Angels
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"Making something... Nurturing something is really great. You can see and learn so many things from the process." |
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"The story presented to the public was just a cover-up." |
Usages of the word "Angel" in Neon Genesis Evangelion.
The term "Angel" is rather varied, referring at various times to all human beings in the expanded definition of the term (This includes Seeds of Life, Adam's progeny and mankind). Seele's list of Angels includes the Seeds of Life, Adam and Lilith as the first and second Angels, with the progeny of Adam as Angels three to sixteen and Kaworu Nagisa, the human vessel of Adam's soul, as the seventeenth Angel.
As most commonly used in NGE, the word "Angel" refers to any of Adam's 15 Children. However, Adam and Lilith are also described as Angels, the 1st and the 2nd. Nerv and Seele may be using the designation arbitrarily, because in End of Evangelion, Misato Katsuragi describes Mankind as the 18th Angel.
Adam's children
Unleashed from the white moon during Second Impact, the Angels were scattered about the Earth, (at least one ended up in orbit), and began a 15 year incubation period. The series opens with the first of Adam's children (The third Angel, Sachiel, attacking Tokyo-3). Should any of the Angels succeed in reaching Adam (or Lilith), mankind would be destroyed in a destructive Third Impact. It is the task of the Evangelions and their pilots to defeat the Angels. Both Gendo Ikari's and Seele's plans call for the destruction of the Angels. Angels are composed of Particle-wave matter.
List of Angels
This is a breakdown of all numbered Angels according to the three main Evangelion continuities. The two new Angels that will appear in Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance are given a tentative placement in the list.
Seele is thought to obtain the Angel names and ordinals from the Secret Dead Sea Scrolls. It is unclear why entities such as the Evangelions (copies of the Seeds) and Rei Ayanami (Lilith's "answer to" Tabris) are not included. Despite the apparent omission, they would also qualify as "Angels", under the more expansive definitive.
| Thumbnail | Name | Description | Ordinal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NGE | Manga | Rebuild | |||
| image | Adam | Got here first. | 1st | 1st | ? |
| image | Lilith | Fat. | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd |
| No Image | Third Angel | The mysterious Third Angel of the Rebuild continuity. All subsequent Angels have been shifted up one ordinal. Whether it is a completely new Angel or simply a preexisting one that has been reassigned to "Third" is unknown. | - | - | 3rd |
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Sachiel | First Angel to be encountered in the series. An amphibious humanoid Angel. | 3rd | 3rd | 4th |
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Shamshel | Insectlike Angel with deadly "whips of light". | 4th | 4th | 5th |
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Ramiel | Extremely powerful octahedral Angel. | 5th | 5th | 6th |
| image | Gaghiel | Flipper. | 6th | 6th | - |
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New Angel #1 | Crocodile. | - | - | ?th |
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New Angel #2 | Tick-tock. | - | - | ?th |
| image | Israfel | Twincest. | 7th | 7th | - |
| image | Sandalphon | Big baby. | 8th | - | - |
| image | Matarael | 4-legged spider. | 9th | - | - |
| image | Sahaquiel | Wants a hug. | 10th | 7th | ?th |
| image | Ireul | Hacker. | 11th | - | - |
| image | Leliel | Black hole. | 12th | - | - |
| image | Bardiel | Fungal goop. | 13th | 8th | ?th |
| image | Zeruel | Slab of meat. | 14th | 9th | ?th |
| image | Arael | Bird. | 15th | 10th | ? |
| image | Armisael | Ringworm. | 16th | 11th | ? |
| image | Tabris | Ambiguously gay. | 17th | 12th | ? |
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Lilin | Humans -- as we tend to think of them. | 18th | ? | ? |
Note on Translation
The characters in NGE are actually calling the Angels "Shito", which means "Apostle"; while the Japanese word normally used for the western concept of Angel is "Tenshi". However, this isn't a translation mistake on the part of NGE's U.S. distributors. The "Angel" designation is clearly seen in the show's opening and at various times within the show itself, and the word "Angel" was retained in the English version of the show at the request of the show's Japanese creators.
| 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 |
