>>And so Gendou Ikari and his Evangelions finally make their appearance
>>in the UFverse (not counting, of course, their cameo in Knights of the
>>Tenth World 2/3). I presume, of course, that he's the father of the
>>UFverse's Shinji Ikari.
>
>Judging by the timestamps, he's probably Shinji's great-great
>grandfather, if he's any relation at all. Remember, Blades
>takes place in 2414. 130 years between developing the XV-74 and
>Shinji being, oh, sixteen, give or take four years? Seems like a bit
>much, especially since Gendou's not a likely candidate for Omega-2,
>and the only other life-extension process that might be used on him is
>reserved for Mr. Mann.

Maybe not. Remember that even normal lifespans in the UF-verse are about twice as long as ours (not so long in the late 2200's, perhaps). Figure Gendou is maybe 30 in 2284, maybe 145 when Shinji is born; that's about 72 in our years. It probably puts him out of range for being Shinji's father, but grandfather is possible.

As you note, though, this presumes that they're related at all, which cannot be assumed given the author's predilection for rewriting backstory (and that this is just a throwaway reference).

- Chad