vatheon application;

[the12th]

☆ Player - - -

( Player Name ) : jaz
( Personal DW ) : poisonparfait
( Age ) : 23
( Timezone ) : EST
( Other Characters ) : none

☆ Character - - -

( Character's Name ) : Kaworu Nagisa / Tabris
( Character's Age ) : 15
( Series ) : Neon Genesis Evangelion manga
( Canon Point ) : Post death

( History ) :
NOTE: Manga Kaworu doesn't really have his own informative link anywhere, but there are articles comparing anime vs manga and the differences between them. I hope that suffices!
Anime Kaworu, and manga Kaworu's differences, under Sadamoto's Manga.

( Personality ) :
Largely, Kaworu's first impression on those who interact with him is "inhuman", and it's not an incorrect assertion to make based on how he carries himself. And, because, you know, he isn't human.

That aside, Kaworu has a handful of bad qualities that manifest as an impression of being something Other. Though not intentionally, he's rather rude—he disregards people's personal space and will invite himself into other people's business based on his own personal curiosity, and curiosity is something Kaworu is filled to the brim with. He also asserts insensitive opinions that are based on objective understanding rather than emotional sensitivity. An example of this is when Kaworu tries to cheer up a traumatized Shinji grieving Rei's death by explaining that it couldn't be helped, because she was stupid. He seems surprised when Shinji becomes angry enough to attempt to assault Kaworu in his emotionally fragile state. And when Asuka's mind was assaulted by an angel while Shinji was being held captive in stand-by, all Kaworu really had to say was that the battle was becoming interesting/amusing, which also irritated and offended Shinji.

Additionally, when Kaworu and Shinji first meet, Kaworu found Shinji with a small, starving kitten. Shinji expressed with some distress that he couldn't take care of the kitten as he tried to leave it behind, and so Kaworu handled the situation by crushing the kitten to death in his hands. To Shinji's upset, Kaworu explained that killing the kitten was kinder, if it had no mother and was fated to slowly starve to death. While his point was not untrue, Kaworu expressed no hesitation in doing any of this, and he expressed his logic with a smile. Obviously, no normal 15 year old would do things like this, and so Shinji instantly carries a bad impression of Kaworu and becomes wary of him in stark contrast to his immediate bonding with Kaworu's counterpart in the anime.

Kaworu alienates himself further when he follows Asuka's voice into the women's room to hear her complaining about her period. When she accuses him of being a pervert, he expresses bland confusion, since he doesn't know what a pervert is or what the big deal about coming into a women's space is. He also grabs Rei's wrist as she passes him at some point, and asserts that they are the same (angels). She rejects his sentiment, and he seems a little put off, but doesn't attempt to reach out to her any further. These qualities could be because of a possible lack of proper socialization on Kaworu's part as a teenager, similar to Rei. However, unlike Rei, Kaworu's extroverted and actively seeks answers and stimulation.

It's been implied that Kaworu was kept by SEELE since the second impact. It's not totally clear, but it seems like Kaworu's upbringing was similar to Rei's; because of his true nature as an angel, it's likely they didn't trust him too far out of their grasp, even given the agreement Kaworu—Tabris—had with the elites of SEELE. In the manga, we're shown Kaworu floating in a tube similar to the dummy entry plug that we've seen Rei inhabit, and it's not unlikely that he's spent a lot of time in there in rest before embarking on his mission as an angel. This would explain his lack of understanding of casual terminologies, lack of manners/understanding of social cues, and trouble in expressing himself.

Despite his disturbing lack of human qualities, Kaworu finds himself deeply interested in the way humans behave. He's constantly verbally analyzing Shinji's contradictory behavior, saying things like "you desire closeness from people, yet you push them away", and says that he finds that funny. Again, it's because Kaworu doesn't understand how these things are borne of human society. He also observes Shinji's grief and his explosive anger regarding other people, and how he's completely consumed by his emotions because he loves people (Rei, Asuka). He recognizes these qualities are to the detriment of humans and as an Angel, he seeks to erase it, but he also says that he cannot tire of watching it. It seems that Kaworu finds humans quite novel, and is possibly more endeared by them than anything, Shinji in particular.

Perhaps because of his human shell, while Kaworu keeps recognizing these things objectively, he eventually seems to start become taken in by some of those same ugly human qualities. Being an angel doesn't necessarily make him exempt of these things, and Rei is a good example of this as well—despite what she truly is, she has real feelings of love for both Shinji and his father. During a battle with an angel that infects the soul, Kaworu experienced Rei's deepest and most personal emotions; he was overwhelmed by the love she feels for Shinji, such that he cried involuntarily (for what seemed like the first time). It could be that this was Kaworu's introduction to extreme emotions, and that after that, he started to develop his own sense of emotions.

After the battle, when Shinji is staying with Kaworu in his NERV based apartment, Kaworu describes what he felt through Rei, calling it tepid, disgusting and sticky in his chest. He then expressed inappropriate curiosity about love, asking what it might feel like if Shinji came to love him while physically advancing on him. When Shinji slaps his hand away and expresses that it's abnormal for two boys to love each other, Kaworu seems upset and demands to know why Shinji hates him so much, seeming to not understand the stigma behind homosexuality. When Shinji leaves because Rei survived after all, Kaworu seems sour that he only got an empty/formal "thank you" and "sorry", rather than any sort of good-bye. He introspectively says that Shinji is self absorbed for leaving as soon as it seems Rei has survived, then gets upset and throws his magazine at the floor in a bit of a petulant show of his frustration and jealousy. Though not bothered initially, Shinji's rejection starts to bother Kaworu a lot.

It's possible he doesn't fully understand his feelings for Shinji, but it's clear that he craves Shinji's validation and acceptance. He also frequently tries to initiate physical contact, and when Shinji hyperventilates in his sleep during his stay, Kaworu seems concerned for him and tries to remedy it, thinking of getting a bag—but instead he does mouth to mouth on Shinji. Kaworu becomes inappropriately flushed during the resuscitation, seeming to derive some merit of sexual thrill from his actions, and doesn't flinch when Shinji shows confusion and disgust when he's fully awake. His attraction to Shinji is clear, but he expresses it more and more inappropriately the more it develops.

Kaworu tries to reach out to Shinji one last time after Asuka becomes comatose. He tries to explain that he and Shinji ought to be friends because Shinji has no one left, and seems upset when Shinji explains that he doesn't need any more friends because he can't deal with the grief of leaving them. Kaworu shouts that it isn't what he wants to hear, that what he wants is to hear what Shinji thinks about him, and Shinji essentially tells him he dislikes Kaworu. And so Kaworu leaves, seeming to at last ultimately accept the fact that they can't be close. It's another good example of Kaworu's individuality as a person developing, and like a child (again, likely due to being socially stunted), he seems to put his personal feelings over the feelings of others, not seeming to notice or understand why that might be the wrong way to make friends.

Without any ties to feel remorse, Kaworu then embarks on infiltrating terminal dogma in NERV HQ. The base becomes alive with alert and Shinji is stationed to battle Kaworu, who is then revealed as the 12th angel. As Shinji attacks, he demands to know why Kaworu was acting friendly despite his true nature, trying to do unnecessary things like form bonds. It's possible that Kaworu was trying to utilize his brief freedom and human qualities before his death for the sake of learning and passing time. He says that it should be no problem for Shinji to fight him, essentially, because he doesn't like Kaworu, and because they aren't friends.

Finally, Kaworu emotionally blackmails Shinji into killing him, saying that it would be an act of mercy and kindness, comparing himself to the kitten he killed when they first met. He says it should be easy, since Shinji dislikes him, not understanding, once again, that things aren't that simple in human affairs. And so he forces the object of his interest to assist in his suicide, not understanding why doing something like that is cruel.

So in short, Kaworu became consumed by the human qualities he sought to eliminate as an angel, seeming to grow attached to human individuality. He says he doesn't care about the third impact one way or the other despite his instincts as an angel, and his death is a lot less self sacrificing than it in the anime, where he dies for the sake of saving humanity and the world that Shinji himself exists within. He betrays his own kind in choosing his death. Ultimately, he's a more selfish portrayal of Kaworu, painted as a bad omen rather than as a savior.

( Strengths/Weaknesses ) :
Strengths:
Kaworu seems to inexplicably pick things up very easily. When Shinji first meets Kaworu, he's playing Ode to Joy on a piano in a ruined church. When Shinji comments, Kaworu mentions that he heard the song in passing on his way to the church, and asked Shinji the name of the song—meaning he played a perfect rendition of Ode to Joy on the memory of a one-time hearing.

Also, as an Eva pilot, he excelled. His synch rate was better than any of the other 3, and he did well as Asuka's replacement, exceeding her abilities in his first run. This could be because he's comprised of the same matter an Eva is, but it still speaks for his combat ability, synch rate aside.

So it's likely that Kaworu can just be really good at things without much prompting, but it seems he first must take an interest.

He also has a tremendously powerful A.T field, unlike any NERV has seen before. With it, he can levitate, force open complex locks, possess large objects very articulately, and put up an incredibly strong defensive barrier. Given that he's elluded to be more powerful than his siblings, it's likely that Kaworu also possesses immense offensive abilities besides his puppeteering, but he never attacks with enough gusto for any of that to be made apparent.

Weaknesses:
Kaworu's insensitivity and invasiveness makes him very hard to like. Because of this, he's quite a pariah; he doesn't garner any allies, and it's not terribly likely he'll have many of them. His single-minded interest in Shinji seems to isolate him.

He also doesn't seem to have many life skills. He's also tremendously difficult to relate to, and it seems he also has a lot of difficulty relating to other people.

( Other Important Facts ) :
N/A

( Sample ) :
Kaworu's hair was flat and dark, somewhat cool against his skin. His clothing all stuck to his skin and he felt heavy. As he walked through the plaza, he returned the occasional glance from natives with a wide smile. He had questions, certainly—he was confused, but far from upset. His canvas shoes hung from his fingertips, dripping, his socks somewhere discarded as his bare feet carried him deeper into this new territory.

He was certain he had died. Crushed to death, and validated by someone he liked. It was nice. He resented his short existence, somewhat—but he'd always known he was going to die pretty immediately into his mission. Still, as he walked, he thought of the one who killed him. His face, his eyes, his indignance, his body. Kaworu wondered if this was an afterlife, of some kind, but didn't necessarily believe in those kind of things.

Questions could wait. First things first, Kaworu decided he found his clothing too uncomfortable, and so he turned and grabbed the wrist of a native. Not seeming to react to their offended and startled expression, Kaworu tilted his head, a bead of water traveling from his bangs down to his chin.

"Hey, take me somewhere with dry clothes."

( Questions? Comments? Concerns? ) :
N/A!