yet another application;
[PLAYER INFO]
NAME: Noodles
AGE: 20
JOURNAL: thanoodles
IM: -
E-MAIL: -
RETURNING: n/a
[CHARACTER INFO]
CHARACTER NAME: Kaworu Nagisa (Tabris).
FANDOM: Neon Genesis Evangelion, mangaverse.
CHRONOLOGY: Volume 11 of the manga, after his discussion with Shinji by the shore.
CLASS: 'Lay Low For As Long As You Can'.
SUPERHERO NAME: n/a
ALTER EGO: Kaworu, the Japanese albino student that likes to harass teenagers with low self-esteem and daddy issues.
BACKGROUND:
Neon Genesis Evangelion takes place in an alternate version of the (very) close future, where a world wide catastrophe known as the Second Impact changed the planet's geography and civilization. Fifteen years after this event, modern society is technologically advanced and concentrated in metropolises surrounded by ruins. Creatures of giant proportion have begun to appear one after the other, attacking one place in specific - the city of Tokyo-3. Preparations have been made for these attacks, however. In the form of giant mecha (later revealed to be organic forms with incorporated armor and control panels) piloted by carefully selected teenagers. The attackers are referred to as Angels and manifest in various shapes and forms. They go from giant monsters to something very similar to a human.
Enter Kaworu.
Kaworu is found by the protagonist of the story (Shinji Ikari, the Third Child and angst bucket extraordinaire) playing piano in the ruins of a church. Kaworu claims to have gotten lost on his way to school and asks Shinji for help, seeing as they have identical uniforms. During their walk, a stray kitten is found. Kaworu picks it up and gives it a quick death, much to Shinji's horror. He explains that it would have been better to give it a merciful death than to let it starve.
Kaworu follows Shinji to Nerv HQ after the Third Child finds himself incapable of facing his colleagues, feeling responsible for the recent death of their mutual friend. Kaworu stands by and watches as Asuka goes up against the Angel Arael and her fall into a comatose state from the shock and psychological nature of its attack.
Kaworu has been appointed as the Fifth Child and pilot of Unit 02, battling the Angel Armisael alongside Rei Ayanami, the First Child. The nature of the events that take place during its attack make it so a part of Rei's emotions pass onto Kaworu, bringing him to shed tears and develop the same romantic feelings she had for Shinji. Rei dies after activating the self-destruct sequence on her Evangelion.
During the aftermath of the battle, Shinji asks to spend a few days in Kaworu's apartment, away from everyone else who got affected by Rei's death. As the wikipedia article puts it: «...Shinji stays in Kaworu's apartment rather than go home to Misato, believing that being around the emotionally distant Kaworu would be more tolerable than being around people who would also be sad about Rei's death.» [le source]
During that night, Kaworu wakes when he hears Shinji hyperventilating. In the absence of option A - a paper bag - Kaworu decides to do a mouth-to-mouth to help him breathe again. Once Shinji relaxes and finds out what happened, he immediately lashes out. It is then that Kaworu confronts him with questions about love and what would happen if his feelings were retributed. Their conversation is cut short by a phonecall informing Shinji that Rei is still alive. He takes off immediately, leaving the apartment with his things the day after.
Kaworu meets with the 'revived' Rei. After an exchange of words, he takes off to find Shinji by the shore. He eventually demands to know how Shinji feels about him, only to be told that he will never consider him a friend. He leaves, upset. Suddenly whambamshalam and he's ported away.
PERSONALITY:
A person's first impression of Kaworu is that he is quiet, observant and perceptive. He seems to pay mind to smaller details that are easily missed by others. There is a clear, unsettling ambiguity in the way carries himself and speaks his mind, either with blunt remarks or cryptic observations.
He does appear to have a genuine curiosity in regards to human behavior, however. Kaworu finds himself striking one's nerves more often than not with his questions and observations. The reactions caused by him are mostly welcomed with either a surprising or disappointing effect on his part. Sometimes, he allows himself to show an intentionally provocative streak. Though he appears to be very knowledgeable about certain habits and psychological aspects of human behavior, there is also a lot he doesn't understand (or know how to handle) and deems as being pointless or hard to grasp - sometimes even frustrating - mostly thanks to the lack of interaction he has had throughout his life. This would explain the way he behaves after Rei's will and emotions flow to him (during the battle against the Angel Armisael).
Unlike his anime counterpart, Kaworu shows streaks of jealousy, selfishness, rudeness and brutal honesty, throwing out opinions with a smirk and/or condescending smile. He has little to no qualms about making demands in a visibly upset demeanor. You can say that (despite being considerably secretive) Kaworu does not have have a lot of experience in hiding stronger emotions (either because he doesn't really know how, or simply because he doesn't care).
He has a logical and objective sense of priorities; logical solutions, etc. and is unable of comprehending (or taking into account) the human factors that, in his opinion, only end up complicating matters without necessity. Again - any expression of surprise or confusion can either come off as genuine or ambiguous.
On a related note: Despite having his mindset in following the orders of the 'old men' (as he refers to them) from SEELE, Kaworu allows himself to get sidetracked from his objective by attempting to analyze the individuals he interacts with. The flow of Rei's emotions into him apparently cause him to demonstrate an ever bigger interest in Shinji, which leads him to take actions that only contribute to shutting the Third Child away from any kind of friendship. This upsets Kaworu, who fails to understand how to cope with these feelings - or why Shinji won't accept them, despite his efforts.
Despite being fully aware of his mission and reason to exist, Kaworu is known as Tabris, the Angel of Free Will. Even knowing the 'old men' have control over his destiny, he desperately seeks to have a choice in how it is carried out. He wishes to take control of his life, conditioned entirely by those who created his body and kept him within their grasp since his awakening during Second Impact. At the end of his life (which has not yet happened at the chosen canon point), being faced with no alternatives other than death, he still chooses the manner in which he will die.
POWER:
CANON - A.T. Field (virtually impenetrable shield), which (assumingly) can be used for telekinesis and to interfere with technology.
[CHARACTER SAMPLES]
COMMUNITY POST (FIRST PERSON) SAMPLE:
This situation is very inconvenient, to say the least.
I have no recollection of having been sent--or appointed--to this place, so I believe it is safe to assume that wasn't the case.
It does not appear to be a kidnapping; the conditions do not match. I am free to leave this building and use this device to interact with others... So is this an experiment, of sorts? To observe how I would react, faced with adversities I do not fully understand?
Whomever was thoughtful enough to plan this surely must not have left anything to chance, so it would be pointless to expect to be missed or found by those who would notice my absence. [That is probably a good thing, for now.]
Hm. Ah - I should introduce myself to the community, isn't that right?
My name is Kaworu Nagisa. I am the Fifth Child, assigned to Tokyo-3's NERV Headquarters to be the substitute pilot of Evangelion Unit 02.
LOGS POST (THIRD PERSON) SAMPLE: Kaworu threw the magazine against the wall, only seconds after trying to convince himself that whatever he was(n't) reading should be enough to keep his mind off what had taken place only minutes ago.
A glance. Going home?
Yeah. Sorry for staying over so many days.
Kaworu frowned. Shinji wouldn't even bother to turn his head and face him. He sat up on his bed, arching an eyebrow at the brunet. Lips curled up, cynically--despite everything, Shinji's actions and words were so... predictable. Unsatisfactorily so.
Sorry, huh? An exhale, not quite a laugh. You don't really mean that, do you?
The brunet lowered his head before him. Kaworu dropped his shoulders. His expression softened, but he felt more tension. Suddenly, guilt became audible in Shinji's tone. Kaworu wondered where it came from: did Shinji really feel bad for having taken up his personal space (if could even be considered such), or simply because he had been called out on a lie?
Kaworu decided it was the latter.
I'm very grateful. See you later.
Shinji didn't look back for one second, and the door shut, leaving Kaworu alone and looking away, unseeing. Thoughts began to form a turmoil, and that unpleasant feeling clutching at his chest returned to replace the cold cynicism he'd shown to the Third Child. It was troublesome, and though it caused a level of interest, he also found himself rejecting its presence. Wishing it had never appeared at all. Wishing there was something he could do about it. Wishing Shinji had done something about it.
Was this how Lilim felt all the time?
It was almost an analytical question. He had barely begun experiencing them himself. Self-absorption, jealousy, attention to the well-being of another individual (for selfish reasons, no doubt) ... Indeed, they were complicated. Perhaps that was why Lilim insisted in complicating matters for others, and themselves. Problems beget problems.
Kaworu didn't like it. All of their matters had seemed so small, insignificant from the outside. Entertaining to watch, yes - though just as prone to causing petulance. After all, emotions only seemed to factor in clouding their thoughts, their rationality. It led them to make poor decisions.
Rei Ayanami, the First Child... she who possessed the soul of Lilith in a human body, who had been created and brought up under conditions very similar to his own - even she had been able to develop these emotions on her own, simply by living alongside Lilim.
Were all living creatures condemned to be infected by them?
FINAL NOTES ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER:
didn't get the chance to specify in the background that Kaworu is the last Angel, aka Tabris, sent by SEELE to infiltrate Nerv HQ and reach the Terminal Dogma, where it is believed that he will return to Adam - the original Angel. He has yet to find out that they are keeping Lilith there.