Israfel

Israfel
イスラフェル
Number	7th
Symbol	Music
Appearance(s)	Episode 09
Defeated by	Eva-01 and Eva-02

Israfel is the Seventh Angel, capable of splitting itself into two identical copies for simultaneous attacks.

Biology

Israfel is a vaguely humanoid entity, with a dark green central body and bluish grey "mantles" covering the arms and shoulders along with the hips and legs. Its face, located near the top of the torso, is shaped like a blue and red Yin-Yang symbol, with eyes hidden inside the "circles". The core is positioned in the equivalent of the solar plexus region and rather small relative to the body. Israfel also possesses three sharp claws: The central claw of each "hand" is the terminal end of the arm itself, with the other two claws branching off from it.

This Angel's characteristic trait is its ability to split into two "twins", who are identical save for the color of their mantles: Alpha (Kou) is gold, and Beta (Otsu) is silver. Morphologically, they are nearly the same as their fused form, save for their smaller size and modified facial configuration (three eyes in a triangular arrangement). Each copy has its own core. Alpha and Beta can rejoin bodies spontaneously, although the two cores take longer to fuse.

The two Israfel are capable of behaving in a fully synchronized manner, but they also seem to be capable of acting independently, which poses the question: Are they twins with a special link capable of fusing into a single body, or a single entity capable of sharing one soul and mind between two vessels?

Battle

Israfel at first did not seem particularly imposing, as Eva-02 cleaved it in half with a swing from a spear, while Eva-01 provided covering fire. However, it soon revealed it's primary feature: it is capable of splitting itself into two slightly smaller twin versions of itself, for synchronized attacks. Eva-01 and Eva-02 were defeated and NERV retreated. Israfel's AT Field is not particularly powerful, however, and an N2 bomb dropped by the JSSDF was able to seriously damage it, forcing the Angel to pause for several days to regenerate itself. It was determined that the only viable plan for destroying it would be to destroy the cores of both copies simultaneously.

In the intervening time period, Asuka and Shinji trained heavily to carry out a synchronized attack using their Evas, set to a classical music track. When Israfel finally recovered and reached Tokyo-3, Eva-01 and Eva-02 engaged it in a synchronized, almost dance-like attack which forced Israfel to recombine, and then destroyed the Angel's Core, resulting in a large explosion on the outskirts of the city.

During Israfel's second attack, it showed the Angelic ability previously displayed by Sachiel to upgrade and evolve its abilities in response to external threats, as it had by then developed an energy blast attack fired from the faces of its two copies.

Notes

• In the manga version, the singular Israfel possesses two cores, arranged vertically. Also, in the manga Israfel has two cores, but it remains split into Kou and Otsu and does not merge again. In the TV series, Israfel splits and becomes whole again more than once.
• Israfel first appeared off the Kii peninsula of Japan, which is fairly far away from Tokyo-3, being located a bit south of Osaka. However, after Israfel's first battle in which it defeats Eva 01 and Eva 02, Eva 01 is described as being sunk two kilometers from Suruga Bay, which is thus where the battle must have taken place. Suruga Bay is south of Tokyo-3, thus instead of approaching Tokyo-3 from the east like Sachiel, Shamshel, and Ramiel did, Israfel advanced from the coast to the south. However, on its final approach to the city, Israfel is said to pass through the Gora defense line.
• Of all Angels to use energy attacks, Israfel's attack is the weakest, setting off somewhat small explosions and leaving nothing more than a large crater in an ordinary armor plate. In comparision, Sachiel and Zeruel can breach the Geofront with their cruciform explosions, Ramiel can melt down an Eva's frontal armor in mere seconds and sustain the beam indefinitely, and Zeruel's beam attack blasted off Eva-01's chest armor in one shot.
• Israfel is similarly weak on the defensive side as well, taking severe damage from an N² depth charge and taking days to regenerate, when Sachiel regenerated within a few hours and grew a second face almost immediately after being hit.

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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