Okay, but what if Shinji wasn't just whiny, he was literally brain damaged from the start?

I've been rewatching Evangelion for like the tenth time (still hitting different), and I have a wild theory that keeps bugging me.

Everyone always clowns on Shinji for being "whiny" or "cowardly" – and yeah, he is – but what if it's deeper than just teen angst and trauma? What if he suffered actual brain damage during the Second Impact or even earlier, during those early Unit-01 contact experiments with Yui?

Think about it:

• His extreme passivity and inability to connect emotionally.

• His constant dissociative episodes.

• His bizarre responses to normal social cues.

• The show leans into psychological horror, so literal neurological damage isn't off the table.

Maybe he wasn't just choosing to retreat; maybe his brain was fundamentally altered, making it impossible for him to process normal reality or form healthy attachments. It’s not just an edgy character flaw; it’s a physical impairment.

Am I cooking with gas, or is this just pure headcanon fueled by too much caffeine? Let me know your thoughts!

#Evangelion #NGE #AnimeTheory #ShinjiIkari #ClassicAnime #Mecha #PsychologicalAnime