Evangelions

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Misato Katsuragi: "What in hell *is* an Eva?!"
Ritsuko Akagi: "It's a thing created by Man in Man's own image. I really can't describe it any other way".
Misato: ""Created by Man"?! You didn't create anything! You just copied something you found in the Antarctic! What was the original? That's what I want to know!"
Ritsuko: "This is not just a copy".

An Evangelion (エヴァンゲリオン) is a giant cybernetic combat unit built by Nerv with the express purpose of defeating attacks by the Angels. At first glance, Evangelions (often called Evas for short) appear to be giant humanoid "robots". However, most of an Evangelion is actually organic -- with external armor hiding their true appearance.

Evas are (essentially) genetically-modified clones of the First Angel, Adam. After being "grown", they receive cybernetic implants, namely in the spine and upper torso, which allows humans to control them -- both in terms of manipulating ("piloting") them, and keeping their incredible power under control. The armor plating and mechanical implements grafted onto their bodies actually act first and foremost as "restraints", although exactly how this works is never elaborated upon.

As Adam-based beings, Evangelions are capable of generating an A.T. Field, a super-force field against which conventional attacks are useless. Due to the fact that an A.T. Field is the only thing that can neutralize another A.T. Field, the Evas are humanity's only means of combating the Angels.

Biology and Design

Evangelions are gigantic humanoid organic creatures. In some scenes their height is exaggerated for dramatic affect, but they seem to stand roughly 40 feet tall; based on relative size of entry plugs, that a normal-sized human fits fairly neatly into an Eva's palm, etc.

General design notes

Internal Power Limitations

Evas do not have S2 Organs so they cannot replicate the power of Angels. They rely on external power supplied through an umbilical cable running into their back. This can be removed for greater mobility (or can be severed from battle damage), after which an Eva has to rely on internal battery power. Internal batteries can only really supply 5 minutes of energy. Well, they originally said "one minute as max usage" but this rule was rapidly ignored. Extra batteries can be attached to Evas, on their shoulder pylons, which give them a greater operational time period.

Abilities

It may be a 40 foot robot, but it's as agile as an olympic acrobat. It's got an A.T. Field. Once Luke spends time on Dagobah and learns to properly wield the force from Frank Oz, the A.T. Field can be projected like a weapon, which the JSSDF and Zeruel found out the hard way.

And they've got guns, Neo. Lots of guns.

Evangelions have incredible physical strength as well as dexterity. Combined with the an Eva's A.T. Field rendering it invulnerable to conventional attacks, an Eva is an literally an invincible walking titan. Evas can leap many times their own height and over great distances, even from a standing position.

Evas can use their A.T. Field to neutralize the A.T. Field of an Angel, allowing the Eva to actually physically attack the Angel directly.

On top of this, Evangelions can fire custom-made giant Evangelion-scale weapons. Some of these weapons are just knives, axes, etc. However, Evas are apparently capable of even firing ranged weapons (giant guns and bazookas) at Angels: apparently, they can neutralize an Angel's A.T. Field even from a distance using their own A.T. Field, which seems to extend around the ammunition that the Eva fires allowing it to penetrate. What never happens is that an Eva neutralizes an Angel's A.T. Field, and then conventional attacks fired from other forces are capable of hurting the Angel, i.e. an Eva neutralizing an Angel's A.T. Field, and then a massive air strike called in. It only works with weapons actually fired by the Evangelion itself. Asuka made it clear in Episode 19 that this is more or less how it works: firing a ranged weapon at a distance says "I'm neutralizing its A.T. Field aren't I?

Wait....they do shoot rockets and crud at Israfel and there are fixed defenses around Nerv....then again they might just be for show; they were rather useless when Shamshel got fired on...but that's when its A.T. Field wasn't down. Israfel got shot at AFTER the Evas engaged...but to no effect. Nah, they really don't even bother to shoot stuff at Leliel or other ones after that; the fixed defenses are just for show.

Okay, so Zeruel fight shows; the Eva can neutralize the Angel's AT field by extending its own A.T. Field, apparently by extending it around the ammunition that it is firing.

Origin

The Evangelions are essentially clones of Adam's genetic material, created by Nerv, which then had cybernetic machinery grafted onto them. They were apparently using the recovered embryo of Adam as a genetic template.

However, Eva Unit 01 is unique in that it was "made" from Lilith in some way, but the exact nature of their relationship is undetermined -- i.e., if Eva-01 is (somehow) a "Lilith clone" like the other Evas, or if Lilith was simply a "surrogate mother". The only clue we get to really explaining this statement is a still-shot flashed in Episode 23 of the creation of Eva Unit 01, in which it literally tears itself away from Lilith's lower body, leaving tattered ropes of flesh behind; a mockery of the natural birth process. It is heavily implied that this is how Lilith lost her legs; their biomass was used to form Eva 01. However, it's still not clear from this image if Eva 01 is a straightforward clone of Lilith, or if somehow genetic material from Adam was "gestated" inside of Lilith.

For more in-depth analysis, see "Theory & Analysis: Eva-01 and Lilith."

Piloting

Pilots are more or less dedicated exclusively to one Evangelion unit. They tried a mutual compatability experiment in Episode 14 but it only barely worked. You use an Interface Headset and a Plug suit, and sit in an Entry Plug which extends through the back and into the core. This allows the pilot to "synchronize" with the Eva's mind, controlling its basic movements as if they were the pilots' own just by thinking about them. More complex tasks such as handling weapons, etc. are performed using a set of handle-bar controls. They've also got sniper rifle sights useable in a special drop-down snipers' scope. The Entry plug is filled with LCL to aid the synchronization. You've got to be a 14 year old to pilot.

Naming system

They started counting with "Eva 00" instead of "Eva 01". There were actually many failed experimental prototypes before Eva Unit 00 but they didn't bother counting them. Eva 00 is the "Prototype" because it is the first successful Eva. Eva 01 is the "Test Type", possibly because it is the only one derived from Lilith. Eva 02 was the first "Production Model" Eva. Eva 03 and Eva 04 were sister units, identical copies; they are also called "Production Model" though there were some slight changes to the design (Production Model variant-B?). Finally came the Mass Production model Evangelions.

Brief mention of the -gouki system in Japanese.

Notes

• Evas are referred to as "copies" of Adam, and, in the Classified Information files, by the awkward phrase "clonal regenerations" (in reference to the "Adam Revival Project", or Project E). In real life use, "clone" means an exact genetic copy, which, considering the differences the Evas exhibit amongst themselves, they clearly cannot be.
• According to Ritsuko in Episode 01, the formal full name for the Evangelion Units (almost never actually used) is "Ultimate All-Purpose Humanoid Decisive Battle Weapon: Evangelion".

See Also:

• Evangelion weapons
  • Evangelion melee weapons
  • Evangelion ranged weapons
• Evangelion equipment

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Evangelions

Evangelions (general)

Failed Evangelion Prototypes | Simulation Bodies

Eva-00 | Eva-01 | Eva-02 | Eva-03 | Eva-04 | Mass Production Evangelions (Evas 05~13)

Rebuild of Evangelion: Mark.04 | Eva-05 | Mark.06 | Eva-08 | Mark.09 | Eva-13

Eva 8+2 | Mass Production Evangelions | Failures of Infinity

Other: Extracanonical Evas