These are recommendations made by Tropers for Neon Genesis Evangelion Peggy Sue fics, all of which have to be signed to stay on the page. Feel free to add a fanfic of your own to the list, but remember to use the template found here.
You can also add to the current recommendations if you want. Refrain from posting Conversation in the Main Page though; that goes in the discussion page.
What the statuses mean
- Complete - Exactly What It Says on the Tin
- Ongoing - The fic is being updated on a regular basisnote , or has received an update after being tagged as Dormant or Dead.
- Dormant - Either: The author has placed the fic on hiatus; or the fic has gone for several months to a year or more without an update but the author has not pronounced it dead.
- Dead - The fic has not been updated in several years, or the author has specifically said that it will not be updated.
Some of the fics on this page feature content intended for older audiences. Please pay attention to the Tags sections on the recs, and check the pages for any tags you're not familiar with. You've been warned.
Neon Genesis Evangelion Redux
by Squire of Gothos- Recommended by: Tropers/Magyareagle
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: Neon Genesis Evangelion romance/drama with Groundhog Day elements and a little humor thrown in. Sx R. The pilots find themselves caught in a time-loop, and as things grow ever stranger, will they be able to figure out what's happening without going insane?
1 ReviewMaking a Difference by Random Char Clone
- Recommended by: Inkki Bookman
- Status: Dormant
- Synopsis: Forty years after saving the world from 3rd Impact, Rei, Shinji and Asuka were sent back in time to when Shinji was first picked up by Misato. The twist is that this past is somewhat different in that Shinji lives with Misato at the base instead of the apartment and instead of a school, he now has to go to a military Academy, not to mention how the Angel timeline seems to be off as well.
- Pairings: Shinji/Asuka
Taking Sights by Lavanya Six (Link)(Also available in a Russian translation)
- Recommended by: Guessmyname, Looney Toons, X Shouldve Died, Willbyr, Nerdorama, lanky, RagnarTheSemiGreen
- Status: Dormant
- Synopsis: It's another Peggy Sue, except that this time Gendo goes back. And he's still the same bastard he was when the series ended, but he's manipulating the people around him for a different goal.
The Second Try by Jimmy Wolk (Also on FF.Net, EvaFics.Org and EvaMade, which the author recommends over his own site, although his site also contains his fan art, much of which is hilarious.)
- Recommended by: Nerdorama, Shay Guy, Willbyr, SRW Fan, Ragnar The Semi Green, Maymei, Machrider 1985, Robinton
- Status: Complete
- Pairing: Shinji/Asuka
- Synopsis: A combined post-3I/Peggy Sue fic, detailing both Shinji and Asuka's life after End of Evangelion and their having been returned to the start of the story.
- There is now a manga/FanWebComic sequel in progress: Aki-chan's Life
- There is now a manga/FanWebComic sequel
Once More with Feeling, by Crazy-88 (link and link)
- Recommended by: Guessmyname, Looney Toons, Chuckg, Willbyr, Nerdorama, SirTelekineticSquirrel, SRW Fan, RagnarTheSemiGreen, Machrider 1985
- Status: Dead
- Synopsis: During Instrumentality, Lilith asks Shinji one important question. His reply sends him back to the start of the series, where maybe he can make things better than what they were the first time around.
- Pairings: Shinji/Asuka, Rei/Kensuke, Toji/Hikari
Unbroken by Donderkind
- Recommended by: Looney Toons Kendrix, SRW Fan, Machrider 1985
- Status: Dormant (last updated May 2017)
- Pairing: Shinji/Asuka
- Synopsis: After spending a year scratching out a bare survival existence in the frozen post-Third-Impact wasteland of Japan while taking care of a catatonic Shinji, Asuka encounters Rei/Lilith, who has found the effective destruction of the world at Shinji's hands an undesirable outcome to Instrumentality. Rei/Lilith gives Asuka the chance to go back and help Shinji, so that he will choose differently when the power of creation is given into his hands. Asuka agrees and is promptly sent back in time two years. But while her attitudes and intentions may have changed due to her post-Third-Impact experiences, her methods and style haven't — and it seems likely that her impulsive and direct approach may do more harm than good. Worse, Rei has noticed the changes in her, her EVA doesn't recognize her any more, and her warning to Kaji about investigating the Human Instrumentality Project has him worried and suspicious about what she knows and how...
- Recommended by: Universalperson, Berix
- Status: Dead
- Synopsis: Shinji gets sent back in time. The catch is that everyone is acting different. Almost as though they were sent back in time too...
NGE Mitigation by FourthImpact
- Recommended by: fishboy210, SRW Fan, Machrider 1985
- Status: Dormant, possibly Dead
- Pairing: Shinji/Asuka
- Synopsis: Asuka uses one of Gendo's more secretive projects to go back in time. She comes back at an inopportune moment during the Sixth Angel battle. From there, the changes to the timeline start to stack up in an interesting way. Of course, Gendo being Gendo, he knows someone used his time machine and has plans within plans in place to deal with it.
Higher Learning by Strike-Fiss
- Recommended by: Machrider 1985
- Synopsis: A new teacher called Kaoru Miyazaki starts to work in Shinji, Asuka and Rei’s school. His lessons and advices motivate the Children to look at things differently and consider other possibilities, and help them to mature and be slightly readier to face their future trials. At the same time, someone is influencing Gendo’s scenario in little ways, making subtle changes. And Gendo is determined to find out who is and put a stop to that person’s interference.
- One of the first Peggy Sue Eva fics, and still it subverts most of tropes that later would become common.
- Pairing(s): Shinji/Asuka
- Status: Completed.
- Tags: Romance, Drama, W.A.F.F..
- Recommended by: Mach Rider 1985, Berix
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: After Instrumentality Shinji, Asuka and other characters have traveled back in time with their intact memories... but instead of keeping their old bodies or reincarnating into their younger selves they have been reborn into completely different people -Shinji became a German violinist; Asuka a German army captain ad UN Auditor; Misato a German army general; and so on...-. So that rather setting out to influence events directly, they opt to work behind the scenes, infiltrate Nerv as average, clueless employees, and mentor and support the Children without raising suspicions. They are also well aware that their knowledge of the future will become useless after a while due to them altering the past.
- Pairing(s): Shinji/Asuka, Hikari/Toji
- Tags: Sci-Fi, Romance
Fruity Loops by Spider Lobb
- Recommended by: Mach Rider 1985
- Status: Dead (last updated December 2016 - has since been taken down by the author)
- Synopsis: After Instrumentality Shinji finds himself stuck in a time loop: every time he dies he returns to the day of his first battle, dragging Asuka and Rei along... though he dies a lot and often right away, and the timeline skipping backward constantly is getting weird effects on the three pilots. Shinji becomes a raving lunatic for several loops, and Asuka and Rei start to bond while he gets over it. All of a sudden Shinji finds both girls love each other and consider him theirs, and he wonders if he can try over and again until the three of them are happy.
- Pairing(s): Shinji/Asuka/Rei (three-ways relationship, no harem)
- Tags: Crack Fic, Humor, Romance, Drama
Doing It Right This Time by Jake
- Recommended by: Mach Rider 1985, Pendragon Da Great
- Status: Dormant; last updated April 2021, with a smattering of preview snippets since
- Synopsis: Three months before the attack of Third Angel, Shinji signed up for martial arts classes, Asuka sent a long and detailed e-mail to Kaji telling him several things he was not previously aware of, and Rei walked into Commander Ikari's office and slapped him. Hard. Events had ceased to proceed according to the Scenario. There no longer was a scenario. There was now only delicious crack.
- Pairing: Shinji/Asuka/Rei three-ways romance (because the author read Advice and Trust and he really wished the "Israfel Special" became real)
- Tags: Crack Fic, Humor, Romance, Drama
Coupled Effort by Ranma-sensei (links to old versions: link link)
- Recommended by: Mach Rider 1985
- Status: Ongoing
- Synopsis: After Instrumentality the three Children return to the past in the middle of the battle against Sandalphon... and Shinji and Asuka decide getting married inmediately. However Rei returned right after Shinji's choice, whereas Shinji and Asuka spent ten years surviving alone in the devastated world, forced to lean on and help each other in order to survive, before going back. Unfortunately Shinji became a tad -more- mind-broken and aggressive in the process, and Asuka of all people has to be the voice of reason among her fellow pilots and future family.
- Pairing(s): Shinji/Asuka
- Tags: Romance, Humor, Drama
Dr Strangelove, Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The N2 Mine by Rorschach's Blot
- Recommended by: Daethalion
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: After Instrumentality, Shinji is sent back to the beginning by... let's call it the will of the universe. He immediately tries to escape the city, but dies in the N2 mine's blast zone. So he gets sent back again, and again, until he can get things right. He does not try to get things right. At all. Hilarity Ensues.
- Tags: Humor, Crack Fic
Samsara by Chuckman
- Recommended by: shawnmstewart
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: After the events of Episode 15, Shinji wishes that he could have a good day for once, and subsequently finds himself reliving that particular day over and over again. He soon discovers that Asuka is also in need of a good day, and tries to ensure she has one - which proves surprisingly difficult. Shinji also introduces Rei to caffeine. Relatively short and very funny.
- Pairing(s): Shinji/Asuka, Kaji/Misato
- Tags: Humor
Relapse by shadowfang6421
- Recommended by: Berix
- Status: Ongoing
- Synopsis: "It's shocking how simple it is to tear the world apart, but rebuilding it, that isn't so easy." the older man mused. "I know," the boy replied, that weight in his chest a bit too heavy "I can't remember the last time I wasn't trying to fix it." (Bridge between NGE - Rebuild)
The One In Your Life by Talon Empire
- Recommended by: Air Guitar 035
- Status: Complete
- Synopis: Shinji Ikari, after getting tired of fighting against his father in his countless lives, finally decided to help him with his scenario - under only one, but an unnegotiable condition.
- Pairing(s): Shinji/Asuka
- Tags: Angst/Romance
Compromises by ''LVDB
- Recommended by: TNO
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: Shinji has a talk with Gendo after coming to NERV.
- Pairing(s): Shinji/Asuka
- Tags: One Shot, Dark Fic
History Rhymes In Love by OddzandEnz/BeyondtheDarkside101 (FF.net link)
- Recommended by: Ariachus
- Synopsis: Asuka finds herself back in the past, prior to meeting Shinji. She starts making plans to prevent her worse traumas, but she soon finds out that Shinji and even Gendo are acting strangely. Maybe it is because both Ikaris have been plotting against each other through hundreds of time-loops, unaware of each other's time-looping status.
- Pairing(s): Shinji/Asuka
- Tags: Romance, Drama, Peggy Sue
The Girl Who Shouted I At The Heart Of The World by A.F. Oliver
- Recommended by: L Dragon 2
- Status: Ongoing
- Synopsis: Few get a second chance at living, let alone two or three. Rei Ayanami never knew what to do with the lives she had until it was too late. Getting another chance at living could mean a world of difference. After all, life is an ever changing thing and even the smallest of changes can reverberate across the world.
- Pairing(s): Shinji/Rei
- Tags: Romance, Drama, Peggy Sue
