Toji Suzuhara

Toji Suzuhara (鈴原 トウジ) is a fictional character from the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise. He is the Fourth Child (Fourth Children in the Japanese version), selected to be the pilot of Evangelion Unit 03.

Description
Toji is a tough boy, the stereotypical "jock", as evidenced by the fact that he is the only student in Shinji's class that refuses to wear the school uniform (although he does actually wear it once, in the ninth episode). Toji is good friends with Kensuke Aida, and is in constant conflict with Asuka. Toji's younger sister was injured in the battle between Sachiel and Unit 01, and after learning that Shinji was Unit 01's pilot, he beats Shinji up as payback. However, after witnessing firsthand the suffering Shinji experiences piloting Unit 01 in the battle against Shamshel, Toji comes to respect Shinji and the two become friends.

Unbeknownst to Toji for much of the series, his normally by-the-book class rep Hikari Horaki actually has a crush on him, which she tries to repress and disguise by bossing him around. Later in the series, she begins bringing especially big homemade lunches to school for Toji, since he loves to eat ("Toji the Stomach", as Kensuke refers to him). Subsequently, her feelings begin to come to the forefront and she becomes more caring towards Toji, staying at his bedside after he is hospitalised later. Toji also seems aware of Hikari's feelings.

Toji is eventually selected to be the Fourth Child, and agrees on the condition that his sister be moved to Nerv's medical facilities. En route to the testing facility, Unit 03 is taken over by Bardiel. When Toji is inserted in the entry plug and the Eva is powered up, Bardiel takes over and the Eva goes on a rampage. All the other Evas are deployed to stop Unit 03, but Units 00 and 02 are quickly defeated, and Shinji refuses orders to destroy Unit 03, wanting to try to save the pilot. However, Gendo orders that Unit 01's Dummy Plug system be activated, overriding Shinji's control. Unit 01 proceeds to tear Unit 03 to shreds and crush its entry plug. After the battle, Shinji learns that Toji is the pilot as the wreckage of the entry plug is examined. Toji survives but is critically injured, losing his left leg. Along with Kensuke and the rest of his class, he is eventually evacuated from Tokyo-3; what happens to him after that is unknown. He last appears at the end of episode 26 in Shinji's subconscious. In the manga however (Volume 6), Toji was killed in the battle with Unit 01.

Rebuild of Evangelion
In Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone Toji plays a similar role he played in the anime, punching Shinji for piloting the Evangelion, then regretting his actions and apologizing later. He and Kensuke leave a voicemail for Shinji telling him to be safe and good luck. This helps give Shinji confidence before the mission against the 6th Angel. In the second film, Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance Toji has become good friends with Shinji but Asuka is announced as the pilot of Unit-03 instead of Toji, thus reducing him to more of a minor character. Toji is more comical in this version of the series and his little sister is released from the hospital around the time of the Bardiel incident.

Neon Genesis Evangelion
In Yoshiyuki Sadamoto's manga adaptation of Evangelion, the English translation of Toji's dialogue gives him a distinct accent, which could be described as a "New York gangster" dialect, an English approximation of Toji's Osaka-ben dialect. He is prone to violent displays of temper (even more than in the anime) and is more verbally abusive toward Asuka, calling her a "bitch" multiple times. His interactions with Shinji are mostly identical to the anime; however, after he is selected to be the pilot of Unit 03, he confesses to Shinji that he is terrified of the task and is ashamed of his treatment of Shinji when they first met. Shinji learns that Toji is Unit 03's pilot before the battle rather than afterward, leading to his refusal to destroy the possessed Eva. Also, Toji is killed when Unit 01 crushes Unit 03's entry plug.

Another change was to Toji's hair color, which went from black (in the anime) to dirty blond/light brown (in the manga).

Shinji Ikari Raising Project
Here, he's basically the same as his anime counterpart, although he doesn't get into shouting matches with Asuka that often. He's also captivated by Rei when she arrives at the school.

Angelic Days
Toji maintains much of his same qualities as the anime, although he was accepted into Nerv early on, much like the other main teen characters.

Battle Orchestra
In the PS2 fighting game Neon Genesis Evangelion: Battle Orchestra, EVA Unit 03 (piloted by Toji) is an unlockable playable character. He also has his own story arc in the game.

Character notes
Toji is named after one of the main characters in the novel The Fascism of Love and Fantasy (Ai to Gensou no Fascism) by Ryu Murakami.

Toji is originally from Osaka, and thus in the original dub he speaks with an Osakan accent. English dubs of various series sometimes try to represent an Osakan accent with a comparable English accent, such as a "Brooklynese" accent for Meowth in Pokémon, or a southern accent for Ayumu Kasuga in Azumanga Daioh. The official English dub of the original Neon Genesis Evangelion TV series by ADV did not try to give Toji a particular accent, though he speaks more casually than other characters. The Rebuild of Evangelion English dub by FUNimation makes no particular attempt to reflect his accent.

Trivia
In three of the Super Robot Wars game series featuring Evangelion, Toji can be unlocked as a playable character, even after the events of Episode 18. However, the player might have to fulfill certain conditions to unlock him. Toji continues to pilot Unit 03 if he is unlocked. In Super Robot Wars MX for the PS2, he automatically joins in the course of the game without requirements, owing to some crossover storyline help from RahXephon.