Sachiel

Sachiel
サキエル
Number	Third
Symbol	Water
Appearance(s)	Episode 01, Episode 02 (Manga): Stages 1~5 (Rebuild): Evangelion 1.0
Defeated by	Evangelion Unit-01
Design	Yoshitoh Asari

Sachiel (katakana: サキエル) is the Third Angel, and the first to appear in the 15 years since Second Impact.

Profile

Sachiel is a spindly, amphibious humanoid Angel slightly larger than an Evangelion. The Angel has an unusually lanky physique and exaggerated proportions, arms reaching below the knees, and elongated shins and feet, with the impression of leg length furthered by the absence of a head and neck. Like other humanoid Angels, Sachiel possesses a core located in the solar plexus region. Both of Sachiel's faces- the initial long-beaked one and the short-beaked one that grows after the N² mine attack, are made of ossified material and shaped like a bird skull, the long beaked face being capable of limited mobility. Sachiel has eyes with red irises deep within the eye sockets, which, in the long-beaked face, are capable of blinking.

Unusual among Angels, Sachiel possesses a respiration system based in the thighs and crotch, breathing in through gills in the thighs and exhaling through a nostril in the crotch. The gills also serve as underwater propulsion. Sachiel possesses blood of a bluish-purple color, making it unique among Angels for whom blood has been observed.

Sachiel's super-jump

While Sachiel is not a flight-capable Angel, it demonstrates an ability to make A.T. Field enhanced jumps while escaping attacking VTOL craft.

The Angel's natural weaponry are two red "lances" that extend from its forearms and can be energized to increase their destructive capacity. These are physical structures that serve as (or presumably fit within) the Angel's ulna or outer arm bone. Following the N² land mine explosion, Sachiel developed a new face with the ability to set off cross-shaped explosions through its eye sockets. The explosions can be used against aerial targets such as reconnaissance aircraft and, against fixed structures or even be horizontally oriented (the horizontal version of this attack was utterly ineffective against Eva-01). Sachiel is also capable of altering its body shape and muscle mass, increasing its muscle mass when under strain. As a last resort, it can wrap itself into a ball around its opponent and self-destruct.

Design and Production

Original concept art for Sachiel

The more refined version of Sachiel's design ("Version A") depicts the "ribs" and "scapular carapace" as three separate units, although many cuts in the anime use a version ("B") where they form one combined structure. (This "Design B" is also used by Sadamoto in the manga.) One other discrepancy is that, in B, both right and left "ribs" possess an upper bone-spur, whereas in A this feature is only present on the left (and confirmably absent from the start)

The Neon Genesis Evangelion Proposal presents an earlier concept for Sachiel's design, although it bears little resemblance to the final version beyond the basic "spindly amphibious humanoid" motif.

Battle

Sachiel first appeared out of the ocean, coming ashore just east of Tokyo-3. The JSSDF tried to stop Sachiel's advance, sending in a force of tanks and Heavy Fighter Jet-VTOL craft, but they fail miserably.

After advancing past the tank battalion stationed on the shore, Sachiel was knocked back by a missile barrage from VTOL craft- possibly simply in surprise. The Angel soon got used to the attacks and didn't even flinch. Instead of behaving like a stereotypical "rampaging giant monster", it shot down a VTOL that had attacked it with the attitude of swatting a fly, before avoiding the attackers with a huge A.T. Field assisted leap similar to limited flight.

The JSSDF eventually used their "last resort" by luring Sachiel to the region of Mt. Takanosu, and then detonating a planted N² Mine underneath its feet. This results in considerable damage to Sachiel, melting some 18% of its mass, but it is only a matter of hours before it regenerates the damage. In the process of regenerating from the N² Mine attack, Sachiel's original bony "face" structure is pushed towards the upper right of its torso as a new slightly more rounded bony "face" grows from the center of its chest. While this fails to stop Sachiel, it does slow down the Angel long enough for Nerv to prepare Evangelion Unit-01 to be sent into combat against Sachiel.

Sachiel appears to be capable of learning from its environment and upgrading its physical capabilities in response to external threats. After the Angel regenerates from the N² Mine attack, it develops a new ability: a long-range energy blast (which results in crucifix-shaped spikes of energy) which it fires from its eyes (on its new, more rounded face).

Sachiel does begin to attack surrounding buildings when it gets to Tokyo-3 itself (possibly because it was trying to get to Nerv HQ below).

Finally, Eva-01 was launched against Sachiel, but the Eva promptly fell flat on its face. Sachiel then grabbed Eva by the head, and broke its left arm. During this, Sachiel again displayed its ability to adapt, by instantly increasing the muscle mass of its own arm to increase its physical strength. While holding Eva-01 by the head, Sachiel then shot out its energy lance from its palm, impaling Eva-01's head and flinging it against a building.

However, Eva-01 then went into "berserker" mode, making a somersaulting drop-kick against Sachiel ending in Eva-01 ripping off half of Sachiel's ossified face. Eva-01 made a second rampage at the Angel, only to be stopped by its A.T. Field. The Eva regenerated its broken arm and eroded the A.T. Field with its own. Sachiel used its cross-blast weapon against the Evangelion, to no effect. The Eva proceeded to grab both the Angel's arms with its left hand and broke them with a sharp snap, then kicked it into a building, and followed up by charging into it. The Eva then broke off pieces of bone from Sachiel's exterior ribs and repeatedly drove them into the Angel's core, slowly cracking it. Realizing it was on the verge of defeat, Sachiel once more adapted itself to give its body a whip-like consistently then jumped onto Eva-01, wrapped itself around the Eva, and self-destructed. However, even this self-sacrificial attack failed to destroy Eva-01, which emerged from the destruction with only moderate damage.

Allusions

Sachiel is named after a cherub and resident of the First Heaven. This angel is supposedly invoked from the south, possibly referenced in Sachiel's path towards Tokyo-3.

In addition, the name "Sachiel" is likely sourced from the Hebrew סכיאל (Sachiel), meaning "Covering of God."

In Other Media

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Manga Adaptation

While Misato retrieves Shinji by car, Rei pilots Eva-01 and confronts Sachiel. During this encounter, Sachiel is depicted as being fairly nimble.

Rebuild of Evangelion

"The angels are back"

Sachiel in New Theatrical Edition

Sachiel appears in Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone, largely in a reiteration of its anime role. There are no apparent modifications to the Angel's design, although its blood is now red (as opposed to blue). One minor addition is that of a halo that appears above its head when it makes an A.T. Field assisted jump. Another is that the eyes in Sachiel's second face glow bright red, first when the new face emerges, and again when casting its A.T. Field against Eva-01 and finally before dying.

In the Rebuild 1.11 DVD release, Sachiel is depicted with huge red boils/pustules immediately following the N² mine explosion. At present it is not known what other detail changes have been made to the Angel for the 1.11 release.

Girlfriend of Steel 2

In the PC game, Sachiel is part of the mass Angel attack.

Battle Orchestra

Sachiel is one of the playable characters in the "brawling" game Neon Genesis Evangelion: Battle Orchestra.

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