Sooooo I just watched...

^x2 o.o

1&2) and true. His dad blames his mum's death on him, iirc.
3) They are pretty much human. Haven't seen the original in a while to quote it exactly...
4) Eh, kinda.
5) He wasn't ever psychologically attacked by an angel... Asuka was, not shinji. If I'm remembering correctly
6) He has friends, which help him get through things.

As kitty said, those things would only make somebody cold, and distant/ not care about killing. He is selfish (but not) and runs away from his duty.
He's depressed, royally fucked in the head, and wants the world to end (which it does)
But still, he does do good I'll agree (when he actually does it). He runs away from it, quits the eva service (leaving heavily injured rei clones to do his dirty work for him) He does a good job WHEN he does it. Other than that, he's bad

Please excuse my argument for today/ this morning... it's weak, I know... I haven't slept yet >.>

My points exactly. He's too busy being a selfish kid in a world where that's simply not afforded. He'd make for a better character were there some noticeable character growth.

Hmm..you know,your argument has some credence. It seems to work the other way for everyone \for ex, Misatao. You know...I don't feel as much hate or dislike as you (I sorta like the kid) but I think you may be, in part, right.

Also, because I'm mentally handicapped and mess up every time I try to quote two people, Drifter, by mental attack I was referring to the black and white angel. Nevertheless, I believe you two have a valid point.
Geez, it's nice to talk to someone about this civilly. I haven't done that...well, wait, actually ever.

He does groe is a character... queer whiny man in a world where he the only man left.

I'll be honest, I don't like Shinji, but I do like every other character, especially Kaworu, Asuka, and Rei. Kaworu's contradictory wants and his inborn needs make for an interesting character. He's deep, emotional and memorable in the series. As I haven't seen him in the rebuild I can't say for certain that that's still true. I find myself fascinated that a character that appears in one episode has such an impact on the story. Like him or not you have to concede that he's memorable, well designed and pivotal in the story. Asuka is an infinitely more interesting and likable character than Shinji. Her reaction to the tragedies in her life are profound, her character is dynamic and you see a real change in her as the story progresses. She was originally supposed to be the main character and should have been, but after Anno's earlier works he wasn't sure how an audience would react to yet another heroine so he changed his original idea and decided to give the spotlight to one of the most unlikable characters in the history of anime. It worked in a sense polarizing evangelion and making it have more notoriety than others, but it detracted from general popularity. Everyone I've talked to about Asuka's final fight with the final model of Evangelion has unanimously agreed that the scene was fantastic and the level of emotion was better than any scene containing Shinji (though my sample size is small it doesn't make it any less unanimous). Asuka is an astounding character and her progression through the story made it a ride well worth the scenes with Shinji. Lastly we come to Rei and the fundamental question of what it means to be human. Just for the deep levels of psychological, philosophical and emotional questions that such a character has it makes them not necessarily be likable, but at a bare minimum be interesting enough to dedicate the time to watch. Rei's character was fascinating because she struggled with questions that were almost as big as the story of the series. Shinji isn't a likable character, but I don't watch Evangelion for Shinji, I watch it for every other character and the aforementioned three specific characters.

Also, the death of Asuka's mother was much more traumatic and interesting than Shinji's mother's death.

Constant trauma does not make you "colder", accustomed to death or cynicism. It isn't like the movies where the innocent turns into a hardcore killer, instead constant trauma causes MDD (Major Deppressive Disorder) among many, many other disorders, which in turn causes you to become lethargic. Yes, you will become a little apathetic to your immediate environment because your brain isn't able to produce the required chemicals to feel the emotions you should be, because it's too busy producing chemicals that make you feel like shit.

Physical symptoms of trauma:

Insomnia or nightmares
Being startled easily
Racing heartbeat
Aches and pains
Fatigue
Difficulty concentrating
Edginess and agitation
Muscle tension

Psychological & Emotional Symptoms of trauma

Shock, denial, or disbelief
Anger, irritability, mood swings
Guilt, shame, self-blame
Feeling sad or hopeless
Confusion, difficulty concentrating
Anxiety and fear
Withdrawing from others

MDE (Major Depressive Episode)

"A person having a major depressive episode usually exhibits a very low mood, which pervades all aspects of life, and an inability to experience pleasure in activities that were formerly enjoyed. Depressed people may be preoccupied with, or ruminate over, thoughts and feelings of worthlessness, inappropriate guilt or regret, helplessness, hopelessness, and self-hatred."

- American Psychiatric Association 2000a, p. 349

Of course all of these effects are going to be a lot more severe on lets say, a fourteen year old being pressured into saving the world who was already going through major depression to begin with.

Shinji experiences extremely traumatic events on a regular basis, frankly, if this were reality, he probably would have gone bat shit insane, ran away (for real) or killed himself a long ass time ago.

Ohh! Now this is interesting. Thanks for posting this. See, I didn't have any backing of this sort, but this is my general feel about Shinji. That he's strong, not because he's a badass or anything (he's so far from that), but because he keeps trying. He's not perfect and riddled with self doubt and all sorts of problems. What makes him appealing to me is that he doesn't kill him self or quit, even though he has thoughts about it, he keeps trying.

Well, all this talk of mecha is making me sad. All mecha suck.

Silly humans, Shinji is a horrible person, but I give him an A for effort ^_^

So, I just watched 3.0... Aside from the person behind the cam being horribly retarded... it was pretty good.
Tip: Wait for dvdrip at least, before you watch... or at least a better cam... the current cam recordings on thebay are terrible... I saw more of the roof and walls than I did of the movie