Asuka Langley Sohryu

Asuka Langley Sohryu is one of the main protagonists of Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Profile
Asuka is only one quarter Japanese, which accounts for her Japanese name but European appearance. Asuka is a native of Germany, having been raised there, though her nationality is technically American. Asuka's native language is German, and in both the series and the manga she tends to curse in German. Asuka was born to an American father (unknown) and a German mother (deceased). She is a child prodigy and has earned a university degree in an unspecified field as a teenager; she also speaks fluent Japanese, but has trouble reading and writing kanji. Asuka had years of training starting from a young age to become a pilot for the Evangelion. Asuka is very proud of being an Eva pilot, and near-constantly wears her A10 nerve clips in her hair, because she wants everyone around her to know that she is a pilot. Asuka's iconic catch-phrase (always directed at Shinji) was "anta baka?!" (あんたバカァ?![?]), "anta" being a contraction of "anata" meaning "you" and "baka" literally meaning "fool" or "idiot". The official English voice recording renders this as "What are you, stupid?!"

Family
Her mother, Kyoko Zeppelin Sohryu, was a scientist of Gehirn's German branch of the Evangelion Project. When Asuka was four years old, Kyoko participated in a contact experiment with Unit-02 similar to the experiment performed by Yui Ikari with Unit-01. She survived the test but became insane, believing that Asuka's doll was her daughter and refusing to acknowledge the real Asuka, referring to her as "that girl over there." She eventually commits suicide by hanging herself; Asuka found her body when she went to tell Kyoko the good news that she had been chosen to become an Eva pilot.

Not many details about Asuka's father is revealed. What is known about his background is only what can be inferred from Asuka's own; namely that he is an American citizen and that his last name is Langley. Following Kyoko's hospitalization, he started an affair with German doctor in charge of Kyoko's case, and would later marry her shortly after Kyoko's suicide. This new mother is immediately repelled by Asuka's defensive nature, and finds herself unable to become attached to her. While talking to Shinji Ikari, Asuka states that she doesn't hate her stepmother, but she feels as if she could never replace her real mother.

During Kyoko's funeral, Asuka's grandmother had said to Asuka that she was "a strong girl", but it was alright if she needed to cry. However, Asuka protested against the idea and told her grandmother that she had to take care of herself from now on. From that day on, Asuka promised herself that she would never cry again. This causes her to repress a great deal of emotions, not to mention the emotional scarring that came from her mother's illness and death, leaving her twisted and vulnerable towards the end of the series.

The End of Evangelion
In The End of Evangelion, Asuka is placed inside Unit-02 for protection from the Japanese Strategic Self Defense Forces assault on the GeoFront. With Unit-02 submerged in a lake and bombarded by depth charges, Asuka declares that she does not want to die and, in a moment of clarity, realizes that her mother's soul is carried within the Eva and has been protecting her all along. She regains her self-identity, engages and defeats the JSSDF, and is later confronted by the Mass Produced Evas. During the battle, she successfully disables all nine opponents; however, Unit-02's power runs out, and the MP Evas' S² Engines allow them to remain functional even after being severely damaged and/or mutilated. They proceed to eviscerate and dismember Unit-02 using their Spear of Longinus replicas, thus causing Asuka's body to actually suffer the wounds inflicted to the machine and apparently killing her (her Entry Plug is never seen being destroyed, but the NERV staff appear to believe her dead). During this final assault, Asuka is briefly able to reactivate Unit-02 through pure fury, but only enough for it to move its arm slightly, nowhere near the full "berserker" mode that Shinji is able to achieve. Her final words before death are a whispered "I'll kill you", repeated more and more frantically. She is mysteriously alive and corporeally present at the conclusion of the movie, after Shinji rejects Instrumentality.

Crossover Appearances
Anime Battle

Asuka appears as a DLC character.

Just Dance: Anime Dance Tour

Asuka alongside Shinji Ikari and Rei Ayanami appears on the song A Cruel Angel Thesis

Super Robot Warriors

Asuka is one of the pilots of the game, she rides the EVA Unit-02.

Playstation All Stars Battle Royale 2

She is one of the game's newcomers.

Heroes Infinity

She is one of the characters of the game.