Ryoji Kaji

A loose ponytail and a jaw that never quite sees a razor define Kaji's look, a studied scruffiness that matches his unhurried manner. Notably, no one in the story ever uses his given name; even Misato only ever calls him Kaji. His design, like Gendo's and Fuyutsuki's, traces back to Captain Foster of the British series UFO.

On the surface Kaji is all ease: jovial, unshakably composed, cracking dry jokes in the middle of a crisis and flirting with every woman at headquarters, to Misato's endless irritation. He tends a watermelon patch near NERV HQ, calmly watering it even while Zeruel is tearing into the GeoFront. Beneath the frivolous act sits real wisdom and responsibility. He becomes the closest thing to a healthy adult model for both Shinji and Asuka, coolly deflecting Asuka's crush while offering Shinji patient, thoughtful counsel on people and on himself; fans often read him as the positive mirror to Gendo in Shinji's life.

Deeper still, Kaji is lonely and melancholic, privately unsure whether he is capable of loving anyone honestly. His rare moments of unguarded sincerity come in his philosophical talks with Shinji, in his quiet exchange with Misato in Episode 15, and at the end of his life.

Kaji operates as a triple agent. Officially a special inspector for NERV, he is simultaneously investigating the organization for Japan's Ministry of the Interior while running errands both for and against Gendo and SEELE, and above all pursuing his own agenda of uncovering the truth. He and Misato Katsuragi were a couple in college, long since split by the time he escorts Unit-02 and Asuka to Japan aboard the UN fleet, and their reunion settles into a rhythm of teasing, fighting, and unfinished feelings.

His investigations turn fatal in the series' second half. On SEELE's orders he abducts Deputy Commander Fuyutsuki for interrogation, then defies them by freeing the man and returning him to NERV, an act Fuyutsuki predicts will cost Kaji his life. Sensing the end, he hands Misato a capsule holding the evidence on the Human Instrumentality Project, calling it perhaps his final gift, and leaves her a farewell answering-machine message. An unidentified gunman then kills him; his last words wryly note the shooter's lateness. Speculation that Misato pulled the trigger grew so widespread that the Director's Cut of Episode 21 was revised to point at SEELE's side, with staff confirming the killer was no main character.

The manga grants him a backstory the anime withheld: orphaned by Second Impact, young Kaji survived in a gang of children until soldiers caught him stealing and forced him to give up the group's hideout, a betrayal that killed his brother and friends and left him permanently guilt-ridden. There he takes two bullets instead of one, chides his killer's aim, and dies greeted by the shadows of the people he betrayed, later resurfacing during Third Impact to guide Asuka. His surname puns on the Japanese word for rudder, completing a nautical trio with Ikari, anchor, and Rokubungi, sextant.