Glossaries _ Characters _ Gendo Ikari

Name: Gendo Ikari
Designation: Nerv Supreme Commander
Age:
Relations: Shinji Ikari (Son), Yui Ikari (Wife)
Episodes:

Japanese Voice: Fumihiko Tachiki
English Voice: Tristan MacAvery

About Gendo: Gendo Ikari is one of the most misunderstood characters in the Evangelion series.   "Oooh, he's eeeeviiiil!!!" is something I hear a lot, and sometimes its even accompanied by fingers to imitate devil horns.  Now, he may be hopelessly flawed, but he is by no means evil.  Many people believe he is evil, and quite a number of them most likely have never seen The End of Evangelion, in which we see Gendo plainly state out the explanation for all of his wrong doings and shortcomings as a person.  He is flawed, yes, but there's also a very distinct methodology to his character.

He commented to Fuyutsuki at one point on how he was familiar with being hated.  Being hated all of one's life is something few people can understand and relate to.   Living that kind of life will cause most people to go in one of two directions in response.  The first is that they become exceptionally good natured, attempting to be as honest and genuine as possible, hoping that their openess and integrity of character will garner themselves respect and the company of like minded individuals.  The second direction, is perfectly demonstrated by Gendo.  They are often self loathing, and feel completely worthless in every capacity, so they harden themselves, and alienate everyone around them in order to spare them the pain of having their expectations failed.   Gendo alienated his son Shinji, thinking he could never meet Shinji's expectations of him as a father.  He kept others at arms length in order to keep himself from being hurt, and as well, keep himself from hurting and letting others know how truly worthless he views himself as.

Many of the choices Gendo made in life, we view as devious and underhanded.  The way he (as the head of Nerv) consumed the Earth's less than abundant resources, the way he treated the pilots of the Evas, the way he had Jet Alone sabotaged, the way he nearly killed Touji, and how he (more than likely) had Kaji killed.  They were all done with the understanding that all humans would be joined together in instrumentality.  His knowledge that humanity is fundamentaly flawed and is heading towards a dead-end justifys and validates his actions.  "The ends justify the means" is something he perscribes to, because in the end it doesn't matter, so long as we get there.

As we can expect, Gendo is not nearly that noble, as he wasn't doing it for the rest of humanity, but for the one and only person who ever truly loved him, his wife, Yui Ikari.   It may seem selfish in a way, that his one thought was seeing his wife again, but who would not do the same in his position?

Gendo as a character has his share of flaws, which resonates fairly well with his views of humanity, but it would be incorrect to label him as evil, and discount any thought or methodology to his actions.  He is like most of the characters in the show.... unique, compelling, and most importantly, human.

Relevent Resources:
Blacknoah, Kain S. - Why I like Gendo Ikari