*Misato Katsuragi (葛城 ミサト, Katsuragi Misato?) is one of the main characters from the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise. She is the operations director at NERV, initially with the rank of captain; she is later promoted to major. Her duties at NERV include acting as a field commander for the EVA pilots, issuing orders and relaying battle strategies as well as processing input from Ritsuko Akagi and the technicians monitoring the EVAS. She also handles many bureaucratic aspects of NERV's operations.

At the beginning of the series, Misato first brings Shinji Ikari to NERV and is able to convince him to pilot Evangelion Unit-01. She then chooses to have Shinji move in with her rather than live alone, and later takes in Asuka Langley Soryu. As the series progresses, through her former lover Ryoji Kaji, Misato learns the truth behind the Human Instrumentality Project and the depths of deception that NERV and SEELE have gone to keep the Project secret, even from her.

Misato is a young woman with long dark violet hair that is wavy with bangs parted to the sides and dark brown eyes. She wears a sleeveless black flapper dress with a cross necklace, a fancy red jacket with stylized accents, green socks, and black boots, but she wears more outfits throughout the series. Misato is known to be a very attractive woman, as she has been cited multiple times throughout the entire series to be a "babe", by Ikari's male classmates.

Misato Katsuragi presents a multifaceted personality, displaying a lively, often superficial demeanor that masks a more resolute and professional side. She is known for her cheerful, optimistic, and somewhat frivolous personality, using these characteristics as a form of social defense. Underneath this, she is a determined and stubborn individual who takes her work seriously. As the narrative of Neon Genesis Evangelion progresses, she undergoes significant changes, including a more unsympathetic and bitter personality as she leads WILLE.*