PROFILE

Sohryu Asuka Langley makes her debut in Neon Genesis Evangelion in episode 8, after the initial characters in the series have already been established to viewers. She's introduced as the Second Children and is the incredibly talented pilot of the bright red Eva-02.

Exhibiting a classic tsundere personality, Asuka is opinionated, temperamental and egotistical on the surface. Underneath the rough exterior is a lonely girl who's experienced much hardship in her young life. She has issues trusting people and tends to push them away to protect herself and becomes overly defensive in the face of adversity. Despite having such a strong personality, she suffers from self-confidence issues just like any other girl her age. Thus, she looks to her duties as the pilot of Eva-02 as a way to gain acceptance and praise from her peers and superiors.

With an American father and a half-German, half-Japanese mother, Asuka is fluent in German, English and Japanese. She's also graduated from college with a minor degree by the time she was thirteen. Although she clearly doesn't need to go to middle school, she attends the same school as Ikari Shinji and Ayanami Rei (the First and Third Children respectively) primarily to learn Japanese kanji.

In the Rebuild of Evangelion films, her name changes to Shikinami Asuka Langley. While she's generally the same character, her Rebuild counterpart tends to be much more anti-social and tsundere.