Shinji is the son of Commander Gendo Ikari and the third child who pilots Eva Unit 01. Shinji character is a isolated and cowardly personality, mostly due to his father abandoning him when he was an infant. His relationship with his father is distant only Misato Katsuragi is the most closest to him as she takes him to live with her and becomes his guardian.
His closest friends are Toji Suzuhara and. During Episode: 18 "Ambivalence" he refuses to destroy Eva 03 that is taken over by an Angel because of the pilot inside the Eva but Shinji does not know it is Toji. Commander Ikari uses the dummy plug (auto pilot) of Eva 01 as Shinji will not destroy Eva 03, the auto pilot kills Toji forcing Shinji to quit NERV when he discovers it was his best friend.
Rei Ayanami is the pilot of Eva 00 the prototype and is also the first child. She is often a quite and calm character, only social interacting with Commander Ikari which often causes concern and questions by Shinji as to what is their relationships. Later on the series the truth is discovered about Rei, Ritsuko Akagi explains to Shinji & Misato in episode that Rei is created from Shinji's mother and also cloned easy to replace with spare parts.
The second child who pilots Eva 02, Asuka is a troubled child often requiring attention and is jealous of Rei and Shinji due to their exceptional piloting skills with their Eva's but mainly when Shinji and Rei start to become close.
Her childhood was not an easy time as her mother had a mental illness that made her believe a doll was Asuka, leading Asuka to have a hatred of dolls and people who inhibit that behavior for example Rei.
Near the end of the series she begins to experience a mental breakdown forcing NERV to find a replacement, the fifth child Kaworu Nagisa.
In the series Toji is seen as a bully or the mostpopular male in the school, he punches Shinji in Episode: 3 - "A transfer" because during Shinji's first fight with the third Angel Sachiel Toji sister was badly injured. Toji eventually becomes friends with Shinji when he sees how mentally and physically hard it is to pilot a Eva.
Toji is the fourth child and was assigned to pilot Eva unit 03 but however it is taken over by the thirteenth Angel, Bardiel which infects the Eva when it passed through a cloud on route to Japan from the USA. Eva 01 is left with the responsibility to destroy Eva 03 now classed as an Angel but Shinji refuses as he discovers the entry plug in the Eva knowing the forth child would be in there too but is unaware of the identity of the pilot.
Kaworu appears near the end of the series, he is Asuka replacement for Eva 02 after she becomes more depressed. It becomes apparent that Kaworu is in fact the seventeenth Angel, Tabris. He has come to NERV so he can initiate the third impact.
Major Misato previous rank Captain during the early episodes, Misato is found to of survived the second impact in Antarctica when her father placed her in a capsule. After the second impact she never spoke becoming a mute to and not socially interacting with anyone for a few years.
Misato is the guardians of the children and becomes a mentor to Shinji as his father ignores his existence, her former love interest is Ryoji Kaji who encourages her to find the truth about the Eva and Rei.
Ritsuko Akagi is the head scientist who has knowledge about the truth behind Rei, the Evas and their objectives. She is a intelligent and hard working character with no apperent time for romance.One of friends is Misato who they have both known for many years but their relationship is tested when Misato slowly discovers the truth about the whole project and knows Ritsuko has knowledge on it but is keeping it from her.
Kaji is an inspector investigating NERV who had a relationship with Misato Katsuragi, he encourages her to find out for herself the motive behind NERV and the Evas. Kaji is killed near the end of the series which leads Misato realizes she cared about Ryoji, the killer is not known.
Gendo Ikari is the father of Shinji the third child, he is also head of NERV's Human Instrumentality Project. With Shinji he is very distant taking no interest in him and leaves Misato to be his guardian. Gendo wife was killed in a accident with Eva Unit 01 in which her soul was trapped inside the Unit, this enabled the pilot Shinji to control the Eva.
Even though Gendo is working with SEELE in regards to their plans it is reveled that he has his own, when he tries at the end of the series to start the third impact to resurrect his wife.
Kensuke is another one of Shinji and Toji friends, he is also a military enthusiast and is determined to become a Eva pilot.
