Cross
The cross (十字架, juujika) is one of the more abused religious references present in Neon Genesis Evangelion.
The creators themselves admitted using the emblems of Christianity simply because they "looked cool" according to Evangelion Assistant Director Kazuya Tsurumaki:
"There are a lot of giant robot shows in Japan, and we did want our story to have a religious theme to help distinguish us. Because Christianity is an uncommon religion in Japan we thought it would be mysterious. None of the staff who worked on Eva are Christians. There is no actual Christian meaning to the show, we just thought the visual symbols of Christianity look cool. If we had known the show would get distributed in the US and Europe we might have rethought that choice." Template:Sauce
There are 5 types of crosses used in Evangelion:
- Latin cross
- Inverted Latin cross
- Greek cross
- Tau cross
- Cross of Lorraine
See image on right for examples of crosses from the show.
List of Appearences
- Inverted and regular cross-shaped explosions are produced by Sachiel's particle beam (Episode 01)
- Dr. Katsuragi's/Misato Katsuragi's pendant (Episode 12)
- This object is effectively crucified during The End of Evangelion
- The red cross Lilith is actually crucified on (Episode 15)
- A crucifix on top of a church is seen when preparing for the last attempt to destroy the Angel Leliel (Episode 16)
- Eva-03 is airlifted by a flying-wing transport jet on cross-shaped scaffolding (Episode 18)
- Cross-shaped explosions are produced by Zeruel's particle beam (Episode 19)
- The underside of Tokyo-3 visible on the "roof" of the GeoFront cavern (the "ceiling city") is configured in a large cross formation (Episode 01, Episode 21).
- The architecture forms a cross behind Kaji where he is shot (Episode 21)
- A shadow behind Gendo Ikari makes it appear he is bearing a cross as he speaks about mankind's evolution (Episode 21)
- A crucifix is on top of the church next to the graveyard where Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu is being buried (Episode 22)
- The "Eva graveyard" is in the form of a Cross of Lorraine." (Episode 23)
- There are crosses within each of the pentagrams in the Dummy Plug Plant (Episode 23)
- Cross-shaped depression is seen where Eva-01 was "born" in Terminal Dogma (Episode 23)
- There are numerous cross symbols used in The End of Evangelion:
- Cross-shaped configuration of Eva-01's four wings.
- Eva-01 is crucified by the Mass Production Evangelions.
- The architecture forms a cross around the door Misato is heading for when she gets shot.
- The souls of disembodied humans are accompanied by crosses of light.
- Eva-01 departs for outer space holding herself in a crucifixion pose.
- The Mass Production Evas fall to Earth frozen in crucifixion poses.
Notes
- A "crucifix" refers to a Latin cross that has the figure of Jesus' crucified body on it. A cross that appears without Jesus' figure should properly speaking simply be referred to as a "cross" and not a "crucifix".
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