Berserk Button/Anime and Manga/Neon Genesis Evangelion: Difference between revisions

** Series protagonist Shinji Ikari, the pilot of the Evangelion Unit 01, gets his Berserk Button pushed more often, and to more disastrous effect, than any other character. An ironic trait, as [[Beware the Nice Ones|his usual demeanor is so timid and passive]]. Many of the key Berserk Button moments are involuntary, the result of Shinji's Eva unit being knocked out of commission... and a certain subdued consciousness {{spoiler|(presumably his mother Yui)}} within the Eva taking control to avoid obliteration. On another level, however, the Eva units are adult extrapolations of of the children who pilot them. Shinji's Berserk Button is often connected to his feelings about his father and about his own powerlessness.

*** In the ''alternate universe'' retelling of the series, ''Evangelion 2.0'', Shinji gained a new Berserk Button. '''For the love of all that's holy, don't you dare harm Rei.''' If you do, prepare to have him [[Eye Beam]] and [[Mind Rape]] you to death, complete with {{spoiler|a spectral form that looks like blue-white flames crowned with red [[Glowing Eyes of Doom]] and a halo}}. You don't believe me? Ask Zeruel.

'''Shinji''': I don't care what happens to me... I don't care what happens to the world... But Ayanami... If nothing else, only Ayanami... '''I SWEAR I'LL SAVE HER!!!''' ''(knocks down Zeruel with an [[Eye Beam]])'' }}

*** ''Manga'' Shinji starkly replaces anime Shinji's lethargic passiveness with passive-aggressiveness and sometimes hot-headedness. He has attempted to punch his father Gendou (albeit with good reason), and his general attitude to others, including Asuka, is grumpier: the manga's Shinji gets irritated at behavior that the anime's Shinji would simply retreat from.