Evangelion Unit-02
|
They say a picture is worth a thousand words... |
| Evangelion Unit-02 | |
| |
| エヴァンゲリオン弐号機 | |
| Model Type | Production |
|---|---|
| Pilot(s) | Asuka Langley Soryu, Kaworu Nagisa (Episode 24) |
| Soul(s) | Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu |
| First Sortie | Episode 08 |
Profile
Evangelion Unit-02 （エヴァンゲリオン弐号機） is the third Evangelion completed, the first Production Model Evangelion. The design of Eva-02 supposedly rectifies the mistakes made during the construction of Prototype Eva-00 and Test Type Eva-01, making it the first Evangelion built specifically for combat against the Angels.
Design Features
Eva-02 is a Production Model Evangelion and uses the same armor arrangement as the succeeding Eva-03 and Eva-04, along with the upgraded Eva-00. All Evangelions using this arrangement have the same shoulder pylon design and five V-shaped armor plates on their torso.
This Evangelion is unique in having bluish-purple blood, blue-gray skin, and four eyes. All other Evas possess red blood, and, for all non-Mass Production Evangelions, including Eva-00, two eyes and brown skin are the standard.
Although Eva-02 has a jaw and mouth, when armored these cannot open to the same extent as those on Eva-01, Eva-03 and 04, and so there is no hinged jaw piece in the helmet. Instead, the helmet has movable sections that can shift to cover or uncover the Eva's eyes. Four prominent nostril holes are located in the bulging forehead section of the helmet.
As a Production Model Evangelion, Eva-02 is shown to be capable of using different equipment fits, like the D-type Equipment seen in Episode 10. In addition, Eva 02 has a distinctive progressive knife, the PK-2, that resembles a box cutter. Seemingly unique to Eva-02 is a rack of spikes in its right shoulder pylon, which can be fired like missiles.
Movie Version
An altered Eva-02 design, prepared by Takeshi Honda, was adopted for The End of Evangelion. Although visually similar to the original design in the TV series, the new design has drastically reduced pylon size, more human-like body proportions, and a narrower, redesigned head shape. The blades of armor on the lower arms have also been eliminated. Some of these changes may have been made in order to ease the animation of Eva-02's final battle, although they sometimes add a jarring visual discontinuity with the rest of the series.
The "helmet-popping" mechanism is eliminated in the movie version. Although Eva-02 is never seen opening its jaws when the head is fully covered (despite the fact that it roars and makes other vocalizations), the jaw piece (when exposed later) visibly has "teeth" like those on Eva-01 and others.
 |
 |
||
Concept Stage
The Eva-02 seen in the Proposal is labeled "Test Type" and has two hornlike cheek extensions, along with many other design differences observable at this point. The red color scheme is already present.
Operational History
Eva-02 was first introduced in Episode 08 of the series, activated to fight Gaghiel even through it had no combat gear apart from standard equipment and its progressive knife (the spike launcher in the right pylon is not put to use in this episode). The Eva is severely hampered in underwater combat but succeeds in prying open the Angel's mouth and neutralizing its A.T. Field, allowing two scuttled Iowa-class battleships to explode inside and destroy its core.
The Eva takes part in several other battles, acting in concert with Eva-01 to defeat Israfel, and then being sent into a volcano in specialized diving equipment to capture the Angel Sandalphon. The capture of Sandalphon fails, resulting in a battle with the Angel. Eva-02 loses a leg due to an exploding blasting bolt, and must be recovered from the magma by Eva-01. Eva-02 also takes part in the Sahaquiel run, and stabs the Angel in the core with its progressive knife.
The Eva's successful combat record in the TV series virtually ends at this point. The Bardiel battle sees Eva-02 being incapacitated early on when Asuka is distracted and surprised, having done no damage to the infected Eva-03. The battle with Zeruel is even more disastrous, with all of Eva-02's gun and rocket fire proving utterly ineffectual and its head and arms being cut off by the Angel. The Eva is repaired and sent into battle against the Angel Arael, where both pilot and resident soul inside suffer from the Angel's mental probing. The synch rate between Asuka and Eva-02 is so low that the Eva is incapable of motion in the battle against Armisael and has to be withdrawn from combat. Finally, in Episode 24, Kaworu Nagisa controls Eva-02 externally and uses it to break through barriers on the way to Terminal Dogma and fight Eva-01.
Eva-02's final combat operation happens in End of Evangelion, when Asuka comes to realize that the soul of her mother, Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu was in Eva-02 all the time. The Eva goes into an elevated power state under control of the pilot (Asuka is capable of using the Eva to cast an A.T. Field). Eva-02 destroys JSSDF tanks, VTOLs, and a large frigate, but has its umbilical cable severed in the process. In the subsequent battle against the Mass Production Evangelions, Eva-02 severely damages all nine of them in a little over three minutes, only to be struck down by a replica Spear of Longinus just as its battery runs out. The crippled MP Evas reactivate and proceed to mutilate and disembowel Eva-02. Afterwards, Eva-02 goes into a strange variation of the berserk state for the first and final time before being struck by eight more Spears, the last of which strikes the core. The dismembered corpse of the Eva is finally seen being carried by the Mass Production Evangelions.
Soul
Eva-02's soul is that of Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu. For this reason her daughter, Asuka Langley Soryu was chosen as her pilot. However, only the portion of Kyoko's soul containing her maternal aspects was absorbed into the Eva. (See Soul Divisibility for more details of this phenomenon.) As a result, while Kyoko physically survived the contact experiment with Eva-02, she was driven clinically insane and had to be institutionalized, profoundly affecting her young daughter Asuka.
It is also possible that the remainder of Kyoko's soul was salvaged into Eva-02 following Kyoko's suicide. During the scene in Episode 25' where Asuka learns her mother is inside Eva-02, Kyoko repeats, "You mustn't die! You must live! You're alive!", several times. However, the familiar "Please die with me!" (as heard in the Episode 22 and Episode 25 flashback sequences) is mixed in twice among her inspirational words, thus strongly implying that the insane Kyoko and the maternal Kyoko were incorporated together.
Other Continuities
The Manga
|
"Making something... Nurturing something is really great. You can see and learn so many things from the process." |
Eva-02 is piloted by Kaworu Nagisa in the battle against Armisael, during which it wields the Dual Saw (a weapon that debuted in Neon Genesis Evangelion 2).
Rebuild of Evangelion
Eva-02 will make its debut Rebuild appearance in the second film, Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance. Its pilot is the re-dubbed Asuka Langley Shikinami.
Notable alterations include the addition of a crescent-shaped piece of armor to the Eva's forehead, forming two small horns on top of its helmet. The Eva has been given more human-like proportions than its original series counterpart, similar to the End of Evangelion design and the other Evangelions in the Rebuild continuity. Alterations to the color palette include the darker shade of red, the white "waistband", white lower arms, and black pylons.
Eva-02 is depicted with a new progressive knife design and appears capable of deploying two knives simultaneously. As in the original show, it can be outfitted with additional equipment types, such as the new Aerial Recon S-Type Equipment. The S-Type resembles a jet pack and may play a key role in defeating one of the Angels.
| 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 |
