Mass Production Evangelions

Mass Production Evangelions
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Model Type	Mass Production
Pilot(s)	Dummy System (Kaworu Nagisa)
Soul(s)	Unknown
First Sortie	Episode 25'

Creation

The nine Mass Production Model Evangelions, Eva Unit-05 through Unit-13, were manufactured by Seele at seven different facilities throughout the globe. The specifics of their creation are unknown, but presumably they were, like prior Evas, made from Adam's genetic material.

Nine Mass Production Evangelions were created out of an originally planed twelve Eva Units. However, Seele had to advance the construction schedule for them, as they knew that wanted to initiate Third Impact as soon as the final Angel was destroyed, and as a result three MP Evas were never completed.

Purpose

The MP Evangelions were deployed as part of Seele's assault on the Nerv Geofront, but primarily to be utilized as part of Third Impact in conjunction with Evangelion Unit-01.

Abilities

The MP Evangelions have all been furnished with S² Engines, eliminating the need for umbilical cables or internal batteries. However, unlike Angels, they do not appear to utilize their organs for regenerative purposes (see notes).

They also possess large, fully retractible mechanical wings attached to their shoulders. Considering the Evas' size and weight, traditional flight (as observed in birds, bats, and pterosaurs) would normally be impossible, so the wings would feasibly be used in concert with A.T. Field-based "anti-gravity". The Evas are observed levitating in a more traditional manner (as per various Angels) later on, with their wings spread but serving no apparent function.

Rather than being controlled by living pilots, they synchronize with dummy systems generated from Kaworu Nagisa's thought patterns. This eliminates a disadvantage of traditional piloting: While Evangelions can only truly die if their cores receives sufficient damage, their pilots are considerably more fragile, being susceptible to injury inside the plug, along with trauma associated with synchronization, such as sympathetic pain and even (in some rare cases) vicariously-transferred damage. The absence of a living pilot may play a large part in the MP Evas' collective ability to receive immense amounts of damage without losing functionality. Removing the dummy plug or outright destroying the core (which contains the S² Engine) would be the only truly effective or efficient means of neutralizing one.

They carry no armament except for replicas of the Spear of Longinus.

Specific Mass Production Units

Production sketches of each battle-damaged MP Eva (Click for larger view)

Computer displays clearly list the Mass Production Evangelions as "Unit 05" through "Unit 13", however, the animation when the MP Evas are actually seen never has specifically which Unit designation each one of them is written on their shoulders and arms; for example, Eva Unit 02 has "Eva Unit 02" written on its arms, but sometimes this is not animated in in every shot. Presumably, the MP Evas should have their Unit designations (i.e. "Unit 11") written on their arms, but this would have led to so much continuity confusion that the animation team just always left it out. The result of this is that on-screen information does not allow us to tell which MP Unit is which.

However, production sketches do reveal the specific Unit designations of each of the nine Mass Production Evas. In the order in which Eva Unit 02 engaged them in combat:

• Eva Unit 09 - Attacked by Asuka with a flying-jump "chromebuster" move which sheered off its upper jaw and smashed its brain pan to pulp, after which Asuka held it over Eva 02 and wrang the blood out of its body like a rag.
• Eva Unit 11 - Pushed into the lake with Eva 02, then stabbed through the top of its head with Eva 02's Progressive Knife; the blade snapped off, impaled in its upper jaw and projecting into its throat.
• Eva Unit 07 - Right arm cut off by Eva 02's Prog Knife, after which its neck was snapped backwards: it's head actually dangles behind it (touching its back) after this.
• Eva Unit 06 - Dueled Eva 02 using Heavy Spears, until Eva 02 was able to land a direct hit between its left shoulder and neck, cleaving downwards to the center of Eva 06's torso.
• Eva Unit 12 - Completely cut in half by Eva 02 using a Heavy Spear, through the waist, its upper half sent spiraling through the air.
• Eva Unit 08 - Left leg cut off at the knee by Eva 02 using a Heavy Spear, causing it to lose balance and fall on its back.
• Eva Unit 10 - Tackles Eva 02, prompting Asuka to fire two volleys of missile-spikes through its head, using the spike-launcher in Eva 02's right shoulder pylon. The metal spikes remain impales through Unit 10's devastated head throughout all of its subsequent appearances.
• Eva Unit 05 - Pushed through a wall by Eva 02, resulting in damage to its neck, then thrown through the air into Eva Unit 13; after which it was completely impaled by Eva 02's arm as it punched a hole clear through its torso.
• Eva Unit 13 - Eva 02 threw Unit 05 into it, then as Eva 02's fist came out the other side of Eva 05 as it impaled it, Eva 02's fist punched into Eva 13's chest. Eva 02 squeezed its fist inside of Eva 13 as it writhed in pain.

It is not entirely clear which MP Eva is the one that threw the replica Spear of Longinus which took out Eva 02. However, analysis sheds some light on the question:

• Eva 05 and Eva 13 could obviously not have thrown it, because they are in the same frame as Eva 02 (impaled on its arm after the super-punch).
• Eva 10 is clearly shown getting up and reactivating, only after Eva 02 is impaled through the head. Eva 11 is clearly shown to begin reactivating while it is still partially submerged in the lake, having not moved between when it was stabbed and went it reactivated). Eva 09 is also shown to be reactivating after Eva 02 the Spear is thrown, albeit in a closeup showing only its head.
• That leaves Evas 06, 07, 08, and 12. Eva 12 was severely damaged by Eva 02 (it was cut in half) so it is doubtful it was still functioning by the end of the battle. Eva 06 and Eva 07 apparently stopped moving after Eva 02 attacked them.
• However, out of all of the MP Evas, we never actually see Asuka defeat Eva Unit 08; she simply cut its left leg off at the knee, it fell down, and she switched to fighting a different Eva. In that state, it was still almost entirely functional (that wouldn't have been a fight-ending injury even for Eva 02). Thus (unless Eva 02 attacked it more "off screen"), it was probably Eva Unit 08 that threw the Spear which took out Eva 02.

Notes

• Several continuity errors in the animation of the Mass Production Evas in The End of Evangelion has led to some confusion: in several cuts, the MP Evas appear to have restored their severed limbs and regenerated their injuries. However, later cuts after these clearly show that they retain the damage sustained at the hands of Eva Unit 02 through the end of the film (indeed, in a bit of morbid humor, one MP Eva whose head was impaled by spikes fired from Unit 02 retains the spikes impaled in its head through all subsequent appearances). This does raise the question of how the MP Eva that was completely cut in half through its waist was able to still move with the rest; it must be remembered that the MP Evas all have wings, and Asuka apparently didn't damage any of their wings, so even an MP Eva completely missing the lower half of its body could still fly around. Many of the shots we see after the battle with Eva 02 are just of MP Evas that were relatively lightly damaged, and the more severely damaged ones (specifically the one whose legs were completely cut off) just aren't focused on by the "camera" that much.
• An animation continuity error occurs with Eva 09: when Asuka does her jump-attack against Eva 09, its upper jaw is clearly completely destroyed as Eva 02's hands push foward into its skull. However, when the MP Evas turn back on after Eva 02 is stabbed through the head, its brains are completely exposed (bits of pink brain matter are even falling out), but its upper jaw is still present, even though it should have been ripped off.
• Within the series, they are referred to either as "the Mass Production Evangelion Series" in full, or "the Eva Series" for short. Technically, "Eva Series" refers to every Evangelion ever made. This causes some small confusion when characters switch between talking about "the Eva Series" (the MP Evas) and more generally "the Eva Series" (all Evangelions created). "MP Evas" is never actually used on-screen, but is a common short hand way of referring to them.
• A popular and fairly wide-spread fan-nickname for the Mass Production model Evangelions is "harpies".

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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