Rey and Rei
In The Last Jedi, Rey descends into a cave on Ahch-To, where she has a vision of endless doubles of herself. The imagery of this scene overtly mirrors a shot from the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion, showing endless doubles of a young woman coincidentally named Rei.
At the beginning of their stories, both characters live by themselves and are haunted by the ambiguity of their origins. Because they do not have families, and do not know where they came from, both Rey and Rei have an uncertain sense of self-identity. Over the image of her endless doubles, Rei asks: "Who am I? What am I?" These are the same questions Rey wants answers to when she descends into the cave on Ahch-To.
Both heroines' mysterious origins ultimately link them, through cloning, to their stories' villains. Rei turns out not to have a real family because she is a clone of Yui Ikari, the wife of Neon Genesis Evangelion's main villain, Gendo Ikari. Rey turns out to be the daughter of a clone of Star Wars' main villain, Emperor Palpatine.
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Characters: Rey
Films: Episode VIII: The Last Jedi
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Concepts: caves / clones / doubles / dreams and visions / family / identity
Influences: anime / Neon Genesis Evangelion
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