Ramiel

Ramiel
ラミエル
Number	5th
Symbol	Thunder
Appearance(s)	Episode 05, Episode 06
Defeated by	Evangelion Unit-01, with assistance from Evangelion Unit-00

Ramiel (Hebrew: ספר החנוך ,רעמיאל vi:vii) is the Fifth Angel, one of the largest and most powerful. Ramiel becomes the first Angel to physically penetrate the Geofront when its drill bit breaks through the armor.

Biology

Compared to the Angels which preceded it, Ramiel has a drastically different form and does not appear to be "alive" in a conventional sense, it appears to be a gigantic floating crystalline octahedron (two pyramids attached at the base, one on top and one on bottom). The surface of Ramiel is blue and highly reflective.

The Angel has a deadly directed beam attack capable of melting through an Evangelion's armor in seconds, and it can sustain the blast for a very long period of time, perhaps indefinitely. While most other Angel attacks remain inexplicable, Ramiel is shown activating an "Inner Torus Reactor", a type of nuclear fusion reactor, to power the beam.

Internal scan of Ramiel, showing the nuclear reactor

The beam is capable of hitting any target within the Angel's firing radius with perfect accuracy, and the Angel itself is capable of detecting threats coming up from underground as well as beyond its normal firing range. The potency of its attack makes Ramiel too dangerous to engage in direct combat with an Evangelion.

In addition, Ramiel has one of the strongest A.T. Fields of all the Angels, so strong that the naked eye can see it refracting light when it attacked. The A.T. Field is quoted as needing a massive 180 million megawatts (1.8 X 10¹¹ watts) to penetrate. Combined, these potent defensive and offensive abilities make Ramiel a veritable flying fortress. Ramiel also possesses a drilling appendage which it can extend out of its main body, which it uses to drill straight down into the GeoFront itself.

However, the Angel is indeed biological. In the shots of the Angel being demolished in the following episode, bloody red squares are seen where the Angel's armor/surface structure is being taken off, indicating that it does have blood.

Psychology

In terms of psychology, Ramiel's behavior is instinctive and simple to the point of being robotic. It chooses to slowly drill its way into the Geofront instead of turning its deadly energy beam on the armor. Ramiel's defensive strategy is simple but extremely potent: to strike any threat within a predetermined radius with its deadly energy beam, or shoot even further in case of an attack from outside its firing radius, as shown in the final battle with the two Evas. Ramiel seems to instinctively choose the nearer of two attacking targets- shooting Eva-00 with its shield while not focusing the beam on the partially exposed Eva-01 and its positron rifle. Unlike the smaller, more humanoid angels, Ramiel chooses to stay in a fixed position most of the time.

Battle

Ramiel approaches Tokyo-3 by flying in from over the ocean. Eva-01 was sortied to attack the Angel on the surface, without any prior intelligence on the Angel's abilities. Ramiel detected the Eva even before it reached the surface and powered up a deadly particle beam that shot straight through a building and nearly melted through the Eva's chest armor. The pilot, Shinji Ikari, was almost killed inside his entry plug.

Ramiel proceeded to use a large drill-appendage to begin drilling through the armor plating of Tokyo-3 to reach Nerv HQ below in the GeoFront.

Subsequent experiments, including the use of an inflatable dummy Eva-01 and an attack with a Type-12 mortar, determined that Ramiel's particle beam targeted any threat within a particular radius, with perfect accuracy. Ramiel's AT field was also the most powerful ever observed when it was encountered, strong enough to visibly warp light when fully deployed.

Realizing they could not get an Eva close enough to Ramiel to neutralize its AT Field, Misato came up with a plan to channel the entire electrical output of Japan into an experimental new positron rifle, which Eva-01 would fire while Eva-00 provided support. While Eva-01 sniped Ramiel, Eva 00 protected their position with a specially converted "shield" made from the heat shield on the underside of an SSTO spacecraft.

The two energy beams warp each other

Ramiel reacted to the Evas by firing its energy beam at the same time that Eva-01 fired its first shot; the two energy beams warped each other as they passed by and caused both to miss. Ramiel's second shot was blocked by Eva-00 with its shield, but its shield could only hold for so long and it was badly damaged. However, Eva-01's second shot pierced Ramiel, destroying it.

In Other Media

Rebuild of Evangelion

Ramiel in Rebuild

Ramiel appears in Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone, the first film in the Rebuild of Evangelion re-imagining of the original series.

In Rebuild, Ramiel shows exceptional shapeshifting capabilities, changing its form to suit its attack or defense requirements, although its "default" form is the classic octahedron form seen in the TV series.

Ramiel's beam attack is much more dangerous than before. At its most powerful, the beam attack is capable of tearing down battleship-caliber gun emplacements and mountainsides alike. Ramiel can adjust the beam's power, as seen in the initial confrontation with Eva-01. In addition, the Angel is capable of adjusting its A.T. Field so that it would not be possible for an Evangelion to neutralize it.

Ramiel survives a direct hit on its core in the first positron rifle attack, only to survive and retaliate. It is destroyed in the second, exploding, along with its giant drill, in a hail of blood.

Notes

• Ramiel's design is a copy of the "Blue Water" crystal in the previous Gainax Anime Nadia and the Secret of Blue Water , which Anno also directed.
• It takes three more episodes for Nerv to clean up Ramiel's corpse (Hyuga specifically complains that removal of Ramiel's body is expensive); its corpse is still being disassembled in Episode 09.

Ramiel's massive corpse slowly being demolished

• The spacecraft from which the heat shield is obtained is not from the current Space Shuttle; it is actually from an SSTO (Single Stage to Orbit) spacecraft, probably similar to the one Gendo flies in Episode 07.
• Eva Unit 00 is severely damaged in the battle against Ramiel, requiring it to be heavily repaired and partially rebuilt, with new shoulder-fin armor like subsequent Eva Units. After being repaired, Eva Unit 00 is repainted from orange to blue.
• An Animation Error - Ramiel's drill is turning the wrong direction every time it is shown. It actually shouldn't have been able to pierce anything. In addition, the rate at which it is drilling is actually much faster than it should be going, given the time it takes to penetrate the GeoFront.
• Ramiel was the first Angel to physically penetrate the GeoFront, but it didn't actually get enter inside, just its drill. The first Angel to actually penetrate into the Nerv headquarters building itself, at the bottom of the GeoFront, would be the Eleventh Angel, Ireul.

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