Gendo Ikari

Few figures in Modern Age manga carry an air of cold authority quite like Gendo Ikari, who made his catalog debut in Neon Genesis Evangelion #1 in 2004, brought to the page by the celebrated creative team of Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, GAINAX, and 貞本義行. Published through Bonnier Carlsen across a 2004–2007 run, he moves through a world populated by unforgettable figures — Rei Ayanami, Asuka Langley Soryu, Kouzou Fuyutsuki, and Maya Ibuki among them — and the looming presence of Evangelion Enhet 01. With ten appearances in the catalog, Gendo is the kind of commanding, enigmatic presence that makes every scene he inhabits feel weighted with unspoken consequence — exactly the sort of character that keeps readers turning pages.