Adam

Adam
アダム
Number	1st
Symbol	N/A
Appearance(s)	Episodes 08, 12, 24', 26'
Defeated by	N/A

Adam is the designation of the First Angel, the first of Earth's two Seeds of Life and the progenitor of the Third through Seventeenth Angels. She is the genetic basis of the Evangelions, and, accordingly, has the same somatotype, judging from the few glimpses provided.

Origins & Discovery

Adam was created by the First Ancestral Race billions of years ago and sent to Earth within the White Moon to begin a new race of humanity. However, Adam was unable to accomplish her mission: She was placed into suspended animation by her own Spear of Longinus, and the progeny of Lilith populated the planet instead.

The inert Adam, and the Spear upon which she was impaled, were later discovered by the Katsuragi Expedition Team. Adam -- and especially the organ inside her core, termed the "S² Engine" -- became the subject of intense scientific inquiry. This culminated in the so-called Contact Experiment, of which little is known beyond the involvement of a human "donor", DNA "diving" into Adam and "physically fusing", and Second Impact being ushered in as a result.

File:Full-op C234 big.jpg

Adam as she was discovered

Second Impact

In the Contact Experiment's aftermath, Adam manifested an Anti A.T. Field (which produced the "thorough extermination of all life, including microorganisms"), altered the local "atmospheric elements", and opened her Doors of Guf -- all actions implying the reawakened Adam was attempting to reclaim the Earth. (Insert link to relevant T&A page here.) The Katsuragi Team's attempt to subdue Adam with the Spear of Longinus produced undesired results about which little is known. Adam's S² Engine went beyond the control of both herself and the research team, transforming her into the "Giant of Light" and ultimately triggering her own self-destruction. The worldwide annihilation of Lilith-based life was averted, but not without cost: a global calamity known as Second Impact.

After Adam herself exploded, four massive Wings of Light (likened to those of a devil, akuma, in the script) manifested and extended as high as the stratosphere. The actual effect brought on by the earlier utilizion of the Spear caused Adam's reversion into an embryonic or egg state, rather than being destroyed completely. [Chronicle] (How she could explode and retrovert at the same time is never explained.) Adam's soul was separated from her body, presumably when her core was destroyed in the explosion.

Post-2I

While Adam's soul was salvaged into Tabris, the embryo became the subject of the Adam Project and the basis for the "Adam Revival Project", Project E -- the creation of Adam copies, or Evangelions.

In 2015, the embryonic Adam is clandestinely obtained by Ryoji Kaji, smuggled into Japan via the United Nations Pacific Fleet, and delivered to Gendo Ikari at Nerv Headquarters. He notes, "It's already restored itself this far. It's frozen inside dura-bakelite, but it's still alive. Without a doubt, this is the keystone of the Human Instrumentality Project, isn't it?" Exactly what Kaji means by "keystone" is ambiguous.

Adam is a crucial element in Gendo's own scenario for Third Impact, wherein he intends to use the "forbidden fusion of Adam and Lilith" as a means to achieve reunion with Yui. At an undisclosed point, Gendo has Adam fused into his right palm, and, in the moments before Third Impact, he inserts his hand into Rei. However, rather than carry out his wishes, Rei severs and absorbs Gendo's arm -- fusing with Adam, but rejecting Gendo. The "forbidden fusion" is complete when Rei returns to Lilith.

The resultant "Gestalt entity" is Lilith-dominant, only momentarily splitting into "Adam" and "Lilith" parts (shortly before Eva-01 transforms into the Tree of Life). Adam manifests in the form of a giant, ghostly white Kaworu Nagisa, which, together with subsequent appearances of the Kaworu avatar, implies that Gendo had salvaged Adam's soul back into her body shortly after Kaworu's death.

The conglomerate being of which Adam was part died when Shinji rejected Instrumentality. In spite of this, Lilith seems to continue existing in some form afterwards. Adam's own fate, however, is unknown.

Notes

• Upon receiving Adam, Gendo refers to her as "the first human". This is potentially a cryptic reference to Adam's status as the first human being on Earth (utilizing NGE's expanded definition of "human").

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