Zeruel

Zeruel
Zeruel
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Number	14th
Appearance(s)	{{{appearances}}}
Defeated by	Evangelion Unit-01

Zeruel (ゼルエル) is the Fourteenth Angel: One of the most powerful, and among the three to penetrate Nerv Headquarters. It bears the unique distinction of providing (however unwillingly) the S² Engine that elevates EVA-01 to "god" status.

Biology

Zeruel is a vaguely humanoid entity slightly larger than an Evangelion. Its undefined, slab-like body is adorned with an array of exoskeletal elements, with key points of reference being a face, a large core centered lees than halfway down, stumpy legs, and -- Zeruel's trademark feature -- ribbon-like cutting arms.

The distinctive arms hang from the "shoulders" of Zeruel's bulky "exoscapulae". When not in use, they are folded up onto themselves into small packets. Upon employment, the heavily folded arms drop (visually evoking accordions) and are promptly straightened and extended, capable of reaching lengths at least three times Zeruel's height. They function like razor-sharp ribbons, able to effortlessly slice through an Eva (armor and all). Each of Zeruel's arms possesses a "thumb" at the tip, which sometimes lays flat to provide a seamless cutting edge. Zeruel can also subdivide the arm tips into four additional "digits" (for a total of five) each, which can form fists (depicted only in production drawings) or wrap around objects. Due to the way Zeruel's arms are segmented into smaller sections, they are often likened to toilet paper by fans.

Production drawing of Zeruel's arms; note the fists

The face, which resembles a malformed skull, is situated at the top of the body at a slight upwards angle (when Zeruel is standing straight). It is attached to a sinewy "neck" normally kept inside the body and possesses a cartilage-like consistency that gives it a limited range of movement. The two eyes hidden inside the deep "sockets" are, as with Zeruel's kin Sachiel and Israfel, employed for both vision and energy projection -- however, their capabilities in the latter area are considerably more potent.

Zeruel demonstrates an enhanced ability for firing the familiar crucifix-shaped blasts: A single shot instantly penetrates 18 of the Geofront's 22 protective armor layers (achieving in an instant what Ramiel accomplished in hours), and, even more extraordinarily, it has the unique ability to project multiple blasts simultaneously (at least four at the same time). Zeruel can also fire focused energy beams directly from its eyes, a last-resort tactic saved for tight quarters, where the arms cannot be freely manuevered. This weapon is disadvantageous, in that it takes seconds to charge and only provides a single quick burst of energy, albeit a rather powerful one.

Zeruel typically moves by (presumably A.T. Field-assisted) levitation, whether on a vertical course or, as an alternative to bipedal locomotion, slightly above ground level. The lower legs, while vestigial and lacking defined feet, do not go without use: The Angel briefly takes to all fours when it breaks into the Command Center.

The core is rather large relative to Zeruel's body, and the S² Engine within may be, accordingly, "oversized", perhaps accounting in part for the discrepancy in power between Zeruel and other, similarly sized Angels. Zeruel possesses a protective lid capable of shielding the core when threatened, and it serves as a testament to Zeruel's incredibly tough constitution: Even when an N² Bomb is detonated in direct contact with the (protected) core, not only is the red sphere left completely unscathed -- the rest of the body is, as well.

Battle

Appearing soon after the fight against the 13th Angel, Bardiel, Zeruel attacked NERV before it had time to fully recover from the previous Angel's attack. Zeruel rapidly blasted its way straight into the GeoFront, piercing through all of the defensive armor layers almost instantly, and then descended into the GeoFront. Because of the speed of its attack, NERV had no time to try to engage it outside, and deployed Eva 02 inside of the GeoFront to engage it. Asuka fired on Zeruel with a full range of guns and rocket-launchers, but Zeruel's AT Field was so strong that even this concentrated fire from Eva 02 had no effect. Zeruel then unfolded its razor-arms, and instantly amputated both of Eva 02's arms. Enraged, Asuka recklessly charged Eva 02 at the Angel. Just as Zeruel was about to decapitate Eva 02, Misato quickly ordered Asuka's connection with her Eva severed so the shock of Unit 02's head being sliced off would not kill her. Zeruel proceeded towards NERV HQ, as Eva Unit 00 was deployed against it. With no time to repair Eva 00 after its fight with Bardiel, Unit 00 went into battle missing its left arm. As a result, Rei charged Eva 00 at Zeruel with an N² bomb cradled in its remaining right arm, then jammed the N² bomb at Zeruel's core through its AT Field. However, Zeruel covered its core with a protective membrane, and the N² bomb did not succeed in harming it, while extensively damaging Eva 00 and the GeoFront. Zeruel then slashed at the wounded Eva 00, and it too was incapacitated.

Zeruel then crashed into the NERV headquarters' pyramid itself, and descended to Central Dogma, crashing through the wall into the command center's central display area. Just as it was about to fire its energy-blast and kill the entire NERV command staff, Eva 01 (piloted by Shinji) crashed through another wall and punched it away. Pushing the Angel away, the pair then crashed through another wall into the Evangelion pens themselves and continued fighting. Zeruel blasted off Eva 01's left arm, but Eva 01 was still able to keep fighting and force it into one of the Evangelion launching catapults. Misato then fired the catapult, to at least get the Angel out of the base, as Shinji pushed Zeruel's face against the side of the shaft to grind it against the wall as they were fired upwards.

Upon reaching the surface, the pair tumbled in mid-air until Zeruel landed on the ground with Eva 01 on top of it. Despite Zeruel's awesome power, and the loss of one arm, Eva 01 was still able to use its remaining arm to savagely pummel Zeruel and tear savagely at its bony face-plate, and Eva 01 was on the verge of gaining the upper hand in the fight when its internal battery power ran out.

Zeruel then threw Eva 01 against the hillside and blasted apart Eva 01's chest plate, revealing its own core. Zeruel used its razor-arms to steadily stab at Eva 01's core, and the repeated shocks were on the verge of breaking the Entry Plug inside the Eva. However, Eva 01 then entered "berserker mode" an Shinji entered into a (previously thought to be totally impossible) 400% synchronization ration with the Eva. Eva 01 quickly pushed its hands straight through the razor-edge of Zeruel's right arm while suffering no damage, grabbed Zeruel and pulled it right on top of itself, impaling Zeruel's eye structure with its horn. It then kicked Zeruel, sending it flying backwards onto its back while ripping the Angel's arm off. Eva 01 then horrifically merged Zeruel's arm with the stump of its own left arm to regenerate it. Zeruel tried to attack Eva 01 with its other razor-arm, but Eva 01 wielded its own AT Field like a weapon, shattering Zeruel's remaining arm and sending the razor-sharp fragments flying back at it, tearing it to pieces. Eva 01 then advanced on Zeruel like an animal and the crippled Angel tried to fire another energy-blast at it, but Eva 01 simply snapped its neck back and then immediately began to physically devour Zeruel's body. Horrified NERV personnel looked on as Eva 01 ate the Angel's corpse, culminating in Eva 01 consuming Zeruel's S² Engine. This resulted in Eva 01 no longer needing any external power supply to function.

Notes

• The black and white color pattern on Zeruel's front vaguely resembles a human face (seen from the left) with its core as the "eye".

• Zeruel has a very powerful energy or projectile weapon that sets off crucifix-shaped explosions, very similar to that used by Sachiel. Zeruel appears to use the weapon out of both the mouth and the eye holes, as the first time the weapon is used the mouth seems to light up. The crucifix-blast weapon might be a projectile weapon, since Zeruel can shoot at four seperate locations at once.
  • Zeruel uses its eye sockets for a charge-up energy attack powerful enough to blow off Eva 01's chest armor, although the entry plug underneath seems unaffected. Sachiel's cross-blast weapon had no effect on Eva 01, and Ramiel heavily melted all the frontal armor in a few seconds and almost boiled the pilot alive but did not have the time to destroy it entirely. This makes Zeruel's optical blast the most powerful projectile or beam weapon used by an Angel, although Ramiel's particle beam can be sustained for an indeterminate period of time.

• Zeruel was (along with Sachiel and Shamshel) designed by Yoshitoh Asari.

• Zeruel's namesake is an angel "set over strength", from The Biblical Antiquities of Philo. The name Zeruel literally means "arm of God" -- probably no coincidence, all things considered.

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