[EVA] Gendou - man or monster?

[Will Kenzuko]

jeesh, everyone's taking the old man a bit heavy...
Gendo's not a 2d character like most of the eva characters, this is despite
the fact we are only exposed to so few of his sides.
He's ruthless to the core in the way he uses people, but i agree with the
statements that he is akin to shinji in both attitude and of course the
'hedgehog dilema'. For gendo to man up he would have to forgive himself for
loosing Yui and thus loosing himself. yes he is a ruined man, but one that
seeks salvation through redemption. i think people need to look at the flip
side, from the last episodes of the series, where shinji recreates the world
as he would have it and the family sceen where gendo and yui are both
present and yet we never get to see gendo's face, which i have always found
very interesting...
He's a very powerful bastard, but it's understandable, due to context and
the like. you could put down his inability to act around shinji  down to a
lot of things, from making sure he is protected from Seele, as most people
close to him have been 'questioned' by them (to an extent where he gives
seele ritsuko in place of either rei or shinji. Also he feels he has failed
shinji, as he was not present during his upbringing due to his work ethic,
and also the loss of his wife and the incured trauma from that experiance. I
would have to put forth the scene where shinji and Gendo are at Yui's grave,
and the words that pass between them, to which i have always interpreted at
that Gendo needs/wants shinji to 'man up', as then they will have an
understanding of each other. of course this doesn't happen, for shinji to
'man-up' would be impossible due to the trauma he has suffered over the
years...
Gendo's relationship with Rei is interesting aswell, seemingly trust is a
big factor due to the way that they can relate to each other, but rei to
emulate Yui's presence? or even to fill the void created by removing shinji
from his life? i dunno.

look into the powerplays behind Gendo and Rei and you generally get some
strong currents, Gendo's akin to a dungeon master, albeit one that want's
his players to gain experiance, but also one that wants to keep them alive,
whilst also adhereing to the rules enforced upon him by others. he's very
often misinterpreted, this is what makes him so interesting.... a student of
both Sun Tsu and Niccolò Machiavelli.

-- 
"I've always had my suspicions that you were more than a mere mortal, but I
never fully understood that you were a cat....." N.D.Wolfwood