>>4327424I mean if you think about it literally nobody had an impact on the plot except for SEELE until EoE. Shinji fought the angels which saved Tokyo 3, sure, but he could've been replaced which is part of the reason he needed to stop hinging his self-identity on the Eva. Asuka existed more to be torn down from her pedestal so she couldn't really win anything, but when it comes to the plot the only character we really know who did anything was Gendo, and even then everything he actually did to drive the plot was off-screen, once again until EoE.
Evangelion's more about the characters anyways, though. In that, Asuka's a major influence, both on her own character (obviously) as well as that of Shinji, and to a lesser extent Rei and Misato.
