asuka suggested deployed Unit 01… together with six Evas only in case. Misato only let her deploy two Units.
* VitriolicBestBuddies: Asuka and Hikari are friends since they were teenagers, but they enjoying poking fun at each other when they hang together. Mocking each other’s husband good-naturedly is almost a requirement during their reunions.
* TheWarRoom: HERZ’s base has one where the cast often holds meetings and reunions.
* WhamEpisode:
** Chapter 10 starts with news of [[spoiler:Shinji and Gendo having been kidnapped by SEELE simultaneously.]]
** Chapter 11 [[spoiler:reveals the Children’s plan. Rei mind-controls the new batch of MP-Evas. Shinji and Asuka become willing sacrifices to set off their own version of Third Impact. They destroy all original samples taken from Adam and Lilith. Rei seals herself, the Evas, the Seeds and the Spear into a new Moon. Oh, ans Asuka is pregnant again.]]
* WhatDoesSheSeeInHim:
** Kurumi never understood what Shinji saw in Asuka or why they got married.
** For that matter, her older sister does not get what Kurumi sees in Shinji.
--->'''Natsume'':''"Oh, your darling Shinji-kun! You know, I never really understood what you saw in him."''
* WhenSheSmiles: In chapter 10 Shinji imagines Asuka smiling such a beautiful smile that it was heart-breaking.
-->''Asuka. He imagined her standing at the end of a long polished corridor. She was in her HERZ uniform with her usual eye patch and arm harness. She held Akiko in her arms and smiled at him. It was a smile that could break his heart.''
* WhereTheyAreNow: The epilogue is meant to show the cast’s lives several years after the end of SEELE.
* WorkingWithTheEx: Variant. Although they did not properly dated, Kurumi was always after Shinji and she even [[spoiler:managed to have sex with him,]] but she was unable to win him over. The story starts out when she begins working in Shinji’s workplace.
* WorthyOpponent: Asuka regarded Shinji as her greatest rival because she respected him deep-down.
* XanatosGambit: The Children’s plan was fool-proof. If SEELE did not attack they won. If SEELE managed completing nine MP-Evas and attacked [[spoiler:they won because they could hijack them and use them to eliminate SEELE and the Evangelion technology.]]
* {{Yandere}}: Kurumi is not as extreme as other examples but she is dangerously obsessed with Shinji. She [[spoiler:took advantage of him when he got drunk]], and when she met him seven years later she still chased after him obsessively even though he was a married man and a father (bonus points by stalking him in the men’s locker rooms and then chasing him down their workplace despite of being naked).
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Rei is blue-haired. Misato is purple-haired, but her hair is already getting grey.
* YouNeedToGetLaid: Misato asked her subordinates if Asuka already knew Kurumi Kagero –a girl tried to romance Shinji in the past- had come back. They told her yes, Asuka knows and no, she is not angry. She is actually in an excellent mood today. Misato quips Shinji must be exhausted.
[[/folder]]
----
->'''Rei''':''"Are your hearts and minds still set on the plan? [...] There is much danger. You both might die."\\
'''Shinji and Asuka''':''"For the hope that Akiko-chan can have the chance to grow up and have her own chance at happiness, it's a risk we must take."''
----
