Kaworu Nagisa

Name: Kaworu Nagisa
Age: 15
Birthday: September 13, 2000
Sex: Male
Classification: The Fifth Child
Piloting: Evangelion Unit-02

Kaworu Nagisa is the Fifth Child and pilot of Evangelion Unit-02. Unlike the other children who were selected by NERV Headquarters, Kaworu was sent directly from SEELE as a replacement pilot following Asuka Langley Sohryu's mental collapse. Kaworu's physical appearance (pale complexion with distinctive red eyes), is similar to that of Rei Ayanami, the First Child.

Kaworu is dignified, intelligent, kind, and outright friendly. During his brief stay at NERV, he manages to befriend Shinji Ikari, the Third Child and pilot of Evangelion Unit-01. He also encounters and has a brief yet baffling conversation with Rei Ayanami.

Kaworu however is not what he seems. He is also known as Tabris, the Seventeenth Angel. His physical body is similar to Rei's, in the sense that they are both clones. While Rei was cloned from the DNA of Lilith and Yui Ikari, Kaworu was cloned from the DNA of Adam, and is believed to posses the Soul of Adam himself. As a result, Kaworu can easily synchronize with Evangelion Unit-02, which is also a construct born of Adam's flesh.

SEELE has for some time suspected that NERV Commander Gendo Ikari has betrayed them. In their efforts to derail his plans, they sent Tabris directly into NERV Headquarters, misinforming the final Angel that the crucified giant inside Terminal Dogma was in fact Adam, all the while hoping he would make contact with it and jump start their version of the Human Instrumentality Project.

Eventually Kaworu remotely synchronizes with Evangelion Unit-02 and proceeds into Terminal Dogma, with Shinji Ikari and Evangelion Unit-01 in pursuit. Upon reaching Terminal Dogma, Kaworu realizes that the giant crucified there is in fact Lilith and not Adam as he was told. Following this revelation, he allows Shinji to kill him, saying 'This is my wish: please, destroy me. Otherwise, you will be destroyed. Only one life form can be chosen to evade the destruction and seize the future! And you are not the existence which should die. You need the future; it is what you live for!'

Rebuild of Evangelion

Kaworu Nagisa briefly appears at the end of the 2008 feature film Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone. He is awakened by SEELE on the barren surface of the Moon, where he engages in brief, cryptic conversation with one SEELE monolith, saying that 'the third one' has not changed at all and that he looks forward to meeting Shinji.

In front of Kaworu is an unknown white giant who resembles Lilith as seen in the original series. The giant wears SEELE's purple 'seven-eyes-of-God' mask and is surrounded by construction and scaffolding.

Analysis

• Final act of compassion or attrition?
  
  It is debatable whether Kaworu's self-sacrifice is a sincere act of compassion for the Human race (the Lilim), or an attack against it. By asking Shinji Ikari to murder him after befriending him, the Angel is effectively dealing the final blow to Shinji's already deteriorating mental state. The previous two Angels also employed similar mental or psychological attacks. Asuka Langley Sohryu is left comatose following psychological rape by Arael, and Rei Ayanami commits suicide following psychological contact with Armisael. It is therefore feasible that Tabris represents this type of encounter for Shinji. It proves highly effective, leaving Shinji emotionally paralyzed.