Sahaquiel

Sahaquiel
サハクィエル
Number	Series: 10th Manga: Unnumbered Rebuild: 8th
Symbol	Sky
Appearance(s)	Episode 12
Defeated by	Eva-02, with assistance from Eva-00 and Eva-01
Design	Series: Hideaki Anno Rebuild: Mahiro Maeda, Yoshitoh Asari & Takeshi Honda

Sahaquiel (katakana: サハクィエル; Hebrew: סהקיאל) is the Tenth Angel, which attacks from orbit.

Profile

Sahaquiel is one of two Angels that appear in Earth's orbit (the other being Arael). This Angel is truly enormous, even when compared to the other Angels: the radius of the "pupil" of its central eye alone is roughly equal to the height of an Evangelion. Sahaquiel's body is characterized by its vaguely amoeba-like shape, and the giant eye marking in its middle.

Sahaquiel is capable of using its body as a massive bomb, or of dropping pieces of itself from orbit, causing massive explosions on the ground as a reference to home in on its target. It has a very strong A.T. Field, strong enough and expansive enough to withstand over a dozen N² aerial bomb detonations almost without effect, and which can be put to offensive use as well. The A.T. Field works in conjunction with kinetic energy to enhance Sahaquiel's explosive power. In addition, the Angel can jam satellite communications and tracking systems.

Battle

Eva-01 halting Sahaquiel's descent

After appearing in high earth orbit, the Angel is initially attacked by over a dozen N² mines, but to absolutely no effect. Two reconnaissance satellites are sent to scan it, but are crushed by the angel's offensive AT field deployment. Sahaquiel proceeds by detaching parts of itself and dropping them onto the earth. Each subsequent part lands closer to the Geofront's location as it refines its aim. Nerv believes its ultimate goal is to finally descend with its entire mass in order penetrate the Geofront and recover Adam.^{[Source needed]}

Misato's plan to stop the Angel has a very slim chance of success, so all the civilian population of Tokyo-3 evacuates along with the Geofront's non-essential personnel. The three Evangelions are deployed at different points to cover as much as possible of the area in which Sahaquiel may land, with orders to "catch" the Angel with their A.T. Fields before destroying it.

Eva-01 intercepts the Angel on the top of a mountain, Although its A.T. Field is able to stall the Angel's descent, the Eva is increasingly unable to handle Sahaquiel on its own as it is pushed into the turf and its arms burst open, Eva-00 and Eva-02 arrive shortly afterward, helping to push Sahaquiel back with their own A.T. Fields, and then wielding their prog knives to cut through the Angel's field and penetrate its core, respectively.

Upon death, the Angel collapses over the Evas and spontaneously explodes. The mountain is evaporated into a crater, but the Evas and their pilots are unharmed by the explosion.

Pre-Production

Sahaquiel vs. Eva-01, from the Proposal.

The Sahaquiel presented in the Proposal is radically different from the finalized design used in the anime, comprised of little more than two long cutting ribbons attached to a disembodied core. The former design element was probably recycled into Zeruel's arms.

The "explosive" nature of the final Sahaquiel may have been co-opted from the unused "Apostolo" Turel.

In Rebuild of Evangelion

Sahaquiel appears in greatly modified form as the 8th Angel in Evangelion 2.0. The underlying design principle of the Angel is fundamentally the same, as is the overall structure of the "catching" operation, but both have been expanded upon thoroughly.

The Angel initially appears in orbit as a sphere covered in rapidly-moving black plates bearing eye-like patterns. Following an ineffective N² aerial depth charge attack, the Angel begins its plummet to Tokyo-3. The city is evacuated and all three Evas are mobilized across the Angel's probable landing zone.

As it descends, the Angel transforms, shedding its black shell to reveal a rainbow-colored "eyeball" that eventually opens into the familiar amoebic form. Concentric circles of rainbow color emanate from the central "eye" across the Angel's front surface, which has a scaly texture like the wings of a butterfly. Spikes resembling traditional angels playing trumpets unfold from behind the rim of the central body, and along the "arms" a horde of vaguely humanoid "feathers" unfurl.

Via innovative use of Tokyo-3's mobile blast shields and extensible buildings, along with an A.T. Field-boosted sprint, Eva-01 is able to maintain high enough speed to intercept the Angel before it reaches ground. Immediately after the Angel is stalled by the Eva's A.T. Field, however, the center of its "eye" opens up and a giant humanoid with a bird-like head extends from it. It locks hands with Eva-01, then transforms its arms into helical spears and impales the Eva's palms. The Angel begins to "boost", pushing the Eva into the ground and making its arms burst into ribbons.

Eva-02 arrives and, deploying two prog knives, aims for the Angel's core on the outer rim of the "eye". The core begins to circle around the Angel's humanoid extension erratically, like an electron in its orbital, and Asuka is unable to pinpoint the target. Eva-00 then holds the super-heated core in place, allowing Eva-02 to penetrate it with both knives, then knee the knives further in to act as a wedge when the core begins to swell. Eva-00 delivers the final blow by pushing the weakened core in half. The 8th Angel collapses and dissolves, flooding Tokyo-3 and Lake Ashi with "blood" and sending a cross flanked by multiple circular rainbows into the sky.

8th Angel
8th Angel's initial form	Black shell jettisons, revealing "eye" behind translucent panels	"Eye" fully revealed	8th Angel unfolding its body
Red halo and flaming fingers	Note spikes in form of "trumpet-playing angels"	Humanoid extending out of the "eye"	8th Angel impaling Eva-01's palms
Closeup of "feathers"	Angel's core split apart through joint effort	Deluge and rainbows

Design Notes

The design for the 9th Angel's primary form, including its initial stages, was finalized by Mahiro Maeda. The use of black and white coloration for the first stage, and then a striped sphere motif for the second, might be an allusion to Leliel. The "feathers" on the 9th's arms also bear a strong resemblance to Israfel, whom Mahiro designed for the original show. The stylized "eye" symbol present on the original Sahaquiel makes a cameo on the black plates of the 9th's first form and also on the bellies of the humanoid "feathers".

For the humanoid offshoot, preliminary concepts were forwarded by Yoshitoh Asari, with the finalized drawings done by Takeshi Honda. The 8th's head is a variation on the theme established with Sachiel, and the upper arms are shaped like double helices. The front of the torso strongly resembles a vulva.

Notes

• Sahaquiel is fittingly named for the Archangel of the Sky, considering its expansive size and its appearance in orbit. The name "Sahaquiel" means "Ingenuity of God," which is perfectly fitting considering the Angel's unique abilities: its offensive A.T. Field and its ability to jam communications.
• The "eyes" on Sahaquiel, as well as those on Matarael, resemble the emblem of the Neo-Atlantean forces from Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water (directed by Hideaki Anno).

References

Angels

Angels (general)

First and Second Angels (Seeds of Life): Adam | Lilith

Third to Seventeenth Angels (Adam's Children):

Sachiel | Shamshel | Ramiel | Gaghiel | Israfel | Sandalphon | Matarael | Sahaquiel

Ireul | Leliel | Bardiel | Zeruel | Arael | Armisael | Tabris

Eighteenth Angel: Lilin

Rebuild of Evangelion: ?Adams? | Lilith | 3rd Angel | 4th Angel | 5th Angel | 6th Angel | 7th Angel | 8th Angel | 9th Angel | 10th Angel | 11th Angel | 12th Angel | 1st/13th Angel

Other: Extracanonical Angels