Shinji and Warhammer40K



"WH40k can make anything Awesome. Even one of, if not the, most whiny, pathetic spineless wusses in fiction. This is my creed. The Emperor's hand guides all."

- Charles Bhepin, the author.

As its name suggests, Shinji and Warhammer40k is a Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction that incorporates elements of everyone's favorite Grimdark sci-fi setting into brutal Humongous Mecha action. Shinji Ikari, the resident Butt Monkey of the Eva series, discovers a case full of Warhammer 40,000 miniatures and rulebooks at a very young age, with a profound effect on his personality, character, and relationship with his guardians. He somehow takes a full 20 levels in badass as a result, becoming a Badass Bookworm Magnificent Bastard who knows no fear, charges headlong into combat without hesitation, exhibits nearly prescient planning abilities, and earns the reverence and adoration of his people for his heroism.

In the second chapter, he actually arrives in Tokyo-3 and meets his Evangelion.

Though the fic's title is simply Shinji and Warhammer 40K, there are numerous other influences at work. The story loosely follows Evangelion's established sequence of major events, but anything else that's strictly canon is pretty much kicked to the curb around the end of chapter nineteen. Shinji himself evolves into some amalgamation of Paul Atreides, Batman, Big Boss, Ciaphas Cain, Carrot Ironfoundersson, Simon The Digger, Lelouch vi Britannia, Ender Wiggin, and unless he's careful, The God-Emperor of Mankind. The story oscillates between pitched battles that manage to top the fight scenes from Eva and domestic comedy worthy of Tenchi Muyo!, the mood between the bleak despair resulting when you add Grimdark to Evangelion and Hot-Blooded defiance in the face of imminent defeat. Cast members are developed in interesting ways but not to the point of being warped beyond recognition, while the realities of Second Impact and the implications of such an event are explored to a greater extent than the source material. The author has managed to write an Eva 'fic that replaces the Wangst and navel contemplation with Serial Escalation, the Rule of Cool, and chainswords, understanding and respecting the source material but doing something completely different with it. The result is something that both Eva and 40Ks fanbases can enjoy, while acting as a bridge between them and a gateway beyond. The author has also acknowledged TV Tropes as an aid to the fic. Be aware, though: Chekhov's Armoury is very much in effect, and continuity can be tricky to follow as a result.

Currently, there are 45 chapters released, with Word of God putting the story at about 75% completion at ch. 37.

See also Thousand Shinji, a more direct Eva-40K crossover that is shorter, darker, and with a different evolution of Shinji.

See Neon Genesis Evangelion and Warhammer 40,000 for the tropes of those respective universes.

"Shinji: Why me? I'm just a boy. You're all adults. Why don't you have the power to solve your own problems?"
 * Alliteration - "Dark figures with dark designs deigned to discuss their dire directives despite the distance."
 * Adults Are Useless:

"felt no pain. knew no fear. had several powerful weapons integrated into its torso, all pointing at the enemy's soft underbelly."
 * Alas, Poor Yorick:
 * All Girls Want Bad Boys - In his previous Good Boy incarnation, the most concern and/or interest he could get out of any grown woman, never mind girl near his age bracket, was a few brief moments of motherly pity, if that. In his current All-Conquering history, the least he draws from any "female of the species" (to quote Asuka) is obsessive, if not mindless, Fangirlism. (It should be noted, however, that at heart Shinji is still very much that nice kid.)
 * All the Myriad Ways - Subverted. Shinji cares just as much about the alternate world  as he does about his own..
 * Angel Resources - Kaworu uses as power sources for the Black Cradle.
 * Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking:
 * Subverted in chapter 30.

""Uh... heretics! Witches! Tax evaders!""
 * Played straight in ch. 31 part 1:

"Space Marine: What is this lunacy? Can you not fight by yourself!?"
 * Ascended Extra - No less than ten of these by now. The author's admitted to having a hell of time keeping their side stories from being crushed and forgotten under the sheer weight of the general plot.
 * Attack Drone - Unit 01's Air Mines.
 * Badass - The entire notion of the story. More specifically, Shinji Ikari.
 * Back-to-Back Badasses - The Space Marine and Chaos Space Marine, amusingly enough, during the Mind Screw portion of the battle with Leliel.

"Shinji (to ): "I have walked as a god! I have fought as a god! You will not frighten me, LITTLE MAN!""
 * Badass Biker -
 * Badass Boast:
 * Shinji gets a lot of these. For example:

"But see! He that has stolen from you has paid for it with his LIFE. She that set herself above you now lies humbled and broken, the BLOOD of that she once loved on her hands. He that follows you is now a HERO, respected by many. And she who once held you in high regard, now WORSHIPS you. Chaos IS. And in CHAOS all things are possible."
 * The Chaos Marine gets one in the very first chapter :


 * Badass Bookworm - Shinji, Rei, Maya, Asuka...hell, anyone remotely intellectual.
 * Badass Creed -
 * Badass Crew - If anyone, at any point, directly assists Shinji against the Angels, expect at least two examples per person of stupefying awesomeness. Beyond this, the "master-level class" consists of the usual suspects.
 * Badass Longcoat:
 * , during Matariel's attack.
 * Badass Normal:
 * Asuka uses the term to describe herself, although it's debatable if an Eva pilot can be considered "normal".
 * is the most physically normal of the pilots, being the only one . That being said, he also subverts the trope in that.
 * Admiral "Miracle" Yang Wen-li and Sergeant Angelo De Leon certainly qualify.
 * Wilfred Jaeger manages to take out a cyber-Tyrannosaurus . And he was just a lowly panzer driver a few hours ago...definitely channeling some Shinji there. Then again, his full name before adoption was.
 * Badass Preacher - A facet of 's personality that occasionally shows up.
 * Colonel Badass - Misato eventually gets a well-deserved promotion, and even acts as commander of NERV for a time.
 * Little Miss Badass -, as soon as.
 * Took a Level in Badass - Besides his prologue power-up, Shinji eventually travels to Javaal to better understand his abilities, returning with the power to . Additionally, the secondary characters get their own upgrades: Toji, Hikari, Maya, Makoto, Mana, Kensuke...yes,  Kensuke. Chapter 34 even has a moment. On the other side, several of the Angels are much more dangerous than their original versions, to the point where Matariel terrorizes Tokyo-3 with Angel-spawn and Sahaquiel trades its kamikaze attack for bombing THE WHOLE WORLD.
 * Ironically, this is the one trope Bpen was deliberately trying to avert at first; his author's notes claim that Shinji just needs a better childhood to become awesome, but Shinji's "better childhood" also came with his own gang, Chessmaster training at the feet of an Eldar Farseer, the universal respect and adoration of his entire hometown, and the ability to call in favors and financial support from wealthy friends. Badass as all hell? Definitely. Ordinary High School Student? Not even close. Not that it matters in the long run.
 * Batman Gambit - Gendo has his schemes, and SEELE has theirs, but it takes a long time for them to realize that.
 * Battle Couple - Toji and Hikari. Nothing like a date followed by shooting alien invaders with your boltguns.
 * The Berserker:
 * Shinji in hand to hand combat, and Unit 01 in Eva vs. Angel combat. By the second fight, though, he realizes brute force and bloodlust will only cause needless destruction and tries to clamp down.
 * Despite the protestations of the Chaos marine (see Take That below), Asuka's battle antics and use of the traditional gear of a Khornate Berserker (in the form of an Eva-scaled chainaxe) raise some questions...
 * Asuka is reportedly . The issue? She's a cold berserker. A berserker Unit 02 uses weapons and fights with the same techniques, only with more eating of enemy body parts. Yum.
 * Mana reacts in this fashion in chapter 30 when Magnos Tancred faces off against Trident Warborn "abominations".
 * Mana reacts in this fashion in chapter 30 when Magnos Tancred faces off against Trident Warborn "abominations".

"[Asuka] "Again, with the not giving of the good feelings." Rei tilted her head to the side. "An interesting way to arrange words, pilot Sohryu. You intrigue me.""
 * Beware the Nice Ones -, starting in Chapter 9.
 * BFG - This being a crossover between a giant mecha story and Warhammer 40K, it's no wonder there will be plenty. Highlights include the psychic supercondutor-enhanced destroyer lasguns and Rei's Gargant Moonbiter.
 * Bi the Way - Rei's actions, thoughts, snarky comments, and preference for yuri over yaoi are consistent with somebody who's bisexual (and may also be another reason why she wants Shinji to have a harem...lucky bastard). The Farseer is also probably bi, but considering the nature of the Eldar is more likely to be a Depraved Bisexual. Then there are the bisexuals from canon Evangelion...
 * Big Book of War - Maya quotes from The Art of War. Shinji, on the other hand...whose entire life would make Sun Tzu and Miyamoto Musashi very proud if not outright weep for joy...can not only quote every line from either author's work, but has had his own teachings on war, peace, compassion, honor and most every other possible subject get enshrined in "Da Book"....
 * Big Damn Heroes - This happens a lot.
 * A shining example is.
 * Asuka in Germany. "SCHLAGANN IMPACT!"
 * That may or may not be Bilingual Bonus; the verb 'schlagen' (proper noun: 'der Schlag') means to hit (noun: the hit) in German.
 * Bilingual Bonus even more when you translate "impact" (which is more like "Einschlag" or "Aufprall" in German) somewhat loosely as "Fall" (as in "fall of a meteor"). This gives us "Schlagann Fall", and from there it doesn't take much to arrive at "Schlaganfall" - German for "stroke".
 * The Big Guy / Boisterous Bruiser - In the prologue and a couple of scenes where the action cuts back to Shinji's original hometown, Kobayakawa could fit either, but most likely the former. The Warboss is definitely the latter.
 * Biker Babe - Maya shows this side of herself on Valentine's Day to catch Shinji's attention. She does so. Along with the rest of the school.
 * Black and Grey Morality - Shinji's been exposed to the worldview that "there is no such thing as innocence, only degrees of guilt," and while he tries to do good, he's committed his share of sins in the name of humanity. Similarly, Asuka's and Kaworu's interpretation of the Greater Good allows for the ends to justify the means. Most of the secondary cast realizes that they live in a Crapsack World, and the fact that Gendo and SEELE are basically amoral doesn't really need to be stated.
 * Black Comedy Rape/Rape Is Love - See the last Noodle Incident above.
 * Blessed with Suck - Psychics, in keeping with the story's 40K influence. If you're not forcibly conscripted into the UN armed forces, you will either end up going insane or be murdered in what may possibly be a very gruesome manner. If you're lucky, that is.
 * Blood Brothers - After meeting an injured Rei for the first time, Shinji swears a "Blood Angel oath" by tasting her blood (to the horror of the watching NERV staff). He later asks her to return the favor, sealing their bond. In a less literal sense, Shinji, Toji, and Kensuke cement their friendship as "battle-brothers" after the latter two's ride in the cockpit during the second Angel fight, while Maya and Rei grow closer after they.
 * Boke and Tsukkomi Routine - Rei and Asuka make a surprisingly good comedy duo. Typically, Asuka is the straight man, while Rei is the boke. Asuka, perhaps understandably, thinks "tsukkomi" is some sort of bizarre Japanese perversion and refuses to listen whenever someone attempts to explain it.
 * Body Horror - eventually fuse together into a hideous, almost Lovecraftian form.
 * Born in the Wrong Century - Admiral Yang admits that he often feels this way, while a Russian precognitive makes similar remarks concerning Shinji.
 * Yeah, Admiral Yang was born fifteen centuries too early.
 * Breaking the Fourth Wall - As early as the prologue, the Space Marine slaps Shinji and tells him to "stop being emo! You're breaking the fourth wall!" Kensuke, and later Yang, regularly ignore the fourth wall and are often around to conveniently comment on the symbolism of various events, and otherwise pop Shinji's ego.
 * Kensuke at one point mentions that he's not even a player character like the others. They think he's talking about something to do with theatre.
 * When Shinji enters the conference room of the Trident base, there is a throne made of white materials, shaped like a Skull Throne. When asked, Kensuke replies, "Why ask me? It's not like I recognize when I'm breaking the Fourth Wall."
 * Then there's the bridge crew's comments in Chapter 24 over whether it's easier to understand Ritsuko in the subtitled version or the dub, which ends with "What you just read must have been a trick of the light, or something."
 * "The conference hall had a missing fourth wall"
 * Bring My Brown Pants - Eventually, thanks to Rei's method of working off stress, even the most merciless Yakuza wet their pants at the sight of a blue-haired schoolgirl.
 * Brown Note - Somehow, Shinji managed to obtain ...possibly because the previous owners were worried about the Cradle getting their hands on it. Whenever a normal person looks at it for too long, they freak out and just want to get away from it and are too busy panicking to explain why. The only people known to be immune to its effects so far are Shinji himself,, and possibly Rei.
 * Bullet Hell - " was in hell. It was made of bullets and beams and dragon-heads. He could not simply blink and begone. The writhing loops filled the sky against a backdrop of hostile gunfire. Airburst shape-charge artillery left fan-shaped trails and tracers stitched patterns in the air."
 * Bully Hunter - Da Boyz.
 * Buffy-Speak - Pops up occasionally.

"There's no -beeping- glory. There's only living for the next day and killing the other guy! We all saw that, that kid tried his -beeping- best to kill the -beeping- Angel without being -beeping- killed in return. He knew it, -beep- it! He knew that he died there, if he tried to play the stupid shounen hero, then who's gonna be there to stop the next stupid -beeper- that comes?!""
 * But Not Too Foreign - Lampshaded by Asuka, when she wonders why, out of all the potential candidate children on the planet, all four pilots just happen to have Japanese ancestry. The four is not a typo; we briefly meet the pilot of NERV America's Eva, who is also of Japanese descent.
 * Call on Me - How to summon Apocalypse Rei.
 * Calling the Old Man Out - Shinji's post-Temple of Trials rant against the elders of Javaal is particularly entertaining, and of course he has things to say about his father's plans.
 * Calling Your Attacks—Asuka's "GIGA DRILL BREAKER!" and Mana's combination FALCON DRILL PAWNCH!! ...which leads us to...
 * Canon Immigrant: Mana, originally from the Girlfriend of Steel game. This is lampshaded by Kaworu ("It's as though canon refuses to accept her existence") when it's pointed out that the Dead Sea Scrolls don't mention her, allowing her to Screw Destiny.
 * Captain Ersatz:
 * The Javaal arc features thinly disguised CE's of . Meanwhile, those familiar with Legend of the Galactic Heroes might be surprised at a certain Chinese admiral's presence a couple of millennia too early (lampshaded in the story, no less).
 * There's also the Shinji-loyal Section Two agents K(entaro) and J(iro). The former is an older veteran who's Seen It All, the latter is a young, tanned hotshot. Shinji gives them a tricked-out black Ford.
 * The Cavalry - The battle against Iruel in Chapter 30 is all but lost...until the.
 * Celebrity Paradox - One of the author's notes points out that it's odd there are still Emotionless Girl anime in a world without Evangelion to popularize the trope.
 * Chainsaw Good:
 * Evas with prog-chainswords, or in Asuka's case, a prog-chainaxe.
 * Shinji specifically invokes this trope whenever he uses a modified chainsaw to cut wood.
 * Unit 01's upgraded Titan Armor takes this to ludicrous extremes - it has chainsaws coming out of practically every body part imaginable.
 * Chekhov's Armoury - Bpen loves this trope, to the point that most readers on The Fanfiction Forum have largely given up trying to figure which parts are going to be plot sensitive and which are just fluff.
 * Chekhov's Gunman - Raka.
 * The Chessmaster:
 * Shinji. Then again, he's had tutoring from an Eldar Farseer as well as a worshiper of Tzeentch, and keep in mind who he's the child of. That being said, he is quite reluctant to exchange "the machinations of one Ikari for another," especially if it would involve using his friends as pawns. The Farseer's response? Make them his knights, bishops, rooks, and queens.
 * Also, Gendo and Yang. Played with when Yang asks Shinji if he plays the game, and Shinji says he's not too good at it. Gendo usually loses his chess matches against his mentor. Yang is terrible at Real Time Strategy games; it's implied that it's because the scale is too small for him.
 * Child Soldiers - Discounting the pilots themselves, Shinji has the "Gretch," an entire army of young children to do his bidding by passing messages, spying on the whole city, and performing various missions for him. Unfortunate Implications avoided by the fact that these missions are rarely very dangerous. Justified because no one notices them just hanging around.
 * Chronic Hero Syndrome - If this version of Shinji is running anywhere, he's probably charging into close combat.
 * Clap Your Hands If You Believe - Shinji has accomplished more through the power of faith alone than anyone since Jesus.
 * Cliff Hanger/Foreshadowing - ends with the revelation that.
 * Cluster F-Bomb: From Chapter 5

"It was black car. Tinted windows rolled down, and sunglasses-wearing faces showed. "Wark." greeted Pen-pen from the back seat, the bird leaning out the window. Yes, he too was wearing special custom-fit sunglasses."
 * The Comically Serious - Shinji is usually The Stoic, and as such gets to play the Straight Man a lot.
 * Companion Cube - Shinji 's treatment of minis. Also, Kensuke and the Trident crew's treatment of machinery.
 * Conversational Troping - Characters use terms like You Fail Biology Forever, Badass Normal, Authority (Not Necessarily) Equaling Asskicking, or Impossibly Cool Clothes in what are admitted shout-outs to TV Tropes. Also, see Cursed with Awesome below.
 * Cool Chair - Shinji gets his "skull throne" when some soldiers carve up an Angel's skull mask as a gift..
 * Cool Shades - Used by agents J and K, but also most recently by Pen-Pen. Yes, Pen-Pen:

""The power of the Evangelion is like cursing ourselves with awesomeness. We can live just fine without it, the same way the human race has deserved its success with its own pain and suffering and learning from our mistakes, but we can't SURVIVE now without them.""
 * Covert Pervert:
 * There's a Running Gag about how Rei secretly desires to lick Shinji all over.
 * More private than secret; Shinji was the first to learn about it. Also, with him actually starting it and all...
 * Shinji's first thought upon an N2 mine nearly bombing him in Chapter 1? "Maybe coming to Tokyo 3 wasn't such a bad idea after all" as Misato "shielded him with her body".
 * It turns out that among the four imaginary personalities Shinji has, it is the only female one, the intelligent, Closer to Earth Eldar Farseer, that possesses Shinji's lust. This is revealed by way of a rather hilarious Brick Joke.
 * Crack Fic - Less that this fic is on crack, and more that crack is on this fic.
 * Crazy Prepared - Shinji's ability to plan on multiple levels simultaneously occasionally borders on prescience, to the point where Kaworu has to consult an actual prescient just to keep up. Admiral Yang, on the other hand, trains and equips a group of soldiers for amphibious combat in Tokyo-3, and has them on standby status so they can take part in the Leliel fight. This is both tactically justified in the face of possible amphibious assaults, and totally in character.
 * Shinji has special compartments sealed in his safehouses for him to leave messages to himself or allies in case he travels back in time. Yes, you read that right: Shinji has contingency plans in case of Time Travel.
 * He potentially even tops the last one with his actually being prepared to.
 * When Toji, he directly invokes the trope by name.
 * Likewise, during the Matariel attack, Kensuke has already.
 * Cross Counter - At the very beginning of their first, highly-anticipated EVA-scale fight, Kaworu and Shinji attempt this...but fail epically.
 * Curb Stomp Battle:
 * An extremely swift Shinji victory against a foe that had been butchering civilians for hours prompts a military hearing and nearly sparks riots.
 * Rei and Mana vs.
 * Cursed with Awesome - The national government has to make a special ruling exempting Shinji from taking part in the Japanese Valentine's Day custom of accepting and eating chocolates from admirers and loved ones, in lieu of his being rushed to the hospital the previous year after dutifully eating every single one received. . And this is only one early example of what his life has become; by later chapters, he.
 * This has apparently happened to humanity due to the potential of the EVAs. Admiral Yang even references the trope by name:

"Just having him around increased the flammability of -concrete-."
 * Cutlass Between the Teeth: Shinji tried to do this in chapter 2 part 2.
 * Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: Ritsuko may be starting to edge into this, as she has created mechadendrites to.
 * Dark Messiah - Kaworu is the anti-Shinji...whatever that means.
 * Deconstruction Fic
 * Deadpan Snarker - Rei and Kaworu. Kaworu takes this Up to Eleven when faced with Shinji's Refuge in Audacity during their battle. Hilarity Ensues.
 * Defeat Means Friendship - How 'Da Boys came into being.
 * Defictionalization - The most effective weapons against the Angels and their spawn are based on Warhammer 40K technology. There's also the matter of Machine Cults popping up in different universities.
 * Delinquents - Da Boyz were originally a few delinquents who went around bullying smaller kids. When Shinji proceeded to beat the crap out of them single-handedly, they changed their ways and started following him around, eventually growing in number and actually becoming something of a militia in Shinji's hometown and an information network in Tokyo-3.
 * Democracy Is Bad - The chapter twenty-one bureaucratic governmental inquisition into the activities of NERV and NNHIS paints this picture. Even if such activities ultimately involve Gendo, the panel's effective demands that they and their proxies maintain strict adherence to social institutions in the face of utter annihilation smacks as nothing less than suicidal fat-headedness on a national scale.
 * Destructive Saviour - People know Shinji's back when there's massive destruction. Even when he's trying not to, Shinji ends up causing more destruction than actual Angels.

""...and she began to scream. I still fail to understand this concept of humor.""
 * Determinator - Aside from the obvious, the Assault Terminators are the most specific example, especially their initial arrival.
 * Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu? - A lot. Shinji literally punches out one of the Angels and the Jet Alone in the first seven chapters alone. Of course, he started the latter fight by blowing the limbs off the Jet Alone with an Eva-scaled bolter...
 * Dirty Old Woman - The Farseer that lives in Shinji's head. As the Chaos Marine points out, given that her race birthed Slaanesh, this should not be particularly surprising. For his part, Shinji is profoundly disturbed that a facet of his subconscious has such urges,.
 * Don't Look At Me: Happened to Minase.
 * Dope Slap - Administered several times by the Farseer.
 * Double Entendre - Rei embraces a unique "brand of psychological torture as a device for humor." She seems to particularly enjoy reminding Asuka of how well she and Shinji "connect," while implying that she and Asuka could "connect" in a similar fashion.

""A HERO ARRIVES IN THE NICK OF TIME!" A boxy red shape punched out to stand on top of the tilting structure's roof. "A hero strikes when least expected! The enemy of all that is good, the ones who wants to destroy this world that is made of love! And peace! Will never escape from justice! Specially in the moment that he feels safe, he will know! There is nowhere to hide! The name for this! IS DYNAMIC ENTRY!""
 * Dropped a Bridget On Him - Kaji is quite surprised to find out that the pale young woman he chats up at a festival turns out to be.
 * Dude, She's Like, in a Coma - Seriously, Asuka, Shinji just woke up from one..
 * Dynamic Entry - Reinforcements arrive at the battle against Iruel.
 * From chapter 41:

"Shinji Ikari wanted to shout 'Do you understand now?! Do you understand, Misato-san? All of you?! THIS is why I -hate- Nagisa beyond all other things on this Earth. He can be so Goddamn POLITE and so obliging that it's so Goddamned -easy- to -forget- that he's supposed to be your Goddamn -enemy- until he's finished slicing your throat open.' "
 * Eldritch Abomination -
 * Enemy Mine - Shinji knows what Gendo's planning. Gendo knows Shinji knows this. And they both know the only way they'll survive long enough to have their final showdown is to work together...for the time being.
 * Even the Girls Want Her - Asuka (chapter 12).
 * Evil Counterpart - Kaworu to Shinji. Kaworu seems to view his foil as a Worthy Opponent, though it doesn't look like the feelings are mutual.
 * Evilly Affable - How Shinji sees Kaworu...and boy, does it piss him off.
 * Evilly Affable - How Shinji sees Kaworu...and boy, does it piss him off.


 * Fan Girl - Mana Krishima, complete with Squee moments. This and the Genki Girl and Stalker with a Crush aspects of her personality, but they occasionally surface afterward.
 * Fan Service - A form of the non-sexual variety for the Shinji/Rei shippers (not that there isn't any of the other kind), in the form of.
 * Five Rounds Rapid - For the first few chapters, Shinji constantly has to rely on his prog knife because NERV can't seem to build a decent gun. Fortunately, the Eva-scaled bolters and NNHIS come along soon after.
 * Fix Fic - Today, Shinji; tomorrow, the world. Since in canon both are very much broken by design, it's understandable that the gap can't be bridged in under half a million words.
 * Flash Step -
 * Foe Yay - Perhaps as a nod to Canon, Kaworu admits that Shinji "is...very compelling in many ways." He's mainly interested in Asuka, though.
 * Chapter 40 hilariously averts this, however, when
 * Chapter 40 hilariously averts this, however, when

"Bpen: "Shinji to be awesome doesn't need to be an asshole. Or be replaced utterly. One simple, simple thing. Just change his childhood. Make him happy. Everything pulls its own weight after that.""
 * Foreshadowing - It is humorously noted early on that some bored troops taught a technique known as the Ikari after witnessing Shinji's infamous signature headbutt-curbstomp maneuver.
 * For Want of a Nail - Per Word of God:

""We missed? How could we miss?!" shouted. "It's a goddamn laser! It travels at lightspeed!""
 * Foregone Conclusion - One of the story's draws comes from the fact that Eva fans know think they know have a general idea of how that series ends, while 40K fans know how the Emperor's rise to power goes...but since the two plot lines are happening simultaneously, it remains to be seen who is Doomed by Canon and which outcome will ultimately triumph. Then again, given the nature of both materials, they might not be mutually exclusive.
 * Frickin' Laser Beams:

""Asuka was aware she was Assigning Capital Letters in her own mind. She had learned that other people weren't quite so clear-cut, but needed to classify them anyway. It was methodical, it was convenient, and for the most part it worked. Even events could be predicted according to patterns.""
 * Friend to All Children: Shinji, by his own admission—while he does believe that there are no innocents, he sees no reason for childhood not to be safe and happy, and Da Boyz were styled by him primarily as a way to keep kids entertained and out of trouble.
 * Funetik Aksent - Shinji's English is quite "authentic," as he learned it by reading Ork codices. The Boyz and Gretch picked up the same speech patterns, resulting in a generation of Japanese schoolchildren who speak like English football hooligans.
 * Gambit Pileup - between Ikari Gendo and NERV, Lorenz Keel and SEELE, Shinji and his Terminators and UN PSYKANA, and Kaworu and the forces of Earth's Cradle, with Yang sticking his nose in sometimes. Not to mention the Angels themselves.
 * Genre Buster Genre Busting Doorstopper: ...Huh boy...
 * Genre Savvy:
 * Mana, perhaps appropriately, seems to know quite a few of the standard Dating Sim tropes, and reacts in horror when she hears about two girls Shinji knew back in Sendai.
 * Asuka, on the other hand, is a would-be Troper: she reclassifies Shinji from The Ace to a Mentor, considers Rei an Uncompromising Confidante, notes her own Moral Ambiguity...


 * BPen also qualifies, thanks to his use of tropes. Also, in his notes from a recent chapter, he thanked TV Tropes for giving him some ideas and helping him write the story more believably.
 * Kaworu is also confirmed to be this in the author's notes. That's why in ch. 42, he decides to


 * Go Mad from the Revelation - Ritsuko begins to crack more and more when what Shinji does takes the laws of physics and throws them completely out the window. By chapter 35, Ritsuko.

"The colonel clenched his fists. He had served the army well, he was no coward. He was no moron either, to waste his own life on futile gestures. "So you would rather have millions suffer in the middle of a warzone than relinquish control? Do you know how all of this sounds?" He pointed at Wilfred. "This is insane! Do you know WHO you sound like?"
 * God-Emperor - Shinji is the Memetic Badass in a universe where belief is power. Meanwhile, by chapter nineteen, Hikari becomes the first to reference Shinji with, and Rei.
 * Godwin's Law: Invoked several times by German characters in chapter 37: The similarities between WWII and post-war Germany with their current situation is mentioned by several psyker Lamas who were also holocaust survivors. One of these psykers later shows a group of assembled German soldiers and leaders his barcode tattoo, stating that if they simply gave in, they would be no better than the ones who let the Nazi atrocities take place. A soldier responds by asking if they should keep paying for the sins of their fathers. Later, one of the colonels, who does not want to see all the people die in a war zone, confronts a group of soldiers who want to stay and fight to the end rather than leave many of the citizens to die and demand if fighting to the last man was really any better, by invoking Hitler's scorched earth policy and the destruction of Germany so that the allies would not be able to take control the country.

The young man snarled, and would have pulled the trigger right there. How dare he!"

""In fact, there is no real way of proving that THIS is but a memory of Instrumentality being played out again and again...""
 * Grand Unifying Guesses - One of the most popular forms of Wild Mass Guessing is lampshaded by a dream vision of Kaworu.

""KNOW THE NAME OF YOUR DESTROYER, YOU WHO HAVE COME DOWN TO JUDGE HUMANITY! THIS IS EVANGELION! TITANICUS! PRINCIPIO ETERNUS! IN ITS NAME, DIE! IN THE NAME OF HUMANITY, DIE!""
 * What's interesting about that scene is that it's not written "... there is no real way of proving that THIS is NOT but a memory of Instrumentality being played out again and again..." In the original, it says that there was no way of proving it is an illusion and not reality.
 * Gratuitous German - First with Asuka and Martin, then in the narration itself once there's actually a battle in Germany.
 * Gratuitous Japanese - Shows up in some of the dialogue.
 * Green Lantern Ring - Eventually, AT-fields.
 * Green Rocks - The psychically-formed crystals encountered by Shinji during the Javaal arc are room temperature superconductors needed in order to make the next necessary step in technology.
 * Grimdark - Ultimately subverted. The Irony of ironies is that Shinji's exposure to 40K actually gives him the purpose and courage to make Evangelion a less dysfunctional and more optimistic setting. That said, the "Farewell to Peace" arc is considerably darker than earlier chapters, what with, while from Matariel on the battles against the Angels are much more desperate and have a much higher human cost than previous encounters.
 * Recently, the story has been heading back towards Grim Dark; with the rise of things have gone down the toilet for the average person,
 * Guns Are Worthless - Averted Annihilated by Kensuke's unspeakably righteous badassery during the Matariel attack, and then played straight later on when most heavy bolters aren't powerful enough to hurt some of the creatures from
 * Happiness in Slavery - To Shinji's slowly-growing horror, more than a few of his associates have begun taking up this stance in their degree of loyalty to him...Rei taking it to the point of.
 * Hero Insurance - NERV can cover the rebuilding costs, but the people of Tokyo-3 are quite supportive of any battle plan that takes Shinji out of the city. The local defense forces realize he's returned based on the amount of destruction some surprise reinforcements cause.
 * Hey, It's That Voice! - Lampshaded by Asuka, since Maya and Rei have the same voice actress.
 * Hidden Elf Village - Javaal, but.
 * Hilarity Ensues - Teenage 40K fanboy Shinji becomes immensely popular amongst his classmates, pilots a giant Eva, and is stuck in a twisted Love Dodecahedron, all while trying to keep personalities of his favorite miniatures from distracting him with their wacky hijinks as he attempts to save the world and doing his best not to become The God-Emperor. Hilarity Ensues.
 * Historical In-Joke - Yang and Kensuke start laughing uncontrollably when Shinji  Others bring up the similarities between him and Alexander often.
 * Hoist by His Own Petard - The rest of the cast eventually stops being shocked when Shinji tries to kill Angels with their own body parts.
 * Hot-Blooded - Shinji has apparently been taking life lessons from a certain shirtless man with impossibly Cool Shades.
 * Hot Springs Episode - Chapter 23, a Breather Episode after the "Inquiry Into Values" arc, that shows that while Shinji may be on the road to becoming The Emperor, he's still...well, Shinji.
 * 100% Adoration Rating - Even eventually give tribute to their future Emperor Shinji, no doubt at the gentle encouragement of Rei.
 * Hypocritical Humor - Shinji expresses disbelief and exasperation when This annoys Kaworu to no end.
 * Idiot Hair - Poor Ritsuko develops this, as she struggles to deal with the number of impossible things happening around her.
 * I Just Want to Be Normal - Admiral Yang would like nothing more than to be a full-time history teacher. Even though he has a job as one at Shinji's high school, he still moonlights as a UN Advisor/sometimes military commander.
 * Imaginary Friend - As a child, Shinji talked to his four favorite figures: a Space Marine, an Eldar Farseer, an Ork Warboss, and a Chaos Space Marine. At some point, they started talking back. . The "friend" part may be subverted by the time it's all said and done, based on
 * Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: This tends to happen a lot, on all sides.
 * Instant Fanclub - Asuka's canonical admirers face competition in the form of fan clubs devoted to Shinji's other possible love interests (Rei, Mana, and Maya), all Color Coded for Your Convenience. "Inquisitor" Hikari heads the Ordos Custodes, a neutral group devoted to the protection of all the pilots. And then there's Shinji himself...
 * Indy Ploy - Shinji both plans it all out and makes it up as he goes along. The result is something of an amalgam between Xanatos Speed Chess and.
 * In the Blood - This version of Shinji is noted many times as being eerily similar to Gendo, with the two thankfully having very different goals. Ritsuko takes this to the logical most extreme and personifies Shinji as mini-Gendo and Rei as mini-Yui. Naturally, the idea of two Gendos running around freaks her the hell out, and the prospect of a mini-Gendo allying with a mini-Yui makes her fear for the planet.
 * In the Name of the Moon - This happens just about every Angel fight.

""I have a gun. And armor. What is the source of your confidence?" Kensuke replied. He ignored the barely-repressed chuckles from some of his friends. 'Darth Aida', someone said. He threw his bolt pistol at the man's feet. "There are still six rounds in that bolt gun. Go and kill some Angelspawn if you feel like being a man." "Do...don't patronize me!" "Then stop being an idiot. Live. Or die. It's your choice and I don't care." Say it! he heard from behind. He sighed. "I find your lack of faith disturbing." Kensuke growled."
 * Subverted when Kaworu tries this...and is rewarded with a bolt to the face.
 * Intimate Healing - ...of the "shared body heat" variety. Then there's in the Omake, and Rei giving massages...
 * It Got Worse - Gendo suggests to Fuyutsuki that each time the latter claims it could be, it inevitably becomes so.
 * It's Personal - When is just ticked off.
 * Japan Takes Over the World - With a huge influx of Latin words introduced into its language, though.
 * Jedi Truth - No, Shinji is not part-Angel, and no, he is not technically.
 * Jerkass:
 * Besides the canonical characters (*coughGendoucough*) we have Rika Izuna, a reporter obsessed with finding dirt on Shinji, and who almost takes his celebrated status as a personal insult.
 * Gendo really deserves special mention here, as his jerkassery reaches levels even Canon!Gendo would call excessive. He seems to exist almost purely for dog-kicking, especially where Shinji is concerned.
 * Journey to the Center of the Mind - The scheduled Leliel encounter plays out a bit differently, involving Shinji lampshading the fauxlosophical symbolism of the train sequence, a Heroic BSOD followed by a Battle in the Center of the Mind, and culminating in an awesome, hilarious, heartwarming Mind Screw.
 * The Khan - Shinji, screaming out Kaworu's name with murderously pure hate in chapter 30. Toss up as to whether the moment Narms, or the heavens themselves tremble.
 * Killed Mid-Sentence -
 * Killed Off for Real - As of the end of ch. 44:
 * Lampshade Hanging - The story occasionally pokes fun at the source material, such as when Misato wonders why there isn't a huge particle cannon protecting NERV or where the mental therapists went, and when Shinji wonders what kind of sucky life he'd be living without his exposure to 40K.
 * Not to mention all the Shout Outs to TV Tropes.
 * And the in-character requests for certain pop-culture references.

"Ritsuko: "You want to hit Phobos? We can hit Phobos." Fuyutsuki: "Wait, Phobos? THAT -MOON-? OF -MARS-?!" Ritsuko: "Well, it's not that hard... If the Angel had attacked in its previous form just one more time, no AT-field could possibly stand up to that blast. This is anti-orbital defense...and it's -puny- compared to the Grand Cannon being made up in Europe." And even that was a midget compared to the one planned for Canada."
 * Large Ham - The corporate executive in charge of Jet Alone, and later NNHIS, has a thing for dramatics, as does Shinji pretty much any time he's in his Eva or making an Inspirational Speech. The Chaos Space Marine takes the cake, though, and chews it thoroughly...though he's facing some new competition whenever Ritsuko is in "the madness place."
 * Lensman Arms Race - The Angels are forced to adapt to the new tricks Shinji and the gang come up with to defeat them. From Sandalphon on, the battles diverge from canon significantly, becoming increasingly epic and insane.
 * Summed up best by the exponential growth of the giant cannons NERV and the UN are making:


 * Libation for the Dead - Mana does this.
 * Loads and Loads of Characters - So much so that even Bpen says he is in despair about never getting to those little side-stories he wants to write. Interesting new characters are introduced and after their arcs sadly ignored to make room for new plotlines.
 * Lotus Eater Machine - While trapped in the Dirac Sea, Shinji spends some time in a strange alternate universe where Tokyo-3 is mostly intact and the battle against the Angels has been less devastating, but Misato is only a major, Rei is strangely robotic, and Asuka's a total bitch. Afterward, he worries if his exit destroyed it.
 * Lonely at the Top - One of Shinji's deep fears.

""Shinji pulled himself loose from her (Misato's) suffocating embrace. Those bosoms were deadly.""
 * Macross Missile Massacre:
 * Attempted against Sahaquiel in the form of a massive coordinated nuclear strike...and it bites humanity in the ass in a huge way after.
 * Madness Mantra - In early fights, Shinji's "I mustn't run away, I mustn't run away" runs more along the lines of "BURN! MAIM! KILL!"
 * Mad Scientist -, of all people, is already very close since It remains to be seen if she starts embracing it after
 * Magitek - Ritsuko desperately tries to avert this, but Shinji keeps finding ways to mess with physics, and psychic crystals are required for the next generation in anti-Angel weaponry.
 * Marshmallow Hell - During the Javaal Arc.
 * Marshmallow Hell - During the Javaal Arc.

"Sinn? Dje? No explanation necessary."
 * Massive Multiplayer Crossover - At first this fic is just Eva as influenced by 40K. Once the plot stops following Eva canon around chapter 20, numerous other series start to have influence on the setting (e.g. Gunbuster and Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water), and then characters from other series start to appear (e.g. Yang Wen-li).
 * Meaningful Name - Several:
 * The Farseer refers to Shinji as her "young king," which any scholar of Eldar lore knows isn't necessarily a great title to have.
 * Part-time priest Makoto spends a lot of time hanging around Mini-Storm Studios.
 * The UN Imp(rovised) Guards: Deathwatch.
 * And from chapter 35:

""By special order of the Tokyo-3 City Council and NERV Operations...""
 * Messiah Creep - Shinji is aware how his situation parallels the God Emperor of Mankind's, and spends a great amount of effort desperately trying to avoid it. So far, he hasn't been entirely successful.
 * Since the prologue, Da Boyz.
 * Meta Mecha - Evangelion-sized power armor.
 * Mind Rape - Kaworu does this to during the  arc.
 * Mind Screw - Basically the entire story could be considered one, but about the point you realize Shinji Ikari is being set up to become the God Emperor of Mankind your mind screams "I REJECT IT!"...but the story just won't stop making sense.
 * Mind Screwdriver - For the exact same reasons as the Mind Screw.
 * Mistaken for Gay - Mana's friends Musashi and Keita try to gather intelligence about Shinji, but end up asking the wrong questions.
 * Mood Whiplash - Happens fairly frequently.
 * Mood Swinger - Maya notes that Rei has only two settings, "apathetic or violently happy," while Shinji oscillates between "I'm no one special, really" and "I pity the galaxy that does not know me." There's also "Inquisitor" Horaki: sweet schoolgirl, caring friend, and iron-fisted, (safe)bolt-shooting Class Representative from hell.

"Asuka: "G-get your hand out of there! Dammit! Help! She's molesting me...again." Rei: "It was an accident, Sohryu.""
 * Morality Chain / Morality Pet—Tokyo-3 and its inhabitants are arguably these for Shinji.
 * More Dakka - An aspect of Orkish philosophy wholly embraced by Rei. NNHIS is happy to provide....
 * Mundane Utility - To the pilots' boredom, one of the peaceful applications of AT-Field weirdness is masonry, as it allows the Evas to lift huge sheets of rock out of the ground to turn Tokyo-3 into a fortress-city. Shinji also ruminates on more exotic uses, like levitating things such as converted nuclear subs into orbit to launch an invasion of wherever the Angels are coming from. Chapter 36 opens with the Evas using their AT fields to break down destroyed machinery into pristinely pure slabs of their component metals.
 * Mutant Draft Board -
 * Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot -
 * Recently,
 * No Seat Belts - Observed by Shinji in chapter 2 when he gets flattened by Sachiel.
 * Not So Different - After Leliel captures Shinji, the Other Shinji on the train begins grilling him on his actions, finally throwing back some of Shinji's justifications with a Gendo quote. Cue Heroic BSOD...briefly, until the Four Figures show up, literally derailing the train.
 * To a lesser extent, Rei and Asuka.
 * No Name Given - Rika Ozuna's ever-loyal cameraman. He comments on this at least once.
 * Nonchalant Dodge - Shinji is able to easily sidestep Toji's introductory fisticuffs (and retaliate with his signature move). Shinji's as surprised as his attacker, and the incident is the first clue that his exposure to the Eva may have unforeseen consequences.
 * Noodle Incident:
 * During the Time Skip, Shinji apparently had some globetrotting adventures, and has alluded to a lost city in Egypt and an encounter with a sidhe in England without going into too much detail.
 * From chapter 23:

" "
 * In chapter 32, Maya, Rei and Mana decide that the only way to get Shinji's sync ratio up is to resolve some typical pent up teenage stress, and had even cleared it with the local (tantric) Buddhist priests. When Asuka tries to stop them, they figure they might as well include her as well, and bring her along against her will. They then invite Misato, who declines and only requests that they bring the two back in time for school. Although Maya's wink to Misato suggests that she was joking, the only thing we know for sure is that hours later,.

"Which one?" "Damn you Ikaris!" "Farseer: "The future only calls for events to be altered to suit itself. It is the present that is malleable, never the future.""
 * The Nose Bleed - Kensuke, Mana and, to her own surprise, ("I can't possibly have a maid fetish!").
 * Maya almost gets one in chapter 5 after imagining Ritsuko addressing her as "neechan".
 * Nuclear Weapons Taboo - Slightly averted. Eventually the UN is prepared to use all their strategic weapons, including nuclear, on the Angels...if Misato's team (which is to say, Shinji, Rei and Asuka, and very occasionally anyone else) falls, and everyone's going to wind up dead anyway.
 * Oh Crap:
 * This tends to happen a lot as each of the factions keeps on one-upping each other. The whole planet reacts this way when Admiral Yang (Chinese tactician and war hero who won the "allegiance of the steppes") and Shinji Ikari (mecha pilot and adopted citizen of Greece who leads a private army of Macedonians in Terminator armor) start working together.
 * Also the reaction of everyone at NERV Mission Control when they hear Asuka's statement after finishing Israfel: "Hey Shinji?...I think I like you."
 * "Face it, Asuka Langley-Sohryu. You're the sanest, most emotionally well-adjusted pilot here."
 * SEELE's membership give the less family-friendly version of the phrase when Shinji, and just after they finally realize that no global power, anywhere, knows either his ultimate intentions or the limits of his capabilities.
 * Omake - Pen-Pen's experiments with flight and 's nighttime adventures. Also, a discussion on some alternate uses of Wraithbone, the revelation that, and some disturbingly cute interactions between Shinji and Rei in the Alternate Universe.
 * Out of Context 1 and 2
 * Only Sane Women - Asuka and Ritsuko bond over their mutual loathing of Shinji's ability to "pull weird shit with his AT-field." Inevitably, such attitudes prove only temporary, with both slowly drawn ever further into the impossibilities of his existence; and in the case of Asuka,.
 * Order Versus Chaos - One of the strongest ongoing philosophical debates of the story, with Shinji's mind being only one of the most prominent battlegrounds. For more than a few others, the stability he has brought to their lives, when present, has only too easily served to magnify the resulting chaos, when not.
 * Painting the Fourth Wall - For the third installment of "All Along the Watchtower", the author asks the reader to switch the website to 1/2 of the page.
 * Palm Fist Tap: Shinji does this in the prologue. The author's explanation for the Western audience is only slightly awkward.
 * Pass the Popcorn - At one point while Shinji's mental Space Marine and Chaos Space Marine are beating each other up, the Farseer and the Warboss break out the popcorn.
 * Percussive Maintenance - Shinji's preferred method of stopping his mental miniatures from influencing the people around him is to knock himself unconscious.
 * Persona Non Grata - Gendo and Fuyutsuki are banned from Hawaii for some reason.
 * Perspective Flip - See, with this new information, we can finally begin to understand what was happening during the spooky train scene...
 * Pet the Dog - Gendo actually gets a few moments, such as when after asking why Rei was messing with Asuka, he gives her permission to continue. "Let it not be said that he was ever selfish in his bastardiness." Later he even stuns Misato with his trust in Shinji, at a time when she was hesitating.
 * Gendo actually has the most moments for a "villain", expressing pride in his son's manipulations after his  and caring a fair deal for Ritsuko.
 * Portal Cut - Happens during the fight against Leliel, when the opening to the Dirac sea closes unexpectedly.
 * The Power of Love - 's bionic arm has sensitivity beyond that of a normal prothesis, and Kensuke posits that her affection for Shinji makes it "powered by perversion."
 * The Power of Rock - Iruel's low-frequency, fear-inducing sonic attack is first countered by a bunch of Gretch banging pots and pans together.
 * Power Perversion Potential - After hearing how Shinji can sync with Rei's AT-Field, Agent Jiro wonders "So...just by thinking about it, can you make her o-" Luckily his partner has the presence of mind to shut him up before he's torn apart.
 * Powered Armor - The Titan modules are Powered Armor for the Evangelions. Later,.
 * Prophecy Twist:
 * SEELE comes to realize that due to changing circumstances, the old Dead Sea scrolls now have a few possible interpretations..
 * Then the cast notices that.
 * Gendo at one point remarks that the prophecies clearly have no relevance anymore...then later on subverts this by wondering why an event from the Prophecy appears to be playing out straight.
 * The Psycho Rangers - The Trident Warborn pilots are either dark, Gender Flipped versions of the Eva pilots, or what the Eva pilots would be if Shinji followed the Chaos Marine's advice and broke the others to his will rather than more subtle tactics.
 * Rape as Redemption (Rape as Drama?) - Happens to near the end of the prologue. The person who did it is then killed (accidentally) after being attacked by her and.
 * Reference Overdosed - Takes its Shout Outs just as far as everything else. Your Mileage May Vary as to how much of a distraction this is.
 * Refuge in Audacity - This fic wouldn't be quite as awesome if it weren't so incredibly, brazenly over-the-top. It's also invoked as to why Shinji's Hot-Blooded speeches are taken seriously, rather than getting him institutionalized.
 * Refusal of the Call - Shinji's first-episode refusal to pilot the Eva stems not from fear, but anger over Gendo's treatment of him. He caves when Rei is brought out, of course, but he resents his father's use of such obvious psychological blackmail, and the incident cements Gendo as a bastard in Shinji's mind.
 * The Rival + Gender Flip - The Warborn team is a gender-flipped version of the Eva pilots, and Dr. V Lader considers himself a rival to Ritsuko. Even The Cradle itself is a rival to NERV.
 * Roaring Rampage of Revenge -
 * Rouge Angles of Satin: The author has a problem with the suffix -gue; he tends to spell it -uge. 'vague' becomes 'vauge', 'dialogue' 'dialouge', et cetera.
 * Rousing Speech - Whenever Shinji says anything, odds are that a life is in the process of being changed. When other characters strive to think of something noble to say (or do, for that matter), they will inevitably ask themselves at some point, "What would Shinji...?"
 * Running Gag: A few in the early chapters.
 * "Damn you Ikari!"
 * Running Gag: A few in the early chapters.
 * "Damn you Ikari!"
 * (gasp!) "Inquisitor Horaki!"
 * Sadistic Choice - The Leliel battle presents Shinji with the choice between saving Rei or Asuka when all three pilots are about to be sucked into the Angel's Dirac Sea. By now, of course, you know Shinji's gonna Take a Third Option and opt for the Heroic Sacrifice instead.
 * Scary Shiny Glasses - The usual suspects, as well as every glasses wearing character who Took a Level in Badass at some point. Lampshaded heavily at several points when characters spontaneously note that Shinji should have these as well when it's apparent that he's manipulating events. It probably just runs in the family.
 * Serial Escalation- Just when you think there is no way for this fic to get any more utterly batshit insane, the next chapter proves you dead wrong. is one of the most normal things this fic has to offer.
 * Screaming Warrior - Pulled off by Shinji in the prologue, using -what else?- "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
 * Self-Fulfilling Prophecy - Played literally by the Farseer's lessons in foresight. This is also how Shinji gets his Cool Chair.

""Ahhaha, yes! Shine, sattava!" Hasya laughed freely. "Shine on, you crazy diamond!""
 * Shangri La - Javaal, though not as perfect as you'd think.
 * Shaming the Mob - Performed by in Chapter 20. Needless to say it is awesome. And yes, he did it with a chainsword....
 * Ship-to-Ship Combat: An In-Universe example—Shinji's classmates argue over who to ship him with: his high school hosts fan clubs devoted to the various possible love interests that can be quite militant in their disagreements.
 * Shout-Out - Lots...and lots...and lots, from oblique references to direct quotes. See the Shout Out page for the actual texts.
 * Obviously, many 40K and Dawn of War references, as well as Gaunt's Ghosts (going by the name: Haggard's Haunters), Ciaphas Cain, and Warhammer Fantasy Battle.
 * The following works get at least one reference (and some get several): Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Star Wars, Super Robot Wars, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Girl Genius, the Gundam franchise, Planescape: Torment, South Park, GaoGaiGar, The Incredible Hulk, Firefly / Serenity, Tremors, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Simpsons, Fallout, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Starship Troopers, Castlevania, Death Note, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, Stargate SG-1, Star Control, Looney Tunes, Harry Potter, the Doom comic book, Trigun, Discworld, Monster, the Evil Dead franchise, The Saga of Boatmurdered, H.P. Lovecraft, Spaceballs, Keith Laumer's Bolos, Predator, The Princess Bride, Zero Wing, Tsukihime, 1632, Schlock Mercenary, Mystery Science Theater 3000, Chrono Trigger, Portal, The Addams Family, the Marvel Civil War, Halo, Naruto, Star Trek, Men in Black, Slayers, Ghost in the Shell, Hellsing, Battlestar Galactica, Warcraft, G.I. Joe, Baldur's Gate, Red Dwarf, The Big O, Harry Turtledove's Worldwar series, Dune, Fight Club, Indiana Jones, Penny Arcade, Mortal Kombat, The Mouse That Roared, Martian Successor Nadesico, Command & Conquer, Alien...and likely many more before the story's finished.
 * Even other Eva fan fics get referenced, although not always kindly (see Take That).
 * Not even music escapes.

""Frak this; for my faith is a shield proof against your blandishments.""
 * Show Within a Show - Evangelion Fantasy Battles, now a major motion picture! Later,.
 * Shut UP, Hannibal - The high point of the conversation between Shinji's imaginary Space Marine and Chaos Space Marine in chapter 5.

"For the sea did surge, and the waves did flow over him, and he gasped and flailed and something big and black rose along with the tides to clonk him upside down the head."
 * Sliding Scale of Silliness Versus Seriousness - The fic takes all of Evangelion's seriousness, gives Shinji four advisors in his head, and somehow manages to make it silly in a great way despite still having very serious moments. See Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann for a decent comparison.
 * Smart People Play Chess - Played straight, and subverted. Rei plays at a Grandmaster level without really trying, while Shinji, who rarely wins games against any opponent at all, operates on levels seemingly beyond chess.
 * Sophisticated As Hell

""Damn it, Ikari! Do you have any part of your body that doesn't deploy a chainsaw or prog blade? ...or shoot fire. Do you have any part of your body that doesn't deploy a chainsaw, or prog blade, or shoot fire." Nagisa realized just how ridiculous was his question. "You don't, do you?""
 * Space Marine - Prominently featured in a game that Shinji likes.
 * Spell My Name with an "S" - Mayumi Hamigishi/Yamagishi's surname is spelt in quite a few different ways, probably unintentionally.
 * Spirit Advisor - Shinji's four figures. Given what they're figures of, their advice is not always helpful...
 * Zen Survivor - The Farseer, who even uses the "Endure, and in enduring grow strong" line. When not offering lessons on farsight or talking Shinji through his current mental state, she seems to enjoy her role as the personification of Shinji's sex drive.
 * Evil Mentor - The Chaos Space Marine, who typically offers the advice Shinji shouldn't and doesn't follow. Occasionally he has the right idea, though, such as how to free Rei from Gendo's influence.
 * Split Personality - A possible explanation for Shinji's figures. Additionally, Mana begins nurturing an aspect of her psyche she calls the Kommissar, while Makoto occasionally goes into Badass Preacher mode, only to suffer memory loss and confusion afterwards.
 * Given that several of Makoto's experiences have happened while, there may be more going on than meets the eye.
 * Start My Own - Gendo has NERV. The Ancient Conspiracy has SEELE. Shinji has Da Boyz, . Then there's Kaworu, torn between loyalties to humanity and Angelkind, who comes up with an innovative third option: form your own faction by.
 * Stout Strength - Kobayakawa.
 * Super Sentai: Kensuke mentions that they look like it in chapter 23 because of the color of their bathrobes.
 * Swiss Army Appendage

""You may THINK she serves Khorne with her flailing about, but that girl...her fears, her sweet PAIN...she is Slaaneshi to the core.""
 * Unit 01 shot him with a Crotch Laser.
 * Take a Third Option - The Israfel fight culminates in a hostage situation when one of the Angel's "halves" . You can guess the rest.
 * Take That - Bpen may have taken a shot at competing Eva/WH40K fanfic Thousand Shinji with this line:

""Someone was thrown out of the huddled masses below for his heresy. The four points star was not a valid option, dammit.""
 * Also, from Chapter 3: "I wanted a Shinji that could go; DJ Croft? Who's that?"
 * One Take That to the manga is Kaworu's repeated line, "It's not as if I'm going around killing kittens for no reason."
 * Technopath - has an unusually sensitive bionic arm, Magnos Tancred's power supply flickered when she named it, and she furthermore seems to feel whatever damage Tancred is receiving, to the point of having swollen lips after the Trident's front is pounded several times by.
 * Also, as the MAGI seem to recognize her without having to receive log-in information, and she blacked out when the computers lost power.
 * Tenchi Solution:
 * Averted by the militant fan clubs.

"Kaworu: "Humanity is defined by its FUNCTION, not its FORM! It defines itself. The genome is supremely adaptable; it does not matter what shape we wear, now or in the future." "The shape of man is sacred! The form of man is for man alone!" Shinji shouted back."Let everyone who wishes to live as a human, with his limits and his laws, be treated as a human being. Our shape may change, yes, in time. But let us change the universe to suit ourselves, not ourselves into the demands of space and life beyond- for that way lies surrender. No, Nagisa. Humanity is defined by its WILL to keep going, proudly on, stubborn, free, and unbreakable.""
 * Asuka briefly considers the idea when under the influence of the Farseer. Shinji is so horrified by what his subconscious is doing that he knocks himself out by slamming his head on his desk.
 * Rei, on the other hand, seems to have absolutely no problem with the idea.
 * Testosterone Poisoning - Shinji's now-legendary "...eat war and shit awesome!" line is an homage to "...eat iron and shit a chain" seen on the page, while his actions themselves threaten to recodify the trope.
 * Theme Naming - Just about every possible meaning or interpretation of Shinji's name is discussed by members of the UN after . Most are not amused by the implications about Gendo.
 * Theory of Narrative Causality - Subverted: After losing and spending the Javaal arc trying to get it back, Shinji returns to find that, contrary to the Theory,
 * They Fight Crime - She is a meek computer programmer by day and a Powered Armor - wearing vigilante by night. She's a Half-Human Hybrid that can fly and blow up buildings. They Fight Crime.
 * They Would Cut You Up - Shinji keeps his out-of-Eva abilities hidden as much as possible due to an understandable desire to avoid being dissected.
 * This Is a Drill - Magnos Tancred's  Drill Punch.
 * This Is Sparta:
 * Shinji's response to Yang's half-serious offer for command of the Chinese military. "ARE! YOU! HIGH?!"
 * Thou Doth Protest Too Much - Rika Izuna is obsessed with proving that Shinji Ikari is not the Messianic figure that more and more of her countrymen treat him as. Yearnings for such things are childish fantasies, fit only for those who can't accept the brutal, abusive truths about life scarred into little girls' minds from an early age.
 * Time Skip - "All is well! Move along!" Shinji stared oddly at the passing steamed peanuts seller, who had yelled out for no particular reason.
 * Tokyo Is the Center of the Universe - Or Tokyo-3, technically. Justified far better than in the source material, given Shinji's... existence.
 * Too Good for This Sinful Earth - Said verbatim by Maya in Chapter 15, to
 * Transforming Mecha - The Asshimar, Cradle-made biomechanical flying disks that can transform into twelve meter tall robots.
 * In DnD,  There is also the NRX-044 Asshimar Mobile Suit.
 * Troperiffic - This is a crossover between Neon Genesis Evangelion and Warhammer 40,000; it will likely be easier to list tropes that it doesn't invoke.
 * Tsundere - Asuka's irritation/anger at Shinji increases early on the more . Outright rage.
 * Ubermensch - Slightly subverted in that Shinji is by far the most loving and compassionate character in the story, but the fundamental fact, of changing the history of the future ultimately by simply willing it to be so, remains. That every male, at at least some point in the story, wants to be him, and every female likewise to serve him, only piles the effect on and on.
 * Not every male or female. Still, that the opposite is also true is what makes it funny.
 * The Unwanted Harem - Aside from the usual suspects, Misato claims in part 3 of "Cry for Me, Tokyo-3" that "Shinji could just walk up to to nearly any woman, say 'I want to have sex with you'...and they would." Herself included.
 * Considering that the Farseer, who is an aspect of Shinji's unconscious, really seems to want Shinji to have a harem, it's hard to say whether they're really that unwanted.
 * Word of God is that this is a reference to Ladder Theory. The list of other people in the planet who combine such wealth, looks, and power in one body is very short indeed. As the public face of NERV, people look at him and see 'heir to an organization that has more funding than whole nations' or 'monumentally insane pilot that stands between the aliens and human extinction'.
 * The Russian precognitive, whenever asked about Shinji, always replies "I want to bear his children". Considering the fact she's under ten, it's more than a little unsettling.
 * Also, unwanted in the case of Shinji, specifically., for their part, have made it perfectly clear just how 'unwanted' the arrangement is for them,.
 * Unreliable Narrator: In the early chapters, when the perspective shifts to that of ANY of the antagonists, each one of them is absolutely sure that Shinji is just a puppet of his father.
 * Unresolved Sexual Tension - Only to be expected when most of the female main cast, the majority of the female population of Tokyo-3, and some of the males all want Shinji. Possibly resolved in Chapter 32, although even Asuka argues that it wasn't canon.
 * Also potentially partially resolved in chapter 36.
 * Up to Eleven - This fic is literally insane, in where it eventually takes the reader. So keep reading.
 * Use Your Head - After Shinji's debut battle, "the Ikari" becomes a standard fighting style among special forces around the world, which "starts with a headbutt and ends with the opponent on the ground, begging for mercy."
 * This in reality looks impractical because Unit 01's horn would get in the way. By Chapter 41, this approach has been abused so thoroughly that Unit01 has a prog blade in its forehead.
 * Vault Door Stopper - Just over 700K words as of the last update.
 * Vetinari Job Security - Though Gendo winds up in prison for a time, eventually everyone realizes that NERV operates best with a ruthless bastard to make all the unpalatable decisions and serve as a scapegoat of sorts. He returns to his position, though reduced in power and at the head of a council to help keep him in check.
 * Villainous Crossdresser -
 * Wacky Wayside Tribe - The Javaal arc starts out feeling like this, but subverts the trope by paying off in spades.
 * Warrior Monk - Javaal's Grey Knights are elite psykers whose training and discipline allow thin scraps of armor to be stronger than steel, while their halberds are capable of destroying an Angel's core.
 * Well-Intentioned Extremist—This is Kaworu's mailing address. Shinji himself skirts this trope on an increasingly regular basis.
 * What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome? - Averted hard. When Purple Prose is used to describe something, said something is usually ridiculously awesome even without the Purple Prose.
 * What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic - This shows up a lot:
 * To Shinji's great annoyance, Asuka points out the obvious religious imagery when he begins teaching her how to do AT-field weirdness by walking on the surface of a swimming pool.
 * Shinji tries to convince himself that many of the symbols from Warhammer 40K he sees were just based off random things Games Workshop picked out becaused they looked cool, and him repeatedly running into them is mere coincidence. Doesn't quite work for the skull throne, though.
 * As if NNHIS's name sounding like "IN HIS" wasn't blatant enough, all their products get the designation "experiment #X, IN HIS NAME the Y". Asuka thinks it sounds like they're cult members. Really, they're doing it to tick Gendo off...at first.
 * According to Lama Feckeldraft, Asuka is supposed to be Thor. Or something. This has the effect of making Angels into Giants and Kaworu into Loki. What did Shinji lose in his first combat with an Angel? An eye. What is it that the Imperial aquila lacks? An eye. This makes Mana, who lost her left arm, Tyr. And the Trident (T-Raiden-T) has been bastardized into a Werwulf. 'Leavings of the wolf', indeed.
 * "Achtung! Jotunn Morderkopf!"? Isn't that around the lines of "Giant Slayer"?
 * "Ahem": Didn't Odin (Shinji) also have two ravens named Huginn and Muninn (a.k.a. Jiro and Kentaro) that brought him information and acted as his "eyes"?
 * What Measure Is a Non-Human? - Tackled by Rei and Kaworu. Shinji and Rei agree early on that her being being a Half-Human Hybrid doesn't warrant exclusion from the human race, . Kaworu, on the other hand, views himself neither as human or Angel but something completely different.
 * Shinji actually has an interesting viewpoint on the whole issue of humanity, especially given his influences. He basically believes that "humanity" belongs to anyone who is able to choose to be compassionate and work together rather than destroy.
 * Shinji actually has an interesting viewpoint on the whole issue of humanity, especially given his influences. He basically believes that "humanity" belongs to anyone who is able to choose to be compassionate and work together rather than destroy.


 * Isn't it sad, Starfish Aliens?
 * What the Hell, Hero? -, leading to a short Heroic BSOD.
 * Wham! Episode:
 * Chapter 18.

"."
 * Chapter 44, no holds barred.
 * Where Does He Get All Those Wonderful Toys? - Wondered aloud by JSSDF soldiers watching boltguns in action. The answer, of course, is from New Nippon Heavy Industries Solidarity, making insane Eva- and human-scale weapons IN HIS NAME since Chapter 7.
 * Though, to be sure, the fact that.
 * Which Me?? - The original ghost train scene finally makes sense..
 * The Wiki Rule - Don't be surprised.
 * With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility - In the prologue, after a carefully-crafted plan to get the attention of his crush fails spectacularly, Shinji gives in to his hatred and despair. Soon afterward, the girl who scorned him meets a terrible fate, and Shinji is haunted with guilt for either causing the incident or not doing enough to prevent it, vowing never to let anyone suffer like that again.
 * Worthy Opponent - Even the Angels begin to fear/respect Shinji, and during the Israfel battle, one of the Angel's "halves" backs down for a moment as Shinji deals with a hostage standoff. By Chapter 33, Shinji has evolved into a thing of horror for their race.
 * Yandere - Due to Asuka's abusive nature, especially after Rei provokes her, many people in Shinji's class suspect that she might well be this, commenting that she's like a Tsundere and yandere rolled into one.
 * Alternatively, the scene could be implying Rei as the yandere to Asuka's blatant tsundere, as past chapter six, Rei.


 * The only reason Rei isn't insanely creepy as a Yandere is that she has no desire to Murder the Hypotenuse...rather the opposite, in fact.
 * Yaoi Fangirl - Maya
 * You Have Failed Me... - Averted. Gendo, as the semi-malevolent amoral dictator of NERV, uses the threat of firing people to keep them in line. With events taking a different turn, the best he can do is severely reprimand them and dock pay since the list of other careers a NERV employee can have has significally increased, as well as the UN taking a more active role in overseeing the agency. Played straight with SEELE, which will make bloody examples out of people who they see as inadequate, and.
 * Yuri Fangirl - Rei
 * Zeppelins from Another World - Supersonic, AT-field-powered zeppelins used as Evangelion carriers, naturally. Asuka is not happy about the pun on her mother's name.
 * Zettai Ryouiki - Raka's is strong indeed.
 * - does this, in an insane homage to both the Necrons and the Tyranids.
 * - does this, in an insane homage to both the Necrons and the Tyranids.