Matarael

Matarael
マトリエル
Number	9th
Symbol	Rain
Appearance(s)	Episode 11
Defeated by	Eva-01, with assistance from Eva-00 and Eva-02

Matarael (Hebrew: מטראל) is the Ninth Angel, which attacks when Tokyo-3 is in the middle of a power blackout.

Biology

Matarael is a gigantic opilinoid-like entity, with four immensely large legs (which are taller than most skyscrapers) and a relatively small body core. The many "eyes" on Matarael's central body are not actual eyes, but a camouflage pattern using mimicry to confuse its enemies, although the central eye appears to be real and functional. The Angel secretes orange-colored corrosive acid from its central "eye", which can burn through anything.

Matarael does not have a visible core; it appears to be hidden internally, as per Ramiel and Sandalphon.

Battle

Tokyo-3's electrical power had been sabotaged by an unknown human party, leaving Nerv unable to launch the Evas to fight Matarael outside of the base. Matarael proceeded to Tokyo-3 uninhibited, where it began to pour corrosive acid from its central "eye" to burn its way straight down to Nerv HQ.

As a result, all three Evangelions were manually launched, and had to physically climb through access shafts to reach the Angel's position. However, this resulted in all three Evas being in an access shaft directly under Matarael and the corrosive acid it was pouring downwards. Worse, in the initial confusion upon encountering it, the Evas dropped their guns.

Asuka quickly took charge and devised a battle plan: she would be on "defense", using Eva-02 to block the shaft with its body, taking the brunt of the acid-attack. Meanwhile, Eva-00 would be "support", jumping to the bottom of the shaft to retrieve their weapons, and finally Eva-01 would be on "offense", getting in position to fire the guns after Eva-00 retrieved them. Asuka's plan worked perfectly, and despite some mild to moderate damage to Eva-02 from the Angel's acid-attack, Eva-01 was able to quickly destroy it with a long burst of rifle fire.

Matarael is one of the weakest Angels to appear in the entire series, being the only Angel that was killed with an Evangelion's standard-issue palette rifle (Shamshel and Zeruel were immune to rifle fire) and very likely possessing the weakest A.T. Field of any Angel. Beyond its massive size, it appears to possess no weapon other than the acid it secretes, which just pours straight down. Arguably, had Nerv's power not been sabotaged and the Evas were deployed to fight it normally, it would have been defeated relatively easily, though it is unknown if it had any other kinds of defence.

Notes

• Matarael resembles an opilionid, also known as a harvestman or daddy longlegs, a type of arachnid related to but distinct from spiders.
• The JSSDF generals debating what to do about Matarael without Nerv refer to it amongst themselves as the eighth Angel, even though Nerv refers to it as the ninth Angel; it is possible that they do not count Lilith, because Nerv keeps Lilith's existence a secret.
• The "eyes" on Matarael, as well as those on Sahaquiel, resemble the emblem of the Neo-Atlantean forces from Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water (directed by Hideaki Anno)[1]

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