This is a collaborative fanfiction challenge for members of the Neon Genesis Evangelion fandom. The main inspiration of this work is the Disney series Marvel's What if...? and will look at the events of Neon Genesis Evangelion through the lens of a single "What if...?" question. Here are some examples I came up with when I thought up the idea.
"What if...Rei Ayanami was raised by Ritsuko Akagi?": Ritsuko Akagi has always harbored feelings of anger and animosity towards Rei Ayanami due to her feeling for Gendo Ikari and Rei's resemblance to Yui Ikari. However, in one reality Ritsuko's feelings of anger and animosity turned to sympathy and compassion as she realized that Rei's creation by Gendo in the image of his dead wife was a hollow attempt to bring her back. No one could guess how the bond between a mother and her adopted daughter would go on to cause ripples in the plans of Gendo Ikari and SEELE.
"What if...Shinji was sent to live in Germany with Asuka?": Shinji Ikari has always been a soft spoken and timid individual, but that slowly starts to change when the Second Child of NERV Asuka Langley Soryu enters his life. In one of the many realities of Neon Genesis Evangelion these two souls unknowingly united by a shared tragedy meet much sooner than they normally would. Shinji Ikari is sent to live in Germany at the age of four after his mother is "killed" during a contact experiment with Evangelion Unit 01. Around the same time, Asuka's own mother has her mind stolen during a similar contact experiment with Evangelion Unit 02. Shinji and Asuka would soon begin to grow a bond that would bring ruination to the machinations of those in power around them as Shinji learned to carry himself with confidence and Asuka was able to find the one person she could drop her guard with and truly call a friend.
"What if...Misato took Shinji in earlier?": Misato Katsuragi has been a surrogate mother to Shinji Ikari in most takes on the Evangelion timeline. In one reality, a Misato Katsuragi who has just survived the horrors of Second Impact has a chance encounter with Shinji Ikari and her future boss Gendo Ikari as the father abandons the son at a train station at the age of four. The lives of Shinji and Misato take a familiar yet unpredictable turn as a college age Misato learns what it means to be a parent and Shinji is taught how to turn his pain and loss into strength and determination.
(Submission by reddit user HurryMyMindIsOnMoon)
Ok, here we go… I'm no writer, but let's see what I can do.
*What if… Kaji had survived.*
In the universe we all know and love Ryoji Kaji died at the hands of an unnamed soldier, breaking Misato Katsuragi's heart, and resulting in a chain reaction of awful sequences, but what if… Ryoji Kaji had survived? When the unnamed bastard came into the room, ready to eliminate Kaji, he -instead of not doing anything- took action and shot quickly, before running into the dark, now as a fugitive.
As for Misato Katsuragi, she was able to hear the message left for her, thinking Kaji was a goner, she broke into tears, feeling as if a part of her would had been crushed, the love of her life has been taken away forcefully from her, she wouldn't allow this to continue that way, she needed… she wanted revenge! But then… both residents of the Katsuragi household heard a knock in the door, Shinji didn't even raise his head, while Misato's burning rage made her doubt, but finally decided to open the door. When she did so, she saw the young man, with an unshaven face, and a lit cigarette on hand, before hearing the words he meant to say eight years ago… *"aishiteru"*
If you would like to submit a chapter for this project or have an idea for me to add to this page then feel free to send me a direct message through my profile page here on fanfiction(.)net or you can also email me via my personal email at tylerpal27(@)yahoo(.)com with the subject name "Evangelion If Chapter Submission/Idea". Any authors that contribute will be given credit for their chapters, but feel free to leave your pen name or whatever you wish to be called on the chapter document. Another thing about submissions is that they must follow the sequence of events from the Evangelion timeline beginning with Shinji's arrival in Tokyo-3 or around that point in the chronology unless the what-if idea says otherwise.
I look forward to receiving any and/or all submissions for this story and look forward to sharing them with the community. Please help me make this project as great as it can be. Leave a review and hit that bookmark/favorite button to stay tuned for more content.