Neon Genesis Evangelion schizophrenic character and she represents the unconscious of Shinji. Shinji has an Oedipus complex, and is characterized by a libido-destrudo conflict. Similarly, Ritsuko has an Electra complex, in which she loves Gendo, a sort of substitute for her father figure. Anno himself stated that the main character reflects his character, "both in conscious and unconscious part", referring also to Kaworu as his Jungian shadow. It has even been suggested that Shinji's entering into Unit-01 is a Freudian "return to the womb", and that his struggle to be free of the Eva is his "rite of passage" into manhood. The series
Oedipus complex oral stage. Her proposal was part of the "controversial discussions" (1942–44) at the British Psychoanalytical Association. The Kleinian psychologists proposed that "underlying the Oedipus complex, as Freud described it ... there is an earlier layer of more primitive relationships with the Oedipal couple". She assigned “dangerous destructive tendencies not just to the father but also to the mother in her discussion of the child’s projective fantasies”. Moreover, Klein's work lessened the central role of the Oedipus complex, with the concept of the depressive position. "For the post–Kleinian Bion, the myth of Oedipus concerns investigatory curiosity—the quest for knowledge—rather than sexual