Gendo Ikari

John Swasey voiced Gendo in the director's cut scenes of the original series as well in the Rebuild of Evangelion movies

Fumihiko Tachiki voiced Gendo in all his appearances in the original series, as well as the later films, spin-offs, video games[20][21] and the new Rebuild of Evangelion. Tachiki found it difficult to empathize with or understand Evangelion and the character assigned to him, so he wondered, in his own words, "whether I hated or loved Gendo".[22] Failing to frame Gendo's laconic phrases and intentions, he remained confused, being forced to ask how to recite his lines and interpret a particular phrase. He stated, "Honestly, when I first started the television series, I’d only just been exposed to the story. It turned out to be tough; I really agonized about how to make the character come across. I can't say it was a pleasant experience".[23] During the sessions for the original series and the 1997 feature films, however, he received continued support from the staff, being coached and directed by Hideaki Anno and the sound director.[24]

Tachiki encountered similar difficulties for the Rebuild of Evangelion saga, and in particular for the movie Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo (2012), set fourteen years after the second film and dubbed almost twenty years after the original series. Tachiki, while disconcerted by the futuristic setting and plot changes, was helped by his accumulated experience and greater maturity, thanks to which he acted more frankly and serenely than in the classic series.[23] For the last installment of the saga, Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time (2021), Tachiki remained surprised by the script, having to go over his lines several times while looking at the still incomplete drawings of the film. The first sessions of the voice actor focused on his dialogues with Fututsuki, with a colleague older than him, relaxing more during the recording phase. Despite the changes of characterization to the character, the staff did not ask Tachiki to dub him emotionally, but with naturalness, without passion or particular tension. Even in the case of Thrice Upon a Tume, he had difficulties, given the change of direction. Particularly complicated was a scene in which he shouts Yui's name, in which he had to raise his voice; the production asked him to convey all the emotions and feelings at that moment, and, in the end, his throat hurt.[25]

In the North American A.D. Vision version of the series and the final 1997 films, he is voiced by Tristan MacAvery,[26][27] except for the parts added in the director's cut and the Rebuild, in which he is played by John Swasey.[28] MacAvery claimed to have had difficulties when dubbing the last two episodes, entirely set in Shinji's inner world: "I had no idea what was going on [in the last two episodes]. I had to figure how I should read the part, flat or philosophical". Moreover, MacAvery and the other actors said there was nothing wrong with the English translation, since the Japanese original was "incomprehensible".[29] Ray Chase voiced him in the Netflix dub,[30] while Swasey reprised his role for the Amazon Prime Video Rebuild dub.[31]

Gendo Ikari, originally named Gendo Rokubungi, was born on April 29, 1967.[32] His parents are never named in the series, and no details are given about his childhood or youth. The first known fact is in 1999, when he is about thirty-two years old. In that year the man is arrested and taken to the Kyoto police department for violent conduct while he was drunk. Once locked up, for unknown reasons he designates Professor Kozo Fuyutsuki, a lecturer who teaches at the local university, as his guarantor. In their first meeting, Fuyutsuki has an unpleasant feeling about him. Rokubungi, after being exonerated at the hands of the professor, becomes romantically involved with Yui Ikari, a brilliant researcher and student of Fuyutsuki himself. Even then, the professor does not see eye to eye with Gendo's actions, suspecting ulterior motives on his part.[33][34] Yui is linked to a secret organization named Seele, and rumors assert that Rokubungi's only interest is to get close to the said organization and exploit the woman's talent. To secretly carry out Seele's plans, the man participates in a research group known as the Katsuragi expedition, which left for Antarctica to conduct experiments regarding a mechanism known as the S² element. On September 12, 2000, Rokubungi leaves the Antarctic continent with other members of the group,[35] including a man named Lorenz Keel, head of Seele.[36] The next day, for an apparent coincidence, in the Antarctic continent occurs a giant natural disaster known as the Second Impact, and all other members of the expedition perish in the incident, except Misato Katsuragi, daughter of Dr. Katsuragi. On June 6 of the following year, his only son, Shinji Ikari, is born. After marrying Yui he changes his surname in Ikari[37][38] and participates in an expedition of investigation on the Second Impact organized by the United Nations, along with other members of Seele and Professor Fuyutsuki.[39][40] A little later the Seele assigns him the role of director of a structure located in the city of Hakone named Laboratory for Artificial Evolution, with the task of directing a secret plan known as Project E.[41]

In 2003, Professor Fuyutsuki collects information about the Second Impact and shows up in the Artificial Evolution Laboratory, threatening the director to make public the truth. Gendo, without getting upset by the professor's threats, takes him to an underground cavity below the Laboratory, the headquarters of an organization known as Gehirn of which he is a member. At the site, Ikari shows him a gigantic being named Evangelion, and invites him to collaborate with him "to build the new history of mankind".[42] After careful consideration, Fuyutsuki accepted the offer, joining him in the Gehirn.[43][44] The following year, Gendo assists with Shinji in an experiment to activate an Eva, namely Unit 01; due to an accident, Yui disappears. The director, changed by the accident, decides to leave his son Shinji to a guardian. A week after his wife's disappearance, the man announces to Fuyutsuki the elaboration of a new project, a plan known as the Human Instrumentality Project,[45][46] which he describes as "the path to godhood that none have ever succeeded in before".[47] In 2010, the Gehirn was disbanded; in its place was established the special agency Nerv, of which Ikari became the supreme commander.[48]

In 2015, after years of silence, Gendo summons Shinji to the city of Tokyo-3 to let him pilot the Eva-01 and face mysterious beings called Angels.[49] He keeps a cold attitude towards his son, telling him that he called him for utility.[50] Following the battle against the sixth Angel, Gaghiel, a man named Ryoji Kaji gives the commander a small embryo-like object, identified as the first Angel Adam.[51][52] At an unspecified time, Gendo has the embryo implanted in the palm of his right hand.[53] With time, discrepancies arise between the commander and the Seele, both intent on starting the Human Instrumentality Project, but with two different scenarios. Gendo, unlike the Seele, decides to cause a "forbidden union" between Adam, implanted in his body, and the second Angel Lilith, whose soul is kept inside a girl named Rei Ayanami.[54] After the defeat of the last Angel, Ikari attempts to enact his version of Instrumentality to reunite with Yui, betraying Seele.[55] To implement the plan, he enters the deepest section of the headquarters, Terminal Dogma, with Rei and inserts his right hand into the girl's body so that she can absorb Adam's embryo.[56][57] Rei, however, betrays his expectations and joins the second Angel against his will, causing his plans to fail, and during Instrumentality meets the spirit of his wife Yui and is devoured by a projection of the Eva-01.[58][59]

Gendo returns as a primary character in Rebuild of Evangelion and appears in the first installment of the saga, Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone (2007). His character remains virtually identical to the anime, summoning Shinji to pilot Evangelion Unit-01.[60] In the movie Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance (2009), the second installment of the Rebuild tetralogy, his relationship with his son appears better than in the original anime and manga.[61] In the opening sequences of the film, he and Shinji visit Yui's grave, despite communication difficulties. From then on, father and son begin to communicate their feelings more sincerely and spend more time together,[62][63] building a more affectionate relationship than their animated counterparts.[64] Shinji, in particular, begins to connect with his parent through the nudging and encouragement of Misato Katsuragi and, to an even greater extent, Rei Ayanami,[65] who tries to bring the two closer together by cooking them dinner.[66][67] Anno originally thought of using a similar idea for the fourth episode of the television series (Hedgehog's Dilemma), but the proposal was shelved during production.[68] In the following installment, Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo (2012), set fourteen years after the previous one, Gendo continues to pursue his Instrumentality as the commander of the Nerv, apparently reduced to Vice Commander Fuyutsuki and a boy named Kaworu Nagisa.[69] The man also presents a more aged appearance than in the classic series.[70] In the course of the film, Gendo comes into conflict with Wille, a company headed by Misato Katsuragi created to destroy the Nerv, and orders Shinji to pilot the Eva 13, maintaining the same aloof attitude as fourteen years earlier.[71][72]

In the concluding movie, Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time (2021), Gendo, having injected an object called the Key of Nebuchadnezzar into his body, manages to transcend humanity and enters Eva-13 to initiate the Human Instrumentality, accomplish deicide and Additional Impact. During the process, he fights with Eva-01 and Shinji inside it. Unit 01 and Unit 13, defined by Gendo as units of hope and despair respectively, are however tuned and synchronized with each other; Shinji, unable to prevail in the fight, therefore decides to argue with his parent instead of using force and violence. Ikari speaks to his son revealing his youth as a lonely boy, fond of piano and not very sociable until he met his future wife. It is revealed that for a long time he had a connection with Mari, and, at the end of the trial, he resolves his suffering[73] by embracing Shinji and asking him forgiveness for the mistakes he made. Eva-01 and Eva-13 inflict themselves with spears, and Gendo and Yui sacrifice themselves to allow their son to continue living, reuniting for one last time.[74]

In the last two chapters of Rebuild, Gendo wears different glasses, which completely cover his eye sockets. The idea came from Mahiro Maeda, who wanted to give the impression that the commander was falling into darkness. Maeda, considering the eyes as the mirror of an individual's soul, wanted the character to have no human perspective. He also projected Anno onto Gendo during production, wondering what the director's childhood had been like.[75] Megumi Hayashibara, Rei Ayanami's voice actress, also stated something similar, finding the director sometimes in Gendo's character and sometimes in Shinji's.[76] The director himself said in the making that he no longer felt as close to Shinji as he once did, identifying more with Commander Ikari.[77] Furthermore, at the beginning of production, assistant director Kazuya Tsurumaki instructed mecha designer Ikuto Yamashita to create a scenario in which father and son would clash for eternity, even after losing their bodies.[78]

In a scene from the last episode of the animated series, a parallel universe is presented with a different story than the previous episodes; in the alternate reality, Gendo appears as a normal man busy reading the newspaper in the kitchen and cohabits with both Shinji and his wife Yui, who is still alive.[79] It is known from the headlines of his newspaper that in the parallel world of the last episode Antarctica still exists, thus no accident occurred at the South Pole.[80] A similar version of events can be traced in the manga Shinji Ikari Raising Project[81] and in Neon Genesis Evangelion: Girlfriend of Steel 2nd.[82] In The Shinji Ikari Raising Project, in particular, Gendo still has a troubled personality, but less severe and abrupt than his animated counterpart, keeping some characteristics of the original in a semi-comic role.[83] In the original net anime Petit Eva: Evangelion@School, a parody of the original series, Gendo plays the role of principal at a school named Tokyo-3 Municipal academy "Nerv", attended by Shinji, Asuka, Rei, and the other Evangelion characters.[84] In Petit Eva he is portrayed as a less negative character and as a calm and strict father; he tends to act as if he has a crush on Ritsuko but still loves his wife, with whom he has a good relationship and towards whom he behaves honestly and innocently.[85]

Further differences in characterization and development are introduced in the manga version, written and illustrated by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, character designer of the animated series. The artist tried to portray him in a more balanced way compared to Hideaki Anno's Gendo; although putting him in a negative light, Sadamoto tried to better explain the reasons for Yui's attraction towards him, emphasizing his stubbornness and representing Fuyutsuki as a rebel guy.[86] In the manga, he leaves his son in the hands of his aunt and uncle, whereas in the series the identity of the guardian to whom he entrusts Shinji is not revealed.[87] If in the series he has Adam's embryo implanted in the palm of his right hand, in Sadamoto's version he swallows it entirely,[88] thus developing the ability to extend an AT Field, a directional force field characteristic of Angels and Evangelion.[89][90] Unlike the original series, moreover, the confrontation with the Angel Bardiel, in which Gendo orders to attack Toji Suzuhara's Unit 03, has as its resolution the death of the boy.[91] Even after Toji's death, the man feels no remorse; his attitude arouses the ire of his son, who tries to punch him.[92] During an attack by the Japanese Self-Defense Forces, he manages to save Shinji,[93] telling him that he has felt great jealousy towards him since birth because he was suddenly the center of his wife's attention and affection.[94] As in the film The End of Evangelion, he shoots Dr. Akagi, telling her the words "I loved you"[95] and in turn being murdered by the doctor with a gunshot to the throat.[96]

According to cultural critic Hiroki Azuma, the character's uniform constitutes an homage to Leiji Matsumoto's Space Battleship Yamato series,[134] while his pose with joined hands has been compared to that of Gargoyle, the antagonist of Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, the previous work by Gainax studio.[135] Writer Andrea Fontana, on the other hand, compared the series' theme of Oedipal conflict between fathers and sons to other works in the mecha genre, such as those by director Yoshiyuki Tomino.[136] Even Gendo's motto, "The hands of the clock cannot turn back," is similar to a phrase from an earlier Gainax work, namely "If the overflowed water could be poured out again" from GunBuster.[137] Furthermore, Japanese critic Akio Nagatomi compared him to Kōichirō Ōta, aka "Coach", and his son Shinji to Noriko from Gunbuster.[138] The character of Gendo has also been interpreted as a reflection of Shinji[139] and as a representation of the concept of paternalism.[23][140] The Nerv has been consequently interpreted by critics as a patriarchal society,[141][142] commanded by an austere and dictatorial man who gives unquestionable orders, far from his son.[143][144] It is left to the viewer's sensibilities to decide whether the series supports the macho model or instead makes a critique of it, attempting to refute the intrinsic value of the patriarchal view.[145][146] His egocentric attitude has been associated by Japanese psychiatrist Kōji Mizobe with a narcissistic personality disorder.[147] Moreover, Fifthy Wall Renaissance's Alexander Greco associated Shinji with the Individual or Ego, Rei with the psychological concept of Soul, and Gendo with Society, Authority, and Super-ego.[148] U.S. writer Susan J. Napier, noting how Angels are "explicitly associated" with Gendo throughout the series, has interpreted the enemies as father figures.[142] Hideaki Anno himself described Gendo as a metaphor for the "system" and the limits imposed by society; the director intentionally depicted Commander Ikari and the Angels as "amorphous" entities, because for him society and the concept of enemies are undefined.[9] Writer Mark MacWilliams described the series as a portrait of childhood loneliness in a broken society where the father is constantly working, comparing this depiction to the Japanese family context and children growing up in the 1990s before the collapse of the speculative bubble.[149] Moreover, Anime News Network's Jonny Lobo compared the conflict between Shinji and Gendo to the world presented by the OVA Megazone 23, where parental figures are almost completely absent; according to him, however, in Megazone the protagonist Shogo Yahagi rebels against the government, the de facto enforcer of patriarchy, rather than a single individual like Gendo.[150]

Gendo has been associated with religious and mythological figures and concepts, such as the Father God of the Christian Trinity, the Oedipus legend, and the Pandora legend of Greek mythology

In a draft of the twenty-fourth episode of the series, written by screenwriter Akio Satsukawa and later shelved during production, Kaworu Nagisa's character would compare Commander Ikari to Paul, the protagonist of Erich Wolfgang Korngold's opera Die tote Stadt. Paul in Korngold's original opera locks himself in his home after the loss of his wife Marie, building a "Temple of the Past" with her belongings; the man meets a young woman similar to his late wife, a dancer named Marietta, and falls in love with her. The Nerv base therefore would be compared to a "Temple of the Past" built by Commander Ikari.[151] In the director's cut version of the episode, moreover, Seele links Gendo's Instrumentality scenario to the myth of Pandora's box. At the bottom of the eponymous box, as in the ancient Greek myth, which Commander Ikari opens in a metaphorical key causing an uncontrollable catastrophe and releasing all the evils of the world, it remains just hope.[152]

The series also features dialogues about religion and the value of science, themes already present in other works by Hideaki Anno, in which Gendo is a protagonist.[153][154] In the twelfth episode of the series, for example, he argues in Antarctica with vice commander Fuyutsuki about the philosophical implications of the Second Impact, claiming that "science is the strength of man" and that Antarctica, completely melted and devoid of life, is "a world cleansed of original sin".[155][156] Writer Gerald Alva Miller described his Instrumentality as an attempt to "return to Edenic bliss".[157] According to the book Neon Genesis Evangelion: The Unofficial Guide, written by Kazuhisa Fujie and Martin Foster, a different spelling of the word Gendo (言動) can be translated as "conduct", "words and behavior". This detail, together with the name of his son Shinji, phonetically similar to the word shinjin (神人), "God-man", a Japanese epithet of Jesus Christ, and that of Rei Ayanami, which in kanji can be rendered as "spirit", "soul" (零, rei), could be linked to the Christian trinity and to the philosophical concept of "Logos", which in Evangelion seems to become an attribute of God the Father. In such a perspective, Rei would represent the Holy Spirit, Shinji the God the Son and Gendo the God Father, referring to the first verses of the Gospel of John: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1).[158] Scholar Mariana Ortega compared Yui to a Madonna nursing Shinji and protecting him from Gendo, whom she associated with the Gnostic figure of the demiurge.[159] Furthermore, for the Japanese critic Kotani Mari Gendo seems to assume the connotations of the Supreme Being of Gnosticism, also named Monad.[141] He has also been compared to Satan, Go Nagai's Devilman's antagonist; unlike Seele, who follows a plan based on faith in the Dead Sea Scrolls, Gendo wants to become a God himself, like a fallen angel who rebels against God.[160]

Throughout the series, Gendo becomes the object of sexual desire for Dr. Naoko Akagi and, at the same time, her daughter Ritsuko, in a modern retelling of the Electra complex.[161] In the film The End of Evangelion he shoots his former lover, Ritsuko Akagi, telling her, "Dr. Akagi, actually...". The last part of the line was rendered silent, leaving it to the viewer's sensibility to imagine the missing words; according to the interpretation of some fans, Ikari says "I need you" or "I needed you", in reference to "I need you", the title of the second half of the movie.[162] Further reference to psychoanalysis is detectable in his relationship with Rei Ayanami, since the man is emotionally close to the girl, a clone of his deceased wife, and lives a tense relationship with his son.[163] Neon Genesis Evangelion can therefore be interpreted as a reinterpretation of the Oedipus legend and as a story focused on the Oedipus complex postulated by Sigmund Freud.[164] Anno thus compared Evangelion to Ryu Murakami's novel Ai to gensō no fascism. The novel's protagonist, Toji Suzuhara, attempts to kill the Japanese prime minister, whom he finds similar to his father, and according to the director he also violates his mother, who in Ai to gensō no fascism is Japan itself.[165] The director also described Neon Genesis Evangelion as a story in which the Oedipal rivalry between Gendo and his son is resolved in the last episode;[166] the Eva represents a mother figure, while Gendo and the first Angel Adam represent the fathers of a "multi-layered Oedipus complex," in which Shinji "kills his father" and takes his mother away from him.[165]

After the conclusion of the series, Gendo ranked sixteenth among the most popular male characters of the time in the 1996 Anime Grand Prix, a large survey conducted annually by the Japanese magazine Animage . The following year in the same poll he rose to fourteenth place, becoming the fourth most popular male character in Neon Genesis Evangelion.[167][168] In February 1998, the magazine ranked him sixty-fifth among the one hundred most popular anime characters.[169] Moreover, Gendo ranked in several surveys about the most attractive anime characters[170][171][172] in different categories,[173][174][175][176][177] as well as in a Goo Ranking survey in which he was the third most hated father in Japanese animation. The character also appeared in rankings on Evangelion's most beloved characters, usually in the top ten.[178][179]

Gendo's character has elicited negative opinions from critics and animation fans, who have described him as a selfish and ruthless man.[180][181] The website Otaku Vines ranked him sixth among the most hated characters in Japanese animation, going so far as to describe him as "the worst father in anime history" and comparing him to Shou Tucker from Fullmetal Alchemist.[182] The magazine Wired named him among the "worst relatives in television series", calling him "the most monstrous father ever".[183] Tim Jones of the website T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews described him as "creepy", frightening, plagued by a "God complex", and unpleasant man.[184] Screen Rant[185][186] and writers at Comic Book Resources[187][188] listed him among the least likable characters in the series, criticizing his abusive ways. Zac Bertschy, a reviewer for Anime News Network, has criticized the character's manipulative and self-centered attitude, calling him a "giant douchebag"[189] and consequently defending his son Shinji, whom he says has been unfairly criticized by fans of being cowardly or wimpy.[190] Bertschy himself praised the realism of the characterization, naming him among the most memorable antagonists in the history of Japanese animation: "Gendo Ikari is the worst dad ever imagined, and so it logically follows that he is also the most memorable villain. It's just science. I don't make the rules".[191] Comic Book Resources' Jacob Buchalter ranked him as the second-worst character in shōnen anime.[192] His colleague Michael Iacono, on the other hand, named him, for his "diabolical brilliance, all-or-nothing attitude, and deeply flawed character traits", among the best antagonists in anime history.[193]

Anime News Network's Lynzee Loveridge described his betrayal and actions in the film The End of Evangelion as "shocking", listing them among eight betrayals that have shocked the audience of anime fans. Sci Fi Weekly Tasha Robinson was partially disappointed with the series finale, saying it was guilty of not fully exploring Gendo's motivations or abilities.[195] Anime News Network's Kenneth Lee also expressed a similar opinion. Lee noted how Shinji, willing to die during the fight against the Eva-04, has a similar determination to his father Gendo, saying that "it is rather frightening and interesting to see so many possible parallels between the characters", which, however, "remain inconclusive", criticizing the series for leaving "a group of suppositions that will never be answered".[196] Kotaku's Richard Eisenbeis appreciated the developments and insights into Gendo's past introduced in Sadamoto's manga version, which he said were clearer and more interesting than the original series.[197] It is echoed by Carlos Santos from Anime News Network, who praised the changes present in the spin-off comic The Shinji Ikari Raising Project. The manga, according to Santos, with its comic moments and less dark and twisted backgrounds than the animated series, would manage to offer a more serene and enjoyable image of Gendo as a "hapless, comedic father which is good for a few chuckles".[198]

His role in Rebuild of Evangelion also drew criticism and praise from reviewers. The online magazine Visual Nippon, for example, appreciated the development of his relationship with Shinji in Evangelion 2.0, describing it as more sincere and genuine than the rigid animated counterpart, and Commander Ikari's efforts to get closer to his son.[61] Justin Sevakis, on the other hand, praised the film's opening scene, in which he visits Yui's grave along with Shinji, saying, "There's a warmness here, a feeling of great affection that wasn't so prevalent in the original [series]".[64] Comic Book Resources's Angelo Delos Trinos, for his part, criticized his role in the Rebuild, deeming the character overly powerful.[199] The website The Vault made negative comments about the abrupt changes in the following installment, Evangelion 3.0, writing that: "Commander Ikari is still a total prick, and unlike the original series, three movies in we have yet to get insight into why he’s a total prick. They just gave him some Cyclops headgear and called it a day".[200] Anime Reign magazine negatively described the character's new role as underdeveloped and shadowy.[201] A diametrically opposite opinion was expressed by Nicoletta Christina Browne of Them Anime Reviews; Browne, in particular, stated that she greatly appreciated the dynamism of the fight between Gendo's "egoistical genius" and his former Wille subordinates, since it "suits this franchise perfectly".[202]

Other reviewers have expressed words of praise for his role in the last installment of the saga, Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time, in which at the end of the feature film the man's motivations and psychology are analyzed,[203][204][205] as well as his relationship with Shinji.[206] UK Film Review, for example, praised its "brilliant character reveal",[207] while Vulture.com wrote that: "To longtime Eva fans, Gendo explaining himself feels monumental".[208] Anime News Network's Richard Eisenbeis wrote that "Thrice Upon a Time makes great strides in expanding and developing his character"; Eisenbeis also described its focus on Gendo as "the most important element of the film": "Even if you still hate Gendo by the end of this exploration, it's hard not to empathize with him".[209] Reviewers have commented positively on the fact that the film gives the character more depth and the conflict with Shinji has a central part to the development of the plot.[210][211] Geek Ireland praised how Thrice Upon a Time gives a sense of conclusion to Gendo and the other characters from the franchise,[212] while IndieWire lauded the fact that the father-son dynamic with Shinji is a central part of the story this time, culminating in "some of the most emotionally raw moments Evangelion has ever put on screen".[213] Fiction Horizon's Robert Milakovic similarly noted how their connection results in "very emotionally raw moments Evangelion has ever placed on the film".[214] Thrillist's Kambole Campbell described the emotional openness of Gendo and the other characters as "moving",[215] while The Future of the Force's Thomas Storai wrote that: "For me, that's what makes the conclusion so powerful and meaningful. Violence is not the answer".[216]

The character of Gendo has been used to produce a wide range of merchandising items, such as sunglasses and eyeglasses,[217] action figures,[218] collectible models,[219] T-shirts,[220] culinary products,[221] and reproductions of his clothing for cosplay.[222] Gendo, in addition to the video games and spin-offs based on the original animated series, has appeared in medias not belonging to the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise, such as in the Million Arthur saga video games,[223] Monster Strike,[224] and Puzzle & Dragons.[225] The character was also used for campaigns of the Japan Racing Association[226] and for advertisements of the Schick razor company, a collaboration that managed to attract attention among animation fans and was renewed even years after the first advertising video.[227] In 2011 he inspired attractions set up in the Japanese amusement park Fuji-Q Highland.[228] In 2015 he was used, along with other characters from the series, for features on the 500 Type Eva, a high-speed train dedicated to Evangelion.[229] Well-known people have paid homage to him by cosplaying him, such as Minoru Takashita, president of the AnimeJapan company,[230] Takashi Kawamura, mayor of Nagoya,[231] and economist Takkaki Mitsuhashi, who founded a Cosplay Party for the 2010 Japanese House of Councillors election.[232] Gendo's character also inspired the pose of a character that appears in the opening sequence of the video game Evil Factory, developed by Neople.[233]

According to Vice's Ricardo Contreras, his image and austere face have achieved such notoriety that they have reached even audiences of non-animation fans, becoming "one of the most easily recognizable images of anime on the internet".[234] On the web, he is often associated with the ironic phrase "Get in the fucking robot, Shinji", which has also gone viral. The phrase has become an internet meme and has been used for merchandise items dedicated to the series.[235][236] Screen Rant's Adam Beach, on the other hand, noted how Ragyō Kiryūin's office in Kill la Kill is similar to Gendo's.[237] Holland Novak from Eureka Seven has also been compared with the character.[238] Over the years, his characteristic pose with his hands joined at face height, renamed "Gendo pose" by fans themselves, has achieved popularity, being quoted, homaged, and parodied in following animated series, such as by Taizo Haisegawa in Gintama, which is also voiced by Fumihiko Tachiki,[239] Immortal Grand Prix,[240] Himouto! Umaru-chan,[241] Haruka Nogizaka's Secret,[242] Baka and Test,[243] Hayate the Combat Butler,[244] Robotics;Notes,[245] Voltron: Legendary Defender,[246] by Stella's character from Rose Guns Days,[247] by Nifuji Hirotaka from Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku[248][249] and by Hayato in an official cross-over episode between Evangelion and Shinkansen Henkei Robo Shinkalion.[250]