Asuka - アスカ

Sōryū Asuka Langley Zeppelin

Series creator and director Hideaki Anno originally proposed her as the main protagonist of the series... Character designer Yoshiyuki Sadamoto asked Anno to include a male main character instead, downgrading her to the role of co-protagonist with Shinji Ikari.

Mistakes were made - she would have been the far better choice. I have to admit with all the changes reverts in this "work in progress" it is hard to tell what the end result is. Personally, I prefer the Mangastory line / EoE