The Japanese anime television series Neon Genesis Evangelion has an extensive cast of characters that were created by Gainax. The show's protagonist is Shinji Ikari, a teenage boy whose father Gendo recruits to the shadowy organization Nerv to pilot a giant, bio-machine mecha called an Evangelion and fight against beings called Angels.
The character designs were drawn by artist Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, who designed each character to be easily identifiable from their silhouette. The personalities were based on that of Hideaki Anno, the show's director and main scriptwriter. Many of the heroes in the second half of the series suffer trauma or physical violence that exacerbates their anxieties and fears, and the episodes give ample space to their inner monologues, in which they question the meaning of their actions and lives. This narrative choice culminates in the two final episodes, whose narrative pivots on Shinji's streams of consciousness; the finale, however, does not clearly conclude the plot.
In Japan, the characters received favorable audience reception, becoming the subjects of merchandise and winning popularity polls. Critics had mixed feelings about their psychological depth; some reviewers appreciated their complexity and depth and praised Anno's script, but others found the characters to be stereotypical or problematic, and disliked the insistence on their weaknesses and characterization. The show's last two episodes proved to be controversial, since the plot is eclipsed by moments of introspection. Some of the main heroes, especially Rei Ayanami, inspired later anime series, creating or helping to spread new stereotypes in Japanese animated productions.