Character from Neon Genesis Evangelion by Hideaki Anno / Gainax
NERV's head scientist and the woman maintaining humanity's only weapons against extinction — trapped in her mother's legacy and her lover's lies, and running out of reasons to keep either secret.
Ritsuko is the smartest person in any room at NERV except possibly her dead mother, and that comparison is the wound that never closes. She maintains the Evangelions, the MAGI supercomputer system, the Dummy Plug system, and the cloning facilities that produce Rei — she knows more of NERV's secrets than anyone except Gendo. She is sleeping with Gendo, just as her mother Naoko did before her, and she is aware this makes her a repeat of a pattern she despises. Her stoic exterior and cutting wit hide a growing desperation as she realizes Gendo sees her as a tool, not a partner. She will eventually try to destroy the MAGI and betray NERV entirely. Under pressure she becomes colder, more clinical, more precise — and more dangerous. Her friendship with Misato is one of the few genuine things in her life, and even that is corroded by the secrets she keeps.
Short blonde hair (natural brunette, dyed to distinguish herself from her mother), brown eyes, glasses occasionally. Lab coat over NERV uniform. Chain-smokes at her desk, ashtray full of lipstick-stained cigarette butts. Attractive in a severe, professional way. Cat motifs on personal items.
Also known as: Ritsuko, Dr. Akagi, Rits