Evangelion Unit-03
| Evangelion Unit-03 | |
| |
| エヴァンゲリオン３号機 | |
| Model Type | Production |
|---|---|
| Pilot(s) | Toji Suzuhara |
| Soul(s) | Probably Toji Suzuhara's mother (name unknown) |
| First Sortie | Episode 18 |
Profile
Evangelion Unit-03 (エヴァンゲリオン３号機, Evangerion Sangouki) is the fourth Evangelion completed and the second "Production Model" Evangelion. Eva-03 was constructed at Nerv's First Branch in Massachusetts.
Following the incident resulting in the sudden disappearance of the Second Branch (Nevada) and Eva-03's sister unit, Eva-04, the U.S. government panics and demands that Eva-03 be transported off of its soil to Japan. Toji Suzuhara is selected to serve as the Eva's pilot and sent to Nerv's secondary testing facility at Matsushiro to conduct Eva-03's first activation test, supervised by Ritsuko Akagi and Misato Katsuragi.
While suspended from a transport plane during her flight to Japan, Eva-03 enters a series of cumulonimbus clouds, suspected to be the point at which she was infected by the 13th Angel, Bardiel[1]. During the activation experiment at the Matsushiro facility, Eva-03 goes berserk under, ostensibly, Bardiel's control, the parasitic "infection" manifest beneath the armor as fungal-like growths. After briefly struggling to break from her restraints, she destroys the base in an explosion.
Upon learning of the incident, Nerv HQ, under Gendo Ikari's command, officially changes Eva-03's designation to the 13th Angel. No attempt is made to recover the Eva. She attacks and disables Eva-02 and Eva-00, and proceeds to assault Eva-01. After Eva-01 is switched to dummy plug control, Eva-03 is quickly overwhelmed and is destroyed by gruesome dismemberment. Eva-01 presumably destroys 03's core off-screen, since she is seen pulling off the chest plate that covers and protects it.[2]
Features
Eva-03's armor is a characteristic black (or midnight blue) with white trim. She is described as a "Production Model" Evangelion, although in terms of obvious physical similarities, she has more in common with the early Evas than the preceding "Production Model", Eva-02. The head possesses two eyes (white with red irises), with four nostrils situated on the forehead (evidenced by the holes in the prominent nose piece). The Eva possesses red blood, and apparently dark brown skin. The armor arrangement is completely identical to that of sister unit Eva-04, and the same with the exception of the helmet design to Eva-02 and the upgraded Eva-00.
As Eva-03 was parasitized by an Angel and "possessed" almost immediately upon activation, any new features she may have been designed with, such as weapons, remain unknown. Her arms are seen to gain unusually long length and super-elasticity as a result of the parasitism.
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Soul
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"Fortunately, the MAGI system can be transplanted. We can return to work tomorrow." |
It is never directly stated whose soul resides in Eva-03, although it can be inferred that its identity is that of Toji's mother. The soul of Shinji Ikari's mother, Yui Ikari, resides in Evangelion Unit-01, and the soul of Asuka Langley Soryu's mother, Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu, resides in Eva-02. It is stated that Shinji's school class is actually a secret pool of potential Eva pilots, all grouped into one place. Also, it is gradually revealed or implied over the course of the series the mothers of all of Shinji's classmates are dead; (Kensuke Aida directly states this, and Hikari Horaki and Toji also heavily imply this). Thus it seems to be implied that there is some connection between all of the potential pilots having "dead" mothers.
Then, consider this, from the Classified Information:
A unit called a core is used to eliminate the discrepancies in Eva, a human being with the body of a god and a soul. The soul of the pilot's mother, which is placed within the core, acts as a medium and makes piloting possible.
Due to difficulties encountered in the development of Eva-00, the core's system is poorly constructed, and she falls behind in performance capacity as a result. Another reason for her inferiority is that Eva-00's pilot, Rei, does not have a mother."
This makes it plain that with the exception of Rei, the pilot's mother is always chosen as the Evangelion's soul.
Following this chain of evidence, the inescapable conclusion is that Evangelion Unit-03 contains the soul of Toji's mother.
In Rebuild
Eva-03 will appear in Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance. It appears that, much as in the original series, she will be infected by Bardiel and destroyed by Eva-01. Her visual appearance seems largely unchanged, save for color alterations such as the addition of a white "waistband" to fit in with Rebuild's Eva design motif.
Notes
- Toji's usual attire bears a striking resemblance to Eva-03's color scheme, perhaps foreshadowing (along with just about every other hint) that he is the pilot.
References
- ↑ "Bardiel conceivably lurked within the cumulonimbus clouds and parasitized the in-transit Eva-03 when she passed through." (積乱雲の中に潜み、移送中の３号機が通過した際に寄生したものと考えられるバルディエル。) From Evangelion Chronicle, Mechanic Sheet 04: Evangelion Production Model / Thirteenth Angel Bardiel. Translation by Reichu.
- ↑ Eva-01 is actually depicted attacking the core in Sadamoto's manga.
| 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 |
