Sachiel
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"The person in charge exists to take responsibility." |
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"IT WASU WIDIN TI LEALM OF POSSIBIRITY" |
| Sachiel | |
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| サキエル | |
| Number | 3rd |
|---|---|
| Symbol | Water |
| Appearance(s) | Episode 01, Episode 02 |
| Defeated by | Evangelion Unit-01 |
Sachiel (Hebrew: זכיאל) is the Third Angel and the first to appear in the 15 years since Second Impact.
Biology
Sachiel is a spindly, amphibious humanoid Angel slightly larger than an Evangelion.
The Angel has an unusually lanky physique and exaggerated proportions, arms reaching below the knees, and elongated shins and feet. (The impression of leg length is furthered by the absence of a head and neck.) It is covered in stringy, dark-green flesh sporting an array of ossified structures (in addition to the face).
Like other humanoid Angels, the core is located in the solar plexus region.
While possessing no neck or head in the traditional sense, Sachiel (arguably) has a distinctive face reminiscent of a stylized bird skull. The face is made of ossified material and seems to have a limited amount of mobility. After being injured by the N² mine, Sachiel's initial, long-"beaked" face lifts up to allow a second, short-"beaked" face to surface. Eyes with unusual red irises are hidden deep inside the eye holes. Despite being made of ossified material, the eye holes are capable of blinking (It is possible that the consistency of the long-beaked mask could be altered).
Sachiel possesses an unusual respiration system based in the hips and thighs. Two long "nostrils" open along the edge of thin, vertical projections that begin roughly where the iliac crestswould be and curve away from the midline of the body until they fuse into the thigh. Sachiel's gills, which are pink and feathery, are protected by flexible lids. In physical respiration, Sachiel inhales via the gills and exhales through the nostrils. The gills are seen in use during Sachiel's regeneration process and can thus, apparently, be used in both aquatic and terrestrial environments. Sachiel is also observed using the gills to propel itself forward underwater.
Sachiel possesses blood of a bluish-purple color, making it unique among Angels for whom blood has been observed.
Sachiel demonstrates the ability to adapt and enhance its own biology, capable of altering its body, to a limited degree, as the need arises and as it learns from its environment. It seems to be capable of enhancing its own muscle-mass when performing strenuous tasks: when it stops a missile by grabbing it in its hand and when it snaps Eva Unit 01's arm, the muscles in its arm bulge to several times their original size while it is exerting itself, though they return to their normal size when it is done. Originally, Sachiel seemed almost confused when UN forces attacked it using ranged weapons, only after which it started using its ranged "energy-lance" weapons, which it seems to have only developed in response to the ranged attacks of humans. After this, it developed an energy-blast fired from its eyes, only after an N2 weapon was detonated under it.
The Angel is also capable of voluntarily self-destructing, a last resort used at the climax of its battle with Eva-01: Sachiel's body went limp and rubbery and it wrapped itself into a ball around Eva-01, then exploded (though this was not sufficient to destroy the Eva). Similar to how a Japanese warrior would rather take his own life than die at the hands of an enemy
Design and Production
The more refined version of Sachiel's design ("Version A") depicts the "ribs" and "scapular carapace" as three separate units, although many cuts in the anime use a version ("B") where they form one combined structure. (This "Design B" is also used by Sadamoto in the manga.) One other discrepancy is that, in B, both right and left "ribs" possess an upper bone-spur, whereas in A this feature is only present on the left (and confirmably absent from the start)
Battle
Sachiel first appeared out of the ocean, coming ashore just east of Tokyo-3. The JSSDF tried to stop Sachiel's advance, sending in a force of tanks and Heavy Fighter Jet-VTOL craft, but they fail miserably.
After advancing past the tank battalion stationed on the shore, Sachiel was knocked back by a missile barrage from VTOL craft- possibly simply in surprise. The Angel soon got used to the attacks and didn't even flinch. Instead of behaving like a stereotypical "rampaging giant monster", it shot down a VTOL that had attacked it with the attitude of swatting a fly, before avoiding the attackers with a huge A.T. Field assisted leap similar to limited flight.
The JSSDF eventually used their "last resort" by luring Sachiel to the region of Mt. Takanosu, and then detonating a planted N² Mine underneath its feet. This results in considerable damage to Sachiel, melting some 18% of its mass, but it is only a matter of hours before it regenerates the damage. In the process of regenerating from the N² Mine attack, Sachiel's original bony "face" structure is pushed towards the upper right of its torso as a new slightly more rounded bony "face" grows from the center of its chest. While this fails to stop Sachiel, it does slow down the Angel long enough for Nerv to prepare Evangelion Unit-01 to be sent into combat against Sachiel.
Sachiel appears to be capable of learning from its environment and upgrading its physical capabilities in response to external threats. After the Angel regenerates from the N² Mine attack, it develops a new ability: a long-range energy blast (which results in crucifix-shaped spikes of energy) which it fires from its eyes (on its new, more rounded face).
Sachiel does begin to attack surrounding buildings when it gets to Tokyo-3 itself (possibly because it was trying to get to Nerv HQ below).
Finally, Eva-01 was launched against Sachiel, but the Eva promptly fell flat on its face. Sachiel then grabbed Eva by the head, and broke its left arm. During this, Sachiel again displayed its ability to adapt, by instantly increasing the muscle mass of its own arm to increase its physical strength. While holding Eva-01 by the head, Sachiel then shot out its energy lance from its palm, impaling Eva-01's head and flinging it against a building.
However, Eva-01 then went into "berserker" mode, making a somersaulting drop-kick against Sachiel ending in Eva-01 ripping off half of Sachiel's ossified face. Eva-01 made a second rampage at the Angel, only to be stopped by its A.T. Field. The Eva regenerated its broken arm and eroded the A.T. Field with its own. Sachiel used its cross-blast weapon against the Evangelion, to no effect. The Eva proceeded to grab both the Angel's arms with its left hand and broke them with a sharp snap, then kicked it into a building, and followed up by charging into it. The Eva then broke off pieces of bone from Sachiel's exterior ribs and repeatedly drove them into the Angel's core, slowly cracking it. Realizing it was on the verge of defeat, Sachiel once more adapted itself to give its body a whip-like consistently then jumped onto Eva-01, wrapped itself around the Eva, and self-destructed. However, even this self-sacrificial attack failed to destroy Eva-01, which emerged from the destruction with only moderate damage.
In Other Media
Rebuild of Evangelion
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"I've heard this story countless times already." |
Sachiel appears in Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone, largely in a reiteration of its anime role. There are no apparent modifications to the Angel's design, although its blood is now red (as opposed to blue). One minor addition is that of a halo that appears above its head when it makes an A.T. Field assisted jump. Another is that the eyes in Sachiel's second face glow bright red, first when the new face emerges, and again when casting its A.T. Field against Eva-01 and finally before dying.
In the Rebuild 1.11 DVD release, Sachiel is depicted with huge red boils/pustules immediately following the N2 mine explosion. At present it is not known what other detail changes have been made to the Angel for the 1.11 release.
Notes
- Sachiel was designed by Yoshitoh Asari, who also designed Shamshel and Zeruel.
- The "ch" in "Sachiel" is pronounced as a hard "K".
- Sachiel's core begins to glow when it first encounters Unit-01.
- Sachiel is capable of either limited flight or making unusually large jumps, possibly through some use of its A.T. Field.
- Sachiel is one of the few Angels to appear in more than one episode. It also makes a brief cameo reappearance as a holographic shooting target in Episode 03's training simulation.
- This target, interestingly, has red blood.
- The Neon Genesis Evangelion Proposal presents an earlier concept for Sachiel's design, although it bears little resemblance to the final version beyond the basic "spindly amphibious humanoid" motif.
- Sachiel's energy explosions blatantly resemble a latin cross. One cross-explosion penetrates the Geofront, but how is not known: Sachiel's blasts are supposedly weaker than the similar explosions Zeruel sets off,(At the very least incapable of damaging Eva-01) and no details are available on how the blasts are formed or the exact kind of damage these cause.
| 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 |
