Theory and Analysis:Dummy Plug Plant Images

Background

One of the most mysterious aspects of how Evangelion became the show we know today is the Tank Images. When the home video version of Episode 23, known as episode 23' or the Director's cut or NPC version, was prepared, mysterious images were added which flashed off and on in the Rei Tank in the background. When they went back and remastered Ep. 23 for Renewal, these images were removed, making the scene resemble the Originally Aired version. We have been unable to find the reason they were removed, but it could simply be because they were hard to see and distracting. The other changes still stood, e.g. there were still many more Reis in the tank. Thus the Renewal/Platinum version of Episode 23 is sort of 23'.1. This article will examine the Tank Images, identifying the easy ones, (these are mostly ones that were lifted from elsewhere in the series, or re-used in the Extended Opening), will theorize about the ones that aren't so easy, and will admit that some can't be made heads or tails of. Ritsuko's dialog will also be provided.

The Images

Ritsuko: "The things here are dummies. And nothing more than parts for Rei."

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"Humanity found a god and, in their joy, tried to make it theirs. And so they were punished." This first one is easy: Adam being excavated in Antarctica.

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A closer angle on the above.

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This is the above image as it appeared in the Full Opening.

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"That was fifteen years ago. The god they had gone to such lengths to find also vanished completely." This is Adam in Giant of Light form during Second Impact.

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The above image as it appeared in the series opening.

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The Wings of Light unfold over the doomed Katsuragi Expedition.

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The Wings as they appeared in Episode 12.

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A satellite view of Second Impact.

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And the above as it appeared in the Series Opening.

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A newspaper article on Second Impact.

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And the above as it appeared in the Full Opening

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The United Nations demands answers. According to the script, the man in the foreground is the U.N. Director.

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"But then they tried to revive the god on their own." As it appeared in Episode 21, Keel and Gendo can clearly be seen in the background.

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This is the first image with no known counterpart. Under the rightmost Rei's chin you can see a man aparantly staring down at something. The rest of the image is very hard to see.

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Once again, there is no clean counterpart to this image. All anyone can see here is bubbles, or perhaps enlarged molecules.

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This is Lilith's Head, upside down.

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The above image as it appeared in the Full Opening

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"That god was Adam. And, from Adam, humans were created in her image. Those were the Evas." In this image, Eva-01 is literally growing on Lilith.

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The above as it appeared in the Full Opening.

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Shinji: "People? They're humans?" A low angle on the above.

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This is the above as it appeared in the Full Opening.

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Ritsuko: "Yes, they're human." This is the Secret Dead Sea Scrolls from the opening credits.

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The above as seen in the Series Opening

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This is the only known version of this image. It seems to be a group of men in heavy overcoats or parkas trudging through the snow. Perhaps it is investigators heading for the sight of second Impact.

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"The Evas do not intrinsically have souls, but human souls reside within them." This image shows a bearded man, but he doesn't seem to be Gendo. In fact, he looks more like Lincoln than anyone else. So it's unknown who he is, as there is no other known version of this image. Another man can be seen in profile in the lower left.

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Once again, there is no known counterpart. This is a piece of equipment of some sort. It closely resembles a Soyuz space capsule, but as there is no known reason why it should be one, it's probably something else.

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The blob near the top of this image resembles a brain. There is no other version available.

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"They were all salvaged." A man reading a book, which is opened to a page that seems to show embryos in various states of development. Is this tome a part of the Dead Sea Scrolls that explains Angelic Anatomy? Once again, there is no known "clean" counterpart to this image.

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This is the only known version. This seems to be a drawing of sunflowers. It's anyone's guess as to why.

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These men closely resemble the American, French, and British Seele comitteemen.

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At last another image with a counterpart. This is the above from the Full Opening.

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"The only vessel that contained a soul was Rei. " More bubbles, in this "no counterpart" image.

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This one is well nigh impossible to see. Someone please tell us what it is. It seems to exist only in this version.

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This image, available only in this version, shows another brain.

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