Angels (Adam's Children)
Adam’s children refers to those Angels who are “born of” Adam. This collective grouping has no unique canonical name, although the phrase “Adam’s children” was used by Misato in a preliminary draft for Episode 25’.
In Neon Genesis Evangelion, this encompasses the Third through Seventeenth Angels. The first thirteen are Adam’s natural offspring, which this article will focus upon. Adam’s last child, Tabris, resulted from an experiment in which Lilin genes were infused into Adam. (It is unknown whether or not Tabris is an imperfect clone of the Lilin donor born from Adam’s flesh, or a genetic hybrid who superficially looks like a Lilin.)
Despite being segregated into separate “Angels” (Third, Fourth, etc.), Adam’s children essentially comprise a single race of humanity – one possible variation upon a theme. (The Lilin are another.) They are described as “humans who cast aside human form”. Accordingly, they appear to begin life as humanoid entities, developing embryologically in perhaps the same way as Adam or an Eva would. Going by Sandalphon, the Angels develop inside oblong objects resembling eggs, although Ritsuko compares it instead to a chrysalis. At an indeterminate point in their development[1] , this form is “rejected” and the Angel undergoes a spontaneous metamorphosis. (Sandalphon changes form immediately before hatching.)
How the form is selected and its structure determined is entirely unknown. The A.T. Field appears to play some role in Angel metamorphoses. Taken together with what is said about the role of the A.T. Field elsewhere in the show, this implies that perhaps each Angel’s form is a tangible manifestation of its self-image. That is, where Lilin are more or less constrained to a common form, and must express their individuality in subtler ways, Adam’s children can simply be whatever they imagine themselves to be. Every individual has a form unique to itself.
Common Characteristics
While each of Adam’s children has a form unique to itself, as a race they share many characteristics.
References
- ↑ In episode 10, Ritsuko says that Sandalphon hatched sooner than expected, leaving the “norm” unknown.
