Talk:Gendo Ikari

Naming

 * Okay, people. *cracks neck* We need to do something about this. Over on the main Eva chars page, quite awhile ago, I attempted to put some order to the romanisation of the characters' names. Most of them are as I changed them (example: I had changed all instances of Toji to Touji, and it remains so) but Asuka, her mother, and Gendou here were changed (though oddly, Kyouko's first name was left as I'd changed it). I'd like to point out that in the Japanese spelling of this character's first name, it's written with these characters: GE N DO U - with the last 'u' extending the o of 'do'. Proper romanisations for this name are: Gendou, Gendoh, Gendō. As much as I love A.D. Vision, they got this wrong. I propose moving this back to Gendou Ikari, with 'Gendo' as a redirect, or if not that, then at very least moving it to Gendoh Ikari, since that is a valid romanisation and GAINAX seems to use it. Thoughts? Kyou 17:38, 16 December 2005 (UTC)

Buh? Dude, no. "Gendo" is no more "correct" than "Gendou". We should use the names used in the English versions. WhisperToMe 06:37, 18 December 2005 (UTC)

Well, you can guess that I'm supporting what Kyou's suggesting here. I say let's go with "Gendou". -Anon

But anons can't vote. WhisperToMe 17:50, 18 December 2005 (UTC)


 * Yes they can. They have less weight. You're being exclusionist by saying that. 67.71.170.108 14:47, 14 January 2006 (UTC)


 * 1 vote for Kyouketsusha's Gendou argument. It is absolutely valid.
 * Asdfff 17:35, 14 April 2006 (UTC)

Romanization guideline :

"Wikipedia uses the version of Revised Hepburn romanisation described below because it is generally accepted by scholars and it gives a fair indication of Japanese pronunciation to the intended audience of English speakers [...]Long o and u are written with macrons as ō and ū respectively. "

This is the style guide for Wikipedia. So sorry, but it's "Gendō", "Tōji", "Sōryu", "Kyōko" etc.

The only source wich could contradict that is the untranslated anime itself. Let's see how Gainax rendered long vowels : in ep.3 they wrote "Touji", but in ep. 22, they wrote "Soryu Kyoko Zeppelin" and "Soryu Asuka Langley". Concidering the lack of consistency in the transcription of japanese name between the various episodes, we should use to the guideline of wikipedia instead. Folken de Fanel 20:27, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

Internet Celebrity Status
Can somebody tell me why gendo appears on the list?

Maybe becaue of ReDeath or YTMND.65.49.214.73 17:43, 2 September 2006 (UTC)

You forgot 4chan. -Anonymous

Oh.TestingTesting 02:19, 9 September 2006 (UTC)

"Dead wife" theory
Multiple times in the article, it is referenced that Gendo's intention may have been to bring Yui "back from the dead." This either needs a citation, or removal. The anime never implies that Yui may be brought back through Third Impact. It does, however, continually hint that Gendo's motivation to initiate the Third Impact lay in its ability to allow him to exist with Yui immaterially. Based on dialog in the television ending, it seems clear that complementation is Gendo's goal and not only a means to revive Yui. Dialog in the movie and television episodes indicates that Gendo intends to "go to" Yui and not bring her to him.

"Noble" motives
It says here, "Gendo's motives, though bloody and ultimately foolish, are noble." This is just insane. His motives are completely and entirely selfish. He wishes to sacrifice all of humanity just to be with his lost wife, rather than just accept her death (or whatever you want to call her absorption into Unit-01). Death is part of Life. Real nobility would have been to go all out for his son, and be there for him when Yui couldn't be. But not only couldn't he do that, he couldn't even do what most people do when they're destroyed by grief: kill THEMSELVES, and leave everyone else alone. There is nothing noble about being so wrapped up in your own grief that you'd rather condemn the entire world rather than grow up and move on. Gendo is the most pathetic coward I've ever seen. For all the people who call Shinji a wimp, he is the only one in the whole series who made a conscious decision to stand up to some pain in hopes of pleasure, and that's why he shut down Instrumentality. Gendo could not make that decision under any circumstances.

In all seriousness, every single person in Evangelion could have solved all their problems if they had just GROWN UP, Gendo more than anyone else.


 * I'm not about to get into an argument on the moral foundation of Gendo's character (that's for Eva talk forums) but I agree that that statement in the article should probably be re-written or removed outright, as it is definitely a debateable topic. Willbyr (talk | contribs) 12:07, 20 July 2006 (UTC)

Surname
Why does he take his wife's family name when he marries Yui? Someone once told me that in Japan, sometimes a man will take his wife's family name if her family has no sons, but I have no verification of that.

This is because in Japan you usually take the family name of the individual with a better economical situation.


 * In addition to this, I suspect that he may have wanted to insinuate himself into Yui's family since she had connections to SEELE. Willbyr (talk | contribs) 23:02, 10 July 2006 (UTC)

---

Hi - another comment on this. I always had the idea that Gendo takes this surname for political reasons. Yui's theories and body of scientific work are well known while Gendo's are presumably not. It is possible that his interest in her was politically motivated from the start as a young Gendo sought ways to increase his own power and standing in the community. Why he wanted this power is a mystery, at least to me, but the fact that he attained it is very clear.


 * We never really see Gendo and Yui interacting, so we're not sure how much of it was love or politics; certainly, her political connections helped, but then again, all of his actions indicate that he really deeply loved her. Maybe he originally started dating her for her political connections, and he grew to love her, or maybe he both loved her and she had good connections; it's just speculation, we don't know.  We simply don't know alot about the pre-Second Impact SEELE, or the Katsuragi Expedition.  At the least, post-Third Impact, it helped to have more connections with her.  Ultimately for such a central character, Yui's past and what exactly the nature of her connections was remains a mystery.  Part of the reason people like the show so much is that it left so much unexplained and left to debate.  --Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici 22:13, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

Fictional politician?
Why? Talented manager, yes, but he promoted scientific (and personal) aims, not engaging in politics. 217.198.224.13 13:06, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

His hands
In the background part of the article it is stated that he is never shown without wearing his handgloves. I think this is incorrect since in one episode (forgot the number, (I come back on that later this day. :P )) he 'is' shown without his handgloves on. Shinji looks at it and then asks to Misato and Ritsuko what happend to his hands where upon Ritsuko explains what happend AFAIK. How about it? :) Kind regards, --MisteryX 11:06, 14 May 2007 (UTC)
 * Episode 5. --Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici 12:06, 14 May 2007 (UTC)

Image
Noticed the image has been changed. I really don't care one way or the other as to which image is used for the article...honestly, though, I really don't care for either image, and would prefer one that doesn't have Gendo covering his face at all. Can someone make a screenshot? Willbyr (talk | contribs) 12:38, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

How's this? --Warp L. Obscura 09:53, 9 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Better. Is that a screencap from the anime? Willbyr (talk | contribs) 12:18, 9 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Yeah, the very first episode to be precise. If you want to upload and edit it in, be my guest. --Warp L. Obscura 17:27, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Cool; I'll try to get this done tonight. Thanks! Willbyr (talk | contribs) 17:33, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Glad to help. --Warp L. Obscura 07:22, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

English dub actors
Just to satisfy my own curiosity, does anyone know why Tristan McAvery was replaced for the director's cut episodes, and if it extended to the Platinum edition episodes as well? I only ask because his was my favourite character/voice from the show and his replacement baffled me somewhat. Radical AdZ (talk) 10:41, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

In a number of personal appearances at various anime conventions (most recently, Montreal's Otakuthon 2016), Tristan MacAvery has cited a sharp rift between himself and ADV Films, caused by the management there and exacerbated by personal issues and peccadilloes of the two owners of the company. Citations needed. 2604:6000:B704:4900:29BD:F183:ABA5:175E (talk) 22:55, 12 September 2017 (UTC)

What type of scientist is Gendo, and does he count as a criminal?
He is listed as a scientist in the categories though what his degree is in is not mentioned. He is shown being released from jail in one of the flashbacks; though I don't believe it is a prison. Would that count for fictional criminals? CensoredScribe (talk) 19:13, 18 March 2014 (UTC)


 * Absolutely not. That is like saying that spending the night in the "drunk tank" makes one a criminal. 24.149.117.220 (talk) 20:51, 18 March 2014 (UTC)
 * Do reliable, secondary sources commonly and consistently define, in prose, the subject as being a criminal? - Sum mer PhD  (talk) 03:21, 19 March 2014 (UTC)
 * Do reliable, secondary sources commonly and consistently define, in prose, the subject as being a criminal? - Sum mer PhD  (talk) 03:21, 19 March 2014 (UTC)


 * In Japan, unlike North America, things like what Gendo was locked up for don't figure prominently on one's record. If he was arrested for disorderly or drunken conduct, then it's treated on the same level a minor traffic violation is in America.50.242.56.81 (talk) 19:32, 5 November 2016 (UTC)

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"Category: Private military members"
Nerv, I'm quite sure, isn't a private military. It's a subsidiary of the UN. So this category wouldn't apply to Gendo, nor the other Evangelion characters with individual pages. Thanks. 67.80.164.161 (talk) 09:12, 12 August 2019 (UTC)

Meh, alright. My point is that the link is super tenuous and never explained or explicitated, it's a cover story at best since their real bosses are Seele. Perhaps something like "paramilitary" might be better, since they have vaguely defined State support?

FelipeFritschF (talk) 16:12, 12 August 2019 (UTC)

"Negative critical reception"
There are numerous (and often uncited) references to a negative critical reception of Gendo. This is misleading; whoever added these doesn't seem to know what a negative critical reception is.. "Negative critical reception" directly suggests that critics believe the character is _bad_ - not Walter White or Daniel Plainview bad, but, say, Norbit or Scrappy Doo bad, in narrative/enjoyment terms. It suggests that critics think Gendo is a detriment to Evangelion because he's a bad father/villainous, which isn't what they're saying. Rewrites and outright paragraph removals needed. (talk) 17:30, 11 June 2022 (UTC)
 * The section explains not only how he is perceived as a negative character, but also how this was not appreciated.--TeenAngels1234 (talk) 22:30, 11 June 2022 (UTC)

The article has to be written from a neutral point of view and sometimes Gendo comes across to the critics as an unsympathetic character which might explain why he has such negative reaction. That made TeenAngels' writing as neutral and lacking in bias as other articles he expanded include both positive and negative reactions to parts of the series so I don't see the need for another rewrite.Tintor2 (talk) 20:35, 21 June 2022 (UTC)